A quiet evening in Gensokyo.
The moon was shining bright outside, filling the land with mystery and light.
But with that light, darkness always overcomes it in the end...
Nitori Kawashiro was working on a new machine for Reimu when she heard the ring on her doorbell. Who could it be, she thought.
"Coming!" Nitori shouted to whoever it was as she ran to answer the door. For some reason, her hand shook as she neared the knob...
She slowly opened the door...a tall figure with purple hair stood in front of her...
"Nitori..."
Nitori stood in shock. "R-Rikako...?! It's been so long since I met you...!"
But something felt weird. Her smile felt...unnatural. Not that of a happy, cheery person, but that of a person with a strong desire.
A desire to kill...
Nitori stood back a bit. "...Rikako. Are you okay?"
She just started laughing to herself. Nitori kept moving away from her.
"Well, well. If it isn't Nitori..."
"Rikako...what...what's going on?"
Rikako just kept laughing. "Hahaha...you would make a good vessel for me. Pity the vessel has to die first..."
"Wha...WHAT'S GOING ON?!"
"You clearly don't know what's going on, do you?!"
All of a sudden, Nitori saw a dark flash in front of her...and who was once Rikako was now a young girl with a maid's outfit and a hat.
"Your scientist friend is dead, Nitori. Dead for too long. And as for you..."
The girl snapped her fingers. Knives appeared all over Nitori, still moving away from the girl.
"...YOU'LL JOIN HER IN HELL!"
Nitori braced herself for what's next to come...her death...
Then, she woke up. Back in her bedroom, in the dark of night. Conscious of her existence.
"Oh, so it was just a nightmare...I wanna get some milk."
As she went outside her room, Nitori laughed to herself a bit. Then some more...
And some more, until she was uncontrollable.
Like Nitori wasn't herself…
"...U...Ugh. Wha...?"
Rikako felt herself awakening from a long dream...or a nightmare. Slowly, her conscious reality came back. Lights flooded the room she was in.
"Where...where am I? Anybody?"
"Ah, so you've awakened. Just in time, too!"
Rikako looked around to see a woman in red and blue sipping tea while writing something down on a piece of paper. As soon as the woman noticed her sitting down on her bed, the red-blue woman put her pen down.
"So, can you remember who you are?"
Uh...probably, she thought. Rikako tried to remember as much as she could about herself.
"Hmm...my name's Rikako Asakura. I'm a scientist, and I'm 23 years old. Well, on Earth, anyway. And...1 plus 1 equals 2?"
"Great. Glad to see your brilliant mind's still working, but I still have to run a test...What's the term for the square root part in the quadratic formula?"
"The discriminant."
"How about the term for the tendency for some elements to attract electrons easier than others?"
"Electronegativity. Hey..."
"What's the term for the amount of heat needed to change the state of matter?"
"...Latent heat. By the way, aren't you one of those Lunarians? Eirin...that's your name, right?"
She seemed to stop right there, as if something suddenly shut her up.
"...Yes. You're right. Your memory's okay, as well as the other parts of your mind. As to where you are, you're inside a secret room in the Margatroid manor."
Well, judging by the number of dolls here, I suppose you're right. And why do some of them look like the others?...Aside from the majority being Marisa dolls.
"How long...was I-"
"In a coma? About two months."
"Wait...TWO MONTHS?!"
Eirin smiled happily at her. "Yes...two months. Just in time too..."
"Time for what?"
"Tomorrow's Christmas. You were gone for so long we thought you'd never wake up."
Well, Rikako thought, I'm awake now.
"We should probably go outside. It's warm in here." She told Eirin.
"Well...we could. The door's right next to you."
Slowly, Rikako stood up and walked next to the door, Eirin beside her.
Slowly, she turned the doorknob…
Both Rikako and Eirin saw themselves inside the main hall of the Margatroid manor.
It was...a mess.
They could see Reimu and Sanae running around, decorating the room with lights.
Nitori and adult Marisa were there as well, checking the blueprints to make sure everything was according to plan.
And at the center of it all was Alice herself, leading the entire operation...
"Hey, Reimu! Make sure those lights match with the curtains!"
They were too busy preparing themselves for Christmas, that they didn't see the scientist and doctor getting themselves glasses of tea. Until, of course, Alice smelled the familiar scent...
