Chapter 1:
Light and Dark
Deep within the sealed away land of Gensokyo, where creatures of myth still walk the Earth and magic is alive and well, rests a large sea of trees named The Forest of Magic. This dark, foreboding forest was home to countless youkai, monsters from old tales who preyed on humans in days past. And from these dangerous woods, the sound of laughter radiated out into the imposing forest.
"Please," cried a voice from beneath the laughter, "give it back!" A young girl stood among the fallen leaves and undergrowth, fidgeting as she looked up to the small group of fairies that teased her. She wore a plaid skirt and a white, collared shirt, covered by a brown vest. Her simple tennis-shoes were becoming scuffed and dirty, and a few leaves had become stuck in her short black hair.
"Come on and make us!" cried back one of the fairies. Each wore a simple outfit, a one-piece dress, and had short hair themselves. From their backs sprouted a pair of translucent wings, which fluttered whenever they adjusted their height. "Yeah," taunted a second, "come up and make us!"
The trio laughed as they tossed a small notebook between themselves, the metal binding catching in the few rays of sunlight as the girl on the ground hopelessly chased after them.
The only warning the trio received was a small whine of power and the rustling of leaves as a beam of black energy erupted from the dark shadows of the forest. Tossing the book away to her friend, the fairy closest turned her head instinctively towards the beam too late to react. The attack hit dead on her side, exploding as the fairy was thrown from the sky and blasted into the shadows of the forest.
"H-hey!" cried one of the remaining fairies, glaring into the smothering darkness around them. Their wings twitched as they flew together, hovering in one of the large sunbeams. "Show yourself!"
Another black shot fired from the shadows in reply, but this time the two were ready. Each dodged to the side, allowing the shot to pass harmless through them, detonating somewhere behind as the blast slammed into a tree. "Haha!" taunted one over her shoulder, watching the beam of energy sail harmlessly by, "you missed!"
Her expression went from boastful to horrified as a hand clamped down on the back of her head, a voice softly whispering into her ear. "My bad."
A new figure had burst from the shadows as soon as the fairy's attention shifted. The light revealed another young girl of a similar build to the one below. Her dress was a simple one-piece, and her long black hair was tied up on either side of her head in a lengthy ponytail. She had a pair of hiking boots over her feet that hung loosely in the air. Unlike the fairies, the new figure had no wings or other apparent way to fly, merely hovering behind the caught creature.
"Bet I won't miss this time," the girl laughed, a soft whining noise betraying the gathering of power in her hand. The fairy opened her mouth to respond, but her words were stolen by an explosion at the back of her head. "Now," said the newcomer, watching the fairy fall from the sky in the corner of her eye, "One little fairy, left all alone."
"W-w-wait!" The smaller creature quickly threw the stolen notebook down to the ground, sending the girl below scrambling to catch it. She quickly picked it up and retreated to the base of a tree, cradling her treasure in the shadows as she looked on. "There! I gave it back! Now let me go, please!"
"Hmmm..." The girl brought her palm to her chin, as if she was thinking of humoring the fairies request. "Nah," she replied, pulling her hand away, flashing a small piece of parchment as she smiled wickedly. "Naughty little fairies should be punished, don't you think?"
With a cry for help, the fairy turned and fluttered her wings, dashing through the air away from the challenger. The girl scowled and pocketed the paper once more. "You're no fun" she whispered. Instead, she brought her empty had up, spreading her fingers as a single dark orb appeared in front of her palm. The ball whined softly for a moment, before exploding outward in a black beam that struck the fleeing fairy in the back.
She sighed as she dropped down, lightly touching the ground. Scanning the dark shadows, she found the victimized girl, still huddled against a thick tree. "You can come out, you know, they're gone now."
Slowly, she brought herself forwards, entering the sunlight to stand a short distance away from the new girl. From the light, she was able to see another sharp distinction between the two. While the cowering girl's eyes were dull almost to the point of gray, the newcomer's were a sharp shade of purple. "W-Who... who are you..?"
