Look to the Eastern Sky

Book One of the Clockwork Devils

Written by Achariyth

Disclaimers, author's notes, and acknowledgments will appear in the sixth and final chapter. Until then, the standard disclaimer applies.

Paranoia is a carefully cultivated virtue, especially when your home has been invaded repeatedly. Sure, no one died and the youkai invaders from Earth had been driven off, but they had also counted coup as they left the Moon, raiding the Princesses' personal storehouse. That embarrassment only fueled the Lunarians' paranoia.

Sure, Yukari Yakumo might have made peace, but it came with all the sincerity of "…and this time I really, really mean it. Cross my heart and hope to die. No take backs, I promise." However, she previously led two invasions of the moon and masterminded a third, a fact that did not foster trust. The Lunarians wanted to make sure that the border youkai did not have her fingers crossed when she signed the treaty.

That required vigilance, surveillance, and, yes, even a healthy streak of paranoia. It also required that some poor soul sit her butt at a desk and monitor the suite of watchdog sensors aimed at Japan all day long without her eyes glazing over. And while she's watching for Yukari's mischief, she might as well keep an eye on Ms. Yagokoro and the Houraisan princess, just to make sure that those two didn't come back to the Moon to take what was rightfully theirs.

"Some days, it just doesn't pay to climb the social ladder," the hare called Reisen said, paging through displays on her desk monitor. She had started her life hammering medicine until boredom and frustration compelled her to run away. In the confusion of the lunar invasion, however, Reisen had become the pet of the Lunarian princesses, the Watatsuki sisters. Now her duties included being the princesses' confidant, protégé, concubine, and gofer whenever she was not sitting at a desk trying not to go stir crazy from the boredom.

At least she could catch up on her reading, whenever Yorihime was not looking. Not only did the princess not approve of anything that distracted from one's duties, she also hated the lurid pulp romances Reisen eagerly devoured. That still did not stop the hare from sneaking a peek on shift now and again.

She rummaged through the attaché case as her feet, and froze. Unfamiliar silver light glowed from her monitor. She jerked upright; her fingers flying across the controls to instruments as she frantically saved and printed images, reports, and displays. Scooping up the stack of papers from the printer, she dashed out of the room, screaming for her supervisor at the top of her lungs.

"Princess Toyohime!"


Chapter 1 - The Eyes of the World

If we are not here to do

What you and I wanna do

And go forever crazy with it

Why the hell are we even here?

-"Ultimate," Gogol Bordello, stolen from Sanae Kochiya's music collection by Marisa Kirisame

While the outskirts of the Forest of Magic were relatively safe, except for rampaging youkai, territorial magicians, and roving gangs of Rinnosuke Morichika's love-struck suitors, true peril awaited those souls who dared to delve deeper inside the forest. If a traveler had the fortune to avoid poisonous miasmas, rampaging beasts, and mischievous fey, they could still find themselves digesting inside the trunk of one of the many carnivorous trees.

Oddly enough, it reminded Alice of her childhood home.

Although the flora and fauna tended to leave her alone, various denizens hoping for an easy meal were not opposed to snatching a doll or two. Typically, the opportunistic predator found their insides scattered throughout many square kilometers of forest. Alice had been schooled in the ancient and venerable philosophy of "overkill is underrated," so she filled her dolls with gunpowder for just such an occasion.

Between Marisa and her Master Spark and Alice and her dolls, the remaining forest residents learned an important survival lesson; leave the blonde she-devils alone.

Even though she could walk through the forest with impunity, Alice still hated to lose a doll. Rather than fight, she preferred to keep an eye out for trouble, avoiding it whenever possible. Trouble, however, always seemed to find her, and always at the least opportune moment.

As she walked through the forest, Alice conversed with her dolls. Unlike the rumors to the contrary, she knew the dolls did not really answer back; it was just easier that way for the magic controlling them to interpret her will. Other times, the dolls made for an effective sounding board as their reactions gave Alice insight into her subconscious reactions to any given idea.

Currently, Alice still had a few details she had yet to finalize for her new giant doll design, including the name. Marisa had glossed the doll "Goliath," which matched the stature but just wasn't cute enough for a very grown up Shanghai doll.

"So, what shall we name her? Orpah? That was Goliath's mother," Alice said. The Dutch dolls and single Shanghai stopped harvesting mushrooms, turned towards Alice, and shook their heads. "Guess I'll try another one."

"You know, it's creepy how you do that," Hatate said, swooping down next to Alice. The doll master spun around, red-faced.

"And you following Aya all the time is any better?" Alice snapped. The tengu had touched a nerve.

