Pelf: It would be easier if you made an account on this site so I can explain some stuff in private. But for your previous question, the chapter was simply meant to tell readers that Cirno, Letty, Daiyousei and all the other fairies remained in Gensokyo. Seeing that Yukari was discussing about the escape plan, this should mean that the decision to stay behind happens after the disaster.
Of course, you are right, the main body of the chapter deals with Cirno and Letty's origins, but that was the only way I could think of to explain Daiyousei's decision. It would have been really weird to simply state that the fairies remained without a proper reason, like how I decided that Tenshi and Iku won't be getting their spotlights by simply mentioning them in 'Season of Autumn' chapter.
Touhou belongs to Team Shanghai Alice. So do concepts, characters and everything else you have experienced while playing the game, except the dishes. Here's another man who wants to use his ideas for a story.
Songs, references and copyrights belong to their respective owners. The author has no intention to breach any of these. Proper credits will be annotated at the end, wherever possible.
To you whom inspired me
Fortunately, I'm still doing well.
Eight years after our final farewell from each other, I am finally able to school myself in the language we used in Gensokyo and now I am able to write this. As you would have known, I was never able to read; only speak it verbally with broken vocabulary.
Why did you come for me? Why would you, a human, risk and inevitably throw away your future in the Outer World to save me, a small and frail youkai? You could have left me there, awaiting my death, while you could have quickly escaped, but you chose to save my worthless youkai life. I am a youkai, I should not have felt grateful for your actions, but the school teacher taught us better.
Miss Keine refused to acknowledge our feral youkai behaviors, but insisted we learn the humans' morales and values. You can thank her for my gratitude.
Even till today, I somehow still wished she had come out alive with us…
I still do not understand your last wish before I left you there. How did you expect me to repay you with that if you aren't around anymore? I'm still confused even till today.
They say voices do carry themselves around and it can be heard by the undead. Are you still around somewhere, waiting for me to repay you? Have you been waiting for the eight long years I have spent in the Outer World to be what I am today? I do admit that I have forgotten about my promise to you, but today, I wonder why you want me to promise you that.
Weren't you and most of Gensokyo objecting to my voice? All I wanted to do was to live out my existence as a night sparrow youkai, living in the forest and singing my songs. I had never intended to harm anyone if I didn't need to, but I had to hunt for my food. All I did was to simply lure with my songs, which humans termed it as 'irritating'. It was really insulting!
Miss Keine was probably the only one in the whole of Gensokyo who had been encouraging me to continue singing, but for the sake of my own safety, I ceased that habit whenever I was in the Human Village for our night youkai classes. It was very odd for a night sparrow to not sing, but I managed to get rid of that old habit.
Until that day.
You made me promise to let you hear me sing for you, if we ever met again.
…
It isn't possible! It can't be done! You are dead! How can I ever keep that kind of promise when you aren't around to hear it?
After we parted ways, as I was about to pass through the gap, the ground behind me exploded violently. I remembered Yukari being shook off her feet and was warning us not to enter the gap, which she claimed was becoming unstable, but it was too late; I passed through it before I could stop myself and instead of arriving at the Yakumo Mansion, I somehow reached another part of the world, one known as 'Europe'. I found myself being caught in a torrential thunderstorm along the roadside with no shelter.
I still remembered that stormy night when I sat on the flooded sidewalk, not knowing what I was doing. As I sat there wondering if I was even lucky to have survived the attack on Gensokyo, the rain drenched me from head to toe. My brown dress was soaked, chilling me to the bone whenever the wind swept past; my winged boots were filled, ensuring I would never feel warm. Even my cap, at one point, got so soaked it slipped off my head on its own and fell onto the flooded pavement with an audible plop.
I hugged myself with my arms with clattering teeth, looking all around me for shelter of some kind, but found none. All around me were just high walls keeping strangers like me out of their properties. There were no trees, somehow. Street lamps, which I only learnt about afterwards, lit the paths, but still offered no more shelter than where I was sitting at.
Not caring about any other humans within earshot, not even bothering about what anybody who happened to hear me would think of me, I began singing again. I don't remember what exactly I was singing about, but it came naturally. As I continued singing, I closed my eyes and I felt myself suddenly apathetic of the storm and my drenched self. It was as if I was suddenly teleported under shelter!
However, the flood beneath me continued, as I could still feel the rush of flowing rainwater against my bottom, through my soaked dress. Verse after verse poured out from me, without a care in the world, as I sung my heart out, one that had been kept under unbearable constraints for fear of my life. I thought that if I were to die all alone here, I would die knowing that I lived my existence as a night sparrow, not a caged youkai who was afraid to do what she did best.
When my eyes next opened, my senses were suddenly paralyzed at the sight of a human standing in front of me! I couldn't crawl away from him! All I could do was to stay frozen on the flowing river with my mouth wide open, a silent scream trying to burst from my open mouth. In the next moment, I noticed the human was holding onto a large umbrella; I was directly underneath it.
He spoke to me in a language that, somehow, I could understand. It had been lost on me through the years in Gensokyo, but upon hearing that forgotten tongue again, I realized that not only I would be able to communicate with the humans here, but I, probably, once existed in the Outer World.
Even though his bodily and facial features were shrouded in a silhouette, cast under the bright light of a nearby street lamp from behind, I could tell he wasn't a youkai exterminator or something similar. He only held onto that umbrella, all the while asking if I was injured. I remembered not being able to answer him and, after five times, he decided that I was still in total shock and sought to bring me to safety.
He used his neck to crimp onto the umbrella, freeing that hand, and used both hands to reach under my arms to lift me up. As he did so, a sharp jolt of realization hit me instantly; my wings were gone! His hands brushed onto where my wings would have been, but I felt no pressure against the flexible bones that would have been my wings!
As I panicked, he began whispering soothingly into my ear, almost treating me like a child. Although he was in no way wrong, neither did I feel insulted as his words, indeed, calmed me down. I was pretty sure he wasn't aware of what I was panicking for, but it worked anyway.
