Following the view of Marisa Kirisame and Alice Margatroid
Marisa and Alice were flying together just over the treetops while keeping watch for any sign of Reimu. Neither was looking for Aya. Alice was feeling extremely skittish, being so very close to the border, flying so close to treetops in the dark, and being on a broom.
?Are you sure she said she went into the eastern forest? She could have meant southern.?
?Yes, she said eastern. Now I wish you wouldn?t try to cleave me in two with your scissor grip around my waist. I need that lower half so you can have your way with me-oomph!? Alice apparently wasn?t in the mood for spicy chatter, for she released her grip momentarily, only to drive both hands forcefully into Marisa?s gut. ?Now what in the world was that for?!?
?I?m on a broom, flying inches over the tops of trees in the dark, while the Hakurei Border lies dangerously close to here! We could get sucked out of Gensokyo at any moment! That doesn?t
worry you??
?Nope. Not really. As long you take me with you to wherever we get sucked to, I don?t care. Not only that, but Reimu is out here somewhere, which means that we should be fine.?
?What if we passed over Reimu? We could have completely missed her, and then what? We could have even passed the border! If we pass the border, we?re screwed! We can?t get back through, and you know it!?
?Stop worrying, Alice. If we had passed over the border, we would have known it.?
?No, we might not have! Nobody?s crossed the border and come back to tell about it! So what if you don?t know when you?ve crossed the border??
?The border has wards. Keeps out what?s meant to be kept out, and keeps in what we want kept in. You?d have to really want to cross the border to actually do it. Since we don?t want to cross the border, we won?t be crossing the border. That simple.?
?How do you know that??
?Reimu maintains the wards. That?s the whole reason she?s here. Why we?re here.?
?What if the wards fail? Then what??
?Reimu has backup wards placed all over her shrine. If something happens to the wards on the border, we had better get to the Hakurei Shrine as fast as we can. At the border, there are four main wards placed each at North, East, South, and West. They are meant to seal out whatever is supposed to be sealed out. There are four more main wards placed each at the exact point in the center between two of the first four. Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest. These four keep in those who desire to remain safe within, diverting those who might stray too close by accident. Sixteen scrolls with spells written on them are placed in miniature shrines, and those shrines are located at the same place as the Eight Wards, as well as the places between each of them. There are smaller wards for various purposes spread out equally between all eight of those main wards. Most pertain to supporting the Eight Wards and Sixteen Scrolls, like at points where stress has occurred, or where someone has exited the border. That?s why when someone leaves Gensokyo, it must be prearranged with Reimu. She?ll determine when and where you would exit, prepare a ward, and guide you there. Once you leave, she erects the ward, and blesses your journey, praying for safe travels.?
?I?ve never heard any of this? How do YOU know?? Alice had forgotten most of her fears of flying on the broom, and was listening intently to what her closest friend was telling her, placing her chin gently on Marisa?s shoulder.
?I?ve been around Reimu enough to know things like that. She used to ask me to help her trek to each of the wards when they needed replacement. The rest I learned from books that I borrowed from Patchy.?
?So? why would someone want to leave Gensokyo??
?Who knows. I only know that they never come back. Humans aren?t supposed to pass through the border? They usually die or suffer severe illnesses right before they pass through. Youkai, however, make a tremendous sacrifice to pass through. They must take on a human form if they aren?t naturally humanlike, and they relenquish every ounce of their powers, leaving them unconscious. Reimu will prepare them to pass through by suppressing all of their memories of Gensokyo, placing several wards on their person, and carrying them to the border, where she performs a traditional passing over for them.?
?The way you say it makes it sound like she?s having their bodies disposed of after death.?
?In a way, they have died. They must give up everything to pass through the border.?
?What are the Scrolls for??
?I?m not entirely certain? but I think they keep Gensokyo hidden. From what, I don?t know. I?ve always wondered if there?s more to the world beyond border Gensokyo.?
?Why would we need to keep Gensokyo hidden? And seriously, how did you know all of this serious stuff? Why did you never tell me? Who else knows this??
?I don?t know why we need Gensokyo to remain hidden. I?ve heard fables of other worlds out there, and ours is kept secret from them. And nobody but myself and Reimu know this information.?
