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CHAPTER 4, 1: Brief Hellos and Long Goodbyes

Year 2000

Date Unknown

2:49 Post-meridian

Cat Village, Mayohiga, Gensokyo

The dull monotonous atmosphere suddenly turned into a tense one at the sight of the black speck headed towards Mayohiga at great speeds. Ran continued to stare at the figure that was slowly approaching her and her useless colleague; she began to notice that something was amiss or strange with the flight of the figure, for it gradually kept a steady rhythm of rising and falling in the air. It only seemed that it had trouble keeping itself aloft as it flew. The fox glanced at her partner who was now busy biting his fingernails on his ungloved hand as he too stared at the approaching visitor.

Rook busied himself with his task while pondering possible retorts and witty comebacks he could use if the 'advice' session he's going to have with Yukari goes awry. Every time he thought about it he could remember the images that night he infiltrated the mansion.

Flandre's twisted actions.

Patchouli's words.

Meiling's confusion.

And Remilia's hate.

All of their reactions affected his planning capability quite greatly causing doubt to rear its ugly head at him again as he thought up of another plan.

Maybe going back to the mansion was a bad idea after all…

He has succeeded in delivering the letter as Yukari's representative; however he failed to accomplish his mission as 'Rook', to make the two sisters and the guardian remember. It was his main purpose. His attempt was more or less a success for he has managed to help Flandre remember bits and pieces about her past, the same could be said about Meiling if the needed conditions are met.
The boy bit his nail and tugged a bit too hard for it caused him to draw out blood yet he paid the pain no attention and continued to think harder.

No, this won't do, he thought out angrily, one step at a time, I can't rush my ideas like this for it would cost me greatly, I can't screw up now. I have to make them remember even just a tiny bit of fragments of memories once they arrive. Of course, I can't expect them to recall immediately after we've just met. This whole operation would've been a whole lot easier if not for Grandma Gappy and that Hotheaded Asthmatic Librarian.

Rook cursed under his breath, paying no mind to the figure that was headed.

"Um… Rook, there's probably something wrong with her." said Ran apprehensively, while not taking her eyes off the flying figure.

Rook glanced at her with a questioning expression yet it was obvious that he was distracted by his own thoughts. "Eh?"

A sudden boom made him gaze back at the figure in the sky as it left a faint trail of smoke from its behind. Both human and Kitsune watched as the figure came faster and grew bigger, slowly revealing the distinct shape of a human on a broomstick as it tore through the sky at a rapid speed while sinking lower and lower, losing altitude at an alarming rate.

A normal person would have found the 'human on broomstick' part an absurd sight, however the observers were anything but the outsider's definition of 'normal'.

"She's… " Ran's eyes widened and her tails swayed back and forth in anxiety. "GOING TO CRASH!"

"I can see that" said Rook nonchalantly showing no signs of worry, as if he were watching a very interesting development.

"She's going to crash on us!" specified Ran, glaring at her colleague with mixed worry and anger in her eyes. "Hey!"

"Are you saying that I should do something about it?" snapped Rook with a scowl on his features.

"CATCH HER, YOU MORON!"

"Well, if you haven't noticed, FOR THE LOVE OF YUKARI'S BIKINI SHOTS, I CAN'T FREAKIN FLY, YOU NINE-BALL FOX!"

Ran snarled and grabbed Rook by the back of his neck before he can even protest, and threw him upwards with the use of her youkai strength. "Man up, you hypocrite!"

Rook landed and was sent sprawling at the very top of the Japanese style building he was under a few moments ago. It took a bit of his effort to balance himself on the steep rooftop, so as to prevent himself from falling over on the edge and go splat in the process. He struggled for a few minutes as he was about to have a heart attack finding himself at such a height, but soon found his footing which caused him to relax even for a bit. From the top of the building (about 15 to 20 feet of height) he could see about all of the abandoned houses of Mayohiga, save for some other buildings that were a bit taller than where he was right now. As he glanced below, he found Ran staring at the human bullet that was headed their way, not even caring if Rook somehow fell to his death.

Rook gritted his teeth and thought, I'm going to get her for that… But aloud he called, "I am not- Are you really sure about this?"

"Positive!" replied Ran," You may want to go a little bit higher, maybe you can catch her once she passes overhead!"

Maybe? That doesn't sound reassuring, mirrored the boy's mind. "Are you sure that this is good for my well being as person that can also be friggin hurt and die?" asked Rook, calling with his hands cupped around his mouth. "Wait, why am I doing this again? Why can't you do it yourself!"

"You're the most expendable person available!"

Youkai. Never ever trust them or else you'll find yourself near the very top of a twenty foot tall building and fall…. Thought Rook while looking at his partner below with a disapproving expression.

