HAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAAH I'M ALIVE, I'M ALIVE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…Ok, with that out of the way, let' s make some explaining, shall we? A lot of time ago I posted two fanfic on this site called Touhou Falls and Touhou SuperStar Saga. I always loved fanfictions so I decided to start making them myself. I signed myself as gabriwiiu. Sound nice, right? Well… here is the problem… the last time i updates those fics was 2016! Yeah… the fact is I went through a LOT of problems… first I couldn't access my account no matter what I did, so I had to create a new one. Now I'm gabriswitch; second I went through the mother of all writers block that made me feel like shit, made me ask myself a lot of hard questions about my life and what I wanted to do in the future, so I wasn't in any position to write; lastly, I spended the last years reading lots of fanfiction, among those Universe Falls and Believe in the weird and wild (BOTH AWESOME FANFICTION, READ THEM, THEIR GREAT) and this fanfiction made me realize how incredibly luckluster my fics were, how they weren't as great as i thought. The characterization was luckluster, there wasn't much dialogue and things in the stories were going to much faster. So I decide to restart my stories from square one. And what better way to start that with this one chapter story? Here there will be a basic introduction to the main characters (though if you know this fandom you should know them pretty well), or at least SOME of them (This series of fics will all take place in the same continuity, so expect HUNDREDS of character) including my first original character (expect lots of does). This fic is basically an introduction to the main story and what to expect from it. And that's it. Without further talking (or reading i suppose) ENJOY THE STORY!
An Important Meeting
Hello friend. I must say, I'm really glad you could join me tonight. I've got one heck of a story to tell you. One that will leave you completely speechless.
Let me ask you a question… what is the first thing that comes to your mind when I say the word Yokai? I'm sure your firsts thoughts are those of the japanese folklore. Supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons that according to japanese lore, have been hunting this land fom the very beginning. They are rappresented as having very nightmarish appearance like severed heads and one eyed creatures. They also have very interesting names like the Kidòmaru, the Nekomata and the Chòchin-oiwa.
Spooky stuff, right?
Well… what if i told you that this legends are true? What if I told you that Yokais truly exists and have been existing from the very beginning of time? AND what if I told you that, fearful of their immense powers, humans confined and trapped Yokais in a very far away land, never to see them again?
A land called… Gensokyo.
Confined in a place unknown to many, Gensokyo is magical land populated by many Yokai. Sometimes it's even referred as "The Land of The Yokais". It as a very beautiful landscape, with flat lands full of green everywhere, flowers of every color and species blossoming in every nook and cranny (and among those there are even a few species that where thought extinct), and the purest lakes and rivers that you could ever find. Gensokyo looks astounding and would be a perfect place to live in… if it wasn't for the Yokais.
Remember that conversation we had before about the Yokais physical appearances? Well… forget about it.
Contrary to what they say, Yokais look nothing like they rappresent them.
In truth, Yokais look like… beautiful women.
…
…
No. I'm NOT joking.
Yokais take the appearance of women of different ages. Sometimes they look like childs and sometimes they look like women in their thirties. However, don't let their young appaearance fool you, as they have a ENORMOUS life span and can reach even the thousand years without looking even a bit old.
They are also very powerful, been capable of very powerful magic spells called "Spellcards". Some of them don't look completely like human, having various features like cat ears or tails, fish tails, bird wings and so on. Their also very durable and difficult to kill, but their are not immortal (At least, SOME of them).
Yokais are not the only living creatures in Gensokyo though. There is a… very, VERY weird wildlife living in the wood and the lakes and… you know what? It would be too complicated to describe them now. I will do it later.
Believe it or not, there are actually humans living among the youkai, having even built a village.
Now, I know what you are thinking: How are this humans capable of living in a place with so much danger? Well, that's where the Shrine Maidens come into play.
In Shinto, a miko is a shrine maiden or a supplementary priestess. Miko were once likely seen as a shaman but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily shrine life, trained to perform tasks, ranging from sacred cleansing to performing the sacred Kagura dance.
There are various Shrines in Gensokyo, but one in particular really comes into play: The Hakurei Shrine.
Ever since the birth of "The Great Hakurei Barrier", the Hakurei have been the protectors of Gensokyo, defending it from rampanging beasts, yokais, and other oddities.
The story I'm about to tell you follows the latest descendent in the Hakurei bloodline, and easily the one that left the biggest mark in Gensokyo's history: Reimu Hakurei.
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Relaxing and Boring. That was the only way you could describe that latest day in Gensokyo. If you where lucky enough, you would actualy receive one of this days. A day in which apparently all the yokais of Gensokyo would try to actualy act normal and don't cause any inconvenience. The Humans really cherished this days, where they could finally relax properly and to their daily activities without problems.
However, for some people, that wasn't the case. This people where used to Gensokyo frenetic and unpredictable nature and found this days just that: Boring.
And one of those people was Reimu Hakurei herself, who was currently sitting quitely slurping a noodle soop with a deadpan expression on her face. A soop bought straight from the food stand of the Night Sparrow yokai Mystia Lorelei.
