Chapter 5: A Tale of Two Puppeteers

Inside a small igloo on the shore of the Misty Lake, a fairy lay, shivering. Despite the freezing temperature, it was not the cold that so affected the fairy, but fear. Her tiny body trembled as she wriggled deeper beneath her blankets, hoping that if she hid beneath their warm embrace she might be safe from the unknown terror outside. Normally brash and fearless, one look at the bloodstained Reimu had been enough to shatter Cirno's courage and send her fleeing. Not long after the noises had started, terrible sounds of some great battle. Louder than thunder, the echoes still rang in her ears as a ceaseless wailing. She gave a small whimper, and pressed her face into her pillow in the hopes that its cottony folds might drown the incessant screeching from her mind. At any moment, she half expected some fearsome, bloodthirsty figure to break down the walls of her little home and tear her apart.

Cirno's entire body tensed as she felt a gentle hand press against the back of her head. Her whimpering grew louder as she scrambled to retreat fully beneath her covers, vaguely hoping that her blankets might protect her from the unknown intruder. For some time she lay, silently, terrified, as the intruder did little else but gently rub her head in a motherly fashion. Eventually, the quiet was broken by a gentle, quiet voice.

"Oh, my sweet child. What terror is in you that drives you to hide yourself?"

Cirno's body began to relax, but she still trembled from head to toe. Mustering all the confidence and beligerance she could, she responded, "I'm not scared at all. It's just cold is all, plus I'm tired."

The gentle voice chuckled. "Indeed, it is cold, yet how could that affect one such as you? It is alright to be afraid, child."

A blush crept across the fairy's face. She at last raised her head from her pillow, a pout adorning her face. "I told you, I'm not scared. I'm the strongest. Everyone aught to be scared of me!"

Cirno met the eyes of the stranger, their rich, brown gaze enveloping her own with kindness and warmth. The woman's pale skin was marked with writing, although Cirno could not make any of it out, therefore proving it was nothing worth knowing. Gently, the figure carried Cirno's head over to her lap, where she ran her fingers through the fairy's hair softly. Cirno found herself growing sleepy.

"Of course, my child. You are the strongest in all of Gensokyo. One such as you should never know fear, and yet, you stand all alone. You need a guide to show you the true extent of your potential."

Cirno found it difficult to keep her eyes open. The fear that was in her earlier seemed to be leaking from her chest. In this woman's embrace she felt truly safe. She muttered, lazily, "I don't need anyone's help. I'm the strongest."

The woman chuckled again, and placed her hands gently around the fairy's cheeks. "I could make life so much easier for you, my child. I could guide you to the place you deserve to be. Please, just let me help you."

Dozily, Cirno mumbled, "What'chu want in return?"

The gentle hands wrapped her up in a warm embrace. Cirno felt herself drifting off to sleep. As the world dimmed around her, the voice replied, "I want you to seize the life you deserve. All I need you to do is trust me."

She did trust her. She couldn't explain why, but for some reason, Cirno found herself trusting this stranger absolutely. A gentle snore sounded from her as she fell into a deep and peaceful slumber.

Carrying her newest pawn in her arms, Chishiki Libre left the cramped igloo and strode off back towards her hidden base within the Youkai Forest. She pulled from her skin one of many thousand lists, and with ink dribbling from her fingernail, ticked a box. The fairy, the firefly, the shadow, the songbird… Such wonderful pawns they would make. None of them knew what they were really, truly capable of, and all of them were so shockingly naive. One couldn't ask for better minions.

Cirno

Frozen Fairy of the Lake

Alice Margatroid snapped awake, the light of a young moon shining down on her through the canopy of trees towering above. In the bleary transitory moments of awakening, she couldn't find the memories as to why it was she awoke here, bowed against a blackened tree, her body aching, her clothes charred and stained with blood and dirt. Holding her throbbing head, she reached around blindly for any clues to her current situation. As her hand felt something hard, she raised it to her eyes, a broken doll's lifeless painted features meeting her own. In an agonising rush, the memories returned to her. Her grip tightened, and the wood splintered between her fingers.

She tried in vain to rise to her feet; evidently her body was in no state to be moving on its own accord. With a flick of her fingers she searched for any of her dolls still intact enough to move. As three cracked, scorched dolls limped over to her, she felt tears of anger and grief well up in her eyes. It was not Reimu who filled her with sorrow and rage, Alice knew that Reimu too was simply angry and hurt. She did not know who it was to which she owed her debt of vengeance, but she knew that she would not rest until she found out.

With creaking, laboured movements, the three dolls raised Alice over their shoulders and set off for her cabin, deeper into the forest. It was a long way to Eientei, she was going to need some reinforcements to make the journey.

The moon was far higher in the sky when Alice at last arrived at the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. The joints of her dolls creaked as they lowered her to the floor, a small army standing at attention around her. Alice knew better than to attempt the journey through the bamboo forest to Eientei alone. Without luck or a guide, she knew the moon would be well below the horizon before her journey was complete. Sighing to herself, she rubbed her aching ribs, and looked up at the sky. The moon and stars all looked as they always did. The white light of the night sky painted the world around her in its cold, steady embrace. To the moon, it was as though nothing unusual had happened; as though this night was any other that had come before. Yet, to Alice, it was as though the sky was taunting her. Her eyes made out the invisible scarlet thread wrapped around the moon, the rivulets of blood dripping down into her world, staining everything red and lifeless.

