Chapter 15: Afterglow
The sun rose the next morning, its light bathing the dew dripped lands and blanketing it in a blinding glitter. The few birds that fluttered throughout Gensokyo dove straight down to the Human Village to not only protect their poor eyes, but to feast upon the scraps left over from the festival.
Things had settled down quite nicely. All the stands ran by Youkai were gone, and not even their footprints remained. A few early rising humans got up to clear out the rest of the scraps and go about their usual business. The festival had left them all satisfied about their lot in life, and made them eager to do even better during the next one.
Time progressed slowly for everyone in the village, and one by one even the children peeled themselves out from under their sheets and greeted the dawn. Soon there was just two people glued to their beds refusing to get up, but those two had a very, very good reason for taking their time.
After a long, long night, Alex and Shina had slept snuggly under the comfort of the blanket Mamizou had left behind for them, which was now more wrinkled than a moldy prune. Their skin was hot and red, and a little bit of sweat remained on their faces. But it wasn't a bad, smelly sweat. It was the kind of sweat you could feel proud of, like if you had just finished a long day's work in a garden you created on your own.
Alex was on his back while Shina was laying on her side to the left of him. One hand of hers moved all on its own like a slithering snake, and found itself resting atop the boy's chest. Compared to the rest of her fevered, impassioned self, that hand was as cold as ice, and its lingering touch sent a signal to the boy's brain that awoke him in an instant.
He opened his eyes slowly and was tested by the rays of the sun coming in through the nearby window. They were stronger than usual and tried to force his eyes shut, but nevertheless the triumphed through the dawn's imposing challenge and lifted his head just a few inches off the pillow.
Then once his eyes were open all the way he paused and stared vacantly at the wall ahead of him. At first it was silent, giving time for his mind to reaffirm itself with reality. The events of last night were hazy after he had gotten into the house. He recalled crawling into bed and staring in much the same way he was now at the ceiling, and his heart was racing.
As that cold sensation tickled his chest a little more, and the tiny, alluring sound of satisfied giggling entered his ears, more of those lost memories began to resurface. The vivid details can be left to your imagination, but let it not be mistaken how genuine the boy's widening smile was as he recalled each and every moment of intense, burning passion that had occurred.
He looked down at her and saw that she had an even bigger grin than he did. While last night was a milestone in happiness for him, that happiness wasn't just his to have. He was just glad to have been able to share all those memories with someone like her. Those memories were theirs and theirs alone, and he'd never let them go anymore.
"I can't thank you enough, Shina Aurora..." His whisper of appreciation only nipped her ears, but was enough to make her body quiver a little. Then her hand pulled away from his chest and laid itself beneath her head, where she continued to snore like a soothing muse.
After letting everything sink in for a bit longer, Alex heard a few birds chirping away outside. "Ah", he whispered, now fully engrossed into the pleasantness of the morning atmosphere for the first time in god knows how long. He turned towards the window on the left side of the door and sought to enjoy the sun before getting up.
But then Mamizou was right there, laying on her side atop that windowsill with a smirk on her face and an incredibly difficult urge not to chuckle. Alex body temperature dropped to subarctic levels and his eyes shrank as much as physically possible. Then the birds' continued chirping helped add to the awkward atmosphere she had started.
She clicked her tongue twice and bobbed her head a little, then faced away from the boy. He breathed in deep through his nostrils, sucked his lips in, and clasped the edge of his blanket tight enough to tear into it. His face got bright red and made his irises look more pale than snow. He wanted to scream and swear at the tanuki until his voice tore the house down to the bare splinters, but having felt forewarned of his volatile outburst the tanuki quickly brushed a single finger down at the bed a few times.
Alex clammed up and looked down. Shina hadn't budged, which meant her serene, sleeping body could easily be held 'hostage' to secure Mamizou's safety from his wrath. He thrust his right pointer finger up at her, let out a hot gasp of air, then froze in that position for a few seconds before grunting quietly, "Wait right there...!"
