The Adaptation of Alice

[MaxKnight]

Why am I starting a new thread for this?  Well, for one thing, this story had only been posted in the New Writers' Contest thread, and may not have been read by as wide of an audience.  For another thing, I've taken what the judges have said to heart and have actually started rewriting the story from the ground up; still the same concept, but I'm going for a better execution.  Oh, and also I'm splitting it into easier to swallow chapters, since 10,000+ words all at once is a little much, I admit.  Please bear with me as I'm still reworking it; I'll need a little time to get everything done, but in the end it should be a better product than what I had originally put out.  Note that eventually I'll be going back over the companion story to improve it and make it match better with the new work.

Without further ado, please let me know what you think, and especially if any of the judges from the contest decide to read this, let me know if the changes are an improvement or a detraction.

Chapter 1: The Invasion of My Home

I had been humiliated.  As I floated there and watched the four of them fly further into Makai, all I could feel was hurt and rage.  To make matters worse, all it took was one of them to beat me; I had set my dolls out as traps, aided by some of the local demons, but still they persisted.  Once they had reached me, only the one in red and white on the back of a flying turtle actually challenged me, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn?t even seem to touch her.

My name is Alice; daughter to Shinki, Goddess of Makai, and known as The Girl of Death.  I am proficient with magic, and more specifically, with magical puppetry.  While I am dexterous enough to flawlessly manipulate a doll using strings, my preferred medium is magic; they can do everything for me, from cleaning up after me, to even defending me should I require it.  I had employed them to this use that time, and still it was not enough?
I watched as the first one approached on the back of that turtle; my arms were stretched wide as a symbol of barring passage.  She came to a stop in front of me looking no worse for the obstacles that had been in her path on the way.  She asked, ?And who are you supposed to be??

I smirked while holding my pose.  ?I am Alice; The Girl of Death!?

?Death??  The girl smiled back at me.  ?Well I?m certainly scared.?

That annoyed me considerably; I shouted, ?Are you the one that blasted open the gate?!?

She held her hands in front of her, saying, ?No way; you?ve got the wrong person.?  A second person arrived at that time wearing a witch costume and riding on a flying broom; the first one pointed at the new one and said, ?It?s her fault; blame her.?

The second one?s eyes widened and she hastily replied back.  ?No way; you?ve got the wrong person!?

I didn?t find that funny at all; they were toying with me.  I gathered my magic and attacked with a burst of danmaku in all directions; some small bullets, others normal sized.  I summoned two dolls to my side and made them fire bullets at them while I started cycling through some of my basic patterns; random bursts, aimed arcs, and full circles of bullets.  The witch retreated and two more had joined her; only the red and white turtle rider was actually engaging me by dodging my shots and pelting me and my dolls with magical slips of paper, some of which seemed to be homing in on me.

I was taking a beating; my young human body wasn?t meant for magical combat of that magnitude.  One of the dolls had been destroyed, but was replaced almost immediately by a new one; I used it and the other remaining doll for my next phase: a shield was formed between the two of them which kept me safe from harm while I was still able to shoot at my opponent.  I aimed my shots at her, each stream the same as the last, but she was too quick to be taken in by that; unfortunately the shield only lasts for a few seconds, and they had to disengage it and fly back to my side.

At that point I fired two arcs, like wings, from either side of me, but it left a sizable space in which she hung out in; I started using the rings and arcs from my first patterns while getting covering fire from my dolls.  Enough time had passed in which I was able to bring the shield back up, but again I couldn?t keep it up indefinitely; after it fell, I dropped the ring pattern and started using a three-way laser and danmaku burst, though it proved ineffective.  I continued to be sieged by her shots, and my strength was quickly draining.

Again, I brought the shield up, and again she managed to keep ahead of my attack.  When the shield was gone, I knew this was going to be it, so I started firing at a more rapid pace; spiral rings of bullets, faster wing arcs, swifter lasers?  But still nothing seemed to faze her.  In a last ditch attempt I fired a steady half circle of arrows while getting covering fire, but in the end it was for nothing; she had me beat, and in an explosion of magic I floated there, defeated.
I had to watch as they looked down on me and flew off towards the heart of Makai, each one expressing their satisfaction with the outcome in a different way; Ms. Turtle appeared disappointed, the ghost had smirked at the whole scene, the umbrella gave me a smile that absolutely terrified me? the witch just shrugged and grinned, leaving me in confusion to go along with my sadness.

I had to get away from there, get back to the castle.  Fortunately there was an access tunnel that acted like an emergency escape passage leading straight back; I had used it to get outside without anyone seeing me.  I snuck back into the castle, but couldn?t hide the fact that I had been in a fight; my mother had ordered me to my room and instructed our maid Yumeko to patch me up and heal what wounds she could.

I sat there with her guarding me for a time until there was a commotion in front of the castle; mother had apparently gone out to see what was going on, which made Yumeko nervous.  She left me alone to go provide aid, allowing me to once again roam the castle; I had emerged to the main hall just in time to see the four invaders in a massive firefight with Shinki.

There I witnessed the most horrifying and infuriating thing of my entire life up until that point: Shinki had been defeated by the invaders.  They made some demands of mother, who promised to follow through with them so long as the four left Makai and never returned.    I couldn?t stand it, but also couldn?t think of anything that I could do to stop it.

At least I couldn?t until I remembered the book.  In the library was a sacred relic that predated the creation of Makai; a book known simply as the Forgotten Grimoire.  Shinki had attempted to harness its power once upon a time but failed to control it completely; it had changed her into the being that she still is to this day, and gave her enough power to create the world of demons that she currently resides in.  The book was placed in a magic circle in the library, protected not from theft from the outside, but to keep the power of the book from reaching out to anybody.  I knew if I could get ahold of that kind of power, not even those four would be able to stop me.

The castle had been evacuated, not by order of Shinki, but because the other residents and staff had heard of the rampage through Makai that was headed their way.  As such, the library was deserted, leaving me with the perfect opportunity; I reached out with both hands and grasped the book, feeling the tendrils of magic lacing through my fingers, up my arms, and welcoming it as it coursed through my body.  At that very moment I had felt something like nothing else before or since; it was both wonderful and terrifying, and had I not been healed of the injuries I took from earlier, it would likely have torn my body to pieces.

My mind was filled with magical incantations that I had never even heard before; it felt like my senses were a little sharper than before, and I had every confidence that I couldn?t lose should I challenge anyone.  I was small for my age, and thus the book was huge to me; I couldn?t hold it in just one hand if I wanted.  I clutched it tightly and made my way to the express hallway leading back towards the border of Makai.  There I waited?
I floated in front of the damaged gate, awaiting the ones who had brought me so much pain; time hadn?t allowed for the hole to be patched, but it wouldn?t matter after I had finished with them.  My slightly heightened senses had allowed me to notice their coming far sooner than I would have otherwise been able to; I went to work quickly, the book seeming to guide me to what I would want to do?

It opened to a page about magical illusion and encasing targets in a real, sustained illusionary world.  I gave it a little thought and determined what I would do: trap them in a world based on a picture book from the surface world.  Yes, I would enclose them within a Wonderland of my own creation!

The spell did not take long to cast, and soon I found myself within the world as well; my enhanced magic was necessary to keep the image going.  I chuckled as I perceived the red and white one attempting to dispel the illusion, and then set to work on providing obstacles to wear them down on their way to get to me.  I knew I wouldn?t be able avoid going into combat myself, but I could sure make it difficult on them.

My soldiers were danmaku firing playing cards and other youkai of my own devising.  Several of them were indestructible, but not impassable; I set a giant Jack against them, though it was more for show than to be an actual challenge.  No, I would be the one to kill them, by my own hand.

They approached looking much more tired than I was expecting; all except the witch that is.  The others stayed back while she floated forward.  She said, ?That was fun? time for the main course, right??

So she wanted to joke around?  ?I did miss dinner because of you.?  I said.

?I am quite tasty.?  She squinted in my direction.  ?Hey; aren?t you that doll girl??

I attempted a predatory grin, though based on the look she gave me, I?m not sure I succeeded.  ?I have this book, now; it has all of my most powerful spells, so you have no chance to survive!?

She grinned at me, bowed, and said, ?Make your time.?

I could feel my eyes light up like fire as rage overtook me; I opened the book and a magic circle appeared behind me.  I shot out flames in a wide arc towards the witch, followed by a ring of bullets with an aimed stream of fire.  The witch in purple was nimble, though, and dodged all over the place.  She was using a missile type of bullet that was quite narrow, which meant that I could try to move out of the way better than I could have with that last opponent I faced.  Still, her agility was such that I couldn?t stay completely out of the way, especially since moving too much would weaken the incantations.

She bested my first pattern, so I turned up the heat a little: the next spell had flaming bullets which looked like fluttering wings coming out of either side of me while I shot straight aimed streams of bullets at her; to further limit her space the spell had waves of flames to either side of us.  The fire couldn?t hurt me, but it certainly would be harmful to her, and I attempted to maneuver her into it, but she wouldn?t have any of it; sticking to the area between the ?wings? she dodged left and right to keep away from my aimed shots, all the while trying to wear me down with her own bullets.  The book was enhancing my fortitude, but maintaining the illusionary world was draining me.

Since fire wasn?t working, I figured I would try the opposite and see how it went.  First I dialed down the temperature around us in the hope that it would slow her down, though that didn?t exactly work; I began firing aimed ice bullets while emitting snowflake danmaku in a loose blanket pattern.  I followed this up with a wide spiral of ice that was perhaps a little too wide; she had no difficulties getting between the bullets and staying out of harm?s way.  I repeated the pattern a few times, but found myself getting worn down; fortunately with every new spell I seemed to get a little invigorated, though the effect was lessened each time it happened.

I replaced the previous shotgun-like patterns with a more controlled one in the hopes of throwing her off; from eleven points around me I fired slow moving ice bullets which would bounce off of the walls of the illusion and form a lattice around her.  No spaces in particular stayed safe for long, but unfortunately there was a pattern to where spots were safe, and she soon began moving in a way which allowed her to avoid every single shot.

