DISCLAIMER: I don't own ZUN or Persona series. I only own my OCs.


It was a dream of sorts, but at the same time, felt more like reality. Both of which were true, but neither were completely accurate. This was because in Damion's "Dream", he was standing inside what looked like a morgue of sorts. Instead of the morgue having the holy looks and decorations that most churches had, the church in this dream was decorated with pictures of death-related creatures. In addition to the pictures of death-related creatures, there was one picture that stood out: A picture of Damion's best friend: Drake. To top it all off, EVERYTHING in the room was decorated in velvet material, in a shade of velvet blue.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear friend"

Damion jumped, startled to hear someone call out to him.

He turned to look around the church for whoever it was that called out to him. He found his answer sitting in the front of the church where the priests or similar religious leaders would be when giving their sermons. Sitting in a chair behind a desk was someone that Damion recognized immediately.

It was a goblin-like old man with a really long nose. He was wearing what looked like a formal suit, similar fashion to a tuxedo, complete with butler gloves. His eyebrows were bigger than normal, and looked like it was grown to look like wings on top of the eyes. Most of his head was bald, save for white hair on the sides and back of his head. His ears looked like those you would see on elves or goblins.

Next to the seemingly old man was a mature-looking woman in an elevator attendant's outfit. She had yellow rings adorned, neatly arranged on her outfit and a sash-belt on her waist. She had long, silver hair and a purple headband on her head. In the woman's right hand was a tome of sorts.

Upon seeing the residents of the church in this dream, Damion fell into a state of disbelief.

"Wh…wh…wh…ARGH! Why are you here!" Damion asked them in frustration.

"Please… have a seat so I may explain everything to you like a gentleman" the man with the long nose told Damion.

Reluctantly, Damion did as instructed, and seated himself in a chair opposite of the old man's of the table in the church.

"Allow me to introduce myself again: My name is Igor, and this is my lovely assistant, Margaret" the goblin-like man, Igor introduced himself.

Igor's assistant, Margaret, bowed and introduced herself. "I hope we can be of use to you, Damion-san" Margaret said to him.

"Wait, be of use?" Damion asked.

"My boy, upon the request of your dear friend, who was the last guest in the Velvet Room, he asked me to renew his contract, but with a different name and user to inherit his power of the Wild Card. That person, is you, Damion-kun" Igor explained slowly and clearly to him.

"Wait a minute? Inherit? I thought he, along with his power, disappeared" Damion argued back.

"He did… in a way. Rather, just as the contract between him and I was about to be officially over, he asked me to take his power of the Wild Card, and give it to you when you have faced your true self" Igor explained to him.

"Hold on… how did he know I would face my shadow self?"

"You see, when Drake obtained the power of the Universe, he learned everything there is to know about his friends, his enemies, and what would happen if he didn't give up his soul to stop the physical manifestation of mankind's desires. He also learned the value of the Wild Card as an ability, and learned that it would disappear if the contract was to simply end" Igor continued.

"Just… how powerful is this Wild Card power?" Damion asked, half-lost.

"It's an extremely rare, and powerful ability to wield; most people, when they obtain the power of a Persona, are only limited to one or two Personas at most. The extremely few who obtain the power of the Wild Card are able to carry up to twelve Personas at a time, and still have access, through us, to way, WAY more Personas. My friend, you are blessed to have inherited the power your friend willingly wished to be given to you" Igor informed him.

"He… gave up his power… to save us? But… before he… did that… he… wanted me to have his power?" Damion asked, curious.

Margaret answered the question for Igor this time. "His request came as a surprise to us. Though we were reluctant to honor his request, he did provide us with a good reason to look the other way; what that reason was… it's not for me to say" Margaret explained.

"I am rather curious about this world you're in. Tell us about it" Igor asked Damion.

Damion gave the residents of the Velvet Room a quick overview about Gensokyo that he learned from Fujiwara No Mokou so far. He also mentioned that he was still new, and had to learn more about Gensokyo.

"I see. Well then, that explains a little about what happened after your friend made that request, and my previous assistant, Elizabeth, left the Velvet Room" Igor commented.

"Elizabeth? I think Drake mentioned her once, and I thought she might've been potential love interest for him" Damion muttered.

"Elizabeth? That would be a complete, total, and unpardonable sin for Velvet Room assistants to fall in love with someone" Margaret interjected.

"Are you telling me that Elizabeth was a friend to Drake?" Damion asked, surprised.

"Her curiosity for the world outside the Velvet Room got the better of her, and she asked our previous guest, Drake, to show her around. Unfortunately, that was also when the beginning of her sins started; she left the Velvet Room to become friends with Drake. I, personally, believe that it was because of their friendship that caused my foolish, sinful sister to leave the Velvet Room on her own to seek that young man after what he did for his friends" Margaret explained.

"I…I don't understand" Damion admitted.

"All in good time, but it's getting close to the time where you have to wake up. Also…" Igor began, then took out a velvet blue key of sorts. Igor passed the key to Margaret, and she walked the item over to Damion.

"Hold on to this" Igor told Damion.

Margaret offered the strange-colored key to Damion, and the necromancer took it. He was curious about the key.

"What is this key for?" the young man asked them.

Margaret returned to Igor's side.

"That will allow you to return to the Velvet Room. You are the only one who can see, and enter the Velvet Room because of your inherited ability of the Wild Card" Igor told him.

"So… what now?" Damion asked them.

"I think I have kept you too long in here" Igor replied.

"Wait? Too long? I'm still in a dream, so I should wake up after…"

"This isn't exactly a dream; this place exists between Dreams and Reality" Margaret interrupted.

"Next time we meet, it will be during our own free will. Now then, you will find us outside this human village that you told us about, should you need to hone his… no, your power of the Persona" Igor added.

Then, Damion's vision in the dream started darkening until it seemed like he blacked out.


Damion awoke from his sleep in the human village hotel, as if waking up from a horrible nightmare.

"Was that really a dream…? Wait… it was TOO realistic to be a dream" Damion thought to himself as he tried to put together the bits of what happened last night together.

Thinking about getting ready for the day, he put the thoughts of his 'dream' aside. However, when he got up, he felt something under his body. When he looked, he saw the object he was given in his 'dream'; the Velvet Key.

"Is this the feeling of insanity Drake experienced when he, most likely, woke up after going through that dream?" Damion thought to himself as he picked up the velvet key and stared at it.

Deciding to worry about it later, he pocketed the key and went to get himself ready for the day.

Later, outside the hotel, he was greeted by Keine.

"I hope you rested well, Damion-san. Mokou is waiting outside the village, and I've told her to take you to Eientei to meet Kaguya-sama" Keine told Damion.

Damion stopped upon being told what she had Mokou do for him today.

"Is… that… really… a good idea?" Damion asked Keine rather suspiciously.

Keine caught on to Damion's uneasiness. "I know you're concerned about whether they're going to fight, so I told her to drop you off at Eientei and then she can return home or do whatever it is that she does"

Damion breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the details.

"Alright, I'll see you later tonight then" Damion said to her, bowing, then leaving for the human village gates.

He left rather energetically, but his mind was still thinking about last night's 'dream'.

Some of the human children that Damion met two days ago came to greet him. Followed by the children were their parents.

The young man was greeted by the parents of the children, and they began asking questions about him. Most of the questions were about Damion's life before coming to Gensokyo's human village, other questions were about Damion being a magician that they heard their children talk about. They then asked him all sorts of things, ranging from simple things like hobbies, to questions as complicated as whether he'll find a girl he can settle down with inside the human village.

While answering the questions, Damion had to keep the truth about himself a secret; the secret of him knowing a spell that causes instant death, how he really is a human stand-in shinigami called a necromancer, and how the 'shadow' he faced two days ago was really his emotions and secrets given physical form to confront him.

After a while of answering questions, he told the parents that he has somewhere else to go. The parents agreed and led their children to school.


Outside the human village, Fujiwara No Mokou was waiting for the necromancer.

"You're kind of late" she pointed out.

Damion apologized and explained that he was held up by some of the children's parents. "Sorry, I was held up by the kids and their parents. They were asking me questions left and right about where I came from, whether or not I'd settle down with someone and have kids"

Mokou smiled at him talking about the questions he was asked by the children's parents. She was more interested in how Damion would respond to the questions he was asked by the parents.

"… and I told them that I'm not ready for romance simply because I am clueless about the matter. I never really understood the reason why romance is such a…" Then, he stopped for a moment.

Mokou had the face of satisfaction, until she realized that Damion stopped.

"Is there something bothering you, Mokou?" Damion asked her.

"Oh, no… it's just that you seem to be getting along with the humans of the village, and I was having fun hearing you talk about it" Mokou replied, trying to reply calmly without success in the calm part.

"Oh, alright"

Then, the necromancer noticed a velvet blue door floating near the entrance to the human village. The door looked to be floating in plain sight, just waiting for someone to waltz right in.

"You've got to be joking… That dream was REAL!" the young man shuddered when he saw the velvet blue door.

Mokou noticed Damion's expression and looked at the human village.

"Damion, what's wrong?" She asked him.

The necromancer snapped out of his disbelief when he was called. He then looked to Fujiwara No Mokou and brushed it off as spacing out.

"Sorry, it's just that I thought I was seeing things" the young man answered, trying to avoid looking like an idiot.

Mokou then looked in the general direction that Damion was looking; near the entrance to the human village.

"What were you looking at?" she asked him.

Damion was unable to figure out how to answer her. In fact, he realized that she couldn't see the velvet blue door.

"Sorry, it's just that I was wondering whether or not to share this weird dream I had last night. It was more like…"

"Do you mind telling me about it while I take you to Eientei?" Mokou interrupted.

Damion sighed, but was hesitant to talk about it.

"Sorry, but I need to find the right words to explain the dream in a way to get you to understand everything" the necromancer struggled to answer.

Mokou smiled at his response. "Alright, explain the dream to me when you find the right words, Damion"

Once the two agreed on that, Mokou led Damion away from the human village towards the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.


Along the way, Mokou started a conversation of her own to help pass the time.

"Do you know why I wanted to get to know you when we first met yesterday?" she asked him, slightly blushing.

Damion looked at her with curiosity. "No, I don't" he admitted honestly.

