Reimu was floating in an odd void of darkness and brightness; a realm that contradicted its own existence. The trainee knew that the void was dark, but it felt like there was something shining from the other side of the void, from behind the darkness. It made Reimu's eyes hurt a little for some reason, and that only made the tired little girl feel angry.
"...mu? Wake... you'r… ping..." A voice said from Reimu from somewhere that she couldn't trace. That voice seemed familiar to Reimu, but she couldn't quite remember the who or what it had belonged to in the past. Even though she couldn't quite put her finger on the voice and its owner, it had made her feel feelings of happiness. Reimu then suddenly felt something rough and hard nudge the side of her arm lightly. "You need t... ke up! Re... I know tha… sleep."
"Be pati…" Another voice had said, even more hard to recognise than the first voice. Reimu had a feeling she didn't hear the entire words of the voice, becoming muffled and unmuffled, like the voice from before. "She has... ing techn… I am... that she... at."
The words felt nonsensical as Reimu couldn't fully understand them, only increasing the trainee's anger even further. Before Reimu had known it, her eyes were slowly opening to a blurry sky with two blurry beings in front of her, one having a green and brown colour as the other had a blue colour of sorts. Reimu's eyes stung, the maiden immediately closing her eyes again as it felt like they were being burned by the light. The purple-haired girl groaned from the pain being brought upon her eyes, however she could feel the eyes of the unknown blurs looking down at her.
Groaning again, this time in annoyance, Reimu once again forced her eyes open. Reimu's eyes had once again stung in pain, like a hornet had stabbed its stinger into the organs. Reimu looked at the blurs in front of her as they began to clear, gaining a more definitive shape respectively. Reimu realised that she was looking up at the cloudy sky with the bright sun overhead. Reimu noticed that Genji and Sariel were looking down at her, the spirit and the angel at her left and right respectively.
Genji had at first had a concerned look that changed to an elated look, however Sariel had an expression that remained impassive through and through.
"Oh Reimu, you're awake and alive!" Genji teared, the large turtle walking towards her and seemingly hugging her. It was honestly hard to tell what his action was as he didn't have any arms. Genji suddenly pulled away from Reimu and glared at the trainee. "Do you know how terrified I was?! Seeing an Angel of Death appear in front of the shrine with you in his arms? I was scared that you had already lost your life at such a young age, before you could even become a full shrine maiden? I would have probably suffered from a panic attack if the same Angel of Death didn't assure me that you are still alive!"
Genji was seemingly growing angrier and angrier with each second, Reimu was actually beginning to fear that he would actually hurt her, but the turtle suddenly looked relieved and nuzzled again Reimu's neck.
"I'm just so happy that you're now okay." The old being said with relief beyond words in his voice, tears coming from his rough eyes. Genji pulled his head back, looking at Reimu in the eyes. "Reimu, until your training ends and you're no longer a trainee, I don't want you to fight any evil spirits or youkai or gods, or go to any other dimensions, or do any of that other shrine maiden work without my help. Or at least be by my side."
"Uh... Okay, Gramps." Reimu said, having been mostly weirded out by the turtle's odd shifts in emotion. The trainee looked over towards Sariel, the angel normal-sized and still looking at her with emotionless eyes. It was honestly growing kind of creepy how dead his eyes looked without emotion. There was silence as Reimu and Sariel were looking at each other, even the blowing of the wind was eerily quiet.
"You have proven yourself to be more than a disappointment, I know now that I misjudged you." Sariel said calmly, not displaying any emotion in his voice or expression. "However, I do not regret my actions. Your true potential still has yet to show itself."
The seraphim then dematerialized, disappearing from in front of the trainee and guardian spirit. "That was... weird." Reimu commented, blinking at Sariel's odd reaction.
"I hate beings like him." Genji said as he glared at the empty air that Sariel had once existed at. "Unable to get off their high horse, only being patronizing at best. I would much prefer that I never meet with something like him ever again."
