Chapter 4: 6, Part 4

Renko woke up to the sensation of something small nudging her shoulder. She sat up, feeling well-rested for the first time in weeks, and blinked a few times at the sight of one of Alice's dolls hovering by her.

She hadn't for a moment thought the events of yesterday were a dream, but she also hadn't expected such an immediate reminder of their reality.

The doll zipped out of the room, closing the door behind it. Renko followed minutes later, and was greeted by the sight of Alice working on her doll again and one of the moving dolls offering her breakfast.

"Good morning, Margatroid," Renko said, taking the small plate of scrambled egg and toast with a smile. She wasn't used to Western breakfast foods, but it smelled good, and Alice certainly looked European, so it made sense she'd choose to make it.

"Morning, Usami. I hope I didn't disturb you too much- I just wanted to make sure you were up before Kirisame shows up. Because I'm sure she will," Alice said without looking up.

Renko chuckled quietly, and took a seat to eat her food. She managed to finish it, and was helping one of the dolls wash the plate when there was a sudden loud, annoying knocking at the door.

Alice didn't bother to get it herself this time, and one of her dolls opened it to reveal Marisa standing there with a grin.

"Heya, Alice and Usami! How was the sleepover? Did you play Truth or Dare, ze?"

"No, we spent the entire evening talking about how annoying you are, and I told her all of your embarrassing stories," Alice said with a perfectly straight face.

"Wha- Alice! No! Why would you do that to me, ze…?" Marisa looked absolutely mortified.

"I was kidding. We mostly didn't bother each other." Alice relaxed, expression going from stoic to a faint smile. "And I didn't actually share your embarrassing stories. You can be so gullible sometimes, Marisa."

"Alice, you're so mean…" Marisa sighed, but perked up almost immediately and turned to Renko. "I have some good news for you, though. I told my old teacher about you, and she said she's interested in meeting you to see if you'd make a good student, ze!"

"I'm surprised having you didn't turn her off from human students forever," Alice said, failing to hide a small smirk.

"Aliiice…" Marisa whined. She shook her head slightly. "But hey, it's not like she's busy. I could fly you over to meet her."

Renko glanced at Alice, wondering how good of an idea this was. Alice caught the glance and gave a single nod.

"If you're interested in learning magic, Marisa's old teacher is the best you'll find in Gensokyo. And as long as Marisa's with you, you won't be in any danger." Alice returned to her work after speaking.

"…Well, okay," Renko said.

"Cool, ze! Follow me!" With that, Marisa dashed out the door.

"…Um… Thank you for your hospitality, Margatroid. Hopefully I'll be seeing you later." Renko hurried after Marisa, and Alice chuckled softly to herself as she reached for a small jar of red paint.

Renko shifted uncomfortably on the back of Marisa's broom as they skimmed low over the forest. She had gotten used to the winter chill, and the snow had mostly left these trees untouched- it was almost warm, and not fitting for the season.

"Um… Where are we going?" Renko asked. They had been flying for several minutes from Alice's house, in the general direction of the Hakurei shrine but staying over the forest.

"Not far, ze." Marisa kept flying, and started to angle the broom a bit lower. They zipped between two trees, and into a small clearing that hadn't been visible from above the trees. A half-decayed house had nearly become one with the surrounding forest, currently leafless ivy growing all over it, and a mossy gravestone stood off to the side.

Renko took a moment to remind herself that Marisa's old teacher was apparently a ghost as they landed.

"Hey Meemz! I brought your possible new student!" Marisa called, grinning.

A swirl of mist flowed out from behind the gravestone, and quickly materialized into the upper half of a mature, elegant-looking woman with long green hair and blue robes adorned with stars, a pointed hat on her head bearing the emblem of a sun. A pair of violet wings extended from her back, and in place of legs, her lower body was still an eerily luminous mist.

"…So this is the human that Yakumo ordered brought here and protected, hm?" The ghost chuckled to herself. "You stand in the presence of the archmage Mima, human. Give me a good reason I should take any interest in you."

Despite her imposing presence, and the way she filled the air with a mix of magical energy and a harsh chill, the spirit's demeanor somehow failed to bother Renko. She felt more like she was being quizzed than threatened, and her mind raced. She had to… say something that would interest the ghost of an archmage.

