It's been a long day…
…
Even as the sun dipped its way below the horizon and the sky became awash in a warm orange glow, momentum kept the people of the Human Village moving. It was merely evening, after all. The whole place still buzzed with opportunity.
And, of course, the air was filled with voices. Whether they were hawking their wares or having conversations just a bit too loudly to be private, it all melded together into the familiar babble of daily village life.
"Mochiiiii~ Sweet and soft!"
"Come get yer ramen 'ere!"
"Stop by Geidontei for drinks tonight! Take advantage of our two-for-one special!"
He could only make out bits and pieces as he walked along. Everything else simply rolled off of his mind. He had very little capacity for much else at the moment.
On a normal day, he would have loved to have taken them up on their offers. Though… not tonight.
…
"All I'm saying is don't fold the maps."
"I didn't fold the maps!"
The voices of two bickering men briefly came into focus. He caught a glimpse of scrolls and rolled paper as they passed him by.
"Well, Youkai Mountain is a mess. There's a big crease right through Kappa Valley."
"But, I-"
"Roll the maps!"
…
Eric sighed.
He was tired.
Physically, he was drained. While he had been slowly getting used to the almost daily treks out to Alice's house, today had been harder than usual on his body. Healing magic was, as he was coming to realize, very taxing on his mana pool.
That, combined with the fact that he'd fought in an actual duel earlier… Well, it had all taken its toll on him.
Emotionally, he was not much better off. Eric felt as though he had gone through an entire spectrum of emotions today. Contentment, fear, rage, determination, worry, guilt, sorrow, love… The whole day had been a veritable emotional rollercoaster, even for him.
Everything felt just a bit more distant now, though he was confident that a good night's rest would set him right.
And, mentally? Well, the revelations that Alice had shared with him, along with the heavy emotional baggage that accompanied them, still occupied his thoughts, despite his best efforts to quell them.
The nature of her grimoire and Makai, her former home, were fascinating in their own right, but what had captured him the most was what she had lost, and the profound grief that she carried with her.
It was difficult for him to think of much else.
He knew where she was coming from; he really did. Losing her home, family, and entire way of life. It reminded him strongly of his own experience. Too strongly, in fact. He thought that he had dealt with all of that pain already.
However…
It had truly, genuinely hurt to see just how deeply her anguish had cut her. To be shown the wounds hidden within her heart.
There was no way that he could have ignored something like that.
He wanted to help. He wanted to soothe her soul. He wanted to try and make it better, by any means necessary.
But how? He was no expert. Until now, he had just been doing what he thought was right.
What more could he do for her? He would be there to support her, there was no doubt in his mind, but would that be enough? Would he be enough? That… remained to be seen.
He could only hope.
…
Loss… It was one more thing that they shared, at the very least.
Even if he tried his best not to think about it…
…
All things considered, it came as no surprise that he could do little more than trudge his way through the Village streets, almost absent-mindedly finding his way home.
It helped, for him, to distract his mind by thinking of the mundane. It was a tactic that he often used. By focusing on the necessary and the everyday, he could center himself. Bring himself back to a sense of normalcy.
And so, he attempted to do just that.
Tomorrow would be another work-day. Par for the course, as it was. He and Sekibanki would handle things as they always did. They made a great little team, and the customers had really started to appreciate the cloaked woman. There was no reason for concern there.
Then the next day… He had already planned for the cafe to be closed the day after tomorrow. It was a day off. A day without any plans.
Perhaps he could go somewhere with Alice?
Something to make her happy… A proper outing… A date…
They… hadn't really been on one of those yet. Far too much time had been allocated to his training for them to have worked something like that out. Even during the off-days they hadn't elected to do anything in particular. Alice was an indoors-type, so instead, they had quietly spent that time together, either at her house or, more rarely, at his cafe.
A true, proper date… Now that was a happy thought.
It was an idea that stirred his heart and brought a level of energy back to him.
Ah. The butterflies in his stomach were back. Despite everything that had happened, he couldn't help it.
The tempo of his steps increased, just a bit.
He wanted to take her somewhere… For her to enjoy herself enough to forget about her troubles. If he could do that, if only for a short time, it would be wonderful.
The more he thought about it, the more his heart swelled.
His breaths quickened slightly, as did his pulse. His entire posture gained a lightness that it had previously lacked. It was in stark contrast to how heavily he'd been plodding along just minutes earlier.
Eric was excited at the prospect of a date with Alice, but there was more to it than simple anticipation.
He had realized some things. The distance of hours and the steadying of feelings had allowed him to properly process two very important things. Things that had occurred while the two of them had been on that couch.