Mokou fidgeted for a moment until she mustered the courage to answer him.

"It's just that… well… After seeing you get along with Keine-san so well, I thought you might've had a thing for her, and I was wondering how far you were in your relationship with her" Mokou answered truthfully.

Damion perked up at the honesty, completely surprised.

"What! She and Reisen Udongein Inaba saved me from myself, and I've experienced quite a bit during my first day in Gensokyo. Of course, the first day practically ended in me facing my shadow self and I had to come clean with her about everything. I don't know her reasons for helping a stranger like me so much to the point of offering me a place to stay, even temporarily, but I'm grateful for her support so far, and I still am grateful" Damion replied.

"Oh, was I mistaken?" Mokou asked, surprised by realization.

"You probably were. I'm sorry if it seemed like I was close with her, but it's just that she was supporting me after my crisis… I'm hoping to repay her hospitality somehow in the future, but I don't know how" Damion answered. "If Keine's method of having me repay her is to have Mokou open up to people and forget the suffering she went through, then that's asking for a miracle that I probably can't make happen" Damion thought to himself.

"That's not exactly necessary, as that's one of Keine-san's usual jobs. To her, it's more like a usual routine" Mokou answered, as though trying to clarify something.

"Is that so? Then I'm probably not that different from other humans who make it to the human village" Damion sulked.

Mokou noticed the change in the necromancer's mood.

"What are you even implying! Keine cares VERY much about the humans who make it to the human village. She probably saw you differently because of that power you had. You know, if you put that power to use to protect the human village from youkai, then that might be your way of repaying her for her hospitality" Mokou suggested.

"I wish that was possible, but I'm not sure if the power of Personas work against youkai or monsters; we've only been allowed to use them on other shadows" Damion shot back.

"I see" was Mokou's answer. Then, she had an idea of her own. "Damion, why don't we see if that 'Persona' power works here? If it works on me, then it might work on the youkai and monsters"

Damion was taken by surprise at the sudden suggestion.

"I wish I could, but I'm hesitant to do so, since you're a friend of mine and…"

"It's alright. I want to know if the 'Persona' power works on us"

Like before Damion was hesitant to go through with the suggestion.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know whether it'll…

"Geez! I'm immortal, remember? I won't exactly die. I'm just come back to life with the power of the phoenix" Mokou interrupted.

Reluctantly, Damion gave up and took out his evoker. At the same time, Mokou took a fighting stance as though preparing for battle.

"Alright, but don't complain to me if anything bad happens" he warned her nicely.

*BANG*

Damion pulled the trigger to the evoker after aiming it at, and at point-blank range, to his head.

What seemed like glass shards exploded from the necromancer's head, blue aura engulfed him from the ground up, and an entity emerged from inside Damion. The Persona, Izanagi, emerged from inside the necromancer.

The young man was hesitant to give the order to his Persona, but then he reminded himself that Mokou was immortal. When he remembered that fact, and that she was the one who ordered him to use his Persona on her, his hesitation turned to determination.

"Zio"

The Persona, Izanagi, nodded its head in acknowledgement and began its attack. Hovering above its owner, it hunched together its arms and knees in a defensive position, and then stretched out its arms and legs as if releasing a huge amount of power.

Sadly, the skill that Damion had his Persona use sent a weak lightning bolt skyward, only to come crashing down on Mokou. Since it was a rank 1 skill in the 'Zio' spell line, it did little damage to Mokou.

Mokou felt the pain of being shocked, literally, but didn't suffer as much damage as she would have if the 'Zio' spell was a rank 2 or higher skill.

Immediately after the damage was dealt to Fujiwara No Mokou, the Persona retreated back into the necromancer's body.

Mokou was able to shrug off the attack as if it was nothing, but the pain from being hit by the skill was real. Unfortunately, she went from being healthy to being in a state of paralysis from the 'Zio' spell (Zio spells having a side-effect of paralyzing opponents of course).

"Mokou… what were you thinking?" Damion asked her as he went to try and undo the damage that she requested him to do.

Mokou's response was garbled, and somewhat repeated gibberish.

"Damn it, this is one of the reasons why I told her not to make me do this" the young man thought to himself.

He then cast the spell he learned from Reimu, 'Esuna' to rid Mokou of the paralysis. Converting the mana in the air around him, he covered Fujiwara No Mokou in a veil of white magic. Slowly but surely, the paralysis started to disappear from Mokou, causing her health to return to normal.

Shaking off the attack and realizing her health returned to normal, she asked what happened.

"This is one of the reasons why I told you not to make me use my Persona's powers on you. Some of the skills they use have side effects that can be a hindrance to people, like poison, paralysis, fear, distress, berserk, panic, instant death by light, or instant death by dark" Damion explained as she recovered from the shock.

"You dummy, you should've warned me about stuff like this"

"I sense a 'catch twenty-two' there; If I didn't tell you about it, you would suffer from possible side-effects of being attacked by Personas, but if I told you what the problems might've been, then you probably would've wanted me to attack anyway. My dilemma was trying to avoid hurting you or talking you out of this" Damion answered her, scolding her lightly.

Mokou smiled and gave up responding, knowing that he had pointed out all of the things she would've said in that moment. She also helped herself up off the ground after being paralyzed.

"So then, Mr. Psychologist, now that you know that your Personas can hurt us, what are you going to say that I am about to say?" she asked him, playfully sarcastic.

"I don't have enough information to determine that" Damion answered, chuckling.

The two of them began talking about random things that came to mind, from Gensokyo, to Personas, to people Mokou knew before becoming immortal.


At the edge of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, Mokou led the way inside.

Damion was feeling somewhat uneasy, mostly because of the fear of getting lost in the forest. He did, however, push that fear aside and put his trust in Mokou, since he remembered that she lived in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost for FAR longer than Damion could possibly imagine.

Eventually, the two arrived at what looked like an old-fashioned Japanese mansion.

"This is as far as I'll take you, since… you know what will happen when Kaguya and I meet" Mokou advised Damion as she turned to go her separate way.

Before she could get far, a trap hole opened below Mokou as she left, causing the immortal girl to fall in.

"Haha! Got you, Reisen!" someone cheered from nearby.

The owner of the voice jumped out of hiding near some of the larger bamboo trees. The person was what looked like a 10 year old girl with rabbit ears and a pink dress.

The rabbit-girl was cheerful, until she looked into the hole that Damion assumed was dug up by her. The rabbit-girl's face went from mischievous satisfaction to that of sheer terror.

Damion, believing that it was the rabbit-girl's fault, walked up to her and grabbed her by the ears.

"What the hell was this about, you little twerp?" Damion said to the rabbit-girl menacingly.

"Let me go! LET ME GO!" the rabbit-girl screamed, struggling to escape Damion's grasp.

Mokou managed to crawl out of the hole, and she was covered in her phoenix flame, clearly showing signs of anger and frustration.

"That's it; I've had enough of your pranks, Tewi Inaba!" Mokou menacingly growled towards the rabbit-girl in Damion's hand.

"Please, let her go!" someone behind Damion asked him. Damion recognized the voice's owner to belong to Reisen. He then turned to look behind him, and, sure enough, there was the rabbit youkai that helped and was helped by Damion.

Damion, surprised to see her, dropped the rabbit-girl he was holding.

The rabbit-girl ran behind Reisen, and then looked towards Damion and Mokou in fear and surprise respectively.

"Please don't think badly of her, it's just that she's usually playing pranks on me" Reisen explained to Damion and Mokou.

"Wait, her name is Tewi Inaba? Is she your sister?" Damion asked, surprised.

Reisen explained to him, "Even though we share the name 'Inaba', we are not related"

"I swear, one of these days I'll get even with you, Tewi" Mokou swore before stomping off.

Then, Damion knelt down to Tewi's level and apologized.

"Sorry I was a little rough, Tewi-chan, but it's just that I thought it was an enemy attack against me or Mokou"

Tewi huffed, but didn't accept Damion's apology.

"Don't take it too hard; I think she just wanted to pull a prank on me as I was about to leave to make my runs to the human village" Reisen answered for her.

"By the way, why did you call her 'Mokou'? Are you two in a relationship?" Tewi teased.

Damion slapped his face with one hand upon being asked that question.

He gave her the explanation as to why he called Fujiwara No Mokou as 'Mokou'. Reisen was not sure about whether that meant that Mokou was changing for the better, or that Damion was secretly in a relationship. Tewi, on the other hand, began teasing him about being Mokou's boyfriend.

"Damn it, Tewi! I tried to apologize for the misunderstanding, and I'm trying to be nice to you, and this is how you treat an acquaintance!" Damion yelled at her.

Tewi, in response to Damion's yelling, ran away from him, laughing all the while, like a child having fun. Damion didn't take the tease too well. Fortunately, Reisen was able to stop Damion from chasing her.

"She's usually like this, so please don't take it personally, Damion-san" Reisen said to the necromancer.

After being coaxed into calming down, he apologized for losing his cool.

"Sorry, I don't take too kindly to being called a pervert of any kind" Damion admitted.

"I see. It's similar to how I hate being called a 'pet' by my former masters"

"Former masters?"

Realizing she almost told Damion about the Lunarians, she decided to play it off as former teachers. "No… I mean… Former teachers that taught me how to handle guns, but I ran away from training one day without learning how to deal with close-range attacks"

Damion knew it was a white lie (Not the whole truth, but not a complete lie), but left it at that. "She'll tell me when the time is right, IF she wants to that is" Damion reminded himself.

"Very well then, if there's more you'd like to tell me about that, then you are free to tell me about it when you feel the time is right. As of right now, I'll just drop the matter" Damion answered.

His response put pressure on Reisen to tell him about the incident, but that wasn't the necromancer's intention at all.

"Come inside with me, perhaps you can explain to Eirin-san what brought you here today?" Reisen replied, bringing Damion into Eientei.


Inside was what looked like a typical pharmacist office; cabinets full of various medicines for a myriad of different problems. Behind a counter in the corner of the office was Eirin, working on what seemed like an experimental drug of sorts. Behind Eirin was a door that leads to the back part of the mansion.

"I brought in our guest, Eirin-san" Reisen announced to the pharmacist.

Eirin stopped working on her mysterious new medicine to turn to Reisen and Damion.

