Hello, ITalkToSky here.
Long time no see guys. College was crushing me. Good news is that now I have some down time to write something to entertain you guys.
Some of you guys might start to question if this story will simply docilely follow the original story. The answer is no and this chapter will shed light to where this fiction will be heading toward. It is an irony and you will know why soon enough :P
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The Next Day
Tatsuya group reconvened quite readily the next morning at First High station. Alice and Lunaire were getting acquainted with Leo. Everything went by like a normal dull morning, until the disaster in the name of Mayumi struck.
At first, it seemed as if she came to invite the Shiba siblings to lunch in student council room. If that was her only objective though, Lunaire would be much more pleased with the arrangement.
"What about Lunaire-kun? Are you coming?" Even someone rather insensitive like Erika and Leo could tell that Mayumi's expression was positively impish.
"…" Lunaire was silently glancing at Alice.
"Come on, shouldn't we have some time to catch up after all these years? I also have some matter of the student council to discuss with you. Please?" Everyone gasped slightly at how childishly the current president was.
"Very well. Alice, I am sorry, but our arrangement earlier must be cancelled. Kaichou seems to have something of great importance that requires my presence." Lunaire said to Alice, but the content seemed to be aiming at Mayumi.
"Don't worry. I will be fine on my own. Although it is quite disappointing, I am sure that the matter is quite pressing for you to be called out like this. I don't mind." Stoically, Alice said.
Although on the surface, it seemed like a conversation when a girlfriend pouting from not being given enough time. However, the whole set up was orchestrated the moment Lunaire glanced at Alice. In subtle way, Lunaire was trying to act like Mayumi was intruding on his time he had reserved for something else, so she should make every second counted. Alice was quite quick to play along with Lunaire's plan to protect himself. While it didn't save him from the invite, it made Mayumi felt guilty and less likely to uselessly pester him.
From their observation, their skit achieved just that. Mayumi, who managed to rope Lunaire in with matter of student council and should be happy, was hanging her head down with guilt from disrupting his appointment. It was not as if she could postpone it either as she already played her card.
"Is that so? Thank you for your time. Also Alice-san, I am sorry." Mayumi bowed.
"Please do not be too concerned. It is important after all." Alice replied stoically to Mayumi's solemn statement. Her rather distanced answer almost made Mayumi to simply excuse Lunaire from his invite, but a president couldn't change her stance too easily. Mayumi could only turn away with gloomy guilt hanging around her vestige.
The people remained could only look and feel slightly sorry for the president. However, they also spared a side glance for Alice and Lunaire too. Even if they didn't explicitly state their relationship, there must be something deeply for such conversation to pop up. The only person who didn't get that impression was Tatsuya, who suspected it was only an act.
When lunch time started, the stage for the battle was set. Without delay, he long with Miyuki went to student council office. After a round of greeting, their meal began.
Lunaire didn't want to blame formality, but the conversation was going nowhere. With minimal research, he already knew all the basics about the groups in the school. Paying only little attention, he was twiddling his thumbs. Earlier he declined a mean, because he preferred Honami's bento, but he wouldn't tactlessly start before everyone.
When the food arrived and everyone started to dig in, another round of pleasantries started. The end result was everyone, other than for Lunaire, was flustered by his rather extreme sis-con comment.
"Let's get to the point. Kaichou, for what reasons are we called here?" Normally, Lunaire's impatient remark would earn him a teasing from Mayumi, but after she heard the circumstance in the morning, she was pacified.
"Alright. As you know, our school adopted a very centralizing policy with student council holding all the power. They can appoint anyone to any position other than the chairmen of Public Moral Committee and Club Management Group. However, since we have our term limit, there is an annual tradition to invite 1st year representative to the student council with the intent to train them as successor. Therefore Miyuki, I hope you can enter the student council." Mayumi tried her best to make the matter succinct.
Miyuki lowered her head before raising it back up. However, he eyes now was lit with determination. Miyuki took deeper breath than was necessary for a yes or no question.
"Kaichou, are you aware of Onii-sama's entrance examination scores?"
"Hm, I know of it. Truly incredible…to the point that I even lost my confidence."
"…If the student council accepts students with high test scores and outstanding abilities, I believe Onii-sama fits the criteria as well.
"Wait, Mi-" Tatsuya tried to stop her, but she bulled right through him.
"In term of desk work, I believe that has nothing to do with practical skills and grades. In other words, knowledge and judgment are more important."
At this point, Lunaire almost retorted out loud and chastised the foolish girl. Opposite of what she intended, Tatsuya's evaluation in others' eyes would drop. What would happen if he was viewed as a brother wanting to ride his sister achievement to fame? Different from his first impression, she might not be as wise as he thought.
