Di- di~ng!
The shop bell of the Kourindou chimed, the miko who came before brushing her way inside. In the midday light, her eyes adjusted to the dim store interior, even with the sun's golden rays splaying across nearby shelves, and the counter ahead.
Tracing the lines of vibrant light, she saw Marcus and Rinnosuke there, as well as Marisa…
"See?" Smiling, Marisa gestured to the miko. "I toldja she's alive!"
"We never thought she was dead." Behind the counter once again, Rinnosuke was crouched down, inspecting his things…
Approaching the counter, the miko ran her gaze over the grinning Kirisames, then the shopkeeper, as he inspected beneath his counter… "You guys find a place t'sleep last night?"
Marcus snorted, turning away from a pile of junk near the room's rear. "Ah, yeah. Marisa stuck 'round here for awhile, too. She got beat up just fer flyin' near your fight…!"
"...Yeah. It was a hell of a fight." Sendai continued to stare down at Rinnosuke. Below the counter, he was thumbing through some papers, his brows furrowed…
'Good to be back with the guys. They're gonna need a lot of attention… because, if there's anything the past few days have told me, it's that these guys aren't really all that combat-ready. They can sling potions well, and they're getting more skills, but… hmm. I don't know if I should make them practice motions, or just… keep shoving us into fights for the raw experience. That sounds kinda stupid, but that's how I learned. I guess-'
"Yeah, I'll say!" Marisa was instantly next to her, causing the miko's thoughts to stop for a moment. "You blew up the whole damn shrine, ze~!"
...Looking back over at Rinnosuke, Sendai rose a brow. "What're you doing?"
He didn't reply, either too engrossed in the paper he was examining, or having simply not realized the call was directed at him.
"Aah. What'cha readin', Kourin?" Marisa leaned onto the counter, and reposed the question for the miko.
...Looking up, he stood before the girls, setting the papers down. "Oh. Just… angry letters, from the shinigami and Eiki. They're sort of… tilted about that whole 'resisting arrest' situation."
'Letters.' Sendai felt the urge to smile at the mundanity. 'Because trying to crush us and instant kill us wasn't good enough.'
"Eiki can stick it in a pipe and smoke it." Despite not knowing the context of the situation, Marisa was quick to disparage the authorities. "Actually, the heck's she want with you, Kourin…!? How bad didja screw up!?"
Snorting, Rinnosuke shook his head. "Well. It's not necessarily me-"
"Don't bullshit me, ze." Marisa repositioned her arms on the counter. "I won't rat 'cha out, seriously. I bet all ya did was slap Komachi's ass."
...Rinnosuke just gave her a level stare.
...Suddenly beaming, Marisa gave him an exaggerated shrug. "I mean, hey, it's- it's real slappable! I'm not gonna lie!"
Deciding to spare Rinnosuke a precarious explanation, Sendai turned to the witch next to her. "You know I'm supposed to be dead, right?"
…
Marisa's smile became a different degree of mirthful. "Y'know, suddenly it all makes sense! I'd like ta know why they're bein' mailed here and not the shrine, though…"
...Rinnosuke furrowed his brows. "The shrine gets mail?"
'Not as far as I can remember.' Shaking her head resolutely, Sendai moved towards the door. "Don't think so. Also- you guys all set here?"
'I'll hold over until we stop by the village and pick up some good meats. I've still got my money- somehow- so it shouldn't take long. But, while I'm here...'
"Mmhm…" Marcus leaned against a largely unused section of the counter, which was more left than most of Rinnosuke's desk. "I passed the time by watchin' your shrine explode, an' fooling with these future machines…" He held up a toaster he'd claimed from a nearby shelf for reference. "I still haven't managed to make this thing work. Y'see, I put thunder into the wire part, but the last one I did that with just blew up!"
'Future machines, huh.'
"You still owe me for that." Rinnosuke objected from the sidelines, behind the counter still. "We may be friends, but who knows when I'll get another one of those furnaces. I'd like to protect the ones I do have."
"Y'know, they need stable voltage ta work, dad." Marisa stared at her father sardonically. "Y'know what- lemme see it-"
Uncomfortable with anything Marisa had planned, Rinnosuke rounded the counter to save the toaster. "Look, just put it down…"
"Kourin, do you have any food?" Sendai questioned the shopkeeper bluntly, interrupting his rescue mission. "All I had this morning was pancakes. I need real food."
'I don't remember doing much with the pancakes either. I could use a snack at this point...'
...Pausing mid-way around the counter, he looked over at her, before blinking. "Ah. Hmm." ...Then, he focused harder. "Well, I usually order meats from a couple select vendors nearby. If the village doesn't let me in, some nearby youkai are usually kind when it comes to animal hunts, during the day."
'That's great, but…' "Things I could eat right now." Sendai propped her right arm on her hip. "I don't want to spend the rest of the afternoon hunting down shady food dealers in forests. Who even sells food in the forests?"
Rinnosuke stands idle, before formulating a response. "...Well, there's a few people. There's some lamprey stands, and a few traveling big meat sellers. There's a few people at the lake who sell fish."
"Are they fishermen?" That sentence jogged Sendai's memory, so she asked an experimental question...
'I used to know a small band of village fishermen. I wonder if anyone does anything like that now, or if they're still alive.'
"...I wouldn't quite say that." Rinnosuke decided. "Otherwise, all I have are longer-lasting goods. I don't typically keep meat in here, because of the geography. Sometimes dried meat, but not right now."
'...Hmm.' Sendai shrugged, indifferent. "Well, I'm planning on heading to the lake for the later part of today, so perhaps we could see about those… fish."
Za- Boom!
Sendai snapped into a defensive posture, after something exploded. 'Ah. What-...'
Marcus and Marisa stood facing one another, their hair blown back slightly, the latter's hat gently gliding off.
Cla- cla, clack. Toaster parts fell from Marcus's hands...
"Hey!" Breaking from the counter side and snapping towards the two mages, Rinnosuke's expression flared. "What did I say!?"
SENDAI HAKUREI NO MIKO MODE
ARC 6 - Training Tour
STAGE 1 - Smoke on the Water
...Nearing the edge of the Hakurei Path, the party began to near the Misty Lake once more. In the late noon's sun, the three proceeded steadily. The remaining autumn leaves on nearby trees shimmered with the soft breeze that swept across the land, the day itself brisk but not unpleasant.
Marisa had wished them luck and parted ways, off to do her own things, or perhaps see to Kiyoko for the sake of annoying her. 'That's not my problem, though.'
...Sendai's gaze hung on the area she'd remembered Eirin's craft landing on. '...So I died somewhere over there, huh. I guess that's an alright spot to spontaneously flip over and die.'
"So!" Marcus clapped his hands together, before looking over at Sendai. "...Wha' was all that 'bout the shrine blowin' up?"
"My family lineage revived too." Sendai put it perhaps too bluntly. "...By which I mean, grandma wasn't the happiest to see us."
'Now that I'm thinking about it, the whole 'figure out why I revived' thing sort of got derailed. I assume grandma's got some kind of plan for that, as well as mom. If they don't, I'll see about it, because really… it's really something we should be thinking about.'
She looked up at the lake. 'But, for now, I practice. And, before that, buy fish, somehow.'
They'd reached the shore, the water practically glowing from the sun's rays.
...Panning her gaze to Rinnosuke, she questions him casually. "So, where's the fish person?"
Reaching into his backpack, he continued towards the water even as the other two stopped. "Hold on. I've got to get their attention…"
From within his bag, he drew a cyan box. On the front face of it, there was a big, blurry graphic of a beige fish with cartoony, glassy eyes.
Reaching into the box, he drew some clumps of nougat-colored food, and chucked them into the lake.
...They softly landed along the water before him. Sendai and Marcus stared at him as he tossed one more handful of clumps.
"...If we're going fishing, I'm going to be so disappointed." Sendai gave him a dry stare…
"No, no- it's not that." Rinnosuke waved a hand at her. "Look, just wait."
"They gonna leap out at us, 're somethin'...!?" Marcus grinned into the water. "Oo~h!" He turned to Sendai, excited. "Maybe you could leap in and grab 'em!"
...Her expression in return was jaded. 'In this weather… actually, that wouldn't be terrible. That'll really only work if I see a good big one, though. I'm not catching the tiny ones worth a shot in hell. He might make it sound like a silly idea, but… I've done it before. Heck, I only did it a few days before I spontaneously died. Let's see...'
…
After some moments, fish of all shapes and sizes came to snack on the food, as it rested on the water's surface.
A particularly tubby fish neared the shore, devouring one of the larger clumps before the small ones could peck at it.
