Reimu felt a surge of energy course through her as she left the ground. Since it had been awhile, she felt quite excited to be solving another incident. Lifting off in front of her shrine, Reimu's thoughts turned to anyone who might be a potential culprit for this incident.

"Hmm… a thief… has to be pretty strong… I'd say Marisa, but she was one of the kidnapped ones…"

Kasen, flying right behind her, was also pondering the circumstances of the incident. She thought to herself, "I wonder… what is the connection between the people taken? Is it simply that they were in the way of the thief, or is there something else?"

Reimu suddenly turned back to Kasen. "I think I've got an idea as to who our target is. I think you've heard of her, Kasen. She's caused a stir here before… Seija Kijin. She fits the bill exactly! Remember when she used all those cheating items while she was wanted? She's probably mounting another revolution plot with more stuff!"

"You may be right, Reimu." Kasen evidently did know of the amanojaku who had caused trouble multiple times. "But, as I said, we need to go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion first. While Seija is a possibility, we can't assume she's behind this until we get some form of lead. It wouldn't do for us to go after her, only for her to be uninvolved, would it?"

Reimu hesitated before nodding.

"I know that you tend to take a more… aggressive… approach to solving incidents. But the one behind the incident doesn't appear to be playing by the rules, so I'm afraid that there may be lives in the balance this time. It might be wise to consider facts rather than charging into bad situations like you always do."

While the shrine maiden didn't appreciate the critique, she knew that Kasen was right. Especially if Marisa was out there somewhere, being held hostage.

After reaching Misty Lake, by which the Scarlet Devil Mansion stood, Reimu stopped. Kasen flew up beside her, gazing out over the lake.

"Why have we stopped, Reimu?"

Kasen got a quick look and a smile for an answer. "I need to warm up. Don't want to be rusty, do I? And I just so happen to know a certain little fairy that would make fine target practice lives around here."

Kasen didn't see the need for this initially; wasn't time of the essence? But she realized that it was probably for the best. After all, Reimu had spent more time lying down than actually practicing her abilities since the end of the last incident. Actually, she'd spent no time practicing.

Kasen sighed and followed. She was prepared for solving this incident, of course. She was always prepared for combat, or so she thought. Then how, she wondered, did she manage to let her precious Ibaraki Box of a Hundred Medicines get stolen? Was she not as vigilant as she thought?

Reimu seemed to find her target nearly immediately. Flying near the surface of the waters of misty lake was Cirno, the Ice Fairy, self-proclaimed strongest fairy in Gensokyo. Cirno appeared to be harassing other fairies on the lakefront; she was so invested in this bullying that she didn't notice the shrine maiden appear behind her.

After waiting a while for Cirno's ranting to end, which it never did, Reimu groaned and spoke to get Cirno's attention. "You, Cirno."

Cirno turned around, puffing out her chest. "Who do you think you are? I am the stro-!" Cirno's confidence quickly evaporated when she realized she was looking at Reimu, and not another fairy.

Kasen, watching from afar, couldn't help but chuckle at the fairy's antics. Perhaps it would be fine for the shrine maiden to put Cirno in her place.

Cirno recomposed herself. "I am the strongest! Even you, shrine maiden, are no match for me! Allow me to demonstrate my mighty Spell Cards and ice powers!"

"That was easy enough." Reimu shrugged. "Alright, Cirno. How much have you improved? It's not like you could have gotten any worse at this…"

Cirno started pouting in response. "You say all those mean things. Nobody likes you!" Pausing a moment, a smirk returned to Cirno's face. "I'll show you just how strong a fairy can be!"

Cirno backed up and started firing bluish projectiles in the general direction of Reimu. Most of them flew harmlessly away, and the few that were on-target were dodged easily by Reimu. Reimu, who hadn't even started attacking yet, slowly lifted up her purification rod, pointing at Cirno, before bringing it down and producing a set of ofuda - special amulets designed to exterminate youkai. She didn't even throw that many before several of them found their mark on the small ice fairy.

"Yowch!" Cirno shrieked. "Fine… you got me there. But can you beat this? Ice Sign 'Icicle Fall'!"

