KraKoo~m!
Meiling jumped at the sudden explosion of noise. "Wha-huh!?"
A grey-clad fairy skidded to a stop in front of her, a trail of small flames left by her boots. She turned around, and faced the direction she came in from.
KraKoo~m!
Two similar grey-clad fairies appeared, one being held by the other as she was seemingly unconscious.
"Seven? Seven-chan!?" The fairy yelled out. "We're here to box you in, see?"
The first fairy glared at her. "It's the gate, einstein. Everyone's not gonna be right out here, you stupid."
"You're stupid." Her friend counters. "Those humans're never gonna catch up anyway. Why'd ya even bother?"
"'Cause I was humorin' them!" The first fairy countered "Look, look… look. We wait a minute-"
"A minute!?" Her friend barks. "Y-you really think they… Pffft, wahahaha~! Y-you stupid, idiot!"
"S-shut up! Shut up!" The first fairy shouts back.
Meiling slowly yawned and simply began dozing off again…
KraKoo~m!
"Ngh…" Meiling grunts in annoyance.
Three teenagers clumsily begin trying to skid to a halt.
"Use the heels!" Osamu barks. "Use yer hee~ls!"
'I-I'm wearing sandals!'
"Th-these are custom!" Marigold shakily argues.
Meiling snaps awake at the peculiarly similar voice coming from the three teens that rushed by her.
Osamu began skidding, causing Hikari and Marigold to get thrown in front of him, and quickly everyone crashed into one another.
Bam!
Thud, thud, thud.
"...Ouch." Marigold summarized.
'M-my arm…' Hikari had landed on her arm awkwardly against the dirt of the path, a large portion of her skin red and raw, some of it bleeding.
Hikari tried Lifeup α!
'...There we go.' Hikari nodded in satisfaction. 'Never gets old.'
Osamu stood up, having suffered the least damage. "...We gotta, like, do that better. With less crashing."
Marigold snorted. "Maybe we should try tumbling into water next time."
Osamu jerked his head back. "...Well, uh, maybe, yeah…"
'Too bad there's only one lake in Gensokyo, and it's cold as ice.'
Marigold tried standing, only to hiss and sit back down. "A-agh… My ankle's hurt."
Hikari tried Lifeup α!
"...Or not. Thanks, Hikari."
'This is the easy way of getting around the common ailments, I'm sure.' Hikari nodded in satisfaction.
Meiling walked up to the three of them. "M-Marigold? What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Alice?"
Marigold shrugged. "I took a wrong turn in the Forest of Magic."
"Wha- how?" Meiling grinned. "We're not even near the forest."
The fairies walked up. The first one grinned at the party. "See? Toldja they'd do it. That's why I'm the leader."
The third fairy's mouth was agape. "W-what!? How… But- they-..."
"'Cause you're stupid." The first fairy counters, grinning.
She nods slowly as a response. "...I guess I freakin' am. Dang. Wow."
Meiling nodded slowly. "...So you three… did what those fairies did?"
Marigold nodded. "Just about, yeah."
Meiling beamed. "Does this mean you can cast magic now!?"
"Uh… No." Marigold admittedly hesitantly. "That… actually, who of us actually fueled that?"
Osamu shrugged.
"I-I think it was me." Hikari spoke up, voice tripping.
Meiling examined her properly… "...Well… You're not Reimu." She tried.
"Yes. I'm not Reimu." Hikari told her. "Good job."
Meiling pouted. "I'm sorry, alright? I don't think I've ever met you before…"
"Hikari Hakurei." Hikari introduced herself.
Meiling smiled. "It's nice to meet you. Hikari."
'Likewise, what's-your-face.' Hikari smiled at her. '...She never told me her name.'
"...Why don't we go inside and have some tea? It's rather chilly out here, and I'm sure mistress won't mind if we spend a few moments getting acquainted!" Meiling excitedly drew her arms around Hikari and Marigold. "Besides, Marigold… you actually made friends outside of the manor! I didn't think I'd see it happen until you got older!"
Marigold looked visibly embarrassed about Meiling's directness. "W-well, yeah…"
"Hey, hey, hey, we can't forget about me!" Osamu rushed ahead of the three and leaned on the gate. "What's cookin', good lookin'?" He attempted to compliment Meiling.
Meiling smiled, then looked to the two girls next to her. "He… came with you two, right?"
Hikari nodded. "He means well. He's just stupid."
Osamu frowned. "Hey!"
Marigold nodded, too. "Don't brutalize him, if you can. He's harmless."
"Ah…" Meiling gave a half-smile. "I see, I see."
He grinned. "Here, let me open the gate!"
Osamu tried Offense Up α!
He rolled up his sleeves, and began pushing. "See this!?"
…
Still pushing, he gritted his teeth. "C-c'mon…"
…
The metal creaked a little bit. "Y-yeah! See!?"
…
He stopped, out of breath. "That's… a-a big gate, dude…"
Meiling stepped beside him, and pushed.
Crea~k!
The gate swung open effortlessly.
'Well. She definitely looks strong.' Hikari was glad this place seemed hospitable.
"...Yeah, okay." Osamu grinned brightly. "Sure. Why not? Totally."
Marigold giggled. "...You were never gonna open it, you know."
"Nah, it's cool! It's totally fine! Yeah!" His rage was palpable as he stormed inside.
…
"Friendly person." Meiling observed.
Hikari sighed. "Give him food and drinks, and he'll love you forever."
"So he's that sort of person, is he?" Meiling grinned. "Sakuya'll make him feel right at home, then."
'Quite the opposite, actually, and that's a good thing.' His home was known for hardly qualifying as livable space.
The three moved to follow Osamu inside the manor. The main door creaked as Meiling brushed past it.
Crea~k!
'That's pretty loud.' Hikari glanced at the door. 'How old is this place, anyway?'
"I see the doors are still rubbish." Marigold comments.
Meiling shrugs. "You know exactly why. I've told you before."
"Mmm. Remilia's preferences are weird." Marigold looks thoughtful for a moment.
"Just don't let her hear you say that." Meiling gave a smug smile. "...Like last time."
'Remilia Scarlet.' Hikari remembered her face from the party at the shrine, many nights earlier. 'A somewhat common face at the shrine, sometimes. I never really talked with her much, though. She really wanted to talk with me, if I remember correctly...'
Marigold snorted. "Yeah, that lecture of hers was really... something." After a moment, she turned to Meiling again. "Was she ever really interested in me?"
Meiling tilted her head. "Definitely."
"For how long?"
To that, Meiling thought about it… "I dunno. I've heard her gush about you, but that was years ago."
Marigold was silent.
Osamu grinned at the big foyer. "This place has class, dude. You see all that red? Freakin' royal!"
'More like jarring, but I don't really mind it.'
...Meiling's head twitched in realization. "Oh, shoot! I almost forgot… Sakuya is actually taking a vacation right now."
Marigold double-took. "Wha~t? She has those? Since when?"
Meiling chuckled. "She doesn't tell any of her staff. She only tells me and the mistresses… you know, competent people who won't go insane just because she's gone. Wouldn't want anyone to ruin her bi-yearly one day vacation."
'Sounds like responsible staff.'
"Pfffft. Bi-yearly one day vacation..." Marigold was amused by the comment. "I suppose we'll just raid the kitchen ourselves, then. We're fine with snacks."
Hikari turned to her. "Snacks?"
