Mima's Story

Gensokyo, the place where fantastic creatures of your nightmares thrive by day and party by night, the place where you can visit the Netherworld for a cup of tea, the place where the key to the advancement of human civilization is kept. Had Gensokyo not existed, humans of the Outside World would still be fighting off monsters and phantoms every week, as opposed to each other. Of course, it was made to preserve the Youkai as well, as science was becoming more prevalent during the time of Gensokyo's creation. If the humans stopped believing in Youkai, along with the Gods, they'd all simply disappear. It was this creation, that created the strict line between Fantasy and Reality.

But these words were quite deceiving. To say that the existence of Youkai and Gods in Gensokyo wasn't technically real, but they exist in fantasy. And Gensokyo indeed is fantastic. In the past decade, Gensokyo had seen the most action-packed adventures of some of the well-known heroines such as the current Hakurei Priestess. And it was her, out of inspiration of her earlier Danmaku showdowns in previous of these infamous events known as 'incidents', that she created the Spell Card System, a way for the humans and Youkai of Gensokyo to co-exist peacefully, so that Youkai could express their power and cause incidents and trouble among people easily, but humans could easily fix these problems, and it was all in a playful and beautiful conflict. Gone were the days of the chivalry and hostility between the two parties, and all the needless bloodshed.

But some, however, did not welcome it. Mima was one of them. Mima was a malevolent quite persistent evil spirit, a wicked sorceress some would say, much to her delight. Being a spirit, she was invincible toward most physical attacks by humans, and she was simply all too skilled when it came to magical strength, and she did what vengeful spirits did best, hate the living. Though, somehow, for some reason, that emotion had faded. I was human once, I think, was probably her reasoning, or just simply out of empathy, but somehow, she'd even befriended a few humans, even a couple rivals.

Though, it was the Spell Card System that sparked it. To be unable to win battles through strength, but through elegance? It seemed to be an insult to her entire life, all the training she'd done to become an ultimate sorceress, to be feared among the humans, perhaps even world domination. A system created so that any lowly human or lesser Youkai could beat a highly dedicated poltergeist like herself? She would not accept of it. So, not long after the Scarlet Mist Incident, she went back to Makai.

Though, upon her return, she'd found Gensokyo in a much different state than she'd ever remembered. Lunar Invasions? Importing Gods? Religious Wars? And as of late, it seemed as if Gensokyo was in a state of some sort of negativity, as if suddenly, people just decided to get into fights. And it's been affecting both humans and Youkai. It certainly was strange, too strange. Mima, however, needed to reacquaint herself with Gensokyo, and Gensokyo needed to remember her. So, there she was, fighting other Youkai in Spell Card Duels, with her newly created spells.

She decided to try and find people she knew, and see what had happened to them. Rika had certainly grown, but became a bit of a shut-in, her obsession with the outside-world inspired devices having vanished, which Mima found very disappointing. Meira, on the other hand, had seemed to have retired from her samurai practices and taken on a more womanly lifestyle. The shrimp human from Makai, Alice, had actually become a Youkai Witch long ago, but had seemed rather lonely in her house with her many various dolls. Mima had checked the Hakurei Shrine this morning, but Reimu was nowhere to be found, but it seemed as if her shrine wasn't abandoned, but it certainly wasn't popular yet.

As for Marisa, she'd seemed to have taken her own path. She certainly had become a more powerful and skillful witch without her teachings, as Mima could tell simply by looking through her house. However, her name didn't pop up as much as Reimu's did when it came to incidents. Mima remembered how eager Marisa was to get involved in some sort of trouble and take on anybody, whether it been Youkai or human, to demonstrate a newly learned spell. To see Marisa become so different from how she remembered her, from a confident and even annoying kid, to an adult, was frightening in one way, but it made Mima proud in another.

