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Asellus     The Region of Shrike is peaceful in a similar way to Owmi. But where Owmi had, at least near the Port, the bustle of transportation and shipping and industry, and it was the more resort-like town near the lord's mansion that was calm and relaxed, Shrike is simply peaceful all over. There's still a Region Ship port, but it's on the edge of the Region, and the landings and take-offs of ships can barely be heard.

    In some places, Shrike is like a park. In other places, it's like a futuristic pseudo-utopian construction with buildings and roads and other modern accoutrements spliced together with trees and bushes and lawns and actual parks. In still other places, it is overgrown with foliage, run rampant, particularly around the tombs to the south-west and north-east corners.

    When Asellus, White Rose, and Josuke arrive, they are headed for a suburban area surrounded by one of the park-like environments. They've come to see Asellus's aunt. To let her know that her niece is okay. Asellus walks fast on the way there, White Rose scurrying to keep up.
Josuke Higashikata     Josuke has kind of been acting like a bodyguard for Asellus since all this started. He wasn't able to really save her from 'dying', even if she got better, and he was wildly off the beam in thinking the Mystics would be vampires (on the bright side, this means Asellus and White Rose can benefit from if they get hurt). So he's been trying to protect her from any possible encounters with Orlouge, the other Mystics (aside from White Rose, of course), and any minions they might have.

    He smiles as they walk through the Region. "This place almost reminds me of Morioh," he notes. Almost. The pseudo-utopian construction kinda throws that off (his Morioh is the one with WALL EYES, after all). But he does say of it, "I like it." And he notices Asellus hurrying, and chuckles as he keeps pace with her movement. "Haha, wait a minute, you're out-walking us," he teases.
Marisa Kirisame Marisa kind of stands out a little bit, being literally a witch zooming around on a broom. She looks like someone who's probably visiting from the Magic Kingdom or something like that. Maybe a lost student of Realm Magic acccidentally gone too far from home.

Or, you know, maybe just a weird witch girl.

"Looks more like Boston to me," Marisa says, having apparently made a trip to America at some point in the not so distant past. "A little sleepier though, I think? Ah well, where's this aunt of yours live?"
Asellus     Asellus doesn't slow down very much, despite Josuke's request, but does acknowledge it. "I want to make sure she knows I'm okay. She must have been really worried." Asellus points out a large house surrounded by a stone wall, in response to Marisa. It has a red roof, and a well-maintained lawn and garden. Asellus spots an old woman out front and hurries again, nearly running to reach the driveway. "Aunt!!" she yells out as she approaches the white-haired woman in the green dress and hat.

    White Rose hurries to catch up, managing to get in range to hear the woman's reply.

    "Do I know you?"

tAsellus tires to ignore the distant look her aunt is giving her, the lack of recognition, the nervousness swelling inside of her. "It's me, Asellus. You didn't recognize me because of my green hair." That has to be the only reason, right? There can't be anything else, right?

    Asellus's aunt gets a disbelieving look on her face, shocked, pale.

    "What's wrong?" she asks, continuing to edge forwards a little at a time.

    "Are you a ghost? You're still as young as that day..." She shakes her head, as though to dismiss the very notion of her niece's identity. "...Asellus is dead."

    Asellus moves even closer, hoping that somehow her aunt will recognize her if she just explains it to her. Maybe her eyesight is bad. "I'm not dead, see? It's me."

    Then her aunt spots White Rose, Josuke, and Marisa coming up from behind. The weird assortment of characters, combined with whatever she apparently knows of Asellus's supposed death, combine to harden her to who and what is standing right in front of her. "May be you're a Mystic trying to trick me. She's been missing for 12 years. Heeeelp! Someone help me!" she yells as she takes off running.

