I remember the night it happened. The very destruction of Gensokyo, the night right the borders collapsed and the humans rediscovered magic. Ever since it happened, I have been in hiding, as with everyone else that was not captured or executed. Gensokyo used to be such a beautiful, mystical, and, albeitly, frightening place, until the humans from the outside world discovered it and because it being so magical, the outsiders decided they wanted Gensokyo for their own greed

I remembered when, my mother figure, Yukari had seen the soldiers and tanks come through and how she hurried to the shrine to grab me, before gapping back to her house, placing Chen and me in Ran's arms, gapping us away. I remembered her tears and how she broke her shikigami contract with Ran, saying, "Right now, I need you all to be brave and, Ran, take care of Reimu and Chen. When I gap you, I need you all to run and don't ever look or come back." I remembered how Ran held us tight and ran with us in her arms, to the bamboo forest and to a cave, a cave that would soon become home to many that fled that night. That was the last time we had seen her, she gapped us to safety and acted as decoy to make sure we were safe.

Ever since that night, nothing has been the same. Our Gensokyo was rendered to nothing more than a heavily polluted smoky-skied prison country, something like those old photos of this frightening place in an old book that Yukari showed me. Even Hakugyokurou and Hell was destroyed. She told me that is a place where the sun hardly ever shines and said, "Reimu, my sweet, that place is called an "interment camp" and there are many more like it, those that go in do not come out." From behind the fences and walls of the things called 'internment camps', I heard screams of agony and from behind the fences, I saw many begging for freedom and many getting drained out of their power, even the fairies were killed. Once, Chen and I peered into the barred windows and saw Mokou and Kaguya starving and weak, dying and resurrecting back where they were, wishing for death. In a trash heap, I spotted Marisa's beloved hat and broom, along with one of Alice's dolls, and the guard whispering, "That little witch is dead and the doll queen perished as well." Upon hearing news of their deaths, I wanted to cry out but restrained myself to mere whimpers and had to be dragged away.

Gensokyo was our home and now it is destroyed. The ones that destroyed our home are looking for me and those that managed to flee. All over, there were wanted posters and news of 'magitek', magical technology, and how much more magic they needed more magic to make more, draining Gensokyo of its energy and its life, culling out each and every last one of the most powerful. Remi was killed and Sakuya was captured, Meiling was put to work in a forced labor camp, and Patchouli has been apprehended when her health conditions proved too much in resisting and she was imprisoned in a library, and Flandre we never saw again. Momiji regained her true form and fled, while Aya's had her wings broken, and was immediately put to work.

We escaped but they persisted. After awhile, I told Ran and Chen that they should flee to Tokyo, to which they responded, "But how?" I explained that Ran could take the form of a human and Chen could could take the form of a regular cat, rendering them undetectable and safe, being that Ran gained her powers back. At first, they refused, Ran saying, "You are like Yukari's child and she told me to take care of you, after all, you are the remaining Hakurei, so how could we leave you?" Chen was in tears by this point and insisted that we stay together, saying that if I was to stay in Gensokyo, then so were they. We went back and forth over it, until Ran relented and kissed me on the cheek, before taking human form and concealing her tails and Chen took the form of a cat and was placed in Ran's purse. She hugged me one last time and fled to Tokyo, with Chen tucked away in her purse. It wasn't long until, afterward, those that could transform took other forms and left the cave and Gensokyo as well, fleeing to various parts of the Outside World.

