"So what's the deal with the whole kleptomania thing?"

Marisa, looked up from the current brew eyebrow raised. "First of all, it's not stealing, it's borrowing, and second, why was that the second thing you asked?"

Isika, after reading some entries in the Chronicles of Gensokyo, including her masters, had been curious of Marisa's supposedly unusual preoccupation with mushrooms, and asked her about it. This naturally led the master and student duo into inhabiting Marisa's private alchemy lab, in Isika's first instructional lecture on the topic.

"If I'm honest, it's because the Mushroom stuff sounded more interesting." Isika said, shrugging.

Marisa, put a hand on Isika's shoulder, and looked her in the eyes, her expression one of faux concern. "I wonder if I should be worried about how warped your priorities are becoming, that I may or may not be responsible for."

Marisa held the pose for a few moments too long, before Isika said flatly. "Are you done milking the joke yet?"

A few more seconds later the egg timer went off, and Marisa unstuck, and turned back to the brew, adding a mysterious powder and giving it a few circular stirring motions. "Ok, now I'm done. Nice response though. We'll make a straight man out of you yet."

"I thought I was training to be a magician?" Isika said, also looking over the small simmering pot.

"We can multitask."

Isika made a noncommittal noise, before glancing back at Marisa. "How about that borrowing thing?"

Marisa thought about it. "Well It's as good a time as any, we've got a minute or two while the mixture stabilises."

She gave a few cranks to the egg timer, seemingly deep in thought, before launching into the explanation.

"Well you see, unlike a lot of my friends and acquaintances, I am one hundred percent human. That doesn't mean much now, what with how Lunarian medicine has pushed our lifespans to impossible lengths, but when I was a young gal growing up, Humans were lucky to push past one hundred years old. Back when I was an apprentice, I just kinda internalised the fact that my time was limited, so I had to cram every second of every day with as much experience, knowledge and growth as possible. In the grand scheme of things I was nothing but a single flickering spark, so I decided to become the brightest and most dazzling spark that ever flickered."

Isika blinked, not expecting such a deep and meaningful explanation. She was impressed, until she noticed that she didn't actually answer the question.

"What's that got to do with your sticky fingers?" Isika said, raising her eyebrow.

Marisa gave a cocky grin. "Because my apprentice, it is much easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."

There was another awkward silence as Isika stewed on that while Marisa watched the brew.

"Could have sworn there was gonna be a page break there." Marisa mumbled.

"What?" Isika said.

"What?" Marisa said innocently.

It was at that moment that Marisa's wrist comp's started blaring music.

~This little girl is capable of murder, if you hurt her. Watch out you don't…~

"Oh excuse me, I gotta take this." Marisa said, covering the wrist comp, silencing it. "That's Flan calling me, you know, the ambassador, probably something important."

She walked out the room. "Watch the potion, If it turns purple then call me, if it turns green, scream and hide under the table."

"Kay," Isika said.

In the moments Isika waited, she wondered about the phone call. She was aware Marisa knew the Ambassador, but she didn't know they were on personalised ringtone terms.

She wondered if she should do that for some of her contacts.

She then frowned, realising that she didn't know enough Alliance music to even pick one ringtone for herself, let alone her incredibly sparse contact list.

As she was pondering how to expand her Alliance musical literacy, or failing that, finding any way to get some imported Council music on a format her wrist comp supported, Marisa came back in.

"Anything interesting?" isika said, still watching the potion, wondering if the slight green tinge was her imagination or not.

"Could be." Marisa said absently, seemingly deep in thought.

Isika raised her eyebrow, but shrugged and kept watching the potion.

Marisa glanced over, before picking up a bottle full of yellowish oil and letting a single drip drop into the potion, and it started slowly shifting to purple.

"Oh so I wasn't imagining the green tint." Isika mumbled.

"Yeah, gotta watch out for that." Marisa said.

There was a moment or two longer of them watching the shift in hue. Before Marisa spoke again.

"Hey Isika, what can you tell me about your parents?"

Isika blinked in surprise, knocked out of her zen like torpor by the surprise question.