He slowly pulled the sheet off and the tanuki averted her eyes from his naked form. She passed time smoking from the usual pipe while Alex went for his pants and underwear, which had somehow gotten stuck in the wall next to the bathroom.
As she heard him hastily zipper the pants up she tilted her head back and playfully remarked, "Who ever woulda guessed that the Elemental Overlord would be such a frisky horndog."
"You should be grateful I'm giving you a headstart!" He growled through his teeth.
"That the way to thank someone for giving ya a place to sleep?" The tanuki pressed her lips together into a smile and partook in quiet laughter as Alex was forced to tip-toe around the bed to reach her.
He then pressed his face against hers so she'd see the white hot fury in his eyes as he told her off, "Just because you were generous doesn't mean we're obligated to put on a show you crazy old pervert!"
She glanced up at his forehead, which was still dripping with sweat, and then said nonchalantly, "So yer just fresh off another session or what?"
Alex flung his arms up and toppled Mamizou off the windowsill, then turned around and grumbled incoherently with a fist clutched tightly against his chest. His face was so red a vein could've popped anytime. The tanuki crawled back on her feet and rested her elbows on the windowsill to support her head, and then got a little more serious, "Relax, relax...I didn't see a thing."
The boy glared back with narrow eyes and she motioned a finger across her chest horizontally and vertically in two quick swipes, "Cross my heart and hope to die and what-not."
Alex kept his eyes on her as she tried her best to come off looking sincere about what she said. But the muddy nature of a tanuki's trustworthiness left him doubtful that was the case, and even she could tell that he felt that way. So with a brief shrug she pulled herself from the windowsill and reached into her pockets to whip out the full artifact.
"Well I guess I'll be brief then. Sad to report, but we scoured most of Gensokyo with a fine-toothed comb and couldn't find anything this stone coulda fit into."
He turned around, took the stone from her and gave it a nice long look. Then he gazed at her and said, "What do you mean most of Gensokyo?"
"There's just sum places a tanuki dare not tread. May be a troublemaker but I ain't a lawbreaker."
"Oh so that's where you draw the line?" Alex snarked with a bitter attitude. Mamizou raised her brows and remarked jokingly, "Guess there's some things a little lovin' can't fix, eh?"
Before he said something he'd regret, he paused to take in a deep breath and clear his mind of negativity. Then he looked down at the artifact and commented begrudgingly, "...You did everything you could, so thank you for trying."
As he was getting ready to turn around Mamizou tapped him on the shoulder a couple times with a paper's edge. Once she had his attention she put the paper between two fingers and commented, "Yer not at a dead end quite yet kid. I wrote down all the places and people of interest I couldn't touch. Hope it proves useful to ya."
She exchanged the paper over to him without a fuss and he immediately got to looking it over. The list was small, having only five points of interest total, but luckily they were all things he was familiar with. The Shining Needle Castle, the Underground, the Ministry of Right and Wrong, the Netherworld, and Hecatia. Only the last thing listed was a person, the rest were places to go.
"Is this really it?" He asked while holding the list up. The tanuki nodded her head once, and that was the end of that. He tucked the list into his pocket and with a deflating sigh remarked, "...Hard to believe we're so close that we can narrow our search down this much."
"Feelin' tense?" She murmured innocuously.
"...I am, but at the same time I'm not?" He stared upwards with a small smile and laid a hand against his chest, "My heart's pounding like mad but...I also feel confident that there's nothing I can't do. Is this...normal?"
"Ohohoho, can't say for sure," Mamizou perched her elbows on the windowsill again and slipped her tail out to give it a couple wags, "But if ye don't mind me askin', how was it?"
Alex's fingers curled up and with a light scowl he responded in a humored manner to her insisted prying, "Give it a rest already Mamizou..."
"Just tryin' to help if I can," The tanuki picked herself up and re-aligned her glasses to give them a glint before remarking, "But mebbe I'd be better off askin' her."
