| ~Hakurei Shrine~ > Kosuzu's Grand Bookstore |
| Eternal Border - a Touhou Reimagining - Part 2 In Progress! |
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| FinnKaenbyou:
Oh god, your psycho Alice is incredible. Also, MariYoumu OTP? o_O Want to see where this ends up going. Keep it up. |
| Hawk:
Chapter 4 ? Karma Marisa sat at the shore of the lake, shoes and socks off, letting her feet rest where the tide would barely cover them every few seconds. She sighed lazily; between the chilling winds and having her life threatened, it'd been a while since the temperature was simply perfect, as it was now. She noticed Reimu starting to head toward her, signaling the end of her swim. She had noticed before: a necklace around the shrine maiden's neck. Reimu hadn't?or perhaps couldn't have?removed it when she had stripped before. It was a large chain with a cube; unmistakably the goat's. She sighed again and fell backwards, resting her head on the grass and staring at the stars in the sky. "Ugh, just get out!" the shrine maiden seethed. "All you do is make a mess. I'm trying to clean. Get it? Clean. To put things in order. To sweep, to dust, to stack, to put away!" Marisa cocked her head. All around her were piles and piles of books. "Books are for reading," she said simply. "Oh?" she said, reaching for one of the open books. All around the edges of the pages were notes scribbled by the witch in front of her. "Then why are you ruining them like this!?" "They're wrong," she said. "I'm just making corrections. Like there," she said, nodding to where Reimu was pointing, "it says bamboo stalks are three parts wood and one part water. Of course, it was shown years ago that bamboo is the only plant with a fire component, accounting for its incredibly fast rate of growth. You should get some newer books." "I don't care," Reimu said. "Books are not truth, they're subsections of perceived truth. This book is about what this magician thought bamboo was, see?" "What's the point of out-of-date information?" the witch said. Reimu clapped the book shut. "Ask Miss Kamishirasawa in Town if you're really that ignorant. Either way, get out!" "Hellooooooooo!" Both of the girls stopped and looked towards the door. Someone was in front of the shrine. They glanced at each other wordlessly, then headed outside. It was a young girl about the age of ten in a sleeveless button-up shirt and purple skirt. Her hair was long, almost to her feet. There were chains attached to her wrists and belt, and a purple gourd at her side. Most striking, however, were the two large spiral horns coming out of her head. "Yo," she said, smiling and holding up one hand. No one said anything. "Huh," she said, taking a large drink from her gourd, using her arm to wipe her mouth. "No wonder this place doesn't get any patrons. So boring." "I get enough patrons," Reimu muttered. Suika walked quietly up to the donation box and, without hesitation, ripped off the top. "No, you don't." "You can't?" "Auuuuuuuuugggggggghhhhhhhhh..." the horned girl groaned loudly and suddenly. "It's so hot. I'm going inside." "Just hold on a second!" Reimu said, placing her palm firmly on the girl's forehead, stopping her. "First off, it's not hot, second..." She paused and sniffed the air. "Is that alcohol? Are you drinking?" "And I'd rather not pass out in this HOT weather," she said. "Who are you?" the shrine maiden said. The girl sighed, grabbing Reimu's wrist and removing her hand. "Suika Ibuki, and I'm going to be living here." "Heh," the shrine maiden said. "Oh really? And what makes you think?what?" Marisa had begun tugging on Reimu's sleeve. "Oni," was all she said. Reimu looked at the horns, then back at the witch. "Oni?" "Oni." She glanced at the horns again, then at the girl's smirking face. "Oni?" "Oni," Suika said. "Let's talk inside." "Well?" Marisa's head snapped up. Reimu was standing there, wet and naked, holding her arms out in expectation. "Ah, sec." The witch rummaged through her pockets and pulled out some dry leaves. "Reagents, for this?" "Subject gets a bad rash otherwise. I dunno." She rolled them between her hands, grinding them to bits, muttered a few words, and threw them toward Reimu. Instantly, all the water droplets jumped off her skin. The shrine maiden checked her self over once, then proceeded to put her outfit back on. "I feel I should be more embarrassed," she said. Marisa lay back down and closed her eyes, smiling. "Want me to get naked too?" "Not really." Finished dressing, she sat down next to the witch. She said nothing for several minutes. "Sorry," she whispered finally. "Her name's Youmu. She's sleeping now." "I see." "You know Hakugyokurou?" Reimu craned her head back, closing her eyes. "She's from there, huh? It's where spirits go until they're ready for the Yama. At least the ghost half makes sense now." "Apparently, Alice threatened