"So...this is the place where it's going?"
"That's what I've been hearing. This is..uncharted territory though. I've never been here. It does look familiar."
"Just keep your guard up then. Who knows what could be here...Mistress would have my head if I didn't come back to her in working state of mind and body."
"She's have your head if you gave her the wrong flavor tea~ze!"
"Can't you go one day without doing that stuff Marisa?"
"Well excuse me miko!" Marisa sighed, sitting on her broom and flying next to Reimu and Sakuya. The three were in the middle, of what Reimu called it, the Stolen Spring Incident.
"So...where are we~ze?"
"Who knows." Reimu replied. The three battled their way through the snow ghost, Letty; the black cat, Chen; the puppeteer Alice, with which both Reimu and Marisa where shocked to see; and the ghostly band Lunasa, Merlin, and Lyrica. Who next, not even they knew. Their only hint was that the next person could be the one draining the spring essence from Gensokyo, but for what, they had absolutely no clue.
"And what's with all of these stairs?" Marisa asked once more, the three climbing the seemingly endless staircase.
Sakuya sighed. "If we knew, we would have told you by now." She replied, twirling a knife between her fingers.
"Look you two, enough with the fighting...that's all you two did while we tried to settle this Incident, alright?"
"Just be lucky we're comin' with ya Rei~ze." Marisa started. "Keeping Gensokyo under control is the Hakurei Shrine Maiden's duty, not her, and her witch friend and maid tagalong." Marisa said, looking around.
"I know that! And don't call me 'Rei'! The miko snapped, feeling a sudden, strong burst of wind fly past her. She stopped in her tracks and looked around.
Sakuya and Marisa came to a screeching halt and looked around. "Hey Rei, whaddya see?" Marisa asked, peering off into the direction of Reimu's gaze.
"I'm not so sure, but there is someone else here..she's fast." Sakuya said, flicking her wrist, two knives between each finger. She peered through the oddly thin mist.
Marisa sighed. "You two are seeing things, let's keep going." She said, starting to leave the group, when she felt the wind burst and spied a person in her way.
"Halt! None shall pass the gates into the Netherworld!"
The three looked at each other, Marisa holding back a laugh. "Looks like we found out where to go." She said.
The girl drew her two swords and slashed at Marisa, who was a distance away. Though the blades obviously missed, which caused Marisa to laugh, the shockwave created a wall of arrow danmaku that rushed and homed onto Marisa.
"Marisa!" Reimu yelled, hurling four talismans at Marisa. The paper charms formed a box and activated a barrier, absorbing the danmaku. "Pay attention dammit!" She yelled, rearing back and bolting towards the swordswoman, hurling a small swarm of needles.
She spun her sword and broke the needles, once more slashing downwards and making another dense swarm. She dashed out of view.
Reimu stopped herself midflight and braced herself for impact, though it never happened. Marisa smirked, blowing some smoke off her mini-hakkero. "Narrow Spark saves the day." She chuckled, putting it back in a small pouch on her hip.
Sakuya, not doing anything seemingly, kept herself on watch. She closed her eyes and her head was down.
"Hey Maid, you okay~ze?"
The silver haired maid quickly flung her body around and hurled the knives in her hand, hearing them hit against the metal of the swordswoman's blade. "Found her."
The witch and miko looked at Sakuya, then saw her knives fall to the ground. "Good job." Reimu said, hurling a test talisman. No sound. "She..moved..that fast?"
"No human can move that fast." Sakuya started.
"...other than you~ze." Marisa said.
Sakuya sighed. "Thank you for stating the obvious. When this is done, go find some mushrooms or whatever it is you witches do." She flicked her wrists again, more knives between her fingers. "Indiscriminate" She said, flinging pairs of knives in every direction and listening for the sound of metal on metal. The only sound so far was Marisa and Reimu trying to stay alive in the friendly fire. Then, finally, the sound was heard and Sakuya quickly flung more knives wildly in that direction, this time hearing them batter against something made of pure stone. She growled a bit, quickly stopping time to retrieve her knives, then quickly resumed time as she grew closer to her allies.
"Well..anything?" Reimu asked, seeing the silver haired girl shake her head. "This one's going to be a problem if we don't do anything soon..."