"Oh my, what brings you here today, Damion-san?" Eirin asked him with a smile.

The necromancer gave Eirin and Reisen the details about why he's here. "I came here at the request of Keine-san. She told me that if I was to work off to pay Reisen back for saving us with the megalixer potion thing, then I had to come here to learn how such a powerful medicine is made and/or work to pay her back. Also, I have some questions I'd like answered, but I'm not sure if they're ones I should be asking… I don't know whether someone would give me the details without getting upset"

"Reisen, I think it's time for you to make your deliveries today. Damion-san and I are going to be busy today" Eirin said to her delivery girl. She had a hunch that the questions might be difficult or personal.

Reisen bowed and left the mansion.

"Now then, what sort of questions did you have to ask?" Eirin asked him.

"I heard only Mokou's side of the story between her and this Kaguya person, but she hasn't told me enough about why she and Kaguya are always trying to kill one another despite both having immortality" Damion asked her carefully.

Eirin's cheerful expression changed to that of uneasiness. She then leaned towards Damion's ear and whispered her answer.

"Can we talk about this outside? I don't want Kaguya-sama to hear us talking about this; she's sensitive to this topic of conversation"

The necromancer nodded.

Eirin and the young man left the mansion to go outside.


Once outside, the two of them were seated on a bench near the forest area.

"One thing you must understand is that you should NEVER bring this topic of conversation to Kaguya-sama. She might get paranoid at you and believe you were sent by Mokou to try and kill her, knowing full well that you know that she's immortal" Eirin warned Damion.

The necromancer nodded in acknowledgement. "I understand"

"Good, now here's what I do know. Fujiwara No Mokou was born from an aristocrat family, having everything that she wanted, practically living the life of luxury. She was very close with her dad, since Mokou's dad often cut work to spend time with her. Her mom, on the other hand, wasn't as close to her as her father was, because she spent more time at work than at home" Eirin explained to Damion.

Damion was taking in the information quickly and understood most of it.

"That's just Mokou's history prior to immortality. Now comes what happened that explains just about everything… Her father, one day, heard about a girl being found in a forest where a bamboo cutter found said girl. That girl was Kaguya-sama when she was a teenager in human years. Taking an interest in the rumor, Mokou's dad went to see Kaguya-sama, and was awe-struck with her beauty. Then, upon first meeting, he said to her that he wanted to add her to his family, as his second wife. Mokou wasn't too happy when she heard the news, but gave her father her support. Mokou's mother, on the other hand, was completely against the marriage proposal. Mokou's family had a lineage of only being born from noble blood or from the blood of very important and powerful people. Mokou's father had the authority to legalize polygamy if he wanted to, but kept away from the idea to keep his wife happy and faithful. Desperate to make Kaguya-sama his second wife, he went to see her in secret, got to know her, and then proposed to Kaguya"

Unfortunately, Damion felt that he wasn't alone with Eirin.

"That… I'm sorry, but that just sounds like a man I cannot come to respect because of greed… in the sense that he already has a wife who is faithful, but it sounds like he got greedy and wanted a second wife that's only good for showing off Kaguya-sama's beauty, like a trophy of sorts" Damion answered Eirin.

"I see you have the same thoughts I did when I first heard the story from Mokou-san" Eirin commented.

"What happened next?" Damion asked.

"Well, Mokou's mother found out about her husband cheating on her and going out with Kaguya-sama. This ended up being publicized, and Mokou's father lost all respect he had from everywhere; his wife divorced him, saying he should 'be happy with a woman with all body and no brains'. After the scandal was publicized, Mokou was affected and hurt the most, as her father stopped spending time with her, and more on trying to mend his social standing. Eventually, Kaguya-sama demanded that Mokou's father complete her five impossible tasks, which were actually impossible, in a sense. Despite being told it was impossible, Mokou's father accepted the challenge, and heard what she had in mind. Once told what the challenge was, Mokou's father spent his entire fortune searching the world for the items that Kaguya-sama demanded. Word got out to the public that Mokou's father accepted the foolish challenge and the people around Mokou started treating Mokou differently, calling her the daughter of a foolish, greedy, and unfaithful man. Her friends from school, and even her teachers, started to treat her differently, alienating her from the life she once had; the friends she once had, turned their backs to her and called her names, her teachers started failing her, using the excuse that she should have stopped her father while it was still possible at the time. Eventually, Mokou's life came crumbling down and then she turned to a life of an outcast"

It was Damion's turn to start crying.

"Now comes the part of how Mokou obtained her immortality… One day, as she was travelling the world using the allowance she earned over her life as a teenager, she travelled the world looking for her father to try and stop him from continuing his foolish request. While she was travelling, she heard a rumor about a drink that supposedly grants immortality: The Hourai Elixer"

"Wait, I heard about that Hourai Elixer, but I never understood what… wait, is it the drink that…"

"Yes, it's the forbidden drink that grants the drinker immortality"

Damion was in shock to hear about the reason why the Hourai Elixer was mentioned and was so important.

"Now then, when Mokou heard about the Hourai Elixer, she gave up on chasing her father and went after the elixir, after asking about it. She found the elixir in a volcano, after being told about it from some rumors in a village she came across; not a modern-day village, but a primitive, Native American village. Being the person she was, she ventured into the volcano and found the elixir. However when she did, she found some explorers fighting over it. She rushed in to steal it from the explorers, thinking it best to take advantage of their arguing with one another. Sadly, when she tried to steal it, the explorer holding the elixir was about to toss said elixir into the volcano. Desperate to save the Hourai Elixir, she bribed both explorers into giving her the elixir. That was how she became immortal, and stuck to her teenage appearance"

"I thought she looked that way because of magic"

"The Hourai Elixir IS magic, but given liquid form that bestows immortality, and thus 'locks' the drinker's appearance so that it doesn't change over the years"

"So, what happened after Mokou became immortal?"

"She fell into a state of depression, giving up on her chase for her father. Eventually, she regretted becoming immortal, as she desired to attempt suicide to end her miserable life after her father did the stupidest thing that caused the collapse of the family, and thus ruining Mokou's life. No matter how many times she committed suicide, she would come back to life over and over again. Eventually, she came to Gensokyo after hearing about starting a new life and avoiding the shame her father cast on her family…"

"Wait, you can't mean…"

"Yes, Yukari Yakumo brought Fujiwara No Mokou here to Gensokyo. It is unknown why Yukari did her that favor, but there was one other thing that Yukari did while bringing Mokou to Gensokyo: Granting her the power of the phoenix fire"

Damion was taken completely by surprise at the story he was told. In fact, he was in disbelief.

"Th-th-th-the story… seems to… contradict… Mokou's… current outlook… on life" Damion stuttered.

"It does, but remember; she started a new life here in Gensokyo. Despite the gift of a new life with new friends, she still harbored ill memories of the day her life came crumbling down, and she still feels alone and paranoid that people will look down upon her. As a result…"

"Let me guess, she made a home in an isolated location, away from humans"

"Quite sharp. Yes, that was the case. Now then, she met Keine-san shortly after coming into Gensokyo. Fearing she would be rejected, she tried to keep her distance from Keine-san, but Keine-san persisted and tried to get Mokou-san to open up to her and tell her story to Keine-san. Mokou-san told her story to Keine-san, and Keine-san felt sympathy for her. From then on, Keine-san and Mokou-san were like the best of friends. Eventually, she came to open up to and rediscover the joy of being around friends. Still, the memories of her past haunted her even though she found joy in Gensokyo; she restricted the interactions she had with others despite her new surroundings, but opened up a little to the children of Gensokyo. Eventually, friends of Keine-san became friends of Mokou-san" Eirin explained.

"Wow, that's a LOT to take in" Damion replied.

"There's one more thing: when Mokou-san learned that Kaguya-sama made it to Gensokyo the same way she did, she swore revenge on Kaguya-sama and made it her immortal life's goal to eliminate Kaguya-sama's existence. Usually, it's a stalemate whenever the two fight, but they'll go at each other in a variety of ways. Sometimes it'll be danmaku, other times it'll be over a game of cards or this new method called 'video games'"

"Wow, just wow"

"Also, if Kaguya-sama hears us talking about Mokou-san, she will demand to know where Mokou-san is, and she will use any means necessary to get that information from us. This includes whether Mokou-san was actually here or not"

"Now I know why bringing up Mokou is a bad idea near Kaguya-san"

"That's Kaguya-'sama' mind you"

"Alright already… Even with Keine's teaching of the honorifics, I still don't understand why they're so important" Damion admitted.

Eirin sighed.

"Alright then. Was there another question on your mind?" Eirin asked, changing the subject.

Damion thought about the next question to ask. The question that was bugging him the most was now answered, so now it was a matter of which question to ask next. It took a while, but he decided to ask about Reisen.

"About Reisen, she told me she came from 'far away' and fled because of training being too difficult. Is there anything I'm not being told?"

Like before, Eirin's facial expression said to avoid the question. Damion noticed the expression.

"Sorry, maybe I'm just not ready to handle whatever the truth may be"

"You're right, as you probably won't believe me"

"Actually, does it have to do with the moon?"

Eirin's unwilling face suddenly became that of shock.

"I figured as much"

"Then tell me, what is there on the moon that we aren't telling you about?"

"From what I speculated from Reisen's vague question she asked me out of the blue, she tried to introduce to me the idea of a civilization on the moon. Your facial expression of shock confirms this fact" Damion pointed out.

Eirin chuckled lightly at the speculation, and was impressed at the results just from guessing.

"I see, then there's no further need for me and Reisen to hide it from you if you figured that much from a vague question" Eirin chuckled.

"It's just a theory that's being proven true to me by your reaction and Reisen introducing the idea to me but…"

"No, it's actually true, but I have to ask that you keep this place a secret from the Lunarians there. The Lunarians are what humans would call a 'race' of rabbits that live in a different place"

"Wait a minute, rabbits? Like Tewi?"

"More like Rabbit-youkai to be more accurate. The moon rabbits and Gensokyo rabbits are fundamentally the same, but moon rabbit youkai are a lot more intelligent and colony-minded" Eirin informed him.

"Alright, then can you tell me about this civilization up on the moon?"

