Forlorn Ruins, The Forest of Magic (Nibel), Gensokyo

- Average Daytime -

"Moved by their words, Gumo decided to act"

As Sein was about to restore the Element of Winds, Gumo had went to the shrine to where the Light Vessel was placed in. Gumo, out of sadness, felt obligated to take the vessel. He had a different intention for it: To use it to revive a fallen person, but not of his own kind. However, as soon as Gumo took the light vessel, the ruins immediately started caving in. Rocks started to fall and shatter. Water jets started blasting from the walls. It was another escape run, and Marisa had to act fast, this time with Ori already on her shoulder.

Marisa screamed, "MOVE! MOVE! LET'S MOVE SEIN!"

Marisa whipped out her broom and ascended vertically, avoiding falling debris and sudden water sprouts. As she climbed higher, she felt like she reached a dead end, but a cracked wall would say otherwise. She had to deal with a Decayed mortar near her too.

"LASER!"

Marisa destroyed the wall and entered the way, as well as defeating the mortar.

Sein alerted, "Watch out! Above us!"

Marisa looked up to see a large boulder descending above her, like the ceiling was coming down. Using her speed, she flew off to the side and let the boulder fall, crushing the ground below. There was another opening path, and to her curiosity, she pursued. Marisa was quickly and sharply navigating through the ruins, avoiding the hazards, and of course finding spikes again. She saw another opening that led upwards, hoping that it was the last path out of the crumbling ruins. This might be it.

Flying up, the wind guided her to solid ground. Although, something was strange about this ground. Upon landing, Ori hopped of and started investigating the area as well, with Sein floating by him. There were a lot of sticks on the ground, looked like they were organized in a specific fashion too.

Marisa pondered, "Huh... Now where are we? Ori?"

Ori only shrugged, but as soon as he turned his head to the right, he spotted a bird's egg. It was bigger than him, but slightly shorter than Marisa. He then pointed to the egg, signally Marisa to follow him. The two walked close to the egg, careful watching their step so that nobody trips on the egg. Marisa was astonished. Ori, on the other hand, touched the egg with his palm.

Words slipped from Marisa's mouth, "Fascinating... But who does this egg belong to..."

Marisa went in thinking mode for a few seconds and talked to herself, "This egg is in a nest, so it has to be a bird's egg. What kind of bird would-"

Ori was done gaining intel on the egg, through whatever means. He then turned around and looked at Marisa in the eye, interrupting her thinking. Ori then pointed in a different direction, his finger towards what looked like a corpse of a baby owl. Marisa saw three corpses total. They looked to be burnt, perished in heat.

Then it finally hit Marisa, "...Oh no."

"Ori had learned how they perished through our light"

"All along, she was simply protecting her last child"

'Oh no' indeed. The egg belonged to Kuro. The corpses were her babies. And the egg was her last child. Marisa covered her mouth with her hand, utterly shocked by mere sight of the fallen babies. Does Marisa have a little compassion for Kuro now?

Her shocked would be called off when six hostile youkai appeared near the entrance of the nest.

Marisa readied herself, "Sein! Prepare for battle! Ori, on me!"

Sein affirmed, "I am here, Marisa."

Ori clutched tightly to Marisa's back. Either these youkai were just roamers looking for trouble, or something about Marisa drew them attention. Marisa hovered towards the entrance to unleash attacks. Using illusion laser, she blasted a barrage of lasers towards the first three youkai. The youkai were agile, able to dodge the first few streams of lasers, but soon Marisa knew their patterns and disposed them with ease. Sein would handle the last three youkai by itself. The wisp was agile, fast, and tiny enough so that the attacks the youkai directed to Sein missed entirely. Sein would close the gap to the youkai and blow them up with its Charge Flame, blasting them out of the skies.

The assault was almost concluded at that moment until suddenly, one stray youkai entered the scene. Marisa and Sein would join up together to defeat the last youkai... only for their work to be taken care of swiftly be Kuro, who intruded and RAMMED the youkai, near-missing both Marisa and Sein.

"OH NO, IT'S HER!"

Alas, this was not an act of truce. Kuro was in full defense mode, ready to protect her last child from any more harm. Upon demolishing the last youkai, Kuro prepared another charge, attempting to use her talons for a pincer attack on Marisa. While using a spell card would be viable, using one in the vicinity of Kuro's egg would not be an ideal move. So, within a second, the attack missed, but now the team was in panic mode. Ori, still clutching to Marisa, nudged her head to get her attention. Ori pointed down, signing for a straight dive to escape Kuro.

Marisa acknowledged excitedly, "I'm on it Ori! Here goes!"

Marisa dived head-first towards the direction of the ground, passing a barrier of clouds, using her broom as leverage to the direction. Where to evade the giant owl that can demolish a youkai with one blow? Marisa had to improvise, shakingly. And with a bit of skill and haste, Marisa managed to find a narrow spot in the Valley of the Wind, then caused a boulder to fall behind her, shutting her off from Kuro's danger. Marisa made a sigh of relief, as with Ori.

Sein would then speak to the two, "We barely escaped from her clutches this time. It's clear now why she hunts me and Ori, Kuro is just protecting her child!"

Marisa spoke with a little trauma to her voice, "Ye... Yeah... I can't believe... There are absurdities... beyond... the Forest... Absolutely NOT what I expected!"

Sein continued, "Marisa, we are ok now. Look here."

Sein would emit the holographic map again. Marisa and Ori looked at it. To Marisa's surprise, she found that she was now much farther from both her house and Alice's house. A journey she embarked on, one to remember well when it ends.

Sein would then brief the human and the spirit, "The Element of Warmth is the last to ignite. The Sunstone we seek, high atop Sorrow's Pass. We must ride the winds, they will show us the path."

Marisa confirmed, "Sounds good to me. I can see what restoring the last element did, the wind currents look predictive. Ori, still on me?"

Ori nodded, now on Marisa's shoulder again. Sein marked the next spot on the map: The Sunstone.

Sein spoke, "And Marisa?"

Marisa replied, "Yes?"

"You are capable. I am glad of that."

"Th- Thank you!"