GENSOKYOBOUND

by SKOOLATOON

Hikari Hakurei is Reimu's own daughter of eighteen years. Her quiet demeanor's brought by social inexperience and natural introversion. Night of Gensokyian New Year party, Hikari wakes to a strange meteorite falling from the sky. While many of Gensokyo's finest are in drunken comas in the shrine, Hikari takes it upon herself to investigate. It'd be a long time before she gets home.

11. Super Hakurei Sunshine

After a group huddle and a selectively truthful retelling of the previous evening's events, the party had rationalized the situation to Keine. They all sat around a medium-sized, strategic table. It just wasn't strategic at the moment, all of its previous maps and folders of documentation sat aside to make room for the company in the form of Hikari's party.

"I can't believe that boy would do something so deranged…" Keine shook her head. "He was always a problem child. I should've kept a better eye on him…"

'I don't think there's a lot you could've done…' Hikari considered. 'He seems pretty screwed up.'

Osamu shook his head. "I don't know 'bout that. He's sick in the head, dude, sick in the head."

'Or that.'

Marisa snorts. "Sick in the head, ze?"

Osamu nods. "Sick in the freakin' head."

Keine furrows her brows. "I wouldn't go that far…"

Marigold grins. "You're right. That'd be an insult to people with actual mental problems."

"Ooo~h! Bu~rn!" Osamu slapped his knee. "Hahaha~!"

Marisa grinned. "Ooo~h!"

Sighing and shaking her head, Keine gave Hikari a questioning look.

Hikari shrugged towards her, grinning. 'It was funny.'

After the merriment at Porky's expense settled, Hikari decided to ask the fun questions again.

"Magical places." She began, "Where could we find some?"

Keine blinked. "...Another?"

Hikari nodded. "Yes. We've kinda been on a goose chase lately. Anything you know could help."

"...I've already told you all I know." She explains apologetically, "I'd tell you more, but I'm sure I've told you last time, the term 'magical place' is very, very broad in a land like Gensokyo…"

Hikari nodded acceptingly. "Mmm. It's okay."

Marigold turned to Hikari. "Do you think Akyuu would know anything?"

'That's right! We should visit Akyuu. She might even know something, too.'

"...Yeah, she might. We should get going." Hikari decided, standing from her chair.

"Already?" Keine's brow rose.

"We're kinda in a hurry." Hikari replied.

'That, and considering what Akyuu told us, I wouldn't want her to keel over the moment we leave her alone…' She was suddenly paranoid that Akyuu would die sooner than she expected.

"That's why you raided a snack shop last night, ze." Marisa noted with a grin.

'Uh…!'

Keine looked at Hikari with surprise. "...You really are hanging out with the wrong people, aren't you?"

She looks over at Osamu hastily. "He really is a criminal, isn't he?"

Hikari frowned. "N-no, it's not like that…"

Keine stood up… but quickly sat back down. "...Well, I suppose nothing much can be done about it, now. Besides, if Marigold is alright with him, then there must be something that I'm missing."

Marisa freezes. "Y-you know who she is…?"

Keine slowly turns to her. "Yes. I'm not only a history teacher, but also an archivist. As such, I tend to listen to the things people say, and I happened to learn of your proverbial love child."

'...In other words, gossip.' Hikari simplified. 'Somehow.'

Marigold took note of this, too. "Other… people?"

Keine nodded. "Well… a few weeks ago, a team of fairy maids came by on errands."

Marigold snapped her fingers. "Ooh, right! They sent Komi and Hana down here, didn't they?"

"That's right," Keine smiled. "Hana seems to have taken a liking to you."

"Mmm…" Marigold looked pleased.

'Who?'

…

"Well, don't let me keep you three waiting. Go find your… magical place." Keine paused at how strange the situation seemed when she said it like that, but shook it off.

"Oh, we will, don't worry." Marigold let amusement slip into her voice.

The party began rising, and moved to leave. Marigold spared Marisa another disappointed glance, before leaving the house, followed by her other party members.

…

"...I still can't believe I never heard of her until a few weeks ago, but I'm sure you had your reasons." Keine addressed Marisa.

"How d'you know she's mine?" Marisa argued.

"...I asked more questions than what the fairies told me, obviously. It'd be foolish of me to take what little they told me at face value. Alice was more than cooperative to discuss everything with me."

"...Oh." Marisa gulped.

Keine stood. "Oh, I forgot…!"

"Ah?" Marisa tilted her head.

"That child has some sort of mind control mechanism in place. That's why the guard is still violent. I should have told Hikari to look out for it…" She turns to Marisa. "...You could track it down, couldn't you?"

Marisa sighs. "...Yeah. Gimme a minute, ze…"

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

The three began walking towards Akyuu's manor, side by side as they marched down the village streets.

"I'm hearin' a lotta extra stuff about my two favorite ladies!" Osamu announced once they were out of earshot of the house.

Hikari and Marigold looked at him curiously.

"Define 'favorite ladies'." Marigold neutrally asked.

'I might rather he didn't.'

"The two chicks I gotta freakin' save the world with." Osamu nonchalantly added. "Who else?"

"Favorite in what way?" Marigold slowed behind Osamu, and slowly raised her Air Gun…

"..." Osamu smiled nervously, unsure how to continue. "...They kick ass?"

Osamu turns and notices the Air Gun pointed at his face, but only for a moment. In one swift motion, Marigold hid it behind her back. "...I suppose I like that description."

'That was probably the only way out of that situation.' Hikari grinned to herself.

They rounded the corner to the gates of Akyuu's manor, which were still unguarded and unkempt. A few villagers stood outside, a few with swords.

"D'you think she's alright…?" A man with brown hair questioned one of his fellows.

"Probably. I mean, she's Akyuu." The grey-haired, aged man dropped his shoulders. "Besides, I feel as though we have bigger problems. What the hell's wrong with the town guard, for one thing, and-"

"Dude, she's like, the chronicle person." The brown-haired village fellow made his counter-argument.

A short, blonde man with a mace and actual armor walked up to them. "He has a point, dude… Like, what would we do… without the chronicle person?"

The grey-haired man sighed, bowing his head. "You dumb fucks… Count me in, then." He raises his broadsword. "I don't know what we'll find inside… but we'll be ready for it. And I know the only reason you dolts want to do this, is because the chronicler's hot as hell."

The other men stare at him dumbfounded, their ruse exposed.

"...I agree, though. That's why I'm coming with you."

The men sigh in relief.

'...Actually, we should come back later.' Hikari realized.

She turned to her party members. "We have to do something first."

Marigold furrowed her brows. "...Like? Are we just going to let those men run into the land of kung-fu maids alone?"

Hikari nodded. "We have to."

"We have to." Marigold repeated.

"Mmm."

"...What do we have to do?"

Hikari turned to Osamu. "Remember the last time we had to deal with brainwashing?"

Osamu paused. "...Zo~mbie fairies?"

'You idiot.' Hikari glared at him. "The temple?"

"Oh, shit, right!" He nodded hastily. "Yeah, that's right. There was all that paint goop making people all loopy."

Hikari nodded, guiding him along. "Remember what we did to fix it?"

"...We beat up that weird statue thing."

…

"...There's another weird statue here!" Osamu blurted upon realization.

Hikari snorted. 'About time you got it. At least, I would think there's another statue thing. Or the same one. I forget if we even destroyed the last one...'

"Weird statue?" Marigold questioned.

"Yeah," Osamu began, "It floated around and did weird shit. Like, it hit people."

Marigold stared at him. "...I'm sorry?"

"You'll see…" Osamu shook his head. "Shit's crazy."

'Mmm…'

Hikari turned, and began for the one place she knew the statue would be…

Her party followed behind her, having gotten used to her rather abrupt and whimsical way of just moving to where she thought things would be going down.

"Where're we going, now…?" Marigold inquired. "Do you even know?"

"Mmm." Hikari hummed. "What's the one place Porky would hide a trump card?"

Osamu put a hand to his chin. "...The woods? That's where I would…"

'Too smart.' Hikari shook her head.

"...In a generic shed, behind a bunch of buildings?" Marigold tried. "No one would ever find it."

'Even smarter, which means no.' Hikari grinned.

"...How about his house?" Hikari smugly added.

'It better actually be his house, or I'm going to look like a huge idiot.'

"No fuckin' way." Osamu shook his head. "I know the guy's retarded, but he's not that retarded."

"I think I have to agree." Marigold subtly bobbed her head back and forth, conflicted. "It's a bit of a stretch, honestly…"

'We'll see…' Hikari continued towards Porky's house…

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

She knocked on the door.

"...Rather average house for the captain." Osamu reflected. "Guess those things about his budget were true."

'Budgets, huh.' Hikari didn't care about budgets. She reeled her gohei back, and smashed it into the door.

Bam!

Marigold winced. "...Hikari, we're entering someone's house, not raiding a castle!"

The door slowly fell inward, with a soft thud and it hit the floor.

"Now look what you've done." Marigold sighed.

'...It's Porky's house.' Hikari mentally justified her door-brutality.

Barging inside, it didn't seem like anyone was home in the Man household.

Osamu looked around. "...Seems like a normal place to me."

Hikari continued through the living room into the kitchen, where there was also nothing.

"You should turn that spare room of yours into a kitchen." Marigold told Osamu. "...What do you even live off of?"

...Osamu grinned sheepishly. "I find ways."

'I'd rather not know.'

Hikari opened the door to Porky's room…

'...Huh.'

There sat the large golden statue, immobile in the middle of the room. A bed was clumsily perched atop it, and some pillows were placed at its base.

Osamu stepped in. "...You've gotta be fuckin' jokin' me."

Marigold snickered at the sight. "Oh. Well…"

...Hikari walked up to it cautiously. "Um…"

She reeled her gohei back, and smacked the side of it.

