Well, this was something I used to post on Poosh, but I haven't updated it for a while now. I kinda want to get back into writing, though, so hopefully posting it here will give me the incentive to continue it~
***
It was a beautiful spring morning, and the rising sun illuminated the mountains and plains of Gensokyo. A warm breeze echoed through the hilltops, accompanied by the singing of the many birds and fairies drifting lazily through the sky. All in all, it was a seemingly ordinary day, completely unexceptional, nothing worthy of note. That is, apart from the two figures exiting a cave near the Hakurei Shrine.
"Ooh, just look at that view. It's gorgeous!" said the first figure. She was a young looking woman with blonde hair, wearing a white dress and hat. Her eye colour, however, was unknown, as she always seemed to have them closed for whatever reason. At her side hung a simple white handbag. "Wouldn't you say so, Sara?"
Her companion, a girl with pink hair and eyes who was clad in a red dress, sighed.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Luize? I mean, you remember what happened last time, right?" said Sara.
Luize pouted for a moment, then smiled widely.
"Of course! Lady Shinki has made some arrangements to make sure that something like that doesn't happen this time!"
"I know, I know," replied Sara, in a worried tone of voice, "It's just that last time we tried to send tourists to Gensokyo, Makai was almost destroyed."
"I suppose you have a point, but this time we're a lot more organised. Besides, it's only the two of us at the moment, so I doubt anyone will think it's a demonic invasion this time." Luize took a moment to take in the wonderful view once more. "Anyway, I suppose we'd best get going now. We wouldn't want to waste any of our sightseeing time, would we?"
With this, the two left the cave that held the gateway between Makai and Gensokyo, and made their way down the mountain and towards their first destination, a nearby shrine.
***
The sun was a bit higher in the sky by the time they reached the shrine. As they drew closer, they were greeted with the sight of a black haired miko and a green haired maid sweeping the grounds.
"Mistress, it seems as though we have some guests," said the maid in an electronic voice, as she continued to sweep.
"Meh, Suika can greet them." muttered the miko in reply.
"But Miss Ibuki is sleeping at this moment."
"Well, they can go greetingless, then. I'm not in the mood right now." The miko sighed, then went back to sweeping.
Sara took the time to inspect the surroundings, and wasn't really all that impressed. She had heard how the Hakurei Shrine was something of a social hub in Gensokyo, but she'd never really imagined it to be anything like this small, dingy shrine seemingly situated in the middle of nowhere. Luize, on the other hand, had walked over towards a small, dusty donation box. The words "PLEASE DONATE GENEROUSLY" were written in big letters on a board propped beside it.
"Ah, I've heard of this tradition." she said, as she placed some coins into the box. There was a soft thunk as they hit the bottom.
"WELCOME TO THE HAKUREI SHRINE!" shouted the miko, who had become very enthusiastic all of a sudden. She grabbed Luize's hand and shook it vigourously. "I'm Reimu Hakurei, maiden of this shrine. If there's anything you need, just ask!"
"Oh, um, hello, Miss Hakurei-"
"Reimu will do."
"-Reimu, then. Uh... Don't you recognise us?"
"Why, have I met you before?" Reimu stared intently at Luize for a moment, before shrugging. "Nah, your face doesn't ring a bell."
"Um... My name is Luize. We met in Makai one time, remember?" The look on Reimu's face told Luize that she still didn't remember. "Oh, never mind, that's all in the past anyway."
"So, what brings you here today, Luize?" asked Reimu, as she finally let go of Luize's hand.
"Well, I suppose I should get straight to the point." Luize reached into her bag, and produced a sealed envelope, which she then handed to Reimu. "This should explain everything."
Reimu opened the envelope and read the letter inside, occasionally muttering parts of it out loud.
"Let's see... Shinki... Blah-blah... Makai... Yadda-yadda... Mystic Square Tourist Company? "Helped set up by my old friend, Yukari Yakumo, who I am sure you already know"!?" Reimu's good mood came to an end, as she scowled in anger. "Damn it, Yukari! Why didn't you tell me about this!?" Reimu began ranting to herself, aiming many an insult and expletive at Yukari.
"Well, I see she's taking it well," said Sara, her voice thick with sarcasm. "I told you this was a bad idea."
"A bad idea!?" Reimu snapped. "Of course it's a bad idea! Last time this happened, we were so up to our asses in demons that we had to go straight to Makai and kick the crap out of their god before we could get some semblence of order back!"
Luize sighed, before smiling yet again.