And it was there that Reimu was, patiently waiting for someone to arrive.
I should be a bit more specific about what I said before. Reimu has mixed feelings about this sort of day.
On one hand, she is really glad to be able to relax, and not having to deal with more incidents.
Reimu doesn't really like having to stop yokais from causing havoc… ok, that's an understatment, she really detest doings so.
Back in her earlier days, Reimu was a really estatic and positive person, been willing to solve this incidents without problems and hesitation, jumping straight into action with a big smile on her face. She was more than ready to make her parents proud.
And that was the case…for the first five incidents.
If there is one thing Reimu as learned about yokais and that she will never forget is this: they NEVER know when to stop causing trouble.
Has of this point, Reimu had stopped SIXTEEN incidents, and also a few mini incidents in between, and had met quite the cast of characters.
Because of this, Reimu really didn't like yokais, considering them to be nothing but trouble makers.
Granted, she didn't hate ALL of them.
She liked spending time with Sakuya, in part because she was one of the most level headed people she met, and in part because she was human.
She liked spending time with Sanae, even if she was a little jealous that her Shrine was more succesful than hers.
She also was okay with Reisen and Alice, though, she WAS really freaked out by them sometimes.
…how she felt about Yukari was another completely different story.
However, even with everything said now, a part of her still didn't like this kind of days. After all, she was one of the protector of Gensokyo. It was her purpose, and spending the day like this made her feel a little useless.
But now was not the time to have an existential crisis. She was waiting for someone…
"REIMU!"
...and that someone had arrived.
Turning around, she came face to face with her guest.
"Oh, so you started without me, eh?" The person said with a cheeky grin. Reimu replied with "You are half an hour late so…" before going back to her soop. The person replied with "Hehe, touché." before sitting next to her and ordering a noodle soop herself.
If there is one thing Reimu is thankful for this incidents is that they allowed her to meet her friend, her BEST friend, Marisa Kirisame.
She met her during the second incident in which she was working for the main perpetrator. As it turned out, she wasn't evil, just very misguided. After helping her seeing the errors of her ways, Marisa decided to start helping Reimu in solving this incidents. She as been together with her ever since than, and their completely inseparable, always watching eachother backs.
Her parents own a store in the Human Village, however, they have no idea of the sort of adventures Marisa gets herself into. She is a bit…unpredictable. Meening that she likes stealing things; a LOT. It's uclear if she is kleptomaniac or if she simply those it for sport, and i doubt we will ever know. She is also not afraid of saying what goes in her mind even if it's not nicest thing you would say. But despite this, she is a good person who when stakes are high, will always do the right thing.
Marisa slowly slurped some noodles, clearly enjoying them. "Mmmmm, man, this noodles are delicious. You really outdone yourself Mystia." Mystia responded to the praise by giggling cutely before going to the next client. "I must admit. They really are good. They are making me glad of having come here." Reimu responded as her mood was starting to improve. Marisa simply replied with a victorius "Right?".
"However, if I do have one complaint is this. Next time YOU invite me to try the "best noodle soop in Gensokyo", can you at least have the decency of showing up on time?" Reimu told her, being a bit irritated by her friend tardiness. Marisa replied, while stile keeping her grin. "Yeaaaaah, sorry Reimu. I got a little caught in the Human Village doing some commission."
Reimu simply stared at her friend before repling "…and with "commission" you mean stealing?". Marisa let out a very exaggerated gasp before responding in a very fake melodrammatic way. "WHAAAAAAAAAT? I have NO idea what you are talking about Reimu and honestly, I feel a little offended."
Of course, right after she said that, something fell of her hat and landed on the ground, a relic shaped like cross whic by looking at it clearly belonged to Rynnosuke's shop.
There was a very awkward pause before Marisa responded. "…huuuuuh, Reimu you dropped that."
Another awkward pause… before they both burst laughing.
The rest of afternoon went like that, as they started reminiscing about their past adventure and all the crazy situations they found theirself.
After finishing the noodles, Mystia went to them. "I hope it was everything to your liking." Marisa responded with a thumb up. "Fantastic!" Reimu then went searched her pockets to pay for the lunch, but Mystia stopped her. "Oh, no no, you don't have to pay. This one was on the house." Hearing that Reimu looked at her confused. "Huh?" Mystia simply smiled "I mean, it's only fair, after you everything you two did for us!"
Marisa was of course, very happy to hear that; "Awesome! Hear that Reimu? This day keeps getting better and better!"
After that, they both waved goodbye to Mystia and directed theirself to the Shrine. 'hm…guess something good is coming out of this mess' Reimu thought to herself has she started to think on her attitude at the start of the day… before ANOTHER thought came crashing into her.
"Marisa?"
"Yes?"
"When Mystia said that we didn't have to pay you looked particulary happy. Was it because you appreciated her jesture… or because you didn't borrow any money with you? Which means that I was going to pay for everything?"
"…Your right, what Mystia did was very sweet!"