"Besides…" he heard Ran continue below, as she squinted her eyes to see the figure more clearly, "I can always heal you, you know? You're boundary between life and death is huge! You won't die from just a short fall like that"

Rook was about to state the obvious that he was only human, but Ran beat him to it as if she read his mind. "Thank you, Captain Obvious!" she said sarcastically without even looking at him.

"I didn't even say anything yet! And why don't you go get some haystacks to cushion my fall and prevent any unnecessary-"

"No time, here she comes!" cried Ran cutting off Rook's words.

Rook wasted no time in continuing the argument and immediately cut off the conversation as he broke into a sprint, reaching the foot of a small tower above the roof. When he finally reached his destination, he quickly leapt as high as he can and grabbed on a ledge, pulling himself up, cursing Ran for this unnecessary work of his. Once he was up on his feet, he ran once more and used the bright red decorative dragon statue as boost to increase his jump's height, grabbing the side of another ledge while in the air. Doing this kind of stunts reminded him of those suicide runs on the Outside called 'parkour', though maybe the stunt he was pulling now was a mix of this 'parkour', building climbing and playing tag with death. His heart rate increased and his breathing became shallow, while actually having a wide grin on his face as he finally reached the very top, and without even a second thought, he leapt of the twenty foot building with a smile on his face. The Idiot….

Not long after he jumped, he managed to hear the incoming human on broomstick say, "Oh crap the brakes, da ze! ", right before colliding with it in mid-air.

Rook's entire world spun into a blur of black, white and blonde, as he tumbled through the air at an uncomfortable manner, almost making him lose his lunch. Realizing where he was, he clasped his hand on his passenger's back and forced the side of its head below his chin, and then twisted his body in mid-air with his back facing the ground and his head elevated slightly so it won't crack open once he hits the ground, though he hoped that this precaution/suicide stunt would lessen the damage inflicted on his passenger as he took the brunt of the crash.

Not a moment after doing all of this, his back felt the jarring force the unforgiving earth, as he and his passenger made their landing. Every bit of oxygen that was within Rook's lungs was gone as the momentum of the fall made him and his passenger roll across the stone wrought streets, yet it was Rook who received most of the punishment so that the person he was carrying would not come to harm. As they rolled and rolled, the boy caught a glimpse of the wild broom crash landing on top of an abandoned house and from what his pain numbed ears heard, it broke something as it entered the house, more clean up for him by this thing ends. After five full revolutions, they finally came to a halt at the end of the main street.

Rook groaned at the dull pain at the back of his head, and the sensation of having a sack of rice dropped from a high place and into his stomach made his dull pain into a notorious pain. His back felt raw and painful, he just involuntarily skinned his back of nearly all of his skin, leaving a wide area of shallow cuts if one would check his back.

Fighting the annoying pain of being used as crash test dummy for a dummy itself, he managed to open his left eye just to see his left arm hang limply at his side, full of cuts and bruises as most of them looked pretty nasty, though good thing was (if it was good) he could not feel any pain from it for he was still numb in shock. Unfortunately, when he attempted to move it, he almost cursed out loud for he realized that the bones within were shattered, though the pieces were still inside his arm.

His back was screaming in protest as its sensitivity increased, almost making Rook cry out in pain as well, yet he held it back. Although it was very hard to do so with the rough surface of the gravel filled street digging its way into his raw flesh behind his shirt. Great. His head was swimming; once again Rook is dead drunk from the pain.

Rook could hear the shallow breathing of his unknown passenger, as his right hand kept its head secured on his chest. For some odd reason he can taste something sweet and coppery within his mouth, he shuddered at the thought of biting off his tongue once again.

Knowing that some of his body parts are still intact, Rook let out a sigh of relief and turned his attention on to his passenger.

"Thank you for flying on air Chess Piece. We hope you enjoyed your near death experience as we just prevented you from going splat with your head cracked open, I hope we never see each other again. Thank You." he groaned sarcastically, the pain on his back getting to his head, influencing his words, yet he then fought of his stupid side and proceeded to ask, "Ugh, you okay buddy?"

Before the boy could realize what was going on, there was a sudden movement and the next thing he knew he was two slender looking hands slam themselves on the surface near both sides of his head. After glancing at the hands at his right side, he then turned his eyes upward just to see a blonde girl glowering at him with angry golden eyes with an equally angry expression. The girl carried with her the scent of a meadow filled with wild flowers, the calming aroma of the forest trees, and the unmistakable smell of burning cloth?

