Chapter 9: The Aurora Rod
An another sunny day is welcoming Gensokyo yet again. Now, we see Reimu, Marisa and Keine gathering together inside the home of Wakumi. It has been two days since Wakumi found the staff on her way back home, after she visited the sick Nijiko. At first she decided to keep the staff with herself, but then changed her mind after meeting with Keine who noticed the staff. The history teacher has advised her to tell Reimu and Marisa about this, so she invited them to her home.
"I wonder why Aokawa-san has called for us." Reimu says.
"According to her, it is regarding Nijiko-chan." the witch replies.
"Just be patient, you are going to see it for yourselves soon enough." Keine tells them.
Then, the Honengame pharmacist comes out, holding the staff she has found at the end of last chapter.
"Thank you for coming." she tells the three.
"Oi, what is that staff you are holding, ze?" Marisa asks.
"I assume it is a magic staff." Wakumi replies. "And believe or not, it might be related to Akimitsu-san. I have found this staff when being en route to home after visiting her. Then I had a vision where I saw Akimitsu-san wielding this very same staff against an unknown threat."
This shocks the witch and the shrine maiden.
"Wait, what?" Marisa is especially baffled.
"This actually concerns me." Reimu remarks. "Say Aokawa-san, how did you find the staff?"
"It fell out from a gap."
"A gap you say?" the shrine maiden narrows her eyes. "It seems Yukari is planning something yet again."
"So are you going to imply that the gap Yokai has some plans involving Akimitsu-san?" Keine asks.
"Yes. Since she is the one who brought her to Gensokyo at the first place. This means we have to keep more attention to Akimitsu-san from now on."
"Just leave it to me, ze." Marisa says. "Her Magic is developing more steadily recently. I am sure that very soon, she is going to be able to handle the threats in Gensokyo by herself just fine, ze."
"Alright, I am going to check on her very soon." Reimu says.
"I still think she would have been better in the Human Village, but I guess there is no going back now..." Keine shrugs. In fact, she is greatly worried about the heterochromatic girl.
"Then, what do you suggest, what should we do?" Wakumi asks.
"We should keep the staff away from her until she fully masters her Magic." Reimu says.
"As for the staff, just leave it to me as well, ze!" Marisa offers.
"No, it would just go missing within the trash heap of yours." the shrine maiden snarks. "I am going to give it to Patchouli for this time being."
"Awwwww..." the witch sulks in disappointment.
Afterwards, Wakumi hands the staff to Reimu who flies towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion with it, everyone else glances after her.
"Alright, now I am going and check on my pupil, ze." Marisa sits onto her broom, also ready to depart.
"Tell Akimitsu-san that I sending my best wishes." Wakumi says.
"Definately, ze." the witch nods and flies away as well, heading towards Kourindou. Wakumi waves after her, then notices that Keine is silent.
"Is something wrong, Keine-san?"
"Just who are you really, Akumitsu-san...?" the history teacher thinks in herself.
...
Soon, we see Reimu flying over the landscape with the staff in her hands. She looks on, as the Scarlet Devil Mansion finally appears in her sight. It is a large Victorian-style mansion with some scarlet-colored windows, as well as having a clock tower. The Hakurei shrine maiden then sets down near the main gate. There we see a girl with long red hair napping at the gate. She wears a long, green-and-white Chinese-style dress with short poofy shoulders, as well as a green beret decorated with a golden star ornament.
"Great, Meiling is sleeping again." Reimu rolls her eyes. She then decides to call her out. "Excuse me! Meiling!"
"Huh? What?!" Meiling is quick to wake up. "I am not sleeping! Not at all! Please dont knife me, Sakuya!" she then sees Reimu in front of her. "Oh, its just you, Reimu. You brought the chills on me."
"I am here to see Patchouli. Its urgent." the shrine maiden says.
"Oh, okay. Please wait a bit, I am going to be back."
Meiling then heads off and soon returns alongside Sakuya.
"Oh, long time no see, Reimu-san." Sakuya bows. "Please, follow be. Lady Patchouli is waiting for you in the library."
