Disclaimer: I own none of the characters mentioned or used in this story, except for the one from whose point of view this story is told. Any and all of the other characters belong to Team Shanghai Alice.

Chapter 25: Past To The Present

The room was dark when I came to.

Actually, no, not dark. I just came to with my eyes closed.

I tried opening them. Little by little, my eyelids creaked open. They met darkness. What little light there was came in from a mostly-closed curtain on the other side of the room, pouring in a little bit of moonlight.

Okay, so maybe it was dark in the room.

A low groan escaped me as I raised a shaky hand to rub my eyes. It helped a little bit, allowing me to adjust a little more to the darkness.

How long had I been asleep? At least several hours. It had only been sometime around the afternoon when I had last woken up after I had been beaten by Kaguya and her spell card.

With as much strength as I could muster, I tried to push myself up.

A shock of pain lanced through my chest.

"Gah!" My arms lost their strength, and I hit the bed again. Guess I wasn't quite ready to even get out of bed yet. Granted, Eirin had said my chest wound had reopened, so it made sense.

Man, that spell card had been pretty powerful. What was it called again? The Red Stone of Aja? She had called it a new impossible request, so maybe she built up a small collection of other treasures or something while she was here? Possibly….

That made me wonder what other impossible requests she may have been able to come up with in these past centuries. There probably wasn't a lot around to make a request out of, so not that many, perhaps. Regardless, it still made me curious.

"Nnh…."

Huh?

I tilted my head left.

Nitori was sitting there, head on the bed, fast asleep.

Whoa. I hadn't even noticed her there. Had she been staying by my bedside this whole time?

"Mmh… days…."

Was he talking in her sleep?

"Need… get to… mountain…."

Oh, she was dreaming about having to get to the Youkai Mountain. Made sense, considering how long it had been since she was supposed to bring that generator up to the mountain. And it made me feel guilty again, since it still felt like all of this had been my fault.

A tiny smile reached my lips. At least this time, she was sleeping peacefully. My left hand came up and brushed away a small part of her hair.

Suddenly, a light fell across my face. "Now isn't that sweet."

"Gyah!"

My hand froze. I let my head reset so it was looking up once more.

"Y-Yukari-sama."

"Hello there, Kaito-san." She was sitting on her boundary platform again, parasol over her shoulder. There was a little lantern hanging out on one of the sides of the mini-portal.

I noticed something different about her too. It was more or less the same with Kaguya; a strange aura was coming off of Yukari now. Tiny droplets of a purple-violet color were dropping off her person.

I sighed quietly. Man, she was always there when I least expected it. "Geez, Yukari-sama, you scared me. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to check up on you."

"What?" That sounded rather odd. And maybe even a little creepy.

She chuckled. "Judging by the look on your face, that didn't sound quite right, hm?"

"Uh, yeah…."

"Well, don't take it the wrong way. I'm simply concerned for your welfare. You were in quite a terrible state when I came by a few days ago."

"You came by to see me?"

"Not quite. More like, I came by to help out. Eirin was having some trouble trying to suture your wound, so I helped keep it closed."

"How the heck did you do that?"

"Your wound was like a breached gap in your body, so I treated it as such."

I wasn't quite sure how that worked. I mean, did the power to manipulate boundaries really stretch that far? But then….

"Wait a second. If you could help keep my wound closed with your abilities, then why didn't you just completely close it yourself?"

She pulled out a small folding fan from the folds of her dress, opened it, and began fanning herself. "Now that's stretching it a bit far. Why would I want to do that?"

"Uh… so I can heal a little faster?"

"Well, I already messed with a few boundaries to help you recover faster naturally. I did all that for you before you even came to Gensokyo in the first place. Why would I need to personally close up the wound?"

That just sounded a little lazy. But I guessed that this explained why I was able to recover so quickly after being slashed open then poisoned, and why I was able to take so much punishment in the first place. I sighed. "Never mind."

"You still seem disappointed," she pointed out.

"No, it's nothing," I assured her. It wasn't all that close to nothing, but I wasn't exactly going to bring up how lazy she sounded just now.

"Well then," she said in a strangely conclusive manner. "Since that seems to be over with, I'd like to hear your stories."

"Huh?"

"You know, about your journeys so far in Gensokyo. I have been keeping an eye on you from time to time, but I want to hear everything from you."

"Uh… okay…."

And my tale began anew. It felt rather contrived, having to tell more or less the same story over and over again. But I supposed that was what happened to people who were foreign to a place like this.

Besides, at least I didn't need to explain my arrival.

And while I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be like that, I felt like Yukari had let something slip; she said she had been keeping an eye on me on occasion. Did that mean that she sometimes helped me out whenever I was in a serious situation, aside from the times she had out and out given me assistance? If that was true, then that blue glow that had enveloped my arms back down in Hell when I was blocking those fireballs may have been her doing. But I decided not to ask that.

"Fascinating…" Yukari cooed. "You're evolving much faster than I expected!"