"You freakin knocked me out of the sky, and you ask me if I'm okay, ze?" shouted the girl furiously as spit flew out of her mouth. "You could've killed me you son of a— Mr. Rook? "She asks in the middle of her roll, blinking twice as she struggles to recognize the person beneath her.

"Why, that's a good way of saying thank you," grunted Rook, his face turning from blue to purple with a strained expression on his face before saying, "Get off me Marisa, you're kneeling on my… Father's…Inheritance…"

The girl, Marisa, uttered strangled yelp as she got off Rook, who rolled to his uninjured side with his good hand holding his stomach as he waited for the pain on his groin region to subside.

"Medic, Ran, where are you?" he groaned pathetically at the pain of his bone shattered arm and at the spear like piercing pain on his family jewels. Not soon after his call Ran arrived on the comical if not pitiful scene eight seconds later.

"Rook!" she exclaimed, landing next to her injured colleague,"You're fine!"

Marisa looked at her incredulously and asks "Does he look okay to you, ze?"

Ran ignored her and knelt beside the groaning boy. "Your arm" ordered the Kitsune, who seemed a bit too composed at the situation at hand. Rook obeyed, groaning as Ran examined his broken arm.

"Next time you make me do a stunt like that again, I'm chopping one of your pretty tails off" threatened Rook, though he seemed too weak to even give the fox a glare.

"It's your fault since you didn't execute that skill of yours that renders you invincible for at least a few seconds" reprimanded the fox as she closed her eyes in concentration and pour a vast amount of energy into the boy, repairing his bones and sealing off minor injuries.

"And feel the weight of the pain all at once in a tight situation? Not a chance lady…" said Rook as he watched one of the fox's tails glow and fall limply to the ground with a soft inaudible thud. With the cold air adopting slowly a warm feeling, Rook wondered if Ran's strength originated from there or was it just a boost from being Yukari's shikigami.

Being known for her reputation as witch, Marisa gazed awe at Ran channeling her orange aura into the boy's arm without even straining herself. Even the witch herself was not capable of such a feat without exhausting herself later on.

When Ran finally relaxed and opened her eyes, Rook muttered thanks before standing up and approached Marisa who was still staring at the fox's work in amazement. On the other hand, the boy felt great and refreshed as if he just acquired a good night's sleep. His bones regenerated and his injuries on his back completely healed, yet even after Ran healed him, he still felt a bit angry at her for making him do all the dangerous work. After pushing aside some dark thoughts, Rook put his attention on the new girl before him.

The witch wore a stereotypical outfit of the Outside's definition of 'witch' complete with a large pointed hat that she held on her side. For some reason the girl seemed to have fought her way through a battlefield as she made her way to Mayohiga for her clothes were a mess. The faint burning smell Rook caught earlier came from her blackened white apron she had tied on her waist with a large burn on the left edge, her white short-sleeved blouse was weather beaten and dirty with a few flecks of dirt, while her black jumper was a mess.

She would have been a pretty girl with her golden eyes, slender fame, if not for her wild unlady like voice and tomboyish attitude she brazenly displays. Unfortunately, the Marisa right now was fidgeting with her hat, looking disheveled and distraught. Lucky for her, she managed to avoid crashing into the ground, thanks to Rook, with only a few cuts and bruises. Other than that, she looked fine. Her long mane of blonde hair that had a little braid in the side of her head tied by a little green ribbon seemed to smell like smoke too.

Rook was about to speak when his partner beat him to it.

"You better have a good explanation for this Kirisame! If you came here to pillage the village once again I will literally send you to hell, the hard way!" said Ran sternly, and when she finished Marisa started to explain at a rapid fire pace rendering most of her words unintelligible.

"'snowheretobeseen. It'sbeenhorrible! -"Marisa was cut short when Rook ran out of patience and started to shake the witch as if she were a rag doll.

"Okay, okay! Get to the friggin point already!" he snapped, grabbing Marisa's shoulder and frantically shook her, resisting the urge to clasp his hand around her neck and throttle her. "I didn't fall off a thirty foot tall building (A/N: this was his point of view XD) and saved your sorry neck from going splat, just to hear you babble nonsense! You know how I despise nonsense, now tell me what the heck is wrong!"

"Reimu! Reimu's in trouble!" snapped the witch.

Rook ceased shaking her after that, and silence crept upon them like ice. His face hardened while his eyes had a dangerous glint within them. Ran on the other hand, frowned upon the witch's words, her eyes also having that hostile glint within them and says "You better not be making this up, blonde witch. You have no idea on the amount of punishment you're facing, if you are only here to jest us"

"I'm telling the truth! Reimu is—"started the witch, but was cut off once more by Rook, whose expression was deadly serious and in an equally dangerous tone he spoke to his partner.