her mistress." "Lady Yuyuko." "Yeah." "So, wait," Reimu said, "that means the door must be near Fairy Lake." "Which is why I saw her there." "So we'll just have to look for it in the morning." "You won't be able to find it." Startled, both of them shot up and peered around for the cause of the voice, back to back. Reimu spotted her first. She was standing on all fours, peering at them with a sly grin. From behind her came two cat tails, swaying slowly in the moonlight. "Who are you?" the shrine maiden shouted. "Just a stray. Call me Chen." "Okay, Chen. Why are you here?" The nekomata curled her tails over her head. "Two reasons. One," She jiggled one of the tails. "I'm supposed to show you where the great door is. And two," She jiggled the other. "Surprise ending." Reimu's and Marisa's eyes met. They would need to be prepared. "Alright," the shrine maiden said. "Where's the door?" Neither saw Chen reach into any pockets, but somehow she suddenly had something in her hand. She tossed it towards Reimu, who deftly caught it. It looked a bit odd, but there was no mistaking it; it was a compass. "Follow that," the nekomata said. "It's not far from here." She passed it to Marisa, who looked it over herself. "And two?" "This is outside my official job," she said, "but, you know that girl you found?" "Youmu," Marisa said. "Right, right. Well, she attacked you, and that's kinda our bad. She even threatened to kill you." She scratched her forehead sheepishly. Reimu noticed her nails were long and incredibly sharp. "Obviously, you had to defend yourself. No one wants to see the Maiden of the Border dead, after all. "But," she said, waving a single finger back and forth in admonition?her eyes were slit and her smile was gone, "what you did to her was very, very mean. What you did was worse than killing her. And, as her best friend, I'm going to beat the hell out of you until you understand one very simple truth." "Marisa!" Reimu shouted, but gasped as she watched the witch blink out of existence. No, she thought, Marisa didn't disappear. She had been moved someplace. The grass, the lake, the sky; they were all gone. They were in some sort of large dome. The walls pulsed with purple veins, giving the entire place an eerie, alien feel. There was no sound but her own breathing, and the tip-tapping of Chen's feet as she walked casually toward her. "What is it?" she spat out, trying to hide her fear with false bravado. She clenched her fists to stop them from shaking. "The punishment must fit the crime. Always." The shrine maiden thought quickly. She didn't have her gohei; it was left near Youmu. She only had a few seals since they were only planning on fighting Alice. Since it wasn't twilight, her boundary powers were weak, but she figured she could still handle a single youkai. She just had to wait. "Hah!" The nekomata sprung forward incredibly fast, catching Reimu by surprise. She leaned back just as Chen's nails flew through where her head had been. She lost her balance and fell on her butt. Chen sat down on her chest and clutched the sides of Reimu's face. "I'm probably going to be punished big time for this, so I'm going to make it count," she whispered. "Bad call getting this close," Reimu said. She extended her arms from her side, through her borders. The arms reappeared through holes in reality above Chen, grabbed her by the neck, and pulled her off the shrine maiden. She hit the ground hard, skidding a few feet. "Snazzy," the nekomata said, pushing herself up. "Didn't know you could gap like that. Sure hope that wasn't your trump card." She lunged at Reimu again. The shrine maiden had stood up. When Chen was in range, she threw two punches into two borders at her sides, which appeared on either side of the nekomata's face. Much to the shrine maiden's surprise, Chen ducked them both, bringing her tails up. One wrapped itself tightly around each wrist. "Whoops," Chen said, tugging on the wrists. "Now you're caught." Reimu was being pulled at from both sides. She gritted her teeth and pulled back as hard as she could. "Haha," Chen said. "You need to work out or something." She pulled tightly against the wrists, causing Reimu to cry out in pain. "You know, it's funny," the nekomata said. "This is just like what happened to Youmu. Except," she frowned, "I'm not going to actually rip you in two." She suddenly let got of both wrists and shot forward. She crouched and brought her leg up, kicking Reimu in the neck as hard as she could. She fell to the ground, wheezing and coughing frantically, clutching her throat with both hands. "Look at you," Chen said, walking up and kicking her in the side roughly. "You're not even bleeding yet. Well." She grabbed Reimu by the hair and lifted her up. She clenched her fist and punched her in the side of the face. The shrine maiden stumbled backwards and slammed into the side of