Author's Note: Stage two! Once again, there are not many changes compared to the original game, but I added more information about boss herself, making her reveal a bit about her true identity. Without further ado, please enjoy the chapter!
Sanae, after flying for a bit, finally arrived at the Mayohiga.
She was absolutely surprised to see that it didn't have a lot of snow, and it was much warmer than in other locations.
Was it because it was so close to the barrier of Gensokyo? Or there's something else that makes this area less affected by the winter?
Her train of thought was quickly broken by danmaku being fired at her.
Even though Mayohiga was for the most part devoid of the winter, it still had fairies, and they didn't act any friendlier.
The wind priestess once again flied through the location, dodging and exterminating any fairy attacking her.
After a bit, she has finished exterminating most of the fairies in the area.
Sanae stopped to take a small breather, she noticed that she stumbled into some kind of "village," there were abandoned houses everywhere, and strangely enough she could see a lot of cats on the ground.
The wind priestess heard that there were many houses abandoned by humans in the Mayohiga, but she couldn't understand why there were so many cats in it. It didn't seem like they wandered here by themselves.
She then suddenly heard a voice to her side.
-A human? It's really rare to see your kind here. Are you lost?
Sanae looked to her side and she found a nekomata floating some distance from her.
She had dark brown eyes, brown hair, black cat ears, with a gold earring in the left one, and two tails. She was wearing a dress that was red with a white bow on the collar, with gold trimming and light pink frills at the bottom, and a green mob cap. Furthermore, she had very long red fingernails.
-Well, sort of. Do you know the way to the Netherworld barrier? I heard that it's really close to Mayohiga, but I'm not sure where exactly it is.
-Ah, but you seem to misunderstand something, human. As soon as you wander in here, you don't return back.
Sanae looked warily at the nekomata.
-...Does that mean that you're in my way?
The girl snapped at the wind priestess.
-What else could it mean!?
The nekomata declared Shikigami Sign "Soaring Seiman"
She then started firing danmaku while flying wildly around the area and spinning.
At first, it wasn't anything challenging for the wind priestess, however in the middle of the spell card, danmaku suddenly changed direction, and while that disorientated her, she still managed to dodge it thanks to her quick reflexes.
-Oh, you're pretty good, human! It seems that there's more to you than the appearance would suggest!
Sanae declared Wonder "Night with Bright Guest Stars"
The wind priestess was astonished at how agile the girl was. She dodged her spell card without breaking any sweat.
-You're not half bad yourself, too! You're very fast, even for a nekomata.
-Of course! I train with my master frequently. You should be thankful that she isn't with me here, otherwise you wouldn't be surviving my first spell card!
The girl declared Heaven Sign "Tianxian's Rumbling"
She started circling the wind priestess around, firing danmaku at her while spinning.
Sanae didn't find the spell card hard at first, but it changed when suddenly the danmaku at the end changed into a smaller and much faster version of itself. However, once again thanks to her quick reflexes, she managed to dodge it too.
The wind priestess immediately declared her next spell card Sea Opening "The Day the Sea Split"
Sanae chose this spell card specifically because it would limit the remarkable mobility of the nekomata.
Her plan worked halfway only, while the girl was hard-pressed by the limited amount of space she could move around in the spell card, she still managed to dodge it, albeit sloppily.
-Because my master isn't here with me, I have to rely on my own dodging skills, but that doesn't mean that I will be defeated by these tricks of yours!
The nekomata declared Hermit Sign "Shikai Immortality"
She once again fired danmaku while flying and spinning wildly around the area.
The spell card was a bit harder in terms of having more tight pattern that required quick reflexes, but it didn't have any gimmick to it, so Sanae didn't have that much trouble dodging it.
-Well, I don't know who is your master, but I know for sure that you won't be stopping me from resolving this incident!
The wind priestess declared Preparation "Summon Takeminakata"
The girl was doing good at first, but in the middle of the spell card, she suddenly slipped and got quickly overwhelmed by the spell card, the danmaku hitting her in quick succession, causing her to fall to the ground.
Sanae dissolved her spell card and landed on the ground.
She approached the nekomata, but was quickly stopped by the swarm of the cats that came in defense of her master. They hissed angrily at her.
The girl then slowly sat up and reassured her cats.
-It's okay, little ones. She's not an enemy, we were just playing around.
The cats then relaxed, but they still warily stared at the wind priestess.
Sanae then suddenly recalled something.
-Ah! I remember now! Lady Kanako told me that if you take something from Mayohiga, then good luck and fortune will come to you.
The nekomata nodded.
-That's right, but please don't take anything.
The wind priestess pouted.
-I won't, who do you see me as? A thief?
The girl shrugged.
-Well, you never know these days. You wanted to know where is the Netherworld barrier, right? Just head north from here and after a bit of flying, you should arrive there.
-Oh, thank you!
Sanae then reached into her satchel and grabbed a pack of crackers from it, she then tossed it towards the nekomata.
-I know this isn't much, but I'd like to give you this as a thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
The girl looked at the pack of crackers then faced the wind priestess again, she smiled.
-You didn't really have to, but thank you.
Sanae then smiled and flied up, she waved at the nekomata and then started flying towards the Netherworld barrier.
The girl waved back, while she was munching on the crackers that the wind priestess gave her, she offered some of them to the cats that were nearby.