Hatate shrugged. "Someone's got to keep her honest."

"How is harassing people 'keeping her honest?'" Alice said. With a flick of her fingers, she sent her dolls and their mushrooms into the brush. Many magicians used the mushrooms as a magical fuel to power their spells; a purely innocent use, or as innocent as anything involving powerful magic could be. However, around reporters, nothing was innocent. Best not to give Hatate any reason to interrogate her for the next hour or so.

"Asking questions and getting scoops are part of the journalistic ethos. So is worthy competition. She has to measure herself against me, and I'm as honest as the next reporter," Hatate said airily.

Alice rolled her eyes. "The next one's Aya."

"Okay, that was a bad example. So, what are your dolls doing with those mushrooms?" the teenaged tengu reporter said, her face a perfect mask of innocent curiosity.

"What mushrooms?" At that moment, Alice fervently wished her mother would damn all reporters. However, she knew Aya well enough to know that the Bunbunmaru Newsletter would be offering a special report from Hell the next day,

"Well, if you want to play it that way, I suppose you and your dolls were just out for an afternoon stroll towards the Kourindou." Hatate said, holding a palm-sized black box towards Alice. The tape recorder whirred ominously. "I would have thought you'd be above that particular fray."

"Believe what you wish," Alice said, eying the strange box Hatate held in her hand. Chances were that no matter what Alice said to defend herself, the Kakashi Spirit News's front page would be plastered with lurid speculation about Alice and Rinnosuke's no doubt illicit fictitious affair.

"So, not that you are preparing another doll experiment with those mushrooms, but actually throwing your heart at Rinnosuke's feet to be trampled, do you want to know who's currently the front runner?" Hatate said, speaking into the box, and then holding it out in front of Alice's face.

"Uh-" Alice said, shying away from the device. It had to be kappa technology if the Nitorin Tech logo was anything to go by. Behind Hatate's back, a single Dutch doll slipped out of the brush, sharpening her twin knives.

"Koishi, by two hugs and a kiss on the cheek. Her kiss, his cheek." Two more Dutch dolls crept towards Hatate, each wielding a short straight razor.

"It pains my love struck heart to lose to someone so young," Alice deadpanned, exaggerating the roll of her eyes. A flick of her wrist sent the dolls back under cover.

"That's what Yukari said, if a little less eloquently," Hatate said. She squirmed under the resulting glare. "Oh, alright. She actually said, 'damn that brat,' but the sentiment's there."

"Revising Yukari's words? What happened to journalistic ethics?" Alice replied. Normally, she did not mind Hatate, as the tengu used to avoid the sensationalism that typified tengu reporters. However, she had recently fallen into bad company as she tried to compete with the Queen of Yellow Journalism, Aya Shameimaru.

"Now that I have a big enough scoop to beat Aya's?" Hatate said, taking to the air.

"Don't mention it," Alice muttered. As her dolls returned to her, precious cargo intact, she spoke. "That was rude. You should have come out sooner, and with heavier weapons. Next time, think spikier."

The doll master's procession resumed. Alice chatted idly with her dolls, brainstorming more names while the dolls collected even more mushrooms. Without warning, Alice fell silent. Her lips still moved, but nothing came out. She screamed until her throat grew sore and her face reddened, but not a sound could be heard. Even ambient forest sounds had vanished. There was more sound when a large predator or trigger-happy witch passed through the forest than at the moment.

"Luna," Alice thought, sighing. Luna Child, the moonlight fairy, could manipulate sound, but tended to drown the area in silence in the place of more subtle applications. While some said that she wasn't the brightest fairy in Gensokyo, Alice had once found her planting a trail of coffee beans in front of Lily White in the spring. The fairy of Spring could not resist making seeds grow, and Luna harvested a bumper crop of coffee beans. With luck, the diminutive blonde fairy would be alone on a coffee raid. But where one fairy was, another was sure to appear.

Alice traced a circle around herself. A flash of light later, faint birdsong could be heard once more.

"I told you that I'd share my coffee with you if you would just ask," the doll master called out.

"Hey, no fair messing with Luna like that," Sunny Milk, the fairy of sunlight, whined, poking her head out of a bush. She turned her head and hissed, "Star, get back here!"

The leader of the flight of fairies, Sony had learned that whenever Star Sapphire, the fairy of starlight, vanished, trouble was unavoidably close behind, usually within arm's reach. Star had a nasty tendency to leave her friends to face the consequences of their schemes alone.