I finally mustered up the courage to speak when he asked if I was able to walk on my own. Still hugging myself with my arms, I began to follow him, despite knowing better than to follow a human. Maybe it was my previous existence here, maybe because I thought youkai would have never existed in the Outer World, I trusted him more than I would have trusted you in Gensokyo if you had offered to take me to your home.
As we walked, all the while under the shelter of his large umbrella, he asked not about what I was doing in the middle of storm, but of my voice. He wanted to know who had schooled me in singing. I left out the fact that I was a night sparrow youkai from another world, but he believed me when I said that it was natural to me, that I was born this way.
Miss Keine taught us never to lie, but I didn't know what would have happened should I have told him I was actually a youkai.
The man revealed himself as a retired theater director of some large group, well known in Europe. I hadn't believed him when he said that people would love my voice, but after a few moments of hesitation, I took up his offer to sing to his group, which he had been still keeping contact with. After all, that offer came with food and shelter and I didn't know where I could find both on my own.
Well, not in the Outer World.
I didn't know what to expect, but the following morning, I was greeted by at least twenty other humans. Not one who had been in the company of such, I found myself shrinking back into the guest room allocated for me. After much coaxing, I finally dared to present myself to the encouraging audience in the living hall again.
Surprisingly, none of the humans yelled in agony or shut their eyes and covered their ears when I sang. Rather, they seemed interested and appreciative of the melody. After some discussions among themselves, they persuaded me to be included in one of their next performances as a special guest. I agreed, despite being warned about needing to face an entire theater of humans as well.
A few days later, I accompanied the troupe to their next destination, out of the town I was staying at. I sat on a small chair in the backstage while they performed for the audience and at the conclusion, they held the audience back to introduce me. I remembered being very nervous, almost tripping over the hem of the full-body-length dress that had been custom tailored for me, as I made my way to the center of the stage.
That night, I became famous. An overnight celebrity, if one would put it that way.
Throughout the next few years, during which I stayed with the troupe, I started off as 'The Night's Special' to being a front-stage singer. Various media interviews with me were conducted, and soon I began to be known as Mystia Lorelei the Night Sparrow. My name and photograph, something similar to what that crow tengu could produce with that camera of hers, became splashed over the entertainment industry and soon, before I realized, I was already in the charts.
Due to my young appearance, I was usually being invited to perform for schools and the youth festivals. During one of these performances with the troupe at a national university, as I was close to finishing my song, I noticed a girl within the audience suddenly develop a coughing fit. I didn't know whether I should have stopped, but I continued anyway, despite that coughing fit almost distracting me. Some of the event's ushers eventually came in and helped her out after she seemed to be struggling with it.
The other troupe members later told me the girl was a librarian of the university, who had been suffering from asthma attacks since young.
Something within me told me that I should have stopped and aided her. I don't know…
On the fifth year, in the quiet haven of my room, where I was trying to come up with my very first written song, I remembered my promise to you. I had sought to dedicate that song to you but… After finishing the song weeks later, I performed that song on solo during one of the nights… and forgot about the dedication.
I sincerely hoped you were listening, anyway. If you didn't, well, here's some of it:
[Do you remember the days
When we had long long ways to go
And you were there for me
As I was there for you to be around…
The sun was shining brightly
Down on us so gently
That we thought we could go on
For as long and as far as we pleased]
Not bad, huh? I wished you were around to hear it.
My career in the Outer World did not stop with public performances. My troupe has been invited to royal audiences all over Europe and I have been singing to people from many different walks of life. It is always heartening to hear the humans here give me that thunderous applause at the end of the performance, and it makes me wonder why I existed only in Gensokyo, when I could have been doing and leading a better life here.
I had also kept up with recording sessions with certain companies to have my solo performances recorded, to be distributed and sold worldwide. This side job contributed a lot to my earnings, mostly through royalties from the sales.
Three years ago, I finally left the troupe, which had disbanded when half of the troupe was involved in an accident on the road while on a private vacation, which I had not participated due to an arranged session with a recording company. One of these guys was the same man who had found me on the road that night.
I received the news as I was heading back to the house, which I had been sharing with him since.
The rest of the troupe, with me in it, decided that we should do one last performance in their honor and, two nights later, I performed my last night with this troupe. I am unable to explain why I could remember to dedicate my performance to the troupe, when I had always been forgetting about you.
Am I being ungrateful for my second chance at life? Because suddenly, after that performance, I was all alone again, in that house; that man had left it for me, according to his lawyers.
If I was a normal human being, having a citizenship already acquired, a landed property and substantial funds under my name, along with the fame that comes with it, would have made me the happiest girl alive, but it did not. Two people in my existence who had saved my life have been separated from me; I don't know how I should feel.
I finished my remaining contracts with various companies, including one recording album done in honor of the troupe, and decided to stay under the radar, living out the rest of my life in quiet peace. Letters from various media for interviews, my personal fans for events and companies for job offerings still continued to reach my mailbox, but I turned them all down, and after a while, I stopped checking the box.
However, almost a year later, I've decided to check it again, which was, of course, brimmed. Among the pile, which dated back by nine months, after I decided not to bother anymore, I found one particular letter that really caught my attention.
Unlike almost every other letter that I had received, this one was written in the very language that we used in Gensokyo. My heart skipped for a moment before tearing it open to read its contents, but could not understand anything. At that point of time, anyone writing in this language could have been another survivor from Gensokyo, or so I had thought. A quick check with my neighbors revealed that while the language was known as 'Japanese', nobody that I talked to could read or even speak it.
I traveled out of town into the city area, but still nobody that I came across could help me. Eventually I was given a contact to a linguist, who I called immediately. We met and… it was revealed that the letter was just fan-mail. That was also the day when I began to wonder if Gensokyo was actually within Japan itself, instead of being a parallel universe. No wonder they called this place 'the Outer World'.
After this incident, I resolved myself to be able to read in Japanese, in case a true survivor from Gensokyo was looking for me. Through this linguist, I was hooked up with a Japanese language trainer and ever since, I have been learning from him.
