Weekly Writing Challenge Thread the First

[Phlegeth]

Never have I been so serious, usa.
Going about my business, doing important things outside the window of Eirin's clinic when I heard some devastating news, usa.
To learn that our beloved Yuuka has a growth in her ass and here I thought it was just big, usa.
Give please, because Yuuka doesn't have enough money to get the growth in her ass removed, usa.
You can send her flowers because she loves them so much, usa.
Up to you where you get them, but for every picture taken of you picking a flower from her very own garden I will give 1000 Zunny of my own cash to this cause, usa.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Greetings, readers! Aya Shameimaru here, as always! And today, I have something big to share with you. So big, in fact, that I can't do it with text alone. So here's a video:
 
 
(Video begins playing. Aya is standing in front of two chalkboards. Numerous pictures are pinned to the boards. In the background is a large screen displaying the letters 'A S'. Aya is wearing glasses)
 
"People of Gensokyo, our land faces a crisis. Hostile forces are taking over Gensokyo, and we're just letting them do it. What's worse, many people are helping them do it. Helping without even knowing what they're doing."
 
(Aya points to the picture at the center of the first chalkboard. It is a headshot picture of Alice Margatroid)
 
"Alice Margatroid is from Makai, a fact she doesn't hide. But did you know that she's actually Makai royalty? She is. In fact, she is the daughter of Shinki, Makai's creator and ruler. But why has she hidden this?"
 
(Aya draws a line between Alice's picture and one of Shinki)
 
"Alice is Shinki's only daughter, and the person Shinki trusts most. Who better to send into Gensokyo? Who better to rely on to operate independantly for who knows how long, weakening Gensokyo from the inside by turning us into them? Makai wants to take over Gensokyo, but thanks to the spellcard rules, they can't just kill their way in. So they're trying to turn Gensokyo into a new Makai. That's why Alice is here.
 
"Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Alice spends most of her time working on her dolls.' 'She's not active enough to change Gensokyo.' But you're wrong, because she's not working alone."
 
(Aya steps over to the other chalkboard. Alice is at the top, with lines connecting her to each of a row of pictures beneath hers. Aya points to each one in turn)
 
"Kaguya Houraisan. Eirin Yagokoro. Kanako Yasaka. Suwako Moriya. Byakuren Hijiri. All of them are involved. 'But that's crazy,' you say. 'Why would they help Alice do that?' Well, it's pretty simple. Kaguya's a princess, so she wants Gensokyo to have an absolute ruler. She probably plans to marry Alice to get herself in line for the throne-which is one more reason to get rid of gay marriage. Eirin does whatever Kaguya says. Kanako and Suwako plan to be installed as the official deities of the new Gensokyo.
 
"So now you're saying, 'Yes, okay, those four have reasons, but what about Byakuren? She'd never assist with a takeover. She only wants to help people.' But think about it. She provides any assistance she can to anyone who needs it, and asks for nothing from them in return. Food, healthcare, shelter, anything she can give. That's socialism, people.
 
"All five of these people are helping Alice turn Gensokyo into Makai."
 
(The camera zooms in on Aya)
 
"But if you just blindly accept everything I say, you're an idiot. Don't just accept it; look at the facts."
 
(The camera zooms out, and Aya returns to the first board)
 
"Fact: Kaguya is a princess. She only has power in a monarchy. Fact: Makai is a monarchy."
 
(Aya draws a line between Shinki and an image of Kaguya)
 
"Fact: Kanako has subjugated entire populations before, and even other gods."
 
(Aya draws an arrow from a picture of Kanako to one of Suwako, and labels it 'Subjugated')
 
"Fact: Gods hate freedom of religion, because it let people choose to worship others. Fact: Byakuren is a socialist. Fact: Eirin provides free medical care, as well, to people who can't afford it, so she's also a socialist. All of them naturally favor Makai's government to the freedom we have here. But it gets worse."
 
(Aya tacks a few new pictures on around Alice's. They are pictures of various of her dolls)
 
"Alice is working to change Gensokyo into Makai. When Gensokyo is close, she'll force the union of the two. But even then, not everyone will accept it. So she's building shock troops. Why else would she spend so much time working on making a living doll? She wants soldiers, soldiers that cannot possibly disobey her. And since they're articifial creations, they aren't bound by the spellcard rules, now, are they? She'll be able to kill anyone who disagrees with her without resistance. 'And then what?', you ask? Well, then she can change people. Rebuild us until we all match her ideal."
 
(Aya tacks a picture of Hitler next to Alice's)
 
"So there you have it, people. But what can you do about it? You can stand up! You can speak out! You can say 'No! We won't let you take our freedom!' We can resist! We have to, for Gensokyo!"
 
(Aya begins to tear up)
 
"I... I'm sorry. I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but I... I just love Gensokyo so much, and I can't... I can't bear to see it taken over. So please, people. Help me save it."
 
(The video ends)
 
 
There you have it. Please, don't let Alice win.
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------
 
The Glenn Beck interpretation of Aya really needs to be more common.

[Conqueror]

A young vampiress was confined to her mansion during the day, where she would lounge about drinking tea and studying magicks. Bored to tears by the monotony of her routine, she sent her servant out to deliver a message to the denizens of Gensokyo. "I am allergic to sunlight. Please help."

Unfortunately, no one paid her any heed. When she tried to take matters into her own hand, the local vigilantes raided her mansion and violently subdued her.

The head maid, taking pity on her mistress, secretly set out and delivered a different message. Soon, visitors started showing up at the mansion to converse and socialize. The village merchant even sent a surprise package to the mansion. When opened, it contained a parasol guaranteed to not tear, rip, or break for two years from the date of purchase.

The mistress asked the maid, "We have friendly visitors coming over all the time now. What did you do?"

The maid said, "I only told them the truth. I said what you said but in a different way. I passed on this message: "Today is a beautiful day, but I cannot go outside and play danmaku with the rest of you."

Both messages told people that the girl was a vampire, but the first simply said that she was allergic to sunlight. The second told people that they were fortunate not to be so. Should we be surprised that the second message was more effective?

Be thankful for what you have. You could be stuck inside all day with no other choice. Go outside and get some fresh air.


Note: The above is shamelessly stolen from Facebook

[Iced Fairy]

Hammered!

Thank you to all our participants.  We'll be judging the results over the night and announcing the winner tomorrow (PST), along with a new challenge.  Stay tuned~!

[Iced Fairy]

Judgment!

We have revived with several entries.  I wouldn't have cried if some of them had gotten fleshed out a little more, but the goal of this contest was simplicity and it did well in that respect.  Hopefully with this we can bring forth a new era of (bi) Weekly Writing Contests!  A glorious future where I take over the library help the people bring forth works of art.

And remember all, since A=1, B=2 etc

H+A+R+D+W+O+R+K can only get you 98% but
K+A+N+A+K+O+S+F+A+V+O+R gets you 134%!

That's not catchy at all.  This was a stupid idea!  Let's just judge this facebook nonsense.

First, everyone did well in promoting stupidity, that being the point of this lovely challenge.  And I'm also generally impressed at the little Gensoukyo tweaks made.  Guy, while your Glenn Beck was spot on, he is fortunately not a Facebook meme, so I fear it was out of the range of the contest.  Thus the prize goes to...

Conqueror:  While you used proper spelling and grammar (sorta) your piece's combination of pseudo optimism and fake moral truly is the epitome of a bad Facebook chain post.  It's utter banality pierces the heart, making me wonder 'Why the hell did I suggest this contest?'  For this we grant you the Wordsmith title, and an assassination contract.  We hope you survive to participate in our next contest.

Which is right now!

How to Serve Man

Valentines Day is here!  But we've already covered that love stuff, and someone else is doing a coupling fic contest.  Which means we need to focus on the other aspect of Valentine's day: buying pounds of discount chocolate the day after and stuffing your face.

Thus this (two) weeks contest is to write a story about food and eating.  Of course this is Gensoukyo, so we aren't limiting you to normal or even physical foods.  If you want to write about Suwako snacking on faith or Remilia's favorite blood types go right ahead.  The important thing is the focus on food or the eating of food.  You've got two weeks to plan your menus, so until midnight (PST) February 26!

Allez Cuisine!

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Hey, the Facebook challenge specifically mentioned conspiracy theories. Who better to bring in for a conspiracy theory than Glenn Beck?

[Esifex]

A video storyboard was a bit outside the parameters of the challenge. Unless you could've whipped together said video and posted it, your entry didn't have a FaceBook feel to it. That bit of cesspool-grammar and obviously bullshit chain-letter nonsense that is commonplace on FB was the goal, not random kookiness.

Though as a bit of writing, Guy, that was pretty clever. You managed to capture the paranoid conspiracy theorist logic pretty well with that!

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

Given the current topic of the challenge, I'd be ashamed if I didn't enter this one.


   ?Damn it! Don't tell me they used the kitchen utensils in that fight too!?

   A teenage girl simultaneously cursed her ancestors and her inability to find a piece of cookware that wasn't rusted over from disuse. Ever since she left the outside world and entered the realm of Gensokyo, Sanae Kochiya's everyday life had become far more difficult. Without the modern conveniences she had grown up with and become accustomed to, even the simplest tasks like making a pot of stew had become tedious.

   Amidst the clanging and clattering, Sanae finally found some usable items. She pulled a metal cauldron out of the pile of junk. Unfortunately, this happened to be all that was anchoring the rest of the pile in place, and a wave of pots and pans soon swept over her. Sanae sighed in frustration as she pushed everything to the side, and started hauling the cauldron outside.

   Sanae found a small clearing, and set the cauldron down. Fortunately, some firewood had already been chopped and was ready to use; otherwise, this would be even more frustrating. She arranged a few logs in a neat pile, then struggled as she lifted the cauldron on top.

   The first thing was to fill the cauldron with water. Sanae looked over to the pump, which was some distance away... then back to the massive cast-iron pot, which would only get heavier when full. There was no way she was going to drag it over there and drag it back.

   With another sigh, Sanae took a bucket and walked over to the pump. She filled the bucket with water, came back to the cauldron, and poured the water in. This process was repeated numerous times until the pot was satisfactorily filled up. Now it was time to bring the water to a boil; this would take a while.

   Fortunately, for what conveniences Gensokyo lacked, Sanae still had a book of matches. She plucked a match from the package, and struck it... nothing. She struck another match against the book, with just as little success as the first. More and more matches were taken and used, each and every one failing. Finally, Sanae was down to her last match. She took a deep breath, and pulled the last match out, preparing to flick it against the book... finally, at last, fire! She carefully knelt down to put the match to the firewood, and watched as the logs ignite. As the cauldron started to heat up, Sanae went to prepare the rest of the stew.

   Even without modern technology, chopping vegetables was still a routine task. Sanae had peeled and chopped up more potatoes, carrots, and cabbage than she even remembered having in the first place. There was not going to be any meat in this stew; it was generally too difficult to bring fresh meat up from the bottom of the mountain to be worth it.

   Sanae came back to the cauldron, and tossed the pile of vegetables in. Over the roaring of the fire and the bubbling of the pot, she failed to hear the thunder overhead. In getting worked up and frustrated over making the stew, she had been distracted from the storm that had been approaching for the whole day.

   Raindrops fell against the ground and the fire fizzled out as Sanae watched in silence. Her face froze for a moment, blank and expressionless. In the next moment, her eyes started twitching and she launched into an incoherent, sputtering rage. An endless stream of babble and profanities poured from her mouth.

   That week, the Moriya Shrine began a project to introduce electricity to Gensokyo.

[nolrai2]

Kekeke

[Eatay]

Hell ya. Beginner steps up to the challenge. Comment on it, hope you like it.
Disclaimer, next piece can be slightly disturbing and should not be read after meals as retching can occur if not mentally strong enough to take in the facts.

?Why the hell am I doing this??

Each step drew more strength than the last, as Mouko staggered each step up the hill. Staying upright was a challenge itself, but with Keine supporting her right, and a simple wooden stick on the left, all that was left to do was keep climbing till she reached the Hakurei shrine.

