Darkness Within

A/N: Hey all, NekoOtakuStar here. I'm writing this for SteveoTheHuman and Spaztique over in YouTube land to prove a new writer CAN write a good gappy fic. I am completely new to writing in the Touhou fandom, but I have written before so don't expect and grammar mistakes. Basically, I'm going to show you all how a gappy fic should go. Onwards!

Oh, before I forget...

A wild Lawsuit appears! Neko uses "I don't own Touhou Project!" It's super effective! A wild Lawsuit has fainted!

...Ok, for real this time.

Many years ago, a baby youkai was born. She looked harmless enough, but her presence struck fear into the hearts of the gods. Her soul radiated with unimaginable power, and so it was decided. The baby youkai was to be sent to the human world and her powers were to be sealed. For were she to ever use her powers the world would surely meet its end.

Akai's high school was exceedingly normal. Normal boring students. Normal boring teachers. Normal boring extracurricular activities. "And this," mused Akai, "is exactly the problem. I'm not normal. I want out." Akai always stuck out, what with her silver hair and piercing yellow eyes. She was different. And thus, she was shunned. People thought she was insane. Well, it wasn't her fault that her reflection was so chatty! And it's rather hard not to answer when it asks you something. No, Akai was certainly not normal. She simply didn't belong with humans.

Because of this, Akai was enthralled by mythology. Kapa, Tengu, immortals, Celestials, but most of all Youkai. She would read every book she could find on them. As a result, she was a frequent visitor to the library. One day she spotted a book there that she had never seen before. It looked ancient. "An original copy, maybe? Lucky!" Akai whispered happily and grabbed the tome. It detailed an ancient ritual for entering a world filled with mythological creatures. Akai nodded with determination and took the book home. Tonight she would try the ritual.

Late that night, Akai stood up and brushed the chalk off of her hands. It was done. The intricate inter-dimension transport circle was complete. She checked the book. Next she had to make an offering of her own blood. Akai took out the pocket knife she always had in her pocket and sliced her finger. A few drops of blood fell onto the circle and it began to glow. A strange beam of light came from it, enveloping Akai completely. Before departing from this world, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

A group of five girls huddled together in the dark forest, sporting several small wounds from a recent battle. "Eye can't believe this... Eye should've been able to beat that stupid witch with my hands tied behind my back!" one with blue hair and a matching dress grumbled. The girl next to her nodded. She had green hair and antennae growing out of her head. "Yeah, especially with all of us together." she said forlornly. A girl with pink hair and a hat crossed her arms in thought. "Maybe... We should start with a stage one boss and work our way up?" she mused. "But where are we going to find a stage one boss that isn't us?!" Cried a girl with light green hair tied in a pigtail. "Wait a second... Anyone else hear that?" One girl with blonde hair tied in a ribbon asked. The group fell silent. Sure enough, there was a rustling in some nearby bushes. A few seconds later, Akai emerged. "This is what I get for not thinking things through... I have no food, no phone, and I'm still in my school uniform!" she muttered, managing to overlook the group huddled in the shadows. "What should we do, Cirno? She looks pretty defenseless." The pink haired one asked. The blue haired one (whose name was apparently Cirno) cracked an evil grin. "Eye think we should battle her! We're bound to win!" she answered. The rest of the group nodded and raced out to surround Akai. Akai snapped out of her thoughts and looked around her. She had been surrounded! "Um... Would you people by any chance know where I could find some shelter?" she asked timidly. The girls around her whispered to one another and their apparent leader answered. "Eye have reached a conclusion. We will lead you to shelter... IF you danmaku battle all five of us at once!" Cirno said with confidence. Akai's eyes widened in fear. She had heard of the legendary game of danmaku, but she had no means of playing it. She was about to protest when all of the girls surrounding her took to the sky and began to fire. Akai was helpless and quickly succumbed to the innumerable bullets.

As soon as Akai fainted from the onslaught the girls surrounded her again. Cirno fist pumped. "Eye did it! Eye defeated someone! Alright Rumia and Mystia, bon apetit!" she said, gesturing to the blonde and pink haired girls respectively. But before they could feast on the unfortunate girl a shadow swooped in from overhead. "Dammit! Not you again!" Mystia cursed at the shadow, which the moonlight revealed to be a witch with golden hair. The witch laughed. "Don't worry, I ain't here ta kick your asses again. I'm just here to collect this girl on orders from Reimu, da ze." she said. "What would Reimu want with her? There's no way she's an existential threat! You sure she's the one, Marisa?" Rumia asked, irritated at losing a meal. The witch named Marisa nodded. "Yeah, she fits the description. Although I gotta agree with ya, she doesn't seem to be any sort of threat, ze." she shrugged and slung Akai across the back of her broom. "Well, see ya." she said before zooming off.

Akai awoke to find herself tied to a chair in some sort of shrine with an angry looking shrine maiden glaring at her. "What's going on?!" she asked. "I could ask you the same thing! What in the name of donations are YOU doing back here?!" the shrine maiden snapped. "Back here? I've never been to this place before!" Akai retorted. "Oh please! You were BORN here, Akai Kagami! You're a youkai so powerful that even the gods feared you!" the shrine maiden said with a roll of her eyes. "What makes you think you can come back after you've been banished?!" she added. Akai frowned. "I'm... A youkai?" she asked in bewilderment. The maiden nodded. "And I'd have kicked your overpowered ass straight back to the human world if the border were working properly. Or if I could locate that stupid gap youkai." she grumbled. "Whoa whoa, what? The border's broken AND Yukari's missing?" Marisa chimed in from the side. The maiden nodded. "Yeah. I'm willing to bet she had a hand in bringing Akai here back. Marisa, you and I'll go search for her. Akai, you stay here." she said and left with Marisa. Akai struggled against her bonds, but it was futile. She had just given up when a mysterious gap opened up underneath her, sending her plummeting through it.

A/N: Short, I know. Don't shoot the newbie! Anyways, SteveoTheHuman and Spaztique, I know calling out to you guys is like ringing a dinner bell near a pack of hungry wolves, but I think I've done a pretty good job, no? To everyone else, please R&R!

- Neko-chan