This is basically a little side-project I've been working on for the last week or so. Because of my annoying habit of starting a story and then never finishing it, I decided to write the whole thing before posting it here.
It was initially meant for people who'd basically never heard of Touhou before, hence this prologue of sorts. I'll upload the others as soon as possible, and any/all comments are appreciated.
--------
Prologue: A Bite At Lorelei's
The world of Gensokyo is a hard one to describe consisely, simply because of the variety of beings that exist there. To many it is a place of refuge, somewhere to retreat from the skeptical, non-believing world. Others appreciate the natural beauty that the land's bountiful magic provides, while still others simply appreciate the land's innate sinister atmosphere. In short, it's the equivalent of a magical encyclopedia - if it's ever been written about, it probably exists in Gensokyo somewhere. Having been sealed away from the outside world, though, it's hardly a place you can expect to visit on a vacation.
The majority of the land's population consists of magical creatures generally termed as 'youkai'. While many of them are merely weaker feral beings, a small minority are powerful enough to have obtained humanoid forms, and are more powerful than all but the most elite human fighters. These youkai are a huge threat to the small human population of Gensokyo, but there are rare stories spread across the sole human village of one or two who turn a kinder eye to them.
In recent years, a new story has emerged - outside the village is a road plagued by a vicious youkai known only as the night sparrow. It is said that she has the power to blind and mislead all who take this path, leaving them lost in the wilderness and easy prey for lesser creatures. However, as if in response to this threat, inflicted travellers always seem to find their way across a small stand in the middle of nowhere, lured in by the sound of a young woman's song. Greeting them in, she takes pleasure in serving them grilled lamprey - her specialty dish, an eel with long-known abilities to cure night-blindness. Sure enough, the stories go that the suffering traveller is cured almost as soon as he starts eating, the night sparrow's magic lifted in an instant. Travellers are more than keen to pay the price of the lamprey for their safety, and it's believed that the store's owner makes more than enough to keep herself going. However, despite her considerable fame, she has never made her identity public, leading many to believe that she is a youkai doing what she can to keep the night sparrow at bay.
In a sense, they're half right. She's definitely out to counter-act the night sparrow's work, but she's got something of an unfair head-start. Who better to outdo a villain, after all, than the villain herself?
---
"It's a slow night tonight, no-one's walking through my door
But when they get a taste I'll leave them begging me for more~"
Mystia Lorelei sang to herself, like she always did, as she absent-mindedly scrubbed away at the dishes. Beneath the surface of the water claw-like nails gripped cutlery with a vice-like hold, soapy water leaving them sparkling. Her light grey eyes were staring into empty space, lost in the world of her own music. The dim lighting of the stand and the sound of lamprey roasting behind her was all she had for company besides her voice. Finishing off that line, she pouted.
"Seriously, where is everybody? I thought after stories of the lamprey stand started up more people would start using this road, so where are they?"
Scrubbing harder, Mystia let out her irritation on the innocent plates. Her light pink hair caught a few stray splashes as she stopped trying to be careful, and more than once she had to stop her favourite hat from falling into the foam. It was a small brown hat with a pair of purple-rimmed wings coming out of the top, chosen to match her favourite dress and her own two wings respectively. Her owl-like ears twitched slightly every time the spray managed to hit them, but it wasn't a reaction that she was able to notice. She'd been washing these dishes for far too long, someone should have shown up by now-
Pat, pat. Pat, pat.
Another sound. This time Mystia noticed the twitching of her ears, and recognised the sound immediately. It was what she'd been waiting to hear for so long - footsteps! Her tantrum cut itself short quickly as she dropped the dishes and dried her hands quickly - she had plenty of plates to work with, and odds were she'd only need one. She dug into a nearby bag, pulled out a fresh lamprey and placed it on the grill behind her. Opening a nearby drawer, she pulled out a single sheet of paper with a small incantation on it.
Looks like it's time to put my favourite spellcard to good use.
In Gensokyo, high-level magic is typically available only to highly-powerful youkai and the occasional strong human. Even then, it's not like they can just come up with whatever spell they like - to perform anything difficult they must design a fitting incantation for it and inscribe it onto a piece of paper which then becomes known as a spellcard. It acts as a channeling device through which the magic seeps, and any youkai worth their salt owns at least two or three.
Mystia had designed a few, but this was the only one that saw any considerable use - its edges were frayed, slightly torn, and the inscription had almost faded away. Not that any of this was a problem - the magic was still stored within the card, and she knew the spell by heart anyway. (Of course, it didn't help that she had never got around to learning how to read and she'd basically convinced someone else to write it for her, but that was besides the point.) Holding it between two fingers, she began to activate the card through - what else? - a song.