At the peak, Mouko slumped down, knees crumpling as she fell face first onto the ground. Despite the famous stamina of the immortal phoenix, two weeks worth of fasting had taken its toll. Mouko looked up, sizing the remaining challenge, but the first thing she noticed was the one sleeping on the porch of the shrine. Pretty much the person that came up with the whole stupid idea. Kagayu.
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It all started like this. Mouko beat Kaguya, Kaguya beat Mouko, Mouko burned Kaguya, Kaguya poison Mouko, Mouko fells tree on Kaguya, Kaguya committed seppuku to avoid fight. The list is endless, and that was the main point. Mouko only reason of existence was to hate Kaguya, and every time they met, one died. However, both being immortal, this became a bit of a problem.

Reality hit home for both when Aya published an article with this heading.

6973-Mouko deaths, 7094-Kaguya deaths, 2786- Both died.
IMMORTAL BATTLE, does living forever make you stupid enough to keep repeating the same thing damn thing over and over again with no result coming out of it?

So recently Kaguya had been challenging Mouko to different challenges instead of just simple fights, on a weekly basis. Using obstacle courses, art showdowns, dance battles, music performances, stealth missions... And this time, a daredevil food contest.
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?And the challenger arrives! Lets give a rousing applause!?

[SFX: faint clapping]

Yukari voice rang out through the empty courtyard. Playing commentator for the day, Yukari had also agreed to set up a series of gaps that allowed everyone from Gensokyo to spectate.

?Need help?? Yukari sprung up behind Mouko, ? The challenge is over there, but looks like you got little life left in you.?

?Fine!? Spiting out the word out with as much spite as possible. However as much as Mouko hated relying on Yukari usually, this time she was truly grateful.

?Upsy daisy? Forming a gap under Mouko, Yukari used the makeshift hammock to fly Mouko onto her seat. ?Wow, Mouko, you are really light. Have you been eating enough??

?And you!? Snapping her fingers, Yukari instantly gapped Kaguya?s sleeping body onto the table. A resounding ?thud? sound was heard, but despite the impact, Kaguya continued snoozing on.

?Now now, we can?t start if she?s sleeping. Hmm... Iku borrow your lightning for a bit.? A bolt of lightning shot out of one of the gaps. Catching it with another gap, Yukari prodded the sleeping Kaguya with that gap. As if stung by the most painful sting, Kaguya leaped, yelping, with the sound of rumbling thunder in the distance. 

?What the heck was that for?? Kaguya moaned as Erin helped her to the table.

Completing ignoring Kaguya, Yukari started pulling imaginary zippers through the air, forming gaps surrounding the challenge table, painting the courtyard a sea of red gaps with eyes inside. Once done, Yukari started her announcement.

?Welcome one and all to this fabulous day. We have ourselves a little showdown that we can be watching.Thanks to our resident news reporter Aya Shameimaru for spreading the word around, so we got so many spectators signing up for my newest gap vision system. Our contest today, a test of mental strength, but not intelligence. Our two resident immortals of Gensokyo are having an eat off, where the person fails to take or keep the food down loses. So lets get into it??

Resounding cheering was heard emanating from the gaps.   

?All right, the rules, rules, rules. Actually this is more for the spectators, cause you are providing the food. Rule 1, food is cannot be designed to kill, no poison, explosives or well I will be the judge of that, ehehe. You have the honor of not revealing what the food is at all, at the start, middle or end, it is your choice, but follow rule 1. Rule 2, contestants are to finish every thing, without getting sick, or rejecting the food entirely. First rejection or pucking, is the loser. Oh ah... loser gets downtime in one of my gaps, agreeable??

The two immortals glanced intently at each other across the table, before simultaneously nodding.

 ?Last rule, anything I say goes. So have funn!? Finishing the statement, Yukari retreated within one of her gaps.

Mouko closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Meditation would prepare her for the onslaught of the trial. Kaguya on the other hand, starting fiddling with the table cloth, poking it through the slits in the ?table?. Intrigued by the regularity of the pattern, Kaguya lifted the tablecloth for a glance, only to find out that they were having the challenge on Reimu?s donation box.

?Who in Gensokyo took my donation box!!!? Reimu furious shout rang out from the shrine. However, Yukari had temporarily locked Reimu in the shrine, using gaps.

?OK!? Spinning out of another gap, Yukari brought to the table two glasses full of some deep red liquid. ?No prizes for guessing where this came from, but should be ok for the both of you.?

?Hmm? Kaguya stared at the glass, recognizing the exact color of this liquid. The floor of Eientei was often stained with the color.

[SFX: Glass banging onto table]

Looking across the table, Mouko had finished her glass, and was demanding more, to which Yukari rejected. Steeling herself mentally, Kaguya downed the glass, trying to ignore the metallic taste lingering in her mouth. Despite often getting injured and tasting her own blood, the idea of drinking another person?s blood disgusted her.

?Both manage quite easily to finish Remilla?s antique collection of blood, dating back 40 years ago. Wonder it didn?t spoil, hee hee. Alright, come on. Next up!? Snapping her fingers, two plates fell onto the table. On them, some sort of Yakitori.1

[SFX: Arguing and fighting sound from one of the gaps.]

? Courtesy of Mystica and indirectly Wriggle, assorted insect Yakitori. From what I can see, looks like there?s dragonfly, water beetle, and wait a second... why is there a small grilled night sparrow on them??

The sounds of fighting slowly grew louder.

?What!! You cooked my ...?

?Well you started it,..frying the insects. Thought you might like to know how it feels.?

?AHH, Hawk Sign "Ill-Starred Dive?

?Lamp Sign "Firefly Phenomenon?

?Errm, thanks for that insight into how the meal came into being. But the bigger question, can our contestants stomach it? Lets find out... Mouko is finished already again.?

Banging her fist onto the table, Mouko shouted, ? Ya, you guys taking so long to give me the real challenge. What, insects? Traveling the world I ate tons of insects to feed myself, sometimes raw. This is a treat.? Mouko finished with a rude hand gesture to Yukari.

?Ok, prepare something really tough for Mouko next. And Kaguya??

Trembling in her seat, Kaguya looked into the dead eyes of the grilled sparrow. It haunted her, the lifeless staring. She couldn?t eat something like that. But she had to, after all, she challenged Mouko, and her opponent hadn?t even broken out in sweat yet. Biting carefully on the Yakitori, Kaguya finished the dish with tears in her eyes, pained by the suffering she remembered.

?Wow, additional emotional trauma for Kaguya on that one, that was harsh. Still the show must go on. So next a combination put together by both the human villagers and Tenshi, peach salad. I still don?t see how this counts as a dare devil meal for this but hey, why deny the competitors a small health benefit.?

?Finally something edible? Kaguya dug in with glee, savoring the sweet fruit, crunch of vegetables and delight of filling her stomach with a dish that she saw as healthy.

?And Kaguya off to a great start, but wait... something wrong on Mouko?s end.? Yukari walked over to Mouko?s end, waving her hands in front of Mouko?s face, but getting absolutely no reaction.

?Err, Mou Mou, you ok?? Yukari prodded Mouko with that gaps that she jabbed Kaguya with earlier.

[SFX:Rumbling thunder]

?No way that is edible, that thing looks evil.? Impervious to the lighting Yukari used, Mouko just continued muttering, pointing at the salad.

?Of course it is, just look.? Drawing a peach out from her gap, Yukari bit into it with relish. ?Ahhh, finish it within the next three minutes or you are getting it from me!!!?
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Three minutes later, sat one plate of untouched salad, one agitated Yukari, and one Mouko spacing out with a weird chant that went something like ?Don?t touch, evil fruit.? .

? DAMN IT!!!? Yukari slammed Mouko face into the salad, holding it there. The instant Mouko swallowed the first bite of peach, her gag reflex kicked in, and retching followed. A stream of greenish vomit gushed out onto the table, dripping onto the floor.

?Eww. Guess we have our loser, defeated by a fruit salad. Can?t believe this is happening. OK, special mention to the dish that brings Kaguya down, as she is looking quite happy over there.?

Yukari signaled one of her gaps to move over, dropping a plate of pastries in front of Kaguya.

?Yay, desert.? Oblivious to the earlier announcements, Kugaya happily ate the cake. ?Hmm, sweet and slightly metallic. Yet so nice, texture is bouncy, a bit like meat.?

?Ya, so the donor wants to announce what this is, so I will let her.?

From the gap, Sakuya?s voice rang out.

?Human meat, exactly the same recipe I prepare for Fladre. Molded into shapes of cakes and buns to make her meals more enjoyable.?

Kaguya?s eyes widened significantly. Sakuya continued relentlessly.

?Ohh ya, I add a bit of powdered skull for nutrition. Growing girl like Flan needs her calcium.?

Kaguya fainted, her chair toppling due to the unbalanced weight.

?Alright, that?s the end of that, hope you enjoyed watching. Good day to you all.? Clapping her hands Yukari closed all the gaps.
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?Job not finished yet? Yukari walked up to the two immortals, poking them with the lightning enhanced gap. With both awake, Yukari proceeded to drag the two right in front of her.

?I am banning all future challenges, SO STOP FIGHTING!!!.? Smacking the two with her parasol, Yukari unsealed the shrine before walking off.

Curling her fingers into a fist, Mouko lightly hit Kaguya. ?I would have won if not for that damned fruit salad.?

?Keep dreaming... Anyway, want to come back to Eientei for a proper meal??

?Kay.?

?Friends??

?For now.?


Notes
 1> Not so good with Japanese, but think this refers to some skewered grilled meat.

Authors comments
So ya, hope you liked it, comment, cause I ain't that good. Comments help lots.
And wow, didn't think writing was that hard, but now I have experienced how much trouble you guys go through. This not my first though.

[Sect]

<capth> I think the topic might have been a bit too hard. At least, the prospect of making an interesting food themed story was what almost scared me off.
<Sect> It's not the topic being hard, it's just a decreased amount of interest/motivation as of late.
<Sect> For instance, I didn't write something because I was lazy. :V
<Iced> Your lucky I need you to tank on Saturdays Sect >:[
<Sect> D:
<Sect> If you want, I COULD try to write something in... uh, thirty minutes of time.

It took twenty. Shudder in horror.


Cirno decided that this might be her most favorite birthday ever. Of course, she wasn't sure how old she was, or even when she was ?born?. Do fairies get ?born?? Whatever, she was also pretty sure that she'd never had a birthday, but when Daiyousei came to her talking about how awesome the party at the Human Village was, Cirno decided that she needed to have an even more awesome birthday party.

So, she bullied the other fairies around, until they got the hint, and helped her decorate and throw an awesome party underneath the moss covered fairy shrine. The metal shrine was dressed up in ribbons and some tables (filched from that vampire's mansion) was set around and they were feasting on the best food that they could steal from the Human Village.

?This is great!? she shouted to her best friend. ?So, we decorated, and we ate, and all that! What comes next?!? Daiyousei fluttered about shyly, trying to recall.

?Um... I think there are presents...? Cirno's eyes started shining with ecstatic glee.

?Awesome! Hey, everyone, give me your presents! Man, I should have a birthday party every day!? However, before she could proceed to shake the present fairies down, a great shadow flitted over them; several fairies began panicking about the return of the UFOs.

?Ha ha ha! There's something better than presents!? Cirno frowned, and prodded the cowering Daiyousei.

?Hey, hey, is the big UFO right?? The shadow sputtered, and another voice piped up.

?You idiot, we're not a UFO!? Now that the shadow was fluttering down, Cirno and the other fairies could see the new arrivals clearly: Sunny Milk and Luna Child, carrying a big, lopsided, and kinda ugly cake in between them. ?And the thing better than presents is... a cake!?

As the spooked fairies chittered excitedly, Cirno frowned. ?Cake? Ugh. Can't we have pie or something?? Sunny Milk gasped, and a hush filled the clearing.

?Pie? Pie?! You eat cake on birthdays, not pies! What kind of heath-in are you?!? Nattering from the gathered fairies followed Sunny Milk's proclamation.