Cirno began to shoot out large icicles at Reimu, which Reimu again dodged with ease by flying in close to Cirno.

Cirno's spell card ended quickly. Reimu, disappointed, decided it would be best to end the duel as soon as possible. She sent out a fast, basically continuous stream of ofuda aimed right at the small fairy, who bore a grimace from having her Spell Card broken so easily.

"Okay, you're going all-out on me! But, I haven't even used all of my power yet!" The boastful fairy allowed the line of ofuda to get extremely close to her before suddenly lifting up both of her arms.

"What is the fairy doing?" Thought Kasen to herself, watching the battle from the side. "Oh, I understand…"

The amulets about to hit Cirno literally froze in place as they hit an area of extreme cold surrounding Cirno's body. Then, all of the ofuda that touched the already frozen ones froze themselves, until ice began creeping up Reimu's constant stream towards the shrine maiden. Reimu, who had no problems up to this point in the fight, wasn't even properly paying attention to the fairy's counterattack.

The ice had made it all the way to Reimu before she started to notice. By then, Cirno had forcefully shattered the ice, destroying all of the ofuda Reimu had sent at Cirno and hurting Reimu herself in the process.

"Ow!" Reimu exclaimed, not expecting such a devious tactic from Cirno of all people. "How did I get hit? You're gonna get it now!"

Kasen, still watching from the sidelines, shook her head. Now that Reimu was angry, she'd beat Cirno, and then keep attacking unnecessarily to avenge her embarrassment; alternatively, she'd start making a bunch of stupid mistakes and actually lose in her hotheadedness.

"Of course, it falls to me to keep Reimu in check," the hermit muttered.

While Cirno tried to press her temporary advantage against Reimu, Kasen sent a small amount of powerful light blue orbs at the ice fairy. With incredible precision, all of them found their unprepared target, knocking her into the water of Misty Lake. After going under for a moment, Cirno rose to the surface, flailing. She evidently didn't know how to swim. It didn't concern Kasen, though - fairies just revive after a little bit of time if they die, so even if Cirno drowned she'd just pop up again and be fine.

Reimu turned to Kasen and accusatorily yelled, "Hey! I was beating her! Killjoy."

Kasen closed her eyes and shrugged. "We need to get a move on. Besides, to me it looked like she was giving you a run for your money." Kasen paused for a moment, before adding teasingly, "If you had any, that is."

Reimu turned away and lifted up her chin. "If I weren't working with you, I'd beat you right now. You'd better watch yourself, Kasen. Anyways, the Mansion is right there. Let's go."

The two of them flew towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion and landed in front of the gate. Oddly, the usual gatekeeper, Hong Meiling, wasn't there.

"Well, that's not something you see often." Reimu remarked. "She typically stands right here. Even if she's sleeping on the job… She must be inside. Probably helping contain that demon child, Flandre, now that Sakuya and Remilia are gone."

Kasen and Reimu walked into the Mansion without knocking on the huge front doors. Knowing that the only important people left in the mansion were probably Meiling, the librarian Patchouli Knowledge and her assistant, Koakuma, and Flandre, the vampiric younger sister of Remilia, Reimu made her way to the library. She remembered the way from an incident a while back, as well as having been invited here multiple times. Kasen, however, did not know the way, so she simply followed the shrine maiden, taking in the surroundings in the large Western-styled mansion.

Entering the library, the first thing the pair heard was childish laughter.

"Uh-oh…" Reimu said.

"What's wrong, Reimu?"

"That sounded like Flandre. I don't think you've met her, Kasen. She's… a handful. Just try to be patient with her, and whatever you do, don't offer to play with her!"

The two slowly made their way down the stairs to the main floor of the expansive library. They heard more laughter, followed by a much more adult voice yelling.

"Get back here, Flandre! It's time to eat, not time to play!"

Reimu, now at the bottom of the stairs, explained to Kasen. "That was probably Patchouli. She's the librarian here, a friend of Remilia's. She stays cooped up in here all day, since she has some sort of condition that keeps her from doing too much physical activity. She's probably in charge, with Remilia out."

