Here it is, ladies and gentlemen. Short note, short chapter. Sorry, but I'll explain shortly.

– TOUHOU –

Welcome to oblivion, Darius. I hope you like it, because you'll be here forever.

Who? Me? Hahaha… Of course not. Damion's in here, too. You just have to find him.

As for me… well, you and I both know the basics of balance – light and darkness. A Yin and a Yang. But in case you forgot, there's there third element to it, when both halves destroyed. And that's me, my foolish little gunslinger.

If you'll excuse me, I have a gap demon to execute. Oh, and one last thing; try not to go insane. It makes controlling your corpse so much more difficult.

Happy dreams!

– TOUHOU –

"AAArrrghhh…"

Wildcard fell to one knee, a shaky hand just barely supporting her body. "YOU… cannot DEFEAT… IF I must wait for an eternity further, THEN I shall…!" Her mask was all but split clean in half, enraged eyes meeting her opponents' as she drew one last card from the air.

"Ugh…!" Sakuya pressed a hand to her side as her wounds twinged with complaint. Cirno still appeared to be dead – she wouldn't reform for another hour.

Reimu cast a quick glance at her. "I'll take care of it," she said to the maid. She was in fact perfectly ready to stomp the masked woman into the ground if she made a move again.

Sadly, she didn't.

"Tarot Twelve – HANGED Man…" Wildcard slowly got up and took one step back, followed by another and another. "You strike me down now, but I am ETERNAL…" A wind picked up, and the Wildcard's figure was distorted as if ripples were running through it. She froze – and collapsed, a pile of leaves falling to the ground and almost instantly rotting, green quickly darkening to brown and shriveling up. In the middle of the pile, a single plucked sunflower seemed to glare up at them accusingly.

"Damn… she got away." The miko kicked the pile of leaves halfheartedly. "If nothing else…" She looked at the sky, Sakuya's eyes following her's. Above them, so high it was merely a red speck, the fire dragon was no longer circling the shrine the way it had for almost the whole fight. Instead, it seemed to angle its wings away from them, retreating back into the rift Wildcard had originally summoned it from. "Whatever she tried to do… she failed." Turning around, the miko went back into the shrine. "Over here, Sakuya-san. We need to tend to those wounds…"

"And Cirno-san?"

The two of them spared the ice fairy's corpse a half-glance. "She'll be back up soon," said Reimu dismissively. "Come on. We need to get in touch with your ojou-sama; find out what happened while we were gone…"

– TOUHOU –

Two weeks passed in relative silence.

When the trio returned to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, they found much of it badly burnt or missing entirely. "Bad dragons," Remilia had said with a shrug. "We tried to get Flan to find out what that magic seal was. She followed it to the village remains, but it… disappeared before she could get close."

It'd been a hectic skirmish. To their surprise, Eientei seemed happy to sit back and let them lick their wounds rather than press their advantage. Even so, Reimu had a gift horse – she wasn't going to look in its mouth, especially considering this gave them enough time to at least somewhat fortify the mansion. Remilia was baffled as to how the dragon had wrought so much damage in so little time. Sadly, all they could do was prepare for the next onslaught.

With that much spare time, Reimu couldn't help but wonder; what happened to everyone who went to the Outside World with her?

Byakuren had simply… vanished after waving them goodbye at the airport. No one had any idea what had happened to her – not even Shou or Ichirin. The only information Reimu got was that the monk had shown up at the Myouren Temple very briefly and then disappeared into Makai.

Strange…

Reimu swilled the cup of tea in her hands. She always liked tea – it calmed her nerves. Unfortunately, it seemed this cup had gotten cold. Oh, well; she could fare without them.

But how did she get into Makai? The gate wouldn't open for anyone anymore. And without its ruler, did it automatically grab the nearest demon and promote them? Or did the demon dimension simply collapse without Shinki?

Well, she'd find out at the answer eventually. She always did, didn't she?

A pale rose waved at her from the flowerbed it was formerly kept in. After the chaos, it was now the only flower left in its area. The miko's thoughts drifted to Yuuka. The flower youkai should have been one of the first out of the gates when this whole fiasco started – and for that matter, where was Marisa?

"So many missing…" Reimu shook her head forlornly as she sipped her cold tea anyways. She stared at the small flower as it fluttered in the breeze – wait a second. "Hm?"

Setting the empty cup aside, the miko gently pushed aside the flower, surprised at what she found underneath. "A doll? Hmm…" It was a beautiful yet simplistic work, a tiny model of Darius, the mouth pinched down in a small frown. That would make sense – Alice had a doll of almost everyone in Gensokyo and more than a few outsiders that she met. Of course she'd have been working on this. But why would she throw it away? Judging from the battered condition of the doll (it was missing a button eye, half the black longcoat was gone…), she must have scrapped it a long time ago.

Tucking it under her arm, she looked around a couple times. "Maybe I should give it back to her later…" As she wandered off back into the mansion, the small doll twitched – and the coat changed colour as it passed from sun to shadow, the black cloth bleaching to snow white. And, also unnoticed by the miko, an even smaller object fell from the side of the doll as she walked, rolling away down the steps and vanishing into the grass.

A black needle.

– TOUHOU –

The silver-haired man watched as the ensemble returned for their encore. Ah, the luxury of theatre – how he had missed it. "And the show goes on," he murmured from the balcony.

On the stage, the actors moved fluidly, like perfect clockwork. A classic tale, one that he had come to grow quite fond of. The word passed his lips silently as he watched.

Macbeth.

Hidden from the crowd below, his hands continued working even as he paid it no attention, a small figure slowly taking shape in his hands. The minutes ticked by slowly as he became enamoured with the timeless play before him, and with each passing minute, the doll took on greater and greater detail.