"Ran, get Chen out of here, raise the alarm and wake Yukari, I'll be meeting her at the shrine" said the boy with an unnatural coldness in his tone.

Without further ado, Ran disappeared off to find her little servant, while Rook faced the witch without even waiting for his partner's reply.

"Witch,"

Marisa flinched as the boy's attention was back on her. She stared at his eyes which earlier was calm and patient gray, yet now it was dark and stormy similar to that of an eye of a hurricane. Tiny tendrils of electricity coursed through his fingers as he began to address the witch.

"Retrieve your broom and get us out of here. Fill me in while we're travelling" ordered Rook in the same cold tone. Marisa swallowed and was about to call for her broom when Rook spoke again. "This better be good, witch" a twisted smile formed on his lips, the dangerous light within his eyes replaced by cruel amusement. "If not, then… Start praying… Now tell me who hurt our precious shrine maiden of paradise, eh?"

The flustered magician blew a very loud whistle into the air, before raising her left hand in which she caught a polished broomstick that appeared out of nowhere in particular. She released her grip on it as it hung on mid-air without anything supporting it from the bottom. Marisa mounted the front while Rook sat sideways behind her with one hand on the witch's shoulder in case he lost his balance. How does she fly on this thing without falling aside from gripping the broom's handle?

Maybe that's a question for another time, thought the boy as he noticed that the broom was surprisingly long enough to accommodate two people, and was fully capable of holding their combined weight.

"You ready, ze?" asked Marisa for confirmation.

"Go" said Rook

The witch kicked off the ground and was soon soaring within the purple sky. The village below became smaller and smaller as they entered the remote region of Mayohiga, and after a few moments, cleared through the boundary that surrounded the illusionary village. Fresh air and the cool wind blowing past his face, Rook could feel the adrenaline rush through his veins. A fight was coming, and it was somewhere just over the horizon.

Why do I feel a bit… Evil?

After ten minutes or so, the hastily made duo were now flying at eighty miles per hour over the shady trees of the forest of magic, which seemed to glow a faint color of blue green in the fading light of day. With Mayohiga not far behind, Rook began to wonder what in the name of the seven hells was happening to get Marisa to urge her broom near its limit.

Rook was not afraid of heights or flying, having experience it quite a number of times even before his stupid stunt forty minutes ago, however it always felt strange for him levitating at a high speed on thin air with nothing solid to support you from falling to your death below. Almost every person in Gensokyo, save for the common human villager, that was capable of unique, supernatural abilities was at least able to fly on their own. To most youkais, flying was a natural ability that was easily acquired for them. Rook however, despite his unique abilities was unable to fly like some certain shrine maiden and the witch in front of him now. Flying needed magic, and magic was something he lacked.

He considers his control over electricity a skill, for it has merged with him and the energy required to use it was from within and not from an outside source such as mana, which was the main component needed to do magic. His ability was that the same of the manipulation of qi, only that the thing he manipulate is not life force, but something…. Entirely different, almost alien. This power however did not grant him the ability to control mana and along with that, magic, resulting to his issue of not being able to fly.

Due to his inability to fly, the boy is forced to fight all of his battles at a complete handicap seeing that most enemies here within this world of fantasy have the ability to fly. The only times he was able to travel through air was when he wills his body to become a thick curtain of mist, another skill that took years of practice to perfect after that mishap at the thirteen hundreds. However, even with that form, he was still unable to go far, for that form was not suited for travel. It was wise for him to stick on ground travel where he was most comfortable, and most likely to encounter problems….

After few moments of silence, Rook proceeded with his mid-flight interrogation of the witch who sat before him. Said witch seemed eager to disperse the information she held between her anxious lips just by looking at her face. Rook noticed Marisa tighten her grip around her broom's handle.

"Okay, spill it," ordered Rook, his tone stern yet that smile he had earlier was now absent. "What's happening to Reimu?"

Marisa seemed to hesitate for a few seconds as she thought up an answer. Maybe I went too far teasing her earlier… Nah, she always pulls those stupid pranks on me, I just had to make sure she was serious that time. And it seems like she was, thought Rook as he waited for the witch's reply.

"I-I don't know exactly, but she's been acting really weird lately. Miss Mima and I have been noticing it for weeks, yet only now did Reimu somehow snap." said Marisa as she attempted to keep her focus on flying as fast she can, instead of bawling and crashing half way to the shrine.

Rook frowned at that. "Only now? When have you and your mentor been observing Reimu? When did the miko start acting strange? Why didn't you inform me of this earlier?"

