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Chapter Text

The petals of cherry blossoms slowly fluttered to the ground, as Alice Margatroid walked a path hidden beneath the blooming sakura trees, into a small clearing obscured somehwere deeply within the forest of magic. One she had painstakingly sought for, and timed correctly for this soon to be perfect moment.

The seven colored magician held her breath, ignoring a couple of fairies poorly hiding behind the trunks of some of the blooming sakura, not wishing for any to interrupt her precious moment, one of her dolls quickly flew past her to shoo them away, moving at enough speed to send a small flurry of petals flying back into the air, and gently falling down to the ground.

Again Alice elected to ignore the screaming pair of fairies as her doll chased them like thunderous lightning, their screams fading into the distance. Finally after a moment of silence Alice exhaled.

Still she was nervous. How could she not be? She and Marisa had been close, Marisa practically lived in her cottage by now. It was only a matter of becoming closer. She walked to the centre of the clearing, her doll returning to her side as she pulled on magical strings.

Marisa was late, but that was somewhat expected, her call had been vague and urgent after all, but deep in her heart, in a special little part, Alice knew Marisa would be there.

It may not be now, but it won’t be never, as the Ordinary Magician’s smiling visage flashed through her head, just the thought was contagious, as Alice smiled, calming her heart.

A light shone from above, as the wind blew following someone moving rapidly across the air, a hint to Marisa’s arrival. oddly she noticed Shanghai’s presence, but that wasn’t exactly out of place, almost imperceptibly there was a hint of amusement, Marisa must have gotten lost and asked Shanghai to guide her here, to her.

Then Marisa descended from the heavens, riding on her broom, a brilliant smile present on her face, so carefree and confident, the Mini Hakkero dimming as she landed, yet never diminishing Marisa’s golden radiance, her presence was wonderful, a balm to Alice’s soul, so much so she forgot about Shanghai’s presence entirely as the doll floated out of view.

Marisa laughed a little awkwardly and spoke to Alice.

“Sorry I’m late Da~Ze~” Alice could only smile, perhaps she could begin with a casual comment, but now was not the time for any small talk, Alice knew she had to seize the moment, as she watched Marisa look at the grove of cherry blossoms hidden within the forest of magic, appreciating the sights.

“Marisa!” Alice called out, ready to pour her heart out into this precious moment, immediately getting Marisa’s attention, as she jogged towards Marisa, petals kicked up into the air, as she moved.

“Woah Alice! What’s with the rush? And the view? You-” “hush.” Alice cut her off and placed a finger on Marisa’s lips “-..ze~?” Marisa’s face blushed slightly, and by the feeling of it so did hers.

“Marisa, let me talk.” Marisa only nodded, hands held up in a mock surrender, before gesticulating that she’d listen.

Alice smiled and walked back, the cherry blossom petals still falling around them both, the two of them stuck in an isolated world of confession.

“Marisa-” Alice began, emotions pouring through her, as she begun her confession. “-I know we haven’t gotten along at first, beginning as neighbours, and occasional enemies.” Alice recalled her early days, newly introduced to the human witch, who now stood before her.

“But ever since we began to spend more time with each other-” Marisa’s face began to shift towards one of recognition at what Alice was getting at, she moved to talk, but Alice once again shushed her withe a gesture, Marisa’s protest stopped, but her blush grew even more visible, Alice saw this as ample feedback for continuation.

“-Got to know each other, befriend each other, solve the incidents that occur throughout Gensokyou!” Alice recalled their various memories together, but the big occasions of triumph in spellcard duels, or the small moments they’d spend together, her helping Marisa look for mushrooms across the forest, evading Sakuya’s patrols after Marisa had borrowed something else from Patchouli, Marisa helping her with her dolls and more, so much more.

The memories overwhelmed Alice, as she grabbed both of Marisa’s hands, and pulled her close, so close that they stood eye to eye.

“Marisa, every moment I’ve spent with you-” and there was quite a lot, especially with how often Marisa had been visiting lately, even on the days she went out. “-Every smile that you’ve made, Every laugh and meal we shared-” memories filled with joy and contentment flooded her mind. “-we’ve done so much together, and perhaps-” a pause as a small breeze of wind carried a trail of petals around them.

