Forewords
"Oh, look! Another fan fic by Lt Col Summers! Another Touhou fic to be exact!" Some of you might say.
However, despite the different name, this story is still in the same universe as Fantasy Blitzkrieg, its just a pseudo-prequel in which the events predates even Highly Responsive To Prayers. Actually, the events to be told in this story has nothing to do with Fantasy Blitzkrieg other than being in the same universe.
Remember one of Reimu's sentences in Chapter 17 of Fantasy Blitzkrieg: Mission 3? The one where she mentions Wonderland and Oz having embassies in Gensokyo and the UN expy that is the Council Of Sanctuaries? Well, this story will be revolving around its origin, and the events that led to it.
Remember, since this story predates even Highly Responsive To Prayers, don't expect any mention of the HMF or the STI in it. Gensokyo has yet to involve itself with Outside World matters in this pseudo-prequel.
Prologue
Time: 4th of February, 2118.
Location: Dining Hall, Shinki's Palace; Pandemonium, Makai, Gensokyo.
Few people in Gensokyo knows this, but on the 4th of February every year, the older individuals of Gensokyo's almost-entirely female population would gather in one place and discuss their plans for the current year. Exactly why this happens, even fewer people knew the reason behind it, but officially it was sort of similar to a school reunion, despite some of the individuals present having only arrived in Gensokyo a few months ago.
This year, the "reunion" is held in Shinki's Palace in Pandemonium, largest city in the state of Makai in Gensokyo.
"So... why was Makai considered a province of Gensokyo?" Kanako Yasaka, current resident goddess of the Moriya Shrine asked while half-drunk. "In my opinion, Makai kind of *hic* deserved to be an independent Sanctuary in its own *hic* right..." The goddess succumbed to the powers of alcohol and fell asleep on the Onyx dining table as soon as she finishes her sentence.
This prompted Yukari Yakumo, the Youkai Of Boundaries to whack Kanako on the back of her head with her fan. "I'm surprised that you got drunk after just one small mug worth of Whiskey, which were like plain water compared to Sake..." Yukari mocked the goddess. "Also, that's like saying Mugenri is a People's Republic..."
Kanako did not respond, although getting whacked did wake her up.
"Mugenri? The only Sanctuary in the world that's actually ruled by a dictator?" Reimu, who was (forcefully) dragged into the gathering by Yukari said as she overheard what the Youkai Of Boundaries said. "I kind of pity Yabusame Houren for the things she get put through, especially what happened at the previous embassy dinner..."
Yukari gently tapped the red-white shrine maiden's head with her fan. "Now, Reimu dear, remember the bet we had before coming here..." Saying that, Yukari pointed at the red-white maid outfit Reimu was forced to wear.
"You're hopeless..." The red-white complained before walking out of the dining room.
"Yukari, you haven't changed one bit in the last 10 years..." Shinki pointed out, before taking a sip from her cup of Sake.
"For once, I agree with the demon goddess..." Mima was also there, and she too pointed out on the same thing.
Yukari pretends she didn't hear anything, and continues with her drink. When she notices that the mug is already empty, the Youkai Of Boundaries simply opened a gap, reached into it, and pulled out what appeared to be a bottle of Brandy, which she refills the mug with.
Kanako, still in a drunken state, scanned around the dining hall to see who else were present. Aside from herself, Yukari, Mima and Shinki, the others present at the gathering were: Yuyuko Saigyouji who is wolfing down a big bowl of ramen (and that's the tenth bowl already), and Eirin Yagokoro who is the only one that sat by herself while saying nothing.
"Shinki..." Kanako tries to get the demon goddess's attention. "Is there anyone who hasn't *hic* arrived yet?"
"Oh, now that you mention it..." Shinki suddenly remembers that there were absentees in the gathering, and called out to her maid, "Yumeko, is there anyone who hasn't arrived yet?"
Yumeko the demon maid suddenly materialized next to the demon goddess, holding a checklist in her hands. "Shinki-sama, I have exactly three absentees on this list: Kazami Yuuka-san who has declined to come to the gathering, Hijiri Byakuren-san who sent a message saying that she will be running late, and Konpaku Youki-san..."