…Reimu choose to take that as her answer.
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The road back to the Shrine was pretty quick as they arrived without problems. Reimu liked this small walks. They allowed her to relax and to put her thoughts straight. And to talk to her best friend.
"Well, here we are. Home sweet Home." Reimu said as she maid her way toward the door. Marisa looked at the shrine and chose to ask. "You know, I still don't get why you still live here. You could find yourself a house more comfortable and… well, big." Reimu slightly sighed before replying. "I told you Marisa, it's tradition for Maidens to live in their shrine. Sanae does the same thing."
Marisa simply looked skepticaly. She never has and never will understand this religious tradition. "Ze, if you say so." She then added something else "Speaking of your house, Clownpiece an Shimnyoumaru still living with you?"
Reimu stopped in her tracks for a second before repling. "They sure are, and I must say, living with them as been a pretty interesting experience." Marisa asked. "The good or bad kind?". Reimu stayed silent for a few seconds before replying. "Surprisingly, the good kind."
Marisa looked at Reimu intensely before saying what as been going through her mind for a while. "I really don't get you Reimu. You say that you don't like hanging around Yokais, then you do this sort of things. What am I supposed to think?"
Reimu scoffed before answering. "Come on, it's not what you think!"
Marisa then chose to just go through with it. "Or maybe it's EXACTLY what I think." Reimu stopped on her tracks and made eye contact with her as she continued.
"You may act like you don't care, but I know that deep down you care. You care more that you would be proud of and your afraid. Afraid that others might find out. Afraid of letting others care about you. And because of that you hide yourself behing this "coldness", hoping that others are gona fall for it, hoping that this way they will start staying away from you. Well, not me. Sorry, but I'm never gonna fall for. No matter what you say or how you act I know that's just a facade. I know that's not the REAL you. Reimu Hakurei; You are a good person. Through and Through."
Reimu now really didn't know what to say as she stared at her friend speechless. Marisa throwed back at her everything she thougt she knew about herself and she didn't know how to reply.
Was true? Was she really just putting a facade? Did she really care that much about… everything?
Reimu looked at her for a few seconds before looking down on the ground, here eyes covered by shadow.
"I… I can't believe you have that much faith in me." It was she could say as she kept looking on the ground. Marisa the grinned and adjusted her hat. "Well, ze! I'm your best friend! I'm SUPPOSED to know this staff, you know?"
Reimu looked back at Marisa, ready to reply when… "Listen, I…Huh?" Reimu directed her eyes torward the shrine and that's whe she saw it.
A white note sticking on the front of the door.
"What the…" Reimu immediatly grabbed the note, leaving Marisa confused. "Huh, what is it?" she asked. "Someone left a note on my door." She replied. Marisa immediatly started to wonder. "A note, what those it say?" "I don't know. Let's see…" Reimu then opened the letter and read the contents out loud.
Meet me on the plains next to the lake of the Scarlet Devil Mansion at 17:00. To prove you that this is not a trap, you can bring as many people as you want. I hope to see you there.
E.
Both our heroine stared at the letter for a while to properly understand the situation. Marisa was the first to speak. "This smells so so SO much like a trap!" Reimu decided to analize the situation. "And yet this guy, this…E…said that we can bring anyone with us. If I was trying to ambush someone I would make sure that they are as alone as possible. So…" Marisa continued. "So either this ISN'T a trap, or is a very powerful and deadly one."
They then both looked at each other, as if they were both waiting for the other imput. "So, you are the Boss. What should we do?"
Reimu pondered for a while before answering. "Let's go there. Even if It is a trap, I'm preeeeeaty sure we can handle." and she ended the sentece with a cocky smile.
Marisa nodded and looked ready to go… before she gave sad glance at the hot spring. "What a shame though. I REALLY wanted to relax myself on the hot spring." Reimu gave here an annoyed deadpan look before replying. "Relax. The hot spring is not going anywhere." Marisa then gave her a VERY sad look. "I know, I know…" She the looked at the hot spring and said in a VERY melodrammatic way. "DON'T WORRY HOT SPRING! WE WILL BE TOGETHER SOON! Soon…sooooon."
At this point Reimu simply grabbed Marisa's arm and dragged her along as she made her way torward the lake of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
" Yeah. Sure, sure…"
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"Look at this place. It really makes you feel nostalgic, doesn't it?"
Our heroine give a long look to the scenery surrounding them. The lake always had a very relaxing atmosphere. The light reflecting on it shined bright and full of life. The very small amount of fog around it gave it a
Looking at the lake, our heroine were surrounded with nostalgia, as they remembered one of their past adventure, the "Scarlet Mist Incident". It was then that they met Cirno, the, ironicaly enough, hot headed Ice Fairy; Rumia the, as dubbed by Marisa, "most idiotic cannibal in history"; and of course, the Scarlet Devil himself, Remilia Scarlet, and her crew: Sakuya, Meiling, Koakuma, Patchouli and Flandre.