the dome. It was cold in contrast to her hot skin. Blood began dripping out of one nostril. "There we go!" Chen flew forward again, connecting another punch to her gut. She crumpled to the ground, breathing erratically. The nekomata rolled her roughly onto her back and grabbed her shoulders. She pressed each of her nails deeply into them, enough to draw blood. Then she began drawing her fingers down the arm, creating five lines of red on each. Reimu screamed, unable to do anything against the sheer strength of the youkai. "I'm a little jealous," Chen said. "Why, with all these stripes, you're gonna look like a tiger." And then, from out of nowhere, something much more powerful than either of them hit Chen in the side, forcing her off Reimu, rolling several feet before coming to a stop. The shrine maiden looked up and, through the tears in her eyes, saw the figure. She was in ceremonial garb, a regal robe with many magical markings on it. Her cold, strict eyes looked down on the shrine maiden with indifference. She seemed very tall, and from behind her came nine long and beautiful fox tails. Surely this had to be a kitsune of great power. "Thank you," Reimu whispered. "Shut up," came the reply. "Chen, care to explain?" "You wanted to do it too, Ran!" the nekomata yelled. "Think about what she did to Youmu!" "Ugh." She knelt down and grabbed one of Reimu's arms, causing her to shriek. "Be quiet," she growled. She looked it over. The cuts were about half a foot each. "Well," she said, "this'll be a good lesson for you. You'll be in pain for a while, and hopefully that'll burn into your mind that everyone, regardless of what they're supposed to do, acts from the heart." She stood up. "Come on, Chen." She extended her hand. "Give me the orb you took." Pouting, Chen offered up a shining purple sphere about two inches in diameter. "Am I in trouble?" Ran grunted uncomfortably. "Well, you weren't going to kill her. And, I guess you managed pretty good use of the gap orb." "Really!?" Chen smiled at her with bright eyes. "But, seriously," the kitsune said, "wash that blood off your nails. It's gross." "Okay!" "We're going home." Chen waved happily at the shrine maiden. "Bye, Reimu!" Ran lifted the orb above her head. "A word of advice, Maiden. If you can't even beat my weak little servant, what chance do you think you'll have against Alice?" They blinked out of existence, and the dome shattered like glass in Reimu's vision. And then she was back on the grass, where she quickly lost consciousness. |
| Hawk:
Made some minor, minor edits based on critiques I received. Chapter 5 ? Half Empty, Half Full "I am gonna fucking kill that cat, so help me god. I'm gonna rip both those tails out one at a god damn time. Rip her ears off, watch her bleed. Stick her in a fucking furnace." Reimu could hear Marisa's voice. She was bandaging her arm. The pain from before had subsided to the point where she made a conscious decision to keep her eyes closed so she could listen more. "Hang her from a tree branch upside down and shoot her in the head again and again and again. Rape her with a fucking...stalactite. A really spiky one. With all kinds of pus and maggots oozing from it." "Marisa, you're not...no, stop it. Please. This is no way to dress a wound. It's all wrong. You're making it worse." "Rip that earring out. Heh. Repeatedly...poke her eyes with a knife..." "Do you want the Hakurei to get better or not? Just...just go! Gather some of the nuts that drop from those trees." "Why?" "So you're busy doing something away from here!" Reimu couldn't hold it in. She stifled a chuckle and opened her eyes. It was still nighttime, and she could hear the water of Fairy Lake. Youmu's and Marisa's faces were covering most of the starry sky in her vision. She was lying on her back on the cool grass. She glanced to both sides and saw some white wrappings around her shoulders. "How long've I been out?" she muttered, still smiling. "About twenty minutes," Marisa said. "You disappeared and came back like that. Was that cat monster really stronger than you?" The shrine maiden grunted and pushed herself to a sitting position. "Did you numb my shoulders or something?" "Yeah, a little. Comes in handy sometimes." "It certainly does. Youmu?" The young girl's eyes, which had been avoiding Reimu all this time, suddenly snapped to hers. "Yes?" "I don't regret what I did, but I'll put you back together again." Youmu lowered her head and averted her eyes, tapping her fingers together nervously. "Something wrong?" Reimu said. "I've always been a half-ghost. I was born that way," she said. Her head popped up. "Hey, take a deep breath." "Eh?" "Please. A really deep one." Reimu shrugged, then exhaled all the way. She began drawing in air until her lungs were about to burst. When she could hold it no longer, it all escaped in one quick puff. "It was cool, right?" Youmu