"Miss Mima and I have been observing her for four weeks already right after the incident ended and when that goddess started visiting the shrine. As for informing you, Miss Mima didn't allow me to leave her side that time to go look for you, she was worried that if I left so suddenly, it will only raise Reimu's suspicion. We even made camp at the back of the shrine for good measure and Miss Mima said something about you being unreachable through mirror communication or any other way of contacting you using magic." explained the witch, urging her broom faster causing them to zip through the low clouds that hung above them.

Rook thought for a solid minute or so, before speaking.

"Your mentor, what does she think about this? Isn't it strange that Reimu started acting based on what you said so suddenly, and coincidentally right after the incident? And about that goddess…" he said thoughtfully, drowning himself in his own questions once more.

"Miss Mima has her own suspicions" said Marisa, keeping her eyes fixed on the horizon, "She's under the impression that Reimu was being possessed by another evil spirit during our short trip from Makai, yeah, yeah I know it's impossible, but Miss Mima pointed out that a foreign spirit will have an easier time possessing a person if they had a weak mind. It's possible that the spirit in question latched itself into Reimu moments right after the battle at Makai. And I completely understand for old Reimu screwing up, ze. The battle was both physically and mentally draining at the same time. Miss Mima told me that she was speaking from experience or whatever…"

"I think that's obvious considering the fact that she's a spirit herself. But what about the goddess? Does her frequent visit have anything to do with this?"

"That's another reason why we decided to camp outside the shrine. It's also one of Miss Mima's many suspicions. She thinks that the goddess may have had a hand in this, all the more reason why I wasn't allowed to leave her side just in case a battle breaks out. I don't know why Miss Mima is suddenly determined to guard the person she despises most, but I never really understood most of her reasons why she taught me magic in the first place anyway. She's always been a strange one; she probably wants to be the only one who gets to mess with Reimu and screw around her life?

"Has the goddess actually done anything in particular?"

"Not under our watch, she hasn't. We would've identified her mana's signature if she did, but the magic acting around Reimu was different, ze. To me, suspecting the goddess was out of the problem, but Miss Mima wouldn't drop it, da ze. Something big is going on here and was going to happen if we don't do anything! Old Red White has this negative aura seeping through her skin, though we play dumb and ignored it while studying it carefully at the same time. But man, the effects were unbearable, ze. I'm surprised that Reimu hasn't noticed it until now"

Rook was left in deep thought as Marisa finished her conclusion. The sun was glowing a bright color of orange as it slowly descended behind the mountain ranges of the west, which was the cue for evening to settle in. Up on the twilight of the sky, the brightest of the stars have begun to appear. Marisa gunned her broom across the seemingly endless trees of the forest of magic, with the wind howling past hers and Rook's ears.

"A shrine maiden possessed by an evil spirit will taint her purity, thus corrupting her communication with her shrine god" said Rook.

"Yeah, so?" asked Marisa as casually as she could though she sounded very worried.

"Reimu is the catalyst of the Hakurei goddess that keeps the barrier intact, right? But if the theory I had earlier was true, that the connection between the shrine maiden and the goddess is corrupted, or worse, cut loose, what will happen to the barrier?" replied Rook with a frown as he just noticed the forest's unnatural glow.

"You just had to say something, ze" said Marisa breaking her silence.

"What?"

"Look up" invited the witch.

Rook was puzzled for a moment, yet he followed her words anyway. When he did, his eyes grew wide, while his mouth hung agape as he lost his breath at the sight. "Well there's our problem"

The quiet evening was shattered by a deafening explosion followed by a great beam of yellow green light that was tearing across the landscape; however the one making the 'shattered' analogy literal was on the evening sky. Cracks similar to that of a vase on the verge of collapsing due to a high amount of pressure appeared upon the evening twilight. The cracks were increasing at a very rapid pace, threatening large pieces of debris to fall down to the earth.

"Incoming!" warned Marisa as she swiveled to avoid a large geyser that appeared in the middle of the forest, forcing Rook to tear away his gaze from the sky and look down below. Torrents of pressure filled water burst forth from the forest floor, uprooting trees, startling flocks of birds, while some unlucky youkai were thrown into the air as the ground beneath them exploded with bright blue green liquid with an immeasurable amount of force. Soon the whole forest was filled with twenty foot pillars of blue green water everywhere. Being in the air, the duo did not notice the large tremor that shook the land, which caused both youkais and fairies to panic.

"Go higher; it'll keep us out of the geyser's range!" suggested Rook, keeping a firm grip on the witch's shoulders. Marisa did not even reply for she urged her broom upward, causing her and Rook to skyrocket. The boy's grip tightened as they shot past a bank of clouds at the speed of a stealth jet, causing Marisa to wince at the increased pressure on her shoulders, yet making her chuckle at the thought of Rook's reaction. After two peeling seconds, the broom went back to its normal speed, giving the boy time to relax as he almost had a heart attack.

