The girl with the brush stammered as she realized her leadership being recognized by the flower Youkai. "W-well, i-if you address me as s-so. . ." Akyuu stopped before attempting a pathetic attempt to clear her throat, in which caused Marisa and Alice to giggle, and Reimu to stifle a laugh. The petite girl turned towards the three girls, shooting them a stare.
Marisa immediately looked away, pushing her hat up with her finger and pretended to be deep in thought. The puppeteer placed open her grimoire on her lap and ran her finger through the lines as if she were reading it, and the Shrine Maiden simply corrected herself and stared back. The purple-haired maiden quickly looked away.
"R-right," now fully absorbed into her role, the petite girl tried to speak in the most majestic voice she could manage, "as the acting chairman of the Scarlet Mist Incident Resolving group, I propose that we get a good night's rest for today."
The expected positive response did not come. The purple-haired maiden turned around, looking at the girls around the room.
Silence.
Not a single word was exchanged.
Even the young blonde Youkai girl in the black dress was silent, obviously confused with what was going on. However, her innocent question soon diffused the awkward situation.
"I thought we were trying to solve an incident, Miss Akyuu," the blonde Youkai asked. "Why are we sleeping?"
"Well," the human girl of petite nature burst with a fiery temper, "we do have humans on our team, you know! They need rest, so do I! I can't record down all the events that you all go through if I am tired!"
The god of harvests stood up stepped forward. "Well, I guess that does it. She's a non-combatant, she's trying to be a dead weight by going with us on our team and she is attempting and she's trying to put us backwards by about eight hours on the schedule just because she wants to come along and note down things into her little book of Gensokyo Chronicles," the Myriad God stopped to take a breath before continuing, "I suppose even I would make a better chairman of this group."
"Actually, Minoriko, I beg to differ," the puppeteer stood up before continuing. "First of all, I am sure everyone is tired after a day's worth of work," the blonde girl looked around for public opinion, speaking after receiving a consensual nod from everyone in the room bar the Youkai of Darkness, who was more energetic than she was in the day, and the harvest god, "and it would benefit us more than harm us if we had a night's worth of rest before we continue the investigations." She stopped to take a breath, then started again, "Furthermore, with rest comes efficiency. We would need to think of our fellow human counterparts with us too. We would be severely disadvantaged if we have lose the help of Keine, Mokou, Marisa and Reimu to excessive fatigue which would mean we have lost four people's worth of manpower for searching and four people's worth of firepower during possible encounters."
The Myriad God stepped back, visibly unhappy with the turnout, but unable to do anything against the general consensus of those in the room. She simply walked to the wall with an uncontented frown, then, deciding that she had better things to do, walked out of the room.
"I'll inform her of what happens here later on, so let us continue, shall we?" the girl with pale blue hair and square hat suggested. The monochrome witch soon stepped up to speak, "I believe we should review our strategy first." Marisa picked up the map with her hands, then stood in front of the whole room, "Right now, our 'strategy' simply involves the whole lot of us rushing to the Misty Lake and combing the area. Not only is it tactless as it leaves us all open to focused fire from enemy attacks, we also sacrifice the area we could have covered individually. After all, we have eight people who are capable of combat-"
However, the purple-haired maiden questioned the new plan, "So, I would assume that you are implying that we split up and search different areas?" After receiving a prompt 'Yes' from the monochrome witch, Akyuu continued, "Do you know how dangerous that is? It would equal to suicide if we meet our enemy. We don't know how strong she is, nor what she can do. Furthermore, as you have told us about your previous encounter with her, she was even able to take you on."
The puppeteer countered, "Well, Marisa wouldn't be that stupid to let us go alone and vulnerable. We are going to form teams, so even if we encounter our enemy, we can deal with her, or at least defend long enough to get away. After all, we cannot put all our eggs into one basket, but we cannot split up everyone too, so we have to take the option with the best of both worlds."
"So," the flower Youkai tapped her parasol on the wooden floor of the room lightly, drawing the attention of the girls in the room to her, "how shall we organize ourselves into teams? We have eight people so far."
The purple-haired girl questioned, "Even if we do have two teams, why would we need them? We only have one place on the map that we know of to search-" The girl was soon interrupted by the Hourai Immortal, "Well, first of all, having two individual teams cover Misty Lake would mean it could be covered more systematically, since we can have one team sweep from the left to the center and another from the right to the center. We would cover the whole area in the time it would take to cover half if we traveled in one huge group. Essentially, it would take only half the time needed of the original plan."
The monochrome magician continued, "We can figure out the groupings out now, too. Miss Kamishirasawa, Mokou, Rumia and," the girl stopped for a moment before continuing, ". . .Miss Kazami can be our first group, and I. along with Reimu, Alice and Minoriko will form the second team. Since I get along with Reimu and Alice well, and will probably be able to communicate with Minoriko too, I'll go with this group."