Reimu suddenly collapsed beside Genji, the ancient turtle looking at the trainee worriedly, only to become relieved as he saw that she had fallen asleep. It seemed that everything that she had done had made her sleepy and left her tuckered out. Genji grabbed hold of Reimu's hakama with his mouth and dragged the sleeping maiden into the shrine, letting her sleep in peace.
The realm of Makai was a demonic dimension, a purple land with fires coming out from the ground. Many humans who were able to so much as have a glimpse at this dimension would misinterpret it as a piece of Hell, a dimension of infernal flames. This misplaced concept wasn't too off, as it was home to many demons and created by an ancient and powerful demon, but a demonic dimension and Hell are two different things with subtle differences.
Within the centre of this dimension is a capital; a pile of buildings and even a few markets for the demons that live in Makai peacefully, or mischievously. And in the centre of this capital, the centre of Makai itself, is a giant castle of beauty and intricate, delicate design named Pandemonium. This castle is the home to Shinki, the ancient and powerful demon that has created Makai and the demons that live within the dimension. She lives an existence that is much like that of a deity, and was even worshiped as such by cults that have long disappeared.
She was currently sitting down in a big, colourful room, filled with stuffed animals and tons of toys, with a big bed along the corner of the room. The deity-like demon was a tall woman with light blue eyes and long white hair that was slightly tied up in a ponytail, her humanoid body covered in red robes. She was sitting on a small plastic chair, her legs bent as the legs of the chair she was sitting on were incredibly short. She sat in front of a round, plastic table that also had incredibly small legs, having a light green colour and a natural floral pattern painted on. Well, it seemed to look like it was painted, but it was created that way; by raw and powerful magic power.
Around the green table were more plastic chairs, five in total. Four of the chairs had plush animals on them with button eyes, having fur that the real animals don't have in the slightest. One was a little elephant with blue fur and a pink bowtie, one was a bear with pink fur and a little sunhat and a flowerhead printed on one of its paws, another was a fox with purple fur and an eyepatch and boots, and the last was a giraffe with green fur. None of the designs were correct, but the person they were made for loved them nevertheless, and so Shinki loved them as well.
The person in question was on the opposite side was a little girl with blonde hair and golden eyes, wearing a light pink dress with a blue apron and a matching ribbon around her head. The little girl was smiling, tea and cakes were placed all over the little plastic table.
The little girl turned her head towards the blue elephant. "Mr Woozle, could you please pass over the cookies?" The little girl asked kindly in a high-pitched voice. The elephant teddy nodded silently, picking up the small tray that had the cookies (miraculously, since he didn't have hands) and passing them over to the little girl. The blonde girl happily took the cookies, about to eat them before they were suddenly pulled out of her hands by an invisible force. The little girl frowned, turning her golden eyes from the cookies to Shinki, the demon goddess smiling as she had a finger pointing out, being what she used to get the cookies out of the little girl's hands with telekinesis.
"Now, now, Alice." Shinki said to the little girl, Alice, a smile on her face as she tried to stop herself from laughing at the glare on the little girl's face. "Do remember your manners, dear."
"Oh yeah. Ahem, thank you, Mr Woozle." Alice said. The cookies lowered back into Alice's grip, the little girl happily eating the chocolate chipped biscuits. Shinki giggled at Alice; she may have created a vast myriad of demons and has seen them all as her creations, but Alice will always be the one she sees as her daughter.
Yes, because she created all of the other residents of Makai with her raw magical power, she has seen them all as her creations, rather than her children. But Alice is different, because Shinki decided to visit a world where humans lived and got drunk and had some fun with a human male. She doesn't remember the male or know who he is, but he never really mattered to her anyways; a mere one-night stand.
Shinki then noticed that Alice and the living teddies were looking at her. Actually, it was more like they were looking past her. The demon goddess looked behind her, to two large glass doors that were wide open, leading to a balcony with golden rails. There was a ray of light that shined down on the balcony, revealing a man with long white hair in a blue dress, six angelic wings sprouting from his back. The man was floating in the air, softly landing on the balcony and walking into the room, his face expressionless.