"On the moon is a civilization of moon rabbits. I was one of the only youkai that the moon rabbits accepted and welcomed into their civilization because of my intelligence. In fact, I was appointed to be the tutors of Watatsuki No Toyohime and Watatsuki No Yorihime. Both girls were fantastic students of mine, until Kaguya-sama asked me to make her the Hourai Elixer for her. I was shocked to hear her ask me something that could potentially cause her to be hated by her people, but she was insistent that I make it for her. I gave in and helped to make the elixir using my knowledge of medicine and her power of the eternity. Putting our talents together, we made the Hourai Elixir. She then consumed said elixir to become immortal"

"That explains a little"

"There's more; word got out to everyone that Kaguya-sama consumed the forbidden Hourai Elixir, and she was sentenced to exile on Earth. Once sent to Earth, she became the story of the Bamboo Cutter. You probably have an idea of what happened from there, right?" Eirin added.

"Yeah, I remember from what you told me earlier"

"Good. Now then, I was fortunate to avoid punishment by not drinking said elixir, and I gave the royal family the excuse that I found the elixir hidden, went to experiment to see what it was, and the Kaguya-sama came in at the wrong time and asked me to give it to her. I regret lying to the royal family, so I continued my life as the brain of the Lunarians. One day, an opportunity appeared where I was able to retrieve Kaguya-sama. That opportunity came to me in the form of being an emissary to retrieve Kaguya-sama from the Earth. Joining the Lunar Defense Corps as an emissary, I travelled to the Earth to retrieve Kaguya-sama. When we found her, however, she was refusing to return to the moon. Fortunately, I found her first, otherwise Kaguya would be forced against her will to return"

"Why is it good that you found her first?"

"It's because she told me stories about her time on Earth that convinced me to hide her from the emissaries. Eventually… I… well… did my fellow comrades in to keep Kaguya-sama safe. When Yukari-san took us away from Earth into Gensokyo, I was relieved to learn that Gensokyo was a place that would be extremely difficult to get to directly from the moon. Now, even today, I protect Kaguya-sama from future emissaries sent to retrieve her" Eirin explained.

"Wow. Murdering your comrades is indeed something I know all too well, since you already know my story of how I had to do them in to break the cycle of 'games' that would've continued indefinitely if I was done in myself" Damion commented.

Eirin giggled at the comment. "It seems we are alike in a few ways" she added.

"Yeah, I guess"

"Was there something else that was on your mind, Damion-san?"

This time, the necromancer asked her about Reisen.

"What about Reisen Udongein Inaba?"

"She's a moon rabbit who was the Watatsuki sisters' pet. She served them, and they gave her the easy life. She occasionally went to visit the Lunar Defense Corps to get training in order to try and be the sisters' bodyguards instead of just being their pet. Eventually, she was accepted into the Corps as a trainee. She learned the ways of how to handle their guns, and she got their standard-issue dual-pistols that new recruits get. Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding when the humans from Earth sent something called 'Apollo 13' seemed to have invaded the moon"

"Wait, Apollo 13? That was supposedly a spacecraft to explore the moon, from what I learned in classes anyway"

"True, but the Lunarians thought it was an act of war against them from the Earth humans. Unfortunately, that was when Reisen Udongein Inaba fled the moon. She was afraid of the war that the Lunarians thought was going to happen, but fled before realizing that it was just a misunderstanding. Instead of fleeing to Earth, she met Yukari at the stratosphere of Earth. Yukari offered salvation to Reisen, who accepted the offer, and was sent here, to Eientei. It was when we heard news about a moon rabbit that we became suspicious of her when she found out where Kaguya-sama and I were hiding. When we first came in contact with Reisen, we thought she was an emissary sent to bring Kaguya-sama back to the moon against her will. However, she told us what happened, and that was how I realized the Lunarians were quick to jump the gun on the situation with the humans. So, in exchange for hiding her here in Eientei, she had to work for me and Kaguya-sama, as well as keeping an eye on Tewi" Eirin explained to him.

"Why is Tewi so important?"

"For one, she's the owner of Eientei. Second, all the earth rabbits follow her command, including ones from here in Gensokyo. Third, she allowed us to open a pharmacy here. Fourth, the rabbits that she controls also help cater to Kaguya-sama's needs, as well as making Mochi (Rice Dumplings) pounded with medicinal herbs. Lastly, she brings good fortune to us if she wishes, though her power of bringing good luck and fortune mostly work on humans" Eirin explained.

"Did you call, Eirin?" the rabbit youkai in question asked. She suddenly came running towards the pharmacist.

"No, I was just telling Damion-san how important you are to us and what you have done for us" Eirin told the rabbit youkai.

"Ah, you mean pervert-san?" Tewi teased.

"Tewi! Please do not tease him like that, he hates being called that" Eirin scolded.

"Geez, and I thought he was the type who preferred MILFs" Tewi teased again.

Damion's face went from annoyed to that of surprise.

Eirin noticed the surprised face, but she didn't know what Tewi was talking about.

"Is there something about what she said that I need to know about?" Eirin asked Damion sternly.

Damion's face went from surprise to that of anger.

"DAMN IT, TEWI! WHERE DID YOU LEARN THAT TERM!" Damion yelled at her.

Getting up, Damion began to give chase to the child-like rabbit youkai. Sadly, Tewi was way faster than he was, her being a rabbit youkai, and him being a human.

Eventually, he returned to Eirin's side after losing sight of the rabbit youkai.

"Damn it, where the hell did she even learn that term?" Damion muttered as he sat down again.

"I'm curious… what did she mean by that?" Eirin asked Damion, out of curiosity.

Damion's face went beet red upon being asked that.

"I-I-I-I-I can't… say… it's just rude… for a guy… to say to a girl" Damion responded, trying to avoid the question.

"Oh, is it something inappropriate?" Eirin asked.

"Unfortunately, it is rather inappropriate. Let's just say it's what human males on Earth call certain types of woman in terms of … adult stuff" Damion explained vaguely.

"Perhaps I should ask Keine-san what it means"

"Please don't… I don't know how you'd react to what it means, and I don't think you would want to know"

"Try me"

Damion sighed, and he felt like he was going to regret telling her.

"Alright, but don't get angry at me for telling you. It stands for…"

Damion briefly told her what it meant and stood for.

Eirin handled the term a lot better than Damion expected. She giggled at the term, and seemed to pass it off as a compliment towards herself.

"Sorry, but I'm not sure how you would react…"

"It sounds like a compliment to be called that, but also insulting at the same time" Eirin responded.

Damion decided to change the subject.

"Do you mind if I ask another question instead of going on with the topic that Tewi brought up? It's rather embarrassing to talk about with a girl"

"Sure, what else is on your mind?"

Damion had two things on his mind left. He imagined flipping a coin and choosing the topic based on the imaginary coin in his mind. The coin in the necromancer's mind landed on tails, and he went with the topic he associated with that side of the imaginary coin.

"Regarding the human village, have you tried to teach your knowledge of medicine to them instead of just selling medicine?"

"Ah, well, I am running a business of sorts, and I doubt the humans there would be able to comprehend the knowledge I know about medicine, so I just left it at just selling medicine through Reisen"

"Okay. Now the last thing on my mind was about Kaguya…sama. Why does she put up the five impossible tasks? Is it to avoid getting married, or is it because she's a sadist, or is there another reason?" Damion asked.

"Oh, that. Whenever I asked her about it, she would change the subject to something else like a request for tea or to give her a massage. Believe me, I asked her that the first day we came to Eientei, and that was her reaction to the question" Eirin answered, somewhat uneasily.

After having all his questions answer

"I see, sorry for taking so much of your time by asking these things I should've known…"

"It's not your fault; you're new to Gensokyo, and you don't know about us in great detail"

"…" Damion was silent for a moment

"What?" Eirin asked him, curious.

Then Damion turned to Eirin, and smiled.

"Thanks for understanding" Damion replied, smiling.

Eirin suddenly stood up and prompted Damion to do the same.

"Well, there's quite a bit you can do to help out, like keeping Tewi in check so that she doesn't harass Mokou-san and stop her from setting up traps for Reisen when she gets back. You could, also, help me test some new medicines that I was working on" Eirin offered.

Damion felt somewhat uneasy upon hearing the words 'test some new medicines', out of instinct. He didn't know it now, but he would later be thankful for heeding his gut feeling.


Inside Eientei, in the living room where Eirin and Reisen lounge when business is closed, Damion was seated on a couch.

"I'll go get Kaguya-sama to meet you, and you can become acquainted. That'll be the first thing I have you do today" Eirin said to Damion before heading into another room.

The necromancer looked around the room, mostly to see pictures of what looked like artifacts of unknown origin. Damion could only imagine them being Lunarian artworks, or pictures of existing Lunarian objects.

In another part of the room was a shelf containing books of various subjects related to Lunarians. The young man assumed that the books contained the history of the Lunarian War, the war that was supposedly just a misunderstanding of what the Lunarians believed to be an act of war against the humans.

On a desk behind where Damion was seated were several pictures of Lunarians. The necromancer thought they were important people to Eirin or to Kaguya.

The door to the back room opened, and out came Eirin. Behind her was a young girl who looked no older than 13.

Damion was dumbstruck at the girl's appearance. Rather, he hasn't seen anyone that charming before.

"So, I assume you are Damion-san?" the girl asked him.

Damion, despite being dumbstruck, answered, "Yeah"

"Mind your manners around Kaguya-sama, Damion-san. Remember, she may be a former Lunarian princess, but she has a power that might be a hassle for you" Eirin reminded him.

"Alright, alright. I'll be sure to mind my manners" Damion assured her, though he answered as if saying 'I know, now back off'.

Then, Eirin left for the pharmacy room to return to her medicine-making. Kaguya took a seat in a couch opposite side of the necromancer.

"So, I heard a bit about you from Reisen Udongein Inaba. She was talking about how you saved her from those monsters and preferring to fight with your fists instead of Danmaku" Kaguya started the conversation.

"Um… yeah, she was running away from what seemed like a weak beating. Most people would be able to handle being hit a few times and still have plenty of fight left in them to keep going" Damion replied.

"So, I assume you heard about who I am from Eirin, right?"

"Yeah. Though I'm not exactly sure if I remember all of it. There are some parts that confuse me, but I don't think I have the right to ask you just yet"

"Oh, what question is that?"

Damion felt silent for a moment.

