- Return to Fiction by Valesta
I don’t know how long I had been out since my last internal chat with Yumei, but whatever. I finally do wake up, “Ugh…” I feel the pain in my neck, though it’s not that bad. I finally sit up to look at everyone, “Hey…”
“Ah, you’re up,” says Sakuya.
“Are you okay?” asks Alice.
“I’ll be fine,” I glare at Reisen, whose clothes and hair are still bloodstained, “Thank you for that, Reisen.”
Reisen says, “I… I only had to get you asleep somehow, and that was the fastest way! Anyway, I succeeded.” She points at the bodies of Kaguya, Mokou, and Eirin, laying side by side, “We ran into some… complications, but we did it!”
I wanted to tell Reisen, that I saw everything, but I ultimately decide to keep it private. I cut to the more important issue, “Yumei visited me again while I was out. She said she’ll come out when everyone is up.”
Yukari points toward the ground next to me, “In that case, we still have to wait a little while.”
I look where Yukari is pointing. “Zzzzzzz…” Next to me, Reimu is still asleep.
“Sigh… Same old Reimu…”
We wait about a half-hour. Eirin, Kaguya, and Mokou still hadn’t regenerated yet.
I look out at the city below; illuminated by the golden glow of the sunset, thinking about that talk I had with Reimu. Gensokyo was a good life, and in terms of the things I wished for on this side, Gensokyo seems like the more appealing choice, but… can I really leave all this behind? I stare out for several minutes.
Alice, Sakuya, and Youmu walk over to me. Alice asks, “Marisa? Are you okay? You’ve been standing there for a while.”
I explain, “Yumei… she promised that she would help revive Gensokyo, but… Between here and there, I don’t know what to choose…”
“Right,” says Youmu, “You may have your memories as Marisa Kirisame, but you are also Marisa Starr…”
Sakuya adds, “To choose which home… What to gain and what to lose. It certainly is not a light decision…”
I ask them, already knowing what some of their answers will be, “You have a choice too. Do you want to go back to your old lives or continue living here?”
Youmu says, “Marisa, you know I can’t just abandon my duties to Yuyuko-sama. After all this is over, I’m returning to Hakugyokurou.”
“I thought so… What about you, Sakuya? Are you going to go back to Remilia?”
Sakuya answers, “Of course. Maybe you’re right that I have a choice, but I owe the mistress for giving me my new life… the ability to make those decisions. I’m sorry, Marisa, but I absolutely cannot live here forever.”
I feel bad. I don’t want to lose my friends, but I don’t want to abandon my life here, either, “I know. And you, Alice? You don’t have a mistress to return to. You can keep living here, right? We can continue going to school together and everything! Even if I hate all the students there, it was great to just go there with you! How about it?”
Understandably, Alice seems to be just as conflicted as me, “I… don’t know, Marisa. You’re right, it was fun, I will admit, but I don’t know if I can leave Gensokyo behind for that…”
“I see…” Alice’s response is just as straightforward as Reimu’s. Go figure.
I look back at everyone, wondering what they would choose. Sure, they aren’t within my close circle of friends, but with all we’ve been through, I do care about them. Cirno… well, I dunno. She might want to stay here, but she has her youkai attributes that she has to hide, and I wonder how long she can stand to keep that up. Yukari, while she can go anywhere, she’d live in Gensokyo, no question. She’s lived there too long to want to change. Kaguya and Mokou used to live in this realm, but with things as I know them, even I would recommend they return to Gensokyo. Eirin and Reisen would likely go along with Kaguya’s choice. Part of me longs for Gensokyo, and the other part doesn’t want things to change. Everyone needs Gensokyo back, and I agree, but I regret that it had to come to this. If my curiosity never got the better of me, I would still be going to school with Alice and Cirno, not worrying about any of this. I’m not looking forward to Yumei’s arrival…
“Ugh…” Finally, Reimu starts to wake up. Everyone turns to her.
“Did you have a good sleep?” asks Yukari.
“Yeah,” answers Reimu, “I had a dream…” She looks over at Eirin, Kaguya, and Mokou “… or maybe it wasn’t a dream…” Heh.
Reisen’s eyes widen slightly, “You saw that?”