The girl floating above frowned as the first girl stepped closer, revealing an obvious and irritating trait. "Human." She scowled as she began to slowly descend. "What are you doing this far into the forest?"
"I... I'm Meiko..." replied the girl, trying to prompt an answer to her question. "A-and... what... what do you mean by 'human'? Aren't you one too?"
Glaring in reply, the second girl drifted down, uncomfortably close as she leaned over in the air, keeping herself at eye level. "Don't insult me." Straightening out and placing her hands on her hips, she continued, "Are you stupid? You can't even recognize a youkai?"
"S-sorry... I-I didn't know..." came the meek reply, "I can't remember much..."
The youkai let out out an irritated sigh as she looked the girl over, trying to figure out how a human could have gotten so far into the forest without knowing anything. There was something bothering her, a lack of presence from the girl and a faint eminence of magic. "How did you even get this far out?"
"I don't... remember..." Meiko looked down to the notebook she was carrying, clutched tightly in her hands. The book was a dull brown, and the only defining characteristic was a girl's name written across the cover. "I... I think... I think I'm dead."
The youkai blinked at the statement, eyeing the girl with incredulity. "You think you died? How does that even work?"
"I... I just... woke up in front of a grave... I can't... I can't really remember anything..."
"That's not-"
"T-there's... also... also t-this..." The girl pulled her hand away, placing it softly against a nearby tree trunk. With a firm push, her hand sunk into the bark, phasing through the solid material.
The youkai crossed her arms, leaning back lazily in the air. That would explain the strange feeling the other girl had around her. Not quite human anymore. "So go back to the village. Someone there can tell you who you are. Were. Whatever."
Meiko looked up at the girl, biting her lip as she tried to gather courage to ask. "V-village..? You... you mean a... a h-human village right?"
Kana turned her back to the ghost as she waved, "Yes, a human village. There are plenty of people there, someone has to know. So go back and stop wandering around the forest."
"B-but.." Meiko stepped closer the other girl, wanting to be closer as she begged, clutching her notebook tightly against her chest. "I-I don't... remember.. h-how... w-where it is... I-I... I don't even know h-how to get out.. W-what i-if... I... g-get a-attacked a-again... I... I can't..."
"Fine!" The youkai turned to shove Meiko away, ignoring her whimpers as she collapsed onto the ground. "I'll show you the way out of the forest if you stop doing that." Pinching the ridge of her nose with her fingers, she added, "Be thankful I was in a good mood."
"T-thank you!" Meiko scrambled to her feet, smiling for the first time. "I-I... I'm thankful m-miss..." Her gaze dropped as she shuffled with embarrassment, realizing how long she had talked without even learning the other girl's name.
"Kana," she sighed in resignation, "Just Kana. Now quit whining before something else hears, you're only going to mess up that fight."
Meiko took a cautious step forward, eager to be free from the sea of trees that enveloped them. "Y-you won't... a-a-attack me too, r-right..?"
Kana tilted her head up, letting out a long sigh to calm herself. "You're too pathetic to attack. It wouldn't even be the least bit amusing." She sighed again, letting her gaze drop down to meet Meiko's, "And there isn't anyone around anymore. If I wanted to kill you, I could have done it by now."
"But... what about the f-fairies? A-are they... d-dead?"
The youkai rolled her eyes, leaning back in the air. "They would have fought back. It's just a fairy anyways, they just come back as soon as you kill it." She groaned as she stretched in the air before touching back down to the ground, walking back towards Meiko. "They run away scared too. You wouldn't do either. It's boring. Now come on before I change my mind."
Kana kicked up, hovering just off the ground as she extended her hand. "Well come on then. If you stop asking questions you'll make it before nightfall."
Meiko's face paled as she looked to the youkai's hand. "Y-you mean... f-fly? I-I don't... I can't do that.." Meiko lowered her head, hiding her face from the girl above her. "S-sorry..."
