A good crisis happens slowly, then all at once.
It comes suddenly enough to catch the vast majority of people unaware, but, when those of the future look back, they find a trail of clues and warnings such that the especially mindful ought to have seen it coming.
However, these hints, these indicators that something could go wrong, are really only clear in hindsight. It is far easier to connect the dots after the fact rather than before.
Thus, when the sun rose the next day, few in Gensokyo were prepared for the surprise that they would receive.
~~~~~~Tradition's End~~~~~~
That morning brought a boon for Tradition's End.
"Two black coffees, one croissant, and one strawberry tart, ready for table three!" Eric's voice rose loudly over the din of good business. He had to be heard clearly, lest orders get mixed up and chaos ensue.
"Got it," Sekibanki replied, always short with her words, but quick on her feet.
"The milk tea for the corner booth will be coming up next!"
From the cushy booths near the windows to the secluded tables at the back, nearly every seat was occupied. This full house demanded that both he and Sekibanki were at the top of their game, but that was fine. Busy was good for the bottom line.
Though the cafe typically saw healthy traffic each day, it was not without its fluctuations. Slow days happened, as did hectic ones. Every once in a while, it was as if the stars aligned, and everybody that knew of the place decided that it was a great morning for coffee.
It just so happened to be this morning.
Eric gazed out for a moment, seeing nothing but familiar faces. All regulars, or at least people he'd seen before. He wasn't particularly close with any of them, but the fact that he recognized them all bred a unique sense of satisfaction within him.
Mystia was there, too, quietly moping to herself at the end of the cafe's bar element.
Well, moping was probably a really mean way to put it. 'Rightfully mourning' was a more accurate description.
She was still taking last night pretty hard, and who could blame her? Her food cart, the business that she'd put years of effort into, quite literally going up in flames. And because of what? Sabotage? Revenge? A disaffected human seeking to ruin another's life for the hell of it?
It didn't matter. Whatever the reason for the arson, the effect that it had on Mystia was profound.
Gone was the confident, almost arrogant way that she carried herself, like a preening bird at the center of the universe. In its place was a somber demure that would have been more appropriate at a funeral than a lively cafe.
A sluggish energy powered her slumped form, her hands nursing a cup of coffee that had long since gone lukewarm. The occasional sniff or mournful sigh was all the noise that she could muster, a stark contrast to her frequent humming or enchanting singing.
She had arrived just after opening time.
Eric had half-expected her to demand something from him immediately, to have him make good on his promise after he'd reinforced the offer. However, if that had been her intention, she hadn't said a single word about it yet.
Only a scant few mumblings had escaped from her, confirming her desire for coffee, before she had taken up her roost at the end of the counter. Perhaps, she'd just needed a place to think. Or, maybe she was the type who drew her energy from the presence of others.
The other patrons seemed to pay her little mind, though the occasional glances were still being thrown her way by the curious and the cautious alike. Otherwise, she had been left to her own devices, with two seats empty next to her as a sort of unspoken buffer zone.
After dispatching the next order in the queue, Eric glanced in her direction. Every time he looked at her, he felt his heart sink. He knew that he had other things to focus on, a whole cafe to run, but he couldn't help it. She was decidedly his friend, and it made him a little bit sick to his stomach to see a friend so out of sorts.
He wanted to say something. Do something. Even if it wasn't necessarily his place. Unfortunately, the current flurry of activity left him no time to act.
…
After a little while, though, an opportunity finally presented itself. There was a break in the action, with all present customers having been served their food and drink.
Not letting this chance go to waste, Eric gingerly stepped his way down to the end of the counter, directly in front of his desolate friend.
She did not react to his presence. Her eyes remained fixed on the small cup in front of her, staring down into the half-finished coffee that was almost certainly room-temperature by now.
"Hey, Mystia," he started. "Do you want another cup? That one probably doesn't taste too great anymore."
Mystia released her grip on the cup in her hands, freeing it from the long, sharp fingernails that had encircled it. "Fine," she breathed. "That's… fine."
Eric accepted this, and in no time at all, he set a fresh, steaming cup of coffee on the counter before her. He'd prepared one for himself, too. Gods knew he needed it to keep up on a day like today.
