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It hadn't been four years since Reimu came to Ran to give the bad news that Yukari had gone. Ran had fallen into a bit of an attachment to sake' since her sister's death, drowning her tears in alcohol for the longest time. Poor Chen didn't really understand, and was sitting across the table from Ran now, colouring on her placemat while they sat in a booth at Yamame's Bar and waited for service.

"Ran-shama, look~! I drew us sitting here and having dinner~!"


Chen lifted up her placemat and held it at arm's-length for Ran to see. Ran smiled lightly, her little shikigami always being able to bring a bit of happiness.

"It looks very nice, Chen. Your drawing has improved a lot!"


"Hehe, thank you, Ran-shama~! I do it because it makes Ran-shama smile, and I don't like it when you have that sad face. See? That one, right there."

Chen points at Ran's face, which makes the kyuubi shift to a confused expression.

"What face? I wasn't making a sad face."


"Yes you were, and then it disappeared."


Ran blinked, but then raised her hand up and plucked at an almost invisible string suspended over the table. Within a few moments, the tsuchigumo who owned the bar came skittering across a massive web that was suspended above the entire room, and hung upside-down over their table.

"Hello again, Ran. Would you like the usual quart of oni sake?"


The kyuubi nodded to the spider girl, but had something to add.

"Could I also get some fried tofu?"


"Of course! Starting to feel a bit back to normal, are we?"


The kyuubi nodded again.

"A little."


"That's good. And what can I get for you, little kitty?"


Chen tossed her arms in the air excitedly.

"I want some yummy fish~!"


Yamame chuckled.

"Oni sake', aburaage, and one hamachi, coming right up~"


She then ascended into the rafters and scuttled across the web into a small funnel hole that led into the kitchen, and was gone from sight. Ran peered out the bar's window and into the streets of the Old Hell, and was slightly surprised to find that it was snowing. Underground. The snow was melting upon contact with the cobblestone, and it still felt like a comfortable spring day, but it was definitely snowing. She looked around to see if she could spot the cause, and Chen had her nose to her placemat, colouring some more. While Ran looked around out the window at all the confused expressions of those outside and walking the streets, she gathered that there was nothing readily apparent that would be causing the snow... that is, until the earth shook with incredible force.

(( Relevant video: Sakuya ~ The Tale of an Unfilial Human))

Patchouli had been giving lessons to Flandre for quite some time now, and while she wasn't all that great of a teacher, she had become fond of sharing her vast accumulated wealth of knowledge. But something had been bothering her about it, in the back of her mind. Something wasn't quite right, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. Just then, Sakuya opened the massive door next to her study that came from the main house. She was carrying a polished silver tray with fine ceramic tea wares balanced upon it, and two fairy maids accompanying her. Sakuya came over to Patchouli's favourite table and set the tray upon the one spot that was clear of books and scrolls in the exact shape of that particular tray. Habits are easily developed when you're long-lived... but Sakuya was showing signs of age, having served the Scarlet family for many years. Crows' feet had formed near her eyes, and her smile made little wrinkles appear out of nowhere. She grew tired faster than she used to. Her voice had a slight quaver to it, and she seemed to have to make more of an effort to speak her mind, so she often kept quiet. Remilia had recently come to the library in tears, asking for anything to halt the human aging process, and toddled away with a massive stack of books that Koakuma had to help her take back up to her room. She'd been shut in there ever since, studying ways to keep her head maid from growing beyond her name's meaning...

"Patchouli, I have brought you your tea."


She quietly set the tray down with a clink, and poured a serving into the small cup.

"Thank you, Sakuya."


After a few moments, the chief maid was still standing there, and there was an intense air of nervousness and worry between the two fairy maids. Patchouli lowered her book and turned a little to speak more directly to her.

"... Is something on your mind?"


Sakuya bowed politely, then straightened, a slight expression of pain crossing her face from the effort.


"Hm... Yes, actually. It's... about your lessons with Flandre."


