Nowa alone has sat on the porch, leaning on the wooden pillar. He let out a silent frustrated sigh. 'Tanginang buhay na to(Fuck my life).' His gaze is fixed on nothing in particular. 'But it's a good thing, I guided the conversation into something I can handle... It's good that I don't have to explain my fucking innate ability.'
A brief flashback of him at the age of fourteen. His hatred peaked each time as a child helplessly watched and screamed for them to stop the brutality against Amy, his adoptive mother. The VoidFlame manifested uncontrollably, causing mass erasure. She died, way before the 50ms author arrived at him at the age of thirty, for him to do something about it.
He snapped out of it. A pain stabbed him in the heart, as he stared at his palm that he clenched, his other hand grabbed his chest clothes and gritted his teeth. 'I hated these.' A heavy pause. 'I hate everything. Both of my abilities. I hated it. I never asked for it. My life is a mess already... Life never gave me a choice.' The silence continued.
'I hate this power. I could have saved her. Bion, you told me to dwell on positivity and don't hate on my abilities… I couldn't. This ability is a liability. I could end up erasing someone again…'
He muttered to the ghost in his mind, "I'm still trying, Bion. But it's still a curse." He let out a weary sigh, calming himself.
Inside the Shrine where Reimu and Marisa at. Marisa began, "Can you sense it too, Reimu? I think he is the opposite of looking okay."
Reimu knelt down beside the roomba. "He is, he just kept being dismissive about it." She paused, as she pressed the roomba and held it until it made a soft beep sound. "Clean dust, in this room." She whispered in command and the roomba beeps, then it started moving slowly and cleaning the dust.
"He has awesome stuff, a cool story he probably won't share..." Marisa's voice lowered.
"And he's trying not to tell us with whatever he's going through." Reimu finished the sentence.
Marisa nodded. "Yeah. And he didn't attack or challenge us. He even provided us with what he can do and asked for your permission. That's very rare in Gensokyo."
Reimu looked back at Nowa's silhouette at the paper walls. "I know right? I could not for the love of god categorize him. He's one of a kind, dressed in a dangerous power and yet…" she paused. "He did not give us more problems… he's somewhat cooperative. Other than that, Yukari is planning for something." A solemn understanding. "I will keep an eye for him. It's still early to decide if he is passive or easily triggered."
Marisa leaned back. "Well, I'm planning to nag him anyway. I might just tag along with him, just to see how'd he goes in Gensokyo. And those Framework runes?" She paused, looking at the ceiling already imagining a lot of things she can do with it if she were to get hold of this art. "I'm hella interested." she muttered under her breath as she shifted to watch the roomba.
Reimu stood up, she glanced back at the roomba where Marisa is watching it with magician curiosity on its mystery. 'It doesn't do anything drastic yet. Well, he gave it, might as well use it well. It's too good to pass… That is, until someone stole it of course.'
Reimu let out a reluctant tiny smile, then walked out the door frame and stood still, Nowa was there leaning on the wooden pillar, gazing too deep in nothing in particular.
'He's silent, he's probably thinking about something else that bothers him, or is tired of socialising. That's the kind of person who does this.' she lingers for a bit. 'I won't provoke him for now. But I'll test him one last time, with our rules. His power is absolute, but his control is the real question. A Spell Card duel will force him to show restraint, or reveal that he has none. It will depend on his performance…'
Nowa finally snapped back again, startled. "You're watching me?" He turned at her now. "Am I really that handsome?" He grinned, as he closed his eyes briefly and made a checked fingers on his chin.
Reimu ignored him. "Beckitzer," Nowa's theatrical action faltered for a bit, as he looked at her once more with an arch eyebrow. "If you're going to stay here, in our world. You need to understand how we handle conflicts. We use Spell Card Rules(Danmaku). It's non-lethal. Consider it a... cultural orientation. After I wash the dishes."
Marisa was eavesdropping leaning behind the paper wall. 'A spell card duel against a multiversal traveler?! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see his magic up close! I gotta see this. Maybe I can be the referee... or maybe I can challenge him!' She then walked towards the climbing roomba on the walls whistling innocently as if hearing nothing.
Meanwhile on the porch. "A.. spell card? Like," he pulled out an ordinary play card out of his rune pouch. "Like this card card battle? Huh?" He looked genuinely confused, Marisa can be heard snorting, while Reimu rubbed her temples. She lowered her hand from her temples and gave Nowa a look that is utterly flat, yet somehow conveys immense weariness.
"No. Not a card game." She manifests one of her own Spell Cards, a paper card materializes and glows with spiritual energy in her palm. "This is a Spell Card. It's a formalized declaration of a non-lethal, patterned magical attack. The 'rules' are the system that contains the fight and ensures no one dies. It's how we settle disputes without destroying the landscape."
Unable to contain herself, Marisa burst out from behind the doorframe, all pretense of innocence gone. "She means we shoot lasers at each other until someone gives up! It's way more fun than it sounds! I'll show you! We can go first, Old-timer!" She's already reaching for her mini-hakkero, her eyes gleaming.