Osamu stopped wandering aimlessly, and turned to her. "Snacks!? Here!? Dude!"
Meiling scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "You know, I could make you guys something real to eat… I can cook, too."
Marigold began dashing for the kitchen. "Guys, follow me!"
Hikari and Osamu complied without question. The three of them dashed down a hallway to the left of the main foyer, quickly disappearing in the many turns and twists of the manor's enigmatic halls.
…
Meiling sighed.
==== GENSOKYOBOUND: MARIGOLD'S VIEW ====
The eerily quiet halls of the manor were accented by the mysteriously compliant hallways.
'Navigating in this place has always been a gamble, but it was tolerable because I knew all the fairy maids.' Marigold nostalgically reflected, even if such was just a few weeks ago…
…
'So where are the maids, and why is the hallway cooperative!?'
"So, how many members of the staff are there?" Hikari looks around the quiet halls. "Five or so? Or something?"
"...There should be at least a few hundred fairy maids at any given time." Marigold informed her. "The hallways should be alive right now."
Hikari blinked. "...Fairy maids?"
Osamu beamed. "Dude. Duu~de. Dude!"
Both ladies turned to him.
"...Fairy maids." He grinned widely.
Hikari scoffed.
'...Yeah, that figures.' Marigold sighed. "Furthermore, the hallways are supposed to be maze-like to navigate."
They push open the door to the dining room, and see a large table overturned, silverware and plates strewn about the room, chairs placed in only the most mystifying of places.
Marigold took in the scene, and looked up at the chandelier.
'Yep. Chairs in the chandelier.' Marigold nodded. '...Okay, what happened this time?'
Hikari whistled.
"...Nice." Osamu snorted.
They continued past the unchecked wreckage of the dining room.
"What was that about mazes?" Hikari asked. "We were kinda distracted by the disaster zone, there."
Osamu's attention was caught. "Dude, fuck that. Can we just be happy we- well, Marigold- knows where we're goin' for once?"
They enter the kitchen, to find it in a similar state of disrepair.
'What.' Marigold's jaw dropped at the stove, which seemed to have exploded or something. The top was gone, and the sides were blown outward, metal fragments torn from the upper edges.
Hikari stepped through the layer of flour on the floor, wincing as she stepped into the wet portion that was supplied by a sink left running.
'What even happened, here?' Marigold vainly stared at the disaster. 'Well, now I know the chief's on vacation.'
She quickly dashed to the sink and turned it off. 'That doesn't need to continue, though.'
Hikari opened the snack cabinet on her first guess, and casually plucked some out. "...I see this place, too, has future chips."
'She must mean those Doritos. I still don't know why we accepted a wagonload last month, but the fairy maids burned through them so fast it didn't matter. I'll never understand that vampire.'
What surprised Marigold more was that there was even a bag left.
Osamu smiled, and sat at the kitchen table. His chair promptly tipped over, as it was missing a leg, and he fell into the flour.
"Okay, what the fuck!?" He stood up, dusting himself off and kicking up flour. "Who the hell did this shit? Wasn't this supposed to be a fancy manor?"
Meiling ran into the room. "Are you three alright!?"
...Hikari slowly chewed a chip in response.
"...I guess so. Then, did you three…?"
Marigold sighed. "Yes, we flooded half the kitchen with flour and water in the ten minutes you ditched us. Which, might I add, is not physically possible. The faucet doesn't go that fast."
'She doesn't need to know Osamu can cast water spells.'
"Stupid question, I guess. Heheh…" Meiling looks around. "...I haven't seen any fairy maids today, either. It's weird. Maybe Sakuya took them all on vacation with her?"
'If she did, wherever she went wouldn't ever be the same.'
"...I'm gonna go look around. This is just too weird to let go." Meiling began to leave the room. "...Also, whatever you three do, stay here. It's probably not safe to be wandering around, and I'm sure the three of you aren't really ready for combat yet…"
'Pffft.'
Hikari and Osamu gave similar, subtle expressions of disdain at Meiling's underestimation of them.
"...I'll be back soon." Meiling took the discontent in stride, and left the room.
The three opted to stand around the kitchen table and take a moment to eat some Doritos, or 'future chips' as Hikari dubbed them.
'Ugh, it's all over my hand…' Marigold stared at her hand in annoyance. She looked to the other party members to judge how they coped with it, but they both just seemed to wipe it off on their clothing.
'No way am I doing that.' Her outfit may have been quite worn from adventuring, to her increasing disdain, but she wasn't yet about to willingly sully it with chip dust.
Instead, she wiped her hand on the table.
'Less effective, but it works. Kinda. Sorta.'
…
'Don't judge me.'
==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====
Despite Meiling's wishes, the three departed from the kitchen, and into the halls once more.
'I wonder why the halls are well kept in comparison to the rooms…' Provided, some halls were featureless while others were plentiful, they'd traversed the well-decorated entry halls and saw no signs of chaos. 'You'd think the damage would be proportionate.'
"Alright, so, where're we goin'?" Osamu poses the question of questions.
'We could head to mother's library, bu~t I'd like to check up on the fairy rabble first. They're fun.'
"Let us randomly swing open doors and hope for the best." Marigold proposes.
Osamu turns to her, surprised. "Don't you live here!?"
Marigold had a good excuse, however. "It's big. Also, I wanted to say hello to the fairies."
Hikari nodded in acceptance, and went up to the first door she found, swinging it open.
'She didn't sentence the door to death. Ya~y.'
On the inside, similar chaos was seen. Beds were strewn about the entire corridor-sized bedroom, various shelves and ornamental portraits were cast aside, destroyed, or both.
The only difference between this room and the previous rooms, however, was that the perpetrators were actually there, this time.
"Yeaa~h!" An orange-haired fairy maid hopped on a bed vigorously. As she did so, the bed posts slowly gave way until the bed outright broke.
Bam!
"Suck it!" She grinned wickedly, while other fairy maids nearby cheered.
'...Okay, they're pretty rambunctious, but they weren't ever maliciously destructive.' Marigold stared at them with slight confusion. "...Either they're boozed up, or something has gone terribly wrong."
Osamu turned to her. "Really? What, you mean they're not always like this?"
"No. They don't usually destroy their own stuff."
...He nods. "That's true, I guess."
Marigold walked forward. "Koi. What are you doing?"
Koi, the orange-haired fairy maid, turned to her. "What's it look like I'm doin', honey?"
Suddenly, she paused, turning to the party. "...Hehe~y, Mari-chan!"
'Ahaha…' Marigold twitched at the nickname.
"I see you brought friends!" She exclaimed. Then, when her eyes ran over Hikari, she froze. "Aa-aah… eegh…"
She clutched her head. "M-miko…"
...Then, she stopped. "...I see you brought that miko, too!"
Hikari stared at her, curious.
Marigold jerked her head back. "What? How do you know Hikari?"
"Hikari, huh…?" Koi dizzily looked between her and Marigold. "...You kids're all real cute, you know."
'Uh…'
"...I don't like being called cute." Osamu folded his arms.
"Especially that miko." Koi licks her lips.
...The other fairies were gathering blunt objects and debris, such as furniture pieces, seemingly getting ready for combat. Others stared at Hikari, unblinking, while others gave Koi a few funny glances.
"...Hikari. Why don't you say you ditch the whole quest thing, and come have some fun with me?" Koi grins. "We can lick candies from-"
"I'm sorry," Hikari begins, "but… I-I don't swing that way."
