Chapter 5: A Deal with the Devil

"I get along with Reimu frequently," Alice began. "And I admit that it is saddening that Reimu has ended up the way she is. While I knew that there would be many casualties after the Lunarian Invasion, Reimu was a casualty that I didn't see happening. After all, if she was lost, Gensokyo would be in ruin. That was what I believed."

Aya nodded, rapidly writing into her tengu notebook while listening to her fellow youkai.

"Perhaps Yukari always had a plan in mind if a Hakurei Shrine Maiden was unable to attend to their duties, but it was fortunate that she managed to hold the Great Hakurei Barrier together. It wasn't just the physical loss of her powers however, but the emotional damage that everybody received. Nobody was unscathed, either directly or indirectly, and who would be one of the most hurt other than Marisa, Reimu's longest friend other than perhaps Yukari. Or even her family."

Alice took a sip from her warm tea, pausing momentarily to allow the Crow Tengu to finish up her notes.

"When I told her that Reimu was placed in a coma, Marisa was distraught to say the least. And even that might be an understatement." Alice stated in a low tone, sinking her eyes towards the still steaming tea. "Emotion and intentions can be greatly involved with magic sometimes and Marisa's form of magic is very volatile. Between Patchouli, Marisa, and myself, Marisa's magic is the most destructive. Her Final Spark that decimated a good portion of the Forest of Magic was one of the biggest I've ever seen."

Aya nodded, stopping to write to agree. "Yeah. Everything was just incinerated and when I went to scout for us later, there were just Lunarian bodies everywhere. Not even the grass survived."

"And even some time after we won and the damaged was reversed thanks to Keine on the full moon, Marisa just holed herself up in her house for almost two weeks." Alice began speaking slower, guilt and restrained sadness becoming obvious in her voice. "Leaving Marisa alone like that would have been stupid and as one of her longest friends, I took it upon myself to care for her as she became depressed. There were even times where she would mutter to herself and laugh, believing Reimu to still be conscious. A clear sign of being delusional."

Aya looked stunned to even hear that.

"Whoa. I didn't… think it got that bad. I mean, I told you I felt guilty but I didn't think Marisa of all people would be like that with how she acts all the time. I didn't see anything like that for the few weeks I've been in Kuoh." Aya placed a hand under her chin, attempting to think of a time when she saw Marisa's usual expression crack to show even a hint of the sadness that she concealed.

Alice gave a thin line of facial expression towards the interviewer. "I haven't seen Marisa in a while. That's why I've been worried about her while I continue to work with Patchouli."

Here, the magician looked Aya right into the eye as the latter began jotting down the information again.

"I even considered asking Eirin for help as Marisa started becoming unresponsive to me. Whether she decided to out of a whim or after serious thought, she eventually began speaking to me again. She slowly opened up again, returning to her usual demeanor while occasionally slipping back to her sad state. Eventually, she gathered the courage to visit the shrine numerous times along with myself to see Reimu's condition as well as her daughter. When Yukari began forming this team and Marisa asked me to join, I did so immediately to keep a further eye on her. I refuse to leave her alone in such a trying time."

Aya began looking at Alice a tad skeptically. "Not that I'm not happy you're being so forthcoming this time, but this seems a bit personal to Marisa doesn't it? I mean, most of why you're here is just because of her. Are you sure it's fine to give all this information to me? Won't Marisa be angry at you for telling me her private reason for being here?"

Alice shook her head, returning Aya's dubious look with a wry smile. "Perhaps. Marisa is one of the main factors of why I'm here, and I know her well enough that she won't hold a grudge. I'm willing to make an exception this time and if you do publish this newspaper and force Reimu to read it, I'm sure Marisa wouldn't really mind too much."

Aya stared at her for a while before eventually shrugging. "Alright, whatever you say. I only report the truth after all. Are you here for Reimu too then?"

The puppeteer raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Isn't everyone?"

The reporter scratched her head, already having an answer in mind. "Well, I can't see Patchouli being here for Reimu and your friends with both Marisa and Reimu. They don't really know each other that well, I would think."

Alice gave a slow 'hmm,' trying to determine whether or not it was her business to state Patchouli's reason for joining the team. She knew Marisa wouldn't particularly care all that much since it really was the absolute truth this time and it wouldn't be exaggerated like almost all the other information from issues of Aya's newpaper given how serious she was this time. After all, she gave her own reason for wanting it as well as her reason for joining the Gensokyo Team. Patchouli on the other hand, was someone completely different. She had a hint of why she was here, but she didn't think it was her business to state it though and her assumptions may just be wrong anyway.

"You'll have to ask for yourself. I have a vague idea of what reason Patchouli-san has for being in the team, but I may be wrong." Alice answered as Aya frowned in response.

"But I almost never see her when I come by. Can't you ask for me?" Aya tried to persuade to which Alice promptly shut it down.

"I already told you that it would a good idea for you stay to in Kyoto now that you have been discovered. You'll have several opportunities to ask Patchouli-san." She countered to which Aya palmed her face.

"Oh yeah…" Aya replied. "Damn it! But all she does is ignore me regularly whenever I come by the Scarlet Devil Mansion though when I get past that gate guard and Sakuya. I'm sure she'll do it again!"

Alice scoffed. "With your nosiness, it's no surprise anyone would. Didn't Yukari-san at one point in time even attack you for doing so?"

"Well… yeah! But-!" Aya tried to make an excuse.

"Not a word from you. We're all justified in being reluctant to tell you anything with your tendency to twist the truth after all. You even took pictures of our attacks at one point."

Aya grimaced at the accusation. "Now I know you're just poking fun at me! And besides, you just told me why you were here, didn't ya?"

"Today is just an exception. You shouldn't be used to this when everything is resolved."

Aya grit her teeth with her hands clenched together before eventually dropping her head in defeat.

"I just told you that I only report the truth and what I write is the truth."

"That's beside the point when most of your readers hardly believe what you have to say in the first place. Is it really the truth then? Either way. I'm sure you'll find out a way to ask Patchouli-san." Alice continued bantering, smiling at her verbally defeated opponent. "However. I'm surprised that you could be so… serious for once."

Aya waved off her words dismissively. "I can be serious! I was this time, wasn't I?"

