Chapter 1 – Epilogue -Phantasmagoria of the dim dimwits
SLAM!
The last set of cell bars closed up and locked the last of the trouble makers inside a jailcell.
"This isn't right! I want my phone call!" shouted a redhead as she held onto the bars of her caged and yelled.
Her entire outfit was red with the edges of her clothing white. From the long dress skirt she had, to the flapping cloth on her shoulders, to even her cape all of it was red. The fabric was of great quality, and even with the signs of battle and a few tears, the clothes still looked great.
"Let me out of here!" she yelled once more as she tried to rattle her own cage.
"Yumemi, they don't even have electricity why do you really think they'll have phones?" said a blond girl in slightly ripped white and blue sailor uniform. She was sitting on a bench on the jail cell, her hand meeting her forehead, regretting the entire night and everything that it brought.
"You've been yelling that since we got here. It's not going to do any of us any good." Said another voice in the room. In another cell next to theirs was girl in a labcoat with long purple hair. Everything but her round shiny glasses was beaten up.
"We're gonna be stuck here all night, so we might as well get some sleep." She said before laying down on one of the two cots in her jailcell.
"I really don't care much. Evil Spirits like me don't need to sleep." Said a woman with a long wispy tail and green hair who wore a blue dress with yellow stars on it. She was missing the cap she usually wears and instead a small collar was around her neck. All of her clothes had rips and tears, while her skin remained flawless.
A perk to being a ghost (or as she says, an evil spirit).
More in the room, there laid two very young girls both very unconscious. One was dressed like a red pants and white shirt shrine maiden and had long black hair sleeping on a cot next to the sailor girl and the Yumemi, the cape girl. The other girl was a blond dressed in a purple witch's costume resting next to the green haired ghost. Both of their clothes were tattered, and probably needed to be replaced, which was a pity, considering those outfits probably cost a pretty yen.
"Still, this is all such a bother. I really didn't think today would end like this. If this seal wasn't on me I'd be back home working on that formula that's been bugging me." Said Mima, the green haired spirit. "Ahh, such a bother."
"Don't you complain Mima!" Said a blue and blonde mesh inside glass bottle with a cork on it. "Sure the cop princess she put a seal around your neck. SHE SEALED ME IN THIS STPUID BOTTLE!"
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Cried the rattling bottle containing the poltergeist named Kana Anaberal.
The bottle shook, fell over to it's side and rolled off the shelf it was on, promptly rattling the poltergeist inside and giving her one uncomfortable ride.
It would have shattered on the ground, if not for the quick hands of a young red haired "princess" in a red kimono.
"Nooooope! You all broke the law, and now you're all in jail for it!" Said the red haired girl before placing the annoyed bottle on the floor in a wired case of empty bottles.
"Come-on Kotohime, at least let me out. Yes I got in a giant…big…destructive firefight that almost destroyed Gensokyo…but you know I wasn't doing anything bad. I was just trying to prove to you all that thing wasn't a flying ruin." Said the purple haired girl.
"As your neighbor…please."
"Sorry Rikako, the rules are rules, I don't make them." said Kotohime, the red haired girl in the kimono.
"No, you do." Said Rikako, the purple haired scientist. The village doesn't have a police force, we have a hole to throw trouble makers into, and this isn't it."
"What? This isn't a jail? Where in the world are we then?" asked the blond sailor girl then.
"Her home." Rikako answered
That made Chiyuri, the blond sailor girl (and anyone else sane) curious.
"Wait, this is her home? Why the hell does she have jailcells in her home?" said the blond sailor girl.
To answer, Kotohime gave a elegant spin and struck a finger pointing pose at Chiyuri.
"Because I'm very dedicated!" She said.
"…"
"…"
"…we can see that." Yumemi commented.
Outside a giant blast took place outside the jailhouse. Everything shook but Kana the bottled poltergeist.
"Oh, a fight! I gotta get going, justice never sleeps you know!" Shouted the overdramatic red haired princess cop as she ran out the door.
She opened back up the door and said one last thing.
"Now none of you don't go anywhere!" Kotohime said before slamming the door close, pulling our her sword, and running headfirst into whatever was going on outside.
With the slam of the door, they began to hear someone groan. Looking to their side, both Yumemi and Chiyuri noticed that their sleeping shrine maiden was waking up.
"Looks like sleeping beauty is about to wake up." Said Mima.
And so the heroine of this story, Remiu Hakurei, finally awoke.
The shrine maiden groaned as she moved a little from side to side before fully waking up.
"Huh?" She said.
She rose from the cot, looked around left and right and got her surroundings.
"What in the world happened?" Said the black haired miko.
"Plenty happened Shrine maiden, you want the short version or the long version?" Said Mima.
"Don't care. Where are we and what happened." She said flatly.
Mima began. "After you and my apprentice had your little big clash, You remember that part right? Where you two threw all your might at eachother and nearly turned gensokyo into a giant crater?"
"Yeeep." Remiu said without any regret or remorse.
"Good. That princess cop whatever girl was the only one who was standing after it. She scooped us all up and threw us in her little slammer. Oh, and she sealed Kana hilariously in a bottle."
"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!" She shouted
"I disagree" Mima loudly said back to the bottle.
Reimu though, didn't care about that part. "Kotohime did? When did she learn sealing arts?" Remiu said sighing. "Whatever, what happened to the flying ruins?"
"You mean MY Probability Hyperspace Vessel." Yumemi snapped. "And it's somehow in one piece no thanks to you."