Alice got off from her chair and ran towards Sariel, looking incredibly giddy. "Uncle Sariel~!" Alice squealed in delight, the little girl jumping towards the seraphim and hugging him around the waist, the angel grabbing hold of her body. "You came to visit."
"It is nice to see you again as well, Alice." Sariel laughed softly, patting Alice on the top of her head, the angel actually smiling down at her. Sariel looked up at Shinki, the Demon Goddess looking happy at her brother. Sariel cleared his throat, regaining his calm and indifferent composure. "Sister, I wish to speak with you in private. Do you think that you could spare me the time."
Shinki gave Sariel an annoyed frown, the godlike demon preferring to spend her time with her daughter, however she quickly calmed back to a small smile. "Of course, Brother." Shinki said. The white-haired demon reached into a pocket in her robes, pulling out a small, purple orb. Shinki tapped on the small orb, the tiny item glowing with magic. "Yumeko, could you please come to Alice's room?"
"As you wish, Lady Shinki." A female voice said from the other side of the orb. A certain area of space within Alice's room had warped, a blonde-haired maid in a red and white outfit suddenly appearing within the room, bowing down on one knee with an arm across her body. The maid stood up on her two feet, opening her eyes to reveal them to be as yellow as her hair, a serious look on her face. "What is it that you wish for me to do, Lady Shinki?"
The maid then noticed Sariel, surprise overcoming her face for a few seconds before she bowed down towards him. "Sorry, Lord Sariel, I didn't know that you were present."
Shinki cleared her throat with slight impatience, the space-manipulating maid in front of her directing her attention back towards her. "Brother and I need to talk about something 'private'." Shinki said, the happy Demon Goddess stretching her hand towards Alice. "Yumeko, could you please continue my tea party with Alice until my conversation with my brother is over."
Yumeko smiled. "I have no problem with spending time with Lady Alice, I value her as highly as I value you, Lady Shinki." The blonde maid said as she gave Alice a smile that was reserved only for the human-demon hybrid, approaching her and sitting down on one of the short, plastic chairs. Shinki chuckled under her breath before she and Sariel left the room, the two odd siblings walking down a corridor. It was mostly just them, though sometimes the odd fairy-like demon, or demon that looked like a giant eyeball with wings, or some other unnatural looking creature would fly by.
"So, Sariel, what is it that you wish to speak?" Shinki asked, keeping her happy face as she and her brother walked down the corridor.
"It is about the new Hakurei shrine maiden, the trainee." Sariel responded calmly, looking at his sister with his usual impassiveness.
"Ah yes, the new Hakurei." Shinki said as though the news was like the weather. "I know from your informants that the past Hakurei, whoever she was, had died. It was from those same informants that I know that there is a new trainee. Tell, did you really ask me to come with you in private to just talk about another powerful human that protects the Paradise of Legends?"
"Under usual circumstances, that wouldn't be the case. However, this shrine maiden is different." Sariel responded, the Angel of Death catching his sister's attention. "You see, this new shrine maiden trainee is younger than the rest. In fact she is a little girl."
"A little girl?" Shinki asked in surprise, the Demon Goddess proceeding to glare at her brother. "You didn't send anyone to fight her like you have done with the Hakureis of the past, right?!"
"Sister, please listen to me fully before you began reaching conclusions." Sariel responded calmly, not afraid of the immensely powerful demon that is his sister. Shinki made a loud exhale of air through her nostrils before calming down. She definitely didn't summon her wings, so she wasn't all that mad to begin with. "You see, when my informants first told of this new Hakurei, they also told me of her potential, one that was powerful among humans, even the exceptionally powerful Hakureis. I originally made Konngara test the young maiden's skills, but she had lost and decided to break our contract."
Sariel reached into a pocket that was seemingly in his skirt, pulling out a hand mirror with an amethyst jewel just beneath the reflective glass.