"Hey...is anyone here drinking tea?" She shouted at the others. "Nobody should be drinking tea until we're done here-"
Alice looked around to see both Rikako and Eirin drinking tea by themselves. Soon, everyone else was looking at them.
"Um...hello-" Rikako tried to say, but Marisa interrupted her.
"It's Rikako! She's awake!" Marisa screamed to the others.
Everyone scrambled to look at her again, after all, it had been two months...
"Hey...um, Rikako. Great to see you again!" Reimu mumbled.
"Yeah, you too. How's life so far, all of you? Anything I missed?" she asked.
"Well...it wasn't that interesting-"
"What are you talking about, Reimu?!" Marisa countered. "It was amazing! We got to beat up some powerful youkai! Remember when we had to defeat that nuclear bird?! Or that mind-reader and her sister-"
"Alright, we get it." Eirin told them. "You guys had some fun times. And I was stuck in Eientei the entire time taking care of Rikako here."
Suddenly, everyone kept quiet. As if Eirin somehow stopped them from talking with magic. Then Nitori spoke up.
"Took care...of her? Rikako...what happened?"
Nitori shuddered just by saying that. Somehow, it felt...familiar. Like she had heard it...and said it herself before.
"Well... Patchy, Marisa and Akyuu were there when...it happened. I don't think Marisa remembers anything there-"
"Oh, I do know what happened there. You turned me into a child there, right?"
"Well...yes."
"After that incident, Patchouli turned me back to normal and told me what happened. Not to mention I saw that the library was a huge mess. Perfect for stealing books on the ground..."
Eirin thought to herself:
Wow. What a reckless magician.
"Well, Patchouli and Akyuu won't be here until tomorrow...so can you tell us the story?" Sanae asked.
"Well...sure! I mean, it already happened, it's not like it's gonna happen again..."
"Ah, so that's what happened. That's quite the story. Too bad it's not Halloween..." Alice remarked.
Reimu cleared her throat. "So...this Kana Anaberal. Didn't we see her before? During the, um...the time when the Outsiders came to conduct scientific monitoring on our world? And we had a contest...? Marisa, you were there, too."
"I was, and Kana as well." Marisa answered.
"I really don't know why she would try to attack me. Something about the curse of still being attached to this world because of memories...science still has no answer to explain this."
Nitori started to go back to her work. "Well, that was fun, or scary, depending on how you look at it. But we need to get back to work. I'm sure you'll be fine here, Rikako."
Everyone agreed to her. Rikako had no choice but to accept that. Being with friends again did calm her down.
But still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was stalking her from behind...
"Alright, Rikako," Eirin told her, "we have to get the large Christmas tree from outside. Do you still feel weak?"
"No, no. I'm okay now. After drinking that tea, I feel better."
"Great. Follow me."
Rikako followed Eirin outside the manor, near the Forest of Magic. Rikako didn't notice it before, but it was snowing. There, they saw a small tree cut down, ready to be brought in.
"Trust me, this is heavy. You're gonna have to follow everything I tell you, Rikako."
"Are you sure? It doesn't look that heavy to me-"
Eirin suddenly turned very serious.
"If you value your life, then you shall do as I say. Got it?"
Somehow, Rikako thought she heard two voices talking to each other.
"Hey, that's my line!"
"Shut up, Chiyuri! We're not in the story, so don't interfere with the timeline!"
"Okay..."
Rikako steeled herself to carry the tree while Eirin walked over to the other side.
It's okay, it's not that heavy.
Eirin called out to her at the other side of the tree.
"On my signal, lift your side! Got it?"
"Yes, I did."
"Alright. 3...2...1...Now!"
Both of them put as much effort as they could into lifting the tree. Soon, they were moving the tree inside the manor...
"Hey, Eirin. I dropped a screwdriver."
"Do you always carry tools around with you? It's quite a hassle."
"I'm fine with it. It's in case of emergencies. Can you pick it up for me-"
"Sure, I'll pick it up for you."
With that, Eirin put down her side of the tree and walked over to the fallen screwdriver, leaving Rikako to carry the entire tree...
