Unwilling Rescuers

Deep Within

Is this what dying feels like?

…falling…falling through darkness. Eyes opened or closed, it's all the same. I guess I should be happy. I like darkness. Darkness is my element, my comfort. But it's never felt so cold, so empty.

What happened to me? Did I just get eaten? Did that blob just swallow me whole? It sure felt like it. Like my body was tearing itself apart from the outside in. I should have asked Mystia what it was like for her when she got eaten. She came back. Does that mean I'll come back too? But how?

This must be what dying feels like. Endlessly falling through darkness. I may like darkness, but I don't want to be stuck in it by myself. I don't want to be alone forever!

Falling through…wait. Something's not right. There's something out there. There's something…no, someone nearby.

I am not alone.

Rumia opened her eyes.

…

It was a slow morning at Hakurei shrine. This is to say, it was exactly like every other day. Despite its importance to Gensokyo as a whole, the shrine didn't see much in the way of visitors. One would think that guarding the actual gate between Gensokyo and the Outside World would inspire more in the way of reverence, but for the most part people went out of their way to avoid it entirely. Or was the close proximity to the Outside World the reason for the lack of visitors? Either way, it meant that the shrine's single shrine maiden, Reimu Hakurei, had a lot of downtime on her hands.

At the moment, she was killing time with three of the shrine's only regular visitors. Unfortunately, they weren't the donating types. This was to be expected, as a youkai, a ghost and an oni couldn't be counted on to be particularly reverent. Still, if they were always going to be hanging around bugging her, couldn't they drop the odd tip in her donation box every now and then? Well, at least the oni helped her around the shrine every once in awhile, and the ghost was practically one of the shrine's patron deities by now, so the shrine couldn't expect anything coming from her. No excuses for the youkai though, and she remained forever oblivious to Reimu's constant hints that she really should be supporting her favorite hangout more.

Still, she had grown more-or-less accustomed to having them around. The four of them were lounging around the storehouse's porch. The oni had produced a pack of cards from…somewhere, and they were now glaring at one another while clutching their hands tightly.

It was the youkai's turn, though she was taking her time. Sometimes she would choose a card, seize it between her thumb and index finger, only to reject it and go back to frowning at her hand.

Reimu's hands drummed out an impatient rhythm on the porch's wooden railing. "Yukari, you've been taking three times longer than the rest of us. Just pick a damned card already!"

"Shush you," Yukari responded. "Some things are not to be ruuuuaahhhh…" That final word dissolved into a cavernous yawn.

The ghost, a girl with green hair and a blue outfit, was reclining on the porch's steps. "Long night Yukari? Or should I say, long winter?"

"You can shut up too," Yukari grumbled. "And I would still be asleep if it weren't for that damned spring fairy. Woke me up with her idiotic announcements, and then something set her off and she went crazier than usual and wouldn't stop yelling. Drove me nuts. Mima, you got any threes?"

"Go fish," the ghost said.

Yukari selected one of the cards sitting in the pile between them, looked at it and smiled. She put down a pair of threes.

"Lucky bitch," Mima grumbled.

Yukari smiled sweetly at her. Then, to Reimu, she said "Okay, your turn."

Reimu nodded and looked at her hand. It wasn't very encouraging. Seven cards, none of them related. Plus, she had the least amount of pairs at the moment. "I heard someone was trying to shoot her down," she said as she started playing mental eenie-meenie-miny-moe. "That's what upset her."

"Remilia again?" Yukari asked.

"I don't think so. It was by the Forest of Magic, a good ways from the SDM. Suika, got any fives?"

The short oni was staring intently at her cards. Almost too intently. Of course, given the amount of alcohol in her system, she was probably having trouble making out the numbers. Then again, her pile of pairs was the largest. Reimu wasn't exactly sure how.

"Uhhh…" Suika said in a slow tone, slurring slightly. She shook her horned head. "Uh-uh."

Reimu picked up a card, grimaced when she saw that it was useless, and nodded to Suika to take her turn.

While they waited for the oni to make up her mind, Mima said, "It was probably Marisa then. Good for her. About time someone shot that flying ball of nonsense down. Suika, are you going to go or are you trying to burn a hole through those cards with your eyes?"

