Location: Velvet Room
Time: Uncertain (Time has no meaning in the realm between dream and reality, mind and matter)
"Welcome to the Velvet Room."
As Souji opened his eyes, he found himself in a familiar place. He sure missed this place, considering that he used to visit this place in order to fuse his Personas. The smell of wine lingered in the air as he saw two familiar figures sitting in front of him. One was a sharp-dressed old man with imp-like appearance and bloodshot eyes, clasping his hands together as he looked at Souji with curious gaze. The other one was a beautiful woman clad in blue, elegant dress. A thick-covered tome was seen in her hands as she looked at him with her mystically golden eyes.
"It's been a while, Igor, Margaret." Souji greeted the two residents of the Velvet Room. It seemed that he was summoned into the Velvet Room in his dream.
"Please do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world." Igor said, still clasping his hands. "It has been a while as well, Master Souji. It is a pleasure to meet you once again."
"The pleasure is mine." Souji nodded. "Good to see you too, Margaret."
Margaret smiled. Souji knew that despite her rather aloof appearance, she could be quite goofy and bizarre. He didn't know which one was her real self; the serious, dutiful one or the mischievous and goofy one. "It is good to see you too. It seems that fate once again decides that you will need our assistance in near future."
"As you can see, this is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter." A pause. "It seems that such a fate awaits you in near future." Igor spoke melodiously as he focused on the silver-haired teen before him. Souji sighed, knowing that he would once again need their assistance for his upcoming journey. Perhaps Yosuke was right. Perhaps he was truly a magnet of mysteries and weirdness. He wasn't sure whether to be happy about it or not.
Then again, it's not like he could really help it. After all, he carried more or less the essence of a god within his psyche. He wouldn't be surprised if it could somehow bring all the supernatural and mystical shenanigans to him.
"So, please hold on to this." Igor swayed his hand, and a glowing blue key appeared in front of Souji. It was the Velvet Key, the item that allowed him to gain access into the Velvet Room. Then, the key slowly disappeared, and Souji knew that whenever he needed it, it would show up again so he could enter the Velvet Room. "We will meet again in the near future, once you step into the Eastern Wonderland. Until then, farewell."
Phantasmagoria of the Golden Dream
A Persona 4 Golden and Touhou Project Crossover
Chapter 02: The Arrival Part I
Location: Junes' Foot Court
Time: Early August, Summer Daytime
"I hereby announce the emergency meeting of the Investigation Team!"
It was Yosuke who said it. Everyone, including Marie gave the brown-haired boy a blank look. Seconds after that, Yukiko started having her usual laughing fit, and Chie groaned as her best friend broke into her hyena-like laughter.
"Urgh… okay, okay, I know it's that lame…" Yosuke grumbled as Chie went to deal with the laughing Yukiko. "But I assume that everyone already knows the reason behind this meeting, no?" Yosuke looked at Souji, the de facto leader of their little group.
"Gensokyo, the Eastern Wonderland…" a blue-haired girl spoke as she stroked her chin. She seemed to be rather comfortable wearing her form-fitting white blouse and tight blue pants, despite the fact that she used to speak in masculine tone and act like a boy. It looked like she had already embraced her femininity and wasn't afraid about the issues regarding her gender in her work. "It sounds rather outlandish and a little bit ridiculous, but after everything we went through before, I couldn't help but to accept such thing as a fact."
The red-haired showbiz idol of the team nodded. "Yeah, I think so too, Naoto-kun!" Rise said. "We went into the TV world before. Hearing about a different dimension somewhere out there doesn't surprise me anymore." Then, she nudged at the tall boy beside her. "Don't you think so too, Kanji-kun?"
"Uh, oh? Y-yeah…" Kanji stuttered. Like Naoto, he also had changed greatly. He didn't bleach his hair and wear his piercings anymore. For a while, many people were surprised to see his change. "Uh, what're we talkin' about again?" he asked.
Rise groaned before she gave Kanji a light punch on his shoulder. "Are you even listening, you Moronji!?"
"H-hey, what was that for?!" Kanji protested.
As Kanji and Rise started to bicker (with Naoto trying to become the peacemaker and Teddie being Teddie), Chie just sighed before she looked at Souji, who seemed to be sitting between Marie and Yukiko. She still could clearly remember about that time when Marie confessed her love to Souji, live on television. While it was already resolved, she still could feel the tension in the air whenever both Marie and Yukiko were near to each other. She was glad that both of them seemed to be rather cordial to each other despite that little incident.