Maybe I should have paid better attention when Miss Keine was teaching us.
As of today, I believe I have learnt much and as you can see, it is enough to write this letter in hopes you get to read this one day.
Please give my regards to… everyone else over there.
Regards
Year 9
Mystia Lorelei
Mystia Lorelei put down her pen and looked out of the window; the sun was setting, casting an orange glow across the sky.
Folding the Japanese-style vertical letter into an envelope, she put away the remaining stationery back into their respective drawers, clipped the envelope between her personal diary on the table and got up. Looking at the wall clock, she saw that it was already six in the evening. The sun will set soon. I should get something to eat.
Exiting her bedroom, she stepped out into the corridor, and sighed. This house is too large for just one person. It gets really lonely with all these unused bedrooms and hallway, which is void of people. I lived a lonely life in Gensokyo, and I still lead one, despite having all the money any human here could ever dream of.
Maybe I should step back into the entertainment industry again?
As she pondered over the decision, she continued walking down the corridor and came across a full-body-length mirror. This young face… it's me. I have never grown older since long ago. I remember people asking how I could manage to remain so young-looking. In terms of human age, I looked to be only fifteen at most, while the rest of my troupe continued to age in my eyes.
Back then, I told them I was only twelve. Going by the count, I should have been twenty one. I did get some questions about my lack of growth, but nobody really suspected anything. My clothes from nine years ago still fit me perfectly.
I don't think I gained or lost any weight throughout these years either. Something odd must have happened when I passed through that malfunctioning gap of Yukari's.
Whenever Mystia left the house, she would usually just exit and continue her way on the walkways, but this time, she decided to check the mailbox. She counted backwards and realized that she hadn't checked it for almost a month. No harm checking, there could be surprises!
No surprises came, although she did look through the rest of the letters, and found a contract offer by one of the recording companies she used to work with for her albums. That particular company had been very persistent, and had kept up with its tide of attempts to get Mystia back into the industry, as she had been one of their most successful investments, and that every of her released albums had never failed to top or at least be in the charts.
Should I? Mystia asked herself. Or should I not?
That night, during dinner, Mystia ended her quiet life of three years and reentered the industry by returning a call to the recording company. Without even arranging for an interview, she was told over the phone that she had been officially re-engaged with the company, and that a representative will be going down to her residence in person to finalize the contract.
Mystia quickly went back to her bedroom and threw opened her wardrobe. In it hung the various dresses and flashy clothing that she had worn during her performances, including some more formal clothes for interviews and even simply for shopping. As always, Mystia had to spend almost ten minutes deciding on her choice of clothes and finally picked out one that was fit for interviews.
A representative arrived an hour later and discussed the terms of the contract with her. When asked to take a photograph, she simply smiled and gave her best while looking at the camera. The following morning, as she had expected, she saw her photograph being splashed on the front page of the newspaper with bold headlines; The Night Sparrow was back in business. News of this went viral and spread even faster than a wildfire could with a dry forest; the whole world knew she was back within the following twelve hours.
Throughout the next four days, Mystia became swamped in her own house with interviews by various reporters from the entertainment industry and even the local news anchor personally came down to give one, complete with television coverage and recording. Her mailbox was once again brimmed on a daily basis, the steady stream of phone calls by old friends and even some ex-troupe members ensured she felt the fatigue of being so popular again. Ironically, none of these were the ones that would have jolted her up.
A weary-looking Mystia showed up at the recording studio on the fifth day, where she was reintroduced to the staff and began working on her first reintroduction album 'Look who's back!'. Upon release, Mystia's name reappeared on the charts, even beating the runner-up album by more than 120% in sales volume.
For the next two years, Mystia worked with various song artists on recordings and even began doing her own solo musical tour across Europe, even going as far as to revisit the university that she had performed for on the fourth year of her life in the Outer World, in hopes of meeting the librarian that had given her that strange feeling. Seven years had passed since that particular performance, and although she knew her chances of meeting the librarian was low, she tried anyway, and was rewarded with disappointment when she noticed that the university's library was closed for renovation. What lousy luck, the renovations only began last week!
Usually, after her performances, Mystia would hurry back to her hotel to rest for the next day, when she would be usually heading out to another part of the country for her next performance, but this time she had decided to stay and watch the remaining events of the university's event concert, not only because it was her last leg of the tour, but the university's director had personally invited her to stay to grace the event, something she felt honored to do. Her popularity did not just fall on adults, but even with the young and old humans, and that she was, in particular, very popular in that university; students had formed clubs and attempted to replicate her performances.
A few performances by various students followed after hers, and the next one caught her attention.
According to the director, it was a performance by an exchange student on full scholarship from Japan, whom many, including the lecturers themselves, had found to be as fascinating as Mystia herself; the exchange student looked too young to be believed to be a student studying in the university. When the solo performer took the stage, Mystia found herself wondering if that girl was also from Gensokyo.
The girl was petite in height, almost like Mystia herself, and her facial features were smooth with no false makeup. Her hair was set loose to almost waist level and she had eyes of the same color as her hair.
She gave an introduction of herself, remarking that almost everybody in the school, including those that she had never spoke to before, probably already knew her name, causing many laughter among the audience, but gave it again as one 'Hata no Kokoro'. She first appeared on stage in a white kimono for a simple traditional dance, to which she received an ovation nearly as warm as Mystia had. A slight jealousy panged in the Night Sparrow's chest, but she gave a warm applause anyway. Her next few short performances included a solo manzai performance, where she alternated between the boke and tsukkomi, then a traditional kagura dance, complete with the masks and following which, a video of her hometown, which was displayed through an overhead projector.
The exchange student's final performance was what that had spooked Mystia to the bone; Kokoro had reappeared on stage in a white haori and a pair of red hakama. A red bow ribbon was tied to the back of her long hair and she was clutching onto a gohei. Is… is that Reimu? No… Reimu always wore those trademark detachable sleeves. Kokoro must be simply depicting a contemporary miko… nothing to worry about.
