Your twisted dream will doom us all!
Just how far are you going to go to live in your fantasy?!
You're tearing me apart!
You're dying!
The voices screamed, overlapping and warping into an unbearable cacophony that tore through my mind like shards of glass. It was suffocating, too much. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. Every nerve was frayed, on the edge of breaking. Was this it? Was I dying? I couldn't tell anymore. The boundaries of reality had blurred too much, twisted beyond recognition.
Then, in a sudden shock of sensation, something hard slammed against my chest, knocking the air out of my lungs. My body jerked violently, forcing my consciousness to claw its way back from the abyss.
I gasped, drawing in a sharp breath like I had been drowning and only just broke the surface. My eyes fluttered open, everything a haze of shadows and light until they focused on the figure above me.
Marisa.
She was hovering over me, her hands pressing against my chest, panting hard. Her golden hair was a mess, and her face was streaked with tears. She wiped at them frantically, trying to keep herself together. She looked as though she'd been crying for hours.
"Oh, thank God... Oh, thank God!" she cried, her voice cracking with relief. She sat back, her whole body trembling, wiping her eyes again with the back of her hand. "I almost lost you, Marcus. You... you weren't breathing! Don't ever do that again!"
I blinked slowly, my head swimming with confusion and fatigue. Her words didn't make sense. Breathing? What had happened? I was lying against a tree, my limbs too heavy to move. Everything felt foggy, my thoughts sluggish and distant, as if I was watching myself from far away.
The whispers in my mind had quieted, but they were still there, lingering in the background like a distant hum, a constant threat.
I glanced around, trying to make sense of where we were. The twisted trees of the Forest of Magic loomed above us. Marisa had dragged me deeper into the woods, away from everything, away from anyone who could help. She looked exhausted like she'd been fighting for my life for hours.
She fell against the same tree trunk I was resting against, slumping beside me. Her breathing was ragged as she wiped her face again, her hand shaking. Then, she took my hand and held it, gripping it tightly like she was afraid I would disappear if she let go.
"I... I don't know what to do, Marcus," she whispered, her voice cracking under the weight of her emotions. "I don't know what's happening to you, and I don't know how to stop it. We should go to the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu might know what to do... She has to..."
She trailed off, her head falling forward as sleep overtook her before she could finish. Her grip on my hand loosened, but I didn't let go. I just held on as tightly as I could. Marisa was doing everything she could to save me, and I couldn't even save myself.
I tried to wake her, panic rising in my chest, but she didn't respond. She was completely out, her body giving in to the exhaustion. My heart pounded as I looked around, feeling the suffocating grip of the voices returning. They were getting louder again, eating at my sanity, clawing at the edges of my mind.
I pressed my hands against my temples, trying to force the whispers out, trying to make them stop.
"Stop!" I screamed silently in my mind. "Just stop!"
And then... silence.
It was jarring. All of the voices stopped just like that. The forest around me became eerily quiet, almost unnatural. My eyes shot open. For a brief moment, I felt the weight on my chest lift. My limbs no longer felt heavy; the fog in my mind cleared. It was as if my body had been restored in an instant.
But I couldn't trust it. I knew better by now. This had to be another trick. Another way for the tome to play with me is to mess with my mind.
I glanced over at Marisa. She was still unconscious, her head tilted forward as she slept. I gently shook her, trying to wake her, but she didn't stir.
The silence was unnerving. Everything felt off.
As I turned my head, I saw something out of the corner of my eye—movement. My breath caught in my throat as I realized someone was standing just a few feet away.
A little girl.
She couldn't have been more than five or six years old. She stood there, watching us with wide, curious eyes. Her outfit was familiar—too familiar. The red-and-white shrine maiden outfit, the large ribbon tied into her black hair.
She looked exactly like Reimu.
But Reimu didn't have a younger sister. And no one else in Gensokyo dressed like her. The resemblance was too close to be a coincidence.
I shook Marisa awake again, a bit more forcefully this time. She groaned, her eyes fluttering open, still groggy from sleep.
"What the...?" Marisa muttered, rubbing her eyes as she looked up. Then, she saw the girl and blinked in surprise. "Who's the kid? And... why does she look like Reimu?"
The little girl smiled, waving at us cheerfully. "Hello, sleepyheads! My mum always tells me it's dangerous to sleep in the woods. What are you doing?"