'Oh, woah.' Sendai locked her gaze onto the big fish. '...That might not be a bad idea after all. Marcus has fire magic, so we could just cook it up right here, too.'
"Hrrm…" Shielding his eyes with a hand, Rinnosuke stared out onto the lake. "It might take a few moments."
...After taking a few steps forward-
"Hup!" With dark-charged legs, Sendai leapt past Rinnosuke-
Spla~sh! Landing into the shallows, Sendai thrust her arms as she sank-
Splash- Spla~sh! The water's surface roared with noise as she threw further herself down into the water, her stomach and dark-enchanted legs brushing the bottom of the shallows near the shore.
'Got it…!' Though this action caused all of the fish to zip away in confusion and fear, the tubby one she sought she'd pounced directly towards. Though her initial leap was short, the fish had taken a moment to double back and reconsider where it was going, leaving it prey to her grasp.
'Holy cra~p.' Diving into the water after not touching it for awhile was always a shock to her system.
...Curling up into a ball with the slippery fish firmly held, her hand dark and black from the mana being used to keep a crushing hold on it, she let her legs and the action of compacting rotate her.
Spla~sh. Standing up in the shallows, she held up her catch. "Woo~! Got o~ne!"
'First try, too. Given, it was a big one, for the shallows. Must've been because it's so cold.'
...Rinnosuke stood there with raised brows, mouth ajar.
"Pfft- hehehe~!" Marcus giggled, nodding at the result. "I kinda forgot ya did things like this! I mean… s'not like anyone else really cares to!"
Sloshing out of the cold water, Sendai gave them a grin as she used her free hand to part her hair from her eyes. "Yeah, well, I don't think many people can handle the cold!"
'I'd nearly forgotten just how cold the water is. We should start that fire soon. It doesn't seem cold enough to chill me, but right now I'm not sure…'
...Rinnosuke slowly turned to her. "That… wasn't quite what I had in mind, but I guess… that works."
...Sendai looked over at the squirming fish in her hand. It was aggressively attempting to escape, but she'd already made sure her grip would hold by just about crushing its tail with her hand. 'Not really big, but not pitifully tiny, either. A few more should do.'
After looking around, she huffed. "We don't have a bucket. Kourin, what were you going to do with the bought fish without a bucket?"
"...Marcus would've been able to make them float, because they'd be dead." Rinnosuke reasoned, before staring back out at the water. "Because, you know. We were going to buy them, not hunt them."
"Buy them from what, the lake?" Sendai still hadn't seen a fish dealer. Then, she looked at her new fish. "...So what'm I going to do with this fish?"
Clo~ng. Marcus plopped down a bucket from somewhere. "I've got a bucket!"
'Not going to ask where he found that.' Sendai kneeled before the crude-looking tin bucket, which Marcus was filling with water.
Ploop. She deposited the fish. "There we go. Should keep it fresh, until we massacre it."
'I was planning on practicing sprinting across the shallows today as it was. This should be a good warm up…'
Sendai turned back to the lake-
A woman in a green kimono rested in the water behind Rinnosuke, as he gazed at the bucket. The blue-haired woman stared up at him expectantly, and Sendai could see small fins around where her ears should be.
'Ah- that's…!' Upon initially seeing someone that close to him, Sendai tensed up. She then relaxed, seeing the lower half of her body. '...A mermaid. Usually pretty docile. What's it want from us?'
...Once Rinnosuke turned around, he was face to face with the mermaid. After taking a step back from the water, he smiled. "There you are."
"..." After a quiet moment, she spoke. "I have the fish, if you have the food…" Staring down at the box, she smiled greedily… and then recomposed herself. "Also- who're they…?" Apprehensively, she gestured to Sendai and Marcus. "...One of them looks like Reimu."
"Just some friends." Rinnosuke waved their presence off. "You have the fish, right?"
Ploop. A large bubble emerged from behind her, carrying the corpses of three extremely large fish. "These died down below just recently. They're mostly untouched, so they should be good to prepare."
...Sendai stepped up to them, gazing up at the swirling bubble of dead fish. "How long've they been dead exactly?"
...The mermaid focused. "A few hours. Big fish are more common than you'd think, down below."
'Is this lake really that deep?' Sendai was somewhat skeptical… "Huh."
...After a moment, she levitated the fish over towards the shore-
Spla~sh! The water bubble popped, and the dead fish plopped onto the dirt bank before the lake.
Rinnosuke handed over the entire box of fish food. "There you go. I have a whole box this time, so I shouldn't need to pay in yen, right?"
"Three thousand yen per…" The mermaid shook her head.
"What…?" Rinnosuke jerked his head back. "That box cost me three hundred. How about two thousand two hundred?"
"Three thousand." Immediately, she began snacking on the food within the box, chewing on the nougat-esque, powdery chunks with a satisfied expression… "It's bad for the ecosystem to just remove fish, you know."
"You said they were common…" Shaking his head, Rinnosuke slightly held his arms out. "We had a deal."
'Those are pretty big fish for just three thousand…' Sendai examined the huge fish that were some feet away from her. 'They're each almost as long as I am tall.'
"Three thousand." The mermaid refused to change her offer. "You can't get bigger fish, here in Gensokyo. Well, actually…" Trailing off, she stopped herself from elaborating.
...Sendai stepped up to her-
Splish- splash. Her sandals trudged through the mud and water as she neared the mermaid. "How about we spar for this load? For the payment. You can keep your… food." Sendai stared at the fish food uncertainly.
"Spar…?" The mermaid blinked in further apprehension. "Um…"
Objecting to this idea, Rinnosuke folded his arms. "I… don't really think that's necessary. But-"
"I'll go easy." Trying to placate everyone's concerns, Sendai negotiated terms… "I just wanna get used to fighting in the water a little again. Mostly because, it should serve to keep me thinking on my feet more, and I can practice how I use my limbs. I'll be fighting in the water, of course."
...The mermaid was still uncertain. "I don't know…"
'She's really shy. But...'
"I mean, really, if you're that weak, you can just swing your tail around and make currents or something." Sendai decided for her. "I don't think that'd be sparring at that point, but-"
"Well- I'm not weak." Becoming defensive, the mermaid refocused on Sendai, her gaze lighting up. "I just don't like fighting. But I'm not bad at it."
"You could say that…" Sendai grinned to convey her mocking uncertainty. "But, you know… I guess it's not your fault if you're too weak to do that sort of thing."
"Really…" Sighing, the skittish mermaid looked down at her fish food, then up at Sendai. "Alright, fine. If you really want me to half-drown you that badly, follow me."
...Raising the fish food above her head, she cast it forward-
Thunk. Rinnosuke caught it somewhat easily. "Ah…"
"Hold on to that." She gave him a nod. "Follow me, human." Gesturing for the miko to follow-
Splash- Splaa~sh! A crescent of water was flung into the air in the mermaid's wake, as she flipped back into the water and darted off with fluid, bullet-esque speed into the lake's center.
...Taking a few steps back, Sendai readied to plunge into the lake.
"You know…" Exasperated, Rinnosuke slowly turned to her. "This… actually, no. Good luck, I guess." Giving up on convincing her to do otherwise, he gave her a wave.
Grinning at his change of heart, Sendai gave him a nod. "Thanks." Then, she bolted forward-
Bam! Kicking into the ground beneath her, she sent herself soaring up-
Woosh! Kicking forward with a leg cloaked in black, she flung herself towards the lake's center.
==== Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode: Wakasagihime ====
Splaa~sh- fwuu~sh…
With a full breath in her mouth, Eye of Truth talisman equipped, Sendai descended into the midst of the Misty Lake, the bright daylight surface quickly giving way to an aquamarine midst, with only half the brightness of the daytime outside.
In here, with a glance up, Sendai could see the shimmering surface of the lake, the sun's light meeting the water and creating a bright, shifting and web-like ceiling.
'So blue…' Putting her breath-holding skills to the test, Sendai lucidly floated not too far from the surface, channeling dark energy into her limbs. 'Where's that mermaid…?' She allowed herself to rise in the water…
'Holding my breath's going to be… an experiment. As long as I don't panic, this'll work.'
As she scanned the lower, black depths of the lake below, she sighted numerous shifting fish, submerged chunks of ice, and a number of magical signatures emanating from the shady abyss below.
'Ice…? Is it really that cold?'
The most vibrant source of magic- or perhaps closest one- emerged from the darkness. A pair of blue, luminescent eyes greeted the miko.
"You really followed me down here…?" The mermaid's voice flowed all around Sendai, while the miko idly let herself drift up and higher. "Wow. I didn't think you'd get this far so quick."
Sendai couldn't say anything in return, holding her breath. 'Not sure if that voice thing's the water, or...'
