> "Okay, let's back up for those of us who don't know what you're talking about: who's your mom, and how can she get Marisa's soul?"
> Alice twitches her fingers, and Shanghai and Hourai appear out the back door with a tea tray. As the dolls start to set it up on the table, Alice begins to talk.
> "My mother is Shinki, the goddess and creator of Makai. She can not only create souls but also retrieve..." Alice puts a hand on her grimoire. "And, if rumors within Makai are correct, then there is another who deals with souls and the afterlife, somewhere deep within."
> Makai.
>Or just anywhere; a foreleg is a fine enough place to recline.
>"Yeah, but you're her daughter, right? So she'd want you to be happy. Is it a big deal to retrieve a soul or something?
> Any part of Ran would be warm.
> "That's true, but she has had bad experiences with Marisa, Reimu, Yuuka, and...someone else whose n-name escapes me. Her impression of Gensokyo isn't very good, and she was already worried about me leaving for here in the first place."
> _