Chapter 14: Doubts

Atop the northern cliffside that served as the headquarters of the Tachibana-Branch Resistance stood a figure in red. He wore a simple crimson tunic and equally-crimson pants, with detached sleeves and a white bandanna. At his hip was a silver cylinder. His long hair was tied back into a brown ponytail. The figure stared out over the sands, his back to the city as he gazed through the dome and out into the wastes.

Sensing someone behind him, he tensed slightly. "Who's there?" he asked softly.

"One of the newcomers," said a bored-sounding female. He turned, impressed that they managed to sneak up on him without him hearing their footsteps—and realized the reason for that.

She was floating off the ground.

" . . . Who are you?" he asked, expression neutral.

"Ain't it rude to demand someone's name before giving your own?"

"Is it?"

A beat.

"Ugh, fine. I'm Reimu." She shook her head in exasperation.

" . . . I'm Rei."

"Haku Rei, correct?" Reimu sighed. "Real creative. It's just 'Hakurei' split up."

Rei tensed. "How did you know that? Who are you?" His hand strayed to the cylinder at his waist.

"Because I'm a Hakurei myself, duh." She snorted. "Reimu. I'm apparently your mom."

Rei had heard enough. He snatched the cylinder and aimed it at her. From it emanated a beam of light, green in color, stopping just as it reached Reimu's throat. "Start talking."

Reimu threw her hands up. "Okay okay! Jeez!" She grimaced.

"My mother died twenty years ago saving innocent lives, my father with her. Who are you really?" Rei asked coldly.

"Yukari Yakumo. Who do you think?" Reimu looked at him pointedly. "Can't you sense the Hakurei power or something?"

He frowned. Indeed, now that he looked for it, there was something there. It felt . . . familiar. Still, that wasn't enough. "You expect me to believe you?"

"Actually, I don't care," she deadpanned. "Emu told me I should do this, though."

Rei lowered his saber. "That sound like something my mother would say," he said softly. "You are a time traveler, right?"

"Not of my own volition," she huffed. "Anyway, if that's all, I'm gonna head back."

"Wait." Rei sheathed his weapon. Closing his eyes, he held up a hand. The air around him wavered, and two spheres popped into existence—red and white, colors balanced in a swirl.

"The Yin-Yang Orbs," Rei muttered. "If you're a Hakurei, they'll know."

Reimu shrugged as the Yin-Yang Orbs slowly floated over to her, circling her. After a tense moment (tense for Rei, bored for Reimu) the Orbs stopped, pulsed gently, and lazily orbited her.

"See?" Reimu grumbled. "Can I go now?"

She turned to leave, but she suddenly felt one-hundred-and-fifty pounds of muscle crash into her. "Mother!"

"Gah!" Reimu choked out as her son from the future crushed her in a bearhug. "Can't . . . breath . . .!"

Elsewhere, the god of the Hakruei Shrine smiled. It had been far, far too long.

"I brought you something to eat," Alia said, setting a tray of food on the table. "It's not much, but it's something."

Alain remained unresponsive.

She sighed in worry. "Alain, please. You have to eat something."

" . . . How?"

"Hm?"

Alain looked up at her, his eyes red. "How can you go on like this knowing your entire life is a lie?"

She sat down next to him. "Not all of it is a lie, Alain."

"But it is," he muttered. "Where did we go wrong? Why did the Great Eye abandon us?"

She had no answer. Instead, she just put an arm around him and pulled him close.

A moment passed. The, she removed her arm as she stood. "I have to go to the meeting room. You'll be fine, right?"

Nothing. She took that to mean he was fine for the time being. "I'll be back," she said softly.

Alain was left alone to his thoughts. Hurt and betrayal raged inside him, emotions swirling about like a tempest. Occasionally tears would fall from his eyes, and he let them fall, not caring that others may see. Throughout this all, one question stayed at the forefront of his mind: why?