Alex twisted his head back and heard Shina stirring awake. He froze right up for a moment and then threw his hands at Mamizou to push her away while squeezing between his teeth, "Go on! Shoo!"
She proved surprisingly resilient for an old coot and remained a couple feet away from the window, forcing Alex to hang over the sill and keep trying to push her away. She giggled all the while, especially upon catching a glimpse of the boy's tighty-whiteys slipping out.
"Mrrrmmm...Alex? Are you up already?" Shina's half-awake voice locked Alex in place with his skin more pale than a ghost's, and the tanuki regretted not sneaking a camera in from the Outside World to capture this shot forever.
He stood upright and planted his elbows on the sill with his back to the tanuki to keep her hidden. While watching Shina sit up, he jerked his head back and hissed at the tanuki, who was glued to his back like a blood-sucking tick.
But when Shina started to yawn Alex dropped dead silent and gazed upon her. The blanket hung from her breasts and draped over the rest of her body, with her left arm helping to cover that part of her skin. Her cheeks were rosey and glistened in the sunlight long with her hair, which looked like a bridal veil made of gold. Her face looked to be at peace, but as she turned it to look his way he dreaded what would come next.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head with a smile and a simple greeting of "Good morning!", oblivious to how profusely Alex was sweating. He bit his teeth down and chuckled, "G-Good morning to you too, S-Shina...!"
The tanuki's soft giggling raised the hairs on his arms and he hopped right up and clapped his hands together to suggest, "Hey Shina! W-Why don't you hop in for a quick shower and then we can go get breakfast?"
She puckered her lips and tilted her head further, catching the glimpse of something brown and fuzzy waggling behind him and remarking, "Alex...is there someone behind you?"
That dreadful feeling in his gut was quickly coming to fruition, and though he tried and prayed for the tanuki to have a little decency to spare...Sadly, things were already predestined not to go his way. Mamizou poked her head over the boy's left arm and grinned, leaving Shina with the same look of sheer horror that Alex had just minutes ago.
The tanuki wiggled her nose and laid her elbows down, then with a proud and perky smile remarked in an apologetic tone of voice, "Pardon me dearly madam, I was lookin' for a pair of kids I was helpin' out. But it seems instead I wandered in on a doting couple on their honeymoon."
Shina fluttered her eyelashes for a bit, trying to wake up from this 'dream' she was having. But instead of escaping it she just plunged deeper and deeper until it was clear that this was reality. Then her pupils shrank, red face turned bright red, and she held the blanket higher to cover her indecency.
Mamizou was intent on milking the fun for all it was worth, and playfully waved a hand out while saying, "Like I ain't seen my fair share of bare knockers. There's nuthin' to be ashamed about here."
Shina lifted her head up and the embarrassment left her on the verge of tears. The tanuki grimaced and started taking a couple steps back, folding her arms within the confines of her sleeves, "Hmmm, maybe I oughta've thought twice about this..."
"Geez you think?!" Alex scoffed her way, then cautiously moved away from the window as he felt intense, murderous pressure being beamed at the tanuki.
The next second Shina had grabbed the pillow she laid on, swung it overhead like an ogre's club, then threw it with all her strength while yelling, "STUPID DUMB MAMIZOU I HATE YOU!"
The air pressure from the pillow pounded Alex's gut as it passed by, and might've even taken the tanuki's head off had she not intercepted it with her tail. With a gruff "Oof!" she lowered the pillow and had a trembling face. Shina covered herself back up and was glaring at the tanuki with the devil's eyes.
Alex was a little terrified to see Shina so unhinged, but at the same time...he was kinda aroused.
Mamizou stood up, let the pillow fall to the ground, and then bowed her head with a casual farewell of, "Well I already did what I came 'ere for, so I'll leave ya youngin's be. Good luck, but try not to be strangers ok?"