"I'm thinking!" Suika snapped. "Okay Yukari. You got any…sevens?"

Yukari blinked. Then she scowled and flipped a card over to her. Suika snatched it out of the air and started cackling.

"Okay, seriously," Yukari said. "You have got to be cheating. No way is anyone that lucky.

Suika stuck out her tongue. "I'm not cheating!" she announced. "I'm just that good!"

"This is embarrassing," Mima grumbled. "Reimu, you got any ni-"

"REIMU!"

"Huh?

Everyone's head snapped in the direction of the interrupting call. Reimu's eyes widened when she saw the green-and-blue blur approaching faster than anything had a right to. Before she could react, it slammed right into her chest and they both were sent careening into the storehouse. From there, everything was a rolling confusion of cardboard, cloth and wicker until they landed in a messy heap against the far wall.

Back outside, her companions watched with detached interest, as if seeing Reimu being tackled by surprise fairies out of nowhere were a daily thing. "Well, now she's got one," Yukari muttered to Mima.

Inside, Reimu groaned and tried to put herself back together. She pushed a basket off her head, a basket that had, not five seconds ago, been filled with apples. Said apples were now scattered all over the floor. And the culprit was now sitting on her chest and staring at her with panicked eyes.

"Reimu, you gotta help her!" Daiyousei shouted at the shrine maiden. "We got the box away from Marisa, and Marisa started chasing us! Only, she didn't get us, because Lily stopped her. Except, Lily probably thought she was us, so never mind! And then Rumia opened it up! The box I mean! She didn't know it was bad, she thought it was porn! But it wasn't porn, it was a giant booger! And Rumia thought it was a nice booger, because it started tickling her! But then it turned into a face and-"

"Kid," Reimu said, nice and slow. "You have exactly three seconds to get off me before I turn your wings into wind chimes."

Daiyousei stiffened. "Yipe!" she yelped as she bolted out the door and hid behind one of the porch's columns.

Grumbling to herself, Reimu pulled herself to her feet and surveyed the damage. Well, it could be worse. Just a bunch of boxes and baskets knocked over. She could deal with it later. But for now, there was a certain aerial torpedo she needed to deal with.

"All right Daibooya or whatever your name is," she said as she exited the storehouse. "What the hell was that all about? And it better be damned good."

The small fairy cowered. "Um…well…"

"REIMU!"

Reimu looked up to see a tan blur fast approaching. She had just enough time to say "Oh crap" before she was once again knocked back into the storehouse.

Yukari snickered. "Now she has two!" she said to Mima. "It's your lucky day!"

In the storehouse, Reimu once again found herself sprawled among fallen containers with one of Cirno's annoying friends sitting on her chest.

"It ate her!" Mystia shouted at Reimu's face. "It ate her, Reimu! And it tried to eat us too-"

"GET OFF OF ME OR I'M GETTING OUT THE BARBEQUE!"

"Ack!"

Mystia fled the storehouse to hide behind Daiyousei. Reimu pulled herself to her feet, took a deep breath, and started forward.

"All right," she said in a low growl. "That is it. Now Reimu needs to choke a couple of-Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

"REIMU!"

Fortunately, this time Reimu had the presence of mind to duck as not one, but two blurs sped towards her. They missed her entirely and crashed together against the storehouse's far end.

Yukari said, "And now she has-"

"Shut up," Mima snapped.

Suika scratched her head. "Reimu, you didn't tell us you were having a party."

"Oh yes," Reimu said in a calm steady voice. She walked into the storehouse. Inside, Cirno and Wriggle Nightbug were just coming to their senses. "An Idiot Stomping Party, everyone's invited."

With that, she grabbed the nearly senseless fairy and youkai by their collars, hauled them out of the storeroom, and hurled them at their friends. With a cry of alarm, Daiyousei and Mystia tried to dodge, but Mima chose that moment to appear behind them. With a sadistic grin, she shoved them back in time for them to be struck by the incoming missiles.

