Author's Note and Disclaimer:

Hello Reader! This is the first chapter of my fanfiction story based on Touhou Project. Depending on my motivation, it's going to be an adventure/comedy/action(?) story, hard to say right now.

I haven't published anything for a long time, so you could say I'm crash-testing this one. A word of warning: English is not my native language. Just saying, in case you were wondering why your eyes are bleeding so much.

I'd also like to ask You for any form of criticism You make to be constructive. Be honest, but try to elaborate. If it sucks bad, tell me why.

Touhou Project is not in any way owned by me, all copyright belongs to ZUN.

Stage 00 - The Girls Are Now Trying to Sleep

A blood-stained figure moaned quietly, lying face down in the thin forest grass. Its presence was yet unknown to two women wandering around helplessly, the older one casting curses around her, the one in her mid-teens trying not to let her sobs be heard. Lost in a dark giant labyrinth of tall trees with no end it seemed like two most sensible things to do.

The wounded one, sobered a little bit by continuous vulgarisms, raised her head and looked around. There was nothing around her, just darkness. Why is it so dark? Have I lost my sight? Did someone turn off the sun? Sun... Day... Night... Yes, I remember... Urghh, my head aches when I try to think...

Who am I?

'Hey, are you okay?' a voice asked. There is someone in the darkness. Sounds like... ugh, what was the word... wo-man? Should I answer? If so, in what way?

'What do you think?' another voice responded, strained by withheld tears and sorrow 'After all that's happened? You said I could go home after I help you, see Mom and Dad again! I didn't agree to something like this!'

It seems like a quarrel, the wounded one thought. Yeah, a 'quarrel'... but what was that again?

'Nor did I,' said the woman. 'Everything was going according to the plan until I hit that disturbance within the rift. Must have swallowed you as well and messed up the coordinates. So no matter what, we're in the sa- Oh God, you're not crying, are you?'

'S-sorry,' the girl answered back through tears. 'I just... got scared back there'

'You and me both,' she sighed. 'Believe me, I've seen many things in my life, and I consider it to be quite exciting. But I've never encountered anything even slightly resembling THAT.'

'What was that?'

'As I say, no idea. Listen, whether we like it or not, we're in the same boat. Standing around here isn't going to help us in any way. Let us first find some shelter, get some sleep and wait until sun rises. Then I'll try to come up with something good, okay?'

'What about the beasts? We're in a forest, aren't we?'

'Considering it's a whole another dimension, I'd say wolves and bears are the least of our problems.'

She then walked up to the young girl and patted her on the head reassuringly, in a way a parent would do, or so she thought.

'Don't worry so much, sweetheart,' she whispered to her. 'I'll protect you.'

'Don't call me that,' the girl replied, but eventually agreed and followed the woman, trying to find a safe place and not to trip on a fallen branch or root in the thick darkness. Or a body.

The listener of the conversation so far tried to crawl her way out of there as well, keeping right behind the other two's footsteps. Her own limbs didn't make the task any easier, swelled and burning as if covered in thousands of small cuts. She collapsed eventually, making an audible "thump" that reached the other women's ears.

'What was that?' the teenage girl jumped and clutched onto the woman's arm.

'I don't know, but it seems to have come from behind us. Let me make some light...'

As the woman made a faint gesture with her hand a small bright sphere appeared floating in the air some 3 metres above the ground. The trees cast long shadows pointing away from the shiny orb, giving a disquieting impression of being in the centre of a gigantic spider web.

'Well, well, well,' the woman said amusedly. 'If it isn't our interloper.'

The words sent a chill down the wounded girl's spine. Oh my. They've found me. What are they going to do to me? Who's an inter-something? Why am I still blind?

'Is that... a necktie wrapped around her eyes?' asked the girl in disbelief.

'Frankly, I could have sworn so when I first saw her, but didn't want to believe it.'

Oh. That explains a lot.

As the cloth was forcefully removed, the wounded girl's vision exploded with infinite whiteness. A few seconds had to pass in order for her to see normally. While she was recovering, invisible binds immobilised her, following the sorceress' wish.

Restrained and forced to look directly at her oppressors' faces, she was bewitched by their strange appearance. The woman, the magician, had straight black hair with a tint of purple amongst its long strings and wore a simple, yet elegant ebony ball dress and a cape over it. The younger one was standing right behind the witch, her frightened face hidden in strands of golden brown hair. Her dress was not as formal, blue in colour, frilly and horribly worn out, as though it survived a war.

