Night at Gensokyo.

Earlier, Keine told Reimu, and the shrine's guests, that there would be a lunar eclipse on this night, and then they all decided to watch it at the shrine.

However, after managing to convince Reimu and the guests, Remilia leads everyone, including the villagers, from the safety of the shrine, to the shores of the Misty lake.

Now Rika and Youmu, who somehow set up a stove made of rocks on one of the clearings next to the shore, have Sakuya's help while making meals and snacks for everyone, and that includes Yuyuko.

Rika manages to grab flour plates on her arms, and after turning away from the stove, she smiles and says "I'll take these to the villagers. Oh, and miss Marisa said she'd like more sake."

As Rika makes her way to the guests, Sakuya angrily replies "miss Marisa can come get the sake herself!"

Youmu quickly replies "make sure to tell her we are PLENTY BUSY!"

Rika sighs, but continues on her way, now carrying a message as well.

The villagers happily thank Rika for her hard work and as she serves them, she thinks "an eclipse. About time too. My last trial should start soon. Hmm, I wonder what it will be this time?"

After serving the fourth and last plate to an modern-looking woman, Rika heads back to Sakuya and Youmu with a determined face, forgetting the message for Marisa and thinking "no matter what, I'll pass this trial! For myself and my lady Reimu!"

Later that night, after every single guest, and cooks, are all comfortable, fed and enjoying the night, Rika walks by herself to a secluded side of the lake shore and sits with her legs picked up under her skirt just at the edge of the lake water.

While she looks at the water's reflection, she hears some "oohs" and "ahhs" from where her mistress and the guests are, and that's when she notices the reflection of the waxing moon as it's already half-covered, and that is when she notices there is a monster staring back at her from the edge of the water.

With a gasp, Rika quickly stands up and unsheathes her sword, ready to fight said creature, but nothing happens.

Concerned for the safety of her mistress and the guests, Rika decides to get closer to try and draw it out, and hopefully kill it before it tries to hurt someone.

As she gets closer to the water again, she thinks "maybe it's friendly. Well, I better find out now."

Slowly, she gets closer to the edge, then she can see the creature peeking up at her, and pointing her sword at the water she shouts "show yourself, creature!"

Rika looks down to the water, waiting patiently for the creature to move, but nothing happens.

She gets closer still, and looks down the water.

The creature looks just like her, only with black skin, the white on its eyes is black, its iris is blood red, and its wings are raven black, and just like Rika, it holds a sword and points it straight at Rika's own.

Suddenly, Rika gasps and backs away from the water, breathing rapidly and heavily, then backs all the way back against a tree.

Her heart beats so fast, she feels it's about to break right through her ribs, and after getting enough air into her system, she whispers "that's me!"

Now her heart feels like it's made its way up to her throat as she thinks "no! I-I've become... I'm a monster! My lady... my friends! Th-they can't... What will they think?"

Rika gets more and more desperate, her heartbeats get louder and faster, then she can hear the warped voice of her dark self whispering sinisterly in her mind "you're mine, child. You are all mine now! And now, it is time to take all that is precious to you... starting with her."

Without actually moving her body, Rika's left hand points straight at Reimu, who's face becomes visibly clear between some bushes as she laughs while talking to Remilia.

Rika trembles after realizing her dark self has control over her body, so out of sheer will, she manages to regain control and reply "n-never! I'll never let you!"

Her dark self quickly replies in a sinister whisper "there's nothing you can do, child. Your body is now mine! It's just a matter of time before it's completely under my control."

Somehow, Rika regains full control of her body and quickly runs away, as far away as she can from all her friends, thinking "no! They can't see me like this, like a monster! They'll hate me! They will all hate me! My lady!"

Her dark self laughs, then says "run, yes, run! Ha ha ha! Save your pathetic little friends while you can! It'll just make the hunt so much more interesting!"

Ignoring the dark voice in her mind, Rika flees as though her worst nightmare is right behind her, when in reality, she has now become her own worst nightmare.

A few minutes later, at the gathering point at the clearing, while everyone is distracted with the eclipse, drinking and eating, Reimu gets up and decides to look for Rika, thinking of inviting her to join her.

While Reimu looks around the shore, Rika is already, and unknowingly on the back side of the Scarlet Island.

As she looks around with those monstrous eyes, the says to herself "there, I'm good and lost now! You won't be able to hurt ANYONE now!"

Rika's tension rises as she waits for her dark self to answer, but when there is none, she sighs with great relief.

Behind her, the leaves rustle violently, so her tension rises so much, her body stiffens along with her small black wings, and after slowly turning around, she sighs and says to herself "phew, just the wind."

Rika suddenly jumps and squeals in surprise when from right behind her Kimi asks "ara~, shrine maid, what are you doing hiding here?"

Trembling, Rika slowly turns her head toward the dragon youkai and says "i-i-i-it's the... d-d-dragon."

Before Kimi replies to that, from Rika's left, Kali says "hmph, if you think shadow looks good on you, think again! That's MY department."

Rika stops shaking, then manages to say "you have to get away from me, now!"

Kimi gets angry, and immediately replies "hey~! This happens to be MY territory, so you watch that mouth of yours!"

Before she can continue, Rika shakes her head and says "no, no, you don't understand! I'm dangerous... I... I'm..."

Rika's arms fall limp as she slumps and sways to the left, then remains quiet.

Kimi looks at her suspiciously and says "well, you seem to be acting strange, miss. Lucky for you that shrine maiden thinks so highly of you, or I'd..."

While Kali brazenly lifts Rika's skirt, saying "hmm, maybe I should use panties too", Kimi stares at Rika with fright, and in a sudden impulse, she flies away as fast as she can, shouting "MOVE, you butt-head!"

Kali get out from under Rika's skirt and watches as Kimi flees as though terrified of something, then scratches the back of her head, asking herself "huh, wonder what got into her?"

Before she knows what's next, her ears ring with the sounds of various sword slashes, then Rika's sword being sheathed.

Kali turns around, feeling heavier than usual, then looks at Rika as her iris glow red, then asks "what was that?"

Kali's body quickly falls to pieces on the ground, then Rika manages to recover herself, and as she looks around, she realizes what she's done, though it takes some time for it to sink in.

Back at the other side, where the spectators are, Reimu suddenly gasps and feels an abnormal amount of fear, and the urge to cry inconsolably.

As though knowing what's happening, she looks at the back of her right hand and gasps when she sees the wing symbol glowing bright.

Before she can call for help, she feels as though there is a powerful struggle in Rika, so without waiting for another moment, she takes to the air and calls for Rika as loudly as she can, however the partygoers are being too loud, and nobody hears her.

Thirty minutes later, Rika somehow manages to get herself to the Garden of the Sun, where she constantly flies upwards, as though hoping for some miracle to happen.

Finally, filling herself with determination, Rika takes another leap upward and flies with all her might, all the way up Gensokyo's border, which she crashes against, and falls back down.