He didn't know how much time had passed before another voice startled him from his thoughts. "Lord Alain? Is it truly you?"

Red eyes were slowly raised, greeted by the sight of an old man bearing a familiar visage. " . . . Gyro?"

Gyro, now aged, smiled softly. "It is . . . good to see you again, Prince Alain. Even if you aren't the Alain I knew."

"Gyro? But . . . you're old!"

The aged Ganma chuckled. He no longer wore his military uniform, now wrapped in a tight cloak covering a simple tunic. "Milord, I overheard that you are from the past. This is true, correct?" At Alain's hesitating nod, he continued. "You know, you yourself had a similar response to this situation, all those years ago."

"I did?"

The former Ganma commander nodded. "You were devastated at your brother's betrayal, and the fact that all of your fighting—all you had suffered—was for nothing. That's what you feel now, correct?"

Alain's breath hitched. " . . . Yes," he admitted surprising himself.

Gyro nodded. "Milord, you're too focused upon yourself. Keep this up and you'll only self-destruct."

The Ganma Prince rose, indignant. "First of all, how dare—"

Gyro shifted his cloak, and Alain's words died in his throat. The prince's eyes trailed down Gyro's right arm—or, rather, where it used to be. From the shoulder down was just empty space.

Gyro smirked a little at Alain's flabbergasted reaction. "I received this wound in battle, Milord. Though it cost me my service, it was able to spur you into action once again—a price I believe worth paying."

"But . . . why? How?"

Gyro let his cloak fall. "You had fallen into a funk, as you had said back then, and you had become distracted on the battlefield. Naturally, I took the blow for you. After that day, you were a changed man. You threw yourself into the cause of the Resistance, and went onto become a hero of the free peoples of Earth."

A moment of silence. "Why are you telling me this, Gyro?" Alain asked wearily.

"Because I know you can overcome this, Alain." Alain blinked his surprise. Gyro never used his first name. "You're stronger than you think. You say that everything you did was a lie." Gyro's weathered brows frowned. "Is that so, milord? What about the people? What about your family? What about your friends?"

"I don't . . ." Alain trailed off. "They're not my friends."

Sighing, the elderly Ganma combat instructor righted himself. "Milord, I just want you to reaffirm that your reason for doing things is in the right place. Fight once again for your people, so that they may be free from the tyranny of the Great Eye." He turned to walk away, and said, "And if not, you had best find a reason. Your friends, your family—we all need you."

Gyro hobbled away, and Alain was left to his thoughts, his mind's tempest raging once again. Yet amidst the storm a solitary ray of sunlight had broken through.

"I still can't believe you're my father."

Ayumu and Takeru were atop the wall on the southern outpost, the latter having found the former while they were making rounds. Takeru admitted to the freedom fighter what Dr. Hojo had said earlier, and, after Ayumu processed the information, the two Tenkujis conversed at length while they guarded the perimeter.

"I can't believe it myself," Takeru admitted. "It's all so . . . strange. Part of me is surprised by the fact that I'm taking this whole 'end of the world' situation extremely well."

"You've certainly had a strange life, haven't you?" Ayumu chuckled.

Takeru nodded wryly. "Ghosts invade Japan, one of my best friends shows up after ten years, my dad's soul is stuck in a sphere." He sighed. "I'm still unsure of how to feel on that last one. According to Reimu, he hasn't said a word since when she first got Boost."

"You know, you ended up coming back to life," Ayumu said after a moment. "So there's a bit of good news there."

Takeru didn't say anything, but the freedom fighter saw him visibly relax. "You're not breaking any rules by telling me that, are you?"

"You mean the thing where a small change to the past could change the future?" Ayumu asked. Takeru nodded. "Well, the future can't really get any worse than this. I figure any change is welcome."

The two made small talk, mostly of Takeru asking his son what his life was like. Ayumu shrugged, saying that it was just patrols, rescuing people, taking care of zombified Ganma. Their conversation went on as such, until Ayumu spotted something off in the distance. "What's that?"