Alice nodded in agreement. "You're right for once."

The both of them smiled at each other sincerely before Aya began chuckling and Alice giggled, placing a closed fist near her lips as she did so. Eventually, they stopped and Aya looked up towards the roof, hands supporting her weight from leaning backwards.

"I missed this ya' know. Being able to talk without having to worry about the hard consequences, you know."

Alice gave a small 'hmm' in agreement.

"I'm sorry to bring up such a serious thing then, but I have a question for you."

Aya looked at Alice in slight confusion. "Hmm? What's that?"

"Do you think…" Alice bit her lip, slightly reluctant to finish before looking at Aya with determination. "…that it's better to hope that things never change to keep the peace of the past? Or to look to the future and move on from the past regrets?"

Aya pushed herself into an upright position, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "Hey, what's up with this question all of a sudden?"

"I'm curious on your thoughts. You said you were one of the oldest youkai that even knew Yukari when she first had the idea of Gensokyo. I thought you might have an idea on what you think would be the best." Alice stated as Aya continued looking up to the ceiling, deep in thought.

"That's hard to say. I guess…" Aya stopped for a moment, trying to formulate what to say,"…that's how Gensokyo is right now."

"How so?"

"Well, uhh…" Another pause. "I'm sure a lot of youkai want it to be like back before the Lunarian Invasion. We did get hit the hardest after all and nobody was really dissatisfied with how Gensokyo was being run. But if there's one thing I know, it's that things will always change somehow. Nothing is the same forever. You can hope and wish all you want, but things just won't ever be the same as before. Whether it's technology or new ideas or whatever, things'll change eventually."

Aya looked back at Alice with a frown.

"Even if you have guilt or regret, what can you really do besides try and resolve things for yourself. Unless someone can time travel, I think that's what all the oldest youkai feel like right now. We've experienced the most and even if losses and sacrifices never get easier, we also get better at figuring out what to do afterwards. I lost some of my tengu friends from the invasion and I knew it would happen, but I got over it pretty quickly. I think it's better to overcome all the regrets we have, learn from it, and then try and do better in the future."

"I see." Alice said as she began thinking over her words.

"And honestly, I think the entire group here might just be trying to do that whether they know it or not." Aya finished as she looked at her tea with a soft smile.

xXx

Suika watched on through her mist form as the boy that had entertained her with his antics during her surveillance on Kuoh Academy was stabbed through the stomach with a light spear from the fallen angel that Aya had described to them when she had come back earlier. He had taken her to a park under the sunset alone and it was the perfect opportunity to kill him with no other obvious witnesses around. With her consciousness spread everywhere, it had taken too long to reassemble herself to try and stop the attack on him. As a result, Issei's murderer gloated over his body before flying off into the sky.

To Suika's surprise, Issei was still breathing and her separate consciousness believed that even though he was in critical condition, she could probably bring him to Reisen on time to save him. As she continued gathering the mist to assemble though, the area around his body began glowing red and she stopped.

As the crimson magical circle flashed brightly, eventually expanding outwards, Rias Gremory, the girl she had been spying for a few weeks now, appeared into existence next to him. She could see Rias frowning over Issei's downed body and Suika looked on as Rias placed on his chest what looked like a chess piece. A pawn to be exact.

The chess piece was sucked into his body though there was no change in his condition.

Was it some kind of healing technique or item? It was obvious that the piece was magically enchanted to do something, but it didn't appear to be working. Suika had no idea what Rias could possibly be doing.

She didn't give up though and began placing more of those pawn pieces onto his chest with each of them ending up the same as the first. Finally, after an eighth one, the hole in Issei's stomach began closing up and the crimson haired girl smiled. Afterwards, the ground underneath both of them began glowing red again and they both disappeared to wherever.

If Suika had a face, she would have frowned. She vaguely recalled Rias showing interest in Issei during her surveillance and this sort of behavior was unnervingly similar to Yukari. It was a good thing that Rias had no idea that she was being spied upon and that so long as she didn't reveal herself, she could continue gathering information. For now though, it would be best to head back to the clinic as there was nothing more to do for the moment. She was sure the now reduced Gensokyo scouting team would be interested in this series of events.

xXx

"So those are the fallen angels that Aya-san told us about a few days ago…" Reisen reiterated as Suika told her and Marisa what had happened. "And somehow the devils, or Rias I suppose, was able to take Issei away through magic after he was fatally wounded. I didn't know it took you so long to reform Suika."

"When I'm spread all over where every piece of me is too far, takes a while to put myself back together. Not like I wanted him to die, ya' know." Suika nonchalantly said, though Marisa could see that Suika was being serious. She didn't think she would kid around so much with a life on the line.

"Sure woulda' helped if Aya didn't screw up. We coulda keep track a' things a lot easier, but ah' well." The Oni commented. "Anyway, the devils and the fallen angels have been pretty active on trying to search for where and who Aya is after she got caught, but that's startin' to slow down a bit. They're still sendin' people all over the place to scout out Kuoh so we need ta' be a lot more careful when we go out and get stuff."

"Tomorrow then." Marisa stated. "No point in headin' out there when things are really active right now, right? What do we still need anyway?"

"Just food. We ran out faster than I expected." Reisen answered. "We'll need much more this time. I think the entire group will be coming sometime soon to discuss our progress as a whole now that it's almost been a month here in the outside world. Yukari-san may be coming in person this time as well. At least, that's what Aya-san said last time she visited."

"Yukari too eh?" Suika cocked an interested eyebrow. "In that case, might wanna add sake to what we need. It's probably going to be a party! A small one! I mean, mine is great but I don't think any of us are gonna want Oni sake. It's pretty strong after all and I want to try some new sake anyway."

Marisa shrugged her shoulders. "Alright. Whatever. Sure, I'll grab some for us. It'll be nice ta' see Alice and Patchouli again. But I didn't think a month would pass already. Makes you wonder how it's going on Yukari and Gensokyo's side. I mean, is everybody alright over there ya' think?"

"I'm sure Yukari's just fine. This is Yukari you're talkin' about here." Suika waved her slight concern dismissively. "Even if we're not around, there's a lot of others in Gensokyo that'll make sure it's safe. As long as the Lunarians don't come back right away, there's not too much ta' worry 'bout. They took a lota' losses too so I don't think they'll be back anytime soon. It'd be stupid, even for them."

