Entry 6: Dreams of the Mystic Story
Over the next nine months, only one Incident took place.
Well, it wasn't much of an Incident, all things considered. It was just that the younger Reimu and Marisa had stumbled upon a strange cave, where they met, out of anything and everything that could have been, Outsiders. In a technologically advanced ship.
They also teamed up with a witch named Ellen, a poltergeist named Kana, and two humans named Kotohime and Rikako. They were... an eccentric bunch, to say the least. Ellen was a bit of an airhead, Kotohime collected odd bits and pieces while calling herself a 'police officer' (whatever that meant), Kana just sort of wandered into the group and started haunting the Hakurei Shrine afterwards, and Rikako was, surprisingly enough, a scientist native to Gensokyo.
Marisa guessed that it was traditional for her and Reimu to attract odd people.
Finally, at the end of that cave, was the aforementioned 'technologically advanced ship', called the Probability Space Hypervessel, or something equally stupid.
The leaders (if they could be called that) behind the Incident were one Okazaki Yumemi and Kitashirakawa Chiyuri. Their goal in all this was to prove to the Outside World that magic existed, and in return for helping them, they gave Reimu... a robot maid named Ruukoto.
"Well," Marisa stated plainly. "That's weird."
It really meant something when someone like Kirisame Marisa, who had dealt with many things in life, called something 'weird'.
Of course, as luck would have it, it wasn't long before Yumemi and Chiyuri were back in Gensokyo, having been laughed out of the Outside World (or, at least, their university).
And thus, the group of people that hung around the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu's new friends, grew by seven.
The following month, there was an outbreak of youkai rampaging across Gensokyo. Marisa watched on as her younger self and Reimu flew off towards the mountain range, hunting the source of the Incident.
On their way, they fought a youkai named Orange, and a vampire named Kurumi, whom guarded the way towards a mansion known as Mugenkan, located on the edge of the Lake of Blood.
The memories came back to Marisa, and now that she thought of it, she couldn't recall a time she or Reimu had ever gone back there. You'd think a place with as dramatic a name as 'Lake of Blood' would attract tourists, especially if its in the mountains behind the Hakurei Shrine.
Marisa had flown over that way many times, in hopes of seeing what the 'edge of Gensokyo' was like, only to find herself flying in a single spot without moving. Was that, too, part of Yukari's attempt to cover all this up?
The more Marisa thought about it, the less it made sense. Why was Yukari so against these people? In fact, a good majority of them were humans, for crying out loud.
Marisa followed closely behind her younger self as she did battle with a scythe wielding woman in red named Elly. Strangely, something about this person put Marisa in mind of apples. Couldn't quite say why, though.
Before the penultimate fight, though, Child-Marisa and Reimu paused briefly.
"So," Child-Marisa said first, "who gets first round against the big bad?"
Reimu thought for a moment. "Well, I'd like to say that, as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, I get first dibs," she said, "but you won't take that lying down, right?"
"Damn right I wouldn't," Child-Marisa replied. The two thought about it for a moment longer. "Wanna just... I dunno, rock-paper-scissors?"
"Winner gets round one?" Reimu offered. "Alright, then. Ready?"
Reimu won the game. Child-Marisa huffed irritably, while present day Marisa laughed at the memory. Even at this age, Reimu knew her well enough to know that Marisa nearly always chooses rock.
The further they went in, the more dream-like the world became, until they finally came upon the culprit of this Incident... Kazami Yuuka.
"So that's how we know her," Marisa muttered. "God, it make so much sense now."
Yuuka was certainly... different, to say the least. Probably had to do with having just woken up, but she attacked with far more ferocity than Marisa remembered.
Then, Marisa saw something that caused information to click into place.
Yuuka raised a single hand up, pointing it at Reimu, and began building energy. Child-Marisa, realising that shit was about to hit the fan, flew forward, grabbed Reimu and Genji, and got out of the way. Then, Yuuka fired the first Master Spark.
Marisa watched as her child-self grazed drastically close to the attack, and both had a look of awe in their eyes. It was a thing of beauty, that first Spark. It was rough, sure, and entirely a single yellow colour, but it was still enough to light a 'spark' (ha) in Marisa's heart.
The battle continued, until Yuuka retreated momentarily. The young duo gave chase, and eventually caught up.
"Well, you girls certainly took your sweet time," Kazami Yuuka said, having changed into more familiar clothing. "But, by morning, you both will be a mist of atoms."