"Marisa is gone." The thought kept echoing through the empty void in her mind, the space where hope had once been. "She is dead and she will never know how much you needed her." She swallowed, almost choking on the knot blockading her throat. The thoughts continued, unbidden, but not at all unexpected.

"Did she die hating you?" she wondered. "She was within her right. You always treated her like a rival, never like a..." She clutched her head in a futile attempt to stop that one last word from coming to light, but upwards from the depths of her subconscious it bubbled regardless.

"Never like a friend. You never showed her how special she really was. Of course she died hating you."

Alice clenched her fist, and in response the legion of dolls around her began to glow with rainbow light. Her brow furrowed, a dancing multicoloured flame springing to life within her eyes. With aching, bloodied arms, she forced her body at least to sit, as she announced her declaration to the world.

"I'll make it up to you," she swore, choking the words through battered lips. "I'll find the one that did this to you. I'll make them pay a thousandfold."

A fiery voice responded from the forest, marked by an orange glow. "I believe Kaguya to be a foe beyond you, although you're welcome to try."

As Fujiwara no Mokou emerged from the bamboo, she gave a sympathetic smile. "Although, somehow, I suspect you weren't talking to me."

She approached the wounded Alice, bending down to take a closer look as the legion of dolls looked on suspiciously. A hiss of empathy escaped her lips as she assessed the damage.

"You look to be pretty badly beaten, youkai. I presume you're on your way to Eientei?"

Alice attempted to look Mokou in the eye, but felt her arms give out beneath her. She gave a cry of pain as she collapsed into the waiting arms of her dolls, before muttering, "Yes, I am."

Mokou turned sharply on her heel and began to stalk back into the forest. "Follow me, then," she called over her shoulder.

Once more, the legion of dolls all clustered around Alice, supporting her weight, carrying her deeper into the forest. For a handful of minutes they progressed as such; the human in front lighting the path with a ball of fire cupped in her hands, the youkai behind carried aloft by an army of dolls. Shortly afterwards, Mokou stopped, turned around, and rolled her eyes.

"You can't walk, can you? Ah, this is going to take forever. Just..."

The light vanished as the flames in Mokou's hands flickered out. A second passed in darkness, then another, before Alice felt herself being hoisted into the air. Strong, yet gentle hands wrapped around her, carrying her as a man might his wife. Despite the situation, Alice felt a slight blush spread across her cheeks.

Once more light flared out into the forest as wings of fire burst from Mokou's shoulders. The waving orange light shone across the bamboo all around them, swaying and weaving as the flames flickered and sparked. Wreathed in shadow, all Alice could make out were two reddish-brown eyes staring at her.

"We can come back for your toys," Mokou stated. "You need treatment. Just looking at you hurts."

With a powerful jump and a flap of her blazing wings, Mokou took to the air, with Alice held gently but securely in her arms. The bamboo flashed past as the pair sped through the forest. All was quiet for a time, with only the rushing of air around her reaching the dollmaker's ears. She felt her mind drifting back to places she would rather avoid, and burning rage welled up once more within her.

"I've seen that fire before," muttered Mokou.

Surprised, Alice simply asked, "What do you mean?"

Mokou's features darkened. "Your eyes. I've seen that fire before. You would do well not to let it consume you."

Alice scowled. "They took someone I… Someone I loved. I have to find them."

"I understand. More than you may realise. Certainly, find them, whoever they are. Make them pay for their sins, but remember this."

Her eyes softened, and a great sadness appeared within them. "Don't let revenge be everything that you are. Don't lose yourself hunting your enemy. Whoever the person is that you lost, don't become someone they wouldn't like just to avenge them."

The rushing of wind fell to a standstill, and Alice was nearly dazzled by the light shining out from the mansion in front of her. Mokou lowered her gently to the ground before the door.

"We're here. Think about our conversation, won't you?"

She knocked three times upon the door, before once more leaping into the air and vanishing into the forest. Alice lay alone, lit by the brilliant light of Eientei. She could hear a great commotion from within the mansion, and from the forest, silence. Alice Margatroid had never felt quite so lonely in all her life. She began to cry softly, the tears trickling down her face like morning dew.

Fujiwara no Mokou

Immortal Smoke and Waking Ash

Deep within the Youkai Forest, the Amanojaku Seija Kijin walked irritably. It was bad enough to be found by a fairy, but for said fairy to present her with a suspicious invitation? It was a nusiance, to be sure, and yet… Certainly, such an occurance was highly intriguing. She once again went over the letter in her mind, its irritatingly flawless calligraphy taunting her.

"Seija Kijin

It is my deepest hope that this letter finds you well. You may consider me something of a sympathiser to your cause, a cause which seems sadly to have been systematically put down by those with power. You have been the subject of unfairness, poor etiquette, and cruelty by the powerful, simply for the crime of supporting the weak.

I believe that it may be time to right the wrongs inflicted upon not only yourself, but all the suffering many of this world. The powerful will have their way until the weak and disenfranchised unite as one.

I have thus far had some minor successes in my own endeavors to bring vengance to the untouchable forces of this world, yet I know all my efforts will be endlessly stronger with your support. I propose a union between us, that all the mighty shall tremble.

If this proposal interests you, please follow the one that delivered this message to you. She will lead you to me.

Yours most sincerely, Lady C."