Remiu turned to her side and recognized the two who were next to her.
"IT'S YOU!" She shouted at Yumemi and pointed her finger. "You cheapskate! You two owe me a wish!"
"There is no wish. There never was!" Yumemi responded. "And I told you that after you two beat up Chiyuri."
"Liar!" shouted the bottled Kana. "You promised us a wish to whoever could get into the ruins! All the pamphlets said we'd get whatever wish we wanted!"
"What the bottle said." Remiu simply said, pointing backwards with her thumb at Kana's bottle.
Yumemi sighed. "I wasn't the one who promised that." She said pointing at her assistant Chiyuri, "She did."
She then turned around and gave her assistant an little glare. "Which leads me asking why you'd do that." Yumemi said.
"I thought it would get the strongest in, then we force them to come to our world and we prove magic exists and become famous. Then with our newfound fame and fortune we just buy the person whatever they want. Everybody wins." Chiyuri said with one hand behind her head.
"I suppose in retrospect that wasn't such a good idea." She said, while everyone else in the room sweatdropped. "Especially without telling you about it…"
"And what about the whole, "gun to the head do as I say" part?" Remiu asked.
"Yeaaa, that wasn't a good idea either." Said Chiyuri, feeling the bump on her head given to her by a angry shrine maiden, a greedy apprentice, and then by her boss's righteous fury. "You people get really scary when you're all fighting."
"By the way, what the heck is going on outside?" Reimu asked.
Mima shrugged. "Not sure. Sounds like there's a fight going on outside I guess."
Everyone inside heard a scream, following by a thud, rolling, and something bumping into the side of the "jailhouse".
At that point, everything went silent.
"And it seems like it's over." Mima said.
Remiu hopped off her cot and peeked out the window to see what was going on outside.
Looking down, she saw a yellow haired girl with purple bat-like wings.
Reimu poked her head back to the rest of her cellmates.
"It's just a vampire." Reimu said. "Guess whoever was guarding the village tonight kicked her hiney real good."
Yumemi and Chiyuri was shocked. "There's vampires here too?" they exclaimed in unison.
"Well, yea" Rikako said. "There's tons of youkai subs-species and non-human creatures. For vampires specifically there hasn't been any that have really settled down here in Gensokyo, thus we don't see many of them. Though, there are many other youkai subspecies that have made their homes here. There's kappa, tengu and oni settlements ontop of and under the mountains to name a few. There's even a few go-"
Immediately, a bright light of energy shone through the window. Reimu could see the vampire was now floating up into the sky to confront the town's nightly guardian and Kotohime, who seemed to join their battle.
"I'm far from done! I am a vampire! A lord of the night! You think you two could beat me!"
The energy gathering around her doubled in intensity.
"TAKE THIS!" She shouted as her wings flapped and she dashed forward into the sky at her opponents.
Back in the jailcell, Mima sighed.
"Is she done?" Mima plainly asked Reimu.
Reimu looked back out the window.
"Looks like…."
"Looks like…"
The girls herd a smash, then the sound of something falling and hitting the ground with a thud.
"Ouch…Yea she's done. Knockout by headbutt off all things too. That…really…really has to hurt." Reimu commented, shaking her head before dropping back down to floor level.
"Kotohime's putting one of those seals on her, so it seems to be taken care of." Finished Reimu.
Mima had herself a little laugh "Isn't sealing a shrine maiden's job? Seems like you've been replaced."
Reimu didn't share the humor "Har Har." She said. "Maybe I shouldn't neglect my duties and seal you then you so-called evil spirit."
"Heh, like a seal could stop me." Mima boasted. "Besides, Marisa could take care of it the moment your back is turned. Just like last time. And just like this time"
"If not for the fact that I've done a number on your apprentice Mima." Remiu boasted, before taking a long look at the witch's apprentice. "She still hasn't woken up-…"
Mima cut Reimu off. "Actually, she's been awake for the past ten minutes, just listening and…."
Marisa's left eye cocked a little open.
"Trying to get some rest, da ze." Said Marisa Kirisame, the apprentice of the ghost witch Mima. Her eyes were closed, trying to catnap on her master's phantom shoulder.
"Kinda tapped out…trying to recapture my energies…da ze." Marisa muttered in a soft, sleepy voice.
Reimu though, didn't really care that she was trying to sleep.
Reimu smiled. "Yea, from that beating I gave you."
Marisa's other eye opened. Both were on Reimu.
"Bull, ze." Marisa said softly. "I won that fight. And I could do it again anytime. Now leave me alone and let me get some-"
"Says the girl whom I've beaten up twice in a row." Said Reimu with a smirk on her face, crossing her arms and looking down at the resting apprentice
Marisa woke all the way up.
"You should go home and cry to mommy. You can't hold a feather to my power." Reimu bragged.
Marisa just couldn't let that comment slide.
Not with the smug look on Remiu's face.
Marisa just couldn't stand it…that look…
Marisa stopped and got up from resting.
"HEY!" Marisa shouted at the shrine maiden
She felt a newfound anger inside her gut.
One that told her not to care and fight again regardless.
And Marisa would. The time to rest was over.
"Don't you call me weak!" She shouted with anger in her gut. Marisa hopped off her bench to confront her rival of a shrine maiden
"You beating me twice in a row? Yea right. You beat me up when I was possessed, and then you call knocking yourself out a victory? I was the one who was standing after the blast!"
"For about 1.73 minutes longer then Remiu." Mima added.
Everyone turned to Mima for the second.