Reisen nodded in agreement. "You're right. We should focus on the here and now. Speaking of which, it's starting to become late. We should head to bed soon. I'll need to open earlier than usual to make up for when I'll be closing the clinic for when everybody comes together."

The three assented their agreement and headed off to their respective room upstairs to sleep. The next day, true to Reisen's word, the disguised moon rabbit opened up her clinic earlier than usual for customers. Marisa also agreed to pick up the supplies that evening while Suika had returned to maintaining surveillance throughout the city. The supermarket, Marisa had recently learned, had much more products and items in it than she knew what to do. It was much more expansive than the stalls and shops that the Human Village back in Gensokyo had. All the items were centered into one area and that made things convenient for her, even though she had gotten lost in it the very first time and had to ask for directions.

After paying for several bags of food, she exited the supermarket through its automatic doors.

"What the…? Isn't that…?" Marisa muttered to herself as she saw a rather familiar looking face.

Issei Hyoudou. Alive.

Aya had managed to snap a picture of him after Suika had asked her to do so, seeing as he had caught the interests of both the Fallen Angel and Devils. And Suika had just stated that he was wounded heavily before being healed quickly and taken away by the devils.

What was he doing here?

He stood in an alleyway, looking as if he was having a panic attack. She couldn't quite see his face, but his brown, rather spiky hair was the same as the photo Aya had shown her. The clothing he was wearing was the same too. His hand was placed at his mouth area as if trying to stop himself from puking. He was hunched over, having one hand against the wall to try and support himself. Then, as if shaking off the attack, he began running off at a decent speed.

Marisa began following him, bags hanging while bouncing on her broom handle, sprinting in the direction that Issei was running. She didn't want to fly as that would instantly bring attention to her and due to him getting a head start, keeping him in her sights was a small challenge.

"Where the heck is he runnin'?" Marisa questioned to no one in particular.

He was driven for sure and he seemed to know where he was running. The streets and sidewalks were strangely vacant as he sprinted through the city blocks though Marisa didn't pay it too much mind. The sun was already setting and night was beginning to rise, but that didn't seem to deter or inhibit Issei as he continued running. Eventually, her tailed target stopped at a park with a fountain and he looked around as if taking in all the sights as quickly as possible. Marisa stopped and hid behind a tree a fair distance away from him as she tried to overhear what he was saying.

"This is where I was…" She barely heard as he talked somewhat quietly. He didn't finish his sentence as he seemed hesitant to.

He kneeled down at a spot, taking his hand to rub at the ground.

Maybe that was where he died?

That seemed to be the only reason why he would do that unless he was now insane.

"Oh? What's this? A devil without a master?" A deep and gruff voice rang out through the air.

Both Issei and Marisa turned in the direction of the voice, coming from another set of trees and an extremely tall man, wearing a gray trench coat along with a black fedora emerged from the darkness. He didn't appear to be any older than his thirties or forties, but like most of Gensokyo's residents, Marisa had the hinting suspicion that this man was probably older than he appeared.

"W-Who are you!?" Issei trembled in fear, stuttering at the sight of the man.

Then, as if cementing that fear, a familiar set of wings emerged from the man's back which Issei quickly recognized.

"Y-you… have the same wings…" Issei stuttered, tripping backwards and edging back from the intimidating figure.

"So, you were alive after all. It was strange how your body disappeared when we checked back later to see if you were actually dead." The giant stopped, glaring at the boy who had an utter look of panicked fear on his face.

"S-So I really did die." He muttered to himself. "Who are you!? What do you want with me!?"

"I suppose that you'll be dead again anyway, so I may as well give you my name. I am Dohnaseek, and as you may already know, I am a Fallen Angel."

Marisa glowered at the now named person and gently placed her bags of food onto the ground off of her broom handle. It definitely looked like he was going to try and kill this kid. This honestly didn't feel any different from the youkai extermination jobs she stole from Reimu. In this case, Issei was the human or devil as Dohnaseek called him, and the latter was a youkai attempting to kill or eat Issei.

"Dohnaseek, what's the holdup? Why are you taking so long?" Another voice said, coming from the sky as a woman with long blue hair landed next to him. She also had the same wings as the man she was addressing. "Don't tell me you've gotten soft. You better not fail or Raynare's going to be angry after you let the intruder get away last time."

"Hmph. Not a chance Kalawarner. And that little spy was much better than we thought. We haven't seen her around since. You wouldn't have done any better." Dohnaseek retorted. "Either way, killing this boy won't be any issue."

Finally, a blue light spear formed in his hand and Issei looked at the weapon as if it was an executioner's axe waiting to behead him.

"Nothing against you personally, boy. Fate just has it out against you." Dohnaseek gravely said as he twirled his light spear and threw it at the frightful teenager.

"Ahhhhhh!" Issei shouted, falling to the ground behind him while instinctively covering his eye, unable to watch his approaching doom.

That was enough for Marisa.

She instinctually pulled out her mini-Hakkero and quickly fired a small laser which intercepted the projectile and incinerated it out of existence.

Dohnaseek's eyes widened as his weapon was destroyed and a blond spellcaster jumped out of the trees in front of his target in a blocking gesure.

"H-huh?" Issei slowly opened his eye, looking at his body as if it was a dream. "I-I'm alive?"

"Can't let 'cha do that. Yer not gonna kill him this time." Marisa declared, grinning as if her goal to protect him was already secured.

The long, blue haired woman with clothing that barely covered her assets stepped up, forming a purple light spear in her hands. "And who are you?"

"Just an ordinary witch! That's all ya' need ta' know!" Marisa answered confidently, mini-hakkero secured in one hand with her trusty broom in the other.

"Y-You saved me! T-Thanks for saving me miss…" Issei's voice from behind took some of her attention. "But, who are you? How did you stop his spear like that?"

"Nothing to it kid! I might answer that later. Step back and lemme handle this." The somewhat aged witch enthusiastically replied as she maintained her combat stance against the two fallen angels.

"If you're going to be in our way, then you'll just have to die too." Dohnaseek coldly said. "You're simply a human and humans have no chance against us."