So muck for luck. If all three Fairies of Light were around, some poor fool was about to be a victim. Alice sent a command to her Shanghai dolls back at her house to get the guest room ready, just in case.

"Keep your voice down," Luna said from inside a thick tree trunk.

"It's only Alice," a third voice said. Where Star's voice usually was girlishly feminine, this one befit a tomboy.

Only? Alice bristled, but regained her composure. As annoying as fairies tended to be, she'd be worse off losing her temper. That would signal all the fairies in Gensokyo to torment her whenever possible.

"Cirno," Alice groaned. Gensokyo's most infamous fairy caused more trouble than any three fairy flights combined. No magician wanted to be where Cirno plotted her capers, especially when she drafted accomplices.

The ice fairy burst out of a thick pile of leaves. "Hi, Alice. You have any more of those giant dolls? The last one was so much fun to beat up."

Alice snorted as she choked back a laugh. Goliath had run Cirno through the ringer before the doll's unstable mixtures collapsed. Of course, the strongest fairy would think she had won. Correcting her, however, would make the ice fairy's demands for a rematch more insistent. "I'm working on a stronger version." A sly smile brightened the puppeteer's face. "Just for you."

"Cool!" Cirno drawled, beaming.

Looking for the other fairies, Alice did a quick headcount while Sunny dragged Luna from her tree. Star had to be hiding still. Of Gensokyo's six greater fairies, that left-

"SPRIIIING!"

Well-honed preservation instincts took over. Alice dove to the ground as something flew by her ear. Sunny's flight was bad enough when Cirno was around, but if Lily White had joined them…

As leaves and fairy giggles fluttered through the air around her, Alice remembered that spring had already left for the year. She sat up at looked behind her.

"Good one, Dai," Cirno said, rolling on the ground. Dignity and Cirno did not often meet.

Daiyousei laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "I couldn't resist."

"Try harder next time," Alice groaned, wiping leaves from her skirt.

"I'm a fairy. Mischief is my job," Daiyousei said, a satisfied smile gracing her lips.

"So it is. Do I even want to know what you are all up to?" Alice said, shaking her head. "The five of you better not be treasure hunting again."

She had caught Sunny's flight pilfering through her cottage once before. The fairies reacted exactly how one would expect from such pretty little liars. Thinking they were after her grimoire, Alice almost attacked them. Had not a flock of bird exposed Sunny's lies, she would have obliterated them. Of course, they would have revived soon after…

"We're hunting the frog girl," Sunny said, tugging at Luna's arm. With a mighty pull, both girls tumbled out of the tree, landing in Cirno's pile of leaves.

Alice stared dumbfounded. Had she been sipping tea, she would have showered her surroundings with her drink. Suwako Moriya, the ancient earth goddess, would wipe the floor with all six of Gensokyo's greater fairies at once. She might even break a single drop of sweat.

Luna looked up from the pile of leaves. "You don't think we'll do it."

"We'll prove you wrong," Cirno said in singsong.

"Sounds to me like a few fairies are getting a little too big for their britches," Alice said, shaking her head.

"Fairies don't wear britches. We wear dresses like all proper Gensokyo maidens," Daiyousei scolded. Alice wondered how violently Wriggle and Mokou would have responded to the fairy's words.

"Fine. Just don't come crying to me when Suwako beats you," If the fairies insisted on running headlong into their humiliation, Alice saw no need to stop them. A little humility kept the fairies from getting too crazy.

"How can she? I-" Cirno began. She stood with her arms crossed, a smirk of utter confidence on her lips.

"We-" Sunny said, glowering up at the ice fairy. Daiyousei helped both fairies of light to their feet. Dried leaves poured off them.

"I meant 'we,' Sunny," Cirno said, laughing. "We are the strongest!"

A lesser fairy flew towards Sunny and whispered something to her. Her eyes widened as she smiled. "Star found her!"

"Tally-ho!" Daiyousei shouted.

"We're not hunting Ran now, are we?" Luna stammered.

"See ya, Alice," Cirno said, waving, as the four fairies dashed off.


The dollhouse broiled in chaos. Myriad blonde dolls clad in black or blue swirled through their duties, while the doll master sat in the center, reading and watching. Various spells interpreted and amplified Alice's thoughts, expressions, and movements, animating the various clans of dolls.

Some cleaned her house and cooked, as per their usual duties. Others mashed mushrooms beneath giant stone rolling pins. Still others extracted the magical essences from the mushroom mash using various solvents, that lab coat-clad London dolls fed into serpentine coils of flame-heated glass and copper. Inside, heat separated the essences from each other, purifying them to the high tolerances Alice's experiments demanded.