Marisa was actually the first person she contacted, and it seemed that, for some reason, Marisa wanted to train under her again. Mima was sort of surprised, really, (though she reassured herself there was no reason to be because she was that awesome,) as Marisa seemed quite well off on her own. However, somehow, she wanted to become stronger. Mima had yet to decide. She didn't know exactly why Marisa wanted to become stronger, and, of all the things, was wondering if she was still strong enough to teach her. Of course she was stronger than her own former student, but Marisa was much more experienced with Spell Cards, even writing an entire Grimoire about them. And, did Mima really even feel like teaching Marisa again?

She had only one way to decide.

Arriving above Marisa's house, she decided she'd give Marisa a little wake-up call, if she wasn't out of bed yet. Raising her staff, Danmaku collected at the very top in a star shaped pattern. She then smacked it in a downward direction with both hands, where the Danmaku dispersed in all directions, bombarding the perimeter of Marisa's house.

"Marisa!" she called, "Mima-sama's out here to give you a lesson!"

Using the mushrooms that she collected when going through the entire Forest of Magic, the Ordinary Magician created an odd mixture in her cauldron, heating it up with burning wood below it. Like a stereotypical scene, Marisa took a large spoon and stirred the ingredients. She had a notebook and a pen at ready in case of some odd occurrence happening. Hopefully, like all the other experiments, the end result won't send her to the feet of the Yama.

Mixing in a little powder she made herself, Marisa stared at the liquid in anticipation, as if she was Aya Shameimaru on the scene right before a big scoop. A few moments later, the house shook and, instinctively, Marisa ducked for cover in case the liquid mixture was the cause. However, it wasn't, and Marisa stood up quickly. The house was shaking, and, looking through the windows, it was if Marisa's house was flying through space. However, the Magician grinned, knowing exactly what those star-shape things are."Marisa!" A familiar voice called, "Mima-sama's out here to give you a lesson!"

Marisa ran, grabbing her mini-hakkero and her broom before bursting out of the door, already on her broom flying at a fast speed. She turned this way and that, dodging the danmaku shot by the person who used to be, and now may very well again be, her mentor. Marisa's hand pointed at Mima, her mini-hakkero firing Marisa's own waves of danmaku back at Mima. "So I take it that your answer is a yes?" Marisa shouted over the sounds of flying magical bullets, smiling as if she was having the time of her life as she dodging the incoming star-shaped danmaku. Then again, ever since she fought with the people she cared about, how long has it been since Marisa actually had done something that was fun? This fight pushed the feelings of sadness and loneliness away, as those emotions have no place in a time in which your mind is focused on evading everyone bullet that came at you.

"Yes?" Mima chuckled, "Marisa, you're sorely mistaken if you think I'm going to teach some washed-over witch." Mima pointed the head of her staff at Marisa. "You're going to have to duel me first," she told her "And if you win, I'll continue teaching you, and if you don't, well, I'm going to have to reteach you then, aren't I?" "Well then!" Marisa chuckled. "Count our lessons as a continuation then, ze!" Marisa stopped her broom, now just staying still in the air with her hakkero aimed at Mima. Despite being still, she was ready to blast off in any direction should Mima shoot at her again.

"Then I'll start!"



Raising her staff in the air, Mima summoned four planetoids of different colors around her. They spun around her and shot danmaku bullets in all directions in a uniform fashion.

"Heh." Marisa smirked as she had her broom accelerate faster than a sports car, moving all around the air like a fly. She shot back at Mima with the standard damaku shots. Mima's planetoids, however, abosrbed a majority of them. Then, with a flick of her staff, the four spheres orbit expanded outward alarmingly. Gritting her teeth, Marisa slowly moved back as the projectiles were shot from a source closer an closer to her. Reaching a peak, the orbs then began to rotate in smaller orbits, back to their 'Sun'. Mima then rose her staff, the planetoids beginning to rotate around it, and with one quick swipe, she shot the four directly at Marisa. Grinning, Marisa placed her Mini-Hakkero on the broom, firing it to increase her speed greatly, Blazing Star. Predictably, The Ordinary Magician did the unpredictable, charging straight at the four orbs. In the last second, Marisa jumped from her broom and over the orbs, firing a large wave of star-shaped projectiles at Mima, landing on the broom that flew through the gap between the four planetoids. Upon landing the broom, Marisa rode on it like a surfboard as she rocketed towards Mima, using the broom and herself as a danmaku missile.