"How… How are you feeling this morning?"
A fist pounded softly against the wood of the cafe counter. "Great. Just great…"
Eric paused for a moment before sighing. "Okay, that was probably a really obvious question…" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
Mystia huffed lightly and slumped down further in her seat. This was already going the opposite way that he had intended.
Still, he tried further. "It's… terrible, isn't it? This whole situation; it's terrible. I… know what you're going through, and… I'm sorry Mystia. Nobody deserves that."
"What do you know?" She had almost certainly meant for it to be a scathing dismissal, but, without any real venom behind it, the retort fell flat.
"Hmm. What do I know?" Eric kept his voice even, simply choosing to treat it as a genuine question. He took a quick sip of his own coffee, savoring the feeling of the caffeine as it perked him up a bit. "Well, I wasn't born here."
He did not continue, encouraging Mystia to engage with him. "And?" she asked after a pregnant pause, proving his tactic successful. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Eric shifted his weight as he looked off to the side. "What do you think happens to everything that you consider to be your life when you're brought to a place like this with no way back?" Mystia was quiet again, so he pressed on, answering his own question. "It might as well be lost forever."
"Oh…" She murmured.
"Except, it's not, really. In a way, that's worse."
The night sparrow furrowed her brows and tilted her head, finally showing a little personality again. "Worse? How?"
"Their world keeps spinning, their lives keep going, just like yours. You know that it's all still there, waiting for you, making you hope for it. If you could just find some way, be given some chance to go back, then it'd be like you were never gone. But… that's impossible. It's as if it's all forever dangling there, just outside of your reach."
Mystia fiddled with the rim of her cup with the tips of her talons before sighing. "I… don't really get it. Isn't that still better than watching the thing I've put years of my life into burn down right in front of me?"
"It's…" Eric mulled it over. "It's the not knowing that really eats at you."
"But knowing hurts so much worse…"
"That's… fair." He couldn't deny that, in the moment, a pain like hers was indisputably more intense. But, as time passed, the agony ebbed, and there was a chance at healing. It was different than a slow decay of hope, the rotting away of the lie that everything would be okay.
It was different, but it was not necessarily dissimilar. Loss came in many forms, but it was still loss, after all.
"At least in knowing, you have closure. You can be sure about your situation. You know your cart is gone; you can move on and rebuild from here."
"Heh," Mystia puffed, though there was no real mirth in it. "So, that's it? 'Move on?'"
"We'll… all have to. Eventually."
Mystia slouched back down in her seat. "Your advice sucks…"
Eric simply sighed. "It's advice that I wish I would have heard myself."
He took another sip of his coffee, and she did the same.
"Well, whatever. It's not like I'm gonna stop being sad just because you said something."
"I don't… I don't expect you to. It's not like I've said anything profound." He crossed his arms on the counter and leaned slightly closer. "It… doesn't have to happen right away, but it will happen. I just hope that it doesn't take you nearly as long as it took me to realize it."
"Suuure," she drawled. "I'm still gonna drown my sorrows in the meantime." Despite saying that, she didn't look quite as void as she did earlier.
"It… gets better-"
The bell of the front door chimed again, forcing him to cut the little heart-to-heart short. Maybe, if Mystia was still in the mood later, he could speak at length about what he meant.
"It gets better," he repeated. "Just try to remember that. You aren't short of friends willing to help." And with that, he turned away. The demands of his day job simply had to be met.
"Welcome in!" he called, as he always did.
Though, he did have to wonder why his newest guest seemed to be so short of breath.
~~~~~~Tradition's End~~~~~~
The morning sun shone golden upon Alice's house, bathing her workshop in all the light she could ever need. Despite the hour, Alice was already quite occupied.
Inspiration had struck her early. And so, after finishing the morning chores in short order, the dollmaker dove straight into her work.
Alice hummed to herself as her needle darted in and out, sewing to the fabric the tiny, frilly bows that accented the otherwise rather plain brown dress. Soon, she would put the final touches on the dress, and then she would move on to the other accessories.
