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"The Scarlets are... too humane. Even when they do hunt, their targets..."
"I know."
"Then, why are you recommending them?"
"They have plenty of room. You wouldn't be bothering one another."
The blonde grumbled. "Who are the ghosts, then?"
Pause.
Far away, on the stage, judging from the intonation, Mokou announced the second duelist.
"Ah, they're musicians. The Prismrivers. Now excuse me, I must go."
Indeed, the host in red trousers drew and called out the name, Kazami. She struggled with the second name. "Te No Re No?! What is this handwriting??"
The green-haired priestess took a peek from behind Mokou's left shoulder. "Isn't that the ru syllable, though?"
She tried again, "Te Ru No. Teru- " She groaned. "Cirno! That's not how you write the chi!"
The ice fairy immediately flew towards the stage, chaotically like a fly. "Yuppie! It's my turn!"
The audience went quiet.
Yukari shivered. "Yuuka's gonna launch her to the Moon."
Chen chuckled. "Good. The fight won't be long, then."
"Oi. Even if it's just a fairy..."
The feline youkai stopped smiling. "Yeah, suffocating in space doesn't sound fun."
"Ah, you understand. Very well."
Kazami entered the stage with a slow spin. Cirno landed and stood barefoot, her fists resting on hips.
She opened her mouth in realisation. "Oh, you're the creepy one, from the centre of Gensoukyou."
Yuuka cheered, "You remember ♥"
"You're wearing trousers this time."
"Indeed. Why aren't you wearing a pair? Since you're a tomboy."
Cirno moved her jaw forward. "Uh. Good question."
Mokou cleared her throat, glaring at the two.
"I'll tell you later, 'kay?"
"Alright."
The rivals bowed and waited for the judge. She spoke in a shockingly solemn and formal manner. "You may begin."
Cirno created a big icicle and launched it at Yuuka. A red sunflower appeared in its way, taking the damage and making ice splash around the rival. Standing straight, then walking slowly, moving her hands in curved lines, the youkai cast waves of sparkles and spikes, saving flowers for defense. The ice fairy kept shooting icicles, dodging most of the bullets. Ice cubes the size of her torso protected her from one projectile, only to get smashed and pour on the floor with freezing powder.
Cirno was flying higher and higher above the stage.
A yellow energy shone around Yuuka. "You think you're safe up there, glacier child?" She smirked and started levitating with the speed that took Cirno off guard.
"Whooooah!" The fairy span with her head falling and feet going up.
Yuuka summoned a pattern of round, blue bullets and red crosses. Dozens of projectiles surrounded the fairy, who struggled to regain control over her flight.
"Ah!" She noticed the attack; when she picked up her spell card, she had to shove it into one of Yuuka's bullets. The card absorbed energy from the bullet, flashed and erupted with aqua light.
Kazami's projectiles stopped moving and turned white. She glared at the phenomenon. "Really?"
Cirno smiled again. "Yay! Dance for the strongest!"
The white bullets obeyed, going in various directions. Stunned but forced to react, Yuuka dodged the chaotic challenge. She shot double spikes around herself.
Then.
Ice popped up between floor planks, growing in cones, pyramids and crystals. Sunflowers followed, cracking large shapes and shattering small ones.
But Yuuka's levitation became unstable. She got hit five times.
Cirno failed to freeze one spike. Its impact pushed her five meters away.
Kazami glanced at the fairy. "It looks like I need to try harder."
Indeed, the next wave she summoned contained not a complex pattern but red bullets as huge as she was tall.
Cirno swallowed, and dived. Upon her crash, icicles burst from the stage.
Meiling was observing the duel, blinking every seven seconds. "Say, Reimu... Is it possible that miss Kazami is... respecting the fairy?"
The black-haired priestess replied, "I wouldn't use the verb 'respect.' Still, she doesn't hold back against enemies of equal strength, which..." She ended in amused tone. "Cirno would definitely hate hearing that, heh."
"Yeah, and yet, it's interesting that a fairy like her... is capable of being active during warm seasons, unlike the yuki-onna species, of creating ice out of thin air... She's strong in her own way, I would say."
Reimu nodded. "Oh yeah. She is special. Perhaps, going back to your question, Kazami can sense that."
The icicles didn't cancel out the red bullets, which thundered all over the stage.
Cirno emerged from explosions, staggering, her hair ribbon and right puffy sleeve gone. She murmured, "Aaamennnbo aaakaiii na aaaiuuueooooo..." A water strider is red, a i u e o...
Yuuka shook her head. She fired seeds at the fairy, and returned to double spikes.
Cirno lost balance and sat. She cheered at the projectiles. "Peeetaaals..." A mist rose around her, chilling the spikes and making them bounce off her body.
The judge stood up but before she could say anything, the fairy resumed shooting icicles.
Meanwhile, an arctic starflower grew on Cirno's head. Thus, the umbrella youkai remained standing. "Miss Kazami, what is this?"
"An attack."
"Yeah, thanks! What does it do?"
Yuuka hesitated. "It... blooms."
The judge raged as quietly as she could. "Have you possessed her or something?"
"Well, I tried."
Cirno flew up again. "Now that was more like it. You should keep firing at me with... a tiny bit less power than that."
Yuuka grinned. "Oh really?"
Mokou interrupted. "Cirno, there's something on your head!"
The fairy cast a dense mist between her hands, and surrounded the starflower with hoarfrost. "How's it now?"
"Gorgeous," lied Fujiwara.
Kazami sent sparkles at Cirno, but they stopped flickering in the cooling mist. She levitated again.
The fairy conjured up an ice weapon: irregular lance with rough, randomly located teeth. As the judge yelled in frustration, Cirno whacked Yuuka with the lance, crushing it into hundreds of pieces.
"Time! Cirno, what are you doing?!"
"I made a human weapon, duh!" she replied.
The judge protested. "You made it! And you're not a human!"
Yuuka wiped ice off her own head. "Tatara. The weapon had been designed by humans; that makes it a human weapon."
"Why are you defending her!"
"Because I'm having fun." She smirked. "I'm afraid, however, that this battle is over."
She showed Cirno her palm and a thin stain of blood on it.
The fairy grabbed her hair. "Aw, nooo! I messed up!"
"No need to worry about it."
"I wanted to keep fighting, thou..." Cirno squinted and started falling.
Yuuka caught her, removed the starflower and replanted it into her dress. "Here, have this flower as a medal."
Cirno gazed at the youkai for two seconds. "Oh, thanks. No, wait, will you spy on me?"
She giggled. "I have no reason to spy on you. This wound rule doesn't make any sense to me, that's all."
Cirno resumed flying. "So you're saying we're both victors?"
"Yes."
She grinned at Yuuka. "You should've been the judge."
Tatara whined to her violet umbrella.
Cirno collapsed on her blanket and fell asleep. The Great Fairy sighed and covered her with a cotton sheet.
Yuuka's acquaintance greeted her. "What were you trying to achieve with your talk?"
" 'Achieve?' I don't have to achieve anything all the time."
"Huh."
"I met that fairy before. She's improved a lot."
"I'll trust your word for it."
"I would like to witness what happens to powerful fairies. Do they reset... or transmorph?"
The blonde lady stared at Kazami in silence.