“Yeah,” answers Reimu, “I saw Kaguya and Mokou’s refusal to go with you, don’t worry, I didn’t hear them either, I saw you asking Eirin for help, and I remember that embarrassing attempt at a one-liner you tried to make after the battle.”
Reisen tilts her head back as she yells, “NOOOO! You heard that?” Looks like Reimu decided to bring it out after all…
Cirno asks Reisen, “What did you say?”
“…” Reisen just stands there blushing.
Luckily for our bunny-girl friend, however, Yukari changes the subject, “I don’t know why they wouldn’t want to come back, but I’m hopeful that when they wake up, we will be able to communicate with them.”
“Why?” asks Reisen.
“Within that boundary, you were connected with the waking world and they were connected with the dream world. When you removed them, they became one with the waking world again. But…”
Reisen raises an eyebrow, “But…?”
“But… something must have interfered. You should have still been able to TALK at the very least…”
“…” I have my suspicions, but no solid ground to base them upon, so I decide to not share what could be untrue.
Reisen raises her ears, “Strange…”
Before this gets any weirder, I change the subject again, “Well, Yumei said she’d be here when everyone is up, so I guess we just have to wait for the immortals to wake up now…”
“Oh, there is no need for that, Marisa. This should be fine!” In the middle of the rooftop, Yumei appears, “Hello there, every one!”
“Why hello!” Yukari greets, “So are you that Yumei everyone has been talking about?”
“The very same. It’s nice to meet you face to face at last, Yukari Yakumo!”
Alice says to Yumei rather coldly, not that I blame her, “According to Marisa, you can bring back Gensokyo! What proof do you have that you can actually do something that sounds so ludicrous as bringing back an entire dimension?”
Yumei says to Alice condescendingly, “Are you still mad about that little skirmish we had. Get over it!”
“…” Sakuya and Cirno stare at Yumei, not seeming to display a lot of open trust.
Reisen says to Yumei, “I saw you in that place where we saved Kaguya and Mokou! You’re a moon rabbit, just like me. Why are you here? Just what do you have to do with Gensokyo?”
“More than you think,” answers Yumei, “I will answer your questions in due time.”
Youmu cuts straight to the chase, “So what needs to be done to get Gensokyo back?”
“First, I will tell you everything that needs to be known about that realm you know as Gensokyo…”
We all stand and listen as Yumei explains.
“As you are aware, Gensokyo is a product of the dream of…” She gestures toward me, “Marisa Starr, and…” She gestures toward Reimu, “Reimu Kiribayashi. They fell into a deep sleep together and their minds crossed over… but how, you ask? It was because of me.”
“What?” says Reimu, “How the hell could YOU be behind that?”
“Oh, it gets better,” says Yumei with a smirk, “I am also the reason Gensokyo became more than a dream. An entire alternate universe governed by the slumber of two teenage girls.”
“What?” yell a lot of us in unison.
Yumei continues, “It was a… very interesting bit of human imagination. It was the home of many beings with interesting powers, not the least of which was you, Yukari Yakumo.”
“How?” asks Yukari.
“The dream had a history that dated back through the ages of so many other realms, and you were alive throughout a lot of it. You could freely enter other dimensions and interact with them. As a result, you, Yukari, and the dream that created you, affected history itself! That is how frickin’ powerful a dream it was! In fact, it was the reason Kaguya found a happy ending to the ordeal that was her exile to this place.”
“What do you mean?” asks Reisen.
“At the end of the story of Kaguya, which lives on in this realm today as folklore, she was supposed to be taken back to the moon by Lunarian emissaries. She tried to escape with Eirin, but they were caught and Kaguya’s compassion and memories of human were erased. Now, thanks to Gensokyo’s existence, Yukari showed up and spirited them out of harm’s way, where they lived happily ever after in Gensokyo. That is one such example of how Gensokyo affected history. Pretty fucked up, no? I told you this before, Marisa, and now all of you know it. Most of you aren’t even native to Gensokyo! Think of how it affected your lives, for better or worse, and wonder what could have happened without it.”