Switching gears, I replaced the ice with lasers; I concentrated hard and aimed carefully before coalescing a solid beam straight at her.  I was disappointed to find that she had time at the last second to get out of the way; I followed the laser with a series of rapidly firing but slow moving needles that shot out in an arc in front of me.  The wily witch found the corridors in the attack and rode out the wave.  I tried the laser again while shooting wide rings of needles, but again she got away.

Rather than just use a single beam, I decided to try something different; I started firing multiple lasers in an arc going back and forth in front of me; it wasn?t continuous, however, and that was probably a mistake, since she was able to take refuge between the beams.  I introduced rings of needles to the pattern, but it wasn?t enough to faze her.

I was starting to get a little mad at the spectacle; those other three, though exhausted, seemed to be having much fun watching the fight.  I dug deep for the next pattern and remembered something that mother had done; I started firing an arc of basic danmaku around me in even shots while loosing those homing ?lasers? that she had invented.  I fired several of them, each one missing by mere inches.  I got a little tired of that I fired several of them at once, again missing by a hair?s length.

We kept this up for a few minutes before I decided to change things abruptly; rather than attack her from myself, I set up a location a little ways away from me to fire continuously a spray of bullets in four directions, each ?arm? going in the opposite direction of the one across from it.  The density of bullets was staggering, and I was straining to maintain everything at that time.  She was also looking a little winded, but also looked like she wasn?t about to give up for anything; a few moments later and she forced me to stop my current spell.

I wasn?t quite done yet; I started emitting arrows in a large spiral around me, not all of them spaced evenly as I had done in the past.  Unfortunately the pattern was too simplistic to trick her and soon I was completely out of power.  A huge magical explosion marked the end of the illusion and of my ability to defend myself; battered and bleeding from a few places, I barely had the power to hang there in my misery.

The witch approached me and said, ?I?ll be taking that.?  She reached to grab my book, and try as I might to pull away, I didn?t have the energy to prevent it; the book, however, apparently did, as it emitted what appeared to be a quite painful electric shock.

The ghost flew forward and laughed, though it was not a malicious laugh.  She said, ?You can?t touch that book; it?s a grimoire, and it belongs to her.?

The witch clucked her tongue. She grinned and said, ?Oh well; that was a nice try, ze.  You?ll have to do better than that to stop us, though!?  The other three nodded in agreement, and one by one they filed out through the hole in the barrier of Makai.
I was ashamed of myself; not only had I taken the book I was explicitly told not to touch and had once again left the castle without permission, but I had failed to win, even with the power of the book.  What the ghost woman had said was true; the grimoire was now mine and no one else could touch it.  I had looked back upon Makai, and could see the ruins for myself; it wasn?t completely destroyed, but it would take a long time to rebuild?

I couldn?t face my mother; I was genuinely afraid of what her reaction was going to be.  I made my decision at that moment that I was going to leave Makai and never return.  I flew through the hole that the witch had made and emerged into the land of Gensokyo.

That was the beginning of my week in hell?

[Iced Fairy]

Hm... Yes that is an improvement.  A much more detailed setting for Alice.  It didn't feel nearly as rushed.  And this time I actually understood how the fights went.

There's still a few sections that could be smoothed, but that happens with any written work.  You'll probably catch them if you reread after a break from the work.

[MaxKnight]

Chapter 2: Metamorphosis

I had flown through the barrier and found myself someplace that at least felt familiar; Makai is built like a giant underground cavern, and I had appeared to be in a cave.  According to mother, demons were more comfortable in that kind of environment, and in a way so was I.  I set down on the ground and walked in the direction of a source of light; I emerged from the cave into a world of wonder.

Only in books had I ever seen anything like it; a clear sky full of stars, a waning crescent moon hanging above the tree line.  The cave seemed to be in a clearing of the forest around it, and while there was some light in the clearing, there was none getting through the canopy; I was weary from the fight I had just fought and wanted nothing more than to get some sleep, so I returned to the cave entrance and curled up just around the corner, trying to stay hidden from view.  Sleep claimed me only a short while later.

When I awoke the next morning, I was feeling quite refreshed, if not a little stiff and sore from the position I had slept in.  Strangely enough, I hadn?t felt very hungry or thirsty, despite not having eaten anything since the previous morning; the light of the sun blinded me as I walked back into the clearing.  I immediately noticed the difference between the air from where I grew up and the air where I was at that time; there was no miasma haze, and for the first time I was breathing easy.

I finally had an opportunity to fully take in my surroundings, and inspect myself; my clothes had multiple small rips and tears in places, and my hair ribbon was in shambles.  For the first time since the fight I inspected the book; to my surprise, the words Grimoire of Alice were inscribed on the cover, and a thick, sturdy red ribbon crossed the outside of it with a heavy golden padlock hanging there, holding it in place.  I instinctively reached into one of my pockets and found three things; two of the dolls I used in the first attack and a small gold key that I knew belonged to my book?s lock.

I chose to leave the book alone and inspected the outside of the cave I had rested in the night before; it was less carved out of a mountain than a hill.  From the entrance it sloped downward, allowing for the larger part of the cave that housed the barrier.

I reentered the clearing with the intent to venture into the forest; I chose not to fly in order to not attract attention to myself, and to better explore this new world that was going to be my new home.  Under the tree line it was cool, and I encountered many plants and animals that I had only ever read about before.  Despite my lack of hunger, I foraged for whatever things I could find, though there wasn?t much that I could identify; there were a multitude of mushrooms to be found, but I knew that without being able to identify them it would be unwise to try to eat one.

My progress was slow at first.  I quickly realized that without knowing where I was, I was already lost in those woods.  I had wandered for only a few hours when I pack of fairies had ambushed me; I defended myself with some basic danmaku, and it did drive them off, but it also seemed to awaken something that I hadn?t realized was there.

At first it was just a tingling sensation throughout my whole body; never had I felt anything like that, and I had to wonder if it was a reaction to the change in my environment.  Looking back now, though, I think I understand it; I had already begun changing due to exposure from that book, and now it was trying to accelerate that process.

I was small for my age, appearing to be around ten years old, when in fact I was fourteen.  It was likely the fault of the miasma, stunting my growth despite my tolerance for it.  I was born human, but not actually in Makai; I don?t know the details, but somehow I had wound up in Pandemonium Castle as an infant, and Shinki chose to adopt me and raise me as her own.  As I was so young, I was still developing various immunities, and I apparently managed to adjust to breathing in the air that was normally so toxic to humans with long term exposure.

My physical body was too young and weak to handle the full power of the grimoire, so the book sought to change me; age me until I could unlock its full potential.  It started small; a little pain in my legs that I couldn?t attest to constantly walking through the forest.  It would go away after a few seconds, mostly leaving me confused.  A few hours later, I felt a similar sensation in my arms that once again did not last.

It continued occurring the same way every few hours, constantly shifting back and forth between the two regions.  The pain grew with each occurrence, but the duration remained the same.  For three days I wandered like that, enduring the increasingly sharp pains in my limbs.  I found that I had grown a little taller as each day passed; my arms seemed a little longer.  My grimoire used to be huge compared to me, but by that third day I could hold it comfortably with only one arm.

At the dawn of the fourth day, though, things changed slightly.  The pain was happening in many more places, most notably in my chest.  For long periods of time I was unable to move lest I aggravate what was happening to me.  I passed out on the fifth day and when I awoke it was already dark; examining my body I found I had greatly changed?

I had grown a number of inches more than before, which was actually a little exciting for me, since I had always been a bit short in the leg.  My chest had grown considerably, though not nearly as large as some of the demons I had seen back in Makai.  Overall, I actually appeared to be the age that I was, though this turned out to be a bad thing, as the clothing I was wearing was not designed for someone of my new stature and figure; my attempts to stretch the material very nearly started ripping it further.

I was still lost in the woods, and still had to deal with the occasional sharp pain somewhere in my body, as well as new, unfamiliar sensations that I couldn?t explain at the time.  Another day of wandering found the edge of the woods and in the distance was what I could only have described as a village.  My first contact with other humans was at hand, and despite my appearance I still looked forward to it?

[MaxKnight]

Chapter 3: The Village of Humans

I emerged from the forest on the morning of my seventh day in Gensokyo.  There was no path away, so I had no choice but to start walking towards the village in the distance.  It was fairly spread out, giving the illusion that it was larger than it really was.  The trip took the better part of two hours, and the sun was hanging high in the sky by the time I had arrived.

I felt my face grow hot as the townspeople stopped in their activities to stare at me as I walked.  I had attempted to smooth down my dress and walk a little more carefully, but it didn?t deter the gawkers.  I gave up after a few minutes, as my pace had slowed to the point of being uncomfortable; the young men (and in some cases, women) of the village were just going to get a show on that day.

Once in the village proper I had a chance to look around; as I said, it was more spread out than it was large, and there were at least two general stores to be seen, though one was definitely larger than the other.  In the center was a plaza of some sort, used as a gathering place for the villagers; a building that looked like it may have been a place of government or something to that effect stood as the focus of the central part of the village.

I was preparing to turn a corner when I was suddenly ambushed; dozens of children had just charged out of a medium-sized building.  Had I not recognized them for what they were, I might have attacked them; a tall woman with bluish silver hair, a deep blue dress, and a strange looking steepled hat with a red ribbon on top followed out after them.  She started walking towards me with a concerned look on her face; as she drew close, she said, ?Are you all right, Miss?  I?ve not seen you before; you are new to the village??

I nodded.  ?I?m not from this place; I suppose you could say that I?m a little lost.?  I then lowered my voice, saying, ?Been lost for some time??

She apparently heard me, however, as she moved to envelope me in a hug.  She said, ?You poor child; you?ve been alone for a long time, haven?t you??  I couldn?t deny it; having lived in the castle all my life, I?d not had a lot of interactions with anybody besides mother and Yumeko.  She released me and said, ?Come with me, let?s see what can be done for you.?

She led me into the building, which looked like nothing I?d ever seen before; there was something hanging on the wall with a green surface and words and diagrams drawn on it.  At the front was a large wooden desk with several smaller individual desks and tables facing it throughout the room.  My curiosity got the better of me and I asked, ?What is it you do here??

