Rebuild of Touhou
3.0: A (Bitter) Slice of Life
The largest change that Alice noted was how she never had to clean anymore. Sakuya always seemed to be one step ahead of her; Alice would always awaken to find the house spotless, even if Sakuya had been apparently sleeping the whole night. Alice wondered if this had anything to do with the maid's uniform- perhaps Sakuya had been formally employed as a cleaning lady once before and maintained those habits up to her current position. Alice found it disconcerting at first; but eventually grew to like the free time it afforded her. She had much free time; nothing of significance had occurred since the duel with Rumia. So Alice spent most of her idle time watching television; something she had lacked in her old home.
The TV now blared in the background while Alice prepared dinner for Sakuya and herself. She turned on the stove in one corner of the main room, poured broth into a large pot; the only pot that Alice could find in the house.
"The one who carried out that murder might be someone who faked their own death by using a fake corpse." Alice groped about the side of the stove and came up with a clean cutting knife. She cut up a day's worth of vegetables and meat and slid everything into the stew. "They pointed them in a clockwise manner and blasted each others faces at the same time!" Alice set the lid onto her concoction and turned to the TV while she waited for the food to cook. "After that, Maria grabbed the guns and hid them!"
"I wonder if anybody here watches this series?" Sakuya had little interest in television; and was gone for most of the day anyways. Alice had yet to see other children of her age; though admittedly she was not going to find them if she stayed around the house all day. Alice was considering asking Sakuya for permission to go outside of the house in her spare time when the lock clicked. Sakuya stepped through the door; bearing a thick manilla envelope. "Miss Izayoi, you're home surprisingly early."
"Yes, I've been spending the past few days trying to sort out our situation with you."
"Really? Is that what this has all been about?" Alice bowed her head; slightly worried as she apologized, "I'm sorry if I've been a bother to you Miss Izayoi-"
"-Sakuya." The BIRD agent interrupted with slight exasperation. Her tone mellowed as she spoke further, "No need to apologize, I couldn't keep you if I didn't go. And I would rather have you stay." Alice looked up and smiled appreciatively. "Of course; I've grown fond of you as well you know. Anyways Alice, your stay here will be smooth; but you must agree to several conditions." Sakuya seated herself on the kotatsu and gestured for Alice to follow suit. Alice did so, and Sakuya placed the packet before her. "These are forms you'll need to sign."
"Of course." Alice pulled the papers out of the envelope and began to look through them as Sakuya spoke:
"Liability forms, all that standard affair," Sakuya flatly said as she pointed out a thick portion of the stack. "Just sign where it asks for you; otherwise leave it to me." Alice inclined her head and began to flick through the papers; occasionally scribbling down her name when it was indicated that she needed to do so. "We also discussed a curfew; you can wander off on your own but you have to be back by nine and be present at the Shrine Pyramid whenever we need you for testing. Obviously, you'll also need to be attending school." Alice didn't immediately respond; rather finishing the stack and setting it aside before responding:
"School?" Alice had never attended school in her life- everything she knew was sourced from the extensive library that her home had once possessed. Alice assumed that such measures were enough; she hadn't ever planed on joining BIRD. Now Alice wondered what school would be like. "Is that mandatory then?" Sakuya nodded. "Why was I let off-"
"Your mother didn't add you to our official register," Sakuya admitted. "Don't ask me why; I don't know." Alice hesitated for a moment; then shrugged. Tenshi was the least of her worries at this point.
"So what exactly is school supposed to be like?"
"It depends on how well you absorb knowledge. But between us," Sakuya leaned in and whispered in a mock confidential tone, "The real reason you go is to make friends with others like you. I met Patchouli and Yumemi in high school." Alice murmured in surprise. "And I believe that Iku was Tenshi's university teacher- though why they every befriended one another is beyond me." Alice grinned at this, Sakuya chuckled slightly. "School is worth it for that reason alone; believe me."
"Of course, Miss Izayoi." Sakuya nodded; before she caught a whiff of something. She inhaled deeply and noted the smell of a thick broth boiling. "I think dinner is ready." They ate; talked over a tentative schedule of times Alice would be needed on site at the Shine Pyramid. The first would be the next day, immediately following her first day of school. Alice went to sleep that night with butterflies fluttering their way through her stomach.
When she awoke the next morning Alice was still nervous about how schooling would play out. Sakuya had left early; so she was to prepare and head out on her own. They didn't have the time to purchase any school supplies; Alice would explain that to her teacher today and pick them up on her way home. Alice bathed, dressed herself in her standard garb; the school hadn't the resources for a school uniform. At 8 exactly she exited the house; closed the door and locked it behind her with Sakuya's spare key. Then she set off.