"You don't have to!" Koi begins walking towards her. "C'mo~n!"
"No." Hikari backs up.
"No means yes." Koi smiles warmly, walking up to her.
Whack!
"No means no." Hikari corrected her. As she reeled from the gohei strike, Hikari kicked her to the floor.
Thud.
"Aaagh!" Koi wailed. "H-hard to get… h-huh?"
The fairy maids began mobilizing, slowly nearing the party with bedposts, lamp shafts, and painting borders.
"...Are you guys really doing this?" Marigold frowns at them. "Why?"
A small, unintelligible murmur comes from the crowd of fairies as they falter for a moment, only for them to continue marching towards them.
...Marigold draws her Air Gun. "If this is a prank, I'm not laughing."
The fairies seemed transfixed on Hikari, but a few forced their eyes to look at Marigold.
Yet, still, they continued.
"...You asked for it."
Klack!
Pi~chun!
Marigold began firing, executing fairies one at a time. Hikari took the front line and guarded her with precise gohei strikes, acting as a barrier between her and the horde.
Osamu tried Offense Up α!
"Go get 'em, slugger!" Osamu cheered on Hikari, whose swings became even more vigorous-
Pi~chun!
-and, apparently, deadly.
Marigold found themselves getting pushed back, even if it was only a little bit. Her fire rate wasn't good enough.
'It's a good thing I've got more where that came from!'
She dropped her Air Gun to the floor, and pulled out the NF Burst Gun.
"Who wants some!?"
PoPoPoPoPop!
Pi-Pi-Pi~chun!
The fairy maids found themselves quickly depleting, the crowd now reduced to a mere wall of fairies.
'They're not acting right. Not at all.' Koi at least acted like herself, Marigold noted. The rest of these fairies? Eerily quiet, though others mumbled things unintelligible.
'Something's wrong.'
Marigold stopped firing, leaving Hikari to eagerly charge at the remaining few fairies who hadn't a shot in heaven at actually threatening her. She was, however, decked out in an array of new bruises and cuts from the various instruments the fairies had.
Clunk!
Hikari's knee twitched that the impact from the lamp shaft, and she returned the blow-
Pi~chun!
-in excess.
'How does a hit to the knee even…'
Thwack!
Hikari stumbled back for the first time the entire fight, a powerful strike to her head from the broadside of a portrait's edge.
"O-oww…" Hikari voiced her displeasure.
Hikari tried Lifeup α!
Her bruises quickly vanished, her cuts closed, and a variety of other aches and pains associated with getting beaten over the head with blunt instruments had also left her.
Pi~chun!
The final fairy died. The room was now empty except for the three teenagers.
"U-uugh…"
And Koi.
Marigold looked to her, frowning. "...So, what exactly was all of this about?"
The orange-haired fairy looked around the room. "...H-holy shit. What… did you do with the guys?"
"I shot them all." Marigold informed her, moving to retrieve her Air Gun from the floor. "Repeatedly."
"W-what?" Koi's eyes widened. "Bullshit. You c-can't cast…"
Marigold smiled. "I can defend myself now, and I have some new friends along. I would've liked to introduce you to them properly, but it seems inflicting violence is your modus operandi for today."
"..." Koi silently stared up at her.
"...Still, thanks for everything, Koi. If the other two are around, tell them that, too." Marigold sighed.
"...Shoot me." Koi requested.
Marigold blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"S-shoot me. Weird shit's happening to us, here. You saw what I tried to do with that foxy honey over there." Koi gestured to Hikari.
'Foxy honey.' Marigold mentally facepalmed.
"If I get back up, I'm just gonna try to have sex with her again." Koi argues. "Kill me now so that when you guys fix everything, I'll get to try and molest her in smarter ways."
…
"You know what?" Marigold grins. "No."
"Fuck you." Koi sticks up her middle finger. "When I get up and get to mindlessly charge you again, I'm gonna be happy about it!"
"Good." Marigold began walking towards the door. "Hikari'll get to end you, then."
"Well, good!" Koi yelled back. "Great!"
The party navigated out of the room, and closed the door.
'Koi's pretty much the same as she always was. The only weird bit is that her self control is even more abysmal than it normally is.'
…
"...So they're not always like this." Osamu reposes his question.
"No." Marigold confirms. "At least, not the others. She's always a hopeless pervert, though."
"And a lesbian." Osamu folded his arms. "Fuckin'... The one pervert in this whole stinkin' place and she's a lesbian."
'...We're gonna have to make sure Koakuma doesn't annihilate him.' Marigold very quickly realized. 'That'd be bad. Maybe.'
"She used to be into men." Marigold provided, "I never found out what happened, though."
"Dude, you're killin' me here…" Osamu slouches.
Hikari glances at the other two with casual amusement. "...Are we back to aimless wandering?"
Marigold shakes her head. "Not yet. We should visit my mother and see if she knows anything about the situation. If anything, she should know something."
"Lead the way." Hikari steps aside.
Marigold smiles.
'This is actually pretty exciting…!'
==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====
Marigold walked up the library's door, and went to open it.
Pi~ng!
"Ah…" She hissed. "Stubbed my finger. Darn it."
Hikari snorted. "I take it that's new?"
"...Shut up." Marigold countered. "Yes, actually. The ward is supposed to exempt me."
Osamu scratched his head. "Maybe, uh… maybe it forgot? 'Cause you were away for awhile?"
…
"That's not how wards work." Marigold frowns. "Not at all."
"Whatever. Who needs 'em, anyway?" Osamu rolls his eyes.
Marigold actively chuckled from that. "Y-yeah. Who needs defenses, right?"
Hikari, having had enough of Osamu's debatable competence, decided to attempt opening the door in the only way she knew how.
Thwack!
Pi~ng!
"...I tried." Hikari defended herself.
Osamu cracked his knuckles. "Alright, guys… Did somebody ring the Dinkster!?"
Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!
Thwaa~sh!
Bam!
A section of carpet is stricken, leaving a small scorch mark.
Ba-Bang-Boom!
The door is stricken, the barrier getting short-circuited by the electricity. The explosion of magic breaks down the door.
'I suppose that was inevitable. But…'
She stared at Osamu. "...What in the world is a Dinkster?"
He shrugged. "I dunno! Dude, I was thinking of like, a superhero name for myself or somethin'."
Hikari nodded. "So you decided 'Dinkster' is definitely a hero name, and not at all completely stupid."
…
"Well, when ya put it that way…" He rubbed the back of his head, sheepish.
'Yes. We had to put it that way, apparently.'
Marigold proceeded into the library. No disorder was present.
"...That's good." Hikari observes the actual order.
"One might suppose." Marigold adds.
'It may be organized, but there's still way too many books. I like learning as much as the next magi, but you know… there's more books here than I could read in my extended lifespan, I'm sure.'
They walked towards the first row of book shelves.
"Ho~ly crap, that's a lot of books." Osamu's jaw drops as he looks up, around, and turns around completely. "Dude."
'If you saw this library from a top-down view, you'd be surprised how it even fit in the manor at all.'
Books floated from the shelves.
'...Um?'
Dark brown tomes with pentagrams on the covers, whirling in the air.
"...Mother's defense system." Marigold notes. "Be on guard."
Hikari readies her gohei, and Osamu rolls up his sleeves, as if he'd get to punch magical spell-slinging tomes.
