Kept you waiting, huh?
Probably not a lot of old readers still following this one, but since there’s new Ran Lore ™ I have been called from the depths to return once again.

For those that’d like to catch up, it’s not too long a story and is just two threads for now. Here’s the first thread >>30152, while this is the second.

Quick recap:
Thief gets in trouble with magical mafia on the outside, takes on task to absolve his debts by stealing one single hair off of Ran’s tail. Gets rescued by Reimu upon arrival, manages to get his bearings in the village and with much effort was able to pierce through Mayohiga into the Yakumo household in one fell swoop. After a bit of cat and mouse, he gets caught by Ran and promised a hair if he provides aid in certain tasks. SDM and Seija make some appearances – but ultimately everything is put on hold when the events of LoLK happen.

With the goal of helping the incident resolvers get to the culprit as is required, the duo sets off and end up in the Lunar Kingdom. The MC gets badly weakened after a fight with a fairy, and now they have to decide their next steps.

[X] Implore Ran to look around and pillage a bit of stuff. I may have gotten a nifty drum already, but surely there could be more things lying around?
[X] No pillaging. There was simply no time to waste, a shock team of fairies could drift in at any minute and I was little more than deadweight at this point.

Tie! Quick scramble for what’s around, and then make a swift getaway.

[X] Let her decide, long as it may take. Plus, I was curious as to why she was taking so long to do so. Waiting for her might shed some light on the matter.

Turns out Ran took around 7 years to decide.

With a weak wave, I gestured at our surroundings.

“Mind… grabbing a bit of whatever’s valuable while you think?” I said weakly. “Chances like this don’t… well, they don’t exactly swing by every millennia.”

Ran shot me a baleful stare but started sifting through the detritus of the room. I could almost hear the thoughts buzzing behind her eyes, that supernaturally sharp mind of hers considering all her options with breakneck speed. You’d think that she’d come to an answer in an instant – but there always seemed to be something preventing her from making that final decision. But at least her hands remained active, snatching interesting looking artifacts and stashing them into her billowing sleeves.

Finally with some effort of will, she breathed in deeply and said, “We’re retreating. The incident is in good hands, and we need to get to somewhere safe. You in particular.”

That’s it?

“A cunning plan from our daring strategist,” I remarked, ignoring another glare. “Though to be serious, is that it? With how much time you spent pondering I thought you were scheming something up fancy.”

Ran snorted, and before I could prepare myself I was jostled roughly on her shoulders. I squawked in pain and hung limply on her back while she started on her spellwork for the return journey. With a few muttered words and several handsigns, a faint indigo circle appeared in the air, along with the dull hum of a barrier being pierced.

“I am above all else, a shikigami,” said Ran with gritted teeth. “I work best within the parameters set for me by my master, and thanks to someone we are way off base from the norm. So shut your mouth and instead be grateful that I’m not leaving you’re here for the fairies.”

A tear appeared in the air, and Ran drifted through with soundless ease. It was textbook boundary manipulation, done by a master of their craft that was reopening the way we came. So it was incredibly surprising when it all went sidewise.

Literally.

Dimensions shuddered and we tumbled in midair. The vectors changed as we passed through, and the void like blackness of the in-between was suddenly overlayed with a matrix of red gridlines. But even with my rising fear, the space seemed nostalgic to me somehow, even with how eerie it felt. Like something half remembered. Half noticed.

Like she had always been there, a lady stepped in front of us, pirouetting as she did so. She wore a long, red night cap, and a black and white dress decorated with a smattering of cotton balls. But more than anything, she was wearing the smuggest smile that I have ever seen. It was the perfect mix of “I know something that you don’t”, “I’m going to enjoy this”, and “things have happened exactly how I want them to”.

Ran drew back warily. “Lady Doremy Sweet. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

The lady – Doremy? – conjured up a soft pink cushion and lounged on it, the grin still on her face. When she spoke, it was a wistful, sleepy tone that both calmed me and set me on edge. With the mess of confusing emotions in my head, I could only listen.

“Yakumo Ran,” she purred. “You pass through the equivalent of my backyard both ways, and never even stop to say hello, or even acknowledge the mistress of her realm. I thought Yukari taught you better.”

There was a strained, awkward pause. With some hesitation, Ran curtsied and bowed her head. “Lady Doremy Sweet, mistress of the Dream World. It was not our intention to trespass. The Lunar Capital - ”

Doremy waved her off. “Yes, yes, I know. The passage was my creation, and I’ve already made my greetings to the previous group that have passed through. It was why I wasn’t able to catch you two on the first go. I do not mean to tease, but you have to understand that I rarely get visitors that are… fully aware of their arrival, if you catch my drift.”

She stood up, and the pink cushion she lounged on suddenly transformed into a psychiatrist’s couch, floating over to us as if carried on a gentle breeze. It settled in front of us with a dull thump, despite there being no ground underneath it.

“And you have the most interesting dreams, my dear Ran. And I would love to go over them with you, without interference from that meddlesome busybody you call a mistress. The boy can sit in if you’re comfortable of course; but I can also have other entertainment provided for him. He’s not dreamt much since his arrival, and I have many interesting things to show him.”

Ran immediately bared her fangs and I could see her fingers sharpen into claws. “You are not welcome in my head, Doremy. Not in a million years.”

Instead of being deterred, a gleam appeared in Doremy’s eyes. “Excellent response. However, I can give an offer for you… we are somewhat operating under Gensokyo rules, after all.”

[ ] Danmaku battle. We’ve both had previous bouts that have drained us, roughly to an equivalent degree. If you win, I let you pass. If you lose, we’ll have our talk.

[ ] Just talk with me. Trust me, it’ll be beneficial.

[ ] Make a run for it. Go on, I dare you.

Ran is leaning towards the first, but feel free to agree with her or nudge her towards the others.

[X] Danmaku battle. We’ve both had previous bouts that have drained us, roughly to an equivalent degree. If you win, I let you pass. If you lose, we’ll have our talk.

There was a part of me wanted to push for a bit more caution, but the look on Ran’s face made it run for the hills. Days' worth of frustrations gathered in the knots atop her brow, and a suicidal man I was not – if Ran wanted to fight, I would not be the one to stand in front of the onrushing avalanche.

Besides, I have not yet seen a “proper” spellcard duel since I enter Gensokyo, so I had to admit that I was curious. Those that were in the know in the outside world scoffed at the concept, comparing it to toothless slapfights; but few humans beyond the border could muster the rumored requirements of power that danmaku required. When any scrap of the supernatural was protected so hungrily and desperately, the sheer amount of energy that went into spellcards must have seemed a colossal waste, giving rise to disgust borne from impotent jealousy.

Stuck in her own stormy thoughts, Ran gently lay me down onto the floating couch but did not take her eyes off of her adversary. “First to three hits,” she said coolly. “I’ve better things to do than to entertain your prying questions.”

Doremy snorted lightly. “Oh, come now. Who else would you be able to talk to about those dreams in your head? Your shikigami? Your master? You’ll be stuck brooding for months, just like you already have been for years. I do have a non-disclosure clause you know, I’ll never speak a word--”

“I’ll declare first,” Ran interrupted, ignoring everything that the lady said. “Shikigami Sign, ‘Banquet of the Twelve General Gods’!”

With a flare of light from a palmed card in her hands, the fox youkai erupted in power. Twelve shimmering magic circles spread out onto the battlefield, blazing with light. Bolts of power filled the dream realm, and Ran herself dove after Doremy in hot pursuit.

Doremy was almost too slow to react, narrowly dodging out of the way of Ran’s initial barrage and haphazardly escaping along the noncorporeal edges of her dream realm. She righted herself swiftly, and with a muted shout of “Dream Sign, ‘Indigo Dream of Anxiety’!” battle was fully joined, and the sky was filled with magic.

I could only watch open mouthed. Even as handicapped as I was, I could be counted rare among thousands in terms of magical aptitude outside the barrier. With the slow withering of faith and belief came the degeneration of all things magic. When even the most powerful of mages could barely conjure a rainstorm, what I now saw was like seeing the divine in action. Awe inspiring. For a person who still struggled to light candles on a good day, this was… indescribable. Surprisingly, I felt no jealousy, or resentment. It would have been like being disappointed that I could never grow as tall as a mountain. The yawning gulf of difference between those inside the border, and those on the outside was vast enough to hold oceans.

The two beings sped after each other is a dazzling display of agility and speed. But as they moved ever higher up into the sky, a slightly transparent looking Doremy appeared and flopped down onto the couch next to me. A clone? A projection?

“What are you – shouldn’t you be… I don’t know, concentrating on the fight?” I asked hesitantly, scooting backwards a little. The Doremy copy shrugged and yawned in response.

“Well,” she mused. “The funny thing about dreams is that your mind is doing most of the work here anyway. And I’ve tussled with her master before. You think that I’ve come into this without any chance of winning?”

I shrugged uneasily and sat up. “I’m not quite sure. It’s hard to imagine Ran losing, but then again I’m not the most knowledgeable about how Gensokyo’s fights usually go.”

“Oh? Oh of course, you’re a newcomer.” She smoothly stood up from the couch, and did a quick, teasing curtsy. “Where are my manners? I’m Doremy Sweet, ruler of the Dream World – but without much subjects to actually rule over, you can think of me more as a manager here. Ran made mention of my title during our talk, but I think it’s best that I introduce myself on my own terms.”

Ah, Gensokyo. Where you could run into gods and their equivalents on your way to lunch and meet the devil on your way back. Not trusting my weak legs, I bowed as best as I could from my position on the couch. Doremy smiled evenly.

“Ran seemed surprised to see you.” I said carefully. In response, Doremy chuckled.

“She shouldn’t be. Girl’s always been a dreamer, so I know her well. Besides, she had to have known she’d attract my attention by going through the Dream World like this. The fact that she didn’t prepare for this possibility means that it was spontaneous – and it’s been a while since Ran did ‘spontaneous’.”

There was a sudden flash of power and Doremy’s head arched back with a snap, like she had been hit by a sudden uppercut. Twin echoing shouts of pain came from both the Doremy in front of me, and the one still dueling Ran in the skies above.

“…that is to say,” continued Doremy as she brought her head back, and cracked her neck like nothing had happened, “she even chose to fight me, despite the fact that she’s still pretty injured underneath that illusion of hers. She’s throwing all her shikigami programming out the window and I’m positively salivating to hear the details.”

I looked warily at the smoking burn mark that had suddenly appeared on her jawline… and decided not to comment on it. In the distance, I could hear the other Doremy declare, “Dream Sign ‘Dream Catcher’!” The skies above became covered in a canopy of bolts, crisscrossing together like a net, and Ran was forced to back off with a spin to avoid being caught.

“I’m not sure if I can share anything,” I replied awkwardly.

Doremy waved me off airily. “Please, I’m not here to needle you about details on Ran. It would be so unsporting. I’ll either get my session with her fair and square, or get some excellent insight just from this battle alone. Watch this.”

A circle of bolts had emerged into place around Ran, posed to strike, and she instinctively lunged out of the way in a rush but was immediately caught in the trap that followed. The bolts were not aimed inwards, but outwards, and in making her escape she was struck in the back and sent flying a ways off. After a roar of rage, she screamed, “Shiki Brilliance, ‘Charming Siege from All Sides’!”

“Did you see that?” commented transparent Doremy, as interlocking patterns of bullets flew from Ran’s fingertips, hemming her opponent in. “Ran’s always been more on the calculating, clinical side. In the past I never would have been able to get her with a trick like that. Now though? She’s hasty. Rushes into things.”

The dueling Doremy took a higher position in the air and made a dash across the sub plane to escape Ran’s closing net. Ran followed close on her heels, and I could hear them whizz by overhead like fighter planes in formation. The wind kicked up from their flight reached me a moment later. I shielded by eyes from the breeze and said, “So you waited here to ambush her to what, psychoanalyze her? Is that it?”

There was a sudden, sharp flash of light. The transparent Doremy winced and her hands went to her waist, where a tear in her dress opened up, revealing a small grazing mark on her midsection. From the far distance, I could hear Ran howl in triumph.

“Hmm,” hummed Doremy, poking at her side. “She’s much rougher around the edges, but still very difficult to deal with.” She turned to me with a sly grin. “And yes, as I’ve mentioned before: few visit me with intention and even less visit consciously. Imagine that you’ve read a thousand books, but never have a chance to discuss a single one with anyone else. Why did they write it this way? What did the metaphors mean? I can only talk about these dreams with their owners, and yet it is essentially impossible to do so. What, am I to barge in and strike up a discussion when they are seeing themselves naked in class for the third time that month?”

‘Super-Express "Dream Express"!’ shouted the other Doremy.

I grimaced. Doremy had baited Ran over after her hit, and immediately announced a new spellcard. A huge beam of light split the skies of the Dream World, and Ran was unable to dodge in time. I could see her robes smoke from the impact as she tried to dodge the following volleys. Her movements were more erratic now, like she had lost a bit of her laser sharp focus. She had gone into this already wounded after all, and the encounter with the fairies had definitely not aided her recovery.

“I guess I see what you mean,” I conceded. “But are you actually planning on helping her as well? Did you mean it when you said that she wouldn’t regret it?”

Doremy let out a short, sharp laugh. “Oho! That’s an excellent question, and very straight to the point. And one that I also have a very direct answer to. Want to hear it?”

“…Yes?”

“YES! By all that is divine, yes.” Doremy palmed her face and sighed, but her expression slowly morphed back into her usual smug, knowing smirk. “Have you ever been the victim of a story that’s moving way too slow? A horror that’s laying it a bit too thick on the atmosphere, a romance that is setting up unnecessary misunderstandings eight times in a row, or that story where the prince just can’t make a decision on whether or not to kill his uncle? That is where we are at with Ran. Anything would be an improvement from the rut she’s gotten herself into right now. Do you understand?”

“Lady Doremy,” I said carefully. “I’ve barely known her for days –”

“Then you’re something new, fresh and therefore have some leverage. Make her actually get somewhere and save us all the pain.” Doremy stood up and stretched, then looked back at me. “That’ll be all, I think. I need to really concentrate for this one.”

Ran’s next words reached me like a clear clarion call. “’Illusion God, "Descent of Izuna-Gongen’!"

The first thing that happened was that the transparent Doremy disappeared immediately, as the lady gathered all her conscious parts in grim preparation. The second, was that the skies became ablaze with spellwork. Like someone had took a match to a pyre in heaven. Blue, indigo, cerulean, red and yellow energy coursed across the sky, and in the middle of it all was Yakumo Ran, channeling the might of a god.

Doremy wove and dove, the cheerful smile never leaving her face. But her eyes were now set in concentration, trying to outlast the massive expenditure of energy that Ran was clearly going through in order to maintain the spellcard. Ten seconds passed, then twenty. Then thirty. Both sides struggled to push the other over the edge.

Then finally, it was Doremy who blinked first. With just the slightest slip of concentration, she was finally struck by a large bolt of red and tumbled a few times in the air. From where I stood, I could see her look over herself – the slightly singed hat and dress clearly showing that the third hit had landed. Panting, Ran stopped her spellcard as well. Silence stretched across the sub-plane, replacing the previous sounds of hectic combat.

Doremy groaned audibly, and snapped her fingers. The red matrix overlaying the Dream World shuddered and started to fade. With a lazy, but grudging, nod towards Ran, the ruler of the Dream World started to disappear gradually as well. But not before she left one last call into the void.

“Remember what I said to you!”

…and what the heck did Doremy mean by that, I wondered. She said a whole, whole lot to me in a rambling mess. But before I could ponder the meanings behind her cryptic message, I was swept up in the arms of a delighted Ran and we shot through the air like a loosed arrow.