Reimu watched dispassionately as Gensokyo's most notorious pranksters tried to straighten themselves out. She had, on more than one occasion, being inconvenienced by those four. Whether individually or as a whole group, their presence always meant her day was going to get a little more annoying.

She waited until she had their attention. "Okay Gensokyo's Most Unwanted, I'm confused, I'm angry, and I'm armed. So whatever problems you have-"

Terrified by her threat, her unwanted guests all began talking at once. Cirno kept going on about how it wasn't their fault, Daiyousei wouldn't shut up about a carnivorous ball of snot, Mystia was prophesying their impending doom of devourment, and Wriggle kept trying to get the others to be quiet and let her handle it. Taken together, Reimu learned absolutely nothing of importance.

She listened as long as she could stand, which was about seven seconds. "Shut up!" she screeched.

They shut up.

Reimu sighed and eyed each of the idiots individually. No, too nervous, too freaked, too stupid… She pointed at the last one. "You! Bug!"

Wriggle stood up straighter. "M-me?" she stuttered.

"Yes, you! Tell me what the hell is going on and make it understandable!"

Wriggle told her.

Reimu and her friends stared at her.

"So…" Reimu began. "You guys stole a box from Marisa…"

"Yes."

"…and inside was a…giant gooey bubble thing…"

"Uh-huh."

"…and it ate your friend Rumia?"

Reimu exchanged a look with her friends and they all sighed. Well, all except for Suika, who seemed utterly fascinated and completely confused.

"That's it; this has officially become too stupid. I'm leaving before I lose anymore IQ points," Yukari muttered.

"I don't know, I think it's kind of cute," Mima smirked. "In a really pathetic sort of way."

"Which might be catching," Yukari pointed out. With a wave of her hand, she ripped open a tear in the fabric of reality. Staring eyes peered from within, and for whatever reason, the top and bottom of the tear was decorated with a deep purple bow. Nobody was bothered by this. They had long become accustomed to Yukari's "ways".

"It's true, I swear!" Cirno protested as Yukari took a step through the tear.

The border-watching youkai paused. She raised one elegant eyebrow at the small fairy. "Really now?" she said, irony dripping from every word. "Just like you once 'swore' that all the paint in the human village had come alive and was drinking all the sake?"

Suika's head whipped around in Yukari's direction. "Wait, it did?" She was ignored.

"Um…" Cirno said.

"Or how about the time you 'swore' that the Forest of Magic was flooded with blue honey?" Reimu added.

Suika's eyes boggled. "It was?"

"But that was Wriggle's idea!" Cirno said, pointing at the firefly in question.

"Hey!"

Mima calmly examined her incorporeal but somehow perfectly manicured nails. "And wasn't there that one time where you were convinced that a bunch of flowers appearing out of nowhere meant it was time for everyone to get down and party?"

"Now that I remember!" Suika said with a grin.

"Hey, I wasn't lying!" Cirno protested. "I was just…confused is all!"

"But that's the point!" Reimu said. "You guys aren't exactly the most reliable sources of information. So why should we trust you?"

Cirno looked like she was about to start tearing her hair out in frustration. "But this time I'm serious, I swear! I swear by Santa Claus himself!"

"P-please Reimu," Daiyousei begged. "She's our friend!"

Reimu sighed. She wondered exactly how much ofuda it would take to rid her of these pests. "This would be the same Rumia who tried to eat me that one time, yes? Even if she were in trouble, I'm not really seeing a whole lot of reasons to go help her."

"Wait."

Everybody's eyes turned to Yukari. The elder youkai had reemerged from her portal and was looking at the four mischief-makers with a thoughtful look on her face.

"This friend of yours…Rumia, was it?"

"Yes!" Cirno said, happy that someone was finally taking them seriously. "She's in big time trouble and really needs-"

"Yes, I know," Yukari said. "But refresh my memory: she would be the darkness youkai that often wanders the shore of the Misty Lake, correct? Likes to surround herself in a bubble of shadows and has an unfortunate habit of running into trees?"

"Yes! That's her!"

"And does she wear a red-and-white ribbon in her hair at all times?"

"The one she can't touch, don't know why?" Wriggle asked. "Yep, that's her!"

