Witch of Scarlet Dreams
Index
Prologue
Marisa
What's wrong? Why are you staring at the tower like that.
It's so tall.
How far up do you think it goes?
Marisa
...Oh. The style is a mix of my own sensibilities and the Scarlet Devil Mansion. But yeah, I don't know either.
Marisa
It's still under construction, but it won't be too long before we can go inside. Yukari is working really quickly, so...
???
Oh, you know what they say... Speak of the youkai and she shall appear.
Yukari
I've left the rest of the work to my shikigami. Things are moving along smoothly. It should be open before long.
Thank you!
But... what are you making?
Yukari
You will understand when the time comes. You should look forward to it. It will be quite useful to you.
Marisa
You were talking about how this tower would be useful somehow. Are you sure?
Yukari
Of course I am. Maybe I should be asking if there's any reason for you to be worried.
Marisa
Not really. I heard that you've been sulking in bed until recently. You feeling OK?
Yukari
Me, sulking in bed? Is that the me from the other dimension that said that?
Yeah, that's what she said... I'm sure of it.
(It's only natural with things being the way they were.)
Yukari
...
Yukari
This is... hm... It's not all that strange that the other me wouldn't understand.
Yukari
I've spent the last thousand years focusing all of my mental energy on a single thing.
Yukari
Of all of the Yukaris of all the parallel worlds, I'm the only one that has reached this current mental state.
Yukari
The true objective of the reborn Scarlet Devil Tower is to rescue the Reimu of this world.
Marisa
Are you serious?!
How do we use the tower to do that?!
Yukari
You will understand as you climb. I'm afraid you will have to wait until opening day.
Marisa
Aw... You're leaving us hanging?!
Yukari
Enough about that, Marisa. What are you doing? And why have you called PLAYER here?
Now that you mention it, why am I here?
What is it you need, Marisa?
Marisa
Oh yeah, that's right! I almost forgot.
Marisa
I'll be straight with you. I want to look into your journal some more, PLAYER.
Marisa
Your friends lend you their power through the journal, right? But the way things are now, I can't lend you mine.
Marisa
That's why I'd like to be able to do that. It's my way of trying to get Reimu back.
Yukari
I see, so that's what you're doing.
Thank you!
Your powers will be a big help!
Marisa
Well, I want to save Reimu too, so of course I'll do what I can to help.
Marisa
But uh... what exactly do I have to do with the journal to make that happen?
Um...
Yukari
If that's the case, then why not experience "that power"? As friends this time.
Marisa
What do you mean?
Yukari
Representations of those closest to PLAYER are called from her journal.
Yukari
If you are their ally in a battle of bullets, you may learn something useful.
Yukari
I will be your opponent.
Oh, that's a great idea!
Marisa
"Seeing is believing," as they say! I can get behind that. Experience is the best teacher.
Marisa
All right! Yukari, PLAYER!
Marisa
Lend me your strength!
Yukari
I want to give them a challenge, so...
Yukari
...Ran, Chen.
Ran & Chen
Here.
Yukari
Go on. Give them a good fight.
Yukari
Did you learn anything?
Marisa
Maybe... a little, but I still feel like something's missing.
Destruction
Marisa
Um... Uh...
Marisa's grumbling...
Yukari
Yes, she is. She often climbs the outside of the tower when she needs to think things over.
Marisa
Those shadows were a kind of shikigami, right? Outside of battle, they don't seem to do much.
Marisa
Is that why you can control them, PLAYER? I wonder if you can maintain enough Spirit Power...
Marisa
Even though their function is limited, I couldn't tell their bullets from real ones.
Marisa
Is that really possible? What is the true nature of the information stored in that journal?
Yukari
Does that have anything to do with saving Reimu?
Marisa
Nope, not a thing!
Marisa
But I'm still curious about it...!
Yukari
Making a serious face like that isn't going to get an answer out of me.
Marisa
Ugh. If you say so...
Yukari
I figured something like this would happen, so I have called someone for you to talk to.
Marisa
Who is it?
Reimu
Oh, you really came! You're the Scarlet Marisa!
Youmu
You're definitely Marisa, even with the scarlet color. It's just as Lady Yukari said...!
Sanae
Scarlet! So cool!
Marisa
Who are you?!
Yukari
I figured that they would be a good opponent for you next, so I didn't hesitate in calling them here.
Yukari
If I'm not good enough, maybe they will be more fitting. They have the same powers as those close to you.
(They're familiar to be, but to Marisa...?)
Reimu
That's why we're here, Scarlet Marisa. Of course, you could still be in recovery...
Reimu
But if you want a battle of bullets, I don't intend to go easy on you.
Youmu
Forget about that, let's talk about Scarlet Marisa! She's looking a little tall!
Sanae
Is this scarlet thing part of a new look for you?! Black is nice, but scarlet is more than that! It's so cool!
Reimu
How about it, Scarlet Marisa?
Youmu
What do you think, Miss Scarlet Marisa?
Sanae
I'm curious, so I really want to know, Miss Scarlet Marisa!
Marisa
As usual, you all...
Marisa
...are just the kind of people whose butts I can kick without any remorse, and I'm oh so glad!
Reimu
Why are you even scarlet colored in the first place? Well, I can't deny you're easy to recognize, but...
Youmu
The trees in the mountains turn red before losing their leaves, and the red makes you look intimidating.
Sanae
What are you all talking about?
Sanae
The important thing is that this color is strong! That's it!
Yukari
Has something come to you?
Marisa
Yeah... She has some good friends... for better or worse!
Rush
Marisa
Being challenged by letter in this day and age... I feel like I've gone back to ancient times.
Marisa
Then they have the nerve to call me into the Scarlet Devil Tower when it isn't even finished yet.