The school was a significant distance away, at the base of the Shrine Pyramid; so Alice had a significant portion of the city to pass. As she walked she noted how quiet and empty the city seemed in the mornings. Alice assumed it had something to do with most of the workers being in Human Town-2; but it was still disconcerting to see the markets and storefronts deserted, awaiting the night for they would finally open to the returning workers and nightlife. The streets were deserted; the walkways silent. After half an hour of walking, Alice finally drew close to the school; noting how she could hear noise once more. Laughter and general commotion. Hakurei High School.
It was a surprisingly small building for servicing the entire town; only one story and not even a block wide. A crowd of girls, most taller and more imposing than her; streamed into the building, talking amongst themselves. Alice glanced at herself; she had never realized just how petite she was for her age. Trying to look inconspicuous, bowing her head to effect; she joined the stream of students pouring into the building. A few glanced at her; most just walked past without a notice. So far, so good.
Alice had neared the main door when somebody finally called out to her. She hesitated; waited. The voice, loud and boisterous; called again. Alice slowly turned to appraise the girl trying to catch her attention. She had thick hair of some shade of red; a green dress and a military beret. Beside her was a blue haired girl in a pink dress and cap shaded by a parasol. She had unusually large wings protruding from her back; a vampire then. Alice blinked; the redhead nodded to her.
"Hey! Are you new?" Alice gave a curt nod. "Alright then! The name's Hong Meiling; I go by China through." Alice dodged around a group of rowdy girls between them and drew up next to the two reaching out to her. "This one next to me is Remilia Scarlet." Alice nodded at Remilia; she grunted in response. "Sorry about her; she's a bit pissed due to some recent family troubles."
"A bit pissed about my sister getting hospitalized; yeah I think I would be..." Remilia muttured under her breath. Hong tutted slightly and shook her head at the vampiress.
"Hey now, we're trying to be hospitable to the new girl!" Remilia shrugged and began to walk into the building without a word. Hong looked after her for a moment before apologizing to Alice, "She's not normally like this. Just all worked up over the injury of her little sister during that whole debacle last week." Alice solemnly nodded; Hong echoed the sentiment. "Bad business that; but it's best to not talk about it. I'm afraid I didn't catch your name?"
"Alice Morichika, Miss Meiling."
"Feel free to call me China, Alice." The deep tone of an alarm sounded, klaxon-like; behind them. "Oh! There's the bell- come on Alice; or we'll be late!" Alice nodded and before she could do anything else; Hong took a grasp of her arm and began to run Alice through the halls. Alice dully noted that Hong had a pretty strong grip for someone of her age. "Are you in eighth grade?" Alice grunted in affirmation. "Then you're with us!" Hong and Alice turned a corner and burst into the nearest door. "Miss Kamishirasawa, sorry we're la-" And then the rest of her sentence was cut short by the head of an airborne white haired teacher. She had seemingly been expecting them; and had deigned to headbutt Hong the moment she entered. The teacher alighted lightly and stood over Hong; stern visage focused fully onto the pair of them.
"Miss Meiling, I'm sure I don't have to remind you of the punishment for tardiness to my classroom?" Hong feebly groaned. "And- well, hello!" Kamishirasawa had finally noticed Alice. "Are you a new student?" Alice nodded timidly. "Well hello then! I am Keine Kamishirasawa; I'll be your teacher for this year!" Keine motioned for Alice to come forward; she took a tentative step over the still stirring Hong and found herself face to face with the teacher. "Consider that display your warning," Miss Kamishirasawa muttered ominously. Her voice lightened considerably as she stepped aside, "Well then, step in. Go on, don't be shy!" Alice helped Hong to her feet and they stepped past Keine and into the classroom.
The room was small; thirty or so students had been packed with some degree of crowding into the space available. The walls were bare; the desks plain. Everyone's head turned to consider Alice at once; Alice shied away from their gazes and slid into the nearest unoccupied desk. Hong nodded at her before taking her desk; Alice grimaced slightly when she realized that she had picked a seat on the opposite side of the room from Hong. Hong seated herself next to Remilia; caught Alice's eye and silently mouthed:
"She can't take the sun, being a vampire and all." Hong shrugged apologetically; Alice nodded. She had chosen a window seat and the sun warmed her side even as she realized the implications of her choice. Miss Kamishirasawa shut the door; then took her place in the front of the classroom.
"My only formal announcement is that BIRD is looking for interns in it's training programs. But I'm sure that anyone who wants to be in BIRD has already taken care of that long in advance." A few students murmured in response. "Of more immediate concern is that we have a new student! Miss, would you feel free to approach the front of the classroom?" Alice motioned to herself; Keine nodded. Alice inclined her head and pulled herself from her seat. As she shuffled to the front of the class she felt the weight of the student's stares upon her once more. When she reached the front Keine gestured. "Then go ahead and tell us about yourself."