"High enough for ya, da ze?" asked Marisa as she smirked, risking a glance at her uncomfortable passenger. Rook swallowed hard and attempted to regain his bearings, the only things that floated within the confines of his mind were curses and swear words, things that he rarely releases so openly.

"Overkill much?" muttered the boy, resisting the urge of blasting the witch of her seat. "Next time… Could you pleas- WATCH OUT!"

Marisa hastily did a barrel roll in mid-air, as a piece of the sky almost killed them. The sudden roll rattled Rook's brain, distorting his vision for a few seconds for a few seconds until everything came back into focus, however he felt as if he was about to throw up his lunch. The boy could hear Marisa's loud snickering over the whistling of the wind.

"It's not nice to laugh on your elders, ugh. I'm eight centuries older than you witch…" grumbled Rook as his head buzzed in fatigue.

"Hehe, sorry gramps, you just don't look like it, hehe. Ohohoho, here comes more of them" said Marisa. And sure enough, the pieces of the barrier started to fall out in large numbers and sizes. Behind the collapsed pieces was a dark purple void similar to Yukari's world was revealed. Down below the ground, another yellow green beam tore through the land. It was only then that Rook noticed that it was a smaller version of Mima's spark.

The Twilight Spark.

"Mima's fighting Reimu, huh" said Rook through gritted teeth. The clean up for this was going to be a mess; he was going to have a word with that spirit after all this is done.

"Keeping Red White busy more like it, don't worry she won't play rough… I think… Well whatever, she did promise she won't kill Reimu" assured Marisa, knowing the history of bad blood of the Hakurei and of the evil spirit.

"Did you miss the fact that she was out for Reimu's blood once?" asked Rook, though Marisa ignored this and flew on.

The witch looped around two chunks of sky debris and dodged another three as she recovered. As time went on, the debris glowed an ominous shade of red, which the duo found very strange. The Hakurei shrine was just ahead, however as the both drew nearer, the more debris showered upon them.

"Tell you what, you drive, I shoot. It'll save you the trouble of looping" offered Rook, as he got sick of the swirling motion he was subjected to and the driver's bad attitude.

"What? But I wanted to drive shotgun" complained the witch, but nevertheless agreed as an orange bullet was shot from behind.

"Well poor you, we got company…" muttered Rook glaring at the clouds behind the broom.

"What is it?" asked Marisa keeping her focus on flying.

Rook raised his left arm to mid chest and after a second the arm was engulfed within tendrils of electricity. "Fairies…"

Not long after saying this, two dozen of child like little girls with wings were chasing them from behind, shooting waves after waves of bullets after the duo. At first they would appear as any small human child with wings, but upon closer inspection, they were not. They were much more mischievous and disaster prone than a normal human prankster what with their seemingly harmless abilities and their stubborn regenerative powers. Fairies cannot be killed no matter how one would try. They would only dissolve into puffs of smoke if you stab one in the heart and revive later on so they can stab you back. Due to the fact that the nature from where they are born from is preserved, they are more or less immortal in some sense. True they would die the moment you blast them, but they will soon revive after an hour or so and hunt you down. Somehow, their race is much more stubborn than that of humans, since they never back down from a fight even if it means dying again, and again, and again.

They are living examples of 'immortal pests'.

"Hard right!" shouted Rook over Marisa's ear, as he shot white lightning bolts at the fairies that sent out barrages of green and orange bullets all aimed at the duo. The wind howled and the witch did as she was told but not before yelling back at the boy. The wind was blowing too hard and rendered her words for naught, though Rook seemed to have noticed that he cannot hear her and asked.

"What the hell did you say?" he yelled aiming for a wavy haired fairy that had struck his face with a green bullet.

"SHARD AT NINE O' CLOCK!" screamed the witch pointing at large sky debris headed their way. Rook cursed under his breath, right before sending bright discharge of white electricity at the shard, causing it to explode into smaller pieces of glass. The sky was made of glass, who knew?

Marisa dodged five more shards that almost impaled them, while Rook had to work his aim since the chance of giving the fairies a direct hit is very slim while in mid-air and travelling at a very fast speed. The boy spreads his hand and aims at the general direction of the pests, which was right in the middle of a large dark cloud, before releasing a surge of invisible energy that caused lightning to burst forth from the surrounding clouds with a deafening roar.