The tomes paused in the air, and open. Pentagrams form in the air, and suddenly small bursts of fireballs are shot at the party.
"Get back!" Marigold shouts, backpedalling rapidly. Hikari and Osamu do so, too, and the sizable storm of fireballs slows at it nears them.
Osamu tried PK Hydro ß!
"Let's not do that!" He yells.
A shuriken of water whirls in the air in front of them, soaking the party but extinguishing the flames that threatened them.
Marigold aimed at one of the books.
Klack!
The book spun in the air, pages ripping from it. The magical circle flickered out, and the book hung in the air only a few moments more before it fell.
'Apparently they're not very durable.'
Klack! Klack!
Soon, the water shuriken died down, leaving only a soggy, carpeted floor, and a wet party. Fireballs neared them again, more scarce in numbers after Marigold shot down numerous of the tome's ranks.
The fewer projectiles allowed Hikari and Osamu to simply move out of the way. When the fireballs struck the floor, the blaze they left behind didn't spread.
'Likely to prevent the defense system from being self-destructive. No point in defending the books if you just burn them.'
Before long, Marigold shot down all the tomes.
"...We may want to tread carefully." Marigold cautioned the party. "Very carefully. I'm pretty sure that was just the entry-level guff."
Hikari furrowed her brows. "...Do you think we could get on top of the book shelves? Would that help?"
Marigold considered it. "If her anti-Marisa defenses are active, no. We'd probably be blasted to kingdom come, lasers and exploding mana bombs galore."
Hikari made an 'o' shape with her mouth.
"What I want to know is why basic defenses are even on. She's never had them on otherwise aside from demonstration purposes." Marigold pondered. "Considering we couldn't even get in without magic, the defenses obviously weren't for the fairy maids."
Hikari tilted her head. "You think she knows we're coming?"
Marigold shook her head. "I don't think so. How would she even know?"
With nothing better to do, the three continued to the next series of shelves, slightly deeper on the library.
A large tome flew out from somewhere above the shelves. It reached about one half of an average human's height, with a cyan, featureless, cover.
"That's a big freakin' tome!" Osamu pointed at it. "It's comin' for us!"
Marigold aimed at it.
Klack! Klack!
The bullets she fired dug into the cover and the portions of pages it struck, but the book didn't waver.
Hikari cautiously neared the bookshelf to the left of her and began trying to creep up closer to the tome as it lowered into the aisle.
It opened, pages whirling. It stopped on a dime, and the two displayed pages lit up.
"...What book was that…?" Marigold mumbled to herself, unable to recall what this book did.
'Darn it all, I forgot…'
Streams of blue danmaku shot from the book, twirling around in a spiral pattern.
'...Oh. That's actually… fairly underwhelming.'
As the tome neared the floor, Hikari ran up behind it and gave it a good whack.
Clunk!
It dipped slightly from the blow, but floated into its proper position quite promptly.
Hikari glared at it, trying again.
Clunk!
Marigold and Osamu simply walked out of the way of the basic danmaku spiral, and Marigold unloaded into the tome, the sound of many shots filling the library.
After enough abuse, the tome tried another strategy.
Large Water Tome tried PK Hydro ß!
A shuriken of water formed over Osamu's head, raining down a constant spritz onto him.
"...Thanks." He deadpanned. "I needed that. I clearly wasn't soaked enough, already. Good thing this place is freakin' warm."
'...No, that's just your stuffy robes. It's actually pretty cold, being winter and all.'
Marigold and Hikari wailed on the tome just a bit more-
Thud.
It fell to the floor, its power leaving it.
"...That took about ten shots." Marigold nodded slowly. "Wow."
Hikari shook her head. "I don't think my attacks did anything to it."
"I never even got to attack the stupid thing." Osamu folded his arms.
'Perhaps for the better. An electrically charged water-elemental book would either destroy the book, or destroy us. I'd rather not chance it.'
"Because you were too busy being awed by how big it was." Hikari jeered. "...Anyway, I don't think we can just keep going into the library like this. We're going to run out of resources, depending on how big this place is."
Marigold nodded. "It's immense. We'd definitely be shot down by them, eventually. There has to be a better way."
The group gathered closer, the threat of the tome gone.
Osamu snapped his fingers. "Idea."
"Sure." Marigold stared at him dryly.
"...We just run past all of 'em."
…
"That'd never work." Marigold shoots down the idea. "We'd get chased, surely."
"But could they be fast enough?" Osamu grins.
Marigold pauses.
'...I don't think anyone's ever tried to just dash through these defenses. Not like they've seen much use. The anti-Marisa ones are the only ones put in real use, and those are for above the shelves. Those ones I know you can't really outrun well, because of being quite strictly catered to chasing down Marisa.'
"Exactly." Osamu nods in satisfaction. "We just book it. Go."
Hikari shrugs. "We could try it. If that doesn't work, we can just flee the library, right?"
'...I don't know whether the books follow you out or not, either.' "Probably."
Hikari turns around, and holds her arms out. "Get into formation. We're running again."
Marigold winced. "Uhh…"
"...Not as fast, I promise." Hikari assured her.
'Thank goodness.'
The two got into position around Hikari.
"Alright… On three." Hikari announced.
Hikari tried buffing them with wind, but there was very little wind to be found this deep in the library. She found some.
"...Okay, we might go pretty slow, but we'll still be going fast." Hikari corrected.
'That does not fill me with confidence. Especially because it's an oxymoron.'
"How does that even work?" Osamu asked.
"Two…" Hikari continued anyway.
Osamu snorted. "Yeah, okay…"
"One…"
The party braced themselves.
"Go!"
They dashed forward, running through the aisles of bookshelves ahead. Dust was kicked up by the slight wind they had, and Marigold could hear books sliding from the shelves to engage them behind her.
'They better not follow us at this speed…!'
It was then Marigold realized that she should probably give them directions to one of her mother's regular studies she tends to, least they run from one end to the other and trigger an entire line of shelves needlessly.
"Take a right, three shelves ahead!" Marigold shouted.
"How!?" Hikari shouted back.
'Oh, boy.'
"Try!" Marigold barked back.
So they did, except a few shelves too early. Hikari and Osamu both directed themselves to the right, catching Marigold off guard, making all three of them almost trip. After a few moments of skidding along the floor, Marigold got up and resumed running, the group regaining speed.
"A little early!" Marigold shouted her comment.
"Too bad!" Hikari countered.
'Good thing we only need one more turn, then…'
"The left, five ahead! Five!" Marigold yelled. She made sure to stress the 'five' part.
They continued until the fifth aisle came up, and dashed into it. Their formation shook and became uneven for a moment as they turned, but it was far more seamless and graceful compared to the calamity that was their earlier turn.
Ahead was a clearing, nothing clearly visible from between the shelves.
"St… Stop ahead! We're almost there...!"
'My voice is getting tired from all this yelling…'
Once they reached the clearing, Hikari and Marigold stopped.
Osamu continued running, breaking away from Hikari, only to realize moments later that he should've stopped.
"Wooa~h!"
He skidded to a halt.
"...Jeez! Gimme a warning next time, will ya?" He walked shakily back to the group. "That was a workout…"
'...I did.'
...Marigold looked to the desk that sat to the left.
"Mother." Marigold began.
Hikari and Osamu looked to the desk, too.
Osamu grinned. "He~y, it's her!"
Patchouli looked up from her desk.