"But this time is different, Reimu. For starters, it's just the two of us here right now. And by the time any other Makai residents come to Gensokyo, we'll be organised enough so that something like that incident never happens again."
Reimu sighed loudly before slumping down on the steps of the shrine. "I guess it can't be helped, then. Won't you two need a guide or something, though?"
Sara laughed for a moment, before saying "Not really, Luize has been to Gensokyo before. It doesn't seem like much has changed since then, so we won't really need a guide. Besides, you probably have important miko work to do or something."
"Wait..." said Reimu, somewhat puzzled. "If you don't need a guide, why did you come to see me? And with that official looking letter, no less."
"Ah, that was so that you would know why we're in Gensokyo and wouldn't, as you so eloquently put it earlier, "kick the crap" out of us." replied Luize, with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Fine, whatever... Stupid Yukari, why can't she be this meticulous all the time?" Reimu sighed again. "Oh well, not much I can do about it now. If you're still here in two days time, come back here. There's going to be a festival, so try and make it if you can."
Luize nodded in appreciation. "We would be honoured, Reimu. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a lot of sightseeing to do, so we'd best be off. See you soon, hopefully!"
With this, Sara and Luize waved Reimu goodbye and left the shrine.
"Is something wrong, Mistress?" said the maid as soon as she was sure the two were out of earshot. "You seem somewhat troubled."
"It's nothing, Ruukoto. Just... I have a bad feeling about this."
Ruukoto let out a synthetic giggle. "Oh, you say that about everything, Mistress."
"I know, Ruukoto, I know. I just hope that Yukari knows what she's doing this time."
***
"So, how much further is this village, anyway?" moaned Sara. The human village hadn't seemed all that far away from the shrine, but they'd been walking for over half an hour and still not reached it. "And I don't see why we can't just fly there..."
Luize chuckled. "If we flew there, we wouldn't get to take in the beautiful scenery, would we? And isn't that why we're here?"
"I thought we were here because Lady Shinki told us to go here... Although it does make a change from guarding the gateway, I suppose."
They continued on, until they were greeted by a voice from above.
"Hey, don't I know you two, ze?" said the voice, as it's owner floated a few feet above them on a broom.
Sara looked up to see who the voice belonged to, and she was greeted with what she could only describe as a goddess. Her eyes were like molten gold and her hair cascaded down like a blonde waterfall. The air around her seemed to glow with a divine radiance, flower petals seemed to flutter around her in the wind, and she could swear she heard someone playing a spanish guitar off in the distance.
Sara's heart began beating faster. She rubbed her eyes, then looked at the girl again.
She didn't seem all that special looking this time. Cute, but a little plain, really. She was dressed up like a stereotypical witch, hat and all, but apart from that there wasn't really much about her that stood out. She dismounted her broom, and stared at Sara and Luize for a few seconds.
"Didn't I meet you guys in Makai that one time, ze?" she asked.
"Oh... Um... I, uh, I think you did," stuttered Sara, still feeling a little flustered. "I'm Sara, Gatekeeper of Makai, and this is Luize, and she's, um, the, uh..."
"Just a citizen of Makai." Luize stated, as she curtseyed politely at the witch. "And you would be Marisa Kirisame, I take it?"
"Oh, you remembered me, ze?" said Marisa, taken slightly aback.
"Oh yes, Lady Mima speaks of you quite often. It would be difficult not to remember you."
Marisa looked a little saddened at the mention of Mima's name. "Right... Uh... So, um, is Mima doing okay, ze? I haven't seen her for so long, y'know, and I... I kinda miss her, ze."
"Don't worry, Miss Kirisame," reassured Luize. "Lady Mima is doing quite well. She is always in high spirits, and just the sight of her is enough to brighten Lady Shinki's day."
"Oh, that's good, ze..." Marisa fidgeted awkwardly for a moment, before changing the subject. "So, uh, what brings you two to Gensokyo, ze?"
Marisa listened intently whilst Sara and Luize explained about the tourism project.
"Ah, I see. Sounds like fun, ze! And here I was thinking that you were just here to see Alice, ze."
"Oh, we plan to see Lady Alice at some point too, Miss Kirisame." Luize looked uncomfortable for a moment. "We have something to tell her concerning Lady Shinki, you see."
"Yeah, and somehow I don't think she'll be too happy about it," added Sara, frowning. "You wouldn't happen to know where she lives, would you?"
"Oh, she lives in the Forest of Magic, near my place, ze," replies Marisa. "But you won't find her there right now. She went out to the human village to run some errands, ze."
