DISCLAIMER: I don't own Persona or Touhou… I only own my OCs.
Author's note: I'm trying to explain the concept of shadows to newcomers to Persona series from the Touhou fans, and explaining a little about the Touhou characters to the Persona fans. If it seems like I'm just laying facts about both series, remember that some fans of either series MIGHT NOT KNOW ANYTHING about the other series.
*Reisen and Keine leave Damion's GUEST team members*
The next morning, in the human village, Damion woke up early. He was feeling refreshed and ready to get to work.
Getting ready for the day, Damion did some stretches to make himself more physically fit, including pushups and sit-ups. After readying himself physically, he began to prepare himself mentally. He thought about hypothetical situations involving near-impossible situations and how to solve them. Of said situations included a scenario where the objective is to defuse an argument between himself and the humans of the village.
Damion let himself out of the infirmary of the school and went to the bathroom to freshen up.
He came across Keine while wandering the halls though.
"Good morning, Damion-san" Keine greeted.
"Ah, good morning" Damion replied.
"I've been meaning to ask you what you were going to do with that power of yours"
"Oh, I was going to use it to keep the monsters and youkai away"
"Perhaps you forgot, but I am a youkai myself"
"Let me rephrase that: I was going to use it to keep aggressive monsters and the human-hating youkai away from myself and my friends"
"That's better"
"Sheesh, are the people of Gensokyo so strict or easily offended by humans?"
"It's not a matter of being easily offended. It's a matter of survival. Some youkai eat humans for fun, others are desperate to get a bit to eat, others toy with humans. You're forgetting that youkai also eat"
Damion was taken aback by this. He assumed that nobody in Gensokyo ate when he first got here. After being reminded of one of the most important lessons, he apologized for his mistake.
"You're right. I forgot something so simple"
"At least now you know. I was just about to go prepare my classroom for the day, would you care to give me a hand?"
"Sure, just let me get ready for today"
Damion, after ending the conversation, headed into the bathroom.
About five minutes later, he returned to the classroom Keine taught in. The teacher in question was organizing the books in her desk and grading papers.
"So, what can I do to help out?" Damion asked.
Keine began by having Damion straighten the desks so that they were organized in linear fashion. Once that was done, Keine had him prepare the chalkboard for use. Keine was telling the young man things that needed to be done while she graded papers.
For the next fifteen or so minutes, Keine was telling Damion what needed to be done, and the young man was working hard without complaints.
Once Keine was done grading papers that morning, she looked around to see the classroom in great condition, as if brand new.
"Wow, you work fast, Damion-san" Keine said with a voice that says 'I am impressed'.
"Anything else, Keine?" Damion asked her.
Keine looked around the classroom, and found that there was nothing else to be done. "No, I think that's everything. Thanks for your help, Damion-san"
"If you don't mind, can we drop the formalities thing? I never understood it much" Damion asked.
Keine was surprised to hear Damion's sudden request. "Why? Formalities? I think you mean honorifics. They are used to address people respectfully. Taking them away means that two people are in an intimate relationship. We're not in said relationship, so it would give the humans here a misunderstanding" Keine replied.
Damion sighed in defeat. "Alright. I don't get it, but I'll give it a try….. Keine… san" Damion muttered, trying to get an idea of how it worked.
"You know, you're not that bad a person I thought you were from your 'shadow self'" Keine suddenly said, changing the subject.
Damion was shocked to hear the new topic. He then looked down.
Keine noticed Damion's unwillingness to talk about the subject.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Perhaps you're not ready to …"
Suddenly, Damion turned to look at Keine.
"No, it's not your fault. I think it's mine for forgetting everything and rejecting who I was and what I did. That 'shadow me' was trying to help me recover my memories and remind me not to kill unnecessarily" Damion interrupted.
"Oh, alright" Keine looked down.
The two of them sat together awkwardly after the topic came up. Keine was regretting her notion to ask about Damion's shadow. Damion, on the other hand, was just uncomfortable talking about the matter altogether.
After a minute of awkwardness, Keine asked the young man, "Are you hungry? I can take you to a ramen stand or someplace we can get breakfast" Keine offered.
Upon being asked to get food, Damion's stomach growled.
"Sure, breakfast sounds nice" Damioin replied, somewhat embarrassedly. His embarrassment was mostly from his growling stomach.
The two of them left the school together that morning and headed to a fast-food building in the village.
The place Keine brought Damion to was a primitive version of some burger joints. Damion commented on the slight change in name of what he was used to; the restaurant in question was 'Ace Burger'.
"I'm sorry it has to be fast food, but it's one of the only things open so early in the morning" Keine apologized.
"No, it's okay. This fast-food place reminded me of a popular place back in the human world" Damion replied.
Keine giggled, knowing exactly what restaurant Damion was referring to in the human world. She and Damion headed into the restaurant together.
Inside, the atmosphere of the restaurant was very familiar to Damion, had the feel of a modern-day fast food restaurant, despite the wood and bamboo materials that made up almost everything.
"I was hoping the human village would have some traces of modern-day technology from the human world, but now that I think about it, why hasn't the human village made an attempt to be more like the human world's technologies and cities?" Damion asked aloud all of a sudden.
Keine sensed Damion's homesickness from that comment. "I understand your feeling of homesickness. As for why the human village hasn't evolved into what your standards of being 'modern' are, it's because of the youkai being the dominant populace of Gensokyo" Keine reminded him.
Damion apologized for his comment, "Sorry, but you're right about me missing the human world's technologies and modern standards"
Keine accepted the apology and told Damion to make his order. "Why don't you make your order and we can continue talk while we eat?" Keine offered.
Nodding 'yes' to Keine's offer, Damion looked at the menu and placed his order. It was a relatively modest meal he ordered, and Keine was surprised with Damion's order.
Keine, once her turn came, made her order and paid for their meals.
In about two minutes, both orders came. Damion and Keine took their respective orders and moved to a seat.
When Damion and Keine were seated, however, Damion noticed one of the other patrons moving seats to join them. The person who joined Damion and Keine was a woman with a red bow in her long, light violet hair. Parts of her hair were tied with red and white paper charms. She was wearing a dark-brown shirt with dark red overalls. On said overalls were the same red and white paper charms that were in her hair.
"Ah, good morning, Mokou-chan" Keine greeted her friend.
"I never expected you to be here, Keine-san" the woman, Mokou, replied to Keine.
Mokou then noticed Damion.
"Is he new to Gensokyo?" Mokou asked Keine, changing the subject to that of the young man with Keine.
"Oh, are you talking about me?" Damion asked her, biting into his burger.
"Of course I am. What's your name?" Mokou asked him.
"Damion. I just got here to Gensokyo yesterday, and … well … I've been through one hell of a day yesterday" Damion introduced himself to Mokou.
"My name is Fujiwara No Mokou. Even though I'm a human, I don't live in the human village. You could say I'm a special person for a reason" Mokou introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you, Mokou… san" Damion hesitated, remembering the need for honorifics around the human village.
