"Damn it, Marisa... where are you?" Reimu muttered to herself, searching the absent witch's pigsty of a house. Mountains of junk piled over mountains of other junk formed a treacherous terrain that no one could possibly live in. Various books and pilfered objects covered the walls and floors, possibly hiding even greater treasure within their depths.
Unfortunately, it seemed these items weren't hiding Marisa. It was a bad time for her to be missing, especially with a feral youkai roaming the forest, and Reimu never realised how much she could worry about that kleptomaniac.
Ugh, just calm down... she's safe. She disappears all the time... Reimu reassured herself as she navigated her way outside the (stolen) treasure trove. Besides, she's probably hanging out with that Alice again...
A twinge of jealousy accompanied that thought, and Reimu scowled, wondering why Marisa and Alice together always made her feel like that. It wasn't like she cared for Marisa more than as a friend... Reimu chalked it up to Mima's lingering presence or something. Would that ghost feel jealous if Marisa made a new friend?
Reimu tried to recall where exactly Alice's house was. It wasn't really far from Marisa's, but the place could be a little disorienting if you didn't know where to look.
"North east it is." Reimu decided, and cautiously set off, her Hakurei Orb gliding dutifully by her side. With any luck, she wouldn't get ambushed by that feral youkai...
Reimu was flying low, looking for anything that looked distinctly not tree-like. She should be able to spot a building soon enough...
A dark sphere collided with Reimu, and she yelped in surprise, hitting the ground. Another yell came from nearby, although Reimu took no notice. Acting immediately, Reimu's Orb split itself into two smaller spheres, a dull light beginning to emanate, ready to fire upon whoever attacked.
Reimu scrambled to her knees, looking for her assailant, and spotted a fading sphere of darkness that revealed a small, blonde girl with a red ribbon tied in her hair, and watery eyes as she massaged her forehead.
Eyes widening in recognition, the darkness youkai, Rumia, got to her feet. "Y-you! What'd you hit me for?"
"Hit you? You smashed into me!" Reimu argued back, keeping her orbs on standby. She had met Rumia recently, during the 'Scarlet Mist' incident. Although she looked like an innocent child, she was actually somewhat dangerous. She had attempted to eat Reimu and Marisa as they made their way to the mansion across the lake, although Rumia had tried to claim she was only kidding once she ate a couple gallons of danmaku. Reimu wasn't quite at the 'trusting' stage with her yet.
"You're just trying to bully me!" Rumia accused, pointing at Reimu with a hardened glare. "You think you can attack me when I'm taking a leeshurley-"
"Leisurely?"
"-stroll through the forest and blame me? Well, I'm not having it!" Rumia declared, fishing a spellcard from her black blouse. "I'm gonna put an end to your tyranny!"
Reimu sighed, not wishing to waste her time fighting Rumia once again. the outcome was obvious, anyway. "Look, I'm in a hurry here, let's kick your ass some other time, okay?"
Rumia's eyes narrowed as she gripped her spellcard. "Now you're trying to run away? What, too scared to face me now?"
"No, but I am worried about attracting the feral youkai's attention." Reimu replied simply, and Rumia blinked in confusion.
"F-feral?"
"Yeah. You know, crazy, psychotic, dangerous, doesn't kid around about eating humans. And other youkai." Reimu said, noting that Rumia was now looking somewhat worried. "In fact, that same youkai nearly killed a friend of mine today."
Rumia was looking somewhat nervous now, although she tried to keep up a tough front. "Y-you're lying! There's no youkai like that here!"
"Then feel free to die." Reimu said, and flew past the startled youkai. After a moment, Rumia called after Reimu, and was flying just behind the shrine maiden.
"Hold it! So, if you're telling the truth, what'll we do?" Rumia asked.
"... Well, I'm gonna try and deal with it." Reimu said. "In the meantime... I dunno, stay out of the forest. Might wanna warn anyone you see."