Mima, having dispersed of her first spell, which double-acted as a defending spell, she was forced to dodge the Danmaku being shot at her, but she was too occupied to notice the witch coming right at her at a blinding speed. Upon reflex, Mima activated a bomb, Evil Field. A black wave of energy quickly expanded out of her, wiping out all the Danmaku on the field, as Marisa simply passed right through her. Mima was quite discouraged, her being forced to use a bomb like some novice Danmaku user, but she hadn't expected Marisa to use two spells at once.
Marisa finally stopped her broom, turning around to face Mima once more. There was a large grin on her face, one of her hands tossing the small device and catching it. "And I nearly had you, too..." Marisa muttered. Anyone can see that Marisa felt alive again, dodging and shooting danmaku from and at her enemies."Think you're so clever?" Mima called, rising her staff in the air, "I'd like to see you figure this out!"



Dark Danmaku bullets (not dissimilar to Eirin's) materialized around the airspace, standing in fixed positions. Mima then shot white star shaped Danmaku in all directions, but while they were shot out in a straigt line, they started to change their trajectory in odd patterns, clumping and dispersing in various areas. Marisa let out a small whistle, looking at the approaching danmaku, searching for an opening. As the stars expanded, Marisa flew through the perimeter of the star and waited as it contracted until she can see the gap forming again with the expansion. However, Marisa was forced to move slowly and into tight spaces as the stars began to overlap. Marisa gritted her teeth again, almost brought to the point of using a bomb. Finally, towards the end of the spell, Marisa brought out a card and used her first bomb right before the danmaku closed in on her from all directions. The danmaku around her dissapatated, and the rest soon followed 10 seconds after. "Tch....." Marisa brought out a Spellcard of her own.



Marisa fired off multi-colored danmaku in all directions, the waves moving clockwise in a sweeping motion. Multiple other independant projectiles accompanied the main wave of danmaku, making it even harder to dodge. Mima grazed through the shots with little haste, as she decided her next move. She began to shoot her own Danmaku shots at Marisa, her intention wasn't to hit her, but her orbs. Eventually, one of them gave away,bursting into nothing. The others were threatening destruction under the pressure as well. As one orb was destroyed, the other three orbs switched patterns. The other two orbs fired off focused streams of danmaku that aimed at Mima while the third orb fired off danmaku randomly. Marisa bit her lip, seeing her spell almost breaking. Mima was forced forward, grazing the two streams shooting at her from opposing angles, while dodging the Danmaku spray coming from the third one. She then shot straight forward at Marisa. Flying right up to her, she smashed an orb to pieces with the butt of her staff, and then flew off to avoid the Danmaku fire flying in her direction. As another orb was destroyed, the remaining orbs began to move faster and shoot even more danmaku at a faster rate, though at the cost of an actual strategic pattern. Marisa, as well, began to move around faster to keep her orbs even harder to hit as they follow her. Mima continued to dodge the Danmaku coming at her, but she, at the same time, was trying to return fire, with little success, very few of the shots actually hitting quick-moving Marisa. She then decided to activate a spell of her own, her transformation spell.



Mima herself began to glow as she went through a transformation, black wings sprouting from her back. Lights shown from her staff in all directions as she charged her first attack, and suddenly, charged direcly at Marisa, swinging at her with her staff. The Ordinary Magician was caught by surprise by this spell, and found herself having to fly to the side to just barely dodging the staff swing that followed Mima's charge. Mima followed up by raising her staff in the air and shot a flurry of green stars at Marisa, some bouncing off invisible barriers. "Huh!" Marisa ducked and weaved passed the green starrs as they bounced and flew past her just like Reimu's Yin-Yang Orbs. She just barely fly around another green star before she just quit firing and hope for a time-out.

"It's not over yet!" Mima called, as she shot a wave of small but quick moving Danmaku. "I heard you replaced your wand with that reactor of yours," she called, "So you could handle that flower girl's spell,is that right!?"