"Well, we'll just hafta see about that!" Marisa rose her mini-Hakkero up to her shoulder and blasted Dohnaseek with a small laser, hitting him square in the shoulder and knocking him back towards the tree.

"Nrrgh!" He grunted as his coat was burned right off and his skin was charred and exposed.

"Stand back Dohnaseek. I'll take care of this." The male's partner shouted. "All we need to do is kill the boy and we'll be done."

To accentuate that statement, she began lobbing spears at a rapid pace towards the two humans.

Issei shrieked, but his protector remained calm. She swung her broom horizontally to launch several giant colored stars bullets towards the opposing barrage. It clashed, canceling each other out. However, Marisa's side easily gained the upper hand as her onslaught of stars continued. Whereas Kalawarner would have to throw her spears one by one, Marisa's broom spewed out numerous more bullets from her swings, covering the entire front with a mass of giant stars. As a result, the woman was completely unable to even penetrate its field as where one star was destroyed, five more would come to take its place. As if to make things worse, the stars that were originally meant to defend now started to launch itself towards her direction and she was forced to take to the air using her feathered wings.

Marisa restrained herself from taking to the air as well. She needed to stay near Issei in order to protect him. Dohnaseek was now nowhere to be seen and while she could fight back against Kalawarner's ranged attacks, she now had the air advantage. It'd be easier for her opponent to hit her than the other way around. She needed to do something to even the odds a bit more.

An idea suddenly struck her in the head and she smirked cockily.

"Ya' know, your magic is pretty sad. This is boring! I thought you'd be more of a challenge, but I guess not! All I'm doin' is swinging my broom while you gotta keep throwin' those spears at me. Ya' can't even get past my basic bullets! In battles like this, it's all about firepower!" Marisa taunted as her opponent remained in the air.

"What!? You insolent human! How dare you talk to me like that!" She angrily shouted back. "If you want firepower, then face this!"

She rose her hand into the air to focus her power and a light spear quickly formed in her hand. However, this one began growing in size in comparison to the other ones.

"Even your laser can't pierce this! With this, I'll make sure the both of you are dead!"

"Geez, what a hothead. And that's what she thinks." Marisa casually commented. "My first fight and this is so boring. Ah well! It worked and that's all that matters!"

The witch raised her arm holding the mini-Hakkero at her opponent. She gathered her magic into her weapon, quickly heating up in her hand and she shouted at her opponent.

"Narrow Spark!" She shouted and a decently sized laser launched itself towards her opponent.

Her eyes widened as it sped towards her. Unfortunately, she was unable to move as she was gathering power for her projectile. As a result, the laser struck her in the shoulder, hitting exposed skin and piercing the area, leaving the area around it completely black and a clear sign of being heavily burnt.

Sensing magical energy rising, Marisa quickly turned her aim towards the trees.

"Don't think I forgot about you." She warned, her arm raised against the man who was slowly climbing back up onto his feet, light spear slowly forming in his hand.

"Tch."

Dohnaseek's ally barely landed next to him, wings flapping to slow her descent as blood flowed out of the open wound.

"W-We're retreating! We can't even win against her!? She's obviously a pitiful human magician!" She shouted as Dohnaseek silently nodded and helped her up onto his shoulder for support. From there, he carried her bridal style and began ascending into the air.

"This isn't over boy! Witch! You will die! Sooner or later, you will!" The lady gave her last words as they disappeared into the distance

Marisa sighed in relief and dispelled the stars in front of her and put away her mini-Hakkero. Protection duty was definitely not her forte. She was more of an attacker that took advantage of her raw magical power. Patchouli and Alice were so much more suited for this kind of thing.

"Thanks for saving me miss. I-I thought I was going to die!" Issei thanked her graciously as he sighed in relief at his survival. "But who are you? And how can you do all that magic?"

"Calm down kid. Yer hyperventilating. Deep breaths." Marisa kneeled down next to him, instructing him on what to do. "In and out. Slowly."

He barely nodded and he began to do as he was told.

Marisa took the time to look at the boy she had rescued and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

His skin was very pale, most likely from the panic attack he had earlier along with the stress of the attempt on his life. The cold sweat on his head only confirmed his panic and anxiety at the situation. He was slowly regaining color to his face as he breathed in and out at a slow pace. He wiped the sweat off of his temple with his sleeve and his breathing slowed back down to regular levels.

"O-okay. I-I think I'm okay now." He breathed out, now facing her with his skin not as pale as before. "So… could you answer my questions now? Who are you? How did you do all that?"

Marisa scratched her head sheepishly. She had forgotten that she ignored most of his questions to focus on the small skirmish and to prevent him from going into too much shock.

"Ahh! Right! Well, like I said, I'm-"

"A human magician. Not a witch."

Another voice sounded out from the trees behind which immediately set Marisa on guard and both she and Issei turned in the direction of the voice again.

Another enemy? So soon?

Well, she still had plenty of fight left in her. That last fight, if it could even be called one, was a complete bore requiring only minimal effort.

As the darkness receded, two young ladies emerged from the trees. Issei's jaw dropped as he immediately recognized them.

"Rias-senpai! Akeno-san!" Issei cried out as the two of them stared at the two humans. "What are you doing here?"

Devils, Marisa immediately recognized. Suika and Aya had given her details on most of the devils in Kuoh. She didn't think they were hostile so far though. Rias wouldn't have saved Issei from his would-be fatal injury otherwise, although it would be rather stupid of her to let her guard down. The Lunarian Invasion had certainly showed her not to.

"We immediately came here to save you, although it looks like someone else did it first." Rias turned to look at the blonde woman who held her broom like a weapon. Slightly confused at the sight of a cleaning tool being a viable murdering weapon, she decided to continue her line of questioning. "So? Who are you and what is a human magician doing in devil territory? Why did you save him?"

Marisa resisted the urge to facepalm herself at the failed use of the term 'magician.' That was a subspecies of Youkai, generally exceling at a form of magic but also being frail by most youkai standards. Either way, she didn't feel the need to correct them. Leaving them unaware was probably for the better anyway even if it went against how she worked. But this was a potential enemy. As for answering who she was, did she risk anything answering that? Yukari had told everyone during the war that knowledge was truly power. Even the name of a person could be instrumental in learning things about them. Well, her usual answer could go well here.

