Songs of the Illusionary Veil: At Ten Paces
A Touhou Project story by Achariyth
In the morning's misty calm, before the Hakurei Shrine's torii gate, Alice Margatroid unlatched a flat leather case and presented a quartet of dueling pistols to her friends. Her lace filigreed hand brushed across a polished wooden stock. "Nitori made these over the weekend. They should work with any of your spellcards." She pulled a yellow pamphlet from the case's lid. "Are you still resolved to answer this challenge?"
"I've been looking forward to knocking Wonder Girl on her butt for weeks," Reimu Hakurei said. For once, the shrinemaiden had left the robes of her office at the shrine. Instead, she wore a scarlet rifleman's jacket studded with silver and a pair of black breeches. Alice had insisted that everyone involved dressed the part.
"Please remind your principal to remain respectful at all times." Suwako Moriya bowed to Marisa Kirisame. The Emishi goddess had traded her dress for an archer's traditional kimono, hakama, and headband, all in purple. Marisa tipped her witch's hat and spun about, her black duster coat twirling behind her.
Before she could speak, Reimu held up a hand. "I heard. I just don't see why we have to do everything in this roundabout manner."
"It's all part of the game." Sanae Kochiya fiddled with the shoulders of her green tabard. She had chosen a musketeer's costume, complete with a wide brimmed cavalier's cap, a peacock's feather, a sky-blue cloak, and a snake and frog emblem on her tabard.
Suwako placed a finger on her priestess's lips. "The rules apply to you as well."
"You're the one who said she was bored with spellcard duels," Reimu muttered.
Alice slammed the case shut. "If you won't take this seriously, I'm afraid we shall adjourn." Her white hoop dress and parasol lent the young woman an air of authority beyond her years.
Marisa leaned over towards Reimu. "That means she's going to take her toys and go home."
Suwako flourished a deck of spellcards into a fan. "I hope I didn't get dressed up for nothing."
"Are you resolved to settle your differences according to the rules of this book?" Alice held up the yellow pamphlet.
"Yes," the principals and seconds groaned in unison.
"Very well, we shall settle this affront at ten paces." Alice pursed her lips and opened the leather case. "Did we ever decide what the affront was?"
Reimu rolled her eyes. Taking Marisa's hat in her hand, she whispered into her second's ear.
Marisa flounced and snatched back her hat. "My principal says that her opponent's presence is sufficient cause for the duel."
"Just because you two fight like sisters isn't reason enough," Alice snapped. "Pick something more glamorous, more romantic. Can't you at least fight over the same man?"
"As if last year's flower could compete with me," Sanae said through Suwako.
"Bold words for a girl hiding underneath her grandmother's bedsheets," Marisa relayed. Reimu stood with her arms crossed, smiling as she eyed the brace of dueling pistols.
Sanae strode towards Reimu, but Suwako's arm barred her way. "Mistress Kirisame, I propose that we no longer allow our principals to riot each other's passions prior to this solemn occasion." The goddess's voice grew regal and she dipped into a deep curtsy. Despite her best efforts, a smile spread across Suwako's lips.
"It shall be as you say, Lady Moriya." Marisa returned the curtsy, an awkward gesture for one dressed as a Puritan witch hunter. Unlike her counterpart, she made no effort to hide her amusement.
Alice stared at Marisa, her mouth agape. Gensokyo's most notoriously boisterous hoyden had actually acted like a proper lady for once. She looked to the sky to see if the morning sun had risen in the West. But the slender fingers that drifted towards her case shattered Alice's wonder. Her hand lashed out, slapping away Marisa's hand. "Stop that. You'll get your turn after this." Her hand darted out again. Suwako pulled hers away.
Sighing, the pretty dollmaker pressed a glowing spellcard against the felt-lined compartment in her hand. A dour Hourai doll appeared and propped a steel-tipped lance against her shoulder. She surveyed the assembled group, giving special attention and enmity to Marisa.
"No fair, Alice. You made everyone dress up except for Hourai." Marisa returned Hourai's scowl.
Alice rolled her eyes and opened the pamphlet. "Before we begin, let us review The Rules…"
The puppeteer started down the list of Mother May I's and By Your Leave's that only postponed the shrinemaidens' showdown. By the seventh Rule, the participants' eyes glazed over. At the fifteenth, even Hourai's head had drooped. Finally, Alice closed the pamphlet. "Are there any questions?"
Sanae raised a hand. "How long until you stand at the edge of my field of vision and drop your handkerchief?"
"For once, I agree with her." Reimu massaged her temples.