Seija was uncertain as to whether or not she was walking into a trap, but the small wooden Jizo statuette nestled within her pocket gave her the confidence to continue. So it was that she walked through the Youkai Forest, far from the safety of her hideout, following the buzzing wingbeats of the fairy ahead of her.

"Are we almost there?" she whined.

The fairy's buzzing came to a halt as she wheeled around. A patient smile crossed her face as she responded, calmly. "Not too much further now, Kijin-sama. Please be patient."

Seija scowled. Something about being treated respectfully irked her. Those that were treated with respect, these were the people that had to go down. She decided to pester the fairy, to break its endearing facade.

"So, this Lady C," she asked, "Who is she?"

The fairy looked at her with an expression of pure delight. "Oh, I'm so glad you asked!" she cheered, clapping her tiny hands. "Lady C, that's what we call her, or just 'The Lady'. She's a great woman, wonderful, she is. She found all of us when we were at our most hopeless and helped us find how strong we really are! Mostly her followers are kinda new, but us forest fairies have known her for years now. She's sweet as honey, she is. Always there for us! Sorta like some kind of forest mother that we never really had. She's so warm and gentle! She says that fairies are the truest lives and not humans or youkai can compare to us, only we need to work together more and that's what she's gonna help with! She talks about this bright future she's gonna build for us, only we all need to chip in, and that's why I've gotta be polite to the nasty amanojaku, and..."

The fairy bit her lip, looking bashful. Seija smiled, things were as they should be. Cheerfully, she replied, "Well, you'd best lead me to her then."

The fairy gave a nervous bow and continued onwards. It wasn't much longer before the pair entered a small clearing, marked by a rusted old folding table that had evidently fallen through from the Outside World. At the far end of the table sat a woman dressed in black and silver. Her black hair flowed elegantly over her shoulders like a river of ebony. Upon her face sat an expression of the utmost kindness and warmth. Seija felt sickened by the sight, but all thoughts of distaste quickly fled from her mind as she noticed the item adorning the table. A small octagonal box, marked with a Tao at its core. Marisa Kirisame's mini-Hakkero sat, abandoned by its owner, in the middle of a table in the depths of the woods.

The woman stirred, her eyes meeting first with Seija's, and then with the fairy's. She smiled, a warm, gentle smile, and from her throat came a voice like syrup.

"Thank you, Lily. You have been most helpful. Now, please, return home and rest."

The fairy gave a timid bow before flitting off, giggling to herself. Chishiki Libre waited until she was out of earshot before changing her expression. Still with an air of gentleness, the softness of her features contorted into a serene expression of utmost wisdom. She gestured for Seija to take a seat, before steepling her hands on the tabletop.

"Seija Kijin," she stated, her voice dripping with quiet intellect. "Thank you for meeting me."

Seija frowned, deeply mistrusting this stranger. "Yes, I decided you were worth investigating. What do you want?"

Chishiki spread her arms, a flock of origami swans fluttering from them like butterflies. "The question is not what I want, my child, but rather this. What do you want?"

She rose from the table, marching in an arc around its side. A single gentle hand caressed it's surface, pausing on the scratched surface of the mini-Hakkero. All around, the origami swans flapped and fluttered in a delicate swarm of paper. Lowering herself to the amanojaku's level, she placed a hand below her chin and locked her eyes to the youkai's gaze.

"Tell me. What is it that you truly want? What is the image your heart yearns to paint across the world?"

Seija rolled her eyes, giving a disrespectful huff and pushing Chishiki's hand away roughly. "It's obvious what I want, isn't it? I want to punish the powerful few for all the suffering they've inflicted on people like me. I want to turn the world on its head."

Chishiki laughed slightly, placing her hand upon Seija's head. "Oh, my dear child, if that is truly what you wished, the world's toes would be above us at this moment. One such as you, the world's order would not stand the merest fraction of a chance. You are a living inversion; a personification of change. Change should flow from you like water bubbling forth from a spring, and yet, it does not. You keep your truest power chained because in your heart, you know that the world's great inversion is not truly your desire."

The goddess gently ran her hands along Seija's hair, launching a shudder down her spine. Again, she seized the youkai's chin and forced her eyes to unify with her guest's. In the gentlest whisper, carrying all the love and fury in the world, she once more asked. "Do not lie to me, Seija. Do not obscure the deepest fragments of your soul from me as you do to all else, even to yourself. I am knowledge itself, and I will know."

There was the sound of fluttering pages, and the ink-soaked lines encircling Chishiki began to melt and shift. Like a page from a printer, ink-scored paper peeled from her arm, bearing only a few words in a rough, angry font.

"I want that which all others do not. I want the desires of all in the world to go unfulfilled. I want the great smile of the world to change into an eternal frown."

Chishiki smiled, patting the amanojaku softly on the head. "There we go, my child. Honesty truly is the best policy."

Seija shook her head, wildly. "I don't exactly know what you're doing here but that's crazy. I..."

Chishiki placed a gentle finger over Seija's lips, and smiled. "You may hide out there in the world, dear, but here you will speak truly. Before you lie, you must know truth, and as such I alone may speak deceit."

The goddess stepped back, standing once again to her full height. Seija opened her mouth to speak, but found her usual flood of words dried up and barren.