Of course, it wasn't time to make a trip to memory lane. Marisa looked around before asking Reimu. "You think Cirno might be around here now?" Reimu scoffed before replying. "I hope not. I'm really not in the mood to deal with her and having to listen continuosly to gems like "The one who says "idiot" is the idiot!" and "I'M THE STRONGEST!".".
Marisa smiled akwardly and put her hands behing her head while trying to find the right words to reply with. "Come on, don't be so hard on her. Cirno as just a bit of a … inferiority complex." Reimu immediatly had an answer. "There is a huge difference between having a inferiority complex and been simply delusional." Marisa gave an uncomfortable look as she revealed something curious. "Well… I guess I do know something about delusion. You see, my grandpa started to go a little… "off" in his last days." Reimu now was really curious. "Off… how exactly?"
"He believed he was the dutch of cheese."
"…. Oh…"
Silence once again as they waited for the mysterious "E" to show up.
"You think this guy will actually come?" Marisa asked, and Reimu immediately answered. "He will! I'm sure of it." Marisa then gave a determined look and grabbed firmly her "Master Sparks". "And once he does, I will immediately Master Spark him into oblivion! Right?" Reimu stared at her friend for a few second before giving her a deadpan look. "…How about, for once, we ask questions first, and THEN, if it's necessary, we attack?" Marisa immediately looked dejected as she put her "weapon" away. "Fine, whatever. But if that guy immediately sticks a sword in your stomach, don't say I didn't warn you!"
They then went back to wait, and as they standed there, they started to wonder how this mysterious man looks like, and if they were even a man in the first place. Then, suddenly…
"I'm glad to see that you two actually showed up!"
Reimu an Marisa expected all sorts of people when they turned around: a human, a kitsune, a kappa or heck, maybe even Yukari. They expected absolutely anything… but they were still not prepared for what they saw.
Standing infront of them was a man (at least, that's the conclusion they reached when they heard is voice) wearing a white robe. The robe reached is knee and had a cut in the center of it. The cut started from down and arrived to just below his stomach, giving a clear view of what he was wearing underneat. He was wearing a white belt, grey pants and grey shoes. Looking cleary you could see he had a katana with him, placed safely in the holder. The robe also had two holes in his sides allowing the man to move his hand freely. He also wore a grey shirth and white gloves. And their face was completely impossible to see, because the inside of the hood was completely dark. The only part of his face visible were his eyes… bright, yellow eyes.
Our heroines just stood there, staring at the mysterious man, as if they were trying to understand who or WHAT they were looking at.
"I must say, I'm actually glad you two choose to trust me and not bring anyone else. That would have made things even more difficult to explain. But regardless, it's great to finally meet you two." The man tone had absolutely no hostily whatsoever, and yet, Reimu was still very unnerved as she kept staring at him. Marisa, having seen the katana, tried to reach
for her Master Spark, but Reimu stopped her hand.
"So…" Reimu cleared her throat before continuing. "Your the guy that left this note on my shrine correct?"
The man nodded. "Yep, guilty as charged. I must be honest, I was worried that the note was going to be a little to anonymous, and you would not have come." "No shit." Marisa muttered under her breath.
"I see…" She then cleared her throat again. "So… tell me. Who are we speaking with right now?"
The man started to akwardly rub the back of is head before replyng. "Ah, well… you see… this is going to sound ridicolus but…" He then took a deep breath before continuing. "…My name… is Existence… and it's a pleasure to meet you both."
Our heroines stared at the man that clamed to be called Existence for a while before the sound of laughter arrived.
Marisa's laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! EXISTENCE? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! OH MY GOD! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She kept laughing and laughing for a while, even falling to the ground, but she still kept laughing, like that was the funniest thing she ever heard. "Oh God. Hahaha… I see, I see. So tell me, who are your parents? Mr Universe and Miss Galaxy? Ppphfhfhp, HAHAHHAHAAHAHAAHAHA!"
As Marisa kept laughing, Reimu just… facepalmed at the scene in front of her. "Uuugh. Marisa."
The man, Existence, simply chuckled at what was happening in front of him. "Oh no. By all means, let her. It's a pretty understandable reaction. You try to be someone named Existence and NOT having fifty jokes made about it everyday." Reimu winced at this. "I…see…"
Then he took a more serious stance. "However, I think i should be a little more specific about who I am. You see, I'm not just named Existence…" He that raised his hands, and pointed them at himself.
"I'm… the existence of the whole universe."
And there we go. Just when you thought the situation wasn't already pretty ridiculous, JUST when you thought everything couldn't get even weirder, the man had to go and say something like that.
Reimu really had NO IDEA how to process everything she just heard, and she didn't know if she could. How anyone could? This mysterious guy arrives out of nowhere and not only says that he is called Existence but that he is the existence of the whole universe. It would be surprising if someone WASN'T shocked. But to be honest, she was more worried about Marisa. She really expected her to laugh until one of her kidneys would explode.
Instead, she stopped laughing, got up and went in front of the man.