"Right, now that our strategy for tomorrow is already drawn out, we can start operations at first light tomorrow, no?"
The acting chairman received a nod to her question, and she continued.
"Well then, you all are dismissed," then, her vision fell onto the Shrine Maiden and Alice. She added on an instruction, "Let us vacate this room and go to the shelter. We'll leave this room to Alice for her to help cure Reimu's injuries. After all, she is badly injured."
The teacher made her way to the door and slid the door open. The flower Youkai raised her parasol to her shoulder and settled it there before moving towards the door, declaring an "I'll take the storage room" before she walked out into the open. The monochrome magician walked out next, finding the Youkai with the checked skirt nowhere to be seen. She shrugged, and simply started to move towards the impromptu shelter, soon followed by Akyuu, Mokou, Rumia and Keine.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Now then, Reimu. Keep still, or the magic I am going to use will not be effective. So don't be stubborn and move about again." The girl unbuckled her grimoire for the forth time of the day. She hardly ever used the thick book, but circumstances for now were indeed different. Holding out her book, she recited a few magical incantations off it, the first one mainly to immobilize the hurt areas completely.
That resulted in the Shrine Maiden being unable to move her limbs at all. The next incantation started to cause the torn flesh beneath the skin to regrow, and the contracted blood vessels to open momentarily as the two ends on either side of the torn flesh attempted to join itself together. Blood gushed out from the wound for about a second, however quickly stopped as the blood vessels pulled themselves together and reformed into one, with the flesh regenerating over it.
A numbing feeling coursed through the Shrine Maiden's limbs as she went through the recovery process.
"It is normal that the regeneration process will make you feel strange sensations," the puppeteer spoke in a reassuring tone as she concentrated her magical power into the injured girl. "My healing magic works differently in that it forces your cells to rapidly divide and restore the lost area rather than actual magic that just 'restores' you to health like as if your injury had never happened. After all, we magicians don't actually use 'magic' - it involves a lot of science too." The magician recited another incantation, and the skin above the flesh began to regrow, covering up the newly regenerated area. The areas that healed appeared visibly whiter than the lightly tanned skin that was around the injured areas.
". . .Thank you."
However. The facial expression on the Youkai magician changed completely upon the Shrine Maiden's recovery. Her previous friendliness became that of a penetrating stare, as if she met an enemy.
"Oh, no need to thank me, Reimu," the puppeteer changed her tone to that of a cold, unforgiving one as she started to grill the girl before her for information. "Now, tell me, who was that 'Youkai' you spoke of that took your form?"
The only sound in the room that followed was the buckling of the heavy grimoire that the puppeteer was holding.
Alice took a look at the Shrine Maiden, who simply looked away and rejected to answering the question. The blonde magician repeated her question in the same, emotionless tone.
"Just in case you did not hear what I said, I will repeat what I had said once more. Tell me, who was that 'Youkai' you spoke of just now in the storage room?"
The girl dressed in red-and-white continued to have her lips sealed, unmoving. However, the patience of the doll maniac was running out. She raised her left hand and pointed it towards the Shrine Maiden before her.
"I shall ask you for the third and last time. Tell me what you were conspiring with that Youkai against Gensokyo before she betrayed you." Receiving silence, she raised herself from a sitting position beside the offending girl to a kneeling position, rearing up to half her height. She opened her eyes wide, staring into her two brown eyes with her own. Her right arm put side the thick book she carried and grabbed the collar of the Shrine Maiden.
Reimu simply grabbed the magician's offending arm by the wrist with her hand, and threw it to the side.
"I don't like being threatened, Alice Margatroid," the Hakurei Maiden spoke in a monotonous voice, her face expressionless. "I will not speak when I choose to not speak and nobody can force me to speak when I do not want to speak. I express my gratitude to you for helping me recover," the girl turned to her fingers and flexed them before giving her attention back to the magician before her, "however I will not hesitate to use my regained health against you, Youkai Magician."
The Shrine Maiden turned her head to the side, expecting her visitor to leave, only to find a flash of silver before her eyes. It was then she realised the multiple glints of silver coming from the thin threads that lay before her field of vision. Looking to her sides, she only found more thin strands set up throughout her room in a complex manner, covering every single square inch of her room bar the area she sat on and an allowance of one whole body length behind where she sat. The shrine maiden fixed her gaze back on Alice. The girl merely stood up and turned towards the door.
"Have a good night, Shrine Maiden of the Hakurei Shrine."
The girl walked through the strings as if she were a ghost, leaving Reimu surprised. However, the Shrine Maiden maintained her emotionless front, undaunted. However, the Youkai Magician detected that slightest bit of shock in the human girl still. She turned her head back and spoke.