"I guess we'll get started, then. How many cards?" The mermaid looked up at Sendai questioningly…
...Sendai furrowed her brows, and pointed at her full cheeks. 'Really. Danmaku. A mermaid… knows danmaku. Who even taught her. Did Reimu? If so, why? And, how?'
"Oh, right! Uhm, for now…" The mermaid cast her hand forward-
A bubble formed around Sendai's head, momentarily. The liquid around her face immediately displaced itself, leaving her head ironically dry.
"...Hua~h." After a moment, she inhaled the air within. "...I… see." From within the bubble, the watery edge between the lake and her small air pocket was shaky and uneven, flowing violently as if a small gravity rift were made around her. The water around her was reduced to a dark, blue blur.
"This is just temporary, I think. Maybe." The mermaid considered what to do with the advantage she gave. "For now, so we can talk."
...Sendai allowed herself to drift freely, now that air wasn't an issue. "We're not playing danmaku. Well, I'm not, anyway. I mean, sparring. Actual fighting. You can use danmaku, if you really want to, but I'm going to be trying to punch you."
...After blinking twice, the mermaid rose her brows. "Wha-... really? Okay. If it works for you. If I win, you have to pay the three thousand yen instead. If you win, you keep the fish for free… minus that box of food."
"Sounds good. Loser's whoever gets knocked out. No walking on land, so if one of us runs around on the soil, we lose." Sendai defined her side of the terms. "...No cheeky ideas about becoming a land-maid and raining hell."
'This whole situation's weird.'
"Wha- okay…" Shaking the notion off, the mermaid clenched her fists. "Hold your breath, human. I'm gonna remove your bubble. Oh- and..."
...Giving a soft smile, the mermaid's clothing and hair fluffed up in the water. "My name is Wakasagihime. It's nice to meet you."
Sendai inhaled, and held her breath. 'No use in saying mine, 'cause she's gonna-'
Pop! The bubble collapsed, and instantly all the water crashed into Sendai's face. Exhaling lightly through her nose, she instantly-
fwush! -kicked her legs and threw her arms down, to propel herself up.
As she neared the surface, she pulled her arms back up easily, scrunching back up into a ball before-
fwush! -thrusting herself even further up-
Spla~sh! "Hwa~h!"Surfacing, she allowed herself to coast across the water's surface for a moment, inhaling, before returning to the water.
Spla- uush. Back under the waves-
'Ah- woah…' Sendai defocused for a moment, as she was tugged deeper below the surface of the water. With a brief tilt up, she confirmed that she was sinking-
The mermaid's tail whipped past her face, kicking against the water just before her as she swam down with the Miko's waist in her clutches. "Don't panic." She heard Wakasagihime's voice reverberate through her. "This'll be over soon."
'Yeah, sure…' Narrowing her eyes as she was brought further down into the black beneath, Sendai bent her legs up, before moving to wrap them around the mermaid…
Once they were poised around the mermaid's shoulders, she hugged onto the mermaid's slippery tail. 'I can't grip the tail, but…!'
"Ow- ow, hey- ow!" Her legs began to clamp onto the mermaid's torso hard-
fwuu~sh. While Wakasagihime scrambled, Sendai felt herself part from the mermaid and ascend slightly. 'Alright! Ah- air...' The maneuver did force her to use up most of her air supply already, mandating her to thrust herself back up further and further-
In the next instant, she was being pulled down again. "You're not getting away from me!" This time, the mermaid was upright, pulling her down in reverse, smirking into the miko's gaze-
Sendai simply grabbed onto her throat and started choking her. 'Hitting stuff outright- need air…' Unable to finish her thought, she waited for Wakasagihime to attack her hand for crushing her throat…
Wincing from the pain- albeit not from asphyxiation- the mermaid moved to claw at the hand on her throat-
Fwuu~sh! -before kicking away and out of Sendai's grasp entirely, leaving the miko to sprawl back in the water.
fwuu~sh. After a clumsy backflip under the waves, Sendai curled up and unleashed again, ascending once more. 'How deep did she take me!? C'mon…!'
fwoo~sh! As the water shifted, she uppercut with a dark-imbued arm, sending her roaring upward slightly faster-
Splaa~sh!
"Houaa~h!" Taking in a big, greedy gulp, Sendai felt the biting, bitterly cold air above the lake's water, as she sloshed about. "Ha- aah…" Quickly composing herself, she jerked her gaze about the shimmering, blinding surface of the water, before inhaling a gulp of dry air and holding it-
Splash- ploop. She felt herself get pulled under again, Wakasagihime upside down again. Her tail clipped the water's edge, creating a small splash as she tugged the miko below again.
This time, the mermaid held onto her legs outright, arms wrapped around them. "There's not a lot you can really do. I'll stop you from drowning once you start… so- just..."
As they descended again, the miko instead folded herself back into a sort of sitting position, akin to how one would sit with their legs beneath them. Once like this, she reached forward and grabbed two handfuls of the mermaid's soft stomach, sliding it beneath her kimono that ended at her fish-esque waist-
"Eeahp!" Upon squeezing the mermaid's soft flesh, Sendai found herself thrust out into the murky depths, the mermaid spasming like an actual fish, with speed beyond a human's visual comprehension.
'There we go!' From there, the miko-
fwuu~sh. -uppercut towards the surface again, to continually move for the higher ground. Or, higher water, in this case. 'Hitting outright underwater isn't the best idea, but applying pressure's different.'
This time, she was able to swim towards the top unimpeded-
Spla~sh! "Fwa~h." On the bright surface of the water, she took in another breath. 'Alright. If she pulls me down again, I might just start using ofuda, because this could go on forever otherwise.' She allowed herself to sink a little-
Spla~sh! "Ho~h…!" Thrusting into the air with another dark uppercut, Sendai propelled herself into the air over the lake-
Spla- splash! The water beneath her rippled and erupted, the mermaid shooting out after her.
Sendai would've grinned if she weren't focused, as the mermaid flew up to grapple her again-
Bam! Her dark-accented leg met the mermaid's torso, intercepting the mermaid's own tackle. "Fuh…!?" A small ring of black echoed into the air where the miko's leg met-
Sploa~sh! The blow sent Wakasagihime barreling limply into the water below, thrown by the powerful strike to her shoulder.
'Like a fish out of water…!' Taking a deep breath, the miko prepared for the plunge-
Spla- uuu~sh… Submerged again, her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim glow of the submerged world beneath the lake's surface-
Something blurry, bubbly and violent whirled towards her from the side, and she tensed herself. 'Incoming-'
fwuam…! She felt herself awkwardly slammed back in the water, the mermaid's form spiralling into her head-first, meeting her stomach. The manner in which she was pushed made the water she was in recoil, and she felt herself pushed into the mermaid as she drilled into the miko's gut with her head.
"Fua- ah…" Letting out her breath, Sendai instantly shut her mouth. 'Back up, back up…!'
fwuu~sh! Thrusting up with a fluid motion, ignoring the mermaid's proximity-
Spla~sh! -she found herself near the water's surface. "Ha- kaugh- kauf- hua~h…"
Emerging silently just some meters away from the miko, the mermaid held out an arm beneath the water. "Balloonaga!"
Sendai thrashed her arms back and began to pull away in the still tides of the lake-
BWOMP. Between the mermaid and the miko, a huge, salmon-colored water balloon generated, sparkling with iridescent, misty drops of water as it drifted…
'It- it's actually pretty damn cold above the water…' Sendai stared up at the huge, shack-sized balloon with curious apprehension. 'Also…'
With her talisman equipped, Sendai noted a huge energy signature coming from the giant, four person tall water balloon. 'Let's… not touch that.'
...As she floated further back, the water balloon slowly coasted across the water towards her.
'I'm not gonna let this lure me under, though…'
Shploa~sh! "Ha~h!" Uppercutting out of the even waves of the Misty Lake, the shrine maiden took to the air, ascending just over the giant water balloon-
Woosh! She kicked away from it, soaring over it-
KAPOP! The huge water balloon exploded into a huge, violent blast of water. A plus-shaped cluster of rainbow-tinted pastel, regular person-sized water balloons echoed out from within, homing in on Sendai as she soared across the water…
Splash! Touching down in the water again, the miko shot her gaze back to the homing orbs…
Woo- woo- woosh. Casting soggy ofuda from the water, she watched the slightly inaccurate talismans roar into the huge balloons-
KAPOP- POP! POP- POP- POP! Sparkling water rained down before her, each balloon shattering into a six strong cluster of smaller, still-homing water balloons. 'What kind of attack is this…!?'
And then-
Spla- spla- splash. Sendai shut her eyes as a huge, spinning but immobile shuriken of water materialized over her, continually providing a torrent of water to obscure her vision. 'Ah- what…'
Splaa~sh! She heard the water near her erupt with shattering volume-
Bam! Upon shielding her head with her arms and flaring darkness into them-
fwuu~sh. She found herself submerged from a great force that slammed into her from above.