As she falls, she thinks "that poor girl! When... how did I do that? I've become a monster, I don't deserve to be here! I don't have friends anymore, and worse, I'm more inclined to kill them at first sight. I have to... I have to get out of here! Leave Gensokyo, forever! I may not like it, but at least miss Reimu, and the others will be safe!"

Rika allows herself to fall down without showing a single sign of resistance, thinking "maybe this way is better. This way, nobody will be in danger, this monster that calls herself Rika will not harm another soul, and everyone will be happy."

Rika hears the loud thud she expected, yet she's conscious, and she doesn't seem to feel pain at all.

Slowly she realizes she fell on something soft, and when she opens her black and red eyes, she sees Yuugi Hoshiguma, the oni from the underground, holding her in her arms.

With a smile on her face, Yuugi asks "you are miss Rika, right? Yamame's been talking about you so much, and you do fit the description."

Rika starts to sob, then covers her face with her left forearm as she looks away and cries "so I really am a monster!"

Yuugi quickly panics and says "whoa, whoa, miss, calm down already! What do you mean a monster?"

Rika rolls off Yuugi's arms and falls down to the ground, where she rolls away from the oni, knocking a few flowers down as she does, then stands up with her sword unsheathed.

Pointing her weapon at Yuugi, she threateningly says "you stay away! I'm a monster! I will kill you without hesitation!"

Yuugi stares seriously at Rika, then says "hey, don't talk about yourself that way. From over here, I don't see a monster. Just a really kind girl in a lot of pain. Let me help you out, miss."

Rika sniffles, rubs her nose with the back of her right forearm, grabs her sword with both hands, then says "fine, if you won't listen to me, then I'll have to SHOW you what I mean!"

Yuugi sighs, rubs her forehead under her horn, then says "alright miss. When we are done here, perhaps you'll be able to see what I mean."

Rika trembles, her plan to scare Yuugi away failed, and now she finds herself in a fight she can't escape, no matter how badly she wants to.

Determined to scare Yuugi away, Rika attacks first, and somehow, she feels faster, and stronger than before, even though she hasn't had a good rest after her match with Youmu.

She's already next to Yuugi and raising her sword, though holding it backwards, then she swings it with all her might, but the cunning oni side-steps to the left and kicks the back of Rika's knee's making her fall to the ground, though Rika quickly rolls backward and back on her feet in no time.

Yuugi smiles, then says "see? You are holding your sword backward, and you hesitated to attack. You are a good girl, miss. Just like Yamame keeps saying."

Rika feels her heart beating fast again, though this time out of anger and despair, then shouts "look at me! Look at what I have become!"

Yuugi smirks and says "so? I have a large horn on my head, but you don't see me trying to ram people with it."

Rika takes the chance to attack once more, turning her sword around again while swinging, left, right and down, though doing this slowly and missing on purpose.

Yuugi ducks to avoid an attack from her right, then grabs Rika by her belly, lifts her up, then quickly tosses her away.

As Rika lands on her feet, Yuugi says "running away I see. Girl, you're doing it wrong! Look, no matter what you look like, you are still yourself, and all your friends will accept you!"

Rika trembles after hearing that, lowers her defenses, then looks at Yuugi with longing in her eyes, then asks "you... you really think it's that easy?"

Yuugi smiles more confidently now, flips her thumb up, then says "c'mon~! That Reimu you care so much about is one of the friendliest ones you'll ever meet. Sure, she's a bit rough around the edges, but so what?"

Rika lowers her sword, her heart slowly settles, then she slowly flaps her wings involuntarily as she says "I... you might be right. A-after all... she's already told me I'm special to her... so..."

Yuugi's smile brightens as she straightens up and places her hands on her waist, then loudly says "that's the spirit! Come on, I'll even come with you."

Yuugi's smile is quickly replaced by a concerned frown when she Realizes Rika is letting her hands hang limp in the air while she arcs her back to make herself looks like a hunch-back.

Yuugi gasps when Rika slightly lifts her head and reveals a pair of glowing red eyes, then asks "whoa, miss Rika, are you alright?"

In an instant, Rika is on top of Yuugi, raising her sword high and ready to strike down hard with its sharp edge.

Yuugi barely manages to dodge the attack, and receives a small cut on her forearm.

With an eager smile on her face, Yuugi licks the bit of blood trickling down her arm, then says "hey, whoever you are, leave that girl alone."

With a warped and sinister voice, and an equally sinister smile, Rika replies "I am 'that girl' miss oni."

Yuugi's smile is replaced by a brave stare, and after jumping back against a flowerbed to avoid another sudden attack, Yuugi pulls a spell card and says "time to knock that girl back into sense."

Rika suddenly runs at Yuugi at full speed, looking like a black blur under the dark night sky, yet somehow, Yuugi manages to clap in time to stop Rika's sword just before it strikes her horn.

Grunting with a confident smile, Yuugi says "you're pretty strong. To cut through my skin so easily, then getting so close to me just like that. I must say, I am impressed."

Rika, with a warped and twisted tone of voice replies "the sight of your blood will give me power. Now DIE~!"

Using a great deal of strength, Yuugi lifts Rika off the ground by clapping her sword tightly, then throws Rika away, rolling backward on the ground, and the moment she's back on her feet, she loudly declares "Shackles Sign, Shackles a Criminal Can't Take Off"

Yuugi surrounds herself and Rika between hundreds of tiny white bullets, then throws large shackles straight at the ghoulish woman, trapping her legs and right arm with them, and making her fall down on her face to the ground.

Yuugi, while still showering the surrounding area with her danmaku, looks down at the dark Rika and sternly says "now I'm certain, you are not Rika. Someone like her wouldn't have fallen so easily to this, and even if she did, she probably would have broken free before touching the ground."

The dark woman in Rika's clothing starts sobbing, making Yuugi feel a bit bad about herself, but she quickly recovers when she realizes dark Rika is just laughing softly.

Narrowing her left eye, Yuugi tosses another ring and asks "hey ghoul, what are you laughing about?"

With a warped voice, dark Rika cackles for a moment, then looks up at Yuugi as the ring wraps around her waist, then says "you FOOL! I AM Rika! Rather, I am all that is dark and negative about her! Now, DIE!"

Yuugi hops away from Rika when the dark girl jerks around very violently, trying to break free from those shackles, then, with a bit of fright on her face, says "hey, stop doing that. You'll break Rika's body!"

Yuugi's eyes fail to lie, the surprise so evident when dark Rika screams loud and breaks free from the shackles with ease, and stands straight on her feet with her sword ready on hand, and long before Yuugi realizes what's next, dark Rika is thrusting her sword right through the left upper side of her shoulder.

Dark Rika places her wicked smiling face right in front of Yuugi's trembling face, then opens her eyes wide with surprise when she hears Yuugi struggling to whisper "F-Four Devas Arcanum... Knockout in Three Steps!"

