"Oi, Bring over t' toolbox over there for me will ya Lass?"

"Coming!" Loise called back, hefting the large worn looking metal tool box and carrying it across the Porch.

It was a few days later, and a couple of village craftsmen, under the supervision of Keine, were putting the finishing touches on the house repairs for what will be Louise's new abode.

"Been a might bit more cheerful these past few days, hasn't she?" Said the Foreman, one of the Village's senior builders.

"Well, this is going to be her home. Thank you for doing this, Banko." Keine said.

"Think nothin of it, Someone like you could do with asking a favour or two more often." The old Builder said. "Still. Sure she will be right on her own out here? Town Watch doesn't usually patrol out this far. Old Chorei was right batty to live this far out of the village."

Keine frowned. "I shouldn't need to remind you not to speak ill of the dead."

"No disrespect meant of course, lovely woman for an outsider, may she rest in peace." The builder said quickly, waving his hands placatingly, for a brief moment transported some decades back to when he was a snot nosed brat facing down the glowering disapproval of the half-youkai school teacher. "It's just… Well you know how these outsiders can get, far too eager to get mixed up with all kinds of… err, wrong folk."

Keine sighed, wanting to refute it, but couldn't for the simple fact that is the exact reason she suggested Louise live out here in the first place, as her quest required her to mingle with what many in the village would consider 'wrong folk'. In fact, considering who Reimu plans to introduce her too, she's probably going to be having tea with the devils across the lake by the end of the year.

Knowing Louise's culture and upbringing, she might even end up preferring it.

Instead she said. "Don't worry I made sure she was as ready as she needed to be, I have full confidence that she will be fine-"

There was a crash, followed by a sheepish cry of "Sorry!"

"…"

"..."


"Good work, lads. See you in the Bar for a job well done." The Foreman, having concluded the final pass, gave a green light, with the surrounding builders and carpenters giving a cheer.

As the builders all packed up their tools and materials, Louise surveyed the repaired house. Typical of the local architecture, It was extremely rustic for Louise's highborn standards, wooden frame, paper doors, Next to a very large thicket of bamboo, and surrounded on the other two sides by rice paddies. A large and venerable looking Japanese maple sat in one corner of the yard with a small storage shed in another. Nevertheless, she found herself feeling uncharacteristically proud, it may be very much below her ordinary means, but, at least until she went home, it was hers. She found herself smiling without really meaning too.

As she was taking it in, she was approached by one of the Junior apprentices. "Hey there Louise miss, we are all meeting up for celebratory drinks, you coming?"

Louise's smile turned a little awkward. "Oh er, No thanks, I'm pretty spent, I'd rather just enjoy my new home."

The Apprentice shrugged, "suit yourself." before walking off to join the other tradesmen as they readied to leave.

Soon it was just her and Keine, Enjoying a quiet cup of tea on her new porch.

"You could have taken the offer, you know? They can get a little rowdy, but they are good people. Any reason you didn't?" Keine asked.

Louise gave a derisive sniff, although she wasn't meeting Keine in the eyes. "While it may not amount to much here, I am the third daughter of the Duke and Duchess Vallière, and that comes with certain standards of behaviour and conduct, and that does not include getting rowdy in the local tavern like a common labourer."

Keine however, didn't buy it, and sighed. "That sounds more like an excuse than a reason."

Louise still avoided Keines gaze.

"I understand, your upbringing makes it hard to mingle with people below your social class," Keine continued, "But you are going to be here for a while, and you will have to get over the awkwardness eventually, or I'm worried you might end up like Reimu, or Marisa."

That did get a look out of Louise, giving her a look of confusion. "What does that mean, what's this about Reimu… and whose Marisa?"

Before Keine could elaborate, a familiar red dress touched down in Louise's new yard, and Reimu glanced around the property appraisingly.

"Nice place you got here. Big house, nice area." Reimu said, sitting beside them, and pouring herself a cup. "Plenty of room for a garden too, you might want to start growing your own vegetables."

Louise made a face, "I'd rather not, thanks."

"She has a point Louise. Growing your own food will save you a lot of money in the long run." Keine said. "The less money you have to spend on groceries means less work you will have to do around the village. You are living on your own now after all."

Louise pursed her lips even tighter, now caught between having to do garden work to feed herself, or having to do extra manual labour for wages.

"I don't know how to grow food though." Louise said, perhaps in a last act of defiance to her seemingly inevitable dirt filled fate.

"That's alright, we can teach you." Reimu said. "I also have a vegetable patch up near the shrine… I kinda need one considering how stingy everybody is." The last part was a barely audible grumble that Louise failed to understand.

"I am also well versed in gardening, and will be happy to show you the ropes." Keine said, giving Reimu a look somewhere between pity and resignation.

"Well… fine, I'll be in your care." Louise grumbled.

"Good choice, although I didn't come here to subject you to gardening." Reimu said. "I came to tell you that my magician friend has finally finished with her little misadventure, and is willing to meet you to try and figure out your magical deficiency problems. We can go see her now if you want."

