Hooray, first WWC here! Actually, it's my first Touhou fanfic too. Hope you enjoy. :3
To set the mood, listen to
this throughout (I find it's just perfect for the story).
_________________________________________
I sighed. This was where I wanted to be the least right now. Wet and shivering underneath a tree, used poorly as a roof full of meaningless holes. I held my signature broom above my head in an effort to cover myself, but it hardly served me any better. All I could do was pull my hat down closer.
Taking care not to get any Rain on it, I took out my mini Hakkero from my pack, which I started carrying around since the incident. It had hardly any mana left in it, and getting it caught in the Rain would mean it would have even less. I also took out a small piece of dry wood and placed it on the ground. Sticking my broom in the tree so that the bristles hung over the wood, I used a bit of mana from the Hakkero to start a tiny fire. I gladly welcomed the heat as I warmed my hands by the fire.
“Dammit, this is all I have,” I said as I pulled out a canister of beans from my pack. I heated the beans over the fire, waited for them to cool, and began eating grudgingly. There was barely enough food to satisfy my appetite. I kicked the empty can away with a clunk. It rolled away into the pouring Rain without any care. It would have rolled on forever if it wasn’t for the rubble that blocked its path and impeded its progress. In the end, it just froze in the downpour of never-ending water, never to move on its own again.
Because the last of the food was gone, I decided to make a quick run to the remains of the Human Village in an attempt to salvage supplies there. Sighing again, I threw the Hakkero into my pack. I stamped out the fire and broke the wood into smaller pieces, so that no one could tell there was someone there. As the fire went out, the area around me became dark. The clouds covered the sun; it hasn’t been out since the Rain began.
I dashed through the Rain, making sure that my pack was as dry as possible. The village was only a few minutes away, but the journey there felt eternal. I made the trip to village many times, each one as tense and risky as the last. The pouring of the Rain and the crunching of dead leaves beneath my feet blended together in a chaotic orchestra. It was not a sound I welcomed, for I had heard it for too long, and I drew my hat around my ears to try and drown it out.
At last, I stumbled upon the village, which was little more than the ruins of destroyed houses. Roofs were caved in, entire walls were torn down, and stones from the houses were scattered all across the village. Normally, this place would be lively with people gathered, but now, it was a deserted ghost town that hardly saw a soul. The Human Village is normally a happy and exciting place, but without anybody, it seemed to be depressed under the Rain.
Moving swiftly but carefully, I made my way to the usual houses I checked. I dared not spend more than a few minutes in a single area because other desperate humans and youkai who scavenge like me could ambush at any time. I first checked the shop closest to where I arrived, but it was completely out of supplies. From there, I just went down the block, trying to be as stealthy as possible, looking for anything I could use to help me: some dry food, water, a radio.
At last, I came across a house that didn’t seem like it had been scourged through yet. Like every other building, it was annihilated, but the food that remained in its stock was still untainted. I stuffed my pack with as much food as it could carry, so that I wouldn’t have to return for a while.
As I turned to leave, I heard a crack from the front door. Apparently, some rude idiot decided to pop in just as I was finished salvaging the place. I readied my broom in defense, because I had no energy to fight with danmaku, and slowly approached the door. But there was no one there.
What I shouldn’t have done was lower my guard. The next thing I knew, the attacker grabbed my neck from behind and threatened to choke me. I whisked around, extending my leg which caused him to trip and crash on the ground. As he scrambled to recover, I grabbed my pack, which I had left, and made a dash for the door. But just as I was about to escape, he grabbed my leg and I hit the floor with a thud. I was dizzy from landing head-first, but I managed to orient myself upright. As he was about to pounce on top of me I landed a solid kick in the stomach. As he flew in the air and landed painfully on the ground, I caught the gleam of knife; he was definitely intending to kill. Not wanting to be involved any further, I ran out the door, successfully this time, and tried to run as far away as possible.
I didn’t get very far. A sharp pain ran up my right leg each time I took a step. I hid behind a house, opposite of the direction of the rain so that I wouldn’t be caught in it, and sat gratefully down. Pulling up my skirt, there was a trickle of a deep red liquid down my leg. So he managed to hit me after all. Taking some of the fabric off of my skirt, I was able to bandage myself, though it wasn’t a very skillful job.