"He's not used to honorifics, despite coming from the human world, so please go easy on him, Mokou-chan" Keine explained to Mokou for him.
"Ah, it's alright. Just call me Mokou, Damion" Mokou said to Damion.
"Why is that? Keine told me that dropping these 'honorifics' mean intimate relationships" Damion answered shyly.
"Oh, is that what this is about? Don't worry about it. You're a friend of Keine, and I'm kind of interested in you as a friend" Mokou heartily replied to Damion.
"Alright… Mokou" Damion, once again, shyly answered.
Now it was Keine's turn to join the conversation again. She let Damion and Mokou get to know one another.
"Now that introductions are over, I was going to ask you to give Damion-san a tour of Gensokyo around the Human Village area to give him an idea of what places are safe and which places are not safe" Keine asked Mokou.
"Eh? Me? I'm not that good a tour guide. I know you have school to teach, but why couldn't you have one of the human hunters show Damion around instead?" Mokou replied, trying to decline the request.
Damion looked down, and so did Keine.
"Is there a reason why he shouldn't be with the other humans?" Mokou asked again.
"Damion, would you like me to tell her about what happened yesterday and what happened to you?" Keine asked the young man out of concern.
Damion looked up and answered, "Let me explain it to her"
Damion then turned to Mokou and leaned in to her ear. "Can you keep a secret from the other humans here? I'm afraid they might… freak out and shun me… if they knew the truth of what happened yesterday" Damion whispered to her.
"What could possibly be so scary that…"
Damion whispered the events that happened yesterday to Mokou so as to prevent others from hearing what really happened.
After the explanation, Mokou was stunned, surprised, and thought he was crazy.
"You expect me to believe all that?" Mokou asked Damion suspiciously.
"I am a witness to the events yesterday, helping him fight that … doppelganger … yesterday. Reisen Inaba helped to stop that thing too" Keine defended Damion.
"That's… kind of difficult to believe without evidence" Mokou answered.
"If I had my Evoker, which I was told that Reisen has, I would show you that what happened wouldn't be a lie" Damion explained.
"Evoker? Do you mean that gun-shaped thing your … doppelganger … gave you? Reisen gave it to me to hold onto" Keine replied, secretly pulling out the weapon in question and stealthily handing it to Damion under the table.
Damion saw Keine trying to return his weapon to him under the table, and took it.
"Thanks for keeping it safe and out of sight from the people around us" Damion whispered to the schoolteacher.
"So, what does this Evoker thing do?" Mokou asked them.
"It's a device… wait, I can't tell you here" Damion answered, remembering that he was in a public location where people are around him.
"Just trust him on this, Mokou-chan. I told everyone that he found a doppelganger youkai and lured it out of the village to keep the humans safe" Keine informed her.
"Alright. Let's finish breakfast so you can explain everything to me" Mokou made Keine and Damion promise.
After agreeing on this, the three of them went back to eating their meals.
Then, Damion asked Mokou a personal question.
"What makes you so special, if you don't mind me asking" Damion asked politely.
Mokou leaned towards Damion and whispered, as if about to tell him a secret. "Do you swear not to tell anyone?" Mokou asked in a whisper to Damion.
The young man knew that the secret that Mokou was about to tell him had to be something important enough to avoid.
"I don't tell secrets without permission from the person who tell me their secret" Damion replied seriously.
"I drank the Hourai Elixer, and became immortal; that's the first thing. The second is that I can manipulate and have great resistance to fire" Mokou whispered to him.
Damion whispered back to her, "I'm not surprised by this, being new to Gensokyo where anything and almost anything can happen"
"Good, now make sure to explain what happened to me yesterday or you'll regret hearing what I told you" Mokou told Damion, returning to her seat.
The three of them continued eating together in silence.
Later, outside the human village, and after Keine hid the history, and existence, of the human village, Damion began to explain everything to Mokou.
"Here's the truth of what happened yesterday: I was minding my own business with the entity called Death; I serve directly under Death's orders, meaning I could be compared to a human shinigami shikigami. While wondering what I was going to do to wait for Death's orders, I was somehow taken out of Death's realms through a portal of some kind with eyes all around inside said portal. When I came to, I lost my memories of everything that happened to me except for the adventure I had in my home world; that's a separate story though. Anyway, I remembered then that I was able to use magic, but it was the darkness element spell, and another one that summoned DEATH to instantly kill my enemies. I was branded evil and a killing machine just for knowing those two spells by the monks and shrine maidens" Damion began.
"I would, too think that you were evil as my first impression" Mokou commented.
"Hush, I believe there is more" Keine said to Mokou.
"After being chased, I hid in one of the shrine buildings, where I met Hakurei Reimu. She didn't see me as evil, giving me a chance to explain myself and most of my memories missing. She then reminded me of how to fight with melee and magic, then told me to 'beat some sense into her disciples' without killing them. Unfortunately, I killed one with that DEATH spell, hoping the spell would jump-start my memories, but it failed. I then knocked out the last monk chasing me, and tried to figure out what was going on. Unfortunately, Reimu suddenly attacked me without giving me a chance to rest and catch my breath. I lost of course, and was beaten to unconsciousness"
"Sounds about right, from what I can imagine if I was in your case" Mokou added.
"When I woke up, Reimu explained why she attacked; there was a monster outbreak coming from the Hakurei Border, and she accused me of being the leader of the monsters gone on batshit crazy and rampaging about. After explaining the situation to me about the monsters, she taught me the basic spells, 'Scan', 'Cure', and 'Esuna'. With those spells learned, she asked me to do a favor for her and find Marisa Kirisame. I don't know why, but I assumed she was a sage with the most knowledge, at the time back then. The, Reimu told me about her being a witch, and a thief. I had to rethink my image of whoever that Marisa person was. Afterwards, leaving the shrine, I fought some of the monsters around the shrine to get stronger. While fighting, I came across Reisen, and we teamed up to fight some of the monsters. It's a shame that she wasn't able to handle close range combat; she fled whenever the monsters tried to get close to her"
"That's Reisen-chan for you. She told me about where she got her training, but was a failure in the … Defense Corps where she came from. She was given a chance to make up for it by being the … Defense Corps's leaders' pet. Unfortunately, due to events that I'm not in liberty to share, she came to Gensokyo to hide from them" Keine explained vaguely.
"Okay, so that explains why she couldn't handle close combat" Damion understood.
"Please continue your story, Damion" Mokou told him.
"Anyway, after fighting together, I asked around town for leads as to where I could find Marisa. One of the people in town told me to check the Scarlet Devil Mansion, since I was told that Marisa would be there to steal books from time to time. Asking Reisen for help, she lead me to Youkai Mountain. Along the way, we began talking about ourselves, and my interest in what she did and where she came from got the better of me. I decided to put the monster problem on hold until my curiosity was satisfied. So, I followed Reisen… san… here to the human village, and I met Keine. She took me into the village after hearing the story I remembered, the one about my home world, and gave me a brief tour of the village before my shadow self appeared to haunt me. Racing out of the village, I confronted my shadow self, thinking I was alone. Thankfully, I owe Keine and Reisen a large debt for their help in convincing me to accept my shadow self. Trust me on this, Mokou, you would mentally collapse, be in life-threatening danger despite immortality, or be consumed by your shadow self" Damion continued.