"Erm..." Alice bit her lip; she couldn't think of anything to tell her peers. "My name is Alice Morichika..." Alice searched for something else to say; she still couldn't come up with anything. The seconds passed slowly; Alice became aware of a bead of sweat that was working it's way down the nape of her neck. She shifted about uncomfortably; opened her mouth then shut it again. Keine silently watched her for a minute before intervening:
"Well, if that's all Miss Morichika-"
"I have a question, if you don't mind Miss Kamishirasawa." Alice perked up at that voice; something about it was familiar.
"Miss Melancholy? Well, go ahead then." Alice raised her eyebrows at this. Medicine was attending this school? A quick survey of the crowd of students affirmed the thought; Medicine was sitting amongst the back rock in her civilian clothing. Her hand was raised, her eyes staring directly at Alice. Their gazes met; Alice mouthed a thanks for the quick thinking, Medicine gave a curt nod before continuing:
"This is a rumor I heard around town yesterday; is it true that you have something to do with BIRD?" The students suddenly began to pay attention at this. Remilia, who had been nodding off at her seat; suddenly looked up when she heard 'BIRD'. Alice nodded slightly; the crowd of assembled students began to whisper among themselves. Alice looked to Medicine for permission to go further; Medicine shrugged.
"Yes, well." Alice tried to think of a way to say what she was without coming off as conceited. "I operate Shanghai- though I'm still new at it." The congregation of students erupted at this; eyebrows raised, questions were asked. Alice soon found herself amongst a deluge of students trying to talk to her. Questions pelted her from left and right:
"How does it feel?"
"Is it difficult? Do you need to be smart or something like that?"
"So you were the one who got your ass kicked last week?"
Alice was wonderfully surprised by the sudden interest that her position garnered her. Being sure to give thanks where it was due, Alice craned her head over the crowd of students and just barely managed to catch a glimpse of Medicine. She waited for the doll to notice; when she did Alice gave her a thumbs up from over the heads of the crowd. Medicine smiled deviously and turned away once more. With that done, Alice began to eargerly answer the questions being sent at her.
"Who would have guessed that Alice was the pilot? Eh, Remilia?" Hong crossed her arms and considered the scene with a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "I'm sure she'll never want for a friend now- Remilia?" Hong turned to Remilia; who had been silently glaring at Alice since the announcement of her being a pilot. "Remilia?" Hong snapped a finger in Remilia's face. Remilia suddenly glanced at Hong; gave her a curt nod before turning back to Alice. Hong's tone grew serious as it dawned upon her, "Remilia, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking; are you?"
"Oh no China. I'm just thinking that we invite Alice outside for lunch..."
Gensokyo stretched before her in it's full beauty from the heights of Youkai Mountain. Second Impact had not taken away the lushness of the land; the beautiful diversity that clashed magnificently and created a maelstrom of color that Tenshi found simply breathtaking. Tenshi closed her eyes slightly; felt the caress of a cool mountain breeze on her arm. She remembered back when she had been a Celestial; how such pleasures had come to her without thought. It still surprised her when she realized that she treasured such things that she would have once given no second thought. And then her ruminations were interrupted by a loud crash behind her. Tenshi turned to the source of the din; irritated, and shouted:
"I was having a moment; and I'd like to thank whoever was so kind as to ruin it for me!" The workers payed her little heed; if they could hear her through their hard hats, anyways. They were busily picking through the ruins of what had once been a shrine; intent on finding something of great importance to BIRD. Tenshi tutted to herself and turned to consider the sight once more. And turned straight into Rinnosuke.
"I apologize for that Tenshi. You can leave now if you wish." Rinnosuke smiled warmly; Tenshi flushed and muttered a decline. It had been four years give or take since the day the two of them had met in the Scarlet Mansion. Tenshi was still mystified by her falling head over heels for the director of BIRD; though to her credit she had managed to play it relatively cool and had slowly worked her way into Rinnosuke's confidence. They were tentatively dating now; though they had yet to tell anybody and largely kept up the guise of having a cordial friendship in the office. Only Iku was close enough to either of them to figure it out; she treated the affair with neutrality.
"It is beautiful; isn't it?" Tenshi indicated the vista.
"Of course. Many things in this world are beautiful; including you of course." Tenshi chuckled at this, playfully struck Rinnosuke in the side as she cheerfully retorted:
"Cheesy line if I ever heard one. That was your just punishment." Tenshi sighed and looked once more into the distance. "It's ironic really; I enjoy stuff like this more ever since Second Impact hit- even though I have less time to do so."
"Dangerous times bring out traits you never imagined you possessed." Rinnosuke also turned to face the landscape that unfolded before them. "Iku tells me that you were a pretty big jerk before we met." Tenshi scowled at this, darkly muttered under her breath:
"I'm going to kill Miss Nagae when we get back to base." Rinnosuke laughed heartily; put a hand on Tenshi's shoulder. They remained silent in that position for a while, contemplating the beautiful sight. Finally Rinnosuke broke the contact and turned back to the site where they were still picking through the shrine rubble.
