Stage: 0
A calm and peaceful day in Gensokyo. Not a cloud in the sky, the sun giving its
radiance, warming the early summer air. A young girl sits alone in her house in the middle
of a lonely forest. Its been like this for as long as she can remember. Her only company, -
save the occasional 'visitor' - are numerous, lifeless dolls, a few books, and the animals
of the forest.
She decided to go outside for some sunshine, and a peaceful breeze feels good, too.
Yet, something disturbed such a peaceful atmosphere, as happens in Gensokyo frequently.
A loud, high-pitched noise shot from a distance away. It was a sound this girl knew
well. Almost like a bird's chirp, but explosive in nature and loud enough to shake leaves
off of nearby trees. She immediately began to stare at the sky to see a river of red lights
moving toward a small black figure floating at least a hundred feet in the air. A large
rainbow-colored laser was imminating from the black figure toward the red lights,
obliterating them instantly.
This could be only one thing:
Master Spark.
The "visitor" this time is a friend, and neighbor, of hers.
Marisa Kirisame.
The young girl ran inside and grabbed a book and a few dolls, which suddenly started
floating. "Shanghai, Hourai...." she muttered. Two more dolls jumped to life and float
towards their mistress. One wearing a bright red dress, with blonde hair and blue eyes, the
other a dark blue dress, shorter blonde hair, and dark black eyes. Shanghai, Hourai, and
the other dolls darted out of the little house with their mistress guiding them. However,
one doll stayed behind, unable to move.
Eyeless.
Heartless.
Soulless.
The large light from earlier had long since faded, but a myriad more, smaller,
lights, took its place. The little black figure was still there, moving hectically across
the sky, but never moving too far.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stage 1
The young girl hid out of sight until the lights vanished, hinting a small pause in
which she could talk to Marisa.
"Alice?" Marisa began to question her sudden appearance instantly. "Why are you here?
I'm busy."
"It's been too long since last we met. I was looking for you, but it seemed you went
to the other side. Yukari was too busy to send me there, so I had to wait for you." Alice
spoke with a certain emotion in her voice, though neither she nor Marisa could tell what it
was.
To Alice, it was mere loneliness.
To Marisa, it sounded aggressive. Everything does.
[BGM : Love-Colored Master Spark]
"Stardust!" Marisa cried.
Alice quickly moved to the left and began using her dolls as weapons, firing small
round magic bullets in Marisa's direction. She didn't want to hurt her, but couldn't remain
passive. Marisa would become too tired to fight eventually, but Alice did not have time to
wait. Marisa produced a small magatama and put away the other artifact she had gotten from
a youkai shop-owner.
Alice's dolls continued to fire magic bullets towards Marisa, while Alice herself
focused on avoiding large, star-shaped clouds flying out of Marisa.
The stardust eventually faded, and Marisa flew directly in front of Alice with a
mischievous smile on her face as usual.
"Please, Marisa...." Alice pleaded, but her current foe refused to halt.
"Magic sign - Non-directional laser!"
Four narrow beams of magic rotated around Marisa, forcing Alice to ascend higher in
the sky, and then drop down again as the lasers re-adjusted their angle.
Alice gave up trying to convince Marisa, and began to fight much harder, but still
holding back tremendous amounts of power. "Shanghai, go." The red-dressed doll flew in
front of Alice and emitted a powerful orange beam of magic at Marisa, to no avail as the
rotating Non-directional lasers turned the other direction and absorbed the doll's magic.
Alice briefly considered opening her magical book - the Grimoire - but then decided against
it, declaring it unnecessary and too drastic. She didn't want to hurt Marisa, just talk to
her.
Eventually, the Non-directional laser died down, and Marisa began breathing heavily.
She fell a little lower, supported only by an enchanted broom.
"Finally. Marisa, can we please talk?" Alice calmly asked.
Marisa agreed to Alice's request, and they both returned to the little cottage Alice
lives in. "I don't hate you Marisa. Get that silly notion out of your head. Forget our
battle and just have some tea, alright?" Alice brought Marisa a plate and freshly poured
tea, still almost boiling-hot. Marisa attempted to drink it immediately, burning herself
and dropping the cup out of pain, shattering the cup and sending the tea everywhere.
"I'm sorry, Alice! I didn't...." Marisa suddenly became apologetic.
"That's okay, Miss Kirisame. Hourai, broom." Alice's blue dressed doll camt out of no
where and began sweeping up the shards, putting them on the counter, and arranging them
into a 3-D puzzle.
"That is incredible, Miss Margatroid. I never imagined your dolls were that skilled."
It was odd for Marisa to be so polite.
"Thank you, Marisa. I live alone, after all, so I learned to control my dolls rather
skillfully." Alice couldn't help but blush, even if just a little, at Marisa's unexpected
politeness. "But, I brought you here to talk."
Alice tried to return the conversation to normal, but Marisa was impatient.
"Speaking of tea, I've got a teahouse and a certain Chinese lady to visit." With that
final statement, Marisa got up and left the cottage, darting off on her broom, leaving
Alice behind.
Disappointment washed over Alice. She didn't know what it was, but she had something
to say.