"Where did that come from?" Isika said quizzically.

Marisa shrugged. "Do I need a reason to get to know my apprentice better? We were already playing twenty questions about my life, so turnabout is fair play."

Isika was slightly sceptical and even a little nervous, but couldn't really think of any reason why not, and sighed. "Well It's only fair I guess."

She tilted her head, back and forth, trying to organise her thoughts, before beginning. "Well my Mother, Liria, is in her late maiden stages, bordering on Matron, and a bit on the shorter side, and has a career in politics with a seat in the Caarvan senate."

"Caarva being?" Marisa prompted.

"One of the original Asari Republics of Thessia." Isika explained. "I've never really paid much attention to her politics, but I understand she is fairly progressive, and apparently has a lot of clout despite her young age. She is fond of the arts, especially graphical arts, like painting. Our apartment was full of them. Her tastes were pretty… out there though."

"She was a very cheerful, peppy person, who liked to dote on me and father, being the more active homemaker, and cooked as a hobby."

Isika tried to smother the incoming memories of her mothers home cooking, and pushed on.

"My… I guess Father? I'm told that the translator confuses things but the Asari word for father is not inherently masculine."

"That a fact?" Marisa said.

"I learned in school that the Asari language didn't have a word for masculinity or even femininity despite most other species considering us innately feminine. Both were borrowed words from when we encountered the Salarians, who were the first dual gendered race we encountered, and even then the Salarians lack of obvious dimorphism meant the word still lacked a lot of meaning for us until encountering other races like Turian and Krogan. We also borrowed masculine pronouns from the Salarians, as our translators tended to translate our default pronouns to feminine ones, because of assumptions made during first contact…" Isika rambled for a moment, before realising that she was putting it off, shaking her head and pushing on.

"Anyway, my Father, Sethame, who is an Asari to be clear, and therefore a she, currently in the early years of her Matriarch stage, Is a doctor and researcher in the fields of genetics and medicine, and is honestly quite tall by Asari standards… I kinda hope I take after her, but I've often been told I take more after my mother... Anyway, She's always been fairly… taciturn, even with me, but mother always told me that it was more due to her reserved nature, and that she loves me a lot, even if she isn't the best at showing it, and I've never really had a reason to doubt that, as despite coming off as fairly distant, she was always ready to spend time with me or lend me an ear when I was down."

"Unlike Mother, and despite being a Matriarch, she has very little interest in politics. She always used to say that while it is the duty of the old to guide the young, it's up to the maidens to define their future for themselves."

Isika gave a little giggle. "Professionally, I've always been told her bedside manner is legendarily awful, however her skills can't be denied, and she has always had a strong dedication on saving lives above anything else."

Her expression became melancholy. "I think that's why she was researching the Ardact Yakshi condition in the first place…"

She petered off, suddenly taking interest in her shoes.

Marisa, in her more gentle tone, asked. "Do you miss them at all?"

"...Can we stop talking about this now?" Isika asked.

"...Sure, let's get on with the lesson." Marisa said, and dropped the subject.


However, Isika was struggling to do the same, to the point where she was left brooding over it well into lunch, moodily sipping her smoothie.

She then looked up to her current companions, and so far her only friends on board, Ishi and Desida and, first addressed the Kappa, asked. "Hey Ishi, What's your family like?"

Ishi gave her a questioning side eye, as she took a bite out of her kebab, before shrugging and saying in the most casual way possible. "Well, my mums a shameless slut."

Isika spittaked all over the table.

"Well that was hilariously blunt." Desida said, watching Isika coughing, with deadpan amusement.

"Sorry, probably should ease into that." Ishi said as Isika got all the smoothie out of her lungs. "What I meant was that mother has what one might generously call 'commitment issues'." she air quoted. "Although its more accurate to say that after a few drinks her clothes tend to mysteriously vanish whenever whatever boytoy she's got her eyes on drops their fucking pants and starts waving around his… Anyway." Ishi took a moment to calm down a little, as she had started squeezing her kebab too hard. "Anyway, I've got two younger siblings, and no idea who my dad is, or their dads for that matter, and she's never had a boyfriend who lasted more than a month for as long as I've known her."