"How bad is it to have to face yourself?" Mokou asked him.
Keine and Damion had serious, but sad expressions on their faces.
"Wait, is it really that bad?" Mokou asked again, noticing the uneasy feeling from her friends.
Damion and Keine were silent.
"Can you at least give me an idea of what it's like?" Mokou asked.
Damion sighed and explained his experience against his shadow self. "It's practically facing your inner feelings, deep dark secrets, grudges you hold against others… all that being threatened to being exposed, or actually being exposed to everyone if there are people around you. Even more to the fact is that your shadow… is ACTUALLY YOURSELF, your inner emotions, dark secrets, grudges you hold against others, inner feelings, and everything you reject being given a physical form in your image. What makes it scary is that everything they say is what you reject, suppress, and otherwise tell you things you don't want to believe. It's a wake-up call to reality that's just scary and so sudden… You can't face them by yourself, trust me… I would've given up and allowed myself to be consumed by my shadow self if it weren't for Reisen and Keine's support. Their support was what I needed to be able to stand up to and fight my shadow self. That's why I owe them a huge debt"
"I see, but what happens if you deny your shadow self whatever it is that they spout bullshit to you about?"
Damion and Keine fell silent once again.
The silence was getting to Mokou again. "Please stop with the sudden silence! It's creeping me out!"
"What happens… is that your shadow self becomes way more powerful than you are, and goes all-out to KILL you. If you cannot be killed, then I guess it will consume you with darkness until there is nothing left of you. I really don't know what would happen to an immortal, but that'd be my best guess. I'm sorry, but it's almost impossible to face your shadow self without support from your friends" Damion explained sullenly.
"Don't brush off the idea as simply accepting your shadow, Mokou-chan… the pressure you feel from being bombarded with reality from your shadow self, as from I remember and assume was going on in Damion's mind at the time, is not easy. Every person has facts and information they don't want to be told, and there are facts that people will deny until death. Damion's case was his story of his home world where he… I'm sorry, Damion, you have to be the one to explain your story to her" Keine explained, turning to Damion.
Damion became sad again, but mustered the courage to tell his story again.
He told Mokou about being created by a god to be a contender to the god's game to find a successor to his powers. Damion was a guardian of sorts for one of the contestants the god found interesting. He met and befriended a few of the contestants and continued the tournament with them as friends. At the end of the tournament, the inevitable happened: he had to face his friends, who were also contestants in the tournament. Before facing his friends, Deus explained he had to make a choice of whether to let his friends win and ultimately cause the tournament to start over again, or he could eliminate them and have one wish granted. Damion's choice was to eliminate his friends and break the cycle of the 'game'. He used his one wish to escape his home world from being destroyed by instability in the world, and leaving with a power he could be proud of.
Mokou handled the story a lot better than Damion expected.
"Oh, is that all? I'm sorry you went through all that" Mokou replied to his story.
Damion felt sadness from bringing up his past again.
"Do you mind if we change the subject to that Evoker thing? It's been bugging me since breakfast" Mokou asked.
Damion perked up from the question, and cheered up a little.
"Alright. Evokers are tools used, in another world that I've been to, to summon and control your emotions given physical form to fight your enemies. Originally, Personas were people's emotions and thoughts given physical form, but that was only one part of a bigger understanding: Shadows are actually the negative emotions, hidden feelings, rejected thoughts and beliefs, as well as facts that we humans refuse to accept as part of reality. Said emotions were given physical form in what we called 'Shadows'. Fortunately, shadows only came during a time between one day and the next: The Dark Hour. That was the case in another world, but I don't know if the Dark Hour exists in this world, or even if there are shadows around for that matter" Damion explained in detail.
"Wow, that's a lot to learn" Mokou admitted.
"That's about the basics of what shadows are. Now for Personas…"
"Wait, there's more?"
"Yes. Here's the next part: Personas, after a long time studying them by ourselves, were actually shadows that deviated from normal and actually confronted their original human selves. Their goal was to become accepted, completely, truthfully, and without hesitation, by their human selves. Upon doing that, the human and shadow become one, with the shadow joining the human and becoming their Persona. What the Personas do is, once summoned, protect their human from other shadows or fight to eliminate other shadows, depending on what the human does with their Persona. Essentially, shadows and personas are the same thing, just given different names" Damion explained more thoroughly.
"Wait, if that's the case, then what happens to shadows if they're rejected?" Mokou asked him.
"They eat the mind of their human, their personality, leaving behind a personality-less, mindless, living, breathing body. Essentially, the person is about as close to being dead without actually being dead. You could say they 'lost the will to live, and all meaning of life no longer applies to them'" Damion explained.
"Wow, shadows are more fearsome than I realize they were" Fujiwara No Mokou said in a loud gasp.
Keine was equally surprised upon hearing the news about shadows.
"A person with a strong will, strong sense of belief, and a strong heart are the ones who can face shadows with the least risk. Those with a strong sense of belief about their ideals being the most important, a weak will and weak heart are the ones who are at the MOST risk of being confronted by their shadows, and are the most likely to reject, and cause their shadow to go berserk. The only way to stop a shadow is to take them down with people who hold strong beliefs, strong wills, and a strong heart. Those people, even if they don't have a Persona, are able to fight the shadow and succeed in temporarily stopping the berserk shadow. Once a berserk shadow is defeated, the human is given a 'second chance' of sorts to accept the shadow as its true self. This would be the tricky part, as the human is usually given an explanation by his or her friends at this point to accept the shadow as themselves, or the human would put his or her friends in danger a second time by denying her shadow as a part of them. Should the worst-case scenario happen again, which is the shadow going berserk again, then it usually gets stronger than before" Damion explained in more details.
"That… sounds like a fearsome and deadly opponent, even for an immortal" Mokou said, shivering at the thought of potentially facing her shadow self.
"I'm telling you the facts as they are, Mokou. If there was anything for me to hide, there would be a good reason for me to do so" Damion confirmed for her.
Keine was following the conversation and understood everything so far.
"So, how does that evoker thing work? Do you point it at the enemy and shoot?" Keine asked.
Damion nodded 'no'. "I wish it worked that way, but from what I learned, the only method of summoning one's Persona is based on the fear of dying from committing suicide. As such…" Damion began, but then pointed his Evoker to his head.
Upon Damion pointing the Evoker to his head, Keine and Mokou both panicked. "Wait, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" They both yelled together and rushed to grab the Evoker from his hand.
Damion quickly stepped back and out of the way before being tackled.
"Stop! I'm showing you how it works! It does not shoot real bullets!" Damion yelled to them.
Upon realizing this, both of them sighed in embarrassment.
Damion pointed his evoker to his head again, and this time pulled the trigger. The sound of a gunshot and breaking glass echoed loudly through the area. What seemed like glass fragments around the young man's head seemed to break off into smaller shards off Damion. However, Damion's head was intact. A blue aura, complete with a magic circle with runes appeared on the ground below Damion. A second after all that happened, a shadowy figure emerged from inside Damion and appeared above him; it was his Persona.