“And how was that?!” she crowed, sending us twirling through the air. “Beating the Mistress of Dreams on her own turf. With only half of my blood in me, to boot!” She grinned at me, and it was like years had faded from her face. I could see the expression of someone that ran roughshod and wild, eager to kick down doors and take names. I could see someone who shone with brilliance, lived for the next thrill, with dreams and glorious visions of what the future would look like. And underlying all of that? The universal expression of ‘I’ve still got it.’

She might have noticed the look on my face, because she quickly cleared her throat, glanced away and started on a more conventional flight path with myself in tow. She coughed, cleared her throat again, and said, “W-well. It’s been… a while since my last formal duel. Usually I just get pulled in to support my mistress in her own.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to make any comments as of yet. As we continued to fly, our surroundings started to lighten up in color, and through the blue edges of the immaterial I could start seeing trees, and mountains. We were seamlessly starting to exit the Dream World back into Gensokyo. I thought back to the hues of danmaku I just witnessed, so different from the curses, charms and calculated thaumaturgy I knew back home. They seemed so small, so petty now.

“Ran?” I said, with a pause. “That was really impressive. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve seen anything so amazing in my life.”

A small grin appeared on her face, and this time she made no effort to hide it.

It’s been a long day, and we should find somewhere to recharge and rest. Ran proposed three options for us to settle down, and wait for the (hopefully) good news that the incident resolvers would bring back.

[ ] The night sparrow’s grilled lamprey stall. With the moon rising, this would be a nice place to sit, eat and get updates from the local youkai.
[ ] The human village. The more supernaturally inclined residents were surely keeping track of the situation. We could grab something to eat, and also check in with the humans on what they thought of the situation.
[ ] Hakurei Shrine. We could keep watch of the shrine grounds for Reimu, and welcome the resolvers back if (when?) they succeed. We’ll also be able to get news from the residents still on the grounds.

The small forest clearing was humming with chatter, and I could smell something mouthwatering well before the stall came into view. Along the front of the foodcart were several stools at the bar, but many of the patrons took seats at the rickety tables at the cart’s sides. Some customers were clearly youkai, but surprisingly a decent number of human customers were there as well. They didn’t look too nervous either, except for some side eyes towards the other tables. Clearly this was somewhere that could be considered a neutral ground of sorts.

My vision became to darken around the edges, and I felt a brief spike of panic before Ran groaned and slapped me gently on the back of the neck. My eyesight recovered immediately and I could only blink in bewilderment.

“That Mystia…” said Ran with a shake of her head. “She already runs one of the more popular destinations in Gensokyo, but she still likes hanging onto her old tricks. It’s a con she likes to run, where she inflicts night blindness on you and lifts it after you eat her grilled lampreys. It’s so you’re convinced that you get improved eyesight from her food.”

“…does she still believe the con is working?”

Ran shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe she’s doing it out of tradition at this point. Or maybe she’s doing it to squeeze some extra belief out of humans as a mischievous youkai. She’s really come into her own as a businesswoman.”

As we stepped into the clearing and came fully into view, a small hush fell over the customers. It reminded me of how schoolchildren would quiet down when a teacher entered the classroom. Ran paid them no mind and went up to the counter, and the conversations gradually restarted themselves. It went a bit uneasily, but the people seemed to be calmed that Ran wasn’t there for them specifically.

“Hello!” chirped the proprietor of the foodcart. Small statured and dressed neatly in a head covering and apron, the only indicator of Mystia being a non-human were her feathered ears and the wings coming out of her back. She picked up a notepad and a brush, looking at us expectantly. “Lady Yakumo, and… oh, someone new? What’ll it be for today?”

In the back another youkai worked the grill, humming and singing as she went. She gave us a quick friendly nod and went back to her work. Under her headwrap was a fluffy pair of what looked like dog ears.

“Hello Mystia, Kyouko,” replied Ran warmly. “This is Ren, a… contractor that I’m working with at the moment. I smiled and did a small wave. “Let’s go with two of the grilled specials for now. And of course, sake for the both of us.”

“Coming up!” sang Mystia, jotting down the order. Ran slid a small, shiny coin over the counter and Mystia’s eyes widened in response. Mine did as well – the markings on the coin looked distinctively lunarian.

“This can’t be…” The bird youkai picked it up hesitantly, nibbled on the edge of the coin and squawked when she saw the small mark from her teeth. “Gold? I… don’t think I have the change for this.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Ran smoothly. “Consider it a small gift. We’d appreciate if you could give us your best for tonight. It’s been a long and trying day for the both of us.”

Mystia nodded vigorously. “Definitely! I’ll give you two a lot of everything, along with some of the finest sake I’ve made in a good while. Take a seat and I’ll have Kyouko bring everything over. Thank you!”

As Mystia returned to help Kyouko at the grill and ready the drinks for us, we found a table for ourselves. I shot a questioning glance at Ran, and she rolled her eyes in response.

“I’m in the mood for a big meal, and if the lunarians are willing to help with the expenses then who am I to say no? I’d have to go back home for my wallet otherwise.” While she spoke, she started unpacking what I realized were our ill-gotten gains from the moon onto the table. It was a bit… brazen for my tastes, but I realized that Ran had whipped up a small perception barrier over the surface of the table, so casual passersby would have their attention diverted elsewhere.

It was a mix of some older coinage, some very expensive looking ceramics, and a collection of eclectic looking objects. There were four that stood out. One looked like a long, silken scarf. The second, looked like a small, delicately lacquered bowl. The third looked to be an absolutely delectable looking peach, sealed in a glass jar. Then finally, she also took out the drum that I had used against the fairies, and placed it alongside the others.

“I did some quick reads on what these were on our way here,” continued Ran. “I personally could see some use in all of them myself, but none of them I would quantify as a must-have; so I’m comfortable in doing a two-two split with you, considering all that has happened.”

I poked at the silken scarf warily. “None as a must-have? Was our haul that bad?”

Ran shook her head. “No. To the contrary, I was very surprised by the quality of what we got. We must have broken into the living quarters of someone of means, or some sort of private collection. I could replicate many of the effects of these artifacts using my own magical knowledge, but the fact remains that just having them as is is an incredible boon and a nice shortcut. Let me go over them one by one.”

She pointed at the silken scarf first. “That is a hagoromo, a ‘feather shawl’ usually used by hermits or nymphs in the divine realms. When worn, it is capable of granting the powers of flight. If you aren’t able to find an independent way of traveling through Gensokyo on your own, this could be a valuable choice.”

Her finger then moved on and pointed at the next object, the lacquered bowl. “From what I can tell, this is a small version of what is called a ‘Treasure-Gathering Pot’. It will steadily duplicate what is placed in it, be it rice, coins or even other valuables. The speed it does so is based on the rarity of the object placed, and so while I could see new coins being generated overnight, diamonds or other gemstones would probably take a bit more time. If it were something like sake or rice, it would be akin to a constant lifetime supply. A thief’s dream.”

Then she took the jarred peach and placed it in the middle of the artifacts. “This is a unique one: a divine peach. Eating it would grant a form of immortality for those already on the path to it.” She caught the look in my eyes, shook her head and laughed. “Not true immortality, which makes you impervious to all lasting harm. More accurately, for youkai and powerful beings it would significantly stop aging. For humans that haven’t had prior training in the Taoist or Dharmic arts, it would probably give you a significant amount of extra decades, boost your health and possibly save your life if you were significantly injured.”

“Something to think about,” I pondered. And the drum?”

“The drum is perhaps the most straight forward of all of them - a Raijin drum.” Ran’s fingers traced over the tomoe symbols over its surface, sending small sparks flying across the table. “Capable of taking your power and channeling it directly into lightening blasts, it’ll allow you to punch high above your weight class. Or at least, make deterrence possible.”

She motioned towards the two youkai cheerfully working the grill. “For example… let’s be honest, you couldn’t take either of those sweet girls in a fair fight. But with this? You could potentially take them by surprise, or scare them enough to force them to run.”

I looked at Mystia, who was bobbing her head to music that I couldn’t hear as she worked the grill. She looked tiny and harmless, but if Ran was correct she could probably fold me into a pretzel if I gave her a reason. Kyouko on the other hand was walking over with our food and sake. With a quick sweep of Ran’s arm everything on the table disappeared into the fox youkai’s robe like they were never there.

“Enjoy!” Kyouko exclaimed loudly with a wink, placing the plates of food on the table with quick, practiced movements. She made a small bow and hurried back to the stall to help out her colleague.

Ran snorted, grabbing a skewer from her plate. “If Byakuren knew that she was still doing this…”

“Byakuren?” I asked. I tried out my own skewer, and it was absolutely wonderful. I had to stop myself choking from eating the lamprey slices too fast.

“Head of the Myouren Buddhist temple? Heard of them?” Ran bit into her lamprey with a satisfied sigh, before continuing. “Nominally, Kasodani Kyouko works as a priest-in-training in the temple under her tutelage. The temple follows a variant of Shingon Buddhism customized for youkai, but one of the biggest rules are still to steer away from meat and alcohol. The fact that Kyouko actively participates in making it and selling it is not a good look.”

“Well, they are youkai. I would guess that just abstaining from harming humans would have been a significant leap for them,” I replied.

“That’s true,” said Ran with a small shrug. “And Byakuren has always been wily under that serenity of hers. There’s a chance that she knows, but is turning a blind eye. You know why she went with the Shingon Sect? Because it promotes the idea of reaching enlightenment in a single lifetime, and for youkai that already live long lives it sounded like a more plausible fit. She chose the right product to market. If she chose the usual Theravada and Mahayana sects, the emphasis on cycles of reincarnation would have turned them away.”

I understood maybe half of those words. I took a sip of sake and asked, “What’s the difference, exactly?”

“Too many to count,” laughed Ran, placing down one of her finished skewers. “But the gist of it is that Theravada is the roughest. Enlightenment through cycles of reincarnation only. Mess up, and you drop down the karmic ladder. Human realm, anim-animal realm, hungry ghost… anyway.” She looked away off into the distance. “On the other hand, major portions of the Mahayana sect allow for the idea that bodhisattva will help uplift you out of the cycles, and train you outside the realms in the Pure Lands. Where you can gain enlightenment and find your true being in peace.”

“You’re… very knowledgeable about this,” I said, around the lip of my sake cup. I thought hard about how to phrase the next question, before giving up. “So… which one is true?”

Ran laughed. “Ren, this is Gensokyo. All of them are true.” Taking another skewer, she munched on it before giving me a more contemplative look. “In practice however, it’s a matter of belief and jurisdiction. You’ll need to ask the Yama for more details. And I would not advise you to do so – I don’t have a healthy outlook on the amount of sins you have.”

I blanched. “She wouldn’t punish me directly, would she?”

Ran made an ambiguous, wandering wave of her hand. I eyed her sake bottle, and realized that she had worked her way through most of it. “No. But she’ll give you an hours long lecture, and tell you in no uncertain terms your eventual fate if you don’t change your ways. But I know your like – you won’t ever change from something like that. You’ll think about getting struck into one of the hells or the lesser realms as some sort of challenge that you could work your way out of.”

Kyouko came over with two large bowls of oden, with a selection of fishcakes, konjac and daikon in each. She made another exuberant, happy bow, before returning back to the foodcart. Ran chuckled.

“Full of energy, that one. Where was I? Oh yes.” Ran took a sip of the dashi broth. “It’ll seem like nothing but another hurdle. Before I started working for Lady Yukari, I was like you. I reveled in being able to do what I wanted, act however I wanted. Everytime I glared across the room in the Gouyok— I mean, my uh… group of ne’er do wells, I could feel them piss themselves inside. I commanded respect everywhere I went. When I led them on raids deep into enemy territory, they hung onto my every word like gospel.”

Her eyes gleamed, reminiscing. “Nothing was out of my reach. There were those that tried to stop me, but we all knew that if I truly wanted something nothing would stand in my way.” She seemed to catch herself, and hastily added, “But well, the excitement fades after a while. You’ll need to find a purpose for yourself, something that goes beyond the day-to-day desires.”

Another colorful group of youkai made their way into the clearing. They were composed of a sort of wolf youkai pushing a wheelbarrow with a mermaid in it, and another one with red hair who had several of her own heads floating alongside her. Upon seeing Ran the wolf youkai came to a sudden halt, and the whole group stopped as one, hesitating. Ran sipped at her sake idly.

“I’m not here on official business, Kagerou,” said Ran, as casually as I’ve ever heard her. “I would appreciate some news from the Network, however.”

The wolf youkai nodded nervously, her long reddish black hair shaking behind her. “Whatever you say, Lady Yakumo. The fairies have quieted down, and it seems that the metal spider on youkai mountain has disappeared. We thought it safe to come out from our homes now.”

“Hmm. Anything else? Hear from the Hakurei miko, or see her coming back?”

Kagerou shook her head this time. “No. I believe that Lady Reisen Udongein has returned to Eientei, however. I think that the general gossip is that she had been traveling with the others.”

“Sound promising. Thank you, Kagerou,” said Ran. She bowed her head slightly, and Kagerou did a deep curtsy in response. The group of three excused themselves and chose a table far, far away from our own.

I watched this all happen, and once the youkai had reached their table I leaned in for a light whisper. “What the heck did you ever do to them? They looked like they were talking with a mafia don.”

Ran made a noncommittal sound in her throat. “My master ensures that the Yakumo name carries weight, and I take full advantage of that. But enough of this, we went off on a side tangent that went for a bit too long. What would be your top picks for your artifacts of choice?”

Pick two from the four below:

[ ] The Hagoromo, for extra mobility and the ability to fly in Gensokyo
[ ] The Treasure Gathering Pot. Theoretically, unlimited riches and resources that would appear in a steady stream.
[ ] The divine peach, for extra decades added to lifespan and as a potential life saving medicine in desperate times.
[ ] The Raijin drum, for extra combat power concentrated in a single flash of thunder.

[ ] Write-ins welcome on anything that you want to bring up in conversation.

[X] The Hagoromo, for extra mobility and the ability to fly in Gensokyo
[X] The Treasure Gathering Pot. Theoretically, unlimited riches and resources that would appear in a steady stream

I was uncertain. These artifacts would perhaps weaken considerably if I ever brought them outside the barrier, but they were still leagues above anything that I had even considered stealing on the outside. This could very well be one of the most important decisions I’d ever make in my career. But going over the options in my head, I eventually settled on the two that made the most sense to me.

The first was the hagoromo. Being able to fly was not just an incredible equalizer in Gensokyo; rather, in a supernatural sense not being able to fly was like being constantly on crutches. This would make my life much easier going forward, and was a good pick for me.

The second choice became a bit more difficult. The Raijin drum had been a godsend during my short fight against the fairies, and the power of lightening coursing through my body had been stirring, almost addicting. However, I was still shaking off the soreness from that little stunt, and training to use it effectively likely would take time and effort that I currently didn’t really have. The peach was also amazing – but risk taker that I was, I didn’t much like taking the “safe” option. Having a life saving medicine in my back pocket was all well and good, but in an ideal world I’d be able to avoid those lethal situations in the first place.

And so finally, I went with the Treasure-Gathering Pot. I eagerly poured a little bit of Mystia’s sake into the bowl, and was thrilled to see amount of liquid rise slowly yet steadily inside the vessel. Physics defying magic, just as (the uncountable) god(s) intended.

Ran smirked. “Thought you might go with the pot,” she said, picking at her bowl of oden. “Couldn’t see a thief passing that by. But what surprised me was the shawl. I don’t see you doing a lot of flying outside Gensokyo – it’s way too obvious and magic users don’t take kindly to someone attracting attention like that. Is someone maybe… considering on a longer stay?”