“We could be so much more.” It was clear that maybe at this moment Marisa didn’t quite have it hammered in yet, as Alice moved just a little closer, just a smidgen more.

“Marisa.” Alice begun, voice soft but filled with emotion, with her love for Marisa leaking out. The cherry blossom petals seemed to dance around them, in this special moment. Marisa opened her mouth, she looked as if she wanted to say something, but was entirely speechless.

“Marisa, I’ve fallen for you, in love with you.” Alice finished. Marisa’s face was entirely red, but to Alice, it was simply beautiful regardless, and as Alice batted away some of the hair that had fallen in front of Marisa’s face, it returned to her normal shade, as she returned holding each other’s hands and looking at each other’s eyes.

It stayed like this in this clearing of sakura trees, hidden away in the faroff depths of the forest of magic, Alice and Marisa held each other hands intertwined and looking into each other’s eyes, to Alice it was a beautiful moment, now it only had to be made perfect by Marisa saying her words back,

“A- Alice...” Marisa began tilting her head downwards, her hat obscuring her face yet their hands still intertwined, Alice still caught up in the moment didn’t see anything wrong with this.

“Alice.-” Marisa began, her grip becoming firmer, this time raising her head, her face was a mix of both joy and... yet there was something else, Marisa slowly begun to uncusp her hand from Alice’s hold, the warmth and pressure slowly draining as Marisa began to scratch the back of he head.

“I’m sorry but-” Alice had to be quick, she cut Marisa off. “Was I too forthcoming?” Alice asked quickly, something nervous and anxious beginning to settle inside her.

“Alice.” Marisa’s tone was uncharacteristically grave. Something was wrong. “i’m sorry but-” Alice didn’t process this, having opened her mouth to say something, only for Marisa to continue. “-I appreciate your feelings Da~Ze~” Marisa broke eye contact and looked away. A feeling of dread begun to form in the puppeteer’s stomach.

Marisa slowly, gently unpried Alice’s hands from her own, it felt cold without the human witch’s touch. It felt even colder when Marisa began to slowly back off, and it froze Alice when she turned to face away from her.

Alice’s face was frozen in a feeling she couldn’t describe, a mix of shock, incredulity and despair, as she slowly raised one of her arms, as if reaching out to pull at a string and force Marisa to look back at her straight in the eye and explain.

Yet she was powerless to do anything more tha just barely managing to lift her hand, in half frozen hesitation. It was overwhelming, the silence.

Then after a moment that stretched into an eternity, Marisa spoke.

“Alice, I- I know you love me, and I love you too Da~Ze~” Marisa’s voice was shaky, Alice took a few steps closer trembling with every step. “But-” Alice once more froze in place.

Marisa took a breathe in and out, her hands balling into a trembling fist.

“Alice, I... I love you too, but only as a friend Da~Ze~.”

Alice didn’t process this at first, yet the finality of Marisa’s tone cut off any of her protests before they could even begin to formulate in her mind, yet her mind could not stop her heart, with a shaky voice Alice asked, one of her dolls hugging her arm.

“I- Is there another... reason..?” Alice’s voice slowly began to waver near the end, a little piece of her still wanting to get anything else, closure perhaps, an explanation even.

“I’ve been going out with someone else.” the words pierced Alice in the heart deeper than any spellcard ever could. Her perfect moment with Marisa was suddenly turning into some surreal and indescribable experience, it felt like a dream, no rather a nightmare.

Then comprehension hit her, as the curse of language took its full effect. the words replayed in her mind, over and over, for only a few moments but for what felt like decades, a few tears began to form at Alice’s eyes, she resisted the urge to fall over like a puppet whose strings have been cut, yet she had to face this with some grace, she was a grown and mature woman after all.

“I... See.” the words felt like ash in her mouth, with the almost lackdaisal acceptance they seemed to try and convey. But she needed some closure. “No wonder you can’t...”
Alice stopped to recompose herself, noticing how Marisa had shifted her stance, still facing away from her.

she hesitated but said it regardless, “-Love me.” ‘in the way I loved you back’ echoed in Alice’s mind. Just saying it felt wrong, horrid even, the words robbed her of this perfect moment so depressingly fully it was bitter, incredibly bitter.

Yet again, Alice, a piece of Alice wanted closure, if Marisa’s love was not one for her to receive then whose? A few idle thoughts crossed her mind, Reimu? Patchouli? But those seemed ridiculous the more she thought about them. Her head drooped even lower.