The Persona in question was a figure in black overcoat that starts splitting starting from the waist area. The face of the Persona was covered by a metal mask that looked like several parts, with openings for the eyes. On the Persona's mask looked like leftover metal strips that imitated very small ears. While it couldn't be seen through the mask, there was a very long headband that was wrapped around the head of the Persona, and this could be implied from the long remaining parts of the headband being shown from the back of the mask. The Persona's weapon was a polearm of sorts with a blade at the top. On the bottom of the Persona's metal boots looked like ice skate blades in the shape of a thin metal plate.
"So this is his power back then… the power of the Wild Card" Damion muttered as he looked up at his Persona.
"I am Thou, and Thou art I. From the sea of his Soul, his power became yours to wield. I am your spear that shall smite your enemies. My name is Izanagi" the Persona spoke to Damion in a commanding voice.
Keine was staring at the Persona in awe. Mokou, on the other hand, could not believe what she just heard.
The Persona, after introducing itself to Damion, disappeared back into Damion.
"Wait, a GOD is under your command!" Mokou screamed in disbelief.
Damion sighed. "They're not exactly gods. They're shadows that take the form of gods, and hold only a diminuitive portion of the power of the gods or goddesses they assume the form of. However, their power comes in the form of spells under certain categories: Physical, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Support, Healing, and Almighty skills. That's the limitation to the power the Personas, and shadows for that matter, have" he explained.
Mokou had the face that said 'I knew it'. "I knew there was a catch to why it said it was a god. That explains it" Mokou shot back.
Keine, on the other hand, looked disappointed.
"There's one other thing, to fight shadows, you need a Persona. To have the power of a Persona, you need a strong mind, strong belief in your ideals, and a strong heart. Those are the bare minimum requirements in order to stand up to a shadow and defeat them. After a while, when you meet those requirements, your shadow will try to find its way to you. The time when a shadow strikes you is when you start to lose faith in yourself, like when something tragic happens, after a big fight you have with your friends, when you start holding a grudge against someone over a big deal like jealousy, or any time that either your heart, will, or beliefs start to falter" Damion added.
Unfortunately, this was when Reisen Udongein Inaba arrived.
"Oh, Damion, how are you feeling today?" Reisen asked Damion as she walked by.
"I'm feeling a lot better now that I've come to terms with myself" Damion answered.
"Ah, Reisen-san, good morning" Keine said to the rabbit youkai.
The four of them exchanged 'good mornings' with one another.
"So, what are the three of you talking about?" Reisen asked after greeting the three people.
"Reisen, I hope you have about a half an hour to spare, because it's going to be one LONG explanation as to what you and Keine helped me fight yesterday" Damion began.
For the next half-hour, he recapped the entire explanation to her, including the small details that were important.
"Wow, I never would've thought that those 'shadow' selves were actually our inner emotions given physical form. Now I'm afraid of the thought of meeting my shadow self" Reisen answered.
"I know, shadows are a complicated thing. If you don't understand, just call them your doppelganger that knows EVERYTHING about you; your thoughts, emotions, grudges, suppressed memories, and other matters that you don't want to, or completely reject, dealing with" Damion told them using an analogy.
"Okay, let's go with that" Reisen replied.
"Now that everything is settled, let's talk about something else" Damion said, asking to change the subject.
"Sure, but what?" Mokou asked him.
The four of them were silent for a moment.
After what seemed like a minute, Reisen told them why she was here.
"Actually, I'm here for my usual medicinal deliveries from Eirin" Reisen said to them.
"Oh, right. Let me put the human village back so you can go about your business, Reisen-san" Keine answered before turning into her hakutaku form.
Keine's power was to hide history, and the existence, of something. Usually, it's to hide the human village's existence from anything that pose a threat to humans. Her EX Form, however, creates the history, and reveals the existence of the hidden human village. This is her power.
Once the human village was restored to place, having its history returned, Reisen and Keine, after the latter returned to her human form, entered the village. She then offered to take Damion back into the village.
"I was going to ask you to help out around the human village for a while, Damion-san. Do you mind helping me around?" Keine asked before entering the village.
Damion politely declined the offer.
"Sorry, but I'm going to explore Gensokyo for a while. I don't know how long I'll be gone, so don't panic if I don't return after a day or two" Damion said to Keine before the latter returned to the village.
This left Damion with Fujiwara No Mokou.
"Well, I know some famous places in Gensokyo; Would you like to take a tour?" Mokou offered.
Damion accepted the offer. "Sure, I could use the help to learn my way around here; I don't want to have to keep relying on everyone to help me get around" Damion answered.
With that, Mokou led Damion out of the vicinity of the Human Village to places unknown to Damion.
The first place Mokou brought Damion to was Youkai Mountain.
"Here is Youkai Mountain. It's obviously home to many different youkai. This is where some of the really brave humans go hunting for weak youkai. The humans that come here to hunt don't go any farther than the area near the entrance to the mountain. This is the greatest mountain in Gensokyo, and many youkai live here, hence the name" Mokou explained.
"Sounds like a place for the badass humans to explore and return alive from, but that'd also be foolish at the same time" Damion commented.
"Yeah, but let me finish. At the base of the mountain lie the Kappa. They aren't as bloodthirsty as humans make them out to believe. They're actually quite shy and misunderstood. Some of them are curious about humans, others like to test a human in terms of skill, and then there's on Kappa in particular that stands out as the most human-like: Nitori Kawashiro"
"Nitori Kawashiro? Why does she stand out?" Damion asked her.
"For one, she's extremely shy around us humans, and tends to avoid us at even the smallest hint of what she might perceive as threatening. Second, unlike most Kappa, she's a very skilled mechanic; she often builds things during her spare time, ranging from simple machines, to complicated devices that I hear resemble things from the human world. She and I aren't exactly acquaintances, being human and her being a Kappa of course"
"Okay"
"Now then, patrolling the mountain is Momiji Inubashiri. Her job is to keep intruders out of the mountain, mostly to keep humans out of the mountain for their safety. Then, there's Aya Shimeimaru, a reporter and author of the Bunbunmaru newspaper, though most of her works are slightly exaggerated facts. Most humans and youkai that read her papers often don't believe what she writes. Then, there's Hatate Himekaidou, the other reporter for Gensokyo, but she writes her own newspaper, the Kakashi Spirit News, about facts that most everyone already know, so nobody even dares to pick up her newspaper. All three youkai I mentioned are Tengu; Aya and Hatate are crow tengu, while Momiji is a white wolf tengu" Mokou explained.
"Heh, anything else about Youkai Mountain?"
