A.N.: Well, that took more effort than should have been necessary. I really need to get a better grip on all the things running around inside my head, because it's annoying and doesn't help concentrating on one thing.
Albirmsam & James Birdsong & IllusionSign: Glad you enjoy the story!
FirstWinterLight: What, am I not allowed to be kind to a little girl? You wound me! … Well, then again, I am aware of my reputation.
xyzdreadnought: Honestly? Pacing ain't my strongest, especially with how I write. But I'll keep it in mind for when I feel like properly editing the whole story. Won't be till it reaches the end tho.
Edit: Okay, that was embarrasing. Thank you for pointing that out, FirstWinterLight!

Fiona's Light

~Chapter 4~

Fiona woke up the next morning. As it turned out, she could still sleep if she wanted too, and it did help her restore energy and would probably help her heal. It also helped that the futon Reimu gave her was a bit more comfortable than a blanket in a tree. Although, her bed at her parents' house would probably be even more comfortable. If her family actually cared about her, unlike the complete strangers she had met so far. Both Reimu and Yukari actually cared, even if the shrine maiden didn't care quite as much as Yukari did. Which wasn't a good sign, according to Reimu.

There was some kind of story between them, that much was clear to Fiona. Reimu seemed to not like Yukari, but at the same time she also did? It was strange and looked to be as complicated as the relationship between two characters in a book she'd once read. Or tried to read, because it ended up being a bit too difficult for her. Still, she could remember that the main characters both hated and loved each other at the same time. Apparently, that was possible in real life too.

Fiona got out of bed, and quickly checked over her hair. She then realized that she hadn't seen herself in a mirror ever since she changed! Quietly looking around, because Reimu was still sleeping, she found a mirror. Looking at her reflection, she immediately saw that her eyes were now golden, were they used to be hazel. Also standing out was her grey hair. A big change from being light brown. Seeing her lantern floating slightly behind her, she recognized the colours. Her eyes matched the flame while her hair matched the metal frame!

She had never paid much attention to how she looked (nor did her family, really. Too busy making sure her brother was looking perfect), but her current looks seemed… alright. Her hair was starting to get a bit long, though. Usually, she would get it cut to were it barely reached her ears. Currently, it was starting to cover her ears. Should she get it cut? Or should she try out long hair for a change? That way her family wouldn't recognize her for sure!

Having made that decision, she went outside. Her lantern floated silently next to her, the flame burning softly. She made sure to be quiet, because Reimu was still sleeping. Not feeling hungry, she just went ahead and sat down on the wooden porch in front of the main building. The sun had risen halfway above the horizon, and its light was slowly starting to illuminate the little bits of Gensokyo she could see from her position. Seeing how the trees were in the way, she decided to find a higher place. A little bit of searching, and she found a tree that was a bit taller than the other ones around, and she wasted no time climbing it.

Quickly, she found out that she could use her lantern as a point of support for climbing. She could, however, also feel that she would not be able to carry herself with it. She could still use it to slow down and avoid hurting herself, but she decided to not try that. Even if there were the "Spellcard Rules", which supposedly made it nearly impossible to seriously get hurt.

Finally, she made it high enough to where she had somewhat of a view. And a view it was. Dominating on one side was a big mountain, way higher than the hill that the Hakurei Shrine was build upon. Further to the other side were several different areas, including a field with yellow plants, and what looked to be a light green forest. Also standing out was the large cloud of fog, which probably surrounded a lake.

Watching as the sun continued to rise, Fiona thought a little about her family. What would they think about all of this? Their daughter was now a half-youkai, and was currently living in a magical fantasy world. One where magic was still normal, and creatures of all kinds could roam free. She could think of quite a few wizards who wouldn't mind living in such a place. Too bad, she didn't feel like guiding them here! They could just stay in Britain and worship her brother while forgetting about her!

Her flame flickered and brightened with her emotions. Looking at it, she thought to herself that those stupid wizards would probably lock her up or forbid her from getting a wand if they learned what she was. Her "uncle" Remus always complained about how difficult life was as a non-human. But she didn't need to go back to them. She could live here, free to do whatever she wanted!

"Fiona! Are you there?"

… Well, maybe she should respect the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. There was no way she could win against her. Quickly, the grey-haired little girl made her way back to the shrine.

"Finally." *sigh* "Reimu, I'm finished!"