"...Hello, Marigold." She greeted her daughter. "How goes your day?"
"...It could be better, I guess." Marigold shrugged. "The mansion's in a state of chaos, at the moment."
Patchouli nodded. "...I see."
She looked back down to the book she was reading. "Yes, this chaos began rather recently, from what I know."
'Ah, so she does know…' "What happened?" Marigold asked of her.
"That, I wish to find out." Patchouli frowned. "My studies seem to have come to an impasse, however."
Marigold rose a brow. 'Her? At an impasse?' "How so?"
"My mind has been clouded since this chaos began." Patchouli stated. "I've… done strange, strange things." She then smirks. "What a coincidence, for it to happen the moment the chief maid takes a vacation. This was surely planned in advance."
'Spooky.'
After a brief moment of silence, Marigold spoke up. "You're fine, now, right? You don't seem to be doing anything weird."
Patchouli chuckled. "Yes, yes. I am completely fine. Infact, I may have discovered what lead to my sudden drought of progress."
'That's promising.'
"...It is hard to explain." Patchouli raises a hand, and a small azure orb is generated. It flickers at a regular interval, almost invisible in the library's dim light.
She lets go of it, and points at Hikari. The orb moves after a delayed moment.
'...That doesn't look good.' Marigold realized.
It slowly hovered towards Hikari, and the three stared at it. It slowly grew brighter as it did so.
'That's not good at all!'
"Hikari, move!" Marigold shouted, raising her Air Gun.
Klack!
The bullet struck the orb, as Hikari leaped away sloppily, surprised.
Kaboo~m!
The orb let out a surprisingly large explosion, vibrating the nearby shelves and causing the lamp on Patchouli's desk to shake.
"Holy shit!" Osamu double-takes. "What the hell was that!?"
Marigold looked back to her mother. "...I don't think you're fine at all, Mom."
Patchouli grinned, floating into the air. "You see, I've developed… homicidal thoughts about the newest Hakurei Shrine maiden as of late. Suddenly, it occurred to me…"
A large pentagram was suddenly drawn on the floor. Hikari, Osamu, and Marigold step off of it.
"She is the reason I cannot think clearly, anymore. It also occurred to me that the only way to remedy this situation… is with her death. Unfortunate, it may be, but necessary."
Marigold aims at her with her Air Gun. "I'm sorry, Mom."
Klack!
Pi~ng!
An invisible magical barrier eats the danmaku bullet.
"...It's a good thing I liked you less." Marigold glared at the barrier.
Patchouli's grin held. "I am a competent mage, daughter. And, if I am to continue being a competent mage, I am afraid I will have to take your friend. Delaying it will only make it worse."
Her tome floats up from her desk, joining her in her barrier. The pages flipped for her. "Let's see… Ah. This one stuck out to me."
The pentagram rotates, glowing brighter.
"Everyone, get ready…" Marigold held her Air Gun close.
Streams of electricity flowed from Patchouli's hands and into the magic circle, for one brief moment.
Fwash!
In the middle of the magic circle stood a large, grey, humanoid ant.
'...About as humanoid as an ant can get, anyway.'
"...I'm alive?" It looked to its hand-esque appendages. "...I live!"
...It looked around, and saw Hikari. "Ready for round two, Hakurei?"
...Hikari walked up to it, and gave it a good smack with her gohei.
Whack!
"Aaugh!" The ant was thrown aside from the force of the attack. "W-why, you-!"
Whack!
"Aargh!" The ant was knocked over. "W-what, how could you-!"
Thwack!
"S-stop! I surrender!" The ant flailed its limbs wildly, trying to crawl away from Hikari. "Get away from me, Hakurei!"
'...Well.' Marigold had a half-grin on her face. 'Good summon, mother. We clearly couldn't have dealt with that.'
The large grey ant began to flee, moving to charge through one of the open aisles.
Thwaa~sh!
A streak of lightning casted by Patchouli fried it the moment it escaped the study clearing.
Patchouli sighed. "Violated the familiar contract. How unfortunate. In any case, that performance was to be expected of you, Hakurei."
She then flipped through her spell tome more. "Let's see…"
A few moments of flipping yielded moments of silence.
"Hmph. I can't seem to find that one. Nevertheless… Koakuma!"
Koakuma floated down from the air, landing in the middle of the summoning circle. "Hey, hey, Patchouli-sama!"
"You remember the strategy, yes?" Patchouli asked her.
Koakuma rolled her eyes. "How could I forget? You've done nothing but obsess over it for the past two days."
Osamu's jaw dropped. "Hubba, bubba! Look at her!"
'...Now is not the time for that.'
Hikari scoffed at him.
Koakuma turned to face Hikari, and licked her lips. "...You know, I'm starting to see why Patchouli-sama wants to be rid of you… But I'm not as cruel as her. I'll make sure to show you a good time."
'Perverts everywhere.'
Koakuma tried Offense Up α!
"Hehehe…" Koakuma ran her hands across her chest. "Don't worry… I'll be gentle."
Hikari frowned. "I don't swing that way."
"You will when I'm done with you." Koakuma cracked her knuckles.
Marigold aimed at her. "I've wanted to do this for a long time…"
Klack! Klack!
Both bullets struck Koakuma in the head, forcing her to flinch and turn to her.
"Y-you little twerp!" She rubbed her hair, glaring at her. "Where'd you even come from!?"
"Not one, but, infact, multiple magicians." Marigold elaborated.
Koakuma's nails extended. "At least this finally gives me a good excuse to go all out on you."
Hikari took the moment to assault her shins while she was unaware.
Thwack!
"O-ou~ch!" Koakuma grabbed her shin and floated into the air. "Do all of you runts fight dirty!?"
'Says the succubus.'
After a moment, she landed on the ground again.
Koakuma tried PSI Shield α!
She was protected by the pale blue psychic shield!
"There we go. No more of those annoying little pellets of yours." Koakuma grinned. "I'd like to see you get another cheap shot on me, Hakurei." She held up her claws to accent her point.
Osamu grinned. "You wanna talk cheap shots? I'll show ya some cheap shots!"
Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!
Thwaa~sh!
One of the bolts struck Patchouli's barrier, and was absorbed completely.
Thwaa~sh!
The bolt struck Koakuma's barrier, creating a blast.
Bam!
"Kyaa~h!" Koakuma hugged herself, letting out a surprised yelp. "...W-what the hell? Magic? Who the-... Who even cast that!?"
She looks over to Osamu, remembering his comment. "You!"
He gave a half-grin. "...So I guess that means no date, then?"
Koakuma gritted her teeth, kneeling. "Ouch…"
Koakuma tried Lifeup α!
She slowly stood again, grinning wickedly. "...You'll have to try harder than that, cuties!"
Klack!
"Egh…!" Koakuma immediately regretted her taunt, recoiling from the bullet that struck her in the head.
She didn't even realize it, but Hikari closed the distance between them and managed to whack her knee again.
Thwack!
"A-ah, hey!" Koakuma swiped at her, scratching her shoulder. Hikari reflexively swung back at her with her gohei.
Thunk!
"Gra~h!" Koakuma clutched her head. "W-what a arm…"
Klack! Klack!
"N-no…!" Koakuma tripped, overwhelmed by the amount of damage she was suddenly taking. "H-how? You're just a bunch of stupid kids!"
Hikari stood over her. "We hit you repeatedly."
SMAAAA~SH!