"Fine!" Alice snapped. She tapped two fingers against the snoring Hourai doll and retrieved her as a spellcard. "From this moment, the two of you are under your seconds' charge. They are required to use any means necessary to compel obedience, or both you and your seconds will face my chastisement." The puppeteer held up a kappa-made camera phone. A single white feather dangled from its chain.
"You can speak plainly, you know." Suwako shielded her eyes with a hand. "Are we going to start, or will I need to send Sanae to fetch my hat"
"Fine. Screw up and tomorrow's Spirit News will name you as a coward." Alice's face turned red as she stamped her feet and shouted. "Stop ruining my fun. It's not like my spellcards even work with these things."
Marisa eyed the pistols. "Don't worry. I'll give you a couple of mine."
Alice coughed into her hand. "Well, Nitori said to remind you that these are magical devices. Don't expect recoil." She thrust the case into Sanae's hands. "Miss Kirisame, a spell card please." With deft hands, the puppeteer slid a brass ramrod out from beneath the pistol's barrel.
"I said borrow, not ruin!" Marisa reached for the balled spellcard in Alice's hand.
The puppeteer rammed the wadded card into the pistol and replaced the rod. Spinning the device in her had until she held it by the barrel, Alice slapped the wooden grip into Marisa's hand. "There you go, one single shot. Keep it pointed at the ground until you have cause to use it."
"And then what?"
"Don't miss." Alice slid a ramrod free from another pistol. Suwako held onto that one and the third, intended for Sanae. After Marisa grasped hold of the final device, Alice took the case from Sanae and set it down at her feet. "Now, if you would stand your principals back to back. Upon my word, you shall both advance five paces. Now, advance!"
Sanae counted to five and stopped quivering as she waited for the next command. Suwako stepped in front of her and smiled. If was a comfort to have her grandmother present. The wise earth goddess always knew the right words to calm Sanae.
"Try to spook Reimu into firing early. I want a shot at her too." Suwako handed Sanae the pistol and patted her priestess on the shoulder.
Sanae laughed and squared her shoulders. The pistol felt right in her hand. She could grow used to this manner of dueling.
"Arm!" Alice bellowed.
It took her free hand to pull the hammer back, and not her thumb, unlike in the movies Sanae had watched. Suwako stepped three paces to Sanae's side and leveled her pistol toward Reimu.
"Turn!"
Sanae pivoted around, her long cloak trailing a wide circle behind her. She locked eyes with Reimu. Neither girl blinked, but, like horses just before a race, they strained against the need to stay still, waiting for the word that would release them.
"Present!"
She raised her pistol and turned her body until she peered down her shoulder, along her arm, and down the barrel, a mirror of her opponent's actions. Despite herself, Sanae scowled at Reimu's narrower profile. For once, the shrinemaiden held the advantage.
The world narrowed until Sanae's pistol and Reimu all but filled her sight. At the fuzzy edges, a figure in white raised her hand. Sanae's breath hissed from between her lips.
The white handkerchief floated out of Alice's hand.
Hammers fell, spraying sparks as flint met steel. Storm walls of danmaku surged toward the shrine maidens, obscuring the dueling grounds in a tempest of magic, fire, and shot. The last ripples of danmaku streaked past, and as quick as the field roiled into a magical inferno, it subsided.
Sanae groaned and lowered her spent pistol. Reimu still stood, without a streak of white bleaching her scarlet jacket. The danmaku had passed her by, just as it did Sanae, who had not felt its astringent sting. The matter between the shrinemaidens remained unresolved. Their game must have a winner.
Suwako rushed towards her, brushing her hands through every fold of Sanae's cloak and tabard.
"Give me yours." Sanae reached for Suwako's pistol.
The goddess laughed as she slipped out of the way. "Stand still and stop that. The longer this takes, the longer it'll be until you can go again. Next time, though, aim to the right a bit." She brushed off Sanae's shoulders. "Although there's nothing stopping you two from deciding a winner through more traditional methods. You'll have to wait, though, until Alice has her bit of fun." She spun about and waved a hand high over her head.
The Mistress of the Duel beckoned with her hand. Marisa and Suwako met in front of Alice, wide smiles on their faces.
"'Our friends have exchanged shots. Are you satisfied, or is there any cause why the contest should be continued?'" Alice read from a small pamphlet in her hand.
"I've seen that look in Reimu's eye. She's going to keep going until she wins." Marisa pointed over her shoulder to where her principal stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot.
"Sanae's blood is up as well." Suwako pursed her lips. "You know, if we don't stop this now, we won't get our turn to play."
Marisa thrust out her hand and winked. "Satisfied?"