Bo~ng!

'Woah. Put too much force into that one…' She rubbed her arm a bit.

The statue itself glowed lightly, protected by some sort of magic.

"Hikari, please…" Marigold stepped up to the statue. "Let me demonstrate how you really solve these sorts of problems…"

Klack!

The bullet bounced off and hit a segment of walling. The statue shimmered lightly again.

"...Darn." Marigold frowned.

Osamu rolled his sleeves up. "Alright, ladies, let me show you how a man does it…"

Osamu tried Offense Up α!

He felt strength build up in his muscles!

"Oh, yea~h. It's go time."

He reels his fist back, and punches the statue.

…

"Yeeoo~wch!" He grabbed his hand. "Holy shit! Du~de…" He curls up, cradling his hand.

Hikari snorted. 'What did you expect? It's made entirely out of metal!'

Marigold kicked it. "Take that."

'We might actually need to use something relevant on it, here. I don't think all the kicking and punching in the world's going to make it move.'

Osamu stuck his middle finger at it. "Dude, statue. I did your mom last night. How you like that?"

The statue didn't do anything… because it was a statue.

Marigold shook her head. "Maybe we should…" She moved next to Osamu. "Actually. Attack. It?" To punctuate her point, she elbowed him with each word.

"Alright, alright, geez!"

Osamu stepped back, wiggling his hands a bit. "Let's do this…"

Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!

Thwaa~sh!

The bed was struck on the top, bursting into flames.

'O~h, no. That's a fire hazard.' Hikari stepped towards the door as the fire spread to the roof. 'A bi~g fire hazard.'

Thwaa~sh!

The next bolt came through the roof itself entirely, blowing a hole in it as it struck the statue.

Bam!

The magic shield on it flickered brightly, before going out. The fire began staining the metal, and the statue started floating.

"Uhm…" Hikari opened the door to the room. "I think…"

The statue spun around in the air, a wild airstorm throwing the party to the walls, and Hikari out the door.

"Aaa~h!"

Thud.

'O-oof…' Couches, Hikari found, were not that soft.

"We made it fuckin' angry, dude!" Osamu wailed, rushing out of the room.

Marigold was hot on his trail, aiming her gun at the statue and shooting.

Klack! Klack! Klack!

The bullets actually struck the metal, leaving small, fading stains of mana on the golden form of the statue which quickly faded away.

The statue burst through the door frame entirely, entering the kitchen.

Osamu stopped to tear out a shelf of utensils, and toss it at it.

They clattered uselessly against the metal.

'Please be serious.' Hikari stared dryly at Osamu as he ran for the door to the living room, along with Marigold. Hikari followed behind them, and before long they had all made their way outside of the house.

Bam!

The walls behind them fell to the statue's movement, as it floated through them effortlessly. The Man residence was reduced to a flaming husk, the smoke billowing into the village's sky.

Villagers took notice of the flames, and began racing for buckets.

The statue hovered in the air, waves of mysterious energy emanating from it…

'We're going to have to unload on it, I feel.' Hikari gripped her gohei tightly.

The statue tried Paralysis α!

Osamu's body locked up and numbed, and he fell to the floor.

Thud.

'Here we go…'

Marigold's eyes widened at how quick her party member dropped. She aimed at the statue…

Klack! Klack!

The bullets didn't seem to do much, though, once again staining the metal.

Hikari tried Healing α!

Osamu shook his head rapidly, working off the numb sensation. "T-there…" Slowly, he began sitting up again…

"...Doing all the damage right about now would be great." Hikari ordered. "We'll just unload, alright, guys? That means bottle rockets, Mari."

Marigold blinked, and reached into her backpack…

Hikari turned to Osamu. "Try the lightning bolt one. I don't think ice did much last time."

"No problem." He grinned, charging his hands again…

'Now…' Hikari closed her eyes, focusing on the statue.

Marigold drew her bottle rocket and kneeled, aiming it at the statue…

Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!

Hikari tried PK Fantasy ß!

Marigold's bottle rocket flew towards the statue!

All the noises essentially became a deafening, roaring mess over one another. Technicolor energy bombarded the statue, danmaku from the bottle rocket pinged off it, and finally, electricity ran through it from the lightning bolts.

After all was said and done, Hikari kneeled. 'A-ah…'

She looked up to the statue, which was now heavily dented, but still floating in the air, even if barely due to how uneven it was.

"That thing's tough…" Osamu stated the obvious.

"No way…" Marigold frowned at the large dent the bottle rocket left, unsatisfied that the opponent was still floating.

The statue glowed purple for a moment…

It tried PSI Magnet α!

Rectangles shot towards Osamu, did their thing, and filed back to the statue.

"Hey- what!? No!" He glared at the statue. "Give me back my mana, you asshole!"

The statue shook softly in the air, and then emitted a glorious light…

It tried PK Flash Ω!

Marigold collapsed…

Osamu collapsed…

'W-what…' Hikari began crying uncontrollably!

'U-ugh…'

Hikari tried Healing α!

"T-there…" She wiped her eyes, then looked to her party members. "...Wow."

Hikari tried Healing α!

Nothing happened.

'They must really be out of it, then…' Truth be told, Hikari didn't know how far that healing actually went.

'I h-have to end this, and fast…!' Hikari backed up as the statue slowly floated closer to her…

Hikari tried PK Fantasy α!

She prayed this technicolor bombardment would be enough.

Fizzle!

The statue hung loosely in the air as it was illuminated by the many bright particles.

Fizzle!

Hikari glared at the statue.

Bwaa~sh!

Twirling in the air, the statue floated around without aggression, slowly drifting into the half-extinguished rubble behind it and lightly rebounding off it, floating into the air.

'Is… is it still not dead?' Hikari winced, her legs beginning to shake from her lack of energy…

"Look out below, ze! Watch yer heads!"

Hikari lethargically turned in the direction of the yelling, seeing Marisa flying unevenly, buckets of water hanging from her broom.

"Who put that stupid statue there!?" Marisa tried to swerve her broom to avoid it. "W-why is it floating!? What the hell, ze!?"

She flew into it, and the statue was shot into the ground, nearly harmlessly getting smashed out of the witch's' trajectory.

Thunk.

Meanwhile, Marisa was having trouble regaining control after all the swerving she tried to do. "No! Not the left! Go back to the right! No~!"

Bam!

Water splashed all over the road.

…

'Good job.' Hikari dropped to her knees. 'N-now… I think… I'll sleep.'

Hikari collapsed…

…

Marisa stumbled from a nearby alley adjacent to the building she crashed into. "E-ejected right into a fucking wall…"

She rubbed her back. "I'm gonna need a whole new broom after that one…"

A villager splashed the last water of bucket on the fire. After a few moments of examining the pile of ash and cinder that once was the Man residence, he raised his arm. "The fire's out!"

The few villagers nearby who participated cheered.

"Wha~t?" Marisa slouched. "I wanted to be the big hero…"

...She turned to the three unconscious teenagers, and grinned. "...Looks like it's nap time. I don't think the street's a good place to sleep, though."

...She lifted Marigold onto her shoulder, and furrowed her brows. "H-heavy… hmm…"

After a moment, she snapped her fingers. "Ah! I can test that telekinesis spell I saw once, I think!" It wasn't her usual style, but she was willing to try something new.

She stuck her hand out, slowly lifting Osamu up…

...only for him to get rocketed into a nearby wall.

Thud!

"...U~h…" Marisa giggled nervously.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: OSAMU'S VIEW ====

'My aching head…'

Osamu sat up, lying on a pile of blankets.

'What even…?'

Looking around the room, he saw a bed nearby.

'There we go.' He nodded at it, but the idea slowly grew less appealing as he began to wake up further. Standing up, he noticed the contents of said bed.

'Well, fuck me, then. Nevermind that idea!' The bed had an unconscious Marigold and Hikari lying in it.

"...Hey."

"Aaa~h!" Osamu screeched, flailing his arms. 'Who's there!? I have fists!'

...He looks over to the source of the noise, and sees Marisa sitting by a lit candle.

"You tryin'a wake up the whole neighborhood, ze?" Marisa smirked.

"Hnh…" Hikari rolled over-

Thud.

-and out of the bed, taking the entire blanket with her, leaving Marigold exposed. Thankfully, Marigold was in her day-to-day wear.

'W-woah!'

Osamu covered his eyes preemptively anyway. "Oh, geez…"

'Close one…'

Marisa chuckled. "You better not look at my daughter, ze…" She slowly got up and stepped towards Osamu, grinning the whole way.

'Oh, great, she's pissed, too…'

"I'm not! I'm not!"

"You are!" Marisa exclaimed. "Love Sign…" She brought up her mini-hakkero.

'Oh, shit! What the fuck!? Wh- no!'

"What!?" Osamu stuck his hands out, looking at her in dismay. "No! I'm sorry!"

"Master Spo~rk!"

…

Ting!

A bright yellow spork fell out of the mini-hakkero, which Marisa lifted.

...Osamu still had his arms locked in a 'don't hurt me I'm fragile' sort of position.

'H-huh…?'

"Heheheh… What's wrong?" Marisa grinned, holding the spork. "It's a spoon, and a fork."

…

"Whaddaya mean, 'what's wrong'!?" Osamu roared. "That wasn't funny!"

"Hahahaha!" Marisa clutched her stomach. "I gotcha good, dude!"

'Stupid… Just you wait until I learn some powerful magic, then you'll be sorry.' Osamu folded his arms, brooding.

"Hey, lighten up…" Marisa walked up to him. "I'll even let'cha grope her."

'W-wait, what!?' Osamu looked to Marisa, disbelieving.

Marisa handed him the spork. "Here."

He took it, staring at it curiously.

"H-how's she feel, ze...?" Marisa restrained herself from laughing further.