"Of course, from how much she has let herself grow weak from her lack of keeping her training, as well as the fact that the Hakurei trainee is a child, I decided to fight against her myself to truly test her strength." Sariel continued, the angel pausing with an unreadable emotion on his face.
"And?" Shinki asked, inquisitively interested in the angel's story.
"At first she had proven to not put up much of a fight against me. She was tactical and adaptive, managing to land some hits on me, though her overall power was weak. I had believed that she would have failed as a full shrine maiden, but then..." Sariel said, pausing again as his face changed to one that Shiki thought she would never see on his face ever again, save for the end of Creation itself; fear. "She managed to use the Fantasy Heaven, the attack that is said to end all others and be an aspect of the Hakurei God itself. I was powerless against it, but what was most of all was that she had ascended into a new form. It was like she had became possessed by some divine power, or that she had shown the full power of her potential. This new Hakurei trainee... she may be the strongest shrine maiden to exist, if not the strongest human to ever exist."
"Hmm, that does sound troubling then, especially with some of the vacation and tourism plans that I have in mind." Shinki mumbled. Sariel raised an eyebrow towards his sister, having never heard of these plans from her before. Shinki noticed her brother's attention, the Demon Goddess waving her hand dismissively. "That is nothing for you to worry about. I'll just keep an eye on this new trainee, if she shows that power that has scared you, then I'll just have to pick somewhere else than Gensokyo. If she doesn't show that power or potential anymore, then I'll continue my plans as normal."
Shinki then snapped her fingers, space warping around her as she teleported, leaving Sariel on his own in the corridor. The seraphim sighed, waving around his sceptre and turning into a small sphere of white light, floating out of the window and going back to Sariel's personal domain in Makai; the only area of the dimension not created by Shiki.
Deep in Jigoku, at a far, far away area from the civilizations and homesteads and houses to the demons of this dimension, there layed a large, metal stigma. It was golden, big enough for a human adult to sit and even walk on, at least an entire metre tall. Within this golden seal is tremendous magic power that once belonged to a malevolent ghost who was once considered to compared to a deity in the days of yore, gained through many years of training and the sacrificing of souls to Magic Gods, Evil Gods and gods that were both, sealed away by a powerful shrine maiden and multiple powerful sorcerers, sealed so far away in hope that evil woman who had originally gained these magic powers would never get them back.
A long trail of a blue mist flew towards the golden stigma, the head stopping in surprise, the rest of the trail continuing to move towards the head of the mist until it turned into one huge ball of a green mist. The mist transformed into Mima, the ghost having a grin of evil glee on her face, a sense of relief as she finally found what she has spent many years, lifetimes, searching to regain.
"Ah, there you are, my precious baby." Mima cooed as she flew towards the golden stigma that held her stolen powers. The spirit could feel her magic react to her presence, reaching out towards her to be reunited with her. Mima smirked, knowing that the magic can only be released by her touch, and even then only she can gain them. It was well worth it to sacrifice those souls to a powerful and heartless Magic God to ensure that no one else can gain her magic powers or permanently remove them from her. Even when the Hakurei maiden and the wizards got the advantage over her, she still had a trump card purely in her benefit. The ghost laughed as she flew towards the stigma. "Don't worry, My Precious, Mummy's here."
Mima placed her fingers down on the stigma, immediately a tornado of green magical energy emerged in a powerful surge. Tremendous air and power came from tornado, blowing away everything that was even slightly nearby; even the ground was being broken off and thrown away from the powerful wind and energy. The only thing unaffected was Mima herself; being dead and a ghost had many advantages to it.
The tornado of green magical energy flew towards Mima, entering her spectral form. "Yes, YES! Return to me, my long lost magic." Mima said as she could feel the power return, her body becoming covered in light as she began to change form. Her eyes changed from blue to green, her cap turned blue and her dress had a blue, light blue and green colour with white symbols on it. A long, purple cape appeared on the ghost as large blue and purple wings appeared from her back. Mima grinned as she looked at her new and improved form, the spirit throwing away her knife as she no longer needed it. Mima outstretched her palm at the open air, a light green magic circle appearing in front of her, a staff with a white crescent moon on top of it appearing. "Ah yes, it feels so good to have this power once again; to once again be Mima, The Witch That even Gods Fear, The Malevolent, The Scourge of all Humanity."