She zipped off in a flash right as Shina threw the other pillow and hung over, furiously and dryly panting. After curling her hand tightly around the blanket and holding it back up, she caught her breath and stared up at the ceiling.
Alex walked to her side and she turned to face him. The longer she looked, the more her anger subsided, until eventually she went back to smiling, and even threw out a joke regarding what played out, "She coulda had the decency to knock first!"
He stared blankly at her and then started to laugh. He went at it slowly and then once Shina started joining in their laughter got a few decibels louder. They kept at it for a full minute until Shina slowed down and went dead silent, turning to look down at the blanket with a blank stare. Alex wiped a tear from his eyes and noticed Shina's distrodden expression, then sealed his lips up and glanced away awkwardly with a quick whistle.
"...Please get my clothes Alex." She whispered while curling the blanket up next to her chest.
Alex shut up and scurried around the room, shaking his head around to see where her stuff was. It only took five seconds for Shina to gently nudge him in the right direction, "The bathroom, Alex..."
He apologized with a blunt nod and then rushed in there, grabbing her clothes off the ground and presenting them to her in a flash, save for her panties, which she grabbed from off the ground. After having him lay those clothes on her lap she closed her eyes and sighed, "Ok, now don't look at me while I get dressed..."
Alex blinked a couple times and then with a light pat on her back jested, "I-I think we're a little past that point n-"
"Alex," She raised her head, gained an inkling of fire in her eyes, and said in a deep, quiet voice, "I said don't look at me...Ok?"
The boy's mouth went dry, so he ended up gasping out "G-Got it..." as he turned away. While she pieced together her wardrobe, he grabbed his shirt off the ground next to the windowsill and started putting it back on.
"Geez, why's she acting like this? Its not like I did anything wrong last night..." His eyes widened as the possibility of his own fallibility struck him hard in the face, "...Right?"
He peeked over his shoulder and saw that her face was obscured by her putting her shirt on. He swung right back and with a flustered look in his eyes shook his head and grumbled. Then he crossed his arms and tried to think this through, "I'm not sensing any hostility from her, so its got nothing to do with that..."
"Hrrrmm. Maybe I should just...ask." The boy dared to tread those dangerous waters in order to make things right, and asked with the subtlety of an elephant, "S-So Shina, ummm..."
She paused and glanced his way while working on her jeans, and he immediately got cold feet. He shook his head some more and mumbled "N-Never mind", and she kept working.
He then bit his tongue, scoffed bitterly at himself and with a frustrated swing of the arms exclaimed, "Oh to hell with it!"
He then spun back, laid a hand against his chest and inquired in a begging tone, "If I did something wrong then tell me, I can handle it, I swear!"
"I-I don't know!" She spurted with the red in her cheeks increasing tenfold. Now fully dressed, she lifted her legs up and hid her face in them.
Alex pulled back and stammered, "Y-You don't?"
She peeked her head out just a little and looked ashamed of herself as she bore her heart for the one she loved, "Its...not like I have any prior experience."
He looked away and rubbed the back of his head while whispering, "That applies to us both."
He then looked her in the eyes, held his arms out, and struggled to find the right thing to say, "W-Well...umm...God...D-Did any of it feel good at the time?"
She lifted her head up and declared, "Of course it did! All three-"
"Shina I don't think we want more Mamizous popping up...!" He quickly defused her praise, though more because he felt embarrassed for forgetting how many times they had done it, and didn't want to be reminded.
The end result was the same regardless of the reason behind it, as Shina pursed her lips and whispered 'Oh sorry!' before continuing on in a more personal level of volume, "It...it was like...Every time we did it, I could feel our souls melding into one."
He gulped deep with sweat forming on his brows and pondered, "...Th-that's good, isn't it?"
She swung her head up and nodded until her head was dizzy, all while insisting at the top of her lungs, "Of course...Of course it was! An Aurian connecting with their partner on a spiritual level means they're perfect for each other!"