"Who the hell uses 'grope' when they talk about tools!?" Osamu blurts out.

"Hahahaha!"

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: HIKARI'S VIEW ====

'S-so noisy…'

Hikari sat up, rubbing her eyes. "W-what's going on…?"

Before her, Osamu was seething in rage while Marisa was laughing hysterically.

"Hahahaha~!"

"Aa~h, shut up, already…" Osamu cringed.

'What a morning.'

…

'Wait, is it even day?' A look out the window revealed to Hikari that all was dark outside, barring the village lamps, of course.

Hikari moved to get out of bed, only to realize she was already on the floor.

'...Whoops.'

She stood up, readjusting her outfit slightly.

'What were we doing again?' She paused for a moment, as the two magic practitioners looked to her.

"H-heya…" Marisa began composing herself, "I-I saw you guys decided to nap in the middle of the road. Not good, not good, ze?"

Hikari snapped her fingers. 'We were fighting that statue thing! And then…'

She walked up to Marisa. "What happened to that statue thing?"

Marisa blinked. "...Oh, that weird floating statue? After I hit it, it just kinda sank into the floor and left. Freakin' weirdest thing ever. Like, what even…" She began giggling at the absurdity of the statue.

'...I think it got away.' Hikari sighed. "Oh, okay…"

Marisa took note of Hikari's crestfallen expression, which jogged her memory. "Oh, that reminds me! The guards aren't being stupid drones anymore!"

Osamu tilted his head. "You mean we actually got that reform we needed?"

Marisa shook her head. "No, I mean that the mind control stopped. That's the good news, actually…"

'Oh, boy…'

"Bad news is that half the town guard quit." Marisa added.

…

"That's actually better news." Osamu smugly commented.

'I have no problem with that.' Hikari never liked the town guard, anyway.

"Oh." Marisa looked at them, vaguely surprised. "...Well, I guess it's all good news, then."

Marigold sat up, hugging herself. "W-where…?"

...She saw the party before her. "Oh."

Osamu walked towards her. "Your mom's being fuckin' weird, du~de!"

Marigold sighed. "When is she not?"

"Eheh…" Marisa scratched the back of her head. "All in good fun, ze."

He paused a moment. "Actually… how'd uh… how's that even work?" He turned towards Marigold questioningly.

Marisa whistled. "U~h… P-Patchy'd be better at explainin' it than, uhm…"

Marigold suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

'No.'

Walking up to Osamu, Hikari readied her gohei subtly…

"No. We're not doing this again." She readied her aim…

"But- I wanna know!" Osamu turned to her, then realized what she was doing. "...Oh-!"

Hikari swung, aimed for his crotch, but he turned and it struck his thigh instead.

Thwack!

"G-geez! Hikari, no!"

Thwack!

"Aaa~h!"

…

After giving the man a proper walloping, Hikari thought about their next course of action...

'Well, it's night, apparently. We were supposed to visit Akyuu today, too.'

She moved for the door, noting to herself that they were in Keine's house. "We should probably get going."

Marigold rose a brow. "I just woke up."

Hikari nodded. "We were kinda supposed to visit Akyuu. Yesterday, I think."

"...Oh. Yeah, that's kinda bad, isn't it?"

'Mmm.'

…

"We should do that." Hikari moves for the door.

"Can I come with ya?" Marisa questions. "I mean, I've nothing better to do, so…"

'Eeeh…'

Marigold folded her arms. "So you want to come now?"

"Well, yeah…" Marisa scratched her cheek. "Am I not allowed to?"

Hikari shrugged. "I mean, we're visiting Akyuu's place. There's not much rea-"

"Oo~h! That gives me an idea…!" Marisa rubs her chin thoughtfully. "...I'll be coming with you guys, ze…!"

'...Only because you insist.'

The four moved into the main room of the house, where Hikari's hypothesis was proven correct, and Keine sat at the main table.

She looked up from a stack of papers. "O-oh… What're you all doing up at this hour…?" She froze. "I-it's not morning already, is it? Did I fall asleep?"

Marisa shook her head. "Nah, it's still, like, two."

"Ah…" Keine nodded slowly. "...What?"

Hikari saw the papers in the candlelight, and they seemed to be tests she was grading. 'Huh. I didn't think the grading process would look this much like homework.' Hikari would know, having brief bouts with those formats of learning herself.

'...Not fun.'

Marigold cringed at the sight of the tests as well, but was curious at Keine's demeanor towards them.

"...W-well, alright…" Keine unsurely looks between the party and her paper.

Osamu scratched his head.

Marisa continued to the door, and the party followed behind her.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Hikari ended up leading the party as they continued through the shady village streets. Most of the villagers were now off at bed, but a few still browsed the roads with swords due to the half-presence of the town guard.

Osamu began the nightly discussion. "Y'know how bad street muggings here can be?"

'I actually never stuck around here at night.' Hikari reflected. 'It's actually fairly pretty, but my mother always said it was too dangerous. She wasn't wrong, I'm sure. I never really thought about coming here at night after that, anyway.'

Marigold stared at him, appearing dry already. "How bad can street mugging here be…?"

"They're like fuckin' brawls, dude. Like, I lost a dagger in one, once." Osamu told everyone. "I knocked out a guy's freakin' tooth. And then more muggers joined in, and then the town guard had to come break it up. I'm pretty sure a guy got stabbed, too. By a sword. And then-"

Marigold interrupted. "I'm sorry, when was this again?"

"Last month." Osamu nodded. "Wait- actually… yeah, it was last month."

Hikari nodded slowly as she continued towards Akyuu's manor. 'It's a terrible night to have a mugger brawl, I'm sure.'

"It all started 'cause this other dude wanted my dagger, and then someone across the street saw a pretty lady, and uh- anyway, some dude saw it and was like…"

…

"Was li~ke…?" Marigold urged him to continue.

"...'Hey'." Osamu slowly shook his fist at the air. After a brief giggle, he continued. "A-and the molester was like 'oh shit' and then they started fist-fighting. Well, I was still struggling for my dagger, and we kinda bumped into each other."

Marigold nodded. "...What happened then?"

"We beat the shit out of each other." Osamu grinned.

'Obviously.'

Before long, they'd reached the dimly illuminated gate of the manor residence. The gates were still ajar from before, apparently.

'Now I'm paranoid that we're gonna get jumped.' Not like it would matter, considering her party could probably nuke any unlucky thief or molester into next week.

"...Y'know," Marisa began. "That story reminded me of when I was a young'un, actually."

'Oh, dear.' Hikari had heard her stories before. They were even more graceful than Osamu's, and usually were more centered around youkai hunting extravaganzas, but she did have tales from when she lived with her father.

They were similar to Osamu's in nature.

"When I lived with my Pa here in the village, I kinda did some sneaky stuff at night, too." Marisa began her tale.

Hikari slinked in through the ajar gate, the party following, though Osamu pushed it open aggressively and it clanged against the side of the wall.

'Exactly what I was trying to not do.'

"Like, I cleaned out an entire candy shop once." Marisa nonchalantly added.

"Pfft. Bullshit." Osamu shook his head, grinning. "No way. Old man Teller's got eyes on the back of his eyes."

"Who do you think made him like that?" Marisa smirked.

…

"Yeah, no. Still not buying it." Osamu shook his head. "Not in a million years."

Marisa pouted. "Hey, my Pa made me give it all back anyway. Look- you know the corner of the counter?"

He turned to Marisa, realization dawning on his face. "The one under the outside-world gumball machine thing?"

Marisa beamed. "Where, if you slide the combination lock…"

"To 26-24-21…" Osamu continued for her…

"...You'll find Teller's 'secret stash'!" They both finished. "Hahaha~!"

'I'm surrounded by scoundrels.' Hikari realized. 'Mother would be proud.'

As they walked inside, they saw numerous butlers and maids working feverishly to repair the many damaged walls, floors, ceilings, and furniture.

'Looks like they're back to normal, too.'

One of the maids turned to the party, and bowed deeply. "A-ah, I'm so sorry! So, so sorry!

Marigold blinked. "Hmm?"

She blushed brightly. "U-uhm… I-I was the maid… o-one of the maids that- who attacked you…"

Hikari blinked. '...She is, actually.'

"You know…" She pressed her fingers together nervously. "You guys were actually really tough. If-if it's not too much trouble... I'd like to challenge you guys to a rematch. Th-this time, I'll actually know what I'm doing, too!" She pressed her arms to her sides. "That mind-thing threw me off my game, y-you know?"

'Ahah…' Hikari wasn't sure if she wanted to fight the kung-fu maids again, especially if last time was what they were like instinctually.

"Anytime, yeah?" Osamu grins. "I'll punch you so freakin' hard!"

The maid giggles. "Hehehe… please, don't, sir. You'll only hurt yourself."

Osamu looked wounded.

'Right in the ego.' Hikari grinned. "...Say, would you happen to know where Akyuu is?"

The maid perked up, "Oh, yes! Right this way, Hikari…"

Hikari blinked. 'I keep forgetting the maids know my name.'

Marisa grinned. "Some special service, huh? You're movin' up in the world, Hikari! I remember when you were still learning how to throw ofuda!"

'I happen to still only know how to throw ofuda, but I can also throw psychic maelstroms, so I guess it doesn't matter.' Hikari nods in spite of knowing her lack of shrine maiden skills.

...The maid turned to them. "If we h-have that rematch… I hope I'm not being rude… but could miss Kirisame not participate?"

Marisa shrugged. "Considering I wasn't even here earlier…"

"Y-yeah, that's what I was thinking…" The maid all-too quickly agreed with her.

'I know what she's getting at. Having Marisa help us really wouldn't be fair.' The poor maid would be vaporized before any of Hikari's party could even think about engaging her.