Dark Rika finds herself being pushed back by countless shard bullets in blue, gets up from the ground to watch with horror as Yuugi scatters light-green shards around her first set of bullets, then stands up but stays put when she finds herself surrounded by about fifty red orbs, while hundreds more spread all around the second set of bullets.

At the center of the attack Yuugi smirks at dark Rika and says "alright lady, time for you to go!"

Just as Yuugi sends the massive concentration of bullets flying, dark Rika makes her sword turn to pure darkness, holds it like a lance, then throws it straight at Yuugi's feet, where a vacuum forms the moment the lance touches the ground and sucks Yuugi in, dragging her to the center of a powerful dark explosion, blasting her hard, making her scream, cancelling the spell and lifting a thick dust cloud.

After everything settles, dark Rika casually walks toward Yuugi, grabs the sword from the ground as she looks at the oni's face as she lies unconscious on the ground, then smiles, raises her sword, then says "even oni fall to my power."

Before she swings her sword to cut Yuugi's head off her shoulders, a woman's voice from behind her gets her attention.

When she looks back, she notices Yuka standing behind her with an ominous and murderous smile as she speaks in a friendly manner, saying "my, what do we have here? I came here to get some flowers for that bland resort, but instead I find an intruder stealing bodies, breaking my flowers, and about to stain my lands with unwelcomed oni blood. Whatever shall I do?"

Dark Rika looks back at Yuka as a cold chill runs down her spine, then thinks "shit, this one is dangerous. She's already aiming to kill me... and I can't use any of the elemental swords. Dammit, what should I do?"

Dark Rika stands in place, staring back at Yuka while fear courses down her entire body.

Yuka continues to smile, narrowing her bloodshot eyes as she keeps them straight on dark Rika, then, in a friendly tone of voice, she says "so, you took over a body that doesn't belong to you, and just to spite me. Well done! Well done indeed. Now, let's get you straight out of there, so I can make you pay properly for destroying my flowers."

Dark Rika snorts, then holds her sword with both hands, bends her body, then smiles.

Yuka points her parasol straight at the dark girl and happily says "Original, Master Spark!"

A powerful thick yellow beam, accompanied by at least thirty flower bullets, flies straight at dark Rika, who suddenly takes a spell card from her pocket and quickly calls "Oath Breaker!", then jumps into a purple gate that opens up to her right, then jumps right out of the gate further to the right, narrowly avoiding Yuka's beam, yet having to avoid some flowers that spin like flying saws toward her.

Yuka's smile turns to a frown when she notices the dark ghoul now has four extra swords around her waist, so she turns her beam to the ghoulish girl, but dark Rika jumps to the air in a flash, sheathes the Family Sword, unsheathes two purple blades then lunges straight at the flower youkai.

Yuka doesn't hesitate to cancel her spell and use her artifact parasol to deflect dark Rika's vicious and fast attacks.

Dark Rika laughs, and in that warped and sinister tone of voice of hers, says "you're a fighter, I see, but not fast enough to match me."

Even though dark Rika is running in circles around Yuka, the youkai continues to smile, and in a confident tone of voice, she says "I may be slow, but I make up for it in strength!"

As she finishes her sentence, Yuka swings her parasol with all her might, matching dark Rika's sword swing, and with the sheer force of the impact, the right sword flies off the dark girl's grasp and flies away from sight.

Dark Rika looks with shock at her flying sword and misses the glint on Yuka's right eye, then she suddenly finds herself flying backward after Yuka strikes her hard with that parasol of hers.

She lands on her back on the ground, knocking two more sunflowers to the ground, then flips back on her feet and shouts "what the hell is that umbrella made of?"

Yuka chuckles, then says "this 'umbrella', as you so kindly call it, is actually the only flower in Gensokyo that never withers."

Dark Rika chuckles as she says to herself "I see, an artifact weapon. Fine, I'll have to use my own for a bit longer."

Yuka smiles as she asks "what was that dear? I couldn't hear you over the sound of your inevitable death."

Dark Rika sheathes the second purple sword and quickly unsheathes the family sword, then smiles and says "I'm taking you down, youkai!"

Yuka smiles and prepares herself defensively, then says "now don't make me chase after you. Come and die already."

Dark Rika takes the bait and rushes forth, swings her sword with all her might, then Yuka responds with a stronger swing of her parasol.

The surprise on Yuka's face is undeniable; instead of the sword flying away, there is a powerful vibration on both weapons, and dark Rika is sent flying away with her sword firmly on her hands.

Surprised, Yuka points at dark Rika and asks "what's the meaning of this? Your sword should be all the way over by the Nameless Hill!"

Dark Rika laughs, rushes back toward Yuka the second her feet touch the ground, then puts her face close to Yuka's as they both push against each other with their weapons and says "this sword's hilt is very special. You see, the hilt is made of red mine. No matter how hard you try, it won't fly off my hands unless I let go of it myself!"

Yuka is surprised when she realizes the sword now looks colorful, with its hilt in red, adorned with a small diamond on the bottom with the kanji letters for "Bond", and the unsharpened edge looks sky blue.

Seemingly frightened, Yuka manages to jump back and away from dark Rika, then points her parasol at the girl while holding a spell card on her left hand, then growls inward when she notices the dark girl's wings have grown to match the size of her body.

Not waiting to give her opponent a chance, Yuka quickly declares "Dual Spark!", then her body splits into two, then both Yukas attack in unison, firing a blue beam at the same time, both aiming at dark Rika, and all the dark girl can do is wrap her large black wings around herself.

The left Yuka laughs victoriously, then says "now be a good little evil spirit and return that body to its real owner."

The right Yuka opens her eyes wide in surprise and exclaims "what the-? Heads up! Something's not right!"

Both Yukas watch with horror at a strange and unexpected reaction on the meeting point of their beams, and just as they see the bottom of the black feathered wings, they are both pushed back by a great force, then dark Rika reveals herself unharmed, with both wings expanded as though she's just flapped them with great force, then laughs and says "these wings of mine are really good at deflecting beams and bullets. I must say, that goodie two-shoes self of mine has taken really good care of this body."

The Yuka to the right turns translucent, and as she glare at dark Rika, she merges again with the Yuka to the left to make one Yuka.

Dark Rika passes her hands all over her own torso, then moans as she stretches out again, and says "mmm, a little short, but still got it right where it counts, don't you think?"

Yuka growls, but doesn't reply, so dark Rika smiles for her, then holds her head as though in pain and bends her body as she drops to her knees.

Surprised, Yuka stares at Rika and cautiously stands up, then asks "you changed again. Is that the real Rika?"

With her normal voice, sounding as though she's struggling greatly, Rika says "quick... blast me now! Turn me to ashes!"

Yuka stares silently at the struggling girl, then Rika desperately shouts "NOW! She wants to kill you! You have to kill me now!"

Yuka frowns, turns her head to the left, then angrily says "I don't take orders from cry-babies like yourself! What's the matter with you, letting that weakling take over your body like that? Fight! You can win easily against her!"

