Nightfall

It wasn't that Alice was concerned about Marisa. The witch was more than capable of handling herself. If anything she should be worried about Cirno, if such a thing were possible.

Still, Marisa wasn't known for thinking straight when she was angry. And accidents do happen. So, before going home herself, the puppet-master stopped by Marisa's house to check on her.

By then, the sun had completely set. The Forest of Magic had succumbed to shadow, and creatures of the night were slinking from whatever holes they hid in during the day. Alice didn't care. The locals knew better to mess with her.

What did bother her was that Marisa's house seemed to be empty when she arrived. At most times, the witch would be up late, poring over text after text and experimenting with any number of new spells. But now, the interior was completely dark. And strangely enough, the front door was still open, just as it had been when she left.

"I don't know about you, Shanghai," she muttered to the doll hovering over her left shoulder. "But there's just something wrong about all this. Should we go investigate?"

She took Shanghai's interested look for an affirmative. "I agree. Let's go see what's up."

Alice walked up to the doorframe. She knocked a couple of times against the door and said, "Marisa? Are you here? Just checking if you got your box back." A few seconds ticked by. "And making sure you didn't accidentally blow the forest up."

No reply.

"Curiouser and curiouser," she muttered. Alice held up one hand, igniting a softly glowing sphere of light over her palm.

"Marisa? You here?" she said as she looked over the piles of junk. "Hey Marisa! Where are-"

"What?"

The other voice made Alice jump. She whirled around, her heart beating from the sudden surprise.

Marisa stood in the doorway. From the look of things, her day had been absolutely miserable. Her face and arms were bruised and filthy, her clothes looked beat up, and she was breathing heavily from exhaustion.

"Marisa?" Alice said in shock. "What happened to you?"

"Mmmph. Don't wanna talk about it." Marisa pushed her way past Alice, tossing her broom in the corner. Alice stared as the young witch collapsed, face-first and still fully clothed, on top of the bed.

Alice scratched her head as she wondered what in the world had happened. She didn't expect to get any response though. When Marisa said she didn't want to talk about it, she meant it.

"Okay," Alice said uncertainly. "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

She started to leave when suddenly Marisa said, "Hey Alice?"

Alice paused by the door. "What?"

"Talk to me about something."

"About what?"

"I don't care, anything. So long as it's boring, stupid and normal. Your day, tell me about your day, ze."

Alice turned, her face a mess of confusion. "You want me to do what?"

Marisa lay on her side, arms crossed and sullen eyes smoldering. "You did stuff today, right? Stuff that was boring and pointless? Tell me about your stupid day."

Alice opened her mouth to question her further, but thought better of it. "Um, okay. So after I left, I headed over to Medicine Melancholy's field. See, lately we've been working together to try to increase Shanghai's independence, but all we've gotten her to do so far are a few automated responses and her occasionally mimicking other people's actions."

Marisa closed her eyes. "Okay."

"So anyway, today we were trying to see if we get her to react to things in unpredictable ways, but then something got Medicine talking about bot...botu…botulinum and how it's used. And, well, you know how she can get when she's talking about one of her poisons, so we didn't get much done."

"Mmmph."

"But it was actually kind of interesting. Did you know people in the Outside World actually use it for cosmetic reasons, even though it 's probably the deadliest known-"

Alice stopped talking when she saw that Marisa had started snoring. The puppet-master rolled her eyes and chuckled. Of course.

Moving carefully so as not to wake her, Alice removed Marisa's hat and sat it on a nearby table. Then she picked up Marisa's blanket from where it had been carelessly kicked aside that morning and gently laid it over the sleeping girl.

"Good night, you weirdo," Alice said as she left, softly shutting the door behind her.

…

A tear ripped open in mid-air, above three feet from the ground. Moving gingerly with the support of a crutch, Reimu exited Yukari's gap and stepped onto the grass.

"Thanks for the ride," she said. "Let me know how Suika's doing. And when you've got something new."

Inside, Yukari nodded. "I will. Get some rest. I'll check on you in the morning."

"You too."

Yukari started to close her gap, but she hesitated. "Oh, and Reimu?"

"What?"

"I…am sorry I dragged you into this, I really am."

Stunned, Reimu tried to wrap her mind around the thought of Yukari giving anyone a sincere apology and failed. "Oh…um, thanks?" was all she could manage to say.

