The Forest of Magic was an active area late in the day; it was when nocturnal animals and youkai awakened from their slumber and started their day, it's because of this that traveling in the Forest of Magic this late in the day was ill advised. Yet this was exactly what this pair of travelers was doing. But the two had nothing to worry about, as one was a powerful martial artist, and the other was a childish but immensely powerful vampire, the two being more than strong enough to handle any of the dangers prowling about the forest.
The two walked through the forest rather than flying, as it was the best way to avoid any unwanted attention, and it was the most scenic way of travel as well, giving Flandre an opportune chance to see what she has missed out on in her long four hundred and ninety five years of imprisonment.
"Hey Meiling, where are we going?" Flandre asked as she twirled her black staff, Levaetein around like a baton.
"To a human village", Meiling answered, "We're going to look for an inn there that hopefully serves youkai."
"Oh, Okay." Flandre replied cheerfully. "Hey, doesn't Marisa live in this forest?"
"Hmmm, Yeah I think so."
"Do you think we could visit her? I've always wanted to visit her like she always visited me!" Flandre asked excitedly.
"Of course, I don't see any harm in making a small detour. Besides, this way I might be able to get some of Miss Patchouli's books back from her." Meiling answered with a chuckle.
"Yay! Thanks China! So…Where is Marisa's house anyways?" Flandre asked as she looked around the forest.
"I dunno…I haven't been here in a real long time, guard duty doesn't give you a lot of opportunities to go places."
"Hmmmm…Oh hey look China!" Flandre exclaimed as she pointed her Levaetein at some smoke coming up from the forest.
"Smoke? Hmmmm, where there's smoke there's bound to be people, good eyes Flandre!" Meiling complimented.
"Heehee Thanks! Let's go check it out!"
"Right, even if it won't take us to Marisa, it might take us to someone who can." Meiling said as the two started off towards the source of the smoke.
The two trampled through the forest as they headed to the smoke's source. Flandre's childlike curiosity urged her to run as fast as possible to the source, forcing Meiling overexert herself just to keep up with her pint sized friend. The two eventually made it to a small clearing, near the center of it was a small house, looking big enough to house only one or two people. Smoke floated up from its stone chimney, but Flandre and Meiling were no longer focused on the smoke coming from the house, their attention was now held by the many button like pairs of eyes staring at the two from the house's crystal clear windows.
"Huh…Well this is interesting…" Meiling said as she took in the sight of the house.
"Do you think Mary lives here?" Flandre asked her taller companion.
"I doubt it; it looks to clean to be Marisa's." Meiling replied bluntly.
"Hmmmm…Let's go say hi!" Flandre said as she ran up to the door.
"Flandre, I don't think we should be going up to strange houses we don't know anything about and go knocking on their doors…" Meiling said as she followed her friend to the house.
"Anybody hooooooooooooommmmmmmme!" Flandre shouted as she pounded on the door.
"Just a moment!" a slightly irritated voice called from inside the house.
"Seriously, I think we should really consider getting out of here Flandre…This place gives me the creeps…" Meiling said as she glanced at the many pairs of eyes still staring at the two.
"Oh don't be such a chicken China…" Flandre said as she waited patiently at the door.
"Hong Meiling is no-" Meiling started to say as the door swung open. Standing at the door with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed was a young woman appearing to be in her early twenties. She had shoulder length blonde hair, light green eyes and wore a light blue colored dress. Resting on her shoulders was a small blanket like piece of cloth, and floating next to her was a small doll which also had blonde hair, and wore a black dress with a red ribbon.
"Well if it isn't the vampire's gatekeeper and…a friend. What do I owe the pleasure?" The blonde haired woman asked irritably.
Meiling happened to know this woman, she was Alice Margatroid. She gave the mansion a visit every once in a while to borrow books from Patchouli, and unlike Marisa, actually return them when she was finished with them.
"Oh, good evening Miss Margatroid! We were just-"
"Hi I'm Flandre! What's your name?" Flandre interrupted as she held out her hand towards Alice.