Reimu returns the bow and follows the maid throughout the hallways of the mansion, into the library. While the mansion itself is spacious, it is nothing compared to its library. There are numerous rows of bookshelves, each containing books about Magic, curses, history, you name it. They are all arranged neatly by their content. Unfortunately, it is also a well known target for a certain cleptomaniac witch.
"Oh, its quite a rare sight of you showing up here, Hakurei-san." a girl greets shrine maiden. She has purple eyes and very long purple hair, with her front locks tied with red and blue ribbons. She wears a pajama-like frilled purple-and-pink long dress, as well as a purple nightcap decorated with a golden crescent moon ornament. She is Patchouli Knowledge, a Yokai Magician living the library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"Since I had an urgent reason for it." Reimu replies and presents the staff.
"Oh, what do you have here?" Patchouli notices the staff.
"Aokawa-san found this staff. I have come here to ask you to keep the staff for a certain amount of time and probably to get to know more about it."
"Oh, then you came to the right place. I really appriciate you didnt let Marisa to have it."
"Not that I would not trust in her, but this staff just seems to be too important."
"Please, have a seat." Patchouli offers.
"Thank you." Reimu nods and sits down in front of her to the desk.
"Sakuya-san, please bring us some tea and some sweets." the Yokai Magician tells the maid.
"Right away, Lady Patchouli." Sakuya bows and leaves the library.
Then in the next couple of minutes Patchouli examines the staff. The intriguity is seen on her face as she evaulates the Magic item.
"So, what do you think?" Reimu asks.
"Its definately interesting. While I have never seen a staff like this before, it might be familiar from one of my books " the Yokai Magician replies. "Koakuma!"
"Yes, Lady Patchouli?" an another girl shows up. Just lile Meiling, she has long red hair. Her eyes are brown and is shown bat-like wings protuding from her head and her back. She wears a sleveless black dress above her white blouse.
"Please, bring me the book about the Magic staves I found last week."
"Right away, Lady Patchouli." the girl, named Koakuma nods and flies away towards the shelves. As they are waiting, Patchouli looks at Reimu: "Let me guess. It is about a girl named Nijiko Akimitsu, am I right?"
"Huh, how do you know?" Reimu is surprised. "I thought Sakuya hasnt told anyone in the mansion."
"Remember, she still has that book that Marisa stole from the library. Of course that Sakuya-san thought I have the right to know about her." Patchouli states matter-of-factly.
"Darn, everyone in Gensokyo would know about her at this rate, even before she would have a chance to perfect her Magic... " Reimu thinks.
"The fact alone that a girl from the Outside World barring Kochiya-san would have a special power, let alone the ability to manifest Magic. I really would like to meet her."
"Well, currently Marisa has her taken under her wing as a pupil and to teach her Magic..."
"I kinda figured. At least my book might be in good hands with her, as Sakuya-san described her as being hardworking and assertive. Speaking of her, what kind of Magic has Akimitsu-san affinity of?" Patchouli asks.
"Its Light Magic." Reimu explains. "But for some reason, it is rainbow colored instead of the normal light Marisa uses. Same with her aura and Magic Circles."
"Hmmm, that indeed sounds something special." the Yokai Magician remarks and looks at the staff, especially at the colorful gem on the top of it. She seems to be more interested after Reimu tells her about what Wakumi had seen in her vision.
At the same time, Koakuma returns, holding a special book in her hands. It is a very large book, having a purple cover with an image of a Magic staff on it.
"There is the book you have requested, Lady Patchouli." she presents the book.
"Thanks Koakuma."
Later, Patchouli begins her search about the staff within the book. Sakuya also brings the tea and some sweets, as requested by the Yokai Magician. She browses through the pages, as Reimu silently observes her while drinking tea. It takes twenty minutes, as she arrives at a certain page:
"This is it!"
"Huh?" Reimu looks on with anticipation.
"This staff..." Patchouli looks at the shrine maiden into her eyes. "Is indeed a very special one. It is called the Aurora Rod and can only be used by certain individuals who practises Rainbow Light Magic."
"Aurora Rod? Rainbow Light Magic?"
"Yes. According to your description, Akimitsu-san must be a user of that type of Magic. If this is true, she might be really a special person."