Leaning on the broom, Fiona surveyed the freshly swiped yard. It had taken all of the morning, and a little bit of the afternoon, but they had managed to clean just about every bit of the shrine.

"… Good work." The shrine maiden answered as she walked outside carrying a tray with two cups. "If only more of those freeloaders helped out like that." she muttered to herself.

She sat down, setting the cups down next to her. "You can put the broom away. I have some tea, if you want." she called out to Fiona.

"Okay, thank you!" The little girl quickly put the broom in its place against the wall, and joined her benefactor on the porch. She took a careful sip from her cup. It tasted pretty good, even if it was a bit hot. After sitting for a moment and enjoying the break, she then turned to the older girl.

"Uhm, Reimu? You said that I can't leave on my own until I learn Danmaku. So, uh, what is Danmaku exactly, and how do I learn it?" she asked.

"Danmaku is the main way we fight here in Gensokyo. Basically, you shoot magic bolts at your opponent, and try to dodge theirs. But you can't just shoot randomly! It needs to be a proper pattern that is not inescapable. Your opponent always needs to be able to dodge. Spellcards are big spells with a special pattern and function, stored on a card, that you can use during a duel. They need to have a timer though, they can't just go on forever!" Reimu explained, actually seeming to be excited.

"So, how do you make those magic bolts? I haven't really practiced magic too much." Fiona asked, slightly worried.

"Eh, it's pretty easy. Just, focus on your power and project a little bit of it in front of you. Like this!" Reimu brought her hands in front of her, and almost immediately a small red piece of paper with black symbols materialized. Then, it suddenly flew away, and harmlessly impacted a tree. "Just like that. Now you try it."

"O-okay." Putting down her cup, the grey-haired girl stuck out her hands, and tried to concentrate on her magic. She knew she could do it. She had done a little magic before! Searching for the feeling, it took a little time, but there! There it was! Now, just take a little, and push it outside! … Like this?

Opening her eyes (when did she close them?), she was greeted by a small yellow flame floating in front of her hands. Happily, she turned to Reimu, who was looking at her approvingly. "Good. Now try shooting it at that tree." The teenager said, as she pointed to the same tree that she had thrown her paper to.

"Okay." Concentrating, she felt the ball's presence, and imagined it shooting to the tree. After a moment were nothing happened, the fireball shot away at a decent speed. It impacted the tree and burst into small embers that then fizzled out.

"And that is a basic, simple danmaku bullet. You should throw a couple more. The faster you can do it, the better!" Reimu encouraged her. Before suddenly changing tone: "And don't damage the shrine!"

"Y-y-yes, R-Reimu!" The Hakurei shrine maiden was absolutely not someone to anger, and Fiona swore that she would do her best to not antagonize her. Quickly finishing her tea, she stood up and walked to the back yard. There were less objects there, and if she just fired at the trees, she should be fine.

Concentrating again on the feeling of her magic, she quickly summoned a new flame. Again, she imagined it shooting at one of the trees, and again it did just that. Noticeably, the delay had been shorter this time around. As this fireball exploded out of existence, she immediately tried creating a new one. And it appeared even faster than before.

Shoot. Summon. Shoot. Summon. Shoot…

She repeated it a couple of times, until she felt that she could do it fast enough. Sitting on a rock, she summoned another flame. But instead of shooting it, she just decided to play a little bit with it. Concentrating, she discovered that she could move it. And change its brightness. And even its colour! Just like with… The flame in her lantern!

She moved the lantern in front of her, and she could immediately see that the danmaku flame matched the one inside. She quickly discovered that they were connected. Changing one would cause the other to change as well, and it didn't seem possible to change them independently. Still, it wasn't a big problem, right?

"Ooh, that's interesting! Announcing the colour of your bullets. That could be good to trick people with, da-ze!" Suddenly, an unknown voice sounded from above her. Surprised, Fiona quickly looked up, and saw a blond girl standing on top of the roof, looking down at her. She was dressed just like those witches in the muggle storybooks! A short black dress and a large black witch hat. She was also holding a broomstick.

Then the unknown witch-girl jumped down, and landed next to the shocked half-youkai. "Hello, I'm Marisa kirisame, The Ordinary Magician, da-ze! And who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you around before, da-ze." Energetically, the girl introduced herself.

