Today was the day.
That was all that went through the mind of the young woman; as she rushed to the meeting place of the 'Necromancy Club'; carrying a picnic hamper.
The plan was simple. She and her best friend; and only other member of her club; would go to the world she kept having recurring visions of. This would not be the first time; but it would be the first time they specifically aimed to enter the modern time of this world. The two planned to go to a beautiful lake surrounded by mist; with a mansion nearby; and have a picnic.
Maribel arrived at the room; and Renko was already there.
"Ah; there you are Mary!" Renko said; using her nickname for Maribel. She too had a basket with some food inside. Renko was slightly shorter and younger than Maribel.
The two were students nearing the end of their subjects. Maribel was studying 'relative psychology'; while Renko studies 'unified physics'. The two were connected by the fact that both had great interest in the supernatural. In addition to this; both were the only humans they knew with any type of 'special power'.
Maribel was able to see boundaries for years; since she was six. She could see other worlds primarily. At first; this only occurred in dreams; but over the last few years; the visions became clearer; and even during waking hours. Maribel even recently developed the ability to manipulate the boundaries somewhat; the control getting stronger and stronger. As such; Maribel and Renko had visited Gensokyo before; although they had no control over what era they arrived in.
Renko; on the other hand; only had to look at the sky to know the local time; and the location. She frequently joked to be a human GPS; and had a great interest in astronomy and space; the primary reason she took the Unified Physics course. She knew her powers were far less powerful and interesting than Maribel's; and unlike Maribel's her powers had not been growing stronger.
The two knew of many things which no-one else seemed to know. Thanks to Maribel's powers; they were aware of the world of Gensokyo; a world where supernatural beings lived and magic was normal. They knew of the Netherworld; and they also knew of the Lunar Capital and the Lunarians. The more they learnt thanks to Maribel's powers; the more they wanted to know.
"Well; Renko; are you ready?" Maribel asked.
Renko nodded. "Yep; ready when you are Mary. Just don't overdo it. We don't even know if you can open the boundary to a specific time zone yet."
"We won't know until we try. That's half the idea. My powers are getting stronger Renko. Especially this last week. I was feeling too hot; and then suddenly I made things colder without even thinking about it." Maribel said.
"Well then; if that's the case; I have faith that you can do it Mary!" Renko said; as Maribel closed her eyes; seeing nothing but a web of boundries. She focused on a single boundary she felt; moving her hands towards it.
She touched it; and it rippled. She opened her eyes; to see a purple portal open in front of her.
"This is it Renko!" Maribel said.
Renko nodded; and the two picked up their baskets; before they walked through the portal.
"Aaaah~" Rumia said; having pulled up her dress enough to have her legs dangling in the Misty Lake without getting her dress wet. It was a hot summer day. Mystia was working; and Wriggle was gathering ingredients for her. Kogasa was at the Myouren Graveyard; Cirno and Daiyousei were playing over the lake. Even Rika wasn't bothering Rumia. It was a welcome peace after the chaos of a few nights ago; and the death of Yukari a week ago.
The funeral service was due tomorrow. The Yama had declared there would be one; although not for whom yet. Most close to Yukari had figured it out by now. Reimu in particular had not been seen for days; not accepting visitors to her shrine. It was known Reimu saw Yukari almost as a mother figure.
Despite Rumia's relaxed exterior right now; she was tense.
Then; she saw; on a nearby bank; a purple portal. She immediately thought of Yukari. However; the portal lacked ribbons; and there were no eyes within the portal.
Two figures came through. The first was of no importance to Rumia; although she noted she was human. However; the second made her pull her legs out of the lake; and put her shoes back on.
She was the spitting image of Yukari.
"Well then. I wonder what I should do about this then? Should I just keep an eye on them; or should I go and introduce myself..." Rumia wondered; before she melted into the shadows of the forest around the lake.