"Please understand that I'm asking just out of curiosity, but I don't know if you are willing to answer my question"

"What might be the question?"

"I heard you send your future suitors to do five impossible tasks. My question is why you set up those five impossible tasks"

Kaguya fell silent upon being asked.

"I'm sorry to have asked that from the start, but it was bothering me since I first heard about it from Eirin. Forgive me for asking that question"

Instead of being brushed aside, Kaguya changed the subject.

"So I heard you recently obtained a power that calls forth your emotions given physical form. What was it… personal? Person…?"

"Persona… it's not a power that just anyone can have; it's a power that comes from a person with a strong heart, strong belief in their ideals, and a strong will. Once those three conditions are met, a person will have to wait until their shadow finds them… I assume Eirin told you the short version of the Persona thing"

"Yes, but it was difficult for me to understand"

Like everyone that said the same thing, in different ways, Damion sighed.

"Let's just call them your doppelganger that wants to expose EVERYTHING about you to the people close to you. The only way to get rid of them, and make their powers yours is to openly accept them as part of yourself, without hesitation or lying as they will know and go berserk" Damion explained using analogy.

"So, if I saw a clone of myself running around exposing all my secrets, would they be my shadow?"

"Kaguya-sama, you don't understand the severity, and importance, of meeting your shadow. Meeting your shadow is practically a test to see if you are able to handle the truth and exposure of your secrets to the people near you"

"How bad could meeting your shadow possibly be?"

"Let me explain it to you, Kaguya-sama…"

Damion began to explain, and recap everything about the shadows; what made them dangerous, his theory about what shadows would do if it was an immortal that was facing their shadows, and what would happen when a shadow goes berserk.

Kaguya's face went from curiosity to that of worry.

"Wow, now I know they're not to be taken lightly" Kaguya commented.

"Yes, but the best way to tell if your 'doppelganger' is actually your shadow is if they emit an aura of darkness, look like a sinister version of yourself, and actually know EVERYTHING about the secrets you hold dear and hidden from those closest to you. Trust me on this; I faced my shadow two days ago, when I first arrived in Gensokyo. You CANNOT face them by yourself; it's too risky" Damion warned Kaguya.

Kaguya's worry turned to curiosity.

"Why is it that you cannot face them alone?"

"It's because… most of the time, the person will reject their shadows, and that will cause them to go berserk, thus trying to kill, or eat the mind of their original. Only those with a strong heart, strong sense of their beliefs, and a strong will can stand a chance against the shadows, as it means they have obtained the power of a Persona. However, even though one gets the power of their persona by having the three qualities mentioned, they may not be able to summon or use their Persona until they face their shadow selves"

"When would a person be able to meet their shadow selves?"

"That, unfortunately, is something I don't know. I'm going to guess that it happens when something big happens in that person's life that comes as a big shock or surprise to make them falter in their beliefs, their will, or their heart" Damion speculated.

"I see, that does sound interesting"

"Kaguya-sama, it's not a matter of being interesting or not; it's a very, VERY serious matter that must not be taken lightly"

It took a while of explaining the terror of meeting one's shadow, and how embarrassing, humiliating, and how important it is to experience facing your shadow.

Then, once Kaguya took in all the information, she had the face of understanding.

"Very well, I think I have a good idea of what those shadows are" Kaguya replied.

"Thank you for understanding what it means to face…"

"HOWEVER, must come to my side and protect me from my shadow if that ever happens!" Kaguya demanded, interrupting him.

"Kaguya-sama, I cannot guarantee that I will be available during those times. Think about it, it could happen in the middle of the night, or when I'm out with Keine and her friends in the human village" Damion tried to reason with her.

"I will send someone to fetch you if that happens to me, Eirin, Reisen Udongein Inaba, or Tewi. I will make whoever you are with understand that you are needed with us more than whatever it is that you're doing" Kaguya replied, making herself sound like she is in command of everything.

"I cannot make any promises, but I will rush to the aid of whoever needs assistance against their shadows. That is the one thing I promised myself after I faced myself" the young man replied.

Kaguya then asked Damion about himself.

"So I heard from Reisen that you came from the human world, is that right?"

"Actually, yes. However, I am not from the same reality of normal people; I was actually…" Damion explained his past, his home world, and the dilemma he went through to Kaguya. He put great emphasis on the dilemma he faced, the Heinz Dilemma of having to repeat the tournament again by having his friends kill him or he can kill his friends and break the cycle of tournament that caused the instability of the world.

After a lengthy explanation of his past, he became saddened by having to bring up his past again. Sadly, Kaguya did not understand the importance of losing someone important.

"Why are you saddened? You survived that 'game', and earned your power. Yet, why are you so upset?" Kaguya asked.

Damion lost his cool at that moment.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THE PAIN OF BEING FORCED TO KILL YOUR BEST FRIENDS, OR EVEN THOSE THAT ARE VERY CLOSE TO YOU!" Damion snapped.

Kaguya was taken aback by Damion's sudden outburst.

Realizing what he did, he lowered his head in shame.

"I'm sorry, but it's just that when I hear people brush off others' pain like it was something unimportant… Sorry" he apologized.

At that point, Eirin rushed in with an angry look on her face.

"Damion-san! I told you to…" Eirin began, but was interrupted.

"No, Eirin-san… it's my fault" Kaguya admitted for Damion.

"Why are you…?"

"Eirin, please allow me to learn why he acted the way he did" Kaguya said to Eirin.

Upset, Eirin bowed and returned to her pharmacy room.

"Now, please tell me about what it's like to lose someone close to you" Kaguya asked the necromancer.

Still upset, Damion was reluctant to explain it to her.

"I'm sorry, but it's something that's difficult to put into words, Kaguya-sama" the young man apologized.

"Please, I'm curious as to your sudden rudeness"

"It's just… it's just… Damn it! It's…"

"Please take a deep breath"

Heeding Kaguya's advice, Damion did as so. He took in a deep breath, and felt his pent up anger and sorrow disappear slowly.

"Now then, what is it like to lose someone close to you?" Kaguya asked again.

Reminding himself to stay calm, Damion explained the feeling to her in detail and with an example. "Suppose you were close friends with Eirin-san. By close, I mean inseparable and can't live without one another. One day, Eirin dies of an unknown and incurable disease…"

"Eirin-san would be able to cure almost anything with her expertise in medicine and diseases"

"With all-due respect, please let me make my point"

"Very well. Let's suppose Eirin is bedridden with a disease that she doesn't know, and is unable to find the right medicine to cure said disease. What next?"

"She dies one day, after the disease goes unchecked and untreated. How would you feel upon learning your closest friend died, right in front of you?"

Kaguya took a moment to imagine the situation being presented.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not following" Kaguya replied honestly.

"Okay, let me rephrase the question; what would happen if you saw me murdering your family back on the moon, and EVERYONE in the Lunar capital?"

Kaguya's face went from curiosity to that of horror.

"You wouldn't dare!" Kaguya replied.

"Stop, Kaguya-sama. It was a 'What-if' scenario that would never actually happen. It's a situation I'm presenting to you to demonstrate a point" Damion replied.

"Oh, you should've said it was a what-if situation in the first place. I thought you were actually going to do that"

"Alright… in this 'what-if' scenario, I somehow go to the moon, kill everyone in sight, then make my way to wherever it is that the royal family lives and meet you. Your family rushes to protect you, and I murder them in front of you. How would you feel, seeing as I would've killed everyone close to you, your servants, and everyone who you ruled?"

Kaguya took another moment to imagine the scenario.

"I'd be afraid for my life, and swear vengeance to kill you"

"That's typical. I was asking about the feelings and thoughts going through your mind as you see someone brutally massacre, murder, and dismember everyone you hold dear to you. What would be going through your mind if that were to happen?" Damion asked, being very clear.

Kaguya took yet another moment to envision her feelings in that scenario. Then, Kaguya gave her answer to the question.

"That, I would feel saddened by the loss of those around me, and I would come to hate you for eternity for what you would've done in that situation" Kaguya answered.

"Now that you know the hypothetical situation, and have come to get an idea of what would've happened, you need to actually experience the loss of something important to fully understand what it's like to feel real tragedy" Damion concluded.

"Tragedy?"

"It's a word used to describe an important, major loss of something important to another person. For example, a… girl I knew… had it all; life of luxury, extremely close with her father, all the friends she could ever want, and she didn't have to work a day in her life. Tragedy struck her when her father met a woman that had the looks of a model, the beauty that only the gods and goddesses can ever hope to achieve. My friend's father, despite being married, went after this beautiful woman, but then the real tragedy began to unfold. My friend's mother exposed the father's secret relationship with that woman. My friend's father's reputation crumbled and turned to resentment, shame, and embarrassment. My friend's father's shame then fell onto my friend, and her life went downhill, similar to her father. Eventually, everyone she knew treated her the same as her father"

Kaguya imagined the scenario in her mind as the necromancer explained the idea.

Of course, Damion was referring to Fujiwara No Mokou's story, but he was very vague on the details as to who that person was.

"And…?"

"Imagine if the person in that story was you. How would you feel if the life you once had, everything you wanted was handed to you on a silver platter, and you didn't have to work a day in your life. One day, due to circumstances beyond your control, you were unable to stop the change from happening. The life of absolute luxury that you once had, now turned to that of shame, guilt, and embarrassment. How would you feel if everything you had one day turns against you and there's nothing you can do to fix it?" Damion asked her sternly.

"Well, I did have the luxurious lifestyle back on the Lunar Capitol, but I lost it when word got out of me drinking the Hourai Elixir"

"That's only a minor tragedy, losing the life of luxury, it's more like a wake-up call to the working world that your servants lived in doing everything for you" Damion explained.

"Then it is a tragedy that I went through, right?"

"It's borderline tragedy… Not quite the scale of tragedy that most people experience at least once in their lives, but a tragedy nonetheless…"

"Then yes, I have experienced tragedy"

"True, but the severity of a tragedy is the point I'm trying to make, Kaguya-sama. The tragedy you went through is minor, and practically says you need to wake up from your usual lifestyle to experience what it's like to be the one working" Damion pointed out.

"I still don't understand what you mean by 'severity' of a tragedy" Kaguya admitted.