"Ok, listen pal, let's drop all this ok? Where are the cameras? I bet you hid them pretty well! Because this is a candid camera, right?"
"Eh… Marisa?"
"Oh, actually no. Nevermind. There are people hiding here, right? I bet their having the times of their lives, aren't they?"
She then turned torward a group of bushes and started screaming. "HEY EVERYONE! YOU GOT US OKAY? THIS WAS A REALLY GOOD PRANK! TRULY ORIGINAL! NOW WHY DON'T YOU COME HERE SO WE CAN ALL SHARE ONE BIG LAUGHTER TOGETHER AND CONGRATULATE YOU FOR THE JOB WELL DONE?"
She then turned back to the man, and smirked. "Ok, pal. Level with me. Who put you up to this? It was Tewi, wasn't it? I BET it was Tewi. She really likes to mess with us. ALWAYS a big jokester that one."
The man stared at Marisa for a few second before sighing. "Oh, poor me. I really should have expected you girls wouldn't have just… believed me."
"YOU THINK?" Marisa screamed in a very exasperated tone, as she was cleary starting to lose her patience.
He the started to pounder. "Mmmmm… perhaps… a demonstration is required to finally prove you girls that i'm NOT joking."
He then directed himself torward a pretty big rock. "You might want to stand back." Marisa simply chuckled as she prepared herself for what was going to happen. "Oh, sure, sure. Oh man, this is going to be hilarious!"
Then he moved his hand and… he grabbed the rock. No kidding. He grabbed it with just one hand, and he wasn't even a bit fatigued. It was like he was holding a leaf.
"HOLY-" Marisa cut heself short.
"WHAT THE-" And so did Reimu.
Of course, the man wasn't done yet. "And now, another little demonstration." And then, again with little trouble, he throwed the rock in the air above. It reached a very big hight before stopping and going back down at full speed… right were he was positioned.
"Eh, Sir? I think you should get out of the way." Reimu said worried.
The rock kept falling.
"Pal, we are serious. Get of there. NOW!" Marisa was also starting to get worried. The man however didn't move an inch as the rock came closer and closer.
Reimu know was getting scared. "SIR! IF YOU DON'T MOVE, THAT ROCK WILL-". But it was too late as the rock landed on him. Dust, smoke and piecies of the rock ended everywhere as Reimu and Marisa covered their faces. When the smoke cleared they looked where the man was…
And they found him still standing where he was, completely still and with a nonchalant look on his face. It was like the rock never hit him.
"…Eh, well I would be. I think I actually felt it a little bit. It seems my age is finally catching up to me."
Our two heroines now could do nothing but stare at what they just witnessed in pure shock, as they started to properly process it. That man wasn't lying.
"So, do you two believe me know?"
Reimu used all the strenght she possesed to recompose herself, including slapping her left cheek. After that she cleared her troat before speaking. "…. Well… I suppose it would be pretty stupid not to after that display."
Marisa also recomposed herself. "You…this is… you've got to be kidding me! You… ARE ACTUALLY… the Existence… OF THE ALL UNIVERSE?" Existence chuckled. "I sure am. In the flesh." Marisa tried to properly answer, but failed. "But… that's…you… unbelievable. Just when I thought we finally saw the craziest Gensokyo could throw at as, THIS had to happen!"
The man clarified a little something. "Well, to be fair, it's not just Gensokyo. I'm normaly everywhere, in case you forgot." Reimu at this point had a lot of questions. "So… mmn… Mr… Existence, if you really are "normaly everywhere", how come you are standing right in front of us? And how can we see you? I mean… you can understand why we are a little confused, right?" "JUST A LITTLE?" Marisa screamed.
Existence then answered the question. "Of course. It's a very normal question to ask… at least… to someone like me." He then started explain at the best of his abilities. "You see, contrary to what many scientiest and religious individuals have theorized over the years, there isn't just one version of me. I possess two forms: a physical one and an incorporeal one." He then pointed at himself. "What your staring at right now is my physical form. It's the one I use to show myself amoung men and, I suppose, also yokais." Marisa the raised her hand. "eeeeh… question. Is there a particular reason why you choose to look so… weird?" Existence simply shrugged. "No, no reason. I just like this look. It gives me a certain…mysterious cool aura, don't you think?" Marisa then simply stared at him with a bewildered and deadpan look. "… sure."
"Now, my incorporeal form. That is my original form, to put it one way. To describe how exactly I look like when I'm like that… imagine… a cloud. A gigantic invisible cloud that covers not just the world, but the entire universe, that sees everything that is happening everywhere and so, has a very huge knowledge of everything." He that let out a faint chuckle and smirked (or at least, it SEEMED like he did). "Pretty cool, right?"
"That… those sound cool." Reimu agreed. Existence then turned serious. "However, there have been some… occurrences lately that prevent me, or to be more precise, don't give me the time to get in my incorporeal form. So because of that, my knowledge of recent events it's not as big as it was in the last years. Although, it IS still pretty big."
Marisa, being herself, summarIzed the all thing in her own way. "So… what you are saying is, you are basically a stalker, but unlike a normal one, you have been stalking the all universe."