?And besides,? Luna Child added with a mischevious grin, ?you can't get surprises with pies like you can with cake!? she proclaimed, posing with Sunny Milk, pointing at the cake.

?

?

?... Um... is something supposed to happen?? The two mischevious fairies frowned at Cirno's question, and glared at the cake.

?Star! What the heck, you missed your cue!? There was no response, and Sunny Milk huffed as she marched over to the large cake, and popped the top layer off. ?What the heck is-?

All of the fairies watched as the indignant look on Sunny's face turned queasy. ?... Um... Luna? Were we supposed to put Star in the cake before or after we bake it?? Not a fairy said a word as Luna's face twisted in confusion, then in guilty disgust.

?U-um...? Every fairy turned as Daiyousei broke the silence. ?I-I think I have some pie and ice cream...? Cirno's blank expression turned into a grin.

?Awesome! Let's chow down!? Cirno lead the charge after Daiyousei. This was the best birthday ever!

[Ibaraki Ibuki]

Last minute submission!  :moogy: (I'm thankful I live in Michigan, otherwise this would be considered late. And I hope I'm not too late.)


-=( About 250 Years Ago )=-

Mokou was hiking on a mountain when her stomach started cramping and growling loudly. She guessed she would last only a day before fainting from hunger pains once again.

She stopped and leaned on a nearby tree. As she raised her head, she noticed an egg in a bird's nest on top of a nearby ledge. Mokou walked over to the cliffside and climbed toward the nest, with her stomach grumbling louder and louder as she edged her way up. A few minutes later, Mokou pushed herself onto the ledge, put the egg into her pack, and gingerly climbed back down.

That night, Mokou lit a fire under a pot containing some water from a nearby river and the egg she found earlier. As she waited for the water to boil and the egg to cook, she stared at the fire lost in thought.

"Is this an ostrich egg? Since when did ostriches roam Japan?" Mokou asked herself. It seemed a crazy idea, but ever since she gained immortality Mokou figured she could entertain all sorts of crazy ideas.

A while later, Mokou ladled the egg out of the pot of boiling water. She cracked it against the pot and proceeded to take a large bite out of the egg. Though the texture is more or less like a duck's egg, the flavor was downright weird. The egg white tasted like mirin, while the yolk's flavor resembled that of wasabi. Mokou wished she had some shochu to wash away the odd aftertaste, but she decided to add some herbs to the pot and drank some the herbal water to cleanse her palette.

Suddenly her stomach was on fire. Or more accurately, it's as if the digested egg burst into flames inside her stomach. The fire rapidly consumed the rest of her body, and Mokou noticed she was sweating as if she had eaten her own body weight in shichimi. She then noticed that her hands and feet are emitting a fiery aura. Without bothering to check what she was seeing was an hallucination, she began running toward the river.

When Mokou dived into the river, the scorching sensation ceased, though her stomach was still burning with pain and continued to trouble her throughout the night.


-=( Present Day )=-

"I think I had heartburn for five days before I heard the voice..."

Mokou glanced at an unusually quiet Keine, who was smiling serenely while her eyes betrayed a hint of surprise. Blushing beet red, Mokou hastily concluded her tale.

"The phoenix and I made a deal, and now you know."

END OF FIC


My comments: To be honest, I spent more time procrastinating and changing my mind on whether I should submit anything than actually writing, which is why this is so short. Not that it matters to the judges at any rate. However, I might consider revising and reposting this (in another thread) since I omitted details that I think would enhance the story but weren't relevant to the challenge.

[capt. h]

As a note, the following fic takes place in the context of some of my older work.
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Mokou and Utsuho walked through the doorway, and were greeted with a feast. The raven wasted no time, plomping herself in a nearby chair and stuffing her plate and her face before Orin finished placing the dishes. She immediately grabbed a couple rolls while pouring everyone a pint of sake. Mokou had never seen sake served by the pint before. Mokou had also never seen anyone serve live centipede (although caged) and glowing goop before, so sake being served in pints wasn?t at the top of her mind.

?Welcome to the Palace of the Earth Spirits. Aren?t you going to sit as well?? A short, violet-haired girl with a third, large eye around her neck sat at the far end of the table. The girl continued, ?Ah, but first introductions. I am Satori Komeiji, master of the Palace of the Earth Spirits. And you are Fujiwara no Mokou. Please, take a seat,? Satori said, gesturing to the chair opposite herself. ?Centipedes and glow worms might be a bit heavy, so I would suggest something lighter for now. Orin makes a wonderful bat soup I?m sure you?ll enjoy.?

?You guys eat glow worms?? Mokou asked, pulling out her chair. ?I?ve seen my fair share of centipede before, but I?ve never seen food that glows.?

?Actually it?s the mucus that glows, rather than the worm, but that?s part of the presentation. And no, it does not taste like chicken, in fact it can be poisonous for humans so you should probably stay away from it.? First the glow worms, and now the chicken; Mokou found it impressive how Satori could follow along with her thoughts. It was almost as if?

?I?m reading your mind.? Satori said, interrupting Mokou?s thought midway. ?My pets neglected a few details.?

Mokou didn?t have a response for that. She stared at her glass for a minute as Orin brought in the last plate took her own seat.

?Well, Satori?? Orin said, both tails frisking back and forth as she glanced at Mokou.

?I suggest you start with the soup.? Satori said to Mokou, rather than Orin. ?We want to make sure the food stays down after a fast that long.?

?Yes, but what about her?? The cat said.

The raven beamed as she tried to speak her mind, but whatever she was saying was lost between the mouthfuls of goop she was shoveling into her mouth.

?Okuu, swallow,? Orin commanded.

The raven took a huge gulp, before trying again. ?I think??
??she?s nice.? Satori interrupted. Then she started to hiss, ?Why are you letting strangers in the house again? This one even admits to being sent by the yama, we haven?t had anyone here in centuries! She probably got herself kicked out of hell and??

Orin jolted out of her chair, gagging Satori with her hand. ?We?re sorry.? The cat explained, as Satori struggled against her grip. ?That one slipped out.?

Mokou, extremely confused and somewhat hungry, which by a normal human?s standards would be dead twice over from starvation, decided not to ask what the youkai were doing and instead continued sipping the soup. It wasn?t great, the meat was a bit gamey and the greens had an odd mushy texture, but Mokou had eaten much worse before.

?Those aren?t vegetables.? Satori cut in, no longer being held back by Orin. ?We don?t get any fresh produce down here, so we usually use fungi instead.?

?Right,? Mokou added. ?Hard to grow with no sunlight. Still,?

Satori cut in, her tone becoming very gruff ?I?m amazed there?s bread down here. Dammit, stop cutting me off.?

Mokou spat out her soup.

?Sorry about the leakage.? Satori apologized.

?Leakage?? the immortal said.

?I tend to repeat the thoughts I hear, Miss Fujiwara. Orin?s quite good at keeping too many thoughts from slipping out.?

The two sat in silence for a second, with Orin maintaining an eye on Mokou. Utsuho was thoroughly enjoying one of the centipedes as she crunched into its shell.

 Mokou broke the silence. ?Come to think of it,?

Satori cut in, ??you need rice to, oh, my apologies, I should let you finish.?

?You need rice to make sake.?

?Ah,? Satori said. ?Yes, the sake. There?s an interesting story behind that. Before all the oni moved to hell, in fact the stories place its invention to a time prior to written histories, oni discovered a technique that could turn a puddle of water into an ocean of sake with wine worms - the critters look like a cross between a catfish and a slug -, and this method has been used ever since.? Mokou nodded her head as she grabbed a roll. ?However, they never invented a food supply.? Satori lectured. ?When hell was sealed up, we suffered a famine for nearly two years before the earth spiders came up with a solution ? Instead of turning a little water into a lot of sake, they raised wine worms to turn a little yeast into a mountain of it. There were two problems with the plan; one, the worms couldn?t be bred overnight, and two, there was very little wheat to test it on. Eventually, we managed to find a bushel obviously, not that it was easy to convince the oni to give the last of the food to worms.?

?Unfortunately, in spite of having sake, rice doesn?t exist down here.? Satori continued, continuing from a passing thought Mokou had. ?It ran out only a few months after the sealing, so we weren?t able to try multiplying it. We lucked out with the grain, ended up finding the den of a scavenger youkai that died in an arm wrestling match with an oni a year earlier. Right, before I forget, do not challenge any oni to an arm wrestling match Miss Fujiwara. The only way to win is to cheat, and that would put you on their bad side. And if you don?t cheat you?ll probably lose an arm. Not that you seem to mind lost limbs, from what I?ve read.? Then Satori?s voice changed a bit, and she whined, ?Aw, come on Satori. Stop boring the guest with history. I wanna know what life?s like on the surface!? Orin gave Utsuho a glare, to which the raven shrugged and continued stuffing her mouth with a third serving of the centipede. Satori began, glancing at Orin ?Okuu, please be a little more restrain-? before Orin silenced the mind reader for the second time that night.

?Well?? Mokou began, staring at her plate.

?It?s hard enough hearing all three of your minds;? Satori interrupted. ?I don?t need to hear your thoughts through both your mind and your mouth. May I handle the conversations from now on?? Mokou grumbled a bit, but wound up giving a slight nod anyway.

?Alrighty then! Concerning the overworld; I?d love to start with the food.? Satori began, before she interrupted herself again. ?What do you mean the food?? the mind reader hissed. ?How about starting with something important, like how this human got down here and what?? Satori tapered off, giving Orin a blank look to which the cat blushed. ?Apology accepted.? Satori continued. ?We?ll get to that part, but first me and Okuu would like to hear a bit about the outside world. Isn?t that right Okuu?? Utsuho stopped stuffing her face just long enough to rapidly nod her head up and down, while Satori returned her gaze to Mokou. ?It?s not helping anyone when your mind is muddled with corn and judgment at the same time, so why don?t you stick with corn for now? We can worry about judges after dinner.? The mind reader closed her two eyes, as her third, large one stared intently at Mokou. The silence was stifling; Utsuho put down her forth bowl and watched, and Orin held her tails to keep them from frisking back and forth. Then, Satori began to speak.

?The overworlders? corn is a food that looks like yellow peas on a stick.? Satori said, reopening her eyes. ?It?s eaten right off the stick. Sometimes they dry them out, so that the peas will jump and turn inside out when they?re heated. Then they eat the peas. It?s called popcorn.?

?What are peas?? Utsuho garbled between centipedes.

?They?re small round vegetables about the size of a bean.?

?I like squirmy, but I?ve never??

?had anything that jumped in my mouth.? Satori finished. ?No, Okuu, they only jump when they?re cooking,? Satori said, letting out an exacerbated sigh.

?I?d like to see that,? Utsuho said.

Satori redirected herself to Mokou as she served herself a spoonful of what Mokou thought was mashed glowworm. ?You know, most people are afraid of me. Well, you didn?t know that, but now you do. And you aren?t even the slightest bit nervous. It?s rather strange, actually.?

Mokou glanced at the ceiling in thought. ?Well, I guess I don?t really fear anything,? she replied.

?Now that?s not true,? Satori said. ?Losing Kaguya and Eirin would be a problem, and you don?t like having no one at all. Not to mention?? But before the mind reader could finish, Orin stuffed Satori?s mouth with another spoonful of the glowworm.

?Satori has always had a bit of trouble knowing when to stop.? Orin shrugged.

?But she is right.? the immortal continued, still deep in her thoughts. ?I mean, there are things I fear. But I?m not afraid of people, nor do I care what people think of me. I would have gone mad a long time ago if I did.?

Satori swallowed with a pout. ?You did go mad.?

?True. Took me decades to calm down.?

?After the phoenix possession.? Satori continued from Mokou?s drop off, as Orin glared at the mind-reader. ?Stop provoking the guest,? Satori hissed, giving Orin a sideways glanced as she rested her head on her clasped hands. ?You wanted to know if Miss Fujiwara was dangerous, and why she was here in hell, correct? The answer is yes, she is very dangerous.?