I was now all alone, most of my friends were killed, most have vanished, some fled to the Outside World, and some are within the walls of those camps. Wearing a black cloak, I often look at the poster and my photo is not marked with slain or apprehended. I wanted nothing more that to reclaim Gensokyo but it didn't know how and what to do. The only one who really remained with me was Suika and, being passed out drunk, she was apprehended. I was the only one not captured or slain left in Gensokyo. With that knowledge, I wondered what had happened to Yukari and I wondered her captors have decided to spare her. I was to have my answer when I had found a rather crumpled note, reading:

Reimu,

This is Yukari writing. I managed to steal bits of paper and a pen, so I could write you this note. I'm writing to tell you, that I've missed you and is deeply worried, fearing that they may have apprehended you . It has been a bit since I have last seen you but it is better to have you all in hiding than to be found and imprisoned, possibly awaiting death. At least, I am allowed a bit of freedom to go outside and nor be confined a cramped and dirty cell, like Yuyuko, Kanako, Suika, and Meiling, until further use, but it is still a hellhole and I am only fortunate, for now . As, I wrote this, I am trying to fight back tears that you've been lost. Hopefully, someday, I will escape and come and find you, perhaps take you to the outside world or meet you in Tokyo. Hugs and Kisses.
-Yukari

The note she wrote only gave me temporary satisfaction and I was yearning to see her again. In reading the note, I was left with only a couple of choices: Leave Gensokyo and wait for Ran or stay and let fate decide. Yukari made one risk writing those words and that was gapping this note. She didn't want me within the walls with her, for fear we would be ripped apart by death. For all we know, maybe is plotting her escape and by what she said in the note, she wanted me to flee to Tokyo and was hoping for a reunion. I decided I had to make a painful choice and that was flee to Tokyo so I won't be found and imprisoned. The decision pained me so because I wanted nothing more than to save the others but facing imprisonment and possible death while staying in Gensokyo gave me no other choice. Yukari's a mastermind, she'll find a way to free herself and those that have been imprisoned I thought.

The next day, wearing a black cloak and after dying my hair, I fled to Tokyo and began my search for Ran and Chen. I continued searching for them, until I heard talk of a strange woman with golden-green eyes and that she had a cat that wore an earring and green hat living in the poorer, more crowded districts of Tokyo. I knew them instantly to be Ran and Chen and I quickly went to their supposed location. The moment Ran saw me, she threw her arms around me and said, "Oh how we've missed you!" I was smothered in kisses and was quickly shown to the only room. "I know it isn't much but you and Chen sleep here, while I sleep in the living room. Also, I'm going out to get some food and will be back in a moment." she said, putting on a veil. Chen resumed her normal form and greeted me with a hug, inviting me to play a game. We played a game together for an hour, until, Ran came home with what was to be our dinner. Chen and I ate but she went without. As we ate, I asked her if she was hungry to which, she responded, "Don't worry, Reimu, I'll be alright, I'll eat whatever scraps there are left. Now eat, eat, eat!"

Once we had dinner, she had us take a bath, combed and brushed our hair, and hurried us right to bed. With haste, she drew the shades, turned off the lights, turned down the television, and made sure the door was locked. She kissed us each on the cheek and bid us goodnight. When we were certain Ran could not hear us, I asked, "Chen, why didn't Ran want to eat?" Chen's lip trembled and she said, "Mama Ran often goes without, as to save what limited funds we have. Whatever money she has, she spends it on food and other things."

"Has it really been that long since you two left Gensokyo?"

"No, only about a few weeks, and this is the only apartment we could find and the only one where Ran and I wouldn't have be separated. Also, this apartment once belonged to someone who didn't take good care of and died in it and the managers could find no one else who wanted it, so they gave it to us. Whenever she leaves or is meeting with the managers, she wears a veil and hides her face or, sometimes, she covers just her head, making sure all of her hair, except the bangs and a small braid are covered."

"Does she work?"

"Yes, but the occupation she had doesn't pay very well and she works by cleaning houses and things."

