Chapter 2
The morning sun emerged upon Gensokyo once again. In the Forest of Magic, the blonde hair puppet witch Alice would take one look outside her bedroom window to see a lone purple rabbit hopping off deeper through the woods among the chirps and songs of nearby birds.
"Looks like his Nighthares will be more abundant now." Alice remarked...
Dashing through the trees, under fallen trunks and around the rocks with a hop over a stump the Nighthare would meet with others returning to The Mare. The clear opening to the small shrine like home welcomed their arrival. The faint light of the sun growing brighter with each passing minute before shining into Nahumar's Bedroom.
The warmth of the morning light was something he thought he would never feel again as his dreams were disrupted. He sat up in his western style king sized bed surrounded by a collection of pillows. Some circular, some rectangular and square, while a rare few were triangular. All in different designs. Suddenly, one of the Nighthares made it to his room and immediately hopped onto his lap for attention. The God of Fear gently picked the rabbit up to look directly upon it's shut eyes
"Good morning, little one. Today is officially our first day to see Gensokyo." The god happily declared. The aid those girls provided him, he could spend his morning right. First a quick bath though made harder as his Nighthares wanted to accompany him. Followed with wearing his attire, vest and jacket together. He would walk towards the storage door "Now breakfast-" opening the storage reminded him of his current situation as the dim lit area showed a few boxes.
"Right. I never stored anything but the ambrosia and cacao pods."
Nahumar dug through the crate of Cacao pods and pulled out the yellow tinted oval pods. "They're still good from the seals at least. But i can't exactly-" Soon an idea hit Nahumar as he reminded himself what he talked about yesterday.
"That's right! Reimu mentioned a little shop." And with a determined smile on his face the god shoveled a good couple of pods into a small basket to carry with him. Breakfast can wait, right? After all he needed some money and nothing screamed big money like fresh cocoa beans! Thus he took the portion he would bring with him as the Nighthares all started to frolic around the main clearing once more around the shrine home in the Mare.
"I'll be off!" he called to the rabbits before heading off through the forest on foot.
He needed to learn the lay of the land before taking to the skies after all. So there he headed in through the forest...Each step crunching a leaf or two as the soft earth beneath him was different from the shrine area. Mushrooms at every turn and rock. A sight to behold to be sure. Then taking a left before right ended Nahumar's trek at a strange home in the forest. It looked very strange to see a non-japanese structure to him or anything like it but perhaps this was Marisa's house? He could stop to at least check on them so with a knock on the door the god of fear waited...and the door opened to reveal someone else. He had seen her yesterday briefly with Marisa. Short blonde hair with a dress of blue and red ribbons while accompanied by a small little doll with a red hair bow on the back. Nahumar could recall faintly her name.
To her shock upon opening she looked to Nahumar "Oh greetings! You're...Nahumar from yesterday, right? The one we helped with the home cleaning?" her voice sweet though underlying the witch like nature of the puppeteer.
"Oh yes. You are...Marisa's friend? Sorry I might of forgotten." The shameful look on his face said much of how he didn't pay attention though she reminded him "I'm Alice Margatroid."
but her eyes drifted to the bag he held and asked openly "Are those Cacao pods? How did you get your hand on them?"
"Oh these!" He pulled up one of the dim yellow pods with two hands to showcase to Alice. "I have a whole crate of them in storage. I was going to see if i could sell them for some money cause-" his stomach growled at the worse time. "I'm hungry and I have no food...H-heh."
"Geeze." Alice huffed and grabbed Nahumar's arm to pull inside her home without a no. "Come on, I'll give you some eggs and toast in exchange for a pod." The puppet witch sat the god of fear at the table while she led her puppets on string and magic aid her in cooking. Nahumar sat the basket down beside him and looked around the home. He never exactly saw a place like this before. With the scent of eggs frying, some coffee and bread toasting it was a morning he wouldn't mind having now and then. So he took one of the Cacao pods from the crate and placed it upon the table in advance.
"I am not sure if you like coffee but i did put a bit more sugar in yours." Alice was going to have to get comfortable with a new neighbor in the forest. Today seemed like the best time. Once after a few more flips and the toast taken off the heat she plated the slice with two eggs and placed it before the god.
"Wow. I am quite famished." Nahumar picked up his utensils-
"Hold it!" Alice shouted. Nahumar froze midway into putting the fork to the plate as he looked up. "Before you do that, please put your hands together flat and repeat what i say."