Without another word, Yukari closed up the gap, disappearing with it. Reimu was left standing alone in front of Hakurei shrine.

A minute later, a sparkling lavender border erupted around the shrine's grounds, curving upward to form a dome shape. Reimu glared upward and limped her way to the shrine. "She doesn't do anything by halves, does she?" Reimu muttered to herself.

Consenting to have one of Yukari's borders placed around Hakurei Shrine was the only way Reimu could get Yukari to consent to allowing her to return home, instead of staying in the rabbits' care or, even worse, Yukari's. Reimu had quite enough of Eientei for one day, and the one time she had spent the night at Yukari's home had made her swear to never even enter the building ever again. Even thinking about it made her crave a long, hot bath.

Still, she had to admit that Yukari's concern had a justifiable reason, seeing how Rin Satsuki was still on the loose. Even if Reisen had pointed out that Rin was highly unlikely to go after her, seeing how Reimu easily done the least during the battle. Still, Rin Satsuki had shown herself to be dangerously unstable.

But Reimu just couldn't stay there, sidelined among the wounded. Hence, her current compromise.

Well, at least Yukari's barrier was soundless. It was going to be difficult enough to sleep without that obnoxious humming noise energy fields sometimes made. Reimu hobbled up the steps of the shrine, went inside and carefully eased herself onto her sleeping mat. She pulled the blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes.

As predicted, she couldn't sleep.

It wasn't just her injuries. This hadn't been the first time she had been roughed up in a fight. And it wasn't just the situation at hand. No, the problem was that the shrine was just too empty. Suika was more-or-less a constant visitor, and Reimu had grown accustomed to her giggling snores. And then there was Mima, who claimed to prefer to stay at the site of the battle. Although the spirit never made any noise, Reimu had also gotten used to knowing that she was floating around, nearby. Her lack of presence was almost tangible.

Reimu growled and pushed away the covers. She wasn't going to get any sleep anyway, and she needed someone to talk to. To that end, she pushed herself back up on her crutch and limped her way around to the back of the shrine.

Immediately behind the shrine was a grove of cherry trees. Spring was already making its presence known in the white buds that were forming on the branches. Reimu ignored them as she made her way through the trees until she reached a large lake, glistening in the moonlight.

Reimu lowered herself down against a nearby tree. She rapped the tip of her crutch against the lake's water, sending splashing ripples across the surface. "Come on out, you old reptile. I know you're awake."

The water nearby started bubbling, and out came a large, scaly head. Rheumy, yellow eyes squinted at her around a beaklike mouth. "Young lady, what the devils are you still doin' up? It's near midnight! And what the hell is with the light show?"

"Bite me, Genji. And there's no way I'm getting any sleep tonight."

"Why, that oni friend of yours won't stop fartin'?"

"Genji!"

There was a hissing laugh, and the waters surged as an enormous turtle lurched its way onto the dry ground. It was easily five feet across from nose to tail, and the hump of its shell, cracked and worn from age, rose another three feet off the ground. And it had lived there in the lake back before the time of Reimu's grandmother.

"So," Genji said as he plodded over to sit beside Reimu. "What's on your mind? You know it's so rare that you come an' visit me these days. I was wonderin' if you'd plumb forgot I was still here."

"Sorry."

"Sure you are, missy. Sure you…Well now, do my old eyes deceive me, or are those bandages 'round your head?"

"Sure are. Rough day."

Genji tsked, which sounded very odd coming from his reptilian beak. "Must've been. That's a heavy duty barrier you've got over us. You expectin' a war? And is that a crutch I see? Kiddo, I don't know what kind of scrapes you've been gettin' yourself into, but…Wait." The elderly turtle's eyes narrowed. "Your foot. I've seen that before."

Reimu sighed. "Yeah. Yukari calls it the taint. You ever hear about the Shadow Youkai?"

Genji didn't immediately answer. A long silence passed, and then he said "Tell me what happened."

