Imperfect Metamorphosis

by TakerFoxx

It's the first day of spring, and Cirno and her friends are once again up to no good! But after stealing a strange box from Marisa's house, they soon find themselves over their heads as they discover some things are meant to remain locked up.

59. In Remembrance

In Remembrance

Marisa Kirisame was dead.

News traveled at its own pace in Gensokyo. Those skilled enough in magic could send and receive messages in an instant. And those with less power but sufficient monetary resources could simply hire a decent magician or, should one not be available, those with enough strength to fly from Point A to Point B and back again with little fear of being waylaid.

Everyone else though had to rely on less reliable sources to learn of current events. And what with the danger of youkai attacks, sudden magical storms, hostile landscapes, and imaginative but otherwise unethical reporters, more often than not by the time it reached the common folk, the events in question were no longer current. And that was assuming that they lived somewhere civilized enough to even receive news. The rougher places were more-or-less isolated from the rest of Gensokyo's comings and goings, and entire wars have been known to happen without those who dwelt there so much as noticing.

Rumors, however, tended to spread like wildfire. And when they concerned someone as notorious as the Mad Witch of the Forest of Magic, it did not take long for the word to reach even the darkest corners of Gensokyo. Because though she was loved by few and resented by most, everyone still knew who she was. And while some places took longer than others to learn of what had happened, in the news reached them as well.

Marisa Kirisame was dead. And by the end of the week everyone knew about it.

…

Rinnosuke Morichika was not at all a violent person. Quite the opposite actually. Those who knew him often wondered why someone so passive had lasted so long in the Wilds, but while he did not begrudge his more aggressive neighbors their ways, he personally abhorred violence. The thought of harming another person was repulsive to him.

But as he stood in front of the Kirisame Second-Hand Store with his arms folded and his gaze locked with Rika Saiba, he found himself sorely tempted ease up on his principles.

Rika was a moderately wealthy landowner who owned a ranch out in the Wilds, one of the few to do eke more than just a living from those dangerous lands. As Rinnosuke understood it, his friend Mako Kirisame had been helping her negotiate with the neighboring storefront. Its owner was planning on retiring, and with no children to pass it on to, Rika was looking to purchase it from her and turn it into a butcher's shop, and today had been the day that they were to iron out the conditions of having their respective shops right next to one another. However, for reasons that, to Rinnosuke's mind, ought to be obvious, Mako was in no mood to see anyone today. Despite being more than a little out of sorts himself, Rinnosuke had volunteered to act as his buffer.

However, Rika was swiftly making him regret not just putting up a sign.

The pinch-faced woman glowered at the taller man, indignation all but oozing out from her. "But that makes no sense whatsoever," she said. "Why is the store closed?"

Rinnosuke did not know Rika well, and there was a reason for that. For one, she was in possession of numerous prejudices common in those of a certain age who had to regularly defend their livelihood from nonhumans. For another, even if she were the most tolerant, open-minded individual to be found, that didn't change the fact that she was just plain mean.

Normally he wouldn't have a problem with that. Surviving outside of the village was hard for a Human, and actually progressing beyond making it to the next day to actually turning a profit required a certain amount of grit and stubbornness. And given that they would literally be under constant siege from Rinnosuke's less civilized brethren, he kept his peace concerning their rather hardline views on those of his blood.

But today he was finding that his customarily bottomless well of tolerance to be rather shallow. Taking a deep breath, he said as calmly as he could, "Rika, as I had just finished explaining to you-"

"Mako said he would meet with me today!" Rika said, thumping her walking stick against the porch. "We had been planning this for weeks! Do you not understand how unbelievably rude this is?"

Actually, it had been less than eight days, but Rinnosuke did feel any compulsion to point it out. "Unfortunately, Mako was unable to foresee the death of his daughter," Rinnosuke said. Though he demeanor appeared to be as serene as ever, he couldn't keep the steel from his voice. "And as he only learned of her passing this morning, I do not think it unreasonable allow him his privacy."

Rika snorted in derision. "Ridiculous."

Rinnosuke blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I said you're being ridiculous," Rika said unapologetically. "Both of you."

Rinnosuke had no answer that he felt comfortable in giving, so he just stared.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Rika said irritably. "That girl was a disgrace. And I know as well as you do that they haven't even spoken for years." She slowly shook her head. "Honestly, cutting her off was the best decision he ever made."

Rinnosuke's lip twitched. "Is that right?"

"Of course! I'm honestly surprised you have to ask. She was a menace! The things she did, the…things she associated with! But then, what can you expect from someone who spent all their time around youkai?"

Rinnosuke had to place his hands in either sleeve to disguise their trembling. "I…see."

"Oh, no offense, really!" Rika said, placing an unwanted hand on his shoulder. "You cannot help you parentage! And I think it's wonderful that you have become the respectable man that you are in spite of it."

"Thank you," Rinnosuke said icily, even if he felt nothing of the sort.

"But that girl…" Rika grimaced in disgust. "No excuses. Gensokyo is better off without her. Mako is better off without her. Though come to think of it, maybe we should have seen this coming. The gods know I don't begrudge Mako for his…odd beliefs, but marrying a foreigner? No wonder the girl went wrong. The blood was all wrong from the start."

Rinnosuke closed his eyes and mentally counted backward from ten. This had been a mistake. There was no way he was going to be able to retain his composure. Maybe if he just stood there and refused to answer her further, she would give up and leave. Otherwise, if someone did not intervene soon, he was going to end up letting his youkai side do the talking.

And then someone did, though it was quite possibly the last person Rinnosuke wanted to talk to at that moment. There came the sound of soft footsteps, and a deep, resonant voice said, "Is there a problem here?"

Rinnosuke bit the inside of his cheek. It was Master Sonozika himself, accompanied by two guards. For obvious reasons, the two of them had never gotten along. Though Rinnosuke was still permitted within the Human Village, on the few times he had the misfortune of encountering its stern Leader, it was made clear that his tolerated presence was just that: tolerated. Furthermore, though Rinnosuke had heard him speak many words concerning Marisa, not one of them had been in the least bit complimentary.

Naturally, Rika's perked right up. After all, the Leader of the Human Village was a kindred spirit. "Master Sonozika!" she exclaimed. "Finally, someone with sense!" She pointed a gnarled finger at the half-youkai man standing in front of the locked door. "Yes, I just got done telling Rinnosuke here just how inconvenient it is that Mako has so suddenly closed his shop! I mean, really! The hours are clearly posted, and he agreed weeks ago to meet with me today!"

Master Sonozika turned his dark gaze over to Rinnosuke, the sharp contours of his face displaying his displeasure. But then, they rarely showed anything else. "Mako's shop is closed?" he said.

Rinnosuke took a deep breath and steeled himself the best he could. "Yes," he said as politely as he could. "News of Marisa's death hit him particularly hard. He wishes to be alone."

"Which is just ridiculous," Rika complained. "Why would anyone want to-"

The rest of her tirade was snuffed out when she saw that Master Sonozika's gaze had been turned toward her instead. Rinnosuke had to admit, the man had an impressive glare.

For a few, heavy moments, nobody spoke. They just stood and waited for Master Sonozika to weigh in his opinion.

And then the Leader of the Human Village said, "The child is dead. And so the father grieves." A few more moments passed in which Rika's shock was all but palpable, and he finished with a contemptuous, "What part of that was unclear?"

Without another word, Master Sonozika moved on to continue about his business, his silent guardians falling into step behind him. Rika and Rinnosuke stared after them, the former displaying considerably more disbelief than the latter, though when it came down to it their reactions were more-or-less the same. Rinnosuke was just better at hiding it.

"I, er, ah…" Rika stuttered. Then she turned to Rinnosuke, who quirked an eyebrow at her. Her face turning red, Rika hurried off, leaving a contemplative Rinnosuke behind.

…

The best way to describe the general atmosphere around the Gensokyo Protection Front's headquarters was "melancholy." Four of their number had been attacked, including their captain. While getting jumped by uppity youkai and fairies was a regular occurrence, having their comrades being casually swept aside by mega-heavyweights like Yuuka Kazami was a real cause for concern. After all, this was the second time in so many weeks that they had run afoul of her, and there was no guarantee that she would let them live the next time.

It was like her laughing eye was hovering over the small building. As officer Blair Nekto walked through the halls, he saw many of his coworkers glancing nervously out of windows and looking constantly over their shoulders. He also noticed that there were fewer potted plants around than there had been two days earlier.

Most of the people he did run into were quick to express their gladness that he was okay and general well-wishes, which he appreciated. The knock on his head Yuuka had given them hadn't been anything special, but it could have easily been much, much worse, and he was grateful for their concern. However, he also noticed that once they had gotten done expressing how relieved they were that he was still with them, the conversations would inevitably toward the same subject, one that Blair had to admit was weighing more heavily on his mind than his close brush with personal injury. After all, it wasn't every day that you pay a visit to a figure of note in the morning, close your eyes, and then open them to learn that they were dead. Blair still didn't know what to think of that.

Reaching the captain's office, Blair took a deep breath and rapped his knuckles against the door.

"Enter," said Captain Kotohime Sonozika from the other side.

Opening the door, Blair held up a small folder. "Captain," he said with a nod. "Hey. Mya just got in. I have her report on the-"

He hesitated for half a second, and then said as tactfully as possible, "On the Blasted Lands incident."

If Kotohime were experiencing any lingering trauma from the previous day, she wasn't showing it. She seemed a little more tired than usual, but other than that she looked the same as she always did: buried up to her nose in paperwork and not in the mood for having her time wasted. "Yes, thank you," she said, taking the folder from him.

She turned her attention back to what she was doing, apparently judging the exchange to be over. Instead of leaving, Blair lingered next to her desk, wondering how to broach the subject he wanted to bring up.

Noticing that the exit she had been expecting had yet to happen, Kotohime glanced up at him. "Was there anything else?"

Blair cleared his throat. "Well, I was just, you know-"

Sighing, Kotohime pushed her chair back from her desk ever so slightly and folded her hands on her lap. "Blair, if you have something on your mind, it might help if you were to just spit it out."

Well, nothing for it then. Kotohime preferred flat honesty to verbal gymnastics anyway. "Captain, are you sure…you should be here today?"

Kotohime frowned. "Is there any particular reason why not?"

"Well, yesterday-"

"Yesterday I took a hard knock on the head," Kotohime said with a shrug. "Not really all that unusual. You did so as well, if I recall." She motioned toward him with one hand. "And yet here you are."

Blair shrugged uneasily. "Well, yes, but you also-"

"Yes. Madam Mima swirled my brains around like soup," Kotohime finished for him, her tone hardening a bit. "I have not forgotten. However, Founder Yakumo's ministrations were nothing but thorough, and this isn't the first time someone knocked something loose up there." Sighing wearily, she shook her head and rubbed her fingertips against her temples. "And, I'm sorry to say, this isn't the first time that I've been victimized by either Madam Mima or Yuuka Kazami. It's not fun, but you have to expect to run afoul of a few monsters in this line of work." She paused for a bit, and then looked back up at him. "Though given the look on your face, maybe you're the one that needs to take a day off."

Blair grimaced. "Yeah. It's just…" Well, she hadn't kicked him out yet, so he sat down in one of the guest chairs next to the desk. "It's just the damnedest thing, isn't it?"

Kotohime's brow furrowed. "What is?"

"Well, you know," Blair said, gesturing with one hand. "What happened to Marisa Kirisame."

There was a lengthy amount of time before Kotohime answered. When she did, she did so by sighing and looking back down to her work. "I don't see what that's such a shock," she said, making a few marks on a paper. "She lived her life fast and out of control. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later."

Blair frowned. This lack of concern over another person, Human or otherwise, was uncharacteristic of her. "You really didn't like her, did you?"

Kotohime paused in her writing. Then, placing her pen down, she looked up, her eyes burrowing into his. "Is that what you think?" she said, sounding a bit put out. "That the reason I'm not doubled-over with grief is because I didn't like her? That I'm relieved that she's gone? That I'm counting down the minutes before my shift ends so I can pop open a bottle of champagne?"

