Renko was trying her best; but couldn't help but stumble a little. The red mists filling this forest... the spores of the large mushrooms. The air felt... sweet; her head was going light.
Mary seemed fine; so did the two youkai. Renko could only guess it was as everyone else had said before. The Forset of Magic... was not a place humans could go easily. Mary was special; but Renko... well; she was special too; but less special.
Renko kept pushing on; however. Maribel noticed Renko was struggling; but could also see her determination.
Then; Renko fell onto her side; coughing. It was sudden; she didn't even feel like she was about to fall.
"Renko!" Maribel shouted; running back to her freind. Mystia and Wriggle turned and quickly flew back over.
But none of them were first. A blatantly stereotypical witch in Black and White picked up the human; and placed her limp body onto her broom; before flying through the other three.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing witch?! She's ill; that's not the way out!" Maribel shouted.
"That was Marisa." Mystia said. If anyone knows how to help a human suffering in this forest; it would be her. Marisa wouldn't just do something to cause more pain to a human; that's not her style."
Maribel scowled.
Wriggle just chuckled. "It seems like Marisa made the choice for us. No going back now!"
The three arrived at a cottage in a small clearing. The door was closed; but a moving shadow could be seen through the window. Mystia knocked on the door.
There was a scrambling sound; and then Marisa opened the door; her face beaming.
"Come in quickly! Don't want too much maisma gettin' in or she'll get worse before you know it ~ze!" Marisa said. The trio took her advice; and shuffled in past Marisa quickly.
Marisa's house did not have a lot of room for guests to stand; let alone sit. The entire place was a disorganized litter of items. Dolls and books seemed most prominent; although there were countless other assorted items. There were but two clean areas of the cottage; which; for the most part; was one room. The area directly around the bed; and the area next to what seemed to be a rainbow portal; swirling with the seven colors.
"Don't touch anything. Especially not the books. A load of them have enchantments on that were designed to try and stop me borrowin' them in the first place. And the dolls are filled with gunpowder. Wile the explosions would be nice to see of the chain reaction of magic and gunpowder; it would hurt. A lot." Marisa said. Renko was laying on what could only be Marisa's bed. She had some sort of large herb sticking out of her mouth; and some powder sprinkled over her. Marisa hopped over; navigating the deathtrap of her house flawlessly; and plucked out of a pile of items a small vial; before she hopped back over to Renko; and dripped one drop into each of her nostrils.
Renko spluttered and woke up; spitting out the strange herb; before coughing up a cloud of red miasma.
"Ya' a little too weak to be takin' in that stuff ~ze." Marisa said.
"Yeah; I guessed that." Renko said. "But I had to come and talk to you."
Marisa jumped on her broom and hovered in the middle of the room. "Talk to me about what? Most people want me to shut up most of the time."
Suddenly; the rainbow portal shimmered; and a figure in black shot out of it; and slammed into Marisa; knocking her off her broom. They then crashed into a pile of books; which started to glow. Another figure; mainly dressed in white and blue; came through; and some sort of barrier contained the explosion that Marisa and the other figure were engulfed in. This newcomer clearly had the aura of a youkai.
"This is what you sign up for when you hang around with Marisa. Explosions are commonplace." she said; sighing. A small floating doll next to her mimiced her sigh.
Marisa popped out of the undamaged pile of books; looking charred; with her hair frazzled. A second later; the figure that crashed into her also popped out her head; allowing everyone to actually notice that it was Rumia [Although it took a few seconds due to her receiving the same treatment as Marisa].
"Why'dya have to come bargein' into me just was I was about to start talking?" Marisa asked angrily. "Do you know how rare it is for people to want me to talk?"
Alice chuckled. "Getting Marisa to talk isn't difficult; it's making her stop that's the trick."
Rumia just grinned. "Well I stopped her before she started. The day is saved!"
Rumia then noticed Mystia; Wriggle; Renko and Maribel; and did her trademark wave; or more accurately; flail. "Hi guys! Shinki showed up and I went to Makai and now I'm kinda her official adoptive daughter by means of power injection. Long story."
"I guess that makes you my half-sister or something then..." Alice said.
Rumia paused for a moment. "I never had a family. What am I supposed to do?"
"Just do what you normally do." Alice said.