That news, rather than excitement, filled Louise with indescribable amounts of anxiety. Ever since Reimu promised to introduce her to her Magician friend, the past few days have allowed her doubts to come home to roost. How many times has some new magical tutor arrived, promised to finally rid her of her magical woes, only to give up and abandon her, after writing her off as a failure.

How does she know this friend of Reimu's, who she hasn't even met, will be any different?

"Reimu… are you sure she will be able to help? Others have tried before, and…" Louise couldn't finish the sentence, afraid of vocalising her fear.

"No clue." Reimu's response was blunt however. "But regardless you are the one who doesn't want to go home until you are strong enough to get a familiar, and it's not as if you have any better ideas. Unless you have any other plans on how to spend the rest of the afternoon, we might as well get it over with, before she gets caught up with any other shenanigans for who knows how long."

Reimu's response was fairly disarming, and Louise almost felt indignant with how her fears were so completely brushed aside. It was a fairly stark reminder that nobody in Gensokyo, and Reimu especially, expected anything out of her at all. Her name, title and lineage meant nothing to The Shrine maiden. Here, in Gensokyo, she would never be called a failure, because she had no expectations to fail in the first place.

It was simultaneously comforting and infuriating.

"So you wanna go or what?" Reimu asked.

"...You know what? Sure, let's go." Louise said, with an annoyed frown.

Annoyed at what specifically, she wasn't sure, but she supposes trying and failing is better than sitting here feeling preemptively sorry for herself.

"Getter get going now then," Reimu said, standing up, "you can't fly, and it's a bit of a walk from here, best not to waste daylight."

"I suppose I should take my leave as well." Keine said, also standing. "Take care, the forest of magic isn't the safest on foot."

"Don't worry Keine, we'll manage, I know what I'm doing." Reimu said.

"Thank you again for your help, Keine." Louise said, also standing up.

The pair then departed from Louise's new home, Reimu leading them away from the village, in roughly the same direction as the shrine, but instead of the paved road leading up to the shrines steps, they took another path between the fields and rice paddies, approaching the wall of trees that marked the boundary of the villages farmlands.

"Does this friend of yours live near the woods?" Louise asked.

"She lives in the woods, and pretty deep in at that." Reimu replied. "I did say it was going to be a bit of a walk."

"Don't suppose a horse is out of the question?" Louise grumbles.

"If you can find one, you can keep it." Reimu said dryly. "Last I checked the village doesn't have much in the way of horses, only one village in Gensokyo after all, so not much demand for transport. Cattle also make for more economical draft animals, and most people who live far outside the village can fly pretty easily. So there isn't really much in the way of demand for them."

Reimu turned thoughtful. "For that matter, do we even have wild horses? I can't recall ever seeing one… not that I've looked that hard."

Louise just grumbles some more as she resigns herself to further walking.


The Forest of Magic, as Louise understands it is called, is a strange, ethereal place, perhaps fitting the name.

It is strangely quiet, the sounds you would expect from a forest, like bird song and the sounds of insects, were absent or strangely muted, with only the creak of swaying branches to keep them company.

Peering through the tree's, off the beaten path, Louise caught glimpses of luminous mists, unidentifiable shapes moving under the darkness of the canopy, and caught hints of distant childish laughter.

And Mushrooms, many many Mushrooms, of all shapes, sizes, luminosity. Some that seemed to bounce to some unseen rhythm, others turning to face them as they passed, and some with what she swore in the dim light were grinning faces, filled with teeth.

"Watch yourself, don't stray from the path now." Reimu said.

Louise shook herself, pulling her eyes away from a mushroom with a strange spiral pattern which she had been until then struggling to look away from, and unknowingly been slowly drifting towards. She hurried to catch up to Reimu.

"This place is very strange." Louise said, walking closer to Reimu almost subconsciously, the forest putting her on edge.

Reimu scoffed. "That's an understatement. Even by Gensokyo standards this place is weird. So much so that even most Youkai are uncomfortable. Between the rather unique denizens, the clouds of poisonous spores, and the predatory nature of some of the fungi and flora, I'd go so far as to call this place one of the more overtly hostile areas in Gensokyo.

Louise walked even closer. "And your friend lives here?"

Reimu shrugged. "To some people, like a magician who values their privacy or wants to practise magic in peace, being in a hostile environment is more a positive than a negative. Besides, the dense magic and the abundance of magical regents make it an ideal haunt for magicians, or so I'm told."

Louise was starting to wonder if she really wanted to meet anyone who would consider these conditions 'ideal'.

Before any new doubts could make their nest between her ears, they arrived in a wide clearing, with a large house, which quite apart from the homes she has seen in the village, resembles the dwelling of a particularly well off commoner back home, albeit extremely timeworn, and so overgrown with creepers and shrubbery, that it was hard to distinguish from the surrounding forest. A wisp of smoke curled out of the chimney, which appeared to be tinged blue unless Louise's eyes deceived her.

Surrounding the home on either side of the dirt path leading up to the door were various piles of what to Louise's eyes were junk and detritus, that the forest floor were making spirited attempts to claim.