Reimu did. She started with the card game between her, Mima, Suika and Yukari and how it had been disrupted by the arrival of Cirno and her friends. She told him about flying to the Forest of Magic and Marisa's sudden arrival. She told him about encountering Rin Satsuki wearing the form of the Shadow Youkai and the ensuing fight. She described being hurled headfirst through the forest and being forced to sit on the sidelines while the others worked together to catch Satsuki. She went on to tell him about Satsuki's escape and the disaster with Kaguya and Mokou. All the while, Reimu's former mentor didn't interrupt, he didn't ask questions or have her clarify any points. He just listened.

When she finished, he said in a soft voice, "Well now, that's a real pickle you've got yourself into, and no mistake."

"Thanks, I've noticed," Reimu groused. "Genji, what am I supposed to do?"

Genji blinked, a long, deliberate motion that took three times as long as it would for a human. "Now that there's a funny question. What'ya mean?"

"Well? Aren't you supposed to be the old, wise master who teaches every new generation of Hakurei shrine maidens what they're supposed to know?"

"Uh, sort of," Genji said. "But it don't work quite that way. Already taught you all that I can. You're supposed to work things out from here on your own."

Reimu brought up the knee of her good foot up under her chin and crossed her arms around it. She stared out across the still waters of the lake. "Fine. I won't ask Genji the Hakurei teacher. I'll ask Genji the cranky old wiseass who's seen more than any three shrine maidens put together."

"Now that's more I like it!" Genji said. He laughed, a harsh wheezing sound. "But it don't seem to me like you want advice 'bout how to squash this latest pest. Seems like somethin' else is botherin' you."

Reimu hesitated, and she nodded. "I was just so useless back there," she said. "The only good I did was get off one Evil Sealing Circle before Satsuki took me out. Everyone else took even more than I did and got back up to keep fighting. But for me, one throw and I was done."

"Heh, I can see how that would make you feel useless. But that's just stupid."

"Huh?" Reimu straightened up and whipped her head around to stare at Genji. "What do you mean, 'stupid'?"

If the elderly reptile could have shrugged he would have. "Girl, I don't know if you've been payin' the slightest bit of attention to that story you just got done tellin' me, but it seems to me all your weird friends got themselves a serious ass-thrashin' as well. And they be things like an oni, super-youkai, whatever the hell that creepy ghost lady you're always hangin' around with. Ain't no shame gettin' beat by somethin' that beat them too."

"But Marisa…"

"What about her? Sure, she got blasted in the face with her own damned spell, which by the way is an image I will cherish for now and eternity, but that ain't bad. Big as her spell is, it's still all spellcard regulated and proper. Now that taint?" Genji cast a critical eye over Reimu's useless foot. "That one…ain't. And I didn't remember hearin' 'bout that crazy witch gettin' thrown through no bamboo trees, no sir."

Reimu frowned thoughtfully, but she didn't answer.

Genji went on. "Kiddo, you had a bad day, it happens. And from the look o' things, it's only gonna get worst. Not sayin' you ain't entitled to feel a little sorry for yourself, but don't go thinkin' yourself useless, 'cause you ain't. Your ma had plenty of bad days too, so'd your grandma, and your great-grandma before her. And they still kept fighting. And lemme tell you somethin': you're just as tough as any of them. A little…lazy maybe, but still tough. So stop whinin'. You'll be back on your feet and usin' 'em to kick ass again in no time."

With a small laugh, Reimu scratched the back of the elderly reptile's head. "How's it you always know how to make me feel better?"

Genji closed his eyes and twisted his neck, giving her better access to the spot he liked having scratched best. "Decades an' decades of practice. What, you think your ancestors never got all whiny themselves?"

Reimu smirked and leaned back against the tree. Genji settled down, and the two of them watched the moonlight sparkle off the waters of the lake.

…

It had been hours since Daiyousei had awoken, and she was growing nearly frantic with worry.

She and Mystia were still waiting on the same hillside, waiting for some sign of Cirno's return. Wriggle was long gone. The firefly's patience had snapped after about an hour and she had disappeared into the forest, determined to find Cirno herself.

Daiyousei herself was perched on the upper branches of the old oak, nervously surveying the forest around them, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cirno or Wriggle. Down below, Mystia sat near a small fire that she had started, singing softly to herself while occasionally poking the burning embers with a stick.