?Like other planets??
?I would suppose? But my guess is that it?s more like other dimensions. Reimu?s job is to protect Gensokyo from those other worlds. I just kinda, jumped on the bandwagon, and do the same.?
?I?ve never seen this side of you, before? You sound pretty heroic to me. I like it.?
?What?s this? Are you coming onto me? Without being drunk??
?Maybe. You just sounded so smart, and protective, when you were talking just now. It makes me feel safe around you."
?That?s exactly what I go for. I want to keep Gensokyo safe from whatever isn?t Gensokyo.?
?So what else do you know??
?Well? I?ve read somewhere that one of the two worlds is called Mercatia. It?s supposedly a place populated only by humans.?
?Only humans? But how do they survive??
?It said they were very resourceful, and self-sufficient. They farmed and harvested their own food. Built their own homes. There used to be youkai, and demons, and even a few angels, and a lot of extremely powerful gods.?
?Used to be??
?Yeah. It didn?t say how or why, but they all just vanished. The story said that the humans had become so many, that they spread across an entire planet, and even into the vacuum outside of the planet. It said that they were spreading like a virus, without youkai to keep their levels from increasing so rapidly. The story theorized that perhaps a single god and a group of angels that followed him had stayed behind, and a single youkai with a group of demons stood to oppose him and keep balance.?
?Wow. This all makes me wonder about things.?
?Like what??
?Well, why would this one god want to stay behind??
?The story mentioned a book called ?Holy Bible?, but I can?t find a copy of it anywhere. Supposedly, that book tells all about it. Something about how this god wanted to create a heaven for humans or something along those lines, but the youkai that stood to keep balance and oppose him had to stop that from being entirely successful. This race of humans is incredibly indecisive, constantly warring and killing each other. This is the negative end of ?balance? for Mercatia. But they also love easily, and are usually intelligent by nature. This is part of the positive end.?
?So there are still youkai and demons there. It?s not ONLY humans.?
?Ah, but that?s the weird part. It IS inhabited only by humans. Somehow, this god, this youkai, and all of the demons and angels supposedly are never seen. Ever. By anyone. They go about somehow, without actually being part of the world. Like they?re watching Mercatia in a fishbowl, from outside of it. They can influence Mercatia, without actually being there.?
?That?s scary! I?d hate to live in a world where I?m always being watched!?
?Me too. Wanna know something else? Mercatia can?t have real danmaku festivals. They fight wars with swords. Important and rich people order poor people to get together in huge groups, and then run at each other while screaming, until the groups crash together like waves, and humans are hacking other humans to bits over stupid little things. That?s how the ?big arguments? are settled. Whoever is stronger is right.?
?That?s all very disturbing, on so many levels! Why would any human want to kill another human!? That?s like me chopping you in half!? Alice actually shed a tear at the thought of having to chop Marisa in half. ?If we leave Gensokyo, then we probably wind up in Mercatia! And since we don?t have any money, we?d be poor! But since we?re poor, we?d have to be ordered around by these rich people! What if we have to fight each other, Marisa!? I don?t wanna chop you in half!? Alice gripped Marisa tightly, crying into the witch?s back. Marisa took Alice?s hand and held it close to her.
?If that happens, we won?t fight. We?ll hug each other, ok??
?But they must use some powerful magic to order all those humans to kill each other just to decide something! I know the humans here in Gensokyo would never kill one another! They would never!?
?I? never thought of that? That?s pretty scary, Alice? I don?t want to have to kill you, either! They might use my magic to make you explode!? Marisa held Alice?s hand tighter, and searched for her other hand.
?But Mari! We lose our powers when we cross the border! You couldn?t make me explode. They?d make you cut me into pieces!? Alice started crying again, and crossed her arms in front of Marisa. They flew on in silence for a few moments, cheek to cheek.
?Hey! Is that Remilia?? Alice pointed over Marisa?s other shoulder, at a pallid object flying away from them.
?Looks like it. Keep your eyes open for Reimu now. She could be anywhere.?
?Alright, I will.?
They had nearly caught up to Remilia after a moment. Alice called out to her.