"And why did that black and white portal I accidentally shot into take me to Marisa's anyway? Why do you have a portal to Marisa's house in your house?" Rumia asked.
"Ask Marisa. She made it." Alice said.
Everyone looked at Marisa.
"Ask Alice. She made it." Marisa said.
"Seeing as you are the compulsive liar here; Marisa; I doubt anyone would take stock of that claim." Alice retorted.
"Aren't you always hiding your true nature and power from everyone though? Why wouldn't you want to hide this?" Marisa said back.
"Last I checked I was perfectly fine being alone with my dolls all day." Alice replied.
"Mary... how many girl-on-girl couples are in this place? First Rumia and Rika; now these two..." Renko asked.
Rumia; Alice and Marisa all shouted at once "We are not a couple!"; causing Renko to jump.
"OK; OK... anyway... Marisa; what we came here to talk about." Renko said.
"Huh?" Marisa said. "What is it? I almost forgot you wanted to talk to me."
"Mima." Renko said simply.
Marisa's beaming face suddenly fell.
"Why would you want to talk about Mima-sama?" Marisa said. Her tone of voice suggested she was not too keen on the topic.
"Because she came to me and offered to teach me." Renko said. "But no-one really knows her or if she can be trusted. Since she said you were her past student..."
"Oh; OK! I thought you were gonna ask something like 'Is she evil' or 'What is she planning' or 'What things has she done in the past' or 'Why does no-one remember her'." Marisa said; becoming happy again. The witch clearly had a case of mood swings.
"Mima-sama is someone you absolutely cannot trust!" Marisa said cheerfully.
"Care to elaborate?" Maribel said.
"Well she's an Anuryou. Not much is known about them because they are so rare; but this is known. An Anuryou is a spirit so powerful and corrupted that even the Shinigami dare not approach. For that to be the case; it means three things. The first is that Mima is incredibly powerful. The second is that in life; Mima committed horrible sins; and the third... she died a brutal death... she was murdered." Alice explained. "I know first-hand that Mima's power surpasses the power that a mortal can wield without killing themselves in the process."
"Oh yeah; you fought Mima that one time she held you off so I could get out of Makai as it was sealing." Marisa said.
"Yes; and her attacks had such force that it blew me out of Makai into Gensokyo. The attack she used... channeling that much magical power into yourself as a central point would burn a living mortal inside out." Alice said. "The magic she used was on a level even my Grimoire does not contain."
"I never saw Mima fight all-out. And I never got to finish learning from her either." Marisa said. "So I just specialized in what I was good with. Flashy Light-based attacks."
"That and you copied laser attacks from anyone you came across." Alice added.
"But; yeah. If Mima wants to teach you; go ahead. Mima-sama is a great teacher. She never did anything bad to me. Except bonk me on the head with her staff when I almost blew myself up. She may be evil and dead and mysterious and everything; but she legitimately wants to pass on her magic!"
"You're not really selling me on this." Renko said.
"Everyone in Gensokyo is a form of crazy." Mystia said. "Well; almost everyone. You'll get used to it." Mystia said.
"My old teacher was evil too. And immortal. She kinda made a 'if you betray your end of the bargain you die' deal with me; but aside from that she was fine!" Rumia said. "I can fully recommend evil teachers! Much more fun that non-evil non-immortal ones."
"Is Keine the only non-immortal non-evil teacher in this place?" Mystia asked.
"Keine's kinda immortal too. Age-wise." Wriggle reminded Mystia.
Maribel looked at Renko, and Renko looked back.
"Renko I don't like this..."
"I need to think it over Mary." Renko said. "I mean; Marisa seems like an alright person; and she trained under this Mima. And since she seems about the same age as us; she was younger; and more likely to just copy Mima and be evil herself; if Mima really wanted that."
"The only evil Marisa has is her sticky fingers and compulsive lying." Alice said.
"I tell the truth 100% of the time Alice. And I'm only borrowing this stuff until I die. How many times do I have to say that?" Marisa said.
"You got a point Renko... just... don't rush into this." Maribel said.
"I won't." Renko replied.
Author Notes:
Ugh delays because IRL and FanFiction itself derping me around.
There's probobly 1 or 2 more development chapters before the main action starts to kick off. I warned you Arc 6 has a character development dump at the start [Cause Renko and Maribel]