So. Now that my free time in general is disappearing, I'm gonna focus on finishing up PLotSS so I have less to feel guilty about not frequently updating. :ohdear:
-----
It was early in the afternoon by the time Sango and Murasa joined up with the rest of the crew. There were a few casual questions about where they'd been and what they'd been doing, but for now a simple 'just talking' would suffice. There was another problem they had to focus on, anyway.
"So. Where are we going to find one of these Stones of Focus?"
Murasa seemed to more or less be back in working shape, and Sango had done enough to convince her to focus on the job for now. She shrugged as the question was taken to her, a look of irritation written on her face.
"Don't ask me. I'm here to solve your practical problems, not the magical ones. And I don't really pay much attention to the visitors we get, I just work on keeping the place from falling apart. Hijiri, you're the one to go to on this, right?"
Byakuren looked slightly flustered as the question turned to her. This alone was enough to worry Murasa even before she started on a reply.
"Ah, yes. Stones of Focus are rather rare, the sort of item only the most powerful magicians of Gensokyo would be likely to carry around. And, well, I've only personally met one magician that would possibly own one."
Four faces grimaced at once as Byakuren's crewmates mentally processed her statement.
"H-Hijiri, please don't tell me you mean..."
Shou felt Nazrin clinging to her arm, as Byakuren looked towards her with a sorrowful expression.
"Yes, I'm afraid I do. It appears we may have to give our friend Kirisame-san a visit."
There was no verbal response, but the expressions said everything that needed to be said. Shou and Nazrin looked at each other nervously, while Ichirin shot an awkward glare towards Unzan. Even Murasa seemed to be distressed by the plan Byakuren was suggesting, looking away and pretending she was distracted by something in the distance.
Koishi, as usual, was the polar opposite of her companions, responding to the news with joy.
"You mean Marisa-san? I haven't played with her in aaaages!"
Sango was apparently the only person here who hadn't heard of this Kirisame person. The name only rang the vaguest of bells - Nitori had mentioned her once or twice as 'a human friend'. Beyond that, she knew just about nothing.
"...Hey, Koishi-chan. Who are you all talking about?"
"Marisa-san is a witch with all sorts of shiny magical attacks! Some of her stuff even gives me a run for my money, but I'll tell you right now that Master Spark is a plain ripoff. You can practically see the words IRUKA BEAM written all over it...still, can't blame her for admitting she can't do better!"
As usual, Koishi's contribution was just about useless. Sango looked over to Ichirin, the closest crewmate, for a second opinion.
"Ah, what she's trying to say is that Kirisame-san is one of Gensokyo's strongest magicians. She apparently has a stockpile of random artifacts that she's collected over the years, and it's very possible she'd have a Stone of Focus. Except..."
At this point, Ichirin looked away with a strained expression. Unzan did what he could to comfort her, and thus Sango found herself looking over to Murasa for the rest of the story.
"...Yeah, she's kind of a loose cannon. Most of those artifacts she has? They're stolen. And she doesn't ever sell these things, she just holds onto them in case they're useful to her later. Trying taking something yourself - hell, even try to get in her way - and she's probably gonna beat you senseless."
Murasa bit her lip, staring back into the distance and looking about as reluctant as possible. Sango was concerned, but confused at the same time.
"Wait, you're scared of one magician? And she's a human, too. Surely if you all showed up at once and talked business there'd be too many of you for her to resort to fo-"
"You've never heard of Marisa Kirisame, have you."
Nazrin cut Sango off with an emotionless monotone. It was either out of total disinterest, or utter dread. Sango couldn't be sure which.
"You know all those incidents that spring up around Gensokyo? Well, whenever there's trouble, she's there, blasting the living daylights out of anyone who tries to stir things up. She hangs around with that shrine maiden - the red and white one, and she's even worse news. We've had plenty of visits from otherwise strong youkai who ended up getting taken out by that black-white witch."
She didn't offer anything after that, her hand tugging at Shou's sleeve. The tiger saw that as her cue to finish the story, and did so while trying to maintain an aura of respect.