Louise followed Reimu up the path, eyeing the half rusted metal and rotted wood arranged haphazardly among other less identifiable rubbish. Surely this couldn't really be where Reimu's friend, the one who is supposed to teach her, lives?

"Hey Marisa!" Reimu calls, startling Louise, "You in?!"

As if in answer there was a muffled swear, and then a sudden, slightly muted 'BOFF', and a column of electric blue Smoke, filled with golden sparkles, erupted out of a nearby open window.

There was a sound of heavy boots, and then the door burst open as a girl with a large pointy hat ran out, accompanied by another cloud of blue smoke, coughing and spluttering. The girl ran clear of the door before flopping dramatically down onto the grass spread eagle coughing out the last few dregs of blue smoke from her lungs.

She lay there for a moment, breathing heavily, and staring up into the sky, until her view was eclipsed by Reimu leaning over her. "You good?"

"Hey Reimu, wassup?" She said nonchalantly, as if she hadn't just escaped smoke based asphyxiation.

"You have the most uncanny timing, that's what's up." Reimu said, offering the prone girl a hand, which she took.

After pulling the girl to her feet, Reimu said. "Anyway, I came to introduce you to the girl I was telling you about. Louise, this is Marisa Kirisame, Magician. Marisa, this is Louise Something something Vallière."

"That is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière." Louise corrected testily.

"Something like that." Reimu said dismissively.

Louise bit back a retort and instead chose to examine Reimu's friend as she dusted off, and found herself with a few more fresh doubts. The girl before her, Marisa, certainly didn't come off as a skilled magic teacher, indeed if it wasn't for her large hat, The girls frilly white apron and her white and black attire made her look more like some serving girl, and a particularly scruffy one at that, what with the mysterious stains, and soot marks visible on the aforementioned apron.

But as she fixed her golden eyes, and tossed her vividly yellow blond hair, she shone a grin that no serving girl would dare wear. "Nice to meetcha, Louise, as the Shrine Maiden said, I'm Marisa Kirisame, Ordinary Magician, just Marisa though if you don't wanna fight."

Louise wondered if that was a joke.

"Errr, You're a mage?" Louise asked tentatively, trying not to offend, but couldn't help but ask.

"Eh, Mage, Magician, Wizard, Witch, whatever you wanna call people who fling spells around and dress fashionably, that's me." Marisa said proudly. "Why, expecting something else?"

"Well, its just… You are not a Noble are you?" Louise said, almost feeling stupid to ask.

There was a moment of silence, before Marisa tilted her head. "Do I… Look Noble to you?"

"Well err… its just…" Louise said, feeling more foolish by the second, and realising that she may be a victim of her own assumptions. "Its just where I am from, Mages are of noble blood, so I kind of assumed… But I am gathering that this might not be the case here…?"

There was another silence, and Reimu and Marisa exchanged glances.

Then they both burst out laughing.

Louise flushed red as Reimu doubled over while Marisa fell back on the ground.

"You, Nobility?!" Reimu cackled, holding her stomach, "Could you imagine?!"

"Common as muck, me!" Marisa said between bursts of laughter, rolling on the ground. "Although maybe I should go to her home! If Magics all it takes they should crown me royaltee-hee-hee-hohboy!"

If Louise could get any redder, she'd be a tomato.

"Would her highness, consider letting us into her royal abode." Reimu said, wiping a tear from her eye as once more helped Marisa to her feet, her laughter under control.

"You may, such distinguished guests are more than welcome to my palace." Marisa said, putting on fake heirs, as she then walked back to the still open door, waving her hat to clear the last wisps of blue Smoke, followed by Reimu.

Louise honestly considered just going home rather than deal with the embarrassment and disrespect, but as that would result in having to go through the dangerous forest alone, she reluctantly, and grumpily followed them in.

Inside was once more not exactly what she would have expected from a mages home. Barring a clear path from the front door to and into the house, almost every surface and unused bit of floor was piled with yet more stuff, albeit with much more apparent care than the junk outside.

Pots, Jars, scrolls, furniture, tools, some weapons, various potted fungus and plants, and other less identifiable objects were stacked with the meticulous yet haphazard care of a madman, but all other things paled in comparison to the amount of books and scrolls dispersed among the clutter.

They were lead into a Kitchen which while being less cluttered then the rest of the house, still had piles of mismatched jars containing a myriad of unidentifiable substances, pots of varying degrees of sootiness, and one very sooty cauldron above a choked fire that was still puffing out dregs of blue smoke.

To Louise, this place felt less like somebody's home, and more like the place where somebody kept their stuff.

With a wave of Marisa's hand, remaining smoke quickly flowed out the still open window as if being sucked out, leaving the air clear.

The display of near effortless magic did mollify Louise somewhat. At the very least, this girl knew what she was doing when it came to magic, even if she lacked in tact, or home decoration skills.

Not long after they were seated some mismatched cups were placed in front of them, and tea was swiftly served.

