1/13
"Goro, please come meet me at my house in the forest of magic today. I want to talk to you about some things."
That was the note I found under the door this morning as I was doing my chores. It didn't say who it was from, but I knew instantly it had to be Marisa. So once I was free I rushed over to her house, where she waited out front dressed like she was going someplace with a bag by her side.
"Glad you saw the note and came here," she greeted. "Sorry 'bout makin' it discreet, but I don't go near that place for obvious reasons and I didn't want my dad knowin' it was me."
"I'm sure," I nodded. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"
"Weeeeell…" Marisa scratched the back of her head. "I did wanna talk about this weird-ass dream I had a few nights ago, but then a doll showed up at my door with a note askin' me to go to Alice's to give back one of her books. It wouldn't go away when I tried to make it, so now I guess I have to actually return it." She shrugged. "Eh, I can always borrow it again later."
"'Borrow,'" I smiled sarcastically.
"Hey, I always tell 'em they'll get their shit back once I'm dead, since they're all basically immortal anyway. No problem with that."
"I... suppose." I cleared my throat. "Although, I would still like to hear about that weird dream, since I came out here and all."
"Er, sure. Definitely. We can walk and talk, if you don't mind."
Alice's cottage wasn't far from Marisa's, or so she said, so we walked through the snow-blanketed forest rather than flying so that Marisa could tell me about her dream. Strangely, it was similar to Reimu's own, wherein they found themselves in a strange lab, cornered Dr. Maruki along with the Phantom Thieves, before she and Reimu fought over their ideals. She told me she didn't feel comfortable talking about it until she could tell me privately, particularly since she had trouble looking Reimu in the eye during our meeting yesterday for understandable reasons.
"Completely crazy, ain't it?"
I thought for a bit, then told her, "apparently, Reimu had essentially the same dream as you that same night."
Marisa jumped back. "Eh, really?"
"Yes. She even described what she thought as she was about to kill Maruki, before you jumped in and kept her from killing him."
Marisa stood there, wide-eyed for a second, before shaking her head. "Er… that's gotta be just a… like a mad coincidence. Yeah, that's it."
I scratched my head. "I'm not so sure. I was going to bring it up the next time I met with Yuyuko and Doremy."
"Yeah, you do your thing." She looked down and to the side.
"...is something the matter?" I asked.
Marisa sighed. "Are me and Reimu really that different? I mean, she's my best friend, but…"
"...I don't follow you," I said.
Marisa looked at me. "Before you came here, there was an incident with Kosuzu where she ended up bein' possessed by one of her youma books, and almost became a youkai. And before that, a fortune teller died then resurrected himself as a youkai. Reimu killed the fortune teller, even though he made clear he wasn't gonna be a problem to humans, and almost killed Kosuzu, one of her only human friends, all because they dared to become youkai. It's enshrined in Gensokyo's doctrine: becoming a youkai is the greatest sin a human can commit, and the Hakureis enforce it no matter what."
"I see," I nodded. "Well, turning one's back on humanity is considered a great sin in many religions, especially if they turn into monsters or demons. I suppose if those myths are all indeed true, and this land is ruled by religious ideals, then that would be enforced as law."
Marisa was silent for a moment, but I could tell she silently seethed.
"Except that's all bullshit," she said.
"Huh?"
She lowered the brim of her hat. "That rule was created by the powerful Youkai Sages. And Reimu's never clearly explained to me why it's a sin. The way I see it, it's there just to oppress humans and keep us from ever gaining strength in a land full of monsters. It's my dream to become a 'true' magician, one whose body is one with magic. Not because I fear death and want to defy the natural cycle. Not even because I'm that dedicated to magic and want to explore the mysteries of the universe." She turned to me. "No, I want to do it because I want to claw my way up to the top of the system, beating everyone and everything standing in my way, and use my power to make everything fair. That is, get rid of all the rules and let all the people who want power have it, while everyone else who ain't motivated can keep livin' like sheep. Rules only drag us down. Without rules, we can all fly free, am I right?"