Yumei brought up a powerful point. Sure, maybe the accident was an inevitable mishap throughout the course of my life, but afterward, I was reunited with the friends I had in that dream. If not for that, I would still be living without anyone to call a friend.”
“That most certainly is an interesting point,” says Sakuya, “but you still haven’t answered any questions about how you are responsible for how it broke out of being a mere dream.”
Yumei explains, “I’m sure most of you don’t have a lot of knowledge of this. You, Sakuya, experienced it, not that you remember, Reisen, I’m sure is aware of it…” She looks at Eirin’s body, “And the doctor here most likely knows of it intimately…”
“What are you talking about?” asks Cirno.
Yumei turns to Reisen, “Reisen Udongein Inaba… you pointed me out as a Lunarian… Well, I most certainly am!”
“Of course…” says Reisen.
“Out of the Lunarians that have resided in Gensokyo, you have the most recent knowledge of the Lunarians’ activities. Tell me what you know about the experiments performed on moon beings with exception powers.”
Reisen says, “Well, a lot of Lunarians are born with some sort of special ability. I don’t know who runs it now, but if nothing had changed, it’s Professor Yumemi that ran the Lunarians’ science division and ran experiments on beings she considered to be exceptional.”
“That’s right.”
“But… what does that have to do with Gensokyo?”
“EVERYTHING!” Yumei roars.
“Ah!” We flinch at her outburst.
“I was born with such an ‘exceptional’ power: Embodiment of Dreams. It allowed me to take a physical form of dreams other people have, if I so will it. Just by looking at people, I could tell their most influential dreams and exploit them…”
“…”
“Well, good ol’ Professor Yumemi decided to take it to the next level. She wanted to know what would happen if my spirit was separated from my body, infused with an obscene amount of energy, and sent to Earth to merge with someone… anyone’s dream.”
“You’re talking about astral projection?” asks Alice, “I’ve only read about such an idea…”
“Well, the Lunarians can do it,” says Yumei, “It’s a civilization with a perfect mix of science, magic, and technology, all of which are utilized in more ways than you can imagine. Anyway, under those conditions, I was sent to Earth. Unfortunately, astral projection is not without its flaws. A living spirit can only roam around for a total of three earth days before becoming a dead spirit, unable to return to the body, thus killing the subject. Well, the Lunarians didn’t exactly give two shits where they shot me down into in this realm, so I ended up in the ocean and I had to keep going until I made it to land. I found a lot of animals, but trust me; I have more pride than to merge with THOSE dreams. Finally, I entered a human city. At this point, I was at my two day and twenty-two hour mark and was fading fast. Unfortunately, no one was asleep yet. I was in deep shit. However, luck found me. I saw a teenage Japanese girl get knocked out by an out-of-control truck. At that moment, she slipped into dreamland… and I felt such immense energy from her. I knew I found what I was looking for, so I merged with that dream. As that was going on, I was within the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness, where all beings’ dreams gather. I found another dream in there, which was also quite interesting, so I merged that with me and the girl’s dream, then released the excess energy I was given, creating a whole new realm. The experiment was a success. Perhaps more successful than the prof thought it would be. That was the beginning of Gensokyo.”
“That girl was me!” yells Reimu.
“The other dream was mine?” I ask.
Alice gasps at a realization, “Impossible… you can’t mean…”
“Oh, I mean it,” says Yumei, “I AM GENSOKYO!”
“…” There is nothing but silence between us. It’s hard to believe, but equally difficult to dismiss as a lie. Gensokyo was the result of a Lunarian experiment? I never would have thought, and neither could anyone else for that matter. Even Yukari looks surprised.
Yumei continues, “In a way, you could call me a third dreamer. Sure, Gensokyo itself and its denizens were products of your imaginations, Reimu and Marisa, but the magic… accelerated healing… flight… spellcards… All those things were of the Lunarians… from my memories. In a way, Gensokyo was like the moon’s civilization in its infancy.”
“I had a feeling there was some kind of distant relation between the moon and Gensokyo,” says Reisen, “It was for those very reasons you described, Yumei. They were too similar to be a mere coincidence… But I never would have imagined that Gensokyo was the result of one of Professor Yumemi’s experiments. Gensokyo isn’t even acknowledged as such! When moon rabbits were dispatched to search the realms for Eirin-sama, they talked like it was just another realm!”