"I think we should get over there and find out their progress so far." Tenshi nodded slowly; she was still mellowed from the moment that they had shared. They approached the site; moving at a leisurely pace and chatting as they did so. Rinnsouke idly inquired of Tenshi, "You mentioned earlier that you lived on this mountain before; correct?"
"Yeah, back when I was a Celestial. Our own parcel of heaven was Bhava-Agra; and yes I was a bit of a prick during those days." Tenshi closed her eyes; trying to remember. "Miss Nagae would visit me from time to time and teach me stuff; or try to anyways, since I kept ignoring her and doing my own thing until I eventually warmed up to her." Tenshi smiled as she recalled more. "Miss Nagae was always pissed off at me back then; I think the only reason she put up with me was because she was on good terms with my far more amicable parents." Rinnosuke grinned as they continued to walk onwards. "So what about you- you owned a shop or something similar, right?"
"My own little shop of curios supplied with stuff from the outside." Tenshi nodded; suddenly spoke up when she realized something:
"I suppose that would explain why you know so much about outside technology and how to make it work in our world?" Rinnosuke nodded, began with a bit of a swagger:
"None of you guys would know what you're doing if it weren't for me. Not trying to sound like a braggart there but well..." Rinnosuke paused; looked for the right words. "It's true." They both chuckled at this. "Only other person with enough knowledge to compete with me is Rikako; which is why I assigned her as our head scientist."
"How is Miss Asakura; anyways?" Rikako mostly worked from home nowadays; with her child of four years to deal with. "From what I've heard; both the child and herself are doing well." Rinnosuke nodded and elaborated:
"Yes, she decided on the name of 'Patchouli Knowledge'. The child is already showing fast learning and developmental skills for her age; though she also seems to be a bit sickly." Tenshi groaned in sympathy. "Yes, it's quite unfortunate but there isn't much we can do. Rikako said that once the child is old enough; she will be bringing her around to the office and working from there again."
"That's a strange decision." Tenshi wondered why Rikako would be willing to do that when she could work just as well from home.
"Try to put yourself in Rikako's shoes Tenshi. She loves science, loves her job. I'm sure she's itching to go back and is only holding back for the sake of her child." Tenshi grunted at this; she still felt it a bit of a slight against the child. "To each their own Tenshi. If Rikako wishes to do that; we should fully support her." Tenshi reluctantly nodded; they finally meandered onto the site where the women were working and Rinnosuke approached one of the workers at random. "Has the piece been found yet?" The girl; with antenna sticking out of her green hair and dressed in the plain garments of a BIRD worker, turned to address him:
"No sir, we have yet to locate the piece."
"The piece?" As the worker returned to her duty; Tenshi addressed Rinnosuke. "What exactly are we here for?"
"That's a secret." Rinnosuke. "Just a little mess we need to clean up." Tenshi raised an eyebrow slightly; but said nothing. Rinnsouke shrugged and then mentioned, "I suppose I can give you a bit of backstory; I just need to keep it ambiguous." Tenshi nodded to signify her agreement. "If that's the case; follow me. This is the sort of thing the workers don't need to hear." Rinnosuke took a hold of Tenshi's arm and led her over to the base of a large tree that hung over the rubble of the shrine.
"If you're going this far; obviously this must be important." Tenshi rolled her eyes slightly and leaned herself against the tree. Rinnosuke put a palm against the tree and casually slouched towards Tenshi as he whispered confidentially:
"It is, believe me." Tenshi slid back somewhat; feeling a bit flustered in their current position. "Now, have you studied mythology during your time as a rambunctious young girl?"
"Miss Nagae tried her best to give me some instruction in that regard. Now, being who I was back then I wouldn't know how much of it I can recall." Rinnosuke nodded, began to elaborate:
"I suppose a refresher course would probably be in order then. 'Outside' Nordic mythology has the tale of the Midgard Serpent: Jörmungandr. Serpent son of Loki who grew large enough to engulf the world by biting on his own tale. One of the events heralding Ragnarök; the end and renewal of the world in their myths." Tenshi nodded; Rinnosuke continued, "Now, the idea here is that Jörmungandr is both something that held the world together and would be instrumental to it's destruction. Much in the same way, what we seek is instrumental to our continued survival- and our untimely demise."
"So we are seeking the key to our own destruction?"
"Something like that; yes."
"Pretty dumb idea if you ask me." Tenshi gestured towards the shrine ruins. "If what's in there is really is horribly powerful as you claim; I wouldn't even treat it with kid gloves- I'd be miles away with a secured perimeter around it at all times."
"But remember that the object we are recovering is also the key to our salvation." Rinnosuke suddenly murmured to himself as something occurred to him. "You weren't one of the ones debriefed on what occurred here, were you?" Tenshi shook her head; suddenly feeling that she would dread the answer. "This rubble was where Second Impact occurred; putting it simply." Tenshi's mouth widened along with her eyes this time; she then realized that the area had felt different from others. The air here was slightly alive; crackling as if teeming with latent energy. It made her hairs stand on end; Tenshi shuddered involuntarily and shirked away from the tree.