"There's lots more; deep in the forest area of the mountain lies Misty Lake, and in the middle of Misty Lake is the Scarlet Devil Mansion, home to vampire sisters Remilia and Flandre Scarlet. Both vampires have deadly powers, so going there for any reason is practically suicide. There's also the Moriya Shrine, which came to Gensokyo fairly recently. It's a shrine that houses and worships two goddesses, Kanako Yasaka, and Suwako Moriya. The shrine maiden there is Sanae Kochiya; she is human though"
"Oh, alright. I didn't know there were two shrines in Gensokyo, but then, I thought that…"
"Not exactly, Damion. VERY few humans travel to Moriya Shrine, mainly because it's near the top of Youkai Mountain. As such, the majority of worshippers at the shrine are youkai. It's sad, but the shrine is losing more worshippers every few months"
"Oh, I see"
"Aside from that, there's also the entrance to Gensokyo's Heaven, which is filled with mischievous celestials. Those celestials occasionally descend to Youkai Mountain to cause…"
"Wait, HEAVEN! That's a first for me to hear about"
"Yes, there's an entrance to Heaven, but it's mostly found by climbing even further up Youkai Mountain. You might say that climbing to the top of Youkai Mountain will take you straight to Heaven" Mokou added.
Damion whistled in surprise.
"Then there's the Underground Geyser Center, home to Satori Komeji and her pets, Rin Kaenbyou and Reiuji Utsuho. Rin's job is to carry corpses to the netherworld, while Reiuji's is to regulate the flames of hell with her powers of nuclear fusion. Satori Komeji has a younger sister named Koishi Komeji, but Koishi seems to be the only person that is immune to Satori's mind and heart reading powers because she closed her mind and heart to the rest of the world for reasons I don't know"
"Wait a second, Reiuji has the power of nuclear fusion? Isn't that like saying you have the power to blow up Gensokyo if you feel like doing so?" Damion asked. He began feeling uneasy once he heard about Reiuji's power.
"I don't believe Reiuji would go THAT far, since Satori will just punish her for even thinking about doing that" Mokou assured him.
Damion breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that.
"Other than that, I don't think there's anything else of interest in Youkai Mountain, except for the youkai that some humans hunt" Mokou concluded the explanation of Youkai Mountain.
To be honest, Mokou and Damion were outside the gate to Youkai Mountain when Mokou gave the explanation.
The next place Mokou brought Damion to was a place not too far from Youkai Mountain: Bamboo Forest of the Lost.
"Here's the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. As the name suggests, it's very easy to get lost here without a guide like me to help humans and youkai get around"
"Why is a bamboo forest a hotspot?"
"Eientei, the clinic that Reisen works in. is located here. I hate Eientei's most important resident for personal reasons. Also, my house is quite a bit away from Eientei" Mokou explained.
"Wait, who is Eientei's most important resident, and why do you hate that person?"
Mokou fell silent for a moment, hesitating to break the news to her friend.
"Do you know the story of the bamboo cutter and the princess?" Mokou asked him suddenly.
"No, not really" Damion answered.
Mokou explained the story of the bamboo cutter to Damion.
"Wait, Eientei's most important resident is THE Princess Kaguya from the story!"
"Yeah, but I would advise you stop yourself from falling for her. She's got this 'test' to anyone who dares to try and win her heart; the five impossible tasks" Mokou added.
"Sounds like a trap to avoid getting married to anyone, or as a well-thought challenge to satisfy her parent or guardian's desire to find a suitor, and at the same time stay away from the thought of romance" Damion speculated aloud.
"My father, unfortunately, was one of the humans who sought her hand in marriage, and attempted the five impossible tasks. He failed, and my family suffered humiliation, my mom divorced my father because he attempted the challenge, only to die during the process. My father and I were happiest together, and I only wanted to make him happy. My mom and I started becoming distant from one another after my dad left to attempt the five impossible tasks. The humiliation of my parents were passed onto me, and therefore, I don't exactly get along with youkai or humans" Mokou explained.
"Is that so? Then… why did you open up to Keine-san?" Damion asked her.
Mokou sighed.
"It's because she had sympathy for me and told me I shouldn't shoulder my parents' humiliation, and should distance myself from everyone who still looks at me and laughs, saying that I'm the failure daughter of a foolish man who sought to do the impossible" Mokou admitted, opening up to Damion a little.
Damion put an arm around her. This act surprised her completely.
"Wh-what are you doing!" Mokou screamed, jumping away from him.
"It's called a hug. Humans do this to one another for a few reasons, like to show support, to show affection, or to protect someone from danger" Damion replied defensively.
"Alright, which of those were your intention?" Mokou asked him suspiciously.
"It was to show support for, and sympathy for another person. What did you think I was going to do, Mokou?" Damion asked, somewhat irritatedly.
"I was thinking you were about to take advantage of my moment of weakness, opening up to you, so you could do lewd things to me" Mokou replied defensively.
Damion was now upset.
"I don't have an interest in romance yet, and I believe Keine will tell you this about humans hugging one another: They will do so for various reasons BESIDES an invitation to lewd things. It is an act to show sympathy, support, affection, or can be used to shield one from harm" Damion explained to her sternly.
Mokou was still suspicious of Damion.
"Just… don't do that without warning me next time" Mokou made him swear.
"Alright, I'll give you a heads-up next time I want to do that, and tell you my intention beforehand" Damion promised.
The awkwardness between the two of them slowly disappeared after the misunderstanding. Mokou then returned to her explanation of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.
"This forest is also the best place if you want to find rabbit youkai; they're quite cute and fun to play with. They're usually making mochi during days that the moon starts to grow full, usually days after a new moon. I usually act as the guide to help humans and youkai get to Eientei, but things will go to hell once I see Kaguya Houraisan; we will start fighting until one of us gives up" Mokou informed him.
Damion began to understand Mokou's problem, but not the whole thing.
"I'm sorry, but I can't help but think that there might be a way for me to act as a mediator between Kaguya and yourself to talk things over and…"
"DON'T! It's none of your business! It's a personal issue between Kaguya and myself!" Mokou snapped at him.
Damion was taken aback by the sudden outburst.
"You're right…" Damion apologized, "I'm sorry if I was prying too much into the matter; I believed that simply talking over the problem would solve the issue, but I'm guessing there's a deeper and more personal reason for talking it over being out of the question?"
"Yes. It's just that I can NEVER forgive Kaguya Houraisan for the humiliation she caused my father. There's no way for me to ever forgive her, not even if it was possible for me to kill her a million times" Mokou said with pure rage.
Damion decided it was best to avoid the issue altogether, since prying into the matter will only hurt his friendship with Fujiwara No Mokou.
"Alright. If you want to talk about it with me, feel free to do so. I won't ask any further" Damion assured her.
Mokou looked at Damion suspiciously, as if doubting him.
"I'd tell you more, only if you go and kill her for me by extracting her liver and eating it in front of me" Mokou told him, letting her anger get the better of her.
Her request came as a complete shock to Damion.
"There are a LOT of things I can do, but killing someone over a grudge is NOT one of the things I will do. Cannibalism is also another thing I refuse to do. Why would I even eat a fellow person's liver anyway?" Damion asked her as if she went crazy.
"Don't you get it? It's a win-win situation for the both of us; Eating the raw liver of an immortal who drank the elixir is the same as stealing said elixir, and immortality, from the immortal one. Also, it allows me to get my revenge on her for humiliating my father" Mokou explained with pure evilness in her voice.