"Still, I'm a little bit surprised," Chie said, leaning forward as she looked at the goddess-in-disguise who was sitting beside their leader. "When I got the message from Yosuke about the fog and that different dimension or whatever, I was a little worried," she scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "You know about it, right? People ended up dying and stuff?"
Marie nodded. "Well, I guess I need to get used to the fact that one of my domains got associated with death and murder." The goddess-in-disguise sighed. "Besides me, there were only a few divine beings that could control the fog, and they weren't really that important for me to get myself worried. But the appearance of the fog in Gensokyo got me worried, because the fog itself was rather similar to mine." She closed her eyes. "I can't just overlook this matter. I need to investigate this."
Everyone was looking at Marie. They knew that this short-tempered girl who was sitting among them was not an ordinary girl, but a goddess, Izanami-no-Mikoto. She was also the goddess of the land, Inaba, and the one who was solely responsible for the supernatural events happening in this town.
It was Yosuke who spoke first. "Well, if you think you need to investigate this stuff, I guess we can help you." The teenage boy said. "After all, we are your friends." He grinned.
"Yup, just like Yosuke said…" Chie nodded. "Friends gonna help each other, right?"
"Of course we will help you, Marie-chan." Yukiko said.
"Guys…" Marie looked at everyone, eyes widened.
"Don't forget Teddie too!" The handsome-looking boy exclaimed. "Marie-chan doesn't have to go alone, right?" Then he muttered quietly. "I know you don't want to be alone…"
"I say… bring it on!" Kanji said confidently as he did his bicep-polishing gesture.
"I'll help you too, Marie-chan. You don't have to deal with this all by yourself." Rise said, smiling at Marie.
"I believe that being involved is the best course of action. Moreover, I am rather curious about this… Eastern Wonderland you've been saying before…" Naoto spoke in her usual calm, composed manner, but she also displayed a gentle smile as she spoke to Marie.
Marie seemed speechless as she listened to everyone before she looked at the silver-haired teen sitting beside her. He just smiled before he spoke in gentle, soothing tone. "I told you so, didn't I? No matter what you are and what kind of things we're going to deal with sooner or later, you will always be one of us. Nothing can change that, Marie."
"Everyone…" Marie said before she smiled. "You guys are truly a bunch of thick-headed idiots." Then, she chuckled. "Haha, thanks…"
"Don't mention it." Souji shrugged. "Now, with everyone agreeing to help, what are we going to do next?" He looked at Marie. "You said that Gensokyo is a pocket dimension like Hollow Forest, right? Do you mean you can do something so that we can go there?"
Marie nodded. "Yes, I have a way for everyone to enter the dimension. It was a bit risky, though, because I'm not used to dimensional travel. I'm a land goddess, you see?"
"What do you mean by 'land goddess'?" Chie asked, curious.
"It means that Marie-san is tied to a land and acts as its guardian. In this case, she is the land goddess of Inaba. Every land in Japan has its own land deities, or at least that's what I found from my reading…" Naoto said.
"So, are you saying that it won't be easy for us to travel to that Gensokyo or whatever because Marie-chan's main task is to take care of Inaba?" Rise asked.
"That's the gist of it, I suppose." Marie said. "But still, it's not impossible for me to accomplish such thing. In fact, my alternate self, the one you guys fought before, managed to connect her personal realm, Yomotsu Hirasaka with the television at Junes. With that same power, I can connect a television with the dimension and we can travel from there. It is a bit risky, but it is the only way for us to enter that dimension."
"I see…" Souji mused. "In that case, we will need to prepare beforehand. If the things you were saying about Gensokyo are true, then we will need weapons and suitable equipments for us."
"Just like old time?" Yosuke asked, grinning in anticipation.
Souji smiled. "Yes, just like old time, partner…" he nodded. "This is our latest mission. The mission is 'Explore Gensokyo'."
"Ooh, I like that name!" Chie exclaimed. "Alright, now that we're on the roll, I'm feeling excited! C'mon, let's get ourselves armed up! Gensokyo, here we come!"
Marie just smiled. They were truly thick-headed idiots, but they were her thick-headed idiots, and she would rather have them that way.
Location: Junes' Electronic Department
Time: Early August, Summer Daytime
The Investigation Team prepared themselves with their equipments and weapons before they went into Junes' Electronic Department, the same place where they used the big-screened television to enter the TV world. For the sake of old time, they put on their old school's uniforms. When Marie asked them about their attires, they reasoned that they wanted to feel nostalgic.