"And, well, we know for a fact that isn't just hearsay. A few months ago, we had a bit of an incident ourselves...apparently, the people of Gensokyo don't take well to boats appearing in the sky from absolutely nowhere. The shrine maiden - both of them, in fact - came along to investigate, and they brought Kirisame-san along as well. The maidens went off and, um, ended up freeing Hijiri, while Kirisame-san went off on her own agenda and started robbing us blind. Even though we all fought tooth and nail, she was just too strong for us...all of us. I've still got a little mark on my arm where she grazed me with that Master Spark of hers...and if Nazrin hadn't pulled me out of the way, it would've hurt a LOT more."
That, from the looks of this, was the end of the discussion. Sango had been told all she needed to know - Kirisame was dangerous, short-fused, and prime to beat the daylights out of anyone who took anything from her.
"I would offer her a trade, but we are a simple sect. We have nothing extravagant or expensive to offer her, but she is honestly our only hope at this point. No other magicians have ever visited the temple after they found our we were merely a religious group, so...it's her or nothing, to be frank."
There was a general aura of resignation as Byakuren finished speaking. Koishi defied the norm, talking to herself about how it would be fun to see Marisa fire 'those shiny sparkly stars that probably taste really good'.
Their words had done their job well. Sango mentally thanked herself for having never met this Kirisame person, and hoped that this luck would continue long into the future. Instinctively, she joined in on the desperate search to find another alternative to visiting the black-white, mentally drawing an image of her as some wicked witch of the east who captured puppies and cackled maniacally every other sentence.
She stood straight to attention as an idea jumped into her head. It was a piece of hearsay she'd heard from one of the lake's fish, coming back from a long trek, but it was better than nothing.
"Uh, guys? I think I may know someone else."
Immediately five faces looked towards her with hope in their eyes. Sango flinched a little from the sudden attention, letting out a gasped phwee, but recovered soon afterward.
"Well...this is just something I heard from a friend, but...I hear there's a lake nearby here, and in the middle of it there's this island. It used to be uninhabited, but about ten years ago a mansion apparently showed up overnight."
Some of the looks Sango received after that looked to be questioning her sanity, but she continued on regardless.
"Anyway. The mistress of the mansion is some vampire girl who brought her entire payroll with her to Gensokyo. One of them is some magician who's always locked up in her library - really, really powerful, just not very good at the whole social thing. Your odds probably aren't that good with her, bu-"
"We'll take it."
Shou's hand grabbed Sango by the shoulder, a look of desperation in her eyes.
"She's not Kirisame-san, and that's what matters. Our odds HAVE to be better there."
The looks of relief on the faces of the rest of her crewmates seemed to share in her opinion. Anything was less of a threat than Marisa, so however low the odds were it was worth trying. It was a good way back to the forest that the witch called home, anyway, so this was a shorter trip on top of everything else. Byakuren looked at Sango with a grateful smile.
"Thank you, Tororetsu-san. We'll see if we can arrange an audience with this magician at the lake. Feel free to join us - you've been a great help so far, and given all the trouble we've been it's the least we can do."
Sango smirked, glad that she didn't have to waste time asking if she could tag along. Cleaning this mess up was her responsibility, after all - she couldn't let them slack off on the job while she wasn't looking.
"Alright, then. The Misty Lake is down that ri-"
"Hey...I'm coming, right?"
Murasa let out a sudden hint of concern as she mentally considered the distance she'd have to travel. Sango didn't understand the problem, but fortunately Byakuren was there to fill in the blanks.
"Ah...Murasa here might have to stay behind. Her spirit is linked to the ship, so she can't move too far away from it for risk of disappearing. If she came with us, there's a chance she may end up passing on."
Murasa took offense to that claim, pouting with an angry face.
"Screw chance! There's no way you people are leaving Captain Murasa behind! Who knows what sort of super-strong youkai this vampire girl has under her wing? You need my help, and that's final!"
She was at it again, Sango thought to herself. Now that she'd seen the problem in a different light, there was something pitiful about the entire act - something desperate and self-conscious, insistent on always being there because one failure would bring everything apart. She prepared to give Murasa another talking to in order to get her back into sense.
As it turned out, someone else beat her to it.
"Murasa. We'll be fine, trust us."
Murasa seemed unimpressed by Byakuren's words, pouting like a child. The monk sighed, but there was no sign of frustration on her face. She looked to the rest of the crew, smiling.
"Feel free to go on ahead. I'll catch up with all of you shortly."
A crowd of mixed expressions looked at Byakuren, but eventually the crew complied. Sango was the last to start moving, and that was only because Shou had taken her by the shoulder and pulled her away.
