Fubuki Pirates the Imperial Palace

Construction beginning/end

Far above Wakigami, hidden in the clouds, Fubuki was finishing her* linguistic lessons with Phenex. Hebrew wasn't easy to pick up, especially for a native speaker of Japanese, but with an Archdemon as her* tutor, Fubuki felt she* was improving quickly. There were other things to do that night, however, and one of them involved the great metal door that Masamune had crafted at her* request. In preparation, Fubuki gathered the reagents for a ritual, spending an hour in focused incantation. Once that was complete, she* called upon Watatsuki-dōnyo, who required only a little cajoling to join her* upon the Matsumoto Black Galleon.

Although she was a powerful oni and skilled spellcaster, Watatsuki possessed a deathly fear of combat and confrontation. Therefore, she was eager to be able to aid the Hashinara Clan (or in this case the Matsumoto) by taking on a passive role in a ship up safely hidden away in the sky. With her permission, Fubuki bound a few spells to Watatsuki-dōnyo using the ritual she'd* devised earlier. The first was the spell which kept the Galleon afloat. That way, even if Fubuki were to fall in battle (as had been known to happen), the ship would safely remain suspended rather than plummeting to the earth.   The second spell required a bit more preparation. Fubuki first consulted Watatsuki-dōnyo about what kind of place she'd like to call home. Given no restrictions, she answered with the most opulent she could think of: the Imperial Palace. Calling then upon Shigeaki Fujino, Fubuki teleported to an area just above the Palace in Echizen Province. The spell here required quite a great deal of magical energy. Try as she* might to control the accumulation, Fubuki still scored out a twisting pattern of scraped shingles on the roof of the building. Fortunately, nobody would ever be likely to see it, or know what it was if they did. Releasing the energy, Fubuki cast Inside the Mirror, fabricating a copy of the entire Palace including the extent of its gardens and surrounds, then linking that reflection to the portable door. It seemed to have worked; Masamune's door had a bit of extra weight to it. Rather than tarry here, however, Fubuki asked Fujino to bring them back to the Galleon.   Once safely aboard, Fubuki proceeded to test the door. As intended, it opened into another place, with a slightly-different night sky over a perfect copy of the Palace and its gardens. When approached from the other side, the door would lead to another entrance in the same reflected place. Fujino took it upon herself to test it, and found that mental communication was possible between realms, but only when the door remained open. Regarding Watatsuki's question of whether a tiny emperor was copied along with the demesne, Fubuki assured her that only creatures with significantly less presence than a human would be present within. Birds and frogs, perhaps, but no courtiers.   The spell seemed to have gone off without a hitch, and Fubuki was able to tie this maintenance to Watatsuki as well, with her consent. The Matsumoto now had a portable palace, hidden within a flying ship, and could live in luxury with none the wiser. Anyone who was awake at this early hour was invited to move in, and several did, including Phenex and Gamou Terukazu. No doubt the others would do so as soon as they awoke. Fujino asked for quarters of her own within, which Fubuki saw no reason to refuse. There was, after all, plenty of room.