The socks would be simple, as would the cute little brown hat. Additionally, she planned to alter a pair of the shoes she used for all of her other dolls to save a little on time and effort. They were so similar that it would only take a few minor modifications to get the look right.
Resourcefulness was important, after all
Then came the most complicated, and thus time-consuming, pieces. The wings of a night sparrow. These were no small challenge.
Though Alice had crafted wings for some of her early doll designs, those were much more akin to fairy wings than anything else. Sheer pieces of fabric suspended by weak levitation enchantments did the trick.
Bird-like wings were much more complicated. Not only was the structure itself more complex, but there was also the issue of the many tiny feathers that adorned them. There was much to consider in order to achieve the most realistic presentation possible.
She would have to draw up plans and assess the materials she had in stock. Perhaps a quick look through her books could also grant her some insight.
It would be difficult, but when it came to her craft, she was uncompromising. Alice would not, under any circumstances, cut corners that affected the quality of her finished work. Her pride simply wouldn't allow it.
Even if she didn't particularly care for the one she was basing the doll on.
…
Alice took a deep, slow breath before setting the nearly completed dress down onto her worktable.
She… wasn't quite sure what had possessed her to create a doll version of Mystia Lorelei.
That honor was typically reserved for those close to her, or at the very least those that she interacted with on a regular basis. Regular fixtures of her life that she could draw inspiration and direction from. Wonderful challenges to recreate in porcelain form, but with enough familiarity that she had a firm grasp on what the finished doll should equal.
Mystia was none of that to her.
To call her an acquaintance would be to dangerously stretch the truth. Near perfect stranger was more accurate, with them having only spoken once or twice outside of their duel during the Imperishable Night Incident.
So why, then, did she feel the need to replicate her in doll form?
Was it the raw intensity of the emotions she had shown that had inspired her?
Eric and Mystia were well acquainted, though to what degree, Alice wasn't entirely sure. Did that fact seemingly make her more relevant to her own life?
Or was it something else?
The relationship between she and her was rather ill-defined. Alice didn't know precisely how Mystia felt about her, but, considering how she and Marisa had blown the night sparrow out of the sky as a team, it was almost certainly negative.
Her opinion of Mystia was, likewise, quite cold. In her eyes, she was a feather-brained troublemaker with more energy than sense and a far too high opinion of herself. Far too much bluster escaped that mouth of hers for how weak of a youkai she was.
And yet…
She couldn't help but feel sympathy for her.
Alice glanced around the room, taking in all that she had in her cozy little workshop. A simple question nudged at her thoughts.
If it had been her home that had been burned, her work that had been reduced to ash, would she have felt such bottomless loss? Would she have acted with such reckless abandon?
The answer, she knew, was almost certainly yes. In fact, it was hardly even a question at all. She had experienced it once before.
When Makai had been lost to her.
Shanghai flitted over, settling herself in Alice's lap. Alice gave her a light squeeze, her project abandoned on the table before them.
She knew. She knew what it was like to act without thinking. To follow through with one's knee-jerk reaction to a loss caused others. She knew about that, and all of the grief that accompanied it.
Pandemonium in tatters. Makai City in flames. Her mother, unable to come to terms with the destruction she had wrought upon her own creations. Unable to reconcile with the monster she had become, however briefly it had been.
It wasn't her fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but those who'd selfishly invaded their realm and attacked anybody in their way. It was their fault, and she was going to get revenge.
That, of course, was what a young Alice had thought. That was what had gone through her head when she'd blocked the way as the intruders sought to return to Gensokyo. Righteous vengeance against those who had wronged her.
Alice sighed.
Well, that had been the plan, at least. Not only had her efforts been in vain, but she'd also been beaten so thoroughly that she was unable to resist being taken along with them to Gensokyo before Makai was sealed away.
At the end of it all, such reckless action had only made things worse. She was never even given a chance to return home.
…
Still, despite all of that, Alice couldn't say that the way Mystia felt was wrong. She wanted revenge, and she had every right to.
It was naive to believe that one could control how they felt about a situation like this, and some mistakes just had to be made. Some lessons were better learned the hard way.
So, while she wouldn't condone her actions, she couldn't fault her for them, either.