Takeru frowned. "It's a cloud of dust."

Ayumu's eyes narrowed "Gundari."

The pair sprinted back into the main camp, weaving their ways through the hallways until they found themselves in the docking bay.

"Where's your sword?" Takeru asked his son.

"It's actually not mine," the brunette admitted. "It's Rei's. I had it because rescuing you guys was an emergency and it was the first thing I grabbed." He pressed a button on his wristwatch, and large blue armor formed around him. With the blue plating and the bulkiness of the suit, he resembled a knight of old.

"Then what do you use?"

Ayumu grinned down at his father, the large power suit giving him a foot above the ghost hunter. He hefted a large mechanical-looking battleaxe from the wall. "I use polearms. Rei has swords, I have axes."

Rei appeared in the doorway, closely followed by Reimu. "What is it?" the other freedom fighter asked, already in his combat gear.

Ayumu nodded towards the weapons rack. "Gundari—a bunch of 'em by the looks of it. They somehow managed to slip past our sensors—they're not five miles off."

Rei winced, slipping the longsword Ayumu had used earlier over his shoulder. "That's far too close."

"Yeah." Ayumu cracked his neck before covering his head with a domed helmet. "Ready?"

"Wait," Reimu frowned at Rei's weapon. "That's the Roukanken. That's Youmu's sword."

Rei nodded somberly. "Lady Youmu bequeathed you this weapon . . . a long time ago. She died protecting the Netherworld from the Great Emperor. It was her final act."

A shadow fell over Reimu's face. "I see," she said softly. Takeru swore he heard her voice hitch, but said nothing. "Keep that weapon safe."

"Don't worry, . . . mom. I will."

"Ready?" Ayumu's voice, muffled and mechanical, came through his suit's speaker.

"Yeah." With one last look at his mother, Rei stepped with Ayumu into a raised pad.

"Two to transport." In a flash of light, the two vanished.

A moment later, Reimu sat down onto the floor, hard. "You okay, Reimu?" Takeru asked.

"I will be," she said. "It's just . . . I never thought the folks back home would bite it, you know? They're too tough to die. At least, that's what I thought."

Takeru sat by her. "The friends you talked about a while ago, right?"

"Not my friends," she said automatically. She then sighed. "They're all plenty strong. If even they have died, then just what exactly are we up against here?"

"I'm not sure," Takeru muttered. "We might be in way over our heads." He nodded. "But we can't give up now. We have to press on—for those who are behind and those who are ahead."

" . . . Heh, I guess you're right." Reimu smiled softly.

The two stood, before Makoto barged into the weapons room, panting. "Guys, come quick. Dan says he's got a breakthrough."

Ayumu, clad in the bulky power armor he called the Ghost Buster, sped over the wasteland sands towards the disturbance. His suit's jets hovered him over the dunes and propelled him at speeds unmatched by conventional vehicles. Rei easily kept up on-foot—he had inherited a bit of his mother's flotational power, each step displacing nary a grain of sand as he leapt from dune to dune.

"Ready?" Ayumu asked his partner, hefting his axe. Rei nodded, drawing his energy saber, but not activating it just yet. They raced up a particularly steep hill, the top inching into view.

"Now!" Even as Ayumu's cry came, the Gundari burst out of the sand, shrieking as it dove towards the two fighters. Ayumu blasted forward, slamming his axe into the thing's hide. Rei leapt over it, slashing away with his saber as he skated the leathery skin. The thing howled in pain as the pair completed their first pass.

Rei turned, sprinting across the dunes as the Gundari thrashed about. He spun and swung, a crescent wave lancing out from his emerald blade. The wave flew true, slicing through the tail and giving rise to another ear-splitting shriek. Even as it twisted to glare with wild eyes at Rei, Ayumu had propelled high into the air, before slamming his axe on its broad skull, cracking it and rending its brain asunder. He held on tight as it spasmed about in the throes of death, before finally stopping, its life bleeding out into the sand. He hefted his axe, wiping it on the wasteland. "How'd it make it so far past the sensors?"

