Chapter 1

An average day at the Hakruei Shrine. Reimu took what time she had to relax between incidents and visitors. Just then, Marisa came flying in with haste and a concerned look on her face.

"Oi Reimu! Something weird happening in the Forest. You might want to check this out."

Reimu sighed, sat her cup down and sat up ready to take flight. "I swear if this is another mushroom that looks like-"

"It's a purple rabbit!" Marisa interrupted and waited for Reimu to follow her. Rabbits in the Forest of Magic were not rare but they were not common either...but a purple one?

"I wonder if Eirin had something to do with this...Okay lead me to the rabbit you found assuming it's not dead…"

Flying over from the shrine to the Forest's edge and landing just before Marisa's house, the two started walking deeper in. Marisa continued to lead on but halted as the faint sound of pained squeaks were audible. "AH! This way!" Marisa hastened her steps to lead the Hakurei Priestess to the source of the noise.

There, a lone purple rabbit with a black cottontail and white star pattern on its back end was trapped in a snare trap. It's eyes remained closed as if it was blind but flailed the moment anyone came by. The dirt around it dug into and scuffed from it's attempts to run away.

"...You sure were not lying this time, Marisa."

"What do you mean 'This time'? I don't lie!"

"Whatever. Just watch my back while I try to free it."

With a few small steps, Reimu approached the rabbit's trap. Already the purple fur rodent was screeching for aid and constantly flailing to try and run from her. Reimu said nothing as she tossed a sharpened needle at a weak point of the trap, causing the jaws to open and letting the rabbit hop away a few paces...but not before looking at Reimu curiously.

Reimu watched as the rabbit made weird motions with its body to her. Marisa soon realized what that rabbit wanted.

"I think it wants you to follow."

"Might as well. It could be a trap or it could be a youkai. Come on then."

Marisa and Reimu followed the purple rabbit deep into the forest. Slowly the miasma in one part of the forest was less potent before the rabbit halted at a random location of trees. Reimu looked around, wondering what this rabbit wanted. Her soft eyes soon gazed upon a talisman on a nearby tree...except-

"Strange. I don't remember placing a Talisman here."

Reimu examined the parchment...then slowly seeing beyond many more against trees. A barrier of sealing something within. The paper was weathered but solid. The ink was the same as it always had. This was done by a previous priestess before Reimu.

"That Talisman...ain't that one of yours? What is it doing out here?" Marisa being the observant one made note.

"It definitely has the Hakurei Kanji...perhaps I should remove it. Whatever is sealed here, it should be exterminated!"

With a swift yank of the Talisman before Reimu off the tree, the rest faltered and turned to dust. The barrier glowed then shattered before the Duo, a bright display that forced them to shield their eyes.

One the lights died down, Marisa and Reimu soon saw it…

A pathway leading to a large clearing in the forest of Miasma was avoiding the area and leaving it clean of air. At the center of it, a small shrine resides. Not impacted by weather or time, it remained pristine as the day it was built...but why?

"WOAH! There's a shrine the whole time here!?" Marisa was more than excited, watching the purple rabbit hop ahead and meeting others...Many others!

"And look! More purple rabbits! Awww...so cute."

Yet while Marisa was enamored, Reimu did a thorough investigation of the area with Talismans in hand. She saw a small garden of carrots, meaning someone lives here aside from the rabbits. The condition of the shrine and surrounding areas was neat and tidy yet it felt empty and foreboding. Reimu took a look around further to find the exterior had amenities for a bath, a kitchen and more. Perhaps doubling like a shrine but the windows were caked with age and hard to see through without breaking or cleaning the interior. Soon she returned to the front and signaled for Marisa to come over to her.

"Help me open the doors." she pointed to the twin sliding doors up. With Marisa taking the left and Reimu taking the right the duo threw the doors open. Dust and cobwebs flew out like a torrent as the girls tried covering their mouth and nose from the onslaught!