“Next on the shopping list: a first aid kit,” I whispered to myself as I finished the knot. I planned on venturing out again once it was safe, but I was exhausted after just a few minutes. Involuntarily, I slipped into a deep sleep, one that I was thankful for as it stopped the Rain from pounding against a dry lonely world…
**********
I didn’t stop running.
Even though I was kilometers away from my friends, even though the moon was probably beginning to rise in the sky, even though the rain kept falling and stinging my face, I didn’t stop running. I wanted to be anywhere, anywhere that wasn’t there. The branches of the trees in the Forest of Magic scraped against my clothing and me. I could barely look ahead as I shielded my face from the rain that fell.
I ran until I felt my lungs were close to bursting. Even then, I only slowed my pace down to a jog. Once I lost my way, I started to walk. After noticing that I had stumbled in unfamiliar scenery and that I might never find my way back, I began to have second thoughts.
“Ayayaya… You’re always so rash. Look at what wonderful situation you’ve gotten yourself into this time,” I spoke to myself. It was not as if I could relieve the situation like this, but it comforted me slightly. Slowly, I began to calm down and take note of where I was. “The Forest of Magic, that much is obvious,” I confirmed. But where in the forest? I had no idea how long I had been running, nor in what direction.
Eventually, I just gave up trying to find my location. Using a reporter’s intuition, I looked around to see if I could find a place to stay for the night. Along the way, I noticed a house, or rather, what was left of it. Among the ruins I discovered a few books, a smashed pot, and a box of fresh-looking mushrooms. Instinctively, I took out my camera and snapped photos of the remains, just in case.
The rain was still falling, and I was still walking. But I happened to be in luck when I came across the Human Village. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any humans left, which was understandable considering the incident either wiped them out or caused them to flee. Stepping over stones and broken pieces of wood, I wandered around the central plaza. No one, not even any youkai, were around, making the place seem like a haunted mansion. Something like the Prismrivers’, but wetter and without any noise.
Around the corner of one of the buildings, I noticed a piece of clothing sticking out. As I neared it, it turned out that it belonged to a certain black-and-white magician who was sitting against the wall. Was she dead? “This is certainly a turn of events.” I pulled out my camera once more and started taking pictures. In case I could start publishing news again.
*********
Again, whether I wanted to or not, I dreamed about the incident that began all of this trouble.
Reimu and I going off to investigate a seemingly average problem.Finding that fixing this would be a bit more difficult than we thought. That idiot Reimu wanting to face this on her own. Even after my protests, she ended up flinging me to the ground.Each of them using up all of their energy in a battle for Gensokyo. Their final spells colliding in an intense light making a loud…Snap.
No… a snap wouldn’t be epic enough. It would have to be something loud like…Click.
Okay, something’s interrupting my dream monologue here. Explosions don’t give off a simple “snap” and “click.”I opened my eyes to find a lens staring at me, centimeters away from my face. Snap. A bright light blinded me. I swatted the light in front of me to find a girl’s face behind it, looking through the camera lens that used to be there.
“Marisa! You just ruined my shot. Wait… you’re alive? Drat, there goes my latest scoop,” a disappointed tengu complained. She put her camera in a pocket in her skirt. “I didn’t think there’d be anyone else here. Then again, that’d be underestimating you and your thieving skills.” She took a seat right next to me.
“Aya, what are you even doing here? There’s really no scoop to cover. Besides, it’s not like anyone reads your paper anyways,” I said.
“A lot of people happen to read the Bunbunmaru,” she said, clearly irritated. “In fact, you’re probably the only one I know that doesn’t. As for why I’m here,” She put a finger up to her lips, “that relates to top-secret tengu stuff.”
“You can be incredibly vague sometimes,” I sighed. I picked up my pack, but it was suspiciously light. In a panic, I opened it up and discovered most of its contents were gone. All that was left inside were two apples my mini-Hakkero. I thought about going back for a resupply. “I could use Aya as a human- err, tengu shield,” I whispered to myself.
“Marisa, I can hear you whispering to yourself.”
“You were supposed to hear that.”
“I- Wait, what?!”
“Kidding. Come on, let’s get out of here.” I picked up what was left of my groceries and headed back out into the Rain. There really wasn’t any use in going back since whoever was in the house is probably planning to camp there for the night. As far as I could see, the remaining houses in the village were ransacked before I could get to them. I took a few steps and heard Aya’s behind me. As I kept walking, I could constantly hear Aya’s behind me. I spun around. “Why are you following me?”
She shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”
“Try leaving me alone?”