Perhaps it was simply fortunate that Reimu had been nearby to pacify her before she did anything that she'd come to regret. Even if that had come with its own woes.
There was something to be said about her decision to fight the shrine maiden. Her willingness to lay it all on the line. A genuine expression of what she truly felt.
She… dare she say it, may have found a tiny kernel of respect for the night sparrow. That, and the first very small hints of a fledgling kinship. Perhaps nothing would ever come of it, but it was there.
Maybe that was why she had decided that she was worthy enough to add to her collection.
…
Alice continued on, shaping, stitching, and theorycrafting for most of the rest of the morning. By the time that the sun sat high in the sky, the custom accessories were finished, save for the wings.
A deep sense of fulfillment radiated from within, and she was more than prepared to continue her craft well into the afternoon hours. All she needed was a fresh cup of tea.
The tea, and any additional plans would be long forgotten, however, as Alice's gaze drifted out through her window.
In the rather limited view afforded by the panes of glass, she counted not one, not two, but three separate trails of smoke.
"Oh my."
~~~~~~Tradition's End ~~~~~~
"Welcome in!" Eric called as the newest arrival, a young man, darted into the building.
He breathed heavily and quickly, as if he'd just run a great distance. Sweat soaked his yukata, and his ears burned red, likely helped along by the building heat of the day.
At first, all he did was stand there, stooped over with his hands on his knees, recovering from whatever predicament he had seemingly just escaped from. The way he gasped for breath proved that he had given his all to the run.
Why in the world was he running so hard? Eric couldn't help but wonder.
Whatever the reason, Eric's first instinct was to attend to him. His sudden appearance and conspicuous state had begun to draw stares from several of the customers.. They looked at him with a mix of interest and concern.
Eric stepped out from behind the counter. In one hand, he held a small cup of cold water, and he offered it readily to the gasping man.
He accepted the drink immediately, greedily chugging down the cool liquid.
It was only then that Eric was able to get a better look at his face.
…
He… knew this guy. He was an occasional customer who preferred tea over coffee and had a sweet tooth that could only be satisfied by multiple pastries.
His name was Kosuke. Kosuke Tachibana.
He was a good kid. Well, not a kid technically, but he was about a decade younger than Eric, so it was a bit difficult for him to see Kosuke as anything else.
He was always friendly and chatty, with lots of energy and a work ethic to match. He had even asked about working at Tradition's End several months ago. That, of course, never ended up happening as he almost immediately found himself another job as an apprentice to a glassmaker. It paid more money and taught him more useful skills than Eric could have mustered.
Eric, of course, was glad to see it. He'd needed that job. He was so eager to make life better for his family. 'One day, we're going to build the biggest house in the Village! Even bigger than the Hieda mansion!' he'd once said.
So why was it that Kosuke was here today, looking like he'd just run a marathon in the sweltering summer heat?
…
Kosuke sighed in relief after finishing off a second cup of water. "Thanks! I really needed that." His breathing had steadied somewhat, and he seemed a bit less overwhelmed than before.
However, that look of relief quickly dissolved into one of panic when Eric asked, "What happened? Why were you so out of breath?"
Kosuke wasted no time jumping into his tale. "There's a huge riot in the middle of town!"
"Oh." A riot, huh?
It took a moment for Eric's mind to properly register Kosuke's words. Once it did, he practically did a double take. "Wait, what?"
"It's true!" the young man professed. "It's a riot! There were all these people setting fires, attacking the guards, and trying to break into the town hall! I've never seen anything like it!"
His voice carried loud enough to be heard throughout the store. The easy, pleasant conversations quickly faded into silence, then uncertain rumblings.
Eric, still the closest person to him, pressed Kosuke for more information. "Are you sure? Why are they doing that?"
"Yes, I'm sure! I saw it with my own eyes! I don't know why they're going nuts, but it scared me half to death! I'm trying to tell everyone I know so they can stay safe!"
Eric could feel the adrenaline kicking in. He struggled to try to keep his breathing steady, preventing it from running away as the edge of fight-or-flight prickled up his back.
He stared into the young man's eyes, seeing no hints of deception.
This was not a joke; Kosuke wasn't the type of kid to pull that kind of prank, anyways.