Mokou leaned back, smirking. ?And I?m in hell because the Judge of Higan got tired of postponing judgment on my countless suicides and homicides.?

Orin began sweating bullets, and Satori continued staring intently at Mokou, making a point of stuffing her own mouth with food most likely to keep her from blurting out more thoughts. Utsuho, on the other hand, was more curious than anything.

?What?s it like?? Utsuho butted in. ?Suicide, I mean.?

?May I?? Mokou asked the mind reader.

?Okuu wants to hear it from you.? Satori replied. ?I won?t interrupt, at least, on purpose. Just keep your thoughts down.?

Mokou wasn?t completely how to keep a thought down-

?I mean don?t think about anything too hard.?

?God dammit.? Mokou thought to herself.

?God dammit.? Satori said quite loudly, covering her own mouth this time as if she had let out a burp. ?My bad Miss Fujiwara. Go on. How is suicide??

?It hurts, but it passes the time. I?m usually either very bored, or blowing myself up to blow something else up.?

?Mmmth.? Utsuho said, slurping down another centipede. ?And murder? How do you like murder??

?I don?t,? Mokou said, switching her grin from a frown.

?Then why did you kill all those people??

?In the height of mania it makes you feel alive.? Mokou replied with a slight grin as she sat in recollection. But the grin quickly became a grimace. ?But then the mania dies down, and you try to burn everything to keep feeling alive until you?re bored even with fire. Then you have to live with everything you?ve done. And there?s just this hole you can?t fill, nagging you for years until even that fades. And then you can live with yourself.?

?You know, we get a lot of killers down here,? Utsuho said, waving her fork at Mokou. ?They always say the oddest things. Some of them feel nothing, others never repent, others have one kill they feel about worse than others, and the youkai often think little more of humans than humans think of deer.? she then jabbed the last centipede with her fork.

?And your point is??

?No point. I just find it interesting.? The raven said, swallowing the centipede. There was a long silence.

?Well?? Satori broke in with little conviction, clapping her hands together. ?This was an? interesting meal. We must do it again sometime??

[Kerigis]

"How is my family like my souffl??"

This was the question that Yukari Yakumo, the youkai of borders, left in my mind.

-----

Two days ago, the Yakumo family came over to visit. Her invitation was more of a self-invitation, given that half her body appeared in front of me while I was taking care of another duty and asked me if she could come over for dinner. I imagine she either wanted an excuse to check upon us and how we were running the underground and hell, or she just wanted dinner.

It was sudden and I disliked that, but my politeness pushed me to accept the proposal. Perhaps there was a little bit of boredom as well that forced me to accept.

Though her last lines were "I'll be waiting to taste those famous desserts of yours". I think the last time I made my speciality -Hellberry Souffl?- for other people besides my family was when the Shrine Maiden, Reimu Hakurei; and the Black-White Witch, Marisa Kirisame; came over. She must have heard it from them.

The day came, and I prepared everything. Orin and Okuu helped me -more Orin than Okuu- putting everything in its place. Koishi seemed to be more interested in taking a few bites here and there when I was cooking.

Later on, Yukari arrived with her two companions and family members, Ran and Chen. We greeted them and I immediately started to set up table. The Hors d'oeuvre and the main course went flawlessly, and then the souffl? made its entrance. Everybody commented about it after the first bite each of the Yakumo family took. Chen looked like it was the most excited by it.

When we all finished eating, Koishi and Okuu immediately got up, thanked for the meal and left the table. Quite the bad manners if you ask me. Orin was the only one who helped me carrying with the dishes. Yukari also dissmised her pets to roam around the palace, leaving me alone with her.

I was picking up the dishes when we heard Koishi and Okuu playing loudly around with Chen. The sounds were followed by a sudden glass breaking noise which made me openly frown in front of my guest. Yukari just giggled.

-Your familty is like your souffl?.

I was confounded by the strange analogy.

-What do you mean?

-Just that.

-I... don't really follow.

Yukari smiled.

-You'll get it eventually.

I crooked my eyebrow and politely nodded it off. I kept picking up the dishes, while yet another glass shattering noise made me clench my teeth.

Yukari smirked.

------

-Would you be quiet please...

Days have passed after Yukari's visit. Orin, Okuu and Koishi's actions weren't getting any better, even with the already damaged windows that I had to replace. We would be having some guests from the underground and I decided to prepare the Hellberry Souffl? once more.

I was now in the kitchen, and despite Orin, Okuu and Koishi being there, they were being a nuisance to me rather than helping me. Orin was trying to help me, but she ended up being distracted by Koishi, who was teasing her with the utensils. Okuu was also trying her best, but she ended up wasting ingredients that had to be sent to the bin twice.

At some point, they decided to stop working and just mess around with the flour or the water.

-Stop.

No one listened. I finished my souffl? and I was gently taking out off the oven. Koishi bumped me and I almost let it go.

-Ow! Be more careful!

I heard her mutter a 'sorry', only to dodge Okuu's thrown spoon that ended up hitting me on the back.

-Okuu, what about the recipe I told you to do?!

Distracted as well.

-Orin! Koishi! Stop at once!

They didn't. And then the bubble burst.

-WILL YOU ALL STOP?!

My sudden shouting stopped everyone dead cold. An awkward silence followed. No actions were done but staring at me.

Staring with eyes that were turning wet.

Their minds were not silent, though. Every single thought was about me. Words like 'I hope Satori-sama's not mad at me', 'I'm grounded, so grounded', 'She's very angry...', 'What is she going to do...'.

-Just... stop. Please. Go outside or something.

Koishi tried to say something, but she just muttered something inintelligible.

-I don't need you here. Out.

I turned around. Nobody took a single step. The stares and thoughts were still piercing me.

-OUT.

I noticed their footsteps were short and silent, as if they were expecting me to say something else. I focus back on my dessert.

Collapsed.

The souffl? collapsed with all the noise and shouting.

I grabbed the mold and put it away. The souffl? was pretty much ruined. There was no point in continuing.

I sat down and grabbed my head. It started to complain to me via headaches.

I knew I was getting frustrated for something so little like a dessert, but it still hurts when you take your time to carefully craft something and suddenly ruin it because of a single moment out of control. And it was so close to being finished, too.

Just because of that little moment of sudden anger, overloaded within me. It's just so frustrating...

"How is my family like my souffl?."

I smirked.

She knew how things are here better than I do.

In my family. In the Komeiji family.

Looks like I'll have to make some apologies to them. And extra souffl? as well.

[Iced Fairy]

Hammer!

Judging shall commence tomorrow

[Iced Fairy]

Judgement!

I was expecting disaster honestly given the number of last minute rush jobs.  However I found myself pleasantly surprised.  These entries were pretty solid.

UnspokenDyslexic : Not bad for a beginner.  Your base story was strong, you mainly need to get more polish.  Trim unneeded segues (like the Shrine box joke) and fill out the big plot jokes more.

capth: This fic was very descriptive of food, but suffered a lot for lack of  context.  You should work more at making WWC entries self contained.

Ibaraki Ibuki: This was a great idea that could have won with a bit more length and description.  Find some courage and write with a strong heart!  Communicate with your fics!

Sect, TAC:  Both stories were good and got a good laugh out of me.  However...

Kerigis!  Your story got favored status from the great wind library fish, breaking the tie in my brain!  A joke is nice, but a moral is fine too.  Enjoy your wordsmith title.  Just remember you still can't gnaw the books.  They're expensive.

Which brings us to the new topic

Spice and Wolf Tengu

Commerce.  The lifeblood of the world.  Well most worlds.  Mercantile activities have often been ignored in Gensoukyo do to the "take things" style of business.  However there are some shopkeepers about, and it's time for them to tell their story.  This contest is about the flow of goods and services, especially if that flow is aided by currency.

Once again this will be a two week contest.  The deadline is midnight Sunday March 11th PST.  Bargain well writers!

[Sect]

Spice and Wolf Tengu

*_*

[Gappy]

Author's Notes: My first WWC entry. It was rushed, but I really don't want to spend anymore time working on this. I need to get to work on other things. So please don't expect too much. Thank you for reading!

Retrospective Future Hopes under the Shadow of a Colossus

'Know the difference between merit and demerit, and deal out to each its reward and punishment.'

- Prince Shotoku, the Toyasatomimi, 604, The First 17 Laws of the Shotoku Constitution -


Summer of Year 124 - Year of Sun, Winter, and Wood, The Day of the 'Hisoutensoku Incident'


Where the boundless blue....meets the endless green....that is our Gensokyo....I couldn't even tell which was which, or where one ended and one began. Everything blurred into one as I spun...and spun....sky...sun....mountains....forest....more sky....random fairy...forest...sky....big colourful thing....forest...sky


I....want to...throw up....and I'm sure there's...something in the danmaku rules against using vomit as a projectile.....if it doesn't....it should....

Why should I care  about the rules anymore...I lost...I lost...I...*ULP*...I've lost it!

"ULLLRRRPPPrrppppppuughh....sorry....ugh....down below..."

BOINK

"Ouchouchouch...." There are many things one might find oneself crash-landing in in Gensokyo. The ground comes to mind first. Maybe a dense forest if one is lucky, maybe a lake if one is luckier, maybe even a hated/loved one if one is luckiest. But never would I have imagined crash-landing on a mysterious expanse of plasticky bounciness. Especially not in Gensokyo. I also never would have imagined landing in my own vomit, but let's not talk about it. Not right now.

....well, it's all kinds of difficult to ignore it, actually (Ewww).


Lady Suwako, I'm not feeding you. For a week. No telly or fresh lily pads either. I promise this time. I will follow through with my punishment, no matter what! Not even you try to sit on my head, or...or harass me, or fondle me...or...or....or ignore me! Yes, not even then!

OST:  Hevia - Busindre Reel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUA3sdyZ_Pw&feature=related

I slowly got up, very warily patting off whatever bits of my breakfast I could safely pat off my now-ruined shrinemaiden outfit. I tested the ground cautiously, fighting to keep my balance. Not only had I been hurled spinning a few hundred meters into the air by Lady Suwako, I have also lost my breakfast...(eww.) Worst of all, the ground wasn't cooperating. It was bouncy, and plasticky, and shiny, and big, and....colourful...and bouncy...and...kind of fun, actually....well, if it weren't for the big puddle of vomit....(ok, eww)....

What is this?

I very carefully staggered, bounced, slipped (ewww) and finally crawled my way across the mysterious expanse of 'ground' until....I saw the ground again...this time a good few hundred meters below me.

Aha. This is a balloon. A pretty big balloon.

What's a balloon doing in Gensokyo?

A colourful swarm of smaller balloons passed me on their way up into the clear blue sky. I caught one and found what looked like a rather cheerful cartoon kappa winking at me (the cheek!). A helpful speechbubble underneath it said, "未来水妖バザー" it said, ' mirai suiyou baz?', the 'Aquatic Youkai Future Expo' with liberal application of exclamation marks. So liberal in fact that it read 'Future Expo!!!!11!!1!!1!!!'. Someone, probably a kappa, was really excited, evidently.

I looked down below and found the ground alive with colour and life. Fairies, youkai and humans swarmed the ground and air. A ship floated through the air below, spewing confetti, trailing a massive banner advertising 'Captain Murasa's Gensokyo Air Service - Serving trade routes to Makai starting next month!'. Fairies flew past, trailing colourful smoke trails. Wait a moment, that's an airship? An actual airship? Like one of those world-travelling RPG plot device airships? And there's a route to Makai?

Further down below, on the ground, was a forest of tents, big and small, of every colour and shape. Thronging them were every manner of living and undead in Gensokyo. A small trail of smoke rose up from what looked like....was that a steam locomotive? What's a steam locomotive doing in Gensokyo?

As I tried to take all of this in, someone else down below was threatening to take me in in a different way.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" I heard her ask in the same tone someone would say 'hey, pal'. It was a young human girl sitting side-saddle atop...is that a missile? With a smiley face? She bore a massive shiny wooden plaque that helpfully read 'Expo Security' (maybe in case she forgot?).