"Alright, we're ready." Souji said. Everyone gathered in front of the television that they always used to enter the TV world. They had their equipments hidden in their uniforms (and in Souji's case, in his golf bag).
"Please step back. I'm gonna do a little tweaking first." Marie stepped forward, standing right in front of the screen before she touched the screen. As her fingertips touched the screen, a puddle-like effect could be seen. "Please cover me. We don't want get our cover blown, right?" She told the rest of the Investigation Team.
"Ah, sure." Yosuke nodded before everyone made a wall around Marie to prevent anyone to see what she was doing.
"What is she doing?" Teddie asked, curious.
"Hush, pipe down!" Chie hissed. "Man, this is awkward…" she muttered to herself.
Everyone couldn't see it, but for Souji, with the help of Izanagi-no-Okami within him, was able to see what Marie was doing. Through his unclouded vision, he was able to see faint glow around Marie as she started to tamper with the entrance into the TV world. After a few minutes, the glow dimmed and then vanished before Marie lowered her hand and gave the others an exhausted smile.
"Alright, I did it." Marie said. "It was a bit sloppy, but I guess it can work."
"So, if we enter this TV, we can end up in Gensokyo?" Yukiko asked, touching the screen with her fingertip.
"Yes, but considering that this is not my field of expertise, there might be a chance where we may end up being separated," Marie said darkly. The others, especially Chie looked worried when the possibility of them being separated was brought up. "I guess it depends on our luck."
"A risky gamble," Naoto mused. "But, this is a risk that we have to take. Let's go now…" she said before she walked towards the screen. "Rise-san, in case we get separated, please use your Persona to locate every single one of us."
"Yes," Rise nodded. Then, Naoto entered the screen.
"It's now or never. I'm goin' in!" Kanji said before he jumped into the entrance.
"Let's go, Chie." Yukiko held Chie's hand, tugging her along.
"Geez, slow down, Yukiko," Chie sighed. "Oh, well… here we go!" Both girls entered the screen at the same time.
"Wait for me!" Rise also jumped into the entrance.
"I'll see you there, partner!" Yosuke said before he also disappeared into the screen, leaving both Souji and Marie.
"See you there, Sensei!" Teddie, who was in his bear suit followed after Yosuke, entering the screen.
"…" Marie stared at the screen. Then, she saw Souji offering her his hand.
"Let's go, Marie."
Marie blushed before she took the boy's hand, smiling.
"Stupid."
And so, they jumped into the entrance together.
Location: Hakurei Shrine, Gensokyo
Time: Uncertain (time seems to flow differently in the Land of Illusions), Daytime, Foggy
"Is it just me, or isn't the fog just getting a little thicker?" The shrine maiden of Hakurei, Reimu muttered to herself as she observed her surroundings. Due to the fog engulfing Gensokyo, visibility was severely limited, and there were many cases of collisions during flight, especially from the fairies or weaker youkai. Reimu had been searching for the cause behind this mysterious fog for the whole weak, only to find dead end.
The miko sighed. After giving up, she started to get used to this kind of situation. While the fog made it hard for her to fly, being a shrine maiden with impressive spiritual prowess and sensitivity allowed her navigate through the foggy sky without trouble. She could only hope that this incident would be sorted out on its own sooner or later.
"Well, I guess I'm going to treat myself with a cup of tea." Reimu said before she turned around to enter the shrine so that she could prepare the tea for herself before she detected something. "Huh?" She stopped and looked up. Somehow, she sensed a high spiritual energy from above. It wasn't a youkai, but it was too high for an ordinary human.
Reimu focused her eyes, and despite the thick fog, she was able to see the shape of a human falling down with such a high speed. She was too busy looking at the descending figure to find out that it was zooming directly towards her before it was too late.
"Huh, wa-!" When she realized that it would hit her, Reimu was unable to do anything as the figure fell on her, knocking her down. "Kyaa!" She could feel the weight of the figure on top of her as she felt the ground on her back.
"Urgh… my head…" Reimu could hear a male voice coming from the figure on top of her. Reimu then took her chance to take a look on the figure on top of her, only to see a silver-haired boy whose hands were on pressed against her chest. "Huh?" The boy absentmindedly groped the downed shrine maiden, causing her to yelp.
"K-keep your hands off my chest, you pervert!" Clenching her fist and imbuing that fist with her spiritual energy, Reimu threw a rather nasty punch on the boy's face, sending him flying towards the donation box at the shrine.