The bits of hesitation in her voice, however, suggested there was something personal she was leaving out. But the dread of waiting for her to elaborate lasted only a little while as she curled her fingers up below her mouth and murmured in embarrassment, "But...that's only for...emotional bonds..."
"Oooooh..." He nodded his head a few times, but then tilted his head and thought, "I don't get it..."
She let out a long sigh and started pulling herself out of bed while trying to be more optimistic about things, "But its ok! We'll just have to get better at it!"
Her firm clap of the hands and smile was meant to mark the end of this conversation, but not only had Alex been thrown for a loop by the beginning, but he must've missed the middle cause he sure as hell didn't understand this end.
"Get better at what? Get better at WHAT?!" He was too much of a coward to say that aloud.
She tucked her hands back, leaned out, and encroached upon the boy's personal space with a close-eyed grin and inquiry of, "So how'll we start our day honey bun?"
He coughed at the spontaneity of the nickname and then turned aside, waving a hand up beside the head while remarking in a clear voice, "I was serious before about getting breakfast..."
"Sounds good to me!" She rose up full of spunk to tackle the new day, shedding off the woes that had plagued her just moment's ago. Even with his limited experience with relationships, he could piece together that just sitting down and talking like that helped a ton.
"Ok, but what are we going to do about the stuff we borrowed from Byakuren and Miko?" He said while looking at his robes hanging from a loose plank in the ceiling.
"Mamizou owns this house, so she can just come 'n pick 'em up later, I guess."
Laying a hand against his hip Alex nodded a couple times and firmly emphasized every word of agreement, "Yes she can!"
The two rushed out the front door and were only then reminded that they were still in the Human Village. They froze up as a few of the humans stared them down, with Alex fearing that their frisky escapades didn't go unnoticed in the middle of the night. But instead one of the humans pleasantly called out to them, "Hey, welcome to the village!"
"...Oh right, they'd think we're outsiders now." Alex breathed a deep sigh of relief alongside Shina. The two exchanged a brief glance at each other and smiled, then afterwards he wagged his right hand around in circles beside the face and weakly said, "S-So we're both in agreement this just stays between us right?"
Shina laid a hand upon the side of her face and let out a terribly long sigh, "Ooooh, if only we could just brush it under the rug...But mom's gonna be sooooo mad when we get home."
"Y-Your mom?" Alex tensed up with a gulp as the information he needed was forcibly placed at the front of his mind, which caused him to scratch the side of his scalp and growl, "Son of a bitch, I forgot your mom's clairvoyant!"
Alex wished he had a genie's lamp, as the first thing he'd ask for is that all old women weren't such massive perverts. Shina then took his hands into hers and held them before her chest, proclaiming with a resolve of certainty, "It doesn't matter what she thinks! We made our decision as grown-ups, so if she's gotta problem then 'phooey' to her!"
"...W-Well when you put it that way," He was really getting into this headstrong side Shina had developed, which thankfully didn't take away from her bubbliness, "Lets just...cross that road when we get there ok?"
She pulled her hands away and bonked the top of her head with one. Alex then put his hands in his pockets and remembered the paper Mamizou had given him, pulling it out to hand off to Shina.
"Almost forgot. Mamizou finished her search, but there's a few places she wasn't able to check."
Shina looked at the list and murmured, "So she didn't have much luck either? Awww, that's kind of a bummer..."
"Yeah, but at least she narrowed it down for us. Though I have no idea where we should check first."
She waved the list out next to her face and was struck with inspiration, "Weeeeell...why don't we just like, ask someone who'd know their way around these places?"
"You do realize that'd narrow our options down to just Reimu and Marisa right?"
"I wouldn't mind seeing Marisa again!"
"Lets worry about breakfast first and then hit up the shrine to see if she's there."
"Sounds good to me! Should be much easier to find a place to eat now that there's less stands out!"
After tucking the list into her back pocket Shina and Alex headed into the village to find some grub. Not long after reaching the center of the village however, the two were greeted roughly by a familiar face.