My train of thought went through a minor derailment. She was right, of course. The shawl wouldn’t be completely useless outside the border, but with the amount of precautions needed to use it without being seen, it might as well just be a pretty scarf 95% of the time. Even if I planned on selling it, the scarf would not have fetched the best price for exactly the same reasons. On the other hand, the peach in particular would have made me an incredibly rich man.

“Well… look, I’ve been here for less than a week and I’ve already managed to get these two.” I busied myself pouring some of the sake in the bowl back into Mystia’s bottle, so it became full once again. “Might as well stay for a longer haul. Who knows what kind of stuff I would be able to bump into next?”

“Oh? No… other reasons?”

With her back against the glow of Mystia’s grill, Ran sat lazily, her hand casually swirling her small sake cup to and fro as she looked at me. Her hair was gilded golden by the firelight. The darkness lightly hid her face, but I could see the faintest trace of a smile, along with her gleaming yellow eyes. She took another sip and continued to speak.

“Gensokyo has a pull, you see. It’s no mistake that those that have always felt restless, or without a proper place would find their way in here. Intentionally, or otherwise.”

I laughed drily. “Are you… psychoanalyzing me? Or is this some sort of recruitment drive?”

Ran rolled her eyes and put down her sake cup onto the table. “Sometimes, what I say are just statements, Ren. Is it your upbringing or occupation that caused you to be so suspicious? Come to think of it, I’ve always been kind of curious: was your master in magic also a thief as well or did you pick this up on your own?”

I scowled. Then hesitated. Then sighed. Why not? It’s not like Ran had contacts on the outside that could take advantage of this information.

“I wish I’d been from a clan of magical master thieves, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case,” I muttered. “My talents gave me a unique suitability to help stabilize and facilitate spellwork that other people were casting. It took me several years for me to figure out that it had pigeonholed me into being second fiddle wherever I went.”

Ran gazed at me, expression unreadable. “With the way things are on the outside… you essentially became a glorified assistant, right?”

Mystia came by with another set of skewers, with a delectable selection of pork, beef, and mutton – but no poultry of any kind. I was beginning to sense a pattern. We said our thanks, and I picked up where I left off once she went back to her cart.

“Basically. I was considered pretty harmless among the circles I ran with. Someone who could barely light a candle wouldn’t be a great danger, or be someone to watch out for. I realized could poke around anywhere, and it was just assumed that I was just being called to support someone. It was a bit of time after that when I realized that I could break through wards woven by practitioners decades my senior.”

The first of my sticky fingers came out of spite. Then, they were opportunistic. Soon afterwards, they became planned. I sold ancient treasures and powerful artifacts to the rivals of their original owners. I had a small network of proxies that I conducted business through, and due to my low standing everyone else in the network thought I was just a proxy as well. Surely, I couldn’t be the one behind the string of thefts. That would be like suspecting the highschool dropout of enriching uranium in his basement.

Few major players had ever caught wind, and even then they just had suspicions. Nothing had been a fraction as bad as the last job, a true screwup of biblical proportions.

Maybe sensing a my mood taking a bit of a downturn, Ran patted me on the back and picked up another skewer. “Well,” she began with a thoughtful tone. “I would be a massive hypocrite if I wanted to start moral grandstanding, but—”

The fox suddenly sat up straighter, peering into the darkness of the forest with a laser focused intensity. Taken aback I also sat up as well, unsure whether to prepare to run, or dive under the table for cover.

A lady slowly walked into a clearing on near silent footsteps. She wore a dress of red and blue, with a nurse’s hat perched atop hair of silver white. Her face was fair and ageless, and she could have been any age between twenty or fifty in my eyes, but her eyes radiated a gentle intensity that made me shrink back. In her hands, she held an elegant, ancient looking bow that was nearly as tall as she was.

Unlike Ran, the other beings in the clearing – whether youkai or human - weren’t nearly as tightly wound. They greeted the new arrival with nods, waves, and slightly raised glasses. The lady smiled and waved back, and with their greetings done everyone settled back into their own discussions and food. She was clearly a known figure, and well accepted by all communities.

Of course, she walked onwards, and stopped at our table.

Ran gave her wary nod. “Lady Yagokoro. It is a pleasure to meet you this evening. I… did not think that I would see you outside of Eientei tonight.”

I remembered her name. Eirin Yagokoro. During my initial brief of Gensokyo from Keine, she mentioned the doctor deep in the bamboo forest that could work miracles. But due to the remote nature of her clinic, it was advised that I only ever consider seeing her in person if my situation was truly dire. In any other case, people would just wait in the village to consult with her apprentice, the rabbit Reisen.

Eirin smiled gently. “Miss Yakumo. I’ve heard back from Udongein and confirmed for myself that the danger has mostly passed. And who is this by you? I don’t believe that we’ve ever been introduced.”

Her eyes swung over to me, and I tried not to wilt under her penetrating gaze. “Name’s Yamazaki Ren, ma’am. I’m… helping Ran with some of her work.”

“Most excellent. She probably does the most work in Gensokyo out of everyone – I’ve always been telling her to get a bit of help.” The lady reached out her hand, and hesitantly, I shook it. The underside of her slim fingers were covered in calluses. She cleared her throat lightly, and said, “I run a pharmacy a ways away from here. At the risk of sounding boastful, we could solve anything short of a sudden, violent death. Do keep us in mind in your travels, Mr. Yamazaki.”

I could only nod. “I will, thank you.”

Eirin nodded, pleased, before turning back to Ran. “It’s a marvelous coincidence that we met here, Miss Yakumo. I am looking for directions to your master.”

Ran’s eyes drifted almost imperceptibly over to the bow. Surprisingly, Eirin caught this and chuckled.

“I said that the danger had mostly passed. This is a precaution, and not for her. Of all people, your master would know the value of remaining vigilant in preparation.”

“True,” murmured Ran. I could feel some of the tension ease out of her. “I unfortunately have not had the opportunity to talk to my master since the incident began. I could… let her know that you were interested in a talk, once I find her myself. You know how evasive she can be when she doesn’t want to be found.”

Eirin smiled again serenely. “I understand, and would appreciate that. But now that the incident business is out of the way, something does strike me as odd. You are still…” the doctor’s eyes drifted over to me, before returning to Ran. “…recovering?”

“Well, yes. It’s gradually improving, thanks to your care. The medicine that you prescribed works wonders.”

Eirin took a closer look at Ran. “May I…?” she gestured.

Ran dispelled some of illusion hiding her forearm, which was still bound by bandages. Eirin hummed and touched it lightly in several areas in quick succession, bringing to my mind the dexterity of a master pianist. Ran didn’t wince, but she fidgeted a little bit under the healer’s ministrations. It was clear that they were still painful to a degree. Eirin continued a few more motions, and while they all looked esoteric they also looked extremely practiced. And finally she stopped, her fingers adjusting Ran’s cuffs absently.

“Something is interfering with my work,” commented Eirin quietly.

Ran breathed in sharply. Her gaze snapped to mine, and I reeled from the shocked betrayal, rage, accusations - until she sagged and shook her head. “No. I’m sorry, it makes no sense for you to be doing it. Apologies.”

A part of me understood the logic – I was someone that had came on the heels of those who had attacked her in the first place, and had been by her side this whole time. The most straightforward, Occam’s razor solution would be that I had infiltrated in to be by her side, to make sure that wounds took slower to heal. With my propensity towards subtle magic, Ran could plausibly think that she hadn’t been able to catch my sabotage. But with all that said, there was a bit of me that was slightly hurt by Ran’s immediate doubt. I brushed that aside with effort, and said, “No offense taken. But what could be interfering with it then, Lady Yagokoro?”

Eirin eyed our small exchange but didn’t comment. “Nothing physical. This is magical in nature, similar to that of a curse. I can’t tell you any more than that. Eventually, you will still recover with the help of my medicines, but whoever is on the other side of this curse is dragging the progress back. Otherwise, you would have been hale and hearty by now.”

“Would this be something that you could help with, Lady Yagokoro? Finding what could be behind this?” asked Ran.

The doctor shook her head. “I would not be the best choice. This is not my area of expertise, and by the time I arrived at any conclusions you would be healed, rendering the whole project moot.” Eirin took her hand off of Ran’s arm and patted her gently on the shoulder. “This would require a specialist of curses and magic. You probably know more candidates than I.”

With a curtsy, the Eirin excused herself and warmly extended an invitation for Ran to visit the clinic for a checkup, before leaving the forest clearing as gracefully as she had arrived. As she left, I realized that we were one of the few still left at the tables, and most of the other patrons had already began their way home for the night. Mystia was whistling as put out the charcoal fires in the grill. Kyouko was cleaning up and wiping down the unoccupied tables and chairs.

The two of us rose together awkwardly, both of us having thoughts that weighed heavily on our mind. But Mystia caught none of that as she rushed over with a big smile.

“Thank you so much for your patronage!” She made two quick bows in succession, bright expression never leaving her face. “By the way Ran, Chen would be so happy to learn that you’ve been up and about! It’s been a long time since she’s last seen you.”

Ran nodded slowly. “Chen? You’ve… been meeting her?”

“Of course!” Mystia beamed. “She’s always hanging around the human village nowadays, and I see her when I’m in town to restock on supplies. You could probably find her there easily.”

“…doing something she’s not supposed to, again,” muttered Ran under her breath. Aloud, she said, “Thanks as always, Mystia. I’ll come back around soon.”

With farewells still being shouted out by the proprietress and her assistant, we also made our way to the edge of the clearing. Ran turned her eyes on me, an unasked question on her lips.

What do you want to do from here, ‘Ren’?

When Ran had initially drafted me into helping her, the deal was for me to help her with her tasks. With the incident that sprung up in the middle of all that, that all went out the window and there hadn’t been a clear cut off point for what the full “task” meant. If I wanted to be technical, Ran held all the power here: as a powerful youkai that could easily overpower and coerce me into service, but also as the wronged party from my initial thievery. She could push it – but I thought that we were kind of beyond that at this point. Traveling through disaster together had a way of doing that.

“We could… look for our magician candidates tomorrow,” I said quietly. “I could head back to the village for lodgings, but if you –”

Ran sighed, and it may have been my wishful thinking but I thought I caught a note of relief. “Don’t be silly. My house has more rooms than we know what to do with, and we could certainly spare one for you.”

She tapped my hand, and again I felt her flight enchantment take hold. Probably a good idea, as I was way too tired to play around with my new hagoromo. And with the moon and the stars shining brightly overhead, we flew back in a long, but companiable silence.

Tomorrow, we would look for those experienced in curses and most likely to be able to track down whatever was interfering with Ran’s healing injuries. Here is Ran’s shortlist:

[ ] Patchouli Knowledge. Academically adept and the owner of the largest library in Gensokyo. A great pick for a thorough, methodical look at the problem and getting a solution.
[ ] Kirisame Marisa. The top magical “contract worker” in Gensokyo, she has an impressive degree of street smarts in regards to magic, just from the breadth of her wild experiences and experiments.
[ ] Hakurei Reimu. While not the obvious pick, she has an uncanny intuition with supernatural things like this and would intentionally or not, give us insight on the situation. Her abilities as a shrine maiden could also potentially help offset the curse somehow.
[ ] Hina Kagiyama. A misfortune god that would likely not approach the problem through magic, but rather a more divine point of view. Worth considering.

Ran is unsure if the incident resolvers (Marisa and Reimu) would be in full form after their battles, but we could still likely get good answers just from consulting them. On the other hand, I could also propose an option.
[ ] Write-in on who you think is a good pick.

Additionally,
[ ] Write-in on what we should start putting into the Treasure Gathering Pot.

[X] Patchouli Knowledge. Academically adept and the owner of the largest library in Gensokyo. A great pick for a thorough, methodical look at the problem and getting a solution.

[X] Duplicate Reimu's amulet once, then start duplicating Sanae's amulet.

“-ultimately, change is anathema to them. Just as it is natural for a human to grow and change, youkai are naturally always constrained by what humans define them as.”

The two of us were doing… something, as we talked. We were either having tea, or playing chess, or looking over some papers. I could not tell which. We sat on the flat peak of a mountaintop - one amongst many - and the other summits around us were shrouded in mist. I could feel the morning air, crisp and refreshing. My right hand moved: to hold up my cup, to move a piece, or to flip a page… before I formulated a response.

“… I’ll admit, I do not know Gensokyo that well. But from what I’ve heard, don’t some of them change? They either… change slowly, or pick up new traits. Like the kappa and the tengu, aren’t they becoming more modern?”

“Only in a limited sense. The technological inquisitiveness of the kappa has not changed since my birth; and each focus of the different tengu species has remained untouched. The crow tengu are always messengers and info brokers, the white wolf tengu still serve as guards, and the great tengu continue to manage them all. The kappa’s shift to electronics, and the crow tengu’s shift to newspapers are just a way for them to be more readily understood as a concept for the human mind. Given multiple millennia, the core of their being will still remain a constant – unless of course, humanity drafts new, widespread legends about them.”

“You’re saying that the only change they can have is beholden to human belief.”

“Exactly. And before that happens, they are tied to the narrow tracks that guide their actions. A youkai magician will eventually choose to become reclusive – it matters not where they ultimately settle their workshop. An amanojaku will always be contrarian – it matters not what they rebel against.”

This was all oddly familiar, and I could feel this going somewhere. I also felt like I knew exactly where it was going.

“You’re warning me about Yakumo Ran,” I stated.

The other voice chuckled. “Yes. I do not mean to be subtle. Intentionally or not, she will continue to do what her kind always does: manipulate. She might not even know that she’s doing so. It will not, however, change what will happen. Humans in the orbit of a youkai tend to become actors in a stage play, the ones that form the narrative of the youkai’s stories. They rarely end with a pleasant ending.”

“What you say might be true,” I heard myself say. “But she’s aware of what you’re telling me. In fact, she gave me a similar spiel not too long ago.”

“That is not surprising. Those with her years of experience gain a certain degree of self-awareness.” The other figure leaned in closer to me. “However, this self-awareness does not equal the ability to control her actions. Remember this. Be on your guard.”

There was a small cracking sound at the edge of the sky, and dimly the horizon became covered in the familiar criss-cross of red lines, which started to creep ever upwards. My partner in tea? Chess? Reading? Stood up, and brushed off some dust from their cape.

“Looks like our time has come to an end, as my interference has been discovered. Though a dream this may be, I do hope that you manage to retain some of what we’ve discussed. Come find me when you have a chance. I’ve told you my name. At the very least, I hope you will remember that.”

Then the world flashed white, and was no more.

Morning came and went without me being able to make much sense of my dream. Ran and I both slept in late, fatigued from our encounters of yesterday and it wasn’t till close to noon that we both escaped our futons. Breakfast was therefore a simple affair, with Ran making some light rice porridge with her leftover soup stock. It was modest, unassuming, and remarkably delicious. Just the comfort food we needed after our late-night drinking at Mystia’s stand.

The vast mansion that she lived in seemed slightly smaller now, now that I have seen it under the daylight. It had lost some of the haunting wrongness that I had felt during my break-in, and the wrongness was replaced with a certain… janky sort of charm. And as I ate and talked with Ran while she skimmed through the morning paper, I came to an eventual conclusion.

I had absolutely no clue who I had been talking to in my dream.

I could only really remember the tail end of the discussion anyway, and even that was fading away like all dreams are wont to do. I couldn’t remember the exact face or voice of the person across the table. I didn’t even know if it was just a figment created from my imagination, built from all the nonsense of the previous days. Knowing Gensokyo, it could be fifty-fifty either way.

Well, nothing to it. If whoever talked to me existed, they could damn sure find me themselves if it were that important.