Rika seems to struggle with herself for a moment, then drops to the ground and shouts "I CAN'T! She's me; she's the monster you see before you! Please, while I'm still me, let me die!"

Yuka snarls as she looks down at Rika with disgust, then says "tch! Stupid child! First of all, if I do that, Reimu is REALLY going to kill me. Second, if I kill you like that, you'll just become a vengeful spirit bound to my field!"

Rika suddenly stops moving, and seems to have calmed down, then Yuka gasps and opens her parasol, as though defending herself from something, and right afterward, dark Rika's twisted and warped voice loudly declares "Untitled, Darco Gessenkou!"

Yuka blinks after the spell is declared, and upon opening her eyes again, she finds dark Rika right in front of her, holding a purple sword on each hand, and with a dual crescent strike that makes the shape of a dark moon, she sends Yuka flying up to the air.

Dark Rika follows after Yuka, jumping straight up, and with another dual crescent strike, she sends Yuka falling to the ground with great force.

Right after Yuka lands on her back on the ground, yelping upon impact, dark Rika sheathes her swords and claps her hands, creating a moon on the ground around Yuka.

Before the youkai can even think of getting up, the moon becomes hundreds or dark oval bullets that rapidly fly to Yuka, making her scream out loud as her body is hit hard with one explosive bullet after another.

Yuka's screams suddenly stop, yet the explosions continue until the very last bullet explodes on the youkai's body.

Dark Rika slowly descends back to the ground, next to where Yuka's bloodied body lies, yet all she does to slump over it while leaving her hands hang limp.

Just like that, she picks herself up and stares at Yuka's blank stare, then turns around to look at Yuugi's pale, lifeless face, then drops on her knees.

She clenches the ground under her hands, picking up a fist of dirt, then starts sobbing, and with her normal and cracking voice, she says "no... This can't be. I... I warned them! They tried to help me, but all they managed to do was DIE! I, I..."

Before she can finish, her dark self whispers in her mind, saying "yes~! That's right Rika. You murdered them. You are a MONSTER!"

Rika sobs loudly, then cries "I'm a MONSTER! I... all they wanted to do was help! I should have fled when I had the chance, now look at what I did!"

Rika manages to stand up again, wiping the underside of her nose with her right forearm, then says to herself "I have to disappear! Nobody should see my face ever again! I'm a monster, and will live as such!"

Hatred, regret, fear and sadness claim Rika's heart at the sight of the destroyed bodies of those who tried to help her, and feeling convinced that she, herself really is a monster, she decides to take flight to parts unknown, hoping to never come across another living being ever again.

Shortly after Rika leaves, while the moon, which is still missing a bit of itself to the dark shadow of the eclipse, reflect itself on Yuka's blank eyes, the youkai angrily asks "hey, oni! Why the hell didn't you help me back there."

From further away, Yuugi replies "there is nothing either of us could have done. She's too sure that she's a monster. Even if we did manage to beat her, it would have meant nothing."

Yuka sighs, blinks, and after opening her eyes again, they are once more full of life.

She lifts herself up and looks at Yuugi from across the field, holding a large sake plate and drinking contently, then says "at least have the decency of offering some sake!"

Yuugi points to her immediate left, where a white cup and bottle sit on the ground, then says "you can join in whenever you want, miss."

Yuka smiles, then grunts a bit as she gets up, then makes her way to Yuugi's left, dropping on her seat and crossing her legs after falling, then takes the sake cup and drinks its content.

Yuugi chuckles, then says "that was a nice attempt from your part."

Yuka stares at the sword wound on Yuugi's left shoulder, then asks "to break through an oni's skin so easily. Tell me, how long have you been awake?"

Yuugi chuckles as she fills Yuka's cup, then says "the whole time."

Annoyed, Yuka replies "you could have helped with the flowers at least."

Yuugi sighs, then says "I'm not delicate enough. I'd break them the moment I touch them."

Yuka drinks her sake, then sighs and says "that's fine. Still, what are you doing here? I though you oni lived underground."

Yuugi smiles and says "I thought of enjoying the eclipse surrounded by flowers."

Yuka quickly asks "I thought you just said you weren't 'delicate'."

Yuugi smiles, then chuckles while refilling Yuka's cup, and replies "c'mon, drinking sake under the stars, watching a lunar eclipse, all while surrounded by the scent of flowers. What more could a girl ask for?"

Yuka takes her drink, smiles after gulping it down, then says "I guess you're right."

There is only silence between them for a few moments, the two girls drinking while looking at the moon, then Reimu suddenly lands in front of them with despair hidden in her eyes, then she asks "have any one of you seen Rika? There's something wrong with her, but I can't even find her!"

Yuugi blinks, noticing Reimu's despair is quickly flowing right out of the maiden, then say "oy, it's alright, she's fine, though she's having some self issues."

Reimu starts breathing a little faster, losing her cool quite quickly, but before she explodes, Yuka says "Reimu, getting desperate like that isn't going to help her. If you really want to help her, you need to calm down."

Reimu takes a few calming breaths, slowly relaxing, then Yuugi says "she went that way, toward the Forest of Magic. Mind you, Reimu, her appearance may seem shocking for a human like you."

Reimu wants to ask, but before she does, Yuka says "right now, she's very frightened, and could really use your help, but if you go to her feeling like that, you'll drive her away."

Finally, Reimu takes one last, deep relaxing breath, then says "fine, you're right. I'm calm now. The Forest of Magic, are you sure?"

Yuugi nods, then calmly says "careful though", then Yuka quickly continues "there's something else trying to take over her. It's strong, but not beyond that girl's capabilities."

Yuugi quickly adds "she still needs some help. That's how we ended up like this, but maybe you'll have better luck."

Reimu stares with determination at the two girls, nods, bows in gratitude, then takes to the air, heading straight to the Forest of Magic.

Yuugi and Yuka watch as Reimu flies away for a while, then Yuka suddenly gets up and says "well, I better fix these poor flowers now that I recovered. After that, is back to that boring resort before Elly and Kurumi find out I'm here."

Yuugi smiles and salutes Yuka with another small white bottle, then Yuka chuckles and says "as long as you don't hurt my precious flowers, you can stay."

Yuugi smiles and chuckles, then says "you're a really cool gal, you know that."

Yuka stares at Yuugi for a moment, trying to figure out whether she's been complimented or insulted, but after looking into the oni's eyes for a moment, she smiles naturally, then makes her way toward the damaged flowers.

Hidden under the bushy trees of the Forest of Magic, Rika reaches a clearing, but decides against going into it and sits under a tree, surrounded by many bushes, broken branches, and the bones of a small animal.

Around Rika's feet, countless bugs crawl around, all apparently trying to escape from her, and after sobbing again, she says to herself "this is where I belong, and yet, even here I'm too monstrous. What should I do?"

Rika gasps and curls herself up into a ball, as if wanting to disappear from sight, when she hears some voices coming from the clearing.

She recognizes Alice's annoyed voice as she ask "can't you just leave us alone already?"