Score : 0 for Alice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alone. Again. So Alice set out to find Marisa, followed by a crowd of dolls. Even
with only a small hint to go by, she was determined to find her.
A teahouse and a certain Chinese lady.
She began to look around, asking everyone she found about a teahouse in the area that
Marisa might have been referring to. No one seemed to have the slightest clue. Suddenly,
the wind began to blow from the east. It was a rather cold wind, especially for early
summer. Alice felt something strange in the wind, so she began to suspect something was up.
A few seconds later, the wind died down, and a girl with short, black hair, equally dark
coal-colored pupils, a short dress and height to match, holding ... something. It didn't
look familiar. A little black box with a cylinder attached to the front and a glass lens on
it.
"I am the legendary Tengu reporter, famed Wind goddess Shameimaru Aya!~"
"A reporter?" Alice questioned. "Oh, you mean for that ridiculous Youkai newspaper.
Bunbunmaru news or something?"
"So you do know my name. But... you called me 'ridiculous'. Not fair!" Aya pouted.
"I apologize, Miss Shameimaru. I didn't mean to be offense. Only that well, most
youkai laugh at it. I actually subscribe to your newspaper." Alice began to apologize
profusely. Suddenly, she remembered what she was doing in the first place. "Excuse me, but,
do you know anything about a teahouse and a Chinese lady that would be there?"
Aya was startled by the sudden questioning. Did she know the information requested?
She began to think about any Chinese girls. Nothing recently. Then she considered the
requester. She mocked her newspaper! A sin against all Tengu! Yet, she was a subscriber.
One doesn't subscribe to a newspaper they find 'ridiculous', do they? She remained in her
thinking pose.
Aya suddenly got a twinkle in her eye. And another on the box strapped around her
neck. "I know who you're looking for! A few years back, a red fog covered Gensokyo,
blocking the sunlight. I was busy at the time, so another reporter covered the incident. I
heard Hakurei Reimu and Kirisame Marisa has cleaned up the mess." Alice's curiosity peaked.
"Where was the fog coming from?" Alice inquired from the newspaper girl.
"The Scarlet Devil Mansion." The groundskeeper there is a girl named Hong Meiling.
She is chinese, and runs a teahouse. 'Shanghai Chinese tea'. Perhaps Marisa has business
with the Scarlet Family? I got free time, and think there might be a good scoop here, so
I'll be stalking you." Aya vanished and a light breeze kicked up, and quickly disappeared.
Alice began to head to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, bringing her dolls "just in case".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stage 2
Alice came across a large, partly-frozen lake. She had to cross this lake to get to
the Scarlet Devil Mansion. But, should it be taking this long? "Where ... am I?" Alice
wondered out loud. The weather got cold again. This time, it wasn't the wind. The very
atmosphere was chilling. Alice knew of the Scarlet Devil mansion, yet she seemed to forget
how to get there. A sudden temperature drop.
"If you can't find your way, perhaps someone is playing tricks on you." A childish
voice rang from an indeterminable direction, bouncing off of sheets of floating ice. A
small, blue fairy appeared in front of Alice. "You look like yoo're in a hurry. Eye suppose
yoo're looking fer someone?"
"Yes, I am. A blonde girl in a black dress, riding a broom and-" The fairy cut Alice
off.
[BGM : Beloved Tomboyish Daughter]
"Say no more! You will sink to the bottom of this lake a frozen icicle!" The fairy
immediately began shooting icicles out of her palms in every direction. That is, except
towards Alice. Alice remained in place until the fairy changed her attacks, coupling beams
of ice with small ice balls. Alice skillfully dodged the fairy's pathetic attacks, not
caring to use her own magic to fight back.
"Why aren't yoo fighting?" complained the childish fairy.
"I don't want to fight, but you won't let me pass, will you? Fine, I'll force you to
leave." Alice grabbed her book, placing one hand on it, holding a doll in the other. She
began muttering under breath, preparing a basic spell. It was only a fairy, after all.
"Force me to? Impossible! Eye'm Cirno, the strongest, most lovable, super fairy
around!" This remark seemed completely false. Well, then again, she did seem to be pretty
strong for a fairy.
"Ice Sign -Icicle Fall"! Cirno shot more icicles out to each side of her, which moved
in a curved path, both sides merging in front of her. The attack was not aimed at much
anything, however, and mostly grazed Alice's dress, failing to do much of anything else.
Alice had completed her counter spell. Streams of magic formed around her and flew
off in an outward spiral, alternating in colors. Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Red.
Yellow. The onslaught picked up steadily, unleashing larger violet spheres of magic aimed
at Cirno, with the rest of the smaller ones spiraling around Alice aimlessly.
Cirno managed to squeeze between several of the larger spheres, but could no longer
see where she was going amidst her own icicles and the flood of magic Alice was shooting in
every direction. A tiny red ball of magic wheels in from the left, slamming right into
Cirno's head, knocking her almost unconscious instantly.
"Sorry, Cirno." Alice apologized, and also felt obliged to point out a mistake in
Cirno's logic. "By the way, ice doesn't sink. Even an idiot would know that."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stage 3
Alice rushed to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, praying to catch up to Marisa. She flew
over a small field of flowers, through a few trees, and near the entrance of a huge stone
building with few windows. Alice knew exactly what happened if she opened the front door.