“… worthless assumptions and baseless theories,” ground out Ran, placing the newspaper back onto the table. “Even I haven’t managed to get hold of any of the incident resolvers, and Shameimaru just vomits whatever drivel she thinks might have happened onto the page. This is worse than useless.”

I nudged the paper towards myself and picked it up, quickly scanning through the headlines. ‘Ancient Metal Jorogumo Defeated by Gensokyo/Lunarian Alliance?’ What?”

“Ignore it. Literally worth less than the ink and the paper it’s printed on. We’ll find out the actual facts once we actually talk to some of the incident resolvers.” Ran sniffed and started clearing the table, and I moved to help. And that was breakfast done. As we cleaned, I placed my red amulet into the new Treasure Gathering Pot, then used some newspaper to act as a lid to prevent it from falling back out. With luck, given one or two days I may have a copy. Then I’ll try the green one.

After a bit of housekeeping, it was finally time for us to make our way to Scarlet Devil Mansion. The decision of who to consult was a bit of a toss-up between Marisa and Patchouli, but eventually we settled on the safer, more established option: Patchouli Knowledge, the Unmoving Great Library. In terms of sheer knowledge, she was the best bet to have a lead on what we could do. Besides, a lot had happened yesterday and we had no idea if Marisa was available to meet us.

Once we made our way back through the barriers into Gensokyo, it was time. I played around with a few options on how to wear my new hagoromo feather shawl. Traditionally you would let it drape over your shoulders, and the thin scarf would somehow begin to drift lightly behind you in a loop as you flew. A bit too conspicuous, and not really my style. I decided to tie it to my waist as a sash instead. Maybe later on I could work it into my coat somehow, but as of now this was the best option.

Behind me, Ran was trying not to look too amused. I did a few hops, took a deep breath, and drove my will into the sash at my waist.

And thank god I had prior experience from Ran. It was a bit wobbly at first, and a bit floatier than what I had been used to, but after a few minutes I gradually got accustomed to the new speed and acceleration. It was different to the more ‘precise’ flying that Ran had offered me, but hers had always felt a bit like being in pinball in a machine – more calculated vector changing than soaring where the wind took you. The shawl was much different, much more… relaxed, in comparison. After I took flight, Ran followed behind me shortly after and soon we were soaring over the treetops on our way to Misty Lake.

“Do you think that anything will have changed since our last meeting?” I called out.

Ran shook her head. “Incidents come and go in Gensokyo. At most, some of the residents will try to squeeze us for details of what we know. And since what we know isn’t a whole lot, it shouldn’t be a big issue.”

Seeing a small gathering of fairies on the west side of the lake, we aimed our flightpath slightly eastwards to steer clear of them. And soon, with the mansion coming into view we slowed down for the final mile and set ourselves down gently onto the island’s freshly cut lawn. The gate guard Meiling was as usual, standing by the wrought iron gate on her lonesome. She saw our approach and gave us a small wave as we walked up to her.

“Oh my,” she exclaimed. “Good afternoon! It’s rare for people to make return visits to the mansion so soon. I trust that everything is alright?”

Ran gave her a small smile. “In a sense. I’m not here about my previous visit, I have something new that I wish to ask Miss Knowledge. Is she in?”

Meiling snorted. “Is she ever not?” The gatekeeper unlatched the gate and stepped aside. “Sakuya will show you in, and send some notice ahead to Patchouli. She always knows when guests visit the grounds somehow.”

The garden was as impeccable as it was during our last visit, but a significant amount of the fairy maids seemed to be absent among the flowers. Gone were the constant games, pranks, and name calling that I remembered during my last time here. Occasionally I would see a lonely fairy flutter listlessly off somewhere, but it was a far cry from original commotion. I pointed this out to Ran, and she nodded in response.

“It always happens after an incident. Being tied to nature, fairies are extremely sensitive to events that have a major impact on the environment and the flow of magic in general. They crowd up, get into fights, then when they are eventually tired enough they will dissipate. Give them a week or so, and they will reform themselves right as rain.”

“And it’s a nice opportunity to get some work actually done,” said Sakuya, suddenly appearing to my left. I couldn’t even get my reflexes in place to jump in time. “Hello Ran, Mr. Yamazaki. Lady Patchouli has been notified of your arrival and will be waiting for you in her library. Would you allow me to escort you?”

“Please,” said Ran. The silver-haired maid nodded, and took us into the mansion proper.

“Have you talked to your master recently?” asked Sakuya, spinning her pocket watch in a circle around her finger. “She usually makes a statement once an incident is resolved. Trust me, we are all very curious.”

“Of course you all are.” Ran clicked her tongue. “But no, I have not had the opportunity to talk to her yet. And details are scarce on my end as well.”

Sakuya raised an eyebrow “Truly? You don’t know anything about what happened yet?”

The long and wide open halls of the mansion had already been eerie before the incident. Now, without the constant rackets and noises of playfighting fairies it seemed even more creepy in comparison. The red candles shone off the red walls in all their eyewatering gaudiness, and it was perhaps due to this… atmosphere that I detected a slight bit of annoyance in Ran’s response.

“No, I said that details were scarce. I followed the resolvers up until they faced the instigator, but I don’t want to make statements that I haven’t confirmed yet.”

The maid nodded in understanding. “I see. Well, I guess we’ll just have to hear it from your master then. I assume the shrine maiden is going to holding a party, as usual?”

Ran sighed. “It really happens without her consent, but yes. At this point we can chalk that down as a guarantee.”

“Excellent. The mistress will be most pleased.”

Sakuya opened the library doors, and the sheer sense of vertigo it gave me from seeing the skyscraper sized shelves hit me like a tidal wave. It was something I had to learn to get used to in the future. The maid curtsied, and vanished from sight soundlessly.

“If all I do today is field questions about my master…” muttered Ran. She shook her head, seemingly trying to refocus herself. “Enough of this. Let’s find the resident magician so we can solve this small problem we have.”

After walking past a few bookshelves, we saw the mistress of the library seated by her desk with a pair of spectacles perched on her nose. Patchouli looked up as we came into her view, and gave us a calm nod of acknowledgement.

“Surprising to see you two so soon. But it is certainly not unpleasant.” She steepled her fingers and glanced at us from over her glasses. Two chairs were already prepared across from her, and she motioned for us to sit down. “You rarely make unannounced visits, Lady Yakumo. Is there something I can help with?”

Ran quickly launched into an explanation of her condition: her wounds, the medicine from Eientei, and Eirin’s subsequent diagnosis that some sort of magic was hindering her recovery. She did not go into much detail of her attackers, and to her credit Patchouli did not seem interested in asking further either. The magician just asked pertinent questions on when the wounds were afflicted, the speed of healing prior to her care at Eientei, and some other figures. I added in some facts here and there, but my attention was quickly grasped by something that was happening in the corner of the library.

It was Marisa, the black-white witch. Lifting books out of shelves by the handful and depositing them haphazardly into a duffel bag. Judging by the heft of the bag, she’d already been in the library for a decent amount of time already.

Our gazes met.

She quickly lifted a finger to her lips in the universal ‘shush’ gesture. And shamelessly continued on her journey to put as many books of that section into her bags, pockets, and hat.

Uh. Hmm. I… I should:

[ ] Well, we are currently asking Patchouli for a favor. I guess it would make sense if I notified her of the thievery occurring right under her nose?
[ ] Professional pride. No snitching on fellow thieves. Plus, it’ll be Marisa that owes us in the future. We should help distract, hold Patchouli’s attention so she doesn’t look behind her.
[ ] We saw nothing. Whatever happens, we play dumb. Business as usual, pretend to listen to Ran and Patchouli and if anyone asks, we never saw Marisa here. Whatever goes on between the two witches is up to them.
[ ] Write in?

[x] Professional pride. No snitching on fellow thieves. Plus, it’ll be Marisa that owes us in the future. We should help distract, hold Patchouli’s attention so she doesn’t look behind her

I held my tongue as Marisa winked cheekily at me, and continued to pick out books from the shelves and place them in her bag. To her… credit? It didn’t seem like she was just grabbing them at random. She was actually looking at the covers, sometimes skimming through the contents before deciding whether or not to keep them in her ever-growing duffel bag of tomes. This was a woman on a mission for something specific, not just some random smash-and-grab.

“…and therefore, I suspect that your lack of recovery is not due to the medicine’s healing being blocked; but rather, the body’s recovery being stalled, or in the worst case your health continually being drained.” Patchouli took a closer took at Ran’s arm and hummed reflectively. “My hypothesis stands that this is a demonstration of a form of sympathetic magic, wherein two linked objects can share a state of synchronization in status, also know as a “correspondence”. Allow me to share some of my reference materials, like my 17th century manuscript on Voodooist terminology –”

Seeing the mage start to get up (and potentially see Marisa right behind her), I blurted out, “You’re saying that this connection is current? Meaning that someone is doing this, right now? At this very moment?”

Frowning, Patchouli sat back down slowly. “In a sense. Similar to how one would… simmer a stew, certain types of spellwork can be set to go on indefinitely as long as the materials were still active and there was a consistent refueling process for the energy. At that point, little to no maintenance needs to be done in order to keep the magic flowing.”

“I would assume that a large amount of fuel is required for this kind of constant upkeep,” remarked Ran with a furrowed brow.

“That depends on the material they used to establish the connection,” replied Patchouli thoughtfully. “Pray tell, did your… attacker manage to get anything of yours? Clothes would form the weakest link, while skin, blood or hair would serve as better ways to create a correspondence with your body. The more the better, in terms of both quantity and type. The stronger the link, the less energy required.”

Ran and I exchanged glances. I tried my best to keep a guilty look off my face, but was too late to stop the hiss of my breath through clenched teeth. Oh man, this explained a lot about my initial assignment. The first attack on Ran had failed, but the contingency was using the blood spilt during the attack. I was hired as yet another method to strike at her, if I had succeeded in getting a hair to them.

Ran merely let out a weighty sigh. Turning back to Patchouli, she said, “Some blood, they’ve managed to escape with unfortunately. I… stopped the further attempts at my hair.” Her tone became more pointed, but a little humor had crept back into her voice. “And hopefully, the persons assigned will also stop their efforts.”

Message received, ma’am. Guess our agreement for me to eventually get a hair from her just went up in smoke. Now that we had a good guess of what they were planning to do with it, it was perfectly understandable.

Ignoring the small back and forth between the two of us, Patchouli continued. “That would explain much. Blood would help form a decently strong bond, and limit the need for large amounts of magical power. But at the same time, your attackers are still heavily limited in what they can do from afar. Harming you further – for instance, giving you another slice on the arm – would take up so much power that they might as well face you directly, and toss that power at you instead. So now they decide on the middle road, where they will continually prevent you from regathering your strength, while presumably trying to find other mediums that would help establish a stronger link.”

“Is there any way to track them? Or counter their efforts?” Ran asked.

“Yes to both, but neither are simple.” Patchouli put her reading glasses down on her desk, and her robes rustled as she made a move to get up again. “It may take a bit of time, but once we establish a read on the opposing spellwork, options open up for leverage. For instance, if I could show you my book on dowsing –”

Marisa was still almost right behind Patchouli without any cover in between, and was making increasingly elaborate gestures for me to grab Patchouli’s attention again. Jeez, give an inch and she asked for a mile. Swallowing back a small groan, I asked, “Patchouli, would you… uh, could you give us a practical demonstration? Are you able to perform this type of sympathetic magic?”

I snuck a glance towards Ran, and she only rolled her eyes at me. She had seen Marisa as well, and knew what I was up to. I silently plead for her to keep silent.

Patchouli raised an eyebrow. “Doubting the breadth of my expertise? Quaint.” She grabbed two quills from their holders, and handed one to me. The other, she laid onto her desk and deftly drew a simple magic circle around it. “It is simple spellwork, if a bit overly elaborate for Gensokyo. What happens to one…”

She snapped the quill on the table with a bit of effort. In my hands, the other snapped as well. I looked at the two separated pieces in my hand, imagining Ran in their place.

“Stands to reason that doing anything similar to a high level shikigami would not be nearly as easy,” said Patchouli casually. “And hardly something a group of outside thugs will be able to accomplish.”

I stared back at Patchouli’s face. As usual it remained impassive, and despite her name as the Unmoving Great Library… unreadable. I scratched at my throat, and said, “We… never mentioned anything about outside thugs.”

Patchouli scoffed, “Please don’t have such a low opinion of my intellect. I have enough pieces to understand what might be happening. You have to realize that I’ve only entered Gensokyo not too long ago. I remember the outside, with their petty magics, the politicking, the grasping for each shred of advantage from a world that has long forsaken them. I remember the sad covens, the lodges, all more concerned about superiority rather than true mastery of magic. Any of those who truly cared about the art have already made their departure from the outside – whether it be to Gensokyo, Makai, or the innumerable other realms where mysticism still breathes.”

Her gaze swiveled to me. “That said – do not underestimate their viciousness. They wield magic like tools, like corkscrews and nail pliers. With what little they have, they will hit you where it hurts.”

Behind Patchouli’s back, Marisa gave me a grateful salute and hopped onto her broomstick. With an eerily silent acceleration, she disappeared high up into the shelves and vanished from sight.

Still none the wiser, Patchouli stood up from her seat and leaned across her deck slightly. “In my professional opinion, two options are open to you. One is to fight the spellwork directly as it continues to interfere with your wounds. It will be a straightforward contest of strength – your reserves against theirs. Once they are bested and drained, you can recover in health and seek them out on your own time. The other is to track down the culprits via the sympathetic link. This will be harder in some sense – you will only get a very general area, and will have to do some investigative work to find where they are conducting their ritual. But it will be a more direct method, and likely faster.”

We considered this. “What aid will you be able to provide?” asked Ran politely.

Patchouli tilted her head. “Just the matrix of the spellwork, whichever you choose. I will ensure that you will be… handed the tools, necessary for success. But the energy needed to power the spell will come from you and your friend here. I have not the resources, nor the health, to help in that regard.”

Nor the reason or the will, either. It would be a big ask to ask for more help from a magician that was – famously – low on energy, and had dips in her health from time to time. For that matter, it seemed that Patchouli felt she was being generous enough with the help she was offering.

[ ] Push for a direct contest of strength, pushing back against the effects of the long range spellwork. Ran’s slow recovery was something that we want to solve as soon as possible.
[ ] Try to be subtle. If we could follow their trail of spellwork, we could potentially catch them off-guard and get rid of them once and for all.
[ ] Write-in additional ideas if applicable.

[X] Try to be subtle. If we could follow their trail of spellwork, we could potentially catch them off-guard and get rid of them once and for all.

Ran and I shared a glance. I took the opportunity to waggle my eyebrows at her, and then pointed to myself meaningfully. She snorted lightly in response, but nodded.

“As much as I’d like to force them into a straightforward struggle of power, I believe that searching for them and catching them once and for all might be the better choice this time.” Ran replied firmly. “I actually have extra hands to help. This has gone on long enough, and we might as well try not to scare them into scattering.”

“Fair choice,” said Patchouli quietly, with a brief spark of amusement in her eyes. She took out two L shaped rods from a desk drawer, placing them onto the polished mahogany surface. “In that case, hold out your hand; I’ll need a bit of your blood to lay a tracking charm back to whatever your assailants have gathered.”

After a prick on the finger from a sterilized sewing needle, the magician started her work with the single drop of blood provided by Ran. As she chanted quietly under her breath, the small bead of blood floated up into the air, lengthening and thinning until it formed a hairstrand of liquid barely visible to eye. The strand split in two, each portion twisting and attaching to the two dowsing rods, emblazoning themselves onto the metal in a series of glowing red runes. The glow faded, and Patchouli, coughing slightly into her sleeve, slid the rods across the desk towards Ran.