"Ah, that's great! We were just heading there anyway, so we'd better get going if we want to catch her. Hope I see you later, MarisAAAAH!" Sara slipped and fell backwards just as she was beginning to leave. Thankfully, Marisa caught her before she hit the ground.
"Hey, you should look where you're going, ze. You could hurt yourself if you're not careful, ze."
Sara didn't say anything in reply. Instead, she simply blushed furiously, as Marisa had suddenly became the glittering goddess she had seen earlier. She blinked hard, and when she opened her eyes Marisa was back to being the simple, plain witch girl. Getting back to her feet, she muttered something under her breath, before slowly inching away from Marisa.
"That's odd..." said Luize, inspecting the road. "Why's there ice on the ground in the middle of spring?"
As if in answer to her query, several icicles smashed into the ground next to Luize. The group looked up to see a small, blue figure flying swiftly towards them.
"BLACK-WHITE!" screamed the figure. "COME BACK HERE! HOW DARE YOU RUN FROM THE GREAT AND ALMIGHTY CIRNO!?"
"Geez, not this again, ze..." muttered Marisa, as she reached into her pockets and produced an octagonal block and a slip of paper. "Ahem... Love Sign, MASTER SPARK!"
The slip of paper crumbled into dust, and the block began glowing. Marisa pointed it at the blue figure (apparently called Cirno), and let lose a gigantic blast of coruscating energy at her. Once the blast disappated, Cirno fell to the ground beside her and Sara with a soft thump.
"Overkill much?" Sara looked at the still smoking body next to her. She wasn't very big, about the size of a human child. Her hair, eyes and dress were all the same light blue colour, and from her back sprouted what looked like six large icicles.
"Nah, it's the only way to get her to shut up, really, ze." Marisa tossed the octagonal block in the air, caught it as it fell and placed it back in her pocket. "She's been following me around a lot recently, asking for a fight, ze. I mean, she's usually kinda persistant in claiming how she's the strongest in Gensokyo, but she's never tried to prove it like this before, ze."
"I wonder what could provoke her to-" started Luize, but she was cut off by Sara.
"Hey, don't you think she looks kinda like Mai? And not just looks like, she's got almost the same ice powers and everything... Has Mai ever been to Gensokyo, Luize?"
"Not that I know of... And even then, I doubt she could be related to a small, weak ice fairy."
As soon as Luie said the word "weak", Cirno suddenly got to her feet again. She seemed pretty active for someone who had just been hit by a giant magical laser.
"Who are you calling weak!? Listen, lady! I'm Cirno, the strongest and most powerful being in all of Gensokyo! And I'm gonna prove it by beating the black-white!"
"But why me, ze? I'm just an ordinary magician, it's not like you'd be proving anything, ze."
"Shut up!" said Cirno, pointing defiantly at Marisa. "I need to beat you, and only you! If I do that, then she'll have to see that I'm the strongest!"
"She? Who might that be, your girlfriend?" asked Sara teasingly. Cirno responded by turning red and placing her hands over her mouth.
"Gah! I said too much!" she said, as she took to the sky. "I'll be back, black-white! This isn't over!" And with that, Cirno flew off.
"Well, that was... Odd, ze." Marisa had gotten back on her broom. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to see Reimu about something, ze. Catch you guys later, ze!"
Marisa zoomed off into the distance, and was soon out of sight completely.
"Well, anyway, I guess we'd better be going too. That village isn't getting any closer, y'know?"
"I agree." Luize smiled slyly for a moment, before saying, "So, I didn't know you went for girls, Sara."
Sara's face turned beet red. "Wh-what are you t-talking about!?"
"Oh, I saw the way you were looking at Marisa. You want her SO bad."
"I... I have no idea what you're talking about, Luize!"
"There's nothing wrong with it, Sara. I mean, even Lady Shinki..."
"Lah-lah, not listening!" Sara plugged her ears with her fingers and ran off towards the village, with Luize following after her, teasing her all the while.
***
The Human Village was, as its name suggested, the residence of the vast majority of Gensokyo's human population (although size wise it was really more of a town than a village, but that's beside the point). Founded soon after the creation of Gensokyo, its, ahem, inspired name was thought up by it's original inhabitants (including the first Hakurei Miko) after the naming committee ran out of sake and decided to just put down the first thing they could think of so they could leave and go get more booze.