Damion was now fed up with this. He walked up to Mokou, serious expression on his face, and he slapped Mokou in the face as hard as he could.
*SLAP*
Mokou, once slapped, came to her senses and glared at Damion.
"How DARE you attack your friend" Mokou angrily said to the young man.
"I WILL NOT DO SUCH A THING AS MURDERING, THEN COMMITING CANNIBALISM, TOWARDS ANOTHER BECAUSE OF A GRUDGE ONE HAS OVER THE FAILURE OF YOUR FATHER!" Damion yelled at the top of his lungs at Mokou.
"I saved you from yourself, and I'm asking you to repay that favor by going after my sworn enemy. You would be able to gain immortality yourself if you succeed. Why do you refuse this offer!" Mokou yelled back.
"IT'S BECAUSE I DO NOT DESIRE IMMORTALITY!" Damion yelled back, making his thoughts clear to her. "THAT, AND I DON'T HAVE ANY REASON TO INDISCRIMINATELY ATTACK SOMEONE, EVEN IF I AM HIRED!" Damion continued yelling at her.
The mention of no desire for immortality shocked Mokou. She became confused, bewildered, and speechless for a moment.
After what seemed like five minutes, Mokou calmed down. She then did the unexpected: She apologized to the necromancer.
"I'm sorry; just thinking about her makes me want to go after her, roping in anyone and everyone I can think of who might possibly be able to clear out Eientei, the rabbits, Reisen, Tewi, and Eirin" Mokou apologized sincerely.
"Geez, if there was a legitimate reason for me to put an end to one's life, that I see with my own eyes and believe, THEN I might consider doing so. I may be Death's shikigami of sorts, but I'm not going to just risk my life against someone without a proper reason" Damion scolded her.
Unfortunately, their conversation was cut short by a person emerging from the Bamboo Forest.
It was a mature-looking woman in a red and blue dress. The top part of her dress had red on her right, with blue on her left. From the waist down, the two colors switched places, but you couldn't tell because of the belt-like sash covering that area. She had long, white hair, and dark grey eyes. In her hands were a bow in her right hand, and an arrow in her left hand.
This woman took aim at the necromancer (Damion).
"Who are you, and what are you doing to Fujiwara No Mokou?" the woman asked the young man threateningly.
Damion was not prepared to be treated with hostility from a person he just met. In fact, he didn't notice the woman's presence until she revealed herself behind him.
The young man turned around to look at the woman.
"In case what I was doing, I was bringing Mokou back to reality and stopping her train of madness before she coerced me to doing something I would regret doing; namely, killing someone by the name of Kaguya, and then eating her liver" Damion explained to the oddly-dressed woman.
"I see, were you actually going to go through with that request? If so, then I have to eliminate you to protect Kaguya-sama" the woman answered, still ready to shoot an arrow at the necromancer.
Damion shook his head 'no' and sighed all the while. "I was yelling at Mokou for making me repay my debt to her by killing Kaguya and committing cannibalism. She was telling me I'd gain immortality by eating her liver, but I think she's gone completely insane"
"Were you actually going to do so?"
"No. I don't understand how eating a fellow person's liver will give me immortality. On the subject of immortality, I'm not even interested in becoming immortal!" Damion screamed. He felt himself being cornered between Mokou's evil coercion to kill someone, and the threat of being killed by someone he doesn't know if he accepts Mokou's plan.
"Now that is a rare thing to be told without hesitation and with the whole truth" the woman admitted.
To Damion, her response made Damion think she knew about Psychology.
"Unrelated, but you sound like you understand psychology, how my answer tells you more about me than I actually tell you" Damion said, changing the subject.
"Indeed I know what psychology is… wait, you're not going to distract me. Answer me this: Do you plan on causing harm to Kaguya-sama?" the woman asked him sternly.
Damion had a stern expression on his face, and told her his answer.
"I have absolutely no reason to, nor do I plan to kill Kaguya" Damion answered her with a serious expression, and without showing any signs of hesitation.
The woman studied Damion's answer, his facial expression, and the seriousness of his tone of voice before lowering her weapon. She deemed the young man to not be a threat to Kaguya.
"I see, you are not a threat to Kaguya-sama then. I apologize for my actions; I was being cautious because I heard Fujiwara No Mokou yelling about killing Kaguya Houraisan and having someone eat her liver. I would've sent Reisen to investigate, but she's at the human village…"
"Wait, Reisen? If you were the one that sent her to the human village…" Damion asked, interrupting.
"Yes, that's right. I suppose she told you about me" the woman responded, interrupting Damion's interruption.
"HEY, DON'T IGNORE ME!" Mokou yelled suddenly, jumping into the conversation.
"Hold on, Mokou. I'll get back to you soon" Damion said to the immortal, revenge-seeking girl.
"Wait, you called her 'Mokou'… Are you in an intimate relationship with her?" the woman asked him.
Mokou became furious at the woman's tease. Damion wasn't too happy about the tease either.
"NO!" Mokou and Damion yelled together.
Realizing that the two of them answered together, the two turned away from one another.
The red-and-blue clad woman giggled at the response, and bowed to the necromancer.
"Alright, I was just asking. Forgive the late introduction, but you probably guessed it by now: My name is Eirin Yagokoro. I'm Gensokyo's pharmacist and doctor" the woman introduced herself to Damion.
"Oh, my name is Damion" Damion introduced himself briefly.
"Mokou-chan, I recommend you go home and let me talk to Damion-san for a while; he has a lot of explaining to do about that… shadow, was it?" Eirin said to the immortal girl.
Angered, Mokou was defiant towards Eirin and refused to let him leave her side. "No, I'm in the middle of showing him around Gensokyo, as requested by Keine" Mokou shot back to Eirin.
"Oh, is that so? Alright, we'll talk here then" Eirin concluded.
The three of them sat down on the ground, upon Damion's request, in order for him to explain everything to her.
"Okay, what did Reisen tell you about the 'shadow' me that she, Keine, and I fought?" Damion asked, starting the conversation.
"She told me that the 'shadow' you was a doppelganger of you that knows EVERYTHING about you" Eirin told him.
"Is that it?" Damion asked her.
"I'm afraid so" Eirin admitted.
Damion sighed, having the expression that said 'I have my work cut out for me this time'.
"Alright, this is going to take a while for me to explain, so listen well as I'm not going to repeat myself…" Damion began.
He told the pharmacist everything he knew about the shadows of humans. How they were the physical manifestation of suppressed emotions, rejected beliefs, rejected ideas, and otherwise unwanted by individual people. He talked first about what shadows were, what they do, and what happens when a shadow meets their original.
Surprisingly, Eirin was taking the information in quite well, as though understanding every word that was being said.
"Now that I explained, again, what shadows are, let me explain WHY they meet their original" Damion said, continuing the lecture.