There was something bizarre about their attire and overall presence, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Out of place was the only expression that came to her blank mind, its meaning unknown.

'A lovely evening, isn't it?' asked the sorceress, faking a smile. 'It seems we've met before; however, due to some unfortunate circumstances we were unable to properly greet one another. Do you, by any chance, remember?'

'Not really,' the interrogated girl answered. It's true!

'Oh? Troubles with memory? Do you wish me to refresh it? With a firebolt maybe?'

'I'd like to know what going on, thank you,' said the wounded one, without the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice. She wouldn't have know the concept of it anyway.

'Did you hear what I heard, Media?' the woman asked the girl clad in blue. 'Because the way I understood it was that she doesn't remember what happened a few minutes ago, is that right?'

The girl nodded. 'She did say that.'

'Perfect. Good to know my ears are still in their prime state despite the age. Now listen closely, you...,' she gave her a judging look, '...abomination. You probably don't realise that what you've just done made my great plans founder miserably. Years of careful calculation, months of preparation, weeks of gradual realisation – all of that ruined by your sudden emergence in the interplanary rift. Feeling happy?'

'Not exactly, my head aches and I'm hungry,' said the living example of honesty to the core. It's also cold and kind of scary. I don't like it~

'Damn right. Not only that, but you've also scared my poor innocent Media to death. How could you hurt such a fragile and pure flower? Have you no heart? She's like a sister, no – a daughter to me...'

'Try "a hostage",' replied the girl, only to be hushed down.

'More importantly, thanks to you we're stuck in this dimension with no means to go back. I can't even imagine how you've managed to screw my magic up to such an extent. One thing I know, though,' as the witch said that, a hideous smile appeared on her face, 'is that I'll enjoy getting the information out of you, bit. By. Bit.'

'You're just going to violate her, just like you'd tried once with me, right?'

'You're saying unnecessary things, Media.'

'NEVER! I'll never tell you where it is!' the restrained girl yelled with such a power that her own ears hurt a little.

'Now, where what is?'

'You can kill me, but I won't give in!'

'Sure I can! Well?,' the sorceress summoned some supporting arguments in form of a few blazing spears, suspended in the mid-air and pointed at the girl. 'Fancy telling us?'

'East...'

'What?'

'Their base is to the east, in an old cave...'

'What the blazes are you babbling about?!'

'I thought you wanted information!'

'Not that sort of information! You're not a prisoner of war! Yet. Have you lost your mind?'

'Highly probable.'

The sorceress let out a sigh. 'Media, hold me, or I'll kill her on the spot!'

This is looking bad, the captive thought. I wonder if I said something wrong?

Her captors definitely thought so. Engulfed in discussion, arguing what to do with the "monster" they've found, they stopped paying attention to her at some point, letting her take a look at the binding spell holding her in place.

These binds seem strong. The bad sister knows what she's doing. If only I could escape somehow...

...Couldn't I?

The moment she tried to figure out the way to freedom, darkness engulfed her, swallowing her like a giant mouth in just one bite, making her lose sight of her surroundings. It felt as though she was floating in nothingness – a world with no sense of direction or time. Another moment later she was back in the forest, but there being no trace of those who had caught her.

The trees were so thick it might as well have been a tomb, not even moonlight reaching the ground, not even the gentlest wind grazing the tree tops. It was disquieting, but calming also. Worn out by her experiences so far, the girl decided it would be best if she simply went to sleep. Closing her eyes, she could have sworn she saw a rectangular shape of some building in the distance. Before she even thought about it, fatigue had overcome her and she fell asleep on the spot.

Under the night sky in full moon ancient powers awaken. Those who in the daylight were no different from your everyday usual people, those you casually pass by on the streets and live next to each other as neighbours, reveal their true face, nature and intentions. Half-beasts. Vampires. Youkai. Having centuries or even millennia of existence to live before them, they do their best so as not to let this time be wasted or spent in boredom. Hence incidents occur.

This night, although none of Gensokyo's residents was eager enough to scheme anything, there was something strange in the air that made even the strongest youkai frown in worry. The sudden appearance of the three outsiders was rather felt than directly known and rendered many sleepless and anxious. All except one, resting happily on the forest floor.

In the same forest, the Forest of Magic, barely a few hundred metres away from the sleeping girl, stood a shop and a house of a certain kleptomaniac magician. Tons of items of various use and origin were scattered everywhere, covering each single inch of available level surface. For an outsider, it was impossible to think of it either as a place for living or doing business.