"Don't spoil it Mima-sama" Marisa talked back to her master before everyone focused their attention back to Remiu and Marisa.
"It doesn't matter how long it was. I still was standing and you were flat passed out. So I won!" She said.
Reimu counterattacked. "But I still overpowered your magic and kicked your rear." Reimu said. "You were on the defensive the whole battle. And it says something too, to be weaker then someone who's never trained a day in her life-"
"At least I rely on my own power!" Marisa shouted in Reimu's face. " I don't need a stupid Ying-Yang-Orb to be strong! You're the weak one!"
Mima knew that was why. That was why Marisa wouldn't let it go. Two opposite lifestyles, one who works to achieve power and one who inherits power. Marisa refused to let someone like that say they're stronger, she just couldn't let it go. Feeling weak compared to him was a very sore spot already, and Remiu was rubbing right into it. She probably wouldn't have cared about any of this if Reimu wasn't indulging in her moment of power and gloating about it.
The minds of children, Mima thought.
"Please, I so don't need it. I could soo kick your rear without it." Reimu said, almost face to face with Marisa.
"Why don't you prove that?" Marisa said back, unwilling to back down.
Reimu took a step back "Yea, I'd love to. I don't even need power to beat you up. Magic or hand to hand, you don't stand a chance against me!" Said Reimu getting in a fighting stance.
Mima frowned. She knew where this was heading.
"You won't stand against my right hook." Marisa took a battle stance as well.
"Bring it miko!" She shouted.
Remiu shouted back. "You first you stupid witch!"
Both girls slowly began inching closer to eachother, waiting for the other to start the fist fight between these two little kids.
A few hours ago both Remiu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame went all out against eachother and almost blew up a nuclear powered airship that could have destroyed Gensokyo.
Mima knew better then to let this continue. She flew infront of the two and blocked them off.
"Both of you idiots cut it out." Said Mima.
"For a so called evil spirit, you seem against a fight." Kana said poking fun at Mima
Mima wasn't amused.
"Because it's both a bad idea and stupid Kana. Especially when we're about to get company." Mima said, holding the two away from eachother.
"Huh?" Chiyuri said. Everyone else had a similar sentiment except for Marisa and Reimu, who were both on the verge of beating eachother silly.
"They just beat up a vampire, we're in a jailcell, and they need a place to lock her up. Put two and two together Chiyuri." Yumemi noted to her assistant.
"Wonderful. We get to have our blood drained too." Rikako answered, looking at the empty cot in her empty cell.
On the other side of the cell, Mima turned around to Marisa
"Marisa…" Spoke Mima "My powers are sealed, Yours aren't. So undo this seal on me. You can do whatever you want after you get me out of here."
Marisa didn't budge.
Mima turned around to Marisa
"Apprentice…" Mima calmly asked. "Do as your master asks…"
No response.
"Apprentice!" She said forcefully. Mima glared at Marisa's eyes.
Marisa's head dropped. Marisa's fists dropped shortly after.
Marisa retreated from her battle stance, "Yes Master."
"Good." Mima said.
Marisa sat down, Reimu soon backed down herself and followed suit.
Mima sat next to Marisa, and she quickly went to work on freeing her master.
She whispered something to Marisa just before she went to work. "Marisa, a smart witch knows when to pick her fights. This is far from the place and far from the time. You're not on friendly grounds with the village here and that girl is not worth you ruining your relationship with your own village. Just remember that and you'll live a lot longer that way. Understand?"
"…Yes Mima-sama" Marisa said back, letting what was said flow in. Somewhat.
Reimu took her seat on the cot once again. As Marisa started to work on undoing her master's seal. There was a awkward silence in the room.
After another minute passed the door to Kotohime's home opened and out walked two people.
"Ok ok, I surrender. I won't fight back, I promise." Said a girl. The owner of the voice walked in, the vampire girl with long blond hair and golden eyes. She had a white frilled shirt, with a scarlet colored suspenders which connected to her scarlet colored dress. To add a little accent to her shirt, she had a red bow on her chest. Aside from all this, she had two medium sized bat's wings that were all folded up. On her arm, head, left wing and her back where seals on her clothes and skin, meant to seal her powers and weaken her.
She held her hands up as Kotohime walked her over to Rikako's jailcell and opened the cell.
"In you go" Kotohime said with hearts in her words.
"Yea yea…" muttered the vampire as she took a seat on the cot opposite of Rikako. She crossed her arms and gave an hmph.
Rikako wasn't that happy about her vampire cellmate.
Kotohime closed the cell door and began to walk to the second floor of her house and yawned.
Kotohime put her sword away and moved the hair from her face. "Man, what a day. I need to get ready for bed. You all be nice now."
With Kotohime satisfied, she went up the stairs and out of sight.
The vampire girl was the first to ask a question. "What is up with that weird gir-"
"Don't ask." Reimu said, cutting her off. "It's complicated."
Everyone sighed.
It was quiet for a few minutes as everyone sat around. The vampire girl took out a small unknown object. It had four markings on one side and a cross on the other. The English letters SSP were on it.
Chiyuri decided to break the ice. She walked up to her cell doors and spoke to the vampire girl.
"So, what brings you to the slammer?" Chiyuri asked.
No response.
Chiyuri innocently sighed. "Maybe she's not the talking type?" Chiyuri though.
More silence as the vampire checked the object she had with her. Seeing that it wasn't working, so she put it away.