There was a momentary pause, as the young Reimu and Marisa looked nervously around. "...And?"
"No, that's it," Yuuka said. "It would have been funny if it did happen, though."
"Never change, Yuuka," Marisa said wistfully. "Never change."
The battle went as you would expect, and once again, 'peace' returned to Gensokyo. Of course, peace in a land like this was, as Izayoi Sakuya once put it, 'a Babel upon the sand'.
The number of oddballs that visit the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu and Marisa's friends, increased by four, with Yuuka, her two gatekeepers Elly and Kurumi, and that smallfry Orange, joined the circle.
Ibaraki Kasen had stopped by a few times, and had... let's say 'choice words' about Reimu's new friends. But, as strong as Kasen was, she knew that, alone, she couldn't do much about them all, and especially the combined might of Yuuka and Mima.
Then, one year later, roughly a year before the Scarlet Mist Incident, residents of Makai began to invade.
Well, not so much 'invade', as much as 'show up uninvited'. They weren't causing much trouble, but they weren't exactly welcome unannounced like this.
So, the young Reimu and Marisa, alongside Yuuka and Mima, surprisingly enough, travelled to Makai in order to give the rulers there a good 'talking to'.
At some point during all that, however, Child-Marisa wound up getting split from the group. So, while Reimu, Mima, and Yuuka, all went ahead to take on the ruler of Makai, Child-Marisa was... just plain lost.
"Where the heck am I?" she asked herself. "Damn, if it wasn't for that ambush, this wouldn't have happened."
The place, to the modern day Marisa, was unlike anywhere in Makai she had ever seen. It was, after all, forested quite heavily, with a simple brick road leading somewhere.
Child-Marisa followed the path, until eventually, she saw something in the distance. The child self floated down to ground level, while the adult Marisa froze in the skies.
She recognised that person. That blonde hair, those blue and white clothes, she knew them from anywhere. That was the figure of the one whom haunted her these days.
At that moment, Kirisame Marisa met Alice Margatroid for the first time.
Five seconds later, there was a startled scream, followed by a lot of bullets flying everywhere.
In the skies of Makai, Reimu led the group of herself, Mima, Yuuka, and the recently defeated Goddess of Makai, Shinki, in their search for Marisa.
"Geez, what's that girl doing?" Reimu asked. "I told her not to get distracted."
"Ah, she'll be fine," Mima said. "Marisa's skilled, and if she is crying under a tree or something, I'm sure one of the nice locals will give her a hand."
"Indeed, Mima-san," Shinki commented. Goddess Shinki was a rather tall woman with silver hair and light blue eyes, and dressed almost entirely in red. Despite holding the title of Goddess, she acted more akin to a mother. "Although, I do hope your disciple is kind if she runs into Alice-chan."
"Alice-chan? Who's that?" Reimu asked.
"She's something of a daughter to me," Shinki answered. "Humans abandoned her in Makai when she was barely older than three, because she was showing signs of magical aptitude. I've raised her as my own ever since." Continuing on, she pulled out a set of photos, and began showing them to everyone. "See? Isn't my dear Alice-chan just the cutest?"
"Oh-ho!" Genji proclaimed. "She certainly is quite the cute one, isn't she? However, I must contest the idea of 'cutest' with a story I might enlighten you ladies with."
"Oh? A tale from you, old man?" Yuuka spoke. "Perhaps... one about our beloved Shrine Maiden?"
"Gramps, don't you freaking dare!" Reimu exclaimed, blushing.
"Where's the harm, Reimu-sama?" Genji asked. "After all, it was upwards of five, maybe six years ago, you refused to release your hold on my shell, calling me you 'Grandpappy'. Oh, how I remember those days fondly."
Laughter erupted from Mima. "Grandpappy?! Oh, that's a good one!"
"Indeed," Yuuka agreed. "I might have to write that down when I get home."
"You'll do no such thing!" Reimu yelled.
Within the span of a few seconds, however, the laughter stopped. The group had come across the signs of a battle, with craters and scorch marks marring the earth.
And, further ahead, two girls stood face to face, slightly battered, but not the worse for wear.
"You're pretty good, you know," Child-Marisa commented. "I think we'll get along well. Name's Kirisame Marisa. You?"
"Alice Margatroid," the other girl responded. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kirisame-san."