Mima looked down at her staff, seeing her reflection slightly in the crescent moon of her staff. A frown appeared on the ghost's face as she knew that she would have to reassemble new minions, as well that she has most likely gotten sluggish, so she'll probably have to train for a few days or weeks to ensure that she has regained her mastery of her lost magic.
A smirk appeared on Mima's face. "Just you wait, Reimu Hakurei..." Mima said, pointing out her staff towards the empty air, the crescent moon glowing with energy as a portal opened in front of her. Sunlight and fresh air came from the portal, Mima entered through it and closed the portal behind her. The ghost flew high in the air, marvelling at the sight of Gensokyo. An evil grin appeared on the green-haired woman's face, oh how it will be an amazing stepping stone for her true plans, especially after she gains the Yin-Yang Orb for herself. "The Great Mima has returned, and she's here to fulfil her true destiny: ruling over all that exist!"
Mima disappeared, the ghost off to find a headquarters, and then some minions.
The full moon shined brightly above the Hakurei shrine in another peaceful night in Gensokyo. The air was cool and quiet, you could hear the sounds of insects as they buzzed and flew through the air and did many other things that insects do. Genji was sitting on the shrine porch, looking up at a group of fireflies as they flew around in the air, like little green lights that moved in the air by themselves. Genji looked back towards the shrine's open doors, seeing Reimu sleep. Unlike most times, Reimu wasn't sleeping underneath the kotatsu (which Genji was happy about), instead being wrapped up in blankets and sleeping.
Genji looked away from Reimu, the sigh of annoyance escaping from the old turtle. "I know you're here, just reveal yourself already." Genji said in an annoyed voice, miraculously Reimu wasn't woken up. There wasn't anything akin to a response, unless you consider the fireflies flying away as one. "I know you're watching, Yukari. Quit hiding yourself."
A rift in reality appeared in front of Genji, red ribbons tied around the two side of the rift. Within the rift, or Gap as it is called, showed a dark void with a myriad of gaping eyes staring out at Genji. A female emerged from the rift, having golden eyes and long hair that was equally golden, loose with small, red ribbons tied around the tips. She was wearing a purple Chinese-style tabard with various trigrams over a pale pink Western-style dress with black bands on the sleeves that had a white design on them. She was carrying a pink lace parasol and a paper fan, a smile on her face.
"Oh my, looks like I have been caught~." The woman, Yukari, said, covering her mouth with her paper fan as she continued to grin at the ancient spirit, though not as ancient as her. "Congratulations, Genji, you have now figured that I have been watching over your little maiden. Tell me, what do you wish for your prize."
"How have you been keeping aware of Lady Reimu?" Genji asked, glaring at the youkai, though she didn't fear it. She took others' hatred of her in pride, and even if she didn't, all the glares would be an old hat at this point. "I thought that you spent all your time sleeping."
"Ran and Chen may be my strongest and most well known shikigami, but they are far from my only shikigami." Yukari said, creating a Gap behind her, the boundary-manipulating youkai sitting down on the rift in reality. "I have more shikigami than you can imagine. They're just informants, so they are harder to notice, I don't even know their names nor care for them as much as I care for my fox and cat, but they get the job done in exchange for money and food."
Genji raised an eye at Yukari. "What reason do you have to spy on Reimu with your slaves?" The turtle asked.
"The Hakurei are existential for the survival of Gensokyo, without them, neither Gensokyo nor the youkai would be able to exist, at least without large consequences." Yukari explained, crossing her legs, a more serious expression appearing on her face. "I watch over all Hakurei shrine maidens in training to ensure that they would be able to protect this paradise we live in. Besides, she shows more promise than any other Hakurei before her."