“I can’t go back to Youkai Mountain, if that’s what you mean. I don’t know why, but I can’t fly anymore. I’ve lost my danmaku and wind powers too.”
Oh right, she was still a youkai. “I know why. Follow me back to the forest.” As stealthily as I came, I ventured back into the forest, double-checking to make sure no one else was following us.
*********
Living in the forest is a lot harder than it looks. For one thing, it doesn’t work well in rain. Which is what’s always falling nowadays. I was shivering under the tree, but Marisa refused to start a fire. Even when I used my cute voice. Then again, nothing cute ever works on Marisa. So I sat there, shivering under a leaky tree, my notepad and pen out, but getting hopelessly wet. I eventually put them away because they wouldn’t be any use anymore.
Marisa sat across from me, though I could barely make out her figure in the dark. She was lucky; she had a giant magician’s hat that kept her head from getting wet. While my hair was getting soaked and in my face, Marisa’s was dry as a desert. The part that was under her hat, at least. She also had a broom, but she told me she couldn’t use that for flying either.
“You know Aya, you being a reporter and knowing all the facts, I’m surprised you didn’t know about this,” Marisa poked. I opened my mouth to protest, but she brushed it away. “Well, I wouldn’t expect a non-magician to know about these things anyways. It’s got a lot to do with magic. You do know about the incident that just happened, right?”
I nodded.
“Well, after the two final attacks hit each other, a massive amount of mana was absorbed. This mana, or magic energy, is what runs many of Gensokyo’s supernatural talents. Without it, you’re basically as useless as a regular human. For instance, many youkai can fly by harnessing this energy, whether they know it or not. Mana is also used to power danmaku and magic powers. That last battle utilized an intense amount of mana, in fact, nearly all of the mana in Gensokyo. Threatening to collapse due to the lack of mana, a natural counterbalance was activated. What resulted was the formation of antimana, which takes on the form of the Rain.
“However, this is hardly beneficial to anyone. The reason why it’s known as antimana is that it absorbs mana from whatever it touches. That’s why I can’t get this mini-Hakkero wet, because the Rain will suck whatever magic remains in it. It seems like it’s already done a number on you. That’s why you can’t seem to fly or use danmaku anymore. However, any spell cards that you have will work because have the ability to convert antimana into mana. How that works, I bothered to ask because antimana was never a problem until now. I only know about it from books and experiments.”
“I’m shocked you were smart enough to figure that out,” I said jokingly. But really, I was quite surprised. I had always assumed that I could fly out my own will. Without it, I felt a lot smaller and weaker.
“Hey, I’m not all about power,” Marisa retorted. “I do my fair share of reading and research too. I don’t blindly charge into battle.”
“Well, with all this talk about antimana and energy, I’m not surprised they’re escorting people out of Gensokyo.”
“They’re doing what?”
It was my turn to inform Marisa of something she didn’t know about. “You didn’t know? Some kappa claim to have found an exit where the Sanzu River lies. It’s apparently the weakest part of the Hakurei border, and they’ve managed to reach the outer world from there.”
“And how did you find this out?” Marisa asked.
“Let’s just say a little crow told me,” I winked.
She sighed. “You really need to NOT be vague every once in a while.”
********
I awoke with a start, before the explosions began again. It was much brighter now, though the Rain still fell and clouds still obscured the sun. Aya was asleep next to me, her breathing steady and regular. She seemed to be dreaming soundly. I suspected she had a long day yesterday; it wasn’t an easy journey from Youkai Mountain to the Human Village, especially on foot.
I stretched as far as I could under the tree, without waking Aya up. I looked disappointingly at my pack and the two apples that were inside. There wasn’t much hope in going back to the village without endangering our lives. And with this cut on my leg, I was going to be more vulnerable than before. Our only hope then was to go elsewhere for food and then get out of Gensokyo.
I glanced back at Aya, still fast asleep curled up by the tree. I never really spent a lot of time with Aya before. The only times I saw here were for brief moments when she tries to snap photos of Gensokyo's residents' panties, or when we're both invited to flower viewing events at Reimu's shrine. But at those, she spent more time with Reimu anyways. Maybe now that it was just the two of us, I could get to know Aya a little better.
What was I thinking? If I hardly saw Aya before, what made me think I would start caring about her now? Rather than dwell on it, I simply discounted it as me missing Reimu rather than trying to be friendly with Aya.
