I opened my eyes slowly, the pain from being devoured alive is no longer present.

Where am I now? Heaven? Hell? Or Higan? I stood up on my feet, and I looked up to see a familiar sight. A western styled home in the middle of a dense forest...

Home. I'm in front of my home, where I settled in ever since I broke off all relations with my family at the Human Village.

I walked up slowly to the front door and opened it, revealing two figures inside.

"You're finally awake, Welcome Marisa." One of them said, and I widened my eyes.

I see a familiar girl with short blonde hair, she is Alice Margatroid, a fellow Magician, and she is sort of a neighbor to me since her home is also in this forest.

But the person who made my eyes widen is the one sitting on a chair next to her, wearing a blue hat over her long green hair, and wearing a set of blue robes. She had no feet, but a ghostly tail instead.

"Master...? Is it really you?"

This master whom I spoke of, is Mima. She is the one who introduced me into magic, when I was little. And the reason why I left my family behind, is to pursue more knowledge in magic.

"It is I, indeed Marisa. Your beloved master."

"Where have you been, all these years Master? Why are you..."

"The answer to your questions are rather complicated, Marisa. The best you could do, is to figure it out throughout your journey."

"Why is Alice here, then?"

"Oh, Margatroid...? This isn't her. This is merely a doll that I crafted out of loneliness..."

"I... I see... So, Master. What is going on exactly?"

"Gensokyo, your homeland is now under a serious incident. An unknown scourge has plagued the entire land, turning people into monsters and Youkai becoming even more dangerous. I suspect that witchcraft is in play here."

"Witchcraft...? But only Patchy knows that."

"Indeed she is. You need to find out more yourself though, and please for pete's sake put some clothes on, would you my dear student?"

I looked down, realizing that I am still wearing the rather skimpy patient gown, and I rushed inside to my bedroom, opened my dresser and dressed myself in my usual clothes. Black buttoned vest over a white shirt, and a black skirt, tied up with a white ribbon bound around my waist. I took my black boots which I used to gather herbs, and my broom beside the dresser. I also took a small bag from the dresser, which I dubbed the magical storage unit. The bag can store anything at any size by shrinking the object and sucking them inside.

I looked over to my bed, and I find a familiar object lying on it. A circular device with a ying-yang symbol on it's center. My signature weapon, the Mini-Hakkero, which I can use to fire magic from it, wether they are pyromancy, necromancy, and even arcane magic.

I looked over to my desk, and the tome which I borrowed from Patchy is absent. I wonder if Master had took it, well she would scold me if she catches me around with some old tome that I didn't even know what the content is.

However, I remember that beast that 'Killed' me back then, and I decided to arm myself up. I opened my desk drawer, and took out a small knife which I used to gather herbs. I prepared some tape, and stuck the knife onto the end of the broomstick's shaft, forming a makeshift spear.

I walked out of my room, and I see Master sleeping on the chair, muttering out words slowly.

"Ahh... Miss Knowledge... Miss Okazaki... Help me... This nightmare binds my very core... It's torturing me..."

Who is Okazaki? Must've been some person who stumbled into Gensokyo from the Outside world. Meh, maybe I would know later.

I walked out of my home, and I see Alice standing on the clearing.

"Alice...?"

"Hello Marisa. I am afraid that you couldn't exit through the forests, as this is the Magus' Dream."

"The Magus' Dream?"

"This is a realm which Mima-Sama had created so that magicians may prepare themselves for future rituals or even danmaku combat."

"How do I get out, then?"

"It's simple, come to me."

I walked over to her, and she suddenly pulled my whole body over to her, and our bodies crashed into each other, our breasts pressing together.

"What... What are you..."

She then planted her lips onto mine, and I felt myself going to sleep. When I woke up, I find myself back on the bed in the patient room at Eientei. I looked at my body on the mirror, to see that I am wearing what I took from my dresser back at the dream.

Now I am ready, for my journey.

- To Be Continued