Chapter 2

The Touhou franchise is owned by ZUN, and as such I own nothing in this story other than my own original creations.


When people think of forests in the Outside World, they generally think of peaceful areas to camp in or try to escape from scociety's sometimes constricting grip, usually with a rather diverse amount of wildlife. However, when Gensokyans think of forests, they usually think of very dangerous terrain and, of course, wildlife with the added danger of noxious fumes.

Why? Well, Gensokyo is a rather small place, so when you say the word "forest", it usually refers to one forest in particular. The Forest of Magic. However, while the place is as predictably dangerous as it sounds, it can be very rewarding for those who want to live in solitude.

In a built-in clearing in the forest, however, there is a rather out of place house. It's a small, white European-style house with a blue roof, two floors, and a small, octagonal tower built into the side of it. It also appeared to be rather polished and well-kept compared to the rest of the forest. But living inside this out of place house, was a rather in-place character.


"I might as well take a walk. I do need fresh air every once and awhile." That was said by a girl who was about 5'1" with blond hair that went down to her shoulders and mysterious golden eyes with flecks of blue sprinkled throughout. She wore a blue dress with white short sleeves they looked like very thin shoulder pads, along with two pink ribbons, each around her neck and waist. She also had faint, seemingly transparent strings around her fingers, which were almost instinctivey controlling a doll which had a black dress with a white apron on, and was also carrying what appeared to be a cross between a cleaver and a polearm as a weapon. Lastly, this girl's skin seemed to have a sort of plastic sheen.

This was Alice Margatroid. The doll she was controlling was a doll named Shanghai, one of her most trusted dolls. After having just eaten a non-mandatory breakfast(she does it for the luxury), she had decided to see what was going on outside. However, upon opening the front door, something caught her attention.

There were similarly faint strings to her own littered throughout the forest, however there were a few notable differences. Firstly, while her strings were relatively clear from her perspective, these strings were of the faintness most people described for her strings, even to her. To other people, these would be practically invisible. Secondly, they were red, not white, which luckily made them easier to see. Third, based on the fact they seemed scattered not just near her house, but throughout the forest and likely the entirety of Gensokyo from what she could sense, these strings were likely meant to influence people to do certain behaviors, rather than directly control them.

"If this isn't the beginning of an incident, I don't know what is." After some deliberation, Alice decided to follow the strings to hopefully find the source, after all these strings had to come from somewhere right?


Alice wasn't expecting what she got. Following the overall tragectory of the strings had led her to a small shack in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. What surprised her about this was that the shack was so deep in the forest she doubted that even the people who could navigate the place knew about this.

The shack was of a similar style to her own house, though it was a lot smaller and oddly enough, had no windows. The house also didn't have any paint on it, or if it did, the inhabitants picked a very accurate wood color. The yard also seemed extremely well kept, and also had a lot of tea leaves growing in it.

As soon as she landed, someone opened the door, almost as if they were expecting her. Did the culprit see something like this happening?

Speaking of the supposed culprit, she stood at around 5'10" with black hair that went down to her ankles, and brilliant emerald green eyes. She wore a scarlet red tuxedo with a matching tie and white undershirt, as well as black pants clearly meant for formal wear. She also had a sword made of a dark red material all throughout. Ruby, perhaps? And where had she seen that facial structure before? Another curious feature about this person was her aura. Despite the odds going entirely against the idea, it was unmistakably human. To even think a simple human could cause an incident on this scale seemed impossible, yet here it was staring her in the face.

"Ah, a guest." She closed the door behind her. "Alice Margatroid, am I wrong?" she suddenly uttered. 'Ok this is creepy, this seemingly random person knows my name.' Alice thought, but nevertheless, she kept a cool head. "Yes, that would be me, and I must ask, why put your house all the way out here? Are you trying to be lonely?" Alice snarked, hoping to throw her off her game, get her to talk.

The woman stuck her lips in a pouty face. "How rude, have you not ever heard of privacy. And besides, you're rather hypocritical saying that. After all, you live in the Forest of Magic, a place practically designed for seclusion." Alice visibly winced at what she said, fully admiting she had her with that one. 'How the hell does she know that?' One thing she knew for sure was that something was seriously wrong with this woman. She'd clearly found her culprit.