The mere act of putting them into words was more than enough for exhilaration to rush through his extremities and bring a poorly concealed smile to his rapidly warming face.
She had kissed him!
She had said that she loved him!
Sure, they had been at their most vulnerable and racked by both painful memories and tumultuous emotions, but that didn't change the fact that it had happened.
The woman he adored loved him back. She had spoken the words aloud and sealed them with a kiss.
He could still hardly believe it, but a small series of pinches proved that he wasn't dreaming.
All of the uncertainty… All of the self-doubt… All of the awkward trepidation… It all went out the metaphorical window.
He couldn't help but let himself be swept away by a lopsided mix of affection and desire. A sentimental whirlwind.
Eric wanted nothing more than to shower her with all of the affection she deserved.
To hold her close and feel her body settle in against his own. To run a hand through her hair as she entwined her fingers with those of his opposite hand. To hear the love and passion in her voice as she enthused about her dolls, spells, and artifacts, giving him more and more insight into what made Alice who she was. To bear witness to her brilliant smiles and to be the cause of many more. To do all that was within his power to make her dreams come true, whatever they may be.
A real date with her would be a brilliant first step towards what felt like a brand new future.
What would they do? Where would they go? What sort of thing would be good enough for her?
Something small and intimate? Just the two of them?
Maybe they could actually have a proper picnic this time! Or-
Eric's train of thought instantly derailed as he nearly walked straight into the side of another person. The villager shot him a quick glance, communicating light disbelief and annoyance. Eric uttered a quick apology and prepared to walk around them… before he realized something.
There were a lot of people here.
Indeed, quite a crowd had gathered, filling the small pavilion and spilling out onto the street he had been following. He swept his gaze across the area and estimated that there were at least a couple hundred individuals.
Why were they all here?
He had seen crowds form like this before. There could have been any number of valid reasons, many of which had the potential to be quite interesting.
Were the Kappa showing off a new invention of theirs? Did one of the gods decide to have a 'meet-and-greet' again? Was a Village official announcing something important?
He could hear a man's voice carrying over the uneven whisperings and mumblings of the congregation, but he couldn't quite make out his words from this distance.
Curious about the reason for such an assembly, Eric stepped closer, finding his way through the loose periphery of the gathered villagers and taking up a spot closer to the more densely populated center.
From this position, he was able to make out just who it was that had managed to catch everybody's attention.
It was a man, a man that appeared much older than Eric was. Numerous streaks of gray ran through his short, swept-back hair and dignified beard, creating an illusion that was far more salt than pepper. His steely blue eyes held an striking intensity and weight to them, showing not a hint of doubt as he made wide, meaningful gestures with his arms. His body stood tall, relatively speaking, with its rather sturdy frame visible, even beneath his black robes.
A single word came into Eric's mind.
Formidable.
…
It was then that his focus shifted, and he began to make out the man's words.
"-very idea is inconceivable to our youkai overlords! Sharing Gensokyo with us? Ha! They can barely tolerate our presence in this village! Turning on us when it's convenient for them; how could we expect any less? Today, they take away your freedom. But what of tomorrow? What then? Do the youkai take your homes? Do your gods take your businesses? Your children? Your very lives!?"
With practiced meter and hints of fanaticism, he weaved his spell over the crowd, sowing seeds of uncertainty, desperation, and resistance. Stoking righteous fury in the hearts of those who felt as if they had suffered.
Preacher… It was another word that found its way into Eric's thoughts.
"And what does the Village Council do? Nothing! Nay, worse than nothing! The human traitors enforce the will of the youkai! Against their own people!"
A few gasps could be heard, as well as small shows of both agreement and disagreement.
"So rise up! Rise up, children of Man! It is we who shall inherit both the heavens and the earth! We, not the youkai, shall rule Gensokyo! Trust in my words! Trust in me, for I do this all for you! We live in a perpetual balancing act, teetering at the brink of annihilation! Allow me to show you complete human freedom! We deserve nothing less!"
The man exhibited imposing charisma in a way that most would consider natural for a true leader. He spoke with such authority, such command over the people, that in the moment it was difficult to imagine that anything he said was false.
Eric knew better, however, than to agree with what he was saying.
It was inflammatory. It was spiteful. It was dangerous.
Gensokyo was a balancing act, true, but that was the same for youkai as it was for humans. Each side had their own set of rules to follow. There was no 'complete freedom.'
And what did that mean, exactly? What did 'complete human freedom' even look like? How was it much different than what they already had?
The ability to walk more carelessly outside of the Human Village?
