Second Touhou Fanfic part 2

Investigation at the Forest of Magic

The battle was short-lived as the barrage of danmaku from Reimu, Marisa and Kuniko overwhelmed Rumia. Her expression changed from a grin to a frown as her consciousness began to fade, the girl failing to notice that she had begun to fall. Seeing this, Kuniko flew over to catch her before she could hit the ground, placing her down while Reimu and Marisa approached curiously, the latter frowning a bit. "I am probably not the only one who found that look on her face a bit strange."

Giving her a closer look, the three noticed an unusual aura around her in the form of a faint red light around her body. Sensing something wrong, Reimu stepped forth and chanted a spell, causing the glow to fade. "Guess she really was possessed by something. But by what?" Telling her that there's only one way to find that out, Marisa soon flew past Reimu and Kuniko, forcing the two to follow in haste. Meanwhile, someone else was dashing through the forest with incredible speed.

For reasons known only to her, Abigail Bradley was running around the Forest of Magic in search of Reimu. Though at first she didn't seem to find the shrine maiden despite how fast she was, her eyes soon caught sight of a familiar set of danmaku blasts shooting through a group of fairies in the area. Thanking her stroke of luck with a fist pump, the girl then began to stalk the group and listen in on them as they had stopped to examine the area after taking down a horde of lesser youkai.

"There really is some kind of odd aura around here. It feels like the one when I ran into those onryou in the Underworld, but much worse." While Reimu walked forward, Kuniko looked around vigilantly for anything moving near the trees. Marisa did the same as she went onward, noticing a group of defeated youkai lying on the ground. All of them carried the stinging stench of sulfur on them, prompting her to inspect them more closely. "Oddly enough, the ones over here smell like home."

Both shrine maidens looked at the magician curiously, seeing her shrug and simply move onward after checking the battered bodies of the youkai around them. While the two followed her along, the three were still unaware of the fact that they were being stalked by Abigail from a distance. The gun youkai observed them while impatiently tapping her feet though not loudly enough to give away her location, a grin on her face. "Seems that mistress was right. Maybe now's the right time to jump in."

Taking a careful step forward at first, Abigail suddenly stood in front of the three while a sonic boom is heard on the spot where the girl had been hiding earlier. "Hello there! What's bringing you all here so suddenly?" Startled at first by the surprise visit of the youkai, Reimu soon lowered her arms and frowned as she gave her response. "I'm trying to find out about the cause of a new incident with these two. Does your mistress have something to do with all this random violence going on?"

Shaking her head in response to the question, Abigail looked on as Marisa whispered something to Kuniko before turning her attention back to Reimu. "She isn't the one who started any of this, if that's what you were trying to ask. She just asked me to keep an eye on you while she enjoys the show." Frowning at the response she had gotten, the shrine maiden turned to look at Marisa as the magician suddenly spoke out to the gun youkai while pointing a finger at her.

"If you were here only to observe us, why did you gun down all the youkai we found back there?" The grin on Abigail's face widened as she soon noticed the three glaring at her, forcing her to jump back and draw her guns. "Because they were trying to get to the temple. Sorry, but I can't let you get there either!" As the barrels of the gun youkai's twin pistols began to glow red, the two shrine maidens and magician quickly took to the air to dodge the incoming barrage of crimson energy bullets.

While a new danmaku battle began in the Forest of Magic, the regal lady of the mysterious temple sat at the entrance of the building while looking at the skies, an unnerving smile on her face as she watched the afternoon sun continuing to descend towards the west. "Thine time approachest, ye false queen of the stars. Rejoicest in thine bright majesty, for when thine time is over, none shall wish to bask in thine light again as they see themselves for what they truly are."

Standing next to her on the stone steps was the shrine maiden who had accompanied her earlier, looking down at the ground with a wistful look on her face. However, a momentary flash of white light passed through her eyes, forcing her to speak out to the woman sitting next to her. "Akemi-sama, the two shrine maidens and magician are fighting against the gun youkai sent to stop them." The lady slowly turned her head to the direction of the girl, still keeping a smile on her face.

"You sound worried, Hitomi-chan. Is there something you haven't told me about those three?" Avoiding eye contact as she turned her head to the left, the shrine maiden told the woman in a meek tone about a woman named Soga no Kuniko. "She's the one I had been looking for all this time. One of those two shrine maidens looks just like her. She even has the same swords as Kuniko-san." Akemi's expression remained unchanged, though she soon lifted herself up from the stairway.

"If you wish to confront her, you'll have to wait till they get here or till the sun sets. Until then, carry on with your current duties." While the woman walked inside the temple after saying this, Hitomi let out a sigh and looked to the direction of the forest itself for a moment before doing the same.