"Eirin, wait! I was about to tell you to pick it up later because I can't carry this tree by myself-"
Her arms, tired from carrying so much weight, finally gave up. Her side- the much heavier side- fell unto...her foot.
And there, Rikako felt her foot being crushed under the immense weight.
"EIRIN!" she screamed loudly.
Eirin knew she was in big trouble. Screwdriver in hand, she ran off to where Rikako was.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"WHAT'S WRONG?! I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG! YOU LEFT ME TO CARRY THIS TREE AND NOW MY FOOT'S STUCK UNDER IT!"
Eirin suddenly realized her mistake. Yup, she was in huge trouble.
"Um...oops. Don't worry, I'll get you inside. The tree too. Let's see how your foot's doing there."
"Well, hurry! It hurts SO BADLY!"
"Relax. Worst case, all your bones there break and internal bleeding happens. No big deal."
"YES BIG DEAL! EIRIN!"
Eirin wasn't to get any snacks until she patched up Rikako's foot.
Meanwhile, Rikako was sitting on a chair near Alice's circular table, eating sweets and watching the others. They were decorating the tree Eirin brought in. Lights, Christmas balls, fake snow and of course, that star on top.
Thirty minutes later, Sanae finally stopped.
"Well, it's complete! Rikako, what do you think of our tree?"
"Wow, very nice. 10 out of 10."
"Great," Marisa told the others, "we can finally relax and eat. Except Eirin, of course. You done there yet?"
Eirin sighed. "Yes, I'm done. She should be able to walk. But it'll be a while before it fully heals."
The others, tired, sat on the chairs around the table, sharing sweets.
"Does anyone want any drinks?" Nitori asked.
Reimu and Marisa asked for a cup of tea. Rikako and Eirin requested a little bit of sake. Only Sanae asked for a glass of water.
"Got it." Nitori went inside the kitchen.
"Alright, everyone. Now that we're here," Alice told them, "how about I tell you a story from my grimoire?"
She went to a nearby drawer and opened one of them. Alice then retrieved a large, thick book from it.
"Yeah, sure," Reimu agreed. "We're bored anyway. Too bad Nitori will have to miss it..."
"It'll be okay." She flipped open the book to some pages.
Eirin scooted over to Rikako. "Her stories are the best!"
"Oh, really now?"
"Yeah, she even got some of her novels published here."
Alice cleared her throat, seeking everyone's attention. "Now, if you would all listen, here's today's story..."
Once upon a time, there lived a scientist and a magician. They were such great friends...inseparable, in fact. They were orphans, forgotten and ridiculed.
The scientist was a genius, far beyond her time. The magician, highly skilled.
The magician was, however, mentally unstable. There was no telling what she might do or happen. The scientist looked after her, no matter what.
Then one day, the magician said goodbye to her friend. It was only meant to be a few hours to attend to some errands...
Her friend waited for the magician's arrival...
And waited...
And waited...
And before she knew it, she was asking everyone else where her friend was.
But everyone just said, "No. We haven't seen her..."
Feeling hopeless, the scientist wandered around for days, trying desperately to find her, to no avail.
One faithful day, she happened to wander around the cemetery. She looked at the gravestones and thought of her friend...
And then, she saw it. No longer did she worry...
For her friend was dead.
No longer with her. Her gravestone was there, hidden by others, as if trying to hide the truth from her...
Her heart broke into pieces.
She only sobbed for her friend...
However, she still held out one more shard of hope...hope in the form of memories. A poem.
When life comes to leave you
And I no longer see you again
I hold my soul, my memory
And lock it deep in my heart.
For love comes from separation
And the flower of hope still remains
I will embrace you in my arms once again
In the endless field of eternal dreams.
It says that the magician will come back once more, robbed of these memories.
When all seems lost and the hope is about to break...
Only then will the scientist reawaken and end this curse of attachment on her.
Just as Alice finished, Nitori came out of the kitchen with their drinks.
"Here you go." She said, passing them out.
"That...is a very familiar story," Marisa commented while drinking her tea."I wonder where I've heard it before...?"
All eyes were on Rikako. She looked at them in confusion.
"Well, someone else actually wrote this," Alice told the others. "And I just found this. Whoever wrote this couldn't possibly know about you, Rikako."
She nodded in agreement. The book looked too old for whoever wrote it to know her.