"Ugh…" Koakuma's eyes flickered shut, the strike stripping her of her consciousness.
Patchouli grimaced. "Tch. I had figured she'd weaken you more than she had… which, might I add, seems to have been not at all. Foolish familiar."
She grinned again, however. "I suppose this will do."
The magic circle began spinning again, and everyone made sure to step clear of it. Aside from Koakuma, who was unconscious.
Streams of lightning came from Patchouli's hands once more, traveling along the edge of the magic circle.
Fwash!
In the middle of the circle rested a large mound of dirt. It spread out slightly, revealing a small sprout at the top and a face along the broad dirt mound.
"I… hou~hh… seem to have gotten the better… hou~hh… of even death itself." It spoke.
"Not for long." Marigold verbally fired back.
"Heh, heh, heh… hou~hh… I shall not make the same mistakes I did before. I have… but one more chance… to best the Hakurei. I plan to spend it wisely."
Osamu tried PK Hydro ß!
A shuriken of water spiraled over the mound of dirt, beginning to turn it into mud. It slowly began flowing downward and outward, turning the dirt pile into something more resembling a field of mud. The sprout's root system was exposed, some clumps of dirt still attached to it.
"...Most… unfortunate…" The sprout reflected its rage in a very passive manner.
'...That's right. There's no cave wall holding it in, and it only has limited soil this time…' Marigold grinned.
Hikari ran right up, repeatedly leaping to get around the clumps of mud in the way, and swung at the sprout.
SMAAAA~SH!
"Uoogh!" The plant moaned, before sending a blast of dust to push Hikari back.
Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!
Thwaa~sh!
Another bolt struck Patchouli's shield, getting absorbed.
"M-mukyuu~!"
'...What?' Marigold sworn she could've heard something that sounded like her mother…
Thwaa~sh!
The other bolt struck the top of a bookshelf.
Bam!
Patchouli frowned.
"Damn it." Osamu folded his arms. "Two entire bolts, and none of them hit."
Marigold opened fire on the sprout's tiny leaves, her Air Gun proving its power in comparison to the NF Burst Gun when it came to assaulting a single foe.
"A-auh… hou~hh…" The root system took its last breath, before it began wilting rapidly.
Patchouli shook her head. "This tome is proving to be unsatisfactory."
Marigold snorted. "Maybe you shouldn't summon things that don't belong here."
"I shall give it another chance." Patchouli announced. "Perhaps it will surprise me. Surely something that's occupied my time such cannot be this abysmal…"
The magic circle shined through the thin layer of mud that had spread across it. It began rotating as usual, and then stopped.
The thin layer of electricity shot out again, but was cut off by the mud.
"..." Patchouli scoffed. "What a mess you've made."
'Hey. You're the one who summoned a dirt monster.'
With a wave of her hands, the mud all gathered into a clump in the middle, and was then pushed to the edge of the clearing.
She tried to cast the thin layer of electricity again, this time succeeding.
Fwash!
'...This thing. We literally just fought this.'
"Henh, henh, henh!" The rat grinned widely. "Am I gettin' a do-over or something?"
"Dude, we can kill this already." Osamu informed Patchouli. "It was literally just a day ago. Not even."
"No~t this time!" The large rat boasted. "I know exactly what yer all gonna do this time! I'm readier than ready! Henh, henh, henh!"
Marigold opened fire on it, causing it to hiss. "Hhh…! Lemme enjoy myself 'fore I gut you!"
Hikari moved around the side of it, and went to attack from its flank.
Whack!
The rat grinned. "My body's made've sterner stuff than that, girlie!"
...Hikari moved to the face, and whacked that instead.
SMAAAA~SH!
"Hhh!" The rat lunged forward, but Hikari dashed out of the way to avoid serious damage, only her leg getting scraped.
"Alright, c'mon…" Osamu rubbed his hands together. "Better work this time…!"
Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!
Thwaa~sh!
The lightning struck the gaseous mist on the rat's back, lighting it ablaze.
Fwoom!
"T-that happened the first time!" The rat gritted its large teeth. "It won't work again!"
...
The other lightning bolt struck somewhere in the distance of the library.
Hikari snorted. "Where'd that one even go?"
"I wish I knew." Osamu slouched.
The rat did a small leap in place, extinguishing the flames on its back. "Henh, henh! You see? Your tricks won't work on-"
Klack!
The rat flinched as the danmaku bullets collided with its face. "Would you cut that out!?"
Hikari tried Hypnosis α!
Energy rippled around the giant rat…
"Wha-whuh… S… S'all goin' dark…"
The rat's lazy eyes drifted closed.
…
Patchouli facepalmed. "How… irritating."
The party looked up at her.
"How very… underwhelming." She glared at her tome, before she tossed it aside. "Absolutely infuriating!"
She hovered down, and extended her hand towards the rat.
Thwaa~sh!
Fwoom!
In a flash, the rat was vaporized, apparently.
'...I don't actually know. Something about familiar contracts…?' Marigold was never very interested in familiars.
"If you want something done right, it seems you have to do it yourself." Patchouli stared down at the party vainly. "I had thought that book my ace card, but it seems to have been foolishly miscalibrated. It is fortunate, however, that I had anticipated backlash from the elder Hakurei and had these created…"
From above the bookshelves, two emerald orbs floated up to meet Patchouli, and began orbiting around her.
"Recognize these, Hakurei? It is most unfortunate you don't seem to wield the Hakurei yin-yang orbs… because these are my alchemy orbs. I very much wish to see how they compare."
Hikari tensed up upon seeing them, unsure of what to expect.
'When did she make these?' Marigold, too, was tense about how her mother hyped them up.
Osamu folded his arms. "What's the big deal? They're just some stupid balls."
...Hikari and Marigold scoffed at him.
'Ignorance is bliss.'
Patchouli grinned. "The big deal, human magician, is that the Hakurei stands no chance. Anyone who stands in my way shall perish. This includes you, my daughter."
'I kinda figured. What, with the summoning monsters thing, and all.'
Patchouli hovered overhead, and the two orbs floated over the party.
Zazazap!
Two streams of electricity extended from the orbs to the floor, and they orbited around Hikari unevenly.
Marigold aimed up at the orbs and fired, unable to get a good shot from their speed.
'C'mon, hi~t…'
Hikari frantically leaped around between the two lines of electricity, the orbiting spheres sometimes going far enough away from her center to nearly force a collision.
After a moment, the attack ended, the orbs returning to Patchouli.
She then pointed at Hikari again, and the orbs spread out to the far ends of the clearing this time.
'There we go. A clear shot.'
Klack! Klack! Klack!
The orb was unaffected by the gunfire.
"N-no way…" Marigold didn't see any visible damage.
Fireballs began shooting from the two orbs, directed at Hikari.
"There's other people to hit, you know!" Hikari shouts as she repeatedly leaps around the battlefield.
"But my target is you." Patchouli calmly reiterates. "While I am not hesitant to kill those who stand in the way, I do not wish death upon them."
'How kind of you.'
Bam!
"Aaa~h!" Hikari screams as she accidentally leapt straight into a fireball.
Osamu paused, ceasing his conscientious aversion of the stray fireballs. "H-hey!"
Osamu tried PK Hydro ß!
The familiar shuriken of water formed over Hikari, dousing the flames that had engulfed her.
"A-ah, ah, ahh…" Hikari's voice squeaked out from the pain of her burns getting stricken by water.
