Remilia Scarlet liked to consider herself an unflinching embodiment of grace. Unwavering in her elegance. An unstoppable force of beauty. And pretty damn ferocious when she wanted to be. All this to say that she cultivated a very regal image for herself among the residents of Gensokyo. The youkai learned to respect her. The humans feared her.
Well... Most of them did.
The biggest exception to those rules, aside from Patchy, was the Hakurei shrine maiden and her little thief friend. She liked to think of Reimu as a rival to her power, even if that feeling wasn't reciprocated. Marisa on the other hand was more a nuisance than anything else. Barging in every other day like she owned the place...
So as she was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, it wasn't really a surprise to see the black and white magician once again loitering around her home, digging through her kitchen. What was a surprise was the person accompanying her. "Patchy? What's going on here?"
Patchouli was leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other. "Ah, good morning Remi. You're up early."
"Blame Gensokyo," Remilia groaned, silenly cursing her ever-shifting circadian rythym since she arrived in this land, "the interesting stuff only ever seems to happen during the day."
"Yeah, that is kinda weird," Marisa said, voice muffled as half of her was inside a cupboard. "It's like they do it on purpose just to get our attention."
"What are you two even doing here?" Remilia asked impatiently, trying to steer the conversation back on what she wanted.
"Getting some coffee," Patchy replied. "We had a long night."
"Aww, you were playing without me?"
The youkai magician shook her head. "No, it was more like a study night."
Remilia huffed. "Study night? What could you possibly have to gain from working with that pathetic excuse for a witch?"
"Hey, I resent that remark!" Marisa yelled indignantly. She tried getting out of the cupboard to face Remilia directly, but she banged her head on the way out. "Ow!"
As Marisa rubbed the fresh bump on her head, Patchouli sighed. "Well, she happened to approach me to ask for help resolving an incident. I only said yes because she brought me something new to study."
"You said yes because you can't resist my charm,~" Marisa teased, putting an arm around her. A quick blast of water knocked her away and left her clothes soaked. "You know I'm right!"
"Could you not make a mess in my kitchen?" Remilia asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "And where is Sakuya?"
"Basement, I think." Marisa pulled out her Mini-Hakkero and used it to quickly dry her clothes. "Finishing up some business with Flan."
"What kind of business?"
As if to answer her question, a loud crash was heard coming from down the hall. With a sigh, Remilia peeked out the door just in time to get a rush of wind to the face as a tengu sped past. "Finally! Freedom!" She cheered.
Following close behind was Remilia's younger sister, Flandre. She waved as her playmate fled out the window. "Come back soon, Aya! I had lots of fun!" She paused when she noticed her older sister watching. "Oh, hi big sis! Wanna play?"
Slightly taken aback by the commotion and more than a little annoyed, it took Remilia a second to respond. "Not right now, Flan. Maybe later. Just return to your room and I'll bring you your breakfast."
"Can do. Don't take too long!" Flan giggled as she flew back to her room.
Remilia watched her go before turning back to the others. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then she shouted for her maid. "Sakuya!"
"Yes, Mistress?" Sakuya asked, standing beside Marisa as if she hadn't just appeared there and startled the witch half to death.
"Why was Flan playing with the papergirl?" She kept her tone calm, which was easy given her years of practice. The occasional twitch of her wings were a tell of her actual mood though. "More importantly, why did you invite her without my permission?"
Sakuya bowed low. "My sincerest apologies. I had the best of intentions, but I went over your head when I shouldn't have."
Remilia thought for a moment before responding. "Well it kept Flan entertained at least. As long as this doesn't affect our reputation, I suppose I can let you off with a light punishment." She then turned to Patchouli. "Oh, Patchy. I have an idea I'd like your imput on after you're done messing around with the human."
"I have a name, you know," Marisa grumbled, crossing her arms.
She was merely waved off by the vampire. "Yeah yeah, now beat it before I throw you out."