    Asellus looks as though she's just been gut-punched as she turns to watch her aunt flee. White Rose approaches to stand next to her. "12 years... It's been 12 years since I was run over by Orlouge's carriage?"
Josuke Higashikata     Josuke stands back with a smile -- this isn't something he needs to interfere in. This is one of those really important reunions! Though when Asellus's aunt rolls to disbelieve, Josuke blinks. He takes a step forward and tries, "No wait--!" But the woman's running off before he can try to explain things. "...Dammit."

    He looks back to Asellus then, looking kind of lost. The mention of it being twelve years gets a tilted head. "Maybe. I mean... didn't that asshole have all those girls just sleeping in coffins?" Then something occurs to him. "...Maybe he kept you sleeping there for a while 'till he let you out. Probably exactly for THIS reason -- by the time you got out, nobody from your old life would believe you were still alive... and then he'd 'own' you completely."
Marisa Kirisame "Welp," Marisa mutters as the woman takes off ruunning. "Okay, hold on just a sec. It's not like I don't already have a long enough criminal record."

And so Marisa... Takes off like a shot. Because as it turns out, when you pride yourself as the ~fastest in Gensokyo~ you're pretty fast! Marisa zooms after the terrified woman, and inexplicably starts air-drifting to block her escape. "Heeeeey now, why don't you calm the heck down and walk back there to talk to your niece, huh?"

Marisa grins, it's a toothy but pleasant smile. "I mean, it'll be a lot easier if you go back. Otherwise I'm gonna have to chase you more."
Asellus     "White Rose... Why didn't you tell me?" Asellus asks, her tone trembling with the sense of shock of betrayal she must be feeling.

    White Rose nods slightly to Josuke, and adds on, "As well, time means nothing in Facinaturu. I didn't want to shock you." Oh, or the fact that time might seem to blend together for immortals in a Region of stagnation and unchangingness over centuries or longer.

    "Now I know I am a monster. I didn't age a bit in 12 years." The despair and self-loathing and the acceptance of her inhumanity is etched on Asellu's face. That Orlouge was ultimately behind it doesn't seem to help at all.

    "You shouldn't talk like that." White Rose says, firmly but gently.

    Asellus reacts in her pain by lashing out. "Leave me alone!!" she yells at White Rose as she wheels on the princess.

    The elderly woman screams as Marisa moves in front of her, turning to try to flee in another direction, struggling to run with her old bones. Marisa can get in her way as many times as she wants, most likely, but it's just making her more terrified and convinced of the witch's malevolence. Getting through to her isn't really viable, and she very clearly has zero intention of going back. Unless Marisa intends to use force, the only thing she can do here is give Asellus's aunt a heart attack.

    But a huge concentration of magic energy moving past Marisa, like an afterimage, invisible but somehow distorting the air around it, is heading back the way Marisa came. Headed for where Asellus, White Rose, and Josuke are.

    The entire area around the house darkens noticeably, as a heavy presence settles over everything.

    A disembodied voice speaks. "Princess, it's time to return to the Castle."
Josuke Higashikata     "No wait!" Josuke says again, this time as Marisa takes off after the fleeing woman. He grimaces. "...<Great>... I hope Marisa doesn't scare her more..." he mutters. He pouts worriedly as Asellus and White Rose seem to get into an argument. But he does offer something.

    "Asellus, you aren't a monster," he insists. "I'm going to be the same. My ancestor was the same. Anybody who learns Hamon, if they keep up its practice, is going to be the same. I'm not going to be immortal. But when I'm sixty, I'll look like I'm almost half that age. You're not a monster just because you don't age anymore."