He then explained that the shadows' goals are to be accepted by the original; wholefully, truthfully, without feigning acceptance, and completely accepted by the original as a part of their true self. If need be, the shadow will go around telling the original's true thoughts, real beliefs, their real thoughts about others, and expose EVERY untold detail about the original to those closest to the original.
"Now comes the most important part about what makes shadows so fearsome…"
He explained that if the original person does not accept their shadow as a part of them without hesitation, faking acceptance, or is reluctant to accept the facts, the shadow will go berserk, becoming a 'monster' of sorts that takes a physical form of ALL the emotions, rejected ideas, and whatnot, merged together to form said 'monster'. He then explained to Eirin about what happens when the original rejects the truths and existence of their shadows; the shadows go berserk and try to kill the original. He added in the hypothetical theory of what a shadow would do if the original is immortal: the shadow might try to find a way to dispel the immortality somehow, and THEN kill the original. Still in theory, should the shadow be unable to dispel immortality, then they would just do the next important thing: consume the mind, personality, and life energy of the original.
Eirin had the look of fear upon being told the information.
"I am not making this up; this is the research me and my friends in another world discovered about shadows" Damion added, "Eirin-san, are you following all this?"
"Of course. Now, is there anything else that I need to know?" Eirin asked.
Damion then explained what happens AFTER, and only IF, the original accepts wholly, truthfully, and without fear, their shadows as a part of them. If the person accepts their shadow as a part of them, and the shadow recognizes that their original has, indeed, accepted them, then they become the original's source of power to fight off other shadows, or as a power to fight their enemies. The method of summoning shadows, however, is still being worked out. The only method so far that was able to successfully summon, and control, their power of Persona was to use a device called an Evoker.
After explaining everything to Eirin, he added that he, along with Reisen and Keine, managed to help him come to terms with his shadow and accept said shadow as a part of himself.
Eirin was taken by surprise at this extra bit of information.
Mokou then added in something to the conversation: "Based on what he says, it's a very, VERY, stressful thing to experience. I'm scared at the thought of having to face my emotions-given-physical-form and having all my thoughts, emotions, secrets, and feelings exposed to everyone"
"Oh, the lonely Mokou-san has feelings?" Eirin teased.
Damion became upset and threatened Eirin, "Please don't make me fight you… You don't understand the severity and importance of the situation I'm telling you about. In fact, I doubt you'll understand the fear of facing reality and your rejected ideas, and then accepting them as part of you. Until you yourself experienced what I went through yesterday, you have no right to criticize or tease others about their untold, unwanted, rejected, or otherwise unwanted ideas" Damion told Eirin sternly. Part of him was also trying to stand up for Fujiwara No Mokou.
Mokou, in yet another moment of weakness, looked towards Damion in confusion upon Damion's threat to Eirin.
Eirin and Damion glared at one another; Damion wouldn't budge or blink. Eirin had to stop herself from readying her bow and arrow to look at Damion, then at Mokou.
Then, Eirin understood why Mokou opened up to the necromancer a bit, and apologized.
"You're right, I'm sorry" Eirin apologized to Mokou and Damion.
Damion calmed down and stood up, prompting Mokou and Eirin to do so as well.
"Now that you're up to speed on the situation, I hope, and pray, that the people of Gensokyo don't have to experience the trouble I went through yesterday" Damion ended the current topic.
Eirin then asked Damion about what happened to him.
"You keep talking about you meeting your shadow, but you didn't talk about what happened during your encounter with your shadow. I won't know the severity of the situation unless you tell me about it" Eirin demanded.
Damion sighed.
"Alright, let me start out by telling you that it's an experience that no one should have to experience alone…" Damion started.
He told her about the fear that was going on in his mind when he faced his shadow; his shadow knew EVERYTHING about him, and was constantly reminding him that he was living in the past, reminding him of his sin of 'murdering' his friends back in his home world. His shadow also reminded Damion of his memories that he forgot upon arriving in Gensokyo. Every time that he tried to convince his shadow that he changed the way he thought, his beliefs, and his outlook on life had all changed, his shadow kicked him back down with reminders that he can't simply let go of his past. It took some help from Keine to help Damion realize that he was not alone, and shouldn't shoulder the burden of his past alone; he had friends he could rely on, and be relied upon. With the support from Keine and Reisen, he was able to stand up to his shadow self, and fight to prove his shadow wrong; that he wasn't he same weakling that his shadow keeps reminding him that he once was. Even after defeating his shadow, he was afraid to come to terms and accept his shadow as another part of himself that he forgot, repressed, rejected, and couldn't accept reality. It was Keine and Reisen's further support that gave him the courage, and confidence he needed to be able to face his shadow and accept said shadow as part of him.
"Wow, I now understand why shadows are such a big deal to humans" Eirin admitted.
"Now that you know, I have an obligation to rush to your side and help you out in case you, Reisen, and whoever else in Eientei, ever have a problem of facing their shadows" Damion said to Eirin, bowing all the while.
"Are we done talking yet? I still have a few more places I have to show Damion? I am being his tour guide on Keine's request" Mokou asked them.
"Alright, alright. I'll let you continue your tour with Damion" Eirin answered.
Damion sighed again. "Sorry to have been a little rough with you despite our first meeting, but it's just that I couldn't let you belittle my friend. From what I could tell, it was difficult for her to open up to anyone, and I have a lot of respect for people who make active, honest attempts to change themselves" Damion told Eirin.
Eirin nodded in acknowledgement.
"If you stop by the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, I'll send someone to pick you up so we can chat" Eirin offered. "As long as you don't attempt Kaguya-sama's five impossible tasks and fail, which I can guarantee will lead to your failure" Eirin thought to herself.
Damion bowed to Eirin and watched as the pharmacist returned into the Bamboo Forest.
Realizing that they spent too much time outside the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, Mokou lead Damion away from the forest and into other places of interest around Gensokyo.
That evening, after most of Gensokyo was explained, and shown to Damion, the two of them returned to the location of where the human village was.
"Well, I think that covers a fair bit of Gensokyo. There's more to see, and lots to do, but I think it's time I send you back to where it's safe" Mokou said to Damion.
"Thanks for teaching me about Gensokyo and where the most important places are, Mokou. I really appreciate your help" Damion thanked Mokou with an honest expression.
Mokou, after seeing Damion's honest smile, blushed a little. However, she turned away, tsundere style, and replied, "Don't think I've opened up to you completely. I'm still a loner by nature, and I'm starting to try opening up to you as the first important male in my life" she answered.
"Oh, sorry. I think I told Eirin this, and I meant it back then, but I'm not ready for a romantic relationship of any kind. I'm still afraid of being betrayed by someone, especially by someone close to me" Damion apologized.
Mokou had the look of dissatisfaction on her face when Damion apologized.
"Well, you're eventually going to have to open your heart to someone in your life; who's going to be the person who bears your children to continue your bloodline?" Mokou asked Damion seriously.
"I'm afraid I'm not that knowledgeable in the area of love, girls, or even how to be in a romantic relationship. I'm a complete idiot when it comes to emotional attachment in a romantic sense" Damion admitted truthfully.