Hikari tried Lifeup α!
She sighed in relief.
'That didn't look fun.' Marigold watched the fireballs a little more closely, now.
The orbs stopped firing with the water shuriken in play, and hovered back to Patchouli.
"Did you enjoy the heat, Hakurei? Nothing better for a cold winter's day." Patchouli grinned. "Now, you die."
The orbs flashed a variety of colors, and began slowly hovering towards Hikari.
She got up from the puddle she was resting in, and drew her gohei.
Marigold fired at the orbs, causing only minor delays in their building speed.
'On the upside, they slowed a little.' Marigold stared at them vainly. 'Go us.'
Hikari swung at the orbs as they neared her.
SMAAAA~SH!
The orb slowed to a stop, but began speeding up again. Hikari was forced to leap out of the way of the other one, which barreled straight past her and into a shelf, its velocity stopping and starting again.
Hikari retreated from the two incoming orbs, which began their slow speedup again.
Osamu grinned. "Y'know, purple-mage-whatever, I think you should chill."
Osamu tried PK Freeze ß!
KaKa-KaKaKling!
Rapid freezing and thawing of an icy pattern forced the orbs to stop dead in their tracks, their momentum completely lost.
'That pun was bad, and you should feel bad.'
Kra~ck!
The orbs were frozen in place, their color locked to a pastel blue from the ice.
Patchouli frowned. "Troublesome. If it's a duel you wish for, I will grant it readily."
The orbs turned emerald again, and returned to Patchouli. With a wave of her hand, they began orbiting overhead of Osamu.
Zazazap!
Once again, the lightning spell was cast, the orbs moving in a meticulous orbit in the air over Osamu in an attempt to electrocute him.
He grins. "Dude, I like, invented thunder!"
Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!
Thwaa~sh!
The cloudy anti-magic barrier around Patchouli was stricken, resulting in a blast.
Boom!
"Guh…" Patchouli winced, shielding herself with her arms, her barrier down. "Annoying…!"
Osamu pumped his fist. "Yeah! How'd ya like that!?"
In this moment of distraction, however, one of the lines of lightning passed over him.
Zap!
"Eegehegehuh!" Osamu convulsed violently, before falling to the floor.
Thud.
Osamu was also paralyzed by the shock.
Hikari blinked, and promptly acted.
Hikari tried Lifeup ß!
Osamu's skin turned a healthy color again, but he still didn't move.
'...Is he dead?' Marigold considered.
Hikari tried Healing α!
He lifted his head from the floor. "God… damn! That shit stings!"
Patchouli glared down at him. "You had no right to survive that."
The orbs moved to the far ends of the clearing.
"It's the fire spell again." Marigold observed.
'After this, she's going to try to bash someone with the orbs again, and repeat.'
"Your spell has no right to be so fuckin' strong!" Osamu shouts back.
Marigold fires up at her mother, whose shield was down at the moment.
Klack! Klack!
"Gfuh! M-Mukyuu~!" Patchouli flinched violently at each pellet that pelted her.
Patchouli tried PSI Shield ß!
Patchouli was protected by the bright blue psychic power shield!
"Let me see you attempt to shatter this one." She stared down the party.
The fireballs began firing from the two far orbs.
Osamu snapped his fingers. "Oh, I almost forgot I had that!"
Osamu tried PSI Shield Σ!
Hikari was protected by the psychic shield!
Osamu was protected by the psychic shield!
Marigold was protected by the psychic shield!
...He looked around, and noticed Hikari had it. "Hey! I was tryin' to cast that on myself!"
Marigold sighed. "We all have it. That includes you."
'...I'm also pretty sure it didn't do that before, but I'm fine with this.'
The fireballs neared the party, but Hikari was able to dodge at a far more relaxed pace, her shield intercepting the broader portions of the fireball's flames.
Marigold shot at her mother's shield, to gauge its power.
'I haven't seen a shield like that before…'
The bullet struck the shield… and came back.
"W-woah!" Marigold tried to avoid it-
"Augh!"
The danmaku bullet hit her in the thigh, forcing her to clutch it.
"Th-that stings, apparently. Good to know."
The orbs returned to Patchouli. "Your wards are disturbing. Thankfully, this attack is purely physical."
Once again, the orbs began flashing, homing in on Hikari.
Hikari was ready, this time. "Just cast thunder spells to break her shield. I can dodge them."
Osamu nodded. "Roger dodger."
Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!
Thwaa~sh!
One of them struck one of the homing orbs, accomplishing nothing.
Thwaa~sh!
Patchouli's shield was struck.
Kaboom!
"M-mukyuu~!" She twirled away from the explosion, and stopped herself in the air.
The lightning bolt shot off the remnants of the barrier, returning to Osamu.
Bam!
His barrier exploded.
"Woaa~h!" He looked around, surprised. "...Is this how this's gonna go? We just gonna break eachother's barriers until we run outta mana, or somethin'?"
Marigold fired at her mother, again.
"Ugh…" Patchouli vainly shielded herself with her arms. "I-ingrate…"
She floated to the floor, and the emerald orbs returned to her side, much to Hikari's relief, as she was nearly pegged by one. "This is going nowhere…"
The orbs shielded her from Marigold's shots.
'Cheap.'
The tome Patchouli casted aside earlier floated in from parts unknown, returning to her hands. She physically flipped through the tome. "There has to be something I missed- something important. This battle cannot end in failure…"
She froze after one final page flip.
"...Yes. Yeee~s!"
She floated into the air once again. "This is perfect! I've found it! Surely, with this one cast…!"
The magic circle, which had grown dim in the combat, was now back at full brightness. It began spinning around, and came to a stop once more.
"Say your prayers!" Patchouli sent a thin stream of lightning to the pentagram once again.
Fwash!
…
Byakuren was seated on her knees, calmly smiling.
Hikari froze.
Osamu froze. "Oh. Fuck."
Marigold tilted her head. "...Who's that, again? Should… should I be worried?"
"Yes." Osamu told her. "Very."
"...And that, is the basics to meditation." Byakuren suddenly speaks, then opens her eyes.
…
"Oh?"
…
She stands slowly. "Either I have unlocked the secrets to teleportation, or I have missed something important."
…
"...Hello?" Byakuren looks around at the party. "...Hello, Hikari."
"Hey." Hikari greets her casually.
'...I'm not sure if I should be worried anymore.'
"We seem to be…" Byakuren takes a good look around. "In the Scarlet Devil Mansion, I take it? Both because it seems Patchouli is here, and it happens to be a rather immense library."
Marigold nods. "You'd be correct. You're…?"
"Byakuren. Byakuren Hijiri." She smiles at Marigold. "...You know, I've never actually been here before. This place really is bigger on the inside…"
"Tell me about it…" Osamu mumbles.
Patchouli frowns. "...This is, infact, the opposite of what I had hoped a summoning of this sort to do."
Byakuren tilted her head. "What did you hope for, then?"
"A creature capable of combat. I may have received that, but I would have never expected it was a fellow magi. A… peaceful one, at that."
Byakuren continued smiling. "My apologies, then. On that note, hello to you as well, Patchouli. I hear you are a rather competent magician."
Patchouli nodded. "Indeed, indeed. I have… a favor, to ask of you. It is imperative to the criteria of your summoning here."
"Oh? What might that criteria be?" Byakuren inquired.
"The death of the Hakurei miko."
