#a bit worried she looks too much like marisa with the messy blonde hair

[slugpup2]

tired sleepy yukks

[occasionaltouhou]

honestly? of the prompts i’ve done lately, i had the most fun writing this one

The young girl carefully drew the last section of the outermost circle with chalk, then once again checked the book next to her to confirm she was right.

This was difficult, because it was in a language she couldn’t read, so she had to go off what she’d been able to learn from her master and what the images in the book told her. But from what she could tell, everything was right. All the symbols were where they should be, and the herbs and stones scattered at the corners of the pengrams within the interlocking circles were all correct, down to the gram.

She placed a single lit candle at the corners of the largest pentagram, the one that dominated the centre of the summoning circle, and began to chant. It had taken her a month to learn how to pronounce some of these words, and she was worried that her master had begun to become suspicious about why she wanted to know them.

But her master was out right now, and wouldn’t be back for at least a week, so she’d taken the opportunity to sidestep her entirely. If her master wouldn’t tell her what she wanted to know, then she’d simply summon someone who would.

As she chanted, the firelight of the candles flickered and began to spread, carving the shape of the circle in the air, over and over again, until it were as if there were a pillar of flame before her. The blinding light and blazing heat almost made her bite her tongue, but she caught herself and continued slowly, steadily.

She spoke slowly, steadily, until the final syllable was uttered. The flickering flames suddenly shone a bright white, and they released a shockwave that threw her backwards and shattered the windows of the little home.

“--in the middle of something!” cried a woman’s voice in Japanese, from the centre of the circle. The girl blinked as the flames began to fade, and a humanoid shape appeared standing in the circle. She grinned, scrambling over to the edge of the circle and kneeling respectfully.

The figure looked around, her form still invisible through the smoke and the dying flames. “Where am I, anyway?”

“I have summoned you!” declared the girl, her squeaky voice sounding far too childish to her ears. “Lord of the Northwest, I have summoned you--”

“‘Lord of the Northwest’?” repeated the figure, waving her hand in the air to clear away the smoke. “Ain’t heard that one before.”

Then, to the girl’s shock, the figure leant right over the edge of the circle and looked down at her.

The figure was a tall woman in her late thirties, dressed in a knee-length black coat with dozens of pockets over a black skirt with a white apron. Messy blonde hair, some of it pulled back into a long ponytail, flowed out from beneath a large black witch’s hat and framed a sharp face with bright golden eyes.

She examined the terrified red-haired girl for a moment, glanced around the room, and then glanced down at the circle. She made an odd expression for a moment, and then laughed weakly. “Oh, man, I remember this.”

“H-h-how did you break through the circle?!” asked the girl desperately.

“Are you kidding?” replied the figure. “This thing’s riddled with mistakes. Just look… here, here, here, here, and here, there’s spelling errors,” she gestured vaguely around her, and then placed her foot on a segment of the circle right in front of the girl, “but it’s really here that’s your main issue.”

“Wh-what’s wrong with it…?” whispered the girl, eyes wide.

“Well, you got the names mixed up, didn’t ya?” said the figure, smirking. “Ya got the addresses right -- ‘here’ and ‘hell’ -- but you put King Paimon’s name in the recipient’s place, and ya put your own name in the addressee’s place!” She laughed to herself, a bit more confidently this time. “That said, can’t say it didn’t work, though.”

“H-huh…?” murmured the girl. “B-but… then…? Who are you s’posed to be, then?!”

“Ain’t that obvious?” The figure stepped fully out of the circle, and the red-haired girl scrambled backwards until she was up against the wall. “I’m you, ain’t I? Kirisame Marisa, in the flesh and everything.”

The younger Marisa began opening her mouth and closing it like a dying fish.

“That said…” The older Marisa glanced around the little building. “Man, can’t believe I used to live here. Ahh, I’m tryin’ to remember the stuff the older me said last time, but I can’t. Guess that means I can just say whatever, and it won’t matter, though?” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Or maybe it just means that I’m not gonna say anything important, anyway.”

“Y-you’re me…?”