She chuckled at the question.  ?I suppose since you come from outside of the village, you?ve never seen a school before.  I teach the small children up to a certain age, after which they start learning a trade of their choice; it?s a system that?s kept this village going for centuries, though finding people to teach the children has been difficult? I?ve been doing this for a few years, myself.?

She continued to lead me further back into the building, which changed in appearance to that of a living space; she opened a door in the wall and stepped back, swinging an arm out and saying, ?Let?s start by getting you some better fitting clothes; take your pick of whatever you?d like from my closet and I?ll go start making something for lunch.  We?re about the same height, so you shouldn?t have any difficulties.?

She left me alone in the room, giving me space and privacy to change; I was a little reluctant to accept her hospitality at first, considering I didn?t even know her name yet, but I figured anyone that the village trusted their children too I could trust as well.  I browsed her collection and found a couple of extra copies of the dress she was wearing, as well as a green variety of the same.  Finally I managed to find one that was suitable; it was red, short sleeved, and the skirt went down to my ankles.  A matching red ribbon tied it at the waist, securing the clothing in place; I removed my hair ribbon as it was almost destroyed and further no longer matched what I was wearing.

Once I was dressed, I retrieved my two dolls and key from my old clothes and wandered out of the room; a scent assaulted my nostrils, though it was not unwelcome.  I hadn?t experienced a real meal since running away and despite not actually feeling hungry I still desired to eat whatever it was she was cooking.  Following my nose brought me into what could only be described as her kitchen; she appeared to be making a kind of a rice and vegetable dish.

She had just finished placing some on the second plate when she turned around and spotted me.  She smiled and said, ?Ah, I was just coming to get you.  Lunch is ready; come, have a seat.?

I sat down where she placed one of the plates and she across from me; I was a little restless to be dining with a stranger, so I decided to introduce myself.  ?Um? my name is Alice??  I paused, remembering something about humans typically having a second name; a surname, given to them as a symbol of who their parents were.  This was something I lacked, but my brain was quick to adopt a name that I?m sure I had read somewhere in the past.  ?Margatoid.  Alice Margatroid.?

She looked a little surprised by my sudden introduction, but then smiled back and said, ?I?m Keine Kamishirasawa; pleased to meet you, Alice.?  We then dug into our food.  It was? palatable, though far from anything I?d had in the past.  Perhaps I was spoiled by the more exotic meals that would be served in the castle, or perhaps she just wasn?t a very good cook; I was raised to be polite and dignified, though, and wasn?t about to say anything against her abilities.

Once we had finished eating, she led me into a small room that had a futon and not much else.  She turned to me and said, ?This will be your room; it?s not much, but it?s the best that I have available.?  I thanked her on her way out and proceeded to collect my thoughts; I had found a kind soul to take me in, but now I had to start thinking about my situation? I didn?t want to impose on her for longer than I had to, but didn?t have much else I could do at the moment.

I left the schoolhouse and started walking around the village again; either the people didn?t recognize me, or they no longer found me interesting since I was fully clothed.  I tried to familiarize myself with everything I could find; I entered both the smaller general store, which seemed to have a wide selection of items from fresh fruits and vegetables to new tools, and the larger store which was named Kirisame Second-Hand Store.  Within those walls were a variety of tools that appeared to have been broken and then fixed; the proprietor had eyed me warily, but what appeared to be his wife came in and greeted me, accusing him of treating me badly because I appeared to be the same age as someone named Marisa.

I excused myself, not wanting to cause any more problems for them; the sun was starting to set, and I decided to head back for the night.  Keine was welcoming, though, and didn?t seem to mind my staying; I remember thinking that she must not get many visitors closer to her age.  I was weary of sleeping outside, and certainly didn?t mind something softer, though it was nothing like the bed I had back home.  I shuddered just thinking about it, though, and put it out of my mind so that I could get some kind of decent sleep.
I awoke the next morning feeling much more refreshed than I had in a week.  Considering this was the first time I had awoken in a house of some sort that I didn?t necessarily belong in, I wasn?t sure what it was I should do first; remembering that I still had those old dolls from before, I decided to try my hand at animating them.  I wasn?t sure if I could still do it since my transformation; I had no idea if my own magic had changed with it.  I gleefully found that I still had my old abilities, and wound up entertaining myself, losing track of the time in the process.

Keine walked in at some point without my realizing it and finally cleared her throat to get my attention.  I looked up at her, feeling a little embarrassed for having been caught playing like a little school child; she must have seen my reaction, though, as she then said, ?That?s amazing.  Have you always been able to do that??

I let the connection go and said, ?I learned a long time ago; I had almost forgotten that I had brought them with me, to be honest.  I know it?s not a very productive craft, but it?s something I?ve always enjoyed.?

Keine had seemed to be in deep thought after hearing that; she said, ?Actually, I think it could be a productive craft?  How would you like to help me?  You seem to be quite intelligent for your age, so how would you like to be an assistant for me?  During breaks you can entertain the children with your puppetry, as well.?

It was certainly a generous offer, and it would allow me to help pay her back for letting me stay.  I allowed myself to appear to be thinking it over, though I had honestly already decided to go along with it; after a few moments, I agreed and she brought me back out to the schoolroom proper to give me a full tour of it and explain what she was going to want me to do.

The arrangement was quite successful; I both enjoyed helping Keine as well as giving the children something to look forward to at school.  Word of me apparently spread to the parents of the village, as one day after class the chief of the village paid us a visit.

We had just dismissed the children when he walked in said, ?Greetings to you, Miss Keine; and to you as well, young Miss.?

Keine bowed to him; I did the same after a short, confused delay.  She replied, ?Greetings, Chief; this is my new assistant Alice Margatroid.  Her family used to live outside of the village, but due to an accident left her alone as a child; she wandered into town a couple of weeks ago.?

He started nodding partway through her explanation; I had wondered if he was going to somehow know I had lied about my origin, but it seems he had nothing to say on that subject.  ?Yes, and I hear she?s been doing an excellent job, if what I?ve heard from the parents is true.  You know that the Spring Festival is coming in a couple of weeks; I?ve been asked to offer young Alice here the opportunity to provide the children?s entertainment this year.?

I couldn?t believe what I was hearing; I hadn?t been in the village but for a short time, and they were already asking something like this from me.  To say I was speechless was an understatement.  After a few moments of being unable to say anything, I finally managed, ?I don?t know if I?m capable of that??

He seemed unperturbed by my reluctance.  ?If this is about compensation, don?t worry, we fully intend to pay you for your efforts.?

While it had nothing to do with that, I could not find it within me to refuse.  I decided to look at it like a challenge, and I had no intention of backing down from any challenges that faced me.  ?All right,?  I said, ?I?ll do it.?

He smiled and bowed.  ?On behalf of the entire village, I thank you Miss Alice; please meet with me in one week?s time in order to go over your setup.?

He turned and left the schoolroom; Keine walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.  ?Congratulations; I?m sure you?ll be fine.?

My mind was swimming, though, since I only had two dolls; this was a festival, and I needed at least one more to put on a good show.  Keine had returned to her desk in order to tidy it up; I turned to her and asked, ?Do you know of anywhere I can go to get fabric and other crafting materials??

Keine looked thoughtful for a moment before she said, ?You should try the general store, though they tend to change what they?re selling all the time.?  She frowned after saying that, then half smiled.  ?Tell you what; find what you can, and anything else you need, I?ll see what I can do.?  She then reached into a drawer and pulled out a small pouch before tossing it to me.  ?You said you didn?t have any money, so use this; don?t complain about me giving it to you, you?re doing this for the children, right??  I nodded.  ?Good, then I don?t mind.?

I thanked her and walked out the door, taking the most direct route I could find.  I was surprised to find everything I needed, and then some, and even further surprised to find Keine had given me more than enough to purchase everything.  I could barely hold the bags of merchandise, but fortunately made it back without dropping anything.

I spent the next week and a half not only creating a new doll to go along with the other two, but also fashioning some new clothes for myself; the workmanship of both was a little plain, but I was working under limitations that I didn?t have back in Makai.  The Village Chief was kind to show me where I would be performing that evening as well as give me a chance to try out the stage I was being given; it was much more that I could have asked for.

I spent the rest of the time I had left preparing a set of stories I was going to be able to act out that evening; but truth be told, nothing could prepare me for what was to come that evening?

[MaxKnight]

Chapter 4: Unforgettable Spring Festival

The day of the festival was a beautiful mid-late spring day, and the night promised to be even more beautiful.  I had set aside the best dress that I had made; it was a pale blue color with pink ribbons tied at the neck and waist.  To accent it had a white shawl and a red hair band.

I spent the entire day practicing the skits and scenes I was going to do; the third doll turned out nicely, even if she looked a bit different from the other two.  In the last hour before the festival started, I set up the stage and got everything I was going to need ready.

The sky had a pretty orange hue when the torches were lit; the sun was falling down towards the horizon at a steady pace, and people had started to filter into the plaza.  Many of the parents simply dropped off their children in front of me, though some stood a little ways behind them in order to watch, too.  I was unsure whether it was just to see what kind of play I was going to put on, or if they were parents that were more wary of my being trusted with the children.

For an hour and a half I presented my craft; some of the adults had drifted away once they saw what it was I was doing, while some others joined in, mesmerized by what I was doing.  I didn?t pay them much mind, though, since I was putting quite a bit of concentration into keeping my connection up long term; the children seemed genuinely entertained, though, which made me quite happy.

Another half an hour later and I had started to tire, though I wasn?t going to stop if I could help it.  There was a moment where I could take a pause where I decided to randomly look up; what I saw made me freeze in place: standing there in the back with the adults was the witch in purple.

Panic was something I rarely did, but I was on the verge of it in that moment.  I did my best to finish the scene I had already started before saying, ?Excuse me, everyone; I need to take a break.  We?ll resume in??  I paused for a moment.  ?Fifteen minutes.?

