~Season my Hidden Stars~
The blossoms bloom so pink and sweet
Above the border shrine.
Despite the petals at her feet,
"Spring finished!" Reimu whined.
Four seasons march through endless time
Like stanzas learned by rote.
But now, confusion breaks their rhyme
Like dust inside the throat.
"The heck?! It's supposed to be sunny!"
The magus did not find it funny.
She almost felt lost
Enveloped in frost
So she wrapped herself up like a bunny.
Marisa was no fragile daisy.
She knew she'd no time to be lazy.
She took to the skies
So she could surmise
What had made all the weather go crazy.
Shameimaru soared o'er the verdant hills
With notebook prepped and camera in her hand.
To pierce the heart of myst'ries dark and deep
Her heart was sworn. To tell the truth and never
speak a lie, she made no promises.
Away from forests weeping leaves of blood
O'er frozen wastes and blushing trees below.
She spied two comrades yonder- well, one friend
and one annoying miko with no taste
in newspapers. She read Hatate's rag.
"My friends! Come hither! Let us win the day!
"We must unveil what- oh, my days, it's warm..."
Aya's shirt grew dark with sweat. "What gives?!"
The miko sighed and handed her a cloth.
Amaterasu's rays were bright and bold
And Aya wished for Youkai Mountain cold.
Wahoo, it's a perfect day! I thought I hated Summer, but now I love it! Look, I even got myself a tan! Awesome!
Not sure what those three are talkin' about, though... Oh, look, it's Eternity! Come on, let's fight to see who Summer belongs to!
POW! ZAP! Eat my icicles, goat-brains!
Wow, that was wicked! I'm so strong, even I can't believe it! I could conquer the whole of Gensokyo like this!
Oh, don't worry, Eternity, I'm not gonna conquer you. I'm gonna turn Gensokyo into a super-duper fairy kingdom of awesomeness! We'll have ice cream and a football pitch and ice cream and watermelons and puddles to jump in and video games and ice cream! And a trouser press!
...Hey, what's going on up there? Reimu? Marisa? Wait for me!
Thus three brave women scaled the Youkai Mount
Plus one dumb fey they could not shake. Anon,
A cottage squats upon the slopes so white
Where children fear to tread without a garnish
Far from home and Tengu lands above.
A woman held her cleaver high and roared,
"Who dares come hither? Speak! This land is mine!"
"A yama-uba!" Aya cried, "Leave this
"to me! She won't defy our peace treaty!"
The papparazza's wind blew loud and true
'Til Nemuno was feeling rather blue.
The heroines all made their way
To Reimu's Spring-drenched shrine.
A young komainu came to play
And chance to drink and dine.
"Now, hold on, Miss!" the miko cried,
"You can't invade my place!"
She grabbed poor Aunn and tanned her hide.
Salt tears poured down her face.
"I'm just your guard..." the statue sniffed,
"I help all things divine!"
The shamefaced Reimu came un-miffed
And gave the girl some wine.
A round of sake gave the girls
Some strength to win the day.
Once more, they went to save the world.
Aunn waved the four away.
They soared to the Mahou no Mori
Through air full of ice and clouds hoary.
A woman called Mai
Dropped out of the sky
And threatened to turn the leaves gory.
She'd engineered some sort of plan.
Before they could fight her, she ran.
"Distract them, young jizou!"
She fled through the trees-ou.
Her reasoning just didn't scan.
A woman with plaits and huge ears
Jumped out as the heroes came near.
She dared young Marisa
to try and defeat her.
She didn't inspire much fear.
Narumi was brimming with power.
Her girlish frame seemed like a tower.
Though clueless 'bout Mai
She was desperate to try
To make her acquaintances cower.
Marisa soon won like a pro.
The statue cried "Please, one more go!"
Her back was so warm
It almost caused harm.
Beneath her dress, something did glow...
How'd these women enter our realm?
Shite! The door! I'd best buy a helm...
Oh, Mai, you young dummy! Our master will rage.
My scatterbained sister can't act like her age.
A Tengu?! I'm dead! Okina will ground me!
No, hold it, we're guards! Let's say that she found me.
The other three, though?... Like, what can we tell them?
A tengu's one thing, but can we repel them?
Let's make them chosen ones of our great goddess!
That's perfect! I rock! There's no need to be modest.
Um, Mai, we still have to test their power...
All right, whatever. Let's make them cower!
Pass the test and you'll soar to new heights!
Fail to best us, you'll die in the night!
Like, literally, sis, you're so OTT...
Please, for Pete's sake, take this seriously!
Dread sisters, unite! We win every fight!
You don't stand a chance! Behold our mad dance!
A woman sat enthroned in stone
With oaken doors for wings.
/
In her sacred zone
All back doors she owned
And no-one could do a damn thing.
\\
She said as much, but none would take her cheek.
A brand-new servant was her dearest wish.
/
Good grief, why's she just sitting there?! It's not fair! I came all this way for a fight, and I'm gonna have one, by Toutatis!
\\
Okina was an ancient sage
Who built the Eastern dream.
/
As eon passed age
Her maids grew more strange
So she needed one new, or a team.
\\
To heal the seasons all our heroes yearned.
Strength and passion in their spirirts burned.
/
Screw all this waiting around! There's no way Okina can beat a strong Black woman like me. Come on! I'll take you with one hand behind my back!
With hindmost doors of ancient art
Our heroes' strength was doubled.
They fought like tigers, flew like darts,
But Okina had no trouble.
Past whirling orbs and blasts of light
She wove and ducked at speed.
Her spell-cards could control the fight
And trap her dearest need.
She had her heart set on Marisa.
A human so tainted did please her.
She promised the world
And buckets of gold
But not that she'd ever release her.
Marisa was far from impressed.
Anger rose up in her breast.
"There's no way on Earth
"That I'll be your serf!
"I have just one master, the best!"
The witch's danmaku grew keener.
A master spark saw to Okina.
The goddess fell back
And quickly changed tack
To stall them before they could clean her... clock.
The hindrance goddess prattled 'bout her past.
From common stock with Aya she was cast.
To fight the tengu, hide behind the Budhha,
Guard the outcasts, plays and stars in Heaven,
To rule back doors, but most of all kill tengu.
A sage she was, an architect of old
Who birthéd youkai, raised their secret world.
Shameimaru was not impressed at all.
Her door of Autumn flared with potent force.
She never thought she might just lose her source.
H-hey, what gives? Where'd my tan go?!
I liked that tan! Okina, you big meanie, give it back or I'll whip your skinny white bottom! You know I will!
Wait... What happened to my icicle shotgun? I...! can't fire bunches of icicles! First my tan, now this... This is the worst day ever! I'll kill you, you selfish, good for-nothing goddess! I'll kill you with nothing but my own power!
Come on, show me your nutty Tengu dance of... whatever! I'll cryo-freeze you with some English beef!
~Author's Note~
The papparazza's wind blew loud and true.
Her face reddened. "Sorry, Nemuno... I had spicy tempura for breakfast."
~...Aardvark. Come on. You're better than that, and you know it.~
You know what? You're right. Sorry, Aya. I have no idea what came over me.
Anyway, this was quite an ambitious poem. My aim was to retell Hidden Star in Four Seasons in verse, using a different style for each season and each character representing that season. Reimu has a ballad, Marisa has limericks, Aya has iambic pentameter, and Cirno... just says stuff. Okina managed to twist the styles up a little, of course. I was proud of the poem when I first wrote it, but I still found plenty of things to change and more parts that could be added this time. It's experimental, so please feel free to tell me what you think of it.