"Alright everyone, let's drink. Tomorrow's gonna be a good day!" Reimu shouted.
"Ugh...I feel so dizzy..." Sanae complained.
Nitori took her to the bedroom, saying "You're just tired, Sanae. Everyone, you should go to sleep as well."
Everyone nodded in agreement, except Rikako who volunteered to clean up.
A few minutes later, everyone else was quiet. It seemed easy for her to clean when it was quiet, anyway.
Just as she finished putting away the cups, she noticed something on a chair.
Something thick...she took a closer look at it and picked it up.
"Well, if it isn't Alice's grimoire! Looks like I better return it to her..."
But the book...it was, somehow, calling her name. Like it wanted her to read it...
"I guess a little peek inside can't hurt..."
She carefully opened the book...
Suddenly, a bright flash of light came out of it. Rikako tried not to look at it...
It was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. Rikako looked at it again.
There were the words of the story written in black ink...as well as some new text in red.
"What...the..."
She read one of the texts.
"This story is more than what can be seen. It's a dangerous time, when anybody could die from...it."
Rikako was even more confused now. What is going on?!
But she had no time to worry about it now. A sound came from one of the rooms.
A door opening...
"Hey, is everything okay?" Alice asked. Quickly, Rikako closed the book and pretended she never read it.
"Yeah, I just finished. I found your grimoire as well."
"Thanks, I was finding it in the room."
Rikako gave the book to her, keeping quiet the entire time.
"We should sleep now. It's getting late."
"I agree."
Rikako and Alice went inside their room, preparing to sleep. However, Rikako's mind was thinking.
What was that moments ago? What does it have to do with me?...
How could Sanae get such a headache from a glass of water?
Morning. The sun is shining over Gensokyo.
"Rikako! Come quickly!"
The voices of the others woke her up. A few seconds later, she was outside, near the Christmas tree.
"What's wrong-"
"That."
Reimu pointed at a figure hanging from the tree...Rikako couldn't believe herself.
"Oh god, it's Sanae..."
Alice tried to console herself. "So...in the middle of the night, Sanae hung herself with a rope?!"
"What does it look like?!" Marisa screamed.
Rikako looked at Eirin and Nitori.
"Eirin..."
"Yes, I was the first one to see it. It was horrible...she was just happy yesterday!"
"Whatever could've gone wrong?..."
Rikako, however, did notice something weird...
I could've sworn Nitori was smiling and laughing to herself. I swear, she might not be herself...
"Well, we can't do much anymore. She died of lack of oxygen a long time ago." Eirin told the others.
"How do you know...?" Marisa asked.
"Well, her face is now really purple. That tells us that she wasn't getting enough oxygen in her muscles..."
They all sighed. It was too heavy on them.
Rikako asked Eirin, "Can we go outside for a moment?"
"Sure."
They walked outside until Rikako was sure no one could hear them.
"Hear me out, Eirin. Nitori's acting...pretty weird."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she's been smiling and laughing to herself the entire time. That isn't normal...at least, when it comes to Nitori."
Eirin thought about it. "...You're probably right. And how did she hang herself in the first place? She wasn't a suicidal type."
"...I think she was drugged."
"What?! How?"
"I don't know. But still...I feel that Nitori's quite central to this."
"You don't think...she's here?"
Kana? SHE'S HERE?!
"...No. No! She probably isn't here! I mean, I would've seen her do some murder already!"
"But I think that-"
Eirin stopped right there. Rikako saw blood come out of her lips...
"Eirin...?"
She fell, blood all over her head. The sight was horrible...
"...EIRIN! NO!"
"This...this is it, huh? It was nice meeting you..."
Kana...I swear. You're not the person I know.
How many people have you killed already?
How long before you're satisfied?
The dream...yes, my dream.
I was running away from her. She had a knife in hand, ready to kill me.
I tried to hide, and she would find me.
I got cornered, and she simply smiled.
Almost as if the sight of murder pleased her...
Knife in hand, she cut me and stabbed me over and over again. And yet, I never died.
I wish I did...then I wouldn't have to feel the torture ever again.
But it's the mere words she said that scares me.
"And yet, why do I still see you around?
I hated you. For what you did.
It shook me. Killed me. Again and again...
!