Sure, humans weren't necessarily 'in charge' in Gensokyo, but human society seemed to be flourishing here nonetheless.
They… they had a good thing here in Gensokyo. Eric… he didn't want to see that ruined.
He supposed that he was a bit biased. His beloved girlfriend was a youkai, as were most of his friends. But that only meant that he knew what they were really like. Yes, they were… different, but at the end of the day, Eric saw youkai as people, just like he was.
Based on the amount of uncertain and disgruntled ramblings around him, he wasn't alone in his misgivings.
"Hey! What the hell are ya talkin' about?" came a voice from off to his side. Eric looked over, as did a sizable chunk of the gathered crowd, but he couldn't get a clear look at the man that had spoken up.
"Fighting gods and youkai? That ain't gonna work, man! What, are ya fuckin' nuts!?" came further objections.
The imposing man at the center did not speak, instead leveling his gaze in the direction of the dissenter. He showed no rage, but his aura was daunting, nonetheless.
It took only a moment before one of the more 'faithful' villagers spoke in his place. "He is talking about the survival of the human race! You are a fool and a coward if you can't see that!"
Another voice spoke up, a woman's this time. "Survival? We're livin' just fine here, ain't we?"
And another. "Fine? Fine!? You call no rain for four months fine!? We're lucky that drought hasn't given us a famine yet!"
"Oh, and the drought is their fault, too? I've never met a youkai in this village that's done me wrong!"
"Say that to my brother, you youkai lover! He lost both arms to one of those psycho demons!"
"And my sister! Damn youkai ate her twenty years ago!"
"If you ain't careful, I hear they brainwash ya! I bet you're brainwashed right now!"
Back and forth the villagers yelled, though it quickly became obvious that the number of 'believers' heavily outweighed the number of 'skeptics' in this exchange.
As the bickering soon became an uproar, Eric began to regret his choice to involve himself in the crowd. Truly, he didn't like being in the middle of conflict, and such intense arguments only served to deepen his discomfort.
"You've all lost your godsdamn minds!"
"That's fuckin' traitor talk!"
…He'd had enough. Carefully, inconspicuously, Eric moved to extract himself from the agitated masses, back to the road he'd been traveling mere minutes earlier. He could see what was happening here, and he refused to allow himself to be caught up in another bad situation.
It was an obvious powder keg. One wrong move or reckless action and the entire scene seemed primed to break into a brawl.
"Degenerate traitor!"
"Raving lunatic!"
"I'm gonna kick your ass!"
*Fweeeeeep!*
A sharp, sudden whistle pierced through the air.
"Alright, alright! Break it up people! I will not be having a riot under my watch!"
Appearing at the edge of the crowd, a small contingent of the village guard stood in formation. Dressed in light leather armor, the four rear guards carried long spears, while a sword was sheathed at the hip of the guard in front.
If the different weapon and authority in his voice suggested anything, it was that he was the leader of the squad. Perhaps a lieutenant of some kind.
Though he had almost made his way back to the edge of the crowd, Eric felt himself breathe a sigh of relief. The guards would help settle things and defuse the situation. Surely they would.
And, for a moment, they did just that. The mob of villagers shrank back slightly, quieting down as the guards advanced.
The head guard took a quick, sweeping look before settling his gaze upon the man who had drawn the crowd in the first place. "You again?"
The man, the preacher, locked eyes with the guard before smiling. It wasn't a kind, disarming smile, one that reached his eyes and spoke of fondness. No, this was a cruel, merciless smile. The sort of smile that one would only show their enemies.
With his arms once more outstretched, he bellowed out a response. "The arbiters of oppression have descended upon us once more! Come to silence our hope and affirm their master's grip on power!"
The guard scoffed. "I thought I warned you last time that if you made another disturbance, I'd be taking you in." He rolled his shoulders. "Guess I'm here to make good on that promise."
He stepped forward, approaching the edge of the crowd. Instead of parting, however, the sea of people packed more tightly together.
"We're not gonna let you!" One villager was bold enough to yell.
"Hmph. Very funny. Now stand back and let me do my job." he said, this time with force.
"Like we're gonna listen to a traitor!"
"If you want him, you're gonna have to go through us!"
Frustrated, the guard drew his weapon and leveled it at the blockade.
"Step aside, or I'll have you lot arrested as well for interfering!"
But, the people did not budge. The fires of fanaticism burned brightly in their eyes, and their stance told him that they would protect their supposed savior at all costs.
"Boss, I think this might be a bad idea." came the uncertain voice of one of his men.
"Yeah, look at 'em all…" another muttered.