“Unlike other dowsing rods which can be calibrated to search for different things, these are attracted to one thing only – the sympathetic link that originates from the casting location of the spell,” explained Patchouli. Ran picked up the rods, holding one in each hand at the handles. “No skill will be needed, only a slight bit of intention and will to guide it.”

I watched as the metal rods dipped and swiveled aimlessly, until with a deep breath, Ran concentrated. They swung immediately to her right, stiff as soldiers standing at parade rest. Patchouli sat back into her armchair, pleased. Ran exhaled, and the rods immediately started swinging wildly again.

“As you draw closer to the area of interest, the certainty of the dowsing rods will start to wane,” Patchouli warned. “Hopefully, by then you’ll have a good idea where they might be hiding, and not just the general direction of their location.”

Ran nodded and tucked the rods carefully into her robes. Standing up, she bowed to Patchouli. “Thank you, Lady Patchouli Knowledge. I owe you a favor for this.”

The magician shrugged back in response. “You don’t. We’ve traded so many favors back and forth that this is just another one for the pile. Just remember to keep me in front of the queue if I request something from the outside again. I wish you good fortune in rooting out these interlopers – their presence is another upset to the spellcard system waiting to happen.”

After we said our farewells, Sakuya was at the door to let us out the second we left the library. We followed her lead outside the supernaturally extended corridors, past the garish crimson hued walls, and soon found ourselves outside onto the manor grounds once more. The maid gave us a deep curtsy, and vanished from sight.

“Part of me thinks that she’s picked up her mistress’ aversion towards the sun,” muttered Ran, blinking away the bright daylight. “I rarely see her present on the grounds if she can help it, and I see her in the village less and less.”

We took flight, picking up speed as we left the manor garden. I saw Meiling waving goodbye to us as we left. I waved back as we soared away, and muttered in reply, “What’s the deal with the maid, anyway? She’s the least human like human that I’ve ever seen. Even Meiling is on a more… relatable wavelength then whatever’s going on with Sakuya.”

“My master has her theories, but she’s not sharing,” responded Ran a bit grumpily. She took out the rods, and held them in her hands. With a bit of channeled will, they again affixed themselves on a distant point to the southeast. “The maid uses a multitude of throwing knives in combat, and some are silvered – my calculations thus point to her being a vampire hunter that has been charmed or cowed by Remilia. But that barely explains half of her unconventional abilities and behavior.”

With a heading found we started off, flying across the Misty Lake for the second time that morning. But I found something bothering me, after going over the revelations of the day.

“So… why do you think these folks are targeting you?” I asked.

Ran turned back to glance at me. “I would ask you the same question, since you know them better than I. And – by the way - I still haven’t given you your rightful comeuppance from aiding and abetting that group in their attempts. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

I bit my lip, and forced myself to meet her eyes. “Look, well… I already told you the truth the first time around. I didn’t know what they were intending with it. For all I knew they were intending on crafting some Inari style amulet that needed some components from a nine-tailed fox.”

“And would you have stopped if you knew?”

“Well, no. At least, not initially.” I said, getting slightly cross. “Not all of us are millennia old youkai that can brush aside threats from one of the oldest and most vicious lodges out there. They could have done literally anything to me – kill me, castrate me as a warning, stuff my brain into a jar – I simply didn’t have a choice. I had to at least hear out their offer.”

“And now that you have me to hide behind, you’ve found your spine?” Ran snapped back with a sneer. “I swear, I—”

A brief struggle played across her face. Then she sighed, pocketing the rods and wiping a hand slowly across her face. Groaning, she said, “I’m sorry. It’s been a hectic few weeks. My temper is starting to get the better of me, and it’s reminding me of-- well. No matter what, it was uncalled for.”

“I… look.” I took a deep breath. “For what it’s worth, I apologize for… being part of this effort to attack you. For getting caught up in all this. I know what I do, and I don’t really have any moral high ground here. Any… animosity you feel towards me is justified.”

For a while, there was silence as Ran formulated her response and I could only hear the whistling wind as we continued to fly. A second passed, then two. I was growing increasingly nervous. Then Ran finally responded.

“I don’t blame you, Ren,” said Ran quietly. “I’m just… feeling increasingly powerless as of late. Hopefully once we catch the ones in charge of this circus, we can put this all behind us. Whatever debt you have to me has long been cleared – please don’t feel obligated to provide aid when you have other plans.”

I chuckled. “Are you kidding me? I’ve finally gotten an opportunity to strike back at them while they’re not on their home turf. Wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

Ran laughed weakly. “In that case, I’d appreciate your help. Wait, is that-?”

A blur of black rocketed up to meet us from the trees below, and instinctively Ran pulled me behind her, readying herself for a fight. But the blur slowed and revealed itself to be…

“Weren’t expecting to see me so soon?” said Marisa cheerfully, coming to a drifting sideways stop on her broomstick. “You two spent so long together with Patchy I was worried that I’d have to wait for hours. Ran and Ren! We’ve never really met officially Ren, but I’ve seen n’ heard enough about you to like the cut of your jib. And today just proved that the Marisa gut makes no mistakes. Thanks for distracting Patchy for me.”

The witch elbowed me in the ribs. I jostled a bit in the air but managed to keep my balance, wincing a little bit and clutching my side.

“You were looking for us, Marisa?” asked Ran, warily.

“For sure I was! After I dropped off my books, I thought to myself: a favor owed is a favor earned – or something along those lines. Give and take, tit for tat? Quid pro quo? Anyway, since you didn’t rat me out to Patchy I thought it deserved a bit of pro bono help from yours truly – the best magic user this side of the Misty Lake.”

Marisa puffed out her chest. ‘The best’ seemed like a bit of an overexaggeration, but I can’t say that I knew enough about the Gensokyo magical hierarchy to know how much she was misrepresenting herself. Ran look suspiciously at the human magician, crossing her arms.

“And this isn’t just your curiosity wanting to know more about what you’ve overheard,” said Ran in a deadpan voice.

“That too,” said Marisa chirpily without an ounce of shame. “People who’re bypassing the spellcard system to dump on the Yakumos? Wouldn’t miss that for the world. And y’know, Reimu’s still tuckered out from yesterday. This is usually her wheelhouse, but hey! Might as well pitch in on my end.”

“Reimu? Is she ok?” I cut in.

Marisa nodded, but a bit more seriousness had crept into her expression. “Yeah, more or less. The instigator of the incident… I wouldn’t say that she’s the worst that we’ve ever faced, but she’s definitely up there. Powerful and vicious. But Reimu took the brunt of it and managed to win. That’s what she does,” said Marisa, with pride in her voice. “Anyway, I found something interesting up there on the moon and was looking up reference books to figure it out. That’s why I bumped into you two.”

I perked up. “Something interesting?”

Marisa snickered gleefully. “You wouldn’t believe it, but I think –”

Ran, sighing, cut the two of us short with a loud clap of her hands. “We can exchange tales of our loot later. Marisa, are you sure you know what you’re signing up for? It’s investigative work, we’ll need old fashioned feet on the ground and is unlikely to be anything exciting until the very end.”

Marisa nodded, brushing a bit of dust off of her wide brim witch’s hat. “Hey, I’ve done my fair share of stakeouts. Besides, the Human Village is my old stomping grounds. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be better at doing the grunt work than either of you will be.”

“If that’s so, then –” Ran stopped midway through her sentence. “Why do you think we’re going to the human village? Do you know something?”

Now it was Marisa’s turn to be confused. She stared back at Ran like it was a trick question, and slowly said, “Lady, the village is the only thing really in that direction. Where else would you be headed?”

Ran whipped out the rods again and checked our heading. After doing some internal calculations in her head, I could see on her face the dawning realization that Marisa was probably right. The witch on the other hand, drifted over and looked at the rods in interest.

“Oooh, these are Patchy’s work aren’t they? Can I have them once you’re done?”

“Be quiet for a moment if you want to help,” growled Ran. She drastically increased her flying speed towards where the rods were pointing, and Marisa and I hastily picked up our own speed to follow behind her. The trees flew past underneath us – I had to strain to follow behind the youkai, but Marisa seemed to take it all in stride.

Marisa whistled. “Man, she’s a little different from what I remember. Mind sharing what’s gotten her goat recently?”

“It’s a bit complicated,” I said awkwardly. “That said, are you really going to help out if it ends up being the Human Village?”

“Why not? Makes no difference to me. S’matter of fact, you might need me more since Ran is a youkai and you’re a recent outsider. You two don’t know the folks like I do, and they won’t talk to you like they talk to me.”

That sounded about right; however way you sliced it, she would be valuable support. And indeed as I spied the trails of smoke and human existence in the distance, Ran made a sudden stop. I came to a halt as well, and watched as the rods in Rans hand’s start to sway and unfocus, very unlike the original precision that they showed at the Misty Lake. It seemed like Marisa’s hunch was correct. Looking from above, the Human Village was sized more like a township or a city than anything truly ‘village-sized’. Maybe the name had never grown to match the settlement as it expanded throughout the years. But either way, it was clear that we had reached our destination.

It was currently the early afternoon. We had a few ways that we could approach this.

[ ] Partner up with Ran and go into the village. The rods were going to be much less useful here but Ran herself was sharp and powerful. I could help support her – and vice versa – as we asked questions and investigated. Marisa could act individually and ask around on her own since she was very familiar with the area.
[ ] Partner up with Marisa and go into the village. Ran could take care of herself, and two humans together would not attract much attention. Marisa and I seemed to have… similar ways of doing things, which may translate to good investigation results.
[ ] We could all split up. This would allow us to cover the most ground, and get in contact with the most people. As a lone outsider, I didn’t really have any true contacts in the area but my newness meant that I could ask strange questions without seeming too out of place.
[ ] We could all go as a single group. We would cover the least ground, but maybe – somehow – our individual strengths would synergize, and it wouldn’t be an attention grabbing train wreck.
[ ] Write-in?

[x] Partner up with Ran and go into the village. The rods were going to be much less useful here but Ran herself was sharp and powerful. I could help support her – and vice versa – as we asked questions and investigated. Marisa could act individually and ask around on her own since she was very familiar with the area.
[x] Ran uses an illusion to disguise herself as a villager so she doesn't attract any unwanted attention.

After a quick round of discussion – with only terse, clipped sentences from Ran’s end – we decided to divide into two groups. The first group would compose of Ran and I, with Ran disguised as to not attract any immediate attention. The other would just compose of Marisa, able to act alone and do what she did best: get into other people’s business. Marisa was a good card to play, as she had just been recently affiliated with us. No one else knew that she was snooping around on our behalf.

We separated, with Marisa coming from the east end of the village, while we approached and entered from the west. Landing well before coming into view of the gates, Ran took some time to dress a new illusion around herself. The contours of her face changed, giving her a slightly smaller nose and a wider mouth. Her tails disappeared; long brown hair replaced her short golden locks. Her robe was replaced by neatly woven hemp workwear, and shoes were changed into straw tie-on sandals. She examined her work carefully in a handheld mirror, and after a bit of additional consideration a small capelet appeared over her shoulders, along with a small pouch at her hip. Satisfied, Ran stowed the mirror back into her clothes and walked through the gates with purpose.

The two guards on duty didn’t pay us any mind. It was a different couple this time -they nodded us in with bored looks, and soon we were on the streets of the village proper. It was a stark difference to my first arrival here, where my clothes and demeanor had immediately outed me as an outsider. And with lunchtime just ending, the main thoroughfare of the village was bustling with activity. There were small crowds of foot traffic, with the occasional cart being driven through, laden with cargo. A large portion of the crowd looked like laborers or farmer types that were preparing to return to work.

All in all, it looked just as I remembered it from my first visit. I took in the sights as I followed behind Ran, who was still soldiering on at her frenetic pace.

“So, what’s the plan? Do you have anything lined up to do first?” I asked warily.

She grumbled under her breath, still running her gaze over the crowds, head on a swivel. “Let’s do a quick sweep of the town before anything else happens. We’ll use the rods on and off if they get us anywhere. Marisa can handle the questioning for now – she is better suited for it anyway. Point out anything out of the ordinary and we will play it by ear. After that, I can see if my contacts have anything interesting to say for themselves.”

I nodded, eyeing the passing people. “Got it. By the way… do you come here often?”

Ran shot me a blank stare.

I snorted and added, “I’m asking an actual question here, not planning on anything funny. How familiar are you with the Human Village?”

“Familiar enough,” she responded drily. “I get my groceries here occasionally. But I don’t stick around to talk to many of the locals long enough to know them. Friendly youkai are… generally speaking, accepted if you have coin, but there ae always some humans that are just waiting for you to pull your trick. For foxes – traditionally speaking – it could be anything from a spouse seduced or the money turning into leaves after they leave.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t the leaves thing more in tanuki territory?

Ran scowled. “They just want you to think that. The first records—”

At the corner of my eye, I saw a smaller female figure wearing a straw hat notice us, and immediately beeline into one of the smaller alleyways. The figure glanced back to meet my gaze one last time, and I managed to catch messy red and black hair from underneath the wide brimmed hat before the girl escaped from view.

“Was that… Seija?” I said, slightly bewildered. Whoever that was, it looked vaguely familiar. She was wearing local clothing, like us, but the way that she moved kicked a trace of recognition into my subconscious mind.

“—what?” Ran looked over to the alley that I was pointing at. “Are you certain? What is she doing in the village?”

“…I don’t know. Should we follow her?”

Ran growled, and broke into a brisk jog. “Of course. Wherever Seija goes, incidents follow. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a hand in this. And even if she doesn’t, then she’ll know something.”

I hastily followed her, breaking into a run as well. We brushed past the human traffic, muttering apologies and excuses as we shouldered by groups of people. A horse drawn cart had to be pulled to a halt, and I yelled a hasty apology as we crossed to the other side. But we didn’t have to go far – just beyond the mouth of the alley was Seija, standing there proudly and smugly under the thatched eaves of a homely izakaya.

“We meet again!” crowed Seija, giving me a friendly shove. “It feels like it’s been years.”

Before I could respond, her eyes swept over Ran. Or rather, she examined the disguise that Ran was wearing, giving a once over from head to toe. Seemingly liking what she saw, she gave me another friendly shove.

“You little rascal,” she said with a chortle. “You got a new squeeze? Whatever went on with Ran not work out? That’s kind of sad, someone with a bit of bitterness and fire like you could have maybe sparked a bit of something-something in the ol’ fox. Ah well. This one at least has some flame in her.”

“We… aren’t like that,” I said, slightly pained. “This is… uh—”

“Rinko,” Ran cut in smoothly. “Traveling exorcist. What are you up to, amanojaku? The human village doesn’t seem to be one of your usual haunts.”

Seija stretched out her arms upwards and let out a content sigh. With a smirk, she eyed ‘Rinko’ and said, “Straight to the point eh? I like that in a person. Well there’s only one reason an amanojaku would hang around – and that’s to set fire to waiting tinder. Metaphorically this time, anyway.”

This was going nowhere. Seija loved to hear herself talk, and we would be here all week if we entertained her taunting. I cleared my throat, and took a deep breath before beginning my spiel.

“Seija, hear me out. There’s a group of outsiders in the village that I’m trying to… avoid. They’re essentially my debt collectors, and I’d like it if Rinko and I could finish up our business here without bumping into them. Do you happen to know where they’re based? So I can evade them.”

Seija’s eyes sparkled with amusement, and I held my breath. But sadly, my rising hopes were dashed immediately as Seija slapped her knee after a loud, belly laugh. Wiping away an imaginary tear, she exclaimed, “Seriously? Are you trying to reverse psychology an amanojaku? I like your moxie kid, if not your brains.”