They eventually got to Akyuu's garden, where she sat at a table and talked with the men that charged into her manor bravely earlier. Said men were in various states of disrepair.

The grey-haired man's clothes were all scorched, the blonde-armored midget's armor was completely gone and his mace was just a stick, and the brown-haired man was now bald and lacked clothes, holding a bow and arrow that happened to look like one of the decorative ones on the walls.

'Wow. The staff was unkind to them, it seems.'

The brown-haired fellow drank from a mug. "...And that's how I narrowly escaped the laundry room! Fucking washtubs, man!"

The other men at the table laughed while Akyuu giggled softly.

The blonde, armored man raised his stick. "I swung this mace into a whole crowd of them. They like, ate it!"

The brown-haired man chuckled. "What the hell even happened?"

"Maids, man. Holy shit…"

'Very unkind.'

The party approached the table, and the men all jumped at the sight of the maid.

"Oh, bloody hell- it's another one of the bastards!" The grey-haired man raised what looked like a cartoonishly large boomerang.

"Oh, woah!" The brown-haired one raised his bow, drawing a crystal arrow of some sort, likely antique.

The maid raised her hands. "N-no! Don't shoot!"

The men all relaxed.

"...That's uh, right. They're… okay now." The blonde man lowered his stick.

The brown-haired man pointed at Hikari. "Hey, it's a Hakurei!"

"We solved yer incident for ya! How'd you like that!?" The grey-haired man grinned, folding his arms. "That doin' anything for ya, huh? Hahaha~!"

Hikari stared at them dryly. "...We were the ones who shut down the mind control."

He froze. "W-what? I.. thought we just fought until it stopped."

"The guards are back to normal, too." Marisa adds. "Nothin' to see here, anymore."

…

"This is bullshit." The blonde man threw his stick away. "I'm going home."

He began walking out, only for a random maid to round the corner and follow him abruptly.

His friends chuckled. "Oh, it's that one, again." The aged man noted. "...Well, come along, George. We've done all we could, here."

George, apparently, frowned. "But, I- Akyuu…!"

"You can ask her out later. We gotta go make sure the village is alright."

George blushed. "Y-you didn't have to just announce it, damn it!"

Akyuu blinked.

'...Well, everything ended fine, it seems.'

The two men left, and George waved to Akyuu as they departed.

…

"So…" Akyuu turned to them. "Hello again, Hikari."

"H-hi." Hikari began.

'Voice, no. Stop.'

"...I apologize for how blunt I was the other day." Akyuu sighed. "I was just… pressured. By everything that happened."

'It's better than being fed a little at a time.'

"It's okay."

'...I'm too nice.'

Akyuu smiled. "I should've figured. Who are your friends, by the way?"

Osamu grinned. "Name's Osamu. Ass kicker extraordinaire."

"I've seen you in the village, before." Akyuu comments. "...My butlers dispatched you on one occasion, yes?"

Hikari turns to him, surprised.

"Pfft. Yeah."

…

"...What was your reason, then?" Akyuu gave a neutral smile.

He rolled his eyes. "Dude. Tons of butler guard dudes in the square for no reason? Why wouldn't I have infiltrated your doohickey operation? I didn't even know you were there!"

Akyuu blinked. "...Come again?"

"I thought there was like, a bank vault or treasure or some shit. The big stuff!"

…

"I mean, I found you, instead. Not like you're not treasure, but I mean…"

Hikari whacked him.

"Auh! Geez, stop doing that…" He rubbed the back of his head warily.

Akyuu smiled. "I see. I see. That's good, because… nevermind." Akyuu shakes her head. "Who might you be?" She turned to Marigold.

'Because what?' Hikari never really called out on the times her friend was mysterious about things.

"...My name is Marigold. I'm a magician." She introduced herself.

Akyuu nodded. "Marigold Knowledge, yes?"

She slammed her hands on the table. "Wha- how!?"

Akyuu giggled. "Little escapes my eye in the village, you see. Those fairy maids who talked with Keine the other day were no exception.

'Oh. Keine talked with her about it, then.' Hikari nods. 'Mmm.'

"...O-oh." Marigold nodded. "That makes sense."

Akyuu turned to Marisa.

Marisa waved. "Hi. My name's Lesley, and I sell seashells."

Akyuu shook her head, grinning. "I see you're with your daughter, Marisa."

Marisa slammed her own hands down on the table. "When did this become public, ze!?"

"...Was it not supposed to be?" Akyuu tilted her head.

"W-well…" Marisa looked unsure.

Marigold glared at her a moment. "Apparently it was." She huffed.

…

"...Oh." Akyuu now looked incredibly awkward. "...I see."

'Yeah.' Hikari cringed at the animosity displayed.

"...I-I didn't mean it like, uh…" Marisa stuttered.

"Stuff it, Lesley." Marigold folded her arms. "You know what? I like that name for you. You're Lesley, now."

Marisa sat her head on the table. "Seriously…?"

"You fit a Lesley." Marigold jabs.

"Who the hell's named Lesley…" Marisa asks herself.

'Pfft.'

"...Anyway, is there anything you want, Hikari?" Akyuu turned to her friend. "Tea? Cupcakes?"

'...Cupcakes sound pretty good right about- wait wait wait!' Hikari shook herself out of it. "...Do you know of any magical places nearby?"

Akyuu raised her brow. "...Magical places?"

Hikari nodded. "Yeah. They have this sort of feel to them, you see…"

…

Akyuu looks around. "I might happen to know what you're talking about."

'There we go. About time someone knows something.'

Marigold nodded numbly. "...I-I'd like some cupcakes."

Akyuu smiled. "...Lesley, could you go get the cupcakes?"

Marisa blinked. "...A-are you-"

The maid stood up. "Yes, Akyuu-sama! Please be patient!"

Marigold and Marisa turned to the maid, surprised.

'Wow.' Hikari stifled a giggle. 'Okay.'

…

After the maid left, Marisa slammed her arms on the table again. "Who the hell's named Lesley!?"

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

The party settled in and drank their tea peacefully, Lesley smiling at the gathering.

"So…" Akyuu sipped her tea. "You were looking for a magical place?"

Hikari nodded. "Yes."

"Magical natural fixture enclosed by nature?" Akyuu hazarded.

Hikari blinked. "...I guess?"

Akyuu sipped her tea, again. "...I discovered something akin to that earlier, and I know not its purpose. It's within the human village."

'Really?' Hikari double-took. 'A sanctuary right here, and I couldn't find it?'

"The section of village was entirely walled in by erroneous constructors. Despite best efforts, nobody would acknowledge the error, and nobody would dare to travel to the other side of the wall." Akyuu explained, "Upon traversing there, we found nothing but grass, and a strange stone. It was very, very curious. Further research determined it was a large magnet. It was such a strange structure, that we decided to just leave it be. The walling really was for the best… but how, may I ask, did the human constructors know this?"

'...Weird.' Hikari absorbs the small monologue. '...Wait, if it's all walled in…'

"So, how many ladders in're there?" Osamu asks.

Akyuu shakes her head. "None. Without flight, there's no way in."

...The party turned to Marisa, who was downing her entire teacup. Once she finished, she noticed the staring. "...No. My broom can hardly hold me and two others, ze. Four total is like, no."

'Darn.'

Akyuu leaned closer to the table. "...There is one way in. It's nowhere near the walls, though."

The party, Marisa, and Lesley all lean in.

...Akyuu turns to Lesley. "Sorry, but…"

Lesley smiles. "A-ah, okay. Sorry, Akyuu-sama. I'll go."

Lesley begins leaving.

...Akyuu turns to Marisa.

"...What?" Marisa scoffed. "Really~... C'mon, I can just fly in there…"

"Have you?" Akyuu asked her.

"Well…" Marisa brought a finger to her chin. "...N-no. Somehow. Whenever I got close to it, I got bored and just went elsewhere. I thought it weird, but it never occurred to me to investigate…" She stomped the floor. "What the hell's with that!?"

Akyuu nodded. "It took Keine's history manipulation to access, and even then, I feel as if we missed something. Still, nothing seems like it can be done there. We've just dismissed it as a magical anomaly."

'...How come Keine didn't know to tell me about it, then?' Surely such a place would have qualified as a 'magical place'.

Marigold furrowed her brows. "It repels whoever tries to approach it, does it?"

"Mmm. Precisely." Akyuu confirms. "If you go through an underground tunnel, however, you'll have no problems. It seems the tunnel always remains clear. Earth spirits are uncommon beneath the village, but even still, none have occupied the tunnel in the many years it stood."

Picking at his ear, Osamu looked bored. "So there's some underground tunnel or somethin', right? All we gotta do is walk through it?"

Akyuu nodded. "Well, yeah."

"Why didn'cha just say so!?" Osamu got up. "I'm bored of sittin' here drinking freakin' tea!"

Hikari sighed. '...I half agree. It's interesting, but I've never really been interested in village anything.'

Marisa got up, eyes beaming. "Underground tunnel?"

Akyuu shook her head. "No ancient treasure. It's just a hall reinforced with wood beams."

Marisa sat back down. "Whelp. Count me out, then. Screw that."

Marigold snorted.

Akyuu stood. "Here, let me show you the entrance…"

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

As they passed Akyuu's obliterated room, Marigold spoke up. "Hold on. I wanna do something here."

Akyuu turned to her. "Hmm?"

'There's not a lot to see here, anymore.' Hikari gazed at her friend questioningly.

Marigold moved into the room, noticing the pile of metal and flesh once more. The blood had all turned a dark, dark brown, and the flesh had quickly begun decaying.

Hikari tore her head from the sight. "Wo-woah, wow, uhm…"

Osamu blinked. "Yuck."

Marigold winced at it. "...Osamu, I want you to use that water move on it."

Osamu snorted. "What? You kiddin' me?"

"No. To clean the metal."