Every few minutes, Alice would adjust the flame to ensure that the various drips of clear liquid continued to flow out of the glassware. She preferred to tend the flame herself instead of risking her dolls to fire. Three hours of distillation had provided mere grams of usable purified essence, but it was the best way to create the large amounts of extracts without risking the inconvenient side reactions that tended to turn witches into newts.

A series of slow knocks, almost a second apart, rapped at Alice's door. Alice turned the flame off, and drew a privacy curtain in front of the glassware maze. Her dolls stowed the various stages of extracts in opaque glass containers.

"Can I come in?" Suwako chattered through blue lips. Short icicles hung from the brim of her hat.

"Cirno?" Alice looked the goddess up and down, noticing where frost clung to the goddess's purple dress.

"And friends." Suwako shivered as a pair of Shanghai dolls draped a blanket around the goddess's shoulders.

"Ever since the Fairy Wars, those six have been inseparable thorns in Gensokyo's side. Come on in, tea should be ready soon." Alice sighed as she waved the goddess inside. Shanghai and Hourai dolls climbed off their shelves while London dolls began heating a kettle of water.

"Thanks." A single Shanghai doll took the goddess's hand, leading her inside.

"So, what were you doing in the Forest of Magic?" Alice said, turning her head over her should as she rummaged through the doll shelves.

"Moriya shrine business," Suwako said, holding her index finger in front of her mouth as if to hush a child.

"More palladium for Sanae's cold reactor?" Alice's finger traced its way across a shelf at eye level.

The diminutive Queen of the Native Gods shrugged, huddling inside the thick blanket. "It's a secret. Well, for a few more weeks anyway."

"Hopefully, this won't cause another incident."

"Kanako swears she knows what she's doing this time. Besides, I'd be more concerned about Kaguya Houraisan's festival next week. You know what happens when youkai and alcohol mix?" Suwako said, sipping at her cup.

"Sanae makes a pass at an umbrella girl again?" Alice said, turning back around and dusting off a doll that suspiciously looked like Suwako hugging a frog.

Suwako glowered, but otherwise ignored Alice's words. "So, you going?"

"I didn't get an invitation," Alice said. Her smile failed to reach her eyes. She placed the Suwako doll down next to a Shanghai doll with a steaming teacup.

"Really? Everyone I've talked to got one. Even Mokou. It's odd that she forgot you," Suwako said, taking a teacup from a Shanghai doll and sipping from it. "Thank you, little doll."

Alice's face fell. "I don't think Kaguya would forget me. After all, Marisa and I gave her the traditional Gensokyo welcome."

"Alice, the typical Gensokyo welcome involves copious amounts of danmaku," Suwako said.

"Good times," Marisa said. From behind, Alice felt a short tug at her dress.

"Stop running your hands through my pockets," Alice said, swatting at the offending hand.

"You had company. I wasn't about to run my hands anywhere more interesting. After all, a goddess is watching," Marisa said, pulling her hand free. Her voice changed, dripping with child-like innocence. "I might get condemned to Hell."

Suwako laughed, setting the teacup down so a Shanghai doll poured more tea into the cup.

"Stop encouraging her," Alice said, sighing.

"So how long were you standing there?" Alice asked Marisa, and then turned to point at Suwako and the Shanghai doll next to her. "And why didn't you tell me she was there?"

Suwako turned towards the Shanghai doll and whispered into its ear before both giggled.

"Just long enough to hear about Kaguya's party," Marisa said. The witch glowered at the doll master. "Oh, Alice, I ran into Hatate. She said she saw you lurking around Rinnosuke's today."

Alice sighed. It was not like she expected reporters to tell the truth. "Don't believe-"

"I would have thought you of all people would have had more sense than to stick your nose into that hornet's nest. Besides, I've seen you next to Rinnosuke before. Not much chemistry there. But I'd wager you must be feeling a little lonely," Suwako said, interrupting the banter before it began. The doll maker squirmed under the goddess's stare. Alice felt as though Suwako was measuring her against some unknown standard, like a sinner before her judgment. "We need to find you a man."

"WHAT?" Alice and Marisa shouted in unison. The dolls cringed, holding their ears, while the color drained from their master's face.

Suwako continued as if she had never been interrupted. "You're spending too much time wrapped up in this cottage, working on who-knows-what. You should get out more and enjoy your youth. That doesn't mean you need to tomcat like Marisa, just have some fun."

"I do not tomcat!" Marisa protested before pouting. "Most of the guys would rather hit on Komachi or Yuyuko than me."