...it was difficult for me to argue with such a view. Largely because I used to feel a similar, yet darker, way: my worldview, tainted by my wretched life experience, was that the world was corrupt, people were complacent, and tyrants lied and cheated their way to the top to impose their will on the masses. My ultimate mission, as Black Mask, was to purge those corrupt elements and completely steamroll over society to rebuild it from scratch, as there was no saving it. For a long time, it seemed perfectly logical. It wasn't until… he came into my life that I started doubting myself. An innocent kid who got framed for a crime, by my dipshit father no less, got expelled, and found himself forced to live with that dark burden for the rest of his life. Everyone at school was suspicious of him, he wasn't in any clubs, he wasn't even acknowledged for his academic gifts despite being top of the class for every single exam thrown at him, made even more impressive by the fact that he was rarely, if ever, seen studying.
And yet… not only did he take it all in stride, he actively fought against it, kept his head high even as he got the shit beaten out of him by the police. I'd seen it firsthand: he always put on a mask of an unassuming high school student, but once the mask was off I could tell I had no hope of ever becoming half the man he was. Unlike me, he had real charm, real charisma, and genuine kindness… I guess that's why I grew jealous of him: we were both in similarly dark circumstances, but he could seemingly make his own light and follow it, versus me, who would forever be stuck in the dark, weighed down by the many atrocious crimes I had committed. Now I was stuck here, in a temporally displaced bit of Medieval Japan with mythical creatures and magic running the place, forever cast out of human cognition.
Then again, I realized I should be grateful I had received a second chance at all. The alternative was much, much worse, especially since I now understood what was at stake…
Soon, we arrived at another clearing. In it was a small, white European-style house with a blue roof and an attached tower loft. There was a well-maintained lawn out front, and a flower box beside the front door. I saw what appeared to be small figures floating around the house, carrying tools, pots and watering cans; as we got closer, I could see that the figures appeared to be… dolls. Tiny dolls, in dresses which encompassed all colors of the rainbow, each with blonde hair, large bows on their heads, and whose digits and faces looked unsettlingly realistic, all flying about busily performing various tasks and chores.
"Must be cleanin' day," Marisa remarked. "Alice wouldn't have this many dolls out otherwise."
"There are so many," I noted. "Did she make them all?"
"Of course," Marisa smiled. "She's a magician, just like me, and her specialty is dolls. She uses 'em for doin' stuff around the house, she goes into town and puts on puppet shows for the kids, and, obviously, she uses 'em to fight too." Marisa shuddered. "I swear, their little swords are like fuckin' accupunture. And she uses some of 'em as bombs, too, can 'ya believe that?"
"...bombs?"
Marisa shook her head and knocked on the door. Moments later, heavy footsteps could be heard inside, before the door opened up to reveal a young girl in a blue-and-white dress with a red ribbon around her torso, and another red ribbon on her head. She also had blonde hair, like the dolls, and bore striking blue eyes. In her hand was a pot of lacquer as well as some other crafting tools, and her dress had some dust on it.
"Oh, Marisa!" She said, smiling. At the same time, her eyes appeared to change color, this time to yellow, catching me off-guard. She then looked over to me. "And… you are?"
"I am Goro Akechi," I bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Alice-san."
Alice paused for a moment, then said, "oh! You're that young man who appeared here recently! You were at the New Year's party, if I recall."
"Indeed. We never did speak, did we?"
"I'm here to drop off the book," Marisa said, presenting the book in question, an herb guidebook according to its cover. "Your dolls are really persistent, I'll give you that."
Alice giggled. "Seems like I've finally found an effective method of getting you to return the things you've 'borrowed.' Maybe I should tell Patchouli about it as well."
"Hey, don't get Patche involved," Marisa dismissed.
"Why not?" Alice smirked playfully, her eyes tinting green now. "Afraid she'll go all-out in a magic duel with you to put your thieving self in your place?"
"Last time she tried that, I had to give her CPR," Marisa replied, crossing her arms.