"Is- Is it just by town hall? Or are they in other places too?"
"I… I don't know for sure. There might have been more of them starting to go down other streets, but… I ran off pretty fast. There was a lot of smoke in the sky, too!"
The mention of smoke made Eric's stomach drop. The image of fire crawling over the bone-dry ground was fresh in his memory. He immediately closed the small distance between him and Kosuke, and he spoke with new intensity. "Fires? Smoke? Was it only where you saw the riot, or was it from other places, too?"
Kosuke shifted back slightly, likely taken off guard by Eric's sudden approach. "I couldn't tell. Some of it is definitely in the Village, but other trails of smoke looked like they were farther away… Oh! And all around, too!"
His stomach dropped further. Alice's house was vulnerable, surrounded on all sides by deep, parched forest. If a large enough fire could get going in the Forest of Magic, then…
"The Forest?"
"Like I said, I couldn't tell for sure. But… maybe?"
Eric backed off. A question burned in his chest. He… He had to check. He had to make sure that Alice was okay.
"Oh! I have to get going! I haven't told old lady Zhou or my brothers yet!" Kosuke turned to the door. "Stay safe, okay?"
"You, too! Thanks for letting us know!" Eric called back, more steadily than he felt.
And with that, Kosuke departed, leaving Tradition's End in a much more uneasy state than it had been not five minutes earlier.
Eric glanced around the room, weighing his options and assessing how the others reacted. A sense of foreboding loomed large over the gathered villagers. Uncertainty seemed to creep into their psyche.
Many customers whispered quietly to each other, while several others nervously looked out the windows. A few immediately stood to depart, leaving money on the tables to settle their tabs.
Sekibanki hovered stiffly near the counter, quiet, but otherwise showing little reaction. Mystia, too, said nothing, but her posture had straightened, and her gaze… Her gaze was firmly on him.
Some of the other guests began to fix their stares on him as well.
Their eyes held questions. What will you do? What should WE do?
…What was he supposed to do?
In such an unusual, potentially dangerous situation, what was he meant to say? Who was he to provide direction to these people? Did he deserve the weight of that kind of responsibility? Him, who had just now gotten used to directing a single employee?
…
Well, he was the owner of this cafe, after all. No matter how he felt about it, he was responsible for the wellbeing of everybody in this building. He… had some decisions to make. And… he had some things to say.
Eric cleared his throat loudly, drawing the attention of those that had not yet looked his way. He stood straight, as tall as he could, near the front door, and put on a brave face.
It didn't matter how confident he truly felt; if by appearing in control he could put the others at ease, then he would already be doing something right.
"Everyone," he began. "I'm sure you heard it, too, but something strange is going on in the Village. Because of this, Tradition's End will be suspending normal business operations and-"
…
…
…
Several minutes later, the last departing customer crossed the threshold of the front door and hurried away, leaving a mere fraction of the bodies that had previously occupied the space.
To Eric, it was a relief to see them go.
It meant that they had somewhere safe to go. It proved that they had others that were important enough for them to check up on. It lowered the stressful burden on his shoulders by reducing the number of people he was made responsible for.
Eric twisted the lock on the front door with a hefty clunk, leaned his back against the glass, and, with his eyes to the ceiling, sighed.
In a way, he'd hoped to see as many people leave as possible. Not that any of them had parted with anything less than kind words and wishes of luck.
'Stay safe,' one woman had called as she'd hurried out the door.
'You done good, lettin' people stay here,' an older man had said with a hand on Eric's shoulder before he, too, left.
'I really hope this all turns out to be nothing,' said another.
'I hope the East End is alright…' and another.
'I'm worried about my parents…'
'D'you think Hito might be involved?'
'Can't help but think it might be them anti-youkai crazies again…'
…
By the end of the exodus, merely ten people remained in the cafe.
Eric brought his gaze down and swept it across the room.
He, Sekibanki, and Mystia were three of the ten, while the last seven were guests who had made the choice not to leave.
An elderly couple, ill-equipped to move quickly in the streets. They were almost daily patrons, just looking to enjoy their slow years in peace.