"Don't know," Rei muttered as he deactivated his saber. "Where are the others?"

As if on cue, two more Gundari burst out of the wastes and made for the base. "There they are," Ayumu huffed. He stuck his axe on his back, and unsheathed a massive gun—it looked more like a cannon than anything else. He fired, and a bolt of blue flame shot from the massive barrel, exploding into a Gundari's side. As it wailed in the sands, the other sped off, but was quickly intercepted by Rei, who bore upon it with both blades drawn. The ghostly blade of Harouken and the buzzing energy of the beam saber flashed more times than the eye could follow, and a checker pattern of what the Gundari used for blood split open upon the beast's head. Rei spun, his blades dancing in the red sun, and the Gundari fell to the ground, piece by piece. Another explosion signaled to Rei that Ayumu finished taking care of the other.

"I've never known them to hunt in packs of three," Ayumu muttered. "They're normally solo hunters."

"Something's definitely off." Rei agreed.

Just then, a mile off, no fewer than ten Gundari burst out of the sands, streaking towards the domed city. "What!?"

"They played us," Ayumu growled. He blasted his jets, flying forward as he fired upon the swarm. Rei sped across the sands, blades outstretched—

—but they wouldn't make it in time.

"Awfully convenient of Dan to fix the Drivers right when we needed them," Reimu muttered. The three Riders were back in the docking bay, Drivers in hand.

"Actually, Dan says he finished them a bit ago," Makoto explained. "He just waited until a dramatic moment to reveal it."

"Oh, gee, how wonderful."

Takeru looked at the Eyecon in his hand. "So, according to him, our Eyecons don't work because we're in the future? And that's why we have these new ones?"

"Yes? No?" Makoto sighed. "He started to say something, but then he tangented into a rant about his 'godly talents'. But it can wait." He held up his Driver to his waist, the familiar sensation of it burning to life flaring up once again. "I'm still surprised we can take these things off."

Takeru activated his Eyecon. "All right. Henshin!"

He slammed the Eyecon in his Driver and cranked the lever. "Eyes open! Ex-Aid!" A pink Parka Ghost shot out as the white-boned armor formed around him. "New levels on parade! Game clear, Ex-Aid!"

He was garishly pink. It clashed horribly with Dark Ghost's armor, and his faceplate was unlike anything he'd ever had before. "Wow, this feels interesting."

"You look horrible," Reimu deadpanned as she initiated the transformation sequence along with Makoto. Orange and blue armors took form, and orange and blue Parka Ghosts materialized. "Eyes open! Gaim! Blade!"

"Orange! Banana! It's quite the dilemma!"

"Waving the blade! The trump card's a spade!"

Reimu's Parka had orange body armor resembling that of a samurai. Makoto's had a horn at the top of his hood and a spade on his jacket. Reimu glanced at Makoto. "You look stupid as well."

"So do you," Alia said from the doorway. Her Ulorder was strapped to her wrist, the Eyecon already inserted. "I'm coming with you all."

"How's Alain?" Takeru asked. She looked surprised, but shook her head. "He's incapable of fighting right now. We'll have to make do." She activated her brace.

"Eyes open! Kabuto!" A crimson Parka settled atop black Necrom armor. "Immediate acceleration! Cast off!" Her form reminded Takeru of a beetle, right down to the horn on her head.

A beat. "Yeah, you look the worst," Reimu decided. "Hey, operator. Four to transfer."

A flash, and the four were whisked away.

[break]

A trail of dead Gundari lay in their wake. Ayumu and Rei continued chase, pursuing the veritable flood of the beasts that had suddenly shot out of the sands. "There's too many!" Rei cried, dodging a tail before slicing it off. "There's no end to them!"

