Disclaimer: Touhou belongs to Zun.
A/N: Now, don't get used to these double updates, but here! Have a second update! On with the show, now with extra fiber!
Night, Hakurei Shrine:
After Yuuka had finished scolding our friends for leaving us alone like that, almost having had gotten us eaten, she saw herself off.
"Jeez, who pissed in her soup...?" Mystia let out a sigh. She had seen her life flash before her eyes, seeing that Youkai before her. Why had Yuuka even saved them like that, not that she minded. She would have hated to be without the founder of their little group of friends. She wouldn't much miss me, but she hardly even knew me, so it was understandable.
"Wasn't me!" Cirno tried to defend herself from what she thought was an accusation. Mystia simply gave her friend a blank look, trying her best not to laugh.
"Umm... I think she meant that as a rhetorical question, Cirno." Mystia looked to me with gratitude. Maybe I would have more luck at not making Cirno angry with my corrections than she had in the past.
"S-so... why did Yuuka save you like that...?" Wriggle was dying to know just what could have caused her mistress to visit such kindness upon us, as was Aya, but she wasn't about to ask.
"Ahh, we kind of helped her out. Basically, she had been sealed by Mima, who was under control of Yukari. She was actually the voice in my head, the one that pointed the way to our destination. However, when we fought Mima she took over my body, much to my surprise. She even used my body better than I've ever been able to! She needed a few instructions in my capabilities, but she took full advantage of them, and even did this odd 'Icy Spark!' thing." Everyone stared at me with a look of surprise, before looking at Cirno. Cirno had... made a Spark? Just like that? Was it dumb luck, or was Cirno smarter than she seemed? Aya was just about giving her note pad a friction burn with the speed at which whe was writing. 'Cirno, stronger than Yuuka?' Aya could see it now! Scoop get!
"Ahh, there you two are!" We all turned to see Reimu, who was upon us before we knew it. Her face was way too close to Cirno's, as she was inspecting the girl.
"U-umm... Reimu...?" Cirno was understandably uncomfortable, she could feel the warm breath of the maiden on her face. Reimu, however, didn't give a damn about personal space.
"Yep, you're definitely human." The Shrine Maiden nodded to herself. Cirno pouted at the statement.
"Did you have to remind me...?" Cirno looked away, tears welling in her eyes. She hated this feeling of powerlessness. Had she been herself, those Youkai from before would have been frozen solid in an instant!
"Ohh, quit your whineing... Anyways, what took you so long to arive? I've been needing to ask, how in the blazing hell did you make a spark just by watching...?" Reimu really was curious. It wasn't every day that a fairy imitates one of the stronger techniques of another resident of Gensokyo. The last fairy to try simply exploded!
Everyone but myself began to stare at Cirno. A spark? Cirno, of all people, could do one of that kind of spell card? Maybe her claim to have defeated the witch wasn't a lie after all... Aya once more vigorously wrote down the details in her notebook. 'Cirno defeats the witch, steals her spell!' she could see it now! Scoop get!
"I imitated the ice that was flowing through her, and it worked." ...That's it? To pull off one of the more directly powerful spellcards, Cirno sure made it sound simple...
"Anyways, at the request of Mima, the three of you are going to be seeing Patchouli tomorrow. Though, I'm sure she told you all about that, right? She was waiting by the steps from you guys, after all... She couldn't have forgotten something so important, right?" Myself and Cirno both sighed. Yes, she had.
And with that, Reimu went off to keep the peace. The rowdy lesser youkai were always about causing trouble durring these feasts due to being too weak to start incidents of their own.
"Would be nice if she had told us this..." Muttered Cirno, not too happy about going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"Why? Who is this 'Patchouli,' that Reimu spoke of?" I was rather ignorant to much of the land of Gensokyo, and those who lived within it.
"The Librarian of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, I guess it would make sense to see her... If anyone knows about a way to turn back, other than Yukari, it would probably be her." Our attention was pulled to Rumia, who seemed to know the most about the place among us.
"...Well, isn't that name just full of sunshine and rainbows!" My voice was thick with sarcasm.
"It's not so bad, really. Just avoid the blonde. Can never trust blondes..." The entire group simply stared at Rumia's hair.
"Umm, Rumia, sweetie, you do realise you yourself are blonde, right?" Mystia couldn't help but ask the obvious question, which provoked the most obvious of answers.
"Is that so~?" We all sighed, save for Aya who could see the sarcasm in the words. Rumia did know she was blonde, but she also knew she wasn't the best of Youkai to place your trust in. The statement of trusting blonde Gensokyans still held water. Alot of them could be a bit crazy at times, especially that blonde, if the stories were to be trusted.
"Anyways, maybe we should go look for Mima." I figured it would be a good idea to confirm how this would work out.
"Good idea, Usa!" My master was far more cheerful now, perhapse she had forgotten her issues for the moment?
"Nuh-uh! No, we can't have you two going off alone! Who knows what would befall you two!" Wriggle really didn't want to bother Yuuka anymore, knowing that she would do more than simply scold the ones who could have stopped us from being stupid the next time!
"Wriggle has a point, It's dangerous to go alone, take this!" Mystia pushed Rumia towards us. ...Why is it that we always end up getting stuck with one of the two of our friends that eat humans...? It's as though our lives were of little value beyond comedic situations...
"Fiiine..." Cirno began to look sad once more. She had only just forgotten about her problem, only to have it rubbed in her face.
And with that, Rumia held out her hands, wanting to walk hand in hand to keep us from getting seperated in the crowd. We took a hand each, Cirno doing so begrudgingly. She wasn't used to hand holding, as few people were willing to hold a hand as cold as ice.
As we walked about we got strange looks once more. A pair of human children being led about by Rumia of all people? First off, how were those children still alive? Alot of those whose eyes were upon them were there for when Yuuka had counter kidnapped them, figuring they were as good as dead. ...Just who were these children, to have escaped Yuuka's clutches, and somehow defeated the man-eater that was Rumia, turning her into their tour guide slave? Rumors began to spread about like wild fire. One was 'Reimu had a couple children when we weren't paying attention,' while another was 'Rumia's lover is actually a pair of human children!' Did youkai have nothing better to do than spread rumors? Yet another rumor was 'Mokou had a pair of children,' going on my hair alone. Jeez, what is wrong with Youkai these days?