"Alice Margatroid, Seven colored magician of the Forest of Magic, it's a pleasure to meet you." Alice said still sounding irritated as she shook Flandre's hand. "So what brings you here?"
"We're looking for my friend Marisa! Do you know where she is?" Flandre asked.
"Marisa? Marisa Kirisame?" Alice asked.
"Yeah that's her! Do you know where she is?" Flandre asked once again.
"Yes, she lives nearby, probably the closest thing I have to a neighbor…I would direct you to her house, but she dropped by not too long ago, rambling on about mushrooms and asked me if I'd like to join her in looking for some. I rejected her offer, and she ran off to only god knows where to go look for some." Alice explained.
"Awwww…" Flandre groaned.
"Don't fret, she should return soon. If you wish, you and the gatekeeper may wait here in my house until she returns." Alice offered.
"Oh you don't have to-"
"Wow, thanks Miss Alice!" Flandre interrupted again.
"Don't mention it. Just don't break anything and we'll get along swimmingly." Alice said as she gestured the two to the door.
Alice Margatroid's house was an interesting one; there was a fancy red circular rug in the center of the room, with a small coffee table sitting on top of it. Behind the coffee table was a couch looking to fit up to three people, with a cushioned armchair sitting diagonally from the coffee table. Though the most eye catching feature of the room was the numerous shelves in the room, all of them holding dolls of all kinds. Some wore fancy frilly dresses and others wore plain looking robes. Flandre and Meiling surmised that the eyes staring at them from the windows belonged to them.
"Take a seat anywhere you'd like, I have some tea brewing, would either of you care for some?" Alice asked hospitably.
"Yes please, that would be appreciated." Meiling replied kindly as she took a seat on the couch, placing her bags at her feet.
"Wow, you have lots of dolls, they're really pretty…" Flandre said in awe as she admired the dolls from their shelves as she joined Meiling on the couch.
"Yes quite a fine collection you have here Miss Margatroid." Meiling added.
"Ah, thank you, I take a deep amount of pride in my collection; I designed and made each and every one of them." Alice said as she walked to her kitchen.
"You made them all? That's so cool!" Flandre complemented.
"Ha, thank you it's a bit of a hobby of mine." Alice said, obviously overjoyed from the compliments she's receiving. "Though not everyone seems to enjoy my collection like you seem to…" Alice said bitterly as she walked into the room with a silver tray holding three teacups and a teapot.
"What do you mean?" Flandre asked curiously as she grabbed one of the teacups from the tray Alice held.
"Well…Not everyone thinks it's as you said, "cool", most people think it's weird and creepy…" Alice said sadly as she handed Meiling a teacup, and took a seat in the armchair.
"Well that's not nice at all! Those people are just a bunch of bullies, they're just jealous because they aren't as talented as you!" Flandre said reassuringly. "Right, China?"
"Yes, of course! I'll admit they were a bit unsettling from the windows, but once you get a closer look you really start appreciating the craftsmanship. I haven't seen such fine work since the Great Wall of China was constructed!" Meiling reassured.
"Well thank you two, it refreshing to see that there are still people who can appreciate fine doll crafting." Alice said as she took a sip from her cup. "Actually if you would like, I could show you two some of my finer works."
"That would be great!" Flandre chirped happily.
"It would be a pleasure." Meiling added.
"Hmmmm, Alright follow me then." Alice said as she stood up from her armchair.
Alice quickly showed her two guests to their destination, as her house was quite small. Alice produced a key from her dress pocket and unlocked the door. The room was rectangular in shape; against both of the walls were shelves that covered them completely. The shelves were filled to the brim with dolls, dolls as far as the eye could see. These dolls were unique from their predecessor's from the living room, as both Flandre and Meiling recognized some of the dolls as people they know, some they did not, but could only assume they were also based off of people in Gensokyo.
