Disclaimer: Touhou Project is owned by Team Shanghai Alice.
Warning: Even though Reimu and Marisa's fourth-wall breaking conversation in Story of Eastern Wonderland amused me to no end, this fanfiction won't acknowledge PC-98 canon.
~Aphorism~
"The little girl was born believing that she was essentially powerless. Little did she know, that the thought itself would change her existence enormously."
~Prologue~
The power to manipulate fate, the power to control the flow of time. The power to destroy everything at will. The ability to manipulate death, manipulation of boundary. The power to create and erase history. The manipulation of eternity, immortality. The power to create miracles, sky, and earth.
And the list goes on.
And on.
And on.
Even the human of the paradise and the faithful servant were already gifted.
From this perspective, it left me, the mortal witch, with no choice but to learn the difficult way.
...
"I am searching for strength," was what I always said to myself, even to this day.
"I am struggling for power," was just a mere delusion made by a powerless human being, even to this day.
"I am seeking for capability," but in the end, I'm still capable of nothing.
"But for what reason?" I once asked to no one in particular. No answer.
"But for what purpose?" I asked the lonely but glimmering star of the dull sky. There was no answer.
"But for what aim?" I asked once again, yearning for an answer, but to no avail.
Was it for my pride? Was it just for a boast, made merely to make my existence known? Was I being too idealistic? Did I do all this in order to protect something, someone? Like those clichéd fairy tales I read, where the hero needs to become stronger and stronger in order to save the damsel in distress? Was that it?
Ah, of course.
"It's all just for a meaningless..."
Of course, in a world where the strong eat the weak, where the humans are among the lower tier of food chain.
"Survival of the fittest."
...
This was my story. It took place in such world; a world called Gensokyo.
GlassSkinned presents:
Witch Is The Catastrophe Herself.
~Chapter 1: Memories are reflecting in steady affirmation.~
"Shut up! Just leave me alone!"
I stepped outside. My hand was busy carrying a huge bag filled with various things that I possessed, while the other one holding a typical witch's broom rather tightly. With a great determination, I finally decided to leave my home. Or rather, my parents' household.
"Marisa! Where do you think you are going?!" hissed a loud voice. It was my father's.
"Like you have to ask! I'm leaving this place!" I yelled without turning back.
"Fine, be it that way! You ungrateful child!"
The sound of wooden door followed by a loud bang then echoed through the tranquil scenery of Human Village, startled both me and the passers-by who happened to witness the very quarrel I just had with my father.
I froze for seconds, before I dashed quickly. Attempting to hold my tears before they fell from my eyes, but to no avail. I ran, I wept, I avoided the gaze of the passers-by. Somehow, I could assure myself, it would be the last quarrel between me and my parents.
Stupid father! Stupid mother! They... don't know about my feelings at all!
I was completely overtaken by emotions that I couldn't think straight. I was just running blindly, without knowing the direction of where I was going.
I'm... I'm just interested in magic, what is wrong with that?! What's wrong with being different than anyone else?! They... they just don't understand! They will never understand me!
Playing as a sad, abandoned little girl, I kept ranting inside my fragile mind as I found myself standing in front of a long flight of stone steps that led to the only shrine in Gensokyo at the time; Hakurei Shrine.
I slowly dropped the stuff I was holding the entire time before I rubbed my watery eyes. Then I took my oversized typical witch's hat from my bag and idly let my golden hair shimmering in the sun before placed it on top of my head. Carrying back my stuff, I began climbing the stairs one step at a time as I tried to calm myself down from the overwhelming emotions I felt earlier. Because, for some reasons, I didn't want her to see me like this.
It was a really long stairway indeed; it took me a good minute before I could reach the top. The first one to greet my advent was a rather large red torii gate. From the distance, I could see the shrine maiden of paradise herself, who also happened to be my friend. Or I'd rather call her my best 'sidekick'; Reimu Hakurei.
"Yo, Reimuuu!"
Reimu was in the middle of sweeping the porch before turning to the voice.