"Yeah!" Marisa grunted as she moved herself out of the way of the wave of danmaku. "I did get a reactor and use it in place a wand, ze. So?"

"Reactors are way too specialized!" she called, shooting a cresent shaped clump of Danmaku, "As opposed to a wand's versatility! I bet your Master Spark's not going to do a thing against me with my next spell!. At that statement, Marisa's mind took some time to register her next action after dodgig the cresent. However, Marisa soon came to and she glared at Mima. She REALLY asked for it now...! "You wanna bet, ze~?" Marisa smirked, her mini-hakkero pointed at Mima. "Alright then.... I'll take that bet....!" Marisa grinned her best grin as she focused her power into the reactor. "Haaaaaaaah......!!!!" Marisa reinforced her arm as a giant rainbow laser shot from the small reactor, aimed right at Mima. "Love Sign!" Marisa shouted. The laser approached Mima, its power overwhelming to anything weaker than it.

"That shall never hit!" Mima cried, raising her staff in the air to summon her final spell.



Mima summoned a black planetoid, which then began to grow in size, until it was larger than Marisa's house. The laser from Marisa's spell made contact with it, but it was entirely absorbed. Light shown around the edges of the orb as it absorbed Marisa's attack,untill there was no evidence of it at all. Mima smirked. The Event Horizon, also known as the Point of No Return, where not even light could escape. Not too dissimilar to death, was it, the Point of No Return that is. Of course, it was a 'planetoid' of her 'Orrery', so it was still connecting to her, or at least her staff, magically. Gritting her teeth, Marisa moved her arm slightly upwards. In this sort of situation, any slight change on the angle in which the laser had been fired from changes everything. In thhis case, the laser began to form an arc before being sucked in by the gravity of Mima's spell. Marisa only needed to move her arm more and more before she struck it. One small part of the laser managed to arc around the spell, hitting the cresent of Mima's staff and, as a result, interfering with the connection between the staff and spell. Mima yelped as the laser hit the staff's head, causing it to vibrate in her hand. The laser then lit up the magical bond between it and the planetoid, before the planetoid burst into a ball of light, like a star. Because Mima was so close to the blast radius, she simply got blown away like a feather in the desert wind. "Heh, heh." Marisa grinned, staring into Mima's eyes a few centimeters away. Her body sat down on Mima's stomach, one hand holding both wrists above Mima and the other hand holding her mini-hakkero to Mima's chest. If one didn't know any better, they would've thought the two girls were being intimate. "How'd you like that, ze?" Mima scowled at Marisa, being at her mercy. "You still have a Master Spark in that thing, isn't that right? You didn't cast it properly earlier. Are you going to finish me off now?"

"...." The grin on Marisa's face shrank until it was just a smirk. She still stared unblinkingly into her former-mentor's eyes. "I am not, for several reasons. One being that we had a deal, that if I win we would continue our lessons. The second being that humans and youkai are two live together peacefully. How can we if we just kill each other in danmaku duels. Third, danmaku itself is nonlethal. Even Yuuka's Master Spark as Danmaku cannot kill. Finally..." Marisa paused for a bit. ".... Is there a reason to kill you?"

Mima looked away in silence. She lost once again, and she didn't even get the satisfaction of suffering the conseqeuences. It felt like something the shrine maiden would do, the current one that is.

"Youkai were never meant to co-exist with humans peacefully, co-exist sure, but..."

"But....?"

"...Well, I guess I really do have a lot to teach you..." Mima put on a light smile.

"Hmph." Marisa smiled back as she stood up, offering her mentor a hand to help her up.

"Well, now you have to do your part of the deal, ze~" Marisa chuckled as she pulled the Evil Spirit up to her feet- er.... Up to a vertical position. She smiled a bit, cheerful since she can now become even stronger with the help of her old mentor..... Until she remembered one crucial part. Marisa's life wasn't exactly heaven under the instruction of Mima. A shiver quickly crawled up her spine and Marisa's eyes widened, thankfully without being able to be noticed. Oh dear Lord. She has to do her part of the deal, ze. "So, Mima-sama. How shall we start off?"