"How so?"
Yukari grinned at Genji. "For one, she has already begun to use the Fantasy Seal." The boundary-manipulating youkai responded, laughing as she saw the nonplussed expression on Genji's face. As the turtle spirit remained frozen in surprise, Yukari opened a Gap, reaching into it and pulling out a metal skewer with meat. Yukari began to eat the meat on the skewer, Genji began to regain his sense of reality.
"But the Fantasy Seal is a powerful Hakurei attack that can only be taught, and even if I can't use it myself, I can still teach the maidens to do it as I have throughout the millennium." Genji said, still trying to comprehend Yukari's words. There was a great possibility that she was only saying that to mess with Genji, especially with her nonchalance, but one could never be too sure with this woman. "How was she at all capable of using it, and when did she use it?"
"Simple, really." Yukari responded, the youkai having finished off all the meat on her skewer, opening a Gap and throwing the piece of metal in the rift. "She used it from memory, and luckily that allows the first question to tie in with the second question. The first time was against Konngara, she was nearly beaten by the oni until she remembered when she saw it performed by her mother, and thus she was able to use it by memory. Reimu had forgotten about that, though she managed to remember the second time, which was against Sariel. Though it wasn't as successful against him as it was against Konngara, though it did allow her to learn and use the Fantasy Heaven. Of course, she doesn't remember that either, and I doubt she will be able to use it again until she meets a similar incident in her life, so there is no reason for you to teach her about the Fantasy Heaven. However, I do expect you to teach her about Seal."
Genji was once again nonplussed, surprised on the information that Yukari had filled in on him from mostly out of the view. When Genji was able to think clearly again, Yukari and the Gap that she was sitting on had disappeared. Genji grumbled, of course Yukari would cause confusion; it its not chaos or trouble, then its confusion; that's the way that the gap youkai works.
Genji looked back at Reimu. He was still trying to fully comprehend that the little girl sleeping, wrapped up in those blankets, was already using some of the strongest techniques ever known to the Hakurei family. He never knew that she was capable of such power, just goes to show.
"I guess I'll have to start making her training harder and teaching her the more advanced aspects of being a Hakurei shrine maiden." Genji thought, the turtle seemingly shrugging before entering the shrine and sliding the doors closed. "Eh, I'll get onto it another day. Now is the time for sleep."
Author's Note: And that wraps up the Highly Responsive to Prayers arc for real now. This chapter is really more about talking than any actual fighting, which honestly makes this chapter more like a break, though there is nothing wrong with that. As you can already see, this chapter came with foreshadowing for the Mystic Square arc with some early appearances of Shinki, Alice and Yumeko, as well as an additional extra early appearance for Yukari; after all, she is an important character in the existence of Gensokyo.
...And she's one of my favourite characters in Touhou, if not my outright favourite character, but hey at least I have good reason/excuse for giving her a debut before the Windows era, though I might put in a few more references and some foreshadowing for the Windows era before I end the PC-98 era, it all depends really.
And of course there is the fact that I have already began writing to get you lovable readers hyped up for the Story of Eastern Wonderland arc, what with Mima regaining her powers and whatnot. Of course there is going to be at least a few weeks between this arc and that arc.
Not only would Reimu need some time to continue her training so she can operate like she did in Story of Eastern Wonderland, but I honestly believe that Mima is going to need some time. After not having her full powers for over a century, Mima is going to need some time to make sure she still has them mastered. And of course she will need some time to get all her minions for the next arc, especially in regards to Marisa, who Mima has canonically trained to use magic
Anyways, I am looking forward to this next arc because I can be more inventive with Reimu's fighting style, instead of it just being her throwing some ofuda and hitting the opponent in the face with the Yin-Yang Orb. So yeah, she'll be flying on Genji (until Windows era) and shooting out danmaku from here on.
All reviews, even constructive criticism, are welcomed, see you all in the next chapter~.