?Hey! Lady Remilia!! We?re here to help you look for Reimu now!?
?What??
?We?re here to help!?
?Look for Reimu, correct??
?Right!
?I?m not looking for Reimu! I?m looking for Reimu and Aya!?
?Who cares about Aya!? We need Reimu! Aya?s just a twisted reporter!?
?Shut up, you! Aya is Reimu?s best friend! She?s the entire reason that Reimu is out here in the middle of the night! And the reason that Aya is out here, probably terrified clear out of her mind, is because you were being an insensitive jerk! What you displayed back at the shrine was worse than anything that poor tengu could write! If you?re not here to look for Aya too, then get out of here! Don?t go back to the shrine, go home! You?ll do not one bit of good out here!?
?What do you want me to do!??
?Apologize! You were completely in the wrong! Nobody else may have noticed, because they harbor similar feelings toward the girl, but have any of you stopped for even a moment, just once, to think about how she feels!? She cares about you people! She cares enough to want to write about you, and make you people out to be much more exciting than you really are!?
?So now she thinks we?re boring?!?
?Not at all! She wants other people to be impressed by you! She wants to make you important! People love reading about us! Whether it?s true or not doesn?t matter! What she wants, is important friends, so even if they don?t like her, she can feel like she?s wanted! None of you bothered to notice, not even I did until moments ago, but Aya always wrote the truth about Reimu! And Reimu was mentioned at least once in every paper! That?s because Reimu actually wanted her around. If all you did was take some time to appreciate her, she most likely wouldn?t be half as bothersome, and would probably write the truth about you! Think about it, if her goal is to make her friends important, what better way is there, than to be an important friend!? Reimu could do it for her, why can?t we?!?
?Alice? She?s right. None of us have ever treated her nicely, so why should she treat us any better? I know the first thing I?m going to do when I see Aya again??
?If you two are going to help, then help! If not, go home! I?ll make sure that I stay out here until I find both of them, and bring them back to the shrine! Even if I have to stay out here after the sun rises! Because Aya is my friend too!? Remilia took off like a shot further toward the east.
?Remilia??
?I?ve never seen her so angry and upset in my life! Not even when we raided her house over that scarlet mist incident!?
?I never thought I?d say something like this? but? Let?s go find Aya!?
?There we go! That?s the spirit we need! Let?s go and fix this!? Marisa poured magic into her broom to follow after Remilia.
?Woaah! That didn?t mean that I liked riding this broom any more than before!!? Alice howled, tightening her grip around Marisa. Marisa just laughed wildly. That is, until Alice abruptly stopped moving forward with Marisa and the broom. Alice still had a grip on Marisa when it happened, and it ripped Marisa clear away from her broom, which flew in an erratic spiral before plummeting into the trees. Marisa herself flew from Alice?s grasp from the momentum, and they both plummeted earthward. Alice remembered she could fly, just before she hit the ground, but not before she was nearly impaled on the tip of a dead tree stump. It tore a nasty gash into her dress and side, and blood sprayed high into the air as she spun wildly toward the ground, where she righted herself and came to a hover mere inches above the ground. Marisa didn?t have the luck of such an ability. Her mode of flight just vanished into the trees about a kilometer away, so she took a heavy tumble and crash through the trees, before she smashed sickeningly upon the ground just after Alice connected with the dead tree. Her pointy hat slowly spun down and landed neatly nearby, as if to mock Marisa?s landing in a disturbing way. Alice immediately rushed to aid her best friend, blinded with pain from the deep wound in her left side, but was blocked by some unseen force.
?Oh no!! Marisa!!! Marisa! Say something!!? Alice shouted to her, but to no avail. Marisa wasn?t moving. Alice began to weep, and continued to call out to Marisa. Something was in the sky, just beyond Marisa.
?Remilia! REMILIA!!!! HELP!!!? Alice started screaming, and then flew into the air against the invisible wall to wave her arms and try to get the Devil?s attention. After several minutes of wasting a lot of energy, Remilia turned around and saw Alice.