"Why should I play the Roman fool, and die on mine own sword!?" The onstage actor shouted in anger, a flourish of the prop rapier magnifying the movement. "Whiles I see lives, the gashes do better upon them!"

Hmph. The enigmatic dollmaker's hands froze. Slowly uncurling them, he propped it up against the railing of the balcony – a cute little work, dressed in a red sleeveless miko's outfit and with a small frown on its face. The detail was stunning, as if a tiny Reimu was really sitting on that balcony with him. Passionate, but he can't rein in his emotions on the stage. Ignoring the doll, he continued his mental evaluation of the actor.

"Pah!" The actor spat. "Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests! I bear a charmed life, which must not yield to one of woman born."

The second actor on the stage with him stepped up until their faces were mere inches away from each other. "Despair thy charm," he seethed, "and let the angel whom thou hast still served tell thee – Macduff was from his mother's womb untimely ripped."

Then again… I might be wrong. Finally, he tore his eyes away from the looming duel about to take place. His eyes now instead fell on the small doll he had created. After a brief glance at the stage, he reached into his cloak. There wasn't a heat source, but he'd have to make do without one for now. Holding the small Reimu against the wall with one hand, he slid the first needle in.

"I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet," Macbeth shouted in rage, "and to be baited with the rabble's curse!"

The cross needle now pinning her to the wall through where the spleen would be, he drew another needle and begin applying that one as well.

"Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane, and thou opposed, being of no woman born, yet I will try the last."

The left shoulder was pinned. Easing the pressure with his hand, he instead turned his attention to each of the voodoo doll's limbs. "Hmm…"

"Before my body I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff, and damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'"

Three needles. His work done, the silver-haired dark mage stood. As he exited the balcony, one of his guards came to him. "Sir… wouldn't you like to wait until the play has ended?"

"No… I don't think I will." He stepped closer to his so-called "guard". None of the others could quite see what he did, but the man he was speaking to suddenly began to convulse, blood and foam on his lips as he fell. The other guards started forward – and stopped dead as their employer raised his hand. Even as they watched, the assassin convulsed one last time, limbs flailing wildly – and he went limp as the life went out of him.

The dark mage snapped his fingers. "Clean this up." His tone was smooth and cultured, but with a clear undercurrent of murderous intent. As they rushed forward, he inconspicuously brushed a finger over the chest of the dead man as he got up to leave.

Placing the new cross needle in his pocket, he calmly opened the door of the theatre and checked his watch. The assassin should go off soon now that his pulse has flatlined.

Three…

Two…

BOOM!

Right on time.

He turned to the sky, bloody eyes watching something only he could say. "Wildcard…" A quiet laugh passed by his lips.

"We're just getting started."

– TOUHOU –

[Private Address: Sound AVE – The Day of Collapse]

And Boundless World of Danmaku has closed!

Just a quick heads-up, but from hereon out, it's not the story itself. Just me; Terry. I'd like to talk you all of you guys now that BWD is over.

Whew... it's been a pretty long run, hasn't it? Granted, it feels like it was just yesterday I decided to do a one-shot on Gensokyan day-to-day life before it expanded into what you're reading right now. I've got to say, it's been a ton of fun to write this. Helped me collect myself when I hit rough waters. Of course, I have more than just Muse to thank; I have you to thank. Yes, you, reading this text right now!

I'll be honest, I'd have probably never finished this fic without support or the knowledge that people really liked it. I'm not sure why you'd read my work over other's, but if it makes you happy... well, I'm not gonna say no to it.

Anyways, now that BWD is getting wrapped up, I'll be taking some time off to plan the next story. Check back every once in a while to see if Boundless World of Illusion is up yet. Please?

OC submissions remain open, yes. I'll update the first chapter when submission is closed, so you're still free to bounce ideas off of us!

And now, for some personal thank-yous:

Dead Pann/Getter B. Rabbit, for being the first reviewer.

Tez7, for sticking with me for the wild ride.

BokusuKanon, for going beyond the impossible.

Sir Bears-a-Lot, for being such a cultured bear.

Ziden115, for all the support you've given me over the course of BWD.

raidouXVI. You did show up late to the party, but I hope you enjoyed what you got to see!

palad1n, for a metric crap-ton of those reviews. Thanks!

Core-X. Take it easy, pal!

Commander-Video. The review was... something else, but it definitely woke me up and helped to inspire the turn of events that BWD has seen.

J, Observing Author. I hope your fic continues to grow on its own! Remember, my friend; there's no need to railroad your story. Let it grow a life all its own and you might just be surprised by what you see!

JustAnotherIndonesianWriter (Brian). Here's to seeing the Eastern Fantasy come alive!

And, saving the best for last (don't worry guys, I still love you too~), DarkShiftRising/MagnumPhoenixZX, my dear senpai, for finally noticing me! Thank you, thank you, thank you! ;'D You were an inspiration and such a great source for BWD!

But more than anything else, I want to give special mention to my Muse. He was the one who took the train wreck this story started out as and turned it into an actually half-decent work. I don't know what might have happened to BWD without your constant help and advice. Even if you were a little harsh at times, the backhands you tossed really snapped me out of it. But now, you'll be taking up the mantle, Muse. Believe in you! Believe in you, who believes in yourself!

Truly, thank you, all of you.

You've all stuck with me right up until now, and for that, I hold you all so dear. Hopefully, we'll all meet once more in the Boundless Universe!

This was Terry, signing off now. Long live the Boundless Universe, and everyone... please...

Yukkuri Shiteitte Ne!