"Oh? Then what about Sakuya? Afraid she'll use her knives to slice you up into ribbons?"
"If she were serious about stoppin' me, I wouldn't be gettin' into the Library in the first place," Marisa said confidently.
"Hmmm… then what about that strapping young gentleman next to you? Afraid she'll send Koakuma to go all over Gensokyo and tell everyone Marisa has a bo-"
"YA WANT YER DAMN BOOK OR A SMOKIN' HOLE IN YER TORSO?!" Marisa shouted while blushing all over, shoving her Mini-Hakkero onto Alice. Alice was trembling somewhat, but whether it was out of fear or because she was trying very hard not to laugh was difficult to tell. "Goro, back me up here! Tell her that you're not my boyfriend or anythin'!"
I thought to myself and considered my options. I soon arrived at the best one:
"I held her hand and accompanied her here like a gentleman," I said, placing my hand to my chest.
Marisa now looked like she was about to give birth to a Fortress.
"Say that again, I dare you," she said coldly, shaking her fist.
"Haaah," Alice sighed. "I'm sorry, I started this. I'll go get the teapot going, and Marisa I also baked your favorite sweets, but-"
Marisa gripped her shoulders and beamed. "You mean those glazed apple cinnamon fritters? Alice, you're a real pal! Way to reward your friend!"
Alice rolled her eyes. "Yes, 'rewarding' you for returning something you stole."
Alice's cottage was very quaint and well put together - certainly much cleaner than Marisa's "organized mess." There was a living room with a rug, coffee table and upholstered furniture, along with shelves and cupboards filled with dolls. There was a kitchen in the other room, a set of stairs leading up into the tower with Alice's room next to the stairs, and in the back, her workshop, from which the scents of wood, ink, paint, ceramic and porcelain wafted through the air. It looked to me like a house straight out of Victorian England, rather than anywhere in Gensokyo or even Japan as a whole.
"You have a very nice house," I complimented.
"Thank you," Alice smiled. "I take pride in ownership, unlike a certain someone."
"'Ey, it's not like I got an army of dolls to help me out with stuff!"
"You do remember I'm controlling most of those dolls myself, right? I use just as much energy doing it that way as I would if I went around and cleaned everything up myself. You're just too lazy to clean up that pigsty you call a house."
"Whaddya callin' a pigsty?!"
I sighed. "Are you two going to be alright together?"
Marisa shrugged. "Eh, this is pretty much how we always treat each other. Lotsa snark and banter, but never anything bad."
"Mmh, you treat everyone else like that, though," Alice said.
"Like you're any better," Marisa huffed. "If it weren't for me, you'd be a total recluse. Don't forget who paid for all the food and souvenirs at the last Tanabata."
"And don't forget who sewed a yukata for you since you ripped your old one in a Spell Card Duel in the middle of the square." She reached out her hand, and a group of dolls brought out a tea set, some sweets, and a steaming kettle.
"Wait, is the tea already done?" I asked.
"I was making the tea while we were talking," Alice replied. "If you had noticed my hand and finger movements, I was controlling my dolls in the other room and having them boil water and steep leaves." I looked down at her hands, and saw her making very slight gestures, almost like she wasn't moving her hands at all. "They're barely moving at all, huh?" she smiled. "That's because I've been doing this for a long time. Never doubt a dollmaker with decades of experience." The dolls came over to me: one handed me a dish with a teacup on it, which I accepted. Two other dolls brought me the teapot, tipping it to pour black tea into the cup.
"Impressive," I said, sitting down on one of the chairs. "You can use gestures to make these dolls float through the air and control them, like puppets on strings."
"Oh, I do use strings," Alice told me, "they're just invisible. The strings I use to control them are the same as the strings which attach the body and soul. In other words, I attach my very soul to the dolls, and control them as extensions of myself." Some other dolls came to her side. "Of course, I can take manual control, but I can also give them basic commands and have them perform tasks which I have 'programmed' them with, sort of like a shikigami except more rudimentary. None of them have wills of their own…" A doll floated beside her, standing on the arm of her chair, while Alice patted its head. "...but I like to think they do," she smiled. "I even give them names. This one is 'Shanghai.' She's one of my most successful experiments; all the dolls in black dresses are based on her."