Walking between the large bookshelves, they heard the laughs get louder. Kasen looked at Reimu, and noticed a worried expression on Reimu's face.

"Oh, she can't be that-" Reimu suddenly put her hand over Kasen's mouth and indicated for her to keep quiet.

Flandre appeared to be moving ever closer to them, as they stood hidden in the shadow of a bookshelf. By now, they heard her laughter surrounding them in the dimly lit library.

Suddenly, Kasen felt something bump into her. Jerking around suddenly, she saw nothing - until she looked down.

"Who are you?" came the innocent voice of a small childlike figure.

Reimu suddenly leapt into action. Practically shoving Kasen into the bookshelf, Reimu leapt between the hermit and the small girl.

"Oh, it's Reimu! Who's this person?" Flandre motioned at Kasen, grinning, revealing sharp, pointed teeth.

Kasen regained her balance and stood next to Reimu. "I'm Kasen Ibaraki. I'm a friend of Reimu's!"

"Oh, a friend?" Flandre started jumping up and down, clapping her hands. "Yay! More playmates!"

Reimu spoke up. "We aren't here to play, Flandre. Sorry. Do you know where Patchouli is?"

Flandre opened her mouth to speak, but someone else ran up behind her, interrupting her.

"There you are, Flan! I get that you want to play, but right now, it's time to eat!"

Flandre turned around to look at the newcomer, whose eyes shifted from the little vampire to the two larger people behind her.

She assumed a fighting stance. "Who are you two, and what are you doing with Flandre? I'll make you leave, intruders!"

"Peace, Meiling. We're here to speak with Patchouli." Kasen stepped forward and spoke up. Reimu glanced quizzically at Kasen, who ignored her.

The girl, dressed mostly in olive green, didn't move at all. "Firstly, how do you know my name? And secondly, what are you doing with Flandre, then?"

Reimu intended to speak, but was cut off by Kasen. "I'm acquainted with Reimu Hakurei. We both came here because we want to speak with Patchouli about the absences. As for this little one," pointing at Flandre now, "she happened to bump into us."

Meiling finally eased herself into a regular standing position. "Reimu? Alright. I'll take you to Patchouli promptly, but don't get any ideas. As for you, young lady…" The gatekeeper grabbed Flandre's arm. "You're coming back to the table to eat, whether you like it or not."

"Aww… our game of tag is over already?" Flandre whimpered. "Fine…"

Kasen just noticed that the small girl in front of her had a strange pair of wings sprouting from her back. They looked almost like tree branches with eight crystals dangling from them. Each crystal was a different color, and they were ordered like the rainbow, starting with blue and ending with blue. She wondered why Flandre's wings were so… artificial looking?

Meiling spoke again, taking Flandre by the hand and leading Reimu and Kasen through the library. "Alright. Patchouli is seated at a table on the far end of the library, along with her assistant, Koakuma. She was going to chase after Flandre here, but I warned her not to overexert herself. As for the, ah, disappearances, I don't know much about them, but perhaps Patchy is a bit more… knowledgeable. Pardon the pun, I had to…"

The four of them began to walk in silence, until Reimu whispered to Kasen.

"Why did you start talking there? You could have made things worse!"

"What? You weren't exactly communicating very well yourself, Reimu. You were the one that pushed me into a bookshelf."

"You're lucky Meiling showed up and Flandre didn't get the chance to 'play' with us."

"What, her? She doesn't look…"

"Looks can be deceiving, Kasen. You know that."

Kasen was taken aback by this. What was Reimu referring to? Was she actually… onto Kasen's secret?

Reimu continued. "Flandre is one of the toughest opponents I've had the displeasure of facing in battle. She's lived locked up in a basement her whole life, about 495 years, only coming out every once in awhile for meals or lessons. You wanna know why? The girl is unstable. Mentally and emotionally. And she has more power than she knows what to do with."

Kasen looked genuinely surprised. Was this truly the same girl she had just met?