Akyuu turned to her. "Th-there's no need to stain the wood, you know. I can just have my butlers clean it…"

'I feel bad for the butlers. This is just gruesome.'

Osamu turned to her. "...Well, when you put it like that, I kinda wanna just wash it now. I mean, I just cast a spell to do it. The butlers, though… those guys are fucked. Seriously. This is nasty."

Akyuu looked hesitant. "But… the floor-"

"Can be cleaned… or replaced." Osamu stressed. "That pile of rotting freakin' Man chunks? Nope. Nadda. Not happenin'."

'That description...' Hikari slowly retreated from the room.

"...Fine." Akyuu sighed. "You're right, I suppose."

Osamu tried PK Hydro ß!

A spiral of water formed in the pile of gore, spinning around.

Fwii~shshsh!

Bloody metal slid apart from the force of the water, while other more unmentionably biological bits, of which had become an array of browns and blues, simply slid and tumbled away. No more did anything truly bleed, as most of the blood was solidified, anyway. The small clicks of metal against the hardwood floor, and the shimmering of the semi-stained metal was the only relief from the muddy sight that slowly expanded.

Marigold uneasily stared down at some of the metal as it spread out…

"U-um… Y-you know what…" She began retreating from the room. "When the butlers… clean the metal, let me know. I-I wanna see it, but- yeah…"

Osamu grinned sheepishly. "...Holy shit."

Akyuu sighed. "This was a bad idea…"

With that, the party made their way out of the volatile room.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

The party followed behind her. As they were lead, Akyuu had to dismiss numerous maids and butlers who attempted to escort and follow her.

"I see you're still popular around here." Hikari smugly commented.

"Quiet, you." Akyuu smiled. "Anyway…"

They stopped before a door, and Akyuu opened it. Inside the room was a hole in the floor, with a shaft leading down. The room was featureless otherwise aside from curiously tan walls, a high ceiling, and a green tiled floor.

'Wow. This room is rea~lly old. I don't think it's ever really been touched since it was installed…' Judging by the cracks on the floor and walls, Hikari might be right.

"...Nice room." Osamu looked around at the disrepair.

"Mmm. It's kind of a secret, so~..." Akyuu cupped her hands together.

"Not like she could get anyone to refurbish it." Marigold filled in the blanks.

...Hikari went up to the ladder, and started going down.

"H-Hikari, wait, it's not-! ...Well, I guess you can handle yourself- but still, be careful down there." Akyuu stammered, surprised by Hikari's caution-to-the-wind manner of marching forward to face her problem.

"I'll be alright."

'There's really not a lot of reason to be careful.' Healing spells help alleviate worries of serious injury, even if the pain is still a good deterrent.

Hikari reached the bottom. Osamu contemplated leaping down, but after his previous experience with breaking his legs, he decided to just do it the safe way.

Marigold stared at the ladder, and sighed. "I hate ladders…"

…

"...I can throw your gun in after you, if you want." Akyuu suggested.

"Thank you."

She moves down the ladder slowly, taking care not to get torn off by gravity, as her backpack made the process require precision.

After getting down, she called up. "I-I'm ready~!"

...She clumsily caught her gun from above, then called back up. "Thanks!"

'The ladder didn't cripple anyone.' Hikari grinned to herself. 'We're off to a great start.'

The tunnel wasn't dark, and was illuminated with various torches lining the walls. The width was sizable, too, and as Akyuu said, multiple support beams and frameworks of wood ran along the ceiling and walls.

It was, admittedly, a little musty. Puddles, damp earth, and the fact the tunnel wasn't that far underground to begin with contributed to that factor.

"A-achoo!"

Hikari sneezed.

'I-I hope I don't catch a cold. This place doesn't feel healthy…'

…

Hikari remembered that toughing out colds were a thing of the past, thanks to her PSI abilities.. 'Oh, yeah. I don't think I have to worry about colds anymore. I almost forgot about that.'

"Not hospitable, is it?" Marigold reflected, scrunching her face at the stuffy, damp atmosphere.

Osamu groaned. "Why are some caves cool and others like a fuckin' oven…?"

Sluggish progress through the tunnel lead the party to dreary corners and long stretches of hall.

"Speaking of weird stuff, who designed this tunnel?" He continued complaining, "Did it have to be fuckin' loop-de-loops and, like…" He trailed off, unsure of where to take his sentence.

"Hey," Hikari spoke up, "At least we haven't come across a splitting path."

Osamu chuckled. "I didn't even think about that. Good point…"

Before them, a shape flickered in the dreary light…

"...Look." Hikari pointed at it, feeling animosity leaking from it.

Osamu suddenly stopped walking, and began walking back towards the party. "W-woah! What the hell?"

Marigold glanced at him. "I noticed that, like, five seconds ago. I was wondering if we were just going to walk into it and brutalize it."

'...I mean, that's probably what's going to happen.'

The shape solidified, a dark brown form gazing at them with orange lights emanating from it.

"...I think it's angry." Hikari comments.

"I'm angry." Osamu remarks, rolling up his sleeves.

"Don't even think of punching it." Hikari scoffed. "It's a ghost."

'Seriously.'

Osamu folded his arms. "Fi~ne."

Earth Spirit tried PK Ground α!

The tunnel began shaking, and rocks shot up from under Osamu, launching him into the air.

Bam!

"Aaugh!"

Marigold slid onto her bottom due to the vibrations. "Oof…"

Hikari tried to use a wind summoning to regain her balance, but, unfortunately for her, sealed caves lack any wind to speak of.

"Oof!" Hikari landed on her bum, too.

'...Well, that was annoying.'

Marigold pointed her gun at the Earth Spirit.

Klack! Klack!

The bullets forced it to swirl about angrily, rocks floating up around it.

Osamu got back up. "St-stupid dead people!"

Osamu tried PK Freeze ß!

KaKa-KaKaKling!

Freezing and thawing made the ethereal mass congeal and loosen with each cycle.

Kra~ck!

The surge of cold air made it jitter violently, and also provided Hikari with the wind she needed to prop herself back up easily.

'Huh. That works, I guess.'

Marigold shot it twice more, the loud klacks of the Air Gun echoing through the tunnel.

"Uooohh…" The Earth Spirit began writhing, and it eventually became just the two orange lights that embodied it. It then retreated back into the Earth.

'...That was mostly just annoying.'

Dusting himself off, Osamu complained more. "I thought she said this place was free of stupid ghosts!"

Hikari blinked. '...She did, didn't she? I don't think she checked recently, then.'

"Spirit-sa~n… Spirit-saa~n!"

A brown-haired, brown-clothed fairy walked out from around a corner further ahead.

She looked to the party. "...Have any of you humans seen spirit-san?"

They just stared at her.

She stared back. "...Hold on, why are there humans down here!?"

Scrambling back, she put her arms out infront of herself. "Th-they're moving underground! Noo~!"

Floating into the air, she raised her fists. "I won't let you destroy my home!"

'That escalated quickly.'

Spinning her two arms, she rushed at Osamu. "Take thi~s!"

He shielded himself promptly. "...No."

…

After an awkward moment of arm-flailing from the fairy, she floated back. "I-I know…!"

She pressed a hand against an invisible pad in the air. A magical circle lit up, and flickered out. A similar circle formed under Osamu, slowly glowing brighter…

"Get off of that!" Marigold yelled out. "It's an earth spell!"

Osamu walked off of it. "...Geez, no need to shout."

…

Marigold fidgeted awkwardly. "...S-sorry. I thought… it would spring a lot faster."

Everyone stared at the magical circle expectantly.

…

Suddenly, a pillar of rock shot from it and smashed into the ceiling.

Ba~m!

'W-woah!' Hikari stumbled a little, keeping her balance.

"Holy crap!" Osamu jumped back. "Why even!?"

Marigold, having expected the event in full, braced herself for the vibrations appropriately.

"Yeah! I did it!" The earth fairy cheered. "How'd ya like that!?"

"It missed." Osamu summarized.

"But-but it was powerful!" The fairy reassured. "Don't you just wanna give up now!?"

"It missed." He re-emphasized.

"...You missed!" She pointed at Osamu.

Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!

Thwaa~sh!

The bolt struck a rock, doing little.

Thwaa~sh!

The bolt struck the earth fairy. She blinked as the electricity ran through her, and eventually fizzled out.

"...You missed!" She pointed at Osamu. "Hahaha~!"

Osamu double-took. "What… what happened!? I hit her, what gives!?"

Marigold shook her head. "Elemental resistance."

He turned to her. "...What's that supposed to mean?"

She scoffed. "Seriously…? You want to be a mage, but you-"

"No, no- but how is this fairy resistant to thunder? She's fleshy!"

"...She's earth elemental." Marigold explains. "Likely high electrical resistance, if not outright immune."

Another magical circle was formed, this time under Marigold. She stepped out of it.

"Look," Marigold fired at the fairy, the bullets taking her by surprise. "Just don't use thunder on them. It'd probably do you well."

"A-ah! Stop!" The fairy shielded herself with her arms, uselessly.

Klack! Klack!

Osamu rolled his eyes. "Alright, whatever…"

Osamu tried PK Freeze ß!

KaKa-KaKaKli~ng!

The rapid freezing and thawing being inflicted on the fairy's body makes her eyes widen in shock.

Kra~ck!

She gets flung back against the wall by the icy blast.

"Augh!"

Thud.

…

She got up, glaring. "I-I hate you…"

Hikari casually walked past her party members, and towards the fairy.

"I-I'm not going to lose… to m-mean humans…"

Hikari stared at her as she got up.

'Good night.'

Bringing her gohei back, she smacked the fairy in the face.

SMAAAA~SH!

Pi~chun!

'That takes care of that.'

"Thanks a freakin' lot, Akyuu." Osamu grumbles. "This place is infested!"