"Water Sign!" Wakasagihime called out a spell card, as the miko's momentum slowly reversed to stable levels. "Tail Fin Slap!"
'Yeah, naturally…' Sendai would've huffed if she weren't focusing on not drowning. 'I need to start using danmaku, at this rate. Especially considering how useful it seems to be as a crowd-clearer.'
Slowly, the mermaid began to spin around, holding her arms above her head and together to properly swivel. Then quicker, her spin accelerated, and-
Woo~sh! -she abruptly shot to the side of Sendai like a bullet.
In doing so, torrential, huge waves of arrow-shaped, faded blue bullets roared in the wake of her tail fin, illuminating the water around the miko. Although the swings were all purely slash-based, it'd seemed the mermaid had aimed them randomly to provide the miko with a navigational challenge in the water…
"Balloonra!" At the end of her swivel, Wakasagihime posed-
Boo- boo- boop! A static, plus-shaped mass of person-sized water balloons generated beneath the water's surface, acting as the mermaid's alternative to water mines.
'...Really, danmaku's just like…' As Sendai ascended for more air, stopping and going so as to avoid the expanding discs of arrow-shaped bullets, she contemplated the play projectiles...
Throwing her arm-
Ti- ti- tick. She made some monotone red rectangles slowly splash out in jagged angles from her arm's toss. '...That feels different, for some reason.' The bullets quickly fizzled out in the waves, due to the low effort put into them.
woo~sh! Wakasagihime whirled by her at bullet speed again, a violent series of blue waves splashing out in her wake. 'Ah…'
Spla~sh. Sendai emerged on the surface. "Ow- ow…" Up here, she couldn't see the danmaku below the waves, so she began to take seemingly random stings from below…
Taking a breath, she rotated, thrusting down into the waves herself.
Below the surface, Wakasagihime blinked, darting back. She'd planned to grapple the miko at first, but now she reconsidered. Whirling around again, she began to unleash another twister of danmaku beneath the water…
'Danmaku can be objects, so…' Looking at her fists, the miko refocused on the mermaid ahead indifferently. 'That should do, for now.'
Thrusting a black-shaded fist forward, she focused. The result was a dark, purple-tinted, jagged polygon that flew linearly out from her hand, and forward towards the mermaid.
...While Wakasagihime spun up and readied to cast again, her attempt to box the miko in with water mines progressed slowly. "Balloo-"
fwam. The chunky polygon met her stomach, exploding into a huge, visually appealing shockwave of dark energy. For all of this spectacle, it only made the mermaid wince. "Ah…"
...Throwing her fists a few more times, Sendai spammed the gradually accelerating dark fists; until she made too many to focus on, which totalled at about ten. 'Alright, this… works. I think.'
This time, the mermaid-
Woosh! -thrust her way around the entire wave of linear danmaku bolts, before using her tail to kick through the water towards the miko.
Bwomp- pop pop, pop! Stopping right before her, the mermaid thrust her arms forward, a cluster of big bubbles emanating from her and exploding against the miko's arms.
They only really resulted in pushing Sendai back, but she had to shut her eyes from the stinging force expelled from each. 'Water magic's all about being annoying, isn't it?'
As she opened her eyes again, after coasting through the water-
"Balloonaga!" Kicking even further towards the miko, Wakasagihime thrust her arms further-
BWOMP-KAPOP!
The massive salmon-colored balloon was generated partially into Sendai's form this time, instantly connecting with her.
"Faa~...!" It took her mind a moment to catch up with the blow, her head reeling and mouth agape in the water. 'ah- shit shit'
Spla~sh! Thankfully, near the surface as she was, knockback made her re-emerge, the cold midday air snapping her back to her senses. "Kaugh- kauh- kaugh, kau~gh!" Hacking up the water she took on, she half-flailed, half-waded back and away from the further magic balloons below the waves…
Before her-
SPLA~SH! Wakasagihime rocketed out of the water, spinning around-
Fwa- fwa- fwa- fwam! Her previously silent twirls now audibly droned on, as she created dull blue arrows in the air above.
Vision blurry from the water coating her face, and obscured by her hair, Sendai brought an arm down-
Shpla~sh! "Ha- ah…!" -and once again uppercut into the air with a dark fist, intent on going after the mermaid, whose danmaku twirls created largely horizontal waves, rather than anything aimed.
Pop- pop, pop! As she neared the mermaid, the youkai retaliated with a surge of bubbles promptly.
Woosh! Trusting another dark arm up, Sendai grit her teeth as she plowed through the surge of stinging water. 'C'mon…!'
Once near the mermaid's height, Sendai saw her eyes widen. Flipping back down towards the water, as if swimming in the air, the mermaid attempted to escape-
Woosh! So the miko kicked towards the mermaid, to intercept her. 'You made a mistake!'
Wham! "Enh!" Wakasagihime barreled towards the water at an awkward angle, after Sendai's kick met her torso.
Her momentum halted, Sendai also fell back into the lake, her plummet awkward. Taking a breath and letting out a brief exhale from her nose-
Spla- uuu~sh…
...Submerged again, Sendai flipped around under the water. After a moment, she opened her eyes again-
Glaring, Wakasagihime was roaring straight at her like a bullet, zipping effortlessly forward through the blue water. 'There we go! No more dragging shit. Riled her up-'
wham. 'Ow, shit.' Sendai guarded with her arms. The mermaid had whipped her tail around to slam her, and unlike when it happened above the water, this time it cut like a blade, leaving long incisions on the miko's arms.
Woosh! Shooting down, the mermaid got under Sendai. Curling up, the miko balled up to defend herself-
Wham! Jabbing with fingers protected by a vortex of water, Wakasagihime rammed Sendai up and out of the water-
Spla~sh! The attack sent Sendai rolling along the lake's surface, eyes shut as she rapidly transitioned between submersion and exposure…
SWISH! Zipping out of the water at a forty-five degree angle, Wakasagihime rolled in a flip in the air, before shooting back down towards Sendai like a javelin-
'Oh- crap-'
fwish. With a brief glance of the incoming mermaid and the expectation of taking a brutal jab to the side as she tumbled slowly in the water, the shrine maiden instead shifted to the side. Her displacement was marked by lines of black.
Spla- splash! This didn't get her out of the way of the attack, however. Instead, the mermaid clumsily flopped into her, only grazing the miko's tense side, the two of them tumbling in the water together now.
Woosh. Then, the mermaid had escaped in the next moment.
"Haa~..." Inhaling, correcting herself, Sendai thrust herself beneath the waves again-
Fwoo~sh. Beneath the water, she glanced around at the murky blue.
Wakasagihime was heard somewhere, her voice flowing through all of the water near the miko. "Scale Sign! Great Raging Waves of the Reversed Scale!"
Before Sendai, the mermaid lit up, aglow with a cyan, green and magenta aura.
Swish- Fwaa~m! Swoosh! Swish! Gradually increasing in ferocity, Wakasagihime spun around. Violent, vibrant slashes generated from her form as she threw her arms and tail fin, sending out fluid, methodical half-crescents of danmaku, rainbow aura and pain.
Thin lines of green, magenta and cyan arrow danmaku splayed out towards Sendai in constant, uneven waves, born from the mermaid's limbs. Unlike the previous card's danmaku, they were far more vulnerable to being weaved through, instead of having to be entirely avoided.
Swoo~sh! With a swing of her tail fin, Wakasagihime sent out a thin wave of blue arrows. Each throw of her limbs was great, the danmaku's light showing just how harshly each blow turned the tides around her, light bending as she created currents of her own with her fluid swings.
Sendai focused on wading through the scattered bullets, finding herself taking a few to the gut from the need to swim rather than simply move. 'This really is pretty good for getting used to moving in water. These bullets don't hurt too much, but it still sucks to get hit, and there's a lot of things to dodge...'
Then, she noticed the mermaid getting closer. 'Might need more air soon…'
Fwaa- fwaa~m! As the mermaid neared, it almost looked like she was throwing off vibrant, rainbow-colored water particles of her own, independent of the lake's water.
'Let's not get too close to that, now.' Drifting back, Sendai spun and weaved past the unaimed, technicolor spreads. 'How do I make those lasers that people kicked my ass with? That'd sure be great...'
swoosh. Still drifting and dodging, Sendai threw a left hook as she retreated-
Swa~sh! An ugly, misshapen slash of shimmering, polygonal amber danmaku generated in front of her. After folding like a demented, ill-constructed tent, it dissipated entirely. 'Not a laser.'