She hears when Rumia asks "are we being annoying?", then Shanghai quickly replying "I'm going to shoot!"

Alice quickly says "no, no, not yet Shanghai!", while Hourai cries out "I told you to stop looking under my skirt."

Rika almost lets out a giggle when she hears Agava replying "but are you really... you know... down there?"

At the clearing, Hourai flies straight toward Alice's chest and gets inside her shirt, crying "momma~, she's a lolicon~!"

Alice gets mad and stomps on the ground, almost dropping the basket with magical mushrooms and silk for her threads, then shouts "if you two don't go away, I'm going to blast you myself!"

Agava and Rumia regroup behind Alice, then the shadow youkai stretches her arms behind her head and calmly says "aww, I'm just curious. I mean, you're supposed to be dolls."

Alice suddenly gasps and looks to where Rika is hiding, then whispers "girls, weapons!", then she pulls her grimoire from her basket as Shanghai and Hourai position themselves in front of Alice, holding a lance and shield, and says "shh! There's something over there."

Rika knows the sudden silence means she's been found out, however she gets too nervous and can't decide if she should run away or stay hidden.

From the clearing, Alice shouts "come on out, whoever you are! I know you're there!"

Rika trembles, her mind races, her heart beats fast, and she can't decide what to do, so she closes her eyes and hopes to come up with a plan, and when she opens them up again, she finds Agava looking straight at her and casually saying "hey, another shadow youkai. What's up?"

Rika shrieks and gets up, instinctively flapping her long dark wings as she does and revealing herself to Alice, Shanghai and Hourai.

Alice glares at the monster in front of her and shouts "Shanghai, Hourai, take it out!"

The tiny girls stay floating next to Alice, then Alice prepares her dolls to attack instead while saying "ugh, they're scared! I'll have to do this on my own!"

Rika instinctively covers herself with her wings, but before Alice attacks, Shanghai and Hourai turn around and desperately shout at the same time "wait mom! That's miss Rika!"

Alice looks at the girls with confusion, then stares at the dark girl before her, then gasps and exclaims "whoa, you're right! Miss Rika, what happened to you?"

From the bushes to Rika's left, Agava jumps out and says "aww! And here I thought I found another shadow youkai to hang out with."

Shanghai and Hourai rush to happily greet Rika, but stop when Rika herself shouts "no, stop! Stay away from me!"

Looking disappointed, Shanghai asks "w-why? We're not going to harm you."

Hourai adds "aren't we supposed to greet friends when we see them?"

Rika trembles again, covering herself with her wings while saying "I've become a hideous monster, and if you get closer, I'll hurt you!"

Hourai feels sad after hearing that, then says "but miss Rika, you are very kind, a very good person. You'd never hurt us, right?"

Alice stares at Rika for some time, then thinks "that poor girl. She struggling with herself so much... wait... wait, this isn't right."

Shanghai and Hourai slowly start moving backward while staring sadly at Rika, then Alice shouts "girls, to me, NOW!"

Speaking in a warped tone of voice, as though mixing Rika's sweet voice, with dark Rika's sinister one, Rika says "it would be wise to run now, while I can still hold her back!"

Alice takes two steps back the moment the two tiny girls rush and crash on to her chest and embraces them tightly around her arms, then says "how can this be? Two opposing energies sharing one body! That girl... must be in so much pain!"

Rika slowly pulls her wings away, and while still speaking in that warped tone of voice, she says "run! Get away while you can!"

Alice nods and is about to run off, but she feels another source of power right behind her, and when she turns around with a frightened look in her eyes, she finds Rumia with a dark energy wave circling around her feet, her ribbon hanging around her fingers on her left hand, and a dark gust of wind energy that keeps making the ribbon and Rumia's skirt flutter violently.

Alice quickly jumps to the right, just as a dark, large broad sword appears form another circling wave of energy that sits inches away from where she was standing, and before they realize what happened next, Rumia is pressing her broad sword against dark Rika's purple Japanese swords, shouting "nobody interfere!"

Rumia smiles at dark Rika and says "shadows like you should stay hidden, missy!"

Dark Rika's warped and sinister voice now dominates as she says "more blood to fuel this girl's despair! Excellent! That's better for me!"

Rumia manages to push the sword away, then starts swinging her sword hard and fast, spinning in place to get more momentum for her blows, while dark Rika easily manages to block all the attacks, whether from above, below, or the side. From the sidelines, Alice, Shanghai, Hourai and Agava just watch with amazement at the battle unfolding before them.

Rumia and dark Rika start running around the clearing so fast, they both look like blurs, and every time they attack each other, they end up matching the attacks perfectly.

Dark Rika is amazed by how Rumia is able to wield her sword so fast, even though it's her own size, yet she continues to attack.

Alice, who holds the tiny girls, and Agava hide behind the bushes where Rika was hiding before, then Alice says "I'm sorry girls, but I don't think we can help Rika now. When she's distracted, we have to go and get help."

Alice looks at Agava, then nods and asks "do you understand?"

Agava sighs, thinking "once, I was such a powerful force of darkness. Now I'm enjoying life and running away from powerful opponents. This sucks.", but she just nods and says "she'll be alright. She can take it."

Alice turns her attention to the battle, then says "I don't think so. Something's not right. It's as if something is holding that creature back, preventing it from using its full power."

Hourai looks up at Alice's face from the left of Alice's chest, then says "it's miss Rika!"

From the right side, Shanghai adds "she's such a good person. There's no way she'll let that creature win!"

Alice looks back up and says "for our sake, I hope you two are right."

Meanwhile, Rumia and Rika find themselves trapped in another stalemate, pushing each other back with their swords with all their might.

Dark Rika smiles, then says "hey, we shouldn't be fighting each other, girl. We both favor the darkness, so why not join and kills those weaklings?"

Rumia smiles back, pushes dark Rika back with all her might, throwing her off balance for a moment, then replies "nope! I don't like you."

Dark Rika snarls and attempts an overhead strike, which Rumia easily avoids with a quick step to the left, then dark Rika shouts "fine, I don't like little snotty girls like you anyway!"

Rumia tosses her sword between her hands, giving dark Rika an opening she takes, and when dark Rika's sword is inches away from Rumia's chest, the darkness youkai grabs her own sword tightly on her left hand, lets it drop on top of dark Rika's, pushes it down to the ground, and when dark Rika and Rumia's faces are right next to each other, Rumia stares with a confident smile and asks "is that so~?"

As dark Rika pulls her sword out of the ground, Rumia kicks her abdomen hard and sends her crashing toward some bushes, then turns around to look at the girls with a straight face, and says "better get moving!"

Dark Rika tries to take the chance and attacks Rumia from the back, but the darkness youkai raises her own sword above her head and intercepts dark Rika's sword.

She scowls as she quickly turns around and switches her sword back to her right hand, smirks, then says "despicable! Attacking form behind like a coward! Rika will be ashamed!"