"It's just a shame to think that one of Gensokyo's prettier flowers is a wallflower." Suwako said.

"Can you not talk about me like I'm one of my dolls?" Alice said.

"A pretty girl like you should need a stick to keep all the guys away-"

"A Master Spark works wonders," Marisa muttered, twisting the brim of her hat in her hands.

Suwako continued, glaring at the witch. "-but you're too aloof, too timid. Don't be ashamed. Most of us needed a little help in the beginning."

"Who are you? My mom?" Alice protested.

The goddess shrugged. "Just an old schemer looking to keep a few of the old skills sharp. Besides, it'll keep the boredom away for both of us, and we all know what the number-one cause of incidents is. I'm sure we can find you a nice man from Sanae's friends-"

"I hope you have better taste than Sanae," Alice said.

A sly smile slid across the goddess's face. "Or do you want something more robust than a mere human male? There's a few wolf tengu that, if I was back in my prime, I wouldn't mind getting lost in the forest with."

Marisa gagged. "I don't know what's worse. Hearing this or hearing this come out of a pipsqueak."

"Sanae's a many times great-grandchild of mine. And, don't tell her, but there's a few other families out there with Moriya blood in them. I only picked this form because faith was fading and, well, if you have to go, might as well be carefree as a child."

"Alice is fine as she is," Marisa said.

Alice sighed, trying to keep the blush out of her cheeks. "Don't you have a granddaughter to play match-maker for?"

Suwako continued with a shrug. "Once you catch the bug, it's hard to stop. Besides, Alice isn't like Sanae…"

"Thank goodness," Marisa muttered under her breath.

"-she's not going to bat her eyes at the first devil that passes by."

"I knew too many when I was growing up," Alice shrugged. Marisa stared at her. "What? I had incubi as playmates until I grew up. They're harmless until you're of age. Don't be surprised, you've met my mother."

Marisa shook her head. "And I thought my family was dysfunctional."

"I meant rascals, not real devils," Suwako said, as a sweat drop formed on her brow. "Anyway, just think about it. No need to rush. But if you want, I can point a couple good men your way at the party."

"What makes you think Alice wants to go?" Marisa protested.

Alice sighed, "I said that I didn't get an invitation."

"You did," Marisa drawled.

"Why did you take it?"

"It wasn't nailed down?"

"What else did you steal from me?"

"Today or in total? I can't remember," Marisa said, grinning. The witch spun slowly in place, flouncing. "Search me."

Alice made a show of wrinkling her nose. "Not until you've had a bath."

Marisa stopped spinning, and wrapped her arm in Alice's. Winking, she pulled the doll master close. "Care to join me?"

"An ice cold bath. I'm sure Cirno can help," Alice said, pushing away from the witch.

"Too young."

"My invitation?"

"I just gave you one."

"My party invitation."

"Alright, I'll bring it back. I wouldn't have taken it if I'd known you cared so much," Marisa pouted.

"You would have dragged me there anyway, which I'm sure was your plan in the first place"

"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dolls too," Marisa said, leering.

Alice turned towards Suwako. "Anyway, how do we know this isn't a plan to keep the umbrella girls, er, undesirables away from your precious Sanae?"

Suwako scowled. "Because I owe you for your hospitality. Besides, if Sanae gets too crazy, we'll just lock her in her room until she regains her senses. Which should be…oh, about until she's fifty, if her mother is anything to go by."

Marisa whistled. "Tough love."

"Suwako, is it too late for you to adopt Marisa?" Alice said, smirking.

"I don't think we have a door that can stop a Master Spark," the goddess said, suppressing a smile as she rewrapped herself in her blanket.

"Even if we asked Nitori for help?"

"Cute. Suwako, why don't you help Reimu instead?" Marisa said. "That's one girl who has taken the maiden thing a little too far. Plus she's the one who needs to produce an heiress, not Alice."

Suwako shook her head and met Marisa's gaze. "I like Reimu. Girl's got a real talent for a fight. But I can't bring myself to help the competition like that."

Marisa shrugged. "Fine. Don't let Reimu say that I didn't try to help her. So, Alice, tell me that you aren't going to let her match make for you."

"Eh-" Alice said, rose blooming in her cheeks. Her eyes bounced back and forth between Suwako and Marisa.

The front door burst open. "Ayaya! Suwako matchmaking for Alice? Has a Goddess of Love finally set up shop in Gensokyo? Avid readers want to know," Aya said, rushing into the room. She carried a small spiral notebook and a pen at the ready.