She stirred slightly, mumbling something in her sleep. "Mrf... Where's am I?" she said, still half-asleep.
This would be payback for surprising me yesterday. "Aya, don't you know what today is?" I whispered, so she would hear me in her dream.
"Unh... Who is today?"
"It's Gensokyo Cucumber Day."
"I luuuuuv cucumbers," she said dreamily with an odd smile on her face.
"So many cucumbers outside today. Look! They're even raining from the sky."
"All kinds of flavors..."
"Which one is your favorite?"
"I luuuuuuv the turtle-flavored cucumbers..."
"Really? There are a bunch outside. Why don't you run out and catch some?"
"Okay..." she giggled. Surprisingly, she picked herself up and walked out into the imaginary turtle cucumbers. Instead, she was met with a torrent of ice-cold Rain. "Wah!" she yelped. She hurried back under the safety of the tree. "What was that all about? I was having this crazy dream and the next thing I know I'm standing in the freezing rain!"
"No clue," I said innocently. "I was fast asleep and just noticed you in the Rain. I thought you were going to take a shower or something."
"What makes you think that? Ay... Now I'm soaked to the bone." She frantically took out her camera and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it still works.
"Suck it up; we're going to be getting wet anyways," I said as I placed the strap of the pack on my shoulder and took my broom in hand.
"Hmm? Where are we going?" Aya questioned. But I was already out walking away in the Rain. "W- Wait for me!"
********
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"You haven't even told me where we're going!"
From the ground, the Forest of Magic is much larger than it appears from the sky. After walking for hours, I felt like we were still trapped in the same area. All of the trees looked exactly the same in every direction. I wished I could just soar over the treetops and find my way out of here.
Actually, that was the least of my worries right now. My stomach growled for food. "Gosh, I'm starving. For some reason, I'm really craving a cucumber."
"Isn't that a surprise," Marisa snickered ahead of me. "Here." She reached into her little bag and pulled out a green circular object. She threw it behind her.
"What is it?" I asked, catching it. "This doesn't look like any cucumber I've ever seen."
Marisa's facepalm was so loud, I could hear it over the rain. "That's because it isn't. It's an apple. What, you haven't heard of one?"
I shook my head. "Nope. What's it like?"
"Why don't you try it and find out?"
"Because it might be one of your poisonous mushrooms."
"I assure you, there is nothing poisonous about an apple. Everything but the seeds. Don't eat those."
I didn't know whether to trust her or not, but I was starving so I took a bite anyways. Initially, its sour taste made me want to spit it out, but after a while, it became sweet. Apples were certainly an interesting fruit. I finished it, leaving behind the seeds, and tossed them on the ground. I wondered if anything would grow where I threw them, even after Gensokyo collapsed.
Marisa must've heard me crunching loudly on the apple because she took another one out of her bag and began eating it herself. She had a different way of eating. Instead of savoring each bite, she took a bite and swallowed it nearly whole. I figured she was really hungry, but couldn't she still take the time to at least taste it?
I shook my head. I didn't even know why I was studying her this closely. It's probably because I was too used to the reporter's life and its need for details.
"Are we there yet?"
"How many times are you going to ask that?" Marisa answered between two voracious bites.
"As long as it takes for you to tell me where we're going."
She pointed ahead of her. "Does that answer your question?"
In front was a rusty gate, bent over after one of its hinges were broken. It was unguarded; usually, someone stood here to watch for unwelcome guests. Through the rain, the silhouette of the once proud Scarlet Devil Mansion stood eerily like an emaciated ghost. As we walked closer, I could make out the details of the ruins. It was hardly recognizable as the mansion it used to be. Like the buildings of the Human Village, many of the walls were completely torn down or barely standing. A roof no longer existed in many places. In fact, the entire second floor of the mansion was destroyed. The section that suffered the least amount of damage was the library, due to some of the magic wards placed around it.
"Here we are, the Scarlet Devil Mansion," Marisa said. "Here, we'll stock up on some food and books. There are some books from Patchouli's library that I want to take with me before we leave Gensokyo."
"If you wanted to leave Gensokyo, then we should be heading in the other direction, towards the Sanzu River."
"Yes, but if I told you that, we never would have made it here."
"We don't really have time to be here. The Hakurei border could collapse at any minute."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Didn't I tell you before? Apparently, rain wasn't the only thing that explosion caused. Aside from causing severe damage to every house in Gensokyo, it also made the border around it severely weak. The kappas found out that it will collapse, causing Gensokyo to disappear from existence."
