Work Text:
Reimu was sitting on her porch, sipping tea. For a change, it felt peaceful; no incident to resolve, no youkai lurking about, and not even Marisa barging into her home. At least, that was what she wanted to believe. But her instincts had been screaming at her for days, sensing the fairies encroaching on the shrine. It seemed it was time for some spring cleaning to keep them in check. She sighed, took a last sip of tea, and got up, brandishing her sealing needles as she set out. No ordinary fairy would do; she needed to find one of the stronger ones. Guided by instinct, her flight path led her down to the Misty Lake, where she was greeted by the words "I am the strongest!" like clockwork.
Cirno opened the confrontation with her spell card, Icicle Fall, but Reimu had seen it hundreds of times, ever unchanging. Weaving through the barrage, she closed in on the fairy, who looked at her full of confidence; until the shrine maiden slammed into her, completely ignoring danmaku rules. Reimu grabbed her mid-flight, dragging her down toward the tree line. Cirno struggled, firing off ice bullets left and right, but they passed right through Reimu, who didn't even bother to dodge. Down at the perimeter, she hurled the fairy toward a massive trunk, followed by a second throw, a single sealing needle trailing right behind her.
A thunk, a gasp, and Cirno was pinned to the tree.
Reimu stood by, her expression unchanging, as fairies fluttered in from all over the forest like moths to a flame, gathering around their pinned kin. Curiosity lit their faces as they circled, but not one came closer, nor did they show any sympathy. Only horror, when Cirno started screaming.
Cirno had barely felt the impact with the bark, but the needle that followed felt like a flaming spear driven into her shoulder. She could hear someone screaming; a deep, desperate sound; and wanted to see who it was, but the heat spread rapidly until everything cut off. She saw her kin flying in. Why toward her? She collided with trees all the time. Curiosity shone in their eyes as they circled. But then they began to slow down and lose color. A static roar filled her ears, drowning out her own screams... Her own screams? Why couldn't she feel the cold of the night?
Reimu lingered for a moment, watching Cirno scream, then quiet down and go limp.
"A night will do," she whispered to herself, turning back toward the shrine.
Cirno felt warm. She never felt warm. The fluttering of wings around her sounded like a swarm of bees closing in. She wanted to reach out to them, but when she tried, she only saw faint lights dancing in the dark, going out one by one. With each vanishing light, the sound of their wings grew dimmer.
When Cirno went limp, the hum of wings grew even busier as more fairies were drawn to the spectacle. But their expressions began to shift. Most remained curious, but some looked on in terror as they realized they could no longer feel Cirno's presence. Even though they could see her body gently swaying in the night breeze, her brilliant ice wings; normally shining in the moonlight; had turned dull and grey. The chatter rose, and more faces turned pale. One fairy tried to inch closer to see, only to flinch back as the energy radiating from Reimu's needle stung her like an angry wasp. A clear warning: You are next.
When Reimu returned the next morning, the air thrummed with the flapping of hundreds of wings. Fairies had gathered from all around; Cirno was barely visible behind the dense cloud of bodies constantly circling the tree, colliding in a mix of fascination and dread. The shrine maiden's approach snapped them out of their stupor just enough to part a narrow path. Not out of politeness; out of pure fear.
Cirno was still trapped, swaying in the draft of a hundred fluttering wings: dull, grey, and flickering in and out of existence like a dying television screen.
Reimu raised her hand. The needle began to twitch, slowly drawing itself out of the fairy's flesh millimeter by millimeter. The moment it broke free, color returned to her with an audible crack. But Cirno's body didn't simply hit the ground; a cascade of ice crystals rained down onto the forest floor, reforming into her shape, shattering apart again, and reforming in a violent cycle.
Reimu sheathed her needle and looked at the crowd watching in absolute terror. Good. She wouldn't have to address them; which would have been a fool's errand anyway. A verbal warning never sufficed.
She turned on her heel and left the circle. When Reimu arrived back at her shrine, it was still deserted. Only cold tea awaited her in the pot she had left behind on the porch. She sat down, gazing toward the torii gate. The wind rustled her hair, but otherwise, nature remained silent. The fairies were giving her shrine a wide berth, their encroachment halted.
Time for another cup of tea, the shrine maiden thought, picking up the teapot.
A week later, her flight path led her past Misty Lake once more. Like clockwork, a cry of "I'm the strongest!" echoed over the water, accompanied by a sudden barrage of danmaku. Cirno swooped down toward Reimu, grinning wide; forever trapped in her quest to defeat the shrine maiden, every reset of her spirit sweeping away past losses and forgotten pain.
Reimu looked up, and this time, she shot back.