Marigold was slightly annoyed by the generalization. "Come, now. I'm sure she couldn't have predicted that a few pests would hole up in this abandoned tunnel."

The party continued through the dreary dark tunnel…

Hikari looked at the walls curiously. "...How are those torches still going?"

Marigold shrugged. "Probably an enchantment. Everlasting torches aren't a particularly advanced science from what I know. They go out easy if you manhandle them, you see."

Osamu turned to her. "How d'you know so much about magic if you can't cast?"

She grinned. "I had an education."

"They don't teach shit about magic in schools. That's why I dropped out!" Osamu glared at her.

"I didn't learn from a school. I learned from a mage."

...

"Oh. Damn." Osamu sighed. "Lucky."

"Yeah. Lucky." Marigold snorted.

Eventually, the party reached the end of the tunnel, where the lit tunnel cut off to black abruptly. Hikari took a step into the shade, her leg vanishing into it. She pulled it back out.

'Weird.'

Marigold shot into the darkness, and the bullets just vanished entirely.

"...We find the edge of the world or somethin'?" Osamu waves his hand into the darkness, observing it disappear and reappear.

'It feels off.' Hikari backed up from it. 'I have an idea, though…'

Hikari tried PK Flash α!

Fwaaa~sh!

The darkness was erased, revealing a scene before them.

"Hmm…?"

A man in a long purple robe turned around, his face obscured by the hood.

"Aah, the Hakurei has arrived… sooner than I anticipated." The man stroked his chin. "...I wished to see her die with my own eyes, but it seems that it will have to wait."

'I'm right here.' Hikari stared at him dryly. 'The least you could do is be subtle about it.'

Before the man was a large rat, with an aura of green gas emanating from its back and tail. It itself was not only large, but it was the size of a person. Its head was the size of a person, as was its torso, meaning the animal looked pretty much stationary.

"Scram, old wisenheimer!" The rat grinned widely. "You wouldn't wanna see yourself get hurt, now! Henh, henh, henh!"

"What the fuck is that." Osamu slouched when he saw the rat.

"...You get to live another day, rat." The robed man spoke. "Do try and slay these children. My life would be far easier."

The rat just grinned at him.

With that, the robed man vanished into particles of magic, which proceeded to phase into the ceiling.

'Another person seriously out to ruin my day. Go figure.'

The rat waddled forward slowly.

"O~h, it can move." Osamu deadpanned. "The thing can move."

"Hehehe~y, kids!" The rat's grin got bigger, if it was possible.

'What even.'

The rat noticed Hikari. "...Oo~h, it's the big hero! We~ll, I'm the guardian of Magnet Hill!"

Marigold aimed at it preemptively.

"Ahaha~nd I'm gonna kill you!"

"...Okay." Hikari agreed to those terms.

The rat blinked. "...Okay?"

"Only on one condition, though." Hikari proposed.

"...Sure!" The rat grinned widely.

Hikari used this moment to launch herself forward and smack the rat with her gohei.

SMAAAA~SH!

She then jumped and kicked off the rat's head, distancing herself again.

"Only if we don't kill you, first." She grinned back.

Osamu chuckled. "Yo…"

The rat's grin didn't break, though it did flinch from the previous strike. "...Henh, henh, henh! What's that I smell? Is it me, or your defeat?"

Klack! Klack!

The rat hissed as the bullets struck its eyes. "Hhh…!"

Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!

Thwaa~sh!

The lightning stuck the mist on the rat's back, catching it ablaze.

Fwoom!

"A-aah… N-no biggie…" The rat stammered, taken completely by surprise.

Thwaa~sh!

The lightning bolt struck the ground nearby.

Waddling forward slowly, the rat glared at the party. "You… screwed-up human scum! Y-you'll feed me well!"

He lunged forward in a highly telegraphed biting motion, from which Hikari just ran away from quickly.

It leapt in place, a gust of sickly air extinguishing the flames on its back.

"I've lived for two hundred years!" The rat boasted.

"Good for you." Marigold snarked. "Two hundred years too long, I suppose."

"Hhhh~!"

The rat turned to Marigold, who kept pelting it with bullets.

"I think you need a bath, dude!"

Osamu tried PK Hydro ß!

The spinning torrent of water doused the sickly mist on the rat's back, wetting both the rat and the floor around it.

The rat began turning to Osamu, and Hikari took the moment to slip in another melee attack.

SMAAAA~SH!

"Hhh…" The rat began turning towards her slowly, while Marigold moved behind it and fired again.

The three easily manipulated the simpleminded nature of the burly rat, kiting its attention by attacking it from different directions.

Before long, it showed signs of wear. "The… the sanctuary's power… it wasn't enough?"

Klack! Klack!

'All the thing has tried to do is hit us the entire fight, physically.' Hikari was unimpressed. 'That mist on its back could have been a problem if we didn't have anything to deal with it, but it wasn't hard to take care of.'

SMAAAA~SH!

With the final blow, the rat rolled over onto its side, unconscious.

…

"That was stupid-easy." Osamu evaluated. "And I know stupid."

'That you do.'

"...Who was that robed fellow?" Marigold questioned. "He seemed particularly homicidal. Towards you." She pointed at Hikari.

Hikari shrugged. "No clue."

'Probably one of Porky's cronies, or something. How does he even get people to listen to him?'

Ahead of them was a slow incline upward, faintly illuminated by the night sky's light.

"...Finally!" Osamu beamed. "We're almost out of this stupid cave!"

'I have to agree.' The humid and stuffiness of the mostly sealed cave began dissipating as the party neared the exit…

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

'...Not really a hill.'

Magnet Hill itself, as Hikari commented, was not really much of a hill at all. Surrounded on every side by village walls, the house-sized lot of grass was rather bare. Pale blue light shined in from the sky above the walls, cold air creating a stark contrast to the cave's must.

'The stars look nice tonight. Too bad we're surrounded by giant wood walls.'

A large, shimmering yet grey stone of sorts sat in the middle of the field.

Hikari walked up to it.

'Four down.'

She pressed the Sound Stone to her forehead, sighing in the moonlight.

...

She heard a melody play.

A gentle breeze rolled through Giant Step, caressing the indent in the hill…

It then rolled through the crevice leading to Subconscious Steps, before whirling around and escaping into the sky above...

Fluttering through the valley, it weaved through bamboo trees before circling around the Milky Well. It circled back around, and flowed right back out through the trees...

…

Becoming entrapped within the walls around Magnet Hill, the wind anxiously rebounded off the walls before escaping, flowing back over the Human Village...

...

…

A beat continued to play after the numerous notes, but no more actual music continued to be produced by the stone.

'There was an awkward pause in there. I felt it.' She furrowed her brows at the Sound Stone. 'This thing better not need to be sent back for repairs or something.'

Looking away from it, she thought she saw her room.

She blinked, and refocused her eyes, now once again seeing the village walls.

'...Those walls are actually really well built.' Her new intimacy with the sanctuary gave her new insight on the wall's structuring.

Osamu stretched. "That still feels aw~esome…!"

Marigold smiles. "That wind really is quite curious…"

They all stared at the large magnet in the center, watching it shimmer unnaturally in the moonlight.

...Marigold takes out a piece of metal and nears it-

Clink!

Eyes widening, she backs up.

"...I never found out how magnets worked, though." Marigold was mystified.

Hikari went to retrieve the metal stick for her, but found it difficult. 'C-c'mon…'

Osamu tried Offense Up α!

"Please, Hikari. Let me handle this…"

Walking up to the metal stick bit, he began pulling, to little avail. Hikari moved to help him, and only then, with much effort, did they pry the metal stick from the magnet.

...Hikari gingerly gave it to Marigold.

"Thanks." Marigold pocketed it.

"Freaking magnets…" Osamu examined his sore hands. "Now just how do they work?"

"We should leave before we impale ourselves on it by accident." Hikari suggests.

The others chuckle.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Hikari climbs from the ladder, re-entering the Akyuu manor proper.

"Would it've killed someone to build a ladder out of the sanctuary itself? The cave sucks!" Osamu protested the backward trek through the featureless, empty cave.

"Hey, someone catch my gun!" Marigold called up once Osamu was up. She tossed the gun up, and Hikari caught it.

"...That took awhile."

Akyuu stared at them over a book she was reading.

Osamu snorted. "Yeah, 'cause the tunnel had a buncha stupid shit running around in it."

Akyuu blinked. "...Pardon?"

Hikari whacked him- "Ow! What'd I do!?"

-and elaborated herself. "There were some fairies and spirits down there. They didn't like company."

"Oh." Akyuu nodded. "Not a problem, I take it, then?"

"Not at all."

'I should probably mention the robed maniac. And the giant rat. Maybe.'

Marigold reached the top, and looked at Akyuu. "...Were you sitting there the whole time?"

She shook her head. "Only some. I got a book to read, you see." She gestured to the novel. "...I've read it a hundred times before, though, so it was a rather dull read."

'Especially considering your photographic memory. You could probably read it without having it.'

...Hikari then realized, that if Akyuu ever thumbed through a book in a library, she'd technically be pirating it. Not that anyone would dare call her out on it, since she'd likely have a plethora of butlers there suffocating both her and the store.

"...What was there at Magnet Hill you needed so badly, anyway?" Akyuu inquired. "It's literally just a big magnet."

"...It's a long story." Hikari sighed.

"You can tell me, Hikari." Akyuu smiled. "I've heard many long stories in my time."

'...The issue is that it'd take forever to explain, not that you wouldn't listen.'

"I wouldn't've believed it myself, if I didn't happen to develop amazing magical powers." Osamu grinned.

"Honestly, I don't think the pedantics of the adventure matter." Marigold states her indifference. "I'm just happy to be here."

"Well, if it's that big of a secret…" Akyuu folds her arms and pouts.