"O-okay! You better not be lying!" Rumia said and turned, probably looking for a friend or two to take with her. Reimu concentrated on finding Alice's house, while also remaining on alert. Maybe she shouldn't have left that Rumia girl alone... Well, no time to lament over that. Reimu was sure she could escape without any trouble.
"Sorry for the wait~!" Yuuka called as she entered the sitting room, wearing her usual attire of a red plaid vest and skirt with a light pink blouse, her dark green hair cascading down her back. "So, how's Elly's tea?"
"It's lovely." Artimus replied, putting his half-drained cup down on the table that sat between the armchairs. Turning his attention to Elly, he said, "You're quite a skilled maid, aren't you?"
Elly was staring at their 'guests' with a frown and folded arms, clearly not liking the idea of having them inside their home. "I'm a gatekeeper." She said stiffly.
Yuuka sat opposite Artimus and Mion, who was still cradling the injured Kat and glaring at Yuuka. "Now now, Elly, don't be rude," She admonished lightly, picking up her own cup.
"It's quite all right," Artimus reassured her, although he was wearing an amused smirk as he glanced at Elly. "Well, it sure has been a while! How have things been since we last met?"
Yuuka looked thoughtful as she sipped her tea. "Well... eventful. There was the occasional incident for a few decades, although I didn't pay much notice until I ended up as a final boss."
Mion looked horribly confused and glanced at Artimus for clarification, who was smiling slightly. "Oh? I hope you lived up to that title?"
Yuuka smiled mischievously. "Well, I had a little fun with that shrine maiden and the witch, but I didn't really show them a hint of my power until that rematch."
"And you lost on purpose?" Artimus asked with a grin, and Yuuka shrugged.
"Hey, if I beat them senseless, it could hamper their future performances!" She giggled, and took another sip of her tea.
Mion shook her head, unable to figure the woman out. It seemed she was as mad as everyone claimed.
"Artimus, when can we stop wasting time?" Mion practically whined. "I have to avenge my Kitty Kathy..."
Yuuka smiled widely as she turned her attention to Mion. "Ah yes, I believe Ribbons here wants to kill me?"
Mion shot Yuuka another glare of loathing as Artimus nodded. "Yes, she believes you would be of no threat to her, although I would like to postpone that conflict for now."
"Ever the pacifist, Artimus," Yuuka laughed, setting her cup down. "But when it came to battle, you always had others do all the fighting for you."
"And you were more than happy to fill my share of conflict," Artimus reminded her, as if reminiscing of times long since passed. "In fact, I wanted to ask you..."
Artimus leaned forward, now wearing a serious expression. Yuuka smiled lightly, although she clearly wasn't in a joking mood either.
"Would you consider helping us out?" Artimus asked, and the two acquainted youkai ignored the startled cries of 'what?' from their respective parties. "You made chaos an art, and I would greatly appreciate that talent for the new age of discord."
Elly stared at Artimus in disbelief, and rounded on Yuuka. "Master! Don't tell me that you're gonna listen to him!"
"Why not? We're old allies," Yuuka said. "And chaotic times are usually fun."
"But even so-"
"Artimus, please tell me you're kidding!" Mion pleaded with the smartly dressed man, who's attention was focused solely on the green-haired youkai sitting across from him.
Ignoring Elly's protests, Yuuka continued speaking. "Yes... the fun we had, terrorising the populace... scaring the humans and lesser youkai. But..."
Yuuka stared into Artimus' steely grey eyes with a hardened glare of her own. "Things have changed somewhat, Artie. What you want is complete and total anarchy, am I right?"
Artimus merely nodded.
"I'm afraid that simply won't do." Yuuka sighed almost sadly. "You see, now that I've mellowed out and matured, I've found things that I've grown rather fond of. Things that simply couldn't survive your ideal world."
"...What a pity," Artimus sighed, leaning back. "We could have dominated everything. Not even Yukari Yakumo could have stopped all of us together."