"Successful how?" I asked.
"She's an incredibly effective locus for magical energy," Alice explained. "I use her for a few of my spell cards, as well as for my alchemy, divining, and distilling spiritual energy. Right now, I'm using her to assist in my demonology readings, so I can safely set up a circle to summon powerful demons like Flauros and Andras."
"That sounds dangerous," I said. I wanted to interject and boast about how I had personally beat those two into a bloody pulp on several occasions, but couldn't for obvious reasons. Besides, she was likely talking about the real Flauros and Andras, not the shadows taking their shape which I was familiar with.
"An experienced witch like me knows the risks and how to mitigate them, unlike a certain someone whose experiments seems to end with explosions."
"Only because I study high explosives," Marisa claimed.
"Mmh, I'm sure," Alice said, her eyes turning purple.
I pointed at her. "Also, Alice-san, your eyes…"
"They don't call me the Seven-Colored Puppeteer for no reason," Alice smiled.
We continued to make small talk over tea. Marisa was right: Alice did make very good sweets. I asked her for a recipe, hoping to improve my cooking skills enough to not only enjoy it on my own time, but also to have more potential Metaverse healing supplies.
"You're learning how to cook?" she asked.
"Yes," I bowed.
"And that's why you want to know how to make these?" She thought for a moment, then replied, "I guess I could hand over formulas for my sweets, but I'm afraid baking might be above your skill level for now."
I was confused. "How do you mean?"
"Baking is not like other kinds of cooking, where you simply heat up and mix ingredients and spices until they're tender and flavorful. Baking is more of a science, requiring knowledge of chemical and thermal reactions, constituent ratios, mixing the components well and applying the right heat. I almost guarantee your first few attempts will be inedible failures, as mine were. That's why I don't use 'recipes,' I use 'formulas,' because most baked goods fall under one of a few different 'formulas.'"
"But," I interjected, "out there, in Tokyo, there are lots of bakeries, each of which displayed all different kinds of cakes, cookies, donuts, pies, tarts…"
Alice shook her head. "They might all look very different, but when you get down to it, there really are only a few different kinds of baked goods: breads, muffins, biscuits, egg foams, creams, custards, and some other odd ones. You learn how to make one baked good in one of those categories, you already know most of the procedure for others of its kind, and if you want to be a good baker you must commit all of these methods to memory."
I started to wince. "I… I didn't know baking was so complex…"
"I'm merely letting you know what all is involved in baking." She glanced aside, then looked back at me. "I understand Mr. Kirisame is showing you how to cook, but he probably doesn't know how to bake, or at least bake to my standards. Most of Gensokyo doesn't, actually."
"And now that I think about it, neither do most people Outside," I joked. "But, I really am serious about learning how to bake. If I'm going to be living here, in Gensokyo, it would help for me to be more self-sufficient than I was in Tokyo. And besides, your sweets really are delicious."
"Ah…" Alice blushed a bit, possibly because she received a compliment from a man. She shook her head. "I see. Well, if you're serious about learning how to bake, I… I suppose I could show you… but…"
"But… what?" I asked.
"Recently, Marisa brought me a bunch of rather rare materials. She wouldn't tell me where she got them, other than that you helped her gather them apparently. Those materials are highly prized by magicians for their many powerful effects. So, absent Marisa telling me where she finds them, I want you to keep delivering them to me, and in exchange I will teach you baking. Is that a fair deal?"
I thought about Alice's offer: we did find many assorted treasures in the Metaverse. Not all of it was of much monetary value, but people like Alice could find uses for nearly all of it. And not only would learning how to bake improve me as a person, as a man, but the baked goods themselves would be yet another valuable source of consumables we could use to recharge our stamina. Not only that, but consulting with an experienced witch could confer other benefits as well. So, I held out my hand, and shook hers.
