Chapter 10
Mansion of the Mad Goddess
"Uh, it's been a while since I've been to the outskirts… Were they always like this?" Yuki said, looking out over the hellish landscape.
"Yes, this is about how I remember it." Alice said. Shanghai nodded her head in agreement.
"Indeed. The outskirts have never been terribly hospitable." Yumeko said.
"Of course they've always been like this, moron." Mai said.
"Mai, shut up." Alice said.
"Oh, it's fine, Lady Alice. I know she loves me." Yuki said, patting Mai on the head.
"This is why I hate you." Mai said, glaring at the fire witch.
Looking more closely at the landscape, Alice noticed a large, disfigured mansion. "Yumeko, do you see that? That is where we are headed. An arrow, if you will." the puppeteer said.
"Of course, Lady Alice." Yumeko said, carving an arrow into the ground, pointing at the manor.
As they approached the manor, avoiding the random pillars of flame dotting the landscape, they noticed more and more strange things about it. It was rainbow-colored, and the only door was three stories up, and upside-down. The entire building was slightly tilted, and it looked fuzzy, distorted.
"Well, I think it's safe to say this is where Mother is." Alice said.
"I am inclined to agree, Lady Alice." Yumeko said.
"Yumeko?" Alice said.
"Yes, Lady Alice?" Yumeko said.
"I appreciate your loyalty, but…" Alice said.
"Stop being such a suck-up?" Yuki said.
"Yes, that." Alice said.
"Understood, Lady Alice." Yumeko said.
"Enough banter. Let us head inside." Mai said. Alice nodded, and they flew up to the door.
The inside of the building looked like an Escher piece. There were upside-down stairs all over the place, and objects that shouldn't be able to exist were commonplace. The interior was no less colorful than the exterior, and everything had that same blurry quality it had had outside. The strangest thing was that gravity seemed directed at whatever large, flat object was closest. As Alyssa was unable to fly, and Alice insisted that they bring her along, they were forced to navigate on foot. This made the going rather slow.
Mima and Marisa flew as quickly as they could back to Pandemonium. "So, Mima. Were you planning on telling Alice that you knew what happened, roughly?" Marisa said.
The spirit raised an eye at the uncharacteristically serious tone of her student's voice. "And how did you know I knew?" Mima said.
"She's not really that good at hiding it. Especially with that bit where she knew about what her doll could do after one day, with no circumstances forcing her to find out. Normally, something like that'd take a few months, at least." Marisa said.
"Well, then. Yes, I was. Why?" Mima said.
"Don't. I don't know what caused it, but she promised me she'd never cast that spell again. And unlike either of us, she's actually one to keep her promises. After it happened, she locked herself in her house for almost a month. Whatever it was, it was bad. Really, really bad. Now, I have a question for you. Why were you planning on telling her?" Marisa said.
"Well, because…" Mima found she had no good answer for that question.
"Well?" Marisa said, folding her arms.
"I… I thought it would be funny. That's why." Mima said. She huffed, then said "And why do I have to explain myself to you?"
Marisa stopped and glared at her. "Because, Alice is my friend. This isn't something like when you just messed with Reimu a bit, or anything like that. Whatever it was tore Alice to pieces, and bringing it up again is just… wrong. Or do you want to end up back in the netherworld?" Marisa said.
Mima was unhappy with Marisa using her newfound power over the spirit, but she couldn't help but agree with the girl. "Alright, fine. I won't talk about it- unless it becomes important. I don't care how much you care about her, your safety comes first." the spirit said.
"Alrighty then." Marisa said, going back to her normal, carefree self. "Now, why exactly is there a giant arrow on the ground?" she said, pointing at said giant arrow.
For as intelligent as her pupil was, sometimes she was incredibly dense. Mima said "I imagine that that is where our friends headed, seeing as they are not currently here."
"Oh, right. Well, what're we waitin' for? Let's go!" Marisa said, speeding off in the direction the arrow pointed. Mima followed close behind.
Note: This story will, unfortunately, be only posted once a week from now on, most likely. Of course, the good news is that that is because I'm currently working on another story, one that takes place over the same period of time as Puella Magi Marisa Magica and this story, and that story is being posted on Thursdays now. Generally. As long as life doesn't do what life does best and get in the way. Either way, I apologize to those of you who only wanted to read this story, but as my already limited attention is now divided between two stories, I will not be able to work on this as quickly as I had been.