“Sure am!”

“…Why’s your hair blonde?”

The older Marisa raised an eyebrow. “‘Cause I like it blonde. So do you, ya just don’t realise it yet. But trust me, red really ain’t your colour.”

The young girl was quiet for a moment. “S-so… how are you here…?”

“Oh, you summoned me from Hell,” remarked Marisa casually. “I was down there solvin’ an incident as a favour for Eiki, and suddenly felt myself gettin’ dragged away. Next thing I know, I’m up here.” She tapped the circle with her foot again. “Oh, yeah, your date’s out, too.”

“B-by how much?”

“That’s a secret~!” The older Marisa winked. “I can’t go tellin’ ya stuff about the future like that, y’know. I could be forty, or I could be four hundred. But I ain’t sayin’.”

“So… what can you tell me…?”

“Hm… maybe, don’t go trying to summon a King of Hell, for one thing!” The older Marisa threw her arms out. “I mean, look at this! What did you even think you’d get, aside from a one-way trip straight down? Surely, you couldn’t have thought you’d actually succeed?”

“I did succeed,” replied the younger Marisa stubbornly. “I summoned you! I just need to put more security in next time, and--”

“There’s no amount of security a human can put in place to repel someone like Paimon, y’know,” said the older Marisa, and the young Marisa sagged slightly. “Trust me, demons ain’t the way to go. You just gotta learn the hard way, by readin’ a whole buncha books until you know everything they say. It’s more satisfyin’ in the end, at least.”

“That’s what Lady Mima says, too,” she muttered.

“Oh, is she around?” asked the older Marisa brightly, and then thought to herself. “No, I did this when she wasn’t around, right.” She glanced at the shattered windows. “Well, I guess I’ll at least fix that up before I go.”

“You’re leaving so soon?!” asked the younger Marisa, almost throwing herself at her older self. “Please, there’s so much you can tell me!”

“Can, but ain’t gonna!” replied the older Marisa smugly. She took a small watch out of her pocket, made some adjustments, and then wound it backwards. The younger Marisa watched in awe as the shattered glass returned from where it had fallen outside and once more solidified into unbroken windows.

“You’ve got to teach me that one, at least!!”

“No way! D’you know how long it took me to learn how to do that?!”

“I don’t! I don’t know how long it took you!”

“Well, you’re gonna find out someday!” The older Marisa began rummaging through the kitchen’s meagre pantries, and after a few moments emerged with a slightly stale bread roll. “I’m gonna take this, alright? Not my first choice of food, but I’ll take what I can get. I ain’t paying for Hell’s overpriced fast food if I can help it.”

“B-b-but--”

“Just keep workin’ hard, and one day, you’ll get to be me!” The older Marisa took a wand from inside her coat and began tapping the ground. The chalk on the floor began to flow, changing its shapes as she carefully stepped over it to stand in its centre.

“But don’t you have anything to tell me?” pleaded the younger Marisa.

The circle began to shine, and the older Marisa considered for a second. “Actually, y’know, it prolly can’t hurt,” she mused, and grinned. “Alright, kid, so about your metal scraps--”

The circle flashed, and the older Marisa vanished unceremoniously. The chalk on the floor suddenly lifted itself into the air and condensed itself back into a small piece of solid chalk. Aside from the melted candles, there was no evidence that the ritual had ever been performed.

The younger Marisa stared at it for a moment blankly. It seemed that a lot had happened, and it seemed that not much had happened at all. But finally her gaze turned to the book at her side, still open to the page with the summoning circle on it. She carefully closed it, and placed it back on the bookshelf in her master’s room.

She took out another book. This one was simpler, and it was in a language she understood. There was still a week left until her master got back, and she’d at least have liked to have shown her something; some sign that she had grown, even a little bit.

Maybe it was the fact she knew how far she could go, now, that gave her that little bit of extra confidence.

She sat down at the little home’s table, and began to read.

[ahiijny]

Day 18: Giant

(Takes place in a modern AU.)