[OOC: I'm so sorry for the short post, but I am not sure how to have this progress. Sorry.]

How they would start off, that was certainly the intriguing question for Mima. Mima was actually curious as to the reason that Marisa wanted to be taught under Mima. Marisa was probably nowhere near her level in expertise, but it was a law that a magician never revealed her true secrets, so Mima wasn't going to make Marisa a replica of herself. Sure she taught Marisa many of her spells before, but Mima's magic was centered around Astrology, the old study of the cosmos, as it was Mima's expertise. Unfortunately, Marisa had been starting to take on more Astronomy in her spells, the newer outside-world 'science' and rejecting the idea of Astrology entirely.

Of course, if Marisa simply wanted to be more powerful, that would have been more difficult for a human. It was easy for a Youkai, whom had high Od (internal magical power) to begin with, which is why some wizards and witches become so in tune with magic, they become Youkai, often the result of separation from others, or even training in Makai. Marisa clearly hasn't decided to do this, probably due to some sort of worldly bond, so that would have made it challenging. Youkai also had an edge as they weren't too different from Gods, in a way. While Gods gained power by faith, and how much humans put their trust in them, Youkai grew power by their fear, and how much they hated them. This was likely how youkai Witches and Warlocks were spawned. Anyway, Mima figured, the best way to figure out how to teach a person is to figure out how why the student wishes to be taught. Something a philosopher might say.

"Well," she said, "First of all, I can't imagine exactly why you want to be taught. I mean, sure you're far from my level, but you surely are skilled enough to protect yourself from Youkai, I'd imagine. Of course, if you need some help in fighting somebody or something, there's that shrine maiden," Mima hated bringing her up, because that would make people think about how she beat her, and Mima likely wasn't the only one, "But of course, I suppose you can always be better than her with my teachings..."

"Well, first of all, I can't imagine exactly why you want to be taught. I mean, sure you're far from my level, but you surely are skilled enough to protect yourself from Youkai, I'd imagine. Of course, if you need some help in fighting somebody or something, there's that shrine maiden." Mima explained. Marisa's fists clenched at the mention, though it would've been worse if Mima actually said her name. "But of course, I suppose you can always be better than her with my teachings..."

".... I'm going for the latter." Marisa said. ".... I'm wanting not just being able to fight somebody." Marisa sighed. "I want to be able to beat that shrine maiden." Her hatred was obvious. Her disdain can easily be heard from how she said the title of the one she hated so much.

Mima raised an eyebrow. Marisa seemed to have been displaying some sort of resentment toward Reimu, or something. Had she'd down something to break her trust? It made Mima curious. Perhaps she'd find Reimu later on. Sure Mima noticed Marisa hadn't been in contact with her, but she didn't suspect some ill-feelings developing between them. Although, as Marisa was right now, staying distant from others, it could have been the next step in gaining power, should Mima decide to take her that far. Mima wasn't human, and therefor, she didn't consider the ethics behind it as much as she should have.

Mima even started grinning at the possibilities. Marisa was a perfectly capable witch, but she wanted more power. Mima had been studying magic for centuries, and it seemed it was only to be expected that anybody taught under her would certainly become a very formidable wizard, but that was small thinking, and Mima never did think small. If all the conditions were met, Mima could turn Marisa into the ultimate magician, perhaps at a level that even Mima couldn't achieve herself, something much larger than Mima could have possibly imagined when she first met the small redheaded girl. Stronger than herself, perhaps. There was no way Mima could turn that opportunity down. All she needed to do for the first step was to transform Marisa into a Youkai.

But first, she needed a little time.

"Alright then, your teachings shall start immediately," Mima announced, "And to begin, I need you to collect a couple things for me. Listen carefully. I need some rolling stones, a lead balloon, a couple beetles and a flock of seagulls, and... a mysterious flying vehicle of some kind!" Mima just listed whatever came off the top of her head, and figured it'd take her a long time to be able to find each and every one of them, (she wasn't even sure if there were seagulls in Gensokyo,) though, somehow they sounded familiar...