A god being told by a mortal what to do? Strange...but there was no excuse with how far flung he was from the customs. Best learn now before offending more people. So with his hands flat and clasped as if praying, Alice said "Thank you for the meal."
"T-thank you for the meal."
Out of the woods, Nahumar stumbled upon the odd shop with the name 'Kourindou' upon it and a collection of various oddities littered around the yard, including strange tall machines. A little intimidated by these stange things the God of Fear pushed forward and knocked on the door. "Hello? Anyone home?"
No answer. Nahumar then opened the door carefully and poked his head in. "Excuse me? This is Kourindou's, right?" again calling out as the inside of the building. Shelves of random wares and items even he couldn't perceive in his life. Then he heard the sound of rustling from the back room. "One moment!" and from the back room drapes came a fairly tall man with white locks and glasses. His attire of a blue and black coloration and sat behind the counter. "You're a new customer. What are you looking for?" to which his eyes glanced to the Cacao pods then back to Nahumar. Did he not question how he looked or anything? This was a new feeling to Nahumar. Not being judged if god or human.
"Oh hello. I'm Nahumar, God of Fear. I've been recently released from my seal and i was told i could exchange my cacao pods here for some extra cash."
The man blinked then waved his hand. "Sorry. I don't have much money here. Best i can do is trade for other goods."
"Wait but how do i make money? You see, I need to stock my pantry after being sealed for so long but i don't have any of your currency."
"Your best bet is sell in the Human Village. I'm more of a curio shop. But you are free to come back if there's anything that interest you."
"Hmm...So human village...got it. Thank you...uhh i'm sorry what was your name?" Nahumar asked.
"Rinnosuke. If you come across anything odd don't be afraid to stop by and let me have a look at it." he introduced himself. Nahumar nodded and thanked the man before walking out of the shop.
With better direction from Rinnosuke, Nahumar headed off to the human village with his basket. Worry started to emerge from the god as he wasn't sure if people knew of his existence or remembered at all? Yet taking his steps down the pathway through the village...nothing. He was ignored. No one paid mind aside how he looked. A heavy sigh of relief washed over him while making his way to a vendor and hopefully exchange his Cacao pods for Yen. In the middle of his transaction however, the white and black witch Marisa approached him with a big old grin.
"Yo! Whatcha' doing in the village Nahumar?" her smile everbright and friendly.
"Marisa. Well...I have nothing to eat in my stores so i'm about to go shopping." Nahumar raised a sack of Yen he planned to take.
Marisa gave a sharp whistle "Dang! That's not chump change. What did you sell?"
"Cacao pods."
Marisa soon realized that Nahumar might not of realized the danger he could be in carrying that mass sack around and instead went to grabbing his wrist to tug along. "We can't sit around idle if you need supplies. Come on! To the market!"
A shopping trip with Marisa of all people. Nahumar couldn't help but be dragged by Marisa everywhere while she was conducting more of the business without his input.
"Yeah a big barrel of rice. Shipping address..."
"Salt Cured Fish unless you have one of those cool ice boxes like Rinnosuke owns. Oh and meat!"
"Yeah let's go with-"
"Marisa!" Nahumar finally announced to her despite wanting these items already. "Can we take it easy? I'm not sure how long these items will last. Plus i could just use more vegetables. Onions, peppers, beef bones and the like." he tried listing as Marisa gave her big grin.
"Of course, Mar." a nickname? So quick too. The whole situation went from ten to one hundred in an instant with Marisa.
"Well good because I also have to think of my Nighthares and-"
"Hey Mar get over here! Fresh buns out of the steamer!" Marisa...was already at the next stall with his sack of Yen to buy two meat buns without his permission.
"H-hey! Don't go stealing someone's wallet like that." Nahumar tried to scold the witch stuffing her face with a meat bun while offering the other to him.
"Mnnfh?" With a swallow Marisa told him "I'm not stealing. It's borrowing."
She was a handful...But helpful. "Fine i'll let it slide this time, but you're not going to borrow more from me, got it." though tasting one of these meat buns had peaked his interest in wanting to cook them himself. So on top of the nessecities he also aimed to get flour for the dough and learn of the fillings. By the time their shopping venture his bag was past half empty in money maybe more but they stood there with the crates and barrels of items he had to buy.
"Man that's a lot of stuff. You sure it's okay to not take it to my shrine?" Nahumar openly asked Marisa who took a triumpant posture. "Yeah Mar. Leave this to me! I know some people who can help." Then patting his back to encourage him "Why not take a walk around town more or something? Enjoy yourself!"
