“Look, all I’m saying is you need to be cautious about these things,” Kotohime said, as she lead the two girls down the stairs. “You can’t just be trusting anyone you meet.”

Marisa gave her a cheeky grin. “Awwww, why not?”

“Because you can’t just go walking up to tandom strangers and going along with whatever they say.” The police officer raised a finger. “Now-”

“You sure about that?” The changeling’s grin only got wider. “Iunno, it’s worked pretty well for me so far.”

Kotohime gave her a flat look. “I’m being serious, Marisa. If you see something suspicious, you should keep a safe distance.”

“Miss Kotohime?” Mike leant around the officer’s other side, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “Well… I’d like to point out that the last time we saw something suspicious… it was a red-headed woman with a grappling hook. Back at the STA.”

The red-headed woman in question opened her mouth long before she actually had a reply to the catgirl’s comment. After all, she’d already confirmed how valuable the girl’s reckless assistance had been. Marisa chuckled, jumping in before Kotohime found her words.

“Well, that’s different, Mike. Of course it is.” The islander nodded sagely, being careful to watch her footing as they started a second flight. “After all, we met Little_Bunny online.”

“That’s true, actually. I hadn’t seen considered that…” Mike hummed, deep in mock thought. She hopped a few steps forward, spinning around in front of the other two. “Though we should check, to be safe. Officer Kotohime, is it okay to approach strangers if you meet them online first?”

The look the policewoman gave her in response was enough for both of the kids to crack up laughing. “Good to see you two are in better spirits, but this is serious, all right?”

She paused, turning to look back up the hill. “This isn’t some random passerby on the street. She was locked up in a prison almost impossible to find, and actively guarded.”

The nekomata puffed out her cheeks. “But that doesn’t mean she did anything wrong, does it?”

“Not necessarily,” Kotohime conceded, “but whether it’s the prisoner or the guard, what it does mean is that someone here is very dangerous. And if that person saw two kids wandering in, and decided to have catgirl with a side of calamari, it’s quite possible you’d never be found again.”

The younger mystery-hunters shared a nervous glance at that, as the policewoman watched to make sure her message hit home. “Look, until we know who she is, we have to be cautious. And we can afford to be - for better or worse, if she’s been trapped here this long, that’s where she’s gonna stay - her captors . So we can take our time and find out the full truth before we act.”

“...Yeah, okay.” Marisa gave a nervous chuckle. “We’ll be cautious, I promise. Don’t wanna go planning things out like we know her already, after all.”

A thought occurred to her. “Although… you said something about meeting her before, right? Do you recognise her?”

Kotohime hummed. “Mmmmm… vaguely. I’d swear I’ve seen her before, but I meet a lot of people in a lot of places, here and in Gensokyo. …I could just be mistaken.”

The trio walked through the shimmering barrier, Marisa feeling more than a bit relieved to see that nothing kept them locked in. Mike started to respond, but her ears perked up. “Another car’s parking. Just a bit up the road.”

“A car stopping here?” The changeling paused. “Wait, the prisoner said-”

“That we were running out of time,” the officer finished. “This must be why. Her jailer’s come back.”

She stopped the two girls, a cloud pooling under her feet. “Let’s be careful here, alright? See if we can get a good view of this jailer of hers from a safe distance.”

Marisa nodded, kneeling down as the cloud began to lift them up. What was the cloud made of, anyways? It was obviously solid enough for the whole thing to lift them up, but it didn’t even feel wet, so it clearly wasn’t made of water. Was it just pure magic, shaped like a cloud? Maybe something danmaku-adjacent?

The cloud flew regardless, because it clearly didn’t care about explaining itself to a young changeling. She had no choice but to leave that question for later, and fish out some more of the Seed of Unknown Form cards. Kotohime raised an eyebrow as Marisa dropped a seed on each of them, but seemed to figure out it was part of her magic without asking. Soon, the trio found themselves looking down at a fancy-looking car, one the islander could only guess was some exotic imported model.