Chishiki's face grew darker, capturing all the terror of a vast and angry cosmos within her eyes. "You speak of power," she began, her voice high and low and all tones in between. "You speak so brazenly, and yet you have no clue what power really is. In this world, strength is meaningless. Speed is useless. One can wear the strength of an oni, the speed of a tengu, the resiliance of a lunarian, and still be powerless. True power lies in powers, in the seeds of unique ability at the core of every player on the world's stage. Who cares your strength when the crystal-winged vampire can dismantle you with the closing of a hand? Who cares your speed when the one in between can meet you at the end when first travelling to the furthest reaches of the universe? In order to be powerful, one must have a power, and yet powers lie silent. Even you carry a power that could shatter the shape of the world, and yet it too lies silent."

She paced back and forth, paper peeling from her skin, poetry of fear and struggle marring its pure white surface with horror. There was an icy fire in her eyes, it bore through Seija's vision and into her soul. She could see not a shred of feeling in those eyes, merely pure determination and a will to endure. The goddess continued.

"I have never had the luxury of idleness. I am a weak, fragile story in a world of giants. Every tool at my disposal I have had to bring to bear towards every challenge, every foe. My power is one of books and stories, it cannot begin to compare to yours, and yet… And yet. I killed the black-white magician. I sent the red-white maiden to her death. I set the gods so much stronger than I that their breath alone could break me at each other's throats. Yet, even still, I hide in the shadows of the trees like a rat, because I live in a world of giants, and I am small. You dare to claim you understand what it is to be weak, when the power you hold could tear down the giants that march around us? You don't even know what you can do, yet, I am knowledge. I am the tutorial for your power. I can make you a giant as they are. You can tear them from their mantles if you simply read me."

Chishiki turned around, the dread fading from her eyes, and returned to her seat atop the rusty folding chair. Seija shook her head, dazzled by the tirade. She raised an eyebrow, and smirked.

"You say I'm all that strong? I too have struggled for all my life. My power is so great, you say? I flip things. How do I unravel the world that way?"

Chishiki steepled her fingers. "You do not merely 'flip' things, my child. You invert them. You make them the opposite of themselves, and yet, you have never truly used your ability. You have no point of reference for what you can truly do."

Seija again raised an eyebrow. She had to admit, she was intrigued. "So, how do I know what I can truly do?"

Chishiki rose once again to her feet, and smiled. "It is simple, my child. I have already told you. You must read me, but I have a price. In return for this knowledge, I have but one simple inversion you must make."

Seija cackled, a mischeivous grin spreading across her face. "I thought you said I hated when people got what they wanted."

The emotion drained entirely from Chishiki's face, and at last Seija saw only the coldness at the goddess's core. In a level, lifeless voice, she stated, "I do not want anything. I do not feel anything. I am not bound by feelings. I am knowledge, plain and simple. Knowledge does not feel, it simply is. I will survive because that is what is most logical, and I will do whatever it takes to stay living, but it is not from feeling."

Seija felt her body racked by chills. Staring into Chishiki's eyes, it was like her gaze was locked with an infinite abyss. She felt as though her soul could fall into this abyss and be trapped forever, empty, lost. A beaming smile broke out across her face.

"Ah, the last thing people would ever want is for you to exist. Fine, I'll do your task. Give me my power!"

Chishiki approached, gingerly, her feet crushing the leaves scattered all across the floor. "You misunderstand. I give you nothing. I simply show you what you are. Now, read me, and let me be a guide to you."

Paper claws burst from her fingers, dripping with ink, and in a fluid motion she plunged them into her chest. A sickening tearing reached Seija's ears, as ink poured from the widening rift in Chishiki's chest. A single black heart reached Seija's vision, beating, pounding, filling the goddess with frigid ink. Seija found herself staring, transfixed, as the rhythmic pounding slowly coalesced into words. She clutched her ears, screaming, as the words burned themselves into her brain. In a flash of inspiration, everything suddenly made sense to her. She felt the power within her, lying dormant until now, burst into life in a flash of knowledge. Ah, she had truly been wasting her potential. A crazed smile split her face. It was time to turn the world on its toes.

Chishiki stood before her, expression neutral, although Seija could not fathom the pain she must be feeling. Her black dress obscured much of the ink dribbling from her chest, but the moonlight reflecting from her showed how slick with the liquid she was. As if noticing the amanojaku's thoughts, Chishiki spoke.

"A story does not feel pain, Seija, nor fear, nor love. Empathy, compassion, hatred, sorrow, these I know only from observing others, never from myself. That aside, you owe me an inversion."

Feeling very much as though she had made a pact with the devil, Seija huffed. "Yeah, yeah, I guess I'll keep my promise this once."

Chishiki smiled, the cold draining from her face as her mask of gentleness once more adorned her visage. "This is good. As I mentioned, I do not feel fear. However, there are two in this world I know to be threats beyond threats. I had hoped never to face them, but having started on this path, all who will not worship me shall one day become a threat and must perish. Thus, I must take any chance to break them. One is beyond even you, and yet I have a plan for how Yukari Yakumo will fall. The other, however… I need you to invert Eirin Yagokoro's immortality. You may do whatever you like afterwards."

Seija nodded. "Alright, fine. Just this one favour, then I'd definitely rather never see you again."

The amanojaku rose from her seat, stalking out of the clearing. Chishiki once more drew a page from her arm, ticking another box on her list of blood. She delicately, lovingly placed her fingers around the mini-Hakkero, raising it from the table. To herself, or perhaps to the unknown, she spoke the last scarlet words this clearing would hear before the dawn.

