Many tales have been sprung about the mystic lands of Gensokyo, this little yet rich world, hidden from the view of humans by its Great Barrier. Many incidents have disturbed its peace and an unending spree of events and odd occurrences has been taking place in this little, recluse world of magic, Youkais and faeries. Most of the time, the events were settled by the token shrine maiden of this land, or, alternatively, by her friendly rival versed in black magic. Many times, others have decided to join in the fun of “incident-solving”. However, one of those incidents opposed the Token Shrine Maiden to a problem, the removal of her “Token” status. Indeed, the 12th Incident featured the appearance of a new shrine into Gensokyo, along with new deities and a new shrine maiden. Once their deal of problems dealt with, the latter even joined in the fun of incident-solving.

However, things have changed, an incident much unlike those of the past is about to unfold, one of great impact over the calm, falsely peaceful world. Rumors have already spread about the arrival of a strange yet mighty looking man coated in black. A devilish smile ornates his face with a handsome look and a deep scar slightly show on his forehead, half-assedly hidden behind his short, wild black hair. This man has apparently appeared recently in the lands of Moriya and rumors run wild that he has befriended its inhabitants, for the better or the worse.

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A week has passed ever since the rumors begin to spread all over Gensokyo, largely fed by the incessant blabbering of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper. Amusingly enough, while Miss Shameimaru was at first describing him as the best thing that could possibly have happened to Gensokyo, the tone of her articles begun to change to a more uncertain one. Admittedly, no one pays any true attention to her papers, but the shift in attitude has peeled the curiosity of some. According to the Bunbunmaru, he is a manly and strong man, but he is very shady and dangerous as well. Something about him just feels wrong.

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-“Hey there, I wasn’t expecting you so soon.” You pleasantly address the visitor that has quietly came for you.

Comfortab

She pats herself down, and readjusts the leggings of her pants. The crowd simultaneously turns towards the cause of the commotion. As Mokou looks up from tidying herself, she meets the crowd's eyes. All of them. And even keeps her gaze level. Nothing happens for a few seconds. Momiji and Aya are holding their breaths in. Then, like a snap, Mokou breaks the reverie and charges into the small army. For a moment, you can't really understand what happen. As you stare dumbfounded, you realize that you have to go and help her!

“Sorry, Aya, but you should stay back. I'd like to to help me, but I'm afraid the tengu's orders are none of my business.” She grumbles, holding out her camera. Angling herself in the right position, she manages to take a few pictures of Mokou's brawl with the youkai. Not letting yourself waste any more time, you sneak out of the hiding spot to avoid drawing attention to the tengu. Then, you walk into an open location, and push yourself into the mob. The group retaliates against you immediately, half of the battalion moving towards to fight back. The other half fixing its attention on Mokou, you lose sight of her. The youkai are fairly easy, but the sheer number of the group seems to crush you. Grabbing one of the youkai on its legs, you arc back and swing through the mob. From there, you can see Mokou through the breach. Shouting for her attention, she turns around, while incinerating a few youkai. She motions for you to come. Pushing back the youkai struggling to attack, you make a run towards Mokou. Halfway through, your knees suddenly buckle, losing all energy from the joints. You catch yourself, but the world tilts at an awkward angle. Blurry gray specks tint in the center of your vision. A white haired figure runs up to you, presumably Mokou.

“A-...-ou...-ay? You feel really dizzy, not perceiving anything right anymore.

“S-s...” you mutter out. “-ta...-tue.” And suddenly, she's gone. All you see now is a blur of colors, and hearing who-knows-what. A soft tink pops your eardrums. In the span of one second, everything pops back into its n

Boredom. That is what Tenshi Hinanai felt for most of her life. Her family had been rewarded with ascension into celestialdom for serving the Nai-no-Kami while it was alive, but this gave no regard to the state of each individual within the Hinanai clan. Many were prepared to make the trip, but some simply did not have the training required to become a celestial to begin with, and as such did not have the capacity to act as one. Chiko Hinanai was one such individual, having ascended with her family while still a child. She was often bored, frustrated and had developed without the experience those who dwell on the surface possess. While she did have Iku Nagae to act as her tutor, her father, Lord Hinanai, was often considered to be too soft with her.