This was definitely not something they taught back at school in the outside world.

She glanced at Marisa, who had started watching with interest. As she considered, Mima drew a staff tipped with a crescent moon from behind her back and idly twirled it.

With that sudden reminder, she looked up at the sky.

"It is exactly 9:32 AM and 43 seconds, and we are 18.57 kilometers north-northwest of the village and 4.12 kilometers straight east of the Hakurei Shrine. My name is Renko Usami, and it's nice to meet you," Renko said, bringing her gaze away from the sky.

Mima considered this.

"It would have been more impressive if you had prior knowledge of me, but given that you're an outsider with a power I suppose I'll let it slide. I didn't think there was still magic in outside blood. I'm interested, Usami, so tell me a bit about why you're here and why I should teach you," she said. "The outside of my house may not be very well-kept, but it's nicer inside. Why don't you both come in?"

Marisa cheered, raising both hands with a grin.

"Hey, you passed the first half of the entrance exam. Let's go in, ze," she said, looking at Renko.

"Um, okay!" Renko quickly followed the witch and spirit inside.

Mima hadn't been lying- the inside of her home was dusty and a bit chilly, but otherwise clean. A shelf holding several books was the only thing that hadn't accumulated a coat of dust, and strange magical diagrams covered the walls.

"Hey, this one's new, ze," Marisa commented, looking at a particularly complex sketch of a magic circle.

"It is. It's for sealing away naughty ex-apprentices," Mima said without missing a beat.

"Meeeeemz…" Marisa at least seemed aware that this was a joke, but sighed and flopped onto a chair, frowning. A cloud of dust billowed around her. "Why is everyone teasing me today?"

"You make it too easy." Mima didn't bother with a chair, simply 'sitting' in thin air and floating in place. Renko took a chair, being careful not to cause a dust cloud like Marisa had.

"…At any rate. I believe Usami has a story to tell us," Mima said, setting her staff across her lap and watching Renko intently.

Renko was starting to get tired of explaining the events that had brought her here, and was starting to consider simply writing down what she'd been through and handing it to anyone who asked.

By the time she was through, though, Mima had a thoughtful expression, and Marisa looked sympathetic.

"…Hey, I really hope you can find that 'Merry' girl, ze… I'll keep an eye out for you," Marisa offered.

"That's nice of you, Marisa, thanks…" Renko smiled shyly. Hopefully Marisa would be able to help.

Mima grinned, a knowing smirk on her face.

"I don't believe you'll find anything until Ran returns to help you, Usami. That said, your motivation is intriguing, and you seem like you'll be able to perform well. If you wish, I will teach you magic," she said.

Renko perked up at this. "Really? Thank you so much!"

"I have been bored lately anyways. I could use some excitement around here again." Mima chuckled to herself. "While you are my apprentice, you will call me Lady Mima. Marisa gets to call me 'Meemz' because she lasted through everything I could teach her. You do not have to blindly follow every direction I give, and in fact doing so would probably be hazardous to your health. Don't be contrary either or I'll have to discipline you. I'm not going to keep you on a strict schedule, as I don't exactly have one myself, but I expect you to put in considerable effort. Any questions?"

Renko shook her head.

"That all sounds reasonable… No questions here, Lady Mima," she said.

Renko hesitantly glanced down at the treetops, which looked absolutely tiny from her seat on Marisa's broom.

"Thanks again for helping me teach Usami to fly, Marisa," Mima said, entirely too casually, from across a short stretch of open air.

"Anytime, ze! Don't worry, Usami, if you fall I'll catch you," Marisa said, reassuringly patting her on the shoulder.

"…Do we have to be so high up…?" Renko asked, trying not to sound terrified. Mima had insisted on teaching her magical flight first of all, to make it easier for Renko to get to and from her house for lessons. This was all well and good, except for the fact that apparently learning how to fly involved trial and error while far enough off the ground that she could reach terminal velocity if she fell.

"Yes," Marisa and Mima said simultaneously.