Maribel and Renko put down some cloth by the lake; and set out sandwiches and fruits to eat; as well as rice balls and various other foods. The lake was beautiful. The mist swirling around it; the water glistening. Small beings; fairies; flew around it; happily playing.
"Ah; this place is even hotter than Japan is right now..." Renko complained.
"It's worth it though; isn't it Renko? For this view." Maribel replied.
"True. And we're at the right time too." she said; looking at the sky for a moment.
"Hello~" a voice said; before the two turned towards the source of the sound; to see a blonde girl's head sticking out of the shadows.
"W-what is this?!" Renko said; stunned.
"Some kind of youkai; I'd wager." Maribel commented.
The head rose; revealing the body of a young woman in a black dress; wearing a white shirt under it. She looked rather elegant and confident.
"Well; I guess youkai is right. Although if you wanna get really technical I'm a darkness daemon." the stranger said.
"Darkness... daemon?" Renko said; sounding a little worried.
"Interesting. And yet you come before us in the light?" Maribel said.
The stranger smirked.
"You're not scared of me. Well; not much. That's good! I ain't a scary person unless you get me angry; you see. Then I'm really scary. I'm Rumia. No second name. Just Rumia. I'm one of the stronger youkai in this place. Don't worry though; I have a duty to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't get attacked or anything."
"Why would you suddenly claim to be protecting us?" Maribel asked.
"Mary; shouldn't we introduce ourselves before we question her motives?" Renko asked; before sighing. "I'm Renko Usami. I'm a human."
Maribel nodded. "I guess I was being somewhat rude. Forgive me. I am Maribel Hearn. Human."
"Hearn? I expected the name Yakumo." Rumia said offhandedly.
"Yakumo..." Maribel muttered quietly.
"Uh... wait isn't that name..." Renko said.
"I mean you look just like someone who asked me to protect someone who I'd 'know it when I saw her'. I guess the resemblance is what she meant by 'know it when I saw her'. " Rumia said; unaware of Maribel getting tense.
"You... said Yakumo; didn't you?" Maribel said.
"Yeah. I said Yakumo. Someone called Yukari Yakumo asked me to look after one of her descendants that would be coming to Gensokyo; and asked me to look after her. And; well; you look just like her."
Maribel bit her lip; trembling.
"Looks like me... descendant... Yakumo..." she said.
"Rumia... Maribel's mother vanished shortly after she was born. Her father never told her much; except to follow the name in her bonnet... Yakumo. The name Yakumo would lead her to the truth." Renko explained.
"Wait; her mother vanished? Yukari only said she was a descendant!" Rumia said; clearly taken aback. "That would explain the very strong resemblance though, and I guess a direct daughter is a descendant still..."
"Tell me." Maribel demanded. "Tell me... do you think this 'Yukari' could be my mother?"
Rumia scratched her head.
"I can't say for sure. Weird things happen in Gensokyo. It's certainly possible. I'd ask her... but she died a week ago."
Maribel's eyes went wide.
"You're... kidding. I finally find the name 'Yakumo' and you say she's dead?!"
"Mary..." Renko said.
"I guess if you want to know; you should ask the Yama tomorrow. The Yama is very smart you see; and she's in charge of death and the afterlife. She's sure to know. And even if she can't tell you; she may give you permission to see Yukari in the afterlife and ask her yourself." Rumia said; before she sighed.
"I didn't expect to be thrust into such a complicated situation. I ain't good with family stuff. Trust me. My father made me to kill my mother. And I have like a billion sisters and brothers and things. Long story. Involves gods and other dimensions."
Renko chuckled. "You really do seem interesting; Miss Rumia."
Renko turned to Maribel.
"We should come back tomorrow Mary. Ask this Yama about Yakumo. This is a great development for the mystery of your mother!" Renko said.
"But Renko... if she's dead... then what's the point?" Maribel asked.
"Simple. The truth. You've wondered about this since I knew you Maribel." Renko said.
Maribel smiled.