"Wow these are amazing! Hey this one looks like Mary!" Flandre pointed out excitedly as she stared at the doll that resembled Marisa with childlike wonderment.
"Thank you and yes that one would be based after Marisa, all of the dolls in this room are designed after everyone who was involved in Gensokyo's biggest incidents you see. I know it's a bit strange, but I enjoy making them." Alice explained.
"Hey look Meiling, This one looks just like you!" Flandre said as she held the doll up to Meiling to see.
"Wow, it does, down to almost every detail." Meiling said as she inspected the doll.
"Ooh! This one looks like big sister Remy!" Flandre said excitedly as she looked at the doll resembling her sister happily.
"What, big sister?" Alice asked curiously with an eyebrow raised at the comment.
"Yeah, this one looks just like my big sister!" Flandre said happily.
"Really, Remilia never said anything about having any younger siblings…But it would explain why her gatekeeper is with you." Alice said, still skeptical about Flandre's claims.
"Yes, it's true Miss Margatroid." Meiling confirmed.
"Hmmmm, it would seem that I'm missing a doll from one of my sets then…" Alice muttered to herself. "Excuse me Flandre, if it would be alright I would like to craft a doll in your likeness. It has come to my attention that I'm missing a doll from the Scarlet Devil Mansion set."
"Sure, go ahead! Tell me when you're finished, I'd love to see it!"
"Thank you, I'll remember to inform you of its completion." Alice said with a small smile.
"! I'm back, ze!" a voice shouted from outside the house.
"Ugh…Why does she insist on always announcing her return from her mushroom hunts…?" Alice grumbled to herself, "Well it would seem Marisa has returned, giving you no more reason to be here."
"It would appear that way, thank you for your hospitality Miss Margatroid." Meiling said with a bow. "Shall we go meet with Marisa now, Flandre?"
"Yeah let's go China!" Flandre replied cheerfully.
The three then exited the doll filled room, and out of the house. Sure enough, sitting on a stump in the clearing with a sack full of mushrooms was Marisa. She appeared to be inspecting her findings of the day.
"Hey Alice, yer gonna wish you had come along! I found a bunch of rare mush-" Marisa said as she looked up in surprise. "Flan! And China! What're you two doin here! Did Remilia letcha outta the basement finally?"
"Basement? Marisa, what are you talking about? Will someone please explain this all to me?" Alice asked impatiently, obviously confused.
"Not exactly Marisa…" Meiling answered. "Hey Flan, why don't you explain things to Alice here, I'm sure she's confused and would like an explanation right about now. Me and Marisa need to discuss some things, alright?" Meiling asked in a cheerful tone.
"Okay!" Flandre replied happily as she took Alice by the arm and started explaining the situation to her as she walked her back to her house.
"Alright China girl, spill the beans, ze." Marisa said impatiently.
"Okay…So you know how I was gonna meet with Remilia and convince her to let Flandre out of the basement?"
"Yeah…" Marisa replied slowly.
"Yeah so that didn't go too well, so…I kinda did as you suggested and sneaked her out, cool story huh?"
Marisa chuckled in response to Meiling's explanation and said, "Hoo boy… You know I was joking about that right? But damn, I gotta give ya credit China; you're gutsier than I thought! I always thought you were too dutiful to do something like this."
"Yeah well my friends come before my job." Meiling responded as she rubbed the back of her head.
"So now that little Flan here's out and about, what're you two going to do now?" Marisa asked.
"Well Flandre always wanted to see the world as she's told me on numerous occasions, so we're going to go everywhere in Gensokyo for her to see and explore. Where we go is pretty much up to her you could say. We were actually on our way to the human village to look for an inn until Flandre decided she wanted to visit you." Meiling explained.
"Huh, a "Flandre Scarlet: World Tour." Marisa said with a laugh. "But skip the inn; you two're staying at my place for the night! The inn keeper in the village is an ass when it comes to servin youkai anyways."
"That's very kind of you Marisa, I owe you one!" Meiling thanked Marisa happily with a bow.