…

"...Not working?" She asked.

Hikari snorted. "Nope."

Osamu nodded. "Yes."

Everyone turned to him.

"...I mean no?" He grinned sheepishly. "...Maybe?"

'Please don't weird her out by being a pervert.'

Akyuu rolled her eyes.

"...There was also a robed man in the tunnel." Hikari informed her friend. "He said pretty blatantly he wanted me dead."

Akyuu tilted her head. "Hmm. Considering you're here now, I take it he failed?"

"He ran away." Hikari told her.

"Oh." Akyuu blinked. "...That's probably bad."

"Mmm."

"There was also this giant rat!" Osamu exclaimed. "It was fuckin' huge!"

"And now it's dead." Marigold stated. "We just outright murdered it. We're good people."

'...We actually knocked it out, but if that's the story you want to go with, sure.'

Akyuu stared at the two curiously, before turning back to Hikari. "Well, I'll keep my eyes out for this robed figure. Mysterious people are bad for my health, I'll have you know. Both figuratively and literally."

'...I kinda wish she didn't joke about things like that, but I suppose it's better that way.'

"...Stay safe, Hikari. The Hakurei lineage isn't necessarily respected in the town these days." Akyuu grimaced. "I wouldn't be surprised if people are sent to… to harm you, to word things tactfully."

'Been there, done that. I don't think it gets worse than a megalomaniac turning his dad into a cyborg with a giant gun arm.'

"Dude, we kick ass." Osamu states outright. "We'll probably be fine. If last night was all they had, then we're like, gods or something."

...Akyuu smiled. "...Alright, then. Do you three wish to stay for the evening?"

'I don't think we're tired at all. Not after visiting the sanctuary, at least.'

"We'll be fine heading out." Hikari decided.

"Farewell, Hikari." Akyuu stood up from her seated position in the room's corner. "Would you like me to escort you three out?"

"Sure."

'Might as well.'

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: MARIGOLD'S VIEW ====

As the four passed the ruined room once more, Marigold paused. "...Did this room get cleaned, yet?"

Akyuu paused, too. "...Yes. It should have been. You two were down there long enough."

Marigold entered the trashed room, and to her delight, a few parts were left behind and vaguely clean.

"I told them to clean what could be cleaned, and to throw out anything that was uncleanable or not worth looking at." Akyuu explained.

"Thank you…" Marigold eagerly approached the pile of metal parts.

'It might rust because of the water, unless it's the finest quality stuff. I highly doubt that kid used the finest quality stuff.'

Examining the glistening steel, she nodded acceptingly.

'Okay, maybe he did.'

The other party members walked in.

"Here we go again…" Osamu stared at the scene before him. "S'all clean, right?"

Akyuu nodded. "I just said that…"

"Okay, okay. Good." Osamu turned back to Hikari. "...Got any more goldfish?"

"Fresh out." Hikari looked crestfallen.

Meanwhile, Marigold dug through the metal bits.

'...There's just a whole lot of garbage here, really…'

She lifted up a cylinder, which had a red crystal held up by metal prongs in the center.

'What is this?' Instantly intrigued, she examined it closely… 'A catalyst, maybe? Or an amplifier? Ammo for something? I have no clue…'

She shoved it into her backpack, and looked through the metal pile once more.

'...All that's left is parts from that big gun. They're completely broken, but I could take a few barrels.'

She pockets a few barrels.

'They might be useful… plus, I wanna make something with barrels.'

Satisfied, she stood up. "That's about all I'm going to get from this."

Turning back to the other three, she saw them playing rock-paper-scissors.

Hikari draws paper, Akyuu draws paper, and Osamu draws rock.

"...Awwh." Osamu frowns.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: HIKARI'S VIEW ====

The gates closed behind them.

"Have a good one." Akyuu began walking off.

'...Now I have completely no idea of where to go.' With no leads, ideas, or even hints from anything except maybe to pursue the robed weirdo she saw earlier, Hikari was stuck.

'I suppose I'll just go home for now, then, and see if something pops up.'

Hikari began moving for the village exit.

"...Okay, now I know you have no idea where to go." Marigold snarked. "...Because I don't, either."

"Wandering aimlessly." Hikari reiterated.

'Actually going home, but I'll pretend we're wandering aimlessly.'

They reached the main road, where Hikari guided the party straight towards the village gates.

"We actually goin' somewhere, or, uh…" Osamu awkwardly asked, curious.

Casually, Hikari glanced at him. "Home."

"Your home." Marigold corrected. "Not that I'm complaining."

"A home." Hikari reiterated.

They reached the village gate.

"...Hey." The guard began. "It's not safe out at night, you know?"

"It wasn't safe here a day ago, period." Hikari gave him the business, "Do we look like normal villagers to you, either? No, we're not youkai."

…

'Maybe I assumed too much.'

"...That means you are youkai!" The guard pointed his spear at her. "I-I could get promoted 'cause of this!"

"Actually, I'm a youkai." Marigold spoke up. "...But those two aren't. I'm also a magician. You know, one of the numerous types that don't brutalize people?"

The guard stared at her carefully. "...How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Marigold pointed her Air Gun at his face. "Because if you don't let us through, I'm blowing your brains out."

Osamu chuckled.

'Essentially what we've had to do to the guards time and time again, anyway.'

The guard froze. "I-Is that… a musket?"

"...Sure." Marigold rose a brow. "Just open the door, please?"

"Al-alright, just don't shoot…"

The guard reluctantly opened the gates, allowing the party to leave.

"Thank you." Marigold thanked the guard, and proceeded to leave, her friends following.

Outside the gate, Hikari turned to her. "Wasn't that just a little excessive?"

Marigold agreed. "Well, yes. I'm kind of tired of that village, though. The guards aren't very hospitable, so I thought, why should I be hospitable to them?"

'Fair enough.'

"That was so~ cool!" Osamu cheered. "You shoulda seen the look on his face! When you pointed it at him, and he was all like 'what the fuck is that'!"

Marigold turned to him tiredly. "...I happened to be there."

'Actually…'

Hikari turned to Marigold. "What's your home like? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

Marigold paused. "Uhm… Well, there's two, you see."

Osamu blinked. "Two? You got freakin' two houses?"

Marigold furrowed her brows. "Well, I don't own any of them, of course. The other is less than a house, in my opinion."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The description confuses him.

"...Have any of you heard of the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

Hikari nodded. "Yeah, Mom won't shut up about it."

Marigold blinked.

"...I mean, they're technically our neighbors. Between the mistress being eccentric and that maid, we see them a little often." Hikari explains.

'Our lake-divided neighbors, anyway. They don't stop by that often, but when they do, the mistress likes to make a spectacle of things.'

"...Ah." Marigold absorbs this information. "...Well, I live there. Sometimes."

"Oh."

'...That must be an experience.'

Osamu turned to her. "You lived in a mansion!? How come I never heard of this?"

"...Because you didn't need to know?" Marigold hazarded.

"Dude, we gotta go there! They can feed us cakes until we get fat and die!"

'Pffft.'

Marigold giggled. "A-anyway, the other home I live in is rather quaint. It's a simple, single-story house. I like it the best, though."

"That's Alice's house, isn't it?" Hikari guessed.

"Yeah…"

Hikari paused. "...How have we not seen each other before?"

"Very carefully." Marigold sassed. "...That, and I'm moved between abodes on a bi-weekly basis."

"Ah." Hikari nodded.

'That probably plays a big role in things.'

They were about halfway to the Hakurei Shrine on that cold evening.

KraKoo~m!

Hikari jumped at the sudden noise. "H-huh!?"

From a bright flash before them, a figure raced out from the center, shoes skidding against the dirt, leaving a small trail of fire that quickly died down.

The figure appeared to be a fairy, clad in some white, shimmering clothing of some sort.

KraKoo~m! KraKoo~m!

Two more fairies emerged from nowhere in the same way, firing danmaku at the first fairy.

"A-ah!" The fairy squealed in delight, rolling out of the way of the danmaku. She fired some back, which her friends dodged. Hikari stepped out of the way of it, as well.

Suddenly, the fairies noticed the three.

"Oo~h! Humans!"

"Silly, stupid humans!"

"Hehehe!"

'They literally just appeared out of nothing at all and began insulting us. Gensokyo is a silly place.'

"Where the hell'd you come from!?" Osamu stepped back, surprised.

The fairies paused. "Uuh… What was that last place?"

"...It had a lot of fire." Her friend scratched her cheek idly.

"I didn't even go to that one. I kinda got stuck in the foggy one for awhile." Her other friend added. "I actually just guessed you'd be here."

The other two stared at her doubtingly.

"...It's true!"

'...None of that makes sense.'

"In Japanese, you freaks!" Osamu demanded.

The first fairy nodded. "O~h, right. Humans. They don't get the whole thing we do."

"Yeah, they don't get the thing."

Osamu groaned in frustration.

"...Explain this 'thing' to us." Marigold folded her arms.

The third fairy laughed. "...Hahaha! Humans want to learn our thing again!"

"That's rich, Sta-chan!"

'Sta-chan.'

...The first fairy floated up to them. "Okay. Here's whatcha guys gotta do. Ya think of a place you've been before, like, uhm…"

"...The sun?" Her friend suggests.

She glares at her. "No, you- no, we haven't been to the sun."

Hikari had an idea. "How about a place a friend has been before?"

...The fairy nodded. "Uh, I think. Actually, yeah. That worked with that other whats-her-face, didn't it?"

"Yeah, we took her back to the-the… huh." The second fairy stared off into space, unable to recollect.

'They're a forgetful bunch.'

"Okay, so, let's say-"

"Scarlet Devil Mansion." Hikari states aloud. Marigold turns to her, curious.

"Scarlet Devil Mansion-" The fairy pauses. "...What the heck is that?"