Blair winced. An offended Kotohime was a rare thing, but he had witnessed it enough times to know that he did not want it directed toward him. "No, but-"

"Well, you're right about one thing," Kotohime said shortly. "I did not like her." Shaking her head, she leaned into her chair. "That girl's been a thorn in our side since day one. I've lost track of the number of messes she's caused and the number of complaints we've received about her. Not a day went by that I didn't dream of the day that some sense would be knocked into her head." She looked down at nothing, her mouth set in a straight line. "But I didn't want her to die. I wanted her to grow up, but I didn't want her to die."

"I didn't say that you did," Blair quickly clarified. "I was just wondering…"

"Why I didn't seem all that bothered?"

Blair shrugged. "Well, yes," he admitted.

Kotohime shook her head again. "To tell the truth, I'm wondering the exact opposite. Why does everyone in here seem so down?"

Blair frowned. "Well, that was a pretty horrible way to go out."

"Yes, it was. So?"

Okay, now Blair knew that something was wrong. It was not like Kotohime to be this cold, unless her uncle was somehow involved. "I-"

"Tell me something, Blair," Kotohime interrupted. "Does the name Daichi Handa mean anything to you?" When Blair just stared blankly at her, she went on. "How about Eiko Handa? Akira Handa? Any of these ringing any bells? Hmmm?"

To tell the truth, they did seem a little familiar, but Blair couldn't place connect them to any faces, so he just shook his head.

Kotohime pursed her lips "That's disappointing. Those are the names of the family that Yuuka Kazami murdered in Center Tree last month. They were farmers, working for the Izumu family. Akira had just turned fourteen, and they had saved enough money to treat him to a special trip to celebrate. Yuuka Kazami decided that she wanted the hotel room they had rented, and when their answer was not to her liking, she murdered them and fed their bodies to her plants. They left behind an older daughter and an infant son that they could not afford to bring along and who had stayed at the farm. I was the one to break the news to their surviving children and the Izumis. You were standing next to me at the time. "

There wasn't really anything Blair could say to that except, "Oh."

"Yes," Kotohime said, a hint of anger in her voice. "And despite suffering an equally horrific death at the hands of the same person, everyone showed up for work the next day and life went on. We see death all the time, Blair. People ambushed by wild youkai. Disputes that get taken too far. Old age and disease. Accidents. It's horrible, and we stop it when we can, but it still happens. That's just part of the job. And what bothers me about this is that the Handas were decent, hardworking folk who just wanted to make their son happy on his birthday, but nobody here really cared when they died. Their names were forgotten, and life went on. Marisa Kirisame dies, and suddenly everyone's in shock. Was her life worth more than theirs, just because she was famous? Is that what normal folk just trying to make a living are reduced to?"

"No, ma'am," Blair said.

"Good," Kotohime said. She moved her chair back closer to her desk and opened up the report Blair had brought her. "As far as I'm concerned, Marisa Kirisame was just one more person that we couldn't save. If I could have prevented her death, I would have, but I couldn't. It's horrible, it's tragic, but it happens all the time. And life goes on. Does that answer your question?"

Blair nodded ."Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Don't worry about it. Dismissed."

Sighing, Blair turned to go. He had felt melancholy already when he came here, and he was leaving feeling even worse. Kotohime's demeanor bothered him. Not just because it was uncharacteristically cold, but because he knew her well enough to know when she trying to hide how upset she was. Marisa's death was probably bothering her the most, but given her history with the girl, she was trying to hide it. Unfortunately, Blair had no idea what to say to her about that, so he decided to say nothing.

He was just about to pass through the door when he heard Kotohime sigh and say, "And yet…"

Blair paused. He turned around.

Kotohime was looking down at all the paperwork she was trying to finish as if she had no idea what she was supposed to do with them. When she spoke, her voice was lower than usual, and slower. "And yet despite how much I disliked her, despite all the problems she caused and how much I hate that people are treating her death as more important than the people we worked to protect from her, she had to go and die…" Kotohime swallowed and looked up, her brown eyes looking lost and confused. "…in the most selfless, noble, and heroic way I've ever heard of. Isn't…isn't that just the most awful thing, that I'm actually angry with her for not letting me resent her properly?" She shook her head and let out a bitter chuckle. "What kind of person does that make me?"

Blair thought about that for a moment before offering, "Captain, I think that just makes you Human."

…

When Reisen fled Eientei, she had known that she was leaving behind a life of comfort and security in exchange for one of hardship and poverty. Eientei was one of the wealthiest estates in Gensokyo, whereas Hakurei Shrine…was not. Gone was her feather bed, professionally cooked meals, minimal toil, and endless amounts of spending money. Now, she slept on a thin mat, often had to make due with a small bowl of rice with whatever vegetables Reimu had been able to afford, was working hard enough to remind her of her military days, and had no money whatsoever. Granted, the resources Remilia Scarlet offered were probably going to change a lot of that, but most of those changes had yet to come into effect, though the meals had seen a definite improvement.

However, as hard as her life had become, she at least had left behind something she did not miss: drama. Her tensions with Eirin were no longer a problem. She didn't have to worry about being bullied by the other rabbits. Tewi's pranks were a thing of the past. She didn't have to put up with Princess Kaguya's constant condescending remarks. Life had become simpler in all the good ways as well.

But now, that had changed as well.

It had begun when Remilia Scarlet had been exiled to the shrine, bringing her maid with her. Reisen, who had no reason to like either of them, had not appreciated having them around. But as she was technically a fellow sanctuary-seeking fugitive as well, she had bit her tongue the best she could and endured.

And then Marisa Kirisame was murdered, and everything changed again. Reisen just wasn't sure what to do about it.

She really didn't have time to think about how much she resented Remilia or Sakuya, as she was too busy worrying about Reimu. The shrine maiden had not been well since coming home. Eirin had ordered her to remain in bed, so Reisen had to take on the entirety of the shrine's chores, at least while Sakuya wasn't around. That was fine; she had been doing most of them anyway. But what she didn't like was not knowing what she could do for Reimu.

Most of the day, it would just be the two of them alone together. Genji was in and out periodically, but whatever turtle business he had outside of the shrine often meant that it was just Reisen and Reimu. Reisen did what she could for her, but often felt that she should do more. Normally, it was other people comforting her when she was upset. Being put in the opposite role was leaving her very flustered. Not that Reimu was often in the mood or even condition to talk, but Reisen wished she had something comforting to say should Reimu need it: some words of wisdom or a well-timed joke. Unfortunately, she wasn't known for her cleverness, so it was best that she hold her tongue lest she try too hard and make things worse.

And then, only a couple of days after she had been hurt, Reimu left. Reisen had walked into the shrine to find it without its maiden. According to Genji, Reimu had decided that there was an errand she needed to run and would be back soon, but if his gruffness was any indication there had probably been some disagreement on that subject, quite possibly a loud argument, which made Reisen relieved that she had been elsewhere at the time. Genji wouldn't say where she had gone, but as Marisa's hat was missing as well, she could make a few guesses.

With nothing else to do until Reimu returned, Reisen filled the time with her chores, hoping that the work would distract her from thinking too much.

As she was busy cleaning the little kitchenette, she heard the creak of hinges coming from the other room, followed by the soft patter of bare feet. Remilia Scarlet then wandered into view, still dressed in her silk pajamas and holding onto the wing of her stuffed bat. She looked very tired.

Reimu's two wards' scarlet eyes locked, and they froze in place. Reisen had never been left alone with Remilia before, and really didn't have the first idea what to say to her. So she went with a admittedly obvious observation.

"Oh," she said. "Uh, you're up. Early."

Remilia slowly nodded. "Yes. Well, I was having trouble sleeping."

"I see." Reisen looked away and went back to her scrubbing, hoping that Remilia would take the hint and leave her alone.

She didn't. "Is…Sakuya here yet?"

"No," Reisen said, shaking her head. "She usually doesn't arrive until about six-thirty."

Remilia frowned. "Ah. And Reimu?"

Reisen's lips thinned out into a straight line. "She's not here."

"No?" Remilia sounded both disappointed and surprised.

"No." Reisen dipped the rag she was using into a nearby bucket of soapy water. "She said she had to go run an errand and left about an hour ago."

Remilia sighed. "By any chance did she say where she was going or when she would be back?"

"No." Then, in the off-chance that more information would make her go away, Reisen added, "She took Marisa's hat with her, so…"

"Right," Remilia sighed. She leaned back with her back to the wall and slumped down to the floor. "So it's something deeply personal."

Reisen shrugged and kept cleaning.

"It's just…" Remilia started. Reisen looked up. "I was really hoping to speak with her. There is…something I've been meaning to get off my chest."

Reisen frowned. "What about?" she asked, curious despite herself. She had thought that all of Remilia Scarlet's dirty little secrets had been pulled into the light already.

Remilia let out a small sigh. "Oh, it's foolish, but ever since, well, ever since Marisa was killed, I have felt the need to confess."

"Confess?"

"I said it was foolish," Remilia said with a shrug. She drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. "After all, it isn't anything Reimu didn't know already. But…Oh, I don't know, but I can't help but feel responsible."

"Responsible?" Reisen put away the rag and turned around to sit cross-legged on the floor, facing Remilia. "How are you responsible?"

Remilia shook her head. She looked more than a little embarrassed. "Oh, before we were shanghaied into participating in that disastrous throw-down with Yuuka Kazami, I had the brilliant idea of trying to blackmail Yukari Yakumo."

"Oh yeah," Reisen nodded. "I heard about that."

"I imagine that you have," Remilia said, sheepishly scratching the back of her head. "So you also know that what I wanted was essentially Marisa's head on a platter."

Reisen nodded.

Remilia shrugged. "Like I said, it was stupid, and went as well as you can expect. But even so…" She placed a hand over her heart and flexed her fingers ever so slightly, rumpling the fabric of her pajamas. "I keep getting this feeling…that what happened to Marisa is my fault. I wanted her to be humiliated and my property restored, and Lord knows that's exactly what happened. And as a result of that same chain of events, Marisa is now dead. I feel like I've cursed her or something."

"Uh…"

"And I know that's not what happened, that Yukari would have done what she did without my involvement, and Yuuka would have done what she did regardless, but…" With a small groan, Remilia slumped forward, her forehead bumping against her knees. "Oh, I don't know. I don't know why I'm telling you this. It isn't as if I've been enough of a burden to you already."

Well, Reisen couldn't argue with that. "Maybe you just needed someone to talk to," she suggested.

"Maybe you're right." Remilia leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling. "I just wish I could get Reimu to talk to me though. She's barely said a word since Marisa's murder."

"She's grieving."

"I know. It's just I recently had a little reminder about the dangers of isolating yourself too long after a tragedy."

Reisen found herself wondering why she was still participating in this conversation. It certainly wasn't getting any less uncomfortable. "Well, it's only been a couple of days."

"True," Remilia sighed. "And I suppose I should be giving her emotional stability a little more credit. But I was always a bit of a worrywart, and I know full well how it hurts to lose someone you love."

Reisen nodded. That at least she was in full agreement with. "You mean your sister?"

Remilia jerked her head down to glower at her. "I did not lose Flandre," she snapped. "I know exactly where she is. I just haven't been able to take her back yet."

Reisen cringed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

To her credit, Remilia immediately looked abashed. "No, no, I should be the one saying that," she said, wincing. "After all, you're in the same boat, aren't you? Which…unfortunately is thanks to me and another one of my boneheaded excuses for 'ideas.'"

Reisen stared. Was Remilia trying to apologize? If so, what was she supposed to say in return? She didn't feel like forgiving Remilia, not yet. If it weren't for the vampire, Rin would be with her right now. But she also didn't really feel like throwing accusations and anger her way either. The confusion left her with a tangled tongue. "Oh. It's, uh, it's…"

Fortunately, Remilia started speaking again before Reisen's stumbling became too obvious. "Anyway, I wasn't talking about Flandre. I was actually thinking of our time in the Outside World, before we finally came to Gensokyo."