Rook watched as the few fairies that were attacking them were struck by the lightning at strategic areas such as their hearts and their head. Other fairies merely exploded in contact with the raw stream of energy. However there are still some fairies that manage to avoid being caught to their electrical deaths and fly on to avenge their fallen sisters by shooting more bullets, which Rook was more than happy to return with a continuous stream of electricity.

"More shards on our three!" shouted Marisa after avoiding a shard from her left, forcing her to meet out a huge one at her right. Rook severed the connection with the stream of energy and focused his shots at the incoming debris. Once the shard exploded into tiny fragments, one little piece found its way into the boy's eye, causing him to howl in pain.

"Ow-ow–ow damn it hurts!" cried Rook through gritted teeth.

The sudden pain in his eye causing him to shoot a passing shard, which Marisa avoided, and cause it to explode right beside the witch who says "Watch it will ya, ze!"

"It's this stupid piece I got in my eye" winced the boy as he finally got the annoying fragment out. Even if the piece was out, the annoying pain from its entry still lingered within.

I should've brought those goggles, he thought grumpily keeping his right eye shut tight, though the damage was not as severe and will eventually heal over time, it still hurt like hell. A green blur narrowly missed his face, causing him to glare at the offender and say "Aha! So it was you who hit me, you little runt!"

A fairy with pink hair and a purple dress, yelped at the sight of a white lightning bolt hit her square in the face, before exploding into a thick veil of dust. The sight of the thorn on his side exploding into oblivion brought a smile to the boy's face, yet he winces at the pain of his eye.

This time it was Rook's turn to yelp as Marisa looped once more when two sky fragments crashed against each other, almost causing the boy to fall from his seat but miraculously managed to hold on. The sudden event caused the fairies to scatter, while the others were not so lucky and was caught in the crash, causing them to explode into dust.

"So how many were that?" asked Rook, staring at the glittering dust that was left behind by the fairies' deaths. "That was four, right? So there's four left?"

Marisa on the other hand gave no other reply than, "Death Fairies!" which caused Rook to groan at the sight of two red headed fairies in green dresses. These fairies were so far the largest of the flock, their size nearing to that of a ten year old child compared to the others which were the size of a five year old.

After three seconds upon their arrival, the Death Fairies began to fire hundreds and hundreds of red bullets on every single angle they could find with white bullets sealing off the gaps that appear between the red bullets that dispersed. Marisa was forced to slow down and weave through wave after wave of bullets while dodging the falling debris at the same time. One fairy fires the red and white bullets at machine gun pace, while the other relentlessly unleashed giant glowing orbs aimed straight towards the duo and at a very unfair speed too.

"Please tell me that you're not going to—DAMMIT MARISA!" yelled Rook, as the witch ignored his words and plunge straight into the chaos of flying bullets and orbs. The witch skillfully weaved and streamed through the lines of red projectiles and blue globes that were aimed at them while dodging the falling sky fragments that were still showering upon them.

"Once I get close, blast them, da ze!" said Marisa with a cocky smile on her face while Rook bore the expression of extreme irritation and annoyance.

"Why doesn't anyone for one second just listen to me? You're seriously enjoying this aren't you!" snarled Rook, to which Marisa only chuckled. The broom suddenly lurched forward and then back again, causing Rook to levitate for a second above his seat and back once more. The four fairies the boy mentioned earlier were also dodging and weaving through the Death Fairies' bullets while shooting at the duo at the same time.

Rook curses under his breath as he found out that they were in a bad situation. Great, what do we do now? If this predicament continues, Marisa would have a hard time dodging all of those bullets at once and we'll soon crash and burn right before we can even get to the shrine. Damn, I can't shoot those pests behind us since we're moving around too much, and I won't be able to blast those Death Fairies because the driver's in front of me… I have to take out those idiots from afar since battling them at point blank range isn't wise. You know what they say; desperate times call for desperate measures.

The boy releases a deep sigh and slackens his grip on the witch's should and that of the broom's backside. Marisa looks back, only to see Rook slip off his seat and fall.

"You idiot, what the hell are you doing?" screams Marisa as her heart almost leapt to her throat seeing Rook grab the broom once more at the last second, however he was now hanging on by using one hand as he dangled below the flying broom.

"Doing another stupid stunt, now keep flying! I'll keep shooting!" he yelled back, grabbing the back end of the broom so that he can free his right hand and shoot the remaining fairies that were left. The boy unleashes another continuous stream of electricity at the unsuspecting fairy that was shooting a well patterned barrage of green bullets. As the lightning came in contact with the fairy, the electricity travels through its body and quickly aims itself at the fairy nearest to it, thus creating a chain hit, taking out two fairies at once.

