Chapter 6. A special ability to end all special abilities
So, Reimu Hakurei, the revered but destitute Hakurei Shrine Maiden had for best friend the rogue magician, poster child for harsher punishments to arcanists, Marisa Kirisame. For all the stupid things they had already done together, by the time their 14th birthdays were coming you'd think they'd be talking about retirement already, but that was not the case. A few miles outside their country, girls their age would be in the mid year of junior high, making plans for the incoming summer vacation, and would busy themselves chatting and playing games at their cell phones and talking about boys.
Reimu and Marisa had never attended one single day of school and had an experience with boys that consisted in talking naughty things about Rinnosuke during one of the many sleepovers at Hakurei Shrine (Mima's idea of dragging the duo to a "reputed male brothel" a year ago had had consequences that would be hilarious if not so painful for the other patrons and staff). The girls played their games too, of course: The shogi board and the hanafuda deck never had a chance to collect dust since they were both restless, but their favorite game happened to be the "training to stay alive" game, where both girls would fly dangerously fast and close to the ground, throwing high speed projectiles at each other, full contact style.
Marisa's "magic missiles" and Reimu's empowered ofudas had about the same properties, hurt-wise, which were terrible. You got hit by one of them and flesh would tear and bones could break. Reimu's harmlessly named "fantasy seal" (aka: high speed homing burning lights) and Marisa's not so harmlessly named "Master Spark" (aka: huge freaking laser out of nowhere, that she and Mima stole from a monster they met at the dream realms once) were the kind of stuff that could take down a jet fighter. Militaries from the outside would go crazy and kill to wield that kind of power in the form of quickly muttered prayers or magic sigils. Of course, outside they had "guns" and ?missiles? being produced in industrial quantities, so the great barrier existed to protect Gensokyo from the outside world, and not the inverse.
The writer digress. Reimu had risen to the top of Gensokyo's food chain via a combination of intimidation, dodging skills and relentless violence, and was growing worried about it. One day, when Marisa arrived to play, Reimu was sitting by the porch, without a cup of tea or sake in hand, her brow furrowed. So, something bad was already happening, thought Marisa.
On the subject of digressions, let's stop for a whole while now and say that the two girls where pretty much distinct: Reimu was tall for her age, not freakish so, but she was as tall as a regular japanese girl from the outside, who had grown in a full protein diet, while the regular Gensokyo humans were still in the rice/herbs/fish shavings food economy. Maybe the youkai who secretly guarded her had put something in her milk. Maybe it was simply genetics. She was tall, this got noticed and commented ("that Reimu is surely tall for her age. Maybe she's not fully human, you know..."). Not until years later, when Sanae arrived and was even taller than Reimu, that the talk changed, to: "shrine maidens are surely tall, you know..."
Somewhat off-puttingly for someone with Reimu's frame, she had the sweetest, highest voice, that she wielded almost as lethally as she did with her Yin-Yang orbs. She could be nice, or sing, and people's humor soared, or she could be sarcastic or just plain angry and humans and youkai would be sent reeling, looking for shelter.
Marisa, for starters, didn't look japanese at all. Her forefather's absurd, probably magic, genes ensured that successive breedings with normal Japanese humans produced more and more European looking, fair haired, light eyed humans. In Marisa's case, she didn't even look fully human, with those yellow eyes. Fox eyes, as they said on Gensokyo, eyes as Rinnosuke's, eyes strange enough to ruin her father's mind and make him suspect the half-youkai who wished nothing else but to serve his late mentor?s family.
So, you have this misplaced Caucasian-looking girl, ?gifted? with a short, wiry frame. Marisa's growth spurt was still to happen, or so she fervently hoped, because Reimu was a full head taller than her. Marisa hadn't much of a figure, either, something she was expertly hiding now by dressing in the blackest, widest dresses she could gather. Her short stature was further disguised topping her messy blonde head with a huge black and white witch hat that Rinnosuke made for her years ago. These days it was actually a lot of hats and hat parts, all huge and black, that Marisa mixed and matched until she was satisfied with her look for the day.
Marisa had a low voice, more suited to a boy than to a girl. Reimu found it cute, Marisa blushed if you happened to take notice, because as far as the witch was concerned, she was the girlishest of the girls. She liked frills in her clothes, bows in her hats and always weared a cute braid in her hair. Of course, she did all that with the grace of a hyperactive monkey. Likewise she had a rather coarse way of speech, more suitable for a gangster than to a girl, something that she first caught from Rinnosuke, and that was further refined (the inverse of refined, in fact) with Mima, but she would always use the feminine way to say ?I? and then be offended if someone commented on it.
Back to the shrine porch: Reimu waited until Marisa was close and looking expectantly to her to stand up and proclaim: "Marisa, I had one of those special dreams last night and learned a new technique..."
Marisa giggled nervously: "Eh... Why don't you show it to me now, then? Good thing I didn't even dismount..."