Marisa and I exchanged bewildered glances. She was at a loss for words, her mouth opening and closing as if she couldn't figure out how to respond.
"We were just... well, you were..." Marisa stammered, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Her mind seemed as scrambled as mine.
The girl giggled, her voice light and innocent. "You two are funny. Funny couple."
Marisa's face flushed bright red at the comment. She immediately flinched, her expression going from embarrassed to defensive. "We're not—" she started, but I cut her off, still staring at the girl in disbelief.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice weak but steady enough to get the words out.
The girl's smile widened as if she had been waiting for me to ask that. She clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at us with bright, shining eyes.
"I'm Reimu Hakurei."
Time seemed to freeze for a moment. The name hit me like a hammer, and I could feel my heart skip a beat. I stared at her, my mind struggling to process what she'd just said. Marisa's eyes went wide, her expression mirroring my disbelief.
Reimu Hakurei?
No... that couldn't be right. What was going on here?
I trudged through the dense underbrush of the Forest of Magic, my body miraculously stronger than it had been just moments ago. Despite being drained to the point of collapse, here I was, carrying a little girl on my back as she kicked her feet back and forth, giggling now and then. It would've been an endearing moment if it weren't so bizarre. The resemblance was undeniable—this girl looked exactly like Reimu Hakurei.
I looked over my shoulder at her, trying to keep my voice calm. "You should have told us you twisted your ankle," I said, hoping it would make this strange situation feel normal. "Don't worry, we'll get you back to the shrine, R... Reimu?"
I couldn't help the way my voice faltered on the name. It just didn't feel right. Marisa caught my eye, and I leaned closer to whisper so the girl wouldn't hear.
"Marisa, what the hell is going on? Why am I giving a little girl with a striking resemblance to our Shrine Maiden a piggyback?"
Marisa, walking beside me, gave me a helpless look, adjusting her hat as she spoke. "You're asking me that? There's gotta be a good explanation for this, something that doesn't involve a Forbidden Tome. She's just got to be a huge fan of Reimu. You know, like one of those school projects where you dress up as your hero or what you wanna be when you grow up. She's just really into the role, right?"
I frowned, glancing back at the girl. "You said you knew Reimu when she was little. Did she look like this?"
Marisa huffed, shrugging as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I can't say no to that. But there's no way this is actually her."
The little Reimu stirred on my back, twisting her head slightly to look down at us. "What are you two whispering about?" she asked, her voice bright and curious.
I shot Marisa a quick look before turning back to the girl with a smile. "Nothing, sweetie. Just... couple stuff." I didn't know what else to say. At least it would make her lose interest in our conversation.
"Oh! Okay," she replied cheerfully. "I won't listen."
Marisa let out a relieved breath, walking closer and pulling her hat off her head. Without a word, she plopped it right over the little girl's face, covering her entirely. "That should keep her occupied for a bit," she muttered, stopping me in my tracks. She leaned in closer, eyes full of concern.
"More pressing matters," she said, her voice lowered, "how are you feeling? I have no idea how you're even walking right now. You were practically on death's door just a moment ago."
I took a deep breath, trying to sort through the haze in my mind. "I... I don't know. I feel fine. Or, as fine as I can be, given everything. I'm probably going to need a week of cocoa and a good book to bounce back, but... I don't know. I feel—"
Marisa cut me off by grabbing my hand, her grip firm. "Be honest with me, Marcus. Do you think this could be another one of those illusion worlds? Something the book planted in your head?"
Her words sent a chill down my spine. I hadn't even thought of that. Could this whole situation be another cruel trick? Another dream designed to tear me apart?
"I... I don't think so," I said finally.
"Why not?" Marisa's eyes searched mine, worry flickering in her gaze.
I swallowed hard, my voice shaky but honest. "Because you weren't in it. In that place, you left me behind. And now... I don't hear the voices anymore."
Marisa let out a small, strangled sigh, a tiny smile tugging at her lips. She squeezed my hand, trying to reassure both of us. "I don't wanna count my chickens before they hatch, but this is good, right? You're back. You're really back."
I tried to smile, but it felt weak, forced. "Back... yeah."
Still, something felt off. I reached for my magic, hoping to feel that familiar spark, the connection that made me me. But there was nothing. The power was still dulled, my magic faint, distant. "But... I'm not whole," I muttered. "Something's still missing."