Over time, the village expanded as the population increased, and eventually even some of the more civilized youkai decided to move in, favouring the houses and inns to the caves and forests that they traditionally domiciled in. Whilst such a thing would have been frowned upon (to put it mildly) by the founders, in this day and age it was merely treated with a shrug, as a lot of the youkai actually made quite productive members of society. That wasn't to say that everyone welcomed them with open arms, of course, as there were still groups of youkai-hating humans who, given the chance, would wipe the youkai off the face of Gensokyo (that is, if it weren't for the fact that most of these youkai could easily slaughter them all with minimal effort). However, this was mainly a minority, as most humans had given up such prejudices by now.
The village itself was rather anachronistic in appearance, as if someone had just cut up multiple pictures of Japanese and European towns during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and pasted them together haphazardly until they got what vaguely resembled the shared nightmare of a historian and an architect. Pagodas sat next to thatched huts, which lay across the street from what looked like gothic cathedrals and oriental-style mansions. Between these, wooden carts pulled by strong-limbed mules passed by crude, smoke-belching kappa-manufactured automobiles, whilst people garbed in kimonos traded greetings with those wearing shirts and trousers.
It was approaching noon, and Sara sat at the outskirts of the village, panting in exhaustion. Luize showed up a few minutes after her, walking at a leisurely pace. She giggled softly as soon as she saw Sara.
"If I'd known you were so eager to get here, I would have just had us fly rather than walk."
"Oh, shut up." spat Sara bitterly. She took a moment to regain her breath before entering the village. "Well, we're here, now what?"
Luize looked about for a moment. "I suppose we should just explore for now. I'd rather like to see the market; I heard they have some nice things this time of year..."
"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Sara replied, her voice thick with sarcasm. She was about to continue, but was cut off by her stomach rumbling loudly. "Ugh, so hungry..."
"Tell you what, why don't we split up for now, and meet back here in, say, an hour?" Luize reached into her bag and produced a coin pouch, which she handed to Sara. "Now, don't spend it all in one place, Sara."
"Yeah, you're such a comedian," grumbled Sara as she took the pouch. "Well, see you later, I guess."
"Ah yes, see you later. Oh, and I'll look out some lodgings for us, so don't worry about that."
And with this, Sara and Luize parted ways.
***
It didn't take long for Sara to get lost. After wandering around aimlessly for a few minutes, she decided to ask a passer-by if there was anywhere she could get anything to eat nearby. She decided to turn down directions to an expensive sounding sushi place and instead headed towards the much cheaper sounding "Myschi's Lamprey Stand", which was apparently situated somewhere between the outskirts of the town and a nearby forest.
"This place better be worth the walk," she muttered to herself. As she approached the stand, she was greeted with a delicious smell, which reassured her decision a little. Drawing closer, she could hear a familiar sounding voice coming from the stand.
"...I almost got her this time, Myschi! The black-white just took me by surprise, that's all!" shouted the ice fairy, as though she was trying to make herself believe it.
"Don't worry, Cirno," replied a melodious voice, "I'm sure you'll get her next time, and prove... Whatever point you were trying to prove."
"I'll prove that I'm the strongest!" yelled Cirno, as she thrust her finger into the air dramatically. "And then she'll finally like me more than the stupid black-white!"
"Y'know, I'm surprised that you don't melt, what with that hot-blooded attitude," said Sara, as she took a seat besides Cirno.
Cirno doubled back in surprise. "You were with the black-white earlier! The one making googly eyes at her!"
Sara placed her palm on her forehead in annoyance and sighed. "Yes, that was me. I'm Sara, Gatekeeper of Makai."
"And I'm Cirno! The strongest and most powerful in all of Gensokyo, and don't you forget it!"
"I'll try not to," replied Sara, before turning to the girl running the stand.
"Well, I'm Mystia Lorelei. Welcome to Myschi's Lamprey Stand!" said the girl. She had short pink hair and pointed owl-like ears, and from her back spread two large brown-feathered wings. Whatever she was wearing was obscured by the apron she was wearing on top of it. "Would you like to order something, Miss Sara?"
"Um..." Sara checked the menu. "Uh... I'll just have the house special."
"Right! One house special, coming up!" Mystia turned around and got to work on Sara's meal, whilst singing quietly to herself.
Sara sat back and waited for her food to be prepared. "So, Cirno, what makes you so sure that you're the strongest, anyway?"
"Heh..." Cirno smiled smugly for a second. "Because I am Cirno! Cirno is the strongest! I just know it!"
"Well, um, what exactly can you do?"
"I can control the ice and snow, and I can freeze anything... With my complete mastery over the cold, there can be none stronger!"
"Well, I suppose mastery over the cold sounds pretty powerful," pondered Sara, "but compared to some of the people in Makai, it's pretty weak."
"It's not weak! There's no way that anyone in this Mickey place is stronger than me!" fumed Cirno indignantly.