"Little lonely human, walking through the night
Through this curse you'll never see the things that come to bite!
Night-Blindness [Song of the Night Sparrow]!"[/b]
Given its macabre content, Mystia was unusually happy with herself as the card began to glow slightly, before letting off a single bright flash. The effect was instant - the distant footsteps stopped suddenly, as her target suddenly realised that he could no longer see the road in front of him. He began to run along, shouting a cry for help even though the village was nowhere nearby, and she was sure she could hear him tripping up over himself. Mystia laughed to herself - this was always her favourite part, the schadenfreude as she watched some poor defenseless human act like an idiot. He may as well have doused himself in salt and pepper, so good were his odds of being eaten by one of the lesser youkai.
Still, I can't really make money off of a dead guy, so...
Somewhat reluctantly, Mystia pulled a switch and turned on the red-lamp at the front of the stand, hoping it would be bright enough to lure the customer in. For good measure, she threw in a little tune to attract his attention.
"If your eyes are playing tricks on you, or the night sparrow's being a pain
Then have a bite at Lorelei's, and you'll be right as rain!"
She hoped she'd been heard - it wouldn't do either of them any good if he walked away and made himself someone else's dinner. Fortunately, her voice had been enough to reach him, and the footsteps slowly approached the stand. The man, still grasping his head in confusion, took a few minutes squinting at it (it was the only way he could hope to see anything) and, after pinching himself to make sure this wasn't some sort of screwed up dream, took a seat.
"Good evening, sir, and welcome to Mystia Lorelei's Grilled Lamprey stand. Say, you're not looking too hot...did the night sparrow have her way with you?"
She'd said it so many times to so many people now that it came out perfectly naturally. The man groaned, still in shock, as he nodded. A first-timer - there were a few people who used this road all the time, and as such she'd come to know them (and their money) pretty well. They'd grown used to it too, and she'd actually had a few decent conversations with a couple of them, none of them having a clue about how much she was scamming them for.
"Ah, that's a shame. Tell you what - I'll get you the house special. You'll feel better in no time, trust me."
She stepped backwards into the stand, tending to the grill in the back. The lamprey she'd thrown on earlier was perfectly prepared, and she quickly skewered it and placed it on a plate, walking back in with the best-rehearsed smile in Gensokyo.
"There you go! Works every time, or your money back."
The man looked down at his meal with suspicion. Presumably he'd never eaten lamprey before, like most of the human village's residents. They all went for grilled chicken instead, something which shook Mystia to her core. The stand was fifty percent Mystia Standing Up For Her Fellow Birds, and fifty percent Mystia Making A Fortune Through A Cheap Scam. Win/win, really.
After a few minutes of awkward staring, the man took a nervous bite at his meal. He chewed at it tentatively, slowly speeding up as a smile slowly worked its way onto his face. It wasn't just edible, it tasted good! Before he knew it he was chomping at it heartfully, forgetting about his infliction. Mystia, however, hadn't.
"What was done, now undo~
Remove what is afflicting you~"
As Mystia performed another song the spellcard's effect wore off, and the man's sight quickly returned to him. It was again an immediate action - he blinked rapidly, like waking himself up from a dream.
"W...wow, it really works! I don't know how to thank you for this!"
As far as this guy was concerned, Mystia was a goddamn saint. If it wasn't for her, he'd be mincemeat by now. Even when she hit him with a pretty costly bill he wasn't fazed at all, because being a little poorer was better than being dead. Mystia wore a bright smile on the outside, but deep down she was happy for an entirely different reason.
"Don't worry, this road is safe as long as I'm around! Come back soo~n!"
She waved the man goodbye as he continued on his way back to the human village. The only difference from before was that his wallet was a little bit lighter. As soon as he was sure he was out of range, she let off a hearty laugh at his expense.
"Really, one of these days I need to award myself a medal or something. To be fair, now people can use this road without having to worry about me, so everybody wins!"
She fingered through the money, taking care not to stab a fingernail through one of the notes. Humans were such easy pickings - good thing there were no other big-name youkai around here, or she'd be in deep trouble.
Pat, pat. Pat, pat.
Another customer!
Mystia quickly checked there was another clean plate to use and threw another eel on the grill. Grabbing her spellcard and repeating the incantation, she pulled her dress up and made herself look as presentable as she could. This was how Mystia spent her evenings, and she loved every minute of it.
"If your eyes are playing tricks on you, or the night sparrow's being a pain
Then have a bite at Lorelei's, and you'll be right as rain!"