Extra: Discount Lamprey

"This is our last stop for today," he says. "We will continue with advanced manipulation of light and heat tomorrow."

Wriggle nods obediently as she follows. The day's lesson was harsh and tiring; she never expected it to be so difficult. The black-white really does make it look a lot easier than it really is when she casts those ridiculously flashy spells. Master himself mentioned that this kind of magic takes a lot of hard work to master, and despite how she acts, Marisa was not an exception. Her Mini-Hakkero is powerful, but all in all, it is still only a focusing device that reflects the energies of its user.

"We have arrived," says Master. "It's been a while since I've tasted her specialty."

"W-what? But isn't this -" Wriggle says.

"Something different is nice once in a while," he interrupts. "Variety is good for a magician."

Suddenly, a strange melody comes from behind the counter as they sit. This night stand is surprisingly popular in the area for its specialty. Wriggle heard that humans, youkai, tengu, and other strange beings travel from far away places just to taste the dishes. A few restaurants even offered to buy the recipe, offering quite a bit of coin, but the owner refuses to sell. A bit of a weird one, the owner seems satisfied with managing this little red-lantern stand.

"Night bird, night song~ Human shall turn off the light in the darkness~" sings the owner as she turns to her customers.

For a moment, the owner, a Night Sparrow youkai, looks at them with mouth agape. Wriggle gives her a polite smile and a wave, while her Master just nods slightly. But before Wriggle could say another word, the owner leaps from the counter and gives her a tight hug.

"I-It's great to see you too, Mystia," Wriggle says in a muffled voice.

"Firefly of the Evening~ On a journey she did go~" sings Mystia. "Leaving poor Mystia~ Alone I missed her so~"

Mystia takes Wriggle's hands and dances merrily around the night stand, singing a beautiful melody as they went. Twisting and turning, and interspersed with hugs, the sparrow lead her three times around before finally letting go and returning behind the counter. Throughout the commotion, Master said nothing and stayed completely silent.

"Now I shall cook something special~" Mystia says. "Something special for my long lost sister!"

"W-what?" Wriggle cries.

"We are the closest of friends~ the world cannot deny! Far more than best friends~ we are sisters, you and I!"

Mystia smiles brightly as she serves them each a large serving of grilled lamprey. The night went on pleasantly, with plenty of good food and polite conversation. The night sparrow was in such a good mood, that she even offered them a discount on the food.

"Just don't tear me up so badly next time," Mystia says playfully.

Extra: Winter Firefly

Wriggle shivers in the cold.

"W-why have we come here?" she asks. "Y-you know that I hate this weather!"

He nods slowly to the youkai girl.

"We have come here to test your abilities," he says slowly. "Magic does exist outside of Gensokyo."

She pouts at him, shuddering violently.

"B-b-but you said that magic doesn't normally work in the Outside! Only really powerful beings like Yukari can use their powers easily. I-I can't even keep warm, much less fly out here."

"No, you can't," he says. "Even if you could fly, it would be a bad idea to attract unnecessary attention here in the Outside. Youkai who are foolish enough to expose their abilities in this place are often mistaken as aliens by government agencies. They end up killed, captured, or worse."

"O-of course I know that," she says. "Due to their weakened state, even youkai are vulnerable when they cross over to this world."

"Good to see that you were listening to my lecture," he says with a gentle smile.

Wriggle only listened half-way, of course. She still doesn't understand why magic and other youkai abilities are difficult to use in the Outside; perhaps she fell asleep at that part of the lesson. She does remember that Humans in the Outside rely on technology and science, and have found numerous ways to cope without magic.

Master said that Youkai and Humans from Gensokyo cross the border over to the other side every once in a while, not unlike the Outsiders who sometimes end up in Gensokyo. Those incidents rarely end well. He said that most of them end up disoriented and confused, as they can't use their powers properly.

The foolish ones often end up killed or captured by the local authorities, since human weapons work very effectively in a world that weakens magic. There are a few who manage to return to Gensokyo, while some willingly choose to continue living in the Outside.

"This place will do," he says.

Wriggle looks around. This must be what Outsiders call a "park". Master said that they sometimes construct artificial forests inside cities for their own enjoyment. However, she finds these places as poor imitations of nature, not unlike the "zoo" they visited earlier.

"There isn't anyone around at this time of the night," he says "We can begin your training."

"T-training? O-out here in the blistering cold?" she argues.

"The conditions are perfect to test your casting ability under stressful conditions."

"..."

"I want you to light up those pine trees," he says pointing. "If you can't pass this trial, then we may as well return to the border."

...

"Did you hear about it, Renko? Did you? Did you?"

"Of course I heard about it. It was all over the evening news. Fireflies gathered into one of the large pine trees in the park."

"I rushed over there to see it for myself, but by the time I got there it was all over."

"Some say that the University did it as a present for the children in the orphanage beside the park. I heard that they couldn't afford to set up a Christmas tree this year."

"Impossible. My biology professor told me that while their pheromone research on insects is promising, there isn't any technology available to pull such a stunt. This has got to be a supernatural incident!"

"I suppose. But don't you think that it is pretty sad that all the fireflies died after about half an hour? The weather was freezing. They never had a chance."

...

When they got back, she bid her master good night before returning to her room.

After making sure that the door was locked, she crept into her bed.

Wriggle Nightbug cried long into the night.