"I-...." It took me a moment to try and decide whether or not I was. But I decided that saying 'yes' would probably be less hassle in the long run. "Y-yes, I'm fine, thanks. I'm sorry, but is this your balloon?"

"No, this is the Expo advertisement balloon. If you could please remove yourself from it....and....err....refrain from defiling it any further?" The girl said, with the face of someone who doesn't relish the thought of the next obvious task after removing me.

"Sure....sorry, I was....I was just looking for the entrance." I said.

"Right this way then, someone wishes to see you." The girl said, gesturing for me to follow. "I assume you can fly?" She was almost pleading. She obviously didn't relish the thought of having to carry me down either.

"Yes, I can." I was tempted for a moment to say 'no' just to see what would happen....but I decided to be nice and spare her the mental and physical anguish.

I followed her down to the ground. While escaping was probably quite easy, I didn't think I was in that much trouble. I would be under stricter security if I was to begin with (a little more than a single human girl riding a missile, at least). Besides, this fair's taking place on my...er...our turf.

I landed next to a big, white tent with a massive sign that read 'Expo Security'. A large number of fairy maids were flying in and out bearing the same 'Expo Security' plaque as the human girl. I saw a pair bear what looked like an utterly smashed man on a stretcher, who was singing the beer anthem in reverse. That was definitely a breach in the law. I paused for a moment as I realized the fairy maids were in fact maids from that lake mansion. Why are they running security?

"124 Years ago, Gensokyo came into existence." A person on a massive, majestic stage next to the security tent announced. "11 Years ago, a daring plan to create a unified Gensokyo was conceived. Today, my friends, brothers, sisters, I see a unified Gensokyo! A Gensokyo unified in purpose. A Gensokyo united by productivity, trade, the promise of food on the table tonight, tomorrow, and forevermore. A Gensokyo with a future." She declared, pausing between each statement for applauses and cheers. Then familiarity struck. She was that Myouren Temple monk. What is she doing here? Gathering faith behind our backs? In our territory? "I am happy to announce, friends, brothers, sisters, that despite the summer weather incident destroying last year's harvest, the human-youkai village of Meiji's first harvest will take place this autumn, and it promises to be abundant. Our brave and enterprising pioneers at Meiji village have worked hard with the new crop rotation and terrace farming techniques we've all developed together, and that hard work has paid off. We at the Myouren Temple are pleased, most pleased, to have the honour of storing Gensokyo's first ever food surplus this winter." This was met with cheers and claps from humans and youkai alike.

"Friends, brothers, sisters, this year will be a great year, for this will be a year of trade, a year of sharing. Meiji village has also become the first stepping stone in securing a new road, Ibuki Suika and Hinanai Tenshi's Road of Blossoms and Serenity, between the human village and the youkai mountain. The Human Village of Yamagawa, The Scarlet Devil Mansion, Meiji Village itself, and the Tengu Patrol will all work together in securing the road, night and day, making it safe for Gensokyo's first ever trade routes serving the human villages, the youkai village, the Tengu city and the Kappa Civic." More cheers, more claps.

"And early next year, Rika-san's Ancient City Express will depart on its maiden voyage delivering the first cargo load of trade to the Ancient Capital of Old Hell. Furthermore, we are proud to announce that our very own Captain Minamitsu Murasa will be captaining the first regular airship service to Makai, serving an all new trade route that will support the continuing recovery efforts in Makai." Even louder cheers.

"Today, at this Future Expo, it is our great pleasure to bring to you a glimpse of the future, of Gensokyo's bright, peaceful future! A future built by everyone, humans and youkai alike, for the  sake of everyone, humans and youkai alike! Brothers, sisters, join me in ushering in Gensokyo's future!" She threw up both hands, to a thunderous applause. Fairies and youkai took flight in synchrony, leaving coloured trails in the air. Something burst open in the balloons up above, spewing confetti and ribbons down towards the cheering crowd. Fireworks went up and burst into a multitude of colourful blossoming clouds.

OST: The Eternal Steam Engine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA9-_8mqgHg&feature=related

I looked around and found my human security person cheering and clapping excitedly as well, obviously forgotten her task. Who am I to interrupt her excitement?

I was just about to turn to sneak away  when I walked into someone who was in fact paying attention.

"Ah, are you alright?" She asked, sweetly. I did a double-take. How did you appear behind me when you were just in front...but...no, you're still in front...but you're also behind....

"You are....?" I blurted out in my confusion, realizing a little late that it was a rather rude thing to ask without introducing myself.

"I'm a member of Her Imperial Majesty Princess Kotohime's Royal Guard. I'm in charge of security here today." She said, with a professional smile and a bow. The jutte she carried in her sash should have been a massive clue, not to mention the royal guard crest she wore proudly about her forearm.

"I-I'm sorry..." I stuttered, "I should have introduced myself first. I am Kochiya Sanae, shrinemaiden of the Moriya Temple." I bowed, both in introduction and apology.

"And this is my younger sister." She placed a hand on the shoulder of the human girl who had guided me down before. Such an uncanny resemblance, with their long-flowing lilac hair, dark crimson eyes and the matching red and white samurai getup. "Meira....you met her up above, yes?"

The girl, Meira, almost leapt out of her skin. "I-...Oh....A-Aneue-sama*, S-Sorry...I- I was...."

*Aneue-sama - Honoured Elder Sister

"That's fine, as long as you're aware." The elder sister nodded kindly. "Princess Kotohime relies on us today. Let us do our best."

"H-hai, A-Aneue-sama!" Meira bowed deeply in reply, so quickly her samurai top-knot threatened to whip us both.

"Now, Kochiya-san, is it?" She turned to me.

"I'm sorry for crashing into the balloon!" I bowed deeply in apology.

This was met with a kindly chuckle. "That's quite fine. No harm done." She chuckled good-naturedly. "I doubt anyone will notice, though we should send some fairies up to get it cleaned up before the wind picks up, lest someone come to find your lunch on their heads." She said with a smile.

"My...umm...breakfast, actually...." I said, hesitantly.

"Ah, then you really must have lunch then. Shall we do that while we get your clothes cleaned for you?" She offered.

"Err....sorry?" I was really unsure at this point. Am I or am I not in trouble for something? Or is this what passes for punishment in Gensokyo?

"You are surely not attending the expo dressed in your breakfast. While we do not have a dress code perse, I'm sure society would generally plead to be spared that." She chuckled some more.

"I'm....attending?" That's news to me.

"Yes, we have been expecting you for a while now. You are the Moriya shrine maiden after all." The girl turned around and gestured for me to follow her. "Right this way. Let us see if there's anything your size."

I'm....I'm not fat!

"That was not what I was insinuating, Kochiya-san." She giggled, "The thing is, all our security uniforms were made for fairies."

Oh, I can see the problem there. I don't have wings, to start. But between going around stinking of natto* (double eww) or dressing like a fairy...it was a no-brainer.

*Natto: n. traditional Japanese fermented beans, often a breakfast item, most often eaten with raw eggs. Quite smelly, and is notorious for producing gas. Very bad gas.

A few moments later saw me walking out of the security tent wearing a short maid uniform. A very short maid uniform. I think it was an offence to not only common decency, it was an insult to common sense.

I looked around longingly at my shrine maiden uniform spinning around in one of the kappa washing machines, a very recent breakthrough in Gensokyo technology. The kappa in front of the stall featuring the washing machine was excitedly expounding on how well the machine was soaking my skirt, arm-sleeves, and....wait...you're not talking about my....no, no, you can't talk about my....nooooooo!

I burned in a hell of shame, giving off thick steam, as I watched the kappa pick out my unmentionables from the machine and show off to the amazed crowd how perfectly white and stain-free they had become ("Look how happy the froggy on it looks now!" She said. Froggy's always been happy, okay!). They weren't stained to begin with! What do you think I am?!

"You get your clothes cleaned and she gets some free advertising. Two birds with one stone." My royal guard minder smiled, seemingly amused at my plight.

I could only sniffle. Helplessly. I've been ruined for marriage, and it was to sell a washing machine.

"Is something the matter, Keikan-san*?"

*Keikan: Police officer

"Oh, no, nothing serious, Hijiri-sama, Kamishirasawa-sama." The royal guard person greeted the two new arrivals, the Myouren temple monk, Byakuren Hijiri, and the witch physician, Fuwafuwa Ellen.

I hadn't seen much of the Myouren monk since that incident in Hokai (I hear the people of Makai are still trying to clean up after our little meeting), but I heard she's been actively gathering faith in Yamagawa village. As for the witch, I've only seen glimpses of her on my rounds around the human villages. People go to her for medical help if they can't make the journey through the bamboo forest (Or, apparently, if their problem is too embarrassing. Ellen-sensei is known to be good about the whole confidentiality thing. Not that I've ever had need of her services, no.). They also go to her for actual magical services, things like personal spellcards (personal attack spellcards, rape alarm spellcards, that sort of thing). Apparently she keeps a magic store in an old western fortress mansion in the Dragon hills beyond the Little Princess Forest to the south of the lake. How anybody knows where it is is a mystery, as it was a location so far off the map that even the mailmen post the mail there.

 "We received reports of someone actually breaking into the underground Geyser centre. Apparently she thought that advertisement balloon was some sort of giant hiding inside the mountain." My minder reported.

Oh no. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be...well....so stupid. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It seemed like such a great idea back then. Whatever happens, please don't blush, me!

"Oh dear, I hope nothing serious happens." The Myouren monk said.

"A wolf tengu squad led by Momiji-san has gone to inspect the geyser centre. And the reactor is offline today with all the kappa and the security here at the expo." The police person replied. "We also had someone crash into our advertisement balloon."

"I told the kappa we have enough air traffic hazards as it is with all the alcohol, but they wouldn't listen. We have to deal with the drunk-flying." Ellen-sensei sighed.

I...err...wasn't drunk...unless you considering being drunk on your own vomit being actually drunk....

"Well, shall we have lunch, then? Care to join us, Hijiri-san? Ellen-sensei?" My minder offered. The monk and witch were quick to say yes.

My immediate reflex was to reach for my cellphone to tell Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama, but all I managed to accomplish was checking the time.

"Oh, isn't that one of those outside-world devices?" Ellen-sensei asked, curious. "What a nice, fluffy pink~ I see outside-worlders have developed an appreciation for fluffiness~"

"It's useless though, here in Gensokyo." I sighed, half to myself.

"And yet you carry it around." The Myouren monk pointed out.

"It's....habit." I found myself replying lamely, at a loss for sense or reason, "I just find it reassuring to have in my pocket."

"Ah, so it is useful." The Myouren monk smiled, "It reassures you. And you can't same the same of most things, especially in Gensokyo. I myself find my cute little Shou's tail reassuring~"

I don't know if we can compare my cellphone to a tiger youkai's tail. For one thing, my cellphone won't snap my fingers off if I pull on my cellphone strap.

Before I knew it (I couldn't say no, could I?) I was whisked off through the fairgrounds. We passed many, many stalls and tents along the way, each a small hive of activity. We dodged visitors, entertainers and street peddlers as we wove a trail through the crowd. It was almost as packed as the conventions back in the outside world. And just like those conventions, sense and sanity were at a premium too.

"Come visit the Lunarian temporary exhibition, right here in this Expo! Come see the lunar rocks, lunar dust, and the all-popular lunar rabbit!"

"Lamprey eels! With real lamprey!"

"Yakitori! With real birds!"

"Hey!"

"Come test out the Nightbug insect messaging service! We do wake-up calls with your choice of creepy-crawlies or fluttering-fluffies! Now insecticide-proof! Free for the first week...!"

"Come try out the latest dream medicine! Guaranteed clinical safety as assessed by the Eientei Drug Administration! We guarantee you will definitely wake up.......refreshed!"

"Sign up for your choice of Cat Cart Corpse Carrier Service plan today, folks! Our new instalment plan guarantees effective removal at affordable costs!"

As we squeezed our way past the throngs of people, I got to chat with the Myouren monk and the witch more.  "And that is the new steam engine." The Myouren monk pointed out a massive contraption of bulbous metal tanks and pipes on wheels, only barely resembling a steam locomotive, to me. "Rika had designed it years ago, but only now have we all realized a reason to build it."