A brief moment of panic flashed on Marisa's face before returning back to composed. "Then we should be moving a bit faster. I'll head to the library; you go to the kitchen for food."
"Roger that!"
**********
“Hey Patchy, you there?” I called out into the darkness of the library. Using my Hakkero, I lit a candle that I found nearby. It provided a small amount of light, but much of the library remained in the dark.
Amazingly, the library only suffered structural damage. As I walked around, I noticed that most of the interior was not disturbed. Some of the books that I had wanted to take with me were gone from the shelves, suggesting that Patchy and Koakuma had already taken off with half of the library. Even the entire section containing waterproof books was gone. That was a bit of a shame, since I could’ve read them in the Rain. However, I did find a few books that interested me, and I tossed them into my pack. It was a shame that most of these books were going to waste; Patchy would’ve loved to keep them all. I found a book that I thought she would’ve liked, but didn’t take with her, and put that in my pack as well. I saved it in case I met her in the outside world, by some off chance.
I finished packing away the books I wanted as Aya came running up to me. Her hands were empty. “What, no food?”
She shook her head. “No, none at all. The kitchen is completely bare.”
Dang. Either the residents of the mansion took the food with them, wherever they went, or some thieves stole the food before we arrived. “So now what are we going to do?” Aya asked.
“Well, I have the books I want all ready to go. Since there’s no food, we can’t do anything about that but get to the Sanzu River as quickly as we can.” Shouldering my pack, I headed back out in the Rain.
*********
Tagging behind Marisa again, I left the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Not wanting to forget about the place, I pulled out my camera and took a picture of the mansion. The photo came out slightly blurry due to the rain, but the general idea of the mansion was there.
As we passed by the Misty Lake, I could hear the sound of the rain on the lake’s surface. Through the mist, I could spot two figures flying above the lake, which I assumed to be fairies. But oddly enough, they didn’t seem to be affected by the rain’s magic-absorbing properties.
“Marisa, how come the fairies can still fly?” I asked.
“Fairies just don’t seem to be affected by the Rain. It’s like their bodies have some sort of protective shielding. But it doesn’t matter much anyways. Most of them are too simple-minded to figure out what’s happening in Gensokyo anyways. The ones that survived the blast are probably going about their daily lives like they normally would. And that would include playing little pranks on each other. Just watch out and make sure you don’t get caught in a fairy’s- Ack!”
Marisa was cut off as she slipped and flew upwards. I thought for a moment that she got her flying powers back, but she was upside-down. Attached to her ankle was a rope hanging from a tree branch above. Because of gravity, her hat fell off and her skirt came up.
“Aya! Don’t take pictures!” Marisa protested.
“But why not?” I said, as the camera clicked several times. “I might never get a chance like this again.”
“J- Just get me down from here,” Marisa said, flustered.
“Wait.” I hopped over to where Marisa was hanging. Turning the camera around, I pointed the lens at the two of us. I gave a big smile and snapped a picture. The resulting photo showed me with a wide grin next to Marisa’s upside-down angry face.
“Alright, I’m satisfied.” I untied the rope where her ankle hung and she fell into the muddy ground. She managed to land her head into her hat, so her face didn’t get dirty. But the rest of her clothing was a dark brown of mud. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Wow, you’re a complete wreck.”
She glared at me. “Not. A. Word.”
“Fine, fine.” I put the camera back in my pocket. These pictures were Bunbunmaru gold. They were going to be published the minute I got to the outside world.
********
The trip to Sanzu River from the Scarlet Devil Mansion took a little more than a day. Leaving the home that I lived in for a majority of my life was difficult to do, but I kept myself optimistic by looking into the future. I wondered at what kinds of marvels would be a part of the outside world. Residents of Gensokyo, such as the kappas and Yukari, were always showing off the latest from the outside world. They ranged from boxes that talked to containers that held food without spilling. If this was really how the outside world was like, then I could just imagine what other kinds of technology they had. In fact, they might have known a great deal more about magic than Patchy, Alice, and me combined.
Even Aya was excited about the outside world. She wouldn’t stop talking about systems called television and the Internet. She claimed that they could get news across the world in a matter of minutes. I couldn’t fathom how that was possible, unless they had an incredibly fast flier to do so. They would have to fly faster than Aya could at top speed, all while delivering the news at the same time. I figured she was probably just misinformed by whoever told her these things.