"Gaaah!" The boy crashed onto the donation box. Then Reimu realized that she might have overdone it, considering that she used her power to send the boy flying with her enhanced punch.
Blinking a few times, she noticed another presence. This time, it was different compared to the boy's. She looked up and saw a girl descending slowly from the sky. Reimu could see that the girl was wearing a traditional Shinto garb with a hood. Then, the girl gracefully landed on the ground right in front of Reimu before her clothes changed into a black blouse and miniskirt. Reimu could tell that despite her appearance, she was not a human.
"As I suspected…" the girl sighed. "The portal was quite wonky for a safe travel. It seems that we're separated." Then, the girl looked around and saw the shrine maiden before her. "Oh, a shrine maiden? Is this Hakurei Shrine?"
"Who are you?" The shrine maiden of Hakurei asked as she took out a gohei from her sleeve. Despite sensing that the girl might be a goddess, she had faced something more terrifying before. "Are you the culprit behind this stupid fog?"
"Huh? What are you saying?" The girl frowned. "We're here to investigate this fog!" She snapped.
Reimu stepped back. When the girl snapped, she could feel divine aura emanating from the girl. She could also see electricity flickering around the girl's head. Seeing that the girl might be dangerous, the shrine maiden immediately took out a few talismans from her sleeve as she glared at the goddess-in-disguise.
"Oh, do you want to challenge me, little girl?" The girl smirked as her dark eyes turned red. Then, she floated. "Very well, if you desire to learn your place and be schooled, you are very much welcome."
Reimu could feel the pressure coming from the girl as she floated. "Who the hell are you?" She asked.
"I am a god."
The girl pointed at finger at Reimu before she shot out electricity from her finger. At the same time, Reimu threw countless paper talismans towards the girl.
"Stop it!"
Before their attacks could connect, both the girl and the shrine maiden saw a radiant light before a large humanoid, helmeted figure stood between them, cancelling both attacks with a swing of its weapon. Holding a naginata with a metallic ring around its handle, the figure looked down on Reimu. The figure was wearing a white longcoat which seemed to be glowing. As for the girl, after seeing the figure, she immediately lowered her hand and slowly landed on the ground before she sighed.
"Souji…" the girl said as she looked at the silver-haired boy near the donation box. His cheek was bruised, thanks to the punch by the shrine maiden earlier.
"Let's not start a fight on our first day here, Marie." The silver-haired boy, Souji walked towards the girl, Marie. Then, he looked up at the figure, his ultimate Persona, Izanagi-no-Okami. Its presence within him allowed him to see through the fog, granting him true sight. "I guess we have a misunderstanding here, and I'm sorry for that."
"…" Reimu looked at the boy with a frown as she lowered her gohei. On one hand, these two seemed extremely suspicious and she didn't recognize both of them, but on the other hand, the boy in particular seemed to be rather honest and trustable, despite the earlier mishap. Then, Reimu sighed. "I apologize. I jumped into conclusion too early."
"Well, I guess I'm sorry too." The girl apologized as well. "It's just that I couldn't take it well when someone accused me for something that I didn't do." She looked up. "The fog…" she closed her eyes. "It feels the same like mine, and yet, there's something different about it. This sensation feels familiar, but I cannot put a finger into it. My memory is still too hazy for me to recall things in the past."
"You mean someone is responsible for this stupid fog?" Reimu inquired.
"Yes, there's definitely someone who's responsible for this." The girl said. "Oh, by the way, I am Marie, and the fool that you punched a while ago is Souji." She introduced herself and the silver-haired boy to the shrine maiden.
Reimu looked at Souji before she remembered that he groped her earlier, causing her to blush. Souji rubbed his bruised cheek, still feeling the pain from the punch earlier.
"Oww… I didn't know someone like you can punch that hard…" Souji said.
"T-that's what you got for being a pervert…" Reimu crossed her arms, huffing. "Either way, I apologize for punching you as well. Please don't do this again, will you?"
"I didn't make groping girls my habit." Souji groaned. Then, Marie punched him on his arm. "Oww! What was that for, Marie?"
"No reason. I just wanted to punch you." Marie said in nonchalant tone. "We have introduced ourselves. How about you, miko? Are you a Hakurei?" The goddess-in-disguise asked.
"Reimu Hakurei…" Reimu introduced herself. "And yes, I'm a Hakurei. I see that you already know about me, but I never saw you before. And you said you are a goddess. Are you from the Youkai Mountain?" The shrine maiden asked.
"Don't compare me with those native deities," Marie grumbled. "I'm the goddess of creation, Izanami-no-Mikoto, and you better remember that well."