    Josuke stops there, giving a quiet sound of surprise as the area starts to darken. "What the...?" He starts to edge back towards Asellus and White Rose. Particularly when he hears that voice. "Dammit..." he mutters under his breath. "I figured it was going to happen sooner or later..."
Marisa Kirisame Eeeeyup, that's sure a terrified old lady. "Oh don't be such a terrible human being," Marisa huffs and sweeps down to scoop her up onto her broom. "Come along now, let's go see your niece and--"

The world goes dark. A voice speaks. Marisa... Rolls her eyes. "Oh, for fuck's-- fine! Go running off. But I'll be back. Ohohohohoho~" Witch laugh: Delivered. Marisa spins up and races back into the darkness, the air around her suddenly filling with a veritable blizzard of light. "Hey, asshole! Who gives you the right to tell someone where they can and can't go!? You wanna get your butt out here so I can turn you into a fine red mist, or do I gotta turn this forest into a crater!?"
Asellus     As people form up around White Rose and Asellus, the monotone voice that nonetheless may still sound vaguely familiar somehow gives off the impression of disdain without inflection. Do you dare disobey our Lord? the sourceless voice speaks as people bristle and threaten and array against its owner, despite being unseen.

    Trying to defuse the situation, or to stall for time, White Rose attempts to engage the other Mystic. "Disobey my Lord? That's quite an accusation."

    The enemy will have none of that though. Make all the excuses you want before Orlouge.

    Asellus, likewise, will have none of that. Despite lashing out just moments ago, she rallies to the princess's defense. "No, don't touch White Rose!"

    Unfazed, the enemy speaks emotionlessly. I was ordered to kill anyone in the way.

    The environment shifts, dragging Josuke, Marisa, White Rose, and Asellus into some shadowy dimension. A huge figure in red armor, flying in the air with a pair of wings, is the only notable feature aside themselves, with prismatic hues of light trailing from him in spiralling patterns that change direction periodically.

    It's a fight! White Rose raises a glove on one hand that seems to be crafted from magic energy, and unleashes tendrils from it that try to coil around and crush the enemy. Asellus slashes twice with Asura, hurling a pair of air discs at him. He retaliates after taking the damge by lifting his enormous sword, engulfing it in a great quantity of heat, and diving in to strike at White Rose with a blow that is a combination of thermal and kinetic energy. Heat Smash.
Josuke Higashikata     Josuke scowls as he listens to the voice. "That asshole is nobody's lord!" he fires back to the voice. As he does, he glows with a purple aura and then Crazy Diamond appears, only sticking out of his torso for the time being. Because he's not sure if he's going to need to use his Hamon via his Stand yet.

    The scenery changes then, and suddenly... shadow is all around them. Hopefully that means they're not in a place where they can cause damage in the big fight that's sure to come. But he doesn't sttack yet. Mainly because he's more worried about assisting on the defense.

    As the heated blade comes down, Josuke dashes in White Rose's direction without a thought, placing himself -- and his Stand -- between her and the armored man. He tries to catch the blade with Crazy Diamond's hands. Even if the Stand catches the blade, it's still going to burn -- and cut -- the hell out of his hands. If he can't, it's going to carve into the Stand's chest. But at least it won't kill him.

    Hopefully...
Marisa Kirisame Aaaaand the asshole agent of a dark vampire lord carries a portable dark dimension with him. Well, honestly, this makes things a little easier in the long run. In a place like this, Marisa doesn't need to worry about blowing up Asellus' Aunt's house. Or, like, anything else.

In other words, she doesn't need to hold back. As much.

Asellus and the others are still here, after all.

Marisa huffs, tilting the rim of her hat down over her eyes. "Well, okay then. I mean, if you're going to do this. Sure, we'll play your game."

The witch snaps her fingers. A quartet of colorful orbs suddenly materialize all around her. "Hey Josuke, you just hold him there for a second, okay? Thanks."

"Let me show you something my teacher left for me," Marisa grins, twisting and pivoting until she's surfing atop her broom. "This is the sorcery created by the one called Complete Darkness. Lady Mima's very own...!"

                        *~STAR SIGN - ORRERY SUNS~*                        

The orbs flash suddenly, each one unleashing a veritable torrent of magic honed into intense beams of pure, searing starlight. Marisa cackles as she extends her hands into the spell, firing a bombardment of her own Marisa-style magic missiles.