"You don't have avid readers," Marisa said. She started towards the tengu reporter, interposing herself between the house pest and Alice.

"So, Alice, why the change in heart? Has Gensokyo's famous ice queen finally thawed?" Aya continued, ignoring the ordinary magician. Even before Alice could speak, the notebook filled with dense lines of handwritten prose.

Famous ice queen? Embarrassment flash-boiled into fury. "None of your business!"

The door slammed open, even though it had not been shut. Hatate stood in the doorway, her recorder pointed toward Alice's living room. "What's this? Gensokyo's most infamous reporter harassing the public? Alice, what do you think of the unscrupulous lack of journalistic integrity by one Aya Shameimaru?"

"Get out," Alice said, as the younger tengu reporter pushed her way inside.

Aya turned towards her rival and snickered. "Your prose is as purple as your skirt. Do your parents know you're out past curfew? I'd hate to have Momiji go to all that trouble to retrieve a misguided fledgling. Again."

"Get out!" Alice repeated. At her side, her hands balled into fists.

Hatate strode up to Aya and shoved her recorder into her rival's face. "Such cattiness should be beneath a professional-"

Aya set her pen and paper down before she swatted Hatate's toy away. "Little chick, you have to have sales before you can call yourself a professional." The pen continued to scribble against the paper as Aya spoke.

"Buying your own paper doesn't count," Suwako muttered from beneath her blanket.

Alice ground her teeth. Death flashed in her eyes, yet the two tengu did not notice the Witch of Death's fury. Her hands toyed with the chain binding the grimoire that suddenly appeared in her hands.

Hatate looked up at her one-time hero and smiled innocently. "I have the perfect intro for my article. Want to hear it? It starts with, 'dripping a trail of slime wherever she goes, Aya-'"

"LEAVE!" Alice screamed.

"I'm still a little too cold to properly teach those two manners. Marisa?" Suwako said; sweat rolling down her brow as she eyed Alice.

"On it," Marisa said, flashing a predatory grin. Pulling her elemental furnace from her apron pocket, she tossed it into the air and caught it. A crescendoing hum emanated from her hand as she pointed the furnace at the dueling reporters. "Alice, what say you to blackbird pie tonight?"

"Blackbird pie?" the two crow tengu repeated, as the phrase cut through their squabble. Each turned towards Marisa, blanching at the glowing furnace in the witch's hand.

"Roasted squab, coming right up! MASTER-" Marisa said, winking at the blackbird reporters.

"Not in the house!" Alice shrieked. The ordinary witch caused extraordinary collateral damage.

The two crow tengu flew through the window, taking to the air as a bright beam of coherent light chased them. Marisa grabbed a nearby broom and followed.

"Oh my, a little too much commotion for my tastes. I think I'll nap for a bit. Remember what we talked about, though," Suwako said, slipping off the couch and staggering towards a guest room. The dolls followed her, running.

"Hey, who is going to help me fix that?" Alice shouted, alone.


While Suwako slumbered under the watchful eyes of three Orleans dolls, Alice leafed through a thick alchemical tome borrowed from the Voile Library. Next to that tome, a thin spiral notebook sat open; its lines cluttered in a small, neat script. With each turn of the page, another set of lines filled the notebook.

Although Alice wanted to keep her notes secret, she refused to use a cipher. A certain magical cat burglar tended to leaf through her notes, and the quickest way to pique Marisa's interest was to go out of one's way to cover one's tracks. Make it look unimportant, and the ordinary magician would pass it over.

In the margin of her notebook, Alice sketched a set of alchemical equations. But before she could solve the series, a loud knock pierced her concentration. Alice sighed, rolled her eyes and went to the door.

When she opened it, she saw Luna hold out a small white bag tied by a pink ribbon. "This is for the frog girl, to help her warm up."

Alice caught the faint aroma of coffee beans. "That's sweet of you, Luna. Why don't you stay and I'll brew some for the both of you."

"No, I really should be going," Luna said. Her eyes flickered away from Alice, towards the treeline.

"Why's that?" Alice said, then she caught a shimmer of light heading towards her guest room out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm a decoy?" Luna said, dropping the bag and running away.

Alice frowned. If Luna was running away, that shimmer had to be-

"Sunny-" Turning the fairy's name into a curse, Alice turned to chase the shimmer of light.

"Perfect Freeze!" The call echoed from the guest room.

"Aauu-" Suwako's cry was cut off.

How dare they violate her hospitality like that? Alice face reddened, as did the eyes of all her dolls.

A legion of war dolls chased Cirno, Sunny, and Luna out of the Forest of Magic.