The burst again, but this time the girl was standing on the steps in front of them. "I gave you fair warning to leave. Now, there is no need to hold back." She said, swinging her swords, no danmaku.
Reimu sighed, Marisa chuckled, and Sakuya eyed the girl. "Who are you, first off, second, what's with you?" Reimu asked.
"I suppose it is fair for you to know my name before you die. I am Youmu Konpaku, gardener of the Netherworld an-" she started, hearing Marisa burst out laughing.
"A gardener! A swordswoman! Oh that's a good one!" She said, wiping a tear from her eye.
Youmu growled. "You dare mock the Konpaku and Saigyouji names?" She said, pointing to the sky as Myon obeyed, it's tail hanging just above Youmu's black bow.
"Saigyouji...is that who's stealing the spring?" Sakuya said, punching the still laughing Marisa in the arm. "Be quiet already! I don't know why Little Mistress didn't smear your blood against her room walls when you found her..."
Marisa rubbed her arm, mocking Sakuya. "...damn meido" She grumbled.
"Fighting with each other...this will be a simple end. In the name of the Lady Saigyouji...I will end your life here!" She yelled.
The three quickly looked over, all attacking her at once in an attempt to quickly get her out of the way. Their attack, though, was cut short by Youmu's quick and deft sword slices, cleaning destroying everything they sent at her. "The things my sword cannot cut...are next to none." She chuckled, holding up a spellcard. "Hell Realm Sword: 200 Yojana in 1 Slash!" She yelled, Myon suddenly shooting out a constant wave of giant red bubble danmaku. Youmu slid to the side and crossed her swords.
"This looks easy enough." Marisa said, casually sliding between the bubbles and shooting at Youmu. She smirked, soon feeling very sluggish. "Wha...?" She said, looking around to see if anything was on her, holding her down.
Reimu looked around, her eyes finally spotting Youmu, across the battlefield. "How did she ge-" she started, getting hit in the side by a small blue danmaku shell. "How did that get there?" She asked, making a small barrier to block the bullets as she watched the battle.
Youmu, who was slowing time down enough to race across the field, was cutting the red bubbles in a line, causing them to explode in a shower of smaller blue shells. "Steer clear of the bubbles! She's making them explode!" Reimu warned her allies.
"Understood." Sakuya replied, hurling knives in the air that hung in place, like glued to the air. Each one was aimed in a different place along the easily traced line that Youmu was following. She quickly stopped times, her eyes flashing red and hurling a knife as Youmu neared a bubble. Sakuya smirked and closed her eyes to revert time and ready to hear the sound, but it hit the stairs and bounced off. "How did she get out of my time stop?" She asked. She noticed, Youmu's eyes flashed red every time she dashed across the field. "No..it couldn't be..she can control time too?" She said aloud.
Youmu responded to her question after slicing a row of bubbles in half. "I just move so quickly, that the air around me compresses so much I can speed or slow up myself and the danmaku, making it look like I control time." She said, feeling a laser sear her side. She glared at Marisa, once again laughing. "Keep an eye on your surroundings!" She said, seeing Youmu pull out another spellcard.
"Hell's God Sword: God's Flashing Slash as Karma Gust!" She yelled, Myon suddenly making each row of bubbles extremely condensed and moved them across the field at a much quicker pace. Youmu quickened her own pace, dashing across the field a total of five times, making a large field of danmaku rain down.
"Duplex Barrier!" Reimu yelled, throwing a large talisman in front of her. It grew and shattered, leaving behind a barrier that ate at the bullets while Reimu attempted to end the downpour of bullets.
Youmu took the ful force of each, the card breaking. She looked around the field, the three were tired already, that or holding back their strength. Youmu slashed her swords at the air, making more ripples as arrow danmaku attempted to pummel the three. In the quick bluff, she pulled out two spellcards, putting one under her bow. "Brute Sword: Karmic Punishment of the Idle and Unfocused!" She yelled, dashing between Marisa and Sakuya, a gust blowing a light wave of danmaku at them. Before they could react, she slowed down time and aimed between Reimu and Marisa and flew between the two, trailed by another wave of danmaku, finally dashing between Reimu and Sakuya in the same fashion.
The three looked as Youmu dashed between them. "She's too fast!" Reimu yelled, using her Duplex Barrier once more. "I can't use these things all the time, I only bring so many." She said, quickly fingering through her remaining three. The bullets were eaten, but the sheer number of them persisted after the barrier wore off, pummeling against the three.