…
"I'm sorry? I don't think I caught that." Byakuren's smile held. "Could you repeat that, for me?"
"You have been called here to kill the Hakurei miko. Failure to do so is punishable by death." Patchouli attempted to stare her down. "My sincerest apologies if you do not agree to these terms."
Byakuren nods. "...Give me a moment."
She draws her rainbow scroll, numerous glyphs cycling through it. As she cycles through it and stares into the rainbow of colors, rainbow light shimmers across her body.
...After a moment, she closes the scroll, a rainbow of colors running up and down her body, like an aura.
"...I'm afraid I do not agree with those terms." Byakuren announces.
"Regrettable." Patchouli frowns. "Farewell, Byakuren."
Thwaa~sh!
The white lightning shoots from Patchouli's hand, and strikes Byakuren, engulfing her entire body.
...Once it's over, Byakuren is still standing there, the rainbow light only slightly dimmer.
Patchouli blinked. "...Unexpected error, I'm sure."
She shot her hand forward again, but no lightning came forth.
"...Oh. That… was it, apparently. The contract…" Patchouli nods slowly.
Byakuren's smile never faltered. "Are you done?"
...The orbs moved to defend Patchouli. "You'll have to deal with my alchemy orbs if you wish to even have a chance against me."
The orbs floated down towards Byakuren…
She leaped into the air and grabbed one, hurling it straight into the floor.
Bam!
Cra~ck!
The orb shattered into numerous emerald shards.
"W-what!?" Patchouli's eyes went wide.
Zazazap!
The other orb sent a line of electricity down, but without its partner in crime, it wasn't very threatening.
Byakuren leaped into the air again, and kicked the orb.
Cra~ck!
The orb broke from the very impact of the kick, a small storm of electricity left in the air where it was.
"...H-how…" Patchouli paled, despite her already pale complexion. "Such power…"
Byakuren stepped towards her slowly. "...I hope you are joking, Patchouli. Even if it's a rather tasteless joke."
"...Hmph." Patchouli floated higher into the air. "I will simply bide my time, and strike again. You will likely not be around to protect the Hakurei when that happens."
"..."
Byakuren's expression fell neutral.
"Superhuman, Byakuren Hijiri." Byakuren announced her spell card.
Patchouli began making her retreat.
Suddenly, and without warning, Byakuren rocketed into the air. In under three seconds, she closed the distance between herself and Patchouli, reaching her. Behind her, lines of light were left behind, which all broke into danmaku pellets that were aimed at Patchouli.
Patchouli only had time to look down before Byakuren left from her side, shooting around in the air and generating a zig-zag of light lines, all of which broke to make a curtain of bullets.
In under a minute, Patchouli was pelted by the literal curtain of bullets.
"M-mukyuu~..."
...Patchouli began falling out of the storm of danmaku, twirling towards the floor. Byakuren dove from her spell card to grab her.
Calmly, she floated back down to the party.
"...She won't be bothering you anymore." She told Hikari.
Hikari nodded slowly. "...Well. That happened."
'Danmaku always amazes me.'
"I'm so fucking glad you didn't do that to us when we fought you." Osamu reflected.
Byakuren set the unconscious mage down on the floor. "Is there... any context to what happened here?"
"Everyone in the manor seems to be affected, for some reason." Marigold explained. "They've developed a penchant for homicide, specifically towards Hikari, here."
Hikari waves. "I'm popular."
Byakuren nods. "Oh. That's actually quite familiar to what happened, previously, isn't it? With the paint."
Hikari nods. "It is. Except there's no paint, this time, and the people are all vaguely themselves. Just homicidal."
"That's inconvenient." Byakuren considers.
"Just a little." Marigold agrees.
"Nnnh…" Patchouli groaned from the floor.
Marigold stared down at her. "Should we heal her?"
"Not yet." Hikari decided. "She's still affected, I'm sure. We need a way to make her only half-okay if we really want to reason with her."
"...We either heal her all the way or not at all, huh?" Marigold sighed. "Well, I guess beggars can't be choosers. We'll just let her recover, then."
Osamu shrugged. "Well. At least we got books."
"That only I can read. Somewhat." Marigold adds.
"Hey, hey, I can at least read." Osamu glares at her. "I'm not that dumb."
"No, as in, most of these books aren't even in French, or in Japanese, for that matter." Marigold elaborates.
"Oh. What the fuck." He raises a brow. "How do you read any of them, then? And what the hell's French?"
Hikari sighs. "Maybe we'll just get a move on. There's a mistress, isn't there?"
Marigold nods. "I'm not sure if we should bother with her. She's… strong, to be certain."
Byakuren spoke up. "Would you like my assistance? I worry for my temple, with these recent events occurring, but I'll gladly lend a hand to assist you three."
Hikari shakes her head. "Nah, we'll be fine, I think."
'Uhm- about that…'
Byakuren looked unsure, herself. "Are… you certain? The Scarlet Devil, from what I've heard, is not a being to be underestimated…"
"Yes, because my mother had a very hard time, didn't she?" Hikari folded her arms. "I'm confident that three of us should be able to handle her. Plus… everyone affected seems to be far weaker, for some reason."
...Byakuren agrees. "Yes, that seems to be the case. You have my thanks again, Hikari."
With that, Byakuren began walking out of the library, strolling through the aisles leisurely.
'The books seem to be inactive, now.'
…
"I should lead, shouldn't I?" Marigold begins moving towards the library's exit as well. "Let's get going."
Hikari agrees. "No time like the present… and your mother's not getting better for awhile, probably."
"Probably."
==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====
The first few halls Marigold turned through lead straight to Remilia's throne room.
'It really doesn't matter who leads, because it seems like the halls are doing everything for us.'
"Onward, for glory." Hikari monotoned.
Osamu snorted. "I know, right? What're we, vampire hunters, now?"
Marigold stared at the large door ahead of them, personal tension rising.
'To think that only a few weeks later, I'd be challenging such a powerful authority figure. I hardly even know her myself.' Marigold glared at the door with determination. 'Maybe I'll finally get an actual room here. I'd like my bed and my work bench to not be across the entire mansion, thank you very much.'
They stood before the door, which creaked open on its own, an invisible force pushing it.
Creaa~k…
Inside sat Remilia Scarlet, lazily holding a wine glass in her right hand.
She stared right into Marigold's eyes.
==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====
END OF CHAPTER 12
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.
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, Σ - Halves damage from magical and psychic attacks. Thunder spells fry it instantly, and harder blows dispel it. Second tier applies basic shield to entire party at higher mana expense.
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-
Witness to the Great Joke Drought of Two-Thousand Sixteen - It was a nightmare, she assures you.
Consumer of Pancakes - Feared by many.
Not Quite an Expert in Tome Warfare - Considering she couldn't make any herself, it'd be all theoretical, anyway.
Harbinger of Fluffy Waffles - Without syrup, thank you very much.
Soft and Warm to the Touch - Happens to be a living being.
β-β-β-β
Author's Note:
lots of combat, and stuff! s'it good? s'it mediocre? s'it dreadful? pls tell me people feedback's somethin' i really like but don't get a whole lot of
in any case, i was kinda hype for this whole series of events and battles, though i feel a little cheap using giygas to nerf everyone
summer's here, so once i get bored of my plethora of steam games / if i don't get forced to work then these updates may or may not come at freakin' warp drive speed
as always, see you all next time!