THE LOST EASTERN PARADISE
A guide to the sacred paradise in the East

Many years have passed since I read this book for the first time. That was a time where I watched cartoons before I went to bed. At that time books bored me, but not this one. I thought it was about a perfect world were magic still exists, where wonderful beings live and where those who are shunned in our society, those who are gifted with magical abilities, may seek for shelter.

In high school my parents introduced me to magic and I learned how to use basic spells and more importantly, how to cast spells quickly by reading codes and incantations from grimoires. This way I learned that this book was not fiction, it was reality: the writer was a rather famous magician and the ink was such that can only be seen by other magicians.

I asked my parents, hey, why don’t we all go there? At least we will be safe from the anti-magician extremists.
They laughed and said that those anti-magician extremists are nothing to worry about. They are sitting ducks if we use magic to eliminate them…
I believed my parents. Yes, I believed that those men could do no harm to us.

They were wrong.
While I was at my friend’s birthday party, thinking everything is alright, I learned that they burned our house and mortally wounded my parents and siblings… how? My father told me on his death bed that they reflected the very magic they used back at them. In his last words, he told me not to seek vengeance and to flee somewhere far, far away.
I knew exactly where to go – to the lost eastern paradise, also called Gensokyo.

According to the book, this is the abandoned shrine, the entrance to the sacred paradise. If I step forward, I’ll enter it and I will never be able to come back… but I have no reason to return. My family is dead, those extremists are still after me and they got friends in Japan looking for me… I am broke, too. I wasted all my money to get here.

There is no turning back anymore.
Let’s do this.

As I step forward, I feel chills through my body, my heart begins to race, I begin to feel cold, strange humanoid creatures appear before me and glare into my soul with their thousand eyes… all normal, according to the book. I simply have to close my eyes and make one more step… yes, one more step and the screams, dying cries will be silent. Then I will open my eyes and I will see paradise.


My step takes an eternity. It feels like hours have passed since I raised my foot… but this too, is normal. The time flow is different in the eastern paradise and to prevent a temporal collapse, I must be accustomed to this new time flow rate. Slowly, the horrible voices fade… this means I passed.
I am in Gensokyo now… in paradise.

As I fall on my knees from exhaustion, I open my eyes to see a blurry landscape… and there is something red approaching me and something white and black behind the red thing… oh, these are two girls. One has black hair, the other is blonde… I can’t see too well, so I can’t make out much. I want to move and greet them, but… I am pretty numb.

“Looks like another stray human accidentally got here, Reimu.”
“Human? I’m not sure… this girl smells like a magician.”

The girl in the red dress grabs my head and thoughtfully sniffs it… good thing I showered before I left the hotel, I don’t want to give any bad impressions.
Anyway, why is she sniffing me for so long and why is she messing with my hair?

“Yeah, it is definitely a magician.”
“Magicians still exist in the outside?”

“Apparently, they do.”
“She doesn’t look too good, though. Thousand yard stare…”

Ouch! I just got slapped… but in mere moments, I no longer feel numb and my vision recovers quickly. Now I can see the girls before me clearly.
The girl in the red dress resembles a Japanese shrine maiden, but with detached sleeves and a red top, while the other girl looks more like a Halloween witch with an apron. It seems like the fashion around here will be way different from what I am used to.

There is a sticker stuck on my cheek… and it is crumbling rapidly to dust. Did she slap the sticker to my cheek to heal me?

“That’s an invigoration charm, don’t mind it. You needed it after the whole barrier breaching.”
“Thank you for the charm… umm…”
“My name is Reimu and this is my friend, Marisa.”
“Nice to meet ‘cha! What’s your name, outsider?”

Now, why did the blonde witch just wink at me!" Is she trying to hit on me or is this just a custom I don’t know about? Well, I should expect many surprises. This world is cut off from the outside, after all. These two seem rather friendly… I seriously expected worse treatment for intruders.