"And that is...?" I asked, trying my best to peer over the crowd gathered around the tent housing the locomotive, all listening to a very excited girl speak proudly of the new applications for the locomotive.

"A new trade route into the Ancient Capital." Ellen filled in. "That means we'll be able to get plenty of oni sake up here~" She pointed out another stand where people sporting fake oni horns were peddling samples.

"Ancient City Sake, from the Ancient City! Get your authentic oni sake right here!"

"We'll also be able to get things like these delicious Toringo crabapples that only grow deep in the youkai mountain." The Myouren monk said, passing me a bag of crabapples as she took a bite from her own.

"Mini-hakkeros, affordable and safe! Bring home your very own portable heater, cooker and laser canon today! Comes with a free mini-ICBM for the first 10 purchases!" I listened to the peddlers as I chewed on my crabapples thoughtfully. Trade....huh? I've...never really seen youkai as anything more than creatures to exterminate. Suddenly, the prospect of trading with them....it was quite overwhelming....

"Clean, safe, nuclear energy for your homes! Don't use just any electricity to power your kettle and kotatsu! Accept nothing but nuclear electricity!"

We came to a halt at what looked a solid wall of people, queuing, snaking all the way to the entrance to the expo. As we looked around for a way through, I heard a familiar voice.

"You're going to sign up to live in Meiji village?" It was the clever little mouse commander I shot down a while back.

"Yes. I've run out of space for my books at Kourin's and I can't live at your place at the Myouren temple forever." An unfamiliar youkai, a crested ibis from the look of her hair and wings, replied.

"But this queue's massive! It'll take all day!" The mouse youkai complained.

"It sure looks like a lot of people are interested in living in Meiji village." Ellen-sensei said.

"These are exciting times for us." The Myouren monk nodded. "It will be our first social experiment with humans and youkai living together side by side."

OST: Kanade - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DopmtkDkHwY&feature=related

"Wait, that's a recipe for disaster!" I blurted out, almost choking on my crab apples, before I could stop myself.

"Why do you think so?" The Myouren monk asked, with a polite smile.

"Because...." I hesitated. It was obvious, wasn't it? Youkai eat humans. It's always been that way. It'd be like a one-stop all-you-can-eat buffet right outside your own house.

"I'm a youkai, Kochiya-san~" Ellen said with a giggle, "A fluffy one no less~ And you look oh so delicious in that really short maid outfit~ What's stopping me from gobbling you all up~<3?"

"W-wait, p--please d-don't look at me like that!" I squeaked, shielding what little modesty I had left. "Y-you....you don't eat humans, Ellen-sensei!"

"Why though?" Ellen said with a teasing smile, "I could hardly hold myself back~<3"

"That's because...." I began....I thought it was clear in my head. Youkai have always eaten humans. But....why don't all of them do? In fact....I haven't heard of that many such incidents lately. "I....I don't know...."

"I suppose it's mainly because I have nicer things to eat~" She giggled. "Hard as it may seem, considering we're talking about Kochiya-san~" She winked at me playfully.

No, it's okay, I think I don't mind losing out to other foodstuff in terms of deliciousness.

"Hime-chan, you mean?" The Myouren monk teased.

"Oh, no, no, of course not, you silly~" Ellen laughed, "No, no, I mean, I make a good living off being the local witch and physician. I earn enough to feed myself, Socrates and Hime-chan. Isn't that so, Socrates?" She petted the kitten resting on her shoulder, who purred sensuously in reply. "The other reason being that eating your customers, potential or otherwise, is rather bad for business."

"Regular, stable and safe meals are definitely more desirable than irregular, sparse and risky ones, especially when the risk involves running into youkai exterminators....such as yourself." The Myouren monk nodded at me with a smile.

"Besides, I think a nice, warm bowl of miso soup warms the heart more than a mound of rotting human flesh." Ellen-sensei said.

It seemed unreal now when they put it that way. Still....youkai really do still eat humans. "It still happens." I pointed out. "Why?"

"How much food do you think we have?" Ellen-sensei asked.

I realized too late that my knowledge of Gensokyo's logistics were quite lacking. "...Enough?" I guessed, lamely.

"Barely enough for the human villages." Ellen nodded.

"The demand far outstrips supply and any attempt to make any trade of it would result in prices too high for any human to afford. Thus the market is controlled artificially via rationing." The monk explained. "Now, if there is barely enough for humans, would they sell to youkai?"

"No." I bit my lip at this obvious yet rather...well....painful realization.

"No. Besides, you wouldn't trade or share food with people who might have you as the side dish, right?" Ellen pointed out.

"Besides, what would youkai pay with? There isn't a unified currency, and most youkai outside the tengu city and kappa civic can't really find paying jobs." Ellen said.

"So that's why they eat humans or steal food from humans?" I asked, mostly to myself.

"Indeed." The Myouren monk nodded. "And that sows anger, hatred, distrust, leading to youkai exterminations. That in turn leads to more anger, hatred and distrust, leading to more killings. And so the cycle continues."

No, I....I've always fought for the sake of humanity....right? I wasn't only killing youkai for the sake of exterminating them. I....I....this is unfair. You can't say this.

"But...we....we had to." I gritted my teeth, "We had to." Was all I could say.

"Yes. The youkai had to too." The Myouren monk nodded.

"You're saying you've fixed everything?!" I suddenly burst out, hotly. "All this will stop it all?" I felt tears welling up. This was unfair. Most unfair.

"No, we haven't. But we hope we've at least begun to." The Myouren monk said. "Meiji village will be testing out many new farming techniques which will increase our food production manifold. We will have many new granaries, including the Myouren Temple, to store all the surplus we produce. And with the surplus in hand, we can begin to trade, providing food for the youkai. In return, they will provide wares, services, security, a lot of things that will benefit humanity. This way, everyone can progress together."

"We're not saying that we'll stop having feral youkai who go about hunting humans, those who don't respect the danmaku rules." Ellen-sensei said. "But at least this way the more civilized youkai have a choice. So will humans."

Choice...? So...if they had a choice....maybe they didn't have to die by my hands....maybe I didn't have to kill them...they might have lived differently...like any other human being....working hard...selling wares...eating good food...raising children....living happy lives....

....did I ever stop to think?....did I ever stop to give them that chance? But....but if I didn't kill them....more people would have died....humans...but....but....

"Youkai must fight. Only that way can Youkai exist. If they ceased, so would they, and so would Gensokyo." I remember Reimu-san saying. Thus Reimu-san's danmaku rules. But then...you can't simply solve this with trade, right? Will danmaku ever be a perfect substitute for all the killing and destruction?

"The person who came up with all this once said, 'Stories no longer end with the final boss, and we live in a library of stories.' She saw the world as one big incident and sought to solve it. All of it. This is what she came up with." Ellen-sensei said.

Such a person exists? A person who could put so much faith into both humanity and youkai alike? A fight beyond danmaku battles and boss fights....A fight that looked beyond the enemy and saw an entire world of circumstances, conditions, reasons....a fight against everything that was wrong with the world....

My train of thought was interrupted by the crowd parting before us. "Make way for Her Imperial Majesty Princess Kotohime!" A herald cried as a procession of courtesans and courtiers passed before a number of heavily-built men bearing a large, ornately decorated golden palanquin that bore the Kotohime Imperial Crest.

"That's Princess Kotohime from the human capital of Kotokyo. She's here to discuss the terms of the new unified Gensokyo code of law with the leaders of all the other Gensokyo settlements. The laws will cover many things including trade and the new unified currency, but the main issue will be a new law outlawing the murder of any sentient being within Gensokyo." The monk said.

Then....what will I do? Killing youkai and gathering faith is all I know how to do in Gensokyo.

"Of course, this means you'll be even busier, Kochiya-san." Ellen-sensei must have noticed the look on my face for she immediately patted me reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Huh....how?" I looked up.

OST: Initial Impulse - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwAnIrUIbew&feature=related

"The laws will make arrangements for a number of appointed Sheriffs to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. They are hoping you, Hakurei-san and Kirisame-san would be willing." the monk said. "I made the recommendation, actually."

"Wait....You mean I'll get to be a sheriff? Like in those space anime?" I gasped. Yes, it doesn't take much to brighten up, I'm embarrassed to admit. The very mention of 'Sheriffs' is enough to make me as giddy as a schoolgirl. Wait, I still am a schoolgirl.

"H-hey!" I gasped, as something fast pushed past my shoulder roughly, almost knocking me over. I barely glimpsed a rather unkempt black pair of wings disappear into the crowd. My well-hone outside-world reflexes kicked in. I patted my pockets (what few this maid uniform had) and found myself sans one cellphone. Yes, I have been pick-pocketed. "P-Pickpocket!" I called out in panic.

But no sooner had I cried out when the crowd before me suddenly parted in a wide circle. There on the ground lay my pickpocket, a young youkai girl dressed in shabby rags, her long, russet hair a tussled mess on the trodden grass.

"Oh, we do apostatize." A young redhead dressed in a blood-red kimono said as she turned from her rubbish cart. "It's difficult to narrate a refuse cart amidst this crowd."

Someone give this redhead a dictionary. But it seems she had at least tripped over my pickpocket.

"Hime-chan, she's a pickpocket." Ellen said to the redhead. I was quicker.  It was reflex, pure and simple. A youkai had wronged me. That youkai will meet my gohei. I had bore down upon the downed youkai, gohei in hand, strict vengeance in mind.

"Oh, she is, is she?" The redhead, apparently named 'Hime-chan', asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, lick-choc'lit-chan, you've just pick-pocketed the most violacious youkai excreternator in Gensokyo. Do you know what that means?" She bent down to talk to the youkai.

I heard a sob from the young youkai girl. She was trembling. As I set the gohei on her neck, she hiccupped, crying. 

She was crying. She was scared.

Like a girl. A human girl.

I paused, holding my gohei still.

Reason, common sense...I am not beyond them.

Why did she try to steal my phone?

...Because from the looks of her it was probably everything between her and her next meal.....

Why is she so shabby and dirty? Why is she dressed in rags?

....Because she has nothing....

She's a youkai, a tengu no less. Don't they take care of their own?

....Obviously not....What did it take to be accepted in Tengu society? Any society? It was the same, no matter where, the poor are shunned by society....

Why is she like this?

....Choice....those who have a choice....wouldn't want to live that way...wouldn't want to eat humans or steal from them....

Did she not have parents to take care of her and provide for her? No self-respecting parent would allow their child to be so unkempt.

...Maybe she didn't have any. Maybe they were exterminated. Exterminated while fighting to provide for her.....

Who am I to judge her? To deal death upon her? Who is the enemy I must vanquish? Not the girl before me....it was circumstance....conditions...the world...

"Is this not one of those outside-world spellphones? They're good for taking pictures, are they not?" The redhead Hime-chan's words broke my train of thought. She threw the phone back into my hands. "Good phone you have there, maid-san. Better not lose it again. Goodbye, nameless Tengu-chan. Say hello to the yama for me." And with that, she turned to leave, rubbish cart in tow.

Pictures?

Isn't that what Tengu do? No, they have an entire caste of society dedicated to journalism and photography. If you can take pictures, you can earn, you can make something of yourself, you can fit in, you can become part of society.

OST: My Most Precious Treasure - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxXlP_xuN8M

If you can take pictures....

If you have something as simple as a camera....as simple as a cellphone....

She probably didn't realize the value of this object to her. Not just as a potential fish, but as a fishing pole.

I knelt by her shivering form and...for the first time in my life...I whispered words of comfort to a youkai, "It's alright, I won't hurt you. Please, let me look at you." I raised her face and saw the most beautiful pair of dark, golden eyes peer back at me in absolute terror from under the mess of soft, velvety russet hair. They were flooded with tears that now stained her grimy yet pretty, shapely face. I gently wiped her tears away with my sleeves and pulled her up onto her knees. "Do you want this?" I asked her, holding the cellphone up to her.

