Moriya Shrine, Gensokyo
Even though she was in the thick of the battle yesterday, what Marisa was about to do scared her more than anything she's done before. Sanae had sensed that something was up with the magician and had been waiting in front of the shrine when she arrived. The shrine maiden had her traditional purification rod with her, but also had her Magpul Masada slung on her shoulder. She could tell that Marisa was looking at it.
"I know. But I just can't walk around without it. What if something happens?" Sanae gestured at the small huts that were behind the shrine. "Everyone from the Human Village is back there. If there's another attack, it's my responsibility as the Moriya miko to protect my visitors."
"How does it feel, having to carry around a gun?" Marisa patted one of her Blackhawks.
"Back in the outside world, we couldn't have any guns. The only time I ever saw a gun was on television, or in some of the manga I read during lunch at school." The shrine maiden shakes her head. "I wish we just go back to using the spellcard rules. It made life so much easier."
"Hey, Sanae, I was wondering if…." Marisa trailed off.
"You're looking for someone, aren't you?" Sanae gave her a reassuring smile and a comforting squeeze. "Follow me, I show you where he is."
She led Marisa into the makeshift village. The villagers poked their heads out of the huts, curious to see who was visiting. They saw some of the bruises and cuts that Marisa had gotten in the battle yesterday. Instead of looking at her with a faint amount of distrust, they looked at her with gratitude. It didn't matter that she knew how to use magic and flew around. Nor did it matter that she was on friendly terms with youkai and humans. What mattered was the fact that she had risked her life to protect the land she loved.
They stop in front of a hut near the back of the village. "Well, here's his place. I know that you're about to do something important, so I'll leave you here. I just want you to know, if you need me, I'm here. Good luck, Marisa."
Marisa nods and listens to Sanae walk off. She holds the medallion that's still around her neck. Taking a deep breath, she knocks on the door. A few seconds later, a voice that she hadn't heard in years makes her jump.
"Come in."
She hesitates for a second and then opens the door. Walking in, she stops to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. A middle aged man is busy pouring himself a cup of tea and doesn't look up for a few seconds. When he does loop up, he freezes when their eyes meet.
"Is…that really you, Marisa?"
Her mouth couldn't form any words and her throat had gone dry. Then he sees the cuts and bruises on her face.
"You're hurt." He stands up and grabs some bandages. He points at the only other seat in the room. "Sit. I'll patch you up."
Sitting down, she watches him as he grabs a towel and a cup of water. He pours the water on the towel and begins to wipe her face off. "I know about what you did yesterday. Word travels fast around the village. To think, my daughter was in the middle of that battle…"
"Dad, I…" It felt strange to say that again, especially after so long. "I wanted to ask you about something."
He pauses. "Hmm, what's on your mind?"
"It's about this." She pulls out the medallion and holds it out to him. "I wanted to know the story behind it."
Taking the medallion, he feels every crevice and stares at it. "I knew that this day would come eventually."
"You sound like Kourin."
"How is he, by the way?"
"He saved me from a fighter plane that was about to ram me." She felt weird talking to her father like this. It was like it was only a few days since they had last seen each other. She almost felt comfortable.
"So it looks like everyone had some part in that mess yesterday…"
"Dad, about the medallion…"
Her father takes a deep breath. "Your mother was the one with the idea. I've never liked magic, you of all people should know that. Those spellcard rules came too late for your mother…"
"Did she…die from a danmaku attack?"
"It was during the vampire incident, the rampage. The Human Village was hit hard and…the house was set on fire. All of us managed to escape and we ran to the schoolhouse. I left to join all the other men in trying to defend what was left when that youkai woman and the Hakueri miko showed up."
"Do you mean…Remiu's mother?"
"Yes, that was the first time I had ever seen her so angry. She was covered in blood as well. From what I heard from some of the others, she had beaten some of the vampire's followers to death with her bare hands on the way to help us. Her name was Remiu, just like her daughter. She called out the vampire and they began to fight. It was the most salvage battle I've ever seen. During the fight, some of the magic that missed them started to hit the buildings around us. Then something hit the schoolhouse and caused a massive explosion…" He trails off as he tries to control his tears. Marisa hangs on his every word. She had never been told what had happened to her mother. Rinnosuke had refused to tell her, promising only to tell when she was older.
"She had covered you with her own body. She took a giant splinter in the back that stopped about an inch from your face. Remiu saw what had happened and was trying to stop the bleeding when the vampire reached her…" He pauses once more. "Remiu killed the vampire but got stabbed in the chest by one of its spells. Even as she was bleeding out, she tried to stop your mother's bleeding. The youkai woman had evacuated the rest of us, but I managed to run all the way to the schoolhouse. I still don't know how she got there before I did…"
Marisa felt tears forming in her eyes. Then she felt guilt for running away now that she knew the reason he hated magic.
"I found both of them dead. The youkai woman had picked you up and was trying to get you to stop crying. She turned you away from…the bodies and handed you to me. She made me follow her and we ended up getting Remiu's daughter too. I won't ever forget holding the two of you in the middle of the fight…" He paused to take a deep breath. "The woman disappeared and I took both of you back to that schoolteacher. I grabbed a spear to help do something, but the vampire's group had already been rounded up. They were fighting back hard, until another vampire showed up."
