"With this, it's all over, huh?"
"That's right, Mima-sama! We just have to wait for Reimu to seal the gate connecting this place and Makai and wa-la!
Another incident solved~"
"Maybe it's about time we end this as well."
"...huh? End what?"
"Forget everything, Marisa.
"...wha—"
"Forget about magic."
xxxxx
A bad dream.
A very bad bad dream.
At least that's how I wanted it to be.
But there I was sitting by the oh-so-familiar Hakurei Shrine, grumbling, reminiscing the last moment of my apprenticeship with my accursed master.
Huh, who am I?
WHO AM I?
Really now, you don't know? Then prepare to be amazed.
Villager by day, magician by night;
It's the great witch Kirisame Marisa!
...
...
...
"So noisy..."
"WHOA!"
I shouted on the top of my lung, jumping to my feet and held my hands up in defense, but as soon as I recognized the owner of that voice, I sighed, lowering my hands in a disappointed manner.
"What, it's just the lazy shrine maiden. I kinda hope a youkai springs out instead..."
"Don't hope for the impossible; I'll exterminate them before reaching my shrine."
Typical. She sat down beside me, a cup of warm tea on her hand, staring to the distance with her usual indifference. Oh yeah, allow me to introduce my best friend; Hakurei Reimu, the current shrine maiden of Hakurei. She might look unreliable, but heck she's very strong. Well, not as strong as me though.
Anyways, I sat back down, staring at her as she quietly sipped on her tea; I snickered, a playful smile on my face.
"No tea for your guest?"
"This is a shrine; not a place to lounge around."
"Cheapskate. That's why your shrine is always deserted."
She flinched a bit, before putting away her tea with a sigh, eyes still locked to the beautiful scenery of this illusionary land of Gensokyo. I blinked, and she closed her eyes. She stayed like that for a while that I almost thought she had fallen asleep, but then, she whispered softly.
"It's been two years since then."
I froze; a sudden chill rose inside me and I switched my eyes to the empty ground, trying to keep those memories away as image after images started to reveal itself on my head. I bit my lip.
Yes, it's been two years.
It's been two years since I last saw my master.
It's been two years since an incident ever occured.
It's been two years since I started to live as a normal human.
It's been two years since I stopped using magic.
And since then, life has been hell for me.
My family came from a succesful merchant clan, owning one of the biggest store in the human village. I was their only daughter. That being said, it's only natural for my parents to treat like some kind of helpless princess, which I wasn't, but still, I couldn't blame them. When I was younger I was kidnapped by an evil spirit, the one who I later called 'master', and since then I couldn't keep myself away from magic. I guess my parents were pretty scared.
Because human shouldn't be able to use magic.
But it's fine, I thought.
I'd be their cute little daughter at day and protect their peace as a magician by night. I thought it'd be fine to go on like that forever. That was, until two years ago; my master suddenly disappeared, and my parents started to grow suspicious of my behaviors. They started to put people to watch over me while cramming my head with education and manners needed as the 'heiress of a proud family'. Not to mention those people that had heard I could use magic; they'd been treating me like a dangerous animal at school, put on a leash by the great name of Kirisame.
Hell, I told you. It's like a living hell.
And I couldn't take it anymore.
"...if you really hate the village that much, why don't you just left?"
I flinched, eyes widened as a speck of my memories resurfaced.
An image of a girl around the same age of mine, with glistening silver hair and calm blue eyes, an air of elegance around her. Yes, that girl. The very girl I met around the same time I stopped using magic, a simple human like me who's been living with the youkai.
A huge smile spread on my face and I jumped to my feet once again, turning to Reimu who had finished her tea by now.
"Hey, Reimu. Y'know about a devil's mansion around here?"
"A devil's mansion? I'm not sure about the devil part, but if you're looking for a mansion it has to be that one."
I followed the direction she was pointing, eyes scanning the whole area of Gensokyo that spread before me like an open atlas; there, on the very edge of the huge lake, a massive red building covered in fog stood. Somehow, I knew it was the right one.
The devil's mansion.
My smile turned into a grin and I quickly ran toward the shrine's warehouse, fumbling around the pile of old artifacts with no care whatsoever. Reimu followed after me, her lazy eyes turned sharp for a while as she realized what I was doing, staring at me with disbelief.
"You put your ingredients for witchcraft inside MY storage!?"
I ignored her outburst and grabbed my broom, discarding my previous fancy attire with the simple dark garment fitting for a witch. I had to tell you, it felt a lot lighter than that three-layered kimono I wore from home. Oh, well. I put on my big pointy hat, running toward the edge of the shrine's steep stairs.
It's a long way down, so I better do this properly if I don't wanna break my neck. Huh? Wait no, no, I'm not attempting on a suicide; just sit back and watch, okay? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, remembering the sensation of magic inside me; it's thin that I had almost forgotten about it, but still, it's there. I opened my eyes, running toward the end of the road with all I had and jumped off, riding on my broom. Soon enough, gravity hit me with no mercy, sending my body falling to the ground. Okay, this is bad.
Come on, fly, fly, fly—
I could feel the sensation of the wind on my face as I fell down with high speed. I started to panic.
fly, fly, fly—
My body tensed, adrenaline pumping into me like there's no tomorrow. I gritted my teeth.
—Oh, come on! FLY!
Star Sign: Escape Velocity
Suddenly, a burst of magic sparked from my broom and pushed me up to the open sky with a speed faster than I'd ever felt, saving me from my falling demise. I froze for a while, feeling the cold sweat on my forehead as I floated silently in mid-air, my breath hitching. After a while I started to get used to the altitude, and seeing the very scenery of the land I'd known for long, so small below my feet, I felt a huge smile tugging on my lip.
Yes, this excitement. This is how it's supposed to be.
The beauty of magic.
I couldn't hold myself anymore and I started to laugh, an open heartily laugh I just had for the past two years. I could feel myself maneuvering the air with joy like an excited hummingbird; it felt like I'd finally found myself again after so long.
"Oops, no time to play around."
I tightened my grip on my broom, fixing my stance and feeding it more magic to build up more speed.
This is only the beginning of my journey, my little ray of hope.
Wait for me—
I put on my trademark grin that had long forgotten, my flaring eyes locked on that red structure hidden by the mist.
Izayoi Sakuya.
xxxxx
Spellcard Rules - Draft
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...okay, that's kinda short. Oopsie, ha ha *hides behind a pile of papers*
Okay, actually, I wouldn't be able to keep in touch with civilization (yes, not just internet. civilization) starting from this afternoon until the end of next week, so I decided to publish the first half of Marisa's part for now. I hope you won't mind. *sweaty*
So, what the heck with that opening? Who's Mima? What incident? Some of you might already knew, but for those who haven't played PC-98 generation of TOUHOU, it's a hint about the event in "Touhou Kaikidan: Mystic Square". Search 'em up in case you're curious. So then, what the heck with that empty draft of spellcard rule? Fu fu, well, now that's yours to guess...
Anyways, enjoy and review if you may.
See you in the next chapter~ (if I survive *shot* nah, I will)