She shook her head, her eyes wide with panic and fear.

"I'm giving this to you." I said, pressing it into her trembling palms and clasping them close around it. "It's yours now."

She shook her head even more violently in absolute terror. "P-please...." She pleaded, her voice, soft, yet melodious, despite shivering with fear. "P-please....I-I'm s-sorry....I...I'm r-really sorry..."

"This device can take pictures." I explained, "You can get a job taking pictures for one of the Tengu newspapers, can't you? With this you can earn for yourself, can't you?"

It was a wonder, watching her expression. Shock, surprise, took over fear and terror....and then hope bloomed, with it, choice. Perhaps for the first time in her life she had a choice. Happiness welled up, and with it, tears. Tears of joy, relief, streamed down her face.

"T-T-Thank you, miss...." She sobbed, bubbling with happiness. "T-Thank you..."

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"I....I d-don't...." She looked down, "I'm....s-sorry miss, I...I d-don't have a name....I...never k-knew m-m-my p-parents...."

Why must she apologize? For not having a name? For not having parents? For not having a choice?

"That won't do. You need a name to get a job." I smiled softly at her, "....I'm a shrine maiden of the Moriya shrine. Bestowing names is one of my jobs. Shall I....give you one?"

She looked up at me, surprised, but seemingly eager. She nodded her head, her expression rapt with anticipation and attention.

I gave this long, careful thought, calling upon my experience as a shrine maiden, but also drawing upon the revelation the young girl has bestowed upon me.

I decided.

"'Hatate*', so you may stand tall, no matter how many times you fall." I said, helping her up onto her shaky feet. Her stomach growled at me at that point. I giggled as she blushed a deep red. I reached into my bag and brought out a clump of crab apples.  "And 'Himekaidou*', so that your life may be fruitful and happy." I said, pressing the crab apples into her palms. "That plenty be your lot in life, that fulfilment be your destiny."

*Hatate = Standing

*Himekaidou = A species of Japanese crab apples. It can also mean 'Berry Princess'.

"Ha...Hatate....Hime...kaidou...." She repeated after me, in a soft, teeny whisper of awe. "...Hatate....Hatate...." She suddenly choked in her excitement, hiccuping softly, "Ha...Hatate...I'm Hatate....I'm Himekaidou Hatate...." She suddenly broke into a fresh wave of tears, bawling with happiness, as she buried her face in my chest.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her trembling form close. Her soft, heaving body was so small, so fragile, yet warm and full of life, full of potential, full of a bright new future. I don't know if anybody else has ever been there for her, but today I will be. I will fight my final boss. I will win the day. I will be there for her today.

And, little did I know, for many, many more to come....

Applause broke out all around us. The crowd was clapping. Some were crying. All were cheering.

A little way off I spotted that Myouren monk and Ellen-sensei standing next to....that redhead rubbish cart puller Hime-chan? They smiled back, nodding with approval.

The day was won. Today, we won another victory. The story didn't end with a final boss, not some giant mecha, not some evil youkai or scheming demon....but with evil itself. Today a soul was saved from the service of evil. Today a future was born.

Hatate-chan went on to work for one of the Tengu newspapers. She had it hard, getting in, starting out, but she worked even harder. She stood tall, and soon became editor of her own small newspaper, the Kakashi Spirit News. 3 years after she became central to a great revolution that engulfed the entirety of Gensokyo.....but that's another story altogether. In short, however, her life was happy and fruitful.

Since then she has always claimed that I saved her. Perhaps I did. Perhaps the biggest miracle I ever accomplished in my life was no miracle at all. But therein was the miracle itself. She, in fact, saved me. She was my first choice, and was the first of many more. She gave me a future, a future of choices.

Today, Gensokyo celebrated the future. A happier, more peaceful future. A future of choices. A future for everyone.

To be continued, 3 years into the future, in Maniacal Justice in Bloody Red White

ED Song - My Most Precious Treasure by Amanda Lee - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF_V_e5mjJc

[capt. h]

I decided I would only enter with what I could write in under and hour. I finished in 40 minutes.  :ohdear:

___________________________

?Hello! And welcome to the Scarlet Devil Mansion! You?re late!? Remilia chastised the soggy Satori.

?I?m only here because of the rain.?

?Exactly! And who did you think decided it would rain today, and you would take shelter in my mansion? Obvious me, Mistress of Fate!? Remilia shouted to the heavens as lighting flashed her silhouette across the room. ?Great timing as always Patchy!?
   
A maid appeared out of thin air next to the small vampire and began whispering something in her ear. Satori caught bits and pieces about not revealing how tricks are done, and Satori could clearly see in Remilia?s mind the image of a librarian coughing up her lungs. Truly these were strange people.
   
?Don?t ruin my fun.? Remilia pouted at the maid.
   
The maid responded ?As you wish, my lady,? and began serving drinks from a bottle that appeared out of thin air. ?Please enjoy the hospitality of the Scarlet Devil Household, Miss Komeiji.?
   
?I already know you want to bilk me for money. Your minds are practically screaming it.?
   
?Correct!? Remilia said. ?Mind reading is a very profitable business, doubly so since hell opened up, and I know you make a pretty penny loaning your pet raven to the gods. You wouldn?t want anything happening to your family, would you? That?s why you should hire us for protection!?
   
?From yourselves.?
   
?Right again!? Remilia declared. ?Or you may find Flandre Scarlet ?escapes? for a playdate in the Palace of the Earth Spirits! The girl can be just so hard to control sometimes,? Remilia said with an exaggerated woe-is-me expression. She then started rubbing her fingers ?Some extra money could make it a bit easier to keep her locked up. Help pay for stronger walls, you know.?
   
?Fair enough,? Satori said. ?But you should really buy yourself some nuclear insurance though. You know, to protect yourselves. From accidents.?
   
?Ah, an old pro at the game, eh??
   
?I?ve had experience. When you run the only mind-reading operation for hundreds of years, you pick up a few tools.?
   
?I know what you mean. For hundreds of years, we were the people to go to when someone or something just HAD to be destroyed,? Remilia said, clutching her fist. ?Whether it be the Gates to the Netherworld, Reimu?s shrine, or the great border of Gensokyo, you buy it we?ll break it! And before you ask, no, we don?t take immortals.?
   
?I wasn?t going to.?
   
?Good, because we don?t. Anyway, about your protection??
   
?I would buy that nuclear insurance soon, if I were you. I might just offer a discount if you purchase today.?
   
            6 hours later?
   
?So we agree to negotiate prices the same time next week, while offering our services for free until then,? Remilia declared, signing a parchment and handing it to Satori.
   
Satori signed it as well ?Agreed. Negotiations will continue in the Palace of the Earth Spirits. Your blood is good, but you haven?t lived until you've had hell?s sake.?
   
The two shook hands as Remilia said, ?At the Scarlet Devil Mansion, we aim to please!?

[Conqueror]

Whoops, deadline's already here. And here I wanted to cook up a quickie with the Moriya crowd in some harebrained Ponzi scheme where "everybody has a share."  :ohdear:

[capt. h]

Whoops, deadline's already here. And here I wanted to cook up a quickie with the Moriya crowd in some harebrained Ponzi scheme where "everybody has a share."  :ohdear:

You have 3 hours, 15 minutes. Deadline is in Californian time.

[Esifex]

You have 3 hours, 15 minutes. Deadline is in Californian time.

And technically, it's actually open until one of the judges says its closed. If they end up slacking off and letting the deadline slip by without noticing, then they just issue an extension like usual have to deal with the consequences~ <3

[Iced Fairy]

Esifex has the right of it.  I am going to give a one week extension given the number of people who are deadline rushing and the number of entrants.  Gappy and capth of course get tiebreaker points.

For all you jokers going "oh good I can relax," get back to writing!  The only reason this is a week long deadline is because I don't wanna judge mid week.  I expect you to all be done far before next Sunday.  Other wise : :flamingv:

[Sect]

I'm not sure if this makes as much sense as I thought it would when I first wrote it. Also, prepare for a lot of talking.

Inspired by Himiko.



"You're makin' it sound easier than it'll actually be."

It took Kanako a few moments to realize that she was interrupted in the middle of her speech. She fought down the indignation rising like bile, and thickly asked, "Why do you say that, oni?" The oni, one of the largest people the goddess had ever seen without going into ridiculous proportions beyond a normal human, smiled ? smirked, Kanako groused internally ? as she poured more of the goddess's sake into a red cup.

"Don't get so offended, goddess," Yuugi remarked as she balanced the dish on a finger with expert dexterity. "Just tellin' it to you from an underground perspective. It's a pretty neat idea 'n all, but I think it'll be an uphill battle to get everyone else to switch to your money."

Kanako forced herself to calm down: no sense in getting mad over an oni being blunt with their opinions. "And why, may I ask, is it an 'uphill battle'? It seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, with the walls between the exiled youkai and the surface dwellers being torn down. It would encourage trade and foster good relations if everyone used the same currency," she said, gesturing at the low table where a stack of currency bills and coins, modeled after the currency of the modern Japan Kanako and her shrine had left.

Yuugi drank from the dish, sighing at the taste of the alcohol. "Well, yeah, I guess it would. But, coupl'a  problems. First," she plucked one of the paper bills from the table, and impetuously crinkled it in between her fingers, "these things are way too flimsy for us. We drink hard, fight hard, and play hard: a good ol' tumble will tears these things up," the bill ripped on cue, "makin' them pretty useless to us." Yuugi flicked the ruined bill onto the table, crumpled and torn. Kanako stared at the bill impassively.

"Paper bills are easy to produce, and their small size makes it easy to carry large numbers of them, though. It's a lot more convenient to carry large numbers of them than a bunch of small coins."

Yuugi shrugged, draining the cup. "Yeah, but we really don't deal with lots of cash at once, so it's kinda moot for us." Kanako frowned as she watch Yuugi poured some more sake.

"Really? But what about paying for crops for market? Or construction? Those are projects that cost a lot of money."

"Well," Yuugi drawled as she set down the cup. The oni leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, staring at the interested goddess. "Lemme tell you the other reason why it'll be tough to convince them to switch to this 'yen' business. What's money based on?"

Kanako wasn't really sure where the oni was going with the question. "Well, it depends, I guess. Most currencies were based on how much gold or silver the minter had in their stockpiles, but more recently it's just the government saying that a hundred yen is worth such and such."

"In other words... faith." Kanako blinked, then her eyes widened. Yuugi grinned. "I knew that'd get your attention. Money's worth as much faith or trust as the person has in the person forging the money, right? 'This much money will get me this much food'."

Kanako nodded. "I see... but how does that tie into you not using large amounts of currency at once?"

"Well... we underground tend to prefer to just barter. 'Build me a house and I'll feed you for a month'. 'Give me some rice and I'll do some labor for you'. 'Weave me a shirt and I'll beat up that mook that's been hecklin' you'. You know, simple stuff. Of course, then you run into the problem of you wantin' something but don't got anything that the person that has it wants. Back in the day, we'd solve that problem by stealin' the thing from someone else to pay off the guy, or steal the thing we want directly. 'Course... well, with us now living in close proximity of each other, that stopped workin' so well. Lots of bad blood, and got to the point where it wasn't that everyone was stealing shit so much as it was that everyone was just trying to get their shit back." She sipped the sake, and reached into the folds of her skirt.

Kanako raised an eyebrow as Yuugi dropped a stack of coins, held together by a leather cord, on top of the goddess's proposed currency with a heavy thud and clatter. The coins were pretty large and thick, with the smallest being the size of her thumb, and the largest being palm sized. "So, coins were introduced. That way, you didn't have to figure out what the brewer wanted if all you wanted to do was just get a drink of sake." The goddess peered at the coins with interest.

"So what's the difference between the coins?" Yuugi untied the cord, letting the coins scatter across the table. She plucked three coins and tossed them to Kanako, who caught them easily.

"There's only three different kinds of coins. Smallest is worth a cup of sake. The next biggest'll get you a bottle of it. The biggest will get ya a jug." Kanako stared at the oni incredulously.

"You based your economy on sake?!"