The head guard looked to his small contingent of men and then once more at the vast swath of villagers that stood in his way.
It was important for a leader to know when he was outnumbered, outgunned, or otherwise outmatched. There was no sense in taking a fight that one would simply lose.
After a moment of what appeared to be great consideration, he sighed.
"Look, buddy. Control your people, or we will haul you off to a cell for disturbing the peace." With that, the squad leader turned back to his troops. "Alright, boys, let's get out of here before things go pear-shaped."
And with that, they retreated.
As the guards stepped away, the preacher's grin widened.
Once more, he set about rallying his people. Spreading his message.
"My people! I feel your love and devotion, even in the face of opposition! Our victory will not come tonight, but it shall come! And when it does, even the skeptics and traitors will have no choice but to bear witness to our triumph! Human freedom, everlasting!"
Eric hurriedly ducked around the side of a building and was gone into the fading twilight.
He didn't feel safe there anymore.
…
It was only after Eric had slipped through the entrance to Tradition's End and locked the door behind him did it strike him.
That pavilion was only a few minutes' walk from here.
The thought was rather unsettling. A heavy blanket of uneasiness settled over his mind and rolled his stomach.
Why? Why did this have to happen? Why choose now, of all times, to agitate people and stoke the coals of unrest? Why now, when he had finally begun to feel like Gensokyo was home? When things truly seemed to be looking up for him?
Why threaten to ruin the simple life that Gensokyo promised?
Eric glanced through the window, briefly studying the villagers still walking along the street. He didn't expect that anyone would have followed him home, but...
People could be irrational and dangerous in large groups, especially when whipped up into a frenzy by instigators. He'd seen it more than enough times in the news on the Outside to believe anything less.
Youkai were their main focus, but if they decided to turn their ire towards those who associated with youkai…
…
Eric was well and truly worried now. Not so much for himself, but for those that he knew.
He drew down the blinds of the windows of the cafe, something that he rarely, if ever, did. Tonight, though, he appreciated that extra bit of security.
He had always served the occasional youkai customer. Would they no longer show up if the Village grew more hostile? Would they suspect the human customers of being sympathizers?
Sekibanki lived in town, and though she made serious efforts to hide the fact that she was a youkai, there were apparently still some who knew. What sort of fate would befall her if her secret became more widely known?
Keine was well respected, and she was only a half-youkai, but the fanatics had made it clear that just about any sort of involvement with youkai might be considered treason. What would happen to her and her students if that man really did gain some sort of power?
And, of course, Alice. His lovely Alice. His biggest source of concern.
She had been harassed once, back when they'd first met. Would that happen again? Was it no longer safe for her to come to the Village? Could she no longer shop for supplies or spend a quiet afternoon lazing at his cafe without some sort of incident happening?
He shouldn't have been worried. She could handle herself, that much he knew, but the thought of her encountering trouble still filled his gut with hot lead.
Eric sat down at a table and ran his fingers through his tied back hair, grasping at his thoughts as they threatened to run away for the umpteenth time today.
He sighed, long and heavy.
He had been so excited about what was to come. Of what the future held. But now…
…
Eric couldn't help but wonder whether their brand new future would be one of peace or strife.
~~~~~~Author's Notes~~~~~~
And here we are! It almost took a month again, oops. This was meant to be part of chapter 21, but it wasn't ready yet, so now we have a short little chapter on its own.
It's the final chapter of a day that has had 4(!) chapters happen during it. Truly it was the longest day.
As you can see, Eric wasn't quite as heavily affected as Alice was by the events of chapters 19 and 20. It didn't take him all that long to bounce back and start planning a date.
Honestly, I want to do something really sweet for the love-struck couple. A really nice scene where they get to be all fluffy and FINALLY nothing bad happens. :)
Anyways, the growing 'movement' among some of the humans of the Village is rapidly coming into the spotlight, and may soon come to a head. How it goes on to affect the major characters of this fic (and Gensokyo as a whole) still remains to be seen.
Is he Heimskr from Skyrim? Well, no, but he is heavily inspired by him.
I know it's not had all that much deep attention placed on it, but that's sort of how I mean for it to be. By and large, it's not really Eric's or Alice's place to deal with this sort of thing. They might be the main characters of this story, but they are not the main characters of Gensokyo.
I mean, we know more about the 'weirdos' than they do. And it will likely stay that way.
I'll spare the spoilers, but when things cook off, I don't necessarily expect them to solve it. It should come as just as big of a surprise to Eric and Alice as it does to everyone else. They might have their own problems to deal with, anyways. : ^)
Thank you for reading! Comment or review if you want! Have a nice day!