At that point, Existence gave her a deadpan look. "… did you really had to phrase it like that?"
Of course, she had not finished. "Oh hey, since you can see everything, can you also… you know… watch ladies while on the shower? Wink wink, nudge nudge?" She finished that with a smirk
Reimu was not surprised. "Marisa."
"Oh, right, right… or boys. We are not judging you, you know?"
"MARISA!"
Existence at this point facepalmed. "Huugh. They did warn me that this was not going to be easy… and I'm asexual, thank you very much."
Reimu, who was completely running out of patience, redirected the argument. "Marisa? How about you finally calm down so that this man can FINALLY tell us why he wanted to meet us?" Marisa simply shrugged and put her hands behind her back. "Sure. Whatever." Existence the gave an heavy sigh. "Thank you."
Reimu also calmed down and gave her next question. "So…why did you wish to meet us?"
"Well, you see… it's not as easy as you think to explain." Marisa the asked. "What? Did God himself ask you to come here?" "Well not just God, more like… okay, let's put it this way. The people up there in general have been pretty worried lately." He said that while pointing at the sky. "There have been some major occurrences lately. I can't go into details or what they are, but we concluded that they are just a prelude. There are some very big things that are about to come. Things that will completely shake not just Gensokyo, but the all universe. Things that will cause some pretty huge changes."
Reimu at this point, was both really confused and worried. "What?"
And so was Marisa. "You… you are kidding?"
Existence simply shaked his head. "Unfortunately I'm not. I'm been completely serious. And again, I'm really sorry that I can't get into details, but… I just can't. For now at least."
Reimu had a theory about one of this "people". So, a bit turbulent, she asked. "Is… one of this people… the Hakurei God?"
"… it might be."
Existence then took a deep breath and finished. "Anyway, in short, they sent me here to you two. The reason for that is because… I'm supposed to… teach you… or mentor you to be exact."
At this point, both hour heroines stared at him for a while. He had just gave them a truckload of insane informations. The sort of informations that no one would normally believe… and yet THIS is what caught them off guard.
"You want to… teach us?" Reimu asked confused.
"Mentor us?" Then Marisa.
Existence nodded. Reimu at this point was even more confused than before (Which said A LOT). She had to have more informations to properly have SOME ground. "And… what exactly should you teach us?"
Existence began explaining. "Well, in short, a little bit of everything. For starters, your fighting style is pretty good, but I'm positive I can give you a few more pointers. Secondly, there is quite the assortment of creatures you still haven't seen or heard of, and I can give you some advice in how to deal with them. And there are also a few… things about yourselfs that… heck, not just yourself, but things about the world in general that you should learn. And THAT is just what's on my mind right now."
He then looked at them with a confident look. "So, what do you say?"
Reimu at this point was very torn on her decision. On one hand, Existence looked like someone that had a lot of experience on his hands, the scene with the boulder definitely prove it, and after all the incidents she had to deal with, she could definitely use some help; but on the other hand… could she really trust him?
The situation was weird, let's not sugarcoat it. It's not everyday that someone dressed in a really creepy and weird fashion arrives out of nowhere, claims to be the Existence of the universe and then tells you that they are going to be your mentor. And although he really was… that, why should she trust him? Even if he showed no malicious intent so far, that could easily be a front. He could be one of those people that "play the long game"
So, after giving it some thought, she gave him her answer. "…I'm sorry but, I'm afraid I will have to say no."
Existence was a little surprised by this. "Really? Why?"
"BECAUSE WE DON'T TRUST YOU!" Marisa shouted after finally coming back to from the stupor. "Look, even if you really are… you know… THAT, why should we take everything you say for granted?" She then moved directly in front of him. "I mean, for all we know, you are just trying to manipulate us, and everything you said was just complete bullshit."
Existence didn't say anything. He just stared at her. "Yeah. What she said." Reimu clarified. "So, again sorry. But my answer is no." She then looked at her friend. "Let's go Marisa." Our heroines that turned around and made their way torward the shrine. As they were walking, Existence chuckled, put a hand over is heart and started talking mockingly.
"Wow. Reimu, you wound me. You really won't trust me? The Existence of the universe? The one who mentored your mother? You know, Shizuko?"
… THAT made her stop on her track.
"…What?"
She then turned around and faced Existence again. A huge amount of emotions was going through her head. Shock, sadness, curiosity, bewilderment… and anger. Reimu hadn't said her mother's name to anyone ever since she disappeared. The only other person who knew it was Marisa and, unfortunately, Yukari. For Reimu, her mother was everything for her, especially after her father died, and when she disappeared, Reimu was left completely heartbroken.
Reimu slowly turned around and gave Existence a really piercing glare.
"What. did you. Just. Say?"
"Oh. So you heard me."
She slowly walked torward him.
"How do you know that name?"
Marisa was starting to get worried. "Eh, Reimu?" And her worries were proven to be true when, suddendly, Reimu grabbed Existence and started shaking him violently.