Another smile spreads across Rook's face as he began to think. I'm a lunatic, hehehe

The broom suddenly jerked right, causing the boy to swing the same way too. "Hey watch it!" he snaps, only to use the momentum to sway again to avoid a red bullet that nearly hit his torso. Marisa was now nearing the Death Fairies where the bullets were denser as they spawned from the fairies' hands. Rook aimed his palm towards the fairy that was unleashing the blue globes and shot a quick bolt towards its direction, while from above he hears Marisa shout, "Narrow Spark!"

The next thing that happened was a narrow blue beam of light erupted from the witch's octagonal box and was headed straight for the fairy. The Death Fairies exploded in unison as both beam and bolt came in contact with their flesh, forcing the release of bullets to cease once and for all. The only thing that they had to worry about now was the sky fragments, which were still falling from above and impaling themselves down on the earth.

From below, Rook could hear the witch's ragged breathing, which somehow meant that she too was exhausted from the dodging as Rook was from the shooting. The shrine was just a few meters away, just another hundred meters and they will be-

We're losing altitude…? thought Rook as he noticed that he and Marisa were sinking lower and lower from the air. He replaced his numb right arm and with his left, while risking a glance at the witch's status. "Hey, why are we lowering? The shrine is still a long way from here, hey!"

No response…

It was only then that Marisa's body leaned on front of the broom, with her hand hanging limply at the side. She has fainted. Rook's eyes widened and grabbed the witch by her ankle, while imbuing his hand with enough electricity to shock Marisa awake.

"Wha— who, where?" she asked wildly looking around, only to notice the pain that she had on her ankle, "Ouch! What the hell—"

"SHARD!" yelled Rook, just in time for Marisa to see the glint of the flat side of the sky fragment right before she went straight through it, causing it to shatter into a thousand tiny pieces. The witch screamed in fright as small glassy debris showered upon her and her broom. The broom finally gave in, and finally started to fall due to the combined weight of two people and that of the strain it was put through earlier.

The duo managed to clear a few more trees before finally catching sight of the shrine and crashing down into the stone steps. Rook managed to land on his feet, right after tumbling a bit downward the steps while Marisa literally crash landed straight into the pavement.

Groaning, Rook managed to force himself on his feet and approach the semi conscious witch that lay on the tilted pavement. Something was off, right before they hit the ground, he failed to notice the presence of the evil spirit and that of the Hakurei maiden, he did not even see them fighting in front of the shrine. If they were not there, then where?

One thought at a time, Rook. First heal the witch then go find Reimu… mirrored the boy's mind as he knelt beside Marisa's crumpled form and whispers, "Heal…"

Rook's hands soon emitted the same faint glow of white light as it did on the mansion, and began to heal the wide cut above the witch's brow which was bleeding slightly from the crash. He then began to lightly shake Marisa so that she would wake up.

"Hey, you still with me? Come on, we're here, we have to find your mentor and Reimu so that we can finish this thing" said Rook while giving Marisa a light shake on her shoulders. Rook glanced at the sky above. There were now large patches of purple in the evening sky where large chunks of the sky collapsed while the cracks continued to spread at a rapid pace. Not even the stone steps were spared from the fragments impaling themselves on it as they fell, crating many craters of various sizes. The thought of the humans within the Human Village running and screaming for their lives made Rook grit his teeth. The wind was singing an ominous melody that would easily put a person into a trance. The cold feel of the air and the sound of the rustling leaves, was this really the apocalypse?

The sky was now between the color of purple and orange, it was if the sun refused to descend until it has witnessed Gensokyo's supposed end.

Marisa's groans pulled Rook back into reality, making him realize that he did not have enough time left. "Wake up already" said the boy, giving the witch a gentle slap across her face.

Marisa sat up and blinked twice just to make sure that her eyes were working properly. "We're here?" she asked, staring up at Rook who held out his hand for her.

"Yeah, we're here, come on, we don't have much time" he replied, pulling the girl up on her feet, "Can you stand? Does it hurt anywhere? That fall looked nasty from my point of view"

"No, I'm okay" said the witch, twisting her wrists over to see the shallow damage on her skin. "Nothing I wouldn't be able to fix, ze" she continued giving the boy a thumbs up.

Rook nodded and gestured her to follow as he began to run up the stone steps, a single question running through his mind, blocking out all other thoughts: What the hell is going on?

Nicolas Notes: And another chapter come and goes, you guys probably wondering why I'm posting this despite the announcement I made, blah, blah , blah. Well to be honest, I was bored and had nothing better to do so here ya go an edited chapter fresh off the oven!

Heh, could you guys guess where I based Chen and Patchouli's costumes the past chapters? Should be easy enough for you guys to guess... Ahh well, see ya guys in a few weeks...