"Don't be surprised. These strings are made from my magical energy, and will reject the magical signature of all other beings. Naturally, your magic and my magic are vastly different. Thus, the strings will solidify and trip off if you even touch them so much as one bit," the magician revealed a doll, and snapped her fingers over the short fuse of the vine, causing a small burst of red magic energy that ignited the fuse. The fuse burned down until the last centimeter remained before the blonde witch blew out the magical flame, "the strings of prana will start to combust, and the flame will travel along the lines like fire burns fiber and light up this explosive-filled doll."
The doll maniac set the figure she had in her hands on the table, in direct contact with the strings before walking towards the sliding door.
"Oh, don't bother even removing that doll I set there Shrine Maiden. Even if you do, I have set more." The girl swept her arm in a semi-circular arc with her index finger pointed, "Perhaps it is there? Or there, Or there? All I know is, if you making one false move as an 'ally' of ours, you will end up with lots of pain." The puppeteer let out a devilish smile, holding out her hand, then clenching it into a fist, creating a small explosion of magic. While the explosion did no harm, the magician still maintained a malicious tone in her voice. "Don't worry, I wouldn't kill you, Reimu," however, the girl's wistful voice soon changed into a serious one, "betray Gensokyo one more time, Shrine Maiden, and I will make sure that you shall be stopped. You may have gained their trust, but you shall not be able to lie to me."
The Shrine Maiden watched the doll maniac walk out of the room, sliding the door shut.
Lying down in the small area that was free from the strings, Reimu closed her eyes.
I will get you for doing this to Gensokyo. Just wait, you Youkai.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As the pale-blue-haired girl walked towards the entrance of the shelter, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, a girl in orange hat greeted her sight. She looked towards the side, visibly embarrassed, however she continued.
"So, what did you all talk about in the room?"
"Well, we'll be setting off at first light tomorrow." The teacher replied.
"Are there any other plans?" The Myriad God tried to keep her questions short, after memories from the outburst she had during the meeting still making her feel bad about talking to the human.
The teacher tried to recall her conversation before continuing, "Well, we shall split into two groups, however you are grouped with the magicians and Reimu. Please do try and get along with the Youkai Magician-"
Just as her name was called, a blonde puppeteer appeared around the corner, causing the orange-clothed girl to step away in disgust and anger. The doll maniac watched as the Myriad Goddess entered the shelter, however she did not follow her. Instead, the doll maker walked towards the farthest end of the shrine grounds.
Curious, the teacher asked, "Miss Margatroid, why are you not coming into the shelter? It's rather late now-"
The teacher was rather surprised with the curt reply.
"Precisely because it is late," the puppeteer swung her arms in an arc to either side before continuing "that I am setting up traps against the Youkai."
Dolls immediately lunged out in eight directions from the blonde girl, forming a rectangle that enclosed the perimeter of the shrine. The teacher ducked in reaction as a doll grazed where would have been her head should she have not ducked.
Standing up after the dolls had passed her, she realized multiple glints of silver around the perimeter of the shrine, apparently strands of string that linked one doll to another as they floated there. Keine watched as the doll-maker Youkai severed the strings that linked each doll to her hand, however, the sentry dolls still maintained their position.
"These dolls should hold for three days, at least. Hopefully we would be back before then," the blonde magician muttered to herself.
Then, she unbuckled her grimoire and started to mutter magical incantations. A huge blue pentagon soon appeared over the snow-covered Shrine Grounds itself, and started rotating slowly in a clockwise direction with a fading glow before it disappeared.
"That is a barrier spell that guards against sources of magical energy not recognized by it, no?" Keine asked the girl, who closed her grimoire before turning to her.
"What about it, Miss Kamishirasawa? To be honest, why do we even need a barrier spell if we don't even suspect the Shrine Maiden?" the doll maniac continued with a half-jokingly tone, "Is this just to fool myself into thinking that we are safe?"
Keine gave a puzzled look to Alice, who replied with a question.
"I mean, don't you even feel suspicious about her? She has conspired with the enemy before, after all. She could always stab us in the back if she wanted, with the amount of trust you gave her!"
"Alice, I doubt she would do that."
"What couldn't she do," the Blonde Magician flailed her hands exasperatedly, "when she has admitted that the Youkai betrayed her? She must have some secret agenda going on!" At that moment, the puppeteer realized that she had broke her composure, and tried to calm herself back to her normal demeanor before speaking.
"I mean, look, the Reimu we have may not even be the Reimu we used to know anymore. I have lost my trust in her already."
The blue-haired girl replied to the puppeteer's statement, "Alice, just because you are paranoid about Reimu doesn't mean that she must be scheming something behind our backs. In fact, even Marisa thinks that the Shrine Maiden is too honest to lie. If she lies, she lies badly, and is probably too straightforward to be scheming."