"Four years have passed- little of the destructive power remains," Rinnosuke pointed out with a grin apparent on his face.
"Yeah, but it's still a bit of a frightening thought you know." Rinnosuke shrugged.
"If you say so. Now, there is nothing more I can tell you- oh!" Rinnosuke stepped past Tenshi and up to that insect-like youkai worker; who had run up to them amidst a sudden outburst from her fellow workers. "Has it been found?" The worker only nodded; she led the lot of them back to the ruined building. Here the workers were clearing a section of wall from a fallen fixture. As they did so and lifted it up; Tenshi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sight. The workers were hauling a large rope fixture into a standing position; with coils of white paper falling from it's sides as they set it in place with readied weights. The paper tassels fluttered in the mountain breeze; the fixture stood at least the height of two full sized men.
"What is it?" The timid voice of the youkai worker spoke here.
"That is confidential. But that, on the other hand is not." Rinnosuke indicated a small wooden block being pulled from the cleared space where the rope ring had once stood. From this distance Tenshi saw that trigrams had been engraved into one side. "The Hakkero; or Jörmungandr in other words."
At this Tenshi awoke; her eyes jolting open with one last fleeting vision of the Hakkero. She felt around her; determined that she was lying alone in her bed and that it was 11 in the morning. Of course, she was back in the present. Tenshi rubbed lightly at her eyes and pulled herself out of her bed; wondering what had brought her to recall this particular memory. It had been roughly 22 years ago since that moment; and Tenshi tried her hardest not to remember the happiness of her past. Pushing it from her mind; Tenshi prepared herself for work as she always did. A knock at her bedroom door; Tenshi grunted to signify freedom to enter. Iku entered as Tenshi was donning her signature hat.
"They wanted me to tell you that it's almost time for the meeting." Tenshi nodded curtly. "Also, breaking news from CAT leadership." Tenshi groaned as she made minute adjustments to the alignment of her hat.
"That sounds very encouraging."
"Oh don't worry Tenshi," Iku dryly remarked. "The part that you won't like isn't on the table- yet."
Alice staggered back under the blow; grunted as she felt the explosion of pain emanate from her cheek. She fell backwards onto cold, hard pavement; immediately scrambled up to a sitting position to evaluate what had just occurred. Remilia stood over her; one fist still balled up with a dark look in her eyes. Hong stood behind her; a hand clasped loosely over her mouth as she watched events unfold and kept the parasol over Remilia's head. Alice felt something warm in her mouth; with her tongue she confirmed that she was bleeding from the mouth. Remilia continued to look quietly at Alice.
"I think that's enough. Come on China." Remilia gestured for the pair of them to go. Alice slowly drew up; keeping a weary eye on the vampiress as she did so. A hand rubbed at her still tender cheek; Alice spat out bloody spittle and shuddered in disgust. Remilia snorted condescendingly and began to walk away; China handing the parasol over and hanging behind.
"China?"
"Just going to make sure that she's okay Remilia." Remilia shrugged noncommittally and she moved away from them. Hong waited until she was out of earshot before turning to Alice. "Sorry about that. Are you okay?" Alice nodded slowly; winced when Hong put a hand lightly onto her shoulder. "You sure?" Alice nodded insistently; moved under Hong's arm and began to dust herself off with forced nonchalance.
"I don't mind the violence." Alice kept her voice level. "What I want to know is why Miss Scarlet went to the trouble of hurting me."
"Her sister Flandre was hurt in that battle last week. I think she's pinning the blame for it onto you- since you were the pilot of Shanghai." Alice felt her heart sink at this; she had been wondering who that injured girl Tenshi had mentioned in passing had been. Now she could recall that the victim had been identified as a 'Flandre Scarlet'.
"I'm sorry." Alice couldn't think of anything more to say; figured that it would be best to keep quiet. Hong waved it off.
"It's nothing. Anyways, I think we should get back to class now. Best we go seperately; after that display I think Remilia will be on my case if she sees me with you." Alice nodded; Hong ran off after Remilia, who had long since disappeared around a street corner. They had brought Alice out of sight of the school under the guise of eating lunch together. Alice felt the blood welling up in her mouth and spat it out again. Obviously, she had made a poor judgment call in believing them. Hong seemed to be genuinely concerned; at least. Alice stood there for a minute in a reverie; before shaking herself out of it and making the trek back to school.
"Welcome to class Alice," Miss Kamishirasawa greeted her as she entered. The bell rung just as she entered. "So you're just on time as well. Good, I don't need to hurt... you..." Keine trailed off as she saw the condition that Alice was in. "Miss Morichika? Are you okay?" Alice nodded. "Thats a nasty bruise you've got on your cheek; are you sure we shouldn't send you to the nurse?" Keine sounded genuinely concerned; Alice waved her offer away and took her seat. "Erm well... Let's continue with our discussion of Gensokyo history..." As she began to lecture Alice looked back and caught Medicine's eye.