"I was thinking something about that myself just now... She seems to have taken interest in a most peculiar subject... I'm debating on either directing her attentions in a different direction, or supporting her interest in the subject... I haven't permitted her to investigate further yet, because I can't really make up my mind..."

"Well, that's not it, exactly. I'm worried that your lessons are actually keeping her a little too occupied. She isn't allowed any time of her own anymore... but since you mention it, she has been practicing some strange new magic in her room, and all the fairy maids are very nervous. This one here says that she was threatened earlier and made to carry a letter out to that little ice fairy near the lake."

Sakuya indicated the fairy maid to her left, who nodded, but was still shaking and worried for her very life. Patchouli thought for a few moments, and pondered aloud. Sakuya seemed to be growing tired on her feet, so the magician waved her hand and made a cushioned seat float over and deposit itself behind the aging maid. Sakuya placed herself into the seat without a word.

"Practicing strange magic you say...? Carrying a letter out to that dimwitted fairy...? Sudden interest in possession..."

Patchouli seemed to withdraw in thought, but Sakuya put two and two together and voiced it.


"...She's planning to possess Cirno! Patchouli, we have to stop her! What if it's the same kind of magic that Kikuri uses, and we lose all our hard work in restoring Gensokyo?"

Sakuya was out of her seat in the blink of an eye, and moving to the door as fast as her body would allow her to walk.

"Ehh!? Sakuya, you should sit down and let me handle this! Even if you're right, you're not in the best condition right now!"

The two of them rapidly fly down the halls toward Flandre's new room up in the actual mansion.

"Like you have room to talk! I may be old now, but I still have some tricks up my sleeve!"


Just as the two of them enter the main hall, the same quake that was affecting Yamame's Bar decided to start shaking Scarlet Devil Mansion like a dollhouse on a rodeo bull.

Flandre watched the clock in her room intently. Had the letter been intercepted? Did Cirno get lost? Surely she couldn't; visiting the Scarlet Devil Mansion would have been like walking across the street for the Ice Fairy. She returned her attention to one of the books she herself had "borrowed" from Patchy's Library, fingering through its pages, and doing her best to memorize the incantations necessary for the spell.

Hidden under the decorative rug in her bedroom, Flandre had drawn out an intricate magic circle, one specifically needed for the possession spell she was attempting to perform. It looked right to her own eyes, but without anyone to double-check her work, it was anyone's guess if it was correct.

Flandre set the book down on her bed and rubbed her eyes, tired from all her studies and preparations. She had no sooner rested her head upon her large, plush pillow when everything began to shake violently. Books fell off her bookcase and glass trinkets tumbled from the shelves they perched upon, adding to the cacophony of noise as the very earth began to writhe and heave. Flandre shot straight up and off the bed, lifting herself from its soft surface and into low flight with her wings.

"W-w-whaaa?? What's going on?!"


She made a mad dash for her door, blasting through it with her full weight. Thankfully, whoever engineered her door managed to make it Flandre-proof, meaning it didn't bust straight off its hinges as she did so, and merely popped open in the wake of the young Scarlet.

"Sakuya~aaaa!!"




The little Ice Fairy skipped merrily down a single dirt path, one that lead from her home at the lake towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion - why she wasn't flying was anybody's guess. She squeezed through a small hole in the Mansion's protective wall; it was a recess where a few of the wall's bricks had given away, allowing someone with a childlike stature to squeeze through. Cirno's wings made it a little uncomfortable, but she usually managed. Today however, she'll get a nasty little surprise...

The earth began to shake, just as it had everywhere else. Cirno, still only half-way squeezed through the wall, began to flail her arms and legs around.

"Waaahh! Don't eat me, Mr. Wall!! I'm sorry!"

