Far away from the reach of most and separated from the world, there exists an area of land; a country. Within this country exists many sights and entities that have long ago been forgotten by our world, and as such they have moved there for the continuation of their existence. This country is a near endless dimension, created long ago by ancient and powerful saints, a home to the gods and youkai.

There are humans that live there, some being people that are born there, live there and die there, whenever it would be of age or natural causes or just simply the other residents that aren't quite human as they usually appear. And there are other humans that appear there, taken in from our world, believed to have disappeared off the face of reality. In a sense, that assumption is correct. They usually either get eaten by the youkai shortly after arriving, but some are more lucky. The lucky ones either live a peaceful life in the village that houses most of the humans in this country, get eaten by the youkai later on, turn into youkai themselves where they live a long, long life, or a fourth option: they are sent back to our world.

Whilst the ways to return here after being sent there are small and sometimes difficult, they still exist.

The safest, easiest and most common method of leaving this place, if you desire to, is to get help from the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

You must be confused on what a Hakurei is, aren't you? Well, ever since the creation of this land, there needed to be a power to maintain the border that separates them from us. This power was given to a certain bloodline of humans; the Hakurei bloodline. Their job is to simply keep the balance between humans and youkai strong, as well as to maintain the shrine that houses the god that grants them their power. Of course, all humans granted this power and this duty have to be female, hence the 'Shrine Maiden' in the title.

This is a country full of sights that can only be seen to be believed, an entirely different reality that would be adored by the active imagination. This country is Gensokyo, The Paradise of Fantasies.

There sat a shrine on the top of a large hill in Gensokyo; the Hakurei Shrine, once grand but slowly growing decrepit over the centuries that it has existed. There sat a little girl, her little feet dangling above the ground as she sat, waiting for her mummy to return. She was of moderate height, though maybe a bit on the shorter side. She has brown hair and eyes, with a big red ribbon on the back of her head and red tubes on her sidelocks. She was wearing a white kimono with a red hakama over it. She seemed to be the only person outside the shrine.

It was early morning, dew drops were on the grass that surrounded the shrine and the only sound outside of the gentle swish of the air from her feet was the fluttering of birds and the chirps of insects. And she sat with great boredom, still waiting for her mummy to come home. She is meant to be a trainee, the next generation of the Hakurei bloodline, but her training hasn't started yet. But it's no matter, her mummy is very strong and usually resolves all incidents easily.

The Young Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

Reimu really missed her mum. It's not that she hates the guardian spirit of the shrine that has been with the Hakurei bloodline since their beginning, the same guardian spirit that is also looking after her, but she still misses her only know parent, nevertheless. She honestly couldn't wait until she starts training, then she can be strong and magical just like her mum, who she looks up to greatly.

She is, after all, a part of a bloodline of powerful humans. But it is unbeknownst to her, and most others at the moment, that she has latent potential that is more than exceptional for the Hakurei lineage.

The shrine doors slid open behind Reimu, the brown-eyed little girl looking behind herself to see an old turtle with a long, grey beard that was just inches above the boards of the shrine. Reimu recognised him well enough, he is the guardian spirit that has been with the Hakureis since the beginning. He was even around before the Hakurei family began, before even Gensokyo itself.

Ancient Vessel of Forgotten Knowledge

Genji

"Hey, Gramps." Reimu said cheerily, giving the old turtle a smile and a wave. Genji usually preferred to be spoken by his name, at least the name given to this physical form that he takes, but he found Reimu to be cute, especially since she is a little girl, so he would always let Reimu get away with calling him by that name.

"Good morning, Lady Reimu." Genji responded, doing a little bow with his old, rough head. The old turtle slowly walked over towards the little girl, sitting down next to her.

"When will Mummy be back?" Reimu asked, looking to her side where the giant turtle, so huge that she can even sit on him, as she has done in the past, was sitting.

Genji sighed, unsure of the answer himself. He is wise, very wise. In fact there are very few in Gensokyo that are smarter than him, though that border youkai would definitely be one of them. Still, it would be hard for even him to know. Reimu's mother has dealt with powerful youkai for even longer days than this, and yet she has always came back in one piece. And in his experience with the many shrine maidens that have came before her, they too have had to leave the shrine for a few days to deal with a massive threat against Gensokyo, and they usually come back alive. Though not all Hakureis that go on missions to stop youkai that last for days survive. If anything, it's what causes most of them to perish.

There was no certain answer, even for Genji.