Kokoro gave a deep bow to the audience, who gave their usual ovation, before announcing the intentions of her final performance for the university's event. A short speech about her dedication of her final performance to a group of special people back in Japan followed before she suddenly turned her attention to Mystia, who was still trying to convince herself that Reimu wasn't the person standing on the stage.
"Miss Lorelei," Kokoro said over the mic. "I have been an avid fan of your songs, just as most of the students here are." Mystia gave a small nod in appreciation, still unsure of what she was hearing as Kokoro continued. "It gives me pleasure to say, in front of the audience of more than two thousand people present, that one of the songs that you had written six years ago is the inspiration of my upcoming performance. Please allow me to use one of your songs to show appreciation to this special group of shrine maidens and their shrine's security officer, whom all of them had saw me through my childhood as an orphan."
Without another moment, the lights dimmed again, leaving one spotlight beamed down on the exchange student. On the surface, she simply smiled at the director, who was telling her that this particular performance was the reason he had wanted her to stay for, but deep inside herself, Mystia wondered which one of her songs was going to be used for Kokoro's performance. She silently rattled off names as she kept guessing, but when the music finally came through the speakers, she realized it wasn't even any of the songs she had used in the past.
The opening of the song was played with violins, followed by piano, but the melody sounded awfully familiar to her. Only when Kokoro began to sing did Mystia finally recognized the song. That's… that's the song I first wrote! I was supposed to have dedicated it to her, but I have never did so. Kokoro has managed to rewrite my song in Japanese. I fully understand what her own version of the lyrics are; they are similar to mine, but in no way too different.
[Wasurenai de ne
boku to asonda hi
Nagai michi wo
doko made mo itta yo ne
(Rough translation: Don't forget them, the days that you played with me. We followed the long roads on to forever.)
Hashiri tsukarete
koronda toki wa
kimi ga itsu demo
chikara dzuketekureta]
(Rough translation: And when, tired from running, we fell. You always encouraged me.)
Both of us wrote it for someone who had the biggest impact in our lives, Mystia thought to herself. She rewrote it in Japanese for her foster parents, I wrote it for my savior. Kokoro lost her biological parents, I lost her, and in this time, I will never be able to repay my priceless debt, for this song is no longer meant just for her.
Oh well. As a professional in this industry, there is nothing more glamorous than to have your songs is adapted in other languages, as it shows that there are people out there who appreciate your work. I'm truly glad that I managed to give hope and happiness to this girl from Japan.
But what about myself? I may need to work on another song soon.
As the song continued, Mystia began aware that the overhead projector was displaying more images on the screen behind Kokoro, mostly of women in shrine maidens' wear. The images would change each time Kokoro enters a new verse of her version of the song. This girl must have been brought up by the miko, Mystia thought to herself. It makes me wonder if any of those miko could have been a reborn Reimu, or if Kokoro herself is Reimu?
As Kokoro neared the final chorus,, the images switched over to some of Kokoro's younger photographs, earning many heartening 'awww' from the audience, causing the exchange student to slightly stumble in her words over the small embarrassment. One of the photographs was of a young Kokoro beaming at the camera, a woman dressed in red-white garments squatting beside her, her long white hair, sporting identical red-white hair accessories, already touching the ground. As the audience continued their laughter, Mystia, however, had turned white in her seat. I swear I have seen somebody like that woman before… who can that be?
The particular image on screen did not show the woman's face, but on the next photograph, Kokoro was shown being lifted into the air by her waist, above the head of the woman who had been squatting behind her. The woman's identity, by then, had been very clear to Mystia, who could only continue to stare at the image while Kokoro finished the verse.
[…minna no egao sono mama ni
kokoro no~
takarabako ni irete]
(Rough translation: …with everyone's smiles just the same, I put them into my Treasure Chest of the Heart)
"Hey, Mystia," Kokoro poked the person beside her, speaking in Japanese. "Thank you for doing this for me, you know?"
Mystia smiled in return. "It's the least I could do, Kokoro. You know that you have earned this all by yourself."
"I did?"
"Yeah," Mystia turned back to face the front. "I never thought that my song could ever be rewritten in another language. I wrote this for somebody that I've lost, though."
"Oh!" Kokoro's face fell. "I'm… I'm sorry! I didn't know about that! I-"
"It's alright," Mystia turned to her again. "After all, you do miss the folks back home, don't you?"
Kokoro remained silent as her own guilt overcame her. "You didn't do anything wrong," Mystia assured. "Besides, I was glad my song gave you the happiness you shared with your folks. Did you know that I had never gone around dedicating that song to the person whom I wrote it for?"
"No… I didn't know…"
"Well then!" Mystia laid a hand on Kokoro's shoulder. "Lighten up! We are going to visit your folks; it wouldn't do to return home with a sullen face, would it?"
"You are right," Kokoro forced a small smile.
It was a year later, twelve years after Mystia first stepped into the Outer World, when both impossibly-young-looking girls were on a flight bound for Nagoya, Japan, from Europe. Kokoro had finished the exchange program in theater and was heading for her vacation when Mystia had contacted her again. The Night Sparrow had offered the student an opportunity to cast her dreams of being on the stage into reality, to which Kokoro jumped onto without hesitation.
Throughout the day, which saw Mystia giving Kokoro a personal interview for her career, they discussed about certain plays and famous theater works based on both European and Japanese cultures, what they could do and, hopefully, reunite Mystia's old troupe members back together and perform again. It had been a normal day for Mystia, who already had more than a decade of experience in the entertainment industry, but for Kokoro, she could not contain her excitement as they mapped out her dream with pen and paper.
Kokoro had requested to be able to return home before she would take on the offer, something that Mystia had anticipated and hoped she would bring up. Behind the job offer was the Night Sparrow's true motive: to visit Kokoro's hometown to meet that woman. Disguising it as part of her sightseeing trip, Mystia had requested Kokoro to be her guide in Japan and, naturally, the girl had insisted that they visit her hometown first.