Yumei snickers, “Hehehe! All that power and advancements, and yet, even the Lunarians are powerless against the influence of history. How ironic...”
“Regardless of how Gensokyo came into being,” says Yukari, “it doesn’t matter. It’s my home… our home… no matter what the facts are.”
“Yukari is most certainly right,” says Sakuya, “and that brings us back to the main topic at hand: what can we go about bringing back Gensokyo?”
Yumei explains, “Well, Gensokyo lives on within me…” she transforms into Suika Ibuki “… that is the reason I can do this.” Okay, along with the transformation, her voice changed to Suika’s which I had only once heard in a sober tone… That’s just wrong. To prove her point further, she transforms into Yuka, then Suwako, Meiling, Chen, Hina, Sanae, and finally reverts to Yumei. “The way Gensokyo came into being before was a result of an excess of energy my spirit was artificially infused with. Believe it or not, I still have some to spare.”
Alice asks, “That excess energy… was that the reason you could use those spells without a spellcard? Theoretically, it is possible, but no one, not even a powerful youkai like Yukari, has enough energy to do it in rapid succession. That must be quite a bit of energy!”
“…” Yukari looks like she wants to raise an objection, but she knows Alice is right about even her.
“It is, oh it is,” says Yumei, “Perhaps I used a little too much, though. If I tried to create Gensokyo as a realm again, it would also require my life energy, and just like in the case of a Last Word spell, it would kill me.”
Cirno looks at Yumei dreamily, “You would die to return Gensokyo to us? I will never forget you, Yumei!”
“Do you really think I’d be released, just to die?” asks Yumei, “No, there are things I wish to live for. However, there is a method that won’t take my life…” She walks in Yukari’s direction.
“What would that be?” asks Reimu.
“You’ll see, but there are a couple things I need to… obtain first…”
“What do you need to obtain?” I ask.
“Nothing I need your help with,” says Yumei, “Only THIS!” It took me a few seconds to comprehend what happened next. When reality catches up with me, I look at Yukari impaled by Yumei’s spear! Yumei’s spear had materialized in her hand and she attacked the boundary youkai before she had a chance to react!
Yukari’s eyes are agape in pain and shock, “Ugh!”
Both Yumei and Yukari start to glow with golden light. Finally, the light disappears and Yumei yanks her weapon out of Yukari’s middle torso, “I’m so sorry it had to come to this. This could have been avoided Yukari, if you had just gone down with Gensokyo and became a part of me. Instead, I had to use my spear, the Dream Eater, to absorb your powers. You see, I need boundary manipulation to make this work.”
Everyone is surprised. Yumei turned so suddenly, no one could have expected it! With the knack for theatrics I’ve seen her use in my dreams, she had planned this since before she got out! Despite my hesitation, I’m the first to snap back and yell, “What the hell, Yumei?” My heartbeat is increasing, my body is hot all over, and I feel my tears coming.
Yumei shakes her head in a calm manner, “What are you so upset about? You wanted Gensokyo back, right? This is a necessary step!”
“I don’t give two bits of a shit about Gensokyo! I could have been happy still going to school with my friends! Even so, why did you have to do that to Yukari?”
“You look like you care about Gensokyo, now you say you don’t? Well no matter how you feel about this, Marisa, I need Gensokyo. I don’t care who needs to be sacrificed. Besides, since when did you consider Yukari a friend?”
At this point, my tears are flowing, though my rage is still dominant, “That doesn’t matter, you bitch! After all Yukari and I have been through, I care!”
Yumei raises an eyebrow, “’Bitch?’ Is that what you have to say to your good buddy, Yumei?”
“Go to hell!” I run toward Yumei, my anger making me forget that he has a spear. She swings her weapon and the shaft connects with my head, knocking me down. Shit! Even though I’ve had a ton of battles as Kirisame, now having a body not so accustomed to pain makes my head ring.
“Damn you, Yumei!” Reisen draws her gun and fires several shots at the other moon rabbit, who deflects a couple bullets with her spear as she squats down and leaps up several feet, over 40 feet, actually, landing on the roof of an adjacent taller skyscraper.