A young woman, so terrified that she simply couldn't move, and a young man who had stayed behind to console her. They were strangers to each other, he knew, but likely would not be after this experience.
And, finally, a mother, father, and small child, who lived far too close to the village center to feel safe returning there. He couldn't blame them for being cautious.
He couldn't blame any of them. His offer to let them shelter in place was one he'd made automatically.
Now, they were his responsibility. If anything happened, then all he could do was keep them safe, however he could, no matter what.
Though… Something else tugged fiercely at his chest, splitting his focus in two. Something that wanted him out the door and on the move. Something that drew his thoughts to the Forest of Magic.
Eric tried to brush it off. He was responsible. He didn't flake out. It simply wouldn't do to abandon the people in his cafe in favor of his own peace of mind.
Even if he could make it to Alice's house now, there was no guarantee that it was under any threat. That she was in any danger.
And if she was? Well, there really wasn't much that he could likely contribute. Alice was strong. She could take care of herself. He had to trust in that. He had faith in her.
He would stay here.
Even if… Even if it felt like a parasite was gnawing at his gut.
…
Eric straightened, drawing down the blinds of the cafe windows. Then, he moved to stand by Sekibanki at the cafe counter.
The rokurokubi had been watching Mystia closely, but she turned her attention to her boss as he approached. After a moment of consideration, he spoke.
"You know that you're free to leave, too, right? If you need to check on your house, make sure it's safe, then I completely understand."
"Can't. I'm still on the clock," Sekibanki deadpanned.
"That's… Whatever's happening here surely isn't as important as-"
Eric was cut off by a quick snort from Sekibanki.
"That was a joke, boss. There really ain't much at my house to worry about. I'd rather make sure I still have a job tomorrow."
That small levity made him feel a tiny bit less guilty about her staying here. Even so, he couldn't quite keep the tremble out of his voice. "O-okay, that's… good to hear."
She tilted her head in his direction slightly. "You sure about all this, boss?"
"Yeah." Eric let out an uneasy sigh. "As sure as I can be right now, at least. I just don't know how all of this will turn out."
Sekibanki shrugged. "Nobody's ever died from an Incident."
Nobody's ever died from an Incident… huh?
"That's… true, from what I've heard." Eric crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter. "I just can't help but feel that this could be different from an Incident."
Sekibanki raised an eyebrow. "Because?"
Eric shook his head. "I don't know, it just… feels off."
The weight behind Sekibanki's flat stare made him elaborate. "I've been here for several Incidents, and this one… doesn't feel like the others. There's no whimsy or magic. No mysterious occurrence. It's just… ordinary human chaos."
She briefly hummed in response, ushering in a small period of quiet between them.
…
Eric clenched the sleeves of his yukata in his hands.
It was no use. The longer he stood there in silence, the more the anxiety crept up on him. At least speaking helped to keep his mind from wandering.
"Hey, Sekibanki." Eric broke the silence with a question. "You said 'Nobody's ever died from an Incident, right?"
"Yep."
"That's… That's, well… It's not-"
It's not true.
That was what Eric had wanted to say, at least. He knew that was untrue. He knew it. However, delving into that was… Well, after a moment, he thought better of it. It was not the time, nor was it the place.
Maybe on another, more peaceful day…
Instead, he cleared his throat and posed a different question. One that was at least somewhat consistent with the topic he had broached. "What do you think will happen to the instigators this time?"
"Same as every time. Reimu and crew'll beat them up, and they'll be sorry. Then we all move on."
"But that's with spell card rules, right? What if…" Eric trailed off. "What if a youkai doesn't abide by spell card rules? What if they just fight to hurt people for real?"
"Extermination. That's obvious."
"Then, what about humans?"
Sekibanki paused. "What about them?"
"What if a human were to fight in a way that violates spell card rules? Would the Hakurei Shrine Maiden exterminate them?"
"I… don't know? It's not the same. Humans have guards and jail cells."
"But, what if humans were the ones to start an Incident? And what if they didn't play by the rules? If the Incident has to be resolved, then what happens to the humans that caused it? What kind of punishment do they get? Do they get exterminated or do they get a slap on the wrist?"
"Boss, that's a bunch of questions I don't have the answer for."