Alice crumpled up the latest issue of the Kakashi Spirit News and threw it into the fire. The flames licked around a trio of photos of Rinnosuke, Suwako, and Alice before consuming each.

A stream of fur-clad Russian dolls hauled chunks of ice away from the guest room. The ant-like line bowed around Suwako's supine form, unconscious before the fire. Three Orleans dolls slumbered next to her, all four wrapped in blankets.

"I can't believe that ice fairy actually triggered Suwako's hibernation reflex. So much misfortune today. I really need to visit Hina soon." A Shanghai doll sitting next to Alice shook her head. "You're right. Hina can only handle so much at a time."

"What's with the glacier out here?" Marisa called out from outside the house.

"Eep!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Marisa said. Alice heard scuffling and ice breaking. She sighed and opened the door.

"Is this house pest yours?" Marisa asked, pushing Cirno through the doorway.

"She froze my guest room solid-" Alice began, glaring at the ice fairy.

"Well, well, pipsqueak, I've got to say impressed," Marisa said, smiling.

"-while Suwako was inside."

Marisa whistled. "Freezing a goddess? Do you even know what 'self-preservation' means?"

"Um, hi, Alice? Is Suwako okay?" Cirno said sheepishly. The ice fairy's eyes refused to meet Alice's.

"She's fine, just sleeping," Alice said, softening her features into something having a passing resemblance to calm patience.

"Everything turned out okay," Cirno insisted, squirming under Alice's stare.

"True, but it might not have. Your power ran away from you and almost seriously hurt Suwako. You were so reckless that I think you should leave before I forget that you're a friend of my friends."

Cirno's face fell. "But-"

"Now, come on, Alice, you know full well that we'll all laugh about this in a week. Even Suwako will," Marisa protested.

Alice looked up from the ice fairy. "And I want to laugh about it then. But I need time. Cirno, you attacked someone under my roof, and damaged my house. Please let me cool down so we can laugh together the next time we meet."

"I hope the strongest fairy knows a little carpentry, because I think Alice will need some help repairing her guest room," Marisa said, laying a heavy hand upon the fairy's shoulder.

Alice suppressed a sigh. The witch was only trying to be helpful. "We can talk about that later. Until then, Cirno, I know that you have somewhere else you need to be."

Cirno nodded. Marisa released her collar, and the fairy dashed away.

Marisa waited for Cirno to disappear before closing the door behind her. "Touching as that was, I'm not sure you needed to do that. You know she'll forget your anger before you will."

"Being a hostess carries certain responsibilities. You'd know that if you ever had anyone over," Alice said, slumping against a wall.

Marisa blanched. "What, and spend an entire week cleaning first? No thanks."

"Only a week?" Alice groaned. Marisa's house was a natural disaster. Rubble after a cataclysmic earthquake was more organized than the witch was, and would be cleaned up faster too.

The packrat magician dug through a small coin purse, pulling free a small card. "Anyway, here it is. One ticket to Eternity Manor's shindig. Hopefully you're not planning on a blind date or two."

"Suwako's not helping me," Alice groaned. A Shanghai doll walked up to Marisa. With a jump, she snagged the invasion out of the witch's hand.

"Pity," Marisa said, exaggerating a pout. "I have no one to scare now."

"Worry more about your lack of suitors," Alice said. She snapped her fingers, and four dolls carried a chair to her.

"Why? It's more fun to chase than to be chased," Marisa said, straddling the back of a nearby chair.

The proper puppeteer rolled her eyes as she sat primly. "Some would say that's not exactly lady-like."

"That's fine. I'm not exactly a lady, I'm a witch. You going?" Marisa said, pointing to the invitation the Shanghai doll paraded around the room.

"What if I said I was washing my hair?"

"Boring," Marisa said. Her eyes narrowed in appraisal and she spoke again, huskily. "Make it a little more, and you'll have my interest."

The puppeteer rolled her eyes. "I forgot. 'Love the one you're with?'"

Marisa winked. "I would if she'd let me."

The puppeteer sighed. "Don't you ever stop? Wait, don't answer that. Just help me get Suwako back to her shrine." Alice stood up, and a flock of dolls clustered around her skirts.

"Think they'll blame us for this? I'd rather not have to sit through another of Kanako's lectures," Marisa asked, still sitting in her chair.

"At least she's not Eki," Alice said. The Judge of Paradise's infamous lectures lasted for what seemed like an eternity for those she cornered. "But knowing Kanako, I bet she'll just laugh at a goddess that got beat up by Cirno."