The dinky apartment they live in is a bit too old and run-down to have a doorbell, so the visitors just knock instead.

Aunn runs to open the door, and she's greeted with two familiar faces. "Ah, Marisa-san, Sanae-san?" she says. "You must be here for Reimu, then. Come on in!"

"Yo!" says the blonde, flashing a grin as she steps in the door. "I'll be intruding~"

"Hello, Aunn-chan!" says the green-haired girl, holding up a grocery bag, with some mochi packages and pocky boxes peeking over the top. "I brought everyone snacks!"

"Ah, thank you!" says Aunn, beaming. "I'll put on some tea!" She smiles warmly as she watches the two visitors take off their shoes and hurry inside, barging into Reimu and Aunn's shared bedroom without knocking.

To be honest, Aunn worries about her sister sometimes. That girl can be a bit of a loner, to be honest. So she's happy that Reimu is making more friends.

By the time the tea is ready and she's brought it into their bedroom, the three older girls are already sprawled on the floor, clicking rapidly away on their video game controllers. Aunn glances up at the monitor. "Ah. Tetris?"

Marisa nods, not taking her eyes away from the screen. "We're gonna beat Area 5 Maniac mode today."

"Confident!" says Aunn, smiling. She carefully sets the tray of teacups on dresser, and then takes a seat to watch the girls play.

This is one of those co-op game modes where three players can team up to fight against a single raid boss, controlled by the computer.

It looks like they've already made a decent bit of progress! The current boss's board is in a pretty sorry state, with solid garbage rows occupying a good proportion of its entire height.

"Which phase are you on?" asks Aunn.

"Phase 2," Sanae supplies helpfully.

"Oh, you're pretty far, then!" Aunn chirps cheerfully. From what she knows, each area fight has three boss phases, with each being more difficult than the last. For them to have made it this far already, this might finally be the day that they overcome this challenge!

Since the girls are occupied at the moment, Aunn helps herself to some of their snacks, munching away as the girls continue to clear away lines, slowly filling up their attack meter while weathering the boss's attacks as best they can.

Finally, the three girls manage to fill up their attack meter all the way, and they launch a final, killing blow to the boss.

And then, after a short pause, the last, final boss spawns in the place of the old one.

"Okay, this is it, Phase 3, Phase 3!" says Marisa.

"We got this," says Sanae. "No deaths yet. Just stay calm."

"Hn," says Reimu.

"You can do it!" cheers Aunn.

But this last, final boss stacks its pieces faster than ever, and for the girls, their attack meter fills slower than ever.

As the girls continue clearing away lines, the boss throws attack after attack at the girls, creating more and more holes in their stacks, and pushing them further and further up on their boards.

Reimu's board tops out after a particularly brutal twist and fast attack.

Then, shortly after, Sanae dies to a particularly nasty invert and bump up attack.

But this game mode allows players who died to revive and re-enter the game! (After a certain amount of time passes.) And it's also possible to speed up the revival process by tapping to the beat of the background music.

But they don't have much time left.

"Ahhhh, revive faster dammit!" shouts Marisa, frantically trying to clean up her board and get to a safer position. But the boss's attacks are relentless.

"I'm trying!" says Sanae.

Reimu just continues tapping her rotate key, lips set in a firm line.

And then, the boss launches another attack at the lone remaining player.

"Noooo, not the giant pieces, not the giant pieces!" shouts Marisa.

Her board is dangerous enough as it is, what with it being almost completely filled with messy, cheesy rows. And now she has two enormous Tetris pieces coming up in her queue.

"What the heck am I supposed to do with these??" exclaims Marisa.

"Just stall!" says Sanae.

"I'm trying!" shouts Marisa.

And then:

Bump up.

Invert.

With a burst of particles, Marisa's game avatar dies.

The "Game Over" screen appears.

There's a long silence.

"O…ohhh, you were so close!" says Aunn, trying to sound upbeat. "I'm sure you'll get it next time!"

Marisa lets out a sigh. She shakes her head. "Damn. This boss is hard!"

Reimu clicks her video game controller impatiently. "Again."