Swish- Fwaa~m! Fwish! Swish! Revolving around and around, the mermaid coasted towards the miko, rocking the water around herself as she let out her small, violent danmaku maelstrom…
Nearing the water's surface-
Spla~sh. "Hah- hah…"Drawing in some quick breaths, the miko threw her arms backwards, and began distancing herself from the underwater danmaku vortex…
SPLA- SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH! Emerging from the water as she followed the miko, Wakasagihime continued to thrash about, her violent throws of vibrant technicolor arrows now stretching into the late day sun outside the lake.
But, Sendai could now see how dim the danmaku was when exposed to daylight, compared to the shade of the not-brine beneath.
Above the water, each of the mermaid's tosses were more akin to flailing, and the rainbow-tinted aura she threw with each rip and tear wasn't present, making each move look awkward and deliberate, telegraphed.
...As Wakasagihime neared again-
Spla~sh! Sendai threw a dark magic empowered kick forward after righting herself, roaring through the easy waves of danmaku.
Skidding across the water's surface akin to a craft, she cleaved through the lake's surface. Water spattered out of the way, and as the mermaid faced her after another slow revolution, her eyes widened-
Wham! Throwing another leg forward, Sendai smashed the mermaid's face with it, deciding to not accent it with dark energy, having mercy. 'Alright! Ah…'
As she slowed to a stop, she rolled around-
Splo- uuu~sh…
Submerged again, the miko searched beneath the waves, noting that the mermaid was nowhere now…
'That might've ended things.' The miko rotated around gently… 'Or pissed her off more. Both are alright.'
…
Sendai considered surfacing, after a moment. 'Where is she?'
...After a few more moments of waiting, Sendai drifted up with casual strokes.
Splash. Emerging on the surface-
"Tide Sign…!" Wakasagihime was floating in the air over the lake, arms held out. "Tidal Wave of the Lake!"
...Sendai looked around for danmaku, but didn't see any. 'Um?'
...
Slosh, slosh, slosh. Throwing her arms out, Sendai paddled towards the water beneath the floating mermaid, intent on being ready to engage her for whatever might happen next.
She looked up as she approached, keeping tactical-
That's when she saw it. From the lake's shore where one might normally see some woods, and the top of the Scarlet Devil clock tower, there was instead a large, dark wall of water.
Fwuu~sh… The incoming tide was ominously audible from Sendai's location. She was two-thirds across the lake from it, but it was coming fast.
Fwuu~sh! Looking around, Sendai considered diving to escape it. 'Dive, or uppercuts?'
As it neared-
FWUU~SH…! The massive wall of water shattered into huge, individual neon white clumps of shimmering danmaku water, blinding the miko-
Spla- fwuu~sh. Now with no choice other than to dive, Sendai sought shelter from the massive rain of danmaku by thrusting down at an angle, to sneak under it…
As she tore through the water with dark-powered limbs, the liquid in her trail shimmering from her powerful pulls-
CRAA~SH! Water churned and roared behind her as the tidal danmaku walls came down. The water before her was not pulled by the artificial waves, allowing her to swim forward beneath the massive, collapsing walls of water danmaku.
CRAA- FWAA- CRAASH! The water didn't relent behind her, as if she kept passing tidal wave after tidal wave. '...If I just keep moving forward, these waves are going to force me to the opposite shore. I… could swim that far, but the terms were not to go on land.'
A glance up revealed she was actually passing beneath multiple tidal waves, each one merely an aesthetic front that would shatter into a huge danmaku wall once approached.
...Doubling back, she gazed into the roaring, blinding clumps of white that came down into the water behind her. By the time the danmaku submerged, it engorged to huge sizes, impassable and mighty.
woo~sh! Uppercutting up, she let herself rocket up-
Spla~sh! Emerging in the small tunnel between the shattering waves of bullets and the genuine lakewater, Sendai paddled as fast as she could to keep up with the above-water collapses.
FWUU~SH- FWUU~SH- FWUU~SH…! As she progressed through the lake, she continued glancing up. 'I'm just gonna have to break out of here and look for that mermaid…!'
With two options-
Spla~sh! Sendai thrust herself out of the water, and into the small pocket made by the continually collapsing water tunnel. 'I could cheat and 'teleport' through…'
Woosh. With a weaker uppercut, she kept herself coasting along in the air, gazing at the falling orbs to gauge the safest possible route. Then-
Woosh! Kicking forward with a darkening leg, Sendai threw herself towards the bright, white wall. 'Let's go…!'
FWA- FWAM! A few white orbs popped against her as she grazed past them, the explosions of water launching her forward. "Hye~hnh…!"
Soaring forward with what would normally be alarming speed, Sendai sighted the glowing form of the mermaid…
Bam- SPLASH- SPLASH- SPLASH! With her newfound speed, the shrine maiden let her sandals smash against the lake's surface, black shockwaves echoing out across the water as she darted across it.
FWUSH- FWUSH- FWUSH- FWUSH…! Small geysers erupted from each impact in her wake, before immediately being crushed by the tidal danmaku, which was now expanding back towards the lake to catch the miko again.
Woo~sh! Uppercutting up, Sendai continued to let herself roar forward with the great momentum from the bursts of the water magic that struck her earlier.
Gazing down at her vainly, Wakasagihime threw her arms up defensively as the miko neared at great speeds. "Ba- Balloon!"
Bwomp. A single, half-person sized balloon generated before her, only covering her tail as she shielded herself with her arms.
'Agh- great…!' Making an effort to dodge the balloon at the last minute-
Woosh! Sendai thrust up once more, her arms burning with throbbing, hazy pain from all the exertion in the past few seconds. 'C'mon! Higher- shit!'
As if slipping in the air, Sendai skid across the top of the balloon before the mermaid-
POP! It popped-
WHAM! Sendai was thrown into the mermaid's upper body so hard that her legs were swept out beneath her. 'O~hkay!'
"Ngfuh!" Wakasagihime let out a grunt, the miko's legs striking her upper chest and head…
...The danmaku gone, both women flopped back down into the water below.
Spla- spla~sh…
...Under the water again, Sendai rotated around gingerly and looked around for the mermaid. 'Fuck- need air real soon…'
Then, seeing the mermaid, she took pause.
Wakasagihime was right before her, holding two hands to her bloody nose. "Uh- uhm… can we call this done? I'm running out of cards… and if you don't wanna pay that badly…"
...Sendai blinked while still submerged. 'What?'
"I feel pretty, um... " Searching for words, the mermaid removed her hands from her face, letting her blood flow freely into the water. "I'm not really good at the whole 'going on offense' thing."
...Sendai propped her arms on her hips as she floated.
"It's just, I don't really… 'fight' even. I rarely even play danmaku." The mermaid pressed her fingers together. "So most of my skills are built around defense… and getting away."
'She does use a lot of knockback. That's also kind of a water thing…' Considering her words, Sendai stared at the string of blood flowing from her nostrils. 'That looks weird.'
...Wakasagihime gave the miko a dry smile. "What's with the face…? Look- I'll bring you back to shore…"
'That's okay. I can just-'
Fwuu~sh! The water's current suddenly propelled Sendai. 'Woah- hey…'
==== Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode ====
Spla~sh!
"Ha~h!" Inhaling as she was ejected from the water, Sendai ran backwards to a stop, coming ashore next to her party again…
'Fresh air and dry land…!'
Splash. Wakasagihime sprang up from the water across from her. Somehow, her nose had healed up. '...Probably youkai regeneration.'
The day's light was now dimmer, nearing sunset, but not quite there yet. The faint blue the land now had just made Sendai feel chillier.
"I see you two... had your fun." Rinnosuke regarded the women dryly. "Will I have to pay anything?"
"...Well, no." Shifting a little, the mermaid exhaled. "She's not Reimu, but… that was still a lotta' something." Focusing on Sendai, she questioned her. "I don't think I ever asked for your name."
...Sendai shivered in the brisk air, now that the day was late, and her sheer adrenaline from fighting in gallons of liquid had worn off. "I, ah- I am the miko... who came before."
Wakasagihime's eyes widened. "...Then, are you… Reimu's mother?"
"Bingo~!" Marcus cheered in the background, walking up towards the three at the shore… "Oh, by the way…"
Thunk. He dropped a burning stick onto a pile of wood between the mermaid and the miko. It was slightly trampled, Sendai having apparently ran across it.
Fwoom. Promptly, a small fire was lit. 'There we go.' Sendai instantly took to it, getting close...
...While she warmed up near the new fire, the mermaid spoke again. "Why'd you want to spar with me, so bad? You said something about… getting used to water? There's not a lot of that in Gensokyo."