For somebody who had been flying on her own wings in Gensokyo, Mystia was less than impressed of the view of the upper atmosphere from the aircraft, but Kokoro had been an entirely different matter; she claimed that her flight to Europe had been in the night and was unable to see much, coupled with the fact that she had been sleeping throughout the entire journey. "Seeing the skies above the clouds in broad daylight, taking my seat beside an international singer and having my first-class ticket back home sponsored might just make my heart explode!" Kokoro had joyfully told a smiling Mystia when they had taken off from the international airport. "And then, working for the same star and having the honor to bring her to my home…"
"Is an expression that you probably would never be able to fake on stage," Mystia teased a very red-faced Kokoro. The journey onboard continued with Kokoro fully abusing the wait service and whatever else that she could do for the probably-once-in-her-lifetime-experience in the first class cabin, including admiring the washroom and the selection of expensive lotions and soap in it while Mystia simply dozed off in her seat.
Why? Why did you save me? Why, of all people, would you, a human, save me, a small and frail youkai?
"Heh… because… I like you."
Liar! You are lying! How can you ever like me?
"Hehe… how easily you get teased…"
Stop it, it isn't funny!
"Cute… as always…"
Shut up!
"C-c-cute…"
…
…
"Shut up!" Mystia yelled.
"W-wuh?" Kokoro squeaked.
It was a dream, Mystia thought to herself. It's coming back to me again.
"Erm… what did I say that made you shout at me?" Kokoro asked softly.
"Huh?" Mystia stared, dumbfounded. "Did… Did I?"
"Oh," relief flooded her face. "You must have had a nightmare, I guess?"
"Uh… sort of. What did I shout?"
"'Shut up!'"
"Uh…" Mystia's face turned red as she looked around; everybody else was looking in her direction, some of them giving irritated looks. Probably asleep until I woke everyone up.
Japan, huh. That dream… Gensokyo is probably in Japan as well, but where?
Mystia shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned to Kokoro, who was already resuming with her earlier activity. "Anyway, what are you doing with that mask?"
"This?" Kokoro answered, putting the cloth that she had been using on her mask on the seat table, which held a glass of expensive-looking wine. "Just giving these mask, and another one in my carry-on, a quick cleaning. The masks that I had been using for my schooling had been on loan from my shrine."
"Oh, so somebody had taught you all the performances when you were younger?"
"Having being brought up by shrine maidens, naturally!" Kokoro smiled. "Of course, they initially thought I wouldn't like noh performances, but I did. It became one of my favorite hobbies quickly and I was able to perform alongside with the miko during ceremonies."
"In miko wear?"
"Yep!" Kokoro dug into her bag and retrieved the red hakama from within it. Smoothing it out on her lap, she began inspecting it closely while talking, not noticing that Mystia had become slightly unsettled. She's not a youkai hunter, calm down, stop sweating yourself over every shrine maiden that you will be seeing soon in Japan. "You know, this is also on loan, and they have strict rules about the folding…"
"And here we are!" Kokoro proudly proclaimed as they entered through the village gates. "Welcome to my home!"
"That lake…" Mystia pointed into the distance. "Does it have a name?"
"Yeap! It's Lake Suwa!"
Lake Suwa? Where did I hear that name before?
…
…
Right. Youkai Mountain. Gensokyo.
Is this a coincidence? "Why is it named that way?" the Night Sparrow asked, following the girl into the village, both of them empty handed as, thanks to Mystia's contacts, they would be having their baggage delivered from the airport instead of having to drag it along with them.
Kokoro shrugged, saying that she herself had no idea and then proceeded to giving her a quick tour of the village, showing her around the shops, the village elder's house and meeting up with Kokoro's village friends, most of whom had never heard of Mystia Lorelei the Night Sparrow "We won't be going to my home yet," Kokoro said. "Since my luggage hasn't arrived, and there's nobody else living there too."
"Oh? I thought you were living in the shrine?"
Kokoro laughed at that, giving her contractor a friendly slap on the shoulders. "What age are you living in? We all have our own homes! Well, in my case, I was simply given one."
The village had been almost similar to the Human Village in Gensokyo, except that the houses were all made of bricks; the well in the middle of the village had some modern modifications onto it, such as an automated pulley system. The farms and gardens were littered with machinery and modern farming techniques, which were unseen back in Gensokyo.
Unlike lakes in Gensokyo, rivers and lakes in the Outer World were considered to be hazards and, as such, were blocked off with metal railings, caution signs being placed at regular intervals all along the length of the railings. As the duo crossed a bridge, Mystia noticed that Lake Suwa looked exactly the way Kamishirasawa Keine had described during their night classes.
They were headed into a forested area across the village, where the village's shrine was located in. "Our shrine is located outside of the village," Kokoro told Mystia. "We should go there to offer our prayers too, and I can pray for our success as well as letting the miko know that I'm back. It was burnt down a decade ago by a vandal, but the villagers rebuilt it fairly quickly."
"A vandal?"
"Yeah, although I don't know why," Kokoro scratched her head. "I was probably too young to care anyway. I did hear that this vandal burnt more than ten shrines around the area too."
"Wow, ten!"
"Yup, sounds horrible, right?"
Ten shrines? Mystia thought. Nobody in Gensokyo had even thought of that! Well, if somebody did, maybe we youkai would have a greater presence in Gensokyo. But then again, Reimu would probably exorcise the culprit for real instead of beating that youkai down, like she always did. "By the way," Mystia suddenly asked. "During your last song in that event in the university, a couple of your photographs that had been displayed on the screen showed a certain miko with white hair and some hair accessories."
"Oh, that's my childhood playmate."
"Childhood?"
"Or rather, somebody in the shrine who had been tasked to keep me company whenever the miko were busy. She acts as my big sister, plays with me and protects me from many things when I was younger. We will definitely meet her; I will introduce this great person to you. She's not a miko, though, but works there as the guardian of the shrine. Come, we are reaching it soon!"
Guardian of the shrine? Sounds exactly like what she would do, but a shrine?