"Huh?"

"Well, I suppose now is the time that I start explaining things to you, hm?"

Seriously? She was actually asking me that? Well, at least it saved me the need to ask her myself. "Sure, that'd be fine."

"Very well, then. But I warn you, I'm not going to explain everything. I know how much your curiosity is craving for an explanation, but now is not the time to reveal everything."

That was a bit disappointing. But that was fine; at least some of my questions would be answered one way or another. I nodded.

"Okay. First, I think I'm going to start with a little history lesson, because if I don't, then some things may not make sense for you.…

"I'm sure you're not aware of it, considering the usual way of humans trying to latch a logical explanation on that which isn't, but humans of the past were not as mundane as they are now. The entire human race in general used to be capable of certain magical abilities, much like the youkai of both past and present. You see, those humans needed these abilities to survive. Now, I'm sure you're wondering how I know this, and I would think that it's obvious how; no border or boundary is not under my control, and the boundaries of space and time are no different. I've taken trips into the past before on my own leisure time, though I am careful to keep from altering past events. I may be able to manipulate boundaries, but that doesn't mean I can stop the Butterfly Effect from occurring if I mess anything up.

"Now, humans gained use of their abilities when they adapted to their own surroundings, much like how an animal evolves to suit a certain time period as its species lives on. Ancient humans lived in many different parts of the world, and because they lived in different places, they developed different kinds of abilities. As I studied them, I noticed that it was primarily split into the four cardinal directions."

I realized here that this was going to take quite a while. Too bad I couldn't even try to get comfortable, given my current state. A small part of me wanted to fall asleep, but I knew the explanation was important, so I tried to stay awake.

"If you need any help trying to stay awake, I can help you," Yukari offered.

"No thank you," I refused. "Sorry. Please, continue."

"Very well then. Now where was I… Ah, yes.

"The west was a generally prosperous land, but beginnings were harsh, as crops sometimes had trouble growing. For this reason, the humans of the west developed the ability to wield true magic; that is to say, spell-weaving and such as that. They grasped the power first for the purpose of helping their crops grow, but eventually developed it to the point where it could be used extensively for the purpose of war, and battle, which is why stories in the present day of the outside world often depict it as such.

"Those to the north faced harsh conditions, battling against nature itself as it sought to crush them under endless amounts of snow. To keep themselves from being overrun by the onslaught of nature, they developed immense physical prowess, taming their bodies to withstand the biting cold and gain strength beyond normal limits. Not only did it offer them protection against the cold, but it gave them the strength to survive by fighting other animals that were also able to brave the same destructive conditions.

"To the south lay dense forests and unrelenting sun. Humans here lived as hunter-gatherers, killing for food when finding plants proved inefficient. However, the forest was a perilous place, hiding dangerous creatures behind every other tree, concealing deadly insects under every leaf. The humans here realized they could not fight what they could not see, so instead of fighting it, they decided to join it. They gained the ability to shape-shift into animals, to become that which threatened them. Though a person had to choose wisely, as they could only pick a single animal from which they could turn into and out of at will.

"Finally, there was the east. They had to deal with the presence of us youkai. Well, at first, there were no conflicts, but eventually, we youkai developed a taste for human flesh. Deception followed deception, as we were often able to blend into the human population, and have our meals that way; it's why so many youkai now look human. So in order to find a way to expose us for the youkai we were, and have a way to combat us, they developed the ability to harness spirit energy – that is to say, ki energy, like what the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion uses. With it, they could focus mentally and see us spiritually and know we were different, and at the same time have a way to fight us."

She closed the fan and pointed it at me. "It's this world that you came from that has granted you that ability."

"Eh?" I was from the east? Would that explain why I was able to see the auras of both Yukari and Kaguya? Who else would I be able to see in that way?

"However," Yukari continued. "With the ushering in of new technology and such, humans grew to lose these powers, turning their backs on old beliefs and old methods, and embracing a new age. They no longer needed their powers to survive, as technology would provide them all they needed, so why keep them?"

"What? Then how am I able to use my power? If I was only born in the recent era, then shouldn't I be unable to do so?"

"Normally, yes. But I tampered with a few temporal boundaries concerning you, and unlocked that part of your original subconscious. With that, I reawakened your ability to use ki. Humans did not lose their abilities, per se. They simply lay dormant within every person born from that line."

I supposed that that made sense. But that left one part unanswered.

"But that's not my only ability, is it? The best I can really do with ki manipulation is being able to sense the auras of those around me. What about my other power? All this time, I've just been emulating the abilities of other people. Why is that?"

"Ah, yes, I was getting to that. See, most everyone had natural abilities, but some were different. On a rare occasion, there would be someone born with no power, or they would gain an even greater one. Or perhaps not greater, just different. These people would gain abilities based on their person. Who they are, and what they're like. Their power would stem from that instead of what normally grants one with power, or if they were lucky, they would have both."

I gasped. "A person with power… that comes from their personality?"

