"And that's that," the miko's shrill voice commanded, "Now call off your 'Makai residents' from flooding my neighbourhood!"

Shinki slowly sat up, groaning. The palace looked liked a war had been fought in it, bits and pieces of crystal were floating around, some walls had collapsed, puddles of blood and sweat were plastered across the floor. The four intruders (plus turtle) had all converged in the center of the room and stared down on her with expressions varying between mockery and exasperation. In the other corners of the room, Shinki could see poor Yumeko and the three witches struggling to get up.

Such destructive power... an idea struck her suddenly. Why not swat two flies with one catcher?

"Ooh, to think that I would lose to ones such as you." she whined while standing up. "Directly interfering in a civilian business portal will give me a headache for decades to come and grant me at least two heresies to deal with. At least have some tea and a talk? I'm sure you are interested in relaxing after a hard-won victory? Perhaps you'd like to hear a counter-offer as well?"

She smiled when the four agreed. This might just work out for all of us after all.


.......


Reimu found the tea to be strange but acceptable, the lemon-scented drink with the juicy taste was a welcome respite from the all-pervasive miasma that passed as air around here.

She carefully sat down her crystalline cup. It was instantly refilled by one of the little devil maids who flittered around the grand table, serving tea and snacks. She sighed contentedly and picked it up again. I could get used to this.

The other discussions at the table were slowly dying down. Mima and Yuuka had ended up in a discussion with Shinki about temporal and planar mechanics. They all had their own pocket realms after all and seemed to be comparing notes. Reimu couldn't make head or tails of the bits of their conversation that she unders

Sakuya stood at the table at the end of the gathering room in the mansion, speaking to everyone seated on the benches opposite her, which consisted of Meiling and nobody else.

“I have an announcement for you. You are all to kiss Remilia’s hairy arse, and then storm the walls of the Human Village, but first, we must have an auction to sell this tiny little sword.” Sakuya reached behind the table to pull out what looked like a steel cocktail sword and put it on the table. One could hear the joints in her arm crack as she did so. “I can’t even see it it’s so fucking small. Is there any takers?”

“Uh,” Meiling slowly raised her arm, looking around the room as she did, “I.. have an offer… for the maid,” Meiling adjusted her beret by moving it up and down twice, “the chief… maid- in the, uh, weird hat, uh, I offer fifty yen, for that thing.” Meiling breathed in.

Sakuya looked incredibly offended, “Fifty yen!? You are a peasant, I want seventy-three!”

“Seventy-three,” Meiling stood up from the bench, “FACKING YEN,” Meiling then proceeded to take the top half of her dress and undershirt off, the beret flying off with it.

“YOU MUST BE A PHUCKING MADMAD, YOU MOTHER FUCK-” Meiling charged the table and leaped over at Sakuya-

BOOM
--------------------

I’m sorry.

What I wouldn't give to find out what eggnog tastes like.

This the proper board?

Oh, well.

+++

“Christmas? What’s christmas?”

You and Sekibanki simultaneously react to Kagerou’s ignorance of what is probably one of the most well-recognized dates of the year in the outside world by spitting out your tea. If Keine’s shouts of protest are any indication, you’ve both chosen the same unfortunate target for the synchronized spit-take.

“How can you not know about christmas?” you ask, turning to the direction Kagerou’s voice came from.

“Er, well… It’s not like I haven’t heard of it!” she protests, clearly sounding pressured. “They celebrate it at the Moriya shrine, I just don’t know what it is exactly.”

“It’s a holiday celebrated by Christians,” Keine calls out from somewhere near where you remember her kitchen to be. Most likely toweling off. “The Hakurei shrine already has to compete with the Moriyas, Buddhists and Taoists for faith so Reimu’s been making sure that no other religion from the outside world establishes a foothold.”

“If Gensokyo were a ship that means she’d be tossing missionaries overboard,” you muse. Of course, them being youkai who can fly the implication is lost on the three. “She’s not killing anyone, is she?”

“Well, there was that poet a while back,” Keine says as the sound of her shuffling to sit down beside you is interrupted by you spitting out your tea. Again. On her. “Seriously?!”

“Totally unrelated, that guy,” Sekibanki says. “Reimu’s not killing missionaries, she’s just been sending them back out quicker than the rest. That’s why Christmas never caught on in Gensokyo.”