In Old Hell, one could not swing a kanabo without hitting somwhere you could get a good drink or an oni looking to fight you for hitting them with a kanabo. Dispite such, Yamame's bar has maintained a fair degree popularity, especially among oni who want to take advantage of Yamame's abilities to weaken their systems long enough to keep a friendly drinking contest between Oni from becoming life long careers. Tucked away in a cornor of this drinking establishment a usually rowdy pair drink silently in despair.

Yuugi sat back in her seat, her feet on the table, as she sipped from her sake saucer.


"Well that sucked..."


Suika hummed an agreement, her head resting on the table with her eyes closed. The only way an onlooker could tell she had not passed out was her periodic swig from her gourd.


"We finally make the time to go mountain climbing together and half the damn mountain is missing...you would think someone who spends all their time on the surface would mention this before inviting her old friend to come up."


"Hmm? Oh!? Yeah I haven't been up there that much recently..."


Yuugi looked at her friend quizically.


"...? What your human girlfriend dump you or something?"


"Human girlfriend? Oh!? You mean Reimu?"


Suika pauses for a moment, as if considering her words.


"She seems busy with human stuff."


"HA! Dosen't have time to baby sit a drunken oni loli like yourself anymore huh?"


While the small oni's expression remained the same, Yuugi could feel the tinge of annoyance Suika had with her last comment.


"Nope. So that responsibility falls on you."


"Lucky me...Still, surprised to see you down here. You were always getting friendly with all sorts of non-oni. Like that fancy umbrella girl, whats her name...you know, the blond, always appearing out of nowhere, something like Yukiki...or Yurika..."


"Yukari."


With this, the small oni opened her eyes. She looked tired. Her eyes had a slight red tint as if she had been crying. Except Oni's don't cry. They crush anything that gives them grief, and if they can't do that they drink til the problem disappears. As she took a long drink from her gourd, she wondered if thats the reason she can't quite remember why surface looked the way it did, or why the kitsune and neko at the other table looked vaguely familiar.


"Those two arn't locals are they?"


Yuugi watched her friend for a second, considering whether she should press the matter or not before letting it go.


"Nah, but they come here from time to time. I think they may one of those Komeiji sisters' pets."


Suika watched them for a bit, trying to figure out why she felt she knew them, when the earth suddenly began to shake. The jolt from feeling the earth move beneath her feet seemed to wake Suika up.


"Whats happening!?"


On the other hand, Yuugi sat uninterested in the turn of events.


"Will you relax? We are underground and in Japan no less, earth quakes should be expected..."


The oni balanced her sake in its saucer, carefully compensating for the erratic movements of the earth as she brought the rim of her cup to her lips. Only then did a particular tremor tip the contents of her glass onto her face and shirt. The oni looked at the spilt sake in complete disbelief. She stood up suddenly infuriated.


"Something weird is going on!"


"We should investigate."


"Investigate? How? Got any leads?"


"Hmm...well on the surface we would usually just wander around beating up people til we ran into someone who knew what was going on..."


Yuugi stared at her companion, not sure if Suika was being serious or not. The cornor of the large oni's lips curved into a smile, clearly likeing the plan of action.


"Alright, lets start with the non-locals at the othert table"

On the train, Maribel was fast asleep. Renko was staring outside the window as normally. She stared at the gleaming ruby-like sun in the pink sky. Then, she looked at the almost empty field. She saw pale cloud-like objects glowing dim blue light. She wiped her eyes. She looked at Maribel. Maribel began to open her eyes.

"Maribel are you okay? You're tearing up."


Maribel wiped hear tears. She nodded gently and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just having one of those dreams again."


"Really? What was it about?"


"Well, in my dream I say a women. She looked rather young, maybe 17-25 years old. She was wearing a purple dress, she wore a mob cap with a thin red ribbon, and she had long golden hair with red ribbons."


"What happened next?"


"It looked like she was sealing land away. She created a wall, no, a boundary. And there was also a dragon flying in the sky when that happened."


Suddenly, out of nowhere, a women with a blue kimono with pink hair appeared.

