[center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5494758][img]https://i.imgur.com/9BCGgou.png[/img][/url][/center] [center][h3]Gensokyo - Scarlet Devil Mansion, Back Garden[/h3][/center] [color=d9457c][b]"Kirisame Marisa, if you can defeat me, then you may take all the tomes and grimoires to your heart's desire, else... you must return everything that you had pilfered."[/b][/color] Mistress Remilia the Scarlet Devil enunciated as she curled an elegant yet impish smirk, [color=d9457c][b]"What say you?"[/b][/color] She inquired to the Ordinary Magician, followed by the excited skips of her blonde younger sister, the unflappably stoic gaze of her silver-haired head maid, and last but not least, the unamused stare of her purple-haired chief librarian. [b]"Oh yaaaay~ elder sister is so going to kick your butt, Marisa!"[/b] Flandre exclaimed gleefully, wanting nothing more than to see her sister triumphing over her fellow blonde and favorite playmate. [b]"..."[/b] Sakuya remained as professionally stoic as ever, though she did briefly glance over toward the mansion's librarian... [b]"...do I get a say in this?"[/b] Patchouli groaned under her breath, though she said nothing more, her flat gaze was practically giving Remilia an ultimatum, that she better damn well win the duel... or else. [b]"Ohooo~ that so~?"[/b] Replied the culprit enthusiastically as Marisa shifted her position on her flying room, adjusting the large sack full of "borrowed" books held by her left hand, [b]"Since you're oh so kindly offering your [i]whole[/i] archive to me, Remi, who am I to refuse~?"[/b] The blonde human flashed her signature shit-eating grin, [b]"So, what it'll be, 'Mistress'~? Best of three?"[/b] [color=d9457c][b]"Your overconfidence will be your downfall, human,"[/b][/color] The vampire chuckled as she calmly set down her cup of "red tea" before ascending up from the mansion's back garden balcony, gaining altitude until she and Marisa were on the same elevation. [color=d9457c][b]"Indeed, best of three shall do."[/b][/color] Remilia smiled as she flicked a few locks of lilac hair as her body began glowing in a blood-red aura, the same color as the scarlet mist that once snuffed the sun. [b]"Best of three it is! Well, it doesn't matter anyway coz' I'm gonna win either way!"[/b] And with those final words from Marisa, the Scarlet Devil and the Ordinary Magician began their duel, a semi-professional affair with ethics and regulations as governed by Gensokyo's Spell Card Rule. Long story short, the participant who managed to hit their opponent with non-lethal magic would win the round, and in this case, the first to reach three wins would be named victor. As always, it was a bedazzling affair, an assortment of projectiles of all shapes, sizes, and colors peppered the sky like magical fireworks. It was a close match between the two as Reimu and Marisa found themselves trading blows, one after the other, then eventually, they found themselves with two points each. Thus, the next round would decide if Patchouli would still be the caretaker of a library or an empty warehouse. With numerous books at stake on both sides, the two duelists put their all into this fifth and final round, but neither seemed to be gaining the upper hand over the other, the stalemate continued. [b]"You can do it, siiiis!"[/b] [color=d9457c][b]"Heh..."[/b][/color] The excitable cheer from her beloved younger sister gave Remilia the push to finish this once and for all, she would return all of the stolen books, impress Flandre, [i]and[/i] show the insufferable Marisa just where she stands on the pecking order. In order to do that, nothing less would do than her trump card. Extending her right arm forward, Remilia positioned her hand as if she was about to grasp a tubular object, red mist oozed from her as godlike amounts of magical power coalesced at her palm, one that would be enough to murder even deities many times over had she didn't alter it to be non-lethal. [color=d9457c][b]"Come forth, Divine Spear!"[/b][/color] A gigantic magical spear made out of her own potent blood spawned on her right palm, crackling and pulsating with destructive energy, its sheer size utterly dwarfing its own wielder. Despite its volume, Remilia effortlessly heaved the arcane spear as one would to a javelin, [color=d9457c][b]"GUNGNIR!"[/b][/color] then launched it with all her might at her flippant opponent! [b]"We're getting to the main event, eh? Don't mind if I do!"