"Alright, who are you instigator, I've had enough!" The woman had a sudden look of realization on her face. "I don't know what you mean by instigator, but apparently I've forgotten my manners. You may call me Xhi." Alice had gotten a name, but she seemed to be dodging the question. Despite Xhi clearly being human, she was acting just Yukari would in this situation, and it was driving her nuts.

"Isn't it obvious, your little strings are no doubt a menace to Gensokyo." She proceeds to summon 4 dolls signifying she was ready for a fight. "Now, I suggest you..." Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a sudden cut in her mind, and sees Xhi in the same position, only now holding her sword by her side. In preemptive horror, Alice slowly looks behind herself, only to find every single doll she summoned cut into pieces.

'How did she...' She didn't get to finish that thought as she noticed her sudden opponent had just rushed her location, giving her barely enough time to dodge an uppercut from Xhi's right hand. 'She just exploited my hesitation. I've gotta be careful in this fight.' All the while Xhi had a slight smirk on her face, almost as if she was intending to be as condescending as possible towards Alice.

Alice knew she couldn't summon any dolls this fight, Xhi would cut them up too fast for her to make use of them. This immediately forces her into an unfavorable situation, as without her dolls she couldn't really fight much. Luckily, she usually brings a revolver just in case something like this would happen, and now seemed like the perfect time to pull it out. She grabs it and shoots a round into Xhi's left arm, which she dodges by twisting her body counterclockwise, then proceeds to redirect the momentum generated from that twist into a downward slash. Alice dodges this by jumping to the right, however the sword manages to crack the ground. She didn't have time to think of the ramifications however, as Xhi then swept her balled up fist across the air, which somehow hit her hard across the ribs and threw her into the treeline.

Alice was breathing heavily, coughing up blood, struggling to even stand, all from a blow that, by all accounts, shouldn't have hit her, yet did. 'What kind of magic was that, and why do I feel like I just got punched by an oni?' She didn't have time to think though, as she started to her footsteps heading to her location. Looking in the direction they were coming from, she finds the shadowy figure of Xhi walking towards her, most likely to finish the job. On instinct, she pulled out her revolver and fired a second round. Big mistake. After the shot, she felt like her lungs had just gotten blown apart, before finally passing out from the blow, combined with exhaustion.


Xhi didn't expect the second gunshot, and the lung area of her chest had gotten blown to bits. Not like it mattered, no simple revolver was going to kill her, nothing short of something that could destroy every last drop of her blood would. Alice seemed to have overexerted herself from the fight prior, but she had to respect the girls tenacity. She likely thought Xhi was going to kill her then and there, and was doing everything she could to survive, even if it meant hurting herself in the process.

But Xhi wasn't going to kill her. Contrary to what her attitude and actions made it seem, she wasn't just a wanton murderer, and Alice wasn't on her menu. Still, she couldn't have this woman so close to her house at the moment. However, she did memorize the trajectory she flew to get here, and could safely assume she lived in that direction. So, she picked her up, and threw her so hard she flew in a straight line. Xhi was surprised Alice wasn't straight up ripped apart from that throw, but she wasn't her concern at the moment. Now, it was once again a waiting game.


"Hello, anybody home." That voice came from a young girl who stood at 5' flat with yellow eyes and blond hair that went slightly below her shoulders. She wore a black dress and a white apron tied around her waist. The dress had 6 yellow buttons on her abdomen, as well as a pin on the neckline shaped like a cresent moon. On top of her head was what could only be described as a worn out witches hat with a white bow on the edge. In her hand was a wooden broom that was so curved it made it akin to an exaggerated katana.

This was Marisa Kirisame, who had on a whim, decided to head over to Alice's house to see what was going on, only to find no one there.

"Huh, guess she actually went outside for a change. Might as well make myself at home." Suddenly, she heard a crash, and before she could react, something that felt like one of Yukari's many trains fell on top of her, pummeling her to the ground. "Ow, what in the world was that, ze!" However, when she looked at what had hit her, she was shocked to find the sprawling figure of Alice herself, lying there on the floor.


Guess how the situation at the end happened. Go on, guess. On another note, I don't know if any of you saw an OC villian coming, so if you did, good on you for figuring it out.