The turtle moves his old eyes to face towards the torii gate at the entrance of the shrine, seeing something beginning to appear. Reimu had gotten excited as she saw the Yin-Yang Orb; the powerful magical item filled with tremendous spiritual, holy and divine power and the greatest treasure of the Hakurei family. But that wasn't the reason why Reimu, the young maiden who isn't even in training yet. No, it was because her mum was always nearby whenever the orb was floating or not at the shrine in general. Reimu raced towards the floating holy object, hoping to see her only known parent.

"Mummy~!" Reimu exclaimed in excitement. The little girl almost leaped down the stairs that lead up to the Hakurei Shrine, the only reason that she didn't end up falling down the stairs being that the back of her kimono was abruptly grabbed by something. Reimu was balancing on her toe on the top step, seeing the crazy long stairs that lead up to her home, being pulled back and landing on her butt from the unknown person. Reimu looked back, seeing that the person that saved her from falling down all those stairs was Genji, the turtle most likely managing to grab her kimono with his mouth.

Reimu looked around, trying to see if she can spot the familiar figure of her mum, but it was to no avail.

"Where's Mummy?" Reimu asked, starting to become anxious. The Yin-Yang Orb has never floated anywhere without her present, it was unnatural and had struck her heart with an arrow of fear that she couldn't fully understand.

Genji stayed silent, looking at the soon-to-be shrine maiden with sympathy. Genji couldn't deny it, he has seen it many times before in the past and has a feeling that he'll see it again many times in the future. If the Yin-Yang Orb returns to the Hakurei Shrine without the shrine maiden present, then it means that either she is in great trouble and needs another's help, or she has died. Genji looked back at the large yin-yang as it floated in front of him, pulsing with holy energy. Genji stretched his head out towards the floating item, the turtle pressing his head against it, hearing and feeling a unison of a female voice and a male voice whisper to him what he feared.

She's dead.

On the west of Gensokyo, a portal to another dimension had opened. There lived a powerful entity that wanted only death and destruction, and it was seeking Gensokyo as its latest playground. Reimu's mother, Aimi Hakurei, being the current shrine maiden that guards Gensokyo, had to go there and stop it. She was powerful and determined, but that monster was overpowering her. Knowing it was the only way to save Gensokyo, Aimi used an attack that destroyed the monster, but it had also killed her in the ensuing blast.

Genji made a deep sigh full of grief, both because of the death of another maiden that he had became close to, and because he knew that Reimu would also become overcame.

It was a few days after the tragic news of her mother's death, Reimu was outside, sweeping leaves, calm and quiet. Aimi's death was left with little mourning outside of Reimu, she wasn't popular among humans nor youkai. The shrine maiden to-be was feeling happier now than she did when Genji told her the heart-breaking news. She wasn't as happy as she was before, but she knew that this would happen eventually. She was offered the chance to live with her father in the Outside World and escape this grief, but she stayed in Gensokyo.

Her little hands tightened around her little broom, it still hurt, but she is healing from it.

Reimu felt something bump against her side softly, the little girl turning her head to see Genji. "Oh, hi Gramps." Reimu said, her voice was calm though she had a small smile on her face. "Is there something that you want to tell me?"

"It is time for your training to begin." Genji said, the Yin-Yang Orb floating above the ground and dropping in between the ancient turtle and the maiden in training.

"R-really?" Reimu responded, she didn't think that she would start training so soon after...

"I'm sorry, I wish I could give you a few more days to heal, but that kind of hope isn't always smiled upon in this world. Look at the Great Hakurei Barrier." Genji said, the large turtle moving his body around towards the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu, too, had turned to see the shrine, her eyes widening as she saw an invisible barrier of sorts.

"Gramps...!" Reimu breathed in shock. "What is...?"

"It's the Great Hakurei Barrier, Reimu." Genji answered. "Because of your mother's death, her powers as a Hakurei Shrine Maiden have been bequeathed to you. The entire fate of the barrier, and subsequently Gensokyo, now rests on you. I wish that we could have waited until you were older, the more appropriate age to begin your training, but a certain someone has told me that it has to begin now. I'm sorry..."

Reimu was silent, looking down at her broom. "If Mummy was still alive, she would be happy for me to become a shrine maiden." Reimu said, looking up at Genji, smiling at him. "I want to become a shrine maiden, I want to become like Mummy and exterminate all of the bad youkai."

"This child is so cheerful, I hope she doesn't lose it like the others." Genji thought as Reimu hugged his neck. As the now shrine maiden in training was hugging Genji, he saw a feminine figure standing at the torii gate, the certain someone who had forced Genji to operate under this decision. The important thing about her is that she had long hair and eyes that were like dark gold, with many red ribbons wrapped around her long hair. She simply smiled at Genji, making a little wave of her hand and vanishing like she was no longer there.