"Not that she would, since we're too early in the time line for her appearance." Yuuka said with an amused smile, and Mion groaned, feeling her brain ache. How could Artimus make sense of her statements?
"So, I'm afraid that we won't be teaming up." Yuuka sighed, and Elly looked somewhat smug as she stared at their 'guests', glad she wouldn't have to help them for whatever reason.
Artimus got to his feet, giving Yuuka a forlorn stare. "Well, that is most unfortunate. I suppose we'll take our le-"
"For god's sake, Artimus! Remember why we frickin' came here!" Mion screamed.
"Don't worry, Ribbons," Yuuka said as she stared back at Artimus with an amused smile. "I had no intention of letting you lot leave anyway."
"Oh?" Artimus raised his eyebrows as Yuuka got to her feet. "You mean you're actually going to stop us?"
Yuuka nodded in confirmation as Elly moved to her master's side, scythe in hand. "Like I said, there are things I like that simply wouldn't survive if I left you alone. For once, I'll take the role of the hero."
Mion was now grinning as she carefully moved Kat from her lap and stood to face Yuuka. "Finally! Now I get to kill you!"
"Oh, Yuuka..." Artimus shook his head sadly. "I never thought the day would come when we would be forced to clash. Truly a sad day..."
"Eh, shit happens." Yuuka shrugged.
"True... well, I suppose I'll let Mion indulge herself for a while," Artimus picked up the unconscious youkai and moved to leave the building. "Mion, don't get overconfident. I'd hate to step in."
"Like you'll need to." Mion grinned as she twitched her fingers. Elly made to intercept Artimus, but Yuuka stopped her, blocking her gatekeeper's path with the umbrella that certainly wasn't at her hand a moment ago.
"Don't bother with him, Elly."
"But, Master-"
"Trust me, leave him. He won't set foot outside the garden anyway," Yuuka said with finality in her tone. "Instead... vacate the mansion yourself, I have a feeling things will turn out messy."
Elly would have argued further, but it was pointless with Yuuka. If she wanted Elly to do something, it will be done, no question asked. With great reluctance, the dutiful gatekeeper made her exit, leaving through a door that led to the mansion's side.
Mion glanced around the sitting room, a small grin on her face." It's a bit small in here. Wanna take this outside?"
"No need." Yuuka replied, and immediately thrust forward with her umbrella, hopping onto the table as she did so. Surprisingly, Mion dodged, though barely. Ducking her head to the right, she immediately tried to counter by sweeping Yuuka's feet off the table, but the flower youkai had already retreated to the other end of the room.
"Nice reflexes," Yuuka commented, shouldering the umbrella. "Perhaps I was right about you... having a completely unreadable spirit must mean you're pretty damn strong."
"Unreadable?" Mion repeated with some surprise. "You mean, you can..."
"Normally, I could get an excellent grasp of your ability from a glance," Yuuka explained. "But you... No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to feel a thing from you. Why is that?"
Mion grinned as she pounced at Yuuka. "Like I'd give away my secrets!"
Yuuka easily dodged the attack and pointed her open palm at Mion's head, unleashing a flurry of light yellow bullets that vaguely resembled a sunflower in full bloom. The bullets only struck her wall as Mion had somehow moved away, standing by the doorway.
Yuuka glanced at her opponent, a wide grin on her face. "Heh, a super-powered newbie capable of dodging my attacks at point blank? I hope your surname isn't 'Sue'."
Mion frowned in confusion before replying. "If I hit you hard enough, would you start making comments that make sense? 'Cause I don't quite get the joke."
"Oh, never mind, let's just have an epic fight at the beginning of the incident!" Yuuka said dismissively, and Mion suppressed a growl of frustration before leaping in to attack again.
After another fifteen minutes of stumbling about, blindly searching for Alice's house while making sure a wild youkai wasn't about to pounce upon her, Reimu finally found the doll master's house. She had only seen it once, and not the interior. It was clearly much better than Marisa's, at any rate, seeing as the building was bigger and cleaner, and that as just the outside.