Sure enough, a moderate sized shrine stood in the path around a corner, a tall decorated onbashira standing in its grounds. Unlike the Hakurei Shrine, this particular shrine looked to be well off, as could be seen by the number of worshipers in its grounds. The roofs were well maintained, the smell of incense burning filled the air and even the paint of the walls looked new.
Entering the shrine under the large torii instead of simply walking in, as Kokoro explained that it was a custom to enter through it, Mystia noticed a smaller hut that, although built in the spirit of the shrine's theme, looked different from the other buildings. "That's the security room," Kokoro said, pulling Mystia with her as they tried to make their way through the crowd. "She's usually inside, refusing to come out unless there are problems. She's good with children, though, so most worshipers leave their kids here while they go about their business in the shrine. You look pretty young too; she would probably like you as well!"
"Hey!" Mystia poked.
"Come!"
Kokoro dashed up the stone steps leading to the security room and throw the sliding door open. "BIG SISTER, I'M BACK!" she yelled happily and dashed into it, leaving Mystia outside. The Night Sparrow heard a loud thump, along with more squeals from other children who were probably also inside. Kokoro probably tackled her to the ground.
Stepping through the door, her suspicions were confirmed as a mountain of kids were playfully crawling all over Fujiwara no Mokou, who had been sprawled on the ground, laughing together with them.
Mokou still wore her trademark clothing from their Gensokyo days, except that her shirt no longer looked dirty and was probably bought from the village's shops. Her suspenders, however, looked like it was more than a millennium old. A small name tag was clipped on the waistband, probably to identify herself as a staff member of the shrine.
The immortal had not noticed Mystia's arrival, but Kokoro did. "Ahh, Big Sis, let me introduce you to somebody here," Kokoro got to her feet and pointed. "She's-"
"MYSTIA?" Mokou shouted when she turned to look at the door. Leaping up in an instant, she quickly put herself between the children and the Night Sparrow, her arms spread out to protect them. "Stay away from her!"
Silence filled the room and continued for ten seconds as tension reigned between the two Gensokyo citizens. "Uh… Big Sis?" Kokoro tugged at Mokou's shirt.
"Why are you with her, Kokoro?" Mokou demanded, not taking her eyes off Mystia, who was still standing at the door, looking slightly afraid. "Did she hurt you?"
"Nononono!" Kokoro shook her head vehemently. "She's a nice person! She's my manager now!"
"Huh?" Mokou finally turned. "She's your what?"
"Manager," Mystia said. "I didn't do anything to her, only offered to realize her dream of being on stage." Kokoro nodded, as if to show that Mystia had been telling the truth. The immortal considered it for a second before relaxing slightly.
"Kokoro, bring the kids out for a moment?" Mokou instructed to the girl behind her, who immediately obeyed. Mystia stepped aside to allow them to pass, and slid the door close once the last kid was out. Turning around, she saw that Mokou had already taken her seat behind a table. She took her place opposite her on a vacant chair without being invited to do so. "So," Mokou began. "You made it out too, huh?"
"Barely," Mystia replied, her eyes not looking into Mokou. "If it wasn't for-"
"So somebody else died for you, hmm?"
"Yes."
Mokou shifted slightly in her chair. "Look, I don't care how you managed to survive all these years, even without your wings, claws and fangs, but I really don't like the idea of you being near Kokoro."
"I know… because I'm youkai, right?"
"Exactly. And you know what you did back then."
"I never hurt any humans when I was here."
"Don't forget that it was also a bird that got us into this mess."
"That's unfair. I'm in no way related to her."
"True," Mokou shifted again, just as Mystia did. "I give that to you. That aside, what are you doing here? How did you find your way here?"
Mystia explained how she had met with Kokoro and the performance that led to the discovery of Mokou's location. In return, Mokou told the Night Sparrow her side of the story of how she became to be working in the shrine, conveniently leaving out Sanae and the others. "You came looking for the other survivors, I take it?"
"Yes."
"Judging by the look of your clothes, you are probably living well."
"I am, but I live all alone."
"Let's just say, if you can find everyone else, what are you going to do about it?"
"Bring everyone to Europe, or I can move here too. It hasn't been easy for me on my own either. I have much more things to worry about than in Gensokyo."
Mokou considered her statement for a moment before replying. "I may be able to help with that. After all, this is indeed Japan. I did hear about this place when Yukari mentioned about the evacuation. In the meantime, what would you be doing here?"
"Probably go on a sightseeing trip, as I had planned."
"I haven't explored much myself. I would definitely want to follow, seeing that you are bringing Kokoro with you, but I have my duties here."
"Both you and I know that we will outlive the humans," Mystia lowered her voice, aware that some of the kids were eavesdropping on their conversation through the thin screen doors. "You are being overprotective of Kokoro, what will you do when that time comes?"
Mokou's facial expression changed, but her voice did not rise, neither did her hands, which were balled into fists below the table, to punch the Night Sparrow, "I haven't forgotten about Keine, in case you were wondering about that."
"What will you do, then?"
"I will preserve my memory of her."
"How?"
Mokou thought for a while. "It might be possible, but I don't know about it yet. I can show it to you, but not now."
"I don't really understand what you are saying, Mokou."
"Never mind," Mokou reached into a drawer on her side of the table and her hand came out with a card, handing it to Mystia across the table while bringing her voice levels back to normal. "Here is my card. Keep in contact, bird."
Mystia did likewise after receiving the card. "Don't give anybody else that number. I do not want millions of calls coming to my personal line."
"'The Night Sparrow', huh. How come I have never heard of you?"
"Have you been listening to international songs?"
"I keep to Japanese music, and I hate your voice."
"There you have it." Mystia pushed away from the table and walked to the door. "I will take care of Kokoro, alright?"
"You better do," Mokou grunted. "Or I will make yakitori out of you, in front of everybody."
To you whom inspired me
Fortunately, I'm still doing well.
Twelve years have gone in a blink of the eye, and I have finally met one survivor. You do know who Fujiwara no Mokou is, don't you?
I met her a few days back.