I withdrew the dolls and severed my connection to them, picked up my grimoire, and paced off towards a table that had been set up that had cups of water available.  I took a cup and hastily gulped down some of the water to try and calm my suddenly frayed nerves; this failed to work when I turned around and found myself face to face with the one that had caused my condition in the first place.

In retrospect, I should have taken her expression into account before giving into my fit; she was grinning from ear to ear.  She said, ?Hey, you?re pretty talented!  You?re new in the village, eh??

To say I was startled would have been an understatement; I had expected a firefight to have started right in the middle of the plaza, but then if she lived here that would have caused a lot of damage.  I nodded slowly at her answer and said, ?Y-yes; I?ve only been here for about a month.?

She started looking me up and down, which made me a little uncomfortable; I hadn?t been scrutinized like that since my first day on the village.  Her eyes finally settled on the book that I held against my chest by my left arm.  Her face suddenly held a look of understanding, and she said in an excited whisper, ?Hey, I know you; you?re that girl from Makai, ain?tcha??

Only my own finely tuned body control kept me from fainting at that shock; she knew precisely who I was and could expose me for being from a world of demons.  My unspoken panic must have shown on my face because the girl immediately smiled and shook her head.  ?Don?t worry; I?m not gonna say anything.  I?m sure the children would be more than a little disappointed if you weren?t around.?

I felt instant relief from her words, but a thread of suspicion tugged at the back of my mind.  ?But why?  Shouldn?t you be more worried about having found me here?  What if I was just sent ahead of a full invasion force??

She grinned again and said, ?If that were the case, you wouldn?t have told me about it.?  She stuck her right hand out and said, ?My name?s Marisa Kirisame; Ordinary Witch.?

I reached out and gripped her hand, surprised at the sheer strength that it seemed to hold; she was quite a bit shorter and smaller than I was, so the thought that she contained so much physical strength was a different experience.  I replied, ?I?m Alice Margatroid.?

She adjusted her hat for a moment before saying, ?It?s been a pleasure meeting you, Alice.?  She turned and gestured towards the crowd of children.  ?It?s been a little past fifteen minutes, so you might was to get back to the show.?  My eyes widened at the revelation; I quickly finished off the water and walked back over to the stage.

I picked up the story where I left off; Marisa returned to the row of adults that were watching.  She appeared to be enjoying the show as much as the children were.  I continued to entertain for another hour before the festival itself started to wind down; many of the children had been taken home by their parents, and those that were left were starting to look really sleepy.  I was getting a little tired, myself, but was willing to go on for as long as I was asked to.

Finally the last child had been collected; I took a moment to rest before packing up the stage and my three dolls.  I began to walk off in the direction of the schoolhouse when I was intercepted by Marisa.  ?Hey, where are you staying??

At first I wasn?t sure if I should answer her, since it wasn?t necessarily her business to know; something about the way she looked at me made me tell her.  ?I?ve got a room at the school.?

I picked up my pace slightly, but Marisa kept up.  She said, ?I know this is short notice, but would you like to stay over at my house tonight?  Um? kind of like a sleepover!?

I stopped walking, which made her have to backpedal a little.  It sounded like a strange request; almost like there was some ulterior motive behind it.  She looked uncertain, though, which slightly calmed my suspicions; besides, I?d read about sleepovers and hadn?t ever gotten to experience them myself because of who I was.  I tilted my head a little and said, ?Okay; I think I?d like that.?

Her grin returned as if it had never left her.  ?Great!  I?ll meet you back at the plaza; just get whatever you need for one night.?

She ran off towards the central plaza, oozing excitement which I will admit was quite infectious.  I continued on towards the school, passing a few of the younger adults that apparently couldn?t hold their alcohol very well and were sleeping against some of the buildings.  Once I got inside, I found Keine sitting at her desk with another girl with silver hair that was wearing red overalls and a white shirt.  I said, ?I?ll not be staying here tonight, Keine.?

This seemed to slightly surprise her; she said, ?Oh?  Did you find someone at the festival??

I didn?t fall for the implications of her words or her smile.  ?I?ve been invited to a sleepover by who I can only assume is the daughter of the owner of the second-hand shop.?

This fact really did surprise her.  ?I see?  Well I hope you two have fun then, and tell her Miss Keine sends her regards.?

I bowed in appreciation and walked back to my room; I had few possessions besides my grimoire, my dolls, and the clothing that I had made to replace the tattered old thing I was wearing when I first entered town.  In addition to the clothes I had fashioned a carrying sack out of the remaining cloth I had purchased; I got a change of clothes for the morning as well as a nightgown and folded them carefully before putting them in the sack.

I waved to Keine and her companion on my way out and made my way to the plaza; Marisa was one of the few remaining people there that night.  As I approached she hopped up onto the broom she was holding and floated there for a moment.  She said, ?Hop on, I?ll take you to my home.?

I was wary of climbing onto that broom; I could still remember some of the maneuvers she pulled off to escape my attacks that night I had trapped her and her companions in my Wonderland.  Despite being able to fly, I went ahead with it, and climbed onto the back of the broom; we floated up a ways before Marisa caused the broom to start accelerating rapidly.  I yelped and grabbed Marisa around the waist, not used to that kind of speed at all.

In mere moments the terrifying experience was over; we were in front of a one story house in the middle of some woods; I detached myself and very thankfully touched down on the ground.  She gestured towards the house and said, ?Home sweet home!?  She got off of the broom and walked up to the door, throwing it open unceremoniously and walking in.

I walked in cautiously behind her and had to stop once I had crossed the threshold; before my eyes was a horror unto which I had never laid my eyes on before.  Piles of books were strewn everywhere, and a thick layer of dust covered everything; if it weren?t for the mess, this house would be quite comfortable and roomy.

My reaction to the house went completely unnoticed; Marisa cleared a wooden table off and said, ?Make yourself comfortable; I?ll get the tea!?

Furniture-wise, she had a couple of easy chairs and not much else; a single futon was laid out in the corner.  The main living space was really just one big room with an attached kitchen; a door just beyond the kitchen was closed, so I didn?t know where it went at the time.  As I approached the table to sit down I heard a curious squeaking sound followed by the rush of water; I turned to look at Marisa and saw her standing over a sink where she was filling a small kettle with water from a faucet.  ?Plumbing??  I said.

She looked up at me and shrugged.  ?Funny little thing, that; one day a Kappa knocks on my door and offers to connect me to the main pipeline for a small fee and monthly charge.  I?m not exactly sure where he was headed with his pipe, but I wasn?t going to complain if it meant I didn?t have to keep a supply of water on hand all the time.?

Nodding, I sat down and waited patiently; taking in more of the room I remember thinking that Yumeko would have had a mental breakdown after seeing that room.  Mere minutes later my host returned to the table with two steaming cups; she handed one to me before sitting across from me at the table.

I stared at the cup for a moment before seeing Marisa take a sip of hers out of the corner of my eye; shrugging mentally, I took a sip as well.  The flavor of the tea, more than the heat, bit at my tongue in ways that I hadn?t experienced before.  The face I made was quite plain, as right after that she said, ?Aw, don?t like my tea??

I set the cup down and shook my head.  I contemplated lying and saying it was too hot, but I couldn?t find the heart to do it; mother raised me better than that.  ?Just not used to the flavor; we rarely drank tea back in Makai.?

I picked up the cup and gave it another try; I found that once you get used to it, it wasn?t too bad.  After managing to down about half of the tea, I set the cup down and asked, ?So why do you live in the woods by yourself??

She looked off in the distance for a moment before saying, ?Part of it?s the privacy; I can work on my magic without anybody know it or possibly getting in the way and getting hurt.  Part of it is the mushrooms; there?s a huge variety of them all over the place here, and many of them have incredible magical properties.?  She looked down at her cup and lowered her voice to an almost whisper.  ?Of course there?s also my parents??

I barely caught that last line; it seems I wasn?t the only one with parent issues.  ?You were having difficulties at home??

She snorted.  ?That?s an understatement; dad wanted me to take over the store one day, but I wanted no part of that.  I got interested in magic when I was real young; I had wanted to be a witch for a long time.  When dad learned that, he got really mad and forbid me from even looking in a magical book; of course I didn?t listen to him.?  She sighed.  ?Finally, a couple of years back, I ran off, got a friend to help me build this place, and I?ve been living here ever since.?  She downed the rest of her tea and took a breathy exhale.  ?Your turn, ze; why are you up here in Gensokyo, living in the human village??

I froze momentarily, but quickly dismissed the feeling; this was simple curiosity on her part, nothing more.  ?There?s nothing left for me back in Makai; I ran off, stole a book of great importance, and worst of all??  I smirked at the girl sitting across from me.  ?I failed to destroy the four invaders that had blown a considerable chunk out of my home.?

She chuckled at this.  ?Yeah, I guess that?s as good a reason for running off??  She got up and refilled her cup.  After sitting back down she raised the cup up and said, ?To a couple of runaways.?  I reciprocated and the cups clinked together; we both downed the entirety of our tea, though I had considerably less at that moment.  She slammed her cup to the table after she was finished; she looked up at me and said, ?I hope you don?t mind my asking, but how is it that you look so much older now than when we last saw you over a month ago??

I was actually prepared for this question; it was the second most logical one she could have chosen to ask.  ?Truth be told, I?m fourteen years old.  The atmosphere of Makai is filled with a miasma that is normally toxic to humans; I was found as an infant and raised by Shinki as her own.  Something about being so young allowed me to adjust to breathing that poisonous air, but it also stunted my growth somewhat.  After following you guys out I spent a week wandering a huge forest, and during that time, I guess you could say, my body caught up to my mind.?  I shuddered at the memory.  ?It was? a painful experience, to say the least.?

She winced at my description, then had a somewhat sad smile.  ?Well, you certainly grew up really nice, and very good looking to boot; I?ve gotta say, though, I?m a little jealous? you?re a year younger than I am, but everything about you is bigger??  She looked down at the front of her witch robe and placed a hand on her chest.  ?Everything??