?Remilia!! Marisa is hurt, and I can?t reach her!! Help me!!? Remilia stopped and looked at Alice like she couldn?t understand. But she looked to where Alice was indicating, and saw Marisa. Remilia flew to Marisa without any problem, but Alice was still trapped behind the invisible wall.
?Remilia! I don?t know what happened! We were following you, and she was laughing, and suddenly I stopped moving, but she kept going! There?s some kind of bar-? OHMIGOD!? Alice quickly came to realize that Marisa had passed through the border of Gensokyo, while she had not been permitted to. ?The border! This is the border!! NO! Marisa!!? Alice tried to pound on the barrier, but Remilia wasn?t paying any attention to her. The vampire was trying to pick up Marisa, and was getting ready to take off when she finally spotted Alice making a fuss. Remilia said something to Alice, but the sound never reached her. Alice noticed this, and wrote in the sand where Remilia could see it: ?You and Marisa are on the other side of the Gensokyo Border! I can?t get through! Help me!?
Remilia looked astonished and put Marisa down gently. Then she tried to walk toward Alice with her arms stretched forward. The vampire?s hands met the invisible wall about a foot away from Alice?s hands. Remilia bent to write a response in the sand.
?This is bad. Aya must have wanted to leave Gensokyo! Reimu and I wanted to find Aya, so we probably were able to pass through the border! Marisa, too!? Alice took a moment to read Remilia?s scrawlings, before writing her own.
?Of course it?s bad! If Reimu is over there, everyone in Gensokyo is probably doomed! What do I do!??
?Go and warn everyone at Hakurei Shrine! If Reimu hasn?t passed over the border yet, it?s inevitable, because she?s bent on finding Aya! The four of us will probably never see Gensokyo again??
?NO! I have to get back my Maris-? Alice wiped it away, and started writing again. ?I want to apologize to Aya! And it?s my fault that Marisa is over there! This is all my fault!? Alice?s writing got more and more sloppy, as she collapsed into the sand and started to lament and weep over all that had transpired.
?Alice! Listen! You must take over Aya?s second duty! You have to alert everyone and get them to Hakurei Shrine! Even those who don?t want anything to do with it, you must convince them to go! This was Aya?s job, because she was the fastest in all of Gensokyo! But now you?re the only one that knows about this! Don?t ask me why, just do it!?
Alice didn?t need to ask why. She already knew why. Everyone had to get to Reimu?s shrine, because the backup wards were there. Which meant that the Scrolls and Wards were going to be broken at some point. Remilia erased what she had written, and started writing again.
?Once everyone is at the shrine, keep them there! Because I don?t know what will happen to the barrier once Reimu herself leaves it! If it shrinks, everyone inside of Gensokyo will be crushed into nothingness as it collapses! You will need Sakuya! Tell her to expand space inside of Hakurei Shrine. You will also need Meiling, to keep people from getting out of line! Patchouli knows the whereabouts of nearly everyone, as well as how many people are in Gensokyo.?
Remilia ran out of space. She waited a few moments until Alice nodded with a face full of tears before erasing and starting again.
?Yukari might be able to help sustain the border with her magic, even if it only slows it down, that?s more time that we can figure out a way to fix this. Keep this in mind: You have NO WAY of knowing if the border is shrinking! It?s invisible, and it only affects those with a will! Since it doesn?t affect things like trees and houses, you can?t afford to waste time, or let people linger in their houses! If someone is caught in their house when the border passes through it, it will kill them, unless they have a desire to leave Gensokyo! Those who are outside will be pushed inward by the border,?
She ran out of space again. Alice nodded grimly, and wrote some details down in her grimoire to help her remember what to say to people.
?until the border collapses in on itself like a giant compressor. Every living being caught in it will be forced and smashed together until they explode and die, where the border will then pass over the remains and disappear! DO NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!?
Alice covered her mouth in horror, and scribbled back.
?I won?t! Please bring Marisa back to me!? And then she ran through the woods as fast as she could to do what she had to do. She was much too upset to fly. She cried all the way back to the shrine, where people were still partying and laughing. Alice was terrified. She was suddenly very claustrophobic. She hated having to actually be trapped in Gensokyo. What scared her most was the fact that she did NOT want to leave Gensokyo.
She wondered who to tell first, and how they would take it.