Rikako stepped up to the plate. "Figuring we're gonna be together all night we might as well talk instead of this." Rikako said. "My name's Rikako. What's yours?"
The vampire girl shrugged. Rikako had a point she assumed.
"Eh, good point. Name's Kurumi." Answered the vampire. "A vampire. Though you all seem to know that already." She said bluntly.
"I'm Chiyuri," Answered an enthusiastic Chiyuri. She then turned around and pointed to everyone else in the room. "That there is my boss Yumemi." She said pointing over to her other cellmates. "Over there's that's Mima and her apprentice Marisa. And on the cot there is Reimu. She's the shrine maiden around here."
"HEY!" Said the bottle outside of the jail cells, catching the vampire off guard. "You forgot me!" Kana said.
"That's Kana. She's a poltergeist" Chiyuri replied. "Kotohime sealed her in there."
Kurumi laughed. "Wow, you must be having as bad of a day as I am."
Kana's bottle just rattled.
"So, what brings you to the village here? And why in the world were you outside fighting Kotohime and Ms. Keine like that?" Reimu asked.
Marisa did a doubletake. "Wait, that was Miss Keine? When did she become one of the town guardians? I thought all she did was teach in the school."
"Yea, and now she's defending the village." Reimu answered.
"Sush you two, I wanna hear her story." Chiyuri said. "So what brought you here?"
Yumemi sat back and just listened in.
"I was dealing with a grievance. And then they got in the way of me dealing with said grievance."
"That doesn't really answer much" Rikako said.
Kurumi answered. "I was dealing with a land dispute with one of your humans."
"Stupid humans won't get out of your home or something?" Kana asked.
"Half right. I don't live here, but I found some land I want to make my own. I'm trying to establish a dominion over it and or at least make the property legally mine."
Mima had a little chuckle. "Good luck with both of those. There really isn't any united authority here you could buy it from, and vampires can't do that that dominion stuff. You gotta be powerful, a spirit like me, a god or one of those overlord people. And you're neither of those.
Kurumi struck back at her. "I totally can. I'm quite powerful."
"But weak enough to lose to a schoolteacher and a wannabe cop whom may or may not be a princess?" Marisa poked
"How was I suppose to know that blue haired jerk had a hard head? I mean, who in their right mind smashes their head into people? It practically goes against all common sense, I thought I had her when I got close enough to slash her, then she grabs my hand and literally smashes my head in. If I was a human that would have killed me!"
The vampire rubbed her forehead again and sighed…
"My skull's already put itself back together but damn does it still hurt like hell" Kurumi lamented.
"Well, that's what you get when you start a fight in the human village." Rikako said to her. "There's a lot of powerful people who live here, starting a fight here is pretty stupid idea."
"Well what am I suppose to do?" She said with fiery indignation "Every time I leave to do what I came to Gensokyo for this stupid human girl keeps on coming in and setting up shop at my lake of blood."
Rikako had a idea who that might be…she bowed her head and sighed.
Everyone else on the other hand, was shocked about the other half of what she said.
"A what?" Everyone exclaimed
"A lake of blood?" spoke Chiyuri
"Yea." Kurumi said, "There's this awesome lake of blood I found."
Kurumi's golden eyes glimmered as she elaborated about her vampire's holy grail. Her mind completely shifted gears as Kurumi changed subjects.
"I found it a month ago when I was exploring some mountain caves near this village here. Inside there's this giant underground lake that's filled with nothing but purple blood. It's all coming out of this weird portal entrance in a small island in the middle of the lake."
"Purple blood? That can't sound sanitary" Yumemi said.
"I thought so at first too. But…." Kurumi said, leaning back on the back and slouching a bit.
She smiled recalling the memories "It's not tainted….and it's the most wonderful blood I've ever tasted. It tastes like the finest honey nectar and smells like sunflowers. I took one sip and knew I had to take more."
The vampire smiled and loved to continue. "It's…it's totally addicting and I've been just spending my time there and enjoying every moment of it while I do my business here in Gensokyo. The only downside to the lake is that some weird phantomy youkai pop out of the portal every now and then. They always attack me, but they go down in a single hit.
Kurumi crossed her arms.
"Unfortunately, the annoying killjoys have been the source of my problems. Recently when I started leaving and coming back, some stupid human comes down to my freaking sweet lake of blood and starts collecting the Youkai that come out for her own means."
"And every single time she totally wreaks my perfect spot doing so. And then when I try to take it back she blasts me with this damn tank of hers. And somehow she's managed to get all the phantom youkai to do what she wants and they all swarm me at once. It's pissing me off."
Rikako's hand met her forehead. Rikako knew exactly who Kurumi was talking about.
"So anyway, after getting into another fight with her this morning, I decided to finally cut off this problem at the source. I trailed her to her home and decided to put an end to my problem."
"And then you got your rear kicked." Marisa said.
Kurumi sighed. "Yea, cause she wasn't man enough to fight me without her little tank and called for help like a little girl." Kurumi said, ignoring the fact that her enemy was infact a little girl.
But that wouldn't stop Kurumi's indignation. "And it's all because of this stupid girl who lives right next to this house!" She exclaimed, pointing to the house outside Rikako's cell. "I know she's sleeping in there right now grinning that I'm stuck like this. Gah, I'm so close but I can't even get to her!" Kurumi exclaimed again, with another point towards her rival's house…
…a house which happened to be Rikako's house. And that of her little sister
Rikako sighed. Figuring a bloodthirsty vampire who may or may not be trying to kill her sister is right next to her with noone to help her…
"Please don't say I live there please don't say I live there please don't say I liv-" Thought Rikako.