“Yumei!” Youmu proceeds to chase Yumei, but lacking her long and athletic legs, the gardener can’t match the rabbit’s jumping ability, so instead she leaps over the edge of our building, and dashes up the side of Yumei’s, drawing her wooden practice sword along the way. She reaches Yumei’s roof and their weapons clash, “That was a cheap trick! Where’s your honor, Yumei?”
“Honor?” yells Yumei, in an outright pissed off tone I have never seen her use. Their weapons clash again. Unsurprisingly, Youmu’s weapon doesn’t hold together and breaks from the impact. She thrusts one of her long legs forward, kicking Youmu in the gut, stunning her.
“Ack!”
“Shut up about ‘honor!’ I fucking hate that word! It’s nothing but self-righteous posing that serves no productive purpose, other than to give yourself a nice big pat on the back!” She runs Youmu through the shoulder with her spear, lifts her, and slings her down to our roof. The gardener lands next to me, her blood splattering on impact.
“Ugh… dammit! If only I had my swords…”
However, just as Yumei was done with Youmu, she gets caught off-guard by several knives that appear right in front of her. She guards her vitals as they sink in, “Ugh! Fuck!”
“I most certainly won’t let you get away with this!” yells Sakuya up to Yumei.
Both Youmu and Yukari are down and Reimu and I are helpless as we are now. Even if I recalled my memories as Marisa Kirisame, my body is still that of Marisa Starr, and Reimu’s is still Reimu Kiribayashi. Two ordinary human beings who are incapable of fighting this kind of battle. Reimu is checking on Yukari to see if she’s all right, so I kneel next to Youmu. Meanwhile, Alice, Sakuya, Reisen, and Cirno are busy fighting Yumei. “Hey! Youmu! Stupid question, but… are you feeling okay?”
Youmu responds, “I’ll be fine, actually. She missed my vitals. Worry about Yukari…”
“Okay…” I kneel next to Reimu, “Yukari?”
Yukari says, “That was unexpected… I only wish I was the judge of character Yuyuko is…” She gets up, despite her horrible injury “… This is a crippling wound, but I won’t let Yumei get away with such a tactic…”
Meanwhile, despite the start of the battle, our side is winning, but Yumei is still holding her own. For some reason, she’s holding off on her transformations. At this point, the sun has completely set, so she has the green light to transform into a vampire, but she seems insistent on battling in her own form.
“War Sign: Dolls War!”
“Silver Sign: Perfect Maid!”
“Visionary Wave: Mind Blowing!”
With Alice, Sakuya, and Reisen lacking the ability to jump up after Yumei, nor dash up the building, they use spellcards that fill the air with armed dolls, knives, and psycho-bullets, all of which aimed at Yumei’s perch.
“Vision Sign: Falling Dreams!” Yumei declares a spellcard in response, and above her, slanted down toward my friends, several magic circles appear, which fire out several bolts of pink light, which manage to intercept some of their projectiles, but not all of them. She gets showered by all kinds of pain, and while she’s staggering back, Cirno used the previous exchange of attacks as a chance to fly up to Yumei’s roof and deliver an ice-coated punch. “Gah! Bitch!” Yumei staggers back, but as Cirno attempts to press her attack, Yumei fights back with a roundhouse kick, which knocks the ice fairy from her perch, followed by a bolt of energy, repelling her further.
“Ow! That hurt!”
Back to Yukari, the boundary youkai gets back onto her feet, her left arm over her wound, “I’m coming, Yumei…”
“That’s suicide!” protests Reimu, “You can’t fight like that!”
Yukari smirks, “I can and I most certainly will, Reimu. Since when have I been the type to just be the helpless victim?” She had us on that one…
Before I could add in my two cents, Yukari opens a portal below her, falls in, and emerges on Yumei’s roof, right behind the traitorous bitch. Figures that after all the trouble everyone else had to get where Yumei is, it’s child’s play to Yukari. “Hello, Yumei!”
“The hell?” Yumei looks over her shoulder at Yukari who smacks her with her parasol.