"I am honored to receive an invitation to the student council. I would be more than happy to accept even the lowest position, but is there any way for Onii-sama to join?"
"Shiba-san, I thought I should stay silent. But you not only made everyone uncomfortable, even your brother will be shamed from that." Lunaire couldn't help himself.
"Ashamed?" Her face appeared to be laced with surprise, which was rapidly replaced with unaltered fury.
"You just made your brother seem like a shameless man who would ask his sister to get him a promotion. I am sure many if not all here understand that it wasn't the case, regardless, you shouldn't show such blatant nepotism. It wouldn't look good for both you and your brother." Lunaire was quite merciless in his criticism. Although he was quite lax, he would still react to something uncomfortable. Combining with his experience as infrequent teacher at human village, Keine's habit to chastise people rubbed off on him.
Miyuki hastily apologized to everyone, but mostly her brother. Other could only smile wryly. However, at this point, the people who had already know Lunaire was seeing him in new light.
"Ahem, even the point has been brought up, it isn't possible. It is a written rule that student council may only be selected from first course students only. To overturn that, it would be impossible." The girl introduced as Ichihara Suzune answered and successfully brought the conversation back on track.
"I apologize. I said it without knowing anything." Miyuki solemnly apologized.
"It was quite alright. So you will join us as a secretary. Is that acceptable?"
"Of course, please take care of me."
With the little time left, they hammered out the details. It was decided that Miyuki would come back after school. After they were done with Miyuki, attention shifted to Lunaire.
"As for you Lunaire, I am sorry that most of our time here was about Miyuki. Here is your part. Ahem…the student council nominates Lunaire V. Meister as Public Moral Committee." While trying to appear professional, Mayumi was positively bright with glee. It was too obvious.
"I hereby refuse." Not losing to her intensity, Lunaire sent her a beaming smile and a firm denial. There was no room for negotiation, as tactless as it was.
"Eh?" Mayumi felt crack on her mask.
"I suggest you take Tatsuya. From his posture, he should be very skilled with Taijutsu. I am sure he will suit the line of work." Lunaire followed through.
"Wait, Lunaire, you!" Tatsuya was panicking at such rapid turn of event.
"Instead of coercing the unwilling like me, why not asking him? I am sure he wouldn't mind. Although considering only his Taijutsu, he might not have combat ability to my extent, but he had a lot more utilities." Lunaire was filled with mirth and snickering inside.
"What are you trying?" Tatsuya tried to stop Lunaire before the situation could no longer be salvaged.
"I am listening." Mari, unlike others, tuned in at Lunaire's words. They only need adequate fighting power, because they had more than enough fighters. If she could get someone useful for another things, then she was all for it.
"He claimed he could read activation sequence. I shouldn't have to tell you how useful that that ability is for the committee."
"That's true." Mari nodded with thoughtful expression.
"Furthermore, he is a Course 2 student. Wouldn't it serve as a good model for other Course 2? To be completely honest, I was sick of this school. First course students are too full of themselves and have chronic superiority complex. On the other hand, the second course students are like sheep with inferiority complex. Having Tatsuya in the Public Moral Committee might wake them up." Like a machinegun, Lunaire ranted.
"Although the way you put it is rather extreme, I can't help but see you point. Yosh, since he is declining it anyway, let's take up his idea." Mari turned to present the proposal to Mayumi, who was unresponsive till now.
"Eh? Ah?" Mayumi stammered as she tried to find her bearing.
"Now then, I shall excuse myself." Lunaire rapidly made his way to the door.
"Wait!" Mayumi screeched.
"When you use shock tactics, you don't stick around." Opening the door, Lunaire chuckled heartily and left. The chain of giggled erupted from everyone except for Tatsuya and Mayumi.
"Ahahaha" When the whole ordeal in the student council was explained, Marisa laughter enveloped everyone.
"That is a little bit mean, isn't it?" Mizuki seemed to be unsure whether she should feel pity for Tatsuya. While he didn't talk much, Mizuki had no reason to dislike him.
"Maybe that will do him some good. That ice cube has to lighten it up a little." Lunaire chuckled humorously. His eyes twinkled with mischief.
"You just don't want to take the job." The reprimand came from Alice
"Well, I won't deny that. But, isn't that fine? We will have a bit of connection and I can move around freely. It's like hitting two birds with a stone."
"Of course…"
"You never change, Lunaire. Still, thank you for looking after Tatsuya-kun for me, even if he is like that." Honami who followed them closely joined their conversation.