Especially when she saw the familiar redhead climbing out of the driver’s seat.

“Like I said,” Kokoa started, as she shut the car door, “there’s nobody else we could’ve reached tonight to clean up that mess. Saved us a lot of frantically pulling up tarps and the like.”

“I’m always happy to repay my debts to Lady Remilia, even in this indirect way.” It took Marisa a moment to realise that whoever spoke was leaning into the open boot of the car. “Just remember that my efforts can only go so far. Make sure Minnie’s booked a proper renovation team by the time you get back, alright?”

“Trust me, as soon as she hung up on you, she called for repairs.” Kokoa gave a small chuckle. “We’re not Lady Patchouli’s familiars for no reason.”

“Right… ‘the supernatural and naturally superb’,” her passenger replied. “...do you think that kid you mentioned will be okay?”

“Who knows…” The imp sighed, joining the woman at the back. “Never thought I’d be hoping to see that lunatic again, but she’s the only person I’ve got contact details for.”

The officer hummed, leaning over and whispering to herself as she pulled the cloud over to the treeline. “I’m hoping to speak to you too… quite curious how the STA’s wrapped up in all this.” She made a small smirk. “And you’re not gonna catch me off guard this time.”

The passenger took a few steps back from the boot, carrying a massive straw hat in her hands, and letting the skybound onlookers see her more fully. She had on the standard red hakama, with a white robe on top, marking her unmistakably as the Miko the prisoner had been talking about. Her hair was a silvery grey, and in the light of the boot, Marisa could see her face-

Kotohime went rigid, cursing under her breath. Marisa turned to look, seeing the colour drain from the policewoman’s face. Her hands were digging into the clouds, as she stared at the miko, unblinking.

“Is that…”

There was only so much that could make a police officer break into a cold sweat. As the two girls stared at their guardian, a feeling of dread settled over the group.

Marisa turned her head back, but the woman had already placed the large hat on her head. Ofuda hang off it, meaning it was likely some form of protection - but Marisa couldn’t help but notice how the hat would do a good job of hiding her face even if they were level with her.

She turned back to the luggage compartment, before pausing. “For Oroha Chizuru… wait, this box, is it-”

“You know it.” Kotohime grinned. “They finished it just a few days ago, actually. We figured we could send it all over as one.”

“And you didn’t pack this in with the general provisions?”

“We made space for it, but we thought you’d like to take a look, get a feel for it.” There was the sound of a box being clicked open. “After all, we don’t want her finding out that you’ve got something extra-special for this month’s bout.”

“...And this is outside the zone, so she won’t see a thing we do now.” The woman Marisa guessed was Chizuru nodded. “Let’s take a look, and see if the smiths truly lived up to their reputation.”

“Wouldn’t be on our contact list if they weren’t!” Kokoa pulled out a flat case, turning it to the miko. The imp fumbled around with its middle, her fingers eventually managing to flip the latch.

The two kids leaned in, over the cloud’s edge. Within the case… was a blade, glittering with an unearthly light. The miko picked it up, admiring its ethereal sheen.

“It’s incredible.” There was a small smile on her lips, as she examined the length of the blade. “An astonishing replica… and the magic’s been preserved in the reforging.”

There was a few moments of silence, as the jailer gave it a few swings. Kokoa watched her, keeping a wide berth. “...Now, it’s worth saying, we don’t think that’s gonna be enough to do her in.”

“It doesn’t need to,” was the immediate response. “If this magic was enough to kill her, we wouldn’t be here in the first place.”

In the reflection of the blade, Marisa saw red eyes gleaming. “All it needs to do is be a third and final lock. Come the next full moon, we’ll have our final bout… and she will never escape again.”

The eyes blinked, before focusing on the cloud’s reflection. Chizuru turned her head up, but by the time she looked, the cloud was already gone.

---

The occupants of the police car were dead silent. Even the radio had been switched off, presumably to let Kotohime think. She rapped her fingers on the steering wheel, driving the car more out of instinct and habit than any dedicated thought.