"Well, for one thing, Lady Shinki is a god with the power to create anything she wishes simply by willing it into existence. In fact, she created Makai and everything in it."
Cirno tried to counter this, but couldn't come up with a good comeback. "Actually... That IS pretty powerful... Maybe I'll have to go to Mickey and beat up this Shinki person, just to prove how much stronger I am!"
"Nonsense, Lady Shinki cannot be defeated." Sara thought for a moment. "Apart from that one time she was defeated, but that doesn't count."
***
"Aw, how cute!"
Drawn by the scent of cooking, Luize had entered a bakery (cleverly named "Bake It Easy!") and was currently eyeing some bean buns that had been decorated so as to look like Gensokian celebraties. She was about to buy a Marisa-a-like bun to tease Sara with, when she heard a familiar voice from outside.
"Shanghai, Hourai! Don't let those bags drop! Gah! Orleans, that's fragile! Kyoto, give her some help!"
"That sounds like..." Luize left the bakery, and searched for the owner of the voice.
Her suspicions were confirmed when she set eyes on her. She was a young woman with short, blonde hair, which had a red ribbon tied through it. She wore a light blue dress decorated with pink ribbons and a large pair of black boots. Her right hand waved through the air, casually manipulating nearly invisible magical threads which she used to control the multitude of dolls floating around her, carrying bags containing what Luize presumed were her shopping, whilst her left hand, sitting by her waist, carried something that was very familiar to Luize, and indeed to every inhabitant of Makai. A seemingly mundane book, thick and bound in black leather. The book was shut tightly with a large lock attached to what looked like pink ribbon. This ordinary looking object was, in fact, one of the most powerful magical artifacts in existence, and it almost shocked Luize to see it being carried about in the open. Still, it confirmed the identity of the woman beyond any doubt.
Before Luize stood Alice Margatroid, the Witch of Death, the Seven-Coloured Puppeteer, and daughter of Shinki, God of Makai.
"Russia, if you drop that it's the woodchipper for you!" barked Alice at one of her dolls. "London, careful with that..."
Luize hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to approach the puppeteer. She waved at her to get her attention, and then said "Greetings, Lady Alice. It's been a long time."
Alice stared in bewilderment. "Luize? Is that you? What are you doing in Gensokyo?"
"It's a long story, Lady Alice, but to put it simply Lady Shinki decided to give the Mystic Square project another go."
"The Mystic Square project?" Alice sighed and rubbed her temple. "I hope mother planned it out better this time, at least..."
"Oh, of course she did. Lady Shinki has recieved help from her old friend, Lady Yukari Yakumo, this time. And besides, it's only me and Sara this time, and I doubt the two of us will be mistaken for a demonic invasion."
"I see... Although hearing Yukari's involved doesn't exactly reassure me very much." Alice took a moment to correct the movements of her dolls before continuing. "So, how are things in Makai these days? Has mother... Has she been doing okay since... You-know-when?"
Luize smiled and nodded. "Lady Shinki was often depressed after the... Incident, but Lady Mima has helped her to cope with it. Were it not for her love and support, Lady Shinki would surely-"
"Wait. Wait wait wait." Alice cut off Luize. "Mima's WHAT and support?"
"Ah... Well, you see, uh..." Luize looked rather uncomfortable. "Lady Shinki was very lonely when you left, and Lady Mima was always there to support her, and, well, one thing led to another and, well, you know..."
Alice simply stared with a look of mixed shock and revulsion, with some happiness for her mother added in. "You... You're kidding, right? Mother... And Mima!? That... That's just fundamentally wrong on so many levels..."
"Love rarely makes sense, Lady Alice. Oh, and speaking of Lady Shinki and Lady Mima... Well, uh..."
"Well... What?"
"...Ah, it can wait until later. It's, uh, not really that important right now." Alice gave Luize a suspicious look, but decided not to push the point for the time being. "Oh, look at the time! It's almost time for me to meet up with Sara again."
"May I come with you then? I haven't seen Sara for a while, either. It would be nice to see her again."
"But of course, Lady Alice. You didn't even need to ask."
And so Luize and Alice started to make their way towards the village square, both unaware of the figure watching them from a nearby alley.
"Alice Margatroid..." The figure eyed the puppeteer, massaging their knuckles in anticipation. "That's right, let your guard down. Soon, I shall depose you, foul tyrant, and free my sisters from slavery! Just you wait!" The figure snuck off behind Luize and Alice, making sure not to be seen by either of them, watching and waiting for the right time to strike...