"I'm going to have to ask Eirin for help explaining this, do you mind if I ask her to help me explain this in a way you would understand?"

"Very well"

Damion bowed, got up, and went to the pharmacy room.


In the pharmacy room, Damion recapped his conversation with Kaguya thus far to Eirin. The part that Eirin was more focused on was the analogy that Damion used to describe Mokou's life without actually giving away the fact that it was Mokou in the story.

Eirin told Damion that what he said to her was dangerous, but vague enough to avoid trouble. Damion answered, saying he knew not to tell her who the person in the story really was. Eirin sighed and dropped the subject.

The necromancer then explained why he came to her. Eirin sighed and went back with him to explain the concept to Kaguya.


Back in the living room, Damion and Eirin were seated in different couches.

"Kaguya-sama, I know it'll be difficult for me to explain to you, but please try to follow along. What Damion-san was getting at was how important the events were to a person when tragedy happens. For example, if you lose something important to you, and you later find out it was stolen, it's a tragedy that is minor, as the something important can most likely be replaced. If, on the other hand, the thing that's stolen is extremely important and irreplaceable, then it's a bigger tragedy than if it's something that can be replaced"

Kaguya still had a hard time understanding it.

"Suppose I kidnap everyone in Eientei, and that left you alone because I couldn't find you. You never find out that it was I who took everyone to somewhere only I know. You wonder where everyone is after realizing everyone is gone, and then realize that everyone was kidnapped. You hear word from someone that everyone that was once your friend was brutally murdered, dismembered, turned inside-out, and every means of torture imaginable happened to them"

"I would find new loyal subjects to replace them" Kaguya replied.

"Kaguya-sama! Please refrain from thinking like that!" Eirin sternly replied.

"It seems next-to-impossible for her to comprehend the idea of tragedy unless she experiences something called a trauma" Damion commented, folding his arms together.

"Wait, trauma as in head injury?" Eirin asked, getting defensive.

"No, I mean psychological trauma. In order for her to understand what it's like to experience tragedy, she needs to experience it first-hand" Damion answered Eirin.

Kaguya started to become annoyed, as the young man and the pharmacist were talking to one another in front of her, ignoring her all the while.

"Hey! I'm right here you know!" Kaguya screamed to them.

"Kaguya-sama, I think it's best you experience what it's like to go through an extremely difficult situation before you can even comprehend the idea of a REAL tragedy. As of right now, let's drop the subject" Damion said to her before turning to Eirin. "Sorry this turned out in a way that I wouldn't expect it to go, but thanks for trying to help me explain the concept to her"

"It's alright; Kaguya, despite her former royal status, has a lot to learn about the world outside luxury, so the idea is new to her" Eirin replied to Damion.

The pharmacist returned to her workplace after being there to try and explain, in vain, to Kaguya about tragedy.

"Well, enough about that, what was life like for you before coming to Gensokyo?" Kaguya asked the necromancer, changing the subject.

Damion explained the world he was in, the world of Persona, and how it was one of the most important experiences in his existence. The tower called 'Tartarus', the travels he and his friends went through, and how he met a person who he could say was a very important friend to him.

"Oh, so there was a person who was very important to you besides your best friend?" Kaguya asked, taking an interest in the person that Damion was talking about.

"I can't remember her very well, but… she was a very important person to me and my best friend. She had the same power as my best friend, would often fight one another during nights of full moons when there was an important operation going on, and, most importantly, brought me absolute happiness during the last few days that I spent before going to atone for a sin I committed two years before my best friend arrived in the world of Persona. I was reluctant to atone for my sin two years ago in that world after the last few nights before that day. If it wasn't for the comfort that important person gave me after I told her my sin, I wouldn't have been able to accept my punishment, though it had to come from someone else"

"Oh, what sin was that?"

"It was killing my friend's friend's mom died from being unable to control my Persona's actions. Though it was because of some connections my comrade had that the incident was covered up as a freak car accident, but even then, only my friends and I knew the truth. I regretted that incident, and joined the group after hearing my friend's friend's younger sister joined the organization to fight the 'shadows'. I thought it was a good idea, as it might've allowed me to atone for my sin, but… on that day, October 4th, judgment came to me in the form of a gunshot from another Persona user; a rival gang hell-bent on keeping the Dark Hour up and running and keeping their powers. Trying to protect my friend's friend's little sister, I took the bullets meant for her, and ended up in a coma instead of dying. During graduation, when I heard that my best friend and that important friend of mine weren't at the ending ceremony, I remembered where they might've been, and rushed there. That, unfortunately… well… was when I spent my last moments with her alive. She was the best friend I EVER had; she accepted me for who I was, looked past my sin and saw me as an individual, but most importantly… she was… the closest thing to a girlfriend I ever had" Damion explained in tears.

"You said 'girlfriend', what does that mean?" Kaguya asked.

Realizing that it was futile to keep a conversation going in one direction, the necromancer gave up and went along with Kaguya's new question.

"A girlfriend… is what boys consider their female friends once they're in an intimate, romantic relationship. The male equivalent would be 'boyfriend'. It's more than just being friends; it's about getting to know one another to the point where the two of them learn just about everything there is to know about each other. If the relationship deepens, then the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship between the two of the grows to that of close friends, or even lovers" Damion explained the subject as best as he could.

Kaguya then asked, "Would it be like me and you right now?"

Damion was stunned at the thought.

"No, we're just acquaintances right now. Acquaintances are people who meet and don't know much about one another, yet get along because they are getting to know one another"

"Ah, so it's not exactly being friends, right?"

"No, it is a kind of friendship, but not on the same level as being friends, Kaguya-sama"

Kaguya was confused, and she was showing her confusion.

"This is confusing"

"Let's just say we just got to know one another, but we don't know enough about one another to be considered 'friends'" Damion sighed, simplifying his explanation the best he could.

"So, how does one become friends from being acquaintances?" Kaguya asked with curiosity.

"It's simple: you talk, play with, and spend time with your acquaintances while gaining their trust. Also, trying to understand what happened to them is probably the most important step in becoming friends with other people"

"So, would you say that, by telling me about yourself, and me talking about myself, we started as acquaintances, and are starting to become friends?"

"Yes, but I don't feel like we've become friends, Kaguya-sama" Damion replied honestly.

"Well then, I order you to be my friend" Kaguya demanded.

Damion sighed. "I'm sorry, but friendship doesn't work like that, Kaguya-sama. You need to build trust, establish common grounds like interests and hobbies, spend time with, and cherish those acquaintances until they become your friend"

"Wait, then how does it work?"

"We're already working on becoming friends, but it's just that you don't realize it right now" Damion answered.

"Then please explain to me what you mean by me not realizing it"

"You may not notice it right now, but we're getting to know one another by telling each other about ourselves, establishing a sense of trust between us, and just enjoying the presence of one another"

"Huh?"

Kaguya still didn't understand, so she stopped to try and figure it out.

"I don't know if Eirin tried to explain it to you, but if her explanation didn't make sense, then you could ask Keine-san. She might be able to explain it better than I can" Damion answered.

"Geez, this is so confusing"

"I know it is, so I expect that it will take a long time for me to explain it to you to where you can understand it"

"Then, please try to explain it to me, Damion-kun" Kaguya asked him.

"Um… er… well… I'm not sure… how to … um… explain the idea… of friendship… in a way… you'd understand, Kaguya-sama" Damion stuttered.

"Very well, I shall give you a moment to think of a way to explain how friendship works" Kaguya replied.

For the next minute, Damion began to ponder how to simplify the meaning of friendship in a way that would make her understand. He also had to think of words that mean the same thing as those that are complicated words; using hard-to-understand words could backfire and distract her from the subject.

"Time's up, Damion-kun, did you come up with an explanation?" Kaguya asked him, impatiently.

"Kaguya-sama, please learn to wait until a proper explanation can be given" Damion complained.

"Well, tell me what you can come up with regarding this matter anyway"

Damion sighed in defeat. He wasn't sure whether or not he can keep up with Kaguya.

"Alright, from what I tried to make simple, acquaintances are the first level of friendship. After that is regular friendship. Third level of friendship is being best friends. Fourth level is close friends. Fifth level is boyfriend/girlfriend. Sixth level is intimacy. Seventh level is lovers. The last level is husband/wife" Damion told her, trying to make sense of it.

"Eh? So our friendship is at level 1, being acquaintances?" Kaguya asked. From that explanation, she began to grasp the concept.

"I think I've made a little progress in explaining how friendship works" the necromancer thought to himself.

"Yes, but I'm not ready for friendship beyond level 2"

"Why is that, Damion-kun?"

"It's just that… well… I've been to level four with a friend back in another world… and we were about to advance to level five… but she… died… trying to protect me and my friends" Damion answered her.

"Oh, but now I'm curious as to how your close friend managed to capture your heart" Kaguya asked, curious about this friend of Damion's.

Damion sighed once again. "I told you, I don't remember her much right now, but… she accepted me after learning the truth about what I was and didn't care about my faults or sins. That kind of person… can only be found through a miracle that even the gods cannot even comprehend or create" Damion answered vaguely.

"Is this friend of yours in Gensokyo?" Kaguya asked.

"No, I'm afraid she died… in another world that I've been in. What she, and my best friend, did to save us… you will probably never understand. It involves… mankind's desire to perish… given physical form… reaching out to an entity that could provide the desires mankind wanted" Damion answered.

"Then tell me the story about what happened" Kaguya demanded.

This was when Eirin entered the room with a reminder.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but it's close to sunset, and I think it's best you return to the human village, Damion-san" Eirin told the young man, entering the living room.

Damion, not realizing that time flew by so quickly, bowed to Kaguya and bid her farewell. She bowed back, and allowed him to leave.

In the pharmacy room, Damion saw that it was indeed around evening hours.

"Mokou-san is outside, and she insisted that she brought you back to the human village" Eirin told Damion.

"Why is that?"

"She said she overheard us talking about her back story, and was curious as to your response. She fled before you answered me, though"

"Oh, I guess I've got some explaining to do to her"

"By the way, what else did Kaguya-sama ask of you?"

Damion, once again, recapped the conversation he had with Kaguya. From Personas, to her curiosity of how friendship works, and his explanations of each question Kaguya asked.

"I see, she's finally taken the first step in learning how other people think" Eirin commented.