Instead, she went around back.
After almost an hour, had Alice finally caught up to Marisa? Or was Marisa faster
than Alice had expected. Alice never was very lucky.
One hand on the door handle, the other over her pounding chest, Alice swallowed her
fear and opened the door. Inside, she was startled by what she saw. The inside was
GIGANTIC! She felt like she had shrunk to the size of a pencil in this enormous building.
Was it really that large, or was she just so used to her small cottage that spacious of a
house distorted her perception?
Well, no turning back now. Where did Marisa go in this colossal mansion? Why did she
come here in the first place? How long until Alice was discovered by the guards?
At least one question was about to be answered.
A large troupe of fairies, all dressed in white, stormed Alice from every direction,
sending masses of magic bullets everywhere.
Option 1: Run away.
But then she'd lose Marisa. Besides, going back was impossible.
Option 2: Wait for Marisa to show up and save her.
Yeah, right. That's going to work.
Option 3: Fight.
Yep. Looks like it.
Despite being vastly outnumbered, Alice managed to match the fairies' magic and
eliminate the majority of them. As bad as they were as guards, they were only used for
practicality. The ones they guarded were actually several times more dangerous. Maybe even
as strong as Alice. The mistress here, the Scarlet Devil, is supposed to be even more
powerful. Capable of even defeating the Shrine Maiden. At least, that's the rumor. Either
way, Alice needed to find Marisa, not them, so she wasn't too concerned.
"Looking for something?" A strange, but familiar, voice echoed throughout the
spacious halls.
"No I'm, umm... well, yes. A human magician." explained Alice. Another battle would
likely be the end of her. She knew little about the people who live here, other than not to
aggravate them. Especially not the head maid, Sakuya Izayoi.
"Are you sure you aren't after my mistress?" Sakuya interrogated. "We don't get
guests here often, especially not humans."
"Sakuya, please, just let me be. I need to find her."
"No. You came here without asking."
A large circle of fairies surrounded Alice. They didn't seem hostile, but there was
no running away. She really was unlucky.
[BGM : Lunar Clock ~ Luna Dial]
The drawers opened up, and hundreds of knives began shooting into the air. Alice
began dodging frantically. Her concentration dropped rapidly, but she regained focus
quickly and began counter-attacking. Small blue bullets burst from Alice, energy flowing
off the tips, giving a triangular shape to the shots.
The drawers slammed shut, cutting off the flow of knives. Instantly, more drawers
open up sending hundreds of red-handled knives around Sakuya, forming a dotted sphere.
"This battle has just begun, you annoying little puppet princess. You should know by
now, my mistress hates visitors. They usually try to kill her, you know. And that just
gives me more cleaning to do." Sakuya bitched at Alice.
"Sakuya, I told you already! I'm here looking for Marisa. She came here, and I
followed her. I don't care to see Remilia." Alice tried to defend herself, hoping Sakuya
would calm down and let her continue.
"Time Sign - Jack of Blades"
Sakuya vanished, along with Alice's hopes of persuading her to be left alone. Alice
was surrounded by a large cloud of knives, identical to the one that enveloped Sakuya just
a moment ago. However, those knives had not moved even a fraction of an inch. Alice looked
up and behind her. Sakuya was floating inside a third sphere of knives.
A rush of air. The clang of metal striking metal. Knives were darting towards Alice,
the ones around here spiraled inwards, and the ones surrounding Sakuya aimed downward and
flew at tremendous speed toward Alice.
Six dolls surround Alice and all fired magic, either groups of bullets or in solid
lasers, aimed directly at Sakuya, while simultaneously acting as shields. The rotating
knives flying in every direction from multiple centers left Sakuya trapped inside her own
offense. She remained motionless inside her sphere of knives, sustaining heavy damage from
Alice's magical attacks.
The damage Alice caused rapidly dwindled down the spell card, eventually capturing
it. All of the knives, no longer effected by the flow of the spell, fell straight to the
floor. Yet, not a single one suffered so much as a scratch. In fact, they all landed
pointing up.
Alice, however, continued her barrage. She focused as many dolls on Sakuya as she
could, while keeping Hourai on the fairies surrounding the dueling pair. The knives on the
ground launched into the air, controlled by a flow of magic, although not by a spell. They
were not aimed at any particular area, but were numerous enough to hit most of Alice's
dolls, with a few impaling Hourai in the back. The dolls ceased to fire. Sakuya began
panting.
"That's enough." Sakuya declared. "I can't fight anymore, but neither can you. I'll
declare you the victress, but only because I need to finish cleaning. Otherwise, my
mistress will get mad at me again."
"Thank you for your kindness, Sakuya." Alice said, afraid of further enraging Sakuya
later if she stayed too long.
"Bear in mind, one simple thing. No humans live or work here, besides myself and the
gatekeeper. Only Devils. You would be wise not to hang around for much longer, unless you
plan on death." Sakuya flew off, leaving Alice to resume her search in relative peace.
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