"If there's no actual danger of falling, you won't learn how to fly while under pressure and it could cut out on you if you got into a fight. I'd hate to lose an apprentice because they crashed when a fairy attacked them," Mima said.

"That'd suck, ze," Marisa agreed. Renko sighed.

"…Okay… so, uh, how exactly does this work?" she asked.

"Flying is very simple. You charge your aura with ambient magical energy, and alter how the laws of reality apply to anything contained in your aura. Currently, gravity pulls you towards Earth and you need to push against a solid or liquid with sufficient force to move yourself in the opposite direction in order to go anywhere. You're overwriting that with 'gravity has no effect on me, and I can expend a small amount of magical energy to propel myself in any direction I want'," Mima explained.

Renko stared for several seconds.

"…So you're basically asking me to make myself an exception to the laws of physics?"

"Yes, exactly. You're such a bright student," Mima said with a grin.

"…And how exactly do I do that?"

"Just believe it will work and it will." Mima was still grinning. "Your first lesson is a success when you manage to fly from Marisa to me." She drifted back so there was a decent amount of space between them.

Renko glanced helplessly at Marisa.

"Go for it, ze, you can't possibly do worse than my first attempts," she said cheerfully.

Renko sighed and closed her eyes. She could sense the magical energy in the air a bit better now, having been surrounded by and breathing it for a full day now; the ambient energy was almost like heavy moisture in the air, but moisture that became something between fire and electricity when it was condensed.

She willed the aura of energy around herself to try and absorb some of this heavy feeling of magic around her, and much to her surprise it responded, flaring up to an intensity that somehow failed to be painful despite just how much energy was flowing around her.

"Okay, I think I have the 'charging my aura' part down," Renko said, opening her eyes.

"Feels like it to me, ze. That was the easy part, though, now you have to actually use it," Marisa said.

Renko nodded, and stared at the empty space between her and Mima. She had seen Reimu fly without any sort of aid, this couldn't be so hard.

"Okay, physics, I spent long enough studying you, now just sort of… I'm covered in magic, make an exception for me," she muttered to herself. Then she got off of Marisa's broom…

…and immediately started falling.

"Aaaaah! This isn't how it was supposed to work!" Renko cried out, desperately flapping her arms like bird wings in a ridiculous and entirely undignified effort to catch herself. Marisa started flying down after her, but stopped after a moment and burst out laughing.

"W-what, weren't you going to catch me if I fell…?" Renko asked. She paused, and looked down. The treetops weren't getting any closer; she was hovering in place in the air.

"You look so hilarious, ze!" Marisa managed to say through her laughter. Renko huffed, and stopped waving her arms, putting her hands in her pockets in an attempt to regain some of her dignity. Luckily, she didn't start falling again.

"…So, um, I'm floating. How do I move…?" Renko asked.

"Very carefully," Mima helpfully supplied. Renko rolled her eyes.

It took several minutes of leaning in various directions and accidentally setting herself spinning, but eventually Renko was able to simply use her aura almost like a rocket; she could feel the magical energy flare and evaporate behind her to send her moving forwards. It was even possible to continue taking in more magic as she did.

"I feel like I could do this all day," Renko commented as she drifted her way back up to where Marisa was.

"Probably could, ze. You might want to get some underwear that makes it a lot harder for you to accidentally flash people if you flip upside-down in midair, though," Marisa said with a grin.

Renko's face flushed solid red and she pulled her hat down to cover it with an embarrassed squeak.

"Now, now, Marisa, who are we to question Usami's choice in undergarments?" Mima said. "They look quite comfortable. If I still had, well, anything below my waist, I might have tried that style."

"Not helping!" Renko cried. Her cheeks still felt hot.

"You're too old for that, Meemz," Marisa said.

"Am I? Ah well. Not having legs is more convenient anyways."

Renko placed her hat back on top of her head, and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Well, you can say what you will, I'm sticking with bloomers, ze."

"Will you please stop talking," Renko asked, equal parts frustrated, embarrassed, and exasperated. Thankfully, she was met with silence, and she flew around Marisa in a circle once. She was moving only a bit faster than her walking speed, but it was so easy to move precisely. She changed course, and drifted across the open air to where Mima was hovering.