“I am Helena, nice to meet you, too.”
“What got you here and more importantly, how did you get here, Helena?” the shrine maiden asks, puzzled. I bet they don’t see people like me every day…

“Well, I followed this book and…” damn, where did I put it? It was in my backpack only a moment ago… where did it go? My supplies are here, my grimoire is here, too…. no, it’s not there… did it simply disappear? That can’t be right…

“It can’t seem to find it.”
“Marisa, did you steal the book while I didn’t look?”
“I swear I didn’t! I bathe my hands in innocence!”

“Never mind… I read the book so many times that I know the contents in details. It was a book about this world, Gensokyo. There it was referred as the “Lost Eastern Paradise”. It has a full guide on how to find the one entrance – this shrine. That’s how I got here… why I got here? That’s a more complicated story.”

“We got plenty of time. Why don’t you come inside and have some tea with us?”

--- --- --- --- ---

I explained the situation… more or less accurately. Actually, I told them the truth, but I omitted details about my parent’s murder – they simply passed away. I hope my narration was not too emotional… I usually show too much of my soft side when talking to friendly strangers, but I rarely meets friendly people away… well, at least after that fateful day. It was nice to talk with someone friendly for a change and to sip tea with no hostility…

“Very well, Helena. You did the right choice to come to our little world!”
“Indeed. I will make sure those assassins don’t ever cross the border.”
“Thank you. I don’t think they’ll ever find the entrance, though.”

I try to smile and Marisa, the witch, smiles with me, but the shrine maiden remains serious, as if she is still in deep thought. What is she thinking about, I wonder… something about me, perhaps?

“You are a strange fellow, Helena.”
“Well, I guess I am a little weird.”
“No, I don’t mean that way. You are a strange magician.”

“I don’t understand, Reimu… I am a magician, so?”

“There are two types of magicians. There are those who are born human with magic potential like Marisa and those who are born as natural magicians, who are a class of youkai.”
“I’m a youkai? Aren’t youkai oni, kappa and the like?”
“No, everyone who isn’t human is a youkai.”

“Okay, so I am a youkai. What now?”
“Well, you don’t act like a youkai at all…”

Now that she mentions it, I was always the black sheep in our family. My siblings were taught magic at a young age, while I got my first magic lessons in high school. My family loved me, there is no doubt, but why would they hide magic from me for so long? Was I not mature enough? Did I have too many human friends? I left with so many questions left unanswered…

“Youkai feel natural superiority over humans. You, on the other hand, said you feared the humans that were after you. I could feel the fear in your voice… you display a wider array of emotion, unlike other natural magicians. Youkai are meant to be mischievous and to cause trouble, but you seem so peaceful…”

“I think I get it… I am stuck between being human and youkai.”
“Yes, that’s the problem… you are an irregular magician.”

“That’s not a big problem, don’t get worried, ze~!”
“It might be hard to categorize you, but it is nice to meet a friendly youkai once in a while.”
“Thanks… I really appreciate your understanding.”

“You are welcome. Anyway, I, as the shrine maiden, must introduce you to the spell card rules.”
“There was something mentioned about spell cards in the book. They are a way to duel in a non-lethal way, used mostly by apprentice magic users to practice their spells.”
“That’s a little outdated. Spell cards are now used to solve any conflict between two parties.”
The shrine maiden straightens herself and prepares to give me a lecture… oh boy.

“Spell cards are not about power – they must give thought, shows your inner beauty and you artistic skill. Each spell card needs a meaningful name, one to make others think about it for a moment. Rely on your reason, your intellect and experience and not on your physical and magical force. Do not attack without reason, too.
You must elegantly evade the pattern and defeat the spell card by either draining your opponent’s barrier or by outlasting it. After all your spell cards are defeated, you are defeated, regardless of your remaining power.”

“I understand…”

“Furthermore, if you defeat a human, you may not kill him or her. Actually, nobody has ever killed their opponent after the duel.”

