It was an early morning at the Hakurei Shrine, although one could not easily discern such. A scarlet mist plagued the air, blotting out the sun. The shrine, while worn down by time, still kept an air of nostalgic beauty to it, being a symbol of Gensokyo itself.
The birth of the land had occurred two hundred years prior, after Japan was forcefully opened by Commodore Perry's black ships. From there, faith had waned in the old ways - from ways of life, to tradition, to the various kami and youkai that lived within the lands. With waning faith, they risked vanishing from the world entirely. Those who survived fled to Gensokyo, under the protection of the Hakurei Shrine's Shrine Maiden.
And within this shrine resided her descendant, Hakurei Reimu, a carefree shine maiden who wanted nothing more than to laze about, drinking tea. She was fifteen years old, and had beautiful long blackish-brown hair paired with glistening ruby-brown eyes. Unlike most shrine maidens, she wore a frilly red dress with detached white sleeves, joined by a crimson ribbon in her hair, a red ascot adorning her blouse, and black Mary-Janes on her feet.
Reimu had just woken up and gotten dressed, sitting on her front porch as she observed the mist. She was sipping hot green tea, keeping her calm as she pondered what had caused it. It had been like this for a week now, and she was getting complaints from the village not far from the shrine. It was autumn, and there were fears of the harvest being negatively impacted from the lack of sunlight.
As she pondered what to do next, a figure on a broom wearing a pointy black witch hat, a frilly black dress with a white apron adorning the skirt and gold buttons zoomed towards the shrine riding a broom at full speed. She wore Mary-Janes, just like Reimu, and had bright golden-blonde hair extending down to her shoulders with a braid off to the left side, with sea blue eyes. She was smiling a toothy grin while leaping from her broom before sitting next to Reimu, gazing into the mist too.
She was Kirisame Marisa, her best friend and closest ally.
"Hey, Red! How're ya doin'? Been goin' through Hell here, interrogatin' fairies. No luck at all. What a bummer... I mean, we've been lookin' for a week, ya know?"
Marisa grunted as she said that, closing her eyes and sighing. Reimu couldn't help but giggle softly as she set her tea down.
"Well, I was going to go on patrol, anyway. Do you have your spell cards ready, Marisa?"
"Yeah. I have this strange feelin', this gut feelin'. Today's gonna be the day we kick the butt of the youkai doin' this, an' make her dispel this fog, blubberin' an' cryin' the whole way!"
A smile formed on the witch's face, the witch flashing a goofy grin as she faced Reimu, her right eye closed. Reimu closed both her eyes and nodded. The Spell Card rules... she had only created the concept with the help of one other as recently as six months ago, and this would be the first real test of them. While she had no problems standing up to strong youkai, she needed all the protection afforded by them that she could get.
Reimu produced a card with a picture of six orbs from her sleeve, each a different, bright color. Yes, these cards were part of a ruleset to make sure even an ordinary human stood a chance, however slim, against a youkai. While for seasoned hunters like Marisa and herself it was just a formality, it ensured the village would not be overrun, because youkai could not kill without a fair duel.
Placing the card back within her sleeve, Reimu stood and began to float, with Marisa hopping on her still-floating broom again right after her. She grabbed her gohei from beside her, holding it in her right hand as she flew skyward, Marisa trailing not far behind her.
Today would mark a turning point in the young shrine maiden's life.