"Don't worry. If there's anything I've learned about Hijiri, it's that she's very good at pointing out when people on the entirely wrong track."
There was a hint of sadness in Shou's face as she said that. Perhaps she had her own first-hand experience in the subject, with Hijiri correcting her when she'd been on the verge of making some horrible mistake.
* Sango decided it was best to leave it at that, pointing out the directions to the Misty Lake and leading the team onwards. There was an atmosphere of anticipation this time around, mainly because they had avoided dealing with Kirisame. Koishi was cheery as well, but she was always cheery so it didn't really surprise Sango to see her talking about 'meeting that maid with all the sharp things'.
Wait. Sharp things?
"Phwee...maybe this was a bad idea..."
-----
It wasn't until a few minutes later that Byakuren rejoined the group. She returned alone, having supposedly convinced Murasa to stay behind. She was greeted with a few words of relief, but besides that everyone did their best to brush over Murasa's earlier outburst. Sango twiddled her thumbs slightly, doing what she could to focus on her tour-guide duty and not let her thoughts about Murasa distract her.
She did a good enough job up until Byakuren broke away from the group and whispered in her ear.
"Tororetsu-san. A word, if you would?"
Eep. This might end badly.
"U-Uh. Sure."
Sango and Byakuren gained a few steps on the pack, just to make sure that they weren't overheard. The monk's expression was troubled.
"Murasa told me that she confided in you earlier."
There was a look of hurt on her face, like a mother who'd let her child fall off a bicycle, bandaging up her woulds as she bawled her lungs out. At the same time, something was totally absent from her expression - there was no sign of shock or surprise as a result of what Murasa had just told her.
"...You knew that she was pushing herself too hard, didn't you, Hijiri-san?"
Byakuren nodded.
"I thought it would be best for her to learn the hard way rather than just tell her off, but I hadn't expected her failing to be so disastrous...I had thought she would simply trash the shrine, or snap the steering wheel off. Something irritating, but easy to fix and without risk. This, though...the greatest relief is that there were no casualties, but if things had been even slightly different it would have been a different story."
She turned upwards to Sango, forcing a smile.
"On that note, thank you again for all of your help. Two of my crewmates owe you their lives, and for that I am truly grateful."
It was a strange thing. This was the sort of respect she'd craved so much long ago, and now she was receiving it without really caring. She brushed it off, rubbing at her fin nervously.
"R-Really, it's nothing. I mean, compared to all the great things you've done I'm just a big fish in a small pond."
Silence. They'd tried to change the subject, and failed. The Misty Lake was still a few minutes walk away from here, and eventually the pressure weighed down Sango so much she couldn't bring herself to stay quiet.
"...She is gonna be okay, right?"
Byakuren seemed surprised by the question, before bursting into a smile.
"Of course. Why shouldn't she be? No-one knows the ship better than her, after all. I'll simply order her to take mandatory rests rather than maintain her usual bravado. I hope that when this is all over, she will understand that we love her regardless of her failings."
"Well, yeah, but...what about the rest of your crew?"
She'd been positive at the time mainly because there was nothing to gain from telling her that she'd definitely be rejected by her former friends. In truth, though, Sango wasn't so sure of the extent to which they'd be willing to forgive Murasa for what she'd managed to get them into. Her face was a muddled mess as she asked the question of the monk.
Byakuren looked back, at the quietly conversing crewmates. While they clearly weren't overjoyed, none of them seemed to be distraught by their circumstances either.
"We have been through a lot together, Tororetsu-san. I know my disciples well, and I am certain they are willing to give Murasa the benefit of the doubt. They are close, all of them - so close, they may as well be sisters by now."
Byakuren smiled, patting Sango on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Tororetsu-san. Everything will be alright. For now, we're counting on you to lead us to this island magician of yours."
Sango didn't realise she'd been holding her breath until it all came out at once in a heaving sigh. It was a definite relief to hear that she hadn't been giving Murasa false hope when she was in a state like that. Now she could devote her attention to getting this mess sorted out.
"Right. ...Thank you, Hijiri-san."
"Think nothing of it. Oh, and one more thing..."
She reached down into one of her pockets, pulling out a small rectangular piece of paper. In Gensokyo, that shape could only mean one thing.
"Murasa came up with the idea a while ago, but she felt it didn't fit properly into her arsenal. She asked me to give it to you."