"Marisa? Good morning," Reimu greeted.
"Yeah, morning!" I forced a false grin. "You already sweeping your shrine? Man, you sure are a hard worker."
"Not really. It's just the usual," Reimu idly waved her hand. "It's not like you to come here this early in the morning."
"Ah, y-yeah... I just woke up earlier than usual and decided to come here, is all," I reasoned.
Reimu, however, seemed like she could see through my lies easily, which made me feel kinda uneasy. She stopped her sweeping as she looked firmly at me.
"Hey, I just realized now that you're carrying a huge bag there," she narrowed her eyes at it. "What's inside it?"
"Oh, t-this? This is just a... um... trash! Yeah! I was about to throw this somewhere in the forest before coming here!" I didn't know why I had to lie to her. But then again, those metal scraps I gathered at that time technically are, well... trash.
"Then why did you bring your trash bag into my shrine?!" Reimu angrily glared. "You aren't really planning to throw it here, are you?!"
"Of course not! Well then I'm going now see ya!" not knowing what to do anymore, I hastily turned to leave before...
"Wait! Wait, Marisa!" Reimu called.
"Y-yes?" I turned back.
"Actually..." she looked at me. "Do you want to have some tea first? It's really cold today," as she said that, she turned and walked toward the shrine.
I stared at her confusedly. ...What's going on? Just a moment ago she was angry, and NOW she offered me something? But at the time I could think of nothing better to say than, "...Sure."
I followed Reimu to the veranda, where Reimu putted her broom near the donation box and entered the shrine as I searched for a comfortable place to sit on.
Well, not that I'm really going to throw away my stuff, even though the majority of them are useless. Now that I think about it, I just can't seem to be able to throw stuff away. Man, I'm amazed at this myself.
As I sat there while deep in thought, my mind couldn't help but recall the fight I had with my father earlier, as much as I didn't want to remember it. And just like the majority of humans, I tended to think only on the negative aspects of someone or something while entirely ignoring the positive ones. Especially when emotions got the better of me.
Their rigid behaviour.
Their strict attitude.
Their close-minded way of thinking.
The more I thought about them, the more I became annoyed. My expression was filled with the mixture of anger, anxiety, grief, and abandonment.
"-risa! Marisa!"
"Geeh! What is it?!" the sudden voice jerked me back into reality.
"Honestly! No matter how many times I called you, you just didn't respond!" Reimu angrily pouted. "Here, your tea."
"A-ah...? Y-yes, thank you," I timidly accepted her offer. It was a half-full cup of green tea, the kind of tea that this shrine maiden usually brewed. I stared at my reflection on the tea's surface; a small, troubled face with melancholic yellow eyes and a short blonde hair, adorned with a big pointy black hat stared back at me.
Sighing deeply, I closed my eyes and sipped the tea. It was as refreshing as ever. It was soothing, and felt so clean. Before I knew it, my body had relaxed itself.
"Have you calmed down yet?" Reimu asked without looking at me.
"Yeah, I think..." a sigh of relief escaped from my lips.
I wasted no time to gulp down the entire tea in one go. The warm, fuzzy feeling cleaned my mind and I was on the verge of forgetting all the bad things that had happened a while ago, which is a good thing.
"Thanks for the tea, Reimu!" I grinned toothily, no longer faking it.
"No problem," Reimu returned offhandedly. "In return..."
Reimu looked firmly at me as she put her own empty cup of tea on her side.
"Mind telling me what happened to you, Marisa?"
...
~To be Continued~
Good day, dear readers. Pen name's GlassSkinned. Nice to meet you and thanks for reading this fanfiction.
This is the first proper fanfiction I've ever posted. Truth to be told, I'm not much of a writer. And as a non-native speaker, my english isn't that good. So if you happened to notice any grammatical errors and/or the likes, please let me know and I'll correct it as soon as possible.
Not much to say here, to be honest. So hopefully you enjoy(ed) my story so far, and hopefully we'll meet again in the next chapter.
Sampai ketemu lagi.