"Exactly."

"Then…." No way. Was I supposed to be one of those kinds of people? A person that had both natural ability and an abnormal one?

"Now, now, don't get cocky," Yukari mused. "You're actually not that special. You were only born with a natural ability, though your grasp on it only extends so far as being able to sense aura. Admittedly, the extent at which you can sense it is quite high, but aside from that, you have little natural ability. So, again, I tampered with a few boundaries, and granted you the special power you have now. Think of it as sort of a gift from me to you."

I sighed, a little crestfallen. That pretty much shot down almost every personal notion of being just a little special. But then again, I was a human in Gensokyo with magical ability, so I supposed that still had to be pretty uncommon, since the only humans around here that seemed to be able to use magic were Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya. Still, it sounded rather stupid to pick someone like me when I had a power that seemed so weak, and I made it clear.

"But why did you choose me? Why not someone else with a more competent ability?"

"That's certainly true," Yukari agreed, chuckling. "I could have tried to bring in someone that you would believe to be more competent. But you see, you were a person I would have had little trouble with. Also, your own personality not only grants you an ability that I find rather special in its own right, but it goes in tandem with your aura sensing. It would have been difficult to find someone else that had the same combination as you."

I wasn't sure whether or not I should believe her. She had given me a somewhat backhanded compliment, so there could have been some room for believing her. But….

"Wait a second. What did you mean when you said I was the one you would have had 'little trouble with'?"

"Well, you were a rather avid book reader during your time in the outside world. You read a lot of high fantasy, so I knew that you would be one who could adapt to the strangeness of Gensokyo the easiest."

That made sense, especially considering how I had reacted so calmly to the fact that Eirin was able to fly, and Yukari could manipulate boundaries my first few minutes here (or rather, at least I hadn't completely flipped out). And I had practically accepted most of Gensokyo as the status quo within a short amount of time.

"I suppose that does it for explanations for the day," Yukari stated. "You still need rest, so I'll leave you alone for now."

"Eh? Uh, okay then." I still had a few questions left, but if she wasn't going to answer them now then I wasn't exactly in a position to argue with that.

"Oh, and a little something before I go." She waved a hand.

"Gah!" I exclaimed. The pain in my chest suddenly doubled in strength.

Then, in a couple seconds, it faded away just as fast, reducing to nothing more than a dull throb. I sat up, and I felt fine. What?

"I sealed up the wound for you," Yukari informed. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Huh? Er… yeah, I guess. Thanks, Yukari-sama."

"Of course. Farewell~"

And with that, the light disappeared, and Yukari was gone.

Geez, I was never going to be able to figure her out. One minute, she sounds far too lazy to even want to close my wound in the first place, and the next minute she does exactly that. While I was thankful, it left an odd feeling.

"Nnh…."

Whoa! I almost forgot Nitori was here the whole time.

When I looked over, she seemed to be stirring for good this time. A single eye opened up a sliver.

"Uh… Kaito-kun? You're awake."

"Ah. Hey there, Nitori-chan. I woke up a little while ago."

"Oh…." She groaned a little, rubbing one eye. "How long have I been asleep?"

"I'm not sure. When I woke up, you were already fast asleep. I didn't really want to wake you up, so I just left you there."

"Ah…."

"How long have I been asleep anyways?"

"Um… at least a day."

A full day? At this rate, I was going to spend more time asleep than awake.

"So how are you feeling now?"

"Eh? Well, I do feel better."

"Ah, that's great!" Nitori smiled brightly at me. "So that's only three more days until you should feel all better!"

I gave back a knowing smile. "Something tells me it'll take less time than that."

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

"I had a little help."

Author's Notes:

For all future reference, I cannot (or maybe, should not) claim any part of that "history lesson" to be true. Which should be pretty obvious, actually. Honestly, I actually only thought of the idea when I remembered that there were lots of instances of consistencies between multiple mythologies (another obvious point to many cultures), and that myths were created in the first place in much the same way that Yukari explains it here. The four-way split I threw in was what I saw to be the most logical in terms of geography, which was why it was laid out as such, but I can't say for sure that anything is true about what is here except, perhaps, for the west and east. Beyond that, I really have no idea, so I'm mostly just shooting a crapton of blanks here. If anyone feels the need to ding me for that, then please do so, as I honestly believe that screwing up something like general cultural myths (or other) is worth punishment, and I apologize for doing so.

But anyways, yeah, a long-awaited explanation, huh? I knew I was going to use this chapter to do something about that, but I didn't want to make it some kind of long, drawn-out lecture about something that can be easily summarized in no more than a few sentences (gee, how hypocritical). So I used a lot of this chapter to, at least marginally, try and grind out a little interest. I feel like it fell flat on its face, but I'll leave that to whoever is reading this to decide whether or not it was interesting.

Finally leaving Eientei 'the following morning'. Hope you enjoyed this chapter (though I'm pretty sure you probably saw it as all a drag).