This is the power of Gensokyo's very own ordinary human magical cannon girl~!
Asellus     Josuke accomplishes basically what the Deflect sword skill does. Only with his Stand's fists. He takes no damage from blocking the attack maybe, or if he does, it's minimal. The attack is stopped, the eruption of heat and force washing over him, but neither he or White Rose are likely to be seriously injured.

    Marisa's Bejewled no Jutsu fires lasers and bullets that explode all over the Fire Sage, dealing damage that ripples across the Mystic's armor, making it look nearly molten. He raises his blade vertically, his wings flapping as he prepares some kind of big attack in retliation.

    White Rose casts a healing spell on Josuke to resolve any damage he took with a big glowing transparent star. Asellus slashes twice in the same moment with her Asura blade, dealing a large degree of damage. More than she should truly be capable of at this stage, based on the minimal amount of grinding she has done.

    Then the Fire Sage summons a tunnel of heat and flame that begins far in the distance and expands to engulf the entire battlefield, sweeping over everyone except the one who summoned it with a torrent of fire. White Rose and Asellus are both taken to their knees by the damage, looking winded by the air being burned right out of their lungs, but they haven't been K.O.ed yet.
Josuke Higashikata     "Thanks!" Josuke calls to White Rose. And Marisa's damage gets a grin. "<Great> going!" he encourages. Of course, Bossfight rules are Bossfight rules. And one of those is, when you cause damage to a Boss, it retaliates with a bigger attack! In Josuke's case, he steps back and separates his Stand from himself fully, and Crazy Diamond crosses its arms to try to shield Josuke from the wave of heat. It still damages him, since it damages his Stand. But at least he's not completely vaporized! That's a plus.

    Though instead of attacking again, his first though when the wave dies down is to tend to the others. He looks over Marisa, Asellus, and White Rose, to see who needs the help most. And once he picks a target he'll try to use Crazy Diamond to heal whoever seems to need it the most.
Marisa Kirisame Hah! So it turns out that the so called <KNIGHT OF FIRE> doesn't very much enjoy being lasered to his melting point! Clearly he has met his match as far as thermal output goes. But perhaps he isn't quite ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Marisa glances askance just in time to see the terrible rising glow of flame crashing up from the not so distant horizon. The witch whispers a curse and pivots, raising a hand up to shield herself from the attack, but one hand is not nearly enough to deflect something like /that!/ Not alone. Marisa is swallowed up! There's not even a sound as the flames claim her! Is this... the end of Gensokyo's favorite witch...!?

Nah, who're we kidding.

A torrent of frost and howling wind blasts into the blazing wave. Marisa grits her teeth beneath a partially charred hat, even as she fights back the need to shiver. The four orbs that were orbiting her only moments ago have transformed into strange octagonal devices, each of which are disgorging gouts of raw, elemental ice...!

Let us explain! In spite of Marisa Kirisame's tremendous love for explosions, starlight and the flashiest of all possible magical arcana, the fact of the matter is that her fundamental affinity is strongest with spells of frost, cold and winter! Yes, beneath that extravagent exterior is the heart of a girl who has become all too familiar with the bite of the blizzard and the cruel embrace of ice...! And yet in spite of that, she has learned to rise above it, to harness it, to draw upon that contrarian part of herself to expand her prowess in the pursuit of magical mastery!

And so, wielding a spell unlike any that exists in the Realms of this world-- removed from the schools of rune and arcane, light and shadow, mind and evil, time and space, or even the esoteric sorceries of mystic and life, Marisa pushes back against the inferno with one of her own!