As day turned into night, we camped in a cave in a hill. Behind the hill was the Sanzu River, but it would be at least another half a day before we would reach the border. Half a day until a new life and a new beginning for all of us.
Out of sheer luck, there happened to be some unused firewood in the cave. I figured someone used the cave before and left the remaining firewood here. Gratefully, I put the wood in a pile and used a little energy from the Hakkero to make a spark. The minute amount of energy that remained would be saved for emergencies only.
Aya and I sat side-by-side, looking into the flames of the fire. I tried to warm myself after today’s fall into the mud. Most of it was caked on to my clothing, so I’d have to get a change of clothes once I got to the outside world. But right now, that was the least of my thoughts. I had a more pressing matter I wanted to address.
“Aya,” I said.
“Hmm?” She looked up from the fire. The glow of the flames illuminated only half of her face, leaving the other half dark.
“What were you doing in the Human Village the other day?” She had said “top-secret tengu stuff” before, but I didn’t buy into that. There didn’t seem to be any opportunity for me to press into the matter except for now.
“Oh, that. Well, I guess it’s been long enough. I might as well tell you.” I didn’t think Aya had much to hide. She looked back towards the fire and recounted her story. “It was moments after the incident had been resolved. All of us tengu and kappa fled to the base of the mountain. We didn’t have anywhere to go and many of us were frightened. The shock from the blast killed many of our friends and family, so we didn’t know what to do. Eventually, everyone decided that it would be best if we restarted our lives at the base of the mountain.
“Things went well for a time. Two diverse communities, kappa and tengu, living together. We helped each other rebuild houses, gather food, and entertain the children. It really seemed like life would return to normal. Believe it or not, this peace only lasted a few days. When the rain started to fall, food suddenly became scarce. Many became hungry and greedy. Inevitably, the small peaceful community plunged into chaos. No one was safe anywhere. If you had food, then you were targeted by everyone. Nobody cared about order anymore; it was survival of the fittest. They even resorted to inhumane actions like mob thefts and murders just to survive another day. Before my eyes, I saw two young…” Aya started to tear up at the thought. She closed her eyes and tears streamed down her cheeks and onto her soiled skirt. I couldn’t stand to see her like this, so I tried wiping away the tears from her eyes. She gave a weak smile at me. I felt terribly guilty for making her suffer from my question. I told her to not continue, yet she still went on.
“Two young kappa stabbed by a tengu because they each had half a loaf of bread.” Aya’s voice broke through sobs. “And from there… so many more, even friends, were killed. I couldn’t take such a world anymore. So in the middle of the night, I fled. I found I couldn’t fly anymore, so I had to run from the village. I felt that if I didn’t escape as quickly as possible, I would be sucked into that horrible lifestyle. But when I met you in the village,” Aya turned to me. “I felt relieved. I knew I could trust you to not act brutally like everyone else did. And I know that we haven’t gotten to know each other much before, but throughout our journey here, being with you let me forget about what happened.”
It wasn’t like Aya to be all soft and emotional. I even knew that before when we briefly talked to each other. Whatever happened must’ve been crazy to disturb even her that much. But even so, I knew that I had to be her comfort. If the same thing had happened to someone like Reimu or Alice, I would do the same thing with them.
I put an arm around her shoulder. “And that journey is nearly at an end,” I said. “Just think, once we get to the outside world, you can forget all about what happened here and start a brand new life. If you wanted, you can even start a newspaper company again. Maybe I’ll even help you run it.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Aya said in a more cheerful mood. “I can write up all the stories and you can be the delivery boy.”
“Hey, maybe I want to try and write up some stories on my own.”
“You don’t have any experience though. You don’t even read my paper now!”
“I could learn. After all, we’re going to be running this thing together. It’s only natural that we share the work. And the name, the name could be ‘Marisaya News’.”
“That’s a terrible name! And why do you get to be first?”
“Because I came up with it. And I’m a harder worker too.”
“Don’t joke around. The most work I’ve seen you do is pour sake from a bottle at Reimu’s flower viewing parties.”
“Hey, it’s better than having a fetish for undergarments.”
And so we poked at each other throughout the night, pushing away our troubles. Aya eventually fell asleep, still in my arm. I smiled at her, as if she could still see me. “We’ll make this dream a reality,” I whispered. “And we’ll never have to be sad again.”