Chiko, who had named herself Tenshi somewhere down the line, was seen only as a delinquent due to her unique case. Brought up with none of the training but all of the luxury and power, she grew proud. This combined with several hundred years of pent up boredom caused her to interfere with the lives of the surface dwellers, whom she viewed with a jealous eye. They did not have the pleasures of Bhava-Agra, but at the same time they looked like they lived more fulfilling lives. She wished to interact with them, but decided the best way to meet them is to cause an incident that threatened Gensokyo. This worked about as well as one might have expected.

Amidst all the confusion and reaction no one had stopped to consider that perhaps she had not planned on going through with her own half-baked idea, and simply beat the ever-loving crap out of her several times over, all of which was more than the celestial had bargained for. Tenshi did wind up meeting a few people and wanted to know more about them, but she had shot herself in the proverbial foot in the process and found it hard to approach them after that. One of the few exceptions being Reimu, who simply treated her with the same neutral indifference she treats everyone with.

...

Tenshi is currently floating on a keystone, flying across the vast expanses of Bhava-Agra while getting the occasional glimpse of life down below. She was transfixed by what she saw, crimson e

The truth.

Fragmentation of Memories

Table of Contents
>>7925 Thread One
>>8267 Thread Two
>>8574 Thread Three
>>8922 Thread Four
>>9388 Thread Fix
>>9927 Thread Six
>>10385 Thread Seven
>>10731 Thread Eight
>>11132 Thread Nine
>>11708 Thread Ten
>>12015 Thread Eleven
>>12377 Thread Twelve

The beginning of the end.

"First...we should go back inside. I want to check the shrine itself."
"I've already looked. There's nothing out of place in there."
"None that you could see. For that matter, can you say with confidence that you know everything about that building? Secrets in the walls, hidden passages, questionable histories. Even something you unwittingly picked up off the ground could be a god." As I speak, her face goes slightly pale – though that might be from the cold. Another good reason to start by going back inside.
"I've picked up a lot of stuff..." With widening eyes she nods her assent, first to me and then to the shrine. "So it's not, uh. Dangerous. Right? I mean if it was gonna do something it would've done it by now." As we walk, the whispering from before is discarded effortlessly. So much for secrecy.
"It has been quite a long time. It's possible that it used to bear a grudge which has already faded with the years, and it's possible that it's benevolent. If nothing else, I didn't immediately sense any curses."
"That's good!"
"It might be cursing something else that would put you or the shrine in danger indirectly, though."
"That's bad!"
"Which is why we're investigating. Now..." Stepping into the shrine, I'm greeted with a puff of hot air that instantly begins thawing my muscles and making it easier to focus on whatever energy may or may not be dwelling within. It's a terribly relaxing sensation, despite my overall discomfort. I suppose it could be said that the best part of being cold is warming up. "...Please, lead the way."

It's not often I'm given reason to be quite this focused. In the beginning I was too busy trying to dull my senses from the wall of hatred that seemed to flood me, and now anything important is too obvious to need it. It's always a rather amazing revelation, thinking about how much is filtered out for ease of thought,

Not quite a CYOA, but the very few choices you make do make a difference.
"Argh..." I woke up, finding myself in what seemed to be a forest.

Trees surrounded me, and rocks dug into my skin. I lay there with torn clothes, trying to remember how and why I died. I was executed after days of torture...or so I thought. For some reason, I couldn't remember much else besides my name, age and home. My friends, family, job...I couldn't remember. It was as if they were blotted over with black paint. I clutched my head. It had suddenly started to hurt when I tried to remember. Tossing aside the prospect of remembering any more details, I looked around.

Where was I, anyway? Heaven? Hell?

I heard a rather high-pitched voice...a woman's voice. "Hey, are you okay?" I looked around groggily and spotted a young lady running towards me. She was dressed in a Japanese shrine maiden's outfit, her black shoes thumping lightly on the dirt. Long black hair, a frilly red ribbon and dark blue eyes...was I in Japan?

"Where am I?" I asked, first and foremost. The lady stooped down to my level and looked somewhat confused, head tilted to the side.

"You're in Gensokyo. Now that I think of it...you don't look familiar. Who are you?" the lady raised an eyebrow in suspicion, and I saw her hand clutch at a gohei.

"My name is Ichirou Ichimaru. Who are you, miss?"