"Oh."
Marie looked appalled after seeing Reimu's unimpressed reaction to her true identity. "Oh? What do you mean by 'oh'? Are you stupid or what? I am a goddess, and you better respect me as such!"
"I beat goddesses on daily basis, you know?" Reimu said, glaring at the goddess-in-disguise. "So what if you are a goddess of creation? I defeated the princess of the underworld a couple times!"
"Don't compare me with a dead girl! You better respect my position, little girl! Or you will regret it!" Marie snapped.
"I dare you to try, oh 'great goddess'…" Reimu retorted.
Seeing that the fight was imminent, and the result might be bloody, Souji immediately went between both girls, whose expressions were murderous and downright psychotic as they prepared to take on each other in a battle. "Alright, alright, time over! Calm down."
"Please step aside, Souji-kun…" Marie said in a rather sweet voice as she formed a plasma ball made of electricity in her palm. "I need to teach this brat a lesson that she will not forget. I need her to learn her place." She chuckled evilly.
"Don't stand in my way!" Reimu snapped. "She's going to regret messing with me…" she pointed her gohei at Marie.
Souji sighed. "First, calm down. We are not here to have a childish fight, you know?" Then, he looked at Marie. "And we still need to focus on this matter first. We're separated from the others, and we're not even natives of this place." After a pause, he continued. "So, instead of fighting each other, why don't we cooperate to solve our problems? And it seems that Hakurei-san here wants to solve the same problem as well. Let's work together instead of trying to kill each other, okay?" He needed to act as a mediator between these two, or else they might get themselves involved in nastier danger. "Are we clear?"
"…" Reimu looked at Souji skeptically before she lowered her gohei. "You do have a point there. I want this stupid fog to go away as soon as possible." She sighed. "Very well, I shall cooperate with you, and I will tolerate her presence," she shot a glare at Marie. "For the time being."
"I guess you're right, Souji." Marie said, lowering her hand. "And we still need to locate our friends first. And yes, I will tolerate her, for now." Like Reimu, she also shot a glare at the shrine maiden.
"I guess that's good enough." Souji said. Well, at least they wouldn't be trying to kill each other. "Now, let's get started." He looked at Reimu. "Hakurei-san, if you don't mind, may I ask you a question?"
"Oh, sure." Reimu said.
"Since when did the fog appear?" Souji asked.
"I'm not really sure, but I guess it started becoming a trouble a few weeks ago. Our visibility was sorely limited thanks to this stupid fog. I tried finding the cause of this fog, but I couldn't find it." Reimu said. "That gap demon seemed to know something, but she thought it might be funnier if I search it by myself." There was displeasure in the shrine maiden's expression. "And from the way I can see it, the fog is not an ordinary one. There is something… sinister behind this fog."
"I see…" Souji mused. He could feel that the fog was almost the same like the one in the TV world. "Another question, Hakurei-san. When the fog showed up, did any incidents happen?" He asked. "Like murders or something like that?"
"Murders?" Reimu frowned. "Besides having a few cases where people collided against each other during flight, nothing big happened. About murders, let's just say that even without the fog, something like that will always happen, especially at the Forest of Magic. As you know, youkai and demons prey on humans, and it is my job to protect humans from being eaten by them."
"Is that so?" Souji tapped his chin with his finger, mulling over the fact that youkai and demons would prey on humans. If that was really the case, his friends might be in danger, considering that they were separated after entering the makeshift portal made by Marie earlier.
"Souji, what's wrong?" Marie asked. "Are you worried about their safety?"
"A bit," Souji answered. While he trusted his friends, he couldn't help but to worry about their safety. He could only hope that nothing dangerous would happen to them. "Too little information…" he said. "We need to find more."
"You're right," Marie said, nodding.
Grooowl!
Both Souji and Marie looked at Reimu, who sheepishly placed her hands on her stomach. Apparently, that growling sound earlier came from her, or her stomach, to be exact. When both of them looked at the shrine maiden, she immediately looked away, cheeks reddened.
"Umm… I'm sorry to ask, but are you hungry?" Souji asked.
"…Yes." Reimu answered hesitantly.
Souji smiled. "Well, it happened that I also brought some emergency food in my bag…" he said, going to his golf bag that fell with him earlier. In one of the pockets, there were things like ingredients for foods. "Maybe I can prepare some for you. They're hardly cuisines, but I hope you'll like it, Hakurei-san."
"Y-you actually brought foods with you?" Marie asked in disbelief.
