A Clash of Values and Auras

by Aines445

After the seasons begin to stabilize, what seemed like a mere rumor becomes a potential reality pertaining a new crisis for Gensokyo's balance. Faced with a foreign power, a pressuring force in the form of a faint white aura, Reimu Hakurei sets out to investigate and defeat its source. However, as otherworldly values clash, she sees that the process will not be as simple as usual.

1. Prologue

Prologue:

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In between the faintest of breezes, a rush of wind cut through the sky at blinding speeds. A panicked flight, intended for a clean escape, was the origin of the unnatural swaying of this wind. Anxious eyes glanced back for something, someone; nothing but the clouds in the sky were visible. Even without the threat in sight, however, the memories of the encounter remained.

Her own confident demeanor, predicting her victory against her opponent, turned into a stressful unease condensed into desperate panic; a sense of danger. A slight fear of death. From the moment the shockwave of his blow mixed with the overwhelming pressure, completely obliterating the little guard she had put up for what she had not previously perceived to be a real duel, she had felt the imminent danger. A power, never before seen. A white vapor had leaked from his robust figure, weighing down on the air of the outskirts of the Human Village.

Only after some time into the fight had she thought of the rumors, and reflexively ran for one significant location distant from the village. As a regular, she had known the path perfectly, and readied her broom to take flight with the only arm that seemed to properly move. However, she had not noticed the mistake she had committed in turning her back from her opponent. The recollection of the heavy sensation that had made her face him again was still fresh in her mind. Had she been slower in checking on the man's actions, his attack would have connected with her torso, perhaps piercing it the same way it had pierced so easily through the dark cloth. Had she not lost her balance, tripping over a prominent branch and irregularly positioning her foot far too much to the side, the fall would not have saved her from further damage.

Even so, the throbbing pain remained, and a singed scent could still be felt. She willed herself to ignore those, as her priorities lay elsewhere. She had escaped the duel for more than one reason, after all. An important realization had befallen her upon meeting with that man. She had long but connected the dots, and kept noting them in her mind so as to best phrase them openly.

The rumors; the unknown power; the human she had encountered. All of them led to a sinister conclusion. A reality she had only now started to believe. As such, she had seen past her own pain for one purpose.

I've gotta tell her, she thought, I've gotta tell her before it's too late...!