It took me a moment to realize what she was referring to, but once I made the connection, I blushed furiously; I?d only had this build now for a month, but I wasn?t yet really used to everything that came with it.  I laughed nervously and said, ?It?s not that great, really? there?s a lot more maintenance involved that?s kind of a pain to deal with.?

?Still, though? you?re lucky because you?re just about done growing, by the looks of it.  People like me, despite being older, continue to look more childlike, making it harder for others to take me seriously.?  She shook her head and said, ?Do you like magical artifacts??

I very nearly missed her sudden subject change.  After taking a moment to process, I said, ?Um? yes, I guess; I?ve never seen any besides my grimoire, but the thought of them does fascinate me.?

She grabbed for her hat, reached into it, and procured a small block of wood; it was roughly disc-like but instead of being round had eight sides.  There was a small indentation in the top, and around it in eight cardinal directions were markings of some sort; I had recalled reading somewhere that they were called trigrams.  She set it down in the center of the table and said, ?This is my mini-hakkero, an elemental reactor.  Shortly before we went to Makai it was given to me as a gift from an old friend; this thing is capable of amplifying the magic that is fed into it by the holder.?  She regarded it fondly.  ?She?s the only reason I was able to beat you when you used that book on us; I really didn?t have enough magic left in me to go eight more rounds with anybody, but thanks to this I was able to keep going, no problem.?

I was a little surprised, to say the least.  Despite everything, the girl seemed to be more energetic than anybody else I had ever met; to think that she needed the aid of an artifact to beat me, even when I didn?t have a full grasp on the power of the book was more than a little strange.  We both yawned at the same time, which made Marisa laugh; I looked about the room and said, ?Do you by any chance have someplace I can go to change??

She pointed towards the closed door.  ?In there.?  I excused myself, picked up my sack, and walked over to that room; it was dark in there when I opened the door, but after closing it behind me, a number of candles lit all at once.  I surmised that it was some kind of proximity magic that would automatically light them, though I had no proof of that.  The room surprised me, as it appeared to be a water closet like the kind we had back home; I shouldn?t have been surprised, of course, since she had told me of the pipline.

I set the sack down and retrieved the green nightgown, setting it aside before disrobing; green was not a color I typically wore, but sometimes it felt good to be a little different now and then.  I folded the dress I had just taken off and placed it into the sack, removed my hair band, and slipped the nightgown on.  A mirror hung over the sink, and for the first time in my life I stopped to actually look at myself; I wouldn?t have thought to do that had Marisa not said I was good looking, and for once I was actually concerned with my appearance.  I no longer had the cuteness from when I looked younger, but now that I looked like a young adult I could actually see what she meant.

After picking up my sack, I exited the room and found Marisa standing over by the futon wearing just a plain white sleeveless shirt and bloomers.  She looked up at me and I could have sworn her cheeks were tinted pink.  She said, ?There?s just the one futon; you are okay with that??

I laughed internally, since it was a little late to be asking that; it didn?t matter to me, though.  ?This is a sleepover, is it not??  She seemed relieved after hearing that.  I crossed the room and the two of use proceeded to crawl under the cover; thankfully she had an extra pillow for me, so we weren?t necessarily crowded against each other.  I must have been more tired than I originally thought because after a quick good night I was out.
I found myself standing in a well lit room; the walls were made of a grey stone and tapestries were hung all about.  The floor was stone as well and a deep blue carpet stretched behind me and in front of me, going up a long staircase which ended in a landing with two more staircases branching out to either side.  After getting my bearings I realized that I was somehow back in Pandemonium Castle in Makai.

?I?m not supposed to be here??  I whispered.  ?The last thing I remember was falling asleep at Marisa?s house.?  I cupped my hands over my mouth and shouted, ?Marisa!  Are you there?!?

After the echo died down, a voice which chilled me to the bone rung out from the top of the stairs.  ?Marisa?  Who?s that??  I slowly turned my head and looked up; there, at the top of the steps, was Shinki; goddess of Makai and the one that I call mother.  I fell silent with fear; her voice was full of anger and contempt, ?What?s the matter, Alice dear?  Afraid you might upset me if you speak up??  She scoffed.  ?Well I think we?re a little beyond upset, now; don?t you??

I managed to find my voice, though it was very small, just like I learned that I was; once more trapped in my ten year old body.  ?Marisa?s a friend of mine; I was staying over for the night, and-?

Shinki?s voice boomed over mine.  ?A friend?  A friend?  This is one of the girls that had a hand in destroying Makai, your home, and you have the gall to call her a friend?!?

Her words stung, and I could feel tears welling in my eyes; I managed to choke out, ?She?s been nothing but nice to me since we met-?

?You mean since she beat you up and tried to steal the grimoire; the same grimoire that you stole from me.?  I could feel the rage coming off of her.  ?At first I was just disappointed in you for leaving the castle like you did; it didn?t matter to me that you couldn?t beat them the first time.  After my defeat, you should have just returned to your room and let it be; but for reasons I cannot fathom you let your human emotions get the better of you and swore revenge.?  She closed her eyes and almost appeared to calm down slightly.  ?You took something I expressly forbid you to touch, left the castle once again, and to make matters worse, you still didn?t beat them!  The last straw was when you left Makai completely, not even bothering to tell anyone that you were going to leave!?

I felt a weight hit me and I collapsed to the ground, sobbing; mother was suddenly hovering over me.  My voice was barely audible; I said, ?I?m sorry, mother??

A new voice cut through the air; it was very soft, but I could hear it clearly.  ?Alice??

?Yes, because sorry is going to cut it.?  Shinki spat at the ground beside me.  ?As far as I?m concerned, I no longer have a daughter.?

She turned her back to me and started walking away, but I wasn?t paying full attention to her; I recognized that voice that I heard earlier.  ?Marisa???

Mother stopped in her tracks and turned back around.  ?What, still calling out for your little witch??

Again, Marisa?s voice rang out, this time much stronger than before.  ?Alice, wake up!?

I could feel hands on me, and my vision darkened; in an instant, I was out.
I opened my eyes to complete darkness, save for a small amount of moonlight coming in through the window.  My head darted all around trying to figure out where I was; this didn?t look like the castle, though my eyes were blurred by unshed tears, so I couldn?t get a good look at everything.  It took me a moment to calm my breathing, as the experience had left me a little agitated.

As I was rubbing my eyes Marisa?s voice rung out clear and strong; ?Oh good, you?re awake.?  I looked over at her only to see a concerned face as my eyes adjusted to what little light there was available.  ?Nightmare, ze??  I nodded.  ?You want to talk about it??

It was a good idea to let it out, and for some reason I didn?t hesitate to do so; I took a deep breath.  ?I was back in Makai, at the castle; I called out for you, since the last thing I remembered was falling asleep, and then mother appeared and started yelling at me.  I? I couldn?t stand up to her at all.  Shinki can be very frightening at times, though she never showed that side to me, personally.  She just kept needling into me and??

Marisa smiled softly and reached over to grip my shoulder.  ?I guess that explains the crying and muttering; why do you think that?s how she?d react, though??

I shook my head.  ?I don?t and that?s the thing; I?m never going back, probably out of fear, so I?ll never know what she really thinks of everything I did.?

?Has Shinki ever left Makai??  Marisa asked.

I furrowed my brow.  ?Not since I?ve known her; why??

She grinned.  ?You have nothing to worry about, then!  If she doesn?t leave her own realm, and you never go back, then there?s nothing to be afraid of!?

It was silly logic, but sound nonetheless.  I was breathing easier at that point, and what turmoil there had been in my mind was calming down.  I smiled back and said, ?Thank you, Marisa.?

?Hey, no problem, ze!  I hate to see friends in trouble.?  I was slightly taken aback that she so casually tossed about the word ?friend.?  Admittedly, I did the same in my dream, but one has to remember that it was a dream, and I was a little desperate.

The ordeal had left me exhausted, so I closed my eyes again and said, ?Good night, Marisa.?

The last think I heard before sleep claimed me was, ?Good night, Alice!?

[Kips McKipzerson]

Very touching. And also a decently good reason as to why she went from such a little girl to... not a little girl in a month.

[MaxKnight]

Chapter 5: Leaving the nest

I awoke to an unfamiliar sound and scent; as I opened my eyes the first thing I noticed was the brightness of the sunlight filtering through the window.  After my eyes adjusted, I then noticed that Marisa was no longer next to me.  I was still a little foggy from just waking up, so it took me a moment to parse all the information presented to me; Marisa woke up first and was obviously making breakfast.

I arose, picked up my sack, and made my way wordlessly to Marisa?s facilities; the candles did not light as a window was opened that allowed light in to the room.  I took time to redress myself in the extra set of clothes; they were similar to the ones from the day before minus the white shawl.  I spent a few minutes fixing up my hair with the band; much longer than usual?  What Marisa had said the night before had weighed heavy on me, and at that point it seemed I actually started to care about my outward appearance somewhat.

When I emerged Marisa was just setting two plates on the table; each one had an egg and a pair of sausages on it.  She heard me shut the door behind me, looked up, and said, ?Excellent timing, ze!  Just finished breakfast; come on, dig in!?

I sat down in the same spot as I had the last night, picked up the fork provided, and begun eating.  The food tasted fresh and delicious, though I?ll admit I wasn?t particularly hungry; this was a startling trend for me since leaving Makai? I only seemed to need food once a week, though I couldn?t explain why this actually was.  When I was about halfway finished with my breakfast, I asked, ?This tastes incredibly fresh; how did you manage it??

She never looked up from her meal as she answered.  ?I got this stuff from Reimu as an apology for the incident before last; she accused me of having a part of it, even though I was just trying to solve it myself.  As for how it?s fresh? it?s some kind of seal that Reimu invented.  Food could actually keep for years if you wanted to, but the moment you unseal it, you need to use it; it?ll go bad pretty quickly otherwise.?

I paused to consider this; it seems she broke out something that she was otherwise saving.  Marisa didn?t seem bothered by this fact, though.  I finished up the food on my plate; despite lacking hunger, I could readily admit that it energized me a bit.  As Marisa took the plates away, I said, ?Your hospitality has been amazing, but I really should be getting back??  I gathered my things together and started towards the door; I turned back and said, ?Oh yes, Keine sends her regards.?  I giggled as she made a face at that.  ?If you ever drop in on the village, I wouldn?t mind if you stop by.?