"So Yukari knew this..." Reimu glances to the side.
"And about the Aurora Rod..." Patchouli continues. "It enhances the spells cast by the user a little, while also allows them to focus their Spiritual Power and Magic more. There are still many things to be researched about this staff and Rainbow Light Magic, but one things is sure: Akimitsu-san has a lot of potential and thus worth to keep an eye on."
"Thanks a lot, Patchouli." Reimu bows and stands up. "Now that I know this I am going to definately oversee her progress."
"Glad I could help." Patchouli takes a sip of her tea. "And when the time comes, dont forget to introduce her to me."
"Trust me, you are not the only one who would like to meet her. Mima also developed an interest in her, after Marisa bragged about that she is having her own pupil."
"Hmm, no wonder." the Yokai Magician ponders. "Maybe we are witnessing the birth of a new Magician here."
"I agree." Reimu nods. "Okay then, I am taking my leave. Thanks again, Patchouli."
"I promise I am going to take good care of the staff."
"Just dont let Flandre near it." the shrine maiden says as she leaves the library, then the mansion, heading back to the Hakurei Shrine.
...
Once back at the shrine, Reimu is surprised to see Mima waiting for her. The ghostly Magician is seen floating near her bedroom.
"Not now Mima, I am tired." the shrine maiden says.
"Can I ask, what happened? You seem to be more concerned than usual."
"I guess it wont hurt if I tell you." Reimu sighs. "It is about Akimitsu-san. The Honengame pharmacist, Aokawa-san managed to get her hands on a staff, which turned out to the called Aurora Rod or something. According to Aokawa-san, she saw Akimitsu-san wielding the same staff in her vision. It has became clear that no wonder Yukari seems to be interested in her."
"Aurora Rod, huh?" Mima ponders. "And where is that staff right now?"
"I entrusted it to Patchouli. She did some research and it turned out that the staff can be wielded by someone if they have Rainbow Light Magic, which we suspect is the type of Magic Akimitsu-san naturally has."
"Rainbow Light Magic?" hearing this surprises Mima. "I think I have heard about it somewhere, but I cannot remember exactly."
"Then please make yourself useful and help us to gather more information about it." Reimu says.
"You should be satisfied that finally something interesting is happening. You can count on the Great Mima, Reimu!"
The shrine maiden does not respond, just enters her bedroom to have a rest, leaving Mima alone. The vengeful ghost begins to ponder:
"Rainbow Light Magic, huh? This Akimitsu-san must be really a special individual, I can only say, you have quite a taste, Yukari." she giggles as a grin comes to her face.
...
Then, the night rolls in. Inside Kourindou, we see Nijiko sleeping soundly on her bed. Suddenly, her eyes are snapping open, since she feels a powerful but familiar presence.
"Who is there?" she asks, sitting up on her bed. She looks to the side and is greatly shocked Yukari standing there, with her folding fan open in front of her face. "Yu... Yukari-san?! What are you doing here?"
"Come on dear, cant I check on my favourite girl?" the gap Yokai walks to her. "Its good to see that you are already adapting to the life in Gensokyo."
"Bu...but that still does not change the fact I want to go home. My true home is in Tokyo, with my parents in the Outside World. Why? Why did you send me here?"
"You are going to figure out soon enough." Yukari replies cryptically. "Lets just say you have more ties to Gensokyo than you think."
"Ties... to Gensokyo?" the heterochromatic girl is confused. "What kind of ties?"
"Sorry, I cannot say more than that." the gap Yokai winks with a sly smile. She then snaps with her fingers, generating a gap underneath herself, into which she sinks in, disappearing from the room and leaving a confused Nijiko alone.
"Me? Having a connection with Gensokyo?" Nijiko mutters to herself. "I know I can sense ghosts and stuff, but still. It does not make any sense for me."
She then lays back to sleep, but she is still uneasy, due to the words from Yukari still echoing in her mind:
"You have more ties to Gensokyo than you think!"
Just what had Yukari referred to with this statement? And how will the Aurora Rod change things for Nijiko? What is the true nature of her Magic?
To be continued...