Now that he had covered the delivery to his shrine, he had more free time to do whatever until then much to his dismay. Yet Maria seemed trustworthy. The sun was still up. Then thinking on it, Nahumar decided to find where the Hakurei Shrine was again. "It's been ages..." he told himself quietly as he headed from Kourindou towards the west as instructed. No path leading this direction was visible but the way did have some notable landmarks and stone lamps and occasional old paths...until he spotted the large gate of red at the base of a tall set of stone steps leading up to something above.
"...Right now i remember. This is a Torii. So the shrine must be above."
Nahumar decided to not fly in this time and instead approach the shrine from the steps. The higher he went the more he realized the altitude was his kind of higher than expected. With each step the god reminded himself of his old land before Gensokyo. A temple built upon a very tall mountain. It wasn't until he reached the top did he find himself at the shrine grounds. The building in the distance with the red and white maiden before it idly sweeping a few leaves to the side. Her attention fixed on the grounds. Nahumar felt a similar feeling like his own shrine in a way...but he couldn't quite understand. Suddenly, Reimu locked eyes on him and Nahumar simply waved back.
"Oh you came earlier than expected. What brings you to the shrine?" Reimu gave the most casual greeting of all. No formality or professionalism in it.
"Figured i'd take a quick stop by after shopping to fill my pantry. I wanted to thank you again for-" Reimu then raised a hand to Nahumar to shush him. "Seriously no need to be overly polite. Being sealed by a Hakurei Priestess before kind of makes me responsible for anything you do or happens. Consider it more of a landlord situation."
"L-Landlord!?" He felt a bit demoralized that Nahumar never considered himself just 'renting' land. "Me...A god once revered reduced to nothing but a squatter..."
"You get use to it." The priestess shrugged. Reimu placed the broom aside then asked him "By the way, Do you know about Danmaku? You were sealed pretty early on so i'm assuming no."
Nahumar shook his head. "I know very little on Danmaku."
"Well...Consider this a special lesson. I'll teach you how to use Danmkau. It's the safest form of handling incidents in Gensokyo. It's kind of a martial arts but these are duels not to the death. They also help level the playing field. As well we use them kind of a spectacle at times. I want you to understand the basics so you don't end up killing people randomly, got it?" the way Reimu talked was far more taking her role serious in this moment but there was that hint of a girl wanting to have a lazy day.
"Danmaku...well i wouldn't mind giving it a try. Mind showing me a demonstration?"
"Certainly."
Reimu would stand before Nahumar as she then tossed a sphere of light surrounded by four other different colored spheres that passed him by. The pretty colors were a sight to behold. "Now try to imagine a bullet patten like that in your own way." thus Nahumar got to focusing what he could. Purple, Black and silver colors forming before letting the formation take the shape of a crow's beak before him. Reimu tapped her chin when she saw how it fired. "Not bad. Could use a bit more work but maybe you need to spar a little. I'll go easy on you-"
"Wait!" Nahumar held his hand in defiance. "Fight you? Won't this hurt?" to which she rolled her eyes in slight annoyance. "No. At worse you might rip my clothes but nothing bad will happen. Go ahead. Try to shoot me down with whatever patten you feel like throwing out."
As to why Reimu wouldn't teach him further? There was a moment that she realize he had some training before but maybe what Nahumar needed was practice. So with Gohei in hand, Reimu prepared for the worst.
"...A-alright." His nerves shot as the god of fear felt off. The stance he took resembled one who would hold a spear behind him. Standing tall and imposing with one hand ready. He got to make the first move and with a swipe of his hand he generates a current of bullets both black and purple in varying sizes of circles aimed around Reimu. She easily sidestepped without much resistance while finding the gaps. Retaliating with her own patterns and striking Nahumar a few times on his body.
"Your patterns are too spread! Don't be afraid to get tighter to make your opponent graze them." though hearing such a line, all Nahumar could see was the old Shrine Priestess teaching him before. So Nahumar changed his attacks and designs. Now spinning what would be a spear in his hand emitting bullets of oval and circles. The ovals flying faster while the circles floated in the direction and forming small chances of gaps. Trying to catch her off guard. Once more she easily passed through but a smile formed. "Good good! But you can't keep doing it forever!" and another hit came from behind as she used a few more bullets that wrapped around back onto him.
