(Touhou x GKE Universe) The Unsung War

The Forest of Magic

"So... What now?" Skye absentmindedly mumbled.

Moho shrugged his shoulders and did not reply. Marisa, who was walking a fair distance behind the two did not hear them, nor would she understand them speaking in English. After discretely leaving the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Skye and Moho decided on returning to their escape pod to restock and resupply. The sun had also fully set, therefore they had no reason to be wandering around aimlessly. According to the teary Remila, the purple clad magic user, Patchouli, was already being taken care of by her servants. Whether true or not, Skye did not know, nor did he really care.

Marisa decided, seemingly against her own will, to follow the two soldiers in the hopes of receiving an explanation as to 'what the hell is going on'. But, as far as it stood, she was not going to get her explanation for as long as she did not trust them.

It was dark. The only way Skye could even see forwards was through infra-red scanning through his front visors. Finally deciding to break the silence, he turned on his translator called out back behind him.

"Hey, um, Miss Marisa?"

"I'm still here. What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just making sure you haven't lost your way."

"I've lived here for more than a decade. The hell you getting at?"

"Nothing."

Skye sighed and threw his hands behind his head before suddenly stopping in pain and slowly easing his hands back to his sides. The knife wounds along his wrists and neck still had not been fully patched up by the biofoam and his nerves were still sensitive. It should be fine by tomorrow he hoped.

The three continued in silence. The night was particularly dark as the moon was waning and the skies were completely overcast. Skye almost expected another attack on his way back but it never came. Perhaps the Lolites are inactive beyond sundown.. Or maybe it was Marisa shadowing the two that scared them away. Who knows?

After not too long, the three finally arrived at the far bank of the foggy lake where the blackened escape pod lay. The pod's emergency power supply still was able to supply enough power to run a couple blinking red lights. Marisa, through the darkness, looked at the pod curiously but other than that, she kept her distance.

Moho climbed into the pod and began opening lockers and unfolding deployables. The escape pod boasted a single industrial grade fabricator. The device operates by stripping key elements off input substances to 'build' an output product on the molecular level. That being said, one could turn a chunk of haematite and charcoal into a well polished steel broadsword, or something equivalent.

Skye stayed outside to secure the surroundings. Marisa stared at him and every once in a while, he returned a glance or two. It was unnerving and extremely awkward. Finally, Marisa broke the silence and asked.

"So... You all came from... this ze?"

Skye nodded his head.

"That's right. You ready to hear us out?"

Marisa was taken aback slightly.

"Huh? About what?"

"About... ahem, what the hell is going on?"

"Ah, yeah. That. So... Spit it out."

Skye cleared his voice, took a brief scan of the surroundings before he began speaking.

"Right. So, let me touch on this briefly. Ask if you are unclear."

*Flashback to Chapter 5 *