"You were much like I. I regret that you had to die, but do not worry. You will not be alone in death. Will one kill the other, or the other kill the one, I wonder? It is of little consequence. I will find another pawn to finish the survivor. Still, a deathless genius, one who can see through my plans and survive whatever I may throw at her… This is a foe that cannot be allowed. Goodnight, Eirin. I pray you do not live to see the dawn. You may suffer the mercy of death. You need not see the world of blood that must follow after.

Seija Kijin

Living Inversion of Justice

Reisen Udongein Inaba was having a rather frantic night. It had started off rather peacefully, she thought, as she carried a tray of medical supplies to the blood-soaked doctor's office. She had been sitting with her master, Lady Eirin, sipping tea as the last flickers of sunlight departed from the windows of Eientei. The two had shared some pleasant talk, although Reisen had to admit that much of the details were lost on her. She merely nodded and smiled as Eirin recounted convoluted details of intricate medical procedures, enjoying the enthusiasm adorning her master's face. Of course, Eirin knew that her words were meaningless to her apprentice, however there was such joy to be had in breaking down all the mysteries of the body and mind, and of course, such postulations needed to be made aloud. In a way, the two had sat side-by-side in entirely separate worlds.

Reisen flashed a quick smile as she remembered the moon she once called home rising higher into the sky, master and apprentice sitting in peaceful contemplation. Her smile twisted slightly as her mind strayed to what had happened next.

It had been perhaps ten minutes since the sun had vanished fully from sight when, with a clattering of broken plates, the body of a youkai had suddenly appeared on the table between them. Her chest had been opened up as if gouged open with a giant spoon, and blood was pouring out from the wound in a stream of scarlet. Reisen barely had time to comprehend the situation before Eirin dove into action, wrapping the tablecloth around the injury and rattling off a list of medications for Reisen to retrieve immediately.

Ah, for sure she could be troublesome, but Reisen knew there was no finer doctor in all of history than Eirin Yagokoro. All the self-centered playfulness melted away the second a medical emergency presented itself. Reisen's heart swelled with pride whenever she saw it, no less so tonight. Truly, her master was a marvellous woman! She had scampered off, reciting the names of the medications aloud to ensure she properly remembered.

"Lunaxin for the bleeding," she sang, rifling through the shelves and shelves of little bottles adorning every surface of Eirin's workspace. "Titanin to regrow the flesh, Ganemedym to stabilise Qi..."

She staggered into Eirin's office, her arms clutching a wide array of small bottles. The entire office danced, various tools and medications flying around with an unseen force as the table itself took the body from Eirin's hands. The flicker of magic danced a ballet of power in the lunarian's eyes. Without any motion from her master, Reisen found the bottles floating from her grasp towards the table upon which the unconscious youkai lay. Her eyes darting to and fro across the room, her hands scrabbling across the various bottles and tools around her, Eirin spoke quickly, such that one unused to her may fail to hear.

"Reisen, no-one but you may come in here tonight. I believe she'll survive, but I will need to personally tend to her until dawn, at least. Get me Europek and Ionin from my cabinet… And some sandwiches. It's going to be a long night."

Reisen gave a yawn. That had been five hours prior, and still she found herself running back and forth between various medicine cabinets and Eirin's office, relaying orders to the other rabbits, and in the moments between preparing an assortment of snacks and refreshments to keep her master's wits sharp. She felt sleep banging on the corners of her mind, baying at her to retire for the night. Still, she took consolation in the improvement her master's patient had made. Already the spectacular wound on her torso was merely a series of ugly rifts in her flesh, and the magnificent array of cuts and bruises she sported all over her body were impossible to see at a cursory examination. Still, Eirin assured her that serious internal damage to almost every major bodily system, as well as Qi imbalance, combined with a major risk of infection necessitated at least another four hours of intensive care before she could allow the patient out of her sight.

Reisen delivered the tray, sighing in relief as the door to Eirin's office slammed closed in her face without any further orders. She retreated to the waiting room, taking a seat on one of the low chairs, and exorcised the tension boiling within her through a long, slow breath. She felt exhausted, and yet, she wondered how not a shred of exhaustion showed on her master's face? Surely not even Eirin could keep her finger on the pulse of her patient for five hours and not feel weighed down through exhaustion? Although, what are five hours to an eternal being?

Reisen's ears drooped. She felt so tired, yet she knew she could not sleep, not while her master may still have need of her. Idly, she reached her hands up and ran them along the length of her ears. She observed the flecks of white fluff that stuck to her fingertips, brushing them off with a flick of her wrists. Her mind wandered back to the sudden appearance of the wounded youkai. Why had she simply sprung into existance above their table? Furthermore, she recognised this youkai, and was fairly certain she was a servant of the vampire mistress of the Scarlet Devil Manor. She knew Eirin was focused primarily on tending to her injuries, but she herself could not help but stand captivated by the mystery. She couldn't wait for the youkai to awaken and explain herself.

Reisen's thoughts were disrupted by a solid knocking upon the door. She sighed, dragging herself once more to her feet. If someone was visiting this late, they were either a youkai, desparately injured, or both. Whatever the case, Eirin had specifically requested to be left alone. She would have to deal with the visitor's request herself.

Reisen Udongein Inaba

Red-eyed Rabbit of Madness

Minutes passed, feeling to Alice like hours. The sea of emotions roiled within her like a pit of snakes. Anger, grief, frustration, hopelessness, they all fought for dominance of her mind, while a grand confusion watched and laughed. She held her head and moaned, the pain from her battered body only fuelling the turmoil within her mind.