Marisa turned her head away after I said that; I raised an eyebrow and stared until she gave me an answer.  ?I don?t care to go to the village too often; festivals are one thing, but showing up any day of the week??  She grew quiet and barely whispered the next part.  ?I?m a witch; the people of the village fear my kind of magic usually.  They tolerate me on special occasions since my pop runs that store, but the looks I get otherwise??

I nodded; it had to be hard to only be tolerated part of the time.  I myself had feared a similar response should the people learn my origins.  A sudden urge had come over me and I crossed the room to wrap the girl in a hug; she seemed a little startled at first, but relaxed a moment later.  I suppose it was because a month earlier someone else had done the same for me when I wasn?t feeling too great.

When I released her I smiled down to her and she smiled back.  ?Thanks ze; you?re the first person I?ve ever talked to about all this.?  With both of us feeling better, she shooed me out the door; even feeling a little better, I was sure she would need a little while to collect herself.

Once outside I took a moment to acclimate my magic before I started floating up above the trees; I hadn?t flown under my own power for over a month.  I did a few dives and swoops, then practiced accelerating and stopping before being satisfied with my own abilities.  I located the village and started flying towards it, landing at the edge of the forest to heed what Marisa had said about the villagers? fear of most magic; it wouldn?t do to get tossed out now, when I?m only just being accepted by them.

The walk back to town was pleasant, if not lengthy.  The people of the village were going about their business as usual and weren?t paying any attention to my approach.  I reached the schoolhouse soon after and learned that class had already been let out; Keine was shuffling through some papers at her desk when I walked in.  She looked up and smiled.  ?So, have fun last night??

It was almost like there was some kind of hidden meaning behind her words; I gave her a look to show that I wasn?t particularly amused at her tone.  ?Actually, yes; Marisa was interested in hearing my story and in return she told me hers.  It was a fascinating experience, to say the least.?

She turned solemn after that.  ?Yeah, I guess by living outside of the village you didn?t have a lot of friends while growing up, huh??  I nodded and walked on, preferring to drop off my sack to my room and start planning out what I was going to do with the day.
The days fell back into routine, and for a week everything seemed to get back to normal.  Things changed at that point, though, as I saw a strange site in the village plaza one day after class was over; Marisa was sitting there with a somewhat troubled look on her face.

Remembering her words about not coming to the village often, I stood and wondered why she would choose to come here at this time.  I figured I wouldn?t be doing a good job as a friend if I didn?t at least go and talk, I approached her.  ?Marisa??

She jumped at the sound of my voice; after looking up to me she replied, ?Oh, hey Alice.?

Her features relaxed only slightly at my greeting.  ?Are you feeling okay?  I know you said you didn?t like to visit often??

She shook her head.  ?I?m alright; just? bored, I guess.?  She leaned back a little and sighed.  ?Usually when I get like this, I go pester Reimu at the shrine, but today she had herself locked away somewhere in the depths of the place and gave out a warning not to be disturbed?  With nothing to do there, I decided to see if I couldn?t find something to do here.?

I sat down beside her and gave it some thought; in a moment an idea formed and I presented it to her.  ?Well, I?m still pretty new here in Gensokyo; mind giving me a tour??  Her eyes lit up perhaps a little brighter than I was expecting, though for some reason that made me happy.  Another thought occurred to me and I quickly added, ?A foot tour; I think it?ll be a long time before I mount another broom with you.?

She grinned and blushed slightly.  ?Alright, it?s a deal!?  She jumped up walked a few steps before turning back and saying, ?Well what are you waiting for?  Let?s go!?

I laughed at her enthusiasm and stood up to join her; I was surprised when she grabbed one of my hands and started running off in the direction opposite of the forest.  Once we were out of the village our pace slowed a little and we started talking about one subject or another; invariably magic related.  A short while into the conversation she asked, ?So why do you still carry around that book all the time?  You brought it with you the night you stayed over, had it with you during the festival?  What?s the deal??

I had never actually thought about it before, since it seemed so natural to hold it all the time.  ?I don?t know?  It?s like it?s a part of me, and leaving it behind would be harmful in some way.?

She nodded seemingly in understanding.  ?Yeah, I think I know that feeling; ever since getting my Hakkero I?ve never left without it.  It?s like I can?t feel safe without having it on my person.?

So she did understand after all.  Our conversations drifted again and we continued walking.  Finally we reached one destination; a place Marisa called Youkai Mountain.  She said, ?This place is mostly home to Kappa and Tengu; humans rarely visit the mountain, so the number of interactions we?ve had with them in the past have been few, but for the most part they?re very civil people.?

I had read literature from both sides of the barrier concerning these two tribes; what Marisa was stating sounded like most accounts of them I?d read about from this side.  ?Do the Kappa really experiment with technology from the outside world??

Marisa grinned and nodded.  ?Yup; they come up with all kinds of wonderful things, though most of it is currently unusable outside of the Kappa village.  I haven?t met many of them, but some of the things I?ve seen would blow your mind if you had the chance to experience them.?

We turned to the south going clockwise around the mountain; it was mid-afternoon and I was enjoying myself immensely.  I couldn?t place precisely why, but Marisa was incredibly easy to get along with.  A thought tugged at my mind and I decided to vocalize it.  ?So what?s the story with you and the Shrine Maiden? Reimu, I think you called her??

?Oh, this is a good one! ?  Her face lit up and I could tell she was probably wanting to iterate this story to me since the night of the festival.  ?But to get a full understanding, I have to tell you about what happened before we met?

?Three years ago, something happened to the Hakurei Shrine which basically left it destroyed.  Since Reimu Hakurei is the resident Shrine Maiden she took it upon herself to go figure out who did it and punish them.  I don?t know if you remember this, but it should coincide with something that you would know: she first ventured into Makai to find the one responsible; while she punished several people, including a fallen angel, she apparently didn?t think she had found the culprit, so she tracked back and changed course, entering Jigoku instead.

?This is where my part of the story comes in.  The first person she found in hell was an evil spirit named Mima; Mima denies having any involvement, and was so pissed off at being attacked at random that she escaped hell and came to Gensokyo to plan her revenge.  That?s when she found me in the forest; I had just moved there barely three weeks before she showed up and decided to take me under her wing.  I learned all of her spells, though I didn?t have nearly the proficiency that she did.  After a year of training, she unleashed a hoard of youkai in the newly rebuilt shrine, intent on at least destroying it, if not killing Reimu in the process.?

We had stopped walking at this point; I was so absorbed in the story that I hadn?t truly noticed it until after the fact.  Marisa continued, not realizing the attention I was giving her.  ?As you can probably guess, Reimu survived and headed out to stop us; we put up a pretty solid defense, but that girl was too damn persistent.  She had a better control over the Hakurei Yin-Yang Orbs than she had from the first incident and she used them well to totally defeat us.

?Considering that was the second time Mima had been punished by Reimu, she decided to actually learn her lesson and stopped trying to cause trouble; instead she just hangs around the shrine all the time annoying Reimu to no end.  I went back to my forest home to sleep off the headache she left me with; we?ve been more or less friends since then.?

I had a feeling that there was much more to the story than that, but my attention wandered as I finally looked around where we had stopped.  ?What is this place??

She looked around and said, ?Ah, this is what?s known as the Bamboo Forest of the Lost; if there?s anything in there, nobody knows since you immediately lose your way once you enter.  They say a Youkai Rabbit will appear if you stay for too long and will lead you back out, but whether that means there?s anything in there or not, I have no idea.?

The sun was starting to dip in the sky, though we still had a bit of daylight to spare; we started walking back towards the village, talking the whole way through.  I had considered her words from earlier, and did in fact remember when Reimu had entered Makai before; I didn?t make the connection when I had met her in battle since I hadn?t seen her before.  Sariel had spent weeks in recovery after her incursion, though fortunately we didn?t lose our reclusive Chief Sage.

Marisa and I parted at the entrance to the village.  We said our goodbyes to one another as she hopped onto her broom and sped off; I found that I had highly enjoyed myself, though the fact that I couldn?t invite her in for something as simple as an evening tea troubled me slightly.  I found myself suddenly wanting a home of my own; I vowed to ask Keine for some time off soon to go looking for such a place.
It took me two weeks to get around to taking that time off; Marisa had been visiting the village more often, though with each passing day she seemed more withdrawn.  It seemed that talking with her was enough to bring her around, but something was going to need to be done about it, preferably sooner rather than later.

The day I took off was a beautiful late spring day; I figured to start things off with a walk through the forest.  Marisa had gotten lucky by finding a spot to build there, so who knew what I could find if I tried?

I took my three dolls and animated them to float around me while I walked once I left the village.  Despite the fact that it was starting to heat up in preparation for summer, I found that it was quite cool under the forest canopy.  I walked with my three companions for a couple of hours before coming across the most amazing clearing; there was more than enough space for a house here.  Almost immediately I started envisioning what it would look like, both from the outside and from the inside.

I turned to face my dolls just in time to watch them drop from the air; my connection had been severed without my consent.  My mind swam at that point and I felt a rush like a wave coming from the east; I doubled over, clutching my head just as a voice I barely recognized flowed through my brain.  ?Youkai of Gensokyo; I am Reimu Hakurei, Shrine Maiden.  What you have just felt is a change to the way magic and spiritual power is handled within our world.  The days of brutal combat and bloodshed is at an end; conflict is to be resolved using danmaku and special patterns known as spell cards.  You should now instinctively know how to form these; failure to adhere to this new system will result in your life force being sealed.?

Once the message was over, the pain had subsided and I could once again think clearly.  My first order of business was reestablishing my connection to my dolls; I found that my magic hadn?t been interfered with due to the shift in how magic was used.  Once I got my bearings, I turned back around and gasped.