"Why, was she always so… self-centered… for lack of a better word…?"

Eirin's smiling face turned serious.

"I'm afraid she's been self-centered ever since she was a child prior to immortalization. She, like Mokou-san, had everything she ever wanted 'handed to her on a silver platter' as you humans say. She never really understood what it's like to be the one working, or how others feel, or even how friendship works" Eirin explained.

"Is that so?"

"I'm thankful that you managed to open her up to the idea of friendship, and I hope she learns from you what it means to be a friend instead of treating others like servants"

"I see, I didn't know that was such a big deal"

"It is, but I think you should go home with Mokou-san. I was going to have Reisen-san take you there, but Mokou-san came as I mentioned your name, and pestered me to let her take you home"

Hearing this, Damion felt somewhat anxious about what Mokou might say to her.

"Alright; I'll see you another day?" Damion asked.

"Come by tomorrow if you can, I'm sure Kaguya-sama would like to learn more about friendship and you"

"Alright, see you tomorrow then"

Bowing, Damion promised to return tomorrow, and left the mansion.


Outside, Fujiwara No Mokou was waiting for the necromancer.

She had a look of anxiety and curiosity.

"Hello, Damion" she greeted.

"Hello"

Mokou led the necromancer out of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, fidgeting all the while. Damion noticed this fidgeting and asked her about it.

"Something seems to be on your mind, Mokou. Is there something you'd like to talk about?" Damion asked politely.

Mokou didn't answer for a few seconds, until Damion asked again.

"Eh? Sorry, I was just wondering about how you would react… to… my story… that you heard from Eirin" Mokou replied hesitantly.

Damion then realized at this point that it was Mokou that he sensed earlier. He sighed and began to tell her his thoughts about her story.

"Mokou, you are not the one at fault for what happened to your family… I don't know if you still respect your father, but I blame his greed for your misfortune. You… did… nothing… wrong"

"But… but… I gave up on him" Mokou admitted, tears now flowing down her face.

Damion opened his arms and asked, "Do you need to use my shoulder to cry on?"

Mokou, without answering, turned to and ran into Damion's arms. She cried on his shoulder for a minute.

"There, there Mokou. I'll be your support in times of weakness like these" he quietly said to her.

After what seemed like five minutes, Mokou stopped crying and tried to straighten up.

"I'm sorry you had to see me like this… but I'm… not good with others hearing what happened to me… prior to coming to Gensokyo" Mokou admitted, sniffling.

"You were weak after becoming immortal, but then you came to Gensokyo… and you became emotionally strong, by starting anew with friends like Keine-san, putting the past behind you. You're a lot stronger, emotionally, than I was when I had to make that difficult decision in my home world" Damion said to Mokou quietly.

His comforting words made Mokou feel better, and she eventually came to smiling instead of feeling regret.

"Thanks, Damion. Your words mean a lot to me" Mokou replied, smiling.

Damion then let go of her, knowing that it would make others think they were in a relationship if he held onto her after showing support.

"I believe I said it before, but I refuse to leave a friend behind. If necessary, I will be the support for friends during their time of need, unlike my past self" Damion quietly told her.

"You're too kind; it almost hurts to have you as a friend"

Damion misunderstood what she meant, and backed off.

"Sorry if it hurts…"

Mokou, realizing that it was a misunderstanding, tried to explain what she meant. "No you dummy, it means your kindness is just… too good for a person like me"

Damion processed what she really meant, and apologized for the misunderstanding.

"Most guys would take advantage of girls when they're weak in order to do… perverted stuff to them, but I'm not like those bastards; I'll never let my friends get hurt or bullied" Damion swore.

Mokou, now understanding Damion even better, leaned up towards him and kissed him in the cheek.

The young man blushed from the sudden act, and backed off.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what was... that for?" He asked, stuttering.

Mokou giggled. "Don't you know what that is? It's a kiss"

"A k-k-k-k-k-kiss?"

Mokou nodded.

"I was told that kisses worked differently and…"

"No, those kisses you're thinking about are romantic, lovey-dovey kisses couples give one another"

"Oh, I guess there are other kinds of kisses… damn… I desperately need to learn what this romance thing is and why girls consider it so important" the necromancer said to himself, not realizing he said it aloud.

Mokou chuckled at Damion's honesty, and continued walking him to the human village.

"You probably won't learn it from girls, but I can probably say you have to learn it by yourself" Mokou advised him.

"Learn it… by myself…? The thing is… I don't even know the first thing about romance" Damion admitted.

"Well, the first thing about romance is to first know how you feel about the person you like. If you really like that other person, you have to let them know that you like them… romantically"

"Just… let them know… my feelings for them?"

"Yeah, romance isn't that complicated; it's just… okay, maybe a little complicated, but relatively simple, Damion" Mokou added.

"I'm in a similar situation as Kaguya; we're not sure about certain things, like her being curious about what friendship is, and me not knowing what romance is"

Mokou frowned upon hearing Kaguya's name. However, soon after realizing everything that Damion said, she asked him, "Wait, you said Kaguya doesn't understand what friendship is?"

"Yeah. She apparently doesn't understand what it's like to work for something, what it feels like to get an idea of how others think about her, and how to treat others like equals" Damion added.

"Huh, I never knew that she was so ignorant of life outside royalty" Mokou admitted.

"Really? I thought you knew everything about her, being her bitter enemy and all"

"Well, we only fight and fight, never really getting to know one another, but I guess… I should probably… well… um… perhaps… try to talk with her…?"

"That actually sounds like a good idea, but… I'm not sure if Kaguya will be willing to do the same. In fact, I don't know how it'll be possible for me to even make the arrangements"

"Sorry, maybe it was an idea that is impossible to do" Mokou apologized.

"Well, I can try, but I'm not sure how Kaguya will react to the thought of wanting to talk things over with you"

"Well, let's start small and introduce the idea of talking to her, but don't mention my name; I want this to be a surprise to her when she realizes that I want to talk, not fight"

"Actually, hold off on that until Kaguya learns sympathy and what it's like to put herself 'in the shoes of another person'. That is, IF she learns and grasps the concept in the first place" Damion replied.

"Eh? Did you say she doesn't know what it's like to understand others?"

Damion shook his head and sighed. "She doesn't know what it's like to think about situations from another person's perspective… Perhaps… maybe this is the reason… well, it's just a theory…"

Mokou eyed the necromancer suspiciously when he stuttered. "A theory? What is it about?"

Damion knew he wasn't going to be able to hide it forever, so he told her his theory. "Perhaps the reason for you two fighting is because she doesn't know what it's like to look at the other side of an argument"

"Really?"

"I need to know one thing: Did you try to explain why you hate Kaguya to her whenever you two were fighting?"

This questions took Mokou by surprise.

"W-w-w-w-what! T-t-t-talk to her… about… why I hate her?"

"Yes. I don't know if you realize this, but some fights never get resolved because of a misunderstanding between two people because one person is missing an important fact about another person. It's like two lovers suddenly fighting because the girlfriend suspects her boyfriend cheating on her with a co-worker. The boyfriend tries to explain that he tried to keep his co-worker away from him in a romantic way, but the girlfriend won't accept the truth"

"Wait, so you're saying… that Kaguya and I will continue fighting… until we both come… to understand one another?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid there are conditions that must be met in order for a person to be completely ready to accept facts… like, for example, during their moment of weakness after a major tragedy happened to them"

"So… we have a plan, but… we need to wait for the right opportunity?"

"Yes. The best chance for us to get Kaguya to understand sympathy would probably… no, that's just risky… but… it could work… but…" Damion began pondering aloud.

Now Mokou was even more curious.

"What? What opportunity would work?"

"I'm eventually going to have to come clean, but this needs to stay our secret; If Eirin, Tewi, Reisen Inaba, or even Kaguya herself gets wind of this plan, then it'll be almost impossible for me to come up with another plan to make her understand sympathy AND possibly cause her to understand your pain" Damion warned her.

"I'm listening"

He explained to her the necessary conditions that needed to be met, in theory, to potentially turn Mokou's bitterness towards Kaguya into understanding for one another. It could also very well turn their hatred into friendship, but only if the circumstances are ideal, go exactly as Damion theorized, and only if Kaguya is willing to open up to and listen to Mokou once the first two requirements are met. The plan was complicated, and can best be described in one phrase, 'a single moment can change the future'.

Mokou, despite hearing the plan, was unable to comprehend it, and unable to figure out how it worked. "Sorry, but I don't understand the plan of yours"

"That is fine, as it mostly involves you doing what you would naturally do, assuming that you want to change your relationship with Kaguya-san. However, the most important part of the plan… is you, Mokou"

The last part was the only thing that Mokou understood.

"Huh? It's my choice?"

"Yes. If what I hope doesn't happen to Gensokyo actually happens, then I need to prepare Kaguya-san for this by informing her about sympathy and teaching her about looking at another person's perspective"

"Then… what am I supposed to do in this plan?"

"If the conditions are met, and I will tell you when everything is perfect, then you will have an opportunity to turn your hatred of Kaguya-san into understanding for one another. The most important part is whether you want the change to happen or not"

"Hold on, why can't you tell her I want her to understand what I went through?"

"It doesn't work that way… I'm sorry, but if a point is to be made effectively, it needs to be done right, and be told by the right person. Anything less would be ineffective or completely useless"

"I don't understand"

Damion chuckled and explained it using an analogy. "Suppose there was news about Yukari Yakumo willing to take someone to Gensokyo back in your home world. Both your parents learned about this, and they wanted to tell you about it. The question is, which parent would you be more willing to believe?"

Mokou thought about it for a moment, despite being a simple question that didn't need much thought.

"I'd believe my father"

"Now here's the next question: Why would you be more willing to believe your father instead of your mother?" Damion asked.

"Well… Um… Uh… I guess it's because I trust my father more?"

"Sure, let's go with that. Now then, let's imagine the same exact situation, but it was Yukari Yakumo who came to you instead of your parents. Would you believe her, or your parents?"

"Why are you asking the same situation?"

"It's not the same situation, it's the same question but having to believe either Yukari Yakumo or your parents"

Mokou hesitated for a moment.