Thus marked the start of a long, fruitful friendship. Marisa recalled those day fondly now.
Much of her time as a kid was now spent travelling to Makai, where she and Alice would spend time together polishing their magic, and pushing themselves further in their studies. In time, the two could basically be called inseparable.
Until, one day...
Child-Marisa all but kicked the door to Alice's house in Makai down. "Yo, Alice!" she exclaimed. "Guess what I found?"
"Some manners?" Alice Margatroid rebutted. "Honestly, when will you stop it with the door kicking?" One of Alice's dolls, Shanghai, hovered over to Marisa, holding a cup of tea. "Some tea?"
Child-Marisa took the tea gratefully, and drank it in a single gulp. If she was anything, it was hardy. "Right, thanks. Now, what I wanted to show ya." Child-Marisa pulled a thick, white tome out of her bag, and slammed it on the table.
"Wait, isn't that..." Alice muttered in intrigue and surprise. "That's a grimoire! A pretty old one, too!"
"I know!" Marisa exclaimed. "Dug it out of Mima-sama's old things. Wanna crack it open?"
From the corner of the room, the older Marisa, unseen to all, dreaded what she knew was about to happen. That pure white tome, she knew, was the same one that had been used to seal her Shade. If the Shade was in there during the present, that meant, at this time, something else had to have gotten loose at this point in time, and Marisa was rather scared at what it might be.
The tome was gently opened, as the two youths prepared to view its contents with eager anticipation.
Then, as Marisa had expected, everything went to hell in a hand basket.
Something shot out of the tome, and through Child-Marisa, throwing her through the walls and into the skies above the house. "Marisa-san?!" Alice shouted, quickly giving chase.
Marisa felt the memory of this moment wash over her. Power coursed through her veins, and it felt almost as if her blood was boiling. If this power wasn't released, then she would no doubt die.
So, with a painful scream of agony, Child-Marisa did what she had to.
Raw, unfiltered magic scorched Makai. Buildings were reduced to rubble in mere seconds, people turned to atoms in half that time, and the once beautiful (subjectively speaking) land was turned barren and desolate.
Reimu and Mima were quick to the scene, having sensed something amiss, and reacted with horror as to what's happening.
"That's..." Mima muttered, recognising the power on display. "Shit!" Flying faster than before, Mima scooped up the white tome that had been thrown aside by the chaos, and charged towards Marisa, brandishing her staff. "Marisa! Grit your teeth!"
Mima's staff pierced through Child-Marisa, tearing out a blackening ball of flames. Mima retracted her staff, and shoved the ball into the book, before throwing it towards Reimu. "Reimu! Seal it, now!"
Reimu caught the book, fumbling a little, but quickly did as Mima instructed without question. The tome was wrapped in talismans, which merged down into the book, and the seal was complete.
Slowly, Child-Marisa began to regain consciousness. "Wha... what happened?" she asked in a daze.
"Marisa, that was incredibly stupid of you!" Mima chastised. "Why didn't you at least ask first?"
The memory rushed back to Child-Marisa, as she surveyed the area. So much damage, in so little time. She almost couldn't believe it, but there it was, right in front of her.
"Alice..." she muttered. "Where's..."
She spotted her a few feet away, kneeling before a pile of... something Marisa couldn't quite identify. Before Marisa could call out, she froze, as she finally identified the thing.
At one point in time, that was once a person.
Alice looked up at her, eyes filled with sorrow, anger, and numerous other emotions that could not quite be put into words.
"You..." she said, voice filled with rage. "You did this! Murderer!"
Off to the side, arms wrapped around the white book, Reimu watched nervously. What was she to do? What could she do?
"Reimu-sama..." Genji muttered, equally unsure of himself. "It's..."
"Don't, Gramps," she interrupted. "Please, don't say 'it's alright'. It's... really not."
Just then, an unsettling sound, akin to air tearing apart, was heard. The hairs on the back of Reimu's neck stood on end, as she turned around to see a rather unwelcome person.
"'Really not alright' indeed," spoke Yakumo Yukari, shadowed by her Shikigami, Yakumo Ran. "Do you see now, Hakurei Reimu? This is the price of you getting complaisant."
"But..." Reimu hesitated. "It's not fair."
"It never is," Yukari admitted. "Ran. Prepare the seal."
"Are you sure about this, Yukari-sama?" Ran asked. "If we do this, then..."