When the smoke cleared, they could see a table, some dusty pillows and other traditional home setup...but before them the body of a long dark purple haired human Slumped against the wall with many seals covering his clothing and body. His jacket was designed like a moonless night sky of a dim blue background. With one large noticeable purple rabbit printed on the left side of the jacket. Underneath appeared to be some kind of vest and buttoned shirt along with some finger-less gloves to go with his mixed Japanese style attire. As Reimu approached the mysterious figure a familiar voice came from a gap emerging between her and this person.

"Good day, Reimu. I see you stumbled upon the Mare?" It was Yukari like usual butting in and spooking Marisa slightly.

Reimu mentally rolled her eyes having a feeling Yukari was apart of this mystery. Though she humored her appearance. "The Mare? Okay start answering questions, Yukari. What is this all about?" Reimu pointed her Gohei towards the Gap youkai who vanished and reappeared in her full presence beside the slumped person.

"I figured you would eventually find this place. This place, the Mare was sealed during the initial creation of Gensokyo along with it's owner, Nahumar." she patted the lifeless-looking body's shoulder with a smile. Marisa took a closer gaze at Nahumar while taking note of his odd clothing choices. "Hmmm? Why was he sealed?" she asked to which Yukari opened her fan with a snap of her wrist to answer. "His aura, and his status was a problem to the residents who were not adjusted to the way his power worked, so we agreed to have the Priestess of Hakurei seal him until a later date when the residents were more balanced with their emotions."

"So what is he?" Finally Reimu asked. Yukari replied with a deviate smile...

"He is a God of Fear. One who manages and balances the emotion. Visions, terror and the like."

Yukari then walked to Reimu with a warm smile. "I'll leave you two to do whatever you want. Just know if you release him, you are partially responsible for anything he does, Reimu~." and through the gap she vanished. Leaving Marisa and Reimu to decide what to do with this person.

"Why not release him then, Reimu? I'm sure he's not evil...r-right?" Marisa had a slight nervous sensation hearing what this god was able to do.

"We shall see." Reimu extended her hand out, grabbing onto a talisman on his head and with one, swift yank the others fell like leaves. A few seconds later there was an audible groan and his closed eyes slowly opened. Revealing the black Iris on a purple sclera. His vision returning and noticing the two girls before him.

"Ugh...That was one hell of a dream-Wait." Finally he snapped to reality. His eyes locked onto Reimu. The Red and White coloration of her clothes and the stance. Though it was soon blocked when Marisa tilted her head and grinned.

"You don't look like a scary Fear God. I was hoping you'd be like that guy with pins in his face."

Reimu added on with "Or that masked killer from a lake."

"W-well obviously no." Nahumar dusted himself off as he stood up to greet the two fresh faces. "I deeply apologize. Who are you two?"

"I'm Marisa Kirisami! Nice to meet you, Nahumar~!" the black and white witch grabbed his hand with both of her's and furiously shook it to the point Nahumar's balance was going to be undone. "N-nice to meet you as well Marisa."

"And I'm Reimu Hakurei. I'm the one who unsealed you, so don't cause trouble."

Hearing Reimu's name, Nahumar turned to her just after his hand was freed. "You're the current priestess? It's been ages since i've seen Gensokyo." and politely he bowed to her. "It is an honor to meet you, Reimu Hakurei. I am Nahumar, God of Fear though with Marisa knowing my name It must of been Yukari who tipped you two off?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah. Now...about your shrine-" Reimu made note, pointing to the very dusty living style and everything around it. "I think a little cleaning is in order. Marisa-" Reimu turned to Marisa to tell her "Think you can get Alice to come help clean? It looks like we're going to be dusting a lot and scrubbing." and with a salute, Marisa grabbed her broom from the front and took off. "Got it! I'll be back in a jiffy!"

This was going so fast for Nahumar that he felt bad. So he tried to reason with Reimu.

"You don't have to do this. I don't want to waste your time." but Reimu pointed her Gohei right towards Nahumar's face with a small smile. Reassuring him.