*******
I had a terrible dream that night, despite the fun Marisa and I had. I was back in the village again, full of kappa and tengu wanting blood. The sky was completely black. Even as lightning flashed from it, no part of the sky was illuminated. It was as if someone had taken all of the stars and the moon from the night sky and replaced them with lightning bolts.
One bolt struck a nearby house and it instantly caught on fire. The flames jumped from one house to the next, and I was quickly surrounded by the orange glow. I looked for a way to escape, but there were none. The intense fire closed in, threatening to swallow me in. I started to panic, as there was no way out, nothing but the harsh flames.
I started to lose hope, but in the fire, I could see a familiar figure. It was Marisa, standing in the fire but not getting burned. She extended an arm towards me so that I could escape. I tried to run to grab her outstretched hand, but I found myself getting weaker with each step. I was only meters away from getting to her, but I couldn’t move very well. When I thought I would be able to reach her, my body gave up and I collapsed. I could no longer see Marisa, only the wall of fire closing in on me.
*********
Aya had a high fever the following day.
She seemed to be struggling in her sleep. When she finally woke up, she kept going on about a terrible nightmare she had. I tried to comfort her by saying it was only an illusion and that none of it happened. I reminded her that today was the day we were going to be free and make a name for ourselves. She seemed to be cheerful at the idea, but she was still shaken up after the dream.
I didn’t bother to put out the embers that remained after the fire, because I figured that someone else could use them if they ever passed by. I made sure I had my mini-Hakkero with me and shouldered my pack. Aya was weak from the fever, so I supported her as she walked. This would mean we would reach the border later, but we could still make it before the end of the day.
The Rain still fell as relentlessly as ever. The path to the river was uphill, so the journey up took more energy than the journey to the cave. The road, or rather what was left of it, was slippery, and so Aya would constantly fall in her weakened state. I patiently helped her up every time. But I had a sense of urgency when her falls became more and more frequent as we neared the Sanzu River.
At last, dirty and worn out, we had arrived. The river was so immense that the other side couldn’t be seen in the Rain. Its length stretched out endlessly to either side. The Rain caused waves in the water which constantly interfered with one another.
Komachi, who normally ferried the dead to Higan from this river, was nowhere to be seen, and neither was her boat. Instead, hundreds of youkai and humans lined up at the bank. Most of them weren’t dead, that much I was sure of. They seemed to be waiting for a way to get across and into the outside world. But no one found a way to do it yet. Makeshift shelters lined along the hill the river was next to as they all waited for their salvation.
Out of the many faces that stood along the bank, one was familiar to me. “Nitori!” I called out. The blue-haired kappa turned around and spotted Aya and me. She waved and bounded over to where we stood, a little ways from the edge of the river.
“Marisa! I never thought I would see you here.” She looked at the pale Aya. “You don’t look so good…”
“Thank you for pointing that out, Kappa Obvious,” Aya retorted weakly.
“Anyways,” I said, “What’s everyone standing out here for? Isn’t there a way to get to the outside world from here?”
“Oh, you’ve heard about that,” Nitori said dryly. The initial sparkle in her eyes gradually faded. “Well, if you want the truth, there is no way out. The border here is as solid as it is throughout the rest of Gensokyo.”
“But why…” I started.
“Why would we pass around such lies? Because they needed hope,” Nitori pointed at the mass of youkai and humans standing at the bank of the river. “You see, we kappa and tengu have been living together, but it has been a living hell. Some of us kappa got together to try and resolve the issue. We believed that if everyone came together for a common goal, escaping Gensokyo, then the fighting would stop. So we told them there was a break in the border by the Sanzu River. We thought that the border collapse would happen sooner and that we could all die happily together…”
“Wait, the collapsing of the Hakurei border is still real?” Aya asked.
“That is one of the few truths to our lie. Ever since Reimu perished, the Hakurei border has been extremely unstable. According to some of the kappas’ equipment, it’s threatening to collapse on Gensokyo. When, not if, that happens, anyone in the area the border takes up will instantly disappear from existence.”
“So there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves?” I asked for confirmation.
“Nothing we know of,” Nitori answered. “The only two plausible ways out of Gensokyo are through Yukari and Reimu’s temple. The temple was destroyed as a result of the blast. And Yukari was selfish enough to transport only herself and her two shikigamis out. So now we’re all stuck here with nothing to do until the end of time.”