"I see," Yukari mused. She appeared to ponder this for a moment long. Then she stepped out of the rift she had created and closed it again.

"Reimu, I think you should go with them."

"Uh, say what now?" the shrine maiden said in disbelief.

Yukari smiled at her. It was not a nice smile, but then it never was. "Well, look at it this way. If they are indeed telling the truth you have the opportunity to prevent another unfortunate incident from occurring. But if they're lying, all you stand to lose is a few hours of wasted time, and let's be honest: you weren't doing much anyway."

"Oh, that's all, huh?" Reimu's finger swung around to point accusingly at Cirno's gang. "The last time I listened to them, I ended up hanging upside-down in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's courtyard covered in noodles!"

Cirno and the more daring members of her gang cracked a smile at the memory.

"You got them back," Yukari pointed out.

Cirno and every other member of her gang winced at the memory.

"So? Doesn't mean I want to do something that stupid again."

"Oh, come now," Yukari said as she playfully ruffled Reimu's hair. The shrine maiden bristled under hand, but she didn't move away. "I'll come with you and make sure these naughty ruffians don't hurt my sweet little Reimu."

"You're asking for a Fantasy Seal to the mouth, you know that?"

"Mmmm, sounds like fun."

Reimu sighed and pushed Yukari's hand away. "Okay, fine. Just stop…flirting with me." She eyed the green-haired ghost who was watching everything with evident amusement. "What about you, Mima? Wanna join this pointlessness?"

"Eh, might as well," Mima shrugged. "Been meaning to check up on my little Marisa anyway. I guess this is as good a time as any."

"Can I come too?" Suika asked. "I wanna help stop the blue paint-drinking sake giant and save all the honey!"

"Wait, no. Suika, that's not-" Reimu cut herself off and sighed. "Yeah, sure. Come along."

"Hooray!" the little oni cheered. She took a celebratory swig from the gourd of sake she always carried. "Lesh go!" she slurred.

…

Deep Within

The position Rumia found herself in was both alien and strangely familiar.

The best she could figure, she was floating through a pitch black void. Absolute nothingness stretched in every direction, with not even a star to break the darkness. And yet, despite her natural affinity with darkness, her body was emitting a faint yellow glow. That was odd. Also, her clothing was completely gone, leaving her naked to the emptiness. That was embarrassing. And her arms were stretched out to either side, fingers spread, with her legs pointing straight down. Considering that that this was a pose she had been fond of adopting ever since she was told about its religious significance to the outside world, that was both funny and slightly ironic, especially since she now seemed to be stuck that way. As hard as she tried, every part of her body other than her head refused to respond to her commands.

Unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury to further examine the weirdness of her surroundings, as there was something else demanding her attention. As she had thought, she was not alone in the nothingness. Another girl floated nearby. She was sitting in the fetal position, with her knees drawn up under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs. She had straw-colored hair that just brushed her shoulders, a round face with blue eyes, and if she straightened her limbs she would stand just a little taller than Rumia. Like Rumia, she wore no clothes and had a halo of light surrounding her body, though hers was pure white and about three times brighter. Unlike Rumia, she didn't seem to have a problem moving her limbs. Now that was just unfair.

Rumia recognized her, at least her face. It was the same face the tentacle had shaped itself into before devouring her whole. All things considered, her presence here didn't exactly fill Rumia with optimism.

But the girl was at least happy to see her. As soon as she saw Rumia trying to move, she squealed "Rumia! You're awake!" and lunged forward to wrap her arms around Rumia's body.

"I'm so happy you're here!" the strange girl gushed as she pressed herself uncomfortably close. "See, I was worried you might not make it here okay, 'cause I've made mistakes in the past and well, it's been awhile. But hey, it's all okay, right?"

Given the circumstance, Rumia did the only thing any rational person would do in such a situation. She started screaming.

…

Empty. The box was empty.

Marisa stood stock-still, broom clasped in one white-knuckled hand, staring. The chest was still there, whatever it had once held was not. Which meant that Cirno's gang had somehow managed to get it open. Which meant they had it now. And on top of that, they had gotten away.

Which meant they had won.