"Ah, don't get all sappy on me, ze. But just to warn ya, Remilia will find out Flan's missing eventually, and when she does, she ain't gonna be happy. Ya better watch your back."
"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna be in a heck of a lot of trouble when I go back to the mansion." Meiling said with a sigh.
"Ha, worry about that later. So should we get back to those two?" Marisa said as she motioned her head towards Flandre and Alice. "I'm sure Flan's done explaining everything to her by now and Alice is going on one of her doll rants right about now, it'd be a shame for Flan to be free for the first time in four hundred and ninety five years just to die of boredom, ze."
"Oh I'd doubt that, those two are like peas in a pod. If you didn't know they just met, you'd say they were old friends." Meiling replied.
"Huh, I'm glad they're getting along, gods know those two both could use more friends." Marisa said as they walked towards the two.
"And I was thinking of putting on a puppet show at the festival that's coming up soon." Alice rambled on to Flandre.
"That sounds like fun! I hope big sis will let me go to it…"
"I'm sure she will, if not I'll just have to put a show on in the mansion." Alice said with a rarely seen smile. "Oh, are you two done discussing things now?" Alice asked as she noticed the pair of Marisa and Meiling coming towards them.
"Yep, and it looks like you two are too." Marisa replied.
"Yes, it's a bit unbelievable that Remilia would ask her little sister to live in a basement, I'll have to have some words with her…" Alice said.
"Yeah, it's a bit hard for me to believe myself, ze. Anyways, these two're stayin at my place for the night, so we'd better get going. Later Alice." Marisa said with a wave of her hand as she walked towards the clearing's edge.
"Very well, see you later Marisa." Alice said to Marisa, who was now waiting for her guests. "Well it was a pleasure to see you again Meiling, and a pleasure to meet you Flandre, stop by again sometime." Alice said as she shook their hands.
"As it was a pleasure to see you again Miss Margatroid, I hope we see you again soon." Meiling replied.
"It was nice meeting you too Alice, I hope I'll get to see you again!" Flandre said in her usual childish demeanor.
"Likewise." Alice replied simply as she watched the three exited the clearing and into the forest.
The small group of three made it to Marisa's house in just a few minutes, Alice and Marisa's houses were close enough to be neighbors as Alice said. Marisa's house sat in a clearing not unlike Alice's house; it was also small like her house too. Though unlike Alice's house, Marisa's house looked messy; her windows were a filthy contrast to Alice's crystal clear ones, and her door looked like it might fall off its hinges any second. The house's interior wasn't much better, the walls looked like they were fire damaged; her bed looked old and musty, as did the sheets and pillows sitting on it. The floor was covered with books, laundry and an assortment of other things that were probably stolen from others. In the top leftmost corner of her house was a wooden desk that was like the floor, covered with books. It also had mushrooms and vials of multi colored liquids sitting on it in addition to the books.
"Ah, home sweet home!" Marisa said as she tossed her bag of mushrooms towards the desk.
"This is where you live? It looks like a tornado went through here!" Meiling exclaimed.
"Oh don't get your undies in a bunch, ze. I wasn't expecting guests." Marisa brushed off as she took out her broom and start brushing out a pathway.
"Gah, it smells like something died in here!" Meiling said as she plugged her nose, with Flandre following suit.
"Eh, something probably did." Marisa said with a shrug.
"Wow, you've got a lotta books Mary." Flandre noted as she took a seat on Marisa's bed.
"That's because she "borrows" them at any given opportunity." Meiling added.
"Oh geez, I plan on returning them…When I'm dead." Marisa said with a laugh as she finished brushing off her floor. "Anyways my bed only fits up to two so someone's sleepin on the floor, and it ain't gonna be me. So decide whose going where, ze."
"Funny how you know how it fits two people." Meiling said smugly.
"Oh shut it China girl, this isn't the first time I've had guests." Marisa said with a blush.
"I'm sure it isn't." Meiling replied.