Mizuki thought they were in the middle of a forest from the dense greenery and tranquility. No one would think that a place this peaceful could be so close to the city. She could clearly see the city from where they were.
A tram ride from Tokyo and a long trek took her here. According to her knowledge, this city was one of the closer cities to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. There should however, be no place of particular interest out here. Mizuki and Honami could only wonder for what purpose did Lunaire take them out here, but they refrained themselves from asking.
Their little trek up the relatively intact forest finally ended at a rundown shrine. The Torii red characteristic color faded away to dusty orange. Various wooden frames were dilapidated and gave an impression that it would only take just a gust to topple the whole thing down. Contrasting to that image, a part of the shrine seemed to be torn down by an effort of people not the elements.
In front of the shrine was Patchouli, cladded in her usual purple dress. Her fluttering dress and gathering lights made Patchouli appeared much larger and intimidating. Spread out around her feet was an intricate diagram of convoluted shapes, sigils and letters. With her feet still Patchouli's posture never waver as she resolutely continue her spell.
The effect was rather apparent as it was impossible to miss wooden planks flying around. The older materials in the shrine were slowly stripped away and replaced by the planks and tiles, pilling on the clearing.
A simple, yet extremely difficult to use, Creative Architect is a spell tailored toward construction. Fitting for tis name, it offered great freedom at the cost of concentration to operate. With all the fancy name, it is just an amalgamation of simple telekinesis and gravity control, but the amounts of processes at any given moment were extremely large.
Normally, construction required foundation and support, so the whole structure would not come crashing down. It was even tougher to renovate an existing supports served the purpose of restriction. At current dilapidated state, it was better to just demolish and rebuild the whole shrine. Creative Architect defied logic and allowed the caster to hold the entire structures, while pulling out and modify anything as she please. Every pillar could be ripped out and the structures would remain upright for now supports to be inserted. It was somewhat like playing with building blocks.
"A shrine? And what is Patchouli doing with it?" Her amber eyes watched Patchouli in daze. Mizuki always enjoy watching the magicians casted her magic. The harmonious light was entertaining to both her normal and special eyesight.
"Hakurei Shrine, quite an important place to us to be honest with you." Alice soft voice rang. The place was a bit rundown, but the resemblance could still be seen. She could not help but felt nostalgic about time she spent here. While red and white shrine maiden always sigh at the gathering of Youkai near her shrine, everyone would still loiter about anyway.
"Hakurei Shrine? I have never heard of that name before. It is pretty old and no one seems to be here anymore. What is this place to you?"
"Maybe you will know that someday." The little devil was the one who answered as most fell into somber mood.
Honami looked at Koakuma who dropped her work to "welcome and answer her question. From what she could see, Koakuma was relaxed, but like everyone at the moment, her eyes bore trace of longing. Honami could tell that whatever this place may be, they held it quite dearly. She wondered when she would completely unravel their eixstences.
Both Mizuki and Honami knew that everyone apart from Marisa in the mansion weren't human. They could not question it after meeting the fairies. They even received quite an in-depth detail into their nature. Yet, they refused to talk about their origins. Apart from the ages, they refuse to tell their past with the same phrase, "one day." Still, Honami didn't mind all that much. Life was enjoyable and that was all that mattered after she was liberated from Yotsuba.
"Please don't mention about this shrine to anyone. We had been waiting for years to secure ways to procure material in secret after all. It would be a shame to have it down the drain." Koakuma added.
"Alright. This is quite a nice place. I wouldn't mind a picnic here if it was tidied up a little." After Honami confirmed, she tried to bring up conversation to pass the time. A quick glance would show that Koakuma was quite amused with the comment.
"Of course it is, otherwise we would not become regulars to this place after all." Koakuma answered as a matter of fact.
"Is that so? This place feels rick with mana, so it is not strange for you all to frequent this place. It is a lot lower than in the mansion, but higher than any place outside." Mizuki finally found her opportunity to join the conversation.
"Aha, you talked like a magician. I have taught you well." Lunaire was finally out of his reverie.
"Why are you so proud of that? We all taught her something right?" Alice quipped.
"Well, let's hope she didn't learn explosion 101 from Marisa then."
"Hey! My stuff didn't explode as much. Don't talk like I am explosion on the walk." Marisa twirled her broom, sounding offended. Her loud voice served well to snap everyone out of their memory.
"Marisa, do you remember a hole in the wall between our labs?" Lunaire's voice was sickeningly sweet.
"Ah well…I" Suddenly, Marisa lost her momentum.
"Oh right, there isn't any wall, not any more. You blew it up to the point that it would be less of a hassle to demolish what is left of the wall than to fix it, geez."