...Sendai considered a response as she stared at the fire, then up at her. "Mmh. Well, I believe I said I wanted to get more used to… controlling my body in more foreign ways. Mostly because, I feel like I've been getting sort of complacent with my fighting strategies on the ground, and fighting in a totally new way would kind of… mix it up, I guess. Get me thinking more."
'...In retrospect, it might've been a poor idea to fight a mermaid on her home turf, but she proved to be a pretty soft-hearted person in the end. And, not very combat-oriented in the first place. Water's still always vaguely terrifying, and that's never going to change.'
"I see." Wakasagihime sort of idly took the miko's response…
Sendai's gaze returned to the crackling fire. In the background, the sun was now beginning to truly set, golden rays turning amber.
"Well…" Speaking up again, Wakasagihime refocused on her. "I'm not sure if you got what you wanted. I can show you some things though, if you'd like…"
'I feel like danmaku's good enough for now, but…' Sendai was still curious. "What would you care to teach me? Or, feel I need?"
...This was a question Wakasagihime hadn't pondered yet. "Hmm. Um… huh."
Resisting the urge to grin at her, Sendai continued to stare into the fire. 'That's a good sign.'
"I could teach you balloon magic." Wakasagihime proposed, shifting at the shore uncomfortably… "Or, if not that, stuff with bubbles…"
'...I don't think I'm going to run into a situation that justifies popping balloons and bubbles all over my enemy.' Sendai wasn't appealed. 'I'm not into the whole magic thing, anyway. Danmaku's jarring enough.
'In retrospect, I probably should've spent more time just practicing my basic movements, but, you know… that was pretty fine, too. It wasn't too different from just getting assaulted normally. I don't normally take vacations of any sort- except for when I'm injured and can't afford potions- but I still feel like this is helping me get back into practice. Ironically less intense than that bout with grandma, even with the water.'
Slowly hobbling towards the mermaid while Sendai looked opposed to the idea, Marcus took this opportunity to learn. "Y'know- I might wanna see a thing er' two 'bout bubbles 'n' balloons…!"
...Wakasagihime sized him up as he approached. "Who're you?" She went from intimidated to mildly unimpressed quite quickly.
"Marisa's dad." Rinnosuke annotated from near the fire…
...Wakasagihime blinked owlishly. "Wh- ah, really…!?" Centering her gaze on him again, she seemed marginally more impressed. "Yo- you want to learn something from me…!?"
"I'm all 'bout them elements now, sister!" Nodding and grinning, he stopped at the edge of the shore. "S'bout time this old dog learned some new tricks!"
...He panned his gaze over to Rinnosuke. "C'mon, Kourin! Y'might learn somethin'!"
"Ah- I'm not very interested in water magic." He gave Marcus a dismissive wave from the fire. "Besides… I'm kind of-"
"Get up offa' yer la~zy ass…!" Marcus beckoned him again. "You got like one mildly offensive technique! Beggars can't be choosers!"
"...Alright." Reluctant about parting from the warm fire- especially for water-based techniques- Rinnosuke roused himself into activity. Lumbering over to the two, he stretched his limbs… "What will I be learning, then? Balloon?"
Wakasagihime gave him a dry look. "I know a few more things than that, you know… but I guess we'll start with that."
==== Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode ====
Pop!
Marcus stroked his chin, gazing at the water balloon as it popped over the lake. "The magic fer the balloon part's weirdly more complex than the water part…"
"It is kinda like… more transfusion and alchemy-based than water." Wakasagihime considered, as she reclined in the water… "It's still not real rubber at all, though."
"Oh, certainly. Some weird water-rubber…!" Grinning, the mage nodded at the water where the balloon popped. "S'very interesting. Should pick up the rest of the series in my free time. Oughta give shop vandals a real run fer their money!"
'...For some reason,' Seated with her head on her knees before the fire, Sendai tilted her head. 'I feel like Marcus hasn't been taking life as seriously as he should be. I mean, he was always a goofball, but… hmm. He used to have more passion for magic. Now he's just sort of… rolling with the punches. Twenty damn years.'
...Nearby, Rinnosuke was focusing as hard as possible with his arms held up, a misshapen, oddly unlit water balloon whirling to life before himself…
Spla- splash, splat. It fell apart pitifully, and he slouched. "I… can't do it."
...Wakasagihime stared at him almost pityingly. "Maybe you should learn something with a little more… practicality. The balloon series expects you to know water to material mineral transfusion after all, so… I don't expect you to know something like that, Morichika."
Looking back up at her, he shifted his posture uncomfortably, looking discouraged. "What do you suppose, then? If I can't cast an entry-level water spell..."
"Oh, don't worry." The mermaid shook her head. "Come closer to the shore. I'll teach you some more basic water manipulation, then…"
Standing from the fire nearby, Sendai articulated her limbs. 'Nice and toasty. Being wet in the cold's great and all, but not unless you're doing something, or submerged…'
Next to the shore, Rinnosuke turned to the mermaid. "So…"
Sploop. Holding her hand up, Wakasagihime raised a glob of water from the lake. "...Do you see how I'm doing this?"
"...Maybe." Furrowing his brows, Rinnosuke leaned forward to better examine how she was making it levitate. "Is it telekinesis?"
"No." Wakasagihime bluntly shook her head. "Water is actually near impossible for normal people to levitate, with being all… flowy. It'd be like trying to lift a person, but harder."
"...Ah." He nodded compromisingly. "So…"
"Water magic deals with the way things flow." Drifting the water glob closer, Wakasagihime explained the basics to him. "...'Cause, well… if it was levitating, you wouldn't see the water flow and swirl around a central point. I'd have total control over every particle. In this instance, I just sort of… control their current, and make it stronger than gravity given certain directions."
Rinnosuke rose his brows. "That sounds… very complicated. Not the explanation, but what might go into actually doing it."
"Oh, well, that's because it probably is." Wakasagihime agreed with him casually. "But there're some things that aren't so hard. Water's also everywhere- in the air, the ground… puddles. In alive people. But- we won't, um, think about how to manipulate that. That's sort of different."
Nodding along, Rinnosuke propped his arms on his hips, looking vaguely apprehensive...
"Do you know how to shoot danmaku?" The mermaid inquired, before anything else.
"...Technically." Rinnosuke awkwardly drew his pistol, pointing it out to the lake. "I fire fake bullets from this real gun."
"...That… will do." She seemed somewhat putoff by the fact Rinnosuke carried a real pistol on himself, but ignored it. "Fire any bullet."
Taking her suggestion, Rinnosuke ejected a small, red dart from his pistol after a moment of focus. It flew off into air over the lake, before becoming untraceable once it got far enough…
"...You don't have to be so angry when shooting danmaku." Wakasagihime held a hand to her mouth… "I don't mean to be rude, though. It might be good for your focus if you could, um… fire a bullet with half the angry, or even none."
Nodding with vague amusement at this, Rinnosuke tried again…
...After another moment of concise focusing, he fired a less vibrant beige dart from his pistol. "How's that?"
She thought it was good enough. "Good enough, I think. Now..."
A pebble floated up, and out of the lake. "First, we'll practice with a still object. Can you get your mana to it?"
...Rinnosuke squinted at it. "Ah. Maybe. I think so…"
...Blinking in vague wonder, the mermaid gently, subtly poked his shoulder with her finger-
The stone glowed with a different hue of telekinetic energy the moment she did. "Oh! I think I did it!" He glanced over at Wakasagihime in surprise-
Her hands were to herself again. "That's great…!"
...Looking back, he saw the stone was just blue again. After a moment of focus, holding his gun hand up, it glowed with a beige offset once more. "So that's how that works…!"
"Now…" With Rinnosuke properly focusing on the stone, Wakasagihime processed where to go from here. "This should be simple. Focus on the stone…"
...While Rinnosuke stares ahead at it, the mermaid channeled mana into it-
Bwomp… A bubble slowly expanded around the stone, solid and viscous looking…
Pop! The bubble popped into a glob of messy, blue water, which scattered to the lake below.
"...It seemed like you pretty much just channeled mana into it." Rinnosuke observed. "...And, you seemed to channel mana along the surface of the bubble. Did you… grab moisture to do that?"
...Eyebrows raised, the mermaid nodded. "Um, yeah. I don't know how you just… guessed that, but basically. Moisture is the easiest to manipulate, and if you channel more energy into it through the air- or yourself- you should be able to generate a lot of water from seemingly nothing."
...At this, Rinnosuke focused again. Channeling mana into the far pebble, he focused both his gun and his hand…
Bwomp. Slowly, a round, somewhat awkwardly offset bubble of liquid formed from the gathered ambient water, engulfing the stone.
Pop! Once he stopped focusing, the bubble popped and the stone fell.