As much as Louise enjoyed a nice cup of tea, she was starting to wonder if tea was Gensokyo's national pastime with how ready Marisa was to serve guests.

"So Louise," Marisa said, after they had all taken their first sip, "Reimu has given me the low down as to your issue, and I as I understand it you have a little bit of an Evocation Dysfunction Disorder. No matter what spell you try and cast, it simply explodes, often in your face, is that correct?"

Louise nodded, not really trusting herself to speak right now.

"Care to demonstrate? out the window if you will, I happen to like the stuff in this room." Marisa said, gesturing to the open window.

"Alright." Louise said, standing up to stand beside the window, so as she doesn't accidentally miss and blow up the wall, her accuracy is not all that great after all.

"Fireball." she intoned, causing a random tree to burst into splinters.

She turned to Marisa, but rather than watching the explosion, she was instead staring rather intently at Louise, with a thoughtful expression.

"Again?" she asked.

Now a little curious, she complied, and another tree fell beside the previous.

This time Marisa was watching the explosion, rubbing her chin. "One more time?"

With another failed fireball, Louise noticed that Marisa had been watching her wand specifically that time.

"And every spell you cast ends up like that?" Marisa asked for clarification, "Do you have any other ranged spells you can show me?"

Louise nodded. "A few."

She then pointed her wand again and said. "Windcutter."

This of course resulted in another detonation.

Marisa seemed to think about it for a moment, her foot tapping.

"Alright, I think I got a theory." Marisa said, returning to her seat.

"Already?" Louise said, failing to keep the incredulity out of her voice.

"Well I can't say for absolute certainty, as I never met someone with magic exactly like yours. but it looks like some form of elemental misfire, if you ask me." Marisa said, waving her hand, in a circular motion. "By the way, you can sit down now."

"Elemental misfire?" Louise asked, doing as instructed. "What is that?"

"Simple, if a mistake in elemental casting results in you using the wrong elemental mana in a spell, it results in an elemental misfire, causing the results to come out messy, or wrong in some way." Marisa explained. "Like if you used water mana in a firespell, would probably result in a burst of boiling water and steam, or a sad puddle of lukewarm water depending on the quantity or quality of the mana."

"I'm using the wrong elements in my spells?" Louise asked, crocking her brow. She couldn't help but feel a little sceptical, as that would mean that she had been since her childhood, casting every single spell wrong in the exact same way, which she didn't think was possible based on how many different books, techniques and teachers she had. Not only that, but her explosions are so lacking in any distinct qualities like the aforementioned examples that she feels there must be some mistake.

"Yeah, it's a little weird," Marisa said, as if reading her thoughts, scratching her head, "as far as I can tell the mana is already wrong before the spell is even finished constructing, and I can't find anything off with the materials or construction of the wand that would result in any elemental biases, which must mean that the problem lies with your mana specifically… Hey could you tell me a little bit about how the magic works where you are from, I feel like there is something here I'm missing."

Louise, feeling terrified at the idea that the problem was something wrong with her 'mana', which she can only assume is that the locals call their willpower, she hurriedly explained the magic culture of Halkeginia, about how there are five primary elements, mostly Fire, Water, Earth and wind, along with some hybrids like ice, and lightning, and that every person had specific elemental affinities, that means that no matter what, they will always be better at those elements then others, and how mages affinities are ranked by dot-line-triangle-square in ascending strength.

She was just explaining Magic's relation to the nobility and the founder Brimir, before Marisa said, "Alright, I think I'm getting a better picture here."

Louise felt like holding her breath, her personal demons whispering in her ear, telling her that Marisa is going to give up on her like all the rest.

"Ok, so your magic system is almost entirely elemental in nature, and every kid with magic gets some kind of affinity for one or more of these basic elements assigned randomly at birth, correct?"

"Well not entirely random, as while not consistent, there is a good chance that strong elemental affinities can be inherited-" Louise said, starting to ramble.

"Don't worry about that," Marisa said, waving the correction off. "As I was saying, despite these elemental affinities, most people are still capable of doing lesser spells in other elements, despite it being way harder, and the spells way weaker, right?"

Louise only nodded this time.

"So the way I see it, is that probably every magical person in your world, has at least a little bit of these basic elements mana in them, and they use these exclusively to cast, and even when casting elements out of their primary one, they still have enough of that mana to make the spell work." Marisa explained. "Because of this they never learned how to fully invoke mana from the environment, or transmute their mana from one type to another before casting."

Louise Perked up as the rejection she was dreading never came, although her brow still furrowed in confusion. For everything she was expecting, it wasn't this kind of breakdown, and what did she mean by invoking, or transmuting mana? Her dread was being replaced by curiosity, and even, from the depths of her mind, the tiniest glimmer of hope.

"But in a way, they never needed to, their magical genes gave them enough of each of these four basic types that they didn't need to work on first principles, and thus no spells were ever made that did not rely on one or more types of this elemental mana… at least until you came along." Marisa said, pointing at Louise. "Now you also probably have an inbuilt mana affinity, but due to some quirk of your magical inheritance lead you to have none of the others, meaning that when the spell fires off, it has nothing but your primary affinity, resulting in a misfire every single time."