                         FROZEN SIGN - COLD INFERNO                        

The witch roars as she focuses her will, transforming the cone of cold into a veritable jet that shatters the flame! She yells even louder as she turns about and brings that frozen wave to bear upon the mystic knight of heat and flame. "I'm not just some kind of ONE TRICK WITCH!" Marisa screams as her orbitals begin spiralling around her outstretched arm, turning the jet into a spiral of biting, wintery wind! "I'm Marisa Kirisame, and you ain't got the best of me yet!"
Asellus     Josuke may realize that since White Rose is also a healer that since she and Asellus seem to be in similar condition healing her first might be the most wise tactical decision. That way she can heal Asellus in turn. This chain-healing is a crucial aspect of dealing with heavy-hitting bosses, making sure everyone stays on their feet! And that's exactly what happens, as Marisa uses ice magic against the Boss. A torrent of ice to match the tunnel of fire.

    It does not seem to do MORE damage than hitting him did, and his armor still flashes blue in the same way it had flashed red as though being heated to the point of molten. Maybe it's just a thing his armor does. Ice crystals seem to be floating around him now, though, repeatedly growing forth from and then dissipating around him. Has he somehow turned that highl damaging ice attack to his benefit by forming some kind of... Barrier against further such attacks?

    What a cheater!

    Either way, he must be hurting after those heavy hits, and Asellus has learned her lesson about starting off small as she uses her current strongest move, Triple Thrust, to ram the enemy with her blade, knock him up into the air, and then plunge downwards from above in the span of seconds, impaling him as she forces him back to the ground.

    He returns to the air, and breathes out a flamethrower stream of fire on the back row, at Marisa, which spreads out to adjacent targets, those being Josuke and White Rose at this exact moment. How much more punishment can the boss take? How much more can he dish out against four strong targets?
Josuke Higashikata     It's true, if White Rose is a healer, it's probably a better idea to heal her first. That way there's two people doing the healing. A problem shared is a problem halved, right? And he kind of has to touch things to heal them, so he can heal White Rose, and she can cast magic to heal Marisa without having to get in the area of effect of Marisa's spells.

    Now, when fire starts coming at him, Josuke has a weird idea. He hands off several wooden pellets from his pockets to his Stand, which begins flicking them at the fire. Sure, it's going to catch the pellets on fire, but those pellets are also aimed right back at the warrior. Josuke is literally fighting fire with fire!
Marisa Kirisame Ugh! What a dirty cheater this weird mystic in armor is! Marisa bets that underneath all that armor, it's actually some kind of cute girl in too many frills. That would make sense, from previous experience. All cute girls in too many frills end up being terrible cheaters.

Fortunately this time around, Marisa is well set to fight the torrent of fire with a torrent of ice of her own, but that doesn't exactly make getting to and hitting the thing any easier. That strange frosty shield seems to indicate in Marisa's mind that it's probably defending against ice attacks right now, but...!

That armor isn't the /only one/ who's a dirty cheater...!

With a cackle, the witch turns her frost onto the jet of flame, and then just sort of... leaves her orbitals where they are, allowing them to continue counter-blasting the fire attack. Marisa has all the firepower she needs right now, anyway.

In the form of...!

THE MINI HAKKERO!

This handy device is made out of MIRACULOUS SUPER METALS that can channel magical energy super effectively! It's a space heater! An air conditioner! A portable stove! And most importantly...

A MAGICANNON.

"Hey, lace-for-brains!" Marisa yells as she levels the strange, octagonal box at the mystic. "See how you adapt to THIS! Full throttle! Danmaku is all about power, and I've got PLENTY LEFT! Here I go!"

The box flashes! A prismatic ring lenses open in the air in front of it. With a crash of thunder and a terrific blaze of light, all the colors of the rainbow erupt from the box's core!

This is the legendary...!

                         Magicannon - Master Spark!                        
Asellus     The continued damage dealing from the assembled, even though they don't have a full party (maybe they should have grabbed that bard guy from Scrap when they had the chance), is enough to deplete the rest of the Fire Sage's health. He freezes up under the onslaught of Marisa's Master Spark, Josuke's improvised fire balls, Asellu's sword skills, and a phantasmal black cat summoned by White Rose. Then there is a breaking sound and a flash of light. This is repeated, and then he seems to be sinking down and out of sight as he dissolved from the feet upwards, energy swelling and releasing from him to be absorbed by those who defeated him.