Eventually, the grand doors before her clicked open, basking the entryway in light, marked by the silhouette of a rabbit. She felt at least some of her concern fade as she beheld the red eyes and fuzzy white ears of Reisen, a woman she was familiar with as she bought her medication from her.

Reisen gave a yawn. "Ah, Alice. Here for your medication, I guess? You've come at a bad time, I'm afraid. You can buy it tomorrow at..."

Her voice trailed off and her red eyes widened as she saw the tapestry of burns, bruises, and cuts marring Alice's entire body. On a normal day, Reisen would be staggered by the impressive degree of injury the youkai had sustained. "Sweet Tsukuyomi," she swore, "What happened to you?"

"Reimu," Alice calmly responded. "Who else?"

Reisen leaned down, surveying the youkai's injuries. "She doesn't normally do this kind of damage," wondered Reisen aloud. "Did you catch her in a bad mood?"

Alice gave a mirthless laugh. "More than you would believe, Reisen."

Reisen nodded, before responding, "You should come inside. Can you stand?"

As Alice shook her head, Reisen scooped her up in her arms and rose to her feet. Reisen strode through the doorway, a loud thunk alerting her to the fact that Alice's head was perfectly aligned to the doorframe. Apologising profusely, Reisen carried Alice into a small room in Eirin's clinic, placing her in a chair and rooting through the nearby bottles.

"I'm afraid Lady Eirin is occupied with a particularly serious case right now," began Reisen, pawing through the bottles searching for inspiration. "I'll see what I can do for you though."

Taking a small black tablet from a bottle, she fed it to Alice, stating, "I think this should quell the bruising… Hell!"

Alice began to foam at the mouth, blisters forming all across her skin. Reisen scrambled for another bottle, in the confusion dropping one onto Alice. It shattered, pink liquid soaking into her skin, and immediately her face contorted in agony. Leathery, bat-like wings began to grow from Alice's back, splitting the skin painfully.

Reisen clutched her ears, moaning, "Why do you have this, Lady Eirin?"

She grabbed a syringe from the table, jamming it into yet another bottle, pumping the medicine from it into Alice's arm. The wings began to recede, but at the same time the vast array of cuts adorning Alice simultaniously opened, dousing the table in blood. The youkai winced in utter agony, locking eyes with Reisen.

The rabbit swallowed, feeling extremely guilty and wondering what kind of terrible punishment Eirin would enact for her profound medical failure. Noting the exceptional pain of her patient, she intensified her gaze, sending waves of sleep-inducing madness into Alice's eyes. Immediately, her wriggling ceased and a gentle snore escaped from her. Reisen sighed, returning to frantically searching through the piles of medications. Surely she could fix this, yes, and then she wouldn't get in trouble.

Eirin Yagokoro

Lunar Genius of Hourai

As Reisen jammed the seventeenth tablet down the sleeping Alice's throat, she intensely observed the youkai before her. It seemed that the egregious effects of her frantic misprescription had at last subsided. Whistling nonchalantly to herself, she placed the various bottles back into what she hoped to be their appropriate positions, although in truth she had no idea if she was correct. Eirin's sorting system was so convoluted that only a medical genius like her could even detect the mere presence of logic, let alone follow it.

She heard a snicker from behind her, and wheeled around to see the familiar white ears and black hair of Tewi Inaba.

"Been playing with master Eirin's medicine, huh?" asked Tewi.

Reisen looked bashful, and gestured for Tewi to lower her voice. "Please don't tell her," she begged.

Tewi snickered again. "Maybe I won't. Maybe I will. That depends, really."

Reisen sighed, resigned to the loss of all that was good in the world. "I'll give you all my carrots for a week," she muttered glumly.

Tewi extended her hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."

As Reisen shook hands, feeling very much like she was signing away all the happiness of her lifetime, the silence of the night and the bustling of rabbits was once again interrupted by a knocking on the door. Tewi giggled, bounding off to answer before Reisen could say another word. An exasperated sigh escaped from Reisen's lips as the cottony fluff of Tewi's tail disappeared around the corner. She had no doubt that whatever visitor had arrived, they would regret their visit shortly.

Tewi opened the door, eying up the visitor with a keen gaze. Despite her childish disposition, Tewi was ancient, and with age had come a superhuman ability to read others. Even if she used this skill mainly to select vulnerable targets for her pranks (usually Reisen), she still took her job as Eientei's defender seriously. Immediately, she detected the malicious intent in Seija Kijin's eyes, as well as her unbreakable confidence. She was clearly here to do no good, and felt nothing but good about her chances of doing so.

"Hey, I know you," Tewi stated, a cheeky smile across her face, her fingers forming into a pistol shape. "You're that amanojaku that nobody likes! What are you doin' here?"

Seija gave a mischeivous grin, mirroring Tewi's own. "I am here to meet with your lady Eirin, sooner, rather than later."

Tewi began to close the door. "I'm afraid master Eirin is busy right now. Would you like me to take a message? Hey, I can give a message, too!"

With that, Tewi blew a loud raspberry, spraying saliva over Seija before closing the door in her face. Suddenly, Tewi felt a strange feeling of inversion, and found herself standing outside, staring at the opposite side of the same door. A locking sounded from within, and Tewi pounded on the door.