Louise was staring at Marisa wide eyed, but there was one detail that niggled at her. "But I fail at every spell in every element, what is my Primary affinity if not Earth, Water, Fire or Air?"

"Now that is the last piece of the puzzle." Marisa said, drumming her fingers on the table, "Now we could try spitballing with other elements not native to your magic system… But if I recall, you said there was a Pentagram of elements, five. Yet you have yet to name the fifth, is there a reason for that?"

"Oh sorry," Louise said, "The Fifth is not often counted as it has been lost since the time of the founder. The final Element is void, and is said to be the element wielded by the founder Brimir, and that all the other elements are in some way derived from it, and it is his blood and that of his followers in our veins that grants us magic."

"Lost since the founder eh… Meaning that there aren't any spells known, and nobody to teach them…" Marisa said, rubbing her chin, and her mouth slowly twisting back into a grin. "I think I've figured out your element Louise."

Louise was not so stupid as to miss what she was implying. "You can't honestly be suggesting-"

"Congratulations Louise, you are most probably a void mage!" Marisa cheered.

"Impossible!" Louise shouted back, a little more forcefully than she intended, and dialled back a little. "I mean… The Holy void is the element of our founder, our god. To suggest I am a void mage is to declare myself his equal, which is nothing short of Heresy."

Marisa however was unmoved. "Hey, if the shoe fits. If your peoples magic affinities are entirely bloodline based, then it's much more likely that you are a throwback then a complete mutation."

"I mean… I sort of see the logic… but…" Louise said, "but… it just can't be."

"Alright, let's put a pin in that thought for now," Marisa said, holding up her hands in surrender, "You came here to help you learn to cast, not have a crisis of faith, so first let's confirm that is indeed an elemental misfire."

"How?" Asked Louise.

"Simple." Marisa said, lifting a finger. "Dancing lights."

Louise watched surprised, as the air filled with hundreds of tiny little glowing sparks, drifting this way and that, swirling around one another. emitting a soft glow. She hadn't even used a wand, and once more she was casting spells effortlessly.

"This is the dancing lights cantrip, and despite its name, it is a spell that lacks any elemental affinity whatsoever." Marisa explained.

"But that's impossible." Louise said, agog.

"Maybe to your backwards ass magic system, can I continue?" Marisa said. "As I was saying, it lacks any elemental affinity, and more importantly any elemental dependency, and therefore no way to have an elemental misfire. Meaning that this, regardless of your element, should be one hundred percent safe to cast."

With a snap of her fingers, the particulates vanished. "Ready to cast your first spell?"

"Errr…" Louise said, suddenly extremely anxious. Whatever happens here, could potentially make or break her in the eyes of Marisa, "Maybe?"

"Good enough, let's get started." Marisa said, clapping her hands.


In the end, it took half an hour.

Marisa Whistled, "Hey not bad for your first attempt."

Louise was somewhat floored as the expected explosion did not occur, and with Marisa's words of encouragement, she gently opened her eyes which she had closed shut with anxiety.

And saw her first ever spell.

There wasn't as many as Marisas, and hers, rather then glow, seemed to be tiny black motes, that seemed to absorb light.

But they were there. No explosion, no other problems like failing to cast at all.

It had worked.

"Hey, are you ok? I would have thought you'd be more-and okay hug it is." Marisa said, as she was suddenly embraced by the Pinkette.

Louise buried her face into the Magicians chest, so overcome with emotion that she couldn't do much more than cry into the embrace while mumbling thank you over and over into the fabric, All thoughts of decorum and station forgotten while her thoughts were filled with nothing but her first ever spell.

Marisa, looking more than a little awkward, patted her on the back, while looking at Reimu for backup, who had moved to the rather worn couch after the tea had run out, and had been watching the whole exercise with detached amusement.

"Don't look at me, you are on your own." She said, having sprawled across the couch like a reclining roman emperor, feeding herself rice crackers she procured from somewhere.

"Traitor," Grumbled Marisa, before continuing to try and calm down Louise from her emotional overload.

A few minutes and a calming cup of tea later and Louise, a little embarrassed by her outburst, but still largely over the moon about her new success, was now more than ready to eagerly hang off her new mentors every word.

"Alright, now that we've confirmed it is a misfire issue, not a more general casting problem, we are back at the issue of affinity." Marisa said. "And it's worth saying that whatever your affinity might be, it is overwhelmingly strong, as the dancing lights cantrip is not supposed to be dark like that. In fact you may lack any un-aspected mana at all."

This was a little disappointing to Louise, as even if it was successfully cast it was still somewhat wrong, but Marisa wasn't finished.

"However, it does give us a hint as to what your elemental affinity is." Marisa said. "And pretty much convinces me that my original guess is correct, void. As void means absence, hence the dark lights"

Louise was still somewhat nervous at thinking herself as a void mage, but was less inclined to interrupt Marisa.