"Don't give up!" Ayumu roared. His helmet had been since knocked free, and he swung his axe with reckless abandon. "Everyone's depending on us!"

Rei's response was cut off by a stray Gundari slamming him into the dunes. "Rei!"

The Gundari sped towards Ayumu, jaws outstretched. He braced himself, gritting his teeth.

"Move, old man!"

An orange blur slammed into the Gundari, smashing it into the sand. It howled out in pain, and its cries were soon silenced by three other colored blurs finishing it off.

"Reimu?" he shook his head. "What's going on?"

The dust settled, and before him were four spectral Riders, clad in legendary Parkas of their seniors. "Dan the Madman managed to fix these for us," Reimu responded, shrugging Gaim's orange samurai armor. "I guess."

Takeru nodded Ex-Aid's expression-filled mask. "Ayumu, what's going on? Why are there so many Gundari?"

Ayumu frowned. "I don't know. But we can't let them get to the city!" He hefted his axe, and winced, pain lancing through his side. The things must've gotten him earlier when he wasn't looking.

Makoto put an armored hand on his shoulder. "We got it for now. Stay here and look after Rei." Without another word, the four sped off.

Reimu thought it a great irony that she was the slowest in this form. Takeru's had incredible jumping power and platform creation and Alia's was already amist the swarm, her impossible speed letting her dish out damage while slipping through the monsters' grasp. Makoto initially trailed along with her, before discovering he had a speed boost of his own, which led him to take off, charging through the sand.

"Sure, fine, leave me," she mumbled. "I hate this."

A Gundari's roar as it bore down upon her increased her frustration. With an exasperated groan, she drew an orange katana from her belt, settling into a stance that reminded her of Musashi. Suddenly, she moved, and Gundari crashed into the sand—right after its head.

"Huh," she blinked her surprise as she glanced over the citrus-themed blade. "Not bad, for a fruit samurai."

Takeru found his form's hammer to be quite familiar to his own axe. He also found that the blocks were far more useful than he initially realized—they were excellent at trapping and limiting the movement of his opposition, as well as providing platforms for his allies to fight upon. He smashed in a Gundari's skull, turning to Makoto. "Makoto! You okay?"

Makoto was having the hardest time adjusting to his new form. His sword was large and clunky, his armor was bulky, and he kept on dropping the cards that were somehow stashed inside the sword. "Give me a moment!"

Takeru felt sweat drop down his neck as Makoto yelled in frustration before kicking his sword at one of the sand-beasts, which promptly bounced off and skittered across the conjured platform. "Makoto, you're supposed to use the cards, remember!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Makoto grumbled as he picked up his sword. He tapped a card onto the blade, and it shone briefly before disappearing. "Huh." He threw the blade again, and this time it sank into the beast's hide, eliciting a scream. "Well, that works."

"I think you've got it wrong," Takeru muttered.

Alia, for one, was quite pleased with the speed her form gave her. Kabuto lived in a world of slowed down time, and she was able to dodge every single thing the beasts threw at her. "This is the power of mortals?" she mused. "No wonder we were driven back time and time again."

The presence of the Riders scattered the Gundari, their sudden assault surprising them. Reimu cut through their flesh with smooth strokes of her sword, her body filled with Gaim's power. Her spirit lightened, and, after slashing the head off of her most recent victim, she let out a sonorous warcry. She drew another—a long black blade with a pistol for a crossguard—and charged back into the fray.

Makoto and Takeru stood back-to-back as Ganma swirled around them. "Reimu certainly into this, huh?" Takeru grinned.

The elder Fukami rolled his eyes. "Focus, Takeru."

"I'll clear this with no continues!" Takeru charged off into the fray.

Makoto groaned, turning to see Alia slide into the dirt right behind him. "Alia! Please tell me you're not gonna act weird, too!"

She regarded him with an indifferent headtilt. "As ants do not question the way the tree grows, so is it not man's place to judge the sun's actions."

"What?"