“Fufufu~”
“Ugh!” Yumei attempts to counterattack with her spear, but Yukari steps out of her range, points her parasol at the rabbit, and around her, five balls of energy form, and slam into Yumei, delivering enough impact to knock her from her high perch, and 40 feet down to our roof. She slams into the ground, the blood from her wounds splattering on impact, and coughing up blood soon after, “Sh… shit…” She slowly gets up to her feet, her wounds still gushing blood, using her spear as a support. Her once fine clothes are now ripped and battered, and one of her glasses’ lenses is cracked. Wow… even with a wound like that, Yukari can still put up a pretty good fight!
“It’s over, Yumei!” Reisen aims her gun at Yumei’s head, and Sakuya draws a knife.
“Hold on!” calls out Yukari. She falls into a portal and emerges in front of Yumei, “Before we relieve you of your pain by dropping you from this skyscraper rooftop, I want to know… what you were trying to… do…” Not good! Yukari lost a ton of blood, thus draining her strength away.
“I… ugh… I told you… didn’t I, Yukari… I needed your powers… to make the new Gensokyo. Of course… everyone wasn’t very happy about me stabbing you… not a big surprise…”
“…”
Yumei continues, “Besides… do you really want to kill me? I’m your only chance of recovering Gensokyo… in any shape or form. I’m your only hope…”
“Still sounds tempting…” says Yukari, “Too… bad I’m… not particularly fond of… people who go and… attack me with spears… out of nowhere…”
“Stop talking!’ Reimu tells Yukari, “You should save your strength.”
“Don’t worry,” says Yukari, “I’m fine… Back to you, Yumei… perhaps we won’t kill you… but you will be our prisoner.”
“Sounds fair,” says Yumei.
“I certainly hope we’re not making a mistake by doing this,” says Sakuya, withdrawing her knife. Reisen puts away her handgun.
Suddenly, though, Yumei smirks, and her eyes glow golden, “On second thought, though, I say to hell with your mercy!”
“What?” yells Alice.
Yumei’s spear vanishes and she transforms again. Who she transformed into… Huh? What? I’m seeing double! I’m looking at TWO Yukaris! Of course, I know by condition and location who our Yukari is and who Yumei is, but… how could she transform into someone who didn’t disappear with Gensokyo?
“Hahaha!” Yukari/Yumei disappears into a gap and emerges on the taller building again… She really loves that building…
“Just what the hell is going on?” I demand.
Yukari/Yumei says, “Why, thank you, Yukari! Thanks to that lucky break you gave me, I was still alive to gain this new power!”
“What are you talking about?” asks Reimu.
Yukari/Yumei answers, “My spear allows me to copy the form and power of any Gensokyo resident it pierces. Unfortunately, it take a little time for those effects to take place, and during that time, I can’t transform, and, as I’m sure a lot of you found out, as plain old little Yumei, I’m not very strong. Sure, I was given all that energy, but that only works for other forms and dream-related matters. You should have dumped me overboard when you had the chance, because now that I have acquired Yukari’s powers, my plan is complete! Nothing can stop me!”
“What are you trying to do?” I demand, “Take over the world, or some shit?”
Yukari/Yumei shakes her head, “Not precisely. The world is only a stepping stone toward achieving my ultimate goal! BEHOLD!” Yumei transforms again into… something. She’s still Yukari, but… she’s something different also. She has Yukari’s face, body, and hairstyle, but Yumei’s attire and ears. Her hair is also a bright pink.
Cirno’s eyes widen, “You’re Yukari, but you’re also Yumei? Why did you turn into that, Yukarumei?”
The Yukari/Yumei mutant raises an eyebrow, and then laughs. Her voice is a unison of both Yumei’s and Yukari’s, “I like it! It’s perfect! ‘Yukarumei’ will do fine! Now then, on to my next phase…” A gap opens up below Eirin’s body, and then another below Kaguya’s.
“Eirin-sama! Princess Kaguya!” yells Reisen, “What are you doing?”
‘Yukarumei’ says, “I require Eirin for my goals, and Kaguya could come in handy too. Frankly, I suggest you worry about yourselves for my next trick! Now… I shall obliterate this realm’s boundary of dreams and reality!” Yukarumei spreads her arms dramatically, and there is a bright flash of light… Wait… I remember this! There are more flashes and I feel all the more nostalgic. From the city below, many people scream in unison.