"Anything you need help with?" Medicine mouthed the question silently; held up a strong fist to emphasize the point. Alice gave a slight shake of her head; she didn't feel like retaliating against Remilia. Such an action would probably only cause more trouble. Medicine nodded and turned back to the teacher; Alice following suit.
"The organization of BIRD actually existed before Second Impact; accounts of it's existence back then say that it was an organization dedicated to the study of 'Outside' technology." Alice had no supplies to take notes; she figured she would get the supplies and copy them off Medicine or Hong tomorrow. "This would consequently explain why they were in a position to modernize Gensokyo following the failing of all magic after Second Impact..." Alice found that the hours in school melded into one another; and soon she found that it was 4 in the afternoon and that they had been dismissed.
Alice made her way to a small store that Sakuya had outlined to her on a map of Human Town-3. She made her necessary purchases and continued her walk home carrying a plastic bag crammed with school supplies. She made her way to Sakuya's apartment; when there she set the supplies aside and started on her assignments. It was 6 in the afternoon when Sakuya came home.
"You're early Miss Izayoi." Alice looked up; then froze. Something was wrong.
"Alice. An Angel is incoming."
"The youkai has been identified as Lily White; former fairy who heralded the coming of spring." Patchouli entered a model of the Angel into their screen; a blonde girl in a pinkish princess like costume appeared on the screen. Various bullets identified her as having extremely impressive energy available to her. "This will have to be a battle of attrition- from what we can tell; the Angel has no Spell Cards, thus it has no weak points to attack. She also has strong magic; so destroying her through constant attacks will be difficult as well. She won't be taken down easily." Patchouli grunted; slammed a fist on the control board. "I haven't had the time to upgrade Shanghai yet- without that time increasing upgrade this fight is going to be dangerously close."
"We have little choice." From the command booth, Iku's voice boomed throughout the control room. Tenshi was still in the middle of discussions with CAT and Iku had taken over command as a result."The angel is due to contact Human Town-3 in 10 minutes- we must engage immediately. Is the 1st Children ready yet?"
"Sakuya brought her to the launch room; we are waiting on her to give us approval to go." Patchouli brought up a new screen. "Video feed on the Angel confirmed." A camera view of the Angel slowly approaching popped up. She walked the same footpath that Rumia had been killed on just a week ago. As they spoke; Lily actually walked through the area where Rumia had been killed, still marked by a telltale crater beside the only recently repaired pathway. The nuclear symbol that the Angels apparently shared glowered brightly through her loosely hanging bangs. A click from the communicator; then Sakuya's voice:
"Alice is set up and ready. Waiting on you to launch." Patchouli picked up her own communicator and responded:
"Copy. Rika, Natori, Koakuma. Run through diagnostics and ensure that we are ready for engagement." The three young girls who had been assigned to aid her in the control room nodded and began scrolling through various menus and screens.
"Everything checks out madame." The demoness Koakuma spoke here. Patchouli nodded in acknowledgment and gave the order:
"Launch."
Remilia and Hong were outside the metal gate of the city; staring into the distance at the approaching Angel. The brilliance of her symbol was such that even from this far of a distance; the pair of them could see it glowering at them. Remilia tried to get a closer glimpse at the former youkai; shuddered when she realized that it's eyes were more or less focused on them. What they were doing out of the safety of the city was beyond her; she turned to Hong and began to protest:
"What the hell are we doing here?" Remilia tried to pull Hong closer; Hong sliped around her grasp. "There's a freaking Angel who could brutally slaughter us approaching!" Hong waved her off as she stared at the top of the dome:
"I wanna see Alice in action! I was so pissed when I was cramped into that shelter last week- I want to see the action personally!" Hong sounded extremely exited; Remilia rolled her eyes. Hong had a bit of a fetish for combat and all things related to it; though it had yet to get them into trouble. Remilia made a move for Hong; managed to get a forceful grasp on her arm. She was wheeling them into the city despite Hong's protests.
"Really China, I didn't think you could be this..." Remilia froze as a hum sounded from the metal gateway into Human Town-3. A second later; the purple shield slid around the gate and into the space that had once been open; sealing the city off from the outside. Remilia dropped off in a horrified manner, "...dumb." They stood there for a moment in silence. "China... you're a moron." Remilia walked up to the shielded door and began to uselessly palm at it.
"Don't worry," Hong said with more than a hint of worry staining her somewhat overly breezy tone. "I'm sure Alice will be sent out and that we'll be safe!"