"The road I walk is mine to take," she said, pointing towards the sky. "Grandmother once told me that the ways of kings are of no concern to peasants." With that, she vanished in a burst of speed.

Makoto sank to his knees. "You too?! I was supposed to be able to count on you!" He lifted his head and wailed to the heavens. "Alia! Have you really betrayed us!?"

Noticing his distraction, a Gundari capitalized upon the opportunity and dove towards the kneeling man. With a start, Makoto rolled to the side, and with an odd battlecry that sounded something like "Ueh!" he flashed his blade along the beast's flank. The Gundari screamed, a bellow that was cut short as Reimu's orange saber relieved its body of its head.

Slowly, the numbers of the Gundari dwindled until at last the last monster fell, torn to shreds by Alia's supersonic speeds. With a mighty crash, the mutilated corpse hit the dunes, its life's blood spilling out onto the sand. The Riders waited for a moment, pausing to see if there were any more surprises for them out in the dunes. It appeared, however, that the monsters had expired in total, and the group began their trek back to the city.

"I'm not sure what that was," Reimu admitted when they re-entered the docking bay. "It was like I was a completely different person."

Alia nodded, flustered. "It appears we took on character traits of those whose Eyecons we used. For my part, I want to apologize for my unseemly behavior."

"Same," Makoto groaned. The group stopped, coming face to face with someone they hadn't expected to see. "Alain?"

The prince had bags under his eyes, but his gaze was determined. "I've made up my mind," he decided.

"Oh?"

"I'm going to fight," he declared, clenching his fist tightly. "I'm going to work for a better future for the Ganma—and for everybody else. So we don't have to live like this. So we're not remembered as the people who caused the end of the world."

A moment of silence passed. Then Alia nodded, her eyes smiling, and Makoto grinned the biggest grin Takeru had seen in a long time. "About time, you moron." He slugged the prince upon the shoulder, and, while the two had much to work out, it was evident that the healing process had begun.

Alain was as good as his word. Given the Kiva Eyecon (the former King of the Vampries, who had given his life to protect the world along all those other Riders), he indeed proved his newfound resolve with a strong fist and steady will. The Resistance brought them in as full-time members, and they went on mission after mission, rescuing stragglers and bringing about a plethora of victories for the remnants of humanity. With the renewal of Alain's resolve marking the end of the first week of their time in the future, they spent the next few months as the hands and feet of the Resistance, struggling to make the future even slightly more bearable to live in for those around them.

It was in the fourth month of their arrival that a breakthrough finally occurred. The Riders were in the war room with the council, discussing their next move, when a messenger burst into the room, panting. "They've done it!"

"Huh?" The Riders and Resistance fighters looked up from the map on the table.

"They've found a way to break through the Void Wall!" the messenger said excitedly. "They're in the lab! Dr. Hojo wants to see the Riders!"

As the war council filed out, Takeru turned to Dr. Hiiro Kagami, who had been lecturing on routes to the other domed cities. "Void Wall?"

"Ah, right, you don't know," the elderly doctor nodded, talking as he led the past Riders down the hall. "The Emperor's City, A'gmhnxykh-C'q'mULa, is located where Germany used to be. Surrounding the entire city—and the entire former country—is a massive, swirling vortex of . . . well, we're not sure what it is, but it isn't good. It drains the life out of things, and will outright kill you if you touch it. However, several years back, we managed to siphon off a section and bring it back for research." He noticed Takeru's questioning look. "It's complicated, and it involved five computers and a vacuum cleaner. Ask Sento later. Anyways, the boys have been working on this for a long time, and we'd thought that getting through was impossible—until now."

He opened the door to the lab, and a crowd of people surrounded the tech team, as Dan Kuroto and Sento Kiryu stood atop a table. "Ah, everyone is here!" the aged physicist nodded. "Let's begin!" He started pacing atop the cluttered workspace. "So as you all know, we got a sample of the wall a while back. We'd discovered that, since there were fifteen different layers to the wall (one for each Ganmeizer, as I'm sure you remember), it was . . . decidedly difficult to breach the Void Wall's defenses. It was a mystery that eluded us . . . but no more!"