Marisa wasn't angry. Her anger had been spent chasing those idiots earlier and during her fight with Lily White, whom she had left lying dazed in a smoldering crater. She just felt cold. And that was fine. She did her best work when she felt cold.

Had her moment of self-reflection continued uninterrupted, she might have eventually succumbed to a round of maniacal laughter. But interrupted she was, as her attention focused on eight distant figures traveling towards her through the sky. And when she saw who they were, a wide, sadistic grin spread over her face. This promised to be very interesting.

Before they could spot her, Marisa hid herself in a nearby tree. And, just to make sure, she muttered a word under her breath. A slight tingle ran over her skin, and her body faded to transparency. Satisfied that she was now for the most part undetectable, she watched the new arrivals through the branches as they touched down near the box.

Surprise, surprise, Cirno and her friends had returned, and this time they had brought reinforcements. Poor Reimu. Marisa wondered exactly what kind of bull they had spun to get her to come along with them this time. One would think that after the incident with the noodles she would stop listening to them all together. Suika's presence was somewhat of an oddity, but explainable. The oni would eat rocks if you dressed them up right.

Yukari though, that was a puzzler. The youkai rarely involved herself such events, and there was no lost love between her and Cirno. Marisa couldn't help but wonder if Yukari's presence meant that the ice fairy and her friends had gotten themselves into some kind of trouble, of the punishable variety. Well, more trouble at least.

But perhaps the strangest visitor to the forest would be Mima. The presence of her old master frankly bothered Marisa. Not that she was displeased to see her. Mima was one of the only beings in Gensokyo that Marisa harbored any sort of genuine respect for. And as a result, having her become involved in this dispute was troubling.

Still, given Mima and Yukari's personalities, Marisa doubted that they would take offense to her intentions. Keeping an eye on the group, she pulled out her hakkero and hid it in her grasp. Between her fingers, it began to glow. Now she just had to wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself.

Cirno seemed to be worked up about something. "See? See!" she shouted, pointing frantically at the opened chest. "There it is, just like we said! I told you we weren't lying!"

Reimu looked at the chest with a dubious expression on her face. "Okay, there's a box, sure," she said. "But I don't see a blob."

"It must have left after we did," said the firefly, Wiggle something or another.

Marisa frowned and leaned in closer. A blob of what? Some kind of weird security system Patchouli had wired into the chest? If so, then maybe letting those stupid kids open the box first had been for the best.

That one green-haired fairy, the one whose name Marisa could never remember, seemed agitated about something. Well, okay, so she always looked agitated, but the way she kept bobbing up in the air only to come back down again while constantly glancing in every direction made it look like she was being hunted. Marisa grinned. Good, she at least hadn't forgotten whose woods she was in.

"Um, g-g-guys?" the fairy said. "M-maybe we'd better be c-c-careful. It ate Rumia, so maybe it's just waiting around to eat us too."

What.

"Quite the voracious eater, this thing is," Mima muttered. The ghost floated over to the empty chest and inspected it with evident interest. "At this rate, it must have devoured half the forest by now."

Little Mystia stamped her foot in frustration. "We're serious!" she cried. "It ate all the bullets we shot at it, including Cirno's ice!"

What.

"Mebbe it's a friend of the Blue Giant Paint!" Suika said as she began to happily wander around in a circle. "And they drank all the sake noodles!"

What!

"About as likely as anything it seems-" Mima suddenly cut herself off. She lifted her head from her inspection of the chest and started looking in every direction. Then she stared straight at Marisa.

Oh. Right. She would be able to sense the young witch. After all, she had been the one who taught Marisa that hiding spell in the first place.

Fortunately, her former master didn't seem inclined to blow her cover. Instead, she just shot Marisa a friendly smile and a half-wave, as if finding a transparent Marisa spying on people from the trees were an everyday occurrence.

Marisa glanced nervously at Reimu and Yukari, hoping they hadn't noticed the exchange. Fortunately, Reimu was too busy arguing with Cirno about the validity of this blob thing (whatever in the holy farting hell that was) while Yukari's attention was taken up by a trail of dead grass. Marisa looked back at Mima and brought her finger to her lips.