A few of her tears fell to the petals littering the forest floor, she wasn’t crying, not fully, but the deluge of emotion behind her face couldn’t be fully stopped.

She raised her head once more. A little sluggishly perhaps. “Marisa please look at me.” and with that Marisa slowly turned around, her face filled with a blush of shame and embarrassment, but already by now she was returning to her normal shade, and looking at Alice straight in the eye. Marisa bit her lip, she seemed to contemplate on something, but Alice spoke first, a hint of sorrow and desperation traced her voice.

“Then could you tell me...” Alice shifted her posture to be more level with Marisa’s “Whom it is you’re in love with?!” She didn’t mean for it to sound so desperate like that, but caught in the moment Alice couldn’t help but yell.

Marisa tried to smile, but it was awkward and stilted and caught between Alice’s tears, before anyone could say anything something, begun to move, Shanghai floated next to Marisa, the doll awfully small in comparison, began to fidget its fingers.

“Alice, I’m sorry, but I love Shanghai.” Marisa let out the most nervous, awkward laugh Alice had ever heard as Shanghai floated and sat on Marisa’s shoulder.

Impossible. Inconceivable. Shanghai wasn’t even alive yet- Suddenly her mind recalled an experiment, done years ago to make Hourai and Shanghai’s ability to manage her home when she was away much better, little incremental improvements, the ability to let them pull at their own strings whenever she wasn’t around.

Had it slowly turned to this?

Little by little pieces of the puzzle began to fill up in Alice’s mind alongside a slow but unmutable dread, this explained so much, she barely even noticed Marisa and Shanghai looking at her with concern as Alice recalled the various quirks Hourai and Shanghai had developed throughout the years, and how Marisa had begun to spend more and more time in her house, despite her not being there at times.

Alice collapsed on her knees like a puppet whose strings have been cut. She almost ignored the bittersweet sensation of Marisa’s touch on her shoulder as she rushed in to help prop her up.

Yet as she did, her eyes met Shanghai’s, the doll’s eyes were filled with intelligence, a magic of sorts, as she pulled her own strings, despite her lack of visible emotion, the doll looking at her with a neutral expression, Alice could sense her doll’s emotions tangled up like messy strings.

It would be so easy, a jealous, envious part of her spoke up, to simply snap those strings and take Marisa for herself, as she continued to stare at Shanghai seemingly inert, Marisa kneeling besides her trying to talk to her, and occasionally back to Shanghai, yet the words flitted through her head, almost incomprehensible.

She was a human a long time ago. And now as a magician, no as a youkai, wasn’t she meant to be selfish? A being of desire? Almost she pulled on the strings that made Shanghai whole. Almost she stopped resisting the temptation to cast her strings to pull and take what should be hers.

Yet she stopped.

Her expression shifted to something softer, as she faced the ground. Everyone remained silent for a moment.

Alice smiled a strained smile, lifted her face, and stood up to face her doll, and Marisa.

“Alice!” Marisa spoke the concern was evident, as she gesticulated wildly, the doll floating by her side bowing down in something that might be shame, something in her suggested Shanghai might have begun to say something yet by now Alice had cleared her face of the tears, as she stared.

A moment passed. Something so infentesimaly small, yet seemed to stretch on and on.

“It’s okay Marisa. Just give me some time.” Alice didn’t look back as she walked back to the path leading away from the clearing filled with cherry blossoms hidden away in the forest of magic.

Finally she reached its outskirts and despite taking off into the air, soaring in clear skies, her heart was heavy and her mind embroiled in turmoil.

Chapter Text

P-1

Marisa and Shanghai explored the stalls of the human village, by now the confession of Alice had been weeks ago, as they stared at each other, having eyed at some particular treat on a stick.

“Marisa, should we check on Alice again?” Shanghai asked, her voice monotone, and face emotionless, but by now Marisa could tell her Girlfriend’s emotions as naturally as she breathed, picking up on the intense concern of Shanghai. Still she felt guilty over what had transpired back then. It felt even more awkward now. Marisa bit her lip.