She still resents me, simply because I'm youkai. It sounds racist, but it cannot be helped. This is like comparing predators and prey: you can never have them to be friends, special cases aside. Things got worse when she found out that I was in the company of her ward, one Hata no Kokoro, whom I had made a contract with for stage play.
Fortunately, it ended well, although I can tell that she still wouldn't trust me with her ward. I don't blame her, though.
I've finally made my way to Japan, the land where Gensokyo supposedly should be located in. I must not give up hope, as Mokou has hinted slightly about the presence of others in Japan, too. She did not say so, but I know that somebody else must be here too. If I travel more, I might be able to find them.
Assuming they are leading proper lives like Mokou did, they should have heard of my name in the music industry. Why have they not contacted me? I'm beginning to remember our days, when everyone hated me and my voice. Is that the main reason why everybody is avoiding me?
I… I think I get it. I think I know why I existed in Gensokyo. They said that it is a land for those who are forgotten. I must have existed here centuries ago, forgotten by the inhabitants here and so sent to Gensokyo to remain forgotten. I doubt I still remain in the memories of anybody.
Just a forgotten soul.
Yes, this must be it, a forgotten night sparrow.
But Mokou remembered me. I would like to believe that you still remember me too, just as I do to you.
…
…
…
I lied.
If I did remember you every day, I would have never forgotten to dedicate that first song to you. I did promise to work on another, but it has been forgotten again. Are you going to be a youkai too? I doubt so, because you tried to remind me of my memory of you by reappearing in my dreams.
Speaking of dreams, just last night, I heard somebody's voice calling out to me in my dream. It wasn't Kokoro's, it wasn't yours and it definitely wasn't Mokou's, but a strangely familiar voice belonging to somebody from Gensokyo. I was unable to identify the murky figure, but that person was telling me to 'leave this place'.
That person beckoned to me to 'return home', but I didn't know what I should do. I even forgot whose voice that belonged to, so I'm going to assume it's just a nightmare. Looking out of the window from my hotel room now, it is already dark, and the clock on the table shows that it's already late. I should be going to bed soon, for I have more places to visit tomorrow.
Kokoro should be returning to our room soon, and when she does-
"MYSTIA! MYSTIA!" Kokoro's voice echoed through the corridors outside their room before bursting in, almost kicking down the door. "YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS!"
"Huh?" Mystia looked up from her table, putting down the pen she was using to write the letter.
Kokoro was panting as she bent to catch her breath while waving a purple envelope in her hand. "You… you are invited!"
"Invited?" Mystia had gotten up and walked over to pluck the card from the hand. "What's this about?"
"A man…!" Kokoro said between breaths. "Was looking… for you in… the lobby! I offered to bring this up to you instead!"
"Who is he?"
"I… don't… know."
"Has he left?"
"Yes."
"You read my letter?"
"Well… sorry… it wasn't sealed properly," Kokoro pointed at the unsealed envelope. "It fell out… while I was running up."
"You didn't bother to take the elevator?"
Kokoro's flushed face, almost recovering from her running, turned red again. "Uh… no."
Mystia giggled as she pulled the envelope's contents out, which was simply an invitation card. "Erm… yu… yume no… no…"
"Yume no Gejiko!" Kokoro finished the pronunciation for her. "It has been voted as one of the most prestigious theater for the fine arts in Japan!"
Theater… of… Dreams? A theater for the fine arts? I wonder who had invited me. "But… I'm currently on a holiday. This person is inviting me to perform."
"Yume no Gejiko is literally the dream of many performers!" Kokoro exclaimed. "It began as a mysterious theater that had been built without advertisements of what it is for. When construction was finally completed just three years ago, some of Japan's greatest musicians, stage performers and playwrights were invited to the opening ceremony, which was a private event. Even the audience was made up of Japan's richest and most influential people! All of those who performed became even more famous than they were before!"
"So what exactly is it that makes it so prestigious, other than the people that had been invited so far?"
"Hmm…" Kokoro tried to recall facts from her memory. "It only opens once a year, no videos or photographs of whatever that happened inside have been released, so nobody else knows what is going on inside. However, the guests and invited performers spoke of how grand the interiors are, and that it is almost like a dream itself. One actor from an invited troupe said that the backstage itself looked more majestic than any palaces or ballrooms that have ever existed. He might be exaggerating, but nobody else knows for sure, other than those who went."
"And I am probably the first foreign performer for Yume no Gejiko?"
"Absolutely the first! Mmmmmmh! I'm so jealous of you right now, Mystia! I want to perform in that theater!"
"But, my holiday-"
"No, you must go! In the industry here, it is considered a great honor to be even invited to Yume no Gejiko! If you want an edge in this land's performing industry, you got to go!"
Mystia looked at the back of the card, where a short list of songs that she had been requested to perform for had been annotated by the organizer. "Hmm… they want me do to a joint opening ceremony performance for The Anvil Chorus. Not a problem, I have done that performance during my earlier days. The rest of these songs are of no issue, too, and… wait, what's this? It's in Japanese? Shojo… ma… mabo…"
"Shojo maboroshi-so."
"What does it mean?"
"Hmm… Oh, yes, this song, I have heard of it once. A man, whose name I never caught, composed this song for a female character in a love story. It was never really used in the movie since the lyrics were unfinished though. Translated, it means 'A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral'."
"I'm not very well-versed in the language, so how would they expect me to sing this, not to mention that I have to come up with my own lyrics to complete it?"
"It is well that you have never written your own songs, other than that one. I can help you with this, though. How long do we have?"
"It's Tuesday today. The performance is for Friday."
"Three days? We don't have much time! We got to begin now, starting with understanding the lyrics!"
"I don't have my clothes-"
"Get somebody to ship them here from Europe!"
"Uh… I don't think it would be a good idea to have somebody taking my clothes from my cabinet, wouldn't it?"
"Well, we can just go around and find something nice!"
"Kokoro… why are you pushing this?"