“Well, ok,” I replied, slightly embarrassed. “Would it be better if I just up and asked you directly then? We’re going to clash against them at some point, and if you let us know where they were this wouldn’t be so drawn out. You like conflict, don’t you?”

“Not boring ones,” she shot back. She sniffed the air and cocked her head, like she was considering something. Then she grinned widely and said, “I like my upheavals to be elaborate, like anyone with fine taste. I like it when goals and allegiances flip-flop all over the place. I like it when loyalties are questioned. I like it when things get… complicated.”

Without warning, the amanojaku starting sprinting deeper into the alley, quickly rounding the corner of the squat building we were next to. Swearing under her breath, Ran started sprinting after her. I could barely keep up, and panted as I moved my legs as fast as I could manage. Seija was remarkably fast on her feet, and soon she took a left around another corner, disappearing from sight.

“If it’s a trap –” I gasped.

“Then I’ll spring it,” shouted Ran with a vicious sneer.

We took the left and found ourselves in another major throughfare. People chatted amongst themselves and shop owners peddled their wares. I looked around, but I could not catch another glimpse of our quarry. She had vanished into the crowd.

There was someone else, however. Strolling down the street like she owned it and impossible to ignore, was a richly dressed lady with two fluffy tufts of hair on her head. A long, ornate sword was clasped at her hip, and a flowing cape completed the ensemble. As we hurtled out of the alley at full speed, I could see her eyes widen in surprise. She dramatically hopped back two steps, and with a flourish, drew out a flat baton in front of her.

“You stand before the Prince of – ” The woman blinked. Then she lowered her baton. “Oh, Ren? This is a pleasant surprise. Didn’t expect you to meet you so soon.”

It was my turn to blink, a bit perplexed. “I’m sorry, I think you have me at a disadvantage. I don’t believe –”

Then something clicked. That voice. The dream. The mountains, the chess, and the tea. The grandiose language and the fucking cape. I blurted out, “Aren’t you the one that appeared in my drea—”

“No no no!” Slightly panicked, she took a sidelong glance at Ran at my side and placed the baton to my lips, shutting me up. “That’s a conversation for you and me only, later. Greetings Ran, by the way. Don’t give me that look – your illusion was perfect dear, but nothing really gets past my ears.”

The lady gestured to the side of her head, which was covered in a set of earmuffs. Could she… hear illusions? Regardless, the woman quickly bowed to us both in quick succession and said, “Toyosatomimi no Miko, Prince Shoutoku, Daoist saint and Eternal True Administrator, at your service. You come to me at an opportune time – I was just considering asking one of my fellows to find and contact you two. It is fortunate that the fates have drawn us together before that was necessary.”

Ran’s unamused look at me promised further interrogation, but she placed that small tidbit about dreams aside for now. Stiffly, she asked, “And why is that, Lady Miko? Do you have business with my master?”

Miko smiled wryly. “Not in this case. See, I have been contacted by some of our mutual… acquaintances. Those who had previously done you harm.” She took a deep breath. Watching Ran closely.

“They wish to… parley with you.”

Ran’s expression could have frozen the entirety of the Misty Lake. Her illusion flickered slightly, and I could see in a brief second underneath it - her claws lengthened, eyes narrowed into slits. I nervously grasped her arm, legitimately worried that she would try to tear Miko limb from limb.

Her muscles relaxed ever so slightly, which I viewed as a promising sign.

“Explain,” said Ran, through gritted teeth.

“Well,” started Miko, watching Ran carefully. “I am known as the primary representative of humanity in Gensokyo, you see. The Hakurei and her friends, despite their acts of incident resolution, interact with youkai too much; they are seen as neutral, and also part of the… system. The Moriya caters to youkai. Byakuren, in all her magnanimous idealism, is mainly focused on youkai reform. Hermit I may be, that leaves me as the one who is unquestionably on the side of humans – and this prompted them to send out their messengers to yours truly.”

Miko was clearly someone that had a presence that drew a crowd. Before we bumped into her, there were groups of gawkers that gaggled and pointed, giggled and swooned at Miko’s charming smiles. But Ran’s obvious hostility was now turning them away with nervous whispers. They air on the street turned uneasy as some onlookers backed away, unwilling to be in the presence of a potential fight. The masses in the street now gave us a wide berth.

“Outsiders,” said Ran. Her voice was quiet, but each word held the intent of a hammer blow. “Outsiders that have attacked me, and therefore have directly harmed the great Hakurei barrier. Outsiders that are still continuing to harm me to this very day. Are those the people that are clamoring for parley, Miko? And are you the one championing their cause?”

“Not championing,” said Miko, weathering Ran’s words without flinching. “I do not support or condone what they have done so far. Yet they have laid out the facts to me, and with my talents I do know their agenda. That is not for me to reveal; but know the following as truth, sworn to my name and power. They are sincere in their attempt at a peaceful negotiation, willing to provide remediation for their actions. And their continual spellcraft directed at you is an attempt at self-preservation, if direct conflict is inevitable.”

There was a painfully long pause. The passersby on the street hurried by us, unwilling to even whisper to each other under their breath. Seeing that Ran was not responding, Miko decided to continue.

“I will only serve as mediator during the negotiations,” she said. “And ensure that no conflict or harm comes to pass, to either side in that period of time. Anything that occurs after the negotiations will not be under my judgement or protection. Unless, of course, if it was requested to be by all sides. You can do what you will to them afterwards, and I will not stop you.”

“And why,” breathed Ran. “Wouldn’t I just pull what I want out of that smug mouth of yours, Prince Shoutoku? Draw all those answers I need from your screaming throat?”

I tightened my grip on Ran’s arm. Miko’s eyes blazed. For a moment, she wasn’t just a charming Daoist, but a leader of millions. A saint who could have thousands die in her name.

“In your state, you could try.” The hermit said, without ceremony. “You will not succeed.”

[ ] Take the opportunity for the parley. Hearing them out would let us learn more, and we are not bound to accept whatever terms they pushed. We could learn the faces and whereabouts of those that stalked us.
[ ] Battle lines have been drawn, and no negotiation is necessary. We will find and engage them on our own terms.
[ ] The Query: Direct path to answers available. Engage in combat? Estimates of success – 7%.
The Chorus: Throw aside unneeded caution and elaborate schemes. Rip the saint from her throne and force her lips to shriek the names of our foes.

[X] Battle lines have been drawn, and no negotiation is necessary. We will find and engage them on our own terms.

“No.”

Ran’s response was firm and clear. Miko could only grimace in response, but part of me felt that even the saint knew that the parley had been a long shot. Some offenses could simply not be tolerated or forgiven, and could only be returned in kind. The saint nodded, holding up her flat baton in her hand – her ceremonial shaku – straight upwards, so that it shielded her mouth as she spoke.

“Understandable. Then I can only wish you good fortune in war,” said Miko, with a generous bow. “I am not interfering in this feud, for this is not my place to act. Humans banish youkai. On the other side of the coin, youkai hunt humans. Outside the spellcard system this may be, this duel of yours with the enemy still follows the first and purest laws of Gensokyo.”

Ran looked incensed, but not surprised. “Despite their outright attacks against Gensokyo’s stability? And despite their complete disregard of spellcard system, like you said?” she retorted.

Miko winced, but nodded still. “Even so. My role is select and confined, in a sense. There are others that would defend these things: you, and the Hakurei miko, to provide two clear examples. Not to mention your master, who has been… curiously absent of late. Besides – some stabilities are meant to be broken.”

Ran frowned, displeasure clear. “What do you mean by that?” I asked, feeling a bit of trepidation.

“Why do you think Reimu’s vaunted intuition hasn’t kicked her into gear yet?” Miko shrugged and tucked her baton back into her belt. “In a way, these things are happening for a reason. Or several reasons. While I would prefer outcomes to fall in a certain way, I will not step in to intervene before the die is cast.”

Ran barely held back a snarl. “Happening for a reason?! I can’t believe it. The efforts of my master gave you sanctuary. My efforts grant you sanctuary. And even with that,” Ran’s eyes unfocused slightly. “And even with that…”

With a stumbling step, Ran’s perfect posture started to fold – then, she started to crumple to the ground. I barely managed to catch her in time. Her eyes were blurry, and soon closed seemingly out of exhaustion. I touched my hand to her face, trying to coax her awake, and yelped when I felt her temperature.

“She’s running a fever!” I yelled to Miko. Passersby were starting to gather now, drawn by the drama and Ran’s sudden fall. Miko seemed also baffled by the turn of events. She shook off her shock quickly and stepped over to examine the youkai fox. Before I could think whether to stop her, she gently grasped Ran’s wrist.

“How… unfortuitous,” muttered Miko, feeling for Ran’s pulse. Whatever she found made her furrow her brow even more. “Gensokyo has lured me into complacency as a slow and gentle place. It seems our acquaintances were keeping watch. And with Ran’s refusal, they have decided to ramp up their efforts immediately rather than wait. This is caused by the same spell that was originally on your friend. Only much, much stronger.”

So whatever our adversaries had been doing, they had somehow ramped it up tenfold. Either they had found a new source of power to force through the connection, or they had found another way to strengthen their sympathetic link. But what? I wracked my brain for possibilities. I just couldn’t see how an extra hair, even if they’ve managed to get that somehow, increased their capabilities by this much in so short a time frame.

I gritted my teeth. “How were they able to do this so fast? I had thought the reason they were looking to parley was because they were at the end of their rope!”

“It seems not. But rather, it may have been because this is a card they had preferred not to play.” Miko stood up, face grim. Her expression turned dark as she considered her options. But finally, with a sigh she said, “As hypocritical as it may be, I dislike this. Striking straight after request for parley? Primitive, and impudent. If you would still stick by her through these trials, carry her. While I may not interfere directly, I am not opposed to placing my finger on the scales. If only for a short while.”

I could see no other obvious options. I acted quickly, and Miko didn’t need to wait for long. Ran’s illusion somehow still held - when I hoisted Ran onto my back I could not feel the full weight of her tails, and could only hear her shallow breathing at the side of my ear. Miko nodded, gesturing for me to follow her as she started to float in the air. The roadside gawkers backed away in a hurry and made space for us to take flight.

“Going to owe a few favors after this,” she whispered under her breath. Louder, she said, “This is a short flight, but follow me closely – time is of the essence here.”

With that word, she sped off southward. I followed hastily after, trying to maintain balance as I flew while carrying someone on my back for the first time. The streets and buildings of the village sped by below us, and I could see some onlookers point up to us as we soared by. Ran’s breaths were weak but still audible, and I willed myself to fly faster.

But soon we were out and beyond the southern gate, past the wooden walls and above a well tread foot path through the woods. Following it directly from above lead us directly to a quiet building complex right outside the settlement. In the air, I could see white paving stones constitute the courtyard. Behind the buildings was a sizeable graveyard.

Upon landing, Miko took half a second to fluff up her hair and straighten her cape. I followed and landed straight after, stumbling as I accounted for my passenger’s extra weight. After making sure that I was alright, Miko nodded to me, took a deep breath and stepped inside the grounds.

It was now clear that we were stepping into a temple. A few visitors started at our sudden appearance from the sky, but were not overly surprised by our arrival. It was clear that flying visitors were commonplace here. I looked around at the Buddhist iconography as we walked, feeling a bit out of place until I heard someone familiar.

“Gyate ~ gyate!” sang the voice. In between careless sweeps of her broom, Kasodani Kyouko chanted scraps of sutras in the courtyard, brushing leaves haphazardly all over the temple grounds. She had her back to us, but I recognized her clearly as one of the pair of youkai that served us lamprey last night.

Miko cleared her throat, and when Kyouko turned around and saw the saint the youkai’s expression was almost comical in its severity.

“Greetings, Kyouko. I’m here to see Byakuren,” said Miko, as smoothly as she could muster. The saint was cranking up the charm, with a posture clearly meant to be confident, but not too threatening. Open to conversation, but dignified and not needy.

In response, Kyouko hissed a little, like an angry cat. There was clearly some… history here.

“Greetings, Kyouko. I’m here to see Byakuren,” echoed Kyouko snidely. It was almost a perfect recreation, with the intonation adjusted for extra snobbery. “I’m sorry my great crown prince, but Lady Hijiri is too busy to see you. Come next year. Or if you’re polite, never at all.”

I could hear Miko mutter something under her breath. She glanced at me, and nodded her head towards Ran. “May I show her?”

What could I do at this point? Moving a bit awkwardly, I turned my back towards Miko and allowed her to place her hand on Ran’s shoulder. Kyouko, now noticing the figure on my back, had a softer, more worried expression now.

With a single muttered word from Miko, the illusion broke. I sagged from the extra weight as the previously hidden tails spilled out all over my back. Ran was now visibly Ran, in all her nine-tailed splendor. Kyouko let out a small “eep!” in surprise. She took in Ran’s pale face, shallow breathing, and her eyes widened.

“Oh. Oh! Lady Yakumo, wha-- Let me… let me get the head priest! Lady Hijiri! Lady Hijiri!!” stumbling over her words, Kyouko bolted through the courtyard, up the white stone steps and scurried into the temple’s main hall. Miko quietly motioned for me to follow. I nodded my assent, readjusted the weight of Ran on my back and stepped behind Miko as she strode up the long steps to the main building.

When I reached the top, breathing hard, another person hurried out to greet us. The head priestess – for there could be mistaking it – was young faced, with old eyes. Her hair was a stunning gradient of darker blues and indigo, flowing into light brown. Wearing a worn but clean kesa Buddhist robe, she carried herself with a quiet sort of dignity that was almost the polar opposite of Miko’s overstated, grandiose nobility.

The two shared a long, complicated look between them. Finally, Byakuren shook her head and gently lifted Ran from my back with no apparent effort.

“Kyouko filled me in on the basics,” she murmured. “I’m Byakuren Hijiri, head priestess of the Myouren Temple. Please follow me.”

Miko was uncharacteristically silent as we trudged down the hallways of the temple complex. Walking behind Byakuren and looking at the limp figure in her arms, I could feel my worry growing. With nothing but a short mention of my name as introduction, I started going over Ran’s attackers and their schemes so far. My words came out in a rush, and the head priestess nodded along, taking it all in as we walked.

Byakuren finally spoke, voice soft. “She’s going to be alright,” she said. “She is stable, and I can sense that the worst of the attack has passed. She is holding on, fighting back. In this I can aid her. And the Myouren temple will grant any youkai refuge.”

My relief was immediate. Miko sidled beside me with a small grin on her face. “Rest easy and trust her on this. She’s one of Gensokyo’s foremost experts on dark magic. Unlike with Buddhism; she’s still working on that.”

I heard Byakuren draw in a quick breath, but didn’t comment on Miko’s words. After a half second, the saint cursed as she stumbled, tripping over something that only she could feel. I felt the briefest spark of magic right as it happened; it was managed incredibly deftly, displaying razor-sharp spell control honed over decades.

“Within the truth of emptiness, there is no form. With no perception or consciousness, there is no desire. With no desire to be heard? Thus, unruly hermits can be humbled,” said Byakuren, still lecturing with her usual gentle voice. Leading us down one of the side rooms, she slid open a door and stepped inside. Kyouko was already in there ready with an unrolled futon upon the tatami, and a pot of clean water.

We all helped Byakuren gently place Ran down on the bedding. After tucking in the youkai carefully, Miko snorted and finally said, “Don’t delude yourself, I still caught the tail end of that desire before you squeezed it away. Besides, where did your desire to humble me come from, I wonder?”

Byakuren sniffed. “Alas, I am but a humble woman working towards her enlightenment. A bodhisattva I am not, for the countless reprobates around me tempt me to correct their ways and I am unable to hold back.”