A blonde girl wearing a black and white dress evidently had a different opinion. Magic grimoires, a bunch of sealing talismans "borrowed" from a local shrine, rusty kettles, glowing mushrooms – all of it (and more) was lying in disorder on the table near her, which didn't bother her in any way. Her gaze and attention were fixed elsewhere, too busy observing reactions occurring inside a vial containing a greyish liquid hung over a fire.

'Lookin' good, ain't it?' she muttered to herself with satisfaction.

The Youkai Elixir was almost ready.

Seeing the process was approaching its finale, Marisa let a sigh of relief. She was so nervous about that potion like no other enterprise she's ever decided on. Who wouldn't be, after all? Brewing a mixture from some shady book she snatched from the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library is one thing. Stealing required ingredients from Kourindou is another. The alchemic process itself was also surprisingly easy. The real issue was, what to do with it once it's finished? After all, an elixir that can turn you into one of the youkai is kind of a big deal.

As she watched the unappealing substance in amazement, some part of her consciousness still bothered itself with a question of how exactly it came to that. The only answer her brain cells could find was a blurry image of another forest dweller, the local puppeteer Alice, looking at her with a smirk on her face, expressing calm yet absolute dominance over the magician, whom she'd beaten in a danmaku fight.

Alice had been once a human, no different from Marisa or the local shrine maiden. Like all of her race, she too had to face her own limitations compared to the youkai, be it longevity, intelligence or power. And she decided to change that. She always attributed her becoming a youkai to the immense amounts of training she went through and power she accumulated, but Marisa considered it to be a half truth. She was convinced it was the other way around – according to her, turning into a youkai was the reason of her absurdly overpowered abilities like commanding an entire private doll army which even her trusty Master Spark couldn't completely obliterate.

She could nearly imagine Alice's face when she came to know she wasn't the only magician-turned-youkai in town. She let her fantasy go wild. A longer life. New spells. Better ways to steal from others. Causing incidents to make the shrine maiden go mad...

Marisa gasped all of a sudden, feeling a fang of guilt stabbing her through her heart.

Reimu.

Hakurei Reimu, her closest friend and one of the few humans she was in any way acquainted with, most of the times as a Youkai Extermination Duet. A life free of human frailties was tempting as much as teaching the doll master a lesson. But to turn against a friend? From a freelance youkai hunter to those she used to fight?

'Daaaamn, that's why I hate hard moral decisions!' she groaned in despair 'If only I could see the world the way a Yama does...'

The witch stared into the boiling substance yet again. Grey goo provided no answers. Maybe that's it, Marisa thought. The world is not so simple after all. White which stands for good, black which stands for evil – both of these are merely names for the different shades of grey the world is full of. No decision is one hundred percent right or wrong. Absolute good and absolute evil are hypothetical terms, opposite axes between which everyday deeds are placed, leaning towards one or another side depending on its "moral" value. But can we really consider morality while rejecting good and evil...?

'Screw that! Darkness, here I come!'

Without a second thought, Marisa took the vial with the elixir and drank it in one gulp. The potion was halfway through her throat when she realised in horror that the mixture had been boiling just a few seconds ago. She let out a cry of pain.

'It's cold!' her eyes widened in surprise. She swore crystals of ice were forming in her lungs and stomach.

Violent shivers surged through her whole body, her face was steaming with heat and she felt her head ache as if it was being split open. It was like a fever, one that could possibly incapacitate the alien immortals of Eientei for at least a week and slowly kill a youkai. Flesh seemed to come off her bones and her veins were on the verge of exploding with a red vapour that her blood has become.

God... gods, please don't let me die... I've so much to do... Gotta see Reimu and Alice again... And tell Patchy that I... that I l... lo...

...lost her beloved trilogy in the Netherworld and now the ghosts have it.

Her torment lasted no more than five minutes, yet to her it felt like hours of neverending torture on her body cells and repentance for her sins, during which she begged every single god or deity she's heard of only to let her breathe a bit longer. Her pleads appeared to have been answered, as at some point during Marisa's prayers, her misfortune was suddenly taken away from her.

The black-white was relieved of the hellish anguish. She let out a sigh of relief and a faint sob.

'I'll behave, whoever helped me...' she whispered and fell unconscious on the spot, namely on the floor.

That night was one full of further pain and suffering in the world of dreams of Marisa Kirisame, an unsuccessful magician-turned-youkai. She was lucky in a way though, being one of the two residents of Gensokyo not bothered by insomnia that night.