"Rikako…didn't you say that's your house right there?" Recalled Chiyuri.
Kurumi's eyes widened.
Yumemi gave a approving nod. "Hm, nice memory recall Chiyuri."
"Hey, I wasn't an eleven year old college graduate for nothing." Chiyuri replied.
The vampire right next to Rikako turned and glared at her with fierce shining golden eyes ready to tear the purpled haired scientist apart.
"Oh spoon me." she muttered under her breath. This wasn't good.
Kurumi's glare stared into Rikako's soul. "That's…your house?" Said the vampire.
Rikako was about to deny, but gave up after knowing she'll see through it.
"Yes…" Rikako said sighing. "Me and my younger sister Rika live there."
"Rika…I see…so your sister's the one who's causing me so much trouble." She said.
Rikako spoke. "And I told her I'm not getting involved with this. I think it's all ridiculous."
"Really?…pity. You are now." She said demandingly.
Her fingers began to sharpen into the vampire nails meant for tearing flesh.
"I think you need to have a word with your sister about who really owns that lake…" Said the angry vampire girl.
"That won't do you any good. Once she gets on something she devotes everything she has to seeing it through. She's not going to be talked her out of it." Rikako said to the vampire
Kurumi wasn't amused. "Really…" She said.
"Yes, really. And besides, you two don't need to fight over it. Why not share it? If she wants the youkai and you want the blood, I don't see why not-"
Kurumi disagreed. "There's a little problem with that. I'm not so keen on sharing. Neither is she."
Rikako sighed. "Geeze, you're just like her."
"And what's that suppose to mean!" Kurumi snapped back. "She's a stupid kid who thinks she can control weaking youkai without magic! I'm in it for something for greater then that."
"I found a frickin gold mine with that lake. It's got a infinite supply of greatest tasting, most addicting blood in the world! If I packaged it and sold it, EVERY Vampire on the planet would pay through the nose for this stuff. I could be rich beyond my wildest dreams!"
"I am not gonna split it with a half-pint brat who doesn't realize how much money is at stake here!"
A cough interrupted Kurumi's rant.
"Excuse me but, every vampire in the world would buy what? I missed that part." Butted a new voice. "What would they want?"
Kurumi and everyone else turned and noticed Kotohime in the hallway dressed in her pajamas. A porcelain coffee mug was in her hand.
"Well?" Kotohime asked again, asking with innocent eyes.
Kurumi eyes widened, and stopped herself short of freaking out and revealing her giant secret. Kurumi realized talking about her gold mine might not be the best idea…
A bluff had to be made. "N-Na-Nothing. Nothing at all. It's just a vampire thing."
Kotohime wasn't so sure. "Really, cause I swore you said something about bloo-
"It-it's nothing at all, nothing at all" Kurumi pleaded again. "I was just saying how I've learned my lesson." Kurumi said placing one closed hand on her smaller then average breast.
"Really?" Kotohime said with glee in her voice.
"Yes indeed! I've learned my lesson. Yeppp. No more attacking humans. I'm a changed vampire and it's all thanks to you." Lied Kurumi
Kotohime smiled.
"I'm really glad you did." She said to Kurumi.
Marisa bursted Kurumi's bubble. "You do realize she's lying through those her teeth right?" Marisa said. "And she's just gonna break out of here and kill Rika and probably big sis Rikako over there the moment you turn your back ze."
Marisa turned to Kurumi. "Right?"
Granted…Marisa was right.
Kurumi threw Marisa a vile glance the moment Kotohime turned away from her..
"Marisa!" Kotohime exclaimed facing Marisa
"How can you tell what's really in her heart?" Kotohime said back in indignation.
"I believe her, and if she says she's changed, then I'll have to believe it. How could I be a cop if I don't trust the people I'm sworn to protect and think they're all out to do bad things?" She told Marisa
"Besides" Kotohime added "With those seals on her she's currently weaker then an old man and Rikako could beat her up even if she didn't have them. Obliviously, she knows that too."
Actually, Kurumi didn't.
"So Marisa, I don't see why she'd be willing to go do anything else bad like that."
Kotohime would have noticed Kurumi's series of facical expressions…which were Kurumi hearing what Kotohime said, realizing that she's right, realizing how close she was to getting beat up again, to freaking out, and then finally pretending to play cool.
Luckily for the vampire everyone but Kotohime was looking at the ridiculous display.
"Ex-Exactly." Kurumi got out of her mouth. "I'd never do something like that. I won't be causing you humans any more trouble" She said playing along.
"See?" Kotohime said
Marisa facepalmed.
So did Reimu, and Mima, and Rikako, and Chiyuri, and Yumemi.
And Kana probably would have too if she wasn't trapped in a bottle.
"Will all that aside, I'll be letting you all out in the morning if you're all good tonight." Kotohime said.
She handed two candles of light to Yumemi's jailcell, and gave Kurumi and Rikako's jailcell one candle for their smaller cell.
Kotohime walked to the bottom of her stairway
"Today's been really fun." Kotohime said smiling. "I mean, I rarely ever get to put anyone in these jailcells. Everyone's so good in the village and nothing suspicious ever really happens. So thanks you two outsides for causing quite a stir. You two really did make my wish come true. Thank you" Kotohime said with a smile.
Yumemi didn't know what to say.
"Glad…we could help?" Yumemi said.