"Shut up." Marisa said with her face now a rosy red.
"Huh? I don't get it, why are you blushing Mary?" Flandre asked in curiosity.
"No reason Flan, don't worry about it." Marisa replied.
"Oh, Okay…" Flandre said.
"Joking aside, I'll take the floor you can take the bed Flan." Meiling said with a laugh.
"Alright, Thanks China." Flandre thanked appreciatively.
"Don't mention it." Meiling replied cheerfully.
"Well now that that's settled, who wants somethin to eat?" Marisa asked.
"I do, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" Flandre said as she rubbed her stomach.
"Sure, I could go for a bite to eat." Meiling replied as she set her bags down by Marisa's bed.
"Alrighty! On today's menu we have mushrooms, mushrooms and more mushrooms!" Marisa said as she tossed the two some mushrooms from her bag.
"Gee Marisa; you sure do like your mushrooms…" Meiling said as she caught one of the mushrooms Marisa threw to the two.
"Yup, mushrooms are my life; don't know what I'd do without the things." Marisa replied as she stuffed an entire mushroom in her mouth.
"Mmmmm, these are good!" Flandre said happily while she chewed on one.
"See, they aren't bad! Don't knock em til ya try em." Marisa said as she finished her first mushroom and dug another one out of her bag.
"Hmmmm, these don't taste half bad." Meiling said after taking a bite from the mushroom Marisa gave her.
"Toldja." Marisa said smugly. "So Flan, I hear y'got this whole world tour thing planned, so any places in mind to go to first, ze?
"I dunno…I always wanted to see that place where moon people live that Saky told me about." Flandre said as she took another bite from her mushroom.
"Y'mean Eientei? That's where that crazy doc and that lazy moon princess live with all their rabbits, ze."
"Yeah, that's it! Saky told me that she and big sis went there and beat them up to save the moon!" Flandre said excitedly.
"Heh yeah, the imperishable night incident, not one of my favorite nights…" Marisa said.
"Huh? What do you mean Marisa?" Meiling asked.
"Oh…Heh, heh…Funny story…You see, I kinda thought that Reimu and the gap hag were behind it…So I sorta attacked them and well to put it bluntly, they kicked my ass." Marisa said as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.
The room fell into silence until it was broken by laughter from Meiling.
"Wahahahaha! T-That's hilarious!" Meiling exclaimed in her laughter.
"Ah shut up China girl, or your sleeping outside tonight."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…It's out of my system." Meiling said as she wiped a tear from her eyes.
"Hmph, whatever China, anyways it's getting late I think it's time to hit the hay." Marisa said as she walked to her closet and took out a blanket and pillow. "Here's a spare blanket and pillow for ya." Marisa said as she tossed them to Meiling.
"Thanks." Meiling said simply as she caught them.
"Yeah, yeah no probs." Marisa said as she threw off her hat and plopped down on her bed where Flandre was sitting. "Well night ya two." Marisa said as she fluffed her pillows and turned off the lights.
"Night Mary, Night China…" Flandre said sleepily as she rested head on a pillow.
"Sleep tight Flandre." Meiling responded as she lay down on a clear spot on the floor next to the bed.
The three quickly fell asleep. The room being completely silent aside from Marisa's snoring and the sounds of animals howling from outside.
This chapter was a bit difficult to write at times, but still enjoyable to work on. In this chapter, one of TouHou's most popular characters, Alice makes her first appearance. I hope you enjoyed my portrayal of Alice for this story, the whole tsundere Alice thing is something that never really appealed to me. I always imagined her being a more secluded person with a small circle of friends and acquaintances, and being somewhat of a lonely character. Special thank you to XT-421 for pointing out a small error in the last chapter, it has been fixed now, thanks for pointing that out! It was quite embarrassing, I'll be looking through my work more thoroughly from now on. Sorry for rambling on, this is now officially my longest Author's note. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and will look forward to future chapters! Characters and Setting are owned by ZUN.