Dan took over. "Utilizing the combined properties of the past Rider systems, we have developed a system that has been proven to break through the Wall. In short, it utilizes a combined version of the Grateful and Muteki systems to blend the power of the Luminaries in order to blow away the Wall!" The madman cackled. "A feat only possibly with my godly talents!"

"And my genius intellect, don't forget!" the elderly scientist huffed.

"Wait, what was that about the Luminaries?" Reimu called out, her interest piqued.

"The Luminaries! The fifteen heroes that Auyumu talks about occasionally!" Dan shook his head. "Or used to, until his dad died. But enough pointless drivel! The Grateful Eyecon combines the power of the fifteen Luminaries—Musashi Miyamoto, Thomas Edison, Robin Hood, Sir Isaac Newton, Henry McCarty, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Musashibo Benkei, Ishikawa Goemon, Ryoma Sakamoto, Himiko, Tutankhamun, Nobunaga Oda, Harry Houndini, the Brothers Grimm, Xuanzang!" Dan managed to say all of that all of that in one breath. "Their power combined allows us to combat the Ganmeizers, the servants of the Great Eye! Unfortunately, none of us can use it, and Ayumu can only wield a part of its abilities." He nodded, pleased with himself.

Reimu frowned, thinking. Takeru spoke up. "So what now?"

"We've tested this in the lab to one hundred percent effect," Sento said, "So now we figure that we'll take it to the field. We'll probably get only one chance, so we're organizing the best strike team right now."

"What does that mean for us?"

"It means," Cormano stepped out from behind them, "that in one week, we'll be blowing the Great Eye to kingdom come. Make your preparations, because we're going to take back our home."

Back in the past, 2012

In the several days since the investigation team's trip to Germany, the Riders—and one mage—had since returned to Japan. Shotaro and Phillip left for home, intending to tell the rest of the Riders about their findings. Haruto took Marisa back to Gensokyo, where she gave a debriefing of their findings to the higher-ups.

After their debriefing, Haruto went back to the Scarlet Devil Library to see if he could find anything else. Marisa, completely and utterly exhausted, flew back home, looking forward to her bed—but her lights were on and smoke was coming out of her chimney. Immediately, her body flooded with adrenaline as she pressed up against the outside of her house, her mind racing through the different possibilities. Who could it be? She didn't have anything anybody wanted, and she didn't think anybody wanted to kill her, and—

"Marisa? If that's you, get in here." The door opened, and silhouetted against the light was someone she hadn't seen in quite a while. "It's not like you to be cautious."

Marisa exhaled, immediately feeling ten times more tired than she had previously. "Don't scare me like that, Alice."

The puppeteer snorted. "Normally you'd charge in, guns blazing. It's clear you've changed."

"What? No! I'm still the same as always!" Marisa folded her arms.

"I can tell. Your experience in the outside world has left you . . . different." Alice sat down at Marisa's table, and a doll pulled up a seat. "I put on some tea."

Marisa sank into her chair and gratefully accepted the beverage. "Oh man, I missed this." After a gratifying sip, she turned her attention to her guest. "Wait, why are you over here? It's my place."

"What, can't I take care of your place out of the goodness of my heart?" Alice feigned a hurt expression. At Marisa's flat stare, she rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I figured you'd probably have something in here that would explode if you left it unattended, so I decided to keep Gensokyo safe."

" . . . "

"Okay, fine. Patchouli said she'd give me a tome or two if I got her stuff back from you."

" . . . "

"Ugh, jeez! Fine! Mom's over."

"Ah." Marisa nodded.

"Yeah." Alice rubbed her temples. "I needed to get away, and this was the best place. No offense, but your place sucks."

Marisa looked around her now mechanically-clean house, a far cry from the, in Reimu's words, "garbage heap" she had left it. "You've done some work, I see."