"Fancy runnin' into you here!" It was Marisa, who strolled up to them wearing the same clothes as yesterday with both hands held behind her head.
Shina waved her hand up and proclaimed, "Marisa, what a coincidence! We were just thinkin' of finding ya!"
"Oh yeah? That is a coincidence!" The little witch cracked a smile and asked, "So what can I do for my star pupils?"
"...Wait I'm sorry can you repeat that?" Alex's inquiry was drowned out by Shina yelling, "We need your expert opinion on our search for the Cosmos Drive!"
"Still at that eh? Heh," Marisa rubbed the bottom of her nose with one finger and propped herself up on a high pedestal, "Well there ain't no expert with more expert-ise then yours truly! Heck, folks around me call me the Super Expert, Marisa Kirisame!"
After confidently thrusting her finger out and chuckling she laid her hands back behind her head and remarked, "But I'll hafta put a rain check on helpin' for now. Stomach's callin' and I gotta answer!"
"Actually we were going to grab a bite to eat too. Mind if we tag along?" Alex stated politely.
Marisa shrugged and said, "Fine by me, but you're paying then!"
She headed for the northern part of town, and Alex squinted narrowly her way. Shina looked at him and giggled, "Awww she's just ribbin' ya Alex."
He raised his brows at her with a drawn-out hum and her smile disappeared quickly. Alex sighed, shook his head and murmured "I'll catch up in a bit" before retreating to Mamizou's house to retrieve the remaining yen from Miko's robe.
A few minutes later he had caught up to Shina and Marisa at a simple, human developed food stand, and sat down next to Shina. The scent of food here wasn't as strong as Mystia's, but it did have that homely feel that reminded Alex and Shina of their kitchens.
An honest-to-god normal looking old lady served their food up with a smile, giving each of her customers a bowl of egg-fried rice with soy sauce, green onions and curry powder while shooting up a quick conversation with Marisa. After Alex handed the money over for all three of them, they began to dig in with the chopsticks.
After a few bites Marisa let out a satisfactory gasp and patted her stomach, then swiveled at Shina and remarked, "Well since you guys so generously paid for breakfast, I guess I'll take a look at yer problem now!"
Shina pulled the list out and waggled it around for a bit as she explained, "Mamizou scoured Gensokyo for the Cosmos Drive, but there were a few places she couldn't go. We were kinda hoping you'd tell us a little about each one?"
Marisa swiped the paper clean from her hand and stretched it out in both of hers, squinting her eyes tight to take her time looking it over. She then shrugged it out and remarked, "Doesn't seem too bad honestly!"
"We need a little more to go on than that..." Alex grumbled.
"Oh yeah, you've still not gotten used to Gensokyo? Geez, most humans adjust in a day!" Marisa was being a playful braggart as usual, but Alex still felt the need to think sarcastically, "What, via brainwashing?"
Marisa put the paper down next to Shina and said, "If you want the Super Expert's opinion, you'd have the easiest time going to the Shining Needle Castle first. Its easy to break into, and the owner's smaller than this here grain of rice!"
Her way of perceiving easiness being reliant on how difficult it is to break into notwithstanding, Marisa did have a more important point to bring to the table, "Plus ya can't miss it. Its a giant upside-down castle in the sky!"
Alex turned around and found said castle floating around like any other cloud next to the Youkai Mountains. After a short nod he leaned back to look at the magician and say, "Guess we'll hit that place first, but what about the others?"
"Youkai aren't supposed to go Underground, so they say, but humans can go just fine. Not that most of them do, cause the Youkai there are summa the most dangerous, ornery bastards this side of the border!" Marisa smugly smiled at Alex and said, "But if yer feelin' up to the challenge, you'd probably have the best of luck at the Palace of the Earth Spirits."