"Her ability is to instantly destroy anything. Permanently. She used this power to crush a meteor once, without even touching it. The problem is, since she's been stuck in a room her whole life, she doesn't know how to control herself or this power very well. Because she can't control it, she's forced to stay in the room… it's a cycle, and I have a feeling it won't end well for anyone. And, as you are aware, she's a vampire. She does have a taste for human blood, and a much bigger appetite than her older sister. They try to help her control the urges for humans with steak, but it only works so well."

"Well then, it seems like we got lucky, hmm?"

"You're awfully nonchalant about running into a little maniac, Kasen."

"I've met many people who could be considered maniacs. Like Koishi. Or you, when you're solving an incident." Kasen slyly winked.

Reimu would have defended herself loudly and vehemently, but instead ignored this out of respect to Meiling, who hadn't yet heard anything from their conversation. In fact, the gatekeeper seemed to be having a nice chat with Flandre.

Kasen looked at the two in front of her and smiled pleasantly. "You say she's crazy, Reimu, but it seems she's comfortable with Meiling here. It does me good to know that she has supportive figures in her life, if what you said about her living situation is true. And as for you, if you didn't have Marisa and myself keeping you in line..." Kasen threw in another tease at Reimu.

Reimu was again flustered, and decided she wasn't going to just take it.

"Now you listen here, hermit. Just because you think you're better than me doesn't mean you can go around and act all uppity about it. Besides, don't pretend like you don't have your own issues."

Meiling and Flandre looked back at the now silent Kasen and Reimu, wide-eyed. Meiling then quickly faced forward again and yanked on Flandre's wrist, to suggest her to do the same. The little girl was still staring at the guests, but snapped out of her daze and continued walking. The damage from Reimu's defense was already done, however.

"We're, uhh, almost there…" Meiling announced, with the tension still palpable in the air.

Reimu scowled at Kasen, who was by now starting to feel bad for teasing. If they were already bickering, what would the rest of the incident be like?

The whole group entered a clearing in the dark library, with a lone table in the middle. Already seated at this table were two girls. One of them was dressed in a mostly white nightgown with a white mob cap. She had very long purple hair and her sleepy-looking face was deep in a book, not noticing the approaching group. The other was a much more active looking girl with medium-length red hair. She wore a black dress with white sleeves, and had two sets of wings, one pair on her back and another, smaller pair sprouting from her head. She was trying to get the attention of the one in the nightgown, but was failing. She gave up and snatched the book out of her hands, inspiring a disgusted glance.

"Koakuma, what do you think you're doing? When is it ever okay to take a book from someone you serve while they're reading it?" the purple-haired girl criticized the red-haired girl, but in a manner that retained an element of lethargy.

The other was quick to respond. "But lady Patchouli, we have guests, and you didn't notice!"

Patchouli looked up at the group of Meiling, Flandre, Reimu, and Kasen.

"Ah, my apologies. Put the book back on the table, though. And don't lose my place this time!" Patchouli seemed to be quite exacting in her expectations of Koakuma. "Well, it seems we have guests. Reimu, and…? Oh, I don't believe we've met before. Well, please, take a seat. You can introduce yourself then."

Reimu and Kasen waited for Meiling and Flandre to sit down before they followed suit.

Kasen introduced herself. "I am Kasen Ibaraki, a simple hermit living near the base of Youkai Mountain. I am friends with the shrine maiden here."

"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kasen. Now, let's get straight to the point. Oh, and Meiling, would you make sure Flandre eats this time?"

Flandre pouted. "But I don't like it! I want Sakuya's cooking! This stuff is gross."

Patchouli waved her hand and faced Reimu and Kasen. "She's been like this at every meal since Sakuya vanished. Speaking of which, that's why you're here, isn't it? That's the logical reason, anyways."

Reimu nodded. "Yes, as you seem to be aware. There have been lots of disappearances across Gensokyo, of powerful individuals such as Sakuya and Remilia. Lots of these missing people's possessions seem to have gone with them as well."

Patchouli reclined in her chair, sighed, and stared at the ceiling. "Yes, that's what happening. I don't quite understand it, but I do know what's happened. I also know that you aren't entirely right."