"Dad, was it Remilia?"
"I think so. She had light blue hair and had a maid with her. She took control of the mob and had them leave. From what I heard, the youkai woman and the vampire were negotiating for days after that. Then we heard that the Hakueri miko had made a deal with the vampire and had created the spellcard rules. We wondered how she could, but we were told that Remiu's daughter would take over being the miko. I wanted to take vengeance for your mother's death, but since the vampire had been killed…"
"Remiu never told me…"
"She didn't know either. We buried both of them in the cherry blossom garden behind the shrine, but the headstones became too weathered for it to be readable. I wanted to tell you earlier but you had left…"
"I can't give up magic." Marisa clenched her fists. She felt a familiar anger rise up in her. "I left because you wouldn't let me work on my natural ability! I'm second only to Remiu! If anything tries to destroy the village, I can stop it! Are you still going to tell me to give up magic after what happened yesterday!?"
Her father just sat there holding the medallion and looked at the floor. "I don't want to lose you…"
Hearing that, Marisa felt sadness grip her heart. "You still haven't told me about the medallion yet, Dad."
"Your mother had a spirit she knew make it for you. She was going to teach you how to use magic so you could protect the village. But I objected to it. I saw how dangerous magic was first hand even before the attack. That's why I don't sell any magical items in my store. But…" He trailed off again.
For a good five minutes they sat there in silence. Marisa didn't prompt him, she could see that he was in deep thought. She heard the birds chirping outside and the wind rustling the trees.
"I might have to accept that my daughter is a magician in mind and heart."
Marisa couldn't believe her ears. For almost all of her life, she had always been at odds with him over it. But now, it could mean that they could close the gap.
"I've spent too much time running away from magic. This is Gensokyo after all, magic is everywhere. I don't have any magical ability at all, so I'm useless. I've lost my wife and I've distanced myself from my only daughter. I don't want to die an old, lonely man."
"Dad, are you sure about this?"
"I've made my share of mistakes in my life. One of the biggest was not being able to spend time with you and raise you like a father should. And I made it worse by blaming your stubbornness. But you had to get that from somewhere, right? You're out there fighting to protect Gensokyo while I'm here hiding. Yesterday, you could've been killed and I would've had still been here hiding." He shakes his head. "Don't you see anything wrong with that? I basically abandoned you. When you were trying to learn how to fly, I punished you for following your heart. When I saw you fly around at 6 years old, I felt pride in my heart because I knew how hard you worked for it. Then I took the broom away and locked you in your room. I was a fool to think that I would turn you away from what you heart wanted. Even though we were living in the same home, I locked you away to run from magic. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
The Ordinary Magician accepted his embrace and returned it with tears in her eyes. "Dad, I'm sorry too. I should have came earlier but I just couldn't."
"I understand. Rinnosuke had talked to me about you, but I was too scared to do anything. I was so afraid during the battle yesterday that something would have to you that I locked myself I here and didn't come out until it was dark out." He let go of her. "You are just like your mother, so I won't ask you to stop fighting in the war. But promise me that you'll come back to me. I want to be able to start to make up for all the time I missed."
United Nations General Assembly Chamber, International Territory, New York City, New York, United States
Yukari, Eirin, Eiki, Toyohime, Remilia, and Tenshi were sitting at the front right of the UN General Assembly Chamber stage. Behind them, Ran, Reisen, Komachi, Reisen II, Sakuya and Iku were standing behind them, keeping an eye on the chamber. Both Reisens and Sakuya wore their service uniforms, and received more attention than the others that were standing. Some of the European representatives had expressed reservations about Sakuya's uniform, but Remilia had firmly announced that they would have to get over it.
The chamber was in a low murmur, with the various diplomats whispering to each other in various languages. Yukari's eyes sweep around the room, it was almost as if she could tell where the alliances were. The American delegate, the same one from her last visit, glared back at her, causing her to give him a smirk. Eirin sat in her old uniform, with a chest full of medals and her two shoulder cords
The Secretary General began to hit his gavel on the desk. "I hereby call this emergency special session to order. This meeting was called to facilitate nonbinding negotiations between Gensokyo, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation. I would to thank everyone that has agreed to take part in this, either by being a participant or by observing the proceedings."
As he kept speaking, Eirin leaned towards Toyohime. "It brings back old memories…" she whispered.
The Lunarian princess laughed silently. "Yes, Lady Yagokoro. But hopefully we won't have to worry about court assassins here."
Yukari brought her fan up and made it stand on the table. Behind it, she had pulled out an Ipod and was playing games on it. She kept looking up to give the impression that she was paying attention. Ran saw this and wished that she had brought something to distract her from the dry and boring speech. The only one that really paid attention was Eiki, who decided against poking her fellows with the Rod of Remorse.
Once the Secretary General ended his introductory speech, he released the floor to the representatives. Tenshi looked at Yukari and asked, "Why are we even doing this? These people can't make any binding decisions."