"Can I at least stay for breakfast?"
"...Fine."
After Marisa had her fill, she and Patchouli left to once again investigate the incident site. She flew slower this time so the anemic youkai would actually feel well enough to contribute. Touching down outside the thicket, a chill went down Marisa's spine. The trees around the site were noticably darker, and despite there being plenty of open sky, the canopies seemed to actively absorb the light around them, making it seem more like dusk than late morning. On top of that, the plantlife around them had grown considerably since yesterday. Dark ferns, black vines, and thorny bushes grew scattered wherever the light was at its dimmest.
"Woah," Marisa breathed, "what happened here?"
"The magic originating from the incident site is spreading," Patchouli replied. "It's influencing the plant growth in the surrounding areas."
"So how do we stop it? Surely there's someone we can beat to stop this."
"It may not be as easy to reverse as winning a spell card duel," Patchouli said as she started to collect samples of the surrounding plantlife. "We may have to solve this the hard way."
Marisa groaned. "Aw man, so there's no culprit?"
"I didn't say that."
A rustling sound caught their attention, and they turned to see Ran approaching. "Hello again, Marisa. Have you solved the incident yet?" She asked with a smug grin.
Marisa gave the shikigami a harsh glare. "No. Haven't you got better things to do than waste our time? Like rubbing Yukari's back or something?"
Ran huffed. "How rude. I was merely passing by on my way home from Youkai Mountain, and I thought I'd check up on you."
"Must be taking the scenic route if you're passing by here," Patchouli quipped. "Have you learned anything in your investigation?"
"Not yet. Perhaps we may change that if we were to combine our efforts."
"This again?" Marisa groaned. "I already told you no."
"You won't help me, but you'll work with another youkai?" Ran asked, casting a glance at Patchouli. "Didn't you say, and I quote, 'like I'd help a youkai. No, I'll find Reimu myself. Then we'll find out who did this and give them a little taste of my Master Spark!'?"
"That-it's different," she grumbled, "we have similar skillsets. It made sense to ask for her help."
"Well you know where to find me if you change your mind," Ran said, continuing her walk home. "I wonder how long it will take before this spreads to the Human Village, or even to the Forest of Magic. Will the creatures that spawn from these woods even be containable by then? I wonder..."
Marisa sighed as she watched Ran leave. "She loves to do that, doesn't she?"
"Hmm?" Patchouli paused. "Do what?"
"Send her little pet to keep me off the right path!" She knew that was Yukari's plan. Afraid of the magic getting out of control, she would redirect her attention to containing it and completely miss her chance to beat Ran and Yukari at finding Reimu. Then Yukari would get dibs on resolving the incident. That just wouldn't sit well with her.
"She isn't wrong, however. This magic could permanently disrupt Gensokyo's balance if left unchecked."
"And how do you propose we do that?"
"As you said, find the one responsible and make them reverse it." Patchouli stuffed all the plant material she gathered into a basket. "I'm going back to the library to perform some experiments. If you run into more of those wolves, bring me as many samples from them as you can. A live specimen would be optimal. Good luck."
Marisa sighed as Patchouli left. "That was for the youkai comment, wasn't it?" Off in the distance, the sound of howling told her the wolves were active. "Fine then, I guess the hunt is on."
Her children were hungry.
The spirit knew she should have reigned them in after their new home was disturbed. They were promised safety after all, and have so far only been met with vandalism by a girl much braver than any pony who tresspassed in her old home. And since her Eldest had stayed behind, the pack had no leader. So they continued acting on his last orders. "Protect the Mother. Restore her strength." Well by Aether, she was strong enough to manifest again, so she could restore her own strength.
She considered just returning home and trying out a different place, but it wasn't as if another stranger from a different world would stumble upon her again. Plus she still had some pride left. She could fix this, no problem. The spirit just needed to leave her grove, reign in her unruly children, and clean up the mess they made. Easy, right?
First she had to deal with that girl...