Freedom of a Captured and Restricted Mind

Chapter One

Nicholas ran a hand along the cool, dew-covered grass, feeling the blades brush and tickle against his fingers. He took a heavy sigh of relief. The blonde leaned against a rock, rubbing the round black bruise on his face. He groaned.

"Ow..." He had been chased home from school again. Why...? Why do they hate me..? Nicholas thought to himself, readjusting his glasses, looking over the cliff to the sunset. The teenager let his view sink, to the cold ocean below his dangling feet. He looked to his left, to see the small book, colored a leathery brown, a golden star shining glossily on the cover. "Sometimes it's like your my only friend..." He said, standing up, picking up the book.

"Your quite lonely, aren't you?"

"EH!" Nicholas said, nearly leaping out of his skin. He whipped around, to see a young-looking woman. She had beautiful golden hair, which fell around her shoulders, and she had mysterious, shadowy eyes of a similar color to match. She wore a mob cap of light pink, and her dress was a similar color, except with a long purple streak with several trigrams on it, with a multicolored ying-yang orb placed at the bottom. She was gripping a pink parasol in one hand, a white paper fan in the other. She floated, yes, FLOATED in the air just off of the cliff. No strings, no fans, no projectors, nothing. Nicholas was sure she was real. But he was less concerned over how she got there, why she was talking to him, or how she was floating, all he was thinking was Is she going to hurt me? Nicholas took a step back.

The woman laughed throatily, she couldn't help but grin. She looked similar to that of a goddess, the way the sunlight was hitting her. "Do not be afraid." She said, hoping to calm the blonde boy. "I am not here to hurt you." She hovered down to the grass edge of the cliff, closing her parasol. The teenager took another step back, trembling in fear. "What if I told you that there was a place you could go where nobody hated you. Where you could have a fresh start. A world unfamiliar to you, a world untouched by this place."

"Wha...What? What are you t-talking about..?" He stammered, standing up a little straighter. But secret, he was pondering what she was saying. A world where no one hates me? A fresh start? What kind of place is that? Does that place even exist?

"I'm talking about a world where vampires own mansions, a world where an ordinary person can cast a magic spell that causes a giant rainbow laser to come out of no where. A place where little girls fly around and try to assimilate each other with these magical bullets called Danmaku!" The woman said, using her arms to make dramatic motions. "A world...called..."

"..Gensokyo.."

"Gensokyo?"

"Gensokyo."

"But...how are we supposed to get to another world?"

"That's a silly question to ask the youkai who manipulates the border between this world and that world."

"Interesting..." Nicholas said. "But there's always a catch to these sort of things. What would I have to do?"

"Nothing too binding, just sign this contract." The young 'youkai' said, before a piece of paper seemed to appear as if being burned in reverse. She held a pen and the paper forward. "It simply says that once I've released you into Gensokyo, If I ever need something from you, you will do what I ask, when I ask it." Nicholas took a step back at the commanding undertone in her voice. "But don't worry, I have two servants, so I might not need your help often."

Nicholas took one last look at her, pausing, but soon signed the contract in her hand, albeit hesitating slightly. As soon as he lifted the pen from the paper, the yellowed parchment burned up again. "Thank you, Nicholas Paige. Now, to seal the deal." The woman flicked her wrist, and all of the suddenly, smoky, purple, chains erupted from the ground, puffs of shadowy air blowing off it in a similar fashion to that of dry ice. The chains gripped at his body, two around his wrists, two around his ankles, and a single one around his throat. Nicholas could not move for a second, but the chains quickly disappeared. "What the-!" He said, as the chains dispersed. He moved his body around, but the chains had seemed to just leave, giving him full control of his body once more. But he would never forget that one terrifying moment where his body was chained up similarly to that of an animal's.

"Now step over to the cliff." Stated the blonde youkai, and Nicholas did as he was told, looking down into the murky black and blue waters, dimming as the sunlight sunk into the distance more and more. Then, the woman jumped.

"AH!" Nicholas said, trying to grab her, but she fell anyway, but as she fell, she swung her hand, her thin, pale fingers tearing across the air, creating a small rip in the fabric of space and time, a gap, if you will. She stopped falling next to it, her descent slowing to a gentle stop. She held onto the edges, where bright red ribbons held the edges closed.

"Simply jump."

Nicholas, without hesitation, leaped from the cliff. He had no idea what made him do it. Maybe it was the Youkai woman, maybe it was his own will. He had no idea. But as he latched onto the edge, he only had one question in mind.

"What is your name?"

"Yakumo."

And with that, Nicholas was left to fall, endlessly and forevermore, spiraling throughout the low gravity within the gap, no light, only pulsating colors of red and purple, eyes blinking and watching him. The boy blinked his eyes shut. And the fall seemed to last even longer. But soon, he was met by a brush of cool ri, and the scenerey around him seemed to be lighter. He was no longer tumbling through the air, rather, he was slowly hovering downward, still curled up in a ball, towards a floor. He opened his eyes, to see...shelves. Shelves..and books. Books upon books, lined near windows, stacked close to tables, lying open near melted candles. If Nicholas didn't know better, he would have thought he had died and gone to heaven. That was when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Who are you?" came a thin, yet powerful voice from behind him. Nicholas whipped around, to see a young girl, short in stature, wearing what looked like a purple nightgown, and long hair of violet, tied with multicolored ribbons.