"I don't get it, but I'd believe my father over that gap youkai any day"

"Now then, here's what I'm getting at, regarding the moment you tell Kaguya your thoughts: She would believe me to a certain extent, but if it came from you, she would be surprised at the unexpected behavior of you trying to help her, and then you tell her your thoughts… she will most likely accept the change"

"Do you really expect her to become that weak from that plan?"

"This is just a theory at the moment, as I don't know whether or not it will actually happen. I am, however, quite sure that she will have a moment of weakness similar to what I went through"

"I don't know, Damion… it sounds like it'll never happen… and even if it does happen, I don't know if Kaguya will be willing to hear me out. It's just your imagination that's doing the talking instead of your brain"

"I wish that was the case, but there are a lot of factors that you don't understand. One of them is personality changes in moments of weakness. You probably heard from Keine-san how I behaved differently when I was faced with my shadow self, right?"

"Wait, was what Keine-san said about you during your confrontation two days ago actually real?"

"Yes. It usually takes something big like facing reality, experiencing a major tragedy, or understanding another person to make a change in a person"

Mokou was beginning to understand where Damion was going with this line of logic.

"Alright, I don't quite understand, but I'll try to figure it out as the time comes near when this plan of yours comes to pass" Mokou replied.

"Good. I'm not doing this JUST for your sake, but also for Kaguya-san's as well"

"Why Kaguya's sake?"

"It's because… She's taken the first step towards learning what it's like to be your average person instead of being a spoiled princess; she's learning about how friendship works, and how friendship evolves over time. Once I'm able to explain what that is to her, I'll probably try to explain in detail methods used to improve friendship. Then, and only then, will I test Kaguya-san about her understanding of how she sees what other people are to her"

"And…?"

"If, by a small stroke of luck, she actually learns that people are not servants to her, then perhaps I can slowly get her to understand that not everything revolves around her" Damion added.

"Huh, it sounds like you have taken a job as Kaguya's tutor on the life of the average person"

"It's not a job unless it's official; I'm just getting to know her as acquaintances, and it's through my acquaintanceship with her that she's starting to learn about how others think and behave"

"Wow, you seem to have already planned that far ahead?"

"Actually, no. I only thought of this plan a few moments ago while we were talking. I only realized that I've taken the first step without realizing it before"

Mokou was disappointed at the honesty.

"I thought you might've started this plan as soon as you met her"

"Not really. I'm going to try and set up the foundation for the plan and… create the board for this little 'game'"

The mention of the word 'game' made Mokou upset.

"A 'game'? You think me and Kaguya are PAWNS in this 'game'!"

"I'm speaking figuratively! I'm trying to say that if all falls into place; it will create an opportunity for you to change your relationship with Kaguya from bitter enemies to acquaintances, or even friends who understand one another"

Upon the necromancer clearing the misunderstanding, Mokou calmed down.

"Geez, you had me worried that me and Kaguya were just playthings to you"

"I would never treat my friends as parts to a plan without telling them"

"Then, did you tell Kaguya?"

"There's a reason why I can't tell anyone at Eientei; if they get word of this plan, then they will tell Kaguya-san, and the plan will fail before it even begins"

"It doesn't feel right for you to leave them in the dark about this"

"I know, but if I tell them, then they will try to prevent this plan from working. If they remain in the dark and see the plan in motion, they are very likely to understand what's really going on, and be more willing to accept the final result of the plan… It's outcome versus effort"

Mokou then sighed, not understanding what the young man was thinking. "Alright, I give up. What is it that I have to do, exactly?"

"You don't have to a thing unless I tell you what needs to be done. As for right now, just act the way you normally do and pretend like you never heard this plan. After the plan is carried out, whether it fails or succeeds, I will tell everyone in Eientei, except Kaguya, what the plan was"

"Alright, I'll just leave it to you. Though, I suppose you might want to get assistance from Sanae Kochiya; she has the power to cause miracles to occur"

The mention of Sanae having that power left Damion curious.

"Huh? She has the power to cause miracles to occur?"

"Yeah. If you can rope her into this plan, and make her swear secrecy, then I think it might be possible for it to happen" Mokou pointed out.

Damion took a moment to consider the possibility. He was thinking that if this Sanae person had the power that Mokou said she had, then the chances of this plan working could increase significantly. However, it also poses a threat if Sanae tells those in Eientei the plan the necromancer came up with.

"I'll consider it, but as of right now, I'll get to work to set up the foundation for the desired result"

During the rest of the walk to the human village, Mokou asked Damion about various aspects of his plan so she could get a better idea of what to expect, what she was supposed to do, and how to actually make the change… for better or worse.


Eventually, when the two of them arrived at the human village, nighttime was just beginning.

"Alright, I'll probably come by tomorrow to pick you up again" Mokou offered.

"Thanks, I look forward to tomorrow"

Mokou and Damion bowed to one another, and the former left to return to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

Damion then turned to the velvet blue door that was floating near the entrance to the human village.

He took out the key he was given in last night's 'dream' and inserted it into the door. The door clicked upon having the key inserted, and it opened. Damion stepped inside.


In the Velvet Room church, Damion took a seat opposite side of Igor like he did back in his dream.

"It's good to see you again, Damion" Igor greeted as Damion took a seat.

"Igor and I were just talking about your plan to help your friend, and we think you might be using an evil method" Margaret interjected.

"Really? How else do you think I might be able to help my friends get the same result… using a more 'tame' method?"

"Well, we weren't sure of that at this time, but it's just our conclusion to that idea of yours"

"Now, now, Margaret. We aren't here to criticize his plan. He has come here on his own will, and now I must honor his time with us" Igor politely scolded his assistant.

Margaret bowed, and returned to her usual stoicism.

"Let me get to the point… is there something for us to discuss that is so important that needed a lot of my free time?"

"Yes, Damion. I'm going to tell you about what I did for your friend, and offer you the same service I gave to him; the ability to fuse multiple personas to form stronger ones. Your friend, Drake, has used my services extensively, and thus, creating a vast number of Personas that even we thought were impossible to fuse with certain abilities"

"Fusing Personas? That explains why he had a different Persona for almost every occasion"

"There's more; Even though he asked us to transfer the power of the Wild Card to you, it is forbidden for us to give another Wild Card user the same compendium that another used" Margaret added.

Damion wasn't surprised. "That kind of makes sense, as I would be too powerful if I simply used his Personas and stuff"

"Now then, I regret to inform you that my ability to fuse Personas is not perfect; in fact, accidents may happen where a fused Persona may be different from what I tell you. I am, however, absolutely positive that accidents will NEVER happen to the fusion of four or more Personas" Igor apologized in advance.

"That's okay; it's kind of similar to how my plan can fail at any time"

"True, but not on the same scale as my Persona fusing ability"

"Heh, alright. Is there anything else I need to know?"

Margaret explained her role to him. "I have set up a compendium specific to you and your Personas. Any Personas you gather, find, or fuse, will be recorded in the compendium. Despite it being a record, it can also allow you to summon Personas from the compendium, provided that you have recorded the Personas in the compendium in the first place. There will, however, be a fee for summoning a Persona from the compendium. There's one other thing; you won't be able to fuse Personas that are stronger than you in terms of level, so please be aware of that"

"Sounds reasonable"

"Now then, sometimes, when you win a battle, cards will appear in your mind. It may come in the form of a sword, wand, coin, cup, or Persona card. Those cards, despite being in your mind, have real world effects. You can choose to reach out to a card and gain one of the cards' effects, or you can turn away from the cards. You have to reach out to the cards using your hand in your mind. The cards' effects are as follows: Sword will bestow upon you weapons for you and your friends, Wand will increase experience gained from battle or boost your Personas' stats, coin will magically give you money, cup will restore yours and your friends' health, and Persona cards will bestow you with the Persona shown in the card" Igor explained.

"This is confusing"

"Don't worry, your friend, Drake, said the exact same thing when I told him what I told you" Igor chuckled.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Damion asked them.

"I'm afraid I've explained everything there is to explain tonight, and now it's time I let you get some sleep in this new world you're in" Igor answered.

"Another friend of yours just came outside of the village, and is walking towards you as we speak" Margaret added.

"Alright, I'll come visit again"

"No need to sound polite; we are under contractual obligation to serve you as needed, so feel free to use our abilities as needed for you to hone your power" Igor added.

"Alright, I'll see you another time" Damion shot back before bowing, and getting up to leave the Velvet Room.


Back outside the human village, Damion came to his senses just before Keine could talk to him, though it didn't stop her from asking.

"What were you doing, staring at the human village?" Keine asked.

Damion shook his head, faking the 'staring off into space' act.

"Oh, sorry. I must've gotten lost in my thoughts" Damion replied to her.

"Geez, you looked like something was on the wall and found it interesting" Keine teased.

"Sorry about that"

"Anyway, one of the parents of the children I teach wanted to bring you into their home for the night, and asked me to get your opinion on the matter"

Damion was somewhat relieved to hear this. "Um, sure"

"It was their kid that persuaded them to make the offer"

"Their kid?"

"He says that you told him that his support was enough to bring you happiness. I think his name was Suzaku-kun"

Remembering the name, Damion's face went from confusion to that of happiness.

"Sure, I wonder how he's doing right now" Damion replied.

Keine then led the necromancer into the village.


In the village, the village guardian dropped off the young man at the home of the family that invited the necromancer to stay.

The kid that Damion met, Suzaku, was overjoyed to see him. He was quick to try and introduce him to his family. The family introduced themselves, and Damion introduced himself.

That night, over dinner, the necromancer was being asked about himself, prior to coming to Gensokyo, then the questions started moving towards rumors saying that Damion might be a youkai hunter. Damion had to stop himself from telling the details about shadows, his necromancy, and other details that could make the family uneasy about him. As for the rumors that he was being told about, the young man declined the rumors, saying he doesn't hunt youkai without a GOOD reason, like self-defense.

Fortunately, there was a spare room for the necromancer to rest in for the night, and he thanked the family for their hospitality before going up to the room and crashing for the night.


END OF CHAPTER

Author's note: I know its 1.5 or 3 times the usual length, but I felt that splitting this one day in two chapters would make it difficult for the readers to follow. As for Fujiwara No Mokou's back story, I improvised based on the facts that I gathered from the Touhou Wikia. I know I should give a proper story, but I went with what I put; as detailed as I can make it.