Wakasagihime smiled. "Should work like that for danmaku, too! Except, when the air's moist, you can let the bubble expand as it moves, perhaps. Otherwise, you'll have to slow it down near what you want to soak."
...He nods at that. "I see. Thank you, um… Wakasagihime."
"...It's no problem." She gives him a nod. "...Also, where's my food?"
It took him a moment, but Rinnosuke realized what she was asking. "Oh, right here…" Reaching behind himself, he draws the opened fish food box from his backpack-
Wakasagihime steals it from his hand, and begins to accelerate into the water. "Thank yo~u! Bye!"
…
Once Rinnosuke turned back to the fire, he saw that there was now two fires, Marcus cooking one of the large fish over one, and Sendai holding the other huge fish over the other fire.
'Took him long enough…' Sendai stared at him dryly. "Hey, could you get some rocks and sticks? I'd like to not smell of fish as much by the end of this…"
He snorted. "Maybe we could levitate it, instead. That might ironically be easier than finding rocks around here…"
'If we mess it up, this thing's getting smouldered.' Sendai stared down at the huge fish. 'Not like that'd be horrible. Three huge fish are probably more than we can eat, anyway...'
...Clouds had moved out of the way of the sun, casting their clearing in faded gold. Sendai took some examining stares at her party members, before resuming her tribal-style cooking.
==== Sendai Hakurei no Miko Mode ====
Tsukiko Hakurei, the Shrine Maiden who Beats People Up
==o==
WEAPON: Unarmed.
==o==
INVENTORY:
Magic Replicable Mana Molotovs - A Marcus Kirisame invention. A simple prefabricated spell that allows the user to conjure holy/water elemental mana molotovs. The liquid creates a swath of holy flames on contact with any non-treated surface.
ITEM CRASH: Hydro Storm - Holy/water elemental rain, though it doesn't burn like the molotov's mixture. Basically a modified rain spell; it lasts a few seconds and can only be used outside. Deals holy damage to youkai.
Hakurei Yin-Yang Orb - It makes a mean pinball when maximized! When at terminal velocity, the orb also does magical damage.
ITEM CRASH: Fantasy Heaven - Tapping into her dark mastery, Sendai temporarily becomes more youkai-like at the expense of her sub-weapons and becoming more vulnerable to holy damage. Her attacks become partially darkness elemental.
Hakurei Talismans - Throwable projectiles. Also referred to as ofuda. Deals holy damage. Most effective on youkai or other greater dark/moon beings.
ITEM CRASH: Thousand Talismans - Sendai throws a lot of talismans at once straight ahead. Cheapest item crash for Sendai to cast, but leaves her vulnerable and is difficult to aim.
Hakurei Axe - An origami axe created from folded talismans and reinforced by holy magic. A heavy weapon that breaks easily, but can deal high physical holy damage when used well. Also able to be thrown as a makeshift heavy projectile.
ITEM CRASH: Thousand Blades - Sendai floats into the air and creates a revolving ring of Hakurei Axes.
Updated Chronicle of Gensokyo - A copy of the Chronicle of Gensokyo, lended to Sendai by the Hieda family. Some magic work from Marcus let Sendai replicate it as a projectile to throw at enemies. Spins around and flails its pages everywhere, which deal holy damage when they cut foes.
ITEM CRASH: Holy Spark - Summons multiple copies of the Chronicle of Gensokyo, creates a magical circle in the air, and fires a huge, rainbow colored laser. Takes awhile to set up…
Rusty Stopwatch - It doesn't seem to work anymore.
ITEM CRASH: It's probably best not to experiment…
Dragon Palace's Flintlock - Shoots a weak stream of electricity which arcs into an enemy. More useful as a distraction or last resort accuracy weapon.
ITEM CRASH: Vol Fulger - Generates a ball of lightning around Sendai's form defensively.
Rebound Stone - A magically replicable stone that bounces off surfaces. Doesn't work well with soft surfaces or open spaces. After awhile, it breaks, too. Deals physical holy damage.
ITEM CRASH: Evil Sealing Circle - A series of rebound stones are cast into the air, creating a shaft above Sendai which is filled with powerful holy energy. Once the attack ends, the holy energy splashes through the entire room. May seal foes.
Holy Salt - It's holy salt. Deals holy damage when you throw it in someone's eyes.
ITEM CRASH: Sodium Geyser - Creates a geyser of holy salt. Sendai'll never run out of cooking salt again!
Eye of Truth Talisman - A talisman used for the Eye of Truth ability. The magical programming it has allows it to probably work for anyone, as long as they're not youkai.
ITEM CRASH: Unknown
Whispers Talisman - A talisman used for the Whispers ability. Crafted by Yuyuko Saigyouji through mysterious means, it allows the wearer to float on the voices of the dead.
ITEM CRASH: Unknown
(2x) Health Potion - A potion used to restore health. Basic, but the best choice for human users. Provides heavy health regeneration for some seconds.
ITEM CRASH: Evolution - Heals the entire party, as if they were all given a potion. Equal to a Mega Potion, but consumes mana to produce these effects.
Mega Elixir - A complex, illustrious potion that instantly and fully restores all life and mana of an entire party. Very rare, and expensive to create.
ITEM CRASH: Hakurei God's Blessing - Removes healing effects of the elixir, instead giving auto-life status to all party members and blessing them for a long duration. Blessed party members are immune to status debuffs, including instant death and dispel. Auto-life status will revive party members after dying once, leaving them with critical health instead of being dead.
Invincible Mushroom - A synthesis item, which enhances physical capabilities drastically. Makes young women taller, bustier, and overall more mature. Duration is shortened by how drastic the mushroom changes the body, making it last awhile for already mature women albeit with minimal increased strength or bodily changes. Changes the user's clothing to accent their new features. Enables Marisa Kirisame to use star punches.
ITEM CRASH: Unknown
Eleven thousand, two hundred yen - Money used to purchase goods.
ITEM CRASH: Midas' Rain - Makes it rain money in a wide radius. Value of currency is proportional to damage done on impact. Does more damage the wealthier the user is, up to a cap of one hundred thousand yen. Has more range and duration the wealthier the user is. Deals non-elemental physical damage. Not fun to clean up afterwards...
==o==
GROWTH ABILITIES:
Dark Uppercut - Sendai can uppercut to get to higher places, and also deal high dark damage on impact. Launches foes.
Tengu Rush - An old Tengu technique. It's a charge accompanied by two whirling wind blades, propelling the user forward ten feet.
Slide Leap - A sliding kick that Sendai can transition to if she's sliding on the floor. Only rarely useful…!
Flash Step - Unlike actual flash step techniques, this one simply lets Sendai move forward while being immaterial to intruding entities for a short time. She can only go at a set distance and speed when she does this, and she's vulnerable afterward. Does not let her pass through walls. Probably some mangled version of the regular Hakurei teleportation technique...
Dark Power - Sendai can reduce damage taken, boost damage dealt with unarmed attacks, as well as micro-manage her blood flow with her dark abilities. Grants fifty percent darkness resistance.
Anti-Step - Tapping into dark energy allows Sendai to travel along 'leylines' in reality. When in danger of being struck, this gives her minimal ability to slip out of the way at the last moment. Requires both knowledge of the incoming blow and able reflexes.
Eye of Truth - With the aid of an enchanted talisman, Sendai can observe ambient mana flow of objects. This lets her detect certain stealth attacks, hidden paths, barriers, as well as treated surfaces and all sorts of magical trickery. If used in magically inundated areas, it just makes her unable to see. Toggleable.
Whispers - With the aid of an enchanted talisman, Sendai can float on the whispers of the dead. Power of flight depends on the density of the voices. Allows the user to hear the whispers of the dead, and the dying words of the late.
Sub-Weapons - Sendai's gathered a lot of stuff over the years that she can throw at people when she's out of ideas. Most of it is just prefabricated spells and basic Hakurei utilities.
Item Crash - Draining attacks that create stronger casts of Sendai's sub-weapons. Usable with any item in Sendai's inventory, although if she's not ironed it out it can be unpredictable…
Basic Danmaku - Sendai has remembered some of danmaku's basics, allowing her to sometimes throw danmaku projectiles. She stills needs to practice and get used to it, however; especially since she only uses projectiles strategically rather than as her focus.
==o==
PARTY:
=o=
Rinnosuke Morichika, the Unmoving Used Goods Seller
WEAPON: Single-Fire Pistol - A really powerful pistol with only one bullet. Allows Rinnosuke to hold people up.
INVENTORY:
Iron Shortsword - A short iron sword. Rinnosuke doesn't really know how to use it.
