Marisa's hands and face were splattered with blood. She raised a hand to her face as she felt tears creep down her face. Cirno's face was still grinning but her eyes were closed and her body seemed completely devoid of life. Chen's eyes glared at the scene before her. She meowed softly. "That...was unexpected."
Marisa turned to glare at Chen.
"I'm not done with you." She raised her hakkero at Chen's face. "This ends here."
Chen's eyes glazed over and her pupils grew large. "No, I must report this to my master." Chen vanished in a flash of snow and blood.
Marisa cursed under her breath and looked back down at Cirno. Her wings were lodged in the wood of a nearby house. The wood had splintered where they had struck and blood was dripping down onto the snow. It was a disgusting sight. Marisa walked slowly over to Cirno's body and lifted her up onto her shoulder. She then walked over to the shore of the Misty Lake. It was just on the edge of the town and had been frozen over by the endless winter. The snow was starting to come down and Marisa knew she didn't have much time to do a proper burial. This would have to do for now. Marisa crouched down and put her hakkero onto the lake.
"Spark." She said under her breath. The hakkero glowed and morphed into a small wooden boat. The lake began to heat up and the ice cracked and melted around the boat. The creaking of wood on water was all that could be heard now as Marisa lowered Cirno's limp body into the boat.
"Rest in Peace, Cirno." Marisa said and she pushed the boat off the shore and watched as it drifted into the distance. A single tear ran down Marisa's cheek and landed on the snow.
Reimu's eyes fluttered open as Alice lifted her hand. "I remember everything, Alice."
Alice stood up from the bed and looked Reimu up and down. It was true, even Reimu's posture had changed. Reimu was battle-ready. "So you have, Reimu..."
"The amnesia I had was due to a certain boundary. It was put there for my protection."
"So what will you do, Reimu?"
Reimu turned to look at Alice.
"You are one of the demon children. I won't be telling you anything."
Alice glared at Reimu, her smile forming into an evil frown.
"It seems...you remember too much, Shrine Maiden." Suddenly, the woodwork in the house became alive with movement. Dolls, hundreds of animated dolls began seeping from the walls. Their cold eyes turned to glare at Reimu and as the shrine maiden jumped out of the bed she was in, Alice's dolls pounced with their strings leading back to the Magician's fingertips.
Chen was climbing the stairs of the underworld, her two tails flickering back and forth.
"I can't believe I killed someone who wasn't even involved. My master will certainly have a swift punishment for this..."
All of a sudden, a girl appeared before the cat. Her silver hair glistened in the moonlight.
"Ah, Youmu. Have you seen my master around?"
"She wants to talk to you. She doesn't seem too happy, Chen." Youmu replied, turning on her heels and beckoning to the cat to follow. Chen followed reluctantly.
"So...uh...hows gardening going for you, Youmu?" Chen said, trying to strike up a conversation while eyeing the swords on Youmu's back.
"Ah, the flowers need watering as usual, but my Mistress has her special project for me to attend too at the moment so I can't be bothered with the smaller flowers."
"I see..." Chen said, her gaze not drifting from the back of the gardener. "So, you use those swords often?" Youmu swiftly turned around, a menacing look on her face. "We've arrived." she simply said, and then walked away, leaving the cat to face her master's wrath alone.
In front of Chen was a small house. It appeared empty, but Chen knew better. She pushed her hand up against the sliding door, taking a deep breath, and then moved it aside. There in front of her was a fox with nine tails. Chen kneeled before her master and stuttered, "I have returned to you, Mistress Ran."
"Welcome back, Chen."
"...I'm sure you have heard of my grave mistake."
"I was watching your actions the entire time."
Chen bit her lip, and a little bit of blood came from where she was biting. She licked it off with her tongue and then looked up at Ran. In front of her was no longer a fox, but a tall and beautiful woman. The nine tails behind her remained, but they had grown and they now filled the room they were in. The fox-woman stared down at Chen with harsh eyes and a frown that seemed stone cold.
"Your punishment will be swift, Chen. I want you to go and wake Madame Yakumo. I'll let her deal with you."
Chen breathed a sigh of relief, but Ran noticed.
"Do not think I am being light on you, Chen. You know how the mistress is when you wake her up."
"Yes, Master. I understand the difficulties." Chen then dashed off out of the house on her master's orders, her tails between her legs.