Somehow, those words infuriate dark Rika, and as she shouts "I am a hundred times better than that weakling!", she expels so much dark energy, she pushes Rumia back with ease, as well as the spectators, sending the two tiny girls flying from Alice's arms.

Dark Rika rushes straight toward the two tiny girls, aiming to kill those two first, since Rika seems to have a heart connection with them, and killing them will hurt Rika, however, she is met with Rumia, who stands on her way, already swinging her broadsword from the left side.

Alice hears Shanghai scream, then gets up with fright and shouts "Shanghai! Shanghai, Hourai, were are you?"

When the girls fail to reply, Alice summons twenty of her dolls, all carrying thick lances, then rushes toward the source of Shanghai's scream.

She quickly finds Shanghai and Hourai hovering between dark Rika and Rumia, begging Rumia to not swing her sword, Shanghai saying "she's Rika now! You don't have to hurt her anymore!"

Agava joins Alice, then they both stare at the scene; Rika kneeling on the ground, stretching her neck and saying "do it", while Rumia has her sword raised above her head, ready to oblige to Rika's request for a quick death.

Alice shouts "Shanghai, Hourai, get away from her!"

Before anyone can react, Rika grabs Shanghai, slams her to the ground, and presses her purple sword on the tiny girl's neck, and in a sinister voice, she shouts "back off, or I cut off her neck!"

All the girls gasps and Rumia backs away, then dark Rika shrugs and in a manner-of-factly tone, says "on second thought, I'll do it anyway!"

Dark Rika uses her own body weight to press her sword against Shanghai's neck, ignoring the tiny girl's cries and Alice's pleas, but stops just as the blade is an inch away from the tiny girl's neck.

Even Alice's attacks stop when Hourai starts to sing Rika's family song out of despair, yet not missing a single tone.

The song of faith, struggle, hope, defiance, honor, love and accomplishment enters through the ears of all those present, and even though it's not being sung by Rika herself, it still has a powerful and soothing effect.

Dark Rika starts to cry, then Rika's voice pulls through as she says "no way. You're not killing her!"

Dark Rika's voice replies "you have no choice! I am in charge now!"

Rumia takes the chance and swings her sword, and just as she expected, dark Rika releases Shanghai and turns around to protect herself.

Right after Hourai stops singing, Rumia jumps forward, and after somehow grabbing Shanghai before dark Rika has another chance, she jumps back to her initial position, then smirks and says "cowards don't like pain, do they?"

Dark Rika jumps on her feet and swings her sword with all her might, forcing Rumia to block with her sword on her left hand, then pushes down hard, hoping to kill both Rumia and Shanghai after breaking through Rumia's defenses.

Alice's dolls start spinning around her, ready to attack, but a familiar voice stops everything, including dark Rika.

From the night skies, Reimu calls "Rika~! Rika, answer me, please! Why are you hiding form me?"

Dark Rika starts to tremble, then Rika's voice comes through again as she drops her sword, holds her head, then whispers "I almost killed you too. I..."

She hears Reimu calling for her again, then fear takes her heart again, and like a frightened animal, Rika takes off, running through bushes and making a lot of noise, allowing Reimu to hear the rustling form the sky and follow after her, keeping herself silent after noticing Alice and Rumia's hair between the tree leaves.

After Reimu flies over them, Agava walks toward Rumia, who has her ribbon back on her head and looking as normal as always, then asks "that's it? You're not chasing after her?"

Rumia smiles widely and ask "should I have to~?"

Shanghai cries as she embraces Alice and Hourai, who hug her back as though seeing a loved one coming back from the dead, then Shanghai cries "don't hate her mama! Rika saved me! She's not bad!"

Hourai quickly adds "Rika is good! Don't fight her!"

Alice takes a lot of breaths before finally holding both girls tighter and closing her eyes while saying "alright, calm down. I won't hate or fight her."

Though she does feel calm now, the thought of losing Shanghai like that fuels a fire in the pit of her stomach that makes her think "I don't care if she's not herself, I'd kill her if she even hurts one of your hairs!"

Meanwhile, as the eclipse ends and the moon recovers itself, Reimu dives down to the caves after the Forest of Magic and finds a trembling black ball on the ground, covering itself with a pair of tattered black wings and shouting in Rika's voice "get away! I'm a hideous monster!"

Reimu slowly gets closer to the trembling girl and after preparing herself for anything that might happen, she bends slightly and softly says "Rika, it's me, Reimu. Please, stand up and look at me."

An order from her mistress.

There is no way Rika can ignore this command, so, even though she doesn't really want to, she slowly stands up while looking away from Reimu, then slowly extends her wings to uncover herself.

Reimu smiles, feeling a bit more relaxed now, then softly says "almost there. Just turn around so I can see you."

Rika slowly turns around, and to her great surprise, Reimu is now standing very close to her and holding out her hand, smiling while saying "there, you see? You're not really a monster, are you?"

A tear rolls down Rika's right eye as she smiles and whispers "my lady", all while extending her own hand and asking "y-you don't mind if I look like this?"

Reimu sighs, eager to grab hold of Rika's hand, then says with a smile "you are still Rika, right? As long as you are you, then it doesn't matter to me."

Rika hesitantly moves her hand closer to Reimu, then the shrine maiden makes the last move, takes Rika's hand, places both hands on her maid's, then says "if you don't like how you look now, then we can fix this. Just stop running away from me!"

Without realizing it, Rika's body returns to normal; her eyes white with her sky-blue iris, her skin back to its usual light-pink state, and her wings white, and back to their small size.

Reimu smiles at Rika, then says "you see? Everything is back to normal. You just needed some encouragement."

Rika smiles, still unaware of her change, but then frowns and gasps, then embraces Reimu, desperately calling for her mistress, then opens her eyes wide and twists her face as though in pain.

Unsure of what's happening, Reimu worriedly asks "R-Rika, what's the matter?"

Rika slowly falls down to the ground with the scar on her back covered in a purple energy, and as she falls, she starts to tremble as she whispers "my... my lady. Th-thank you for... for seeing me as Rika... and not... some monster... my... lady."

Rika slowly falls to the ground, exhaling as she says that last word, then Reimu finally sees what had happened.

Standing further behind Rika is dark Rika, holding her hand in the air as powerful dark energy is absorbed once more into her being.

With a smile on her evil and twisted face, and with her iris glowing bright red, dark Rika stares at Reimu and says "finally. I managed to absorb enough negativity from her to have a body of my own!"

Reimu drops on her knees just as Rika falls to the ground, cushioning her head with her lap, then stares in shock at her maid, then at the dark being that smiles so wickedly.

Dark Rika shrugs, as though not caring for Rika at all, then says "you see, I feed off negative emotions, and the colossal meal that fool gave me has empowered me! But now I want more! Perhaps..."

Before she finishes her sentence, Reimu has already set Rika on the ground with her own ribbon on the maid's back, covering her scar, and is now charging at dark Rika with her gohei and her Fantasy Heaven spell card on hand, then dark Rika unsheathes her remaining two swords and blocks Reimu's vicious attack while smiling.