"Besides, if she did want to sabotage our attempt, she would have killed us single-handedly. She is renowned for her prowess in Youkai Extermination, and is probably good enough to take the life of a regular human with her powers."
The Youkai Magician wanted to counter her statement, but could not come up with anything, so she just turned away from the teacher. She walked towards the highest step of the stone steps before the shrine, overlooking all below. The moonlight was sufficient enough to show the light red mist floating in the still far-off horizon.
Knowing that it was no use talking to the magician for now, the blue-haired girl decided to catch some sleep in the temporary shelter, leaving the blonde magician to sit by the stone steps.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Alright, let us go through our instructions again. My team will start searching Misty Lake from the right side, and your team will start from the left, Miss Kamishirasawa. Alice has applied a spell to you all that should be able to ward off the mist, however should anything happen to you when you approach the Scarlet Mist, immediately come back to the Hakurei Shrine. Is that agreed?"
As first light came, the members of the incident resolving team gathered in front of the shrine. The instructions that had been discussed during the meeting the day before were quickly re-briefed to everyone. Everything was going according to plan except for one thing: Akyuu arriving with a brush and a very thick book, fit to be an atlas. Almost immediately she was questioned.
"Why are you here," the harvest goddess questioned, "and what are you doing with that thick book?"
The purple-haired girl of short stature answered without hesitation, "As the Child of Miare of the current age, I have the duty of collecting and compiling the historical events in Gensokyo. As such, I have to come along."
Well, this girl is going to be troublesome. . .
The teacher came up with an idea just as she finished her honest mental comment about the girl.
"Say, Akyuu, why not you pass me the Gensokyo Chronicles," the blue-haired girl fetched the book from the petite maiden's hands before continuing, "and you stay here? Being one of the important people in the human village, having you stay with the population would have a reassuring effect on the people. Furthermore, being an authoritative figure in the village, I am sure that the people will listen to you."
That should have done it!
"Well then," having coaxed the girl out of the thought, "I'll help you note down whatever happens, and you can go ahead and rest easy about your duty for now and help us take care of the people, okay?"
Receiving a silent nod from purple-haired maiden, the teacher took a heavy step in the opposite direction forward, pushing herself into the air. Her white-haired friend followed suit soon after, with the young blonde Youkai girl in her arms. The flower Youkai simply stepped into the air and strolled along with the group at a pace faster than most humans could run, and followed up with Keine, Mokou and Rumia.
The monochrome witch simply side-saddled her broom and muttered a magical incantation before it started moving of its own, and the doll-maker Youkai grabbed hold of her friend's flight instrument as she heaved herself onto the handle of the item her friend sat on. The harvest goddess lightly tapped the air with her feet, allowing herself to soar forwards along with her two teammates, with the Hakurei Shrine Maiden simply floating into the air, with her hands to the sides of her.
Akyuu watched as the eight people floated towards the mist-covered horizon.
Hopefully they come back safe. . .
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey, Keine, can you go faster? I'm gonna overtake you by a mile at this rate!"
The girl looked forward at the monochrome magician and her party, who were rushing towards the horizon at mach speed. However, the teacher ignored the comment by the black-and-white, since she did know that her group was not exactly full of the light and fast types like her counterpart's party.
However, deep in the teacher's heart, she knew that that was not the reason as to why she was traveling slowly.
"The village. . . it's now covered in that red mist. I wonder how the things are like there right now. . ."
Picking up the human girl's mutterings, the flower Youkai gave the air she 'stepped on' a hard push, and caught up with the teacher. Turning to her, she spoke.
"Keine, what is lost is lost. The human village is already engulfed in that mist. As much as I know that you consider yourself a guardian of that village and losing that pains you, you should take comfort in the fact that you have saved the people," Yuuka pointed her parasol towards the now-deserted village as she continued, "look, no-one is even there now, so why not we just-"
"Look, look! There is a girl in a blue dress down there!"
An exclamation by Rumia brought her three other companions to look down towards where the little Youkai's finger was pointing. Indeed, a tiny figure of a female in blue was moving through the deserted remains of the human village.
The white-haired girl scratched her head as she spoke, "There shouldn't be anyone around here now, since everyone has evacuated to the shrine, no? We even did a count – I am sure everyone was evacuated." However, after an instant's worth of thought, she blurted out another sentence, "Perhaps that girl is a plunderer, trying to steal the things left behind during the evacuation?"
Indeed, the miniature figure of blue was moving from building to building, as if she were in a frantic search for something.
"Maybe we should check it out. If she is indeed a person trying to steal things, we can simply kick her out of the village, no?" the white-haired girl asked.