"Not fair!" she yelled, hammering her fists against the wooden barrier.

In response, Tewi felt another sense of inversion, and found herself falling upwards. She hit her head on the terrace of Eientei above her, and burst into tears.

Tewi Inaba

Fortuitous White Rabbit

Eirin stood triumphantly over her patient. It would be several hours still until Hong Meiling was once again fully stable, but for the most part her wounds seemed to have healed past the point of imminent danger. Ah, what a genius Eirin was! Surely no lesser mortal doctor could have healed such a grievous injury, particularly not in so short a timeframe! She wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve, searching among the numberous bottles and packages scattered around for the sandwiches Reisen had prepared earlier. Taking a bite, she returned her magical focus to her patient's Qi. It had kept her alive, certainly, but at tremendous cost, and magical injuries were far harder to heal than physical ones. If she did not stabilise the youkai's flow of Qi, it was likely she would never again be able to use magic.

Her focus was shattered by the wall behind her meeting the same fate. Fragments of wooden debris rained down around her, and Eirin had to react quickly to prevent them from clobbering her patient. A sickening feeling of inversion raked her soul, and then, nothing seemed to have changed. She spun around, facing the intruder.

Seija smiled at her, stepping through the hole in the wall. Eirin returned the smile, a tinge of patronising superiority painting its surface.

"If you're here for a checkup, I'm afraid I am preoccupied. Please exit through the door and book an appointment with one of my rabbits."

The door slammed open, as Reisen rushed in, followed by a sleepy-looking Alice.

"Ah, here is a rabbit now. Please book an appointment with her."

Reisen aimed her fingers at the intruder, a spray of red bullets shooting from them as Eirin calmly returned to her surgery. In a flash of inversion, Reisen found herself in the hole, and spun around with widening eyes to be hit square on by her own bullets. She raised her fingers to fire again, and in another flash of inversion found nothing emerging from her fingertips.

As Seija advanced, Reisen fired again and again in panic. At last, she wheeled to her master. "Master Eirin," she whined, "I can't shoot."

Seija laughed. "It was once true that you could shoot energy from your fingertips. I inverted that truth."

Reisen began to power her eyes, readying to drive the intruder utterly mad, but before she could make the required eye contact Eirin stepped between them. A look of raw fury adorned her usually calm face. Every object in the room began to tremble.

"I am treating a patient," stated Eirin, her voice trembling with cold fury. "I am in the middle of performing life-saving surgery. Whatever you want, amanojaku, it can wait. Leave my office at once, as if I must pause my surgery to kick you out, you will be my next patient."

Seija grinned. She had been given an order; of course she had to defy it. She poked her tongue out, taunting the lunarian, and took not one step back.

Eirin leaned in towards Reisen, and began to whisper rapidly. "I've analysed her powers as I have seen them," she began. "This enemy is beyond you, or your… Friend. Take my patient and leave at once. Take the other rabbits with you."

Reisen shook her head, stomping her foot. "I won't leave you!" she shouted.

Eirin raised an eyebrow, before replying, "That is an order. Go into the forest where you will not be found. Do not dare disobey me, rabbit."

Reisen bowed, sadly, lifting Meiling into her arms and marching out of the room. As she left, and as the tired Alice followed, the two overheard one last snippet of conversation.

"So, amanojaku," asked Eirin, "Why are you really here?"

Seija chuckled in response. "Not because I want to be, that's for sure. I owe a favour to some Lady C, not that I mind though. She keeps up what she's been doing so far like with the black-white magician, and I'll be glad she's out there."

Alice's tired eyes snapped open, and she began to storm back to Eirin's office. "Is she the one?" Alice demanded. "Your Lady C, is she the one that murdered my friend? Answer me!"

Alice felt dizzy, and began to collapse, but felt Reisen catch her as she fell. She felt herself dragged away, and struggled to break free, to wring the information from the intruder. Reisen's grip tightened.

"Let go of me!" demanded Alice.

"No," replied Reisen calmly. "Master Eirin told us to retreat, and that's exactly what we are going to do. Master Eirin always knows what is best."

"She knows!" roared Alice. "She knows something! I have to find out who killed her!"

Reisen pulled harder, but her strength alone could not match the puppeteer's, particuarly when burdened by the wounded gatekeeper. "You are my patient. I will not let you endanger yourself while you are under my care."

Alice turned to meet her gaze, anger and grief flashing in her eyes as tears welled up in them. "You don't understand," she sobbed. "My closest friend was murdered. I need to find the culprit. I need to!"

Reisen softened her gaze, and began to lace it with the same tired madness. "You will find them, Alice, but right now you need to trust master Eirin."

The youkai's struggling subsided, and Reisen lifted her into her arms, carrying her alongside Meiling.

Eirin smiled, but the cheer did not reach her eyes. "So, amanojaku. What are you here to do for your Lady C?"

Seija took a step forward. "I am here to murder you, of course. Well, I mean, I was only asked to allow you death, but that's basically the same thing, only one's more fun."

Eirin laughed condescendingly, a bow and arrow flying from the wall into her hands. "You believe you can kill me? With the power of the Hourai Elixir, I am deathless, endless. You believe you can be my end? I have no end. However, since you have rudely disrupted my surgery, damaged my house, and disabled my rabbit, I will allow you to play with me for a while.