"Safe- yeah right," Remilia grunted as she continued to strike at the shield; shouting and drawing back when a globule of energy separated from the shield and nearly struck her across the face. "I'm sure that the girl who got my sister into the hospital can save us- China!" Hong had sprung at Remilia when Lily had suddenly begun launching flurries of bullets at them. They were poorly aimed; from this distance most of them spread out and dissipated into the shield, but enough were fired so as to force the two girls to start moving. Hong dragged Remilia along the contour of the shield as bullets whizzed around them; Remilia cursing as they ran along. "I knew this wasn't going to end well; I knew it! China, did you forget that I have wings?" Hong froze, tightened her hold on Remilia's waist. Remilia began to fly; slowly and jerkily they began to make their way up.
"Are you sure you can fly us?"
"Yeah, there should be a hill or something that we can get on," Remilia responded with a constricted voice; already she was growing tired of carrying the both of them. "Just a bit more and we'll be safe-" The rest of her reassurance was cut off by a bullet slamming into the shield behind them. The force sent them rebounding; Remilia couldn't adjust for the sudden shift and they began to fall to earth. They both screamed; bounced off the ground and rolled to rest up against the shield.
Lily was approaching faster now; they could make out her clothes and facial features, all of which were seemingly fixated on them. Hong and Remilia scrambled to their feet and began to run once more; Lily following them with her inexorable gaze. More bullets were fired; Hong and Remilia dodged them with difficulty and continued to flee.
"I blame you for this China! If we die-" Remilia tried to move her wings; found them unresponsive. "-If we die; I am going to haunt you from hell!"
"I'm sorry Remilia!" Hong tried her sincere hardest to apologize as best she could with a monster hunting them down. "I didn't mean to get you involved into this and- hey, it's Alice!" Hong pointed a finger at the top of the dome; with a glance Remilia was able to confirm that Alice had indeed somehow alighted on top of the shield.
Alice from her vantage point looked down and saw the Angel firing bullets at some moving group. She raised an eyebrow; wondering who could get outside given that the city was on alert. Keeping a hand on Shanghai's controls, Alice squinted to catch a better glimpse of those running from the Angel. From where she was, she made out bat like wings protruding from one of the girl's backs. The realization then hit her:
"Miss Scarlet! Miss Meiling!" Almost immediately Alice sprung into action; jumping down and sliding along the contour of the shield's dome as quickly as she could reasonably go. She aligned herself to land at a spot before them; silently prayed that they weren't harmed in anyway. Shanghai tensed itself; joints clicked as they braced to spring into action. She was at the edge now; directly over the heads of the two running girls. Shanghai flew; Alice flew with it and they soared into the sky, momentum carrying them between Hong and Remilia and Lily. They landed; Shanghai pulled a gun from it's belt and fired a hail of bullets at Lily, who dodged them with ease.
"What the hell are you two doing out here?" Alice managed to shout over the sound of Shanghai's emulator firing.
"Blame China!" Remilia shot a dirty glance at Hong; who nodded apologetically. Remilia felt a bit awkward now that Alice had appeared; she had begun to regret having thrown a punch at Alice, and only felt worse now that Alice was saving their lives. "Listen Alice, I have to say that-"
"No time!" Alice shouted; Shanghai's emulator had run out of power. With a groan she threw it aside; began to retreat as Lily responded in kind with her own hail of bullets. "Stay behind me; please!" Hong and Remilia almost immediately complied and piled themselves as best as they could behind Alice's back; peering from their position at the batlle unfolding before them. Alice was thrashing the marionette's controls about; Shanghai was trying to close the distance to use it's razor but it's string didn't have enough range.
"Alice!" Sakuya shouted through the communicator. "Lily's bullet hail is getting thicker- we think she's just toying with you!"
"That's a nice thought!" Alice shouted sarcastically. "What the hell should I do now?"
"Keep falling back, we'll think of something!" Alice complied and used her leg to get Hong and Remilia inching backwards. Using Shanghai to bounce back any bullets that happened to stray too close to them; she kept the distance between Lily and themselves enough so as to prevent them from being overwhelmed by the increasingly large walls of bullets that Lily was firing now. "Anything yet?"
"We're still working on it!"
"Well try to hurry it up! This is getting difficult to keep up!" The bullet's speed and frequency just continued to rise; where Shanghai was only deflecting the occasionally well-aimed bullet it now had to constantly bounce bullets away with it's razor.
"Two minutes operation time left!" The voice of a young girl sounded over the commlink.
"You heard Rika, we need to get a solution here ASAP! Patchy, do you have anything?" Sakuya sounded stressed; and it was understandable given the pressure that all parties were now under.
"Nothing- we've got no weapons left that will kill the Angel without exposing Shanghai to destruction."
"So it's up to me?" Sakuya groaned as she thought.
"No; it's actually up to me." Iku spoke up now; from her position as deputy commander she had such authority. "For now we must consider Lily unbeatable and retreat. We will consolidate our resources and think of another attack plan." Various protests were raised up at this; Iku cut through them sharply, "No arguments. We have little option in the matter- the Angel will destroy us if we don't fall back. The shields will hold while we lick our wounds." Slowly, a grudging agreement came from the BIRD staff.
