Author's Notes: A short chapter to accomodate a short segment of the story; I have elaborated it out what was only somewhat skimmed over in the original story. This segment was one of the ones that I was more worried about going into greater detail about, so I intentionally made it vague. As a writer, that's inexcusable, of course, so here it is very close to how I had originally imagined it. It gets a chapter of its own because it deserves one. Please let me know what you think of it.
Disclaimer: Touhou Project is owned by Team Shanghai Alice, whose sole member is ZUN. I only own the words, story, and concept.
I had flown through the barrier and found myself someplace that at least felt familiar; Makai is built like a giant underground cavern, and I had appeared to be in a cave. According to mother, demons were more comfortable in that kind of environment, and in a way so was I. I set down on the ground and walked in the direction of a source of light; I emerged from the cave into a world of wonder.
Only in books had I ever seen anything like it; a clear sky full of stars, a waning crescent moon hanging above the tree line. The cave seemed to be in a clearing of the forest around it, and while there was some light in the clearing, there was none getting through the canopy; I was weary from the fight I had just fought and wanted nothing more than to get some sleep, so I returned to the cave entrance and curled up just around the corner, trying to stay hidden from view. Sleep claimed me only a short while later.
When I awoke the next morning, I was feeling quite refreshed, if not a little stiff and sore from the position I had slept in. Strangely enough, I hadn't felt very hungry or thirsty, despite not having eaten anything since the previous morning; the light of the sun blinded me as I walked back into the clearing. I immediately noticed the difference between the air from where I grew up and the air where I was at that time; there was no miasma haze, and for the first time I was breathing easy.
I finally had an opportunity to fully take in my surroundings, and inspect myself; my clothes had multiple small rips and tears in places, and my hair ribbon was in shambles. For the first time since the fight I inspected the book; to my surprise, the words Grimoire of Alice were inscribed on the cover, and a thick, sturdy red ribbon crossed the outside of it with a heavy golden padlock hanging there, holding it in place. I instinctively reached into one of my pockets and found three things; two of the dolls I used in the first attack and a small gold key that I knew belonged to my book's lock.
I chose to leave the book alone and inspected the outside of the cave I had rested in the night before; it was less carved out of a mountain than a hill. From the entrance it sloped downward, allowing for the larger part of the cave that housed the barrier.
I reentered the clearing with the intent to venture into the forest; I chose not to fly in order to not attract attention to myself, and to better explore this new world that was going to be my new home. Under the tree line it was cool, and I encountered many plants and animals that I had only ever read about before. Despite my lack of hunger, I foraged for whatever things I could find, though there wasn't much that I could identify; there were a multitude of mushrooms to be found, but I knew that without being able to identify them it would be unwise to try to eat one.
My progress was slow at first. I quickly realized that without knowing where I was, I was already lost in those woods. I had wandered for only a few hours when I pack of fairies had ambushed me; I defended myself with some basic danmaku, and it did drive them off, but it also seemed to awaken something that I hadn't realized was there.
At first it was just a tingling sensation throughout my whole body; never had I felt anything like that, and I had to wonder if it was a reaction to the change in my environment. Looking back now, though, I think I understand it; I had already begun changing due to exposure from that book, and now it was trying to accelerate that process.
I was small for my age, appearing to be around ten years old, when in fact I was fourteen. It was likely the fault of the miasma, stunting my growth despite my tolerance for it. I was born human, but not actually in Makai; I don't know the details, but somehow I had wound up in Pandemonium Castle as an infant, and Shinki chose to adopt me and raise me as her own. As I was so young, I was still developing various immunities, and I apparently managed to adjust to breathing in the air that was normally so toxic to humans with long term exposure.
My physical body was too young and weak to handle the full power of the grimoire, so the book sought to change me; age me until I could unlock its full potential. It started small; a little pain in my legs that I couldn't attest to constantly walking through the forest. It would go away after a few seconds, mostly leaving me confused. A few hours later, I felt a similar sensation in my arms that once again did not last.
It continued occurring the same way every few hours, constantly shifting back and forth between the two regions. The pain grew with each occurrence, but the duration remained the same. For three days I wandered like that, enduring the increasingly sharp pains in my limbs. I found that I had grown a little taller as each day passed; my arms seemed a little longer. My grimoire used to be huge compared to me, but by that third day I could hold it comfortably with only one arm.
At the dawn of the fourth day, though, things changed slightly. The pain was happening in many more places, most notably in my chest. For long periods of time I was unable to move lest I aggravate what was happening to me. I passed out on the fifth day and when I awoke it was already dark; examining my body I found I had greatly changed…
I had grown a number of inches more than before, which was actually a little exciting for me, since I had always been a bit short in the leg. My chest had grown considerably, though not nearly as large as some of the demons I had seen back in Makai. Overall, I actually appeared to be the age that I was, though this turned out to be a bad thing, as the clothing I was wearing was not designed for someone of my new stature and figure; my attempts to stretch the material very nearly started ripping it further.
I was still lost in the woods, and still had to deal with the occasional sharp pain somewhere in my body, as well as new, unfamiliar sensations that I couldn't explain at the time. Another day of wandering found the edge of the woods and in the distance was what I could only have described as a village. My first contact with other humans was at hand, and despite my appearance I still looked forward to it…