"You lost someone close to you?"

"Several, actually. That world is not kind to vampires. Not without reason, I have to admit, and there was more than one occasion when those angry mobs with their torches and pitchforks had legitimate grievances. But even so, those that did treat us with kindness and respect were not looked upon kindly by their fellow man and often came to ruin because of us." Remilia's face darkened. "Like Father LaCroix."

"Who?"

Remilia waited a long time before answering. "He was a priest, and a surprisingly enlightened one at that. Unlike most others of the time, he believed that vampirism was a burden to be born and not a sign of damnation. He sheltered us when we were trying to flee France about three hundred years ago. It's difficult, you see, for two vampire children to avoid attracting attention. If have one or two adult vampires with you, then you can pass for a family and blend in with greater ease, especially if you so happen to be an actual family. Unfortunately, when Flandre and I were turned, our parents were…unavailable."

Reisen was only vaguely aware of what France was, and it took her a few seconds to remember that "Father" could also refer to a type of clergy. But that last part she had no trouble understanding. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Remilia said with a shrug. "I never much cared for them myself. At any rate though, Father LaCroix was…" she smiled wistfully "…an exceptional man. Kind, brave, and surprise, surprise, smart. He was open-minded enough to hear our tale without casting judgment and not write us off as demonspawn. He said though we most certainly bore the Devil's fingerprints, it was through no fault of our own, and that the power of Grace was greater than any of that old snake's tricks.

Reisen nodded. Some things were universal across multiple faiths. "What happened to him?"

"Well, obviously the locals…did not agree." Remilia's face turned sour. "One of them found out about us and told the others, and he rushed us out before they arrived. Unfortunately, he decided to stay in his church."

"To hold them off?"

"Our protection was one reason, yes. But he also wished to protect the townsfolk as well, and hoped to slow them to keep them from catching up with us. Flandre had yet to come into her full power, but even then she was quite…unstable. Besides, he loved that church."

"Oh."

Remilia shrugged, though it didn't come off as nonchalant as she might have hoped. "It's the way of vampires. Either you hunt or you are preyed upon." She looked down at her hands. "And those who, like myself, do not much care for either are quite often without luck. That was why we were so happy to find Gensokyo, a sanctuary for monsters, where the locals are a bit more open-minded and a great deal less fragile."

Reisen nodded in agreement. "I actually sort of know what you mean. I mean, not about the monster thing. About how coming here was a relief, and losing people and all that."

"Oh?" Remilia raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"Oh, uh…" Realizing how sensitive the conversation was becoming, Reisen almost cut it off right there. After all, she still didn't like Remilia, and if she must open up about this part of her past, she would definitely prefer that it be to someone else.

However, she didn't have many options for that. Reimu had enough on her mind to worry about someone else's tragedy, and Remilia had just opened up to her about her own misfortune. "Well, all right," she sighed. "Her name was Naki. Naki Siato." Gods, just saying that name again was so strange. She had done her best not to think about Naki for years. "She was one of my squadmates, back when I was in the Lunarian military. It, uh, wasn't really something I wanted to do, but you know. Family tradition and all that."

"Your father had served?" Remilia asked.

"Mother." Reisen corrected. "And…my grandmother before her. I...wasn't really given much of a say in it, it was just sort of expected of me."

Remilia didn't say anything. She just waited.

"I hated it," Reisen said at last. "I hated everything about it. I hated doing the drills, I hated the barracks, I hated the cold, I hated the food, I hated I hated my sergeant, I hated the rest of the girls in the squad, and they all hated me back. Every night, I'd have to check my bed for traps, and every morning I'd have to make sure they didn't…do anything to me when I was asleep. I got the blame for everything that went wrong, and even when it was obvious that it wasn't my fault they still punished me anyway and make up a reason afterward." Her hands were stating to shake, so she squeezed them into fists and held them close to her chest. "I wrote letter after letter to mom begging her to let me come home. That…didn't make her happy, and she actually reported me to our sergeant, so I just stopped writing to her."

Remilia said, "That sounds…unpleasant."

Reisen let out a bitter laugh. "It was pretty miserable, yeah." She sighed and moved on. "Anyway, Naki was the only one that was ever nice to me. She'd look after me and keep the other from picking on me and tell them off when she caught them. Or she'd beat them up. She was one of the older veterans, so they listened to her. Most of the time, anyway."

"What happened to her?"

"Well, uh, we got sent on a mission." Reisen ran her fingers back through her hair. "My first one, actually. There was this group of anti-crown insurgents that took some noble families hostage, and we were sent in to, well, provide an answer."

She paused for a moment, and then continued.

"I don't think I had ever been so scared," Reisen said softly as she remembered. "Bullets were flying, people were screaming, bombs were going off, and everyone was yelling at us to move, to take them down. But I couldn't. I was hiding in this small corner, just frozen, and Naki was trying to get me to move, and then all of a sudden she just fell to the floor. And there was a hole in her head."

She felt so weird, going over this with Remilia. The last time person she had told about Naki had been Eirin, and the doctor hadn't asked for specifics. And the strange part was that, as much as the old memories hurt her, it felt good to get them out. She didn't even care that she was telling it to Remilia either. She just needed to tell someone. Maybe she too had needed to confess. "So I ran," she said. "I couldn't do it. I ran away. Afterward, once they were done with the insurgents, they caught me and dragged me back. There was a court-martial, my masters pretty much turned their backs on me and said I didn't deserve to be their pet, and-"

Remilia perked up. "Pet?"

"Uh, yeah." Reisen kept forgetting how strange that piece of Lunarian culture sounded to Earthers. "The Watatsuki family. That was another family tradition. We officially belonged to them. Maybe you remember Yorihime and Toyohime Watatsuki?"

"Oh, them." Remilia's face twisted up with contempt."I remember those two. But you were their…pet?"

"Uh, right." Reisen shrugged. "That's actually sort of an awkward translation. Every noble family also has a Lunar rabbit family that more-or-less belongs to them and serves them personally generation after generation."

"Ah," Remilia said. It was clear from her tone that she didn't much care for the idea, which Reisen found odd. After all, didn't Sakuya practically belong to her in almost the same way?

However, Reisen didn't especially feel like arguing, and she had lost any drive she had to defend Lunarian culture a long time ago, so she just went on with her story. "But anyway, I was court-martialed, stripped of just about everything, and kicked out. So, that's why I came here." Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she let out another rueful chuckle. "And…okay, I was pretty upset at first. And scared. And humiliated. And…heavily contemplating suicide. But, uh, I guess it worked out in the end, and it was better than what I had, and…" Then she frowned. "I'm sorry, what were we talking about that got us here?"

"Death," Remilia said simply. "And our personal experiences with it."

"Oh, yeah. Well, that's mine."

There was a lengthy silence, and then Remilia said in a low voice, "Reisen, it occurs to me that despite a good portion of your troubles having their root cause with me and my household, I never did what Eirin Yagokoro did and apologize. I would like to do that now."

Reisen's face tightened, but she didn't say anything..

"I know that my friends' part in Rin's metamorphosis cannot be understated, and it is because of me that she is in the peril she is now, a peril that she ironically shares with my sister. Believe me, there is no one that can better understand the torment you must be going through. So, on the behalf of myself, Patchouli, and Sakuya, you have my deepest apologies. I don't…expect forgiveness, nor do I deserve it, but if there is anything, and I do mean anything, that I can do to make it up to you, I am more than willing to accept." After a brief pause Remilia hastily added, "I mean, within reason of course. Draining Patchouli and Sakuya of blood and mounting their heads on spikes is of course out of the question, as are requests of a similar nature."

Reisen couldn't help but laugh at that, though she squelched it quickly. Taking a deep breath, she slowly nodded her head and whispered, "Okay. Okay."

Remilia sighed. "Thank you, Reisen."

The silence returned, with neither of them saying anything. Then, with a sigh, Remilia stood up and walked out of the kitchenette. However, as she entered the next room, Reisen heard her pause.

"There's someone here," the vampire said. "Several someones, in fact."

"What?" Reisen stood up and turned around. Remilia was facing the front door, a puzzled frown on her face.

"Out front," she said. "I can smell them."

"You smell right!" Genji's voice suddenly came from outside of the shrine. "I'd get dressed if I were you. We're about to have company!"

"Company?" Careful not to shine any careless amount of bothersome sunlight into the room, Reisen peeked out the window. Outside, Genji was floating toward the front of the shrine grounds. When she saw who he was going to meet, her eyes widened. "Oh wow, he wasn't kidding."

"Who is it?" Remilia asked. When Reisen told her, her eyes boggled and she scampered off to get her things.

"But Reimu isn't here!" Remilia called from the next room as she changed out of her pajamas. "What do we tell them?"

"Let Genji worry about that," Reisen said.

"Well, I wish she would hurry," Remilia muttered as she reentered the room, now dressed in a frilly blue dress and apparently struggling with the laces. "I mean, no disrespect intended, but they're obviously here for her. And I know that Eirin is not going to be happy to hear that she's up and about. And with good reason. I mean, she is still weak, so what if something horrible were to happen?" She gave the laces a sharp twist, only to sigh in frustration when they slipped out of her fingers. "I…I'm terribly sorry, but…"

After a moment of hesitation, Reisen knelt down to help her. Weird. A few weeks ago, Remilia Scarlet had been a noted figure of station, influence, and obscene wealth that Reisen could not hope to even be seen in the same room as, unless she was lucky enough to be accompanying Eirin to some high-end function. Then all of a sudden, she had become Reisen not only absolutely hated, but had to suffer as a roommate as well. And now she was helping her put on her dress, but as a favor rather than as a servant. The world was weird.

"Well, don't worry about her," Reisen said as she weaved the laces through their holes. "I mean, I worry all the time too, but one thing about Reimu is that she at least knows what she's doing."

…

Reimu wished she knew what she was doing, but she hadn't had a clue all year so far.

She was in flight, heading down the very familiar route towards the Forest of Magic, Marisa's hat held to her chest. At her request, Sakuya had sewn up the massive tears and given it a thorough cleaning, to the point where it was nearly impossible to tell that it had been injured. The maid had offered to repair the years of weather-wear as well, but Reimu had refused. She had wanted it healed, not have Marisa's presence erased from it.

The last couple of days had been tough. Her condition mandated that she do as little work as possible, and while normally she would have no problems with that set of instructions, it meant that she had little to occupy her mind with. And with nothing but free time on her hands, that meant she spent far too much time doing what she had been hoping to avoid: thinking.

Sometimes she was almost fine. Yeah, her best friend was dead and that sucked, but it wasn't like it was the end of the world. People died all the time and they got over it. Besides, mere hours after Marisa's death Genji had gruffly informed her that Marisa had pulled through. She had escaped damnation and was now in the Netherworld, which had been a tremendous source of relief. So it was okay. Reimu was tough. She could deal.

Other times she was anything but fine. Marisa was gone, violently murdered right in front of her. The wrongness of it would bear down on her like a load of bricks to the point where she couldn't get out of bed even if she wanted to. Reimu had been rejected by nearly other member of her species for simply doing a job that she hadn't asked for, and when another Human fully accepted her for who and what she was without a care who knew it, she got killed over a stupid, infantile reason. And nobody seemed to care, at least none of the other Humans did. She had received no word from the Human Village, no well-wishes or condolences despite the number of times she and Marisa had saved their ungrateful hides. Why was she protecting these people again? She should have just let the last plague of evil spirits run rampant.

And finally, there were the times where she could do nothing more than lay staring at the ceiling, with a small handful of moments replaying over and over in her head. One was when Marisa had been on the cusp of killing Yuuka only for Reimu to interject and distract her. The second was that horrible, horrible final conversation they had, where Reimu had found out just how much of a shitty friend she had been. Then third was that of Marisa's face as she had choked and gasped for breath as Yuuka cheerfully crushed her throat. And the last were those invisible runes Marisa had tattooed into her skin, evidence of what had to have been an agonizing process she had undergone just to be able to compete on the level Reimu had been born into.