"I'm just an ordinary witch. And I didn't know this was your territory." She answered energetically. "I just saw this kid having a panic attack and I followed him to make sure he was alright. I didn't think he was going to be attacked, so I jumped in."

A small interested 'hmm' came from Rias, similar to Alice, Marisa noted. It was hard to say whether the crimson haired teenager actually believed her or not.

"Either way, this is our territory. While I'm thankful that you've saved Issei, I don't know what faction you belong to whether it's a major or minor one. I'd like to request that you leave these grounds immediately. The truce is very fragile and it would be best to leave before war breaks out." Rias said as Akeno stood behind her with all the grace of a born lady.

Marisa slowly eased off on some of her guard. It didn't appear Rias was an enemy thus far. She didn't quite know what this truce was, but it sounded pretty important and it was probably something to take a note of for later. On the other hand though, she couldn't allow herself or the others to be evicted out.

"Sorry. I got stuff ta' do here. I can't leave yet." Marisa half-honestly responded. "My friends and I need ta' stay here until we finish."

Rias resisted the urge to giggle.

"Oh? So there's more than one of you here?"

Uh-oh.

Marisa's eyes widened and she nearly failed to restrain the urge to have her hand meet her face for what felt like the hundredth time. She couldn't believe that she had given that away.

"I really need to watch my big mouth…" Marisa muttered to herself, making sure that nobody heard what she heard this time.

"If staying on devil territory is your request, you and your friends may negotiate with me. It is becoming late however, so we will have to do this another time. You may find us at Kuoh Academy to further discuss this. We will expect you within the week." Rias said respectfully and Marisa disgruntledly nodded her defeat in the flow of the conversation before pointing at the kid.

"What about him?"

"We'll bring him back home safely." Rias answered deftly. "Come Issei. We'll answer all your questions and bring you home."

"R-Right." He nervously nodded, standing up slowly and moving over to the two younger ladies.

"Have a good night, Magician-san."

And with that, the three of them walked back into the darkness of the trees.

Marisa simply sighed in frustration.

"Great. I guess there's no other way around it. Now where did I leave all the bags?"

xXx

"Hey! What took so long?" Suika pouted impatiently as Marisa entered through the front door. "Didja get everything?"

"Yeah. But uhh…" Marisa scratched her head nervously and Suika raised an eyebrow in response. "I need to talk ta' you and Reisen. It's important."

Suika looked at the witch in the eye, before nodding.

"Alright. Reisen's in the office, but I'll tell her you need ta' talk. In the living room, okay?" Suika asked for confirmation.

"Sure."

Suika promptly left and Marisa maneuvered her way into the living room. It wouldn't take very long for Suika to get Reisen and each of them promptly sat around the table. Reisen was still dressed in her doctor's coat with a blouse under it while Suika wore the same thing she had worn since they had first found her in Gensokyo.

"So, what's wrong Marisa-san? Has something happened? Reisen began.

Marisa looked at both her allies before deciding to bluntly state the truth.

"Yer not gonna like this, but the devils and fallen angels found me after I went to go get the stuff we needed."

Reisen stared at Marisa, a frown marring her face while Suika had a much more outspoken response.

"What~? You too Marisa? You got spotted too? Don't tell me that yer gonna go back to Kyoto now."

"Umm, actually…" Marisa scratched her head nervously. "I accidentally told them that you guys were here too, ze."

"Ahh. Marisa-san, your verbal tick." Reisen half-heartedly pointed out while Marisa immediately noticed as well.

"Woops. My bad. Thought I got rid of it for sure years ago…"

Marisa remained silent after her stray comment, choosing to swap between looking at both Reisen and Suika for any reactions. She knew that what she was displaying outside well described how she was currently feeling. Fidgety, nervous, and just overall anxious.

Reisen's frown intensified as well with no signs of flipping it anytime soon. Suika was already reaching for her jug of sake. None of this helped her nerves any and she was beginning to feel slightly scared for what they had to say. Marisa knew that she had screwed up. It didn't really need to be said. She felt as if she had good reason that she was caught and it wasn't as if she could have just let Issei get killed by those fallen angels. After all, he had already fatally wounded once and she didn't want to risk another one.

"Hey… say somethin' will ya'?" Marisa tried to coax her teammates to say anything.

A few more seconds of silence remained and Marisa began sweating, impatiently waiting for anything to be said until finally, Reisen broke it.

"There's more to this, right? I don't think you would have revealed yourself or have been caught without a strong incentive to. What happened?"

Marisa sighed in relief. That wasn't as bad as it could be. She shot Reisen a quick look of gratitude to which the moon rabbit simply nodded and smiled back, encouraging her to answer.

Suika raised an eyebrow at the brief interaction, but chose to let it be, taking a few more gulps from her sake jug.

Thus, Marisa explained about the events that had just happened only an hour ago. How her going grocery shopping turned into a chase after Issei. Both Reisen and Suika had been slightly surprised how he was still alive after being clearly stabbed though it disappeared quickly as Rias had now obviously healed him. She went on to give details on how he looked as if he was having a panic attack, looking very sick which led her to chasing him to the park. Suika absentmindedly noted that the park was where Issei had been killed. From there, two fallen angels appeared and she revealed herself in order to defend him. The two listeners were completely unsurprised how Marisa had utterly dominated them, essentially taking out Dohnaseek in one hit while provoking Kalawarner into taking her time to charge her attack and leaving herself vulnerable. Things took a turn for the worse however, when Rias and Akeno had appeared and managed to glean information off Marisa, even though she had tried her best not to reveal too much.

The worst telling was that Marisa had accidentally revealed that she had friends and both occupiers flinched when she told them. Now, the devils were expecting a meeting with all of them.

"So, what do we think we should do?" Marisa asked, looking at Reisen with a slight hint of desperation.

Reisen took a moment to ponder, placing her hand under her chin as she attempted to find a solution.