Before I could dwell on it, little Reimu giggled, pulling Marisa's hat off her head and waving it triumphantly. "Your hat is so big, Marisa!"
Marisa snatched the hat back, planting it firmly on her head with a teasing grin. "No, you're just so small!"
Reimu giggled again, her laughter echoing through the trees, and for a moment, everything felt almost normal. Almost.
Marisa glanced ahead, adjusting her hat. "Well, the shrine isn't too far. We'll find the real Reimu, see if she knows what's going on, and get this little imposter back to where she belongs."
"I'm Reimu! You found me!" the little girl exclaimed proudly as if she'd proven some grand point.
Both Marisa and I groaned, exasperated, but there was no malice in it. It is just the kind of tiredness that comes from dealing with kids.
"Kids..." Marisa muttered under her breath, shaking her head.
I smiled weakly, the weight of everything still pressing on me, but at least for now, I wasn't alone. And for the first time in what felt like forever, that gave me a small glimmer of hope.
We continued on, the forest closing in around us, with only one goal in mind: getting to the Hakurei Shrine and finding some answers.
As we approached the Hakurei Shrine, the air felt heavy, charged with an unnatural stillness. Marisa was already scanning the area, her eyes darting around for any sign of the real Reimu. Meanwhile, I crouched down to let the little girl hop off my back.
"Hey, we're here, sweetie..." I said, offering her a reassuring smile. "Let's find your mother, okay?"
She nodded and took my hand, walking more steadily now. The resemblance to Reimu was still uncanny, and my mind kept spiralling, trying to make sense of what was happening. Was this some kind of elaborate illusion? Something else? I couldn't shake the feeling that nothing about this was real. I glanced at Marisa, who was walking backwards, constantly surveying our surroundings. She shot me a wary look and shook her head as if to say, I don't like this either.
Just then, a voice called out from behind us.
"There you are! Reimu Hakurei, what did we tell you about running off like that?"
Marisa and I turned in sync, and standing there was an older woman with long, blonde hair. She smiled warmly, but something about her presence felt... off.
The little girl beside me—Reimu, or whoever she was—laughed and ran over, hugging the blonde woman around her legs. "Rumia!" she exclaimed joyfully.
Marisa and I exchanged a shocked glance. Rumia? That couldn't be right. We both knew exactly what Rumia looked like, and this wasn't even remotely close. Rumia was a creature of the dark with a distinctly childlike appearance, but this woman standing before us was nothing like that.
"This kind couple carried me back!" the little girl—Reimu—said, looking up at the blonde woman with innocent eyes.
The blonde woman—Rumia, if that's what we were supposed to believe—smiled down at her. "Did they know? Wow, what a kind couple." She bent down to pick the girl up, still smiling but with something unnerving lurking behind her eyes. "Well, wasn't that nice of them?"
Marisa sidled up next to me, her voice low and tense. "Marcus, I don't like this. We need to—"
She froze mid-sentence, her face paling as a soft, almost musical laugh echoed from the shrine.
"Now, Reimu, what did I tell you we say to people who help us?" came a new voice—this one softer, more motherly.
Reimu, the little girl, laughed and raised her hands. "Thank you!"
A woman emerged from the shrine's entrance, wiping her hands on her hakama. My heart nearly stopped. She looked exactly like Reimu. But older, with a few laugh lines and the calm demeanour of someone who had seen and done it all. Her resemblance to the Reimu I knew was uncanny—downright impossible, in fact.
"I'm sorry about my daughter," the woman said, her tone warm and welcoming. "She can be quite the handful. Welcome to the Hakurei Shrine. I'm the Shrine Maiden here. Nice to meet you two."
I froze, my mind reeling. Daughter? Marisa looked like she was about to scream, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. I didn't know what to say or what to think. This woman, this older Reimu, was standing right in front of me like some strange mirror of the Reimu I knew.
"Marcus..." Marisa whispered, her voice barely audible, filled with disbelief. "This... this can't be real."
I tried to make sense of it, to say something, anything, but all I could do was stand there, feeling like the ground had fallen out from beneath my feet. This wasn't just strange—it was wrong. And I had no idea how to make it right.
"Marcus?" Marisa's voice broke through my thoughts again, and it became more urgent this time. But all I could do was look at her, helpless, as this nightmare unfolded around us.
"Please," the woman continued, her voice calm and maternal, "come inside. You must be tired from your journey."
But the very last thing I wanted was to step inside that shrine.