Miko smiled cheekily. Byakuren ignored her and clasped her own hands together, starting an even chant that filled the room. The saint was right – Byakuren’s magic was only tangentially Buddhist. As the priestess wove her enchantment with incredible skill and focus, I could see in the spellwork a legacy of customization and re-appropriation. Methods of harm used as glyphs of warding; methods of destruction inverted, and used instead as means of preservation.

With a loud kiai like shout, Byakuren spread her arms and I could feel the spell matrix spread out, adhering itself to the four corners of the room. I flinched as it washed over me, but soon I realized that it was an extremely, extremely strong warding spell. It made me wonder what experiences had led the priestess to develop her skills.

“There,” said Byakuren, satisfied. She looked to me and Miko in turn. “While sympathetic magic is hard to obstruct as it comes from within the target themselves, I have some tricks that would mislead a portion of their efforts away. With that said – the situation is still delicate. Your foe has proved crafty in the past, and circumvention is always possible.”

Kyouko dabbed gently at Ran’s forehead with a wet cloth, a concerned look on her face. “Circumvention is always possible? Will… will she ok then? Could she recover?”

“…Possibly.” Byakuren placed her hand gently on Ran’s cheek, feeling its temperature. “If your foes have their well of power run dry, then their attacks would stop and Ran will start recovering by herself. I am worried though, that they will merely keep searching for increasingly vicious ways to keep their spellwork going. I… have my suspicions. I am familiar with some of the ways.”

Surprisingly, Miko didn’t take the opportunity for a quick jab at Byakuren’s last comment. Instead, she pursed her lips and hummed thoughtfully.

“There are limits to what can be done, if they seek to be inconspicuous,” the saint mused. “Performing magic at this scale leaves marks. Obvious marks. I would say--”

Miko stopped midsentence, groaned, and hid her mouth behind her shaku again. “I really shouldn’t be helping you with this. I’ve already done more than enough to help you two against our own species. I’ll give you all my blessing, then I’ll be out of your hair.”

Byakuren looked at her with an unreadable gaze, and said in tone that was half pleading and half warning, “Miko. Please.”

There was a tight pause. Then the once crown prince of Japan sighed, brushed herself off and sat back down. “I’ll… watch your back while you maintain the spell. That’s all I’ll do. No more than that. And oh look, I hear one of your—”

I heard the pounding of running footsteps before the sliding door slammed open on their tracks, revealing the breathless, excited form of Kirisame Marisa. “I heard from the peanut gallery that you flew off to Myouren, and oh jeez what the heck happened to Ran?!”

It didn’t take too long for us to bring Marisa up to speed. As color started returning to Ran’s cheeks, Marisa hurriedly filled us in on what she had discovered as well.

After nosing around the village for a bit, the magician had finally talked with Keine. The schoolteacher had revealed that some unfamiliar new faces had been eager to learn more about youkai lore. While they had not directly asked after Ran, they had tended to direct their inquiries after beast youkai in general, and narrowed down upon certain types – foxes, cats, the like – once they had driven the conversation there. They called themselves day laborers, living on the outskirts of town, and they were indeed sometimes seen in public working construction. Keine never thought anything of it until they had also started asking more pointed questions about a were-hakutaku’s abilities to review and eat history. It was almost if they were… proposing something to her, a task that they would ask her to complete.

Keine had shut down further inquiries after that.

Another friend of hers, a storekeeper called Rinnosuke had also made their acquaintance. He had asked some of them to help haul some outside world junk into his store for display. While the laborers were friendly and able-bodied, something had seemed a bit off – unlike many of their ilk who were worried constantly about their next job, these seemed way too sure about their future. Not necessarily optimistically. But rather, they had a degree of silent certainty of their prospects that the storekeeper had felt unnerving. They also barely looked at their fee after Rinnosuke had paid them.

Like Keine, Rinnosuke had decided not to contact them and use their services further. But he did know where they lived, as it was close to his shop:

An old, loaned out warehouse at the edge of the village. Originally used for brewing sake, it had fell to disuse after a few years of ill harvests. It had later been used as a temporary living quarters for workhands with no consistent housing.

We finally had our heading.

Byakuren was unavailable, as she had to stay to maintain the wards. Miko for her own reasons would not take an active role – but her choice to play bodyguard for both Byakuren and Ran was perhaps invaluable, in its own way.

[ ] Infiltrate it with Marisa. Time was of the essence, and two experienced thieves would be the best choice to close in, and subtly break the delicate spellwork that was targeting Ran. If worst came to worst, Marisa was also an excellent fighter.

[ ] Have Marisa fetch Reimu for help, while the magician sat this one out. With the foes we faced, it was unlikely that spellcard battles would be the method of combat here if all hell broke loose. Marisa was talented and a good spellcaster. But Reimu, despite her lackadaisical nature, seemed to hold a certain grimness in her. The ability to hold an executioner’s axe and actually… kill, if needed. Reimu could hold their attention, and I could slip in from behind. The Hakurei Maiden could hardly stand on the sidelines while there was blatant disregard for the spellcard rules, right?

[ ] Reimu and Marisa. The dream team, the power duo. With this, any sort of subtlety goes straight out the window as the two forces of nature fly in and fight at full strength to upstage the other. But they would not be a delicate scalpel, but a glorious sledgehammer.

[ ] Write in. What other allies could we rope in? What other methods could we use? But be warned – gathering each additional ally would take additional time.

[X] Infiltrate it with Marisa. Time was of the essence, and two experienced thieves would be the best choice to close in, and subtly break the delicate spellwork that was targeting Ran. If worst came to worst, Marisa was also an excellent fighter.

Before we left for the warehouse, Miko pulled me aside. Her face was uncharacteristically serious, and the casual charm that she usually wore had now been replaced by earnest concern. She walked me out of the room, whispering something to Byakuren on the way out; the head priestess merely nodded, and went back to maintaining her spell.

As the sliding door shut behind us, the Taoist turned to face me.

“Firstly - I want to warn you about something,” Miko said, without any preamble.

Delightful. I could only frown in response. “A bit scary to hear before we dive into our enemy’s lair. What might this be about? Some obstacle that you’ve hidden from us?” I asked.

Miko hastily waved my concerns away with her shaku. “No, no. You are already dead set on the path you’ve chosen, and I won’t be the one to dissuade you or discourage you on the eve of your march. What I want to do is… manage expectations.”

“Manage… expectations?” I echoed quizzically.

“The attacks on Ran are merely physical,” said Miko carefully. “As an old fox over a millennia of age, she has likely gone through worse. But what is going on inside of her? That’s the key for what happens beyond this point. It was why I had to try to reach you in your dreams, for you to keep wary of her despite your inclinations to the contrary. You must have seen how she acts now, how she seems less stable than her usual self.”

I sighed. I looked out into the yard, where Marisa had spread out a small picnic cloth and was tinkering with her small hand-held furnace, readying it for the mission ahead.

“Lady Miko, I’ve only entered Gensokyo mere weeks ago,” I replied plainly. “Despite the fact that I’ve hung around Ran for most of these weeks, I can’t say that I know her better than any of you. For all I know, she might have always had a short fuse towards those that attacked her and the barrier. I honestly wouldn’t blame her – it seems like a perfectly acceptable thing to be furious about.”

Miko seemed surprised. “The way that you talk to each other, I thought you had been in cahoots with her for far longer. Very well then – I revise my statements, to clarify the situation further. I am now telling you that the Ran of yesteryear would have definitely taken the deal to negotiate with her opponents. She would have tended towards the cerebral, not the physical. Something is throwing her off kilter, and only her shikigami programming is holding her together in one piece.”

“How are you—”

The Taoist pointed to her ears, hidden within her earmuffs. “Like you may have heard in passing, I can hear desires. Not as useful as the direct mind reading of a satori perhaps, but I hear deeper, below the surface.”

Miko seemed to consider something. Taking a deep breath, she took off her earmuffs and handed them to me. Her fingers flashed, in a series of esoteric hand signs.

“Put them on,” she instructed gently. Puzzled, I took the earmuffs. Then with some hesitation, I put them onto my head. And immediately, my mind was filled with loud thoughts that were not my own.

--Negative. Wait for incident resolvers to respond.

The Query: Sympathetic Magic attack lessened to 32.6%. Defense ongoing. Allocate resources for recovery once attack stops in full?
The Chorus of Two: Pull on Hakurei barrier energy to recover. Damage to barrier temporary, and those that attacked us will rue their choices. Make them rue their births and regret their end.
The Admin: Negative. Barrier is highest priority. Programming prioritizes barrier wellbeing above all else.

The Query: Accept Admin decision?
The Chorus of Two: Negative. Admin decision absurd/inflexible in face of circumstances. Remove the attacks/spell. Remove the source/vermin. Pull strength from barrier—
The Admin: Denied. Admin decisions will not be overridden.

The Query: Sympathetic Magic attack strengthening to 33.8%, despite assistance from outside defensive spell matrix. Allocate resources for defense?
The Chorus of Two: Defend/counterattack. Destroy their—

I ripped the earmuffs off of my head, panting. The shouting of the various voices faded to a murmur, and Miko gently took her earmuffs back. With another few swift hand signs, she dispelled the magic and placed them back onto her head, where it sat snugly behind her hair tuffs.

She smiled drily. “I just shared a bit of what I hear on a regular basis. You realize now why I try my best to block them out, if at all possible?” she said.

I took a few deep breaths, clearing my mind. “That’s what’s going on in Ran’s head right at this moment? Is it… always this loud?” I asked.

“No. Ran is now a special case. She’s the really the only one with a mind built like that, too.” Miko leaned against the temple’s railings, and a bit of her tiredness, as well as her true age crept up onto her face. “Try to pretend that I didn’t do that for you. People get angry enough with me around hearing their deepest thoughts, I don’t need to catch any more reprimands from how I’m sharing my abilities out either.”

“Then why did you share it with me?” I asked, frustrated.

“Truthfully?” Miko looked over at me, her eyes glinting. “While Yukari schemes, meddles, and gets her fingers in all sorts of pies, Ran functions as the impenetrable shield at her back. She’s the first and last line of defense for the youkai sage – and in extension, the Hakurei barrier. Despite how seemingly… invisible she is in Gensokyo politics, the fox’s place is pivotal. A keystone, a linchpin. Topple her, remove her, turn her… and a lot of dominos start falling. I need to prepare for that. And for that, I need insights, and allies.”

Miko continued on. “I cannot emphasize enough how strange Ran is, on the inside. Her programming offers far more leeway, comparatively, but at the same time also seems almost impossibly strict in other areas. She is also ridiculously powerful for a shikigami, and just simply has to be a youkai of note in history. I have my guesses; but regardless, it should have been impossible for such a strong youkai to assent to becoming a shikigami. Youkai that strong are willful, prideful, bound by their bloody myths. They are essentially the primitive id made flesh, and would not suffer the indignity of being just… overwritten by programming.”

“Overwritten? But the… what was it called? The chorus—”

“Don’t get me started on the chorus,” groaned Miko, palming her forehead. “The chorus of two exact voices. You heard them two right? Both of them, in harmony? Nearly no difference in tone, in personality. Not the usual shikigami fare. Know anything about that? Any speculations you could share?”

I thought back to all the conversations that I had with Ran in the past. Despite a bit of hotheadedness, there was nothing that ever even suggested a split personality at all. She had always been the usual… quick witted, dry-humored, and overworked Ran. Even when she started getting rasher in her actions, it had always been consistent, in its own way. Or maybe I was completely misreading her?

“I have no clue,” I said honestly.

Miko sniffed. “You’d think that—”

“…aaand we’re ready to go!” announced Maria with aplomb, cutting off Miko halfway through her sentence. She packed up her tools and picnic cloth with well-practiced ease, and trotted over to us with her pack slung over her shoulder. “So, what are you talking about? Anything related to our scouting trip? Heist? Attack, if it comes to it?”

To my surprise, there wasn’t any hint of unease in Marisa’s eyes as she mentioned the possibility of it being an ‘attack’. She had been a bit surprised when we cautioned that these outsiders would likely not follow the spellcard rules, but had quickly brushed it off as just another fact for the pile. Either Marisa had some hidden depths, or she was one of the best actresses I’ve ever seen.

“I’m ready,” I responded. “Would it be faster if you took me?”

“Unless you’re as fast as a tengu, that’d be a good bet. Hop on.” The witch placed her broomstick in midair and it floated in place, just long enough for a rider and their passenger. “Miko, trust you and Byakuren to hold down the fort?”

Miko nodded. “I’ll be here. Good fortune on your flight.”

It was with shaky legs that I stepped off the broomstick.

Marisa had not been kidding. She had been fast. The flight had passed by in a single continuous blur, and she had deposited us in a small forest clearing not too far away from the warehouse. As I took a moment to recuperate, Marisa busily rearranged her vials and knickknacks around her various pockets, and even took out a small bandolier that she wrapped around her outfit.

“Tools of the trade?” I asked weakly.

“Tools of the trade,” confirmed Marisa confidently. “You bring anything of your own?”

“I had to travel light coming into Gensokyo. Besides, it’s not really my style.”

I had my usual set of picks and tools with me, always. But few things out there could be really powered by my spluttering magical muscles. So, I only ever made do with gumption and a few tricks.

“Suit yourself,” said Marisa with a shrug. Taking point, she led me through the trees, close enough that we were able to get eyes on the warehouse. We knelt in the undergrowth, and took in our target as a whole.

On the outside, it seemed like an ordinary building. For its large footprint, it was fairly squat; even with the straw roof counted in it would barely reach two stories tall. Vines were starting to creep up the exterior, covering up a smattering of wooden shutters and paper windows. Two men stood by the main entrance, sleeves rolled up and relaxed, chatting away with absolutely zero tension on their faces.

“Hang on,” whispered Marisa. “I think recognize one of them. He helps around with building stuff around the village, and also subs in to help out the gate guards when they need extra shifts.”

“He’s from the village then? Born and bred?”

“Yeah,” Marisa confirmed. “Whoever’s in there probably thought it’d raise less eyebrows if the people at the front door were known faces at the Human Village. Feel any wards, by the way? Where I am right now I’m feeling nothing.”

I closed my eyes, and concentrated. Narrowing my focus, I did a brief sweep of my immediate surroundings.

“No. Probably would have been too obvious that it wasn’t just serving as a bunkhouse if they spread their wards over too large an area. Some youkai – or even humans – are actually quite good at detecting oddities. I’d wager that any form of warding done would be either on the walls of the building itself, or inside.”

“Ok. You confident in disarming it? Or at least, making it not detect us when we enter?”

I nodded. “Without a doubt. I’ll probably have to do it at the main entrance, which is under watch right now. How about you? Are you confident in taking those two jokers down if it’s necessary?”

Marisa shrugged, but it was now clear that she was a bit uneasy. “Yeah, I could put ‘em to sleep. Would probably raise alarms if anybody inside checked on the two though. We don’t know if they have any type of guard rotations, either.”

I snuck a bit closer, trying to peer into the ratty windows of the warehouse. It was hard to make anything out in the darkness, but I could say that at the very least we wouldn’t be bursting into a bustling room.

[ ] Have Marisa distract them, and I’ll come in from a blindspot to disarm the wards, and enter the building. Marisa’ll have to disengage and find herself a way in later, but without the wards it should not be a major issue.
[ ] Have Marisa knock out the two and pack them away somewhere safe. It’ll be less risky in the sense that we we’ll be able to enter easier – but riskier in the sense that it might raise concerns once people realize they’re missing.
[ ] Wait, and observe the building for a while before committing to a move. This will take time, which will inevitably have effects here or elsewhere.
[ ] Write In

Feel free to ask append any questions or things you want to check out to your vote. But anything too in-depth will have to be a full action, which will take time.