"Yeah, whatever." Alice shrugged. "So, what's the big fuss all about? It's got the Underground and Youkai Mountain in a tizzy, whatever it is."

"Never say tizzy again," the witch said. "But it's big. You know the whole ghost thing the outside world is going through right now?"

"Yeah?"

"Apparently ghosts of Aya's uncle and one of Yuugi's ancestors or something appeared." Marisa shook her head. "Weird stuff."

"Ah." Alice nodded, sipping her tea. "But that's not really what's gotten everyone in a fuss, is it? It's enough to make my mom visit, so it's gotta be pretty big."

"Yeah," Marisa said. She set her tea down. "I'm not sure how to put this, but a long time ago in Germany there was this weird kingdom, right? They worshipped a weird eye, but then they all died. Or so we thought, because Haruto thinks that the ghosts are eye-kingdom. So we went to Germany, and sure enough, we found evidence that supports the theory. We were also attacks several times, but that's another story. Then we found this freaky book detailing how this Great Eye or whatever will turn the world into its new body, and it was using the eye kingdom to do so."

"Huh," Alice frowned. "That sounds like something out of a fiction."

"Yeah, right?" Marisa nodded. "But . . yeah. It's been a rough while. If it's all the same to you, I'm gonna get some sleep, all right? I haven't had a proper bed since I went to the outside world."

"Please, I know when I'm not wanted." Alice stood, and a squadron of dolls exited the building. Marisa could hear retreating dolls form the upstairs. "I'll see you later." With that, the puppeteer left.

Marisa sighed as she flopped onto her Western-style bed. Unlike most of Gensokyo, she had surprisingly non-Eastern tastes, which bled into her magic. Kicking off her shoes, she wrapped herself in covers, and snapped, turning off the lights. She closed her eyes, willing herself to drift off to sleep.

"Hey, Shotaro," Phillip said without looking up. "Where's she gonna sleep? You're not gonna make a lady sleep on the couch, are you?"

"Argh, shut up," the detective groaned. "We barely even have beds anyways!"

Marisa's eyes opened, and she stared at the ceiling.

Phillip's ramblings caused her to jolt awake. "Phillip," Shotaro's exhausted and half-asleep voice came from the couch, "go back to sleep. Nobody cares about Prairie Chickens. It's two AM."

"But Shotaro!"

Marisa turned, placing a pillow over her head.

It had been a hard fight, and Marisa had nearly died. She was exhausted from cleaning up the havoc the Dopant had caused, and all she wanted was to go to sleep. She closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them, she was on Shotaro's couch, a blanket over her. She blinked awake. Both Shotaro and Phillip were at the hospital, so who . . .?

She got her answer in the form of one Ryu Terui, who looked up from the book he was reading. "How are you feeling?" the gruff policeman asked.

"Like I've been hit by a truck," she complained, yawning. "Sho's couch sucks." She glanced around. "Did you carry me back?"

"Don't ask me questions," the Rider retorted, and she could see the hint of a smile in his eyes.

Marisa threw off her covers and grabbed her broom and hat. She stepped outside, kicking off into the twilight sky. She closed her eyes as the wind rushed past her, and she could've sworn she heard traffic for a second. She halted just before it became difficult to breathe, looking across the mountains at the sunset, hearing birdsong and the wind and nature. She was home at last, free from the burden of modern society.

Marisa stood at the top of Fuuto's windmill, enjoying the wind rushing through her hair. The evening traffic was in full force, and the streets were packed with people. It wasn't too bad here, she decided, though she wanted to get back home as soon as possible. Then her phone buzzed, and Shotaro was yelling at her to get back here, because Phillip was on another tangent, and he didn't want to hear about the Northern Football League one minute longer. Marisa grinned and hopped off, zooming the well-traced route back to the Narumi Detective Agency.

Gensokyo, Marisa decided, could use a windmill.