Kotohime smiled a pure innocent, happy smile. "I'll see you all in the morning! Good night everyone!" Said Kotohime before heading upstairs one final time. She blew out the main candle lighting the jailcell floor in her house, and went upstairs to go to bed.
Mima felt a tingle through her body. The neckpiece that was around her neck loosened and fell off.
"All done Ze!" Marisa said
Mima stretched out her arms as she floated towards the center of the room.
"So much better. Thank you apprentice." Mima said.
"So, are we going home now Mima-sama?" Marisa asked.
It only took a moment for Mima to come up with her answer. "Well, I am. You're staying the night here." She said.
Marisa did a double take. "What? Why?" Marisa said.
"Kotohime actually has a point, you should be in jail for the night. You two did almost destroyed Gensokyo. And I don't like that very much." Mima answered
"She's right." Said Yumemi. "We'd rather not be killed like tha-."
Mima wasn't listening and continued, interrupting her. "And if someone's going to raze Gensokyo in a burning hellfire it's going to be me! I'm not gonna be shown up by my very own apprentice. You stay here and think about what you've done."
"Nevermind." Yumemi said quickly then backing away from the conversation again.
With that comment. Mima realized Yumemi's existence again.
"Catch you lat…." Mima said before cutting herself off. Her hand rubbed her chin as a thought formed in Mima's head.
"I got it!" Mima said to herself, her mind's lightbulb turning on.
Mima turned to Chiyuri and Yumemi "Hey, you two said that you're looking to prove magic exists in your own world right?" she asked.
"Yea, that's the whole reason why we came here." Yumemi answered.
"I think I have something for you." Mima said. "It's something I haven't used ever and it's going do nothing but collect dust. It's a totally magical item and you could do whatever you want to it."
"Really?" Chiyuri said hopefully.
Yumemi on the other hand…
"Really? " Yumemi Said. "Just like that, no strings attached? That sounds too good to be true."
Mima began to explain herself. "Well, you seem to be a smart person. And you seem to be a lot like I would be. Well, if I never discovered magic and if I was…well…" said Mima looking at Yumiemi's soft flesh.
"Fleshy?" Marisa threw in.
"That's the word." Mima said. "And I think you're smart enough to make some use of it."
Yumemi proverbially bit. "Allright. So, what is it?"
"It's a magical wand a vampire magus and fellow colleague of mine gave me as a prank gift. It's this stupid little staff that's really powerful that can create actual magic. But you should be able to use it to prove that whole magic-does-exist theory thing of yours."
"He called it the Kalido-stick or something. The thing just leaks pure unaltered magic. You could use it and prove the existence of not just mana but pretty much every other magical particle out there in existence. You just gotta prod it the right way to get the right results without touching it."
"And why shouldn't I? Something bad happens when you touch it?" Yumemi asked.
"Yes." Mima answered with a serious tone. "I'm warning you, never, ever, touch it and use it. Terrible things will happen to you."
"What's gonna happen? We turn into monsters?". Chiyuri proposed.
Mima shook her head and answered. "Far far worse. Whoever uses it gets turned into a really ridiculous magical girl version of yourself."
"…what..."
Flatly said by Yumemi, her eyes flat and unamused as well. Everyone's faces shared the sentiment.
Mima continued. "Aside from being extremely powerful the wand it is able to channel any alternate version of you that exists and can pretty much turn you into it temporarily as long as you're holding the wand. The wand's preference is a giggling, bubbly, stupid magical girl."
Out of all the possible side-effects that ran through Yumemi's mind… turning into that was the last on her mind. Actually, it wasn't even one of them. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Again…What." Yumemi said.
"Like I said, it was a prank gift from an old wizard with way too much time on his hands. He tried to get me to use it and have me transform into a stupid idiotic magical girl. I was just lucky enough to see through it before I used it." Mima said again.
"Wait, if you never used it, how do you know what it does?" Chiyuri asked.
Mima crossed her arms. "Because my apprentice here was the unlucky sap who swiped it and got herself magical girl'd."
Marisa began to complain. "How was I suppose to know that it could do that Ze?
"Because I locked in a chest with my other magical stuff that you're not suppose to touch." Mima answered.
"Still-" Marisa said trying to interrupt, but failed.
"Specifically…the one labeled "DO NOT OPEN. DANGEROUS INSIDE. THIS MEANS YOU MARISA"" Mima said.
Marisa piffed. "Come on, you know that just says "Please open me" and I can't say no to that poor chest…" Marisa said with a hand raising shrug.
Mima went back to explaining. "She took it a year ago and got herself turned into a bubbly little magical girl. She acted all cutesy and giggled with everything she said. Her personality totally flipped. It even changed her hair and eye color."
"Really?" Reimu asked.
"Yea. Currently, and before she was a total smartass, talked back to me with everything I said and ruthlessly stole all my stuff."
Marisa took offense.
"Just being honest." Mima told her, getting some enjoyment from venting her grievances with her apprentice.
"Just being honest Mima-sama, you've been gaining some weight" Marisa shot back.
Mima took that one seriously.
"Yea, you've been eating a bit too much and you've been getting a little flabby on the side." Marisa said nonchalantly. "And for a ghost too, that's pretty bad."
Mima stared at Marisa.
"Just being honest" Marisa echoed, looking as innocent as possible.
Mima turned around. "You see why I left her that way?" Mima said to Yumemi. "She was stuck like that for around two months until she got beaten up by the Shrine maiden…"
Reimu chuckled to herself, recalling memories about it.