As I hid in the undergrowth, I watched Marisa glide silently through the trees to the other end of the warehouse. She had told me to wait for a “signal”, whatever that meant. Sneaking a bit closer to the main doors of the warehouse, I carefully minded my steps on the loose leaves and scattered twigs. The sounds of the village guards chattered distantly at my ears. From what little I could hear, the talk was harmless enough. Just the usual discussions of card games and drinking holes in the village proper.

There was a small snap, and a muffled explosion – too quiet to be thunder, but more like a small firecracker had gone off deeper in the woods. The conversation between the guards ceased, and I could see them stand up. Curiously, not warily. They were clearly not expecting anything too dangerous this close to the Human Village. One picked up a cudgel, the other, a spear; and both moved further away, to the edge of the tree line opposite from where I hid and peered in through the greenery.

I made my move. Making sure that their puzzled gazes was still fixed into the depths of the forest, I made my way swiftly behind them to the main doors. Taking out my picks, I did a quick probe of the entrance with my magic, then carefully inserted my tools.

“Hey folks!” came Marisa’s cheery voice. I snuck a glance behind me, and saw the witch emerge into sight from behind a tree. “Sorry ‘bout that. Was trying out some of my newer reagents. What are you guys doing out here?”

One of the guards eased and immediately lowered the butt of their spear to the ground. “Hey, Kirisame! Haven’t seen you around town for a bit. Keepin’ well?”

As Marisa drew the two into conversation, I concentrated on the door itself. The lock was simple, just the original lock that came with the warehouse. I started methodically working my way through the pins, one by one. It seemed that whoever decided on this location had decided against a new lock that might have looked too out of place. The ward however was deceptively intricate – but with closer examination most of its cunning was dedicated to detecting youkai in glamours.

I could understand their precautions against Ran, but did the casters not think about human adversaries? I carefully nudged the outside wards to ignore Marisa and I, and clicked the final pin within the physical lock. With another quick glance behind me, I cracked open the door and slipped inside.

This was always the part that made me the most nervous.

Thankfully, the wards did not react. And like I saw from the outside, the inside of the warehouse was dark, the unlit interior gloomy and ominous with no one in sight. It was just a large, single room, stretching out into the darkness with shelves in between to block any deeper line of sight. I could see racks on the wall meant to hold brewing implements, and a few cracked clay pots that lay dusty and disused on the ground. Here and there, I could see straw mats scattered with no real rhyme or reason – those at least, looked more recently used.

I spied a shelf that looked sturdy enough to bear my weight. With as much deftness I could muster, I used it as a makeshift ladder and climbed upwards, so that I reached a roof beam that gave me a bit of space above it. I crept onto it and lay prone, taking in my surroundings from my vantage point.

The entire warehouse/bunkhouse looked abandoned. More accurately, it was a mixture of “older” and “newer” abandonment. The old structure and equipment of the brewing operation decades ago, and the lethargic abandonment of several days prior. Through the darkness I could see more straw mats, which looked like they had been used until very recently. From a crack in boarded up window, I could see a beam of light shine weakly onto a set of eating utensils. The insides of the bowls were dirty and growing thick with mold.

I crept further along the beam, a sense of unease entering my heart. Did this mean that they had switched locations? Did this mean that we needed to go on another wild goose chase to pin down Ran’s attackers again? But then why did they still keep guards at the door? Just to throw us off?

There was a shuffle, a hint of noise. I froze in place. The human eye always tracked movement better, and if I didn’t move, I would just be a patch of shadow hidden in the structural beams. Anything magical, I would trust with the amulets that I had inside my coat. My eyes swept over the dimly lit interior of the warehouse, and saw nothing move.

There was another noise: this time, a weak, whistling groan. It seemed to come from deeper inside the warehouse, but I knew better than to completely trust my senses. With how large this room was and how the furniture was scattered throughout, the way that sound could echo around meant that any sort of triangulation was guesswork at best. Slowly, I slid further along the beam. When I came across a pillar that stood right in my way, I had to wiggle across and switch beams to progress.

I heard another groan. This time it was quieter, and more plaintive, almost like a cry for help. I did another sweep of the room with my eyes, and finally I saw a man on the warehouse floor.

The first hint of his origins was the outsider clothes. Even crumpled against the corner like he was, he still wore the expensive overcoat and gloves common to magic users in the business. The garments were large and sturdy, useful for hiding defenses or other offensive implements. With mysteries as thin as they were on the outside, one needed any edge they could get.

I considered my options. It could be a trap. An extremely, overly elaborate trap.

But I could sense no illusions, no weird tricks. My magical talent was like a weathervane, and it would fold and twist upon contact with anything that had any moderate outward pressure. And I just wasn’t sensing any of that. I took a deep breath, and slid carefully down the pillar so I could examine the downed outsider further.

His face was pale. Even in the dark it stood out like the moon at night. I could see the beads of sweat on his forehead, and I didn’t need a medical degree to tell that he was feverish. I waved a hand in front of his face, and barely got half a few mumbles in response. Biting my lip, I gingerly patted him down. He had no visible wounds, and soon my hands dug out a wallet from his coat pocket.

His ID read “Takuma Hoshino”. No one that I knew, and though the last name sounded vaguely familiar in the circles that I ran in it didn’t seem like he hailed from any of the large clans either. But he was definitely a mage of some sort; the inside of his coat was plastered with onmyoji protection charms. There was nothing else useful that I could find to explain his state. This guy couldn’t be the mastermind. Was he someone that the group left behind?

I heard a creaking at one of the windows. I quickly backed into cover, but once I saw that it was Marisa moving a few creaky wooden planks away so she could enter, my thumping heartbeat shuddered back to normal. She poked her hand in and gestured a little, seeing if any wards went off. Satisfied, she crawled through the small gap. I made a small wave to get her attention, and soon she was by my side looking at our fallen… foe?

“Good job at the door,” she whispered. She held up a hand, and I clasped it quietly with mine.

“Same with you. Learn anything?”

Marisa shook her head. “Boys outside knew nothing. Just that they had a mix of some friends from the village and also some new outsiders that were working out of here – the two were given a story about thefts, so they needed to keep an eye out for anyone that stood out.” The witch crouched down by my side and examined the unconscious mage. “How about this one? Do you know him?”

I shook my head. “Just your run of the mill outside mage. Not doing so well. Could be exhaustion from using way too much magic, could have been the subject of a nasty curse. Hard to tell.”

“Hmm. Can’t say I’m an expert in these kinds of things but I’d bet on the former rather than the latter. C’mon.”

Leaving the fallen man aside as harmless, the witch brusquely brushed a bit of dust off her skirt and started making her way deeper into the warehouse. She was surprisingly nimble, and far braver than I usually was when doing these kind of things. Confidence backed in firepower, perhaps. I stuck close to her. As we approached the other end of the warehouse, we found a possible way forward. A trapdoor, newer looking than the rest of the surroundings, stuck out like a sore thumb at our feet.

“Well there you have it,” muttered Marisa. “I can count on one hand the amount of buildings in Gensokyo that have a basement. They’re usually only present in western style buildings. Civilians don’t like them, there’s too many earthquakes around. Screws up the structural strength.”

I knelt and took a closer look. There was a ward here, too – but it seemed slapped down almost as an afterthought. This meant that this was an access point that was used to plenty of traffic. I started my ward-breaking once work again, raising an eyebrow at Marisa - who started drawing something into the ground with a piece of chalk.

“I like leaving explosive surprises around areas like this,” Marisa explained cheerily, outlining an almost perfect circle around the hatch. “Either I can collapse it and make a clean escape as I run by, or have my pursuers stumble into it during the chase. Just good utility.”

I peered at her rune work. “You can do this remotely?”

“Ehh… kind of.” She finished off her spell with a flourish. “You done? After you then.”

I was indeed done with it. I braced myself and gingerly opened the hatch, poking my head through to take a quick look. Thankfully, no alarms or traps were triggered, and I climbed down the wooden ladder. Here, at least, there was better lighting. Lamps powered by magic were drilled into the compacted dirt on the surrounding walls. The entire underground looked very roughly excavated, very much function over form. From where I stood, I stared out into a long hallway dotted with doors along the way. Some rooms didn’t even have doors, but instead went with simple curtains.

Anybody coming down the other way would spot us easily. I could only hope that we didn’t stand out that much, and that we could disappear into one of the side rooms when that happened.

Speaking of which. I cracked open one of the side doors that were closer to the ladder. When I heard no obvious response, I peeked through and saw what looked like living quarters. Fashioned in the modern outsider style, more or less. The furniture was basic as all hell, and it was all clearly meant to be a temporary arrangement. But the thin layer of dust over everything also meant that no one had slept here in a while.

We passed several more of these as we walked down the hall. They differed in detail, but shared the same general style. With a rough approximate, I’d say that maybe twenty to thirty people could fit in the lodgings below.

All of them were empty. But as we neared the end of the hallway, a bend in the path finally revealed a heavy set of doors. Beyond it I could hear muffled whispers, rhythmic chanting, and a dim glow shone from underneath the crack of the doors. Marisa and I exchanged glances.

We had found them.

Another tentative touch with my senses confirmed it. The doors were heavily warded. The defenses were strung together in multiple loops that even I grimaced at the undertaking of it all. Bindings against trespass, against harm… this was the real deal. They had dedicated every scrap of defensive spellwork they had on this last barrier that was standing before us. But still though…

I passed my hand gingerly over the surface of the doors. Material wise, they didn’t look sturdy – it was almost as if they had gotten the materials down through the trap door, and then put them together down here in their lair. Maybe it was done with a bit of help from the workmen they had employed from the village. Possibly to supplement the material weakness, the focus of the wards was against actual physical damage. My mind went back to the front door, gated against youkai in glamor. This was truly a barrier with supernatural entities in mind, something that even Ran would need some time cracking though with her fists.

Marisa let out a low, soft whistle from her lips as she examined the wards as well. “This must have taken the good part of a dozen people to build,” she muttered, running her eyes over the wood grain. “Well? You bullied the other two locks upstairs quite handily; what do you think about this one?”

I scowled. “It’ll… take time.”

“How long?”

I made some internal calculations as I examined the spellwork. Some wards could be seen as “knots”. But this one? It was an entire quilt, knitted carefully so that each strand of power hooked into the other. Making my way through the entire thing would take…

“An hour,” I said with a sigh.

Marisa groaned and rolled her eyes. “Well, I don’t fancy our chances crouching here for an entire hour. I might as well blast through the gate with my –”

“Wait wait wait!” I hissed, holding her back. “We don’t know what’s on the other side. Tell you what; if you can bring me that man that we left behind upstairs, I could maybe make something work.”

Marisa looked at me dubiously.

“I’m hinging a lot of this on the fact that he may have had prior access,” I explained. “Even if he isn’t conscious enough to actively pass the gate, I could probably… pretend he was doing so. But I’ll need him by me. Could you go back up and…”

“Bring him down?” asked Marisa, with a raised eyebrow. She gestured towards all of herself, barely over five feet tall on a good day.

“Fair point. Keep an eye out for me?”

Back through the hallway, up the ladder, through the shelves again and back to the outsider. He was still where we found him, and still unconscious; with Marisa keeping watch I managed to hoist him onto my back with no issue. If he decided to wake up and managed to drive a knife through my back? Well, I’d take those odds. The man’s breaths still came reedy and exhausted, and I doubted he could lift a paperclip to save his life.

As I made my way down the ladder again though, the man started struggling weakly.

“N’more…” he whispered. “No more…!”

Marisa and I exchanged glances again, but we continued on. As we went down the hallway, his spasms grew in frequency but not in strength – after a few seconds, he was spent, limply laying across my back with labored gasps.

“It’s draining him,” said Marisa, subdued. “Whatever’s on the other side.”

I caught that too. Biting my lip, I quickened my pace towards the two locked doors again and set him down against it. Marisa took out her handheld furnace with a grim look on her face. She nodded to me, keeping an eye on the hallway and the door.

“Get to work. I’ll watch our backs.”

She didn’t need to tell me twice. I delved back into the spellwork, trying to match the signature of mana with our hostage, whose condition was rapidly worsening. Seconds stretched by like hours. I navigated through each knot, testing each for consistent patterns. The ward was rough in places, lacking the elegance of what I had experienced in Mayohiga, and I used that to boost my flagging confidence. I felt battlements and trenches built of will, ramparts built brick by brick by a multitude of mages with their hungry desperation.

But I had broke through better.

With the mage’s signature in hand, I built together an assortment of magic arrangements that would mimic his work. It wasn’t as easy as just using his “hue” of magic, no – there was a code needed here, and his magic was just the building blocks. When I finally pieced together the solution, there was no indication, no flash of power or hum of magic. I merely tugged the right places, gasped as even that effort drank me almost to the core – and then it was done. A light snap of tension, if even that.

Marisa looked at me warily. “Is it…”

I didn’t answer her. With an exhausted smile on my face, I opened the door just a sliver. The witch grinned at me, and we both peered in.

I’ve seen plenty of rituals in my time. As the go to assistant, I sat at the sidelines of many, and have seen my fair share of major spellwork. Hell, in the outside world, even the crudest miracle needed half a dozen people to slave over. That was just how it was.

In many ways, what I saw here was the same. The ritual was conducted in one of the eastern fashions – the yin yang separating the room into two, with the eight trigrams marking each side of the octagonal room. A sickly golden glow suffused the chamber with light. But the bodies.

The bodies. Living or dead, I did not know; but they scattered limply on spaces where they used to stand in the ritual. On the very outer circle were a smattering of people dressed up in Gensokyo fashion – hand woven threads, hemp and silk. They all lay limply upon the ritual room floor. The circle inside that one had outsiders, mages from their choice of dress – and they too had collapsed. The only remaining circle at the center held no more than eight or nine members, still struggling with the sympathetic spell, maintaining it to beat down Ran before she could recover. Two mages, each dressed in white and black, lead the efforts of both sides of the room. They structured the chants, maintained the throughput of power. The best that the outside world had to offer.

The very center though, was a Bakeneko. A young girl with cat ears and a pair of tails, she was dressed in a green hat and a red dress. And like many others in the room she lay there without stirring on the ground. Acting as the centerpoint, the crux of the matrix.

“That’s… that’s Chen! Ran’s shikigami!” hissed Marisa.

The mages were using Ran’s shikigami as the sympathetic link. Without her hair or any additional blood, they had in some sense, found something even closer to home.

But that wasn’t all. In one of the corners, so small that I could barely see her, was the form of the Kijin Seija. Sitting down casually among the bodies as if it were just another picnic, I saw the ever-present grin on her face. From her posture, she wasn’t the leader – but more of a gleeful bystander. Marisa noticed my gesture to her, and sucked in a breath through her teeth upon seeing the amanojaku.

“Seija,” she said grimly. “Nasty piece of work. Tough, too. Can beat her on a good day, but…”

[ ] Direct attack, catch them all off guard. Marisa’s known for her tremendous firepower - she could lay down a hail of scorching fire from where we stood, and we could stop the spell and save Chen in one fell swoop.
[ ] Disrupt the spell. My experience as an assistant meant that I knew where to hit the structure of the magic where it hurt the most. I could add myself to the choir with no one the wiser, and make a fatal misstep where it mattered. The sympathetic magic would shatter like glass, and they’d need at least a week to pick up the pieces to try again and recover from the backlash. Ran could use that time to recover, and hunt them down without that weight on her back.
[ ] We have completed our espionage. With the knowledge that we’ve gathered, we can exit the warehouse and get support. The cavalry can come in guns blazing, knowing what to expect.
[ ] Write-in