"Eh..?" He asked, looking down at her, She was shorter than him, but only by three or so inches.

"State your name and business."

"My name is...Nicholas...and..." He said, stuttering. This girl was short, but the air she brought about her was sinister, and powerful.

"And..?" Retorted the girl, obviously annoyed that someone was invading HER library. "And this lady with blonde hair made me come here."

"Ah...So it was her then."

"Uhm...Yes?"

The woman was angry now, she turned around, breathing heavily. That Marisa. She thought, her eyebrows bunching up in rage. I can't believe it, that girl was already stealing my books. Now she's so lazy she sends a LACKEY after me! Does she think I'm THAT easy to steal from! Every time she comes she barely escapes with her left leg! Grrr... The girl turned around. "Well, you tell her to PISS OFF!" It was rare of her to use obscenities, but her anger forced her to do it.

"What is wrong, Lady Patchouli?" came another quiet voice, this time much clearer, but equally as soft. Out from behind a shelf came a young girl, who looked like she was sixteen, with red hair, and a black outfit, and black bat wings sticking out from her back and from the sides of her head.

"Nothing is wrong, Koakuma. Just an intruder from her." 'Patchouli' grit her teeth angrily as she said that. "Just go back to your dusting."

"Are you sure, ma'am? I can help dispose of this 'Marisa' servant for you, if you wish." The red-haired girl replied shyly.

"Yes. Now go!"

"Auu~! Yes ma'am!" 'Koakuma' said, before running off, feather duster in hand.

"Who's Marisa?"

"You mean...you don't know the name of the person who sent you here?"

"Yes I do. She said her name was Yakumo."

"Oh, so she's gone and told you that she's Yukari, eh?" She said, angrily. "Well, y'know what? You are not stealing any of my books!" She was screaming now.

"But I-" Nicholas said, but was cut off by a knife nearly stabbing him in the head, instead jabbing the book right next to him.

"Is there a problem, Patchouli?" said a woman in a maid's dress, who had silver hair, tied into neat braids..

"In fact, Sakuya, there is." Patchouli said, before pointing an accusing finger directly at Nicholas. "Marisa sent him here." She said, still pointing.

Sakuya nodded. "I will quickly dispose of him." Sakuya faded away in a flash of green light. Suddenly, knives. Everywhere, all in front of Nicholas, all floating, all aimed from different angles, all aimed at the blonde. Sakuya, now standing next to Nicholas, opened the first she held tightly shut, and then, the knives flew forward, stabbing all around Nicholas, none making direct contact, but a few giving him some cuts as they grazed sharply against his skin. Nicholas winced, dropping to his knees, hurt, but still alive, and generally alright.

"Dammit." Sakuya said, clutching her fist. It was rare for her to miss like that, so severely, usually she can knife them at least in the arm or the stomach.

"Unnnh..." Nicholas moaned, obviously hurting from the cuts, especially a pretty deep gash in his right forearm, but mostly from the inner turmoil going on inside his head. I'm gonna die...I'm gonna die...I'm gonna die...

Sakuya pulled another knife out from within her dress, and tossed it at Nicholas, and this time, she didn't miss. The knife lodged itself deep within Nicholas' stomach, and he collapsed unmoving, except for his hand twitching, and his quiet, yet heavy breath as he gasped for oxygen. His body emptied itself, blood pooling more and more on the cold tile. Sakuya walked up to him, her shoe two centimeters from his face. The silver-haired maid, held up the knife in her hand above her head, ready to plunge it deep into Nicholas' head, ending his life. Nicholas clenched his fist, shutting his eyes, just waiting for the sweet embrace of darkness known as death.

"Shikigami Radiance! Princess Tenko -Illusion- !"

...That was the last voice Nicholas heard, before darkness swept him away into slumber.

"Nicholas...Nicholas..." came a quiet, soothing voice, almost like a little girl's. "Are you alright?"

"Chen!" came a much more gruff voice. "Be more careful, he's injured."

"Sorry, Ran-sama."

"It's alright."

"What did Ms. Yagokoro say?"

"Eirin says he'll be fine."

Nicholas peeked open his eyes to see a large room. He was lying in an incredibly soft bed, with white sheets, tinted pink by the red curtains, which where closed. All the walls were red, and there were three doors. One led outside, but Nicholas wasn't sure what the other two did. Upon looking down, he realized that his clothes had been replaced with pink, pajamas, and a nightcap was placed upon his head. Attached to his left sleeve was one of those old-timey pocket watches. What was next to him was quite a sight. A tall, powerful-looking woman of dirty blonde hair, wore a double-pointed hat that was white with yellow talismans. He outfit was similarly to that woman, Yakumo's out fit, except white, and the streak down the middle was blue, not purple, and no ying-yang orbs. Standing next to her, was a young girl with brown hair. a green cap, a cat tail split in two, a red dress, and two cat ears with a golden earring in one.

"Who..Who're you?" The blonde boy asked, attempting to sit up, but wincing at the sudden aches and pains all over his body, he lied down again, barely able to move. The tall, young woman came up.

"I am...Yakumo."