Marisa
Who could this daredevil be?
Yukari
Well, you will figure out their identity when we meet them. It won't be long.
Yukari
Construction of this floor has already finished, so early visitors are welcome.
It's like the Forest of Magic.
Yukari
Patchouli’s interests are a little different than normal. It's like she used summoning magic to create natural geography.
I think something similar surrounded the tower.
Yukari
That forest is a copy produced by the magic overflowing from the tower, a second Forest of Magic.
Marisa
Which means this one's gotta be the genuine article.
Marisa
The smell of miasma and the humidity so thick I could choke on it... Ah, this takes me back.
Yukari
Yes, wait until you see this...
Marisa
Th-This is...!
Yukari
Do you remember?
Marisa
Of course. Do you even have to ask?
Marisa
I could never forget. This is my precious hideout... the Kirisame Magic Shop!
Marisa
I hope things are all right inside. Let's go check it out!
She took off so fast!
Yukari
And with such energy!
Marisa
Whooooa! It's all just like I left it!
Yukari
Patchouli preserved it with her magic. Sakuya must have been keeping things tidy.
Yukari
They have been maintaining this home and the forest for when their mistress came back.
Marisa
Really... I owe them a lot for what they've done.
Marisa
I mean, they don't even have that deep of a connection with me...
I don't think that's...
Yukari
It's fine, PLAYER. Things will get more interesting from here.
???
Ow...
Marisa
I may have made too much of a mess of things, but it isn't really my home, so...
Marisa
But this is just as it was during the Scarlet Mist Incident... seeing my collection makes that clear.
Marisa
Then... these are mine, too!
Marisa
Uh, hang on! We call people like you thieves, you know!
Marisa
...Are you me?!
Marisa
Whoa! You're... me!
Marisa
Hey, Yukari! What's going on here?!
Yukari
It's the Marisa that Reimu and the others brought from their world. They had no incident like we had here.
Marisa
What?! Are you serious?! I was only told to write the letter and wait here...
Yukari
Reimu didn't explain it to you. I told her to tell you, but it looks like she messed up.
Yukari
At any rate...
Double Marisa
I never heard anything about this!
(This is getting complicated...!)
Yukari
Oh well, I guess I will have to be the one to explain the lives you two have led up until now.
Double Marisa
...So that's what happened.
Yukari
I apologize for the out-of-order explanation. So then, what do you think of each other now that you've met?
Double Marisa
Hm... Let's see...
Marisa
There are some differences, but it's like I'm looking in a mirror and a master magician is looking back!
Marisa
It's like I'm looking at me from 1000 years ago. A me that has a different power, but me all the same.
Yukari
Hm, yes. So essentially...
Double Marisa
I wanna have a battle of bullets with her!
Yukari
...As expected!
Marisa
Let's go, me! I'm coming at you!
Marisa
I'm as complicated as I expected! No surprise, me being me, after all!
Double Marisa
But that doesn't matter now!
Double Marisa
I wanna see how strong I've gotten!
Yukari
Did you learn something?
Marisa
I finally feel a connection to PLAYER. I'm not exactly sure why, though.
Their doubles looking at each other is...
Yukari
PLAYER, do you think that the two of them meeting could signal something bad?
Like a time paradox...
If the real one looks at the doppelganger...!
Yukari
There is no need to worry. They were of course the same person...
Yukari
...but because the Lost Word incident has been resolved, they are now like twins from two worlds.
Yukari
Their different experiences and time axes undeniably make them different people.
Marisa wasn't called before the incident was resolved.
Yukari
That's right. There may be some connection there. The laws of how this works are still unclear.
Marisa
What?! Me and the scarlet me?! But is that even possible?!
Marisa
You've only got a human body and you're still so powerful... Did solving incidents make you this strong?
Yukari
All right, you two. Take another look at the room.
Yukari
This room proves that you two were originally one and the same... and that you are now different.
Yukari
Scarlet Marisa left this room in search of power, while the other one stayed and filled it with trinkets.
Yukari
It's hard to say that you are the same or different. You are each one possible Marisa.
Marisa
I see... And because I noticed that, I was able to form a bond with PLAYER?
Yukari
That has nothing to do with it. Yes, you did form a connection with her...
Yukari
...and thanks to that, she's now able to call upon your power...
Yukari
...but you being on good terms with your double had no bearing on that!
Marisa
I don't get it. Then what have I been doing here this whole time?!
Marisa
I've got a tickling feeling, like curiousity for something that's of no benefit to me. Yukari, is this...?
Yukari
Now this is where PLAYER comes in!
M-Me?!
Yukari
That's right. This is nothing more than a hypothesis, but...
Yukari
Your ability to use your journal to draw on the powers of those you form connections with...
Yukari
...could possibly be limited to those that you originally knew.
But my memories...
Yukari
Yes. That's why no amount of handwringing is going to change the fact that we are theorycrafting right now.
Yukari
Before you lost your memories, you may have met both Marisas...
Yukari
You may have already seen them meeting each other like they did just now.
Marisa
What?! Me and the scarlet me?! But is that even possible?!
Marisa
One thing's clear: We can't remember it. And because we can't remember, that means...
Yukari
Shh! No more needless speculating! We can't speak on things that haven't happened yet.
What should we do?
Yukari
There are many others that are being strained by the Lost Word incidents occuring in other parallel worlds.
Yukari
There could be many others like Scarlet Marisa. Confirming the bonds between them is next.
Marisa
Now that we're connected, I'll lend you my power. It should come in handy!
Thank you! It will be a big help!
Yukari
Gather your strength until the next Red Seal Crystal is found.
Yukari
I'm looking forward to you visiting the new Scarlet Devil Tower when the time comes.
Yukari
Until then...