Those times were the hardest of all.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She had to get out, had to go do something to make it up to Marisa. Even though pushing herself while she was still recovering was probably a bad idea, if she didn't do this she was likely to go crazy. Besides, after the shock wore off, Yukari would probably do something like make it impossible for her to leave the shrine at all, so she couldn't afford to wait.

The journey there took far too long and yet was over too quickly. The winds were with her and there seemed to be fewer wild youkai or fairies along the way, but she couldn't keep from noticing everything along the way, from the way a cart-road wound its way through the fields below her to the intricate ways the top of the trees wound together to form the Forest of Magic's infamous canopy. She had taken this route countless times in the past, but it had just been the background scenery, something for her to fly over and ignore. Now she saw each individual patch of flowers, every since bend of the road, and every wild animal that leapt out of the way of her shadow. She saw a family of rabbits trying to flee, only for one of the babies to get picked off by a hawk. She saw a school of silver fish riding the current of a river. She saw a farmer leisurely leading a pair of oxen going the other way.

So many things were happening all around her, each with a story of their own, and she had never noticed until now.

It wasn't until Reimu had arrived at the forest that she realized that she had unconsciously been heading toward Marisa's house, or at least where it had been. The shrine maiden came to a stop and stared.

The house was gone. Yuuka's assault had still left a floor, a few pieces of wall, and a fair bit of debris. But now even that had disappeared. Where Marisa's house had stood was now a few odd shrubs and some wild grass, nothing more than an unremarkable clearing in a forest full of them.

Reimu stood on the clearing's edge, listening to the low chatter of the birds and insects, watching dust motes dance through the diagonal rays of sunlight that pierced through the canopy. She wondered what had happened to the house's remains. Someone had obviously removed them, but who? Yukari? Rinnosuke? Alice? Maybe even Marisa herself, using a spell set to erase her presence from the forest in the event of her untimely demise.

But such thought exercises were pointless. Reimu knew full well who had cleared the remains away.

Mima had not been so much as heard of since the day before Marisa's death. Apparently Yukari was searching for her, and the other Ringleaders had been instructed to inform her immediately should the ghost be found. Even Reimu was concerned. Though the last time she and Mima had been at odds had been before hitting puberty, she was well aware of what the infamous Evil Spirit of Makai was capable of. And given the personal responsibility Reimu felt about Marisa's death, it wasn't a great leap to believe that Mima might come to similar conclusions. Her proficiency in revenge was legendary.

As Reimu looked out over the eerily empty clearing, a cold tingle went down her back as an uneasy feeling started to squirm in her gut. The place felt haunted, which was very strange. To her, saying that a place was haunted was akin to saying that it had a cockroach problem, and was usually met with a reaction of, "Well, get out some charms and clean it up then!" She dealt with spirits, ghost, poltergeists, and other ethereal beings on a regular basis. She had personally visited the Netherworld on several occasions. Hell, she had slept soundly for years knowing that Mima was floating about nearby. The stirrings of the supernatural provoked no fear from her, just a feeling of dull routine.

But this was different. Though Reimu didn't actually sense any sort of presence over where Marisa's house had been, something about it still gave her the tingles. The wind picked up in strength, rustling through the leaves and bending the wild grass. And for the first time in her life, Reimu truly understood what it meant to feel haunted.

"Hello?" Reimu said. "Is…anyone there?"

Was it her imagination, or did the wind start blowing even harder as soon as she spoke?

Though she knew that she was being ridiculous, Reimu still hesitantly called out, "Marisa?"

There was no actual answer, of course there wasn't. But damned if the sound of the wind through the trees didn't start to resemble a very familiar laugh. A gust stirred up the dead leaves on the ground and blew them toward her feet.

Reimu all but fled the clearing.

Making a pilgrimage to Marisa's house hadn't been her reason for coming to the forest anyway; that had just been force of habit taking over. Fortunately, her reason was actually pretty close to where Marisa had lived.

Whereas Marisa Kirisame's house had a definite "Mad Witch's Hut" vibe that allowed it to feel like it belonged in the gloomy forest that it inhabited, the house of Alice Margatroid stood out in its cleanness. A cheery, two-story building with neat whitewashed walls, a carefully trimmed front lawn, and a brightly colored garden, Alice's home would not have looked out of place in the upper-class neighborhood of a peaceful country village, and yet it sat in one of Gensokyo's darkest, most dangerous forests, almost daring the monsters to try to overrun it.

A few had, when she had first moved in. Now none of them dared.

Reimu had only been there a handful of times. She got along okay with Alice, but that was in a friend-of-a-friend sort of way, and the two of them had never spent much time together without Marisa around. The magician girl was just a little too standoffish for her, which was sort of ironic given that Reimu had a similar reputation. But she was the sort of person who could really only get along with someone who was different enough to be compatible. Those who were too much like her tended to irritate her.

To be truthful, Reimu wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Marisa. Even with the shared tragedy of losing their mutual best friend, she just wasn't close enough to Alice to try to connect with her on her own. But even though it had been a morbid joke at the time, Marisa had still given her a duty to perform. Reimu felt that she owed her that much.

Dropping down the cobblestone path that led to the front door, Reimu took a deep breath and walked the rest of the way. Once she was on the porch, she raised her hand to knock, but then hesitated.

She didn't want to do this. She felt that she had to, but she didn't want to. She looked down at the black hat in her hand. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe she could just go home right now without-

The door opened, and Alice smiled at her. Per usual, her doll Shanghai was hovering just over her shoulder. "Ah, good afternoon, Reimu. What brings you here?"

-and of course a magician like Alice would know that she was there the moment she set foot in her territory. Well, nothing for it then. Taking a deep breath, Reimu said, "Uh, hi Alice. I, uh, know this is probably a bad time and all…"

Alice's brow knitted together in puzzlement. "Well, no, not really. I wasn't in the middle of anything important. Just a little extra bit of research. Why, is something wrong?"

Reimu almost choked. "Wait, are you serious?"

Alice's frown deepened. "Is there any reason I wouldn't be? Marisa hasn't been by in two days, so I've been stuck working on my rune alone. And by the by, should you see her, tell her that while I know that she isn't obligated to help me, simply dropping off without prior warning is a bit rude. I understand that things come up, but I'm not far. She could have at least sent me a short message."

"You mean…" Reimu was now having a very difficult time articulating her thoughts. Hell, she was having a difficult time thinking. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" Alice said, now sounding concerned. "You know I don't get news out here, and I've been pretty preoccupied as of late. Why, has…something happened?"

Reimu had to grab the doorframe to steady herself. When she had come here, she had wondered at length what Alice's emotional state might be. That she would be upset had been a given. Quite possibly distraught. Almost certainly angry. But she had not once considered that she might be faced with complete ignorance.

"Wait, is it Marisa?" Alice said. She looked down and, seeing Marisa's hat in Reimu's hands, the concern on her face grew. "Reimu, has something happened to-"

"She's dead!" Reimu blurted out.

It was by far the most poorly delivered announcement of the death of a loved one that she had ever heard of, but she had no preparation time for something like this.

Neither did Alice. She just stared at Reimu. "Excuse me?" she said.

Reimu felt a sharp pain tear at her chest. Holding back her tears the best she could, Reimu said, "Alice. Marisa's dead. Yuuka Kazami…Yuuka killed her two days ago."

Alice looked stunned. "What?"

Swallowing, Reimu tried to speak but found that she had nothing to say. So she just nodded.

Alice's brown sunk lower, rose up, and dipped down again. Her mouth seemed to be at war with itself. It kept trying to shape itself around various words, only to discard each one in turn without actually making a sound. Reimu waited, heart beating out a dull funeral march in her ears.

Then Alice's face relaxed and she let out a small laugh. "Oh, really? This now?"

Reimu nearly jolted. "What?"

Shaking her head, Alice said, "Is this what passes for humor now? Because it's pretty low, even by her standards. Elaborate, perhaps. But still in very bad taste."

"I-"

"Very funny, Marisa!" Alice called out. "But this doesn't excuse you for missing the last two days!" Then to Reimu, she said, "And no offense, Reimu, but your acting skills are a bit on the-"

"It's true, I'm not lying!" Reimu cried out. The tears were now flowing freely and her voice thick with pain.

Alice shut up immediately.

"I…I saw it happen," Reimu continued. She pointed out behind her. "Yuuka came to her house and blew it up. Go see for yourself if you don't believe me! She dragged us off and started…started playing with us, like it was some kind of game. She made us fight her. For fun!"

Alice's mouth fell open.

"But…but that wasn't enough for her. She…" Reimu almost had to push the last part out. "Marisa…Marisa won. She beat her, and Yuuka couldn't accept that. So she froze us both, knocked me out, and…just as I was waking up, she killed her."

In a way, it almost felt like a confession, an admission of failure. She, the shrine maiden, was confessing her sins. And in that, there was relief. Pain, yes, there was plenty of pain. Grief in abundance. But there was also relief.

Alice had yet to blink. She swallowed heavily and said, "This is no joke? Marisa is really…"

"Yes," Reimu said.

"Then how are you still alive?"

Reimu sighed. It sounded almost like an accusation. If Reimu had survived, how had she allowed Marisa to die? "Almost wasn't. I had…maybe a minute or so before Yukari finally decided to show up. She got me to Hourai Clinic." A long pause passed, and then Reimu said, "You can go talk to Eirin Yagokoro if you want. She'll tell you."

Alice stared at her for a few moments longer. Then finally she blinked. "You're being serious. Marisa is really…dead?"

"Yes."

"For real? She-"

"Yes, she's dead!" Reimu snapped. "I was there!"

Alice inhaled sharply. Reimu watched her, wondering what was going on inside of the magician. Alice was a difficult one to predict, but she had a feeling that either a meltdown or a blowup was imminent.

Then, realizing that she had come for a reason that didn't involve angrily yelling at someone who had only just learned of her best friend's murder, Reimu forced herself to calm down a bit and said, "Um, anyway, a few days ago we were talking, and…Well, you know Marisa. She was making one of her dumb jokes about how we were all screwed and should start writing out our wills and stuff." She breathed in and out. "Anyway, I know she was just being stupid for a laugh, but she said that…that if something were to happen to her, then she wanted…" Her throat was starting to close up again. Reimu and tried again. "…wanted you to have…Well, here."

Reimu thrust the hat into Alice's hands and stepped back, waiting for her reaction.

Alice looked down at the wide-brimmed, pointed black hat in her hands, almost as if she were unfamiliar with the object she now held and was wondering how it worked. Reimu watched her face, waiting for the shock to wear off, waiting for…

Then Alice breathed out in a sigh and her face relaxed, if only just a bit. "Oh. Well, that…that's not exactly what I had expected to hear, but I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise."

Reimu started. "Wait, what?"

Her lips lifting in a flat smile, Alice shook her head and said, "Well, you know Marisa. Come on, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. She was so reckless that it's honestly something of a miracle that she hadn't blown herself up by now."

"Wha-" Reimu was now completely beside herself. Was this really going to be Alice's reaction? "That…Is that all you've got to say?"

Alice shrugged. "Well, I mean it is sad to hear, certainly. I did like her a lot. But you really can't get too attached to mortals, given how often they die. No offense, of course. You are a far more rational person than she ever was."

"I…" Reimu ran her shaking fingers through her hair. "I don't…"

"But I guess that's just the way of things." Alice nodded cordially. "But thank you for letting me know, and…for the hat. It was very considerate of you. Good day."

With that, she shut the door in Reimu's face.

Reimu stood frozen in place, eyes fixed on Alice's perfectly whitewashed door with its brass handle. She couldn't believe it. She had defied the orders of the doctor that had brought her back from certain death, accidentally revisited the home of her recently murdered best friend and found it gone, been forced to deliver the news of said murder to a mutual friend mere days after the single most traumatizing experience of her life, and then gave up one of the few mementos (and arguably the most important) she had of the person she lost, all because she felt that it was the right thing to do in order to honor her friend's memory. And this was the reception she got? A shrug and an "Oh well, that's life"?