"Anyway, that's what I know about it." Mima said. "It's powerful, but I as hell know better to let myself get turned into an idiot like my idiot did. I originally just kept it sealed inside a chest of mine, but recently thanks to Marisa I've changed my mind and I've been trying to find ways to just dispose of it since."
Mima finished her proposal to Yumemi. "So, what do you say. I wanna get rid of this magical item, and you need a magical item. We both win."
Yumemi thought to herself.
Chiyuri leaned over to Yumemi and whispering, threw in her two cents. "Face it Yumemi, you've already made a fool out of yourself in front of the Global Science Academy and they've already disbarred you and both our futures are already shot. It's not like you could go any lower in their eyes. We got nothing to loose."
"God I hope you're right." Yumemi said to herself.
"Alright. I'll accept." Yumemi said.
"Perfect." Mima said. "Well, I'm tired, and I can see you are too. I'd give it to you now, but it'd be too dangerous to give it to you here. We can talk more about this later in the morning."
"That sounds good." Yumemi said.
Mima brought her hands together. "Well…if you all excuse me, I'm going home. Bye." Mima said.
With that, Mima just phased through the wall and simply left.
Kurumi leaned back. "You know…she is right. I can sort this all out in the morning." Kurumi said to herself. "I can go remove these seals, then I'll go hunt her down and…."
"Umm…doesn't sunlight kill vampires?" Rikako said.
Kurumi nodded. "It does kill most of us, me being one of them. For me I'm weak to Uv-rays of pure sunlight. That stuff sets me on ablaze and kills me after prolonged exposure."
"And you said you're dealing with this in the morning, huh?" Rikako said.
"Yeeeep." Answered the vampire, resting on her cot some more.
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two….
One….
Kurumi's eyes snapped open like broken glass.
"OH CRAP!" Kurumi shouted.
She finally realized how long she was gonna be here.
"I gotta get out of here!" She shouted.
Kurumi had her hands on the jailbars.
"What's wrong with you?" Yumemi asked.
"The sun! I gotta get out of here before the sun comes up! If I get caught in the sunlight I'll die!" Kurumi fretted.
"That's not good." But she was thinking "It took her that long to realize that?"
"Oh craaaaappppp…." Kurumi said, knowing the bad position she was in now.
She tried to pull off the seal tags that were on her body, but it was no avail. Nothing would work.
"Stupid seal…" She muttered.
She tried again, and no still avail. She was starting to get desperate.
"HEY!" Kurumi yelled holding the celldoors. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
Kurumi started shaking the celldoors. It clacked and prevented anyone from trying to sleep.
It eventually got Kotohime's attention from all the way upstairs.
Kotohime's voice then shouted from upstairs.
"SORRY!" she said, unaware of her death sentence she gave one of her cellmates.
"Finall-"
"I totally forgot about the blankets. If any of you want some pillows or blankets they're in the closet."
Kurumi was motionless.
Rikako grinned. A thought popped in her head.
"Thanks Kotohime! I'll take care of it!" Shouted Rikako.
"Thanks neighbor! See you tomorrow" Kotohime shouted from upstairs.
Kurumi turned to her cellmate in anger.
"What are you doing? We're locked up in here. How in the world are we gonna unlock these cell doors?" Kurumi asked her cellmate. "Call her down to get me out of here!" Kurumi paced the cell in a circle again.
"I gotta get her to open these doors and get me out of here!" Kurumi said distraught.
"So, you want us to let you out of here despite the fact that you tried to kill my sister while she slept? Why should I help you at all huh?" Spoke Rikako.
"I wasn't gonna exactly kill her…" Kurumi said "Just…just you know, do really bad stuff to her…"
"That doesn't make it any better. So again, why should I help you?" Rikako said. "I really don't think I should."
Kurumi lower hung head said all that was needed to be said.
"Exactly." Rikako said adamantly "I shouldn't help you at all."
Kurumi realized she had backed herself into a corner. Kurumi should have realized that acting that way always seems to bite you in the ass. Because it always does.
Kurumi looked down in guilt.
"But…"
Kurumi looked at her cellmate scientist.
"You know…" Rikako said, adjusted her glasses.
"…I can get you out of here." She said. "But you're going to have to give me something in return."
Kurumi had nothing to lose. "Sh-sure. What is it."
"You stay away from my sister, and I'll get you out of here." Rikako purposed.
Kurumi processed it.
"Deal." Kurumi said. "But you tell her if she ever comes to MY lake of blood then she's toast."
"No no no." Rikako answered her. "I'll tell her but don't expect her to listen. And I expect you never to hurt my sister again. If she ever bugs you again then you two find a peaceful solution."
"Really?" Kurumi said unamused.
Rikako crossed her arms.
Kurumi blinked "You're serious aren't you?" said the vampire.
Rikako didn't move.
"Fine…fine…I won't." She said. "As my pride as a vampire, you have my word I will not harm your sister now or forever more. Just get me out of here and I'll keep my end of the bargain" Kurumi said, placing her hand on her breast. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
Rikako smiled "Good."
Rikako went over to her cell door and took out a small little screwdriver out of her labcoat pocket. She placed the screwdriver into the oversized lock on the cell door and placed it in to work on the lock.
Thirty seconds passed.
"Got it!" She said.
Rikako took out her screwdriver and slid the jailcell open.
"Sweet freedom!" Kurumi said.
Both walked out into the space outside of the cells. Kurumi stretched her arms and unfolded her wings, giving them a stretch too.
Kurumi was planning to walk out before Kana interrupted her.