There, in what used to be a simple clearing, was now a house.  It wasn?t just any house, though; it was exactly as I had imagined it!  It was what could only be described as western styled; two stories and probably a basement, a fully serviced kitchen and dining area, a spacious living area complete with fireplace?  I had to be certain, though, and was about to go in when I felt a surge of magic in the distance; it was familiar, though, so I flew straight up into the air and caught sight of Marisa speeding off towards the village on her broom.

I shouted, ?Hey, Marisa!? as loud as I could.  She changed course suddenly and headed straight for me.  I floated there patiently as she came to a stop in front of me.  ?What?s the hurry??  It was then that I noticed her appearance; gone was the purple witch robe, instead she was wearing a black-and-white witch costume complete with black sleeveless shirt over a white undershirt, black skirt with white apron, black hat, and white ribbons around her waist and on her hat.  ?And what?s with the outfit??

She seemed really excited about something, and didn?t take long to tell me all about it.  ?You felt that wave, right?  Reimu finally came out of the shrine; she?s been praying and meditating for weeks to make a permanent change to the way conflict is resolved in Gensokyo.?  I very nearly stopped her from continuing, but considering that she felt the need to tell me, I had to assume that she didn?t hear the message from Reimu and instead heard about it directly from her after she emerged.  ?Reimu calls the new system Spell Cards; they?re used to store danmaku patterns for quick and easy casting.?  She took a deep breath and continued.  ?You make them by taking plain slips of paper, imagining the pattern you want, then feeding magic into it; Gensokyo does the rest after you feed it enough magic.  After that, you?re done!  No need to make multiples of the same card, as it will never completely disappear; you just can?t use the same one more than once in a single duel.?

Of course, I knew all of this already; I feigned fascination in order to not give this away.  I had a definite feeling that it would be bad if I revealed that I had received that message.  I was almost ready to say something when Marisa cut in.  ?Say, what are you doing out here??

I took a moment to parse her question before saying, ?Oh, I was out for a walk when I found this awesome clearing; after the wave hit, I reconnected to my dolls and turned around to discover a house.?

Marisa blinked at me.  ?Wait, what??  I giggled as I descended, beckoning for her to follow.  Once we landed she shouted, ?Holy crap, there is a house here!?  She followed me into the house; I stopped to look around and discovered it to be furnished exactly as I had imagined it, minus the personal touches I would be making to it after settling in.

I turned around and smiled as brightly as I could.  ?Marisa,? I said, ?welcome to my new home.?

Her eyes widened and a grin spread across her face.  ?Congratulations!?  She said as she crossed the room and hugged me.  ?Neighbor.?

Somehow, the prospect of becoming her neighbor made me extremely happy, though I couldn?t figure out why at the time.  Once she released me, I started walking around the house getting completely familiarized with how it felt; I was quite surprised when I walked into the kitchen and turned the knob on the faucet, causing water to pour out and down the drain.

Within seconds of my doing that, I heard a sharp rap on the door.  Marisa and I looked at each other in bewilderment before I crossed over to it and opened it; standing there was a gruff looking Kappa man in a shirt and tie with goggles on his forehead and a clipboard in his hand.  He said, ?You the owner of this house??  I nodded.  ?You hooked in illegally to the pipeline that runs through this area; we?re willing to waive the fees surrounding this breach, but in doing so you need to start paying for the water you use.?

I was more than a little stunned at this development; I said, ?Um? I?ll pay; what do I have to do??

He held the clipboard out and pointed at a few different places on the sheet.  ?Just sign in those places; this authorizes us to put up a water meter so we can accurately charge you for only the water you actually used, plus it?s an agreement for the monthly payment.  Please read it carefully before signing.?

I did as I was instructed and found the terms agreeable; I still had much of the money I had made from entertaining at the festival, so it was no problem remitting the first few months of payment at that time.  After he left, Marisa stated, ?That was a lot smoother than it was for me.?  I gave her a funny look, which prompted her to continue.  ?Kappa don?t look kindly on attempts to barter.?

I shook my head; despite only having known her for a short time, I could already tell that was very Marisa-like of her.  I said, ?Well, now that that?s taken care of, I think it?s time I return to the village to give Keine the news; she?ll probably be a little disappointed, but I?m sure she?ll come around.?  I lead Marisa out of the house and took off towards the village.

I didn?t even bother to land outside of town, I was so excited.  A few of the villagers pointed and shouted, but in a surprising move it seemed that none of them rallied to the call.  I touched down in front of the school and walked in; Keine rushed into the classroom from the back and stopped short of colliding with me.  She said, ?I heard the shouting and thought Mokou had gotten herself in trouble??  She paused after seeing the smile on my face.  ?What?s going on??

I reached out and gripped her shoulders.  ?Keine, know that I appreciate everything you?ve done for me since I wandered into the village; my time with you is at an end, however.  I don?t know if you felt that magical shift earlier, but something about that caused a house to spring up in the forest clearing I was standing in; I?ve decided to move into it immediately.?

I realized a moment later that I had just done the equivalent of an infodump on her; she appeared to be reeling from the news.  I waited until she had processed all of that and she said, ?Well I?m sorry to hear that you?ll be leaving, but I?m happy you?re finding your own way again.?  She stopped and regarded me for a moment.  ?House in the woods, eh?  How interesting??

I didn?t detect the hidden meaning in that statement for quite some time; at that moment I just wanted to get my things together and return to the house in order to actually make it ?mine.?  I excused myself back to the room I had been using and gathered up all of my things; it only took a few moments to do so.  I was on my way once again, and when I turned back to wave to Keine, she had her palm on her forehead; probably because I had taken off right in front of the school, eliciting more commotion than before.  I didn?t care, though, as I had a whole new life ahead of me!
In my excitement I worked extra hard at everything I needed to do to make the home my own; I had retired my two original dolls, as well as the third one and made them places on the fireplace mantle.  I had gathered more materials necessary to start the creation of a new, larger type of doll to help around the house and for use in spell card duels.  In only a week?s time I had done so much, and it was just in time, too, as Marisa had chosen that moment for her first official visit.

I had been surprised when the door simply burst open before she strode over the threshold.  I shouted, ?Marisa!  Don?t you know how to knock?  Please have some respect for my home.?  She looked embarrassed after my outburst, and rightly so; I had to admit, though, that she looked cute like that?

?Sorry ze.?  She said.  I directed her to my own dining table where earlier I was working on my new doll; she picked it up as I went into the kitchen to fetch us some tea that I found I liked.  ?Cute doll; is this a combat model??

I returned with our drinks and set one down in front of her.  ?Yes, that?s the plan; I haven?t worked out if I?m going to need multiple copies of her for my spell card or if just one will do for the imprinting.?

She turned the doll over a couple of times before setting her back down and taking a sip of her tea.  ?She got a name??

I had to give it some thought, since I wasn?t in the practice of naming my dolls; a name did pop into my head though.  ?Her name is Shanghai.?

Marisa appeared to think it over for a moment before saying, ?I like it? Shanghai??

I sat down and we starting drinking our tea in a calm silence; talking about my own spell card made me wonder, though.  ?So, have you come up with any spell cards, yet??

She grinned and dug into a pocket of the apron on her skirt; her hand held two cards when she withdrew it.  She pointed to each one in turn, ?First of all I based a card off of my old star patterns which I called Magic Sign [Stardust Reverie]; the other one is based off of the laser attack I can only seem to pull off with my mini-hakkero which I called Love Sign [Master Spark].?

The patterns depicted on the cards looked beautiful; the one needled at my curiosity and I found I couldn?t help but ask, ?Love Sign?  What?s that all about??

For a moment that was almost imperceptible I saw Marisa?s eyes bulge and her cheeks tint a deep pink; she recovered immediately and without skipping a beat said, ?I read once that love is supposed to be the ultimate form of magic; I figured if I could somehow harness that energy I would easily be the strongest person in Gensokyo!?

She finished her explanation with a gigantic grin that I could tell she was straining to maintain.  I nodded and said, ?That makes sense; I?ve read similar things, though I?m more fascinated in some of the theories around colors related to magical powers.?

Marisa relaxed and gulped down the rest of her tea; she stood up and said, ?This has been a nice visit; I?ve got to get home, now, but I promise we?ll do this again some time.  Later, ze!?  She rushed out the door before I could say anything, leaving me to wonder what that weirdo was thinking.

For the better part of the next week I spent most of my time putting the finishing touches on Shanghai; I had her moving around and helping around the house in only a couple more days.  Everything seemed to be going alright, though little did I realize that trouble was right around the corner?

[MaxKnight]

Chapter 6: To Become a Youkai

It was the evening before the Summer Solstice when the scarlet mist rolled in over Gensokyo.  It hung like clouds, blotting out the sky and filtering the light of the moon to a deep red.  I had spent most of the day practicing my control over Shanghai throughout the house; I found I had no problems keeping my magical connection up even from clear across the house, though this was with only one doll.

In the last two weeks since the spell card system was introduced, I didn?t have a single waking moment where I couldn?t hear the voice of Reimu Hakurei giving a message to all of the youkai in Gensokyo?  What did it mean that I heard it?  Was I a youkai without knowing it?  I wanted to find some method to confirm or deny these suspicions, but I had no idea what I could do about that.

I had been upstairs in my room looking up at the mist when I heard the knock on my door.  I was slightly startled by the interruption of my thoughts, but manipulated Shanghai to answer the door for me anyways.  In the next instant, the voice of Marisa could be heard saying, ?Er, uh? wait; Shanghai??

I giggled to myself at her confusion, then called out, ?Is that you, Marisa?  Please come in; don?t mind Shangehai, I?m still getting used to controlling a larger doll from across the house.?

I walked out of my bedroom and down the stairs; Marisa was standing just inside the door.  She grinned up at me and said, ?Hi ze!?

I rolled my eyes, unable to comprehend where that verbal tic came from.  ?Welcome; to what do I owe the pleasure??

Marisa pointed out the nearest window.  ?Have you seen this weird red mist yet?  It?s all over the place.  Me and Reimu are gonna investigate; you wanna come along??