Thankful for finally finding it, Reimu rushed to the front and began pounding it with her fist. After several moments, the grumbling owner of the house opened the door, glaring at Reimu irritably. "What? Oh, it'd you, Hakurei. What is it?"
Alice was a blonde haired girl, with a light blue ribbon tied in her hair, a pink button-shirt, and a blue skirt held with suspenders. Normally, a doll would be floating beside her, and today there were several, all staring blankly at Reimu.
Reimu and Alice never seemed to get along all too well. Alice was pretty cold and distant to Reimu, who chalked it up to beating Alice up in Makai. Then again, Marisa had done the same thing, and Alice constantly visited the witch, so maybe she just plain didn't like Reimu.
"Sorry to bother you, but is Marisa here?" Reimu asked, glancing at the forest around them. "There's a bit of a situation here, and it's pretty urgent you two know about it."
"Like what?" Alice, turning to enter her home. Reimu assumed she was invited inside and followed, noting how clean and orderly the place looked.
"Well, a feral youkai's apparently hanging out in the forest," Reimu explained, seeing a bunch of dolls lining shelves or flying around, glancing at Reimu with blank expressions. "A friend of mine got attacked and seriously wounded, and since you two live here..."
Alice entered her kitchen, returning after a moment with a small cup of diluted sake, which she silently handed to Reimu before sitting herself at a workbench at the other end of a room.
"Uh... thanks..." Reimu said, grimacing slightly at her drink. She wasn't adverse to sake, but it was a bit early and the wrong time to be drinking. "So, has Marisa been around?"
"No," Alice responded simply, hunched over whatever she was working on. "Haven't seen her all day, or yesterday."
Reimu frowned, wondering where exactly she could have gotten to.
"I see... well, thanks anyway. Keep an eye out for... whatever that youkai is." Reimu said, deciding to just gulp the liquid down. It wasn't like a diluted sake cup of the stuff was going to get her hammered anyway.
As she turned to leave, however, an overwhelming sense of dizziness overwhelmed Reimu, and she stumbled into the wall with a gasp of surprise. Gulping for air, Reimu tried to make sense of the distorting room. A hand gripped her shoulder, a heavily filtered voice speaking in her ear.
It took several moments for Reimu to realise it was Alice, demanding an explanation for what was happening. When the world stopped spinning, Reimu glance at Alice in confusion.
"Answer me! What's wrong with you!" Alice's normally cold demeanour was twinged with a hint of worry, and Reimu stumbled to her feet, rubbing her head.
"No idea... You weren't trying to poison me, were you?" Reimu asked, and Alice's glare dropped a few degrees in temperature.
"Are you insinuating I tried to kill you, Hakurei?" She asked, and Reimu quickly retracted her statement.
"No! It was a joke! But still, might wanna check out what's in your sake..." Reimu mumbled, hoping that was the cause, and that Alice hadn't just tried to mess with her in some way. The last thing she needed was Alice randomly trying to kill her.
Alice simply 'hmph'd' and walked back to her workbench. "Really now, blaming me for your sickness..." she muttered. "You try and show some hospitality and you're branded a murderer..."
With a sigh, Reimu made her way outside once again, stopping to say, "Hey, make sure you warn Marisa if you see her, okay?"
"Fine." Alice replied simply, absorbed with whatever she was doing with that doll on the bench. Leaving her to her work, Reimu exited, closing the door behind her.
Weird... Reimu frowned, placing a hand to her forehead. Have I come down with something? Pretty bad timing if I have...
Shaking her head, Reimu set off again, wondering where Marisa could have gone. She was undeniably worried about the witch now, and she hadn't spotted hide nor hair of this 'feral creature'. Had it moved on already?
Well, I'm sure it hasn't moved on to the human villages... but where the hell could it have gone? Reimu wondered.