Power thrummed from Eirin Yagokoro, painting the air around her deep blue. The smell of burning ozone reached Seija's nose, as the sheer power emitted from Eirin superheated the air around her. Seija smiled to herself, this was a truly powerful creature. Inverting this monster, making her nothing, breaking her apart, and shattering her puffed-up confidence… It would make her truly happy.

Eirin struck, and as with Remilia, there are no words to describe her spectacular fury. Polite, well-mannered Eirin did, of course, declare her spell cards before using them to liquefy the world around her foe, but to Seija, all she saw was a whirlpool of pain.

Kaguya Houraisan

Undying Princess of Luminous Descent

Seija lay smoking upon the subspace of the endless, nebulous passageway she found herself hurled through. Her skin was blistered, her lungs choking, as her body destroyed itself from the various poisons Eirin had filled her with. She spat blood from over her swollen tongue as Eirin stood overhead, her bow aimed and ready to fire. Yet, Eirin was a good sport. She waited, giving her foe a chance to yield, and in that moment, Seija struck. Once more a flash of inversion split the world asunder. A flash of light, so fast as to be inperceptible to most lit the night sky around her, and Eirin collapsed to the ground. All the injuries that marred Seija vanished in the blinking of an eye, and found themselves resting upon Eirin's frame.

"I told you," laughed Seija, rising to her feet. "Ah, you should have seen the look on your face, you were so sure you could win, and yet… I am inversion living. If you are winning, I will turn the tables. If you are above me, I will flip the world upside down. I gotta say, Lady C knows her stuff; I really am incredible."

Eirin ignored the amanojaku's gloating, waiting quietly for the Hourai Elixir's power to reject the change from her flesh and make her whole once again. She waited and waited, as Seija continued to gloat, until a thought struck her genius mind like a bolt of lightning.

"That first inversion," she croaked, pondering. "You took my immortality, didn't you?"

Seija giggled. "Got it in one. I'm impressed. You're as clever as she said, no wonder she was scared of you."

Eirin laughed weakly, quickly devolving into a coughing fit. She wiped the blood from her lip and muttered, "Well played."

Seija gave a theatrical bow. "Why thank you. Want to see something else I can invert?"

Eirin rolled her eyes at the theatrics. "Go on then," she coughed.

Seija's face split like a ripe berry as a malicious grin spread across it, wider than any smile Eirin had seen in her many thousand years of life.

"You're a clever one. Maybe you're aware of these weird things called atoms that you're made of, and how there's a force that keeps them together? You've seen me invert gravity, why not another force?"

Eirin's eyes widened, as the realisation struck like a hammer. She opened her mouth to speak, and then winked out of existence in a flash of inversion.

"Oh, rude me," remarked Seija. "I forgot to declare my spell card. Hmm, how does 'Inversion Sign: Instant Death' sound?"

A great rumbling came from the passageway around her, and in another moment, it shattered. Seija found herself floating in subspace, a thousand kilometers from the Earth. Surrounded by an endless mass of purple nebula, she could only peer down at the small blue-white orb below her. In this great void there was nothing to invert. She was truly stuck.

"Hell," she said to herself, her words drifting off into the emptiness. "How am I going to get home?"

There was not a soul to hear her thoughts and words. She drifted through the emptiness, alone, lost, with no way to ever return home. The only solid matter within more distance than she could even concieve of was the shattered atoms of Eirin Yagokoro, floating away as a burst of radiation.

The clock at the Scarlet Devil Manor lay broken upon the ground, but a lone grandfather clock in Eientei chimed the hour to an all but empty mansion. Amidst the broken bottles and unchanging structure of Eientei, only one lunarian remained, waiting alone in a room at the mansion's belly. Where the walls had been broken, such change had been rejected; the immortal manor had healed itself of any scar. Were it not for the bottles of medicine lying shattered on the floor, were it not for the broken medical equipment and toppled shelves, there would be no sign of any battle.

A short way into the bamboo forest, a rabbit sat and waited. She knew at any moment her master would come striding through the greenery to greet her, to inform her that the intruder was gone, to reclaim her patient and proudly continue her great work of medicine. Around her sat a cluster of lesser rabbits, hopping to and fro impatiently. Before her sat a youkai with fire in her eyes, burning, blinding. Reisen had seen that fire before, in the eyes of the human that visited at times to scorch the halls of Eientei black with battle. She felt a chill run down her spine.

"Lady C, huh?" pondered Alice. "I wonder how much I can take from you. Can it ever be enough to match what you stole from me?"

A glint of rainbow energy sparked from her fingertips, spreading out through the forest. The clearing where the rabbits sat began to fill with dolls, marching in formation. A tiny, disciplined army, glowing with seven colours each.

"I will take everything you have ever loved, because you have taken everything that I have ever loved."

Rinnosuke Morichika

Curious Shopkeeper

The turning point was four. This, five, was where I put my new ideas onto paper, or rather, onto plastic.

At first, Chishiki was to be a catylist, little more. She lacks power. She was supposed to be an insignificant fly in the ointment that set things in motion to destabilise Gensokyo's fragile balance. Then I realised, Gensokyo is more resiliant than I thought. Most great powers simply lack the ambition to spread true havock. So, well...

Chishiki. This was where I defined just what she is, but moreover, this was where she became mine and the story along with her. Before this it was me playing in someone else's world as a taste of theirs. Now it is my own take, my own story, though one built upon the world of another. A western story with an eastern theme, yes, that suits me just fine.