"Hey! Hey listen!" shouted the bottled Kana.
"Don't leave without me! Get me out of here!" She cried.
Kurumi looked at the bottle…and after a moment…
"Eh…It'll be my good deed for the day." Kurumi said, grabbing Kana's bottle and walking out. "I'll let you free outside."
"Sounds good to me." Kana said "Now let's go. I need to find a new place to haunt."
"Hmm, have you tried a cemetery? They're always a perfect place to surprise someone, and in my searches here I found a empty one at this big cemetery next to an undeveloped acre of land about a mile or so from the village." Kurumi advised.
"Hey…that is a good idea!" Kana said, despite not knowing what Mile and Acre meant. Kana didn't care, after all it was a pretty good idea.
Kurumi walked up to the door, and then turned to former cellmates.
"Well, we're out of here." Kurumi said, opening the door.
"Figuring we're never gonna meet again, adios." She did a two finger salute to wave goodbye, and the blond vampire walked out into the night.
They herd a flapping of Kurumi's wings and she flew away into the night.
Rikako watched her fly away, and then closed the door and bolted it shut.
"And that's the end of that." Rikako said.
"Let me get those blankets" Rikako said as she went to a nearby closet and took out five blankets. She also grabbed a few pillows too for everyone.
"So, how'd you open that lock with a screwdriver?" Chiyuri asked. "It looked like you didn't do anything."
Rikako smiled, giving a simple answer.
"You're right. I didn't"
With the giant lock on the girl's jailcell, Rikako just simply slid the door open.
"The locks serve no purpose." Rikako said. "Kotohime managed to make the cell doors, but wasn't able to make locks actually work. So she just never uses them."
Yumemi couldn't believe it. "You mean…we could have just walked out of here this whole time?" Yumemi said.
"Yeeep." Rikako answered
"And you managed to trick that vampire into that deal for nothing?" Reimu said.
Rikako crossed her arms and nodded, all with a happy smile on it.
"Dang Da Ze. You're smarter then you look." Marisa said
Rikako took off her glasses and held it by the middle. "Figuring I'm already a genius and dressed like one too, I'll take that as a compliment." She said, sliding the glasses back on.
Reimu had a thought to herself and spoke it out. "Soo…if this door is open…why don't we all just go home?"
"You got a better place to sleep tonight?" Rikako asked.
The four checked their two bunkbeds and Reimu's cot.
"You got a point." Marisa said.
"Better then my bed back on the ship" Chiyuri added.
"It's not that bad…" Answered Reimu "But I'm really tried."
"What about you?" Chiyuri asked. "Don't you live nextdoor?"
Rikako had a simple answer. "Oh, my room's a mess. It'll be nice to sleep outside it for once."
"I'm gonna tuck in. You girls all have a good night." She laid her glasses and her labcoat on Kurumi's former cot. She blew out her candle and tucked herself in to sleep.
"Night everyone." Yumemi said before turning in herself.
With that, everyone went to bed.
Chiyuri blew out her candle, all but Marisa's remained.
The light stayed on for Marisa as she stared at the ceiling of the jailcell, reflecting on the whole entire day.
The battle, the flying ruins, her and Reimu confronting the two outsiders from another dimension and the big fight between them, followed by the final battle between Reimu and Marisa herself. That, and the events that happened tonight in jail.
She turned over to her side and looked at Reimu.
Like her, she wasn't asleep either. Both girls looked at eachother, there was no words exchanged between them.
Eventually one spoke.
"Still mad?" Reimu said to Marisa.
"Of course." Marisa said back.
"Same here." Reimu said.
"We'll settle this another time. This isn't over between us." Reimu said.
Marisa looked at her rival.
"Not by a long shot."
With that, the last light went out.
The third incident involving Remiu Hakurei had come to a close.
The seeds of the fourth were already sprouting.
A new story was about to begin.
Ying and yang were going to be drawn together once again by the threads of destiny, and the clash would change the fate of the world itself.
Another Take On The Eastern Story: Touhou 4 & 5
By Nicktendonick
Chapter 1 end
And thus this tale we all know of begins anew!
I thought about it, and felt that the best way to introduce the two main characters and begin the story would be with the ending to the last story, Phantasmagoria of Dim Dream.
Not only does it this part do some world building to show my take on Gensokyo and it sets up the cast for the coming incident, plus it also answers some unexplained questions (like where Rika got the SoEW mooks and why Marisa a red-headed bubbly magical girl) and set up a many hanging threads that I intend to pull later for this greater universe.
Oh and on Kurumi making an early bird cameo and her changes….the idea was too much to pass up and I decided on introducing her now instead of later. As you can tell, she's not longer the other useless gatekeeper of LLS as she was in canon. So I took that nutcracker youkai and threw her into my mind's brainstorming secession, and from that I created the (more western) Kurumi you now see. (Elly's changed too, but she appears later).
I like this changed version of her, and I hope you will too.
Lastly, I took a few pages from Mr. Taker Foxx with Rika and Rikako. I hope you don't mind if I take your "they're sisters" fanon. It's too tempting not to take and run with.
Sadly though, we won't be seeing much of the PoDD cast after chapter two. Nor will we be seeing much of the windows characters if I can help it. This story is about Reimu and Marisa and how this adventure changes them and brings them closer to the heroines we know and love.
Anyway, that's my pretty much what I wanted to say here.
Welcome to "Another Take on the Eastern Story: Touhou 4 & 5",
I hope you enjoy your stay here.