"Do not question me on this, Ran," Yukari interrupted. "Do it."
Ran hesitated, before bowing politely.
"What... seal are you talking about?" Reimu questioned. "What are you doing?"
"What needs to be done, Hakurei Reimu," Yukari answered. "These 'friends' you're keeping are, frankly, too dangerous. This needs to be put to an end now."
A bolt of magic shot past Yukari's head, originating from Mima. "Call the rest of us dangerous if you want," she spat, "but there's no way in hell I'm letting you seal those kids too."
"My apologies, Mima, but your opinion is not a factor in this," Yukari rebutted. "Do it, Ran."
Ran hesitated slightly, before clapping her hands together, causing a large, door-like structure to rise from the ground.
"Stop this!" Reimu pleaded. "They don't deserve this! At least not Marisa and Alice!"
A powerful beam of magic struck the door from far away, cracking it greatly. Following that came a rain of bullets upon Yukari and Ran, forcing them back a ways.
A red, white, and violet blur shot past, grabbing Marisa and Alice by the collars, and tossing them from the door and to Reimu. "What are you waiting for, Reimu-dono?" called Meira. "Take them and flee!"
"M...Meira-san?!" Reimu shouted. "What are you..."
Just then, another barrage landed against the Yakumo's. An entire horde of humans, youkai, and Makai demons, led by both Shinki and Yuuka, had arrived to stop Yukari.
Genji, however, had a solemn look to his face. "Reimu-sama," he spoke softly. "I'm afraid... this might be the end."
"What?" Reimu asked, struggling under the weight of Marisa and Alice. "What are you talking about?"
"We can't beat Yakumo Yukari, simple as that," Genji stated. The army, if it could even be called that, fought hard against the Yakumo's, but as one might expect, an electric fan can do little to hold off a tornado. And, as the battle continued, that door began to take form once more. "The best we can do is save you three. That spell is the Regashi no Tori. If it is finished, anything sealed inside it will be lost to time. I will not let that happen to those two."
"But... How can we stop this?" Reimu asked. "What can we do?"
Genji swallowed nervously. "Mima!" he called out. "Prepare the Kioku no Tori!"
"We're actually using it?!" Mima exclaimed. "Gonna suck real bad, just reminding ya!"
"I'm aware of that!"
"Makin' sure we're on the same base! Yuuka!" Mima continued. "Get those kids to safety! The rest of ya!" there was a brief, sombre pause. "We're going to have to go down with this ship."
Yuuka looked sadly over at Elly and Kurumi. "Guess... this is goodbye, then," she muttered. "Strange. I never quite thought I'd feel this way about it."
"Don't worry about it, Yuuka-sama," Elly responded.
"She's right!" Kurumi added. "We'll just trust that you'll be able to come back for us!"
Yuuka allowed a small smile. "I'll do my best to live up to that." Turning around, she flew as fast as she could, scooping up Genji and the three girls.
"Wh... what are you doing, Yuuka?!" Reimu shouted.
Alice reached her hand out backwards. "Mother!" she called. Shinki, in response, waved sadly, before continuing the fight.
Mima chanted a spell, before firing it towards Genji, causing a talisman to form on his back. "Best of luck to ya, partner."
"And right back at you, old friend," Genji muttered quietly.
Mima slammed her staff into the ground, as Shinki flew to her side. "So, you ready for this?" she asked the Goddess.
"As much as I can be," Shinki said. "I won't deny my nervousness, though. That spell you used will seal Marisa-san and Alice-chan's memories, right?"
"Yeah. At the very least, it'll keep Yukari and Kasen off them," Mima admitted. "Sorry for dragging you into this. Shinki."
"If it means protecting my dear Alice-chan, then there's no need to apologise."
"Ran, put the spell on hold," Yukari instructed. "We've some escapees to round up first."
"I... I can't," Ran responded. "They've hijacked the spell!"
Alarmed, Yukari glared at Mima. "Oh so sorry about that," Mima taunted. "I just happen to know that you can only use this spell once, and what a waste it would be to delay it!"
"You..." Yukari muttered, equal parts enraged and surprised. "You would throw your lives away like this? For those two inconsequential children?"
"Sorry, Yukari, but you don't get to make that call," Mima spat. "Just 'cause you had your heart broken by a human, doesn't mean you get to break theirs. Or, should I remind you of your own failures?"