    Something happens to Asellus when she takes in the Fire Sage's power. A blade of purple-pink energy, the same as in the Mystic Weapons that White Rose can wield, engulfs her hand briefly, sending crackling bolts through her hair and along her whole body. But then that power seems to fade away, and it's just Asellus again, glad the fight is over, refreshed alongside the others by that wave of restorative energy.

    White Rose looks distraught as they all return to reality in front of Asellus's aunt's house. "Disobey my lord..." White Rose mutters, fearful at the thought of it.

    Asellus grabs the Mystic's hand in hers and says, "Please don't leave me, White Rose!" Her anger from before is forgotten, replaced by a desperate need and terror of being abandoned. "You're the only one who understands me!" As much as she values Josuke and Marisa as friends, they... Probably haven't lived the existence that Asellus and White Rose have. Killed and turned into monsters, having their lives as humans stripped away from them, separated from any family by both their nature and the passage of time...

    White Rose turns to look at the half-Mystic, putting her other hand over top of the one holding her left gently. She smiles as she looks into Asellus's eyes. "Lady Asellus..." In addition to kindness, there is sadness and acceptance in her voice. She isn't going back to Facinaturu, even though it will likely cost her a lot of grief down the line.

    Asellus turns to look at Josuke and Marisa, and smiles lop-sidedly, trying to force it through the very child-like fear she was just experiencing, that made her seem so much younger. "Thank you both for your help. I don't know where I'd be without friends like you. Probably still in Facinaturu."
Josuke Higashikata     "HA! I thought so! What's better to hit an enemy with than its own powers?" That doesn't always work, yeah, but it worked here... so no big. He pulls a comb from his pocket and starts to straighten his hair... and then suddenly there's energy filtering into him? He looks at his hand, the one that's not holding the comb, and blinks. He flexes the hand, with a confused looking pout. "...Huh. That's a weird sensation," he notes. He's not a mage, and doesn't really have any kind of powers native to this part of the world, so it might not really help him much. Though he pauses as he notices Asellus changing, his eyes going wide. "Ah! A-Asellus, are you...?" He pauses then, since the change is over and done before he can even ask if she's OK.

    The conversation between Asellus and White Rose feels a bit wrong for him to listen to. But he does have his two yen to contribute to it. He's pretty sure White Rose at least has the integrity to make what he thinks is the right choice -- she wouldn't have followed Asellus LITERALLY through fire if she didn't. So it's probably not needed... but he says it anyway. "...I know the prospect of defying him is scary," he begins, his voice gentle. "But he's a tyrant. He keeps people who catch his eye in those coffins, like they're nothing more than dolls in their gilded boxes. But just because a cage is beautiful doesn't make it any less of a cage, if your life is not your own."

    Asellus's words of thanks get one of his trademark goofy smiles. "Hey, no problem! It's been <great> to get to see so much of your world, even if it wasn't under such good circumstances. I'm ready to help anytime I can. That goes for both of you, all right? Let me know when you need help."
Marisa Kirisame Huh, so maybe that thing in the armor was really just a lot of pretty sparkles? It's like a pinata, except a lot more... level-uppy. That's a good way to explain it. Ah well, no new friend to drag home this time. Unless...

"Ahahaha, yeah. I've had a time running around and exploring, so don't feel too obligated to me or anything. It's been nice to get out and stretch my legs a bit." Marisa laughs and lazily stretches her arms over her head. "Though uh. Are you two sure you'll be safe out here? If you like, you could maybe head over to Gensokyo or somethin' for the time being. Orlouge'd be crazy to go in there after you without some serious firepower backing him up." Though being an end boss, he could probably make it happen.

It'd just be funny seeing him try to go through Yukari is all.

"If not, well! You have my number. So just gimme a call if you need any more magical artillery~"