Hi. I'm not sure how to best introduce myself, so have a peace offering fic instead. Critique welcome, yadda yadda, whatever the conventions of this board are.
Also, question: I have a few Touhou fics that I translated, do they go on this board as well? Or should I just keep them to myself?
Once Upon a Dream
Blame a combination of reading Owen?s ?Ebb and Flow?, looping IOSYS?s ?Alice→Dere? and sleep deprivation for this one. Ridiculously OOC, but fun to write when I'm word-vomiting at 5am.
?Hey!?
A hollering voice breaks Alice?s concentration, and she glances at the door in annoyance. Sighing, she places Shanghai?s new dress down on the table, and gets up to answer the door. ?And who might you-?
She blinks, cut short by a girl in purple pushing past her.
?Nice place!? The girl stands in the middle of her house, looking around with a strange gleam in her eye. ?Not as messy as Kourin?s either.?
?Your purpose, Miss...??
?Kirisame Marisa.? The girl - Marisa - winks, grabbing the rim of her witchlike hat. Everything about her is witchlike, from her dress to the broom she grasps in one hand. ?How about you??
?Alice Margatroid.? Alice stares quietly at the intruder. ?Could you please leave, Miss Kirisame? You are disturbing my work.?
?Eh, I only came to introduce myself. I just moved in around here too, so I?ll come by for tea next time!? Marisa laughs, before allowing Alice?s glare to escort her from the house.
?...Please don?t,? Alice remarks quietly before settling back at the table to continue working on the dress.
--
?Hey, Alice! I?m here for tea!?
The repeated pounding at her door is starting to give Alice a headache, and so she finally gets up from the table to open the door.
?I brought ca-?
?Please leave.? Alice makes to close the door again, but Marisa catches it and pulls it open, pushing a cardboard box at her.
?Cake! It?ll go well with tea, if you have any.? Without waiting for a response, Marisa enters her house, placing the box on the table. ?Nice clothes, who?re they for??
?My doll.? Alice closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, resigning herself to dealing with Marisa for the rest of the afternoon. ?Just tea, and then you?ll leave.? It isn?t a question.
Marisa doesn?t answer, having already busied herself boiling water while humming inanely. Alice quickly gathers her materials away, setting the table for tea.
The ?tea? passes in silence - on Alice?s part, anyway. Marisa continues to bombard her with questions despite her obvious refusal to answer any of them. Still, the cakes Marisa brought taste good, and Alice grudgingly agrees to allow her to return tomorrow.
--
?Hey, how?d you make these dolls??
?Magic.? Alice closes her eyes and quietly sips her tea. It has been several weeks since Marisa first barged in, and they have reached an agreement of sorts - Marisa brings cakes every afternoon and Alice provides tea, so long as Marisa leaves her alone for the rest of the day.
They converse occasionally, if Alice?s occasional one-word answers to Marisa?s constant questions can be called that. Alice will, very rarely, say something of her own accord, although it mostly consists of admonishments such as ?Don?t touch that.? or ?Leave now.?
Alice refuses to admit it, doesn?t even like to think it to herself, but she?s starting to grow accustomed to Marisa?s daily presence. Shanghai, too, has grown to trust Marisa, willing to sit next to her at tea now.
Today, Marisa is asking about clothes - if Alice made her own clothes, where she gets her materials, that sort of thing. Alice, as usual, doesn?t answer, but as Marisa steps out the door, she says, softly, ?Purple really doesn?t look good on you.?
?Then you?ll make me something better?? Marisa turns and grins, but Alice has already closed the door.
It?s only later, when she picks up a scrap of black cloth, that she realises she didn?t outright refuse, like she would have several weeks ago.
--
?You look... pretty. Well, I made those clothes, so that?s a given.?
Marisa stares at herself in the mirror, showing off her new black and white dress courtesy of Alice. ?Thanks! I never thought you?d actually do it.?
?I just happened to have extra cloth left over,? Alice mumbles, busying herself with boiling water. It?s been a week since that conversation, and she still doesn?t know what drove her to make that dress.
?Anyway, I heard there?s some sort of festival in the Human Village in a few days, wanna come? It?ll be fun.?
?No thanks.?
?Come on, it?ll be good to get out of this house once in a while. It?s payment for the dress.?
?Going with you? I?ll need extra payment for that,? Alice huffs, helping herself to cake. Still, a part of her is interested. It has been a rather long time since she last visited the village.
?It?s at night, so I?ll be waiting at the village entrance around eight, okay? I?ll probably be with Reimu if you go later.?
Alice doesn?t reply, but she?s already made up her mind.
--
?Alice! Over here!?
Marisa?s distinctive hat is easy to pick out from the crowd, and the broom she is waving around only makes her easier to spot. Sighing, Alice makes her way over.
?You actually came! I wasn?t expecting you to.? Marisa begins to walk along the crowded main path, talking cheerfully.
?I had nothing better to do and I haven?t been here in a while, that?s all. What festival is this, anyway??
?You?ve never heard of Tanabata??
?Only vaguely.? Alice remembers something about two stars and a pair of lovers, but the exact details escape her.