"Which does leave us with an Issue, as I do not know any void spells." Marisa said, scratching her head.

'Ah, there is it, the catch' said Louise's doubts.

"Yeah, my specialties are primarily Alchemy, light and Love magic, so not sure where to start with something as esoteric as void." Marisa said apologetically. "So at best we are gonna have to get a little creative."

Something stood out from that explanation. "Excuse me, did you say light magic… Did you say Love? There shouldn't be any elements beyond the five…" She caught Marisa's amused expression and Reimu's eyeroll, and remembered that the spell she just cast shouldn't have even been possible by her understanding of magic, let alone all the things Yukari had shown off. "At least, so I was led to believe." She finished lamely.

"You really just need to accept that your people's understanding of magic is fairly basic compared to ours." Reimu said flatly, but then gained a thoughtful expression. "It does remind me though, that apart from Yukari you really haven't seen much of any Gensokyo magic, you've been mostly in the village since you got here. Maybe a little demonstration might help ease her worries?"

"Sounds like a plan, give her a little bit of a taste of what's coming." Marisa said, standing up. "Let's step outside though, I just repaired the roof like last month."

Louise, curious, and even a little eager, followed the two older girls outside and into the clearing.

"Alright Louise." Marisa said, turning to face her now that they were outside the house. "Let's start off something simple, yet flashy."

She hovered up into the air, confirming Reimu's assertions that flight was apparently common, and held a small rectangle aloft. "Magic sign ~ Stardust Reverie"

All at once the sunlight seemed to dim as seven complex yellow coloured magical circles lit up around Marisa, twirling around her releasing what seemed like hundreds of rainbow coloured stars that spun out into a kaleidoscopic cat's cradle of movement that Louise struggled to follow.

This was possibly the most complex spell she had ever seen, nothing, even the powerful works of square class mages paled to the magical finesse on display here.

This was no spell, it was art, pure and simple.

So awestruck was she, that it took her a few seconds to notice the red tint that appeared whenever a projectile approached her and Reimu, and she glanced around to notice eight papers covered in unreadable Japanese text that hovered in a rough cube around them, and whenever a projectile looks like its about to hit them, the cube materialises blocking the shot.

Reimu, catching the glance, said. "It's not really magic, but I'm quite good at barriers."

After the spell died down Marisa landed in front of them. "That is what we refer to, as a spell card." Marisa said, pulling another out of her sleeve.

Louise looked at the card, and while the name she could read, this one being called 'love sign ~ Master Spark', the rest was covered in a dense script that Louise could not make heads or tales out of. However, she could feel the power radiating from it.

"This is a method devised here to store complex spells to be cast in an instant, just add magic." Marisa said, "Usually less powerful though, unless you are willing to splurge for some really good quality magical inks, papers and regents, so they are mostly used for Danmaku."

"Danmaku?" Louise says quizzically.

"Its a type of magic duelling that is the official method of conflict resolution and entertainment in Gensokyo," Reimu chimed in, "Formalised by the spell card system imbedded into the barrier, and reinforced by various protective magics, like the ones I put in you when you first arrived. Its kinda like a magical tag, you have to try and hit your opponent with your spells while avoiding theirs. There is a lot more rules and subtleties, but thats the basic outline. The Spell that Marisa just fired, while impressive, is a toned down version of the real version, with less harmful projectiles to fit in with the rules. They sting, but not a lot."

"Oh…" Louise said, both a little embarrassed of her awe in what was basically a step above a fancy lightshow, and trying to process that that was a toned down version of a real, apparently much more dangerous spell.

"Yup, Basically what Reimu said." Marisa nodded to the explanation, "And we will probably be teaching you some of that later when you get to grips with your magic some more, after all, you seem like someone who might get in more than her fair share of trouble, and not know Danmaku… well you won't get killed per say, unless you meet a very powerful youkai with a deathwish, but a bored youkai might make you their plaything for a while."

"Plaything, what do you mean by 'plaything?" Louise said, sounding nervous.

"It can vary, but the nature of spell card rules is primarily a compromise between youkai and humans, many youkai need to cause fear or mischief by nature, So some leeway had to be given to allow that, while guaranteeing the safety and lives of the humans of the village." Reimu said. "So it's mostly whatever they think they can get away with. Your life won't be in danger, nor will they grievously injure you, at least not intentionally, but..."

Louise shuddered. "Right, so Danmaku is important."

"Yeah don't stray too far from the village alone without at least being somewhat proficient." Marisa said, "That said, your goal is not just to live in Gensokyo, but to impress someone into agreeing to be your familiar, correct?"

Louise nodded, although her mind was still somewhat preoccupied with wondering what youkai might do with her should she be caught alone, her thoughts drifted to Rumia, the only Youkai she has really encountered so far (although she is not sure what Yukari is), pinning her to the ground, those bright red eyes and sharp teeth grinning down at her.

The youkai's face then gaining a saucy, almost sultry quality, before she started leaning in-

Louise, cheeks flushed, waved her arms to chase away the delusions. 'Where did that come from?!' she thought in a panic.