"TELL ME! HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!"
"WOAH! REIMU!"
"IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT MY MOM, YOU BETTER TELL ME! NOW!"
"REIMU! CALM DOWN!"
Surprisingly enough, she listened to her friend words and stopped shaking Existence. The latter whom was completely unfazed by what just happened.
"I will tell you what you want to know, if you let me go."
Reclutantly, she let go of him. Marisa then decided to give him a little advice. "Pal, you are walking on a VERY thin line. Choose your words very carefully."
Existence took a deep breath and began explaining. "Yes, it's true. I knew your mom. I knew her ever since she became the shrine maiden. She was a bit… unprepared at first. But everything changed thanks to me. I trained her Reimu. Mentored her. Helped her become the proper protector this place needed. You saw it yourself what she was capable of, right?"
Reimu didn't say anything as she kept staring at Existence, contemplating his words. "So… do you believe me now?"
Reimu was still not fully convinced. She needed a decisive piece of evidence. The final answer that would have finally answered all her questions. And she knew exactly how to obtain it.
"… I'm… going to ask you a question. One final question. And if you answer it, then I will believe you."
"Okay. Fire away."
"If you really knew my mother then tell me: How… how did she use to call me?"
Existence chuckled once again before finally giving her the decisive answer she was waiting for. "She used to call you…
… her little Moonbeam."
And that was it. That was the final nail in her emotions. In that instant, like the pressing of a switch, all her anger and fury completely evaporated, and tears appeared on her eyes and made their way on her cheeks.
"Reimu…" Marisa said sympatetically as she looked at her best friend. It was easily the most vulnerable she ever saw her.
Reimu then suddendly felt an hand on her shoulder. It was Existence. "It's okay Reimu. Go ahead. Let it all go."
And so, she did just that. She cried for the first time in years, while Marisa and Existence comforted her. It was clear she was letting out years of pent-up emotions. And after years, she was finally letting them all out.
After finishing, she wiped of the remaining tears with her dress. Existence then was the first to speak. "Are you okay?" Reimu sniffed and looked at him, eyes still red. "… Yeah… I'm fine." She then chuckled sadly before giving a tearful smile. "I… hehe… I can't remember the last time I actually cried. Especially like this." Marisa comforted her. "It's okay Reimu. You are among friends." Existence then told her what she needed to hear. "It's understandable for you to feel like this Reimu. Your mother… she was a great person. She was kind and brave, always facing danger head on. She always prioritised helping and protecting those in danger. And she was a great mom. For her, you were the most important thing in the world. To lose her at such a young age… it must have really hurt you." "… Yeah…" Reimu simply replied.
Reimu remained silent for a few second as she tried to regain control of her emotions. She then realized something very important. "Hey, Existence? Listen, do you…?" Existence shaked is head sadly. "No. I'm sorry Reimu, but I have no idea were she could be. If I know I would tell you immediately but… I'm sorry." "… Oh…"
Silence overwelmed the situation before Marisa broke it with a cough. "… So… I guess we can trust him now."
Existence then looked at Reimu in the eyes. "Listen Reimu, I don't expect you trust me from the start, okay? Hell, you DON'T have to trust me. If you have to do this, at least do it for your mother. She would be really proud of you if she saw you following her footstep. And hey, look at it this way too: if I we work together, we will have a bigger chance to find her."
He then extended his hand torward her. "So, I will ask again. What do you say?"
The same question; the same scenario; the same people and the same dilemma.
And yet this time… the answer was different.
"… Okay. I'm in." Reimu proclaimed as she shaked his hand.
Existence looked particularly happy with this turn of events. "Great! You have no idea how happy you just made me! Believe me, you made the right decision! You won't regret this! I promise!"
Marisa asked an important question. "Sooooo… how does this work? We like, have to scream your name until you appear or something?"
Existence simply chuckled "He. Nothing of the sorts. It's more of a "I call you" sort of thing. Or to be more precise, it's more of a "I appear out of nowhere infront of you" thing. Hehehehe."
He then started to walk away. "I will have to imform my people about your decision. Something tell me they will be pretty entusiastic." Marisa however had something else to say. "Wait wait wait! If we have to do this, at least let me put some rules. For example: your name is to long. So to simplify thing, from now on, I'm going to call you… EXI! HAHAHAHAHA! OH MY GOD! I'M TOO GOOD! HAHAHAHA!"
Existence, honest to god, winced upon hearing this new nickname. "I… would REALLY prefer if you didn't." Marisa of course had none of it. "Nope! Sorry! To late Exi!" And she said so with a huge smile on her face.
Existence at this point could only sigh and groan. "… Great."
Reimu, who was still a bit confused, had more to ask him. "Eh, Existence? Can I ask you something?" Existence responded. "What is it?"
"You said you are going to… mentor us, right?"
"Yes. I did say that."
"Then… I you also going to give us… lessons?"