Eric breathed out heavily. "I… know. Sorry, I'm just a little unsettled. That's all."
He looked down to the ground. His right foot was tapping nervously. When did that start? Likely when the churning of his insides grew too intense to be anywhere near comfortable.
"...You okay? You don't seem like yourself."
Eric gave a shaky smile and sputtered out assurances. "Y-yeah. Nothing wrong here."
Sekibanki looked him over with a critical eye, like he was an enigma to be dissected. He had come to learn that she rather enjoyed putting pieces together and solving mysteries.
It was… a little uncomfortable for her to turn that gaze to him in this moment.
"...You want to see her, don't you? That Alice of yours?"
Eric scrambled to deny it. "No, I'm sure she's doing just fine. She- She can handle herself, you know?"
"...You're worried." Sekibanki responded firmly.
Eric tightened his grip on his sleeves. "S-so? I don't- I can't-"
"Why not leave?"
"I'm the owner of this cafe; I'm not just going to abandon you all!"
Eric raised his voice in frustration, but he immediately backed off of it.
"I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to do that."
He sighed, steadying himself. "I'm worried. I admit that, but I can't just up and leave. I… I'll have to just get over it."
Sekibanki… didn't look impressed. In fact, the look that she gave him felt like one that she might give an idiot. "You should go."
"But, I can't-"
"You want to, don't you?"
"Of course, but-"
"Then don't waste time here."
"But who will-"
"I think I can handle a single building."
Eric stilled. "You… will… You'll watch over the cafe for me? And keep the villagers here safe if it comes to that?"
The red-haired rokurokubi nodded. "I am on the clock, after all."
Eric almost couldn't believe his ears. His heart leapt at the opportunity. "Are you sure? You don't have to do this. I can stay."
Though he couldn't see her mouth to be sure, there was an unmistakable look of determination on her face. "I will watch over the cafe. This one will, too. If she's feeling cooperative." Sekibanki stared pointedly at Mystia, who had, evidently, been listening in on their conversation.
Sekibanki… volunteering Mystia?
Eric immediately considered the night sparrow. "R-really? Mystia, are you really going to stay? Don't you… have somewhere else that you'd rather be right now?"
"Go," Mystia said plainly. "I'll… be here. I'll be damned if I let somebody ruin your place, too."
"Sekibanki… Mystia…" Eric looked between the two youkai, and then at the door.
…
"Thank you…"
~~~~~~Tradition's End~~~~~~
"Oh my."
The words had left her mouth before she'd even realized it.
The quaint, idyllic vista offered by her workshop window lay stained before her. The gray streams were thick and billowing, dark blemishes on the otherwise pristine blue sky. An omen of mishap or calamity, she couldn't say.
Alice stood and took a step back, somewhat shocked by the sight. Shanghai snapped to her side, reacting to her sudden change in mood.
More fire? A mere day after the blaze that had claimed Mystia's izakaya? What were the odds?
…No, odds had nothing to do with this. If Mystia had been the victim of sabotage, then surely this was the work of the same perpetrators. This time, though, they seemed to have found greater success.
What was Alice to do, then?
The first fire had been small; she and Eric had arrived within its first few minutes. Such a thing had been simple enough to extinguish because it had never gotten the opportunity to achieve its full potential.
But this… The smoke that poured into the sky was far thicker, and from multiple points of origin. It was likely that these fires were already too far gone to be tackled directly.
She was only one magician youkai, dolls or not. The Forest was bone-dry, and there were few natural barriers like streams or rocky outcroppings to slow a fire's spread here
Alice's mind raced, taken by surprise and eager to put the situation back under her control.
Her chest felt tight, and there was lead in her gut.
She… She needed to go outside. She had to see it for herself. To get a better sense of the circumstances.
And so, though the thorny tendrils of anxiety began to creep in, Alice moved to exit her workshop, stepping down the small staircase that led to the ground floor of her tower. She ran her hand along the handrail as she descended, grounding herself in the surety of the durable wood beneath her fingertips.
She strode through a small hallway and into her living room.
It was an intimate space, each item and piece of furniture meticulously arranged to give a sense of comfort. A testament to the years of love and effort she had put into establishing herself in Gensokyo.