"Ahhh!!!"


The two screamed in sync, startling the women in blue.

"Why did you scream like that Yukari?"

Maribel and Renko exchanged looks, both looking confused.

"I'm sorry, but who is this Yukari you speak of?"

The ghost looked sad, looking blankly at the red flooring.

"So..... you're not Yukari?"


"No sorry I'm not, my name is Maribel.


"And my name is Renko. You look like your sad, are you okay?"


"Yeah, it's just that I'm lost and that I'm stuck here. Oh I almost forgot, my name is Yuyuko."


"Well we would love to help you get back to your home. And judging by your style of clothing, you look like you aren't around here."


"In the mean time, you can stay at my house."


"Really? You're so kind!"

The trio stared at the orange sky, arriving at their destination. Yuyuko looked at sunset, leaving a single tear.

~~~

Within the boundary of Gensokyo, Youmu Konpaku was in her newly owned house in the human village.

"It had nearly four years since that incident. I hope Yuyuko is okay."

She looked at the sunset trying to imagine how Yuyuko was doing.

"Hehehe, I guess that wall had no chance against Gensokyo's strongest idio... I mean fairy."


Rumia paused to think a moment.


"...maybe its not a good idea to try to eat her..."


Meanwhile, Wriggle was just finishing the letter.


"...F-fland-dre. Wow, I completely take back all that stuff I was saying about you. Come on let go see Flan."


Upon hearing Cirno's outcry, the two mimicked her reaction. Wriggle rushed to inspect the wall.


"Sgt. Pepper, report!"


At this command, a small beetle burrowed to the surface. Wriggle gave the creature a salute and the bug returned the gesture.


"I need you to scout for a way inside and your the only one who can fit. So I need you to..."


As Wriggle busied herself, Rumia was distracted by the small blue bird. She gave it a little wave.


"Hi there. Think Mystia knows her?"


She smiled at the bird when a thought came to mind.


"Hey why don't we just fly ov..."


"Sgt. Pepper just gave me his status report, he says the only way in is an assult on the main gate. But with the three of us together I am sure we could do it! Right Rumia?"


"Oh? Um..."


Rumia looked at the bird on top of the wall then back to her friends and shrugged.


"Sure I guess."


The two then looked to Cirno as the more or less leader of their group.

The oni pair approached the shikigamis, speaking in hushed voices to each other.


"Did you see that?"


"Yeah I saw."


"Good, I was begining to think I was the only one drunk enough to be seeing things."


"Hey, I'm still not clear on exactly how this investigating stuff works, do I just start punching them or..."


Suika waved her hand in the air, as if clearing away the thought.


"No no no no, we got to engage in a little banter first, see what they know."


"Got on any idea on what to say?"


Suika looks thoughtful for a moment.


"Red oni, Blue oni."


Upon hearing this Yuugi pulled her friend aside, their backs to the shikigamis in a small huddle.


"Red oni, blue oni!? Thats so cliche! They will see right through it."


"Hmm, well how do you want to do it then"


Yuugi thought a moment but came up with nothing before sighing in defeat.


"Fine, who's red and who's blue"


"You go ahead and be red, I'll jump in after you start."


Their plan of action set, the two turned back to the two guest of Old Hell. Yuugi locked eyes with the kitsune and gave a malicious grin. She spoke loudly, as if letting it known she was trying to be obnoxious.


"You know, its occured to me that you two have not recieved a proper oni welcome to Old Hell"


Yuugi cracked her knuckles, letting on exactly what an oni welcome might be.


"I got to ask, there has been something I always wondered about you nine tail types. They make such a fuss over the number of tails you guys have, so what happens when..."


Yuugi's gave a muderous grin and spoke in a voice that promised malicous intent.


"somebody cuts them off. Care to help me solve this little mystery?"


The oni continued to glare at kyuubi. Her gaze however faltered after a few seconds, replaced with a more troubled one. Yuugi stole a glance back at her companion, her arms in an almost shrug as if asking when exactly the small oni planed on stepping in. Suika drank her sake, seeming to not be paying any attention at all. Noticing the bigger oni's gaze, she gave her a small hand wave to continue. Yuugi turned back to the fox to continue her threats, her being obviously flustered underlying their credibility.