I wanted to know more but sleep to hold of Chen as it did me. The next day, we awoke and found our breakfast on the table and note on the refrigerator. In the note, Ran was telling us that she had gone to work and wouldn't back until tonight. "Sometimes, if I had behaved, Ran will bring me something home but, since, you are here, she might bring you something home, too." Chen said, while brushing my white hair and braiding it in pigtails. That night, Ran did bring something home and that was Flandre, who took many things, treatments, and had many spells cast upon her, even ripping out her wings, to turn her into a five-year old human with anemia and a condition called 'xeroderma pigmentosum', something that sounded downright unnatural. When she saw me, she said, "Now, I can live like you, like humans and they won't know a thing, only I cannot go outside because of my 'condition'." I asked her if it was permanent, to which she answered, "Yes, it is and I'm not a vampire anymore and won't be one ever again." She hugged me and hurried over to hug Chen, before moving onto to Ran. Once she was through hugging, she hurried into the bedroom and started to make herself comfortable. Once she did, she started to cry, saying, "I miss Remi, she would have wanted to become human if it meant escaping death." Ran hurried to comfort her and reassured her that Remilia would have wanted her to escape and that she survived.

After dinner, Ran tucked us in and made it absolutely clear that there was to be no kicking of the legs or kicking of each other out of bed. She kissed us all and went about routine. Once we sure she was asleep, we started a conversation, with Chen saying, "Once a man asked Ran to marry him, so he could see her face of what she hid under her head and face coverings." Flandre couldn't help but to chuckle a little and she responded, "What did Ran say?" I chimed in, "Yes, what did Ran say?"

"She didn't say anything and hurried away as soon as he tried to remove her veil, though that wasn't without punching him."

"Um, Chen?"

"Yes, Flan?"

"Why does she wear head or face coverings?"

"The same reason as to why you turned human of course and why Reimu dyed her hair, to make sure they don't recognize her as being from Gensokyo."

"But can't Ran transform?"

"Yes, but not permanently, she can only take human form whenever she is around strangers and make herself appear human, aside from her foxlike traits."

"Then why didn't you shapeshift?"

"I can take the form of a cat and Ran often concocts stories as to why my tail is split and they usally goes like this, I got in a terrible accident that split my tail all the way to the base and it healed in two tails. Surprisingly enough, people believed her, no matter how odd the story was."

Over the course of waiting for Yukari, I found I no longer needed to dye my hair for it truly did turn white. I often found myself with recurrent colds and illnesses, one even had me coughing up blood. I started to have periods of days and sometimes weeks where I wouldn't eat or sleep. I had fainting spells, nightsweats, depression, and various sorts of other ailments. Soon, Ran, Chen, and Flandre were worried and, often, I was taken to the doctor. I had to take loads of medications and some seem not to do much of any sort of good. I spent most of my time in bed or in the hospital. Ran was often by my side, stroking my hair, and, whenever she wasn't there, she often worked herself ragged. After awhile, I truly did end up staying in the hospital and the doctors didn't know how to help or what to do. Illness overtook me and it seemed there was nothing left for me. To escape this misery and grief, death would be sweet.

Just as I was starting to lose hope, I saw a familiar face by my bedside. Yukari's. She was wearing different clothes and her hair was cut. The only thing that remained the same was her hat and her necklace. I asked her about the others and she sighed, saying, "I couldn't evacuate them all and some escaped by merely dying. Those I could save immediately fled all over Japan, except Rin, she went back and chose to stay with her tormentors and as Gensokyo collapsed in on itself and the Lunarians, they fled to China." I was confused and I asked, "Gensokyo is no more?"

"Yes, Reimu, Gensokyo is no more and the internment camps are no more."

"Rinnousuke?"

"Yes, he's safe, too, and opened up a new shop."

"So, we're safe?"

"Yes, we're safe, dear."

Gensokyo was destroyed and we had found a new home, a new Gensokyo. After awhile, Yukari brought a large house and we all went to live with her. My health started to return but my hair color did not and no longer required so many doctors visits. Patchouli soon opened a book store and Aya became chief editor of many of the Shinbun and started her Gensokyo column, detailing her stories and often she writes us letters, telling us about how things are going with all the other former residents of Gensokyo. As for me, I live with my memories and my odd sort of family, also Flan and me became like sisters, and, while she can never turn back to being a vampire, she does bite me on the head as an affectionate gesture and says she hopes she can go to night kindergarten with the other kids afflicted with her condition.