By the time Ichirin delivered us back to the road beside the graveyard just outside the village it was already dusk. Renko and I walked home through the streets, watching as market stalls packed up their business from the day and restaurants put out their signs. The peach-colored sunset washed my partner's profile with warm light, highlighting the angles of a face lost in thought as we walked.

"So Renko, are you thinking about the contradictions in what Shou told us earlier?"

"Caught that, did you? Good job, Merry. There's definitely some secret here, and Shou's probably the one most closely wrapped up in it." Her hand drifted to the brim of her hat as she spoke. "I considered pressing her on it. We might have gotten more info if we caught her in the lie, but I think I was right not to tip my hand yet. There's still a lot we don't know. We know she was lying, but we don't know why yet. As far as we're aware, there's no crime that her lie was covering up."

"I assume you have a theory about that already, oh great detective?"

"I have a hunch, at least. I need some proof though, or at least some corroborating testimony to firm it up."

"These events happened a thousand years ago. Who are you planning to get that kind of testimony from?"

"Well, I know who I'd like to talk to but that just brings up the problem of how to meet them again." Renko folded her hands behind her head and stretched her back, looking up at the streaks of cloud decorating the rosy sky as she walked.

"You're thinking of Lady Shinki, right?" I asked.

"Exactly. The question is how do we get back to Makai. I suppose we'll have to ask Sanae to take us to the entrance, but I don't suppose they'll willingly let us in just for a social visit. That gate guard didn't seem like much of a threat if it comes to that, but I hate to have to resort to that sort of thing."

I nodded along with Renko, following her reasoning, but hoping vaguely that she'd manage to talk herself out of even going. Looking along the quiet streets, my eyes were drawn to the sight of two women who were walking toward us along the road. With the low angle of the sun glaring in my eyes I couldn't make out their faces, but they were both wearing western-style clothes, which was enough to make them stand out amongst the villagers. One was wearing a simple white dress with a shawl over her shoulders. The other was completely bundled up in an oversized coat that concealed their features, with a hood drawn low over their head. As we continued walking, our paths drew closer. Just as I was beginning to get the feeling that the woman in the white dress looked oddly familiar, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and thrust out an arm towards me.

"Oh! Oh, it's you! Um err, Merry, was it? It's you!"

I had been struggling to place the face I could only partially make out in the glare, but upon hearing her voice I immediately recognized her. After all, I had last heard her speak only yesterday.

"Miss Louise?" I asked, shielding my eyes from the sun with one hand.

"Lucky that we ran into you here. We just came by for a little visit, but I'm afraid we've gotten quite lost."

I wondered if it is was normal for people from Makai to travel freely into Gensokyo. I gathered from Reimu's reaction to everyone we had met there that there was some previous history involving that.

"We?" Renko asked in surprise, "Then that person beside you is..."

"This is lady... mom," she said, sounding indecisive.

"Shhh sh sh sh sh," the bundle of coats hissed at her. "I'm supposed to be incognito here, Louise! We can't let anyone know I'm actually the god of makai!"

"It's Merry, mom" Louise said, pulling the hood off of the cloaked figure. "She already knows who you are." Shinki's face stared out at me in alarm for a moment, a tuft of white hair sticking almost straight up from her head like an exclamation point, then she quickly tugged the hood back over her face.

"Lady Shinki!" Renko said excitedly. "What brings you to Gensokyo? I didn't imagine I'd see the Administrator of the world of demons again nearly so soon!"

"Shhhh! Not out loud! I don't want the Hakurei miko to know I've come here. I was just worried about Alice. I wanted to make sure she's settled in alright here. She's never lived on her own before, you know?"

"Mother's been in a panic ever since yesterday," Louise said with a sigh. "She was practically crawling up the walls with worry, so I thought I'd bring her here, just for a quick visit. We're not really supposed to be here though, and we haven't been able to find Alice anywhere in the village. We've been looking all day."

"I don't want to go back without at least seeing her face!" Shinki moaned. "At least let a mother catch a glimpse of her child!"

"I told you mother, the fastest way to find her would be to just go ask the miko where she lives."

"What if she sends us back though? I can't leave after having come this far. What if my little Alice needs me? Is she eating alright? Does she remember how to conjure a house? What if she has a cold?"

Shinki looked horribly flustered at the thought. It was hard to imagine someone like her acting as Administrator of a world full of demons, but no matter how motherly her personality, it was even harder to imagine us not getting punished if we ended up having to explain to Keine who we were talking to and why they were inside the walls of the village.

"Umm lady... Louise's mom," I began awkwardly. I wasn't sure if people from Makai even had last names. No one but Alice had ever mentioned the word 'Margatroid' in my presence and I had always thought that was just an affectation to make Alice seem more human-like anyway. "Why don't we show you where Alice lives. It's not here in the village though."

"Would you be willing to do that?" she asked, dashing up to me and clasping my hands in hers. "I'll go anywhere, even to the ends of the Earth, just tell me where she is!" Looking into her eyes, which stared pleadingly at me from under the shadows of her hood, there was no way that I or any person with a modicum of decency could have declined. Compared to Alice's icy and aloof demeanour it was hard to imagine that the two might be related, but so sincere was her plea that even if Alice might not welcome the unannounced visit, we could hardly have said no.

-.-.-.-.-

And so, just a day after being caught and lectured by Keine, and even though the sun was already setting, we made our way out of the village and towards the Forest of Magic. "We've visited Alice's house several times, but I don't know it's exact location." Renko explained as we made our way past the path to Korindo. "Usually we approach from the air, since it's in a clearing that's easy to spot during the day, but with how dark it's getting, I'm not sure if flying would help much."

"I can feel she's here!" Shinki announced excitedly. Even if I don't have exact directions I'm sure I can find her, I just have to follow the feel of her magic. She's my precious daughter, after all. A mother will find a way."

"Well, if that's the case then I'll leave you to it," Renko said, looking up at the sky. I'm sure Merry and I can find our way back to the village from here.

"You're not coming with us?" Louise asked.

"I wouldn't want to intrude on your family time. I'm sure you'd rather visit with Alice without a couple of near-strangers tagging along."

"But you're Alice's friends, right?" Shinki protested, looking almost tearfully over to Renko. "If I just show up there Alice might run away or refuse to let me in. Louise, don't you think it'd be better if they came along?"

"I don't think anyone would be happy to see four uninvited guests show up after dark, mom."

"Then better that it's just two, right? Two friends just stopping by casually. You can go knock on her door and then we can just sort of... wander up. With you there it can just be a nice casual visit. Nothing too heavy, right?"

"Well, if you'd like to engage my services as a mediator, I'm happy to oblige," Renko said with a shrug. "But once were done at Alice's, there's actually been some questions I've been wanting to ask you, if you don't mind. Maybe we can discuss them on the way back."

"Alright," Shinki said, leading the way into the forest. "Let's go. I think it's this way."

I looked over at Renko and sighed. She merely grinned at me and followed along behind Shinki, making her way into the dark, trackless and miasma-filled forest. If we hadn't been with someone as powerful as Shinki I don't think I would have followed Renko personally, but with her alongside us I hoped at least that we had little to fear.