Sword of Kusanagi - Priceless Japanese national heirloom. Contains exceptional wind power. Performs exceptionally on aerial foes. Boosts the power of wind skills. Very low physical attack power. Grants the wielder fifty percent wind resistance. Can only be properly wielded by Marcus at the moment.
ITEM CRASH: Wingblade - Consume half of Sendai's max mana to turn the Sword of Kusanagi into a magnetic/wind elemental blade. Powerful single target attack that inflicts dispel and magnetism, as well as cleaves through defenses. Due to high elemental affinity, is legendary on those weak to wind or magnet, while incredibly useless on wind or magnet resistant foes. Finishes by granting Sendai wings of blades, which will assault her foe and cleanse it with a pentagram of pure magnet and wind magic.
Quick Amulet - An amulet handed out by Tewi to all newborn rabbits so that they can learn how to use their body as it develops and they grow. Given to Rinnosuke because he's about as capable if not less than a newborn rabbit. Increases user's evasion and agility when they're unarmed, only up to their body's maximum realistic capacity to perform; as such, this equip only benefits the unable.
Health Potion - A potion used to restore health. Basic, but the best choice for human users. Provides heavy health regeneration for some seconds.
(3x) Ether - Low tier mana restoration items. More than enough for most humans.
(3x) Hi-Ether - Medium tier mana restoration items. Enough mana for even mages to appreciate.
Food and Drink - Some perishable survival supplies.
Magic Wood Wand - A simple magical instrument that Rinnosuke uses to cast his preferred spells. Not a prerequisite for spell casting, but he finds it helps. Crafted from the bark of trees in the Forest of Magic.
(eighteen slots remaining)
SKILLS:
Threaten - Threaten enemies with a gun. Increases presence in the battle and might make the unknowing weary.
Sleep Shot - Inflict a target with heavy drowsiness. Wears off after some time.
Flare Shot - Shoot a blinding flare that lowers accuracy. Doesn't work well on foes that can sense life force or don't need to aim… and also doesn't work well outside of open spaces or corridors.
Ectoplasm - Magic taught by Yuyuko. Shoot a glob of sticky ectoplasm at an enemy to slow them.
Berserk Dart - Magic taught by Tewi. A danmaku dart charged with Rinnosuke's inner rage. Berserks the target and makes them focus on only him; wears off if they successfully engage him or take enough damage. Effect is removed by water or ice damage. Negligible non-elemental damage. Does not work well on enemies resistant to berserking or ones that are already berserk.
Soul Arrow - Magic taught by Kaguya Houraisan, originally developed by Eirin Yagokoro. Holy elemental skill that takes the form of a magical attack when charged into danmaku. Copies the magically-induced statuses of the target to the user, be they positive or negative. Overwrites current statuses. Statuses wear off faster than normal. Limited holy damage. May weaken targets.
Aqua Shot - Magic taught by Wakasagihime. Water elemental danmaku attack, which soaks an enemy by generating a bubble near them and popping it. Wets foes. Deals moderate water 'damage'.
Swing Sword - Rinnosuke hits an enemy for minor physical damage. Has a chance to make the enemy bleed.
=o=
Marcus Kirisame, the Middle-Aged Magician
WEAPON: Various Gimmicks - At any time, Marcus carries a myriad of toys and trinkets that can act as nasty surprises. In serious combat, he goes largely unarmed and purely casts magic.
INVENTORY:
Magic Bazooka - Collapsible magic bazooka. Can fire lasers in a variety of elemental flavors, but works best with non-elemental magic.
Enchanted Dreamcatcher - A trinket that halves the effectiveness of debuffs when held in the inventory. When equipped directly, can be charged to provide immunity to incoming debuffs.
Gap Rod V-5-and-a-half - An experimental device created by Marcus Kirisame. Operating on only ambient mana, the device allows the user to teleport short distances once per day. Has to recharge using ambient mana from the atmosphere; direct infusion of mana into device causes unintended side effects and spontaneous space-elemental detonation.
SKILLS:
-o- Ice Magic
Glacier - Erect a tall ice blade. Heavy physical ice attack.
Ice Shard - Spawn ice in an enemy's form. Moderate ice magic. May freeze targets.
Ice Shuriken - Spawns a huge shuriken of ice before himself, which spins around and randomly spreads ice danmaku. May chill targets.
Force Blizzard - Expert ice magic taught by Yuyuko, which inflicts stationary targets with a small, powerful blizzard. High chance of freezing targets. Not to be confused with the shotgun-spread type 'Blizzard' spell series.
-o- Fire Magic
Firaga - Lob a short-range fireball mortar. Heavy fire magic that ignites. Preceding tiers are homing fireballs that have a chance to ignite.
Fireball - Generate a fireball in an opponent's form. Moderate fire magic that ignites. Not to be confused with Fira or Fire, mechanically weaker spells that precede Firaga.
-o- Electric Magic
Plasma - Magic taught out of a lunar rabbit combat pamphlet. Hits twice. May reduce the target's evade. Generates an orb of lilac plasma in their form. Basic electric magic.
Thunderbolt - Summon a myriad of thunder strikes to converge on a single target. Advanced electric magic. May stun foes. Hits three times.
-o- Water Magic
Balloon - Basic water magic. Generates a magic, glowing water balloon that floats in a stationary position. Pops when an enemy gets close, and starts to home in after awhile. Wets foes. May stagger foes. May stun the feeble.
Bubbles - Basic water magic. Summon bubbles under an opponent. Gets them wet and stuff. Might lower their physical attack...! Good setup for electric moves, too!
Bubble Burst - Expert water magic. Summons a lot of bubbles under a lot of opponents. Still gets them wet. Also still might lower their physical attack…!
-o- Other Elemental
Quake - Disrupt the earth, and create a not-so-sharp spike of rock. Moderate physical earth attack.
Mana Drain - When able to access the opponent's mana, Marcus is able to pull it away. Technical magnet elemental magic. Usually initiated by a non-elemental orb.
-o- Non Elemental
Non-elemental Orb - A flexible non-elemental orb that may explode or simply dissipate. When dissipated, the mana may infuse with enemies and intertwine with their mana pool, allowing for Marcus to follow up.
Magic Resistance - Buffs an ally against magic. Starts at forty percent resistance, but tapers off to nothing over time.
Magic Shield - A non-elemental shield which absorbs all magical attacks, as long as they're not draining, death, or magnet related.
Lucky Star - Non-elemental star that bonks people on the head. Very random damage.
Star Shower - A rain of non-elemental stars which hit a crowd of foes for very random damage.
Cold and Gold - A danmaku non-spell which Marcus can create from an influx of magical energy.
Magic Minefield - Creates non-elemental landmines with minimal damage and high knockback, in a spread around himself.
-o- Ability
Elemental Control - Marcus has general mastery and control over non-elemental and elemental mana manipulation, allowing him to do some freeform manipulation for whatever he feels. Mastery and flexibility of freeform control depends on how many spells of that elemental branch are known.
Telekinesis - Semi-decent magical control of objects and matter; more specifically, spending mana to move objects. Works on clothes, too!
Magical Mastery - Marcus has access to any lower tier of attack he's currently mastered, if he needs to use such for whatever reason. As in, he knows Firaga therefore the preceding levels come innately, etcetera.
==o==
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
wakasagihime fight
the "you forgot to pack your water resistances didn't you" touhou
she's a pretty fun fight even if she's not a very powerful combatant; most of her skills are self-preservation-centric, and revolve around her either cheesing the opponent or stunning them to hell and getting out of dodge
this only changes when she's underwater, where all her magic and skills get way more powerful and she's pretty much unengagable unless you're a kappa
however, when expected to go on the offense, she ends up having to surface and that does away with her offensive advantages
water magic is very knockback-centric when it doesn't just get the enemy wet, making it a good defensive option
sendai would've learned something, but she began to experiment with danmaku instead which balanced things out, and also got to swim for awhile
notably she went easy on waka 'cause a single cast of vol fulger pretty much would've ended the fight because electricity + water = THE BIG CRUNCH
that and hit sendai since she's probably not really used it in a situation where she herself is totally immersed in the same body of water! normally it's stable because she can focus on it and air's not the most awesome of conductors, but when you're just in totally fresh water it's kinda~...
rinnosuke's new skill is one of the best debuffs dude, wetting people
although this means marcus isn't the only person in the party who can inflict wetness, which sets up for a lot of crazy elemental shenanigans involving everyone else since normally rinnosuke just kinda fumbles about anyway, so applying the good debuff wouldn't be a waste of his time
more specifically, being wet makes someone take fifty percent increased thunder and ice damage, which is pretty good, and also vastly increases elemental effects of said spells for obvious reasons
this is notably slower than the progression we've been following, but rest assured things'll spice up yo - w - the first fights're always a little mundane ain't they
as always, see you all next time!