I will admit that the idea of resolving an incident was an appealing one, but considering the fact that Reimu was the one who sent that message, I didn?t want to chance her realizing that I had heard it.  I thought about it as quickly as I could and said, ?I would, but the mist fascinates me; I want to try experimenting on it and see what it really is and if it can be used for anything.?  I attempted one of Marisa?s grins, though I?m entirely certain I failed.  ?Thank you for the offer, though; maybe next time??

Marisa just shrugged at that.  ?Maybe; I gotta catch up to Reimu, so I?ll see you later.  Once this is good and solved, I?ll tell you all about it, and you can tell me all about your experiment!?  She turn around and left as quickly as she came, leaving me to wonder what prompted this.

I went back to my contemplating for a few minutes, only to once again grow concerned over that message.  I had few enough books to do research with, and had no idea where I could find some that would help me?

No, that wasn?t right; I knew precisely where I could find books that could help me, and fortunately, she wasn?t going to be home that night!  I walked out of the house with Shanghai following close behind and started making my way towards Marisa?s house; a few fairies were out that evening, but I had little difficulty taking care of them.

Soon we arrived to her front door; I turned the handle and was surprised to find it wasn?t locked.  I guess when you live in the middle of the woods like this you have less need to lock your house up for fear of thieves.  Once inside, I started rummaging through the piles of books, setting aside the most interesting titles; Marisa owned many books on basic magic as well as animation magic.  One particular title caught my interest as I was reaching the last pile: it was called Youkai Origin Theory.  This was it; it had to be exactly what I was looking for.  I handed a couple of books to Shanghai and picked the rest up before leaving to return home.

Once back with my bounty I immediately set to work on that book; it was a fascinating read, and strangely enough, I found that most of what it said could have been used to describe me.  It wasn?t a complete match, though; according to what I had read, youkai had no actual need to eat, drink, sleep, or do basically anything that normal humans required.  I at the very least found myself getting hungry at least once a week, and thirsty more often than that, plus I still required regular amounts of sleep.

I continued reading and found that there were two ways to become a youkai; a person can be born youkai, in which case they need to learn a magic called Sachuu to complete the process, or a person can be human originally and learn a magic called Shashoku to transform into a youkai.  Doing more reading I found that I had somehow managed to go halfway through the process and needed to complete it; there was no way I was going to be able to live properly only partly transformed? but how could I complete the process?

It occurred to me that the very object that likely started my journey down the road to becoming youkai was likely my best bet for completing it.  For the first time since coming to Gensokyo I unlocked my grimoire; it almost seemed to open to the proper page on its own without my manipulation.  There was the place to start!

I had begun working the magic immediately, but soon came to realize that it was going to be a long and drawn out process; I didn?t have the magical capacity to make it work immediately, and all of my projections said that it could take anywhere from weeks to years to complete.  This was unacceptable; the book had started this two months ago, and it was going to finish it tonight if I had anything to say about it.

My thought turned to the strange mist still hanging in the sky; I said I was going to experiment on it, so now was as good as any time to look into it.  I went outside and flew up to the layer containing the mist and gathered some into a jar that I had brought with me; I could feel something in it as I did that, but couldn?t identify what it was that I had felt.

I tried various things on the mist, though it didn?t react to most of my ideas; the one that was most important, though, did seem to do something.  I found the mist could act as a magical catalyst, providing energy to spellwork in a quite efficient manner.  Unfortunately, if I actually wanted to use it, I was going to have to gather much more of it.

An idea popped into my head for a massive magical funnel that could pull the mist towards me so that I could use it; it seemed impractical at first, but I was determined to get this done on this night, and I needed as much as I could get ahold of.  At first it was slow going, but eventually more started to follow after what I had managed to take; it seems that this mist tends to gather towards itself.  I started on the incantations as soon as the first of the mist was gathering, and slowly built it up.  It took a good two hours to complete, but I had managed it; I was a full youkai magician.

The effects of this change were staggering; all of my senses were sharper than they were previously, and I could feel that my magical abilities had heightened extraordinarily.  The magic ended with me feeling incredibly drained, which made sense since I had used up most of my abilities to make it work; I trudged up the stairs to my bedroom and collapsed on the bed, surrendering myself to sleep.
The next morning I awoke to find that the mist was completely gone; Marisa and Reimu must have found whoever had created it and put a stop to it.  I went about my usual routine; becoming a youkai hadn?t changed the fact that I still liked to do the same things in the same order each day.  I awaited Marisa?s return to hear what had happened, though for a full week she failed to come back; I was a little worried, but decided to give her a few more days.

Three days later I couldn?t stand it anymore; I walked over to her house only to find her sitting around reading.  I knocked on the door, which elicited a loud, ?Come in!? from Marisa.  I opened the door and when she saw me she said, ?Morning Alice!  What brings you here??

I looked at her with as much incredulity as I could muster.  ?You said you?d tell me all about your adventure from the night of the mist; I came to make sure you were alright.?

Marisa blushed, probably because I said I was concerned about her.  ?Aw, you didn?t have to do that, ze; I?ve, uh, just been distracted is all!?  She cleared a few books off of the other chair and said, ?Come in, have a seat; I?ll tell you all about it!?

I hesitated for a moment; something was off about her house? it seemed more cramped than I remembered from the last time I was there.  After that moment passed I walked over to the seat she had cleared and sat.  I said, ?Well, let?s hear all about it; how much fun did you have last night??

She grinned at me and said, ?Lots!  After meeting up with Reimu I beat up a fairy over Misty Lake, took on the gate guard of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, then we split up and I found this huge library!?  She paused and was looking off in the distance with a twinkle in her eye; she returned to normal a moment later and continued, ?There I beat up the assistant followed by the librarian herself; she didn?t seem too healthy, so it was something of an easy win for me.

?Reimu had gone up the stairs and apparently beat up the head maid followed by the mistress of the mansion, Remilia Scarlet; she?s a vampire.  By the time I made it to her, Reimu had already administered the punishment; the mist was gone and we were done.  I, uh? returned to the mansion three days ago, but wound up in the middle of a firefight between the librarian and Remilia?s little sister, Flandre; she apparently has the power of destruction, which is why they leave her locked in a room in the far corner of the library.  She had heard the commotion from before and had, uh? let herself out about the same time as I arrived again.

?First I ran into Patchy, the librarian; she was apparently feeling a whole lot better that day and she brought out all of her most potent spall cards against me.  Too bad for her they didn?t work.  Anyways, after that I wound up running into Flandre; she wanted to play a little, so we shot at each other for about an hour, then I finished her off and we had a decent little conversation.  They lock her away because of her powers, but truth be told, she has full control over them; they?re just afraid is all.  I promised her that I?d find a way to convince them one day that she?s perfectly sane and doesn?t need to stay locked up.?

I smiled at that statement; Marisa had such a lofty outlook on everything, she could never seem to see the bad side of anything, no matter how annoying that kind of optimism could be.  I started looking around again and suddenly realized what my issue with her house was: there were far more books here than had been previous.  I said, ?Marisa? where did all of these extra books come from??

She turned away from me and mumbled for a second before speaking up and saying, ?They?re from the SDM library; I picked them up when I went back and wound up fighting Flandre.?

I stared at her, unable to comprehend how this was possible.  Marisa was nothing more than a common thief?  ?You mean to tell me that you stole all of these books??

She shook her head, ?I?m only borrowing, ze.  Patchouli?s a youkai magician, so she?ll outlive me several times over; I?m only borrowing them, she can have them back when I die.?

I sat there with my mouth agape; somehow the idea of Marisa dying made my heart skip a beat, though I had no clue why at the time.  I said, ?Still, though; what gives you the right to ?borrow? from her library??

She took a moment to apparently think her answer out before saying, ?I don?t see why you?re complaining; didn?t you steal that grimoire out of your own castle?s library??

I blinked at that; she had a little bit of a point, but I wasn?t ready to concede just yet.  ?That?s beside the point; I was living there at the time and as the daughter of Shinki it was my right to take it.?

She didn?t hesitate at all with an answer for me.  ?Weren?t you specifically told not to touch it??

Damn; she had me there.  I said, ?Okay; yes, I admit, I took the book without actually having a right to it.  But it was only one book; how many did you take, Marisa??

She smirked; ?Don?t forget those books on puppetry and magic that you took from my house while I was gone resolving the incident.?

I wasn?t sure if youkai were supposed to be able to sweat, but I started to in that moment.  I said, ?I, uh? don?t need them anymore; you can have them back.?

She waved me off and said, ?That?s okay, you can keep those; I wasn?t actually going to use them, anyways.  They were interesting to read, but since I?m not the expert on making and controlling dolls, you can have them.?

That was irritating; my own slipup was basically enabling her in her thieving ways.  I vowed in that moment that her verbal tic wasn?t the only thing I was going to remove.

[Iced Fairy]

Finally got the time to read through everything I missed.   :derp:  Man, I'm so terrible about this.

Anyway I have to say I'm enjoying the long form of your story a lot.  The tiny details add so much to your writing, especially given your particular style.

Speaking of style, you seem to prefer beige prose.  It's a good workable writing technique, but I think a more nuanced style would be something to strive for.  I'd do it in a side project though.  No reason to try to force a style switch in a working fic.

[MaxKnight]

I had to look that term up because I'd not ever heard of it before. >_>

Well, all I'll say is that I write what comes to mind, the way it comes to mind; I rarely go back through a chapter I'm currently writing with the purpose of changing the way it sounds.  At worst, I'll realize that I missed a word here and spelled one wrong there and I will make those smaller corrections as needed.

I should also say that I have two templates to work off of: the original Adaptation work, which is my general idea that I'm basing off of (but drifting further and further away from over time) and the companion work The Other Side, which had some scenes that I added after the fact that would have worked well with Adaptation, originally, had I put them in (and am doing so now that I'm breaking it into chapters and elaborating).  I've gotten it so that I shouldn't have to rewrite more than the first two chapters of The Other Side before continuing it, therefore allowing me to leave it within the story/thread that I originally posted, only making those changes that are necessary in order to fit with this modified story.

And of course I'm rambling again.  I should just package together the information concerning the two stories and post an outline in that one thread that I've threatened to post one to for awhile yet. >_>