She was aware of Reimu and Marisa looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"You done?" Marisa asked.

"Err… sorry. Got lost in thought for a moment." Louise said, getting even redder.

"Ehh, it's fine, now where was I?" Marisa said, holding her chin in thought, before snapping her fingers. "Right, impressing Youkai. Danmaku will be fine for holding your own, you might even hook a few easily impressed lesser youkai or fairies, but if you want to get someone even remotely impressive for your Familiar, you will have to show some genuine power or skill."

With a quick murmur, the tip of Marisa's finger lit up, and with a sweep of her hand, a thin beam erupted and severed the canopy off the top of a tree, igniting a few leaves it passed through.

Now Louise was impressed in a completely different way then before, that was some scary cutting power for seemingly such a simple spell.

"That was a simple light spell, beamcutter." Marisa said, and this…

With a Flourish, Marisa held a small octagonal block, just big enough to fit snugly in Marisa's hand. With an uncharacteristic reverence. She held it up to her face, clasped in both hands, and, eyes closed, started murmuring too low to hear.

All at once, Louise felt a change in the air, the light of day seemed to once more dim, throwing Marisa into sharp relief as she was illuminated by a soft glow. The frills and fabric of her dress started to flutter despite the spell seemingly stilling the wind around her. Louise could feel the power radiating off the self styled witch like a blazing fire. It felt like the world itself held its breath as Marisa prepared her spell.

Then Marisa's eyes shot open, her golden eyes blazing, and with a manic grin thrust her hand forward, bracing her arm with her free hand, clasping the octagon.

"...Is Love sign ~ Master Spark!"

The world erupted into searing colour as a huge beam, big enough to consume a wyvern whole, shot from the octagon in a wave of brilliant white light and noise, rainbow light dancing around it like a corona. The Beam shooting off into the distance, disappearing into the forest, the distant crashing of timber adding to the indescribable droning sound of the spell's passage.

And as sudden as it had started, it had stopped, the beam diminishing into a thin line before vanishing entirely, leaving only wisps of rainbow to slowly dissipate into the air.

Louise glanced down the alleyway of the beam's aftermath, and beheld a path of destruction.

The ground just before Marisa was gouged into a shallow trench, leading up to the edge of the clearing, where it became clear that Marisa had angled the beam slightly upwards, as the trench got shallower before giving way to scorched roots, then Stumps that got progressively taller until it reached stripped and scorched canopies, before eventually leading to undamaged tree's beyond.

Louise wondered numbly how far it would have travelled if Marisa hadn't adjusted her angle.

"Now I'm not saying you need to be able to do that." Marisa said casually, as if she hadn't just levelled an entire stretch of woodland. "Not everyone can be me after all, But it should give you a sort of upper benchmark of what kinda things people are capable of around here. If you plan on hooking a powerful familiar, it's this kinda thing you will be measured against."

Louise nodded in a daze. She could almost feel her self imposed hurdle grow higher and higher.

"Just so you know.' Reimu said. "Marisa is crazy powerful for an ordinary human, nobody's in their right mind is gonna measure you to her standards. Hell, even being half as strong would be wildly impressive for most youkai. So don't worry too much about that."

A small comfort, but Louise would take it.

"Yeah, don't sweat it." Marisa said, ruffling Louise's Hair, freeing her from her daze. "I'm sure with my help, we'll make a magical powerhouse out of you yet. Provided you are willing to put the work in, at least."

"I thought you said you couldn't help, due to not knowing void spells?" Louise said, fixing her hair.

"Hey, I said I didn't know any void spells, but I did not say I couldn't help." Marisa chided. "I said we will have to get creative."

"While my knowledge of void is void, my proficiency in spellcraft is not. With a bit of time, practice and lateral thinking, I'm sure we could put our heads together to piece together a spell or two."

"M-making spells?!" Louise said in surprise. "You can make new spells?"

Marisa shrugged. "Why not, somebody had to at some point, and I made most of mine."

Reimu snorted. "The ones you didn't steal at least."

"Ah-ah, I didn't steal them Reimu." Marisa said, waving her finger. "I study them, recreate them, and design my own variants based on my skill set."

Louise was still a little sceptical on the idea, and it must have shown on her face, because Reimu said. "Look at it like this Louise, you said that all your spells were either created by the 'founder' or are modified from his original spells correct?"

Louise nodded.

"So this guy, the original void mage, must have either taken them from someone else, or made them himself. So what's stopping you, also a void mage, from doing the same?"

"But that would be elevating myself to the level of the founder!" Louise said, with a tinge of hysterics. "That would be-"

"Heresy right?" Marisa cut her off, amused. "But seriously, apart from being the only void mage, and founding the kingdoms, what made him so divine in the first place?"

"Err… well." Louise stuttered, not really expecting a theological question. "W-well he is said to have performed many great feats…"

"And how many of them were the product of his void magic?" Marisa continued to prod.

"Ummm…" Louise thought really hard, before giving up, theology not really being her area of study. "Probably… most of them?"