Mike and Marisa were in the back seat, the anxiety filling the air. The changeling had offered her hand to her friend; the catgirl was squeezing it tight, her anxiety obvious.

“Marisa…” she whispered at last. “...How long until the full moon?”

“Two weeks,” was the instant reply. “Last full moon was a few nights after the Spiral Meteor.”

She gave Mike what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “We’ll figure it out, okay? We got a whole fortnight, we can figure out a way to sneak in there-”

“No.” Kotohime’s voice was shaking, but it had a firmness to it. “You’re not going back there.”

The two kids blinked, turning to the front seat.

“If that’s who I thought it was…” The police officer hesitated, but hardened her voice. “Don’t ever go back. It’s too dangerous.”

“But the goddess-”

“Whoever she is, they’re willing to do whatever it takes to seal her permanently. There has to be a reason for that… there has to be…” Kotohime’s voice trailed off, deep in thought.

“Who is that woman, Koto?” Marisa watched as the police officer stiffened. “You recognised her, right?”

“Mmm. She’s very dangerous.” The officer’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “The prime suspect in a grim case, who disappeared before I got to the truth of the matter.”

“What case-”

“I’m not about to discuss cold cases with a pair of kids!” She slammed her fist on the inside of the door. The car fell quiet again, as she sighed. “Look, this has stopped being just… the usual mystery-hunting, alright? This is a matter of life and death, and I am not letting you go back in there.”

“But you don’t have a clue where it is!” Marisa protested. “You couldn’t see the barrier until I walked you inside!”

“Yeah, and you can’t hear her, either!” Mike’s tail was puffed out. “How do you expect to get back to the vanishing path?”

“There’s one good chance,” the police officer started, “if all else fails. The night of the full moon.”

She raised a finger. “They both made it clear they plan to fight on the full moon. Maybe… maybe that’s when the Vanishing Path normally appears, because they put all their energy into the fight. And it’s only on ‘moonlit’ nights just because of how hard it is to see from the road, through all the foliage. That’s my theory, anyways.”

Marisa growled. “Even if that’s true, that’s leaving things to the literal last minute-”

“-which gives me time to spend investigating.” Kotohime nodded to herself, buoyed by her own logic. “Find a countermeasure of my own - and grill a few of the Scarlets on what the hell they’re doing.

“Regardless,” she said, “that doesn’t change that this isn’t anything I want either of you near, alright? End of discussion.”

Mike tried to climb out of her seat. “But-”

Marisa’s hand stopped her. “Mike… we’re not gonna win this.”

She turned back to the driver. “Kotohime… we’re staying at the Lunar Rainbow Market right now, like I said earlier. If you’re going to be looking for a way in, they might have something that can help.”

The policewoman raised an eyebrow as she continued. “Just promise us two things. One, if you find a way in early, go in as soon as you can, and two… tell us if the jailbird is innocent in all this, as soon as you know. Please?”

Kotohime sighed. “...As long as you promise that, no matter what, neither of you are gonna try and get to the Vanishing Path again.”

“I promise,” Marisa said, nodding solemnly. “You promise too, right Mike?”

“Wh-” Mike started, but faltered when she saw her friend’s expression. “If… you’re sure…” Kotohime looked doubtful, but took that as confirmation enough to nod and keep driving.

After all, in the darkness of the car, she’d have needed night vision to see Marisa wink.

[ ] When they got back, tell Chimata and Nio everything, including (once Kotohime had left) their plans to go back to the Vanishing Path. They might have some ideas of what to do, and honest eagerness might encourage honest responses, even if they were hard opposition.
[ ] Ask them about the Vanishing Path, but frame it as mere investigation to help Kotohime out. Whether they’d believe that under these circumstances was… a gamble, but it’d let them ask questions without arousing suspicion.
[ ] Keep any investigation under wraps. Claim trust in Kotohime and leave it at that. Probably was gonna be a tough sell, but if it did work there was unlikely to be anyone else they knew trying to stop them.