Reimu and Kasen were taken aback by this. "What do you mean, we aren't entirely right?" Reimu wondered.

"It's not necessarily the people who have vanished that have had their things stolen. In this case, Sakuya and Remilia have been taken, and it's my books that are gone."

Kasen considered this for a moment, before asking, "What sort of books were stolen? Are you aware?"

Patchouli nodded. "Most of the purloined books were on animation magic. There were also some about Spell Cards stolen as well, and one was a guide on how to be an effective workplace manager."

"Uhh… Is there anything else that you noticed? Did you happen to see anything related to the perpetrator?" Kasen continued.

Patchouli looked down and started playing with her nightgown. "I'm ashamed to say, I was asleep at the time of the theft. You may or may not know this, but I have a condition that makes me tire easily, called anemia. I fell asleep while reading a book on youkai of the Underworld, and when I woke up, there was a mess of books strewn across the floor. I had Koakuma, my assistant here, put the books back. That was when I was made aware that many were missing. As for any evidence of who might have done this, I have not seen anything indicating who might be the culprit. That is, except for a small strip of black fabric Meiling found in the foyer of the mansion, which I assume is where the thief and Sakuya fought, as there were multiple knives across the room. Sakuya, of course, does not have any black in her maid outfit at all, so it's certainly from the intruder."

"Black fabric, huh?" Reimu spoke after a little while of listening. "Well, I guess that it's better than nothing. A lot of people in Gensokyo wear the same style of clothing exclusively, so I suppose that narrows our search at least a little bit to people with black in their clothing."

"That's not exactly helpful, Reimu. If you were a thief causing an incident, would you want to dress in clothing that everyone knows you tend to wear? Of course not. You'd wear something that nobody could identify you in." Kasen thought logically.

"So, in short, aside from knowing what books were stolen, we have no leads." Reimu sighed and sunk in her chair with a look of defeat on her face.

Kasen was a little more optimistic. "Well, there are always other places we can investigate. I was thinking we should try Eientei next."

Reimu stood up and pushed in her chair, so Kasen followed suit. They quickly thanked Patchouli for her generosity in hosting them, before Kasen realized that the pair had almost forgot what they came for.

"Oh, I just remembered," Kasen said, looking at the librarian, "I want to speak with you about a certain matter here in particular, Patchouli. I was wondering… could you perhaps, well, spare someone? Reimu and I have determined that we will need all the help we can get in solving this incident."

Upon hearing this, Patchouli's face lit up. "I thought you'd never ask. You know, it's been a long while since I've been out… and I have a mind to teach the mastermind behind this incident what a kidnapper deserves."

Reimu was surprised to see such passion from the typically stoic Patchouli. "So you'll join us? Excellent."

Meiling had heard this, and reentered the conversation. "Umm, don't take this the wrong way, but who will be in charge of the Mansion now?"

Patchouli, who was standing up out of her chair, smiled. "Why, you, Meiling. But in case you feel overwhelmed, I've thought ahead. A little while back, I was working on certain… defensive maneuvers in case something happened to the us at the mansion. I anticipated that responsibilities may fall to you in one of these scenarios, and I developed a list of things for you to make sure happen around the mansion. This knowledge has been imparted to Koakuma, who can outline the list for you, or you can read physical manuscripts about your duties if you'd like; they're located in the top drawer of the desk in my study."

Meiling was caught off guard by Patchouli's incredible foresight.

"I'm not expecting you to be able to do everything on that list. But please, Meiling, do not take these duties lightly. Don't slack off on the job. And take good care of Flandre."

With that, Patchouli slowly floated over to Reimu and Kasen. "I have everything I need on me already, so let's make haste."

Reimu nodded, not surprised by this, and motioned for the trio to leave the mansion. Kasen followed her, and Patchouli moved after her. Looking back at Meiling, Koakuma, and Flandre, Patchouli smiled again and waved. Her goodbye suggested she would be out for quite a while, which made it seem as if she knew this incident would not be so simple to solve.