Youmu landed against Myon and flipped onto her ghost half. "Spell Break!" She yelled, her card breaking. "Asura Sword: Obsession With the Present Lunatic World!" She yelled, drawing both her swords and flying in the middle of the group, creating a danmaku spewing ripple.
Sakuya, who recovered from the previous card quick enough, stopped time and shoved Reimu and Marisa out of the way before resuming time. In the rescue though, a large bullet rammed into her back.
"Sakuya!" Marisa yelled as she recovered and her hear yell. She felt Youmu dash between her and Reimu now, figuring out Youmu's pattern. "Non-Directional Laser!" She yelled, pulling out her hakkero and firing three lasers to eat the bullets, giving Reimu and Sakuya more than enough time to recover.
Youmu reared back and landed against Myon, ready to jump off for the final stroke.
"Reimu! Duplex Barrier now! Sakuya, after that, knife her!" Marisa ordered.
"I have three left Marisa!" Reimu said, reaching for them.
"Just do it, I have a plan~ze!" The black-white which smirked.
"This shall be...your end!" Youmu yelled as she dashed towards Reimu and Marisa with all her might.
"Duplex Barrier!" Reimu yelled, throwing her paper charm. It formed just as Youmu collided with it, freezing her in place with a paralyzing shock.
"Sakuya, now before she can recover!" Marisa yelled, seeing Sakuya throw a dense wave of knives, slicing Youmu before she could recover. Marisa flew in front of Youmu, holding her mini-hakkero point blank at Youmu's face. "Master Spark!" She yelled, blasting the swordswoman backwards with the rainbow colored laser. She smirked and blew the smoke off her hakkero once more. "Piece a' cake~ze!" she chuckled.
Sakuya and Reimu flew over, all three battered. "I have to say, that was a smart idea, using her speed against her." Sakuya said.
"Yea, battles are all about power anyway. Who needs flashy skills when you can kill them right off the bat~ze!" She said, fixing her hat.
A slash was heard behind them and the familiar hum of bullets was heard. They turned around to see another ripple spewing out diamond shaped danmaku. "Human God Sword Attainment of Eternal Truth!" She yelled, shooting out a whip-like wave of danmaku. It split into three, red waves, the middle one directly between the three, other two around them.
"She's still up?" Reimu growled, keeping two large yin-yang orbs behind her to block the diamond danmaku. Sakuya created a knife wall, Marisa simply used her speed in hopes to dodge them.
"Looks like it~ze." Marisa said, shooting at Youmu with her magic missiles.
"But she's not moving...as much. We do have a slight advantage." Sakuya said, swinging her arm to send a wave of knives at Youmu, most making their mark. The silver haired swordswoman though, kept attacking with all her might, but before long she stopped.
Youmu broke her spell card once more and pulled out one last card. "Deva God Sword: Components of Konpaku!" She yelled, her energy was wearing thin and she was using everything she had left.
"She's outta steam~ze!" Marisa chuckled, aiming her hakkero through the waves of rainbow colored arrow danmaku. "Master Spark!" She yell once more, firing her trademark through the arrow, hearing it ram against something sharp.
"Did...did she just...?" Reimu asked, seeing the beam get cut in half and the danmaku resume.
"I told you, the things which my sword cannot cut are next to none!" she said, firing off another large barrage before retreating through the cover of the bullets.
The three allies fought through the wave, then looked as it suddenly died. "Where did she go?" Sakuya asked.
"I bet she went to that Saigyouji person~ze." the witch said.
"I bet...we need to move." Reimu said, flying up the stairs with Marisa and Sakuya behind her.
"Lady Saigyouji" Youmu said, kneeling in front of Yuyuko. "I..I have done all I can, but they are too strong..I fear that they will stop what you are planning to do."
Yuyuko looked up at the Cherry Blossom Tree. "They will not stop me. It's nearly at full bloom, for the first time." Yuyuko smiled lightly. "Thank you for all of your help Youmu, but I must ask you to buy me some more time. One more attack and I will have what I need."
Youmu slowly got up from her knees, then bowed. "Yes Lady." She said, drawing her swords and waiting at the gate.
"Just...three more sources of spring...and I will bloom you and break the bond."