Yuugi grinned as she tipped the cup of alcohol back. "Hey, it's what we're interested in, and it makes things easy to remember. Of course, we learned the hard way how much of a pain it can be when prices and all that change. One year, rice growers-"

"I'm still amazed you can even grow anything underground. I'd love to find out the secret..." Yuugi gave the goddess a flat look.

"Hey, you wanna let me finish?" Kanako waved apologetically as she returned to inspecting the oni's coins. "Anyways, the farmers had a huge surplus of rice, but sake brewers didn't have enough coin to buy the rice, and nothing else to barter with. So, more coins got forged, and that helped out a lot. That came back to bite us in the ass when a few years later there was a shortage and you got a lotta sober oni with the coin to spend, but not enough sake to go around. Well, after the fires settled, we ended up having to figure out how to not completely screw ourselves the next time shit like that happened. Now we got a coupla' smart youkai handlin' all that fluctuation stuff, lettin' people know how much such 'n such costs. Sake prices still cost the same, everything else just kinda shifts around it."

Kanako nodded, frowning as she considered the oni's tale. "Interesting... there's something I noticed." She pushed a few of the coins towards Yuugi. "All of these coins look different. Doesn't that mean that some of these might be counterfeit?"

"Oh, no, that's pretty easy to figure out. Remember what I said about trust 'n all that? Well, oni don't really lie, but it doesn't mean that it's not a pain in the ass to get them to agree that Ogi's coin is just as good as Nemu's. Add in the fact that the other youkai down there aren't that trustworthy, and... well. So, we made the decision early on that only certain people can forge the coins."

"Really? And who are those 'certain people'?" Yuugi grinned, and jerked a thumb at herself.

"You're lookin' at her. Me 'n Suika and the other Devas. We're the strongest of the oni, and wealthiest. Our word's as good as anything, so the other oni and the youkai down there know that whatever we say goes." Yuugi reached forward and shifted around the coins. "Take another look at 'em coins." Kanako did so, and blinked.

"They're different... but there's only three variations." Yuugi nodded, picking up two of the coins, one of which was carefully molded with intricate designs, and the other looking like someone just beat the metal into submission with their fist.

"Me 'n the others all have our different ways of workin' metal, and we can instantly recognize our own stuff. If someone thinks the coin is fake, they just call us up and we take a look. If it's fake, we beat the shit outta the counterfeiter. If it's real, we beat the shit outta the other person for wasting our time. It's worked really well, so we don't got much problem with it. The only time someone's tried to pass off fake coins in the last century or so was some shapeshifter con. She won't be forgettin' that lesson any time soon," she chuckled.

Kanako nodded as she studied the coins with renewed interest. "I see... so, why does that make it difficult for them to accept this new currency?" Yuugi plucked the coins from the goddess's fingers, stringing them back on the cord.

"Well... to be honest, we don't got faith in you." Yuugi didn't wince at the sudden indignation from the goddess. "Not that kinda faith, but I guess that's not much different. People down there don't know much about you, only that you fed the satori girl's pet crow something and now she's spitting fireballs everywhere. It might be easy for humans or tengu to accept your money, but us oni don't know if you're good for your word. Meanwhile, they know that this," she jangled the coins in her hand, "will get them liquored up well 'n good. Plus, we're pretty conservative folk, 'n we're not likely to change things when what we've got is working."

Kanako listened with a stern expression on her face, drumming her fingers on the table. "I see. Is there any way their minds could be changed?" Yuugi shrugged.

"I guess you could make yourself known? Lotta youkai down there don't even know who you are." Yuugi drained her cup, and got to her feet, stretching and popping joints. "Though... I wouldn't feed the bird girl anything else: we appreciate the fire, but she's a bit of a bird brain, and I think Komeiji's already a bit ticked about you stealing her away." Kanako's brow furrowed.

"I didn't steal Utsuho away..." Yuugi's only response was a chuckle as she left the sitting room, leaving Kanako with her thoughts.

[Iced Fairy]

Deadline

Now I sleep.  Judge tomorrow

[Iced Fairy]

Well that's a first....   Sadly I have to keep to deadlines, especially deadlines after a week long extension.  :X  Still it can be archived into the annals of stories for future library reference.

Now for judging.

capth, while amusing your story is more an extortion racket then standard commerce.  The negotiations were a good place to stuff more detail too.  Still there were a few good lines in there.

Gappy, your tale was a little unfocused.  I think you fell afoul of the issue that plagues all who've attempted to splice in a link to an ongoing story.  I liked some of the ideas though.

Anathe, it looks unfinished, but the body is mostly there.  The growth of Mystia's trade empire is interesting, as well as the reasons for it.

And as those with pattern recognition may have guessed the winner is Sect.  His story was spot on the topic, and it hit the points it needed too while still covering all the ground it could.  I wished for a little more intro, but that's a minor nitpick.  You can trade in your duck for a Cowboy hat now Sect.  And I offer one other prize.  Specifically I'm going to use that topic you were so gung ho about.  Or rather, the topic will be....

Crossovers

There had been talk of doing a Disney crossover for some time, but given the difficulty of that topic I'm willing to lower the bar.  Any crossover is acceptable (Except Seihou.  That's cheating.)  Touhou and Disney?  Go.  Touhou and Madoka?  Start figuring out Marisa's witch.  Touhou and My Little Pony?  We won't judge you (except on a literary basis).

Once again you have two weeks.  Begin!

[OkashiiKisei]

What exact kind of crossover are we required to write though? 1) Touhou characters replacing the characters of another 'verse (or vice versa), 2) characters from both 'verses alongside one another or  3)Touhou with a world or way of life similar to that of another series?

Examples of each type:
1) Eirin, Reisen, Tewi, Kaguya and Mokou fill in the roles of respectively Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach and Bowser in a Mario adventure.
2) Reimu and Marisa appearing as partners in a Kingdom Hearts game, with a Gensokyo level as well.
3) The realm of Gensokyo now resembles the realm of Ivalice, with the Touhou characters having a life style akin to the characters from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Or are we allowed to pick any of those?

[Iced Fairy]

Or are we allowed to pick any of those?

You are allowed to pick any of those.

[capt. h]

Real life's a pain, so I'm posting the unfinished product now.

And no, I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote this. But I'm sure it was something.

***

?Are you sure?? the girl in the red suspenders asked.
?No?? the maid said with a wave of her hand. ?But the mistress is, and you know how she can be.?
?Alright then.? The first girl said nonchalantly.
?Now Flan, be a good girl and do everything Mokou says. Also, come home by sunrise!? the maid told a little blond girl with fancy, crystalic wings.
?O.K. Sakuya!?  The little girl yelped, as the maid literally disappeared into thin air. ?So, what game are we playing tonight??
?Burn down the bamboo forest,? Mokou replied.
?I?d love too!? Flandre squealed, before quickly shifting to disappointment. ?But sis doesn?t like it when I break stuff.?
?This is an exception,? Mokou explained. ?Kaguya Houraisan and Eirin Yagokoro supply nearly 90% of narcotics consumed in the human village, and they operate out of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. We?re going to flush their operation out.?
?They do? Why?? the little girl asked.
?Money.? Mokou replied. ?All the great houses became great by lending out services only they can provide. Yakumo can undercut anyone when it comes to shipping objects from the outside world, the Komeiji lend out their raven for fusion not to mention that their mind-reading services are constantly hired to solve crimes, and Houraisan can provide the best drugs more efficiently than anyone.?
?And sis? She doesn?t have anything like that.?
?Your sister does a lot of extortio-taxation. People pay your whole household to, frankly, not kill everything. But the Houraisan?s have a lot of undeclared income.?
?What?s that mean?? the little girl said, with a slight tilt of her head.
?They didn?t pay their taxes, so you can break their stuff.? That brought a sparkle to the girl?s eyes as she  went to rush ahead. Mokou quickly grabbed her by the collar. Though the idea was to make things messy, it was obvious that telling the vampire to rampage was a bad idea.
?Now hold it scamp. Beat up whatever you want and break everything you can, but try not to kill anything.?
Flandre gave Mokou a blank expression.
?It?s pretty hard to break a forest without killing a few trees,? the girl said.
?I mean don?t kill rabbits or any of the other animals,? Mokou explained.
?But how can I play with them if I don?t break them??
Mokou glanced somewhere above Flandre?s head in though before responding. ?You can play with anything that can stand up until it can?t stand anymore. But try to keep them moving.?
?That sounds horribly cruel. If you?re going to break something, you should break it properly, and end the pain. Not leave the job half-done.?
Mokou started rubbing the back of her neck. Flandre Scarlet ?You break the things that don?t move, I?ll break the things that do. Alright??
?Fine, I guess.? She said, somewhat disappointed.
?Alright, lets begin.? Mokou threw a pokeball, and a red dog came out of it.
?Puppy! Aw, who?s a cute little furry.?
?Don?t play with it, it can break.?
?Drat,? Flandre said. Mokou then took a strange leaf out of her pocket, which the dog sniffed.
?Use Odor Sleuth.? The dog barked twice, and began winding its way forward through the bamboo groves, Mokou and Flandre close behind.
?What?s the deal with the dog?? the little girl asked.
?It?s tracking the smell of the poppy plant to Kaguya?s farms.?
?No, I mean, why is it red, and how did it fit in the tiny ball??
?It?s called a pokemon. They were introduced to Gensokyo, I dunno, ten years ago? They?re new, pretty tough and obedient to a fault. And as for the ball, I have no idea how they work but the balls are convenient as hell.? Mokou paused for a second. ?You know, we aren?t trying to be subtle,? she said. ?You could just tear a road straight through the thicket.?
?K, stand back.? The girl said. ?Taboo: L?vatein!? she declared, summoning an odd spear that seemed to have a life of its own. She held the spear over her head and brought it crashing through the ground ahead like a hammer, cleaving a path through the forest.
?That?ll save some time. Lead the way Growlth.? The dog shivered, pressing itself against Mokou?s leg as it shook its head violently back and forth. Mokou rolled her eyes. Growlth never did like loud noises.
?Will you do it for a Scooby snack?? Mokou asked, fishing a small dog bone out of her pocket. The dog immediately perked up, swallowing the treat hole. It ran forward through the clearing Flandre made, sniffing the ground only occasionally as Mokou and Flandre were forced to fly to keep up.
***
?It appears we have visitors,? the doctor said. ?Two of them, 1.5 miles away and closing. They blasted a straight passage through the forest, which means even from here, Reisen can get a clear shot. What are your orders my liege??
?Well obviously we should send in Reisen,? the princess said nonchalantly as she took a sip of her tea.
?Is that all??
?Make sure I have a front row seat to the action,? the princess said. ?I?d like to see Reisen?s work for myself this time.?
?That may not be wise. It leaves you vulnerable, and you could be cut off from your troops,? the doctor explained.
?Which is why I give you command of the troops tonight. Also, have the rabbits prepare two extra seats for tea. We wouldn?t want to be rude to our guests.?
?Yes, your highness.?
***
?Hey, look, a light!? Flandre said, looking off into the distance.
?Move, NOW!? Mokou yelled, hurling the girl and the dog into the forest aside.
?Ow, jeeze, what?s the big-? Fladre began, but then a gigantic beam of light roared past her, illuminating the forest as it tore through the bamboo like paper.
?Buster cannon. One of the bunnies likes big guns, but she usually saves this one for special occasions. Growlth, go home.?
The dog bounded its way back, more than happy to leave the action to its master. Flandre stared at the wreakage with a gleam in her eye.
?She?s going to take the forest down with that thing, we have to keep moving.?
?I?m a much better seeker than hider. Shadow Clone Jitsu!? Flandre said, making a number of odd hand motions. Four copies of the vampire appeared.
?What are you up to?? Mokou said, narrowing her eyes.
Flandre let out a sly grin, before the roar of the laser met their ears again.

[Iced Fairy]

Oh right I have to handle this too.

Deadline Extension! One Week!

I'd been planning on this from the beginning, but since people only write when the pressure is on I figured it'd be best if I didn't say it.