"Relax. This is your home and it's been...too long since a good cleaning. You can't do it on your own at this point so think of it as my way of welcoming you back to Gensokyo, Nahumar." though it then faded while she turned his back to him, walking a few paces out the shrine. "But in exchange you must do something for me."

There was a catch and Nahumar was concerned already. "Okay? What is it?" Reimu then turned around and told him...

"Come to the Flower Viewing Party at my shrine and bring something to drink."

Marisa would arrive with Alice in tow and her dolls ready to help clean out the shrine Nahumar was in while discovering what was stowed away. The main living space had the kitchen off to the side with a door leading deeper in the home. The hallway held four doors. Two towards the inside of the building, one to the outside and one all the way in the back of the hall. As Alice and Marisa took on the door leading to the bathroom, Reimu helped with cleaning out the storage across from the bathroom. Inside she could see a few crates along with strange oak barrels all lined neatly against the wall. With a quick inspection they were holding some kind of beverage.

"Oh so that's where my Ambrosia was!" Nahumar peeked over Reimu's shoulder as he dusted off the barrels carefully to see the corks and containment still strong.

"Ambrosia?" Reimu tilted her head in confusion as Nahumar patted the barrel with pride. "This is some premium drink! A keg of this can sate even the thirstiest of gods!" and from the earlier favor he threw in "Perfect for a party no?"

How could she exactly deny a new brew. So she smiled "Fine by me. Don't be shocked if a certain Oni managed to clean that barrel for you."

The cleaning for the most part was uneventful, though Nahumar was adamant no one went into his bedroom to do his own cleaning only to emerge a moment later with a big bag of dust and other such nasty things to be rid of. Once it was done, the trio could finally relax and take a moment to admire the work.

"That was fairly easy honestly." Marisa exclaimed. She took a drink of water after a heavy exhausted breath from lifting a few heavy bags out. Alice wiped her brow while finishing a polish on the table.

"How long had he been here again? It felt like a twenty year old cleanup rather than a dilapidated mess." Alice told Marisa just as Nahumar exited the building with a warm look on his face.

"Thank you all again. I promise to bring something to the next flower viewing party for this." He bowed politely to the three though Marisa easily waved him off. "Eh, no biggie! We do this kind of stuff all the time. Thankfully it's not the Scarlet Devil Mansion big."

Alice chuckled. "Don't forget, Sakuya tends to cheat with her ability."

The conversation moved on for a while until the entire place was finished. Marisa would leave as would Alice though just as Reimu would take off, she figured Nahumar didn't know his way around Gensokyo as much as she thought.

"Do you know where the Hakurei Shrine is by chance?" she asked.

Nahumar replied "Nope! Last time I visited was just before i was sealed. If you could give me a landmark to go by-"

"There is a shop just outside the forest to the south called Kourindou. From there, head west and when you see the red Torii, head up the steps. Once you know where it is, flying will be easier."

"Red Torii...Got it. And I'll bring one of the kegs-"

"Make it two!" The priestess held up two fingers.

"Right, Two-Wait I was told to only bring one!" Nahumar caught her sneaking another barrel though the unwavering emotion Reimu showed meant she was serious.

"We never agreed to an amount and you have plenty of that Ambrosia. So bring two cause Suika will definitely chug a whole barrel's worth."

So he gave in. "Two...Got it." a heavy sigh from the God of Fear in defeat.

Once Reimu took off, Nahumar would finally fall onto his back as his purple rabbits came out of hiding to swarm and snuggle with their creator free of the bonds. "Good work, little ones. Finally made contact with the Hakurei Priestess..." Nahumar looked at the setting sun sky above while he tried to piece together what happened.

An idea then suddenly came to Nahumar. "Hell-" He sat up abruptly while picking up one of the purple rabbits to look at them. "I'll do more than bring booze. I'll bring some snacks as well! A party is not a party with drink alone! But what should i bring?"