AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This story takes place in an alternate continuity based on the Touhou Project, taking place from the events of Hopeless Masquerade onward. Any games that have been release after Double Dealing Character may or may not be considered canon. While most characterizations are kept as close to canon as possible (to the best of my own writing ability), certain character origins have been altered or reimagined. Similarly, certain aspects of canon (the origin and nature of youkai, for example) have been altered for the sake of the story. In the end, some creative liberties have been taken, but the majority of the series history and characters themselves remain intact.

This story does contain numerous original characters, most of whom will serve as antagonists.

Comments and reviews are welcome, but try to keep them to one review per chapter per person. Also, if anyone happens to notice any grammar errors, or any other issues, please do tell me via PM, rather than review.

Content Warnings: This story contains examples of language, violence, non-explicit sexual references, and character death.


Part 1: Hopeless Masquerade


Chapter 1: Medicine (I)


It had been a little over eight years since Medicine Melancholy had first encountered Yuuka Kazami, way back during that sixty year flower incident. Had she known just how powerful Yuuka was at the time, Medicine very well might have fled from that battle, and spared herself the trouble that followed it months later. Yuuka hadn't exactly openly antagonized Medicine by any means. She'd just been merely exploring Gensokyo on her own for the first time, spreading her poisons as she deemed fit, and had inadvertently managed to defeat Yuuka in battle by merely overwhelming her with poison, to the point where she'd been forced to flee.

And had Yuuka been merely another youkai, that would've been the end of it. A few weeks after the flower incident had passed, Medicine had returned to her relatively secluded life among her flowers, with occasional visits from that Eientei doctor, Eirin, who expressed an interest in using her poisons for research purposes. That was at least, until Yuuka had arrived, seeking her out at some point during that following summer.

She mentioned that her defeat at Medicine's hands had actually been her first debilitating defeat in quite a long time, likely in almost a thousand years she believed. Medicine hadn't actually known Yuuka to be that old at the time, since she herself was a relatively young being. But for a time, Yuuka made a few regular visits to see Medicine, slowly building up her tolerance to those poisons of hers. All under the claim that Yuuka found her abilities to be 'interesting'.

But of course, that was all until the following autumn, the last time that Medicine had ever seen Yuuka Kazami. And in the end, she came to the conclusion that youkai were just the same as humans, who simply viewed her as a tool to be used. Just like how Yuuka had merely used Medicine as an outlet for her sexual deviancy during that last meeting. And then she had merely been tossed aside, never to see Yuuka again from that day forward. Nor did Yuuka herself ever realize that she had left Medicine with child that day.

Months later, in the following spring, one year after the flower incident that had started everything, Medicine gave birth to her daughter. A girl she had named Miasma Melancholy, something she deemed rather appropriate, considering the circumstances of her birth. And every day since then, the girl served as a reminder to Medicine of her newfound hatred toward youkai. But still, she raised Miasma as her own, vowing to never speak with Yuuka again, even if that meant finally being alone again.

Medicine never left the suzuran field again after that day, not for many more years, and she had tried to make Miasma to do the same. At the least, Medicine figured, maybe she would have someone to share her mutual hatred of humans and youkai with. But that became an increasingly difficult task to manage as the years went by.

It was the summer of 2013, and Miasma had just turned seven a few months prior. Though in terms of human appearance, Miasma resembled a child of at least eleven or twelve, since youkai tended to mature at a faster rate than human children. Although Miasma was certainly taller than Medicine, she was still rather short for someone of her approximate age. And aside from her rather small stature, she looked more and more like that damned youkai every day, and less and less like Medicine herself. Her hair was a very light green, and just past shoulder length, while her eyes were the perfect contrast, being a bright red. On top of that, she'd inherited Yuuka's physical strength as well. As if Medicine wanted another reminder. Miasma's clothing was a rather shabby looking black blouse and skirt, with some white trim here and there, along with a black bow and flower in her hair.

Worse than any of those resemblances to Yuuka in her appearance, was Miasma's growing insistence that she wanted to leave the suzuran field, and go out to explore Gensokyo on her own. Despite the fact that Medicine would've greatly enjoyed the solitude, she'd still have to cope with the fact that Miasma would probably choose to abandon her in that flower field. She wasn't exactly the most loving mother in the world.

And today in particular, Miasma had been particularly insistent on leaving the field. "Come on, mom... I've never spent more than an hour outside of this tiny flower field. I've never even had the chance to talk with anyone else other than you!"

Medicine could only assume there must have been some other kind of new incident going on lately, what with all the recent activity from the humans and youkai in the nearby area. Sure, it was a common thing to see the occasional human, youkai, or other being fly by overhead once every day or two. But they'd become increasingly common for the past couple days. A few days prior, when she'd first noticed this, she had ventured outside of the suzuran field without Miasma's knowledge for the first time in many years, only to confirm what she believed to be true. Of course, it had to be some kind of incident again, as she saw a considerable number of people she didn't even recognize getting into apparently pointless fights over trivial matters. Without even having left the flower field, Miasma had apparently jumped to the same conclusion.

"Leaving here would be pointless, Miasma. Humans and youkai... They're all the same, you know. They just treat us like tools, and then they simply throw us away when they have no more use for us." It was something she had tried to force Miasma to believe since the day she'd been born. And for a long time, she'd apparently believed it. At least, until Miasma had finally started to mature on her own, and grow more curious about the world around her. "If you leave here and try to meet with them, the same thing is going to happen to you, too. Is that really what you want to happen?"

"You don't know that for sure!" Miasma finally shouted, balling her hand tightly into a fist. Medicine winced at the sudden increase in Miasma's temper, and she recoiled a bit, knowing just how strong Miasma could get when she was angry. "Just because... Something might've happened to you a long time ago... Doesn't mean that all people are the same, you know! You've just kept me here for seven years, and... I've never had the chance to meet anyone else, even if I see them fly by all the time, not knowing I even exist!"

"Because it's better for you that way, Miasma. Better for both of us." Medicine glared up at her daughter, stubbornly. Staring into Miasma's eyes, particularly when she was angry, just made her all the more aware of how much she resembled Yuuka. She almost completely despised Miasma when she saw that look in her eyes. "You don't know anything about what humans and youkai are like out there. You're still just a stupid little kid, and you don't know any better."

That last statement seemed to be what finally pushed Miasma over the edge. The glare in her eyes switched from anger to pure defiance in just that one moment, and Medicine almost feared that Miasma would've finally acted out violently, and perhaps punched her to the ground or something. But the blow never came, much to Medicine's relief, but what followed wasn't exactly an improvement. "Ugh... You're... You're just so stupidly close minded...!" Miasma turned away from her mother, and began to fly up into the air, not once turning back to look at her.

"Miasma! Where do you think you're going!?" Medicine shouted out to her daughter, taking a few steps forward to attempt to close the growing distance between the two.

"I'm going out on my own for once!" Miasma stated, not once turning her back to face her mother again. "If you want to shut out the entire world, that's fine! But I'm not going to be the same as you... I'm not going to just be alone my whole life like you clearly want to be!"

"Fine, just go then!" Medicine called back, but she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of remorse as Miasma flew off into the distance, off in the direction of the Human Village. "You'll be back eventually, Miasma... You'll see what I've already realized..."

"They don't care about beings like us..." Medicine sighed, as she fell backward to lay face-up in the flower field, staring up at the sky. "Humans and youkai... They're such simple creatures..."