"Ahhhhhhhh, I see." He scratched the back of his head. 'non-lethal huh? My universe taught me to kill or be killed. But... Chris, Lancer... we always tried to find another way. We just... never found a system for it… To learn this realm does it this way… it's somewhat culturally refined, I guess?'
He looked at them both. "I'll give it a go…" He paused, analytical mode. "So, how many patterns, or how strong an attack would be?" He placed his hand in his pocket. "I'll recalibrate my runes to match that, or if I have some runes that match in the description you two just said… I could have denied it when I heard the duel. But hearing it has this rule, it's interesting… So I'll give it a go."
Reimu is firm and precise. "The strength is enough to overwhelm or outmaneuver your opponent, not vaporize them. As for patterns..." She glanced at his revolver. "...You will use only the abilities you demonstrate to me now. No conjuring new 'runes' mid-duel. We test what you have, not what you can make. Those are the rules for this orientation."
She took out three blank spell cards and handed them to him. "Here. Record your patterns in these. You can get more later. Don't lose them, they're your pass to fight anyone else in Gensokyo too."
Nowa took it and nodded. "Hmm, hmm" he hummed in agreement while scanning the paper cards. "I see,"
Marisa vibrates with energy, seeing a golden opportunity. "Recalibrate? You mean you can tune your magic on the fly?! That's cheating! I love it! Hey, hey, let me be your test target! I can handle it! We can call it... 'Rune Adjustment Protocol Testing'! Sounds official, right, Reimu?" She's circling him like a shark, her mini-hakkero already humming to life. "Come on, Old-timer! Show me what you've got that's 'non-lethal'! Let's see these patterns!"
Nowa dryly chuckled. "Alright, alright. Calm down Mushroom kid," A cautious pause. "But I won't be using my revolver. I'm sensing this duel is meant for a fair fight." He looked at Reimu now. "You can go wash the dishes now, or do you need help in washing them?"
Reimu shook her head, "No. You've given a lot already, from donation funds to washing and cooking, and that cleaning tool," she glanced briefly at the roomba cleaning the ceiling. "You shouldn't be really giving away stuff.." she muttered, she gave Nowa a final, measured look, then she walked back in the room.
"Alright." Nowa followed his gaze at Reimu while she walked back inside, and she began picking up the empty bowls, her cup, and the empty pot as well with a practice motion, and walked towards the kitchen now.
He slid the blank spell cards behind his ear. He'd fill them out later. Then his focus turned towards Marisa. "Right. Tell me Mushroom kid, how many spells should I bring on the menu? I already have thousands of them hidden in my rune pouches. Each has a different effect, active and passive."
Marisa, once again her jaw fell. After a moment of stunned silence, she exploded with a mix of excitement and outrage. "THOUSANDS?!" Reimu in the kitchen paused momentarily after hearing it. She continued as she will see it for herself anyway.
Marisa continued. "Are you kidding me, Ze?! What kind of 'non-lethal' effects are we talking about?! Do you have a list? A catalog? Can I see it?!"
He held up a hand to stop her. "Whoa, easy there. Let's start with… two, one is for both defense and mobility, and the other one is projectile. Luckily, the defense and mobility one was already equipped with me," he showed his arm to Marisa. "I called it," a liquid black flowed outward from his sleeves onto his arm and hardened. Marisa's eyes and mouth widened in awe.
"Liquid nano rune armament." he smirked. "It has three layers of defense, the second skin, like an armour you wear instantly, the other one barrier, and auto blocking. And lastly for mobility, I can use it like spiderweb or grappling hook,"
The hardened loosened and cumulated at the hand, then he flicked his liquid nano rune armament coating on his hand towards a rock on the ground and a web shot out and grabbed it. Then it retracted back to him along with the rock. He showed it to Marisa.
"Liquid... nano... rune... you packed all that into one?! How does it not conflict with itself? Does the 'nano' part do the shaping and the 'rune' part provide the power? Is it learning your movements? Can I TOUCH IT?!" She's inches away from his arm, practically vibrating with the desire to disassemble it mentally and physically.
"Sure," he shifted the liquid nano rune armament into a figure shape toy on his palm.
Her outrage is gone, replaced by pure, childlike wonder. "Whoa... You can just... do that? It listens to your thoughts? Can you make a mini-hakkero? Can you make a little Marisa? Do it, do it!"
He dryly chuckled and had a less cynical smile this time. "Sure," the figure shifted into a mini Marisa and the color shifted to match the exact Marisa. Marisa's eye widened with childlike joy and began poking it. In the boundary, Ran let out a soft, unconscious sigh of relief she hadn't known she was holding. Yukari hid a smile behind the fan that was not entirely manipulative, a testament that their plan is working.
Nowa began interrupting her. "And there's a secret tech I can do with this rune I made. I will show it later because that's the point of a secret, heh." A secret promised, a curiosity ignited, and in the quiet shrine, the first, fragile roots of a friendship began to take hold.