"Uh, so yeah! We're going to mess you up, and...stuff."


"NYA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"


Suika's sudden high pitch laughter sent a shiver up Yuugi's spine. The small Oni then spoke in an oviously forced deep voice.


"If you got the fox, then leave the kitten to me, its been awhile since I had cat food"


Yuugi turned to Suika in shock, before begining to clench her teeth in frustration.


"IDIOT!"


Yuugi rushed to her friend and gave her a slap aside the head.


"We can't BOTH be the red oni!"


Suika, rubbing the spot she had been hit, retruned to speaking normally.


"But you said they would see right through it if we played the traditional red oni/blue oni routine."


Yuugi sighied and turned back to the shikigami pair, completely dropping the facade.


"Look, from what we heard you and that other fox know alittle more about whats going then we do. So how about you fill us in on whats going on so we could spend alittle less time kicking your a** and alittle more on those actually responsible?"

After the mysterious male kyuubi had vanished from Yamame's bar, he found himself on the floor in an unfamiliar house, probably at the wrong time, too, for the front door was opening, and a girl's voice could be heard welcoming someone inside.

[?] "E-ehh?"

He quickly looked around for a place to hide until he could regain enough energy to spirit himself away again, but the foyer was quite devoid of places that would hide him and his tails. He put on a poker face and part of him hoped that by some dumb luck, he wouldn't be seen, though he was firmly parked on his rear right in the middle of the entryway.

=======================================================

After observing the slightly alcohol-skewed performance of the two oni, Ran could only shake her head to them. If she wasn't confused before, she most certainly was now. She took Chen by the shoulders and moved her so that the little nekomata was standing behind her, before shaking her head once more in response to the tall oni's inquiry for information, showing that she had none.


"Actually, while I would be more than happy to give any information I have at this point, I'm afraid I'm at just as much of a loss as you are. Only thing I know is that there was a person here, who is not anymore. I don't even know what his name is. He said that he could be found somewhere safe, in the Human World."


"Poof! She just disappeared, like a ghost!"


"Chen, that wasn't a girl, like I said earlier."


"Oh, sorry~"


Ran reached under her cap and scratched her ear casually. She seemed to be pretty confused and worried, which probably partially accounted for her being so cooperative for the two oni... it was pretty common knowledge that kitsune and oni didn't get along well at all, but most suspected it to just be that they always seemed to antagonize each other, being of pretty equal power. It was probably all meant in good fun that just wasn't comprehended by human minds. It might even be that kitsune and oni are the best of firneds, and they just show it differently.


"In any case, I'd like to get more information from him, but I'm at a loss with how to get to the Human World, seeing as how Rei- I mean... Yakumo-san... is busy elsewhere. Do either of you have ideas?"

=======================================================

The two frail girls were trapped in a large room that was on their way to the Scarlet sisters' chambers, after a portion of the roof collapsed from the earthquake. They had both been plunged into darkness, and they couldn't see each other, but it didn't take long for Patchouli to remedy that using a small blue flame.


"Sakuya? Are you alright?"


It took a moment for the maid to reply from an unseen area.


"I... I think so. Though I've gone and gotten myself stuck, it seems. Sorry, Patchouli."



"It's fine, just try not to move too much."


"I'm afraid I don't have much choice in that. My leg is pinned..."


"Oh dear... we're going to have to wait for someone stronger to come along, neither one of us are in any shape to move the debris... Just be patient, Sakuya."


The anemic magician started to pace about what small space she had under a massive beam, but soon grew weary and had to sit down on the floor.



"Maybe it's me who needs to be patient..."