Alice shoved her pamphlet into the witch's hand. "You have to say the lines. That's the entire point of the matter."
Marisa rolled her eyes and crowded next to Suwako in front of the rules. The ancient battle goddess traced a finger across the page before stabbing at the appropriate response. "'The point of honor being settled, there can, I conceive, be no objection to a reconciliation, and I propose that our principals meet on middle ground, shake hands, and be friends,'" the two seconds read in unison.
Alice plucked the pamphlet away from Marisa. Her voice cut high and clear through the field. "''We have agreed that the present duel shall cease, the honor of each of you is preserved, and you will meet on middle ground, shake hands, and be reconciled.'"
"No fair!" Reimu shouted. The shrine maiden rushed towards the Mistress of the Duel. "No one won." She stripped the rules from Alice and searched them.
Sanae bounced up to her and clasped Reimu's hands in her own. "See, I told you that we should have been dueling like this all along." The priestess's eyes shimmered and she beamed.
Reimu stared down Alice. "I want a rematch."
"The matter has been decided." Alice unfurled a paper fan with her free hand and covered her mouth. "Just be glad that I didn't tell you two to kiss and make up."
"You can do that?" Reimu tugged her hands free from Sanae's.
"I think Alice wants her turn to play." Sanae scooped her cavalier's hat off of Suwako's head. "Otherwise she wouldn't render offense like that. Can you duel two people at once?"
"I call first shot, Wonder Girl."
"Get in line, you three." Marisa twirled her pistol in her fingers. "The tadpole and I go next. Unless you all want to see up close what a Master Spark looks like through one of these."
The duelists spun around as a loud squeal pealed from the treeline. Four doll-like heads poked out from behind an ancient tree. Cirno bolted towards the dueling grounds, with the three Fairies of Light nipping at her heels.
"So much for their chores." Reimu shook her head and pointed toward the fairies before pointing towards her shrine. Instead, Star and Luna mobbed Alice, while Sunny pestered Suwako.
"You know better than to try to keep a fairy away from anything exciting." Marisa held her two dueling pistols high over her head. Cirno bounced in circles around the witch, straining for the prizes just out of her reach. The ice fairy's wings fluttered and her leaps grew until her fingers brushed against the cold iron. Unlike the sidhe of the West, touching the metal did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm.
"At least they're not the tengu reporters." Sanae's smile grew strained as Sunny yanked on her cloak.
Cirno dropped off of Marisa's arm. "How was that fighting?" She looked up at Reimu with a furled brow. "You just stood still."
Reimu cast a pleading glance to Alice.
"It's a test of bravery. Only the brave will remain still, and only by standing still will you not get hit." Alice tugged the hem of her dress out of Star's hand.
"It's the opposite of a spellcard duel?"
Reimu watched as that idea worked its way from one side of the ice fairy's brain to the other. "Don't look at me. It's something that men came up with and Sanae insisted on trying." Her voice dropped into a stage whisper. "I've given up on trying to understand either of them."
"So that's why the men of Gensokyo insist that you provide a dowry before any of them will court you." Suwako tapped a finger against her chin and looked into the sky, contemplating a cloud.
Sunny took one look at the shrinemaiden's face and ran behind Cirno
Reimu's shoulders slumped. "Don't remind me. The aliens make more sense."
Cirno's eyes lit up. "So, if it's like a spellcard duel, all I have to do is challenge someone?"
Sanae knelt in front of the ice fairy and her friend. "Not quite. There's more rules than a spellcard duel. For instance, you only fight over slights and insults, not for fun. And Alice over there insists that we dress up and speak fancy." Her voice shifted into a rough parody of Mokou's courtier accent. "Do fairies read Heian poetry?"
Luna glowered at the priestess and nodded.
Cirno held out her hands and concentrated. Water pooled in the air until a reasonable facsimile of Sanae's cavalier hat froze solid, complete with an icy feather plume. Placing the hat on her head at a rakish angle, the ice fairy puffed out her chest and glared at Marisa. "You have offended me..." Her eyes flickered towards Alice and Sanae.
Alice hid her smile behind a lace glove and knelt next to the fairy. Cirno nodded as the puppeteer whispered into her ear.
"...and I demand satisfaction. Meet me upon the field of battle and die!"
"Close enough," Alice muttered.
Marisa laughed and held out her smoothbore spellcard pistols towards Reimu. "Miss Hakurei, would you be my second?"
Author's Notes:
Excerpts from The Code of Honor, Or, Rules for the Government of Principals and Seconds in Duelling by John Lyde Wilson are used without permission.