Marisa frowned. "I'm not laughing. That little punk is getting slicker with her danmaku."

"Aw, did the widdle ice fairy beat you up too?" Alice said, snickering.

A knock on the door interrupted the banter. A London doll opened it, revealing the white-eared visitor. Tewi Inaba stood in the doorway, dressed in a pinstripe suit. Bright light gleamed off her now golden carrot medallion. She brandished a Thompson machine gun that would have been more menacing had the word "Airsoft" not featured prominently on the barrel.

"What's up, Nerd Girls," she said, her greeting punctuated by the click of a switchblade comb.

"Little Bunny Fufu," Marisa said, holding a spell card behind her back. With Tewi, a little extra insurance was always warranted.

"I don't want to see you," Alice said, groaning. Yet another interruption and like the others, this one would undoubtedly end in tears.

Mobster Tewi laughed, and then intoned gravely. "It's not what you want, it's what she wants."

Alice snickered behind her hand as Marisa's face blanched. The witch crumpled the spell card in her fist. "Tell Eirin I've already had my checkup this year."

"Don't laugh," Tewi said, flashing a toothy grin. "Eirin's developed a taste for blondes, and she's always found blue eyes irresistible."

The doll master's giggling turned into a coughing fit. Dr. Eirin Yagoroko's wandering hands were legendary. "I don't need a check-up either."

"Not her," Tewi said. "The Princess wants to see you. Her compliments and all that royal rubbish, but you are going to see her. All three of you."

"Three?" Alice said, her eyes narrowing.

"You, Madame Kirisame, and the tadpole goddess," the trickster rabbit said, patting the side of her Airsoft machine gun. Marisa frowned at being called a madame, as most witches did. She was still a maiden, still too young to be a mother, and decades too young to be a crone…

"How did you know about Suwako," Alice said, staring down the trickster.

"The night has a thousand eyes," Tewi said, smiling.

"So, short stuff, how do you think you're getting us there? Got an army?" Marisa snapped.

Tewi whistled and rabbits poured out of the bushes and the treeline. Each of the bunny horde wore 1930s mobster suits and had armed themselves accordingly. They leveled their model weapons at the magicians. "Funny you should say that."

"What, no woman in red?" Marisa asked, looking for the film noir staple.

"Reisen ran away before we could squeeze her into the dress," Tewi said, flouncing before smiling once more. "Hey, a girl's got to have her fun. So, do you need help carrying Suwako?"

"Reisen let you do this?"

"As if I need her permission to do anything," Tewi said, smirking. The trickster waved a hand forward. Immediately, four rabbits, including one silver-haired twin of Tewi, carried a stretcher into Alice's house. "Besides, she's got her own errand to run."


Reisen Udongein Inaba, the Lunatic Hare, walked along the path to the Hakurei shrine. Instead of her usual dress which fell somewhere between too cute schoolgirl and hot secretary, she wore a solemn black suit with a tight skirt. Some occasions warranted the formality.

"Hi, Reisen," Reimu Hakurei said. The shrine maiden sat in front of her shrine, sipping tea as she perused an old scroll.

The moon hare walked up to Reimu, executing a precise turn. Standing at attention, she opened her mouth.

"Why so formal?" Reimu asked, placing the scroll and the teacup down at her side.

Reisen remained at attention. "Princess Kaguya Houraisan sends her compliments and requests your presence at Eternity Manor at your earliest convenience."

"My, what a mouthful." Reimu said, fixing the white-eared hare in a level gaze. "So why should I interrupt my studies to visit your princess?"

Reisen laughed, relaxing. The priestess was known for her laziness, not her studies. "Why do you think? There's an incident afoot."

A wide smile lit up the shrine maiden's face. "You've definitely caught my attention. So, does your princess also want you to escort me too?"

"I'm sure you know the way," Reisen said, shaking her head. Reimu had trashed the manor during an earlier incident. "But I am curious about what you're studying."

Reimu sighed. "Something my predecessor wrote about places of power. She thought the shrine was built on one, or that's what I think she's saying. Her prose can be thick at times."

"So you're grateful for the break," Reisen said.

The priestess nodded. "You have no idea. There's a reason why no Hakurei maiden has ever written a bestseller. You sure you don't want to come with me?"

"I have to meet up with Tewi. Someone's got to keep her out of trouble."

Reimu suppressed a smile, but not the twinkle in her eye. No one could control Tewi. "Suit yourself."

Reisen drew herself back to attention and spun on her heels. As she walked away, she hazarded a glance back at the once lazy priestess now joyfully ransacking her shrine in preparation for the fight awaiting her.