“Ya know? Maybe we should Da~Ze~.” A few weeks had to be more than enough for them to have a more civil conversation with Alice right? And wasn’t it awkward, well that was an understatement as Marisa quickly payed for a few sticks of dango, ignoring how this was more money than Reimu made in a week, before glancing at Shanghai, who calmly floated by and sat at her shoulder leaning towards her head.

Marisa took another bite as they slowly exited the human village, Shanghai lifted her head tiltting it to the side.

“Marisa, I’m jealous, maybe if I could make the expressions and voices you could, Lady Alice would have been more forgiving.”

Marisa kicked on the floor, as her broom slowly at first, lifted itself from an unassuming spot then rapidly flew towards her, stopping in front of her, before she hopped on as she finished her stick of dango.

“Maybe, or maybe Alice would have done something rash Da~Ze..” She said chewing another stick having thrown the last one as she took off. Idly while she didn’t voice it, it was still incredibly awkward, dating what could be, perhaps if one were charitable enough, Alice’s daughter.

Marisa blushed as Shanghai floated to her head and then patted her there, the outwardly emotionless doll proving once more that she was a kind and gentle soul.

Finally after another two sticks of dango, Shanghai having been recently enchanted by Patchouli to finally taste food, helped devour one, they reached Alice’s cottage in the forest of magic.

It had been agreed briefly a few weeks earlier that, at least for now Shanghai would be staying in Marisa’s place, while Alice recovered from the revalations brought upon her, Hourai had agreed on Alice’s behalf, and Marisa greatly appreciated how much tidier her home had gotten with Shanghai to boss her around, still this very much was something that needed to be done.

They disembarked off the broom, and Marisa sucked some air in, and knocked.

No one answered. For a while at least, and finally after some time, the door opened, slowly, yet surely, a feeling of gravity falling on the pair. But it wasn’t Alice that greeted them, Hourai levitated and bowed to both Shanghai and Marisa.

“I’m sorry sister, Lady Marisa, but Lady Alice has decided to eat out today.”

Shanghai and Marisa looked at each other, then Marisa broke the silence.

“Well at least she’s becoming more outgoing again... right?”

- - - -

P-2 (dubious canon)

Somewhere in Gensokyou lay a humble mobile Izakaya, partially running on a compact fusion reactor and run by the humble sparrow youkai Mystia Lorelei, normally by this time she would be closing off, her customers dissipating back into all corners of Gensokyou giving her ample time to take a rest and begin her preparations for another day of rest.

“Gimme another one!” today was not a normal day, Mystia sighed, as she prepared another high quality sake, at least Alice payed well, even if she had been more... brash than she remembered.

She gave Alice the cup, alongside a fried lamprey that Alice, by now had gotten several of her signature dish, Alice looked, to use a quaint outsider term, quite frankly depressed, haggard even, she’d heard rumours that she’d tried to confess to Marisa, despite it being fairly well known to quite a lot of people that she and Shanghai were dating at the time.

Perhaps she simply received the news late, or perhaps Mystia’s role as the owner and cook of an izakaya allowed her earl access to Gensokyou’s rumour mill. Mystia sighed as she prepared to close, halfheartedly listening to one of Alice’s increasingly disturbed rants.

“-f Marisa can love a doll? why can’t I huh? Can’t I make a marisa doll?? one that won’t-”

Mystia politely let her finish, but still pressed under her drawer for a new spell focus she had managed to get off Rinnosuke on Kourindou, something called a 1911, some old outside world artefact designed to ward off misfortune, war, trouble and robbers, at least according to Rinnosuke, it wasn’t exactly necessary but considering Alice’s agitated state, and how some youkai were agressive unless dealt with...

She considered it a necessary investment.

“Excuse me, Miss Alice.” That seemed to stop the puppeteer from her drunken tirade of having dozens of new Marisa sized dolls.

“’m sorry but we’re closing now.” Mystia intoned nervously. Artefact or not Mystia was still a rather weak Youkai, and Alice was still notirious for being monstrously strong.

Without hesitation Alice offered a deadpan stare.

“I’ll drink more.”

Mystia would have appreciated the money, but just this once it felt a little wrong.

“We’re closing right now!” she chirped with as much false bravado as possible.

Alice fortunately only grumbled, rising dizzily and supported by a few dolls, wearing familiar looking hats.

Mystia exhaled a massive sigh of relief and collapsed into her counter when Alice flew off.