"Yeahhhh, Ishi is probably not the best person to ask about her family." Desida said, "If it's not obvious, she has some 'issues' with her mother."

"You don't like her… promiscuity?" Isika asked. She knew that plenty of maidens tended to keep their options (and legs) open, encouraged to even, as being a maiden was all about experiencing life, although having children were usually avoided until they became Matrons, or entering a committed relationship. She wondered if this was an Alliance cultural thing she should be concerned about when she becomes a maiden herself.

"Not exactly. I'm not that narrow minded." Ishi said, dismissing Isika's assumptions. "If people wanna sleep around that's their business."

"Then why…" Isika asked.

"Let's drop it, ok? I'd rather not talk about it, and she knows what she did." Ishi cut her off, before turning back to her slightly mangled kebab.

"I don't see why you gotta dance around the issue, she's gonna find out eventually that you-" Was all Desida managed to say before Ishi backhanded Desida off the bench with a slam. Leaving Desida arse up in the air, hoody sliding down once again, revealing her plain white underwear for all to see.

Several people in the hall, looked over, before seeing it was just Desida, and turned back to their lunches

"Drop it." Ishi said, this time with an undercurrent of menace.

Desida lazily curled upwards back onto the bench, before shrugging in Isika's direction, and continuing to lazily feed herself marshmallows.

"Well… what about you Desida?" Isika said, changing targets.

"I'm a demon, I don't have family." Desida said, shutting down that avenue immediately.

"You… don't have a family?" Isika said, confused. "How does that work?"

Desida sighed. "Most demons, arent really born in a traditional way, Demons of Sin especially." Desida explained in a bored monotone. "While we can procreate, mostly with other species, because for the most part we can't stand each other, Demons of Sin spontaneously come into existence in Hell when enough negatively charged spiritual energy gathers together in one place, and condenses into a brand new lesser demon brat, fully grown and aligned with whatever sin was most present during their creation. In my case the Spiritual energy was mostly charged with Sloth, thus was born Desida. Powerful Demons can also bring lesser demons into existence with their own power as well, but most don't. Probably because there are enough arseholes in hell already."

"O-ohhh…" Isika said, not sure how to take the rather… scathing explanation of her species. "Does that mean that you were born alone?"

"Oh if only I was so lucky." Desida groaned.

Catching Isika's expression, she clarified. "In hell you don't have friends, you have potential enemies. Consider yourself lucky you were born in the material plane."

Isika looked between her two friends, and sighed.


Isika: Hey Ajū, can I ask you something

Ajū: Go ahead.

Isika: What is your family like?

Ajū: Pleasant, but strange, my parents care for me and treat me well, but there is the whole awkwardness of the reincarnation aspect. I'm their daughter, but also their great aunt.

Ajū: Why do you ask?

Isika: Well, Marisa asked me about my parents recently, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them.

Isika: I need some advice

Ajū: I take it it's not something as simple as homesickness?

Isika: Well it's complicated

Ajū: I have time.

Isika: Well… I've been kinda avoiding thinking about it to be honest.

Isika: So far everything has been so busy and hectic, what with the operation, and the teaching, and the endless bullet exercises, but Now I kinda feel like I've gotten over the hump in a way, and things are… well not necessarily getting easier, but much less frustrating and a bit slower paced.

Isika: So when Marisa asked me about my parents, it kinda just hit me that I haven't seen them in over a year.

Ajū: So you are missing them then?

Isika: Kinda? A part of me does at least. A part that wants desperately to see them again, to let them know that I'm alright, that I'm safe and happy

Isika: But on the other hand, I'm terrified. Terrified that they still want me to hide away, terrified that they won't approve of me being in the Alliance, and Terrified that the operation would make me even more of a freak then I was already… That they won't love me anymore.

Ajū: Have you explained any of this to Marisa yet?

Isika: I can't, I don't want her to think I'm backing out, or getting cold feet, I can't risk disappointing her as well.