But then, if she knows this, why did she also—?

“The tea was hot.”

“Ah.” She’s getting better at reading your expressions.

“I don’t understand, though,” Kagerou says. “Why is this ‘Christmas’ so important to you?”

That’s something that you can’t explain without going into religion, a topic you’d rather avoid in a place where different religions apparently wage war on ea

I should check more, but I had to make a decision. This is fine.

====

Laugh. Think. Believe the ideas created. Life can flourish on its own. But it needs to exist with life to do so.

Even with that white hair. Even with those eyes that will see everything in an eternity. I could stop. Like my footsteps. Just. Like. This. Or maybe, pause, do something different, defying what is considered logic. Defying “logic” and “reason”, as defined by others. Or whatever it is that's the argument. Or criticism. No, this is just a bit of my venting on something unrelated to her now. And even that wouldn't be right. Yes, this is pitiful. But what's important isn't the intention, but the existence of understanding the meaning behind two thoughts. Two thoughts. Right. Now I'm just exaggerating.

But really. If someone's annoyed by a bit of bamboo and can't observe the forest, then I don't quite understand it. But I suppose I see her annoyance the same way, on a tangent direction.

Someone might have noticed by now. But I can afford the time. I know, without certainty, that I will be able to escape. And even if I get caught somehow, there are no consequences for me. No. I'm not some almighty existence that defies the logic of power. I am not magically resistant and capable to overcome every challenge I face. Especially not in Gensokyo.

“I'm not lost.”

I hope that's all I need to say.

Even though her hands don't come out of her pockets, I know I've caught Mokou's attention.

“A human from the outside? Are you new? Follow me.”

...Or maybe not. Looking like a human peasant from the village would've helped, but even that disguise would probably fail.

I thought I was being as clear as I could.

“I'm here for you.”

I'd say her name, but anyone could probably figure it out with some research. So less words, more focus. I realize that this might place a target on my chest, but I'm not worried about that. If I was facing Satori, or Yukari, or even Remilia, maybe I'd be a bit concerned. Not because they'r

>>/gensokyo/15086

>>/gensokyo/15086

>>/gensokyo/14903

>>/gensokyo/14736

Since I don't know where to put the "derp" that I think is this CYOA, here we go...

I was sitting down, trying to figure out what to eat for dinner… I had gotten nowhere, until I gave up, and thought, “Let’s just order a pizza.” And I did so, having to go through a minute or two of the hassle that was ordering a pizza through the landline. Eventually, I did get my order in, but, when I was about to hang up, I felt a poke in my side.

WHAT DO I DO?

[ ] Try to get the mystery poker to stop
[ ] Ignore the mystery poker
[ ] Write in?

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" The girl says, bowing mockingly. Her robes flow as she does, bringing to mind rustling flowers.

"You know exactly why, parasite." I shoot back immediately. The scowl on my face is unbecoming, but I really don’t care right now.

She smiles at me and spreads her arms wide to gesture at the endless field of lotus flowers surrounding us. A minute passes before she deigns to respond. "They are happy here. Everyone is happy here. Surely, you won't take that from them?"

That's what she always leads with. The happiness of her victims, as if she actually cares about them.

"I couldn't care less. Taking a few can be overlooked, even an entire island, like you used to. But you just had to get greedy, and spread like a damned weed. Now I have to deal with a shared dream the size of a nation! Do you have any idea how much of a problem that is?" I start shouting at her halfway through. Why can’t she just understand what she’s doing?

For the first time in years, Lotus’ carefree smile breaks. Her contempt is palpable now. “Greece is my land. I will not just give it up now that I have finally united it under my peace. Furthermore, it is your job to maintain the sanctity of dreams to begin with. I refuse to change at your leisure.”

That insolent—”It isn’t possible to keep something that size from interfering with other dreams!”

“And if it does, yet more would experience true peace. I see no wrong in that inevitability.” She doesn’t seem to understand at all. Her mask of tranquility has reformed, and she’s back to being hard to read.

What the hell do I say to that?


>Try to explain exactly why this is an issue. Even a brick wall can be brought down if it's hit hard enough, right?

>Just kill her on the spot. There isn't any reason to let her live after the trouble she's caused.

[This is just something silly I've had on my mind recently. It's not gonna be pretty, but it'll certainly exist, for certain. It's not going to