said. "The air traveled down your throat. Since your lungs were empty, it felt refreshing to fill them again, right?" Reimu stared at the girl for a moment before she understood. "You couldn't...feel. Could you?" the shrine maiden whispered. "Not completely," Youmu said, blushing slightly. "I felt everything, but it was...dull. Muted. But I never even knew." "So what do you want?" Youmu sighed. "I need my powers to save Lady Yuyuko. As I am now...I can barely walk." "Hmm," Reimu said. "Chen said you two are best friends." She blushed again. "Correct, in the sense that Lady Yuyuko's and my relationship isn't one of friendship, and there's no one else around. I apologize for her actions." "Haha," Reimu laughed coldly. "I know how you feel." "Bitch," Marisa muttered. "Alright," Reimu said, lying back on the grass and closing her eyes. "Everyone's tired. We've got about seven hours until sunrise. I want to be awake thirty minutes before that time. Can you take care of that, Marisa?" "Yeah, yeah." "Youmu?" "Yes, Hakurei?" "Haha. Reimu's fine. Anyway." she snapped her fingers. The ghost half of Youmu appeared and floated slowly over to her. Reimu could hear her inhale sharply in excitement. "Keep it next to you. Hold it close. Feel what it's like from the outside. Meet it again, as you, but as something separate from you. Understand your oneness." "Y?Yes, Hakurei." "Reimu," she said again. "No." A few moments passed. "I may have acted rashly," Youmu said, making a visible effort to look into Reimu's eyes, "and my emotions may have overtaken me. For that, I apologize. But I don't like you, Hakurei. You're a dark person." Reimu remained silent for a moment. "You," she said slowly, "have too much pride." "Perhaps you don't have enough. Good night, Hakurei." She heard footsteps retreat behind her. Marisa crouched down and touched one shoulder, then the other. "That should last you through the night," she said. "I put up a little spell that'll keep dew from forming around you, so you should be fine to sleep here. I really don't want to move your body unnecessarily right now." "I'm still going to help her." "Never doubted," the witch said, walking off. "The human body is a lot like the ground," Reimu said, stamping one foot lightly on the wet grass. "Solid, but fairly soft." The sky was beginning to glow with the orange hue of the morning. A few fairies could be seen waking early and flying around aimlessly. The chill winds that had pervaded the area for the past week were back in full force, each new breeze causing a new rush of goosebumps to crawl across their skin. "This is true on two levels," she continued. "The physical?your skin?and the metaphysical. This solid boundary is what keeps, say, my soul from accidentally jumping out of my body. Understand?" Youmu and Marisa stood in front of her, listening intently. The white-haired girl was holding her ghost half close to her chest with both hands. They closed their eyes as another large gust of wind flew by. "Yes." "Your metaphysical body, however, defines its boundaries for each individual object separately, though. That is, what's keeping my soul from jumping out of my body is different from what's keeping a stray ghost from jumping in. This is good news for you. Lift one leg up." She did so, but quickly lost her balance, setting it down again. "Sorry," she muttered, trying again. She couldn't hold it for more than a second. "Just a..." She tried the other leg; no success. Reimu spied Marisa off to the side, facing away, covering her mouth with her hands, face red, eyes wide. "Don't worry about it," Reimu said, sighing and holding her hand to her face. "It was to illustrate a point. How did you move your leg?" Youmu thought for a moment. "I willed it." "Right. So here's the idea. I'm going to break your barrier between you and your ghost half. Not all the way, though. Just enough so that it can get inside and snuggle in. Here's the tricky part. If you want to be able to remove it without my help, you'll need to will it out just like you willed your leg to move. Understand?" Youmu stared at the white ball in her arms for a moment. "Yes." "It won't be easy," the shrine maiden said. "Think about how you would learn how to move your leg if you didn't already know. All of this happens to us while we're infants, initially. But, I suppose you have an advantage. Your body is somewhat hypersensitive due to recent events, so you may find it easier." "I understand. Please go through with it, Hakurei." She gritted her teeth at the name. Closing her eyes, she allowed the power of the dawn to run through her. It swam in her blood, ran its fingers through her hair. It was like an appraising parent, proud of its child. Oh yes, you're growing into a fine young woman, it would say. It wrapped her in its arms, and their hearts beat as one. "This is probably going to hurt