"Having come this far, we can't go back to Kyoto. Having Aya-san taken back to avoid suspicion was acceptable and Alice-san blocked any questioning from the militant youkai and prevented us from looking too weak. However, if we all left Kuoh, I don't think she'd be able to do so again. Even if she could, losing one more of us here would be too much and it would look suspicious for sure if any of us returned for any other reason than failing." Reisen explicated, Suika giving a wry grin while Marisa looked slightly depressed at her failure.

"Don't think we have any choice then. We'll just hafta meet with them." Suika finalized and after a few more moments of thinking of another solution, Reisen slowly nodded her head. Marisa scowled at the answer, but gave her consent as well.

"We don't have to tell them everything at least, do we?" Marisa asked, minutely hopeful in that they could at least salvage the situation.

"That depends. We can be vague with many of the questions they'll undoubtedly ask, like what our business is and how long we may be here," the doctor began. "Still, it sounds like Rias Gremory is reasonable at the very least. This may actually be a good thing."

"Hard ta' see it that way." Suika commented. "She seems like it like you said, not counting whatever she's got locked up in the clubhouse of hers."

"What? Someone's locked up in her clubhouse?" Marisa looked at Suika as if she had sprouted extra horns from the top of her head.

Suika shrugged casually. "Yup. It's got some pretty weak magical seals. You and I could easily break 'em, but I didn't really want to touch it in case it had someone like Flandre."

"You didn't mention this… "Marisa muttered softly. "Reminds me of Flandre. Doesn't really gimme a good impression of Rias."

"You got us into this situation." Suika pointed out, poking her finger into Marisa's shoulder. "Yer' just gonna have to suck it up."

"Yeah yeah, you don't have to rub it in." The witch frowned at her words, but did nothing to counter it.

Reisen pat Marisa lightly on the shoulder. "Either way, we'll just have to do our best with what we know. Everyone is. I'll close the clinic tomorrow and you and I will see what we can do with the negotiation."

She then turned to the Oni. "If you don't want to come Suika, I'm sure I can make an excuse for you."

"Sure. I think the others'll come tomorrow anyway so I'll stay here just in case they do. Be rude to just have a locked place for people you invited." Suika smiled energetically, giving a thumbs up before here loud grumble burst forth from her stomach.

"Haha, oops! All this serious talk's made me hungry! Let's eat guys! We'll deal with this tomorrow! We'll worry about this when it comes." Suika sheepishly scratched her head to which both the two other occupants agreed to.

Thus, dinner passed by with casual chat of the old days of Gensokyo, temporarily forgetting about the troubles of the present. Much of the recent conversation when business was not involved was remembering the numerous hilarious moments of Gensokyo. Stories were shared such as Suika recalling the four-way brawl between herself, Byakuren, Yuugi, and Meiling to celebrate a full moon festival.

"So, does Eirin really test new drugs on ya'? Everyone always wants ta' know." Marisa inquired nonchalantly as Reisen spit out her rice.

"W-What? Master doesn't do that!" She adamantly denied, blushing at the thought of such a thing while Marisa looked at her, clearly not believing her. "I'm telling you, she doesn't! It's just a nasty rumor that others made up! Like Aya-san!"

"Uh-huh… Ya' know, most rumors do have some truth to 'em. What's to say this one doesn't?" Suika pointed out to which Reisen refused to answer. "Isn't there a sayin' where denial is the first step?"

Marisa contributed to the talk by explaining how Nitori was asked to build a house with the materials given. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to build a house and instead, built a robot to build the house for her. Though it sounded like a good idea at first, she had ended up using all the materials given to her to build the robot and thus, it had nothing left to work with.

The night eventually passed as well as the morning came with no further complications. As the sun finally began to hang overhead, Reisen flipped the sign in the front of her clinic from open to closed for the entire day and with illusionary magic to hide her rabbit ears, she and Marisa ventured to Kuoh Academy. Suika had bade farewell, wishing them luck while she stayed behind at the clinic for the other members of the group to finally come. They had all agreed that there would be no spying for today.

"I know Suika said that this Academy or whatever was pretty big, but this place is huge just for teaching people!" Marisa whistled in amazement as they stood at the front gate of Kuoh Academy. "It's a lot bigger than Keine's dinky little classroom, eh Reisen?"

"On a technological and structural level, Gensokyo is behind compared to the Outside World's. It's to be expected." Reisen mentioned back. "Though, with how the Kappa and Kanako-san have been doing recenty, that distance is starting to close a bit. I fear for the day when you are allowed near a cell phone again."

"Hey, I didn't know it'd break so easily. My mini-Hakkero never breaks compared to that hunk of junk and I've had it longer." Her companion countered, pouting at her insult.

"It's made of mythical metal, of course it'd be nearly impossible to break." Reisen deadpanned while Marisa stuck her tongue out at her.

"Umm, excuse me. Ladies?"

A young man with short blonde hair and grey eyes, wearing the school uniform had walked up to them.

"School is currently session and outside visitors are not allowed right now. Would you please leave the campus?"

"Ahh, sorry 'bout that." Marisa apologized halfheartedly. "Look, we're here to talk to Rias Gremory. We heard that she's here."

His eyes widened momentarily before his tone became a bit stern. "She is here. Do you have business with her?"

"We're here to negotiate with her. May we speak to her?" Reisen questioned politely, even adding in a small bow.

He remained silent for a few moments before eventually nodding.

"Okay. Please follow me to the Student Council Room."

Without another word, he began walking deeper into the school, Reisen and Marisa trailing behind him.

As they passed by the numerous students, the both of them garnered quick glances and stares. Many of them were simply curious as to who had entered a school and why they needed a Student Council Member to guide them. Others had more hidden perverted looks, especially looking at the young looking Reisen. Marisa garnered a few looks as well, looking surprisingly well for someone aged at forty-one although they'd probably never be able to guess that. They were led up the stairs and through several different hallways along with doors that had signs with numbers and dashes on them. Just the size of the building almost reminded her of the Scarlet Devil Mansion along with its western looking appearance.

"Definitely bigger and better than Keine's school." Marisa whispered to Reisen, nudging her while Reisen shot her an unimpressed look at her remark.

Eventually, the young man stopped at a room labeled Student Council and he knocked at the door politely.

"Kaichou. I'm coming in. We have visitors."

He slid the door open and stepped to the aside, motioning for the two to head inside.