"Ugh... Fine." The youkai touched down again, forcibly grabbing Meiko's arm as she started off into the forest, dragging the girl away from the large beams of sunlight and into the darkness. "Forget what I said, you'll be out by tomorrow morning."
"I-I'm sorry..."
"I said forget it." Kana shook her head as she lead the ghost through the tangled forest, snapping smaller branches out of her way. "I still don't know how you ended up this far in."
"I-I don't know..." Meiko replied as she struggled to keep up with the youkai, just barely able to stop herself from tripping. "I-I just... f-found myself in... in a graveyard..." The ghost sniffled at the memory, still unable to recall anything from her former life. "T-then I just... just walked in... I-I don't know why..." She glanced at Kana, hoping to distract herself from the thoughts with a little more conversation. "D-do you l-live here mi-... Kana...?"
"Deeper in," Kana replied with a sigh, giving up on any peace through the journey, "Almost no one travels that deep into the forest. Perfect to spend time undisturbed and enjoy a quiet evening. Hardly any sunlight gets in that deep into the forest."
"A-are there fewer y-youkai here?"
Kana gave a short and derisive laugh. "I said no one travels that far into the forest. You'll find plenty by the edge of the forest." She gave a quick glance back towards the ghost before adding, "But I'm a nice youkai. Taking the time to throw you out of the forest when I could be sleeping."
Meiko struggled to keep up her pace, staying close as she listened to the youkai's answers. She wanted to learn more about someone that would help her. "D-do you sleep in the day?"
"You humans can keep the sun," Kana said, her tone drifting to delight as she continued, "Moonlight is so crisp and clear, the world filling up with possibilities hidden in the dark, just out of sight. It just feels wonderful at night. I can hardly wait for it."
"O-oh..." Meiko swallowed as her gaze drifted to the side, anxiety building from every imagined threat lurking in the shadows. "I-I like the sun..."
"Well say goodbye to it," Kana said flatly, only having to glance once to the canopy, "nightfall will be here soon."
Meiko stopped in her tracks, almost pulled down by the youkai as she continued for a step. "Y-you m-mean... it can get d-darker?" She huddled up, leaning against a tree to hide. "A-are their y-youkai c-coming out?"
"Of course there are," the youkai said, scolding as she watched with amusement at Meiko's fear, "The night belongs to us, after all. Gensokyo will be crawling with youkai before long." Kana had to suppress a laugh as Meiko shook at the thought. It would be more amusing to watch her sweat it out than to tell the truth. No one really came to the Forest of Magic, including a number of youkai.
"O-o-oh... h-how a-about a... a b-break?" Meiko looked back to Kana desperately, crouching in the safety of a thick pine tree, "I-I'm k-kind of tired... a-aren't you?"
"Do ghosts even sleep?" Kana frowned as Meiko cowered in front of her, too distracted by imaginary monsters to answer. She doubted anything else would get the ghost to budge for the night. "Fine," she replied with a heavy sigh, "and I'm only tired because someone kept screaming until I woke up."
Kana shook her head before Meiko could speak, waving away another apology. "Just make yourself comfortable. You'll attract more attention if you wake up yelling in the night." She lightly pushed away from the ground, drifting up to an open nearby branch. "I'll just stay up here. You can sleep on the ground."
Meiko nodded as she quickly gathered the scattered foliage of the forest, piling it in the nook of a great maple tree. Certain that was the best she could hope more, Meiko carefully crawled into her makeshift bed, curling up into the open space between the tree's roots to hide for the night. She hoped they could get to the village soon, that someone would know her. Without her memories, she felt alone and afraid.
Perched above her, the youkai laughed at the sight, shaking her head. She spoke with amusement and a cold smile, "Good night, sleep tight."
Meiko felt safer knowing someone was watching out for her and nearby. She was about to reply when Kana cut her off, sending a cold chill down her spine.
"Don't let the youkai bite."