Youki Konpaku, the half-ghost master samurai arrived just in time. He said nothing about the gathering or why he came late, as he politely sat himself down the nearest chair he could find, which happened to be next to Yuyuko.
"...Who have only just arrived..." Yumeko continues as she checks the half-ghost's name on the list.
Youki elected to pour tea from the teapot (which was meant for Byakuren, as she and her followers do not consume alcohol) into a cup and took a small sip from it before saying "I apologize for being late..."
With that done, Shinki dismissed Yumeko who bowed politely before literally disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"I think we can start talking about our resolution now, seeing that two of us will be absent this year..." Yukari told everyone in a half-drunken state.
Mima the evil spirit had beat the Youkai Of Boundaries to it. "This year, I am going to make Marisa more like a proper lady!" Mima declares loudly, also in a half-drunken state.
The dining hall became so silent, one could hear what is going on outside the room.
"I don't know what part of that witch do you not consider ladylike enough..." Yukari tries (and fails) at coming up with a mock. "Other than her outfit, of course..."
Mima face-palmed upon hearing that. "The earrings she wears. Those aren't the kind a proper lady would wear, especially not ladies with pointed ears..." The evil spirit then turns toward Yukari. "What are your resolutions?"
Yukari spent some time thinking up her answer, but instead... "To be honest... I've got nothing..." In embarrassment, the Youkai Of Boundaries downed the entire mug of Brandy in about two gulps. "So I've *hic* decided... My resolution for this year is to *hic* come up with a reasonable *hic* resolution for next year..."
Everyone turned toward Eirin Yagokoro. Now its the moon doctor's turn.
"I am still trying to get Kaguya-sama to stop spending her time and credit cards on video games..." Eirin gave a straightforward answer, as she takes another sip from her cup.
It was now Yuyuko's turn. "I'm going to..."
The ghost princess was interrupted mid sentence by Mima. "Let me guess: eat more?"
"Not that one." Yuyuko contradicted, much to everyone's surprise. "That's last year's. This year, I'm going to go on a diet instead."
It was technically Youki's turn next, but everyone elected to let him pass since he never needed a New Year resolution before. Instead...
"I've always wanted to see how well Yumeko-chan fares against that vampire's maid." Shinki announces her intention for the year. "Maybe that will be my resolution: to see the two maids duking it out in the most elegant way possible."
After the demon goddess has had her turn, everyone turned toward the one person who has yet to take hers: Kanako Yasaka.
"What...?" Kanako responded in a drunken state. "Don't you all know what my resolutions are?"
"Nope." Yukari replies with a straightforward answer.
"Not me~" So does Yuyuko.
"Not everyone knows what you were planning, since you've only just arrived in Gensokyo months ago..." Eirin gave a not-so-straightforward one.
"Wizards may be capable of many things, but mind-reading certainly isn't one of mine." Mima answered.
"I'm quite interested to hear about it~" Shinki said.
Youki said nothing in regards to the matter.
Kanako stared at everyone, sighed once, before saying, "I guess I should announce my resolution instead of letting you all guess it..."
...
Reimu was just going back to the dining hall, carrying with her a tray holding one bottle of wine and several wine glasses. The red-white mumbled as she walked down the corridor toward the dining hall.
"Why did I even play by that Gap Hag's rules in that bet? I should've remembered that she never plays fair. And also, I don't like this maid outfit..."
The red-white shrine maiden reached the dining hall, and was about to push the door open until something made her stop.
The dining hall was filled with loud chatters several minutes ago, but now it is completely silent.
Wondering what the people inside were up to, Reimu pushed the door open anyway...
"Did I miss something while I was gone?"
...
Reimu, in fact, did miss something. That "something" can be indicated by everyone staring at Kanako with the shocked look (even Mima and Shinki, to her surprise).
Yukari straightened herself and cleared her throat before she told Reimu, "Leave that tray by the table with the flower pot, Reimu. After that, could you excuse us all for the next few hours?"
Reimu wondered what had Kanako said that made the Youkai Of Boundaries behave like that, but did what she was told to anyway. "I guess its something I'm not old enough to chime in, right? Well, I was going to excuse myself afterwards, anyway..." With that done, Reimu turned around and walked out of the dining hall.