Although she couldn't identify exactly why, Mystia was starting to worry Daiyousei as well. True, everything worried Daiyousei, but the night-sparrow had started to behave differently from her normal cheerful and mischievous self. Ever since Wriggle had left, Mystia had started to withdraw further and further into herself, barely even acknowledging that Daiyousei was there unless addressed directly. Sure, she still smiled and claimed that she all right, but there was something not right, something more than just concern for their missing friends. Daiyousei knew her too well to tell that.

Frankly, it was getting to be too much. There were too many things to worry about. Daiyousei was worried about what happened to Rumia, she was worried about Cirno finding help and returning safely, she was worried about Wriggle getting lost and/or attacked, she was worried about whatever it was that was bothering Mystia, she was even worried about herself. If things kept up the way they were, Daiyousei would be left alone. And if that happened, who would be there to tell her what to do?

That's when she spied a circle of light floating through the entwined trees of the forest. Not daring to hope, Daiyousei squinted her eyes and focused as hard as she could. There seemed to be a figure walking towards them, surrounded by the light.

Then she recognized the mop-head haircut and the two antennae jutting from them. Almost giddy with relief, Daiyousei dropped to ground. "Mystia!" she cried. "It's Wriggle! She's back!"

"Oh, what?" Mystia started. She looked in the direction Daiyousei was pointing. "Oh, you're right. It is."

"That's all you have to say? C'mon already!" Daiyousei grabbed Mystia by the arm and pulled her along to go meet with the new arrival.

As would be expected from someone who had spent the majority of the day searching through an overgrown forest, Wriggle looked both tired and dirty. The light turned out to be several fireflies, normal ones that flitted and fluttered around their larger kinswoman.

"Wriggle, you're back!" Daiyousei said as she got within earshot, Mystia in tow. "Did you find anything?"

"Hey guys," Wriggle said wearily. "Hang on a sec."

She said something in a weird, buzzing language that Daiyousei didn't understand. The fireflies around her flashed their lights once in reply and flew off on whatever firefly business they had.

"No luck," Wriggle said, dashing Daiyousei's hopes to pieces. "I asked around, and nobody knows where Cirno is, or Reimu for that matter. A few saw an ice fairy flying through the forest at high speed, but she apparently took off over the trees and disappeared." She smirked. "Found a frozen tarantula youkai though, so I guess she's handling herself at least."

"Well, the important thing is that you tried," Mystia said unhelpfully.

"Oh boy," Daiyousei muttered. "Who'd you ask? Other youkai? Fairies?"

Wriggle gave her a hard look. "There's more people around than just fairies and youkai, genius."

Right. Bugs then. Even though Wriggle was technically a bug herself, Daiyousei still found it weird that she could talk to insects that weren't youkai. But if it could get them information, then she had no complaints.

"How about you guys?" Wriggle asked. "No luck, huh?"

Daiyousei shook her head. "N-no. Nothing. Do you think something happened to her?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe she got caught up in something else. Would be just like her, wouldn't it? To just go off and…" Wriggle's eyes suddenly widened. "Well, I'll be squished flat, it's her!"

Daiyousei whirled around. To her immense relief, Wriggle was right. Cirno was flying through the air towards the three of them. Even better, she was in one piece. For the first time, Daiyousei began to think that things would be all right.

"Cirno!" she called, cupping one hand around her mouth and waving with the other. "Over here!"

Cirno nodded at them and swooped down for a landing.

"Took you long enough," Wriggle remarked, her hands on her hips. "I was looking all over for you! Where've you been?"

"Um…around…" Cirno replied, staring at the ground.

"Huh?" Daiyousei bent over to get a look at her face. Cirno quickly turned away, but not before Daiyousei caught a glimpse of bloodshot eyes, framed in frost.

"Cirno? What happened?"

Cirno grimaced. "L-look, not now, okay? Please."

The other three exchanged a glance. "Okay…" Wriggle said. "But, uh, Rumia? Did you learn anything about her?"

"I don't know."

"Huh?" Wriggle pushed her way past Daiyousei to get right in front of Cirno. "What'ya mean, 'I don't know'? What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, okay?" Cirno exploded. She grabbed Wriggle by the collar and shoved her face against the firefly's. "I don't know what really happened to Rumia, or if she's still alive, or who she really is, or anything! People kept telling me different things, and now I'm really confused and…I. Just. Don't. Know! Okay?"

"Okay, okay!" Wriggle said hastily. "I got it!"