“What’s going on?” asks Reimu.
Youmu looks at me, then Reimu, “You… should look at yourselves…”
“Huh?” I look at Reimu. She’s starting to fade into thin air. I then fearfully look at myself and the same thing is happening. I remember! The flashes! People fading away! This is what happened when Gensokyo started to disappear! Sure enough, everyone else not of this world, which is to say, everyone present here, except Reimu and me, are fine. “Oh shit! This is what happened before, only… it’s happening to Reimu and me!”
Yukarumei smiles, “This world is now on its way to becoming my dominion. Well, I’ll leave you to enjoy the events to follow. I bid you adieu.” With that, Yukarumei disappears into a gap.
“Damn you, Yumei! Get back here!” I yell.
Down below, and presumably all around the world, countless people are disappearing, just like Reimu and me.
“Dammit!” yells Reimu, “It can’t end like this!”
“Yukari!” yells Alice, “We have to save Marisa and Reimu! We’ve been in this situation! We know what to do!”
I turn to Yukari, “Open a gap and send us to another realm where we will be unaffected by this!”
Yukari says, now slumped down to one knee, due to her weakened body, “I can do something else, actually. Hold out your hands.” I don’t know what Yukari is talking about, but in about thirty or so seconds, Reimu and I won’t exist anymore, so we do what we are told. Yukari brings her hand close to ours’, closes her eyes, and I suddenly feel different, like I have been reborn! I feel powerful! I feel a rush of energy that I had forgotten, even after regaining my memories! Not only that, but our clothes are transforming too! Around my waist, an apron appears, and below that, a black skirt. My shirt turns black as well, with a white shirt underneath. A large black pointed hat appears on my head, and finally, a broom materializes in my hand! At the same time, Reimu transforms too! A red skirt appears around her waist, a sleeveless red shirt appears, two white detached sleeves appear around her arms, a red bow and a couple braids form in her hair, and finally, a long gohei appears in her hand.
I look at myself, “I’m…”
Reimu is also surprised, “How did you…?”
Yukari explains, “The border between dreams and reality doesn’t only exist for boundaries, but also individuals… I reversed yours and brought out your ‘other selves.’ I’m sure you’ve noticed something else too.” Well, I did. Reimu and I aren’t disappearing anymore.
Alice smiles, “You’re back… Kirisame.”
“Yeah…”
There are still more flashes and the screams of people below are becoming less and less frequent. It sucks we couldn’t do anything for them, but what could we have done? DAMMIT! Yumei! She’s gonna pay for this! All of a sudden, however, another reminder of the thought’s end comes along! The ground shakes violently!
“Ah-ah-ah-ah…” We all struggle to maintain our balance. No sooner than that, however, the taller adjacent skyscraper that Yumei loves so much starts to fall over in our direction! Luckily, our building is a lot sturdier and not falling, but we’re about to be crushed by the other! It hits the edge of our building and the top portion falls off, about to crush all of us like mom’s pancakes!
Sakuya quickly declares a spellcard, “Time Sign!” She thrusts her hand up at the falling tower, “Sakuya’s Special Stopwatch!” A field appears around the tower, and then suddenly, the whole thing turns to monochrome colors and freezes in midair, stopped in time while time everyplace else moves onward. “If we’re going to do something, hurry!” says Sakuya with a strained voice, “I can’t hold this for too long!”
I pull a spellcard from my pocket. I have as many as I did when I woke up, “Leave this to me!” Well, it looks like my renewed powers will be put to the test, “Magicannon!” I direct both of my arms toward the tower, “FINAL MASTER SPARK!” I fire my massive laser up at the threatening object. My beam connects and it gets blasted into pieces, which disperse all over the place. I wobble a bit, fatigued by the immense amount of energy I just released.
“Looks like you haven’t gotten rusty,” says Reimu.
“I doubt you have.”
All around us, the city is falling apart. Buildings are collapsing and toppling over, streets are getting cracked and broken, cars are getting tossed all over the place like toys. It’s like watching a disaster movie. Even distant mountains are starting to fall apart!