Mima simply grinned, and held up her hand. Renko smiled and high-fived the vengeful ghost.

"Well, you passed your first lesson, Usami. Now, getting it right the first time is easy. Doing it without focusing most of your attention on it is harder, but if you practice, it should become instinctual," she said.

"We should celebrate, ze," Marisa said.

Mima considered this.

"…Ah, why not? Come along, Usami, we'll go for lunch. Marisa's paying."

"Hey! No fair, ze!"

Marisa grumbled quietly to herself as she handed several coins to a bird-winged youkai girl with pink hair. Renko couldn't help being a little uncomfortable buying food from a youkai, even if her stand looked clean and professional, but all her reservations vanished when she was offered a whole grilled lamprey on a skewer, delicately seasoned and covered in a light sauce.

"Ish delishish," Renko said through a mouthful of fish. Mima chuckled, and the bird youkai smiled proudly.

"Of course it is! Lamprey is much better than yakitori! Don't eat birds!" the youkai girl said.

"I come here for lunch all the time, ze. Mystia's cooking is amazing. Just, eh, don't mention eating yakitori in front of her. Also, if ya walk by at night, she'll probably con you into buying something," Marisa said to Renko as she leaned against a nearby tree.

"H-Hey! Don't corrupt a potential new customer's mind like that!"

"Yeah, Marisa, for shame," Mima said, and casually took a bite out of her lamprey. "Looking to drive Lorelei out of business, are we?"

"It's not like that, ze! And what th'hell did you make me buy you one for, anyways? You're DEAD!" Marisa flushed red as she waved her free arm in protest. Mima and Mystia laughed, and Renko had to try very hard not to start giggling herself. Instead, she focused on her delicious meal, and once everyone had calmed down, she looked up.

"Um, Miss Lorelei…?" Renko said. Mystia glanced over. "I really do like the lamprey. I've, um, never had anything like it, but I really like it. I'd like to come back sometime."

Mystia's eyes lit up, and she smiled.

"Yes, of course! I usually keep the stand open in the afternoon and first half of the night, feel free to drop by! And bring friends! Someday I'll convince everyone to eat lamprey instead of birds." Mystia hummed cheerfully to herself as she tidied up her stand a bit. The sound made Renko's ears ring a bit, but it wasn't too bad.

Renko delicately nibbled away the rest of her grilled lamprey, and tossed the bones into a nearby bin. By the time she finished, Mima and Marisa had as well.

"Bye!" Mystia waved as they left, and Marisa and Renko returned the wave.

It was much easier to start flying again now that she knew what it felt like, and she trailed just behind Mima while Marisa flew circles around them, almost too fast to follow with her eyes.

"Um, Marisa? How do you see where you're going and react in time when you go that fast?" Renko asked as Marisa circled them again.

"Lots of practice, ze. I've worked on my reaction time so I don't run into trees or bullets," she said, slowing down a bit so she could talk. "Once you can fly faster without thinking too hard, you'll get used to it."

"Psh, humans and their limited reaction times," Mima said. Renko couldn't see her face, but was almost certain the akuryou was grinning. She sighed faintly.

"So, Usami. You're probably wondering what's next for your training, right?" Mima went on.

"Um, yes."

"Well, if you want to survive in Gensokyo, you're going to need to know at least basic danmaku. I have no intention of losing my new student before we get to the fun stuff, so that's going to be top priority," Mima said.

"W-would I really be in that much danger?" Renko asked, fidgeting nervously. Mima and Marisa exchanged glances.

"Things're a lot safer now than when I was studying with Meemz, but…" Marisa started.

"The current balance is fragile, and depends on a single person. I don't want to take chances," Mima finished.

Renko nodded, and couldn't help but look around almost nervously as they flew back to Mima's dusty, overgrown house. She didn't see anyone else, and soon, they returned. She and Marisa landed, while Mima simply floated inches off the ground.

"Flying is pretty easy, as you're mostly manipulating ambient magical energy. It doesn't take much of your own power. I'm going to warn you now- danmaku uses up your own energy, and you can hurt yourself trying too hard. You will stop when I tell you to," Mima said. It wasn't a question, and Renko nodded. If Mima was warning her that she could hurt herself, she was probably right.