Reimu nodded, took her gohei and walked to the empty yard before the shrine. Marisa willed power to her broom and flew in a slow, wide ascending circle, looking at Reimu the whole time. While the girls weren't callous enough to straight up sneak attack murder each other, the "train to stay alive" game was exactly that. Reimu was about to try to kill Marisa with holy magic, and Marisa was expected to escape that.
Reimu put some power into flying and effortlessly took over. "Look at her..." though Marisa, a mix of admiration and jealousy: "a few months ago she still need old Genji to fly... Now you'd think she's from a bird family."
Reimu concentrated, which made her eyes become empty as she focused inwards. She was chanting something very quickly in her beautiful voice. "I should nail her with a magic missile just to teach her a lesson..." thought Marisa "...leaving herself open like that." and she even gathered the deadly piercing energy in her hand for just that when Reimu finished her incantation:
?Fantasy Heaven!? she said, and then she went away.
That shouldn?t happen, thought Marisa, who was in the uncanny situation of seeing Reimu disappear as if being taken directly away from her, even as if she was circling around the shrine maiden during the disappearance act. ?W-wait, Reimu?!? Marisa called, suddenly alone at the yard. She was still looking nervously all around, up and down, thinking that "geometry doesn't work like that!" when the attack came.
Out of nowhere, dozens of empowered ofudas were materializing in thick lines and starting to move towards Marisa, gaining speed in the process.
?Oh... it?s one of those, uh?? thought the witch, relieved because now she was seeing the attack. The witch made herself a smaller target by hugging her broom and put more speed into her flight. Reimu had several of those homing attacks, that once you knew what was happening were actually easy to avoid: a last instant move to the sides and you?d be safe, as the projectiles weren't smart to do a full turn. If you couldn?t move away with enough speed, however, which was about all the time if you couldn?t fly, then you?d be in for a world of hurt and some months bed-ridden, if you were lucky.
Marisa dodged the first waves, power gathering in her right hand for a counter attack. There was a vague Reimu-like emanation floating not far from where the miko had disappeared, so Marisa sent some of her high speed bullets straight at it. Her attacks passed through the phantom, harmlessly. "Tsk, it's a decoy..." thought the witch, and turned to look for the real shrine maiden.
The real Reimu was nowhere to be seen or felt. More and more waves formed, and Marisa quickly noticed that their density was increasing, fast. Seconds of tense dodge passed, feeling like hours.
?R-reimu! Stop, I want out!? cried Marisa, now in near panic, as dozens upon dozens of homing amulets darted by. Her black dress was being ripped, her hat was long gone and she was covered in cold sweat. Way to bring memories of Reimu's worst, with an attack like that. At the last moment, when Marisa was sure Reimu did indeed plan for the longest time to elaborately murder her, she felt the deadly divine energies everywhere around her collapse and wink out of existence. Into existence popped Reimu, by reversing that strange way of disappearing she had used. Marisa straight crash-landed, just slow enough to not break her legs, for once very happy to feel the solid, non lethal earth again. Reimu landed softly, and opened her eyes.
Marisa ran to her. While the witch?s first idea was to punch Reimu in the mouth, training to face real danger was the whole point of their little game, so she compromissed by angrily prodding the taller maiden in the chest with her still shaking index finger: ?Hey! Hey you jerk! You almost killed me there!?
?I almost did, didn?t I?? muttered the maiden, her eyes returning to focus. She then noticed Marisa?s insistent prods and grabbed her friend?s hand. ?What did you think about that technique??
Marisa blinked: ?I what?! It was... well, it was amazing! I couldn?t find you at all, so I couldn?t counter-attack and disrupt your shooting. I thought I was gonna die! Did you end it because you spent all your magic??
?No, I cancelled it because I figured that by that point you?d be in serious risk.? answered Reimu. "I didn?t spend my power at all, see?? she said, leaving the ground and calling the Yin Yang orbs back to her side. The ever changing spheres hummed, brimming with divine power.
?Whoa, whoa, alright... Amazing...? Marisa muttered, trying to process what she was seeing. ?If you still have power, we can try this again after my heart stop pounding so hard. Just give me a hint of how to spot the real you... Then I?ll surely give you a proper fight and you will learn to dodge while doing your new attack.?
?I don't need to dodge in Fantasy Heaven, Marisa.? Reimu said again. ?I wasn?t hidden, I wasn?t even here, at all.?
?You the what?!? Marisa cried. By then, the witch was tearing up.
A few minutes later, the two girls sat by the porch, now properly equiped with their teacups. Reimu brought sweets too, but Marisa didn?t touch them and could only stare into the distance as Reimu explained how Fantasy Heaven worked:
?...and then I wait in a safe place I create and work on sending more and more homing amulets back into reality against whoever was standing against me. My power is continuously renewed at the safe place, so I can, in theory, remain there forever, shooting away. In practice, I did it for two hours when I woke up, earlier today.?
Marisa took long enough to answer, while Reimu watched and waited for what her friend had to say. When the witch did finnaly answer, Reimu felt her fears being confirmed. Marisa didn?t sound like the ever confident Marisa, at all:
?I ? I mean, this Fantasy Heaven, it?s the real deal, right? A real ultimate technique... I don?t think you need me around anymore, Reimu, helping you with this incidents business... For now on, you just win on default.?