[/b] Marisa responded by using her free right arm to reach behind her, intending to grab her precious Hakkero, the artifact necessary to unleash her signature massive beam of rainbow destruction. Upon feeling something solid, she clasped her fingers around it then immediately flashed it toward her front, [b]"Magicannon, FINAL SPARK!"[/b] Which should immediately induce Hakkero to launch an utterly massive prismatic beam... [i]should[/i]. As it turned out, Marisa got too caught up in the moment, failing to realize that she's currently hefting a sack full of stolen tomes in her other hand, thus instead of grabbing her signature artifact, she instead procured one of said tomes... What ensued was a far cry from the expected clash of Gungir versus Final Spark, but instead the former crashing against the unidentified grimoire, triggering some sort of volatile chain reaction as an explosion of blinding white light engulfed the Scarlet Devil Mansion... [b]"Gaaaah! I fucked up!"[/b] Marisa exclaimed as she flailed a bit before wiping her eyes, opening them shortly after to find... no one in front of her, just the clear blue sky, [b]"...Remi?"[/b] [hr] [center][h3]??? - Ruined Church[/h3] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjV_uJ0jNYU]♫[/url][/center] Drip... drip... drip... It started slow at first, barely worth a notice, but soon enough, the pitter-patter of droplets grew into a full-blown rain, drenching the land in skyborne water and humid fog, enough to stir a certain sanguophagic youkai from her restless slumber. [color=d9457c][b]"..."[/b][/color] Pale eyelids weakly fluttered open as Remilia's consciousness slowly but surely returned to her, even before her five senses roused in full, her half-awake mind was already pondering, confused and disorganized it might be, a few questions were more prominent than others. [color=d9457c][i]What just happened...? Where am I...?[/i][/color] The Scarlet Devil didn't know the answers to any of them, but whether or not further pondering would yield results rapidly became secondary concerns for her, chiefly due to the scent of blood and flesh wafting into her, [color=d9457c][i]...[/i][/color] then growls, multiple growls, coming at her from all directions. However, despite all these, the petite youkai remained in place, laying flat on the grass like an unmoving cadaver, although unblemished much unlike the mangled corpses of Raven Heralds strewn around her, courtesy of the champions called upon by Alvin's younger sister. Her half-opened red eyes continued to stare blankly at the crying sky. Right now, improbable as it might seem, the youkai found herself in limbo, neither awake, nor asleep... that was until the visage of a canine creature came within her field of vision, blurry as it might be, she instinctively recognized an opening jaw when she saw it, carnivorous fangs poised to descend upon her, desiring to feast upon the flesh of the Scarlet Devil... ...and for that transgression, the wolf abruptly found its skull impaled all the way through from below by a small hand tipped with crimson nails; without a functioning brain, the animal perished instantly. This naturally caused the rest of its pack to stop their scavenger feast, their gaze raised from their meal, only to find their leader - the largest and strongest among them - being skewered by what the pack assumed to be remains of those two-legged creatures. The sheer development caused a chain reaction of shock and panic amongst the canids and, unlike Varst, these beasts needed no Commander to tell them that remaining here would be unwise, as such, they barked and whimpered as they scampered, retreating deeper into the forest with their tail tuck between their legs. [color=d9457c][b]"Tch..."[/b][/color] Remilia promptly retracted her clawed hand, allowing the literally brainless wolf to fall unceremoniously on the ground, joining the dead. Meanwhile, the burst of adrenaline courtesy of the fight or flight response was enough to rouse her enough to start getting back on her feet. [color=d9457c][b]"...?!"[/b][/color] But before she could even so much as survey her surroundings, an irresistible urge to vomit assaulted her, and no matter how tightly she clenched her hand around her mouth, it was ultimately futile. [color=d9457c][b]"Uuurgh-...!!"