Everyone wait a few seconds before turning back toward Kanako, still with that look of surprise on their face.
"Did you know what you've just said?" Yukari asked sternly, which was a massive difference from her usual self.
"This is not the first time a similar sentence has been uttered in Gensokyo." Even Yuyuko has suddenly become serious about things.
Kanako looked at everyone with confusion, and then asked "Was what I just said actually that serious of a matter?"
Mima stabbed her magical knife into the dining table in response. "It is..." There was anger written all over the evil spirit's face. "That was the very reason I've became an evil spirit..."
Shinki being serious makes the atmosphere all the more creepy, despite Makai itself already having a creepy atmosphere. "What you've just suggested was against the Neverland Convention, an agreement between Sanctuaries so serious that it made the Outside World's Geneva Convention look like nothing."
Kanako became evermore confused about the situation. "Why? Was there anything wrong with..."
Surprisingly, Youki was the one who interrupted the goddess. "Enough..." The half-ghost master samurai said, before turning toward Yukari. "Yakumo-dono, perhaps you should explain to Yasaka-dono why the very speech she have just uttered is a taboo in Gensokyo..."
Kanako finally understood why everyone looked at her like that, but the goddess still has a question to ask. "But why the Neverland Convention?"
"Let Yukari answer that question for you..." Eirin cuts in without looking at anyone. The moon doctor just stared at her cup while thinking of something from the past.
Yukari cleared her throat again, and started her explanation to Kanako.
"It was exactly 50 years ago on this day that the Council Of Sanctuaries and Neverland Convention was formed. But the true reason for its formation dates back to the two months following it. Back then, Gensokyo has no such thing as Spell Card Rules or the Non-Fatal Combat Clause, more like a dystopia than a utopia... and its population wasn't almost-entirely female..."
Afterwords
Okay, the prologue itself took place just seven years before Fantasy Blitzkrieg: Mission One, not far enough in the past to play out the pseudo-prequel I'm talking about. But that's for working up to the point where the actual story can be conveyed. The actual story of this pseudo-prequel takes place in, as Yukari just told Kanako, 50 years in the past.
Some of you might be wondering: "What the Makai is this Neverland Convention, and what does Peter Pan have to do with it?" The answer: its to the Council of Sanctuaries what the Geneva Convention is to the United Nations. And also, Peter Pan has absolutely nothing to do with it, I just need a parallel of Geneva, Switzerland to form the Convention, and Neverland seemed to fit the bill quite well (in my opinion, anyway).
Another question some of you might be asking as well: "Marisa has pointy ears?! I though she's like any other humans in canon?!" My answer: well, it seems that PC-98 Marisa did have pointy ears (as a result of ZUN's original art style, perhaps), and also that almost every fan art of PC-98 Marisa where the artist even bothered to draw ears portrayed her with pointy ears. So in my headcanon, Marisa ended up having pointy ears. The reason this wasn't mentioned in Fantasy Blitzkrieg is because it was too irrelevant to the storyline to worth mentioning. Don't worry, despite having pointy ears, she is still human in my headcanon, the rest of this story will explain it via a fictional ethnicity.
By ethnicity, I am referring to things such as the difference between regular Americans and African-Americans (minus the racism).
Last but not least, what was the bet between Reimu and Yukari that forced the red-white shrine maiden to dress up as a maid? That is more of a Noodle Incident, so it is up to your imagination.
Shout-out index:
"...Mugenri...Yabusame Houren..." - Are you surprised with a Len'En Project reference? As with Genskyo, Wonderland, and Oz, Mugenri also fitted the bill of being a Sanctuary in my headcanon. Note that in Len'En Project's canon, the characters' genders were deliberately left vague by Jynx (right down to giving then gender-neutral names), and its only because the guys at both Maidens Of The Kaleidoscope and the Let's Danmaku forum assuming Yabusame being female that I thought of making Mugenri to be a reverse-Gensokyo in that its an almost-entirely male society with her as one of the few female residents.
That is all. "Until then..."