Mima frowned and spread her hands in a "What are you doing?" gesture.

Marisa motioned at Cirno and hefted her hakkero, which was now humming with energy.

Mima's eyes widened in realization. She shot a glance over to Reimu and pointed at her with her thumb.

Marisa shook her head.

Mima nodded. She floated over to Reimu and said, "Say Reimu, take a look at this box. I think our culprit may have left some trace behind. Oh, and kids? Would you mind standing about…three feet over there?"

"Huh?" Cirno said. "What for?"

"Because your combined energies are interfering my detection spells."

"Oh! Sorry."

Mima glanced at Marisa with a smug "How's that?" smirk on her face. Marisa grinned and shot her mentor a thumbs-up. With a grace learned from years of living in these woods, Marisa dropped from the tree and strolled over to where Cirno and her friends were milling about. When she got about ten feet away she solidified herself and said in her most causal voice "Hey guys. How's it going? Master Spark."

Things seemed to happen in slow motion. Glorious, immensely satisfying slow motion. Their heads automatically turned in the direction of the voice. There was a brief moment of horrified realization, no more than maybe one second, when they saw exactly who had just arrived. And then their world exploded into white light and tumbling bodies.

Marisa smiled as she surveyed the trench of scorched earth that now slashed its way to the hill's summit. Her targets were now smoking, senseless, and draped carelessly over the branches of the old pine that resided at the top of the hill. She nodded in satisfaction. It took way too damned long, but at the end, a job well done.

"Feel better?" Mima asked. Her arms were folded over her breast and a half-smirk of amusement crawled its way up her face. Behind her, a shocked Reimu was staring in incomprehension and Suika was laughing so hard that the hysterics had her rolling on the grass. Yukari took no notice at all.

With a nod Marisa said, "I do now. Thank you, Master."

Mima shook her head and sighed. "Marisa, you're not my minion anymore. When are you going to stop calling me that?"

"When you stop deserving it, Master." That got a laugh.

For her part, Reimu was far from amused. "Wha-Marisa?" she squeaked. "Who, big laser, not there and…Where did you come from?"

"Rinnosuke's shop. Haven't you heard? I'm sold in six-packs, ze."

"What!"

"Actually, that was going to be my line," Marisa said. She tossed her hakkero from one hand to the other. "What's all this nonsense about a hungry blob I've been hearing?"

"We were actually hoping you could tell us," Mima said. "Those kids you just smoked showed up at Hakurei shrine about half an hour ago, babbling about finding a large mass of something in that box over there" the elder ghost nodded in the chest's direction "that apparently devoured one of their number. According to them, they acquired that box from you."

"They did, huh?" Marisa felt an annoyed tic become active in her eyelid. "Did they mention the part where they stole that box right out of my house, ze?"

"Yeah, they did," Reimu scowled. "They also said you blew up half the forest chasing after them. Looks like they were right." She shook her head. "Godsdamn it, Marisa, this isn't your forest to just destroy whenever something pisses you off!"

Marisa waved off the shrine maiden's complaints. "Oh, chillax Reddie. It's more mine than it is yours, ze. 'Sides, it'll grow back by tomorrow. It always does."

"That's not the point!"

"Who cares? It's not like you haven't caused wanton amounts of destruction before." Marisa shoved Reimu aside as she marched back to the chest. "Move it, Armpits."

Reimu growled and grabbed Marisa by her collar. She whirled the witch around to face her. "What did you just say?"

In answer, Marisa matched Reimu stare-for-stare and shoved herself up against the shrine maiden. "I've had a pissy day, so let me make this clear. Get out of my way…bitch."

Reimu's face went blank. Then she held up a single card. There was a flicker of motion around her fingers, and suddenly that one card became eight. The air around her shivered and her two yin-yang orbs materialized into view. They began revolving around their master. Marisa grinned at the challenge. Holding her hakkero between her thumb and two primary fingers, she held it up in plain view.