Yukari glared harder. "I know where I've screwed up, Mima," she said. "Kasen and I are only trying to keep Reimu from failing where we have."
"Well, good job on that, buddy," Mima sassed, as the doors came closer to shutting. "Well, see ya in a few years then, [REDACTED]."
Yukari blinked in bewilderment as the door slammed shut. Mima had just said a name, right? A name that Yukari was very familiar with? Yet, somehow, her ears just... couldn't comprehend it.
"Yukari-sama?" Ran spoke, tearing her from her stupor.
"It's nothing, Ran," Yukari said. "I guess they got one over us."
"What should we do about the ones that escaped with Reimu-san?" Ran asked.
"We'll... give them this victory," Yukari decided. "As she stated, the Regashi no Tori is a one-time spell."
As they began to leave, the ground rumbled once more, and, oddly enough, another, larger door grew from the ground, and closed on the first.
Yukari and Ran blinked in surprise. "So, that's their plan, then," Yukari mused. "Seal off the seal, so that we can't do anything more. Smart, for what it's worth."
The world had long since turned white. Before Marisa stood the Regashi no Tori, the Door of Legacy, in all its glory.
"So, that's the truth of it, huh?" Marisa muttered. "That's... everything we've been through."
"Yeah. That's all of it," the Shade responded, walking up beside Marisa.
Marisa looked at the Shade, and felt, of all things, pity. "You've had to put up with a lot, huh?" she asked. "Think you're ready to become whole again?"
"I... I don't know," the Shade admitted. "What... what about our drive? To become the strongest witch?"
"Let's face it, we'll never quite reach that level," Marisa said. "But hey, we can aim to be the strongest magic-using human. That's worth something." Marisa then held her hand out. "So, what do ya say?"
The Shade hesitated, before reaching out and grasping Marisa's hand. "Ah, what the hell," she sighed, as she began to disperse into starlight. "Let's do this."
And just like that, the Shade of Kirisame Marisa was gone. Marisa herself felt... different. Lighter, perhaps. Like she could break an Oni in two with her bare hands.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the white void, followed by a voice.
"Marisa!"
Marisa looked around, and eventually, saw Alice running towards her. Marisa felt a very noticeable pang of guilt form in her heart, though she was quite thankful it didn't cripple her like in the past. "Y... yo, Alice," she greeted as casually as she could. "Took your time, didn't..."
Marisa was cut off, however, when Alice wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace.
"Oh!" Marisa exclaimed lightly. "This is... this is happening? I guess?"
At that point, Marisa realised that Alice was crying. "I... I'm sorry," Alice muttered. "You... you didn't deserve that..."
"Hey, why are you apologising?" Marisa asked. "I'm the idiot that screwed up back then, not you."
"But... but we were kids," Alice rebutted. "You... you shouldn't have had to carry that burden."
Marisa felt her heart grow lighter. "Well, if you're gonna stick to apologising like that," she muttered. "I'm also sorry. I... I was the one who screwed this all up in the first place."
After a good few minutes, the two broke away from their embrace, and looked back at the door. "So," Marisa stated, "how do we do this? Just blast the door with everything we got?"
"I guess?" Alice hazarded. "Reimu didn't exactly tell us how to do this."
Marisa pulled her Hakkero out of her pocket. "Final Spark on the count of three?" she offered. Alice, in response, nodded. "Alright, then. One... two..."
Back at the Hakurei Shrine, a small crowd had gathered around the table, observing the turtle shell with intrigue. The crowd consisted of Rei'sen, Aunn, Shinmyoumari, Suika, and the Three Fairies of Light.
"Reimu told us to look after this guy, but," Rei'sen spoke, "what are we suppose to do? The turtle's not moving."
"Why does Reimu care so much about a turtle?" the fairy known as Sunny Milk asked. "I mean, it's not like they do much, besides eat and move really slowly."
"Who can say?" Suika shrugged.
Then, in the immortal words of those that live in a far-flung dimension, where the world is flat, and exists on the back of a familiar creature: De Chelonian Mobile.
The turtle moves.
A/N:
Alrighty. Flashbacks over, back to the present, and ending off the chapter with a Discworld reference.
In case you were wondering about the whole [REDACTED] thing, that's a teaser for a later project I have in mind. Then again, I'm sure you can guess what is being covered up, but gotta tease these things somehow.
Well, let's press on, shall we?