Oh, how Genji is certain that she'll be keeping a close eye on things. She has since the beginning.

Deep beneath the Earth, in a terrain dimension of hellfire and brimstone, there sat a towering castle of awe-inspiring size. Within this castle was a throne, a giant throne that at least ten fully grown and fully developed humans could sit and maybe even lie on. And on this throne was a giant woman. She had ruby eyes that were red like the very fires that surround the dimension she now resides in, hair as black as night that was pulled back and kept in place by a red ribbon on the back of her head. She was wearing red robes with a white trim and grey sleeves. But what was her most noticeable feature, outside of her imposing size, was a large, red horn that was protruding from the centre of her forehead. She also wore a pendant around her neck, hanging from the pendant was a human-sized bronze disk with the image of a young girl engraved on it, the young girl on the disk has long hair, closed eyes and a content expression on her face. She was wearing a suit and tie, her hands in front of her chest with a light blue orb floating between them, though she isn't important for the time being.

Astral Knight

Konngara

Konngara had her head slumped against her hand as the elbow connected to it was lying on the arm of her throne, the former Diva of the Mountain feeling like Hell was starting to become boring. Well, her section of Hell that she was given. Hecatia is probably never bored with all of those Hells and Otherworlds that she gets to rule over.

Konngara sighed, where's Suika and Yuugi when she needs them?

The large doors of Konngara's castle opened up, the Astral Knight taking more notice of the world around her. She was approached by a tiny humanoid creature, having the physical body of a little girl, and the size of one too. She was wearing a little, blue dress and had long blonde hair, her eyes like sapphire. She was quite like a fairy in appearance, and would be confused as such if it weren't for the bat-like wings that she had and the horns on her head.

The little devil quickly flew up towards Konngara, floating in front of the giant's face like a little fly. "Lady Konngara, The Astral Knight, Queen of Lesser Hell, we have received important information regarding Gensokyo." The little devil said, her voice high-pitched and full of respect for the giant in front of her.

Konngara raised an eyebrow in interest. News regarding Gensokyo was hardly ever considered to be of any importance in Lesser Hell, and with everything that has not been happening in the hellfire dimension, it could be something of interest. Though, with how hard it is for information to travel from Gensokyo to other Otherworlds, this information could be days old and maybe even no longer relevant in the Paradise of Fantasy.

Still...

"Speak now, servant." Konngara responded, the vibrations coming form her voice being so strong that the fairy-like devil in front of her was nearly blown away.

"T-the current Hakurei Shrine Maiden, Aimi Hakurei, has died in battle." The little devil responded.

Konngara was taken by surprise; Aimi, the current shrine maiden of the Hakurei, and the one that has shown more promise than any other, has died? At least... at least she has perished doing what she loves: protecting Gensokyo. Konngara waved her hand silently, the tiny devil flying out of her castle immediately. With full certainty that no one else was in her throne room, the giant oni placed her eyes down to the hand mirror lying down on the other arm of her throne. She had a hunch that a certain something would happen in relation to the current news she has heard, and it would come from that hand mirror.

As she had suspected, Konngara's hand mirror began to emit a purple glow from the glass. The giant oni sighed, piking up the mirror by the handle and pressing her finger down on a amethyst diamond that was just below the glass. The hand mirror flew out of Konngara's hand, transforming into a giant full body mirror that was big enough to show her reflection. And it did show Konngara's reflection as she stood up, the reflection soon swirling around and changing into a purple colour. A silhouette appeared on the mirror, having a feminine shape and seemingly giant wings connected to it.

Konngara sighed again. "I knew you'd call me when I started hearing about this news of death." The giant oni said, feeling more annoyed than anything. "So what is it that you want from me?"

Author's Note: Hello. This is basically a fanfic that is the entire Touhou series (both the PC-98 and Windows era), but rewritten by me, as a fanfic, of course. This will include both eras. This is mostly inspired by Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream by Private Winters, though this will have my own things in it.

So what do you think of that? I think Reimu might have been out of character, but she is meant to be really young in this first chapter, so she should eventually develop into the more apathetic-like shrine maiden that she is.

This is kind of meant to be more like a prologue than a first chapter, but I felt like some things needed to be put out of the way before this story actually starts. The next chapter should deal with Reimu's training (and how she got her purple hair and eyes), as well as maybe a battle between her and SinGyoku.

This is a lot shorter than the usual chapter word count that I do, but I'm okay with it. Bye.