Ajū: Marisa wouldn't be disappointed in you simply for that.

Isika: how can you be sure though.

Ajū: I've known her longer.

Ajū: Regardless, I can't offer you too much advice, as I've tended to be fairly sheltered in most of my incarnations, but I strongly suggest you talk to Marisa about it.

Ajū: It doesn't have to be right away but Marisa knows more about this then you might think.

Isika: …I'll think about it.


Encyclopedia: Demon of Sin

Dark temptations

Demons of Sin

Usual Threat Level: High

Frequency of encounters: Low

Variety: High

Places likely to be Encountered: Hell, related demi-planes, around summoners

Times likely to be Encountered: When Summoned

Characteristics

Demons born from Judo-Christian Mythos, that reside in Hell

The most dominant type of western demon, but suffer somewhat from lost relevancy after the The Ministry of Right and Wrong officially took over full afterlife management of humanity, with most senior positions being taken by Eastern Demons, and management of Hell itself being overseen by the Goddess Hecatia.

Despite their Judo-christian origin, Demons of sin have been altered and polluted by centuries of pop culture and cross-cultural contamination, leaving all but the oldest of them with mostly superficial resemblance to their forebears.

They are what many would think of when they think of Demons, despite them being a distinct subtype.

They are almost considered generic, if not for them embodying Sins.

Each Demon of Sin embodies one of the Seven Deadly Sins of Judo-Christian Mythos: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wraith, Envy, and Pride

They Feed on, and gain power from committing, or enticing others to perform, their embodied Sin.

Demons take a variety of forms, making them hard to identify, however common traits include red or black skin, Goat, Sheep or Cow Horns, Batlike or Draconic wings, long thin spaded tails, hooves, black sclera, digitigrade legs, animal heads.

Note that thanks to the sheer variety, some Demons of Sin may have all, some, or none of these features.

Many Demons have access to limited shapeshifting and disguises, so They may not appear as Demons at first glance.

Potential Harm

Temptation to Sin, Deceit, soul theft, death

Demons of Sin are evil by nature, with very few exceptions.

They entice people to sin or commit evil acts to raise their power and standing in Hell.

Stronger ones can even control or addle your mind or emotions, to better facilitate sinful behaviour.

However, their existence is unstable, and they lack the ability to exist in the material plane unaided for extended lengths of time (*1).

To persist they must be summoned and bound, and required to either be fed with negatively charged spiritual energy caused by acts of Sin, or Raw magic, provided by whatever artefact or summoner they are bound to.

Diabolists are individuals who Summon and bind Demons as temporary servants or Familiars, so most Demons will be found in their company, and under their control.

Summoned Demons are often bound by magical contract in order to limit their agency or to reduce the risk of them harming bystanders or even the summoner.

Demons often will try and deceive inexperienced Summoners into binding them without contracts, or with easily exploitable loopholes.

Demons will also try and convince you to part with ownership of your soul, in exchange for powerful boons or material wealth.

If a demon gains ownership of your soul, then upon death, you will be sent straight to hell without judgement (*2), and into the possession of the Demon, either to be punished, enslaved, or milked for magical power and Sin.

The power of a Demon of Sin varies greatly by individual, however some scholars have attempted to rank collective threat level by the Sins they embody, and their ability to incite evil, and while there is little consensus, most common interpretations sort them thusly.

Greed, is often considered the worst Sin, because Greed is one of the few that is innately Evil without caveat, and it is very easy for Greed demons to entice greedy people to commit unspeakable acts, and such individuals are more likely to barter their souls for wealth and power.

Sloth, while one of the more hotly contested ones, is often ranked highly due to the idiom "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" It's very easy for Sloth Demons to tempt people into inaction in the face of evil.

Pride, while not inherently Evil like Greed, can be leveraged to incite many unspeakable acts, as the Pride Demons often appeal to the Ego of the victim. It is very easy to commit evil against another when you consider them beneath you.

Wrath, is a tempestuous emotion, and while it can be righteous in nature, it can just as easily be evil, because excess anger often strips you of your judgement or reason, and unless restrained can lead to violence or cruelty.