As they did so, four people were already inside. The bigger group looked at the duo curiously while the latter identified all four of the occupants of the room.

Two of them both standing up, Marisa already knew.

"Ara ara? It seems they're here for negotiations earlier than expected, Buchou." Akeno stated as Rias looked at both Marisa and Reisen with observant eyes.

"I suppose this is her Rias? The magician you discovered yesterday who helped protect your new pawn?" The lady seated at the rather lavish desk asked, calculating eyes also roaming around the foreign guests.

"Yes. This is them, although the one wearing the doctor's coat, I don't know." She responded. "I assumed you had more than one friend, Magician-san. This is only one of them. You implied that you had more."

Reisen decided to speak up here. "The other one is currently taking care of our residence while we are away."

"I see. Please, have a seat." Rias offered, gesturing towards the seat in front of the oak desk. "Would you like some tea as well?"

"Sure. I'll take it." Marisa accepted as Akeno went to the back of the room to prepare it while both the witch and the moon rabbit sat in the offered seats.

'Now, I apologize, but I didn't introduce myself last night. My name is Rias Gremory, heir to the Gremory Clan, one of the 72 pillars of the Devil Clans." Rias started. "My Queen currently preparing the tea, who was with me last night is Akeno Himejima."

"My name is Sona Sitri, heir to the Sitri Clan, one of the 72 pillars of the Devil Clans and President of the Student Council." Sona introduced herself.

"I am Tsubaki Shinra, vice-president of the Student Council." The lady with long, straight black hair did the same.

"Nice to meet you." Reisen politely said. "I'm Reisen Udongein Inaba, the doctor of the Inaba Clinic."

"Marisa Kirisame, ordinary witch! At yer service!" The self-proclaimed ordinary witch energetically named herself, grinning all the while.

Truth be told, the two Gensokyo residents already knew who each of occupants in the room were. Aya and Suika had done well in informing them who wielded any sort of power in the region and these were them. Each of them knew however, that even if negotiations broke down, they'd be able to escape rather easily.

"Now then, what brings you onto our territory and where did you come from? Not that I'm ungrateful for you saving my pawn, but it's unusual to see a human magician here. Is your group part of any faction?" Rias began questioning, and Marisa looked to Reisen who had already formulated a response.

"We're from Europe. Our long time friend's life is in danger and indisposed, so we're here in the meantime until we can find a way to save her. As for our faction, we're not part of any. We're currently our own group working together for a common goal." Reisen answered with the one of the most neutral looks that Marisa had ever seen on her, even when the former had first arrived and helped perpetrator of the Imperishable Night incident.

"And who would the person be?" Rias interrogated, hands crossed together.

"Reimu Touko. A very important person to us who has helped our group several times over. We are repaying a debt to her." Reisen's eyes looked downward, playing the sad story card as best as she could.

Marisa looked at Reisen neutrally and for her, it was hard to say whether that sadness was truly faked or not. She had to admit that just those two answers alone showed how good she was when it came to more conversational base confrontations. Almost the complete opposite of her who just preferred the simple brute force to get most conflicts. Maybe she improved in the years she had been in Gensokyo under Eirin.

Reisen's vague answers weren't a complete lie either. Only those who were from the Gensokyo team knew what she was talking about and silently, she was impressed how good Eirin's assistant was at being neutral. Her own lies were always easily spotted from a mile away except from the fairies who fell for almost everything. The pause that happened afterwards might have even showed how hard it was to really respond to that question. She was sure that Reimu Touko didn't exist in this world and that it'd probably warrant a thorough search. That would take a good amount of time and by then, hopefully Yukari would be done with most of the transition of the weaker youkai who sought to leave for Gensokyo. The neutral look was probably learned by Eirin, along with whatever medical skills she had, but Marisa felt that it was almost Yukari-esque level. Although Yukari would probably be able to make these devils dance to her tune without even trying.

To ask for more than the name could be considered impolite if the speaker was still shaken over it and Marisa could see Rias softening up ever so slightly. As long as their true plans to secretly keep an eye on Kyoto's surroundings from Kuoh wasn't discovered, some personal information that wasn't too telling could be given somewhat freely. They just needed to make sure no threats to the Youkai Faction that could capitalize on their currently weak state could take advantage of them while they were moving to Gensokyo.

Akeno returned to the group, placing several tea cups onto the table in front of them.

They each muttered their thanks and courteously sipped the tea before continuing on.

"Issei explained how you helped protect him easily and I saw something that you used partly into the fight that shot the laser. Is that your sacred gear?" Rias asked, eyeing Marisa with curiosity.

Sacred Gear. There was that term again. The one Aya had said was mentioned frequently by the fallen angels before finally staying in Kyoto for the time being. Aya theorized it being some kind of tool or special power that someone had, but they couldn't really get anything more, even after Suika continued her reconnaissance on Sona and Rias. Without all the knowledge on what it really was, she didn't really want to lie about it as it would be harder to get out of a resulting explanation she'd have very little information on.

"Nah. Just a tool I use to help with my magic. Like a catalyst sorta. Helps me focus some of my magic so it's easier to do what I need." The addressed human answered, half lying and half honestly. She was a terrible liar, she knew and hoped that they'd leave it at that. The mini-Hakkero was more than just a magical catalyst for her after all. It was pivotal to help with her more powerful spells that she was infamously known for, if she were to say so herself.

"May we see it?" Sona finally spoke up and internally, Marisa began slightly panicking.

"Err, I left it at home. Didn't think we'd end up in a fight, so I didn't bring it along." She lied, hoping they'd buy it and leave the matter be.

Rias gave a dry smile at them. "You're a very easy person to figure out, Marisa-san. Don't lie to us. It doesn't seem like an object you'd leave behind if it's something to assist with your magic. It's like a wizard deciding to leave their staff at home while venturing into a dangerous area."

Marisa slightly flinching made it even easier for them to confirm it.

"You're not very forthcoming with information are you? It seems like the both of you are intentionally hiding things from me. I can even faintly detect a spell hanging over you, Udonge-san though I have no idea what it is." Rias commented. "I don't know what spell it is and I don't feel it's malignant towards us, but it is suspicious. At the same time, I don't blame you, considering where you are but I hoped it wouldn't be this way. I'd be the same in your situation I think."