"Yes; we should come back tomorrow then. Do you wish to stay with us for the picnic; Miss Rumia? We have more than we could probobly eat between us anyway." Maribel said.
"Sure! I'll never turn down food!" Rumia said; sitting down.
The two humans asked Rumia questions about Gensokyo; and she answered. She also told them about her friends. Shortly after this; however; as if on que; Rika showed up in a hovering tank.
"Say your prayers Rumia!" she shouted; popping her head out of the tank.
"Rika; do we really have to do this now? I'm telling some newcomers to Gensokyo the ropes." Rumia asked.
"Of course we have to do this now! It's not like we'll do it tomorrow; with the funeral and all!" Rika shouted back.
"Renko; Maribel. This is Rika. Gensokyo's resident scientist. She's also a robot." Rumia said.
"MAD scientist; if you please." Rika insisted; as if calling her a normal scientist was an insult. "I'll blast you with my Super Tank Artillery Laser of Killing and Eliminating Rumia!"
"... S.T.A.L.K.E.R?" Rumia asked, deadpan, pointing to the acronym painted on Rika's tank. Renko and Maribel sniggered.
"This really is a strange place Maribel." Renko said, giggling.
Rika looked at the acronym; and her jaw dropped, before she started failing her arms around angrily; blushing. "That was totally an oversight! Not intentional at all!"
"Suuuure it wasn't. I'm sure you'd love to show me how good you are with your S.T.A.L.K.E.R tank, but there's kids here Rika." Rumia teased.
This only made Rika flail more; and start spewing profanities which made the humans turn red.
"I forgot to mention. Everyone seems to think there's something going on between me and this nutcase. I can't speak for her part; but I like making her react like this." Rumia said to Maribel and Renko.
"She seems like a Tsundere." Renko said.
"Nah; I think more Yandere." Maribel said.
"Not you two as well..." Rumia groaned; flopping her head down.
By this time; Rika stopped flailing around, and had calmd down enough to actually notice Renko and Maribel.
"Hey... dosen't she kinda look like..."
"Yes. She looks like Yukari. Which is why we're not fighting today. Go away Rika. Go work on that tank more. I'm sure there's some blatantly obvious weakness you've overlooked. Like that acronym for example. I'll gladly blow it up the day after tomorrow." Rumia said to Rika; smiling like a Chesire cat.
"Raaagh! Fine; have it your way! It'll just make the tank's laser pierce you even more!" Rika said, before the two humans and Rumia gave her a questioning look.
"I'm sure if Koishi was here she'd have a lot to say about the connotations of what you just said." Rumia said. "And she wouldn't care about these two being here to overhear it."
"You immature imbecile! I'll kill you one day!" Rika roared; as she dove into the tank and it hovered off.
The rest of the afternoon passed without much incident; aside from Rumia getting a little flustered at Maribel and Renko teasing her over Rika. However; as Rumia spent more time with the two; she noticed something that she hadn't noticed before.
Maribel was a half-youkai. The half was mainly dormant within her; thus she felt like a human on first glance; but Rumia was sure she was half and half. Not quarter or less. Half. Which would make her literally the daughter of Yukari; if there was a relation. Barring any complex family tree that ended up making her half and half.
At about 4:30 pm; the two began to pack up; and Maribel attempted to open the boundary again.
Except nothing happened. When she reached out to the boundary; the same one she used to come in; it moved away. She tried again; and it vanished completely.
"Uh... Renko..." Maribel said.
"Yes?" Renko asked; putting the last of the picnic equipment away.
"I... I can't open the way back home."
Renko didn't look too bothered.
"We planned to come back here tomorrow anyway. It's not like it matters. It's the weekend and we both live alone. Miss Rumia; do you know anywhere we can spend the night?" Renko asked.
Maribel still looked worried; but echoed Renko's question.
Rumia sighed.
"Night-time is dangerous for humans outside of the Human Village; but there's always a place for humans who wind up in Gensokyo at the Village. I'll take you there."