This was her home. Her home, for as long as she could possibly manage.
She would no sooner allow a fire to take it from her than she would death itself.
Alice clenched her jaw as she pulled open her front door and stepped off of her porch.
From the ground, she could see nothing but a vague haze beginning to build in the sky.
Two fairies zipped by overhead, only a single line of their conversation audible to Alice.
"I wanna go play in the smoke, too!"
Alice let out a frustrated huff at their remarkable ignorance. "Ridiculous…"
How lucky they must be, to not understand the weight of the situation nor recognize the danger that the source of the smoke could pose.
"Ignorance truly is bliss…" she quipped under her breath.
No closer to understanding where she stood in the current circumstance, Alice sought a different vantage point. She moved to the edge of her yard.
From here, she could see a little more of the sky, but not much.
Was she even prepared for something like this?
With her hand on the iron fence that enclosed her property, Alice took a moment to consider her recent work.
Making good on her intentions, she had, in fact, updated the wards that were woven into the walls of her home and that ran alongside this fence. The old ones had decayed to the point that they were nearly nonfunctional, an embarrassing lapse in her typical attention to detail.
In doing this, she had also added various new enchantments and tweaks.
A modified alarm spell ran the length of the fence, set to alert her if those of unsavory intention crossed into her yard. An obscuring charm had also been layered in with it, making her home less noticeable to those who were unfamiliar with it.
The walls of her cottage had been insulated against outside magical interference, and there were now counterspells embedded, designed to reflect magic in the event of a large release of energy.
Those were precautions specifically against Marisa. More than once had her home been damaged by a poorly aimed Master Spark, and she was determined to prevent such a thing from happening again.
Other, smaller wards were set up, too, designed to repel various malevolent and mischievous elements. Ghosts, phantoms, vengeful spirits, fairies, genies, and more. Alice was in no mood to deal with such incursions on a regular basis.
All of these enchantments were incredibly useful, and they all had distinct, necessary functions.
However, as Alice rose into the air, overtopped the forest canopy, and counted a dozen… no… thirteen separate columns of smoke arranged in a vaguely crescent shaped pattern that placed her near the center, she realized yet another mistake of her lack of foresight.
None of those wards had been fireproofing.
"Damn…" Her swear sounded clearly over the sudden fluttering of strings and rustling of fabric.
It was time for a contingency plan.
~~~~~~Author's Notes~~~~~~
We interrupt our regularly scheduled introspection over the Mystia situation with the start of an Incident.
Full context: Usually when I get to a chapter, I already have some parts of scenes written or a concrete idea of how I want to start or end the chapter. These 'seeds' help provide a framework from which I can grow a fully fleshed out chapter. This chapter, however, I had no 'seeds' prepared, so that's why it took longer. That, and, of course, life gets in the way sometimes. But I'm sure y'all don't really want to hear me whinge about that. SO.
Eric and Alice aren't necessarily in the middle of everything, but they each find out that something bad is happening in their own ways. Eric and the whole cafe learn through a lucky encounter, while Alice's first clue is seeing the smokestacks going up in the distance. I think that it's somewhat realistic this way. Neither are the direct target of the instigators, so neither really know exactly what is happening at first, just that something is wrong.
I tried to capture the transitional feeling of the characters going about their normal lives, only for stomach-dropping apprehension and uncertainty to prevail as realization takes hold. If you've ever been (for all my North American readers out there) under a tornado warning, especially in a public place, you know the feeling well. That feeling also applies to any sort of evacuation order due to a natural disaster.
IMO, it's a bit worse when you're in a position like Eric's. In a situation like this, you're not only responsible for your own safety, but the safety of all of your customers as well. That responsibility weighs heavily on you, and it does not mix well with the anxiety of a developing situation. It's no wonder that the responsibility clashed with his desire to know that Alice was safe.
Will Eric make it to Alice's unscathed? How does Alice's little patch of forest fare against something like fire? Do Sekibanki and Mystia mix well enough to keep the cafe in one piece?
More to come. Hopefully a little quicker this time.
Thank you for reading! Comment or review if you want! Have a nice day!