?It?s the only day when Orihime and Hikoboshi can meet. They?re separated for the rest of the year. Tragic, isn?t it?? Marisa is staring up at the sky, along with most of the villagers. If she looks closely, Alice thinks she can see the two stars that represent the lovers.
?Let?s go write down our wishes!? Without waiting for a reply, Marisa grabs her hand and pulls her over to a nearby bamboo.
She knows that it is only a baseless myth, but Alice sighs and writes a wish down anyway.
--
It isn?t long before Marisa starts asking her along on random youkai extermination trips, despite she being a youkai herself. Sometimes, she gets dragged along on incident-solving trips too, despite her constant protests that the Hakurei miko will eventually take care of it.
Reimu does always eventually take care of it, but Marisa keeps diving straight into the heart of the incident anyway. After the fourth or so incident, Alice realises she?s resigned herself to serve as Marisa?s sidekick whenever a new incident crops up.
Fortunately for her, incidents don?t happen all that often in Gensokyo. Well, the kind that Marisa considers worth investigating - that is to say, containing treasure that she can borrow - don?t, at least.
--
She?s tired, having just made a new batch of dolls to replace the ones she used up in a danmaku battle a few days ago. Despite that, Marisa insisted earlier on dragging her through the forest to investigate a possible incident, and now she?s not only tired but also grumpy and short-tempered.
?Hurry up, or the treasure will be gone!? Marisa calls from somewhere in front, the impatience clear in her voice.
Alice really doesn?t have the energy to argue right now, but she?s getting increasingly irritated and when Marisa appears again and grabs her hand to physically pull her along, something inside her snaps.
She jerks her hand out of Marisa?s grasp, stopping suddenly.
?Alice, what?s...?
?You?re always dragging me around. Have you ever thought about how I feel? That perhaps I don?t like it? You?re an idiot, Marisa.?
?Alice, I-?
?I-I hate you!? The words explode out of her abruptly, all her bottled resentment exploding at once. Resentment for disturbing her peaceful life, for intruding into her home, for constantly involving her in events she didn?t want to get involved with.
And perhaps, just a little bit, for the confusing feelings she keeps denying.
?...I see.? Marisa lowers her head, her tone cold. ?I?m sorry then.?
Just like that, she leaves. Alice is left staring at her retreating back, unable to properly frame any sort of apology but desperately wishing that she can turn back time.
--
Alice sits alone at the table, sipping tea and eating cake. This time, however, Marisa is not there. Only her dolls accompany her.
The silence is slightly unnerving, and more than a little lonely.
--
Another incident occurs, this time underground. When Alice finally learns about it from Aya?s paper, she pretends not to have any interest, simply reading the article calmly.
Still, she can?t help glancing at the door from time to time, sure that Marisa will once again barge in to drag her along on another adventure.
--
It?s been a few months since her outburst, and Alice has barely seen Marisa at all. The occasional encounter at the Hakurei Shrine, or while conducting their respective businesses in the forest, but those times, all that happens is a polite nod of the head.
She?s found herself missing Marisa more strongly, and sometimes she gets the urge to look for Marisa and apologize, but she always chickens out.
It?s a little creepy, perhaps, but she finds taking the Marisa doll she made a while back to bed extremely comforting. Even if she ends up telling that doll all sorts of things she would never tell the real Marisa.
--
A few weeks later, Tanabata comes again. Alice chooses not to go to the village, and instead spends the night inside as usual.
Near midnight, though, she finally gives in and steps outside for a while. A while becomes a longer while, and then she?s at the Bamboo Forest, a strip of paper in hand.
The bamboos are already covered with wishes, but as she approaches, she sees Marisa tying hers to one. Hesitantly, she approaches.
Marisa turns, and after a pause, smiles and offers her hand. Alice takes it.
?I hear there?s a new incident, something about a UFO?? Marisa is back to her usual chatty self, and Alice doesn?t protest to getting dragged along this time.
She?s actually begun to kind of enjoy it.
--
?I...? She?d meant to apologize, but what comes out of her mouth surprises herself. ?I-I like you!?
There?s a sudden awkward silence, when Alice is panicking and Marisa looks shocked, and then Marisa just continues running, gripping Alice?s hand just that little bit tighter.
--
?I don?t suppose you?d let me stay?? They?re back from the latest round of incident-solving, and Marisa is standing in the middle of Alice?s house and grinning. ?It?s late, after all.?
?There?s only one bed...? Alice grumbles, but doesn?t say anything else. On the contrary, she makes sure her Marisa doll is out of sight.
--
It?s painful, watching Marisa age in front of her.
A few years back, Alice started refusing to celebrate Tanabata. Each Tanabata only reminded her that she was one year closer to losing Marisa, only hurt her more.
She watched as Marisa grew, from a teenage girl to a young woman, to an adult, and finally to an old lady.
A few more years, and all she?s left with is a gravestone and a quickly dwindling collection of magic books.
--
?...Alice!?
?Huh...?? Alice blinks, and sees Marisa staring at her with concern. ?I-I?m fine, really.?
?Alright then. As I was saying, there?s a new incident...?
Alice lowers her head, allowing herself a momentary sad smile. ?In the end... we?re still of different species, huh...?