Rage and hatred now fill up the usually calm maiden's heart, unknowingly feeding dark Rika even more, and while smiling, dark Rika says "yes~, YES! More! Hate me MORE!"

Reimu and dark Rika suddenly take to the air, and while Reimu unleashes needles, charms and amulets in unison, she shouts "you killed her! I'll never forgive you!"

Dark Rika laughs and flashes a spell card, then says "only hatred can defeat me now! Come at me with all the hatred you can muster!"

Blinded by grief, Reimu rushes straight to dark Rika, her lose hair waving in the wind as she lunges toward her hated enemy.

Using every ounce of strength in her, Reimu strikes dark Rika's swords with her gohei, while throwing as many amulets and needles as she can every time they split up, even if it's just for a second.

Dark Rika laughs and just blocks all the attacks, making sure to keep Reimu as furious as she can.

Without giving much though, Reimu furiously throws her Fantasy Heaven spell card along with more amulets, then looks for another, almost ripping her own skirt off as she furiously pulls a small pack of spell cards from her pocket, letting them all fall down to the ground, then shouts "I will make you PAY! Treasure Tool, Yin-Yang Demon God Orb!"

A large yin yang orb made of light-blue light rushes toward dark Rika, but before she can jump away, Reimu is already on top of her and striking her face as hard as she can with her gohei, sending the dark girl straight into the burning light.

Dark Rika screams, feeling as though a thousand knives are all cutting through her skin over and over again, and when it all stops, Reimu is thrusting her gohei right on to dark Rika's stomach and pushing her down to the ground for a powerful impact.

Reimu can feel as though her gohei breaks through the dark one's skin as they impact the ground, and feels great satisfaction when she hears the pain on dark Rika's voice when she breaks her lower back on impact.

Reimu is still furious, and she can see that dark Rika isn't really hurt at all, just faking it.

Her rage rises, so she starts throwing needles at point blank while looking around on the ground at her scattered spell cards, then finds her Omnidirectional Demon Binding Circle and aims to get it, but the second she stops throwing her needles, dark Rika stands up and gets in her way.

With a smile on her face, dark Rika says "thanks for the meal, miss. Now it's time I repay your kindness."

She takes the spell card she flashed at Reimu earlier and shouts "Untitled, Darco Houryuu Zankouken!"

Dark Rika holds her two sheathed swords by their hilts, crossing her arms over herself, and stares at Reimu with her glowing red eyes, then rapidly cuts the air around herself, leaving marks all over the area, then suddenly appears in the air, sheathing her swords.

Reimu stares at the marks and angrily asks "what the hell is this crap of a spell, you wretch?"

Dark Rika smiles and fully sheathes her swords, and the moment they click in place, the marks become hundreds of dark bullets that scatter all over unevenly.

Reimu gasps and takes flight to avoid the attack, but after dark Rika prepares another set of marks in the air, she rushes to Reimu and strikes her with the hilt of her right sword, saying "stay down and take your medicine, girl!"

Reimu yelps when she is hit, screams in pain when she lands against a small rock on her back, then groans as she rubs her back after the powerful impact.

She suddenly opens her eyes wide, and doing her best to ignore the sharp pain on her back, she throws four amulets to the air and creates a barrier to protect herself from dark Rika's bullets.

To her horror, dark Rika has already prepared more of those marks above her head, and as she protects herself from the frontal attack, she is left exposed to the aerial attack, but Reimu is no simpleton.

Noticing the aerial attack at the last second, Reimu manages to open a gap and teleport just above the dark girl, falling out of her gap with her right leg surrounded by an orange energy and striking dark Rika on the back of her head, sending her crashing to the ground again.

Having cancelled dark Rika's spell, Reimu flies straight toward the dark girl, ready to attack again, but stops when she notices her opponent is already standing on her feet and smiling wickedly while pointing her hand straight back at the maiden.

Reimu readies herself for the attack, but fails to notice when dark Rika moves, and by the time she realizes this, the dark girl is already hitting the back of her head with the hilt of her sword, making her scream in pain as she falls down to the ground again.

Reimu groans as she gets back up, and after managing to stand on her feet without falling again, she finds dark Rika standing a few feet away from her, preparing a large mass of dark energy.

Dark Rika smiles at Reimu, then says "thanks for all the power you gave me. Now, I'm glad to announce that you are dead. Give the enma my regards."

A thick purple beam flies from dark Rika's hand, straight on to Reimu's face.

Its power is far beyond what Reimu can defend against now, most of her strength gone after exploding with rage as she did, then having gotten beat so hard.

All she can do now is clench her eyes and cover her face with her arms while she waits, and after doing just that for a few seconds, she realizes nothing is happening.

She slowly opens her eyes and quickly realizes she's enveloped by three pair of wings, one pair made of feathers, the other two made of pure white light.

Before she looks up, she hears Rika's voice as she says "nobody, and I mean NOBODY hurts my lady and gets AWAY with it!"

Rika spreads her wings and sends the dark beam flying to the sky, then turns around to face her dark self, revealing her Soraogan blood limit is fully activated, while Reimu is left standing in shock and surprise.

Rika raises her hand, showing a peculiar spell card with a strange silver symbol on one side, and blank on the other.

Rika loudly calls "Quicksilver!", then the card starts spinning just above her hand, showing two faces as it does, then stops, showing one of those two faces, then Rika grabs the silver glowing card and finishes "Ten'i Campeci Souhazan!"

Dark Rika gasps and tries to fly away, but it's too late for her.

Using the energy from her four white energy wings, Rika covers the immediate area with quicksilver energy, and while dark Rika slows down to a stop, Rika moves so fast, it looks like she's teleporting from one place to another.

In a second, she activates her oath keeper and picks her wind sword, throws it at her dark self, and as it becomes three green energy blades spinning in the air, she enters the gate again and comes out with her earths sword, charges her hand with yellow energy, then punches the ground three times, creating three pillars, then almost instantly cuts them and sends the pieces flying straight at her dark self.

As the wind blades make contact, Rika enters the gate and exits with her fire and ice swords, then she grabs her fire sword, dances with it, and sends a swarm of fire attacks that look like dragons.

She sheathes her fire sword, grabs her water sword, then slashes the air twice, making an ice X, then covers her own hand in ice, punches the X, then sends countless needles of ice straight at dark Rika.

Just as the rocks impact the dark one, and the wind sword spins all the way back into the gate, Rika enters it and exits with her thunder sword.

Dark Rika turns around to attack, but the fire dragons are all over her long before she's done turning around, while Rika unsheathes her thunder sword and runs straight at her dark self.

As she runs forth, she cuts the air and draws many lines that become stationary thunder bullets, and when she's right next to dark Rika, she stands in place and sheathes her thunder sword, causing the thunder bullets to head straight to her dark self and strike at the very same time as the ice needles, augmenting in power when the ice and electricity mix.