She almost kicked the door. She felt like screaming. She wanted to bang on the door until Alice opened it again so she could let her know exactly what she thought of her inconsiderate indifference. How dare Alice do that to her? Had becoming a youkai sapped every last bit of humanity from her? If so, then maybe it was best that Marisa had died a Human. No wonder nobody liked them.

Then, deciding that it wasn't worth it, Reimu turned and slowly walked away. She felt a little sick to her stomach though. And to tell the truth, she felt like she had been robbed. Maybe she could steal the hat back? Probably not. Alice hadn't lasted this long in the Forest of Magic by being an idiot, and stealth wasn't really Reimu's forte. Maybe Sakuya could be convinced to do it, or-

Reimu had gotten as far as the white picket fence that bordered Alice's property when she heard the crash. Whirling around, she saw that one of the windows had been smashed.

Her indignation forgotten, Reimu ran back to Alice's house. As she did, she observed that the window had been broken from the inside, likely from an object being hurled through it. This was confirmed when she saw the object in question, lying at the base of a tree and surrounded by shards of glass.

It was Shanghai. The little doll was now completely inanimate. Its trajectory through the window and into the trunk of the tree had not been good for it. Its head had broken off, as had one of its arms. Shocked, Reimu picked up the pieces of the broken puppet and stared at them. Even though it wasn't technically "alive," Shanghai was practically Alice's sidekick, and her frequent attempts to breathe life into the doll were well known. To think that she would actually do something like this was staggering.

Still holding onto the puppet, Reimu ran to the front door. "Alice!" she called, banging her free hand against it. She reflexively jiggled the doorknob, and lifted her hand to knock again. "Alice, what-"

Then she saw that the door had been left unlocked, and further knocking was unnecessary. Pushing it aside with her shoulder, Reimu rushed inside.

Alice was sitting on her knees with her face buried in her hands. On the floor before her were a few scant markings, the beginnings of what appeared to be a very complicated rune. Marisa's hat lay next to her.

"Oh gods forgive me," Alice was moaning, her shoulders shaking and tears leaking through her fingers. "I failed, I failed, I failed, I failed…"

Reimu slowly approached her. "Alice, I-"

"Go away!" Alice hurled Marisa's hat at Reimu. It bounced off her front and fell back to the ground.

Reimu stood in place, staring. "But…but your doll…" She held out the piece of Shanghai to her.

"I said go away!" Alice shrieked. "Go away and take that worthless thing with you!"

Reimu gaped at her. She held out the pieces in her shaking hands, almost as if she were begging Alice to take them back. Maybe she was. "B-but this is Shanghai! She's your favorite doll! And as long as I've known you you've been trying to bring her to life!"

The look Alice gave her then was downright contemptuous. "Oh, is that what you think? That I just wanted to bring my toy to life so she could talk to me?" As that was exactly what Reimu had thought, she wasn't about to answer, so Alice rolled her eyes and spat out, "Don't you get it? It was all for her!"

The dollmaker jabbed a finger at Marisa's hat, sitting empty on the floor. Reimu from it to her, her face twisted up in bewilderment.

"Alice, I don't understand-"

"Of course you don't," Alice muttered. Crossing her legs, she folded her arms and seemed to be speaking as much to herself as she was to Reimu. "You've been up here your whole life. You don't understand what it's like…" Looking Reimu dead in the eye, she said, "Don't you understand how scared I was when I ran away from home? I had lived in Makai my whole life, and all of a sudden I was in this big, weird world, where I didn't know anyone and nothing made sense and no one wanted to help and I was all alone and-"

Her voice started to get thick, so she took a moment to swallow back the lump in her throat and continued.

"Marisa was the first person who noticed," Alice said softly. "She didn't care about how the first couple of time we met we ended up fighting. She just saw me picking mushrooms in the forest one day and wanted to know what I was working on. So I told her. So she asked if she could see. So I showed her. And she wanted to help. So I let her. And she came back the next day, and the next day, and the next day…"

Despite the heartfelt confession, Reimu was still confused. "So, that's what you meant? You were going to make Shanghai…a present for her?"

"No!" Alice shouted. "Don't be ridiculous! I was worried about her!"

"Huh?"

Alice snorted. "Oh, give me a break, Reimu. You knew longer than I have…had. You knew what she was like. All the risks she would take, all the trouble she would get into. I can't even count the number of times I asked her…No, begged her to just become a youkai already. Then I wouldn't have to spend so much time worrying about whether…whether this day would come."

"So, is that why you started getting involved in the incidents?" Reimu said as she sat down on the floor across from Alice.

Alice nodded. "When I could, yes. But she kept refusing to change, saying that…that she didn't want to change who she was. That she was going to become the greatest magician ever and was going to do it as a Human."

Reimu mused on that. There were many that claimed that the infamous Mad Witch of the Forest of Magic was more youkai than Human, that she qualified as a member of the mortal species by technicality only. While Marisa had always found those allegations funny, Reimu felt that were unfair. In many ways, she felt that Marisa was more Human than those who lived in the Human Village, because of just how unashamedly mortal she was. She hobnobbed with deities and hung out with legends, and continued to be her same crass self regardless of her company's station.

But at the same time, she had been working tirelessly to overcome her natural disadvantages, both as a mortal and (as Reimu had only just found out) someone born without even the baseline level of magic. She had defeated the latter while refusing to take the easy way to victory over the former. That was odd. Reimu knew that Marisa had looked into ways to extend her lifespan more than once, but had never really gone through with any of them. Once, during one of their long, meandering talks on the shrine's porch, the subject of immortality had come up, and Marisa's take on it had been surprisingly conflicted.

"I dunno," she had said, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, on the one hand, hell yeah it sounds like a good deal. No time limit anymore, can get into any project I want and all the time to finish it. And given the sort of nasties we've been taking on, sooner or later we're gonna run into one that's nastier than the others. So having that extra bit of insurance would come in handy. Mima's been bringing it up a lot. I think she's sort of disappointed that I don't have a plan already."

"Why don't you?" had been Reimu's curious reply.

"Not really sure. I guess it just doesn't feel like it's right for me. Maybe I'm being weird, but I'm already in the top-tier of Gensokyo's magicians, and the only one on the list that's still in her first century. Like, maybe it's my most fantastically healthy ego talking, but I guess I like having that drawback there. Keeps me sharp. Besides, outliving your friends don't sound fun at all."

"But everyone you know is immortal already," Reimu had pointed out. "So it's not like they'll go anywhere."

Here Marisa had given her a pointed look. "You're not," was all she had said, and the subject had immediately been dropped.

Reimu looked down at the broken doll in her hands. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

"Of course it does. So, I figured that if she was going to stay Human, I would just go find another source that would allow her to do that."

Reimu blinked. "Like what?"

Alice shrugged. "Well, I figured the ritual my mother used to…to change me might be an acceptable compromise. It's…a bit different than that of your average magician youkai. Human needs such as food and sleep remain, or at least the persistent desire for them, and your basic temperament preserved. You simply cease to age and gain a youkai's regeneration. That's all."

That admittedly made Reimu even more confused. She had never really been clear on exactly how the fine print of ascending to magician youkaihood worked, as the ones she knew seemed to do a lot of sleeping and eating anyway, and their personalities didn't seem all that unusual. She supposed that the differences were only noticeable if you happened to be a magician.

"But anyway, since obviously not speaking to somebody means you can't exactly ask them questions, that option was discarded," Alice said bitterly. "So I sought out other avenues. The secrets of the Hermits, for example."

"Marisa actually did too," Reimu said, nodding. "I think she wrote it off as being too much of a hassle." She had to admit, she had found this surprising, given Marisa's work ethic. But after a few weeks of training under a Hermit herself, she had come to admit that maybe her friend had a point.

"Yes, I remember," Alice said, sniffing. "After that I went to Eirin Yagokoro…"

"For the Hourai Elixir?" Reimu, who had never much cared for either of the Hourai Immortals, wondered what Marisa would be like with that level of invincibility. She decided that maybe she would have been better off without it.

"Yes. Unfortunately, she just glared at me, so I didn't dare ask again." Alice sighed. "So, that got me thinking. I mean, why are youkai immortal? Why do our bodies always return from death, why are our souls anchored to the mortal plane, and what makes it happen? So I figured that if I found that out, I would have something to work with."

Reimu's eyes widened. She was starting to get it. "So, Shanghai…"

"Yes!" Despite her grief, Alice actually started to get a little excited. Magicians often did when talking about their work. "Did you know that there actually is no known method to deliberately create a new youkai? To animate an object and give it life or to bring one into existence from a simple concept? I mean, there are rituals and conditions that increase the possibility of one coming into being, but no reliable way of creating one." She nodded to the pieces in Reimu's hands. "The way I figured, if I could…if I could make one from scratch, find the right way to turn Shanghai into a living, breathing, and immortal youkai, I could reverse-engineer what I did and find the secret there. After that, I might be able to apply it to Humans as well, to figure out exactly what my mother had done to make me the way I am."

To Reimu's way of thinking, that sounded like a really convoluted solution, but that was a magician's way of thinking for you. "I don't know…if Marisa would have gone for something like that," she said slowly. "She wasn't one to take the easy way."

"What do you mean? She reverse-engineered things all the time!"

"Yeah, but she remade those from the ground up and altered them so they would suit her better."

Alice glowered. "Then she could have remade this to suit her. I just wanted to give her a guarantee that she would come home every night."

Reimu pursed her lips. She did not blame Alice for wanting that one bit, but she still wasn't sure if Marisa would have accepted such a gift. The young witch seemed to get a thrill out of danger, as if the possibility of death added an extra bit of spice to the problems they often got themselves mixed up in. Even with spellcard rules acting as something of a safety net, there had been a hundred different things that could go wrong. She probably would have found such a guarantee to be boring

Then again, unlocking the secrets of youkaihood did sound like it was right up her alley, and in the course of uncovering what no magician had uncovered before, that knowledge were to become lodged in her brain and lead to some kind of inspiration…Well, maybe finally caving and asking for Marisa's help had been multi-purposed.

"Alice," Reimu said softly. "Um, don't take this the wrong way, but…did you…with Marisa, did you have…feelings for her? I mean, more than…"

Alice gave her a look. "You are asking if I was romantically interested in her."

Reimu winced and shrugged.

"You and just about everyone else," Alice sighed. "I believe that very question was posed and answered in the affirmative at least three times in a Tengu newspaper. Which, if I recall, Marisa took great pleasure in reading out loud for me. But no. I am aware that she was not at all discriminate when it came to her personal…trysts. But I'm afraid that my own preferences have never leaned toward those of my own sex, neither before nor after becoming a youkai." She sniffed and blew her nose. "But…that doesn't mean I didn't…Oh, hell."

Reimu understood. She looked down at Marisa's hat and said, "Uh, I think maybe she might have, you know, felt something like that for you though. I mean, that's the impression I always got."

There were a few moments of silence, and then Alice said, "Well then. Hearing that just makes me feel so much better about losing her."

"Sorry," Reimu said with a grimace.

"Either way, it doesn't really matter now, does it?" Alice said. She pulled out a blue handkerchief and loudly blew her nose. "I took too long. I failed her. And now, she's gone."

That last word ended in a sob, and the tears started to drip down her cheeks again. Reimu watched as Alice cried into her handkerchief, wondering what she was supposed to do. She understood fully how Alice felt, the heartache and guilt she was suffering, but wasn't sure how to go about comforting her. This wasn't something she had a lot of experience with.

Not knowing what else to do, Reimu awkwardly reached out with one hand and touched Alice's shoulder. Then to her surprise, the magician lunged forward and threw her arms around Reimu in a tight embrace and cried openly into her shoulder. After about a second of surprise, Reimu carefully put her arms around Alice as well. After all, she still had some tears of her own to shed, and now seemed like an excellent time to release them.

