The Lost Witch

Part Three

It was close to midnight when Marisa woke up.  She sat up in the bed, yawning, then stretching her arms above her head.  The fluffy, light pink comforters (which sickened the witch to no end) were thrown to one side of the bed, since she opted for a black blanket made out of light cotton fabric.  She had a friend sow a white bow onto the edge of the blanket, kind of like a coat of arms, but it was quickly becoming loose from overuse.  I'll have to have Sakuya re-sow the bow on so it doesn't fall off. Marisa thought as she picked the blanket up and stuffed it into her bag,putting her Mini-Hakkero's strap on her arm, watching as it fell to the crook of her elbow.  She quietly snuck out of the room before jumping onto her broom, gently rising above the ground before zooming down the hallway, her blonde hair held in a tight low bun so she didn't give herself away, but there were a few strands that were slowly coming out because of the wind resistance.  She skidded to a halt when she reached a room with two large oak doors with brass knockers.  How rich IS this guy?!  Marisa thought, opening the door and stepping inside.

"Wow! Look at all these books!  This'd put Patchy's library to shame!"Marisa said out loud, walking over to a book case that was at least three feet taller than she was.  She plucked a book off the shelf,flipping through it before reaching the beginning of a chapter.  She dropped the book in her messenger bag, and it was soon met by twelve others.  "Well, he can always take them back after I leave....."she said, skipping out of the room and grabbing her broom.  As she was flying down the hallway, she heard noises coming from behind a closed, iron door.  It sounds like chanting......I wonder who's there? She thought,pulling out a hairpin and unlocking the door.  She cracked it open and was met with a burst of smoke.  She flew close to the ceiling,above the smoke screen, and saw a person with a black hood. Is that a Youkai that followed me here?  If so....I better exterminate it! 

"Hey!  Hey you!  I didn't summon you!" a British accented voice yelled at Marisa, and she blinked.

"Um, Arthur?  Is that you?" Marisa asked, and the person sighed.

"Yes.  Marisa, is that you?" he asked, and she nodded, landing in front of him, floating just above the ground on the broom.

"Yeah.  What the heck were you doing?" Marisa asked, reaching for her hat out of habit.

"N-Nothing!  What are you doing roaming the house at night!?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"Nothing really.  I woke up and was thirsty, so I tried to find the kitchen when I heard weird noises coming from in here." she lied,and his eyes narrowed.

"Your room is an on-suite.  You could have gotten water from the bathroom if you were so thirsty." he said, and she grinned.  She didn't have that bag before.......and it looks like it has things inside of it.  What's in there? "What's in your bag?"

"Spoils of war." she stated simply, and he groaned.

"I'm being serious, Marisa.  What's inside of your bag?" he asked again, and she shrugged.

"I dunno.  It's magic, so it randomly fills with stuff.  For all I know, it could be fox teeth.  Care to find out?" she asked, putting the bag in front of his face, and he pushed it away.

"I'd rather not." he stated, and she sighed, shrugging.

"Your loss.  There's usually some pretty cool stuff in here." she said, peaking his curiosity.

"Wait.  Let me see." he said, and she pulled the bag away. 

"Nope.  Buuut if you told me what you we-" she began, but was cut off by a slithering noise that reverberated throughout the room.

"Shoot!  I thought that I'd broken the connection!" he growled, pulling out a spell book, and she sighed.

"Let me handle this, since it seems that you're not very good."she said, severely offending him.

"You bloody wanker of a wanna-be witch!  Watch your tongue!" he said, and she shrugged, holding out her mini-hakkero.

"Just stand back, old man.  I'll show you how a Youkai Hunter does it." she said as the little octagonal box began to glow a warm gold.

"I bet you don't even know where the creature is!" he said, and she groaned.

"Yeah, stupid.  That's where you come in!  I can't see because of your stupid smoke screen!" she growled, and he pointed directly in front of him.

"Shoot your creepy light show right in front of me.  It'll disperse the smoke so you can attack." he said, and she did as he said, the mini-hakkero shooting out a small burst of bright yellow sparks,lighting up the small room and dispersing the smoke.

"Ok, now I just need to know where the thing is!" she said, and Arthur swiveled her around so she was face-to-face with a giant snake.  It's scales were a dark green, and its mean eyes were the color of rubies.  It opened its mouth in a loud hiss, its ivory fangs about as big as she was, dripping with poisonous venom.  As it stood in front of her, she froze, and Arthur groaned.

"Just kill it!" Arthur yelled, and she snapped out of her trance.

"Ok, you stupid magician!" She yelled loudly, holding her hakkero out in front of her and hitting the snake with a giant beam of light. As the light faded, Arthur could see the girl, and she was nowhere NEAR as hyper as she had been minutes before, and now was trembling almost as much as a Baltic, her eyes wide.

"W-What was that?" she asked, her voice shaking as she fell back onto her broom, and Arthur sighed.

"Too be absolutely frank....I have no clue.  But what was that attack?" he asked, and she grinned.

"It's called the Master Spark, and its my strongest attack.  Here, see these?" she asked, holding out a few cards, each with a picture of her and a name written in English, then Japanese.  Arthur nodded,and she grinned. "They're called Spell Cards.  For each card I obtain I gain a new attack." she said, picking up a small yellow card off the ground.  "I get them by defeating Youkai.  The thing I don't understand is why the snake dropped one." she added.

"I agree.  That is a little weird." he said, and she nodded in agreement.  Why would I summon a Youkai?  I didn't even know what they were until yesterday.  Did that snake come from Gensokyo?