"F-fine." the God of Fear reached into his jacket to pull a spellcard with an emblem on the back. Raising it up to present it. "Phobia Sign 'Within the Spider's Nest'!" shouting the spell as Reimu saw bullets wrapping around his form. They shaped six legs of black bullets and six eyes of purple staring down at Reimu while smaller white bullets formed a hexagonal shaped web with lines between them. Interchanging left and right weaving to try and catch Reimu off guard.
"Hey! I didn't say use a spellcard now!" Reimu though never told him not to...but a spell this easy to dodge showed he was not using anything too strong. So she weaved in and out getting a feel while seeing how that spider form really was off putting with it's black body and six purple eyes. Midway through bullets of green started spraying in a scattered cone shot towards her position. Narrowly dodging them in the process.
Finally, Reimu saw a chance. She pulled her own spellcard and countered.
"Spirit Sign 'Fantasy Seal -Circle-'!" the rainbow of colors that Reimu threw out with this spell homed in on his position breaking through the bullets and impacting him. Each one slamming against his body until Nahumar eventually fell to the ground...pain shooting from falling so high up as he was slipping into a state of unconsciousness.
"Hey...You alright?" Reimu's words were muffled before silence and darkness. Nahumar had no idea what happened after but he assumed that the fight was over...
Nahumar fell unconscious for a while. Even he was not sure what happened after his eyes closed.
Then...something soft. A feeling of warmth. Stirring from his slumber, the God of Fear would open his eye to see Reimu above him and the sunset orange sky.
"Finally awake? You took a good pounding from the spell." was he resting on her lap!? Nahumar felt his cheeks flare up from the idea.
Nahumar asked "H-how long was i out?"
"You were out of it for a good long while."
"Seems like i overdid it too...Sorry, I got so into the match-"
"No apologies. Now about your body."
Nahumar blinked. "W-what do you mean? Did i break a leg?" he asked. Reimu though shook her head and told him "No. You're...a sphere."
It was at that moment, Nahumar realized that Reimu saw what he truly looked like. His body turned back into the head sized sphere of black with purple sclera and one single black eye. His whole body resting in Reimu's lap. Defenseless. He was screwed if people knew about his true form...
"...Please don't tell anyone i look like this! I beg of you!" he pleaded to the best of his ability but Reimu tried to stop a heckle before she laughed out loud.
"Come on! I wouldn't do that. Not when you're that cute." she poked at Nahumar's body.
'Cute?' he thought. Never had he heard someone call his real self cute. The bright pink turning red on him from embarrasment. "No one would believe me that the 'god of fear' is a beach ball with a single eye." the amusement in her voice as Nahumar tried to roll off her lap and onto the wooden panel of the shrine beside her.
"W-well thank you but i should get going home now-"
"Can you even make it home looking like that?" Reimu, now changing her tone to a more serious model pointed out to Nahumar.
"No...In fact i can't exactly do much aside hover a few feet off the ground. So flying is out of the question."
"Why not stay here for the night?" The priestess offered. "I think i have a pillow perfect for you to sleep on."
Night time came and Nahumar took to the pillow upon the table laid for him. His sphere body snuggling and wiggling to get as comfortable as possible while he waited for Reimu to finish in the bath. The sound of water and nothing else. When was the last time he ended the day with another in the area? He waited and silently listened to the faint movement of water from the bath. About a few minutes later he would see Reimu come around the corner to her bed wearing a white robe. Her hair let down and ready for bed. Nahumar curiously watched her like a cat as the priestess removed the rolled up futon from the closet and set it out for her to sleep on.
Nahumar had no idea what the white futon was and tilted his body. "That's a massive pillow." he commented. "It's not a pillow. It's a Futon." Reimu corrected the god before opening the sheets and shifting underneath them. "Now get some rest." and promptly eased her eyes closed. Letting her body relax. Nahumar smiled, even if his eye couldn't convey without a proper mouth. "Goodnight then, Priestess." He defaulted to a more proper term. He thought to himself.
'Today was amazing. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!'
His eye closed and the dreams flowing back...To a simpler time. Before Gensokyo. Before the fall of his original home...With family.
"Aunt Hecatia. Brother won't stop picking on me..."
"Not my fault you're always crying to mom, Baby."
"Now now you two. Your both still fairly young as gods. There is no need to hate each other. Fear and Terror are a team. Without the other there will be problems. Though you should still apologize for hurting your bother, D_S."
"Lame...Fine i'm sorry P_S."
"Apology accepted."
"Good! How about you two come to hell with me for a bit? I got some chocolate."
"Can we!?"
"Of course. I'm sure your father will be okay if you took a little break from work."