A Summoner's Fantasy
Prologue
New S Note: Hey, so Blues finally has an FF account. It's Akai_Blues. He probably won't write anything of his own for a month and a half or so, though… Even if I do get on his ass about it. Also, on a less pleasant note, this particular story has been rendered non-canon by the Touhou 15 demo. Of course, at the time of starting it, it worked perfectly, and I said I would finish everything I started on this site, so we're going to work with it anyways. Just, know that the whole concept behind this story was made prior to Touhou 15, and thus everything that came about in LoLK doesn't exist. This won't come into play until the actually new chapter is posted, but still. A heads up nonetheless. Also, unfortunately, due to the lack of reviews, this is a rather minor rewrite, except few a few key parts Blues and I already knew about. I just want to remind everyone, reviews are how writers get better. DON'T BE AFRAID TO LEAVE A NEGATIVE REVIEW! I'm not going to yell at you, and I'll make sure Blues doesn't either. I may argue with you, but that just means that I actually am thinking about what you said. As I told Blues when I told him to review the parts I wrote: "I'm going to argue with everything you say, then realize 80% of what you said was true anyway."
A little girl in a green robe peered through a slightly open door, watching her mentor and an enemy summoner fighting. Her mentor clearly had the upper hand, but neither was able to land a killing blow. There was a brief pause in the fighting, during which the two held a conversation.
"Instead of continuing this ad nauseum, I propose a challenge to you. If you succeed, then I shall concede defeat," the little girl's mentor's foe said.
"If you think there is anything I am incapable of, I would be most pleased to prove you wrong," the little girl's mentor said.
"If you truly are the greatest summoner that has ever lived, then you would be able to control the forbidden summon with ease, no? Do that, and I will not only concede my defeat, but also swear fealty to you," the enemy said.
"Of course. There's absolutely nothing I can't do," The little girl's mentor said.
The little girl put her hand to her forehead. Of course. Her overconfidence is going to get her killed, she thought.
Her mentor began the summoning ritual. Before she was halfway through, however, the Summoning Gate opened, and the forbidden summon made its entrance. The little girl's mentor was torn to shreds in the blink of an eye, and the other summoner was ripped apart shortly thereafter. The whole situation wrapped up in less than a quarter of a second. The forbidden summon had gone, and her mentor and her foe were but scraps on the ground.
She may have been easy to manipulate, but she was most certainly one of the most accomplished summoners in the world, the girl thought. So, if I can form a contract with the forbidden summon, then… I will be the most accomplished summoner that has ever lived, won't I? The girl grinned to herself. Now, just to find out where to go.
Several days later, and the girl had left her small village, to search for that which had killed her teacher.
Chapter 1
This is the gateway to the land of Japanese Mythology? It's rather… run-down, isn't it? Well, three-hundred years of my research oughtn't be wrong, the girl, Lydia, thought as she entered the broken-down shrine that was the gateway between Gensokyo and the outside world. The three hundred years since she had set out had changed the girl little. She still wore her slightly too big green robe. She still wore her green hair in a ponytail. The only real difference was that, at some point, she had bought green contacts. There was only one door in the place that looked well maintained. Lydia grumbled slightly, as she was forced to pull back the sleeve of her robe in order to grasp the handle. As she pushed through it, Lydia found herself in a much cleaner, well taken care of equivalent of the shrine she'd been in. Right, as always, she thought. She exited the room. Outside, she saw a girl in red drinking tea. The girl turned around, hearing Lydia's footsteps.
"An outsider? How did you find your way in here?" the girl in red asked Lydia.
"With hundreds of years of research, a few instances of shoplifting, more than a few headaches, and seeing somebody that taught me how to be a summoner kill herself out of hubris," Lydia said.
"So, you're here on purpose. A Youkai?" the girl said.
"Yes. Lydia Falkenrath, a Youkai Magician. And you're the peacekeeper, I suppose?" Lydia said.
"Yeah. Reimu Hakurei," Reimu said.
"So, would you happen to be able to direct me towards Youkai heavy areas?" Lydia said.
Reimu pointed towards a mountain looming in the distance. "You see all that stuff? If it's not the village, you can find Youkai there. Heck, even if it is the village, you can still find some Youkai there," she said. "Oh, before you go, though; Yukari gave me some copies of the rules to hand out to newcomers, in case she didn't get to them first. Wait here, please," Reimu said, before heading into the shrine. When she returned, she had a piece of paper in her hands. "The rules," she said, handing the paper to Lydia. "Make sure you read them before you get yourself into any trouble."
Lydia thanked her, and headed off in the direction of the mountain Reimu had indicated.
As Lydia walked along the path, she noticed that the sun had almost set. That's good. It'll be much easier to find Youkai at night. She looked with interest upon the large bamboo forest in front of which she found herself. And this is as good a place as any to be looking for them, she thought, entering.
Lydia pushed her way into the forest. She heard singing, and decided to follow it to its source. As she traveled, she noticed that it was getting harder to see. She also noticed that something smelled delicious. When she arrived in a small clearing, she saw a girl with wings. A Youkai, to be sure, Lydia thought.
"Excuse me, miss, but may I speak to you for a moment?" Lydia said, approaching the girl.
"Yeah, sure. You want some of Mystia's Famous Grilled Lamprey? It's cheap," the girl, presumably Mystia, said.
"No, though it does smell delicious. I was actually wondering… Might you be interested in forming a summoning contract with me?" Lydia said.
"Eh? Never heard of that before. What is it?" Mystia said.
"It's an agreement between two parties, one is the summoner, the other is the summon, and they essentially help each other with whatever they need help with. For the summoner, it's generally getting the summon to help in battle, while for the summon, it's generally menial chores or other such things." Lydia said.
"Japanese, please?" Mystia said.
"I help you do stuff, you help me fight stuff. So, would you like to form a contract?" Lydia said.
"Well, I'm generally pretty busy with this, so I'm not sure. How exactly do I help you fight stuff?" Mystia said.
Lydia mentally face-palmed, and, keeping her outward demeanor pleasant, said "I bring you to my location for a short period of time, during which you do what I tell you."
"So I don't need to follow you around or anything, then. You planning on traveling a lot?" Mystia said.
"Yes. I am trying to gather enough strength to challenge the Forbidden Summon, after all." Lydia said.
"Sounds interesting… Tell you what. Beat me, and I'll think about agreeing with your summon-thingy," Mystia said, rising off the ground.
Lydia rose from the ground as well, nervous about her first Danmaku duel.
Mystia began singing again, this time limiting the summoner's view. Even in her limited range, however, she was astonished by the sheer amount of bullets she could see. She fired off a few random shots, before flying straight into a bullet and taking a hit. Her next two hits took just as short a time, and the match was over in less than twenty seconds. She hadn't even had time to summon a group of lesser fairies to help her fight.
"That was… pathetic. You're not going to get anywhere like that, girl. With skills like that, I doubt you'd even be able to beat my friend Daiyousei. ... Want some Lamprey? I'll give you one for free. Pity prize," Mystia said, floating back to the ground.
"Thank you," Lydia said. "Just to let you know, though, I'll be challenging you again when I get better."
"I'll just stomp you again, probably," Mystia said. Lydia sighed, then took a bite of the lamprey and walked off.