?No? said Reimu, with enough sadness in her pretty voice to snap Marisa out of her gloomy spell and make her turn to stare at the miko: ?For now on, youkai will kill me while I sleep.?
It took Marisa a while to understand, but Reimu had collected evidence. Kind of, anyway. The Hakurei Shrine Maiden had flied to the Youkai Mountain, into Tengu town and went to their library. She was there for old newspapers and she had a rather long and sick list to show, one of names and dates.
?Eh, so Hakurei Shrine Maidens surely die a lot...? said Marisa, for lack of something more insightful to say. Reimu had done some math and was explaining her grim conclusions:
?As I already told you, a Hakurei Shrine Maiden is a post. My powers come from being the shrine maiden, and are the same for all shrine maidens. The maiden before me wielded the Yin Yang orbs, could summon the Fantasy Seal, and so on. After I?m dead, the next girl in line will likewise gain the same powers, once properly sat at the shrine and accepted into the post...?
?And, as the newspapers showed, there are no records of Shrine Maidens winning fights with Fantasy Heaven, right?? asked Marisa, that by now was infected by her friend?s own gloom.
?That?s right. If we hakurei shrine maidens learn our techniques at the same order, and the newspapers show that it's so, many former maidens went right until right before Fantasy Heaven and then died.?
?Right before... would that be... the Duplex Barrier?? asked Marisa, fearfully. She knew all Reimu?s techniques, but somehow, later techniques weren't all that more fearsome. Fantasy Seal was Reimu?s very first technique, and it was usually all she needed to finish work and call it a day.
?No, that would be the Hakurei Bounded Field.? answered Reimu, gazing at the sunset. When Marisa didn?t reply, the miko looked back to her friend to find Marisa staring at her.
?What, I can?t be bothered to show you all my attacks, right?? said Reimu, defensively.
The girls? talk went into the night, and didn?t get any more optimistic than that. Out of fear that there was some mysterious youkai murder spell and/or plot already at work, Marisa stayed for the night, to guard her friend. Reimu was feeling particularly alone and vulnerable, in a philosophical sense, so it did help that her last sight that night was Marisa, in a borrowed nightgown, sitting cross-legged besides her.
Marisa was watching her friend with a lot of mixed feelings. From their first meeting in a battle years ago, their relationship had always been "rocky", by a conservative analysis. They fought for real a lot of times after that first fateful day, but while Mima was around taking things seriously was rather difficult, so the girls didn't grow to hold a grudge, but instead bonded. Mima teased Marisa about this a lot, but when even the evil spirit took each girl under each arm and went to party, being friends with Reimu seemed like the right thing to do.
It was easy to forget that the Hakurei Shrine Maiden was a human, sometimes, thought Marisa. Reimu's biting personality didn't help to dismiss the uncanny feeling. Being the shrine maiden had always looked like all kinds of awesome to Marisa, but seeing Reimu depressed like that made the witch finally think about how heavy all those responsibilities should feel on her friend's shoulders. She suddenly wanted to do everything she could to lift Reimu's mood, so she extended her open hand to the about-to-close-her-eyes-to-sleep Reimu. The hand stopped inches away from Reimu?s face.
The miko watched as if Marisa was about to sucker-punch her, which wouldn't be un-Marisa-like at all.
?What?? the maiden finally asked, after a few awkward seconds.
?My hand, you can hold it.? Marisa answered earnestly. The situation was about to become awkward all the way into the awkward valley.
?For??
?Uh, you feel better. I used to hold Kourin?s hand to sleep, some nights, when I was sad.?
Marisa looked away, blushing. Reimu blushed too, but she took the witch?s hand anyway and held it against her chest with her two hands. No girl dared to look at each other.
?Feeling better yet?? asked Marisa, tentatively, after what seemed an eternity of feeling Reimu's heartbeats through warm miko's skin.
?Thank you, Marisa.? said Reimu. ?I feel safer, already.? which was supposed to be sarcastic, but ended sounding truer than the miko had intended.
Marisa turned to her friend baring a toothy, winning grin: ?See? Nobody will kill you in your sleep. I can protect you like this forever!?
Reimu?s blush doubled in intensity as she turned to the side, still clutching Marisa?s hand and closed her eyes, hard. Soon she was asleep, dreaming. Soon Marisa would be asleep too, awkwardly doubled over her friend, not dreaming at all.
Nobody came to kill Reimu that night, and by the morning, Reimu had a working solution for her dilemma. Marisa, otherwise, had a killer back-ache.
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comments outside the story:
1) I'm not a "shipper", but girls their age should like to stick together. My idea about Marisa "stealing precious things" is the witch has a knack to clumsly stumble into other people's hearts, like she did with Reimu here. (at least that was my idea)
2) How Reimu and Marisa sound in my head are forever tainted by Iosys. Damn you, Iosys. Marisa's deep voice in particular is perfect for her. Reimu's voice, eh, not much, but you grow used to it.
3) What's up with that Mima and her evil ways? I think I made up a character there.