“Okay…”
“Now that Reimu covered the basics, let’s get to business, ze~!”
“A live demonstration for Helena would be great. Go easy on her, Marisa. It is her first time~.”
“I’m gentle on first-timers, ze~! Well, not always.”

Was that supposed to be without any innuendo? I don’t think so… anyway, went outside. There is enough room for the spell card duel here.
Marisa gets a broom… is she really supposed to be a classic witch?

“Can you fly, Helena?”
“I can fly well, but I’m pretty slow…”
“Doesn’t matter, as long as you can stay in the air, you’ll be alright!”

Lift-off!

“Here we go! I am Marisa, the Ordinary Black Magician! Announcer yourself and make yourself a nickname!”

Her name and title appear before her in a glowing, neon-tube like fashion. I can do that, too! Now I must announce myself in a similar way… well, judging by the way these two girls perceive me – as a youkai with a human heart – I think I must find a nickname that will tell this to my opponent.

“I am Helena, the Most Irregular Magician!”
“Okay! We shall use each one spell card. I shall announce mine first, Magic Sign [Stardust Reverie]!”

Our surroundings change. A sphere surrounds us, protecting us and the environment from damage. It is translucent and violet in color… Marisa appears blurry… naturally; she is protected by the barrier. Suddenly, a kaleidoscope of miniature star-like projectiles appear, each wave represents a different wavelength.

I manage to navigate through the first few waves… but my speed severely hampers my ability to evade. These stars may not be fast, but they waves are dense and each next wave forces me to quickly find a new exit.

Now I summon my prized grimoire to my hand and select a simple, spam spell from it. It was called Arcane Arrow back in the outside world and it creates a slate blue arrow that travels in a straight trajectory and has moderate power.

“Open fire, Helena! It is no fun if you simply evade!”

The witch giggles… she must find it amusing that a magician has problems maneuvering though the relatively simply pattern. Alright, Arcane Arrow barrage, commencing… fire! As I point my finger a barrage of slate blue arrows fly towards Marisa. Is it just me or is the projectile speed much higher than outside Gensokyo?

Each arrow makes a distinct sound as it hits the protective barrier- ugh! That star was pretty close! It cut my sundress at the hip!
Focusing on your target and on the spell card pattern is not easy, especially if you are as slow as me!

“You are doing a good job grazing projectiles, Helena!”
“Thanks for the encouragement, Reimu.”

“Only ten seconds to go, Helena!”
Steady, steady, steady… huh? I heard something crack. Is it the barrier protecting Marisa breaking apart? Yes, it seems it is. Doesn’t matter right now… I am going to outlast the spell card anyway… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! I automatically stop firing once the spell card vanishes… as if an invisible force prevents me from firing anymore arrows.

“Alright, announce your spell card, Helena! It must be something to reflect your skills.”

Something to reflect my skills from the outside…

[] Plasma [Synchrotron Unit]
A physically incorrect depiction of a synchrotron: the main projectile is a ring surrounding the opponent, which glows light green and emits radiation – projectiles varying in size and speed – towards the opponent. Some projectiles bounce off the main projectile and are reused in the pattern.
Uses: Lighting, Wind magic

[] Art Class [Utopia Disillusion]
A pattern resembling a picture you once painted in art class. It pictured a glowing neon scythe – technology – reaping a beautiful flower – nature. The flower projectile conglomerate is cut by a large, but evadable, scythe. Next, the vanishing pollen slowly homes in on your opponent as the flower is recreated to be cut again…
Uses: Wood, Arcane magic

[] Prank [100 Water Balloons]
A spell card reflecting your personal experience with a particular prank played on you. Larger, red balloon projectiles wobble through the border and four slow needle projectiles that burst the balloons, creating several small, very fast projectiles with very limited range. The water quickly disappears.
Uses: Metal, Water magic

Hint: Everything can be categorized in science, liberal arts and athletics.