Cirno shoved the firefly away and turned from her friends. "I don't know, I just don't know," she muttered as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Cirno?" Daiyousei said softly. She laid one hand on Cirno's shoulder. "Um, a-are you all-"

Cirno pulled away from her touch. "Let's just go home."

"What? But, we're…okay."

Cirno took off into the air, and the other three followed. No one said anything, no one understood anything, and no one could work up the nerve to ask Cirno again what had happened.

They flew through the night air, away from the Forest of Magic, over fields and rivers and around villages. In time, the Youkai Mountains came into view.

The remaining members of Cirno's gang dipped low and darted into an overgrown thicket at the foot of the foremost mountain. Cirno pulled aside a length of wood covered with leaves and bits of branches, revealing the mouth of a cave.

Cirno had discovered the cave some years prior, entirely by accident. She had miscalculated during one of her many capers and had to flee the Tengu village in a hurry. Unfortunately, a parting shot had sent her careening into the thicket. However, that bit of ill fortune had turned out for the best, as it led to her finding the cave and immediately declaring it the personal hideaway of her and her friends.

It was into this cave that the four of slipped into, carefully replacing the board they used for camouflage back in its place. Mystia produced a box of matches from a nearby crevice and lit a lantern, illuminating the small cavern they had entered and casting shadows over the nearby stones and jutting stalagmites.

As they walked around, lighting the other lanterns that hung along the cavern's wall, Daiyousei sidled up to Wriggle. "What do we do now?" she whispered.

Wriggle shook her head. "I have no freaking idea," she admitted. "But if you ask me, I think something bad's happened. Something really, really-"

"Cirno!"

The high-pitched voice came out of nowhere. Everyone shouted in alarm and whirled around to see a dark shape leap from the other end of the cavern to pounce on Cirno, tackling her to the ground.

Even more confused than before, Cirno stared up to see a pair of wide, brown eyes framed by disheveled hair of the same color.

"Hi Cirno!" Chen shouted down at the ice fairy. "Ran was being a real meanie and had the doctor from the moon stick needles in my arm and I fell asleep and woke up in a closet and decided to run away to find you and I got here but you weren't here yet so I waited until you got back so we could go out and play like you said except it's night now, so can we play all night instead of-Huh?"

She then noticed the other fairy and two youkai, standing nearby and staring at her.

"Hey," Chen said in a more normal voice. "What happened to you guys?"

…

Night had fallen on Gensokyo. Everywhere, those who preferred the light of the sun were going to sleep while those who stalked the darkness were starting to crawl from their holes. The chirping of birds had been replaced with the chittering of crickets, and lanterns were illuminating the various settlements.

Wholly unaware of the recent changes that had happened to their world, the various inhabitants of the land went about their nightly routine, whether it meant shutting down for the day or starting up. And why shouldn't they? It was just another day, the same as all the others.

Elsewhere, however, others were much more restless. Yukari stood at the door of her home, staring down at the sprawling country before her, her lips closed so tightly they were almost bloodless. Reimu eventually drifted off to sleep by the lake, causing a chuckling Genji to heave her onto his back and carry her back to the shrine. Ran searched frantically through the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, unaware that Chen was safely with Cirno and her friends. Marisa snored softly to herself, lost in a rare moment of peace that would be gone as soon as she awoke.

And, in the wreck that was Eientei, a rabbit named Reisen Udongein crawled exhausted into the sleeping bag that had been provided for her until her quarters could be repaired. When she was sure no one was listening, she pulled out the object she had managed to rescue from the debris of her room. It was a framed photograph, showing her dressed in a purple kimono and smiling for the camera. Standing beside her and totally unaware of the rabbit ears Reisen was holding up behind her head was a cheerful blond-haired girl wearing a red kimono and holding up a sparkler. Reisen clutched the picture to her chest as stubborn tears formed in her eyes. Even though she kept telling herself that everything would eventually work out for the best, she knew in her heart that they were about to get much worst.

Spring had come to Gensokyo, and nobody cared. They had bigger things to worry about.

…

This officially wraps up the Eientei arc (glory, glory, hallelujah!). I've got about four more arcs planned of varying lengths before this story comes to a close.

Anyways, thank you everyone who's been reading so far! Sorry again about the repeated delays.

Until next time, everyone!