For a while neither of them said anything. They just clung to each other as the grief passed through them. And as the shaking started to subside and her vision cleared, Reimu found herself looking down at the little broken doll still in her hands. It was very rare that she had seen Alice without Shanghai hovering over her shoulder. She remembered all the times Marisa had mentioned offhand some new experiment Alice was working on to bring her doll to life. Reimu had always just assumed that she was driven by loneliness and curiosity. After all, it was perfectly natural that a dollmaker would want her dolls to come to life if given the chance.

How wrong she had been. And yet how right.

Then she looked over to the scratches on the floor, the beginnings of the rule Alice and Marisa were going to work on together. Their last project, aborted before it could even truly begin.

Breathing out, Reimu drew back from Alice. Then she reached over to pass the broken doll into her hands.

"I think you should finish it," she said.

Alice's face turned sour. "Why?" she said. "What's the point?"

"Because she would have wanted you to. It was the last thing you guys did together. And come on. Can you think of a better way to honor her than unlocking some never before discovered piece of magic?" Reimu pointed at Shanghai. "Besides, if bringing Shaghai to life was all about Marisa, then…" Her tongue started to fumble over her thoughts. "Well, you know…"

Alice looked down at her inanimate companion. Her thumb gently ran through the doll's golden hair. "Yes, I guess I do," she said softly.

"Right." Reimu heaved out a long sigh. "Um, anyway, I'd better get back. I'm not really supposed to be…Look, take care of yourself, okay? And if you need anything…" Here she struggled. What could she really offer? But maybe the offer needed to be made regardless. "Well, you know where to find me."

Alice slowly nodded. "Yes. Of course." Then, as Reimu started to rise, she said suddenly, "Ah, Reimu?"

Reimu paused. "Yes?"

"Th-thank you," she said. "For coming."

Reimu hesitated. She gave a brief nod and mumbled, "Sure." Then she quickly headed for the door. Before she closed it, she cast one last glance over her shoulder.

Alice was still kneeling on the ground, Shanghai clutched to her chest with one hand. The other was holding tightly onto Marisa's hat.

With a sigh, Reimu closed the door. Well, at least she now felt a whole lot better about coming here and giving up Marisa's hat. At the moment though Eirin Yagokoro's warnings were starting to make themselves known. Her new bones ached and she now wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and sleep until the world stopped hurting.

Well, at least she could leave knowing that her admittedly ill-advised trip had not been wasted. Alice was pretty all right.

Reaching the end of the path, Reimu stepped out through the gate and took to the sky. Hopefully the winds would be with her again, and the local youkai would leave her bed. She really didn't want any hassle.

After less than a minute of travel Reimu noticed two things. First, for some reason she was flying under the canopy instead of over it. While a good way to avoid the winds, the maze of gnarled trees cancelled out any time gained and the abundance of dangerous wildlife was counter-productive to her desire to avoid a fight. The second was that she was going the wrong way.

Confused, Reimu readjusted her course. She was familiar enough with the Forest of Magic to know where she was. There was a break in the trees down the road that would allow her to leave the forest.

It didn't take long to realize that she wasn't going to get there, and somehow she had ended up back on the same path she had originally wandered onto. Reimu stopped and looked around in puzzlement. All around her, trees burdened with generations of dead foliage and thriving fungi twisted into a near-solid mass, looming over her like disapproving elders. Things with glowing eyes and clacking mandibles stared out at her from the many shadows, and there was always something heavy shuffling nearby.

Reimu wasn't worried about that; she was used to the forest's creepiness. What she was bothered about was that despite taking these paths numerous times, she seemed to be unable to take any path save for one.

Well. That couldn't be good news, especially since Reimu knew exactly where the path would lead her.

Taking a deep breath of the musty air, Reimu tried one more time to take another route, this one chosen at random.

Once again she was rerouted. Finally surrendering to the inevitable, Reimu followed the course to its final, melancholy destination.

The clearing that had once held Marisa's house had not changed in the last few moments. Reimu again looked about at the gloomy place and scowled. "Well, is this it?" she said. "I did what you asked. I gave your hat to Alice. Does that make you happy? Can I go?" She swallowed. "Will you let me sleep now?"

There was no answer, but then again she wasn't expecting one. Sighing, Reimu crouched a bit, preparing to fly. One clearing was as good as another, and there were enough openings overhead to make for an exit.

"That was a very kind thing you did."

Reimu yelped and nearly fell over. As she looked around in shock, the shivers grew colder as the air in the center of the clearing started to ripple. A pair of sapphire eyes appeared over two rows of perfect teeth, and then the rest of the speaker's body soon followed.

"Mima," Reimu whispered.

"In the flesh," the ghost confirmed as she lowered herself to the ground. Her tail separated and solidified, becoming a pair of legs. "Or near enough anyway. 'In the ectoplasm' really doesn't roll well off the tongue, after all."

Reimu warily watched as her shrine's semi-official patron strolled towards her. "Where have you been?" she said. "Everyone's been looking for you."

"Of that I have no doubt," Mima told her. She sat down on a log in front of Reimu, shoulders hunched over slightly and hands draped loosely over her knees. "But I wished to be alone. Surely you understand that."

"Uh, sure," Reimu said. She swallowed. Normally she was not at all afraid of the spirit, despite being on friendly terms with her for most of her life. But these were far from normal circumstances. "Look, uh, I don't know what you-"

Mima sighed. "Oh, Reimu. Do calm down. I'm not here to do you harm."

It was hard not to sound suspicious. "You're…not?"

"Not at all," Mima said with a nod. She gestured to a nearby boulder. Careful to keep her eyes on the spirit, Reimu said down.

"Now, before you ask, yes I know everything," Mima said. "I know most of the details of what happened the other day. I know about what transpired in the aftermath. I know about the ongoing ghost hunt for me. That's part of the reason I came to see you, to set your mind at ease."

Reimu took a deep breath. "Mima, I don't think 'ease' is something my mind is ready to be set into for a long time."

Mima smiled at that. "I don't blame you. Of course, you no doubt have a number of questions for me, so to save time, I'll begin by answering the most obvious one: where was I?"

Reimu's eyes flitted down. Her mouth set in a straight line.

"Well, that's simple enough. Moments after Yuuka showed up here, I was informed of the situation and immediately rushed over to help. By then she had already carted the two of you off to the Blasted Lands, which, as you've no doubt noticed, was entirely covered with certain precautions designed specifically to keep me out." A brief flash of anger danced through Mima's eyes. "While the two of you were fighting for your lives, I was fighting to get in. And even with the steps she had taken to ensure my non-involvement, I had nearly succeeded when that suddenly became a non-issue."

Reimu gritted her teeth. "I was still there."

"So you were," Mima said coldly. "What's your point?"

And with that, Reimu was fully reminded exactly who she was talking to. It was not a comforting realization.

Mima continued on as if the interruption had not happened. "At any rate, after that happened I really wasn't much use to anyone anyway, so I left. Which brings us to your next question: where have I been since? The answer is none of your damned business. As for what I was doing in that time, it mostly had to do with coming to terms with things and quite a bit of self-reflection. I think we can both agree that Yuuka's actions have drastically changed things, and I needed time to think about how to respond. Obviously, having the watchful eye of Yukari glowering down at me would make that difficult."

Reimu's hear leapt. "How to respond?" she whispered, partially to herself. Gensokyo tended to play hard and fast with its own rules, but one that had endured could be summed up as Don't Fuck With Madam Mima. And as the latest member of a family whose job description literally included fucking with Madam Mima, Reimu had heard many horror stories about what happened to those foolish enough to incur her wrath, many of them cheerfully told to her by Mima herself as bedtime stories. Growing up at the Hakurei Shrine had been a little strange at times.

And granted, Mima had been rather passive the majority of the time Reimu had known her, but she had retired soon after they had met. A Mima in her prime was, by all reports, a veritable nightmare, and Reimu had no reservations about giving Yuuka a few sleepless nights. Unfortunately, Mima also tended to be thorough, and there was more than one person that could be blamed for Marisa's death, Reimu herself being one of them.

"Well, obviously," Mima said. "Reimu, I don't think it comes as any surprise that I loved Marisa deeply. After all, we were both quite open with our affection for one another. Maternal adjectives have been used, and not without reason. And as she is quite literally the only being I have felt any sort of compassion towards in my gloriously sick and twisted life, having her so suddenly ripped from me required a little consideration."

Reimu slowly nodded. "You mean how you're going to pay Yuuka back," she said, careful to make no mention of any other possible targets.

"Ah." Mima's lips lifted in a sad smile. "This is where I must disappoint you."

Reimu blinked. "What do you mean?"

"No doubt you anticipating some sort of bloody retribution on my part. Madam Mima, pulled out of retirement for one last quest for vengeance. To shake the dust off of my tomes and direct my famous propensity for revenge toward the accursed wretch that hurt you and pull her clawing and screaming into a private Hell of my own design." She shook her head. "It's not going to happen, Reimu."

At this Reimu could only stare and stammer out, "W-what?"

"I said I'm not going to seek revenge against Yuuka. I'm not going to do anything to her."

"But…" Reimu struggled to wrap her head around this. Among the many problems that had been weighing on her mind since Marisa's death, Mima's reaction had often taken center stage. To her, it was obvious that some sort of rampage was imminent, but not knowing the specifics had filled her with anticipation and dread. Would she unleash hell on Yuuka alone and call it a day? Would she go for broke and hunt down everyone she had ever had reason to hold a grudge against, Reimu included? Would she return fully to her old ways and thus subject Gensokyo to a third monster? Reimu had no idea, but some of the worst possibilities made it even more difficult to sleep at times. However, she had not even entertained the idea that Mima might choose to do nothing at all. "Why?"

Mima shrugged. "As I said, I had done a lot of soul searching over the last few days. Not a difficult task, seeing how I have little else. And in that time, I came to some very uncomfortable realizations about myself. About…just how much I had let myself go, how much I had allowed myself to degrade. I looked at what I was and what I had become. The comparison was…disheartening."

"I don't get it."

Mima gave her a look. "Weak, Reimu. I had allowed myself to become weak. I had grown complacent. I had formed attachments and made those attachments publically known." She plucked a red mushroom with white dots that was growing out of the side of the log and held it up by its stem. She turned it between her fingers. "Yukari played me like a fiddle by putting Marisa into danger. Yuuka caused me to lose out on an extremely profitable deal and throw myself headlong into peril with little thought toward strategy or personal risk by threatening Marisa's life. My attempts to get through Yuuka's barrier were unforgivably sloppy. I have broken just about every one of my personal rules because of that girl." Sighing, she let the mushroom fall. "She had become a weakness, a liability."

As Mima explained herself, Reimu could feel her confusion slowly giving way to anger. And at that last part, she couldn't hold it back any longer. "Shut up!" she shouted. "I'm not about to stand her and let you talk about her like that! Marisa was not a weakness! How dare you call her that?"

"But she was," Mima said, unfazed by Reimu's outburst. She placed a hand over her chest. "She was my weakness. Understand, Reimu, that in calling her a weakness, I am not saying that she was weak. I'm saying that she was the only one I have ever deemed worthy of allowing myself to become weak for." With a sigh, Mima let her hand fall. "And, in my mind, there is no higher compliment than that. I have been the best in the business before Gensokyo was created. I've seen all the greats come and go. I have known geniuses, prodigies, workhorses, showmen, explorers, experimenters, and revolutionaries of all kinds." She shook her head. "And yet I have never met anyone who managed to combine all of those qualities like Marisa did. She was…unique. Perhaps the only person I have ever met worthy my weakness. But a weakness she was nevertheless." Here Mima's sapphire gaze pierced right into Reimu's eyes. "Do you understand?"

Reimu swallowed, but didn't speak. She had nothing to say.

"One day you will," Mima murmured. She shifted her weight and crossed her legs. "Regardless, I will not be seeking vengeance against Yuuka, or Yukari, or yourself."

"Me?" Reimu squeaked.