"We still have to behave on the world stage. Having the entire planet come after us at the same time won't help us at all. And, our potential ally still needs to see what we're about," Yukari stands up. "I would like to thank everyone for allowing us to have this emergency session. I, for one, would like to find a quick and fair solution to end this war that was started against us for no legitimate reason."
The American representative stands up. "No legitimate reason? Your very existence is dangerous to the stability of the world and even the human race! You are a rouge state with nuclear power and a powerful army! The United States has a duty to police the world and bring freedom and equality for all! We-"
"Let me tell you why that's bull sh-" Tenshi's prevented from finishing her sentence by a small whack on the head from Yukari's fan. The Celestial pauses to reorganize her thoughts and continues. "You claim to bring freedom and equality for all men. That's a respectable and honorable goal. But what about us? We're not all humans, so are we automatically excluded? From what I've seen so far, it seems so. Some of us are ghosts, some are animals with intelligence, some of us are not even from this planet. I am a Celestial, the closest thing that you may understand would be an angel. I have learned to fight the shikigami that comes to take our souls at the end of our lives. I have powers that no normal human has ever thought of, even though I was born as a normal human. I will be the first to admit that it because of my family that I was given them. But there are others that earned every scrap of power they had with sweat, blood and tears. Some of the people that live in Gensokyo came there because they were being hunted and almost killed by humans. This is our last home. And now you want to come in and destroy it? On what grounds do you have the right to?"
"You are a rouge power. You just can't be trusted with such powerful technology. Especially after that terrorist attack that your little plot of land launched."
"I've said it before, but I'll say it again." Yukari glared at the diplomat. "We had nothing to do with that. We are a small group. How could we plant a bomb at every embassy on the planet, especially after the heightened level of security caused by the current climate of war and terrorism?"
Before the American could respond, the Swiss representative stood up. He held a file in his hands. "Our Nachrichtendienst des Bundes, or the Federal Intelligence Service, has intercepted transmissions coming from the American Central Intelligence Agency's highest levels of command. These transmissions detail planting something in multiple locations around the planet. With this transmission, we were able to find the bomb at our embassies before they exploded." He turns to face the American representative. "This is too much, even for your nation. First, we have all the things that happened during the Cold War, then the things that happened during the War on Terror, and now this. Are you really trying to start another World War? Don't try to lie to us about these false flag operations."
"Those operations are none of your concern." The American sneered. "And intercepting our transmission like that can be considered an act of war around these parts."
"And your attempted bombing of our embassies aren't?"
Yukari cut in again. "I find it extremely suspect that the President of the United States was replaced by the same person that reported finding Gensokyo and advocated for military action before even reaching out to us in friendship first."
The room went silent and it was obvious that the American representative didn't have an answer. Eirin leans towards Toyohime. "It's starting to all fit now."
The moon princess beckons Reisen II forward. "Would you like a carrot?"
"Princess…"
"I'm in the mood for a peach myself."
"If you insist, Princess." The moon rabbit hands her a peach and takes a small bit out of a carrot. She gives Reisen a carrot as well.
Hearing the sounds of chewing behind her, Yukari opens a gap and withdraws a bottle of sake and multiple glasses. She pours some for herself and passes the bottle and glasses around. "Based on what we all know, it would be reasonable to assume that you were setting up for a war in the first place. Is the Bush Doctrine still in effect?"
"There is nothing wrong with the Bush Doctrine," sneered the American representative. "We have the right to strike first at any nation that can pose a threat to us. You are monsters! Vampires and werewolves, foxes that walk on their hind legs, undead walking around like normal people! Is there anything normal about that? I would assume that you eat humans as well! That makes you a threat to the entire human race."
Remilia leaned forward. "I would eat you but you would probably give me some bad indigestion due to you having a British mentality." She leans back in her chair and shrugs. "But what should I've expected after all of this? Even though, raining satellites down on us was new. We French are always having to put you British in line."
Yukari leaned sideways towards Tenshi, "Watch at how the trolling starts." Eirin heard her and shook her head with a small smile. Eiki stayed silent, she was only going to jump in if something major happened. Toyohime was interested to see what Yukari would do while Remilia just wanted to humiliate the delegates opposing them.
"You insult me when I'm trying to give you the chance to end this war-" the man is interrupted by Yukari saying out loud, "You won't hit him!"
Everyone in the room stares at Yukari as she goes on. "Bet you won't hit him!"
Tenshi blinked in surprise at the sudden change in Yukari. The gap youkai began to heckle the American representative with various pieces of internet slang and flame bait. But it was just to him, everyone else got polite and dignified responses. Whenever he tried to speak, Yukari would make snide remarks and devastate his arguments. It got to the point that the other delegates would laugh loudly whenever the youkai landed a hit. The meeting continued for an hour longer, but with no achievements that the Celestial could see except for Yukari's continued amusement.
Once the meeting had concluded, everyone began to leave the chamber. The Gensokyo group stood up and began to stretch, or at least the ones that were sitting down. The Swiss representative walked up to the group and gave Yukari a sealed envelope. With a nod, he turns and leaves.
Yukari opens it and reads. When she looks up, she has a smile on her face. "It's official. The Swiss are our allies now."