"In that case, what's there to worry about?" Marisa said, throwing her arm around the pinkettes shoulder. "If his magic is what made him divine, then as a void mage, you are basically divine yourself, so what's wrong with elevating yourself a little?"

"Well, It still wouldn't be particularly… propper…" Louise said, but the little devil on her shoulder was already whispering into her ear. After all, if she is a void mage, she is already one step below Brimir, then what's wrong with putting a tiny toe into his domain? The little temptations swirling around her head proved too strong for the erstwhile zero, dangling the magic she had been desperately craving her entire life.

"But… I suppose there would be no harm in… experimenting a little bit." Louise said, dry swallowing. "I will be in your care, Marisa."

Marisa grinned, and slapped her on the back. "Thaaaat's the spirit! I'm sure with a bit of blood sweat and tears, we will make you into a void mage this founder guy would be proud of!"

Marisa then started back towards her house, dragging Louise. "Now the first thing would be to try running you through more non-elemental spells first, after all, your magical control and spell construction is probably abysmal thanks to your lack of actual casting experience. Once we get that up to snuff then we can start puzzling out the void element…"

"Have fun you two, have her home before dark." Reimu said, watching with amusement as the Little Pinkette was dragged into Marisa's home with a face wondering what she was getting into.


Authors Notes:

Well… I'm back, sorta?

Let me get the chapter specific notes out of the way first, and then I will talk about what's been happening and where I've been.

Honestly First things first, I'm glad this chapter is the one I came back to for this, because the following chapters are really kinda short as I get into general slice of life nonsense, after being gone for over a year, I feel like those would have almost been insultingly short.

But yeah, Marisa comes in clutch and shows Louise how not to fail at magic. That said, I'm trying to avoid making it sound like Familiar of Zero mages are just stupid for not having figured this out. Reimu does call them backwards, but it's more just Marisa having access to both an outsider's perspective, and a more freeform magical system that made the idea that Louise is a void mage fairly obvious. Of course Louise is still somewhat iffy about the idea because of her religious upbringing, but she'll probably get over that as she gets more spells under her belt.

But yeah, Louise constantly getting slapped by culture shock will probably continue to be a running theme for the first arc of this story.

Now for the more general things, like where have I been? Well, short answer is life stuff, but longer answer is this:

I struggle with organisation, planning and motivation in general, and often when big events like travelling, or helping my parents with building the new house, and random events can completely throw me off my groove for often weeks or months at a time. Not only that but I have a certain condition that makes it harder for me to focus and organise, and occasionally it's hard to get my medication thanks to supply line issues and the remoteness of where we live.

And honestly, it was really hurting my self esteem. I felt really bad not only leaving these stories unfinished, but letting down all you readers waiting for updates. But I didn't really know how to fix my unreliable muse. Then I remembered back in Uni, where I used to release chapters for another website, not only regularly, but weekly. Before my life got super chaotic. Obviously I fell off that wagon hard, but I think one of the things missing from back then was regularity, I often had several chapters written in advance as a backlog/buffer, that I could reliably edit and release once a week, and I think that structure helped me keep motivated to keep writing on the regular.

So that's when I decided that I was going to write 5 chapters of every story I currently have on this website in one big lump before releasing them one at a time, once per week, that would leave me with 40 chapters, and roughly ten weeks of releases. So not only guaranteeing you guys get something from me regularly, but it might give me the structure and motivation to write on the regular with both a loose deadline, but without the paralysing guilt of not having written anything to post.

So I knuckled down and within a span of 2-3 months, I managed to get like 80% of all the chapters done, and well on track for getting it done by the end of last year for a christmas release…

…And then I ran out of my meds… And then there were supply line issues… And then my permit to get new prescriptions expired (which I didn't even realise was a thing)… and then my Psychiatrist had moved practices… and that practice no longer handles patients with my condition.

It took me half the goddam year to see a new psych and get my meds back.

I am now back on my meds and writing again obviously, but right now we are at a critical point in the new house finally nearly actually being built (only took 4 years, but who's counting-_-) and my dad needs my help getting things ready, I don't have a lot of free time right now consequently, and it might be a while for things to settle down, But I thought you guys deserve something, even if it will set me back a bit on my five chapter plan, so I struggled through what little free time I had to make sure each story had one chapter ready to post, and dropped them altogether to let you all know that things will be happening soon.

They will probably be a little rough as I didn't have time or energy to properly proofread it, but I will probably come back to fix it when I actually start my writing again for real.

I am going to be getting serious about writing btw, as I have come to the semi-depressing realisation that writing is one of the few skills I have that I can claim to be good at without qualification. Once I prove to myself that I can actually maintain a weekly update schedule or maybe even a twice-weekly one, I will probably try and open a patron or similar service, and see if I can make writing a career.

Sorry for how long this took and how long this Author's note is, but I hope you enjoy the chapters.

I will be posting this general message on every story, just so everybody can see it. If you read more than one of my stories, after the chapter specific notes you can probably skip this bit after reading it once.