Mima's gaze hardened. "I just told you that I know the details of Marisa's final moments, and how your…moralistic intervention can be said to be responsible for their finality. Years I spent teaching her the importance doing what is necessary, of how often survival trumps personal principles." Mima paused a bit for dramatic effect, and continued. "And you made her doubt that at the worst possible moment. If I were to compose a list of people directly responsible for my girl's death, the top three spots would be occupied by the madwoman that squeezed the life out of her, the conniver that got her involved in this mess in the first place, and the moral busybody that prevented her from dealing that final blow that not only would have ensured that she would be alive and well today, but also catapult her to greatness such as Gensokyo has not seen in decades. Which, incidentally enough, is an excellent reason why you should never attempt to point a dragon in the direction of your enemies. Because you never know when that fire will be turned back on you."

Reimu couldn't help but gulp. This was more-or-less exactly what she had been fearing. An angry Yuuka was terrifying, sure, but sort of an impulsive idiot when you got down to it. An angry and sufficiently motivated Mima was something else entirely.

Then Mima's face softened. "Fortunately, you can rest easy. As I said, I have no desire to hurt you, and Marisa wouldn't want me to. You're off the hook. However, so is Yuuka and Yukari."

"Why?"

"Because in realizing how badly I had decayed, I also started to wonder what I was still doing in Gensokyo at all, this little corner-pocket of the world. What had I spent so much time and effort to gain from here? Why had I wanted to conquer it so badly? Magic?" She gave a small toss of her hand, and multicolored sparks flew into the air. "It has considerably more than the Outside World, yes, but the glass ceiling is lower, and I had long learned all there was to learn from here. Marisa was honestly the only interesting thing to come along in the last couple of centuries or so, and now she is gone." She gave Reimu a meaningful look. "What reason do I have to stay?"

Despite her knowledge of what Mima had done, and despite her fear of what she still might do, Reimu was struck with a surprising realization. Mima was about to leave, but Reimu didn't want her to. While allowing the snake to leave the yard was probably the safest course of action, she had gotten very used to having her around. "Please don't," she whispered.

"I am," Mima said solemnly. "Marisa was my last link to this sorry world, and now she's gone. There is nothing really to be gained anymore. And so we come to my main reason for seeking you out today. To say goodbye."

The lump in Reimu's throat grew. She had to look away.

Mima stood up, and her legs faded to transparency. They melted together, reforming her ghostly tail. "As of now, I am officially stepping down as Hakurei Shrine's representative and abdicating all rights and responsibilities that came with the office. I relinquish that power to you, to taken upon yourself or to pass along to the person of your choice. Genji would be the most logical, though he would probably refuse. Personally, I would leave the office vacant. It really wasn't worth the hassle."

"No," Reimu said, shaking her head.

"And on that note, I figure that since I am leaving, I might as well make this official," Mima continued, ignoring the shrine maiden's distress. "I, Madam Mima, Evil Spirit of Makai, Grand Sorceress of Order of the Poison Sky, and really important person of a bunch of stuff that isn't around anymore, do hereby admit defeat to you, Reimu Hakurei, and thereby call off all hostilities between myself and your house." She bowed low at the waist. "Our war is over, and you have won. A formality at this point, yes, but I figured I might as well tidy up that loose end before I go."

"No," Reimu said, still shaking her head. "No, you can't go."

"Can't?" Mima's lip curled in amusement. "Me?"

"Yes, damn it!" Reimu leapt up onto the rock so she could yell at Mima directly into her face. "You can't go! Not now. I can't…" Her voice was starting to thicken, but she pushed on. "I just lost Marisa, and now you're saying I gotta lose you too?"

Mima let out a small chuckle. "Are you seriously begging me to stay?"

"Yes! I mean, I know you're like my family's arch-enemy or whatever, but you're not my arch-enemy! And you've been there practically my whole life!"

Mima laughed again, harder this time. "Well, I never thought I'd see the day when the Hakurei shrine maiden would banish Yukari Yakumo and beg me to stay! The world has been turned upside-down!" Then, with a thoughtful tilt to her head, she rubbed her chin as she mused, "Though come to think of it, that bit with Yukari isn't so unusual. But the conjunction is amusing, if nothing else."

"No!" Reimu shouted. Even though she knew it was childish, not being taken seriously was making her even more angry. She wracked her brain for something she could use, a reason to make Mima stay. "Look, you want a challenge? Well, how about this? You're always talking about how good you are with magic. Then bring Marisa back."

Mima stared at her. "Really?" she said, her voice a disbelieving deadpan.

"Yes, really! That should be easy for you!"

Folding her arms, Mima shook her head. "So you, Reimu Hakurei, who would not allow Marisa to stain herself with dark magic to save her life, are now asking me to use the darkest of magics to restore it? You are asking me to perform an act of necromancy on her?"

That brought Reimu's rant to a sudden halt. "Uh…"

"Setting aside the unavailability of her body seriously complicating things; the fact that calling up a newly dead spirit that had not made prior provisions for their death is generally considered an extremely risky endeavor at best; and the fact that such a ritual would corrupt her far, far worse than that knife ever would, that is the one field that is sadly denied to me."

Reimu frowned. "What?"

"Yes," Mima said, shrugging. "Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding my own death and subsequent resurrection came with a few additional costs. My deliberate ejection from the Netherworld was…rather thorough. I cannot return there, nor does my magic have any influence over those who enter it. But even if I could, or if someone of sufficient strength and skill were hiring out their talents, I still wouldn't."

"Why?" Reimu whispered.

"Because I still have a rather thorough understanding on what necromancy is, something you clearly lack. It is never for the benefit of the called, only the caller. I know what it does to a fresh soul that has made no prior arrangements, especially when there is no compatible receptacle available, such as their original body. I know how it twists them. I know how it changes them, how it destroys them." Mima closed her eyes. "You'll forgive me if I decline to subject Marisa to that nightmare."

Reimu had absolutely nothing to say to that.

"No, it was Marisa's decision to ignore my warnings," Mima said with a shake of her head. "And so, it's up to her to stage her own return. I have no doubt that she will eventually find a way." She turned to look over the clearing. "Unfortunately, I'll probably not be around to see it."

"So, that's it then?" Reimu said, her voice cracking a little. "You're just going to pack up and leave?"

Mima smiled at her. "Should death find you before Marisa makes her grand return, please pass along my love to her."

Reimu couldn't help it. Her shoulders started shaking again, and she had to cover her face. Tears dripped through her fingers to leave wet trails down her dusty hands.

Inclining her head, Mima lifted a hand and said, "Farewell, Reimu Hakurei. We shall not meet again, not in this life or any other."

With that, she was gone. No flash, no theatrics, she was simply no longer there. And the clearing no longer felt haunted, save perhaps by memories.

Reimu didn't stick around to find out. She was done. She was done with this forest, and now just wanted to go home. She shot straight up for one of the gaps in the branches, hoping that no one else would delay her.

No one did. She shot through the canopy and into the sunlight. From there, she sped back to the shrine as fast as she could. Genji was probably going to give her an earful for pushing herself so hard, but she didn't care. She wasn't planning on moving for the rest of the week anyway.

The journey home was a dark and heavy. One or two fairy gangs were foolhardy enough to give her trouble, but she honestly forgot all about them once she had finished mopping them up. She replayed her final conversation with Mima over and over again in her head, each time with different alterations. Sometimes she would overcome Mima with a dazzling display of logic that would leave the ghost speechless. Other times she would erupt and spew out a vicious tirade about how selfish Mima was being and how there was no way in hell she should be allowed to leave. Other times they would just fight, with Reimu of course emerging as the winner. The one thing they all had in common was that none of them ended with Mima leaving.

But leave she did. And now Reimu had lost another friend.

At least her bitter fantasies helped pass the time along, and before she knew it Reimu was approaching the small hill that Hakurei Shrine sat on. When she saw what was waiting for her on the top step right outside of the barrier, she had to stop and stare.

They were all there. Kanako Yasaka and her shrine maiden Sanae Kochiya stood side-by-side with Kanako's hand on Sanae's shoulder. Byakuren Hijiri stood a little apart from the others, hands folded in front of her chest. Those three weren't that surprising, but the fact that Eirin Yagokoro and…good gods, was that Tewi Inaba? Relations with Eirin had warmed since that initial meeting at the shrine, sure, but Reimu hadn't considered the two of them to be friends, and she certainly wasn't Tewi's friend. But most surprising was the tall man standing near the back. Now granted, Rinnosuke Morichika had far more reason than the others to care about Marisa's death, but his visits to the shrine were rare and far between, and Reimu had expected that she and him would grieve equally but separately. What was more, an assortment of gifts lay in her arms and gathered around their feet: covered dishes, bottles of expensive alcohol, flowers, and various boxes of chocolates.

The group were gathered together talking to Genji, who seemed to be explaining the reason for Reimu's absence. But as soon as Reimu had gotten near enough, they turned one-by-one toward her.

Gawking at the gaggle of staring eyes, Reimu stammered out, "Wha-what are you guys-"

Taking her customary place as the spokeswoman of any group she happened to be a part of, Byakuren cleared her throat and said, "Well, we-"

"Oh, Reimu!" Sanae cried. She rushed over and all but tackled Reimu to the ground with as fierce an embrace as Reimu had ever received, even from Remilia. She couldn't help but cringe, partially because she was still very tender and Sanae wasn't holding back, and partially because she didn't like getting touched even at the best of times and had already done the whole hugging it out thing with Alice earlier.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" Sanae literally cried into her shoulder. "I should've been there!"

Reimu awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. "Uh, thanks. I mean, you really shouldn't, but…" She winced. "You maybe wanna ease up a bit? Still sore."

Byakuren sighed. "Never mind, I think Sanae's just summed things up far more eloquently than I could."

To Reimu's relief, Sanae did draw back, but her wet eyes were still full of concern. "But you are all right, right?" she pressed.

Kneading a particularly sore spot on her neck, Reimu said, "More-or-less, I guess. Still a little shaky but…" She looked out toward the others. "I'm fine, guys. Really. I mean, it's been real shitty, but I'll be fine."

"We won't stay long," Kanako said. "We just wanted to drop in and check up on you."

"In more ways than one," Eirin added, a look of disapproval in her eyes. "You really ought to be in bed right now."

Reimu grimaced. "Uh, yeah," she said sheepishly. "I, uh, had a real important errand to run…"

Rinnosuke thoughtfully rubbed her chin. "Would this errand involve a certain dollmaker with whom you shared a mutual friend?"

"Uh, yeah," Reimu swallowed. "That's it exactly."

Eirin sighed. "Well, I can't really can't be angry with you, but I have to stress that-"

Byakuren laid a hand on her shoulder, bringing the Lunarian doctor's lecture to a stop. It was funny in a way. Eirin was quite possibly the eldest being present and the one with the most impressive résumé, but Byakuren was able to reign her in with a touch. But then, this was also the first person to make any sort of headway in forging peaceful relationships between mortals and wild youkai in Yukari alone knew how long. There had to be a reason for that. "We also came to express our condolences," she said gravely.

Even though that was obvious, Reimu still felt stunned. No one from her own species had so much as sent her a card, but now a goddess, two living legends, a half-breed, and a native-born Outsider had shown up on her doorstep to see how she was doing. "Really?"

Sanae sniffed, and Reimu got the impression that she had been crying a lot lately. "Reimu, she was my friend too."

"And mine," Rinnosuke said, with a gracious bow of his head. "One of the best."

"Mine as well," Byakuren added. "I owe a lot to her. And to you."

Reimu didn't know what to say. She was so used to her and Marisa being distrusted and ignored that the gentle reminder that there were those that did like and care about them and appreciated all they had done was a genuine surprise, especially since most of them had started off as her opponents.

But then, so had Marisa.

Near the back of the group, Tewi, who had remained unusually silent and unobtrusive, shuffled her feet and mumbled crankily, "Well, don't look at me. I came here to visit Reisen."

That got a small chuckle from the others, and even Reimu had to laugh, which felt incredibly good. There had been very little to laugh about lately.

"Oh," Reimu said, her voice catching. "Wow. Uh, thank you, guys. And I'm sure Marisa would really…" The lump grew, and she had to make a show of coughing.

Kanako smiled sympathetically. "We'll leave you alone," she said. "But please, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. That is, after all, part of my job."