Envy, is often forgotten and overlooked when people talk about Sin, and for good reason, as envy's quite a common emotion, but for evil to occur they have to act upon it, and the evils it often brings about tend to be small and petty in nature.

Lust, is potentially the most popular sin for summoners, for unfortunately self-evident reasons, although only deviants will openly admit to summoning them in public, the evils they can cause are often small in nature, most of them involving a broken heart and a feeling of shame.

Gluttony, most scholars agree is the weakest Sin, while the Sin of overindulgence is generally not good for you, and occasionally quite gross, is only capable of causing evil in specific circumstances, that modern society has largely eliminated(*3), the Gluttony Demons lack of popularity, ironically leaves them somewhat malnourished.

Despite these rankings, Demons of any Sin can be weak or powerful as individuals, there can be powerful Gluttony demons, as well as weak Greed demons, but most diabolists find that there is a great deal more powerful Greed demons then Gluttony Demons(*4).

Countermeasures

Demons as a whole are weak to blessed or holy spiritual magics, and can sometimes be warded off using consecrated or blessed religious objects or iconography(*5)

Certain spells often can be used to seal demons into people or objects, or banish them back to Hell.

Demons of Sin cannot be killed in the material plane without special tools or techniques, and without them a mortally wounded demon will be banished back to hell, alive but for a bruised ego.

Demons of Sin are good at holding grudges, so be careful if you encounter the same demon more than once.

Unbound Demons of Sin need magic and spiritual energy to persist, which they can also expend to use their powers or to fight, so an unbound demon can be starved into banishment, either by preventing it from feeding, or by engaging it in a battle of attrition.

Bound Demons of Sin are more stable, but have an weak point in what they are bound to, destroying or exorcising the object or summoner they are bound to, will often result in immediate banishment.

If you believe yourself to be dealing with a Demon, avoid engaging in conversation and leave the area. Avoid signing anything, shaking hands, or otherwise agreeing to any verbal or non verbal contract.

Demons also have a true name, that they guard zealously, for to learn a Demons true name is to gain absolute power over them. Be warned, learning a true Demons name can also make you a target for that demon's allies and enemies(*6).

1: The Length of time varies based on strength of Demon as well as their energy efficiency

2: In ancient times this was more the case, however in modern times there is a method to appeal to the Ministry of right and wrong if you believe that there was a breach of contract or contract fraud, to regain ownership of your soul, and thus be judged normally. I however strongly advise you to avoid bargaining with your soul regardless, as the ministry considers this a moral failing outside extenuating circumstances.

3: Famine, Pestilence and blight can Elevate Gluttony Demons significantly, however such things are rare with modern Magictech assisted farming methods.

4: Lust Demons are an outlier, as despite being considered lower order sins, the frequency of Summons, and often inexperienced untrained summoners makes it very easy for Lust demons to gather power, status and souls, resulting in a higher than average amount of powerful lust Demons

5: A demons weakness to religious Iconography is often debated, some say it is only limited to priest tools being wielded by proper holy men and women. Others say it is based on the individual faith of the demons themselves and the holder of the icon. Others suggest it is because it was common for religious symbols to be made of silver, and thus demons were weak to the silver rather than the symbol. My findings suggest it is likely a combination of the three

6: It is said a demon giving someone their true name willingly is a sign of absolute trust, although there are very few verified cases of this happening outside of literature.


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.

First of Isika is getting her first introduction to Alchemy, after learning more about her mentor.

With The Flandre phone call, I thought it would be funny to have that song as Marisa's personalised Ringtone for her, as its not as if it doesn't fit. I probably don't have to tell you what that's about thou.

We are starting to get into a bit of familial angst as well, thats gonna be fun, and we get to see a little deeper into Ishi and Desida.

Writing the chronicle exerts are kinda fun honestly, and I was fond of the world building detail of how Demons were affected by pop culture and cross cultural contamination, because In the Touhou setting Youkai feed on and are shaped by belief.

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.