"Hey, hey Meemz, can I help with this one?" Marisa asked. Mima chuckled.

"Ah, sure. Now, Usami. This is a single danmaku bullet. Experienced fighters often create thousands of these in a single conflict, but if you can even make one at a time, that's enough to count under the spell card rules." Mima held up her hand, and a glowing sphere materialized over her palm. Renko could sense the intensely concentrated magic radiating from it.

"And this is what it feels like to get hit by one."

Renko barely had time to process what Mima had said before she tossed it, and the ball of light hit her in the shoulder. She yelped in alarm and jumped back, wincing- it felt a lot like an intense, burning spark of static electricity. She rubbed her shoulder with a frown. Oddly enough, it was only the slightest bit sore after the initial pain, and her shirt was undamaged.

"It hurts, ze, but it really isn't that bad once you get used to it. Can't kill ya unless you put a lot more power into it than Meemz did just there- that's about what people normally use, and if you declare an official spell card duel, nobody can use lethal force. Like, literally can't, even if ya try," Marisa said. Renko nodded, and lowered her hand.

"It, uh, did hurt, but it went away really quickly," she said.

"That's the point. If they were debilitatingly painful, the first person to get hit in a duel would just keep getting blasted until they can't keep going. This way, there's no question that you got hit, but duels can last more than ten seconds. I like danmaku, myself. It's a very elegant solution to conflict." Mima smiled, and put her hands behind her back. Marisa took the cue to speak up.

"As for how to do it yourself, you gotta take a bit of your own energy and pull it out, hold it together, and will it to be hurty and try an' condense some of the magic in the air to make it glowy," Marisa said. Renko stared for several seconds, then glanced at Mima. Mima simply grinned.

Renko sighed faintly and started trying to manipulate her magical energy. It was quite easy to separate a pinch of energy from herself simply by expecting it to move, she quickly found, but incredibly difficult to hold it together. Most attempts, the energy fizzled as soon as it was separated from her. After several minutes, she thought she had it, but the moment she tried to fold ambient energy around it, it exploded in a pretty but useless shower of white sparks.

"That one was close," Mima commented, and Marisa nodded in agreement. "Go ahead and keep trying."

Renko nodded, and focused again. Maybe if she tried with a bit more energy…?

This time, the bit of energy stayed together, and with effort, she was able to get it to glow faintly. She looked up at Mima hopefully.

"Good, good. Now throw it at Marisa," Mima said. Marisa tried to flee, but Mima zipped after her and phased through the witch, vanishing. Marisa stayed still, and Renko obediently tossed the energy sphere. Mima phased back out the moment before it hit.

"Ow!" Marisa whined. "Meeeeeemz, did ya really have to possess me for that, ze?"

"You were going to run off," Mima said. "You offered to help, I was simply making sure you followed through." Marisa folded her arms and grumbled quietly to herself. Renko was pretty sure that she should have been more alarmed by the fact that Mima could possess people, but she couldn't bring herself to actually be surprised. Gensokyo was already strange enough, she'd believe most anything at this point. "At any rate, good job, Usami. The fact that it actually caused Marisa pain is good! Of course, it was still completely pathetic and you only made one, but you'll get better with practice. You feel a little low on magic right now, though. We can try again tomorrow when you're at full strength again. For now, I'll have you study some magical theory. Much of magic is practice, but even more is knowledge."

Renko smiled. She'd earned Mima's approval. She was pretty sure that wasn't easily given.

"Alright, that sounds great!"

Author's Notes

So, I've noticed people saying the story is starting slow and could use some action.

The thing is... honestly, would you really buy it if Renko COULD handle anything this early on? For the love of Shinki, she's been in Gensokyo for 24 hours at this point. Renko needs the tools to deal with what Gensokyo will throw at her before I can put her into any situations with real stress or danger.

She's a human from the outside world who couldn't fly, couldn't shoot, and isn't comfortable with youkai. There's a reason the story's been a little low on tension. Don't worry, it's coming.

Intermission 1 will be posted on Thursday. I believe you'll enjoy it.