"Right," Reimu said, nodding. "I'll be sure…" Then she sighed. Oh, whatever. Her bed wasn't going anywhere. "Oh hell. Don't go."

"No?" Byakuren said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Reimu shrugged. "Look, I don't want you guys to have come all this way and…Oh, I'm not even gonna bother making up a reason. Just stay a while? Please?"

That made her visitors smile, even the Lunarians. "Well, I suppose we can take stick around for a little bit," Kanako said, picking up a bottle of wine at her feet. "Have a few drinks, tell a few Marisa stories. Faith, but she certainly provided enough of them."

"Right," Reimu said, nodding thankfully. "First round's on you then. And all the one's after that are on me. Or rather, they're on Remilia, who's going to be paying for just about everything I want for a really long-"

"Reimu!"

Turning around, Reimu's eyes all but boggled when she saw a pint-sized but very fast figure half-running, half-flying down the road toward her. Said figure took to the sky in a mighty leap and barreled straight toward Reimu.

Given her frail condition, there really was no way to come out of such an encounter without a broken bone or two. Which wouldn't be crippling, seeing how Eirin was standing right there, but not at all fun. Even so, there was still time to evade, or there would be if Reimu hadn't been so surprised that she ended up standing completely still and staring like an idiot.

Fortunately, Sanae was right there, and was also a little more-quick thinking than Reimu was at the moment, and managed to haul her fellow shrine maiden away just in time to be smashed by an overly sympathetic oni. Suika sailed right through where Reimu had been standing and crashed right into the invisible bubble-barrier. She plopped to the ground in a backwards somersault, righted herself immediately, and seemed ready to leap into another tearful pounce.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there!" Sanae said, placing herself between the distraught little oni and her very surprised target. "Wind it down, Reimu's still sore. Don't want to hurt her, you know."

Nodding, Suika settled for gripping the hem of Reimu's skirt and bawling into it. Big, fat tears poured out of her eyes as she sobbed out her apologies.

"It's my fault!" she cried. "I wasn't there! I should've been there! I should've protected you guys, but I've been too busy! I'm so sorry, so sorry, so sorry!"

"Suika, Suika, it's okay!" Reimu said hastily, before Suika forgot herself and blew her nose on Reimu's skirt or something. "It's not your fault. Really."

Suika looked up to her, eyes and nose dribbling, face contorted in misery. "Really?"

"I promise," Reimu said, ruffling her hair. "And I'm very glad you're here. I missed you."

Then she stood up to address the others. "All right," she said, face lifting in a smile. "Well, you're all here, the booze is here, and we have a lot of stories to tell. So let's go give that lunatic the wake she deserves!"

…

It took Alice a long time to fall asleep. Though the emotional shock had left her body drained, her mind refused to quiet down and kept sifting through every spare detail of her relationship with Marisa: every conversation, every project, every shared smile, every argument, every lazy afternoon just spent reading together, and every time she had declined to see Marisa because she had something else going on. Over and over again the memories hammered her down as they were relentlessly dissected for everything she could have done differently, everything she could have said or done to have kept this from happening. If she had just been a little more persistent, if she had just not turned away, if her pride had not kept her from seeking out wiser minds to help her, Marisa would be with her. And now she was alone again.

Failure, her mother's voice whispered in her ears. Nothing but a failure.

But in time, Alice finally gave into exhaustion, and she slept, and she dreamed.

She had done it. Alice couldn't have been more proud. She had found the secret to Human immortality. The Hourai Elixir was nothing compared to this. The magician youkai ritual was nothing compared to this. It was the greatest accomplishment in recorded history.

And it had been so easy too! Honestly, it was an embarrassment that she hadn't found it earlier. It had been right there the whole time. Nothing could have been more obvious. She supposed that to the common plebian it would seem difficult, and it was a testament to her skill that finding it had proven so simple.

Unfortunately, she was having a bit of difficulty convincing Marisa to take it, and time was running out. Marisa's mortality had already devolved her to nothing more than a fat, bloated head. She was sitting on Alice's table while Alice tries to coax her into swallowing a spoonful of the formula. That's all she had to do, just take one spoonful. But Marisa keeps refusing. She just laughs and laughs, rolling cheeks wobbling and spittle rolling down her jowls while Alice begs her, cajoles her, threatens her, tries everything she can think of to make her take the formula.

"Please, just do it!" Alice pleads, desperation building up within her. "I'll give you all the candy you want later. Just please take this now before it's too late!"

But Marisa just shakes her fat head (which was all of her) and keeps laughing. "Aw, take it easy!" she chortles. "Take it-"

A sharp clatter jolted Alice back awake.

Heart pounding, she sat up in bed and looked around. It was very early morning, and the Sun hadn't risen yet. Her house was still dark, with what little moonlight that managed to escape her curtains leaving the shelves of doll parts and herbal ingredients as faintly ominous silhouettes looming out of the shadows.

Shaking her head, Alice wondered if the sound had just been a trick of the mind. Everything she owned was carefully organized that having something accidentally fall was out of the question. And her house's defenses were so thorough that the only thing in the forest capable of getting past them was Marisa herself.

A trick, then, Alice thought. She slowly breathed out and lowered herself back down to her pillow. Just some random neuron firing off, making me think-

And now there was a thump, followed by the sound of shuffling.

Alice's eyes widened. She rose back up, eyes again searching the dark room. She mentally activated a night-eyes spell, and suddenly the whole room became clear as day, albeit covered with a red filter.

She saw nothing, but continued to hear something moving nearby.

Alice extended her senses. Okay, there was definitely something alive in her room. It felt…it felt like a youkai of some kind. Small, low-power, but it was still there. Alice frowned. How in the world had a youkai gotten past her defenses?

"Hello?" she said. "Who's there?"

The shuffling stopped, and the someone in question let out a small squeak of fear.

More puzzled than angry, Alice pushed her bedcovers aside and crawled across the bed to peer over the side. "You know, as impressed as I might be that you managed to get in my house, I am not at all-"

Then Alice saw who it was and shut up immediately.

Shanghai was sitting on the ground, dress spread untidily around her. The little doll was looking up in fear and bewilderment, her tiny blue eyes wide with anticipation.

Furthermore, she was quite obviously alive.

Alice gaped down at her. The ball-joints in Shanghai's fingers were gone, replaced by normal knuckles covered with smooth skin. Where her hinged jaw had been was now a dainty little mouth that trembled with fear. And when she blinked, there was nothing mechanical about it at all.

A youkai, Alice thought as her body went numb. It's finally happened. She turned into a living, breathing youkai. Whether it had been the result of years of magical experimentation, random chance, or some fairy-tale nonsense such as that kiss on the forehead (and given how things tended to work in Gensokyo, it was somewhat disheartening that Alice had to consider that to be a real possibility), Alice was finally looking down at the sight she had toiled years to see: Shanghai moving about and thinking independently.

And she hated it.

Why? Alice thought as she stared down at the cowering girl. Why now? Why like this? Why couldn't this have happened before, during one of Alice's many, many tests when she could have learned something from it? There was nothing to be gained from this, no secret uncovered or breakthrough achieved. She had already failed to save Marisa, so to finally see Shanghai like this was…well, it was cruel. Almost as if the universe were taunting her.

Because that was what it was. The universe was taunting her. Now Alice couldn't even honor Marisa's memory by completing the project. This went contrary to everything Marisa had stood for. It was result without effort. There was nothing to be learned from this, nothing achieved, no benefit at all. Alice's fingers started to tremble. She ought to extinguish the little rat where she sat, just snuff it out and start over and-

And then Shanghai spoke.

"Alice?" she said as she stood up, hands clasped in front of her chest. Then, after a second of hesitation, she said hopefully, "Mom?"

Gods, she sounded just like a younger, gentler Marisa.

And with that, Alice's heart melted, and she no longer cared how it had happened.

Her lips lifting into a shaky smile of wonder, she reached down with one hand. "Uh, yes," she said. "I…I suppose I am."

Shanghai hesitated for a moment, dubiously looking over the hand that was almost as big as she was. But then she climbed onto Alice's palm, wrapped her arms around her wrist, and tightly shut her eyes as Alice lifted her up. As she did, she couldn't help but marvel at how warm Shanghai's little hands felt, or that she could literally feel the beating of her heart as she pressed herself against Alice's arm.

Gently bringing Shanghai into her lap, Alice looked down at her and shook her head in amazement. Somehow, one of the worst things to have ever happened to her had transitioned into one of the most wonderful. She let out a sound that was half a laugh and half a sob. "Hello, Shangai," she said as she carefully extended her hand toward her daughter. "I've…I've wanted to meet you for a very long time."

Shanghai's nervousness seemed to disappear then, and with a happy smile, she allowed Alice to lift her up into a tearful and very careful embrace.

Later, as they lay side-by-side under the covers, with Shanghai's whole upper body resting against the pillow, Alice studied the newborn girl's sleeping face, treasuring every tiny breath, every twitch of her eyes and sleepy mumble. And she realized that this didn't mean her work was over. She had other dolls, after all, and was more than capable of bringing them to the level Shanghai had been. She could still complete her work. And then, maybe one day Shanghai would have a sister.

This wasn't an act of cruelty after all. Instead, it was a gift, a sign that Alice didn't have to face this alone. And also, though she still had no idea how it had happened, maybe it was also a reminder that Gensokyo was a land of magic, and that even in the midst of the most horrible of tragedies, miracles can still happen.

Comforted by the thought, Alice closed her eyes and soon fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

…

Yeah, I know it's sappy. And yeah, it was totally a Deux ex Machina inserted just to make Alice happy. Guess what? I don't care!

Anyway, the author notes have been pretty quiet for the last few chapters for…obvious reasons, but I've got a lot to say in this one, so let's jump right into it.

First of all, this being March 19th and all, today is Imperfect Metamorphosis's five year anniversary. Though the story being where it is, it is a pretty melancholy time for it to happen, so I'll forego the celebration this time around. Though believe me, it was not intentional. Still, five years is a hell of a long time to keep a fanfic going, so there's that.

Secondly, if you'll recall, I've mentioned here and there that the plan was for IM to encompass a full year's worth of events. And as it diverges from Touhou canon right after Hopeless Masquerade, that means it stretches from the first day of spring in 2014 to the last day of winter 2015.

Today is the last day of winter 2015. So today is the in-story date that the final chapter will take place on. How long from now that will be, I have no idea. I'm still kind of amazed that it's gone on for as long as it has, but I have promised time and time again that, barring death or serious mutilation, I am going to see this story through to the end regardless of how long it takes, so I guess we'll just have to find out. Though if by sheer coincidence it does fall on another anniversary, that will be perfect. Maybe there will be some way to work that out, I don't know. We'll see.

So, now that those are out of the way, let's talk about the elephant in the room.

Or rather, let's not, at least not here. See, like I said earlier, I do most of my in-depth chapter thoughts on my tumblr now, at least when I remember to do them. I haven't put one up for a while now, though that's because I didn't want to publically talk about what happened to Marisa until this chapter happened. However, as the last three chapters are essentially her death, burial, and funeral, it's time to break my silence. To that end, later on this evening I'll be putting up a lengthy post on my tumblr that addresses the what, why, when, how, and just about everything I can think of. So if you have any questions, I suggest you go check that out first. Link to my tumblr's on my profile, and it won't be hard to find once it's gone up. If you're reading this in the future and the post has been buried by now, just search for the tag Marisa. I can't promise that you will like everything in the explanation. In fact, it might even make some of you angry. But the truth is the truth, and all I can promise is to be as honest as I can.

I will say this though: this was the plan since before this story was six months old. It just took a hell of a long time to get here.

And one last thing: per tradition, next update will happen one month from today, on my birthday. On that day, I will have a big announcement concerning this story's future, of the sort that will probably be considered bad news in the short term but good news in the long term. It is something I am personally very excited about, but will unfortunately lead to certain…delays, longer than the ones we've seen before. Only this time, it'll be planned. But yeah, I'll explain everything when the time comes.

Until next time, everyone.