Chapter 4: The Troubled Shikigami
Ran coughed. "Yukari has gone missing. She disappeared in the middle of the night a couple days ago and hasn't returned since. I can't sense her presence anywhere in Gensokyo, and it's starting to worry me." Marisa turned away, having overheard the conversation. So Yukari was a victim too? What does the kidnapper want to do? Marisa thought about it for a few minutes, and then came up with the answer.
She whispered to Alice: "I've figured it out. The one causing the incident is trying to weaken the Gensokyo barrier. Since Reimu and Yukari both have control over the border, it would make sense for the perpetrator to kidnap both of them." Alice considered this new proposal and nodded. "I think this all makes sense, but there is one problem. How strong would they have to be to take out both of them?"
"Probably extremely powerful. We have to be vigilant and find this villain before they succeed." After explaining her thoughts to Patchouli and Sakuya, the four of them let the two tired shikigami in and cared for them. After their guests had rested and bathed, Alice, Marisa, Patchouli, and Sakuya started questioning the two youkai on the disappearance of Yukari.
"So when did Yukari disappear?" Patchouli asked. "Well, it was around two nights ago, if I remember correctly. I went to sleep in the room next to Yukari's, and when I woke up, she was gone." "That's around the same time Reimu disappeared," Alice remarked. "Could this be so that the villain would not have to face the other, as they would be on guard?" "Maybe," Ran replied. "There was evidence of a struggle, which I know because Yukari's bed wasn't made and there were sheets on the ground. I remember collapsing on my knees after I had found one of Yukari's hair ribbons lying about. I could sense the grief and struggle my master faced in that room."
The four were thoroughly convinced. "Could it be all part of a plan to destroy the barrier?" Sakuya asked. "I think it's unlikely, but the evidence does point towards this being the master plan." Patchouli responded. Ran nodded. "I know my master Yukari has great control over that barrier. If one were to weaken Yukari and Reimu enough, someone could destroy the barrier completely." It was a ghastly thought, the thought of having no barrier to separate Gensokyo from the outside world. Marisa slammed the table in frustration. "If we don't know the perpetrator, this event could happen very soon! We need to get to work finding leads and clues, and…" Marisa broke down again. "I-It's just frightening, ya know? If only I had…" Marisa calmed herself and sighed. There had to be a way to solve this. After the questioning, Ran took her own shikigami, Chen the nekomata, to bed. Sakuya noticed and directed Marisa and Alice. "You two should go to sleep as well. It's going to be a tedious day tomorrow, you know?"
Alice nodded. "Thank you." Alice dragged a thoughtful Marisa to bed. "Just sleep, okay? We'll have the day tomorrow to search for Reimu. Relax. Good night." But as Alice quickly dozed off, tired by the events of the day, Marisa stayed wide awake, fantasizing about the search and dreading what her dreams might bring. Finally, she gave in to exhaustion, hoping for a successful day of searching tomorrow.
That night, Marisa had a dream where she was unable to move, watching the barrier between the outside world and Gensokyo collapse while seeing her dead friends laid on the ground before her. Something moved behind her, but as she turned, she found a knife through her chest, piercing from behind. "Why don't you go join your friends?" A sweet voice crooned. It was then that the young magician woke up. It was the dead of night, and there were crickets chirping in the background. Marisa calmed her heartrate. Calm down, it was just a dream… But the pain… It felt so real… She shook her head, dizzy at the sudden awakening. Some winds blew outside, and Marisa suddenly felt unsafe. She decided to crawl closer to Alice, who was sleeping nearby. Laying her head on the puppeteer, the gentle heartbeats slowly lulled Marisa back to sleep. When Marisa woke up, it was to a confused, drowsy Alice who asked how Marisa had crawled into her futon with her. Marisa, now blushing furiously, quickly evaded the question and ran into Patchouli, who was ascending the stairs to their room.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Patchouli asked. Marisa quickly pushed past the librarian. "Hmm, must be anxious to find Reimu, I guess." At breakfast, the trio continued asking Ran about the disappearance of Yukari. Ran, now pondering the whereabouts of her master, suggested a search of the Yakumo house. "Maybe we could find a clue there," she said. Patchouli then insisted on going, for the possibility of a lead was too great to pass on. Upon arrival at the house, Ran showed them around the premises. But when Ran approached Yukari's door, she knelt down and wept, motioning for the trio to proceed.
As Marisa, Alice, and Patchouli pushed past the remains of tables and torn ribbons on the ground, something caught Alice's eye. "Hey, look over there. I think I see something under the bed." Marisa bent down and picked up the specimen. It was a picture of Reimu and Yukari together, smiling in front of a night-time Gensokyo. The three magicians gathered around the picture. "I never knew about this relationship," Alice commented. Marisa, studying the picture intently, agreed. Patchouli however, quickly found something else of interest. She held up another emptied syringe, found near the doorway. "I think this might be our clue," Patchouli said. "This provides solid evidence that the one who committed these acts has access to the outside world. That greatly limits our suspects."
Marisa nodded. "I'm already thinking…" Alice pointed out, however, that they had no way of travelling to the outside world. "That might limit us, but I'm sure the perpetrator is still in Gensokyo. After all, the barrier hasn't weakened yet," Marisa explained. Suddenly, Patchouli turned. "There's something outside." All fell silent as several scratching noises could be heard against the wall. Alice and Marisa gazed intently at the wall, completely oblivious to the struggling Patchouli behind them. Alice finally noticed and got Marisa to quickly attack the dark figure dragging an unconscious Patchouli along. The dark figure seemingly vanished, but the two were much more preoccupied with reviving the dazed magician. "What happened?" asked Marisa.
"Ugh… Some freak tried to kidnap me… There was this really strange cloth that they had… It smelled like a chemical." Alice linked the pieces of information. "I think that might be the culprit. If we chase now, we could find who it is!" Marisa quickly agreed and took the others on her broom, quickly racing in the direction the figure had gone.
Hello there! Thanks for reading chapter 4 of this story! Don't be afraid to leave a review or comment on anything! And as always, huge thanks for supporting me!