Reisen decided now would be a good time to retake the conversation and prevent any further damage. "I'm sorry. We have no real knowledge of you outside of your names and that you are devils."

Another lie.

"We're hesitant to give any more than we really need to. However, we are willing to compromise in order to stay in Kuoh until our business is finished."

"And how so?" The Gremory heir asked with interest.

"As I just said, I own the Inaba clinic not too far from the school. I can offer my services for you and others for free if you need them. I understand that sometimes, magical healing is more effective most of the time, but medicine can be almost as useful. I'm a skillful doctor if I say so myself and my knowledge on medicine is very expansive."

Marsa knew that was true too. She and Eirin had served as one of the two most effective medics during the Lunarian Invasion.

"For saving Issei, who is part of my peerage, I'd accept your terms right here. However, I want to add a few more conditions before we allow you to remain in Kuoh." Rias stated, which Marisa and Reisen gave their full attention. "First, if you find out anything suspicious or dangerous while in Kuoh, you'd have to report it to me or Sona. While I'm sure the both of you can defend yourself, I don't want anybody under our territory causing trouble or destroying anything, especially as you'll be staying here in the meantime. Even worse, dying against odds that you can't fight. Sona and I are much more equipped at handling them."

Marisa resisted the instinctual impulse to smirk and retort that she, Reisen, and Suika could probably stomp both of their groups if they had to. Outnumbered or not, all three of them had gotten much too used to it during the invasion.

The moon rabbit gave an affirming shake of head. "That's a fair condition. We accept to that one."

"Second then. We've deviated off on the matter of the object of Kirisame-san. "Rias brought up again. "Please show us the magical catalyst, or we'll sadly have to refuse your stay here and ask you to leave. "

Reisen glanced at Marisa, giving a slight nod to show her approval. Having no choice as well, Marisa brought her hand into the white apron pouch she had and revealed the octagonal block of wood and laid it on the table. The tool in question was hand-sized and the front of it displayed eight trigrams surrounding a circle in the very center of the mini-Hakkero. Reisen quickly glimpsed on the reactions of the others to see and to her surprise, they appeared to be weary of the thing.

"What… is this exactly? This doesn't feel like any normal magical catalyst I've ever seen before." Sona stated as she looked at the mini-Hakkero cautiously.

Marisa looked confused at the sudden turn of wariness, but answered regardless. "It's my mini-Hakkero. I use it all the time."

"Hakkero? The legendary magical elemental furnace? The same as the one that imprisoned Sun Wukong?"

Reisen gave a slight glare at Marisa and the latter realized her mistake quickly. The latter looked slightly shamed, but the others didn't notice as they were too busy looking at the procured item.

Sona stared warily at the supposedly mythical tool. "How did you get something like this? For something like this to be used as a simple magical tool… If enough power was put into this, it'd probably destroy an entire mountain. Possibly even more. There is no doubt about this."

Tsubaki and Rias both looked at her in surprise from her analysis before returning to stare at the now dangerous tool standing innocuously on the desk.

"And not including from magical purposes alone, it has much more than just one function that I can't tell at the moment. Whoever made this must have been a master craftsmen."

Marisa shrugged, grabbing the mini-Hakkero and returning it to her apron pocket. "I had a friend who gave it to me. It was a farewell present, sorta, before I left my parents."

The instant the tool was out of sight, the devils relaxed though they now looked at Marisa quite a bit more cautiously.

"I apologize if I find that a bit hard to believe. I could most likely find out how that Hakkero worked if I looked at it longer, though I don't believe you'll allow me to." The Student Council President remarked as Marisa looked at her with annoyance.

"Not really. That's mine and I'm not giving it to anybody."

"I think that's fair enough." Sona agreed.

"In that case, I'd like to move to the third condition." Rias said, looking over to the now considered very dangerous human. "I'd like to formally ask you to join my peerage."

The other devils looked to her quickly in small astonishment, including Sona though hers was much more suppressed.

Reisen immediately narrowed her eyes in immediate response.

"Sorry. That is a condition that we cannot fulfill. Though it isn't a formal, group, we would like her to remain independence from any of the major factions."

Rias looked disconcerted at the immediate refusal.

"However, maybe I can give an alternative." Reisen offered, piquing the interest of both heirs. "Instead of offering Marisa, how about instead, we do this..."

xXx

"That wasn't too bad. I mean, it wasn't the best it could be but better than I woulda done." Marisa complimented, grinning while nudging her in the arm as they began walking back to the clinic. "Where'd you pick up all this? Before all this, you were a bit more open the sorta rare times I saw ya' but now yer more… kinda like Sakuya? I dunno, yer like Alice before we became best friends."

Reisen giggled, smiling at her current partner.

"It's temporary, I promise. With how our group is I have to adjust properly. I had to guard ourselves and emotions in the negotiations, or they would've taken advantage of us. I'm sure you've seen Yukari do it plenty of times, though even when she shows hers, she almost always gets away with her true motive."

"And that's why she's so annoyin' to deal with." Marisa added. "But, there isn't really anybody else who could probably take care of Gensokyo better than her so I trust her with that. On the other hand, I'd say we're gettin' along well now right?"

"As much as a Lunar Rabbit and a human can get I suppose. Now let's head back. Suika is waiting for us after all and we'd better be quick before she ends up wrecking the clinic."

Marisa grinned.

"Sounds like a plan!"

A/N: Hey, now we're starting to get into the actual canon timeline and honestly, I have a mixed opinion on how this chapter went. I liked it in certain aspects, and disliked it for certain parts as well. What I liked the most? Marisa basically destroying both fallen angels and typing up the emotional dialogue, even if I feel like I'm no good at it. What I didn't like was trying to type up the dialogues between Rias and Reisen/Marisa. No matter how I tried to work that part, I just couldn't get it to feel right. It felt rushed and incomplete, like I could have added more or I didn't get their personalities right, but off the top of my head, it just slipped my grasp on what I was missing. It just felt so underwhelming. Maybe you guys will feel differently. I don't know.

This is self-beta'ed and it probably will be until I either find a new beta or my old one takes up the job again. I hope you guys enjoy!