"So you wanna play too, is that it Reddie?" As she spoke, the hakkero began to blaze with violent energies. Two icy blue blues formed and began dancing around the fingers of her other hand. "Bring it on. I'm tired of wasting small fry and wouldn't mind-"

Suddenly both the shrine maiden and the witch felt long, cold fingers wrapping around the backs of their necks. The owner of those hands shoved, and there was a loud crack as the top of their heads collided. A moment later the two combatants were on the ground nursing a throbbing bump apiece.

"Owww!" Marisa complained as pain bit its way through her head. "Godsdamn it, that hurt!"

Reimu agreed. "Yukari, why the hell did you do that for?"

Yukari stood over the two, arms folded in annoyance. "As much fun as it would be to watch you two beat the snot out of each other, we have bigger concerns than your egos."

"Wow Yukari, bigger than watching them throw down?" Mima said. She pressed her hands to her face in mock horror. "Say it ain't so!" Yukari apparently chose not to dignify that comment with a response.

"You didn't have to do that though," Reimu grumbled as she straightened up, wincing at every movement.

"You'll live. Now, if the two of you are done comparing the sizes of your dicks, there's something you need to see."

"We don't have-"

Yukari silenced them with a look.

She led them over to a spot a little way up the hill. There, Suika was sitting at the beginning of the trail of dead foliage Yukari had been inspecting her.

"They're all dead," the tipsy oni announced. "Right downa to the roots!"

"Yes, I feared as much," Yukari sighed.

"This better be worth knocking our heads together, ze," Marisa hissed. She flinched as another lance shot through her head.

"Oh, it is," Yukari said. "Tell me: do either of you know anything about Rumia's history?"

Reimu and Marisa exchanged a look. They both shrugged. Mima, however, seemed troubled. She rubbed her jaw as she searched the recesses of her cavernous memory. She apparently found what she was looking for, because her eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"Wait, are you saying she got rid of the ribbon?" she said. That got Marisa's attention. She didn't know what Rumia's ribbon had to do with anything, but the small sliver of concern that edged Mima's words was as good as outright panic in anyone else.

"I don't know just yet," Yukari said. She scuffed the dead grass with her foot. "But far too many things are adding up."

"You mean about that blob thing? Reimu asked. "So that isn't complete bull?"

Yukari shook her head. "Still have no idea about that one, but that's not what I was talking about. You see, I also once encountered Rumia, a good fifty-seven years before any of you. And she was much, much different than how she is now."

Marisa stared at her with an incredulous look on her face. "Um, yeah. I know you ancient youkai like being cryptic and all, but what say you tell us what the hell you're talking about?"

"That…might take awhile, but I'll do the best I can," Yukari said. "But in the meantime, let's just say if I'm right, the next few days are going to be very, very busy.

They all stared at her. For her part, Yukari was gazing down the dead trail. It twisted and looped around various obstacles, but maintained a southward bearing, out of the Forest of Magic and towards the Bamboo Forest.

And Eientei.

…

Deep Within

It had been nearly half an hour since Rumia had first awoken to find herself in the literal middle of nowhere, sharing the space with a strange glowing girl. And she still had not calmed down.

Though honestly, who could blame her?

The glowing girl winced as another barrage of demands, verbal abuse and vulgarities assaulted her. "Rumia, please stop yelling. It hurts!"

Another incomprehensible string of syllables blew past her.

"Rumia, please! I'm trying to concentrate here…Okay, seriously, stop it. I can't understand you if you talk that fast…please be quiet…I…don't think…SHUT UP!"

Rumia complied. Not because she was intimidated or due to being interested in opening a channel of communication, but because her mouth had ceased to exist. Sound still bubbled up from her throat, but with no means of escape it was reduced to nothing more than a series of muffled squeaks.

"Sorry I had to do that," the girl said, making it sound sincere. "But it's been a long time since I've controlled a body, and I need to concentrate. So I'm willing to answer any questions you have. You just gotta promise me you won't start screaming again, 'kay? Calm question, straight answer."

"Eeeee?"

"Yes, I promise. Scout's honor." The girl held her right hand, three middle fingers extended, thumb bent over pinky.

"Eeeee!"

"No, I'm not going to hurt you. Believe me, I just want to be your friend."

"…eee…?"