"Um…" Kokoro ceased her enthusiasm. "Sorry…"
"It's alright, but I'm not really prepared for this. I do understand the honor of being invited to such a place, but this is all too sudden. Even if we managed to get the song done within the three days, I still need to rehearse my other songs, too. It takes a week of rehearsal for an hour on stage, and you know this better than anybody do, Kokoro."
"Well… I guess you are going to turn down the invitation then?"
"… I'm afraid so. In fact, how did this person know that I am here?" My secretary knows that I'm here, but he would have called me in advance if somebody was looking for me.
"Hmm… what about Big Sister Mokou?"
"Nope, I didn't tell her either."
"Actually, I was really having high hopes for your upcoming performance at the theater, you know?" Kokoro said with a disappointed tone. "I really wanted you to see what's inside; it could be more than just an once-in-a-lifetime experience."
"I do, too. Three days… might be possible if I can somehow sort everything out."
Kokoro's face brightened up again. "You mean you will do it?"
"You would be helping me, right?"
"YES!" Kokoro practically leapt onto Mystia from her spot with open arms, causing them both to collapse onto Mystia's bed.
This girl needs to stop tackling people down, Mystia thought with a smile. To be honest, I have no problems getting ready in just three days. I really needed a holiday, and I'm glad I planned one, even though it was just a disguise for my real purpose in Japan. I suppose I could do this one, just once.
In fact, I do have one set of clothing in my travel bag just for this occasion…
Dear savior, are you listening to my thoughts? I hope you will be there in the audience in spirit as well. Bring the others along with you.
"Good evening, miss," the receptionist greeted her at the counter. "Are you lost?"
"Uh…" the small girl wearing a brown dress with butterfly red buttons muttered, looking uneasy. She was also wearing a small brown cap with wings and had similarly winged boots.
"Where are your parents?" the receptionist asked in a kind voice.
"Hey!" the girl put on a frown. "I'm not a small girl, despite my size! I was invited here!" she thrust an invitation card into the receptionist's face, who took it and studied it.
"Oh, dear!" the receptionist's face grew red and she executed a formal bow in apology. "I'm sorry, Miss Lorelei, you have been expected! Allow me to guide you in."
As soon as her name was being said, many heads, belonging to people who had ignored her as she entered Yume no Gekijo's main lobby, turned to stare at the young foreign wonder. 'Who is she?' and 'Is that really Mystia Lorelei?' were the most common questions being muttered under hushed voices among themselves. Mystia quickly tailed after the woman, who had strode off in another direction in a quick pace.
Kokoro was right; this place looks like a dream… it simply can't be described with words. In fact, whenever I look above me, I see not a roof, but a perfect copy of the sky, complete with moving clouds and the feel of the heat under the sun, although it felt cool. Some of the flowers around the hallways were gently swaying to the wind that I am feeling right now, and I don't see any air-conditioning ducts or fans that were capable of generating such wind.
Banquet-style buffets have been set up in various corners of the lobby, and it feels more like a royal garden party than an indoor dining experience.
It feels… real.
Is this a dream?
As the optical illusionary interiors of Yume no Gejiko disorientated and inevitably caused Mystia to lose herself, she began wondering if the mushroom-shaped house that they were approaching was real until she felt a hand tap her shoulders. "Here we are," the receptionist said.
"This place is… amazing," Mystia gushed after thanking the woman.
"It takes a great deal of concentration to prevent myself from being lost," she replied. "Fortunately, in discreet locations are signs telling you which path leads to where. For now, I have brought you to our VIP private lounge room, on instructions of the organizer, to meet the conductor of the orchestra that would be performing your pieces."
"This… is a room?"
"Looks like a house on its own, isn't it?"
Bowing again, the receptionist left the Night Sparrow alone. Mystia stared at the oak door, which had a medieval-looking signboard 'nailed' on it proclaiming "VIP Lounge". She grabbed the 'moss-covered' knob, twisted it and swung the door inward.
Faces inside the room turned as she did so. No wait… these faces… they are all the same? Is this also part of the dream of this theater?
However, as she scanned the sea of faces, she realized that one face stood out from the rest. In fact, this person was wearing different clothes from the others, and Mystia felt the same uneasiness as when she had performed in the university in Europe those many years ago. I… I know this person! She is…
"A… Alice? Alice Margatroid?"
A.N.: I'm not sure if you have caught this hint, but this particular chapter's letters were not written to Reimu. So why is this even uploaded in Letters to Reimu? It will be explained in future chapters, and those chapters aren't far away. The letters, by the way, were written in the Japanese informal format, and due to Mystia's limited proficiency in writing, she reused the same opening set expression in the second letter.
Hata no Kokoro is a major guest star in this chapter, even though she was never meant to be included in my story initially. Hopeless Masquerade took place long after Subterranean Animism, so no letters for her. Also, I gave Kokoro a normal face instead of the expressionless one that she has canonically. This will be explained in future too.
As mentioned in an earlier chapter's notes, I had intended to do something for Alice. After a long period of consideration, I have decided to insert her here as the conductor of the orchestra. This is inspired by one particular image that I found, depicting the Margatroid Doll Orchestra. Not in exact words, but hopefully you will be able to find what I saw.
Mokou got thrown in here as Kokoro's guardian, but there will not be any MokouXKokoro pairing.
This story is drawing pretty close to the ending, and I have done all of the characters that I have wanted to before the next. Again, if you have caught the hint, Ran's story is next.
Songs performed in this chapter:
Mystia Lorelei
Diamonds in my Heart by Vicki Bell
Chocobo Racing ending theme (English)
Squaresoft (or now known as Square Enix)
Hata no Kokoro
Kokoro no Takarabako (心のたからばこ Treasure Chest of the Heart) by Ohta Hiromi + Suzukake Children's Choir
Chocobo Racing ending theme (Japanese counterpart)
Squaresoft/Square Enix
As for this chapter, here's something for you to think over, should you be interested: who was the letters meant for? How is Mokou going to physically preserve her memory of Kokoro after the girl passes on? In the upcoming performance, will Mystia forget her promise to her savior?