"Okay then," Sakuya grunted into the communicator. "Alice, did you catch that? Alice?" The pilot was unresponsive. When they brought up the screen; they found that Alice was intently surveying the battlefield and seemed to have ignored the command. "Alice? Alice. We're ordering you to retreat." Hong picked up on the conversation and decided that it would be best to relay the message on to Alice. She timidly touched Alice's shoulder and cautiously explained:
"Alice... you're under orders to retreat." Alice remained unresponsive; only barely even responding to the now thick hail of bullets that sped around them. Hong tapped harder; more insistently. "Alice, we've got to go!"
"One minute and counting!" Rika cautioned as she read the magic levels of the doll.
"Alice, please. We've got to pull back." Sakuya firmly commanded through the communicator. Alice only cocked her head slightly. "Alice, what are you-?" Sakuya questioned with a hint of uneasiness. And then Alice sprung into action.
Shanghai drew it's razor; Alice used a strong foot to drive Remilia and Hong backwards and down onto the ground. She began to run towards Lily; keeping Shanghai before her and using it to cut through the bullet hail.
"What are you doing?" Sakuya actually slammed her palms onto the control panels; shouted at Alice. "Get back!"
Alice ignored the command and jumped; Shanghai followed suit and they soared towards the Angel. Lily responded with a stream of bullets; with Alice closer they were more focused and they sped by her, in extremely dangerous proximity at times. Remilia and Hong shouted from their postion for Alice to stop; the command team did the same. Alice ignored all of them; a confident grin growing wide on her face as she flew through the air.
"Thirty seconds!"
Alice used her free hand to pull a personal emulator from her pocket; it was smaller than Shanghai's issued gun and only held 8 rounds. Despite herself she let out a battle cry; felt adrenaline rushing as she reveled in the audacity and risk of her hastily improvised plan. She could see the whites of Lily's eyes now; the glean of each individual bullet as it was formed in the Angel's hands. One was forming now; as time slowed due to her rush she could tell that it was aimed directly at her. The bullet was completed. Shanghai began to ready it's razor. Lily drew back to let the bullet fly. And then Shanghai hit.
The razor stabbed through Lily's head; blood streamed from the wound as Shanghai used the Angel's head as a platform to jump off and pull it's own blade out of the Angel's head. Lily staggered; the bullet faded out of it's hands. But it was still alive.
"Ten seconds!"
"Alice!" Sakuya shouted over the communicator.
Alice responded by hitting the safety switch on her personal emulator and releasing seven of the eight bullets; encased in little capsules they fell to earth. One fell straight into the gaping wound that Shanghai's blade had left, where it lodged and glinted for all to see. Alice turned her gun with it's final bullet remaining at Lily. She fired. And missed. But then the bullet hit another of the capsules she had released as it expanded in it's flight. This set that bullet off; it expanded. And that set the next bullet off. And so on until every bullet had been activated. Including the one lodged in Lily's head.
Alice landed on the ground with less grace than she could have hoped for; shut down Shanghai's controls with little less than three seconds remaining and the entire control team breathed a sigh of relief. And then they evaluated the battle scene. And then they broke into cheering.
Lily had been essentially beheaded by Alice's daring action; her head having been vaporized by the expansion of the bullet. The corpse remained in place; frozen stock still with it's arm still pointed up as if to fire one last bullet into the sky. But the Angel Lily breathed no more. The cheering from the control room couldn't have been louder.
"Alice! By the gods, you did it!" Sakuya laughed with little restraint; releasing the stress she had just experienced in mirth. Patchouli glanced at her with a bit of incredulity, but shrugged and leaned back in her chair; also somewhat tense from the close call they had just had. The three young girls helping her were personally congratulating Alice; who's cocky grin couldn't have been wider. Hong and Remilia had also looked up; once they had realized that the battle was over, they had made their way over to Alice and were congratulating her.
"Nice one!" Hong put a strong hand on Alice's shoulder; smiled at her. "And of course; we owe you our lives."
"Yes, well..." Alice's smile remained even as she tried to play down her own role and seem modest. "I'm sure it wasn't that big of a deal." Sakuya was still laughing as she responded:
"Not a big deal? That was the best performance we've ever seen from a pilot- especially considering that you're so new." Sakuya took a deep breath; managed to get her mirth under restraint. "Yes, you have quite a mind for battle Alice. There's much potential in you... Miss Hiranai!" Alice raised an eyebrow. "Your mother was out during the battle Alice; she's only just returned. Miss Hiranai, the battle went well. Alice here-"
"Save it." Alice's look grew ugly when she heard the nonchalance with which Tenshi spoke. Hong arched an eyebrow; Alice shook her head. "I've got important news; CAT has reached a decision."
"Alice is to be transferred to their base in Human Town-2; effective immediately."