"Uhm, I'm Fiona. The, uh, Half-Youkai Magical Guide. And, eh, yeah. I'm new here. I only arrived yesterday. Nice to meet you, miss kirisame!" Taken aback, Fiona eventually managed to answer Marisa. She felt a little bit of pride as she told her title. They appeared to be important in Gensokyo, and she was glad she had one of her own.

"Oh, so Yukari gapped you here then, da-ze?" the magician asked her.

"No, I came on my own. Apparently, I can just walk through the Barrier. Although I haven't really tested if I can take someone along." she explained.

"You can just, walk through? Wow! Then you are one of only a few that can freely pass through, da-ze. … Hm… Do you think you could take me along some time when you go to the Outside World?" Still energetic, Marisa immediately followed up with a new question.

"Well, I just, got here. So I'm not planning to go back! Gensokyo is a lot nicer anyway." A little upset, Fiona responded.

"Oh, right. Of course. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, da-ze. The Outside World isn't a great place for youkai. You don't need to go if you don't want. Just, consider taking me along if you do go, da-ze." Quickly, the black and white Magician apologized, and tried to calm the little girl down.

"O-okay." Softly, Fiona answered, still a little bit upset.

"Hm, if you are new here, then you are also new to Danmaku, right da-ze?" When she affirmed that, Marisa continued: "Do you want to see a real Danmaku duel? It's been a little while since I fought with Reimu."

Slightly taken aback, the grey-haired girl thought for a moment, and then asked: "Isn't it dangerous? Won't it damage the shrine if you go fight for real?"

"Nah, we'll be fighting above the shrine. You haven't learned how to fly yet? Most Danmaku duels are done in the air, so you better learn to fly before challenging someone, da-ze!" the blond girl explained. "So, do you want to see a Danmaku duel, da-ze?"

"Ehm, well, if it's safe… Yes please!" Mostly convinced, Fiona agreed.

"Great, let's find Reimu, da-ze!" The two girls, with Marisa in the lead made their way back to the front of the shrine, and found the red-white shrine maiden relaxing on the front porch.

"Hey Reimu, wake up! Today is the day I'm going to beat you in a duel! And then we can also show off to little Fiona here!" With her (still) unbridled enthusiasm, the blond girl wasted no time challenging the other teenager. Who, slowly, sat up and turned to the new arrival.

"Hm. Well, if you really want me to defeat you, I guess I can do that." As she spoke, Fiona noticed that something in Reimu's behaviour suddenly changed. Indeed, it was like she was looking forward to the fight! "So, a little exhibition match, huh? One spellcard should be fine then."

"Great, let's get this show going!" Not even waiting for a response, Marisa jumped on her broom and flew up into the sky. Reimu looked for a moment, before she suddenly started to float. After hovering in place for a moment, she then flew up and joined Marisa. The two opponents sized each other up for a couple of moments, before both of them suddenly started firing magic bolts. Many, many magic bolts.

Suddenly, Fiona started to understand why they called it "danmaku", or "bullet curtain". There were so many projectiles that some formed an actual curtain, that the other combatant would need to dodge. And both were good at dodging too. Nimbly weaving in between the bullets, the duel almost looked more like a dance then a real fight. It was surprisingly beautiful.

After a few minutes of dodging complex patterns, Marisa suddenly pulled out a small device. Holding it in her right hand while the device started glowing, she shouted "Love Sign: Master Spark!"

After a short moment a massive beam of light shot out of the device. Reimu (and all of the projectiles in its path) disappeared in the beam. It continued on for quite some distance before dissipating.

The beam lasted for some time before abruptly dissipating, revealing… Reimu with a barrier around her and a stick with paper at the end in her hand, and Marisa falling as if she had just been hit by that stick. Fortunately, she recovered well before she was in danger of hitting the ground. Meanwhile, Reimu started flying back to the shrine. Clearly the battle was over, and the shrine maiden was the winner.

Once both combatants were back at shrine, the ever-enthusiastic Marisa immediately asked Fiona: "And, what did you think of that, da-ze?"

"… That was awesome. And beautiful." Still a bit stunned, she had to take a moment to formulate a response. She then addressed both the girls, eyes sparkling and lantern burning bright with excitement. "Please teach me how to do that!"

~End of Chapter 4~

A.N.: If you find any grammar or spelling errors, or have suggestions about the story, let me know!