Finally, Rika unsheathes her family sword, charges it up with pure light, then moves across dark Rika's floating body in an instant.

When she sheathes her sword, three slashes appears across the dark one's body that shine as bright as stars in the night sky.

Finally, Rika ends her spell, her wings of light disappear, and she takes a relaxing sigh while looking toward her dark self.

Dark Rika swings her dark sword at nothing, then just stands in place for a moment, and just like that, her body and swords become ashes that fall and spread with the wind around the ground.

Even after all is done, and everything settles down, Reimu stares at Rika while in shock.

Rika tosses her thunder sword back into the gate, collects her Oath Keeper card, then turns to Reimu, who surprises her with a sudden rush-hug, almost crying while shouting "you're alive! You're alive and well!"

Rika is surprised at first, but she quickly returns Reimu's hug and says "yes, I'm alive, and know, that even as a monster, I will never stop protecting you... my lady."

Reimu laughs while squeezing Rika between her arms and says "you idiot. You really are incorrigible."

Rika gasps with excitement, as though remembering something, then lightly pushes Reimu away and rummages through her right pocket, then takes out Reimu's ribbon, along with all her dropped spell card, placing Fantasy Heaven on top of the pack, then says "you dropped these, my lady."

Reimu accepts her ribbon and cards with a smile, then she and Rika look surprised to the sky when they hear Shikieiki's familiar voice saying "congratulations miss Rika, you finally passed the final trial, and as such..."

Shikieiki lands right next to Reimu and Rika, and as Reimu places her ribbon back on, the yama offers Rika a black box with a diamond-shaped keyhole, then winks and finishes saying "... I give you your family's secret."

Rika and Reimu both look with surprise at Shikieiki, then Rika thinks for a moment, gasps, then exclaims "th-that's right! I got so scared after turning into a monster that I forgot this was my last trial!"

Rika face palms the left side of her forehead hard, and says "ugh, that's so embarrassing!"

Shikieiki smiles at Rika, then says "it's nothing to be embarrassed about. This trial had you face the worst in you, and you beat it. You have earned this without question."

Rika and Reimu stare at the box and notice the keyhole looks just like the jewel on Rika's sword, then Reimu asks "so what's in here?"

When they turn around again, they notice Shikieiki is long gone, but neither is surprised and resume exploring the box some more.

Finally, Reimu says "come on, try it already."

Knowing what Reimu means, Rika quickly takes her sword on hand and gently places the diamond on her sword's hilt against the keyhole on the box.

The second she does that, the box bursts open and out comes a large bird-like youkai beast with red feathers, redder wings that have hints of white, only visible when it fully spreads them, a long red tail, and a pair of white eyes that seems to glow in the dark.

The bird sings a beautiful song as it rises to the air, then lands on Rika's shoulder, forming a shikigami contract with her, then speaking through her mind, sounding like a calm, wise, cheerful and mature woman, she says "finally, after all this time. My new master!"

Rika turns her head as much as she can to stare at the bird, then opens her mouth.

Before she speaks, the bird speaks through her mind looking at Reimu and saying "oh, what a strong presence. You remind me of the Phoenix, my creator. You're my mom now!"

Reimu quickly complains, shouting "hey, I'm not old!"

Rika chuckles nervously, then asks "um, excuse me, but..."

The bird stretches her wings, then says "I am Suzaku the Vermillion Bird. I have been with the Onkamikami since the beginning, as a familiar. Now you are my new master Rika-sama, and about time too."

Reimu looks confused, then says "Vermillion bird, huh? I could sense your god-like spirit the second you came out of your box."

Suzaku seems to smile as she looks at Reimu, then says "mom is wise! I will definitely like being with you and Rika-sama!"

Reimu and Rika smile while looking at the red bird, then Rika suddenly says "um, we better get home. We can get to know each other better over there."

Suzaku stares at Rika, then points her beak at Reimu, letting her know she's observing her now, then says "you are both very tired. Why don't we go home so you can rest before asking more questions?"

Rika and Reimu look at Suzaku with surprise, then at each other, then they smile, nod, then Reimu says "good idea. It's been a very long night after all."

Later, at the Hakurei Shrine, just before the moon finishes setting, Mima and Suika sleep in Mima's room under the shrine's storage house, while Marisa sleeps on the floor of the living room undisturbed, even though Reimu is sitting across the room next to the small table with a cup of tea, waiting for Rika to finish her bath while petting Suzaku, who nests contently on Reimu's lap.

While the maiden gently pats the bird's entire body down to her long tail, she thinks "I lost myself. When I thought she died, I lost myself and forgot everything. I just wanted to kill the murderer. I'm attached to her now, maybe even more attached to Rika than Marisa, and... that is saying something... but... Is it ok to have these kind attachments? I'm a shrine maiden, and..."

Before she finishes, Suzaku lifts her head to look at Reimu, then says "mom, it's alright. You are a human, and as such, you can only do so much."

Reimu quickly whispers "c-can you read my mind?"

Suzaku shakes her head, then says "I can only speak through telepathy, but I can't read your mind, so don't you worry. I just felt what you were feeling just now for that girl, and for master, and I managed to guess right after all."

Reimu nods and pats the bird's body, then whispers "I guess you're right, then... about me being human. I guess I still have a long way to go, huh?"

Suzaku nods, then says "it's all part of life, mom. Don't worry about it too much now. Just live and enjoy life when you can. Master and I, and I am sure your friend, miss Marisa, we will be there for you when you need us."

Reimu smiles, then softly says "then I'll try to be there for you, if you ever need me."

Reimu giggles, while Suzaku lets out a small whistle, and after petting the red bird for a little longer, she says "you know, for a god, you act very humble, and you really act like a familiar too. I really respect that of you."

Suzaku lowers her head, then says "there are reasons for this, mom, but now is not the time for that tale."

Reimu nods and looks at Marisa, who moans and starts waving her arms in the air while sleeping, then chuckles and says "you're right. We'll leave that for later. So, how about we play a prank on Marisa now?"

Suzaku hops off Reimu's lap and points at her with her left wing and sounding surprised, she says "mom, that's no way to behave!"

Reimu giggles, then walks to the kitchen, saying "still, it's going to be fun."

Suzaku chases after Reimu, hopping on the floor while saying "mom please, don't be so mean."

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kimi, Kali and Agava were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku the Vermillion Bird were created by Snapshot 2010

Dark Rika's spell cards:

"Untitled, Darco Gessenkou" (Dark Moon Glare) and

"Untitled, Darco Houryuu Zankouken" (Dark Dragon Glare)

And Rika's spell card:

"Quicksilver, Ten'i Campeci Souhazan" (Complete Space Embrace Lunge)

Were created by Snapshot 2010

SEP 27 2010

Story by

Snapshot 2010

Written by

Willie G.R.

A/N:

Well, another quite long chapter. Since nobody reviewed or commented on the last, then I am glad to assume longer chapters are welcome. Will do my best to continue with long chapters. Next one is a comedy chapter. See you next time.