The card was labelled as Maelstrom [Cauldron of the Speckled Seas]
*, along with an incantation written on the back. Sango examined the card, not sure exactly what sort of pattern it would produce, but she could feel the practically feel the power rising off of the paper. And for some reason the 'speckled seas' part had a nice ring to it - it fit the theme of purity that ran through all of her cards. Well, her one card, but she was working on it.
"Heh. Thanks. Tell her it's better than anything than I could have come up with."
"Oh, I don't think I'll need to tell her that - she saw your handiwork earlier, and she didn't have much good to say about it."
Another playful pat on the back, but this time Sango didn't take it with the same enthusiasm. Apparently, all of this hardship had done anything to make Murasa any less of a critic.
B-But it worked, dammit...-----
The Misty Lake came into view soon afterward, and true to Sango's word there was a tiny house-shaped silhouette in the distance. Now all that was separating them from their librarian was another large body of water.
"Don't worry, people, there aren't gonna be any sharks this time, I swear. Just jump in and I'll lead the pack. If I'm too fast for anyone, you can ju-"
Sango stopped mid-sentence when Byakuren decided to skip her explanation, taking a step forward into the water. That wasn't what surprised her, though - what shocked her was the fact that her feet had come to a stop, both well away from the side of the lake, and yet she hung a few inches above the water.
"That won't be necessary, Tororetsu-san - we have our own methods of getting around, you see."
She floated through the air, hovering above the water's surface and ignoring silly matters such as gravity. Shou and Nazrin followed behind her, holding hands as they flew along, and Ichirin used her cloud companion as a platform to guide her across the lake.
Sango watched the entire sequence in stunned silence.
"...They can fly? All of them?"
A pair of arms wrapped around Sango's waist from behind, pulling her out of her stupor.
"Hey, Sango-chan! You aren't gonna let those guys outrace us, are you!?"
Looking back, she saw Koishi looking up at her with a blaze of passion in her eyes. It must have been infectious, because moments later Sango could feel it as well. She took one look at the crew flying off into the distance ahead of her, and before she could notice her rational thought had flown out the window.
"...OK, Koishi-chan. Like always?"
"Like always~!"
Sango nodded, taking a step backwards from the edge of the lake to get off to a running start. Koishi stood just behind her, letting go and taking a running stance as well. The pair leapt off the edge of the lake in unison, Koishi gripping Sango as they dove into the water and sitting on a dolphin by the time they surfaced.
"Any good hero knows how to arrive on time! Watch out, vampire - here comes Dolphin Rider Koishi!"
Sango burst through the water at top speed, feeling a burst of excitement the cluttered, stuffed-up rivers kept from her. She almost never got to swim at full power on the job, so finally being able to set the pace was incredibly refreshing.
Of course, it had never been a race. The crew of the Palanquin Ship were more than content with taking their time with the journey, totally unaware there was even a 'race' going on until Sango burst past them, her hyperactive passenger yelling at the top of her voice.
"YEEEEEEEEEEAH! HAVE NO FEAR, BYSTANDERS!"
Koishi gained the same response she usually did from people who witnessed her antics - namely, stunned silence, and a collective rubbing of eyes to ensure that people weren't hallucinating. Sango and Koishi blasted along regardless, and as the island shore came into sight the satori poked her steed in the side.
That was her cue for the big finish.
Now that she had a good opening, Sango dove down into the water, Koishi clinging tightly around her. For five whole seconds they plunged downwards, until finally Sango pulled up, rising to the surface at full speed.
For a moment, the pair were as high in the air as their temple companions. Koishi tipped her hat to the group behind her, who seemed as confused by the entire ordeal as before.
"Wish you were here~!"
*They couldn't really tell, thanks to none of them being experts in dolphin expressions, but Sango was just as confused by that statement as everyone else.
This girl really is one polyp short of a coral reef, isn't she?As the moment passed, Sango brought her rider back down into the lake with a mighty crash. They had the good graces to wait for their companions to catch up before approaching the mansion itself, and they received a variety of responses from the crew - Byakuren and Ichirin had the decency to applaud the pair for their display, with Unzan nodding approvingly behind them; Nazrin offered nothing, occasionally giving Koishi a glare that practically screamed 'showoff'; and finally, Shou had yet to overcome the initial feeling of shock, still looking on with a puzzled expression. Nazrin eventually knocked her out of the stupor with a well aimed poke in the back, pushing her forward along with the rest of the crew towards the mansion.
