The Vampire's Dragon

Part 4: Uninvited

    At the Hakurei Shrine, two people sat on its veranda. One was a blonde, short woman wearing a witch hat and all black and white clothes. Her expression was that of a peaceful smile, as she gazed up at the sky. The woman sitting next to her let out a sigh. She had long, brown hair, and at the front, two tube-like ornaments adorned her hair.
    "Sure is peaceful, huh, Reimu?" The black-and-white girl spoke. She reached to her left, picking up a cup of green tea and taking a sip.
    "Yeah." The red-white girl, Reimu Hakurei responded. "It's always nice when nothing's happening, because it means less work for me, and that all the youkai are behaving themselves."
    "I guess, but don't ya want somethin' to happen? An incident? Some youkai stirrin' up trouble in the Village? Some new plot from the folks at Moriya?" The black-and-white suggested, tapping her foot.
    Reimu let out an aggravated sigh. "Not everyone is as antsy and impatient as you, Marisa. If something does happen, I'll curse you for a hundred years."
    Marisa Kirisame, the other girl, chuckled nervously. "Aw, come on. Ya wouldn't do that to your best and lovable friend, wouldja?" Reimu didn't respond, taking a sip of tea. Marisa grumbled in irritation, and continued "Even the fairies ain't stirring up trouble today. Doesn't that bother ya? Somethin' oughta be happenin' somewhere, right?" She prodded.
    "Marisa, absence of an incident isn't in and of itself an incident. Don't make up things that aren't there." Reimu stated flatly. "Until something does happen, I'm not moving. You're free to as you like."
    "Fine. After I finish this tea, maybe I'll stir up somethin' myself. Cause a little mayhem, boom, boom, BZZZZZZZT!!" She exclaimed, mimicking the sounds of one of her special techniques.
    Reimu started "Like I told you before, if you start something-"
    Suddenly, there was a loud, powerful humming noise, and both girls stood up. They glanced at each other, then Reimu pushed off the ground, flying into the air, while Marisa got on her nearby broom and kicked off. Once they were high enough to see a fair distance, Reimu growled "What... the hell... is that?"
    In the distance, the Scarlet Devil Mansion was visible, although it was clear that something was amiss. A swirling vortex of glowing energy shimmered into existence around the roof of the clock tower. As Reimu and Marisa watched, dome-like magical barriers began to expand and surround the mansion. One after another, they got bigger and bigger, stacking inside each other like Matryoshka dolls, each one a different color. Red, orange, yellow...Soon all the colors of the rainbow were present, a seven-layer dome barrier now encasing the mansion. Massive spikes of energy erupted from the outermost dome. Next, millions of tiny orbs of energy flew into the air, seemingly coming from within the tower. They surrounded the outer dome, falling into a grid-like pattern, before clean, red beams interlocked between every orb, creating a sort of net around the outer dome.
    "What the hell is goin' on?!!" Marisa yelled, trying to speak above the deafening sounds of the many magics being cast.
    Reimu shouted "I don't know, but I bet we're about to find out!"
It seemed the mansion wasn't finished, however. Giant ofuda, sacred slips of paper with prayers of protection on them, plastered themselves all over the outer dome. Next, thousands of silver knives materialized around the outer dome, hovering in midair, as if waiting. Then, in the innermost dome, the water around the mansion began to rise, eventually filling the inner dome and submerging the mansion completely. From the ground around the mansion erupted gigantic, thick trees, which coiled themselves around the mansion like snakes. There was a creaking sound as the vines slammed into each other, leaving no space in between. Finally, a colossal purple magic circle, with intricate sigils and letters, expanded underneath the mansion. From it, billowing purple miasma spewed, eventually blocking the view of the mansion from outside of the domes.
    Reimu and Marisa still heard the sounds of sorcery coming from the mansion's direction, but they could no longer see what was happening. Marisa sat, aghast, on her broom. Reimu's gaze hardened into a glare. "This reeks of an incident." She murmured. "Something big. We need to go check that out, now."
    Trying to regain her composure, Marisa asked "Y-...Ya think they're tryin' to keep somethin' in?"
    Reimu pulled out some ofuda from within her dress, responding "No. I think they're trying to keep something out. I intend to find out what." With that, Reimu flew off swiftly towards the mansion.
    "H-hey!!" Marisa yelled. "No fair, you got a head start!" She called after Reimu, flying on her broom in pursuit.