"It's a deal," I smiled.
I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Priestess Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…
*fluuuuuuuuuuush*
It was about then that Marisa emerged from the bathroom. "Aw yeah, flush toilets are the best!" She looked over at us. "Did I miss anything important?"
"Not at all," Alice said, sipping the last of her tea. "By the way, did you wash your hands?"
"Implying I never do?"
...hopefully, she always did, I thought to myself.
Before we left, Alice insisted on showing us something she had been working on. Leading us back into her workshop, she practically had a giddy look on her face.
"Rare seein' you like this, Alice," Marisa remarked.
"Oh, but that's only because I'm so proud of it. You two are the first people who get to see!"
She opened the door to her workshop. Almost immediately, I was greeted by the intense scents of paint, clay, oil, lacquer, and wood all mixed together. Over to one side, a heavily scarred work table with several tools hung about it, a bin full of doll bodies, and labelled boxes filled with assorted doll parts such as joints and eyes on a small shelf. Also in the workshop were a sewing machine, balls of yarn and cubbies filled with cloth, needles and other supplies. Strung across the ceiling were origami cranes, and a few balled up scraps of paper sat next to a wastebasket full of them.
And right next to the window, a figure over which a blanket was draped. Alice quickly walked over to it and removed the blanket, revealing what was underneath.
I stepped back in shock. "What is-"
Marisa was also shocked. "Is that a-"
"Yep!" Alice beamed. "Do you like her? I spent almost a year creating her, and finally finished her just a few days ago!"
I had seen many statues in my life, but what Alice had before us was truly something remarkable. It was a life-sized doll, almost my own height, which seemed so realistic, with its smooth skin, glistening blue eyes, silken blonde hair and full, plump lips, one could easily mistake it for a real person. The dress it was in was similarly a work of art, blue with a white apron like her 'hourai' dolls but scaled up. It was so lifelike, I expected it to start moving at any moment.
"I gotta admit, it's so real it's creepy…" Marisa said.
"That's the point! With this, I'm one step closer to finally having my very own living doll!"
"Living… doll?" I asked.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I've sought to create life within my dolls," Alice proclaimed. "Of course, doing so is a violation of the natural order, but that's what being a witch is all about: transcending the bounds of the natural order, and tapping into the power of the supernatural. By creating life, I would stand on the shoulders of the giants of magic and witchcraft!" She turned to the doll and placed her hand on it. "This doll is designed to attract a wandering spirit to inhabit it. I've made it as lifelike as I possibly could. Her skin is smooth, and enchanted to feel like human skin even though it is made of wood. The joints, hands, fingers, jaw, all crafted and enchanted to look and act like natural, fluid joints. Inside, an alchemical chamber, capable of converting food into energy with which to power herself. A magical core jammed full of even more enchantments, spells and curses, designed to make her extremely tough, strong, swift and intelligent." She stepped back, held her hands and smiled. "Out of all my creations, she is by far my masterpiece, my greatest creation yet."
"Wow," Marisa said, "even including the Goliath Doll?"
Alice winced. "Let's… let's never speak of that again, shall we?"
I cocked an eyebrow in confusion. Before I could speak, Marisa looked at me and said, "long story for 'nother time."
I shook my head. "I see."
"Anyway," Alice continued, "she is my pinnacle achievement. All she needs now is a spirit to inhabit it. I was planning on summoning one tomorrow. I'm so excited, I simply can't wait!" She looked at the doll again, then took her hands and moved them over the doll's body. "Mmmm… I made her perfectly proportioned, my image of the perfect woman… oooohhh, I can just imagine-"
"HEY!" Marisa barked. "Don't forget we got a guy here! Save your lewding for when he's gone!"
Alice jumped away, startled, shaking and blushing. "Ah- yes, right! Sorry!"
Marisa looked at her pocket watch. "Well, I gotta fly. It's gettin' late, and I owe a couple and their daughter a favor after they fixed my broom after I broke it dueling Youmu the other day. And I gotta get this guy back to the Village too."