It didn't seem to fit with the area - indeed, its Western design seemed out of place with the rest of Gensokyo. The walls were painted a dark red, but when the sun was out the light bouncing outward turned them a light, blood-red tint. A wall roughly 8 feet tall ran around the length of the mansion, and the one gate inward was guarded by a single guard, standing to attention and ready to do her job.
Or at least, she was now. Two minutes ago she had been asleep at her post, until a certain self-proclaimed magical girl woke her up with her screaming.
"H-Halt! The mistress will have no business with outsiders!"
The guard took a fighting stance, immediately ready to do battle with the advancing crew. She dressed in a light green robe that seemed foreign, though not the same foreign as the mansion she protected, and her long scarlet hair was frayed and ruffled as a result of her nap. In spite of that, though, her battle stance certainly looked threatening - she was quite confident she could take any or all the advancing foes in a fight.
She couldn't, of course. Byakuren could have probably given her one punch and sent her flying across the lake, and she wouldn't have much more trouble in a spellcard duel. Still, unlike a certain shrine maiden, Byakuren wasn't the type to resort to violence unless absolutely necessary, and gave her disciples the order to stand down.
"Please, do not panic. We merely wish to meet with your local magician as a plea for aid."
The guard seemed confused by the fact that Byakuren wasn't attacking her. Given Gensokyo's love for danmaku battles at the drop of a hat, this was unsurprising.
"Ah, well...I'm afraid I can't let you do that. Patchouli-sama has a strict no-visitors policy, especially with the black-white witch on the loose. You'll have to look elsewhere."
A collective groan from the masses. Marisa Kirisame had managed to take out their alternative, even if it was unintentional. It was obviously possible for them to just fly over the wall and break in themselves, but Byakuren was well aware that breaking and entering would not be good for the temple's reputation, emergency or otherwise. It seemed like they'd have to risk a visit to the black-white after all, but no-one approached the idea with any anticipation. They turned around, ready to take the long trip away to the Forest of Magic.
"What's wrong with you people?! Haven't you forgotten who your ally is?"
Of all the people to tell them off, no-one had expected it to be Koishi. She glared down the gate guard intently, clicking her fingers.
"I'm a girl of many talents! I'm a master of combat, beauty, and on top of all that..."
She ran straight towards the gate, right past the guard and through the open gateway. She was giving the guard every reason to panic and beat her senseless, or call the mansion's army of maids to apprehend the thief that had just broken in.
Instead, though, the guard simply looked onward, ignoring Koishi entirely. It was as if she were completely unable to see Koishi at all, like the satori had mentally told her that she wasn't there.
"Stealth!"
The party she'd travelled with still saw her plain as day, though, and they could only watch as Koishi darted into the mansion unstopped. Immediately, Shou ran over to stop her, but again the gate guard blocked her.
"I said no visitors. Don't make me get physical, cat girl."
"B-But didn't you see it? Our friend just ran in right past you!"
"...You're joking, right? If anyone came past me, I'd have seen it. Are you trying to say I can't do my job?"
Sango winced. Koishi had a habit of doing things like this - jumping in and out of sight, making herself invisible to anyone she didn't want seeing her - but she'd discarded it as a silly trait that wouldn't really affect anything. She hadn't expected Koishi to charge in all guns blazing like this.
...Aw, who am I kidding? It's Koishi-chan. I really should've seen this one coming.Sango sighed, turning back to the water behind her. Ichirin was the only one to look away from the gate, seeing her ready to jump back into the lake.
"Tororetsu-san, you aren't leaving now, are you...?!"
Sango looked over to her once, and smiled.
"Nope. Just gonna stop her before she does something we all regret. Keep her distracted, 'kay?"
She leaped out into the water. Ichirin must have started on a response, but the water blocked her out before Sango could hear the rest. She had to hurry - knowing Koishi, it was entirely possible the entire mansion would be trashed by the time she surfaced.
She'd seen it during her big finish with Koishi earlier - a small hole in the rock beneath the surface, the start of a tunnel that would hopefully lead upwards into the mansion itself. Sango swam as quickly as her fins would carry her, mentally uttering a prayer to whatever god of the mountain happened to be watching at the time.
Please don't let her break anything too valuable. I've gone through enough today without having to explain a heaving bill in damages to Satori-chan...