"Really? Well, someone's going to have to teach you those things, but I'm going to have to have someone explain the concept to you"
"Why don't you teach me about it?"
"EH! No way! I told you, I'm a loner by nature, and I'm not good at intimacy either, so I am not the best person to explain what love is" Mokou answered back, flustered.
Damion looked down in disappointment from Mokou's answer.
"Sorry to have asked that so suddenly" Damion apologized.
Awkwardness fell upon Damion and Mokou once again. Damion's ignorance, and lack of knowledge, about love was the reason for the awkwardness.
Mokou then changed the subject.
"Well, just wait here until Keine is done with her after-school supplementary classes. She'll be outside to collect you once she's done" Mokou told Damion.
"Alright. I'll just fight some monsters, learn how to fight with the power of my Persona, and then retire into the human village for the night" Damion replied to Mokou. "I hope that I can, one day, make you realize that you don't have to suffer the humiliation your father caused your family, by yourself. The same way Keine and Reisen helped me realize that I cannot face the future without putting the past behind me and accepting what I did in the past, STAYED IN THE PAST. I have changed, and I hope to make a big change in your life by realizing that you… in reality, have absolutely no real reason to go after Kaguya; that's just you going through the same mistake I made, but under different circumstances" Damion thought to himself.
Then, Mokou left to return to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.
Damion, on the other hand, rested on the ground to stare at the sky, lying on his back.
Unfortunately, when he did, Keine emerged from inside the human village.
"I heard everything outside the village between you and Mokou-chan" Keine said to Damion.
The necromancer jumped to standing up, startled by Keine's timing, and nearly readied himself for battle.
"Oh, it's you… Damn it" Damion cursed.
Keine walked out of the human village and walked up to him.
"You and Mokou-chan seem to be getting close to one another, almost as if Mokou-chan is starting to look at you as a potential love interest" Keine teased.
Damion became defensive at the tease. "Don't tease me like that! She and I aren't like that!" Damion replied, defensively, to Keine. Sadly, when he realized he got defensive, he didn't understand why he felt that way.
Keine, noticing the defensiveness in Damion, stopped with the teasing expression, and became serious.
"Tell me what's bothering you, Damion-san" Keine said to Damion.
Damion confided his worries to Keine; he was over-thinking how he desired to help Mokou realize that she doesn't have to shoulder the burden of her parent's humiliation, how he wanted to act as the mediator between Kaguya and Mokou by hearing both sides' stories. After hearing both sides' stories, he would act as a common ground between them until both Kaguya and Mokou soon learn to tolerate one another until he was no longer needed to act as the mediator between them.
It was a risky plan that could jeopardize his friendship with Fujiwara no Mokou, but it could potentially help ease the 'pain' that Mokou is shouldering alone.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think that idea would be worth the risk. I understand your concern, but this is one issue you must not get yourself involved in. They've been fighting with one another for many years, and what chance do you think you have of suddenly causing a miracle between them to suddenly become friends?" Keine told Damion with a serious expression
Damion took the advice seriously, and understood where Keine was going with her explanation.
"Alright. I'll avoid the idea of mediation between them and work on helping Mokou come to trust us"
"When you say it like that, you make it seem like you're some kind of miracle worker who comes and goes"
"I'm sorry if I seem that way, but it's just that I don't know how to help people here"
"Perhaps the best thing to do is to simply wait until needed, or ask around if others need help"
Damion was surprised by the advice he was given. "Wait until needed, or ask if I can help? That'd take nearly forever, and I'd need luck if I was going to be able to help out when asked and…"
"Actually, you'd be surprised how helpful you'd be if you ask around. Tomorrow, I think I'll have you go to Eientei to see what life is like there. Who knows, you might be able to ask Kaguya-sama about her side of the story between her and Mokou-chan if you're lucky. Just don't bring up the mediation idea to her, or you'll get the same reaction from her that you would probably get from Mokou. Those two are bitter enemies, in case you didn't know"
"Bitter… enemies?"
"Yes. From what I hear, and she probably told you by now, she suffered humiliation when her father confessed to Kaguya-sama and failed to complete her five impossible tasks. As for why Kaguya has the five impossible tasks, I'm afraid I don't know either. I asked Kaguya-sama about that, but she refused to answer"
"I see. it might be difficult to talk about anything that's bothering me, even those that I shouldn't talk to her about" Damion sighed, giving up.
"Though, I suppose you might have a chance if you earn her trust by listening to her stories and working for her, like a personal servant. From what she tells me, she likes to tell stories to anyone who visits Eientei" Keine added.
"Working for her… gaining her trust… sounds like a pain to deal with" Damion complained.
"It's either be rude and ask her about why she and Mokou fight, thus causing you and Kaguya to start off with a bad friendship from the get-go. Or you can simply gain her trust slowly and then ask her nicely once she starts to have her full trust in you"
"Damn it…"
"No complaining. I'm giving you advice on how to help you satisfy your curiosity about her and her bitter relationship with Mokou. You have to properly earn that information from her, since I was not able to, due to being straightforward and asking her about it directly"
"Alright… If that's what it takes to help me understand everything, then I'll take my chances with the slow method" Damion agreed, giving up on his need for curiosity to be satisfied at the time.
"Good, now that we understand each other, let's find you a room or house you can crash for the night in" Keine offered.
She then lead Damion into the human village.
As Keine and Damion entered, they passed Reisen, who was just on her way out to return to Eientei. Damion stopped Reisen suddenly to give her an update.
"Sorry to stop you on your way out, but I met Eirin today, and she had me explain everything to her regarding shadows. I had help from Mokou-san, since she was my tour guide of Gensokyo today" Damion explained to the rabbit youkai.
"Oh, how did it go with you and her?" Reisen asked him.
He recapped the tour so far, and what he learned. He left out all the details between himself and Mokou simply to keep her emotions confidential and secret.
"Normally, when she talks to people, she usually keeps conversations short and to the point. Occasionally, she'll tell new people she meets that she runs a Yakitori stand, though I haven't seen said stand before" Reisen responded.
"Either way, I'm hoping to explore more of Gensokyo tomorrow, and maybe check out Eientei to see how life there is like" Damion said to her as though eager to see what would happen tomorrow.
"It sounds like you've adapted to Gensokyo quite fast compared to the other humans; most humans who come to Gensokyo take about a week to adapt and live here" Reisen added.
The two of them chatted for a while until Reisen realized that she should be headed back. Apologizing, she left in a hurry to return to Eientei.
Then, Keine lead Damion to one of the hotels in the village.
Keine managed to arrange for a room in one of the hotels. After making the necessary arrangements, and paying for his room, Keine left Damion to take care of himself from there. Taking his room key, he was escorted to his room and fell asleep in the bed as soon as he got in his room.
END OF CHAPTER
Author's notes:
Newcomers to Touhou, this gives a brief explanation between two important characters in this fic: Fujiwara No Mokou, and Kaguya Houraisan. Newcomers to Persona series, shadows are explained in detail according to Damion's understanding of what they are. Sorry if this is a filler chapter, but I'm still trying to work out how to make the next important chapter work.