Now it was Existence turn to be confused. "Eh?" Reimu decided to be more clear. "I mean, you said yourself. You said that there are somethings about ourselfs and the world that we should learn. With that you are implying that you might have some… let's call them "lessons", to tell us so that we can understand ourself and "who we are" better, right?"
Existence remained silent.
"So, if that's the case, don't you think you should at least give us an example on what you plan to tell us? I mean, I don't know if you noticed but…" She then looked at the ground. "… I'm not exactly the "easiest" person to understand." She then looked back at him. "And… I would really like to have some clarity now. I mean… I clearly need it."
Existence didn't say anything. He walked torward Reimu until he was right in front of her. "Reimu…" He then put an hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. He then said to here what would become the most important words of her life.
"… Consider what Marisa told you back at the shrine your first lesson."
Such simple and short words… and yet the meaning was so clear and important. Reimu didn't say anything as she slowly remembered what Marisa told her back there, and once she did that, she propely understood what Existence was trying to tell her. It truly was the first lesson. She the concluded things by giving him a confident nod.
"Good."
Existence then started to walk away again. "Well, if you excuse me, I should really go now. They others are most definitely waiting for me to update them on the situation."
He then stopped and turned around to face our heroines one last time. "Reimu. Marisa. Again, thank you for accepting. I promise that you won't regret this. You two just opened yourself to a much bigger world that you though existed; believe me. You are about to see some very interesting things. And I promise Reimu: we will find out what happened to your mom. I give you my word." He the finished things by waving them. "Farewell girls. Until next time."
And just like that… he vanished. The "man" called Existence vanished completely, living our two heroines with so many questions to think about.
Marisa chose to break the ice. "… Soooooo…. THAT sure was something right?"
Reimu didn't respond. She simply stared at the space where Existence was.
"I mean, after everything we went through, after all the things we witnessed, I really thought we saw the maximum of weirdness, that no matter what, nothing would ever beat the weird that we saw. But BOY was I wrong. What just happened… I really don't think it could even be put on a top ten. It would easily put all the others to shame. Like, the number one would come here and tell us in a very irritated voice "Could you two place put this thing away? It was making me look bad in front of the other weird things!". Hahahaha! Man, am I right Reimu?... Reimu?"
Reimu was completetly unresponding. It was like her mind was in a different place.
"REIMU!"
That made her snap out of it. "EH? What?"
"Reimu… are you okay?"
"Y-yeah. Sure, I mean… totally."
"… What Existence said completely shocked you, didn't it?"
"… Yeah. I mean… you heard him right? What he-"
Before she could continue, Marisa put a finger on her lips. "Reimu, it's okay. You don't have to think about it now, okay?"
"… Eh?"
She then put an hand on Reimu's back. "You heard him at the end. He is going to contact us himself when the needs arise. So, how about until then you try to… relax?"
"…"
"I mean it. You can think about all that staff about your mom when he is around. I mean, with his help, you will have more ground to cover. Don't you think?"
"…"
"Just… try to relax until then. Okay?"
Reimu thought about it very carefully before looking at the ground. "… Marisa?"
"Yes?"
She then looked back at her and gave her a smile. Probably the most sincere and bright smile she ever gave anyone. "…Thank you. For everything."
Marisa simply smiled as she rubbed her back. "Of course! Anytime! I mean… that's what friend are for right?"
An akward silence once again before Marisa had another idea.
"Heeeeyyyy, since you have to relax, you know what this means right?"
Reimu was confused for a second… before immedietaly realising what she meant. "Oh no. Please Marisa, not-"
"HOTSPRING! WHOOOOOOAAAAAA!"
Reimu simply stared at her… before chuckling. "Okay. Fine." Marisa pumped her fist in the air. "THAT'S MA GIRL. COME ON! LET'S GO!"
"Wait-WHOAA!"
Her protest arrived too late as Marisa grabbed and dragged her along torward the hot spring.
And so concludes the first of our many adventures as our heroines made their way torward a more relaxing day. And they definitely needed it.
However, they were both completely unaware of one thing: that day was only the beginning of the many adventures they were going to go through.
They were also unaware of the MANY friends and friendships that they were going to build along the way.
But that… it's a story for another time.
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FINISHED FINALLY! It's official everyone: I AM TERRIBLE AT DESCRIPTIONS. But I will try to work with it. And so… this concludes the first story. It's insane just how much my writing as improved, and I'm proud of it. While we are at it, I would like to talk about one of the reasons why I decided to restart the story: Reimu's character arc. In my original story I took the easy road with her and I still regret it. The thing is, Reimu is not a very popular character. The fandom really dislikes her for her xenophobic attitude torward yokais and in general for her personality. Now here is my opinion: I think the fandom gives her a little to much shit. I believe that she is actually a pretty complex character if you analyze her hard enough. And that's my objective. I will try my best to show how complex she is as a character and give her quite a bit of character development to make her grow as a person. Hope that when her development reaches it's peak, you will have come to like her. And that's that. The first MAJOR story will start… I don't know. I hope you can all be patient. I promise, I WILL continue this story. Until then… SEE YOU NEXT TIME!