Alice nodded. "Well, you returned the book and I kept you for a while, so I'll let you go now." She looked at me and smiled. "It was nice to meet you, Akechi. I look forward to seeing you soon so I can show you baking."
"My appreciation," I bowed.
On the way back to the Village, me and Marisa talked some more. "I'm sorry you had to see that," she said. "Whenever Alice gets started about sexy women, she… ah, tends to start doing off-color things."
"I see. Does that mean she's a-"
"Open lesbian, makes no secret about it," she finished for me.
"...how does that go for her? After all, same-sex marriage remains illegal in modern Japan, I can't imagine this medieval rural backwater would be at all accepting towards those attitudes."
Marisa shrugged. "You would think, and believe me, you're not the first Outsider to be surprised about the kinds of attitudes we have here." She looked around. "I'm sure you've caught on by now, but Gensokyo has a gender bias. Not so much in the Village where the ratio is split roughly down the middle, but certainly among youkai and gods there is a heavy slant towards females. No one knows why, there just is. Some people think it's because it makes attracting victims easier for youkai, or followers for gods and other things, but the fact is, there's more girls than boys."
"...interesting," I noted. "But, how does that affect romantic attitudes?"
"Well, I mean, most youkai don't have to breed, since they live for centuries or millennia and tend to come about in ways other than, well, yeah. Oni and Tengu are about the only real exceptions; they're more like the Village and have enough men to start normal families. Other than that, most youkai are solitary, but if they do get lonely they basically have three options: one would be to find a very rare male member of their species, which in some cases is impossible. Option two would be to charm a human man and have his child; they would be only half-youkai, of course, but the thing about halfbreeds is they ain't stable."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, humans and youkai are opposed to each other, so one has to overcome the other, even within the same person, and in most cases the youkai half has the advantage. So, after enough time, the kid becomes a full youkai."
"I see," I nodded.
"Finally, option three is just to find a female friend and start a romantic relationship with her. As you could probably guess, that's what happens most often. And then gods, of course, are famously promiscuous to the point where they'd bang a wheelbarrow if you let them, so they don't care if their partner is the same sex or not. And those attitudes trickle all over the place: there's same-sex couples in the Village between girls and even men. Kinda weird how this all happens, ain't it?"
"It is rather ironic," I said. "A mountain town like this in rural Japan would be far more conservative. Women still get chased out for allegedly being witches, you can be kicked out of shops for being a foreigner or even just an outsider, for having visible tattoos and dressing too casually, and, of course, unions are still expected to be between one man and one woman. Even in the cities, nationalists who were either raised in the Imperial days, or had parents or grandparents who were, still cling onto those regressive, fascist ideals and prevent Japan from being as progressive as it ought to be in this day and age. With that in mind, Gensokyo, I believe, would be the last place anyone would imagine is at all progressive, much less to the point where homosexual unions are commonplace."
"I'd never leave Gensokyo to go live Outside if it were offered to me," Marisa said. "Aside from Gensokyo bein' my home, I don't have any skills to survive out there. I don't know anything about 'taxes' or 'rent' or 'budgeting.' How to mess around with all that tech, or deal with everyone lookin' at their phones not talkin' to each other. I'm a social girl, I live for chatting with friends and strangers. And certainly, I don't wanna read all those depressing news stories about some war in a desert country, or how the ice caps are melting, or any of that shit. I'd rather monsters and demons here in Gensokyo I know how to deal with, then thugs, Yakuza and drug hustlers out there I don't."
I shook my head. "I… certainly understand you. Outside must seem like a big, scary, soulless place for someone like you. It was difficult for me, too, as I did not even have a family, as you know." I held up my fist. "But… rather than run away, I chose to face the world's problems, and even if I was the only person doing so work to make it a better place. That's why I became a detective, and fought for justice. If you're going to work with me in the Metaverse, I expect for you to do the same, and not run away."
Marisa seemed conflicted.
"...fight for justice, save the system… but, what if, and just humor me here, what if the system itself was broke?"