"It's a big mansion with lots of fairies." Hikari explains. "I think, anyway."

'I've never been there, myself.'

"Ooh, yeah! That place! Lucky Seven's there, ain't she?"

"Yeah! The one we pelted with boxes!" The second fairy seems to remember. "Awh, that was great. How long ago was that?"

The third fairy grinned. "Like, uh… wow. I dunno!"

"Ah, whatever-" The first fairy continued, "Look, you think of the place… then ya just kinda start runnin'."

'...That helps.' Hikari blinks at the fairy, deadpan. 'Think of the place and start running. You'll be there in no time.'

"You gotta go real fast, though. No human could go that fast, I'm sure." The fairy tells her.

Her friend pipes up, again. "Not unless they had really long legs."

"Yeah, not unless they-"

The first fairy turned to her friend, glaring. "Will you just shut up?"

"Eat me."

She fires a single danmaku bullet at her, pegging her in the forehead.

"Aaugh!"

"You think of a place, then you run real fast." The fairy reviews, "Then, you're like… you're there. Krakoom, bam, wazapa-pow. Presto. In like Flinn, all that. You go from over here to over there. You get me?"

'Not at all.'

"Sure." Hikari was interested where this could go.

"That's farther than most humans." The fairy grins. "Alright, guys, meet me at the big fancy mansion place, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Uurgh…" Her friend groaned from the floor.

The fairy began running in place. "Here I go…!"

She began sprinting at full speed. Quickly, she accelerated until she was nearly out of sight, and then-

KraKoo~m!

With a bright flash, the fairy was gone, leaving behind a small, flaming trail.

…'Sta-chan' pulled the second fairy from the floor, slung her around her shoulder, and began running as well. Similarly, she picked up the pace until she was far, far away, and then-

KraKoo~m!

She, too, was gone, along with the second fairy.

'...Weird things.'

Hikari turned to her party members. "Alright, everyone, remember that formation we did back at that waterfall?"

Marigold snorted. "Are you seriously thinking of doing that? We're obviously not as magical as those fairies are. For all we know, they're probably time fairies, or something."

Hikari shrugged. "I think we can go that fast with wind helping us."

"I wanna try." Osamu threw his arms up. "I mean, if anything, it'll help us go faster."

'That's true.'

Hikari held her arms out, and her two friends joined her at her sides.

"Alright… on the count of three." Hikari glanced at each of them. "One."

Wind began swirling around the three of them.

"...Should we all think of the place?" Marigold asked.

"Probably." Hikari guessed.

"Oh, shit, that's right…" Osamu almost forgot that part, himself.

…

"Two." They all began thinking of the manor, though Osamu didn't really know what to expect.

…

"Three."

They all began running, and though they were a little janky at first, they managed to find a common speed to run at to not trip over one another. Quickly, they began accelerating…

'My legs are starting to hurt…' The thundering stomps they made on the dirt path as they charged ahead with the wind's guidance took its toll.

Hikari heard a strange noise in her ears as the pace picked up. Flames began appearing where they stomped…

'T-too fast!'

KraKoo~m!

With a flash of light, the three disappeared, a trail of flames left in their wake at the steps of the Hakurei Shrine.

Hikari learned Teleport α!

…

Reimu floated down. "What's with all the noise!?"

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

END OF CHAPTER 11

Protagonist: Hikari Hakurei, Disciple of Paradise

-Inventory-

Weapon: Magical Gohei - Ability to whack stuff really hard. Amplifies whacking power, too! Able to deal magical damage. Critical hits enabled.

Arms: Iconic Hakurei Arm Sleeves - Keeps arms warm. A Hakurei tradition. How they stay on is a Hakurei family secret.

Body: Combat Miko Outfit - A black leotard and hakama combination worn by the previous-previous Hakurei miko. Designed to be suitable for excessive physical activity and close combat, it slightly improves physical combat prowess.

Misc: Yukkuri Ribbon - Looks like a bad Christmas ornament. Lime green, with yukkuri decals!

-Skills-

Attack: Quickly! Swing your gohei at them for massive damage!

PK Fantasy α, β - Bombards the enemy with pain in the form of flashing colors. Deals magical damage. Heavy mental strain that increases with each tier.

PK Flash α - A bright flash that distributes very random status effects to enemies. Usually makes people cry.

Hypnosis α, Ω - Puts weak enemies to sleep for a short time. Works better on tired or exhausted foes. Can also be used in a far more costly form that works on multiple opponents.

Shield α - Halves damage the target takes. Only works against physical attacks, and enough strikes, or powerful strikes, will dispel it.

Lifeup α, ß - Heals target a little. Higher tiers heal more grievous wounds, like bone fractures.

Healing α, ß - Heals basic status ailments. Higher tiers can cure more dire effects, like burning alive.

Teleport α - Teleports caster and those in contact with caster to a different location. Location must be somewhere at least one of them previously visited and remember, however. Requires going at high speeds, focus, and a long stretch of ground.

Ofuda Toss - Throw a holy ofuda that does massive holy elemental damage to youkai and dark elemental foes. Effect lessens the more holy the thing you're attacking is, to the point of healing holy things. Only works if you actually have ofuda, though.

β-β-β-β

Mage: Osamu Katsumi, the Wannabe Mage

-Inventory-

Weapon: Fisticuffs!

Arms: Nothing

Body: Worn Magician Robes - An old robe from the days when the village respected the medium of magic. Well past its due date, but still comfy!

Misc: Yukkuri Beanie - Resembles a really tacky tablecloth, made in the Yukkuri theme. Lime green and has tons of fun yukkuri decals!

-Skills-

PK Thunder α, ß - Very random thunder attack that deals limited damage. Higher tiers increase number of bolts, and sometimes power.

PK Hydro α, β - Gets everyone wet. Usefulness with PK Thunder and PK Freeze depends on whether you hit yourself or not! Creates whirling water spirals at higher tiers.

PK Freeze α, β - Generates ice crystals at the target's location. Medium damage and effect; may freeze some targets, especially wet ones.

Fireball - Manipulate mana to make a shoddy fireball. Low damage and effect.

Static Hands - Not a real spell. Result of a very undercharged PK Thunder that can accidentally go off.

PSI Telepathy α - Speak to friends you haven't met yet! Unstable connection and only works if they have the skill or are asleep.

PSI Shield α - Halves damage from magical and psychic attacks. Thunder spells fry it instantly, and harder blows dispel it.

PSI Magnet α - Costs no mana to use, and steals a very tiny amount of mana from the enemy. Enemy has to have mana in the first place for it to work, though.

Offense Up α - Get pissed! Boosts strength and confidence depending on caster's power and receiver's power.

β-β-β-β

Inventor: Marigold Knowledge, the Tri-Magi Love Child

-Inventory-

Weapon: NF Burst Gun - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Uses a Pop Gun as the base, but amplifies its power with an array of random batteries jammed into the base with the Pop Gun. The more batteries, the better, but the typical yield is about five bullets per trigger. Spamming the trigger doesn't make it go any faster, unfortunately. Has no foreseeable ammo limit, and the batteries are only there for mana circulation, meaning their power is really inconsequential.

Arms: Nothing

Body: Custom Dress - A custom dress made by Alice. Provided slight defense against magical and psychic attacks.

Misc: Swirly Glasses - Lets Marigold not be blind.

Backpack - Allows extended inventory. Aged relic from the Kourindou.

Unnamed Lock Opening Device - Opens locks very precariously. Made with steel, burnt cloth, packaging peanuts, thumbtacks, string, and wooden wheels. Don't even ask…

Ruler - Lets you measure the world around you!

Protractor - Lets you find the angles of anything ever. Totally overpowered.

Deck of Cards - Allows Marigold to play Strip Poker with the party. Just kidding… or am I?

Stun Gun - Electrical device used to subdue harassers. Has settings ranging from Tickle Torture to Arse Blaster. Able to stun and inflict paralysis on certain foes. Deals electrical damage, and on the highest setting can fry shields, at the cost of temporarily shorting itself out.

Air Gun - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Uses air to propel moderately powered danmaku particles at high speeds. Bland, but efficient. Filled with foil chip bags to conduct the mana, and it is transmitted into a wind stone. Recently upgraded to draw mana from a simple wooden block filled with immense magic reserves, giving it virtually unlimited ammo.

Holmes Brand Designer Hat - Village swag! A retro village hat that ceased production ten years ago. Sells for a pretty penny nowadays, but it's pretty useless otherwise.

Slime Generator - A bulky box that shoots a small splat of slime. Doesn't seem good for much.

Counter-PSI Device - A weird device Marigold found from a flying saucer. Works in strange ways, and seems to disrupt everyone's concentration. Marigold is immune to its effects.

Broken Cylinder - Has a red crystal in the center, encased by clear plastic and steel. The purpose of it, however, is unknown.

Broken Barrels - Gun barrels, ready to go! Of variable broken sizes and made for minigun bullets, but probably fine otherwise. Made from steel.

-Skills-

Is Running Out of Suitably Useless Skills - Waaaugh!

Heavy Weapons Magi - "And this is my weapon." States Marigold as she draws her Air Gun.

DeadpanHooligan - One fine day, with a snark and a shout, a magi was born, and it caused a little stir!

Huggable - Your mileage may vary.

Gentle Enough for Everyday Use - Use only as intended by manufacturers.

β-β-β-β

Author's Note:

hello again world, im tiny

anyway, this chapter was full of stuff and things that took place! the statue got whacked, people were knocked out, good times were had

also, we finally get out of the human village; it's about time.

this chapter was written, like, over the better part of a week, mostly because i only did a few thousand words a day for the most part because i was living life and gaming and doing things i didnt do previously

i also spent all of last wedsday setting up a new computer so there's that

anyway, get hype for teleport α!

as always, see you all next time…!