“I see what Yumei was trying to accomplish…” says Yukari.
“What is it?” asks Cirno.
“She wanted my powers to break the border between dreams and reality, and establish Gensokyo, which she embodies…”
Alice flinches, “Wait! Does that mean…?”
“Yes,” answers Yukari, “Yumei is turning THIS world INTO Gensokyo!”
I step back in reaction, “No way! No fucking way! THIS is what she meant when she said she would ‘revive’ Gensokyo?”
“Apparently.”
“Damn it!”
The ground continues to shake. Actually, I’m beginning to hear some of the foundations of our building begin to give way. Ocean water begins to rush in and flood the streets.
Yukari says, “These are not earthquakes. This is a result of the shift. The land is reforming itself to match Gensokyo’s geography. I’m also beginning to feel the magic of Gensokyo flow in.”
Cirno sums it up, “This is going to become Yumei’s Gensokyo?”
“Yes.”
Reimu looks out at the ruining world, “Damn! We have to find Yumei and stop her!”
“We also have to save Eirin-sama and the princess!” adds Reisen.
“What do you think she would possibly want with them?” asks Sakuya.
Reisen says, “Princess Kaguya, I’m not so sure, but Eirin-sama… the Hourai Elixir! That HAS to be it!”
“Dammit!” I yell, “We have to get a move on!”
“Hold it!” yells Yukari, “This world is becoming too dangerous! If we stay here any longer, we will be killed! We should escape for now. We can come back and deal with Yumei another day!”
“But…” I can’t say anymore. I want to go out there, find Yumei, and kick her ass, but my rational side agrees with Yukari. With all the destruction, there’s no way we’ll survive before things settle down.
“Okay…” We all nod in agreement.
Yukari opens a gap, “This will take us to Hakugyokurou! Get in!”
“Okay!”
Sakuya picks up Youmu and enters the portal; Cirno drags Mokou’s body in; Reisen and Alice also rush ahead. Reimu and I are about to enter, but we notice that Yukari isn’t following us.
“C’mon, Yukari!” I yell, “Move your ass!”
Yukari is still on one knee, but she begins to wobble a little, “I’m sorry. I’m afraid I’ve used too much energy. I can no longer move.”
“You idiot!” Reimu snaps, “You weren’t alright at all! You were just putting on an act so we wouldn’t worry about you!” She sticks out her hand to Yukari, “Hold my hand! We’ll get outta here together!”
“No we won’t,” says Yukari, “There’s no time…”
I look at the portal. Slowly, but surely, it’s shrinking. In only a matter of seconds, we won’t fit! “Dammit! She’s right! We don’t have much time!”
“How can we get back?” explodes Reimu.
Yukari holds out her hand to Reimu, and a green ball appears. It looks like the one I got before, which took us to Makai, “Take this. If you throw it against something, a gap will open, that will lead back here.”
Reimu takes the ball, but still insists on finding a way to save Yukari, “If we hurry, we can…” More shaking. Now this building’s supports are snapping wildly. The place will break at any moment.
“Reimu, I don’t like it either, but we have no choice!” The portal is shrinking more and more.
Yukari imparts one last thing, “Reimu and Marisa… Remember, even though Yumei has taken control of Gensokyo… it was still your dream. Never forget that…”
Reimu observes the situation, and the harsh reality downs on her, “Damn it… DAMN IT! I’m sorry, Yukari!” She runs ahead and dives into the portal.
“Yukari…” I dive in after Reimu. Our tears strained the ground behind us. It’s just like that time I thought I lost Sakuya, someone close to me putting herself in a hopeless situation, and me powerless to do anything… only… it’s actually happening… I will lose this person…
Damn Yumei! Not only have we lost our world and everything we hold dear upon it, but we also lost Yukari. I don’t know what Yumei’s big plan is, but she won’t live long enough to achieve it if I have anything to say about it!
Goodbye, Yukari…
==
The gap closes and Yukari finally drops from her knee and to the ground, “Reimu… Marisa… Don’t die…” With that, Yukari falls lifelessly limp, and at the same time, the building collapses into the raging flood below.
- Return to Fiction by Valesta