"Yes, seriously! Do you have any idea how long I've…" The girl broke off. She took a shaky breath (of what?) and said. "Okay, I'm gonna give you your mouth back. Remember, no screaming, 'kay?"

Numb with fear, Rumia managed a nod.

Suddenly there was the bizarre feeling of skin parting without pain, a sliding, almost tingling sensation. Rumia gasped and panted in relief.

"Better?" the girl asked. She was now kneeling, though the lack of a level floor meant that she and Rumia were still eye-level.

Rumia nodded. Then she managed to get out, "W-w-where…where are…"

"Inside me."

Rumia's eyes boggled.

"Sorry, I said that wrong," the girl said. She frowned and started hitting her head with the palm of her hand. "C'mon Rin, do better! You can explain this…Okay, listen. You're not really in a place. Your body isn't a real body, it's sort of a…a make-believe, a construct. A familiar shape your mind took to help it cope. So you're not actually seeing or talking or breathing for that matter, it's just the way your mind is interpreting the sensations it's experiencing." Then she brightened. "Okay, think of it as a dream body in a really, really realistic dream. It's not real, but it feels like it is, and all of your consciousness is focused in that body. And it's in my dream, not yours. And it's really happening, which would kinda discount the whole 'not real' part. Also, you're actually awake right now, and so am I, so…Wow, that metaphor broke down really fast."

A small whimpering noise trickled out of Rumia's mouth.

"Okay, it's like you're your ghost, only you're not dead. Mental ghost, soul, mind, whatever. It's inside my mind and this is how our, um, talking, conversation, line of communication is being translated."

Rumia's head lolled back and forth. She felt a minor aneurysm forming. "And my body…"

"Oh, it's fine," the girl said brightly. "It just got broken down to its base particles and was absorbed into the material of my being. It's safe and sound, promise."

Rumia tried to shiver but found that it only occurred from the neck up. This was just getting weird. "And how do you know who I am? Did you read it from my mind or something?"

"Yep. And I'm using your power, too."

"What?"

The girl seemed a little embarrassed. "Um, sorry about doing it without asking, but you were unconscious and I needed to leave before anyone found me. But anyway, I sorta combined your body with mine to create a wholly new body that looks kinda like you, and I'm using it to get around."

She waved a hand, and a rip formed in the blackness beyond her. Rumia gasped as the rip expanded, forming a screen that had to be a good thirty feet tall and another forty across. Within, Rumia could see what appeared to be the dirt and shrubs of the old Night Road, just south of the Forest of Magic, passing below at high speed. Again, there was an odd sense of familiarity, as this was a road Rumia had flown over many times herself. However, everything seemed to be viewed through a filter of red, as if they were peering through a scarlet lens. Rumia wasn't sure what that meant and frankly, she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

"Anyway, right now we're only a few minutes away from the Bamboo Forest. That's where we're going," the girl added, as if it were necessary.

Rumia stared. "Uh, wh-what's in the Bamboo Forest?"

"Old friends." A wistful smile spread across the girl's face. "Very old friends."

Rumia shook her head. Despite the girl's promise of straight answers she still hadn't learned much of use. "Look, whatever it is you…What is this place? What happened to me, what did you…Who are you?"

"Oh!" The girl exclaimed, her mouth perfectly forming the "O" shape. "Sorry, I forgot you can't…well, you know…anyway, my name is Rin. Rin Satsuki. And don't worry, we're going to have plenty of time to get to know each other. I guarantee it."

…

For those of you who don't know, Rin Satsuki was originally going to be one of the playable characters in Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil, but she was cut out at the last minute. What little we know about her is her name, retrieved from some of EoSD's leftover data, and a possible picture taken from ZUN's website around the same time. This is my explanation for her absence: Patchouli had her locked up in a box the whole time. The how and why will be revealed soon enough.

Also, I am discovering that balancing scenes with multiple characters is tougher than it looks, resulting in Mima and Suika only getting bit parts. Still, given that they, along with Yukari, are said to spend a lot of time around Hakurei Shrine, I couldn't resist having them all together at once. Here's hoping they get bigger parts in the future.

And don't worry, Team Nineball will be fine. Sorta.

Until next time, everyone!