[/b][/color] The petite girl lurched forward, then in an ironic twist, the Haemomancer expelled blood as they splotched the grass below her in crimson. It might have lasted only seconds but each tick felt like an eternity as Remilia belched not-insignificant amount of her own blood, meanwhile, her eyes were seeing doubles, her ears were ringing, and she felt like a gaggle of geese were pecking at her skull. [color=d9457c][b]"Haa... haa..."[/b][/color] After what seemed like forever, she finished as a wave of vexatious catharsis washed over her. She allowed herself a moment of reprieve before straightening herself, bleary eyes surveying her surroundings. It was at this point that Remilia realized that somehow, someway, she found herself at the aftermath of a battle; corpses, blood, and gore set upon forest greenery, watched over by what appeared to be the ruins of a small church. [color=d9457c][b]"What...? How...?"[/b][/color] So many questions swam through her addled mind and it didn't help that she currently felt like a wasted Lunarian who accidentally drank one of Eirin's shady drugs. [color=d9457c][b]"Sakuya...?"[/b][/color] No answer, [color=d9457c][b]"Flan? Patchy? Meiling?"[/b][/color] None replied except for the constant patter of raindrops, [color=d9457c][b]"...Marisa?"[/b][/color] Not even her either, the person she last saw before... before all this. [color=d9457c][b]"Reimu? Yukari? Anyone?!"[/b][/color] [color=d9457c][b]"..."[/b][/color] This was... alarming, not only was she lost and weakened, but it appeared that she was utterly alone here. There was no doubt about it, either she was knocked unconscious by Marisa and currently dreaming - which didn't seem to be the case - OR [i]somehow[/i], she was transported into another place, somewhere not within the confines of Gensokyo's Great Hakurei Barrier. [color=d9457c][i]Is this somewhere in the Outside World then?[/i][/color] Whatever the case, she couldn't stay here. [color=d9457c][i]Is that... smoke rising on the horizon?[/i][/color] Without exactly many other choices, Remilia decided to use the billowing smoke as her beacon, hopefully toward civilization. With a wince of great pain, Remilia forced her body to move, and though each step felt like trying to withstand a full-blown punch from Yuugi while being drenched by Suwako's aquatic deluge at that, she marched on, step by step... [hr] [center][h3]??? - Town Outskirts[/h3][/center] The Blood Mistress' path took her ever closer to the town that Alvin and Millie called home. Along the way, she came across what appeared to be the long-abandoned remains of a stone tower, decrepit and decayed beyond repair short of outright rebuilding. [color=d9457c][i]...[/i][/color] Other than using the ruined structure as a sign that she was nearing some kind of settlement, Remilia paid it little mind at first... that was until she was passing the tower's rotting wooden door that her pointy ears perked up as it caught a high-pitched noise, one that resembled an infant's cry. Frowning in mixed concern and caution, Remilia turned her gaze toward the barely-standing entrance. She was in the middle of deciding her next move when the arrival of... what could only be described as a towering verdant Hisoutensoku-esque entity wielding an axe as equally massive and a snow-haired emerald-eyed petite... female kappa(?) wearing a hat like Marisa’s, except hers was red and had goggles strapped around it. For their part, both Lewa and Rayne would see what appeared to be a young girl about Lily's age, possessing short lilac locks, blood-red eyes with slitted pupils, elongated canine teeth visible between her slightly ajar lips, and last but not least, a pair of bat wings set upon her upper back. She definitely had seen better days, what with her rain-drenched dress, lethargic disposition, and of course, the blood coating her right hand and lower arm. [color=d9457c][i]Mecha...? A green mecha and a kappa?[/i][/color] In her rather delirious mind, Remilia erroneously associated Lewa with the Hisoutensoku, a giant robot designed and constructed by Nitori the Kappa Engineer, and to add, his color reminded her of a certain miko of the Moriya Shrine, especially knowing said miko absolutely [i]loved[/i] towering robots such as him, thus, without much control of her own thoughts, the Scarlet Devil blurted out... [color=d9457c][b]"...huh, fancy that, a green smaller Hisoutensoku... so, is Sanae behind this?"[/b][/color] [@DracoLunaris] [@Lugubrious]