a lot," the shrine maiden said, smirking a bit. She opened her mind's eye. The radiant scene unfolded before her. She could see every boundary, between every thing. Every particle in the art shone its own unique color. The ground, the blades of grass, the specks of dirt, the insects crawling around; they were all distinct entities, separate from everything that was not them. Borders. The world was made of borders. Reds and blues and greens and yellows flew around her in a rainbow symphony. She held her arm forward, reaching for her goal. She had to find just the right color. Just the right shape. She had to find Youmu. And then, more than that, among the infinite possibilities, she had to find the boundary between Youmu and her ghost half. She took a step forward; in her mind or in her body, she couldn't quite tell. She just had to get a little closer. There! A lonely girl. But strong. So strong. She uses her loneliness as a shield. The praises of others fly into the shield and bounce away, but she sees them and smiles. It's what she lives for. It's what she wants more than anything. She wants that love, but she doesn't want it to enter her. To empower her. She wants to stand on her own two feet. She wants to be entirely self-sufficient. She wants to die completely alone, with her loved ones watching, congratulating her. "You've done it. You've lived without us." So very, very sad. Reimu willed with all of her being, stretching her hand out, calling to Youmu's ghost half. It came to her immediately, floating lazily in front of her hand. She grabbed it and began running forward. She pushed the ghost half into the barrier of the lonely girl. "Break," she whispered. She pushed with all her weight, grinded the two against each other. Trails of light flew out at the rupturing, like metal sparking against metal. "Break." The barrier began shaking, rumbling in anguish. She heard a scream. No. She saw the scream in the air. She saw boundaries colliding more fiercely than they had a moment ago. Her mind saw this and knew it was a scream. "BREAK!" It broke. She closed her mind's eye and opened her real ones. The scene was exactly like it had been at the beginning. She hadn't moved an inch. Youmu's cheeks were coated with trails of tears, and she was breathing heavily. Suddenly, the world began spinning. The shrine maiden dropped to one knee and held her head. "Is it over?" Marisa said. "Did it work?" "Yes," Youmu said. Her voice was strong again, like it was before. Her eyes were hard and cold. She walked over to where her swords were lying on the ground and placed them neatly back on her belt. Her movements were quick and efficient. Dizziness gone, the shrine maiden stood back up. "It's up to you how long it takes for you to learn." "I understand," the girl said. She tilted her head down slightly. "I owe you a favor, Hakurei." "I'm calling it in right now." Youmu cocked an eyebrow. "Yes?" "Call me Reimu." Youmu paused, then giggled. The shrine maiden was surprised; it was...girly. "Very well, Reimu. And, at least until the one called Alice is no longer threatening my home, Youmu Konpaku is at your service." "Wonderful," the shrine maiden said. "Hey, Marisa, where's that compass? We should probably get..." Reimu's eyes opened wide in astonishment. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She stared at Youmu, then at Marisa, and back and forth between the two. "What's wrong?" the witch asked. The shrine maiden looked down at the ground, searching her memories. She kept coming back to the same conclusion. It all fit. It all made sense. "I know where the great door is." Wordlessly, she led them along a path only she could see. She followed the border of Fairy Lake for a while before coming to the forest that bordered it. Without hesitation, she entered, leaving the others to follow or be left behind. Marisa was checking the compass periodically, becoming less and less surprised each time it pointed in the direction Reimu was headed. Finally, they came to a grassy clearing surrounded by trees. In the middle was a gigantic tree, bigger than any they'd seen before. It towered over the rest. If one looked closely, one could see the trees at the border of the clearing bending ever so slightly inward?paying deference to the greatest of their kind. Despite this, its branches held no leaves or free; they were completely bare. At its foot was a stone with some barely legible words carved into it. Youki Konpaku The Mourning of Calamity Gardener, Swordsman, Father The shrine maiden's voice was a mere whisper. "You never told me her full name." |
| Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin:
That last bit gave me a ".... HA." of awesome. |
| FinnKaenbyou:
Points for quite possibly the only instance of Canon!Chen I've ever seen in fiction. Keep it up. |
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