"Always be prepared." Souji made a thumb-up. Marie rolled her eyes.
"…" Seeing that a total stranger was willing to cook for her, Reimu stared at the silver-haired boy for a while before she fell on her knees.
"W-what's the matter, Hakurei-san?" Souji asked. "Are you really that hungry?"
"F-foods…" trembling, Reimu muttered. "A-am I really dreaming? Am I going to eat real foods? Haha, this is unbelievable!" The shrine maiden exclaimed. "T-thank you very much, Souji-san, thank you!" She immediately rushed towards the silver-haired boy and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Uh, w-well, I can cook more if you want," Souji said. "As long as you have a place to cook, everything will be okay."
"Please come in!" Reimu said. "You're welcome to use my kitchen!"
"Uh, sure?" Souji said. And so, Reimu pushed Souji into the shrine so that he could cook foods for her. "Well, I guess I need to worry about others later, then." Souji sighed as Reimu pushed him inside.
Location: Forest of Magic, Gensokyo
Time: Uncertain (time seems to flow differently in the Land of Illusions), Daytime, Foggy
The Forest of Magic, one of the most dangerous places in Gensokyo, was a place that was considered as a focal point for all things evil, ominous and repulsive. Located not too far from the human settlement in Gensokyo, humans were advised to not go into the forest unless necessary. It was known that the Forest of Magic was a nest of countless man-eating youkai and demons. Only those who could best them in combat could live without trouble in the Forest of Magic.
There were two well-known people who lived in the forest. One of them was a human magician, Marisa Kirisame, whose strength in combat was comparable to her compulsive burglary and the other one being the ever mysterious doll-controlling magician, Alice Margatroid. Magicians like them lived in the forest for the sake of increasing their magical prowess with hallucinogen mushrooms which could only grow endlessly in the Forest of Magic, a dark and damp place, a good place for the growth of the mushrooms.
"The fog is getting thicker…"
A young woman with chin-length blonde hair muttered to herself as she observed her surroundings. A few dolls were seen hovering around her. She was seen carrying a basket with an assortment of colorful mushrooms in it. Then she spotted another mushroom near a tree, and she slowly walked towards the mushroom, lifting her skirt a bit so that she wouldn't stain her blue dress as she walked. She studied the mushroom carefully before she plucked it from the ground and put it into her basket.
"There. That should do it." The young woman, whose name was Alice Margatroid, let out a sigh of relief as she looked at the mushrooms she had picked. She would cook the edible ones for her meals while the suspicious-looking ones would be useful for her researches. As a magician, those hallucinogen mushrooms were useful to make drugs and elixir for practical use. She could make them so that she could sell them at the Human Village or store them for future use.
After making sure that she didn't stain her dress, Alice prepared herself to return home, before she saw something that caught her attention. It was a person, seemingly unconscious, lying not too far from a tree.
"A dead body?" Alice muttered to herself before she went towards the person. While it wasn't a normal occurrence, it wasn't impossible to find dead bodies in the Forest of Magic. Most of them were unlucky villagers or travelers who were lost while trying to find a way out of the forest. Those were the slightly unlucky ones. The more unlucky ones always ended up being eaten by youkai and demons in the forest.
Alice lowered her body to examine the supposedly dead body before she figured out that the person was still alive. Knocked out, but was still alive. The person seemed to be a male with muscular, toned body. There was a scar on the left side of his head. He was also wearing a black jacket like a cape over a shirt with the picture of a skull on it.
"Still alive," Alice said. She considered leaving him be, thinking that it wasn't her business to deal with an unconscious person in the middle of a youkai-infested forest, but leaving him alone would mean leaving him to die, either by normal mean or by being youkai's food. "Shanghai, Hourai, please help me." She moved her fingers with such dexterity, moving both her dolls, Shanghai and Hourai with invisible strings to lift the unconscious man.
Alice sighed. She would rather not do this, but she didn't want to leave this person to die. So, she would have to bring him home and treat him.
"Let's go home."
With Shanghai and Hourai carrying the unconscious man, Alice Margatroid walked home.
TO BE CONTINUED
Author's Note: After months of writer's block, I finally managed to write the second chapter of Phantasmagoria of the Golden Dream. I'm sorry for the delay, but I was unable to come up with the second chapter due to writer's block and real-life stuff. I hope that you guys will like the second chapter, and thank you for reading the story. I hope you guys will leave reviews for this. The more constructive the reviews, the better. Thank you in advance.
Prince Arjuna (2014)