I couldn’t believe it. All this time, we were chasing an unobtainable goal. The entire trip here was just a waste. And now here we were, hopeless and lost as we wait for the inevitable to happen.
I sighed. “Any chance one of these little shelters are open for us?”
Nitori nodded. She led us higher up to a shelter that overlooked the river. Even from this height, the other side of the river couldn’t be seen. The shelter wasn’t much more than a roof of leaves supported by a few sticks, but it kept the Rain out. I helped Aya rest against the one wall of the shelter, then put my pack down. I sat on Aya’s right. Nitori left saying she had to make sure everyone else was comfortable.
I felt Aya’s forehead again. It was much hotter than before, since we’ve been standing out in the rain for the past several hours. She also seemed much weaker and her breathing much faster.
“Don’t worry Aya,” I said in a shaky voice, to comfort her as much as comfort myself. “There has to be another way out, you’ll see. Even if I have to Master Spark it into the border.”
“It doesn’t seem like we can have our own newspaper anymore…” Aya said faintly. With each passing breath, she grew quieter.
“Now wait a minute,” I said softly. I picked up her hand and held it in mine. They were strangely cold, even though the rest of her was hot. “Who said we can’t do that? Just because you’re a tengu and I’m a human doesn’t mean…”
“It’s not that. If I let you write something, you’ll cause the whole newspaper to fall.” She gave a small smile.
“Like I said, I could learn. Why don’t you give me a few pointers?”
“What do… you want to know?”
“Anything, anything at all. Just don’t stop talking…” I gripped her hands tighter.
“Well… first thing that goes into an article… is inspiration…” She was fading away, right before my very eyes. I refused to let that happen, so long as I was here.
“Go on, go on,” I prompted her.
“And secondly… always pursue the truth… even if you have to… exaggerate it a bit…”
“Pursue the truth…” I repeated, as if I were taking notes.
“And Marisa…”
“Aya?” I looked right into her eyes. They were devoid of any strength, any sparkle that she would have if she was really covering a news piece.
“This won’t sound like a reporter… but I had so much fun… in the past couple days…”
“Aya, don’t talk like that. You’re going to make me think…” I tried to smile, but the tears streaming down my face gave my feelings away.
“And who knows… we could’ve… been more than friends…”
“Please, don’t…” I held her hands even tighter.
“Marisa… thank you…” She closed her eyes, and drew one final breath.
“Th- This can’t…” I stammered. I still held Aya’s hand, believing that warmth would flow through it again. But nothing happened. Aya’s body froze, with a final lingering smile on her lips. I had spent only a short time with her, but I felt like I was always this close to her. In the time we spent, we poked at each other and had fun, but I never knew that she would be gone so quickly. I let her hand go, letting it fall to the cold floor.
Taking her camera from her pocket, I turned it around so that the lens was facing just me. I mustered the best smile that I could and clicked the button. Snap. A replica of me came out of it. I took the photo and swapped it for the ones she had been storing in her skirt. I came across the one she took with me hanging upside-down and her wide smile next to me.
I ripped it in half.
__________________________________________
Author comments:
Spoiler:
I hope these don't affect my score.
The first thing I thought of when I heard Post-Apocalypse was Planetarian, except the apocalypse this time is what happens when two Last Spells come together. For those of you that have played the VN before, you'll recognize the Rain, though I added my own twist to it.
I apologize for the overuse of drama, probably due to the fact that's all the anime I watch. :derp: If you see some of the other parts, humor, action, etc., you can see that they're not written nearly as well as the dramatic scenes.
I also apologize for the apparent MarisaxAya shipping (this isn't even mainstream for all I know). Truth is, I originally thought about Marisa being alone, but figured that would be too boring. I wanted a partner for her, but didn't want another MarisaxAlice story. Aya, for some reason, was the first thing to pop in my head. I realized halfway through that the story could work just as well with Nitori, but it was too late to change it.
The whole reason why I introduce shipping in the first place isn't because I support it, but it helps increase the catharsis, or remorse, at the end. If that's what it did, then it did its job.
Lastly, I apologize for some parts seeming OOC. Like I said, this is my first Touhou fanfic, so I didn't know the definite personalities of each the characters. Marisa is probably not as emotional as she is, neither is Aya.
Well, this'll be all negative except for this last statement. I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope I can improve in future WWCs.
EDIT: This wasn't based off of Sankako's story at all I swear. :V