"That was an accident!" The culprit face was red from embarrassment. Marisa could only try to cover it with her large hat.
"Hai hai, give her a break, will you."
"Alright, Alice, I almost forgot our objective. I am sure you are quite curious why we brought you here. I am sorry that I made you walk all the way out here."
"It is quite alright, Lunaire-san. So what is it?" Mizuki blinked owlishly.
"Well, after this place is restored, it will be your new practical training ground. Although the mansion sufficed, it might be better if you know how to work you spell in normal conditions."
"I can see the point in that. I have cast a few spells and it felt more draining and harder to control." Honami agreed.
"That is not the only reason you are here though. As a sign of trust we are showing you the corner stone of our plan."
"The one to raise the ambient mana?"
"That's right, Mizuki. This shrine will be the first of many around Japan that will serve as fixture and well spring of magic power to enrich this land once again. Through these power spots, perhaps some of the dormant gods and other mystical creatures will be awake from their slumber once again." Lunaire's prismatic eyes stared deep into her amber eyes. Mizuki could almost see the fire inside his twin orbs. She almost couldn't speak under the pressure.
"But is this a good idea? If mana is high we might be able to do something more. That's true but form what I have read, gods and mystical creatures don't necessary mean good things." The opinion came from Honami, who sounded cautious.
"I see where you are coming from, Honami-san. But this has to happen. The world is killing s off. A few have the power to retain their power. Many are not that fortunate, rotting away into oblivion. Humans are right that you truly die when you are forgotten. I can't allow one side of the world to disappear." Now that Honami got a good look at Lunaire, she could felt how serious he was if his voice was not an enough of an indication.
"I won't say that there won't be consequences. But all of us agreed that it must be done to save whatever is left of the forgotten side of the world." Alice uttered solemnly.
"We can't let them die, all of it, knowledge, gods, monster, creatures, everything. They were once living and breathing amongst us. I am not letting those like us disappearing." It wasn't common to see Marisa so serious, judging by her eyes that were eerily focused.
"It is time for humanity to reconcile with its counterpart. From human's fear of darkness, the very first of Youkai and magic were born. We were born from them and now we are dying because of them. Don't you think that it is irresponsible? I have seen the gods or what's left. They were created and worshiped from the circumstance outside their control from Humanity and you tell me that they should just die off when people are done with them? They had their stories to tell. They lived and deserve to stay living. Mizuki, Honami-san, it is time for humanity to open the other eye it has closed for so long."
As Lunaire delivered his long speech, there were many reactions. Alice and Marisa were quite neutral about it. They knew of possible consequences, but with the same problem, Gensokyo still lives on. To them, such consequences were natural way of life.
For Aya and Remilia who overheard the speech, they made a pained smile. Aya and Remilia who predated Gensokyo knew exactly what Lunaire's was talking about. They witness firsthand what the increasingly scientific world id to their weaker brethren, how their power weakens and their number dwindling.
Unknown to anyone present, Remilia was thinking of one moment that she remembered clearly. At that time, lowered magic was nothing but inconvenience for a pure blooded vampire like her. It wasn't until one of her servant gave birth to a peculiar child. The parents were vampire, weaker ones, but vampires nonetheless. Their child however, was nothing but simply human. Physically, he was a bit stronger than typical humans and his eyes were good. But that was it. He died from old age, not hitting even a century. It was when she laid eyes to his shriveled corpse that reality dawn on her. Mana depletion was terrifying.
On Mizuki and Honami side, they weren't so thrilled. They heard about Youkai and knew well that some could be malevolent or simply eat human. Raising mana and waking them up might cause unimaginable damage to the world that wasn't prepared to accept them. On the other hand, humanity was responsible for them and they couldn't possibly forsake myriads of beings for the benefit of just humans.
"The benefit from higher mana will be good for normal people too. Mana is related to life force, so people might become more healthy and stronger. With access to mana, there is possibility to unlock benefits through magic." Alice tried to salvage the situation by giving them something to convince them. Though she knew it wasn't going to fly. It was up to them to decide.
"I am going to say that we will try to minimize the effect. So? This is the end of the line, the last test. Are you with us?"
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There you go; the longest chapter up to date.
Do you like the irony? The tile said Second Coming of the Supernatural and the goal is basically to reintroduce the long lost world of true supernatural to the scientific world that excluded them out in the first place.
The story will have some part that follows the Mahouka plot, while some will be following its own part. As you can see, I try to make it as realistic as possible by having many story lines of different Touhou character happening simultaneously.
The tension and suspicion will build up slowly between Touhou and Ten Master Clans. There won't be any Gungho action in the foreseeable future though.
Please leave a review for suggestion. Thanks!