"Hm?"
"What if I told you I felt the system was so thoroughly diseased and rotten that the only way to reform it would be to blow it away and start again from scratch?"
My eyes widened. "So, you're suggesting…"
"The world is corrupt, and the only way to solve corruption is to bring down the system, and create a world where everyone can think and act for themselves. A world where there are no sheep, only shepherds, where everyone has the power to change the world, and not be bound by expectations or what 'the Man' tells you to say and think." She clenched her fist and her teeth. "That is the brand of justice I fight for: ridding the world of corrupt systems, busting everyone from the cages of their day-to-day life, and just being the biggest rebel the world has ever seen."
Marisa's way of thinking troubled me: again, I once thought the same things myself, except I sought to sow as much chaos as possible and let the world burn before building it back up. On the other hand, though, her will and determination reminded me of Ren, who too was fucked by the system and had every grudge against it, but who instead sought to give the masses the power to see the evil themselves and work to overturn it. I realized people had their own thoughts on what true justice was, and how I couldn't judge them for it, instead working with them as much as possible to see it done.
"I'm sure we as a team will find justice together," I smiled.
"You betcha! You're the leader after all, we expect only great things! Don't ever fail to deliver!"
"I won't."
It had been days. Several days since I encountered that group in Ethos. They had bested me in combat, then that strange girl with the pigtails hit me with a strange wave which freed me from the tower's control.
Except… now I wasn't sure who I was anymore. What I was, for that matter. I wasn't the Godly General Vajra, even if I resembled him. That much I was certain of. But, if not that, what was my identity? My purpose in this world?
I had hoped to discover the answer by swimming away from the tower, but upon reaching the shore I found only a still, silent landscape, with absolutely no other life, not even other shadows. For days I had wandered aimlessly, trying to find some sign of civilization, but to no avail. I had found what looked like settlements, one in the valley and the other on the flank of a mountain, but neither had any habitation.
I had begun to lose hope of finding anyone or anything. Now I was trekking through a forest with colorful mushrooms taller than I was. There was no sound aside from my own footsteps.
I did not fear any fellow shadows within Ethos. But at this moment, I did feel fear. The fear of isolation, the fear of the unknown, as all that surrounded me was darkness and silence.
This changed as I ventured further into the forest, however. I sensed a strong presence, similar to that of the intruders I faced previously. I worked my way through the trees, brush, and mushrooms, following the presence as it grew stronger. Eventually, I emerged to a clearing, in the middle of which was a cottage. I was curious as to why a cottage was here in the middle of the forest, so I approached the door. Discovering it locked, I inspected the side of the house, and found an open window just large enough for me to crawl through.
Inside the cottage, the presence was even more intense, and I could feel it calling to me, calling for me to come to it. I took in my surroundings: a living room whose shelves were full of dolls. On the table in the center of the room, there was a book, entitled "A Treatise on human Logos, Pathos and Ethos" in Japanese. Passing by one room, I found its door ajar; inside, a blonde girl slept peacefully. She gave off a strong aura, but I could tell she wasn't the center of the presence I was sensing, so I left her be; she posed no threat, and after all I had intruded into her house. Further down the hallway, another room with a chair with a water-filled hole whose purpose I was unsure of, as well as a glowing teal key resting atop it.
Finally, I entered the last room. The strength of the presence was at its absolute strongest here. As I entered, staring back at me was a female figure, whose blue eyes were wide open and whose face was expressionless. At first, I reflexively took a fighting stance, until I realized the figure wasn't moving. Slowly, I walked into the room, inspecting the strange figure. I could practically touch the sheer amounts of power brimming from it, like waves in water. Its skin was smooth. Its hair was silky.
I felt a strange feeling build inside of me. It was… it was like fear, except not quite. I did not fear this figure. In fact, I got the urge to feel it even more. I got closer to it. Much closer. So close, that I began to sense the figure pulling me in, as if it were hollow, and needed something to occupy the emptiness.
And then the world went white.