"As for the other two places, they ain't exactly in Gensokyo...But the way to them's so easy to reach they may as well be open doors! Just watch out at the Ministry, cause ya might be get chained down for hours by that judge's naggin' lectures." The witch shivered at the thought and started back in on her breakfast as Shina re-examined the list one more time.
"What about this 'Hecatia' person?" She inquired.
"Oh ch'yeah, her," Marisa finished gobbling her food down and then wagged the chopsticks Shina's way, "Kinda caught me by surprise that tanuki knew about her."
"Is she hard to find?" Alex asked.
"Beats me!" Marisa was blunt but honest, "She might be livin' in the Dream World? Maybe she's Underground cause it reminds her of Hell? She'd definitely stick out like a sore thumb with that ugly shirt of hers."
"We can try the Dream World then." Alex remarked.
"Ha! Good luck with that!" Marisa's blunt warning had to be taken seriously in spite of it coming from Marisa precisely because she was Marisa, cause if even she's tryin' to deter someone from doing something crazy, then it must not be worth the effort.
After rubbing her eyes and putting on a hearty grin the magician tucked her arms behind her head and remarked, "Well that's all I've got! Hope my super expertise was what ya needed!"
"It was exactly what we needed! Thank you so much Marisa!" Shina said with the utmost praise, and Marisa got a mite bit embarrassed by that overwhelmingly positive reception.
"Well schucks, just cause yer my star pupil don't mean I need to be buttered up like that! But hey, maybe now ya can do me a favor as exchange for helpin' out?"
"I thought the breakfast was our favor?" Alex snarked dryly.
"No no no, I'm callin' in a different favor 'ere!" After swinging her hands around she reached into her hat and pulled out her mini-hakkero then gave it a quick flip while flashing a smile full of confidence, "Word around the street's that you two've gone undefeated in every Danmaku challenge you've faced! So I think its high time I cash in on the vampire's challenge and beat ya both myself!"
Shina retracted a bit and murmured, "O-Oh...that's it?"
Marisa's brows raised and she blurted in shock, "What, ya ain't in fightin' shape?"
She shook her head a few times and insisted that wasn't the case, explaining to the ordinary magician after, "I'd love to face you in Danmaku Marisa, but...Can't it wait until after I've saved my people?"
Marisa hummed a little and then gave her hakkero a flip before tucking it away in her hat, which she then patted down while grinning, "Fine, I'm holdin' ya to that promise! The exact moment ya finish up yer business here you come right back and face me in a Spell Card duel, got it?"
Shina held her right pinky out and said, "Its a pinky promise!"
Marisa shook her head then swung her full hand out, grappling Shina's with all her strength and declaring, "Damn straight it is! And I ain't gonna go easy on ya either!"
Afterwards it as a simple matter of cleaning off their plates, thanking the lady for her fine cuisine, and then going their separate ways from Marisa. Then Alex took the list back from Shina and recalled all of Marisa's advice.
"So the Shining Needle Castle's our next destination then?"
"Actually, I was kinda thinking it'd be better if we split up to cover more ground." Shina suggested with an eager grin plastered to her face.
"That's not a bad idea. I was honestly thinking the same thing," Alex tucked the list in his pocket and pulled out the round black and gold stone tucked within, giving it a couple flips in the air while remarking, "So while you go to the castle, I'll go hunt down Hecatia in the Dream World. With the Gaia Temporis I'd have better luck breaking in than you would anyways."
He clapsed the stone and put it back in with Shina's eyes locked onto it the whole time, each brimming with curiosity that he caught from the corner of his own. With a quiet chuckle that was his way of indicating he'd satiate that curiosity someday, he gestured a hand towards her and remarked, "And once we're done we'll meet up at the Underground entrance whether we've found the Cosmos Drive or not, ok?"
She firmly nodded her head a couple times and was glad to be making some leeway, as was Alex. Then they took off from the village and went their separate ways, neither of them worried for each other's safety. Cause if either one of them were in trouble, the other would come to their rescue without a moment's hesitation.
Next Time: Small vs. Big