"...So now what?"
I really don't know where am I, but I can clearly see the sky. No clouds whatsoever. Still cold, though.
I'm...calm now.
"Well, that's up to you, now that you finally got your shit together."
Right. No more tormenting myself. Time to plan this thing.
Let's see...how can I survive God?
"And that is the golden question..."
...
...Hm? I'm not certain, but it seems that I reached a graveyard. Odd. I was guessing Gensokyo's graveyard to be Haku...Hagyo...whatever... Guess the villagers keep their own graveyard just in case.
I really have a high respect of graveyards. Well, more like respect for the dead than anything.
"Says the guy who was okay to kill zombies and bacteria skeletons that day."
That was a different situation. Those zombies tried to kill me.
Still, this place is really quiet. And I like it.
"I thought you were going to say something like..."Too quiet...""
Nah. Graveyards being quiet are A-okay. Noisy graveyards...well, that's another story.
Eh, what the hell. Might as well take a stroll here. I mean, I really don't know this place.
...Hold on. What is this?
!
Is this the...?
"Hey, look at this thing! Seem's the red-white family has a grave here!"
...It cleary says "Hakurei" over the tombstone. It was clean and had flowers and treats over it.
Why do I feel that something's not right in this picture?
"What do you mean?"
Well...you know how Reimu is. Lazy, caring only about herself and only thinking about donations and followers. I know it sounds wrong, but I don't see her with time enough to visit her family.
The clan consisted of several members in the past, reaching its peak of members in the early years of the Sengoku era.
Then...something happened.
There's that sensation again. Something's wrong.
Ignore it. Just ignore it. I vowed to myself not to dig myself deeper.
...No. Wait. Why do I feel someone's telling me to ignore it?
No. I can't ignore.
...I have to ignore it. Let's go ba-
NO! There's something...there's something really wrong here.
At the dawn of this new era, only Reimu Hakurei remains as the sole member of the Hakurei clan. She follows her clan's wishes, even if her personality changed abruptly in her teens.
My head...! My head...!
It feels like someone...is putting words into my mouth!
"Then fight it! Don't that shit control you!" Glid said.
"Grr...ngh..."
I'm not thinking really...straight right now.
Must think crazy.
(WHAM!)
"Oof!"
Okay...slamming my head into a random tombstone worked...for now.
"But what was that all about?"
"No idea. However, maybe..."
Louis said I'm fictional...which may or may not be a lie. Still, this strange event made me realize that, yes, someone is...or was putting words in my mouth!
...Wait, if that someone could do that to me...then what stopped him from doing so to everyone around here? Could Reimu and the others have been controlled like I was?
Were they really themselves...or controlled so that I spoke only with the idea that this someone had about them...?
This is crazy!
"But hey, you know what? It might just be the truth."
...
"I mean, this little experience makes you wonder if you were only a puppet who is just noticing the strings...What if these stupid girls around here didn't spoke by themselves and only expressed what this someone thought of them? Hey, I know! What if all the conversations you had with the red-white were fake? !"
No. I refuse to believe that! I just loathe the idea of some jerk trying to control me!
I won't allow that anymore!
"So then, what are you going to do about it?"
For some reason, this someone tried to make me leave from this place. This grave of the Hakurei's...what the hell is buried here?
...I know I won't like this, but I guess I have to profane a grave. I...I really respect the dead, so this...this is just disgusting to do.
...
What the?
I keep digging and digging...and the only thing I find out is more dirt.
No, seriously. Ten minutes of digging and there are dirt mounts right next to me.
"What the hell is going on here? !" Glid said, as confused as me. "Dirt just can't replace itself instantly!"
It's like that someone really doesn't want me to enter. And also seems that him or her or...it is able to rewrite things to fit his or her wishes.
This is the power of an author? It seems it can bend the rules of this world at his whim...
Tsk! Dammit, I won't give up now!
GODDAMMIT! Why does it keep going like this?
...Also, my arms are really tired now...so naturally, my whole body screamed at me to stop.
sigh
I slumped into the ground, trying to catch my breath.
Okay, something is trying to prevent me to dig up the Hakurei's grave. For what reasons, I'm not sure.
Gah, look at me. I said I won't get involved in any other problem that does not concern me and yet here I am. There's something that just keeps bothering me, keeps nagging my head and just. Doesn't. Stop.
"Eh, I don't get why are you getting so worked up."
"I...don't know. I just feel something is going to go horribly wrong soon enough."
...Enough thinking. I best continue digging bef-
"So I basically have to keep her on ice?"
Huh?
"Hey, crazy guy! So I just keep her on ice?"
"What?"
Why are the idiot fairy and Shin here?
...! Hold on, this is the place I parted ways with the two of them!
What is going on? !
"What the shit? !"
"Um, Hanta-san? Are you okay?"
"Eh?" I hid my confusion. "Ah, I was just thinking of something else."
"Food?"
"You wish." Glid said before me.
"Argh, you're annoying, you know that?" The idiot shouted to Glid.
It...it seems that time has gone back to this point. But why? And HOW? !
No...deal with this situation first. Think later.
"Ignore the bastard, will you?" I said to Cirno. "And yes, please keep her on ice, alright?"
"Mmhm! You can count on me! Since I'm the..."
"I know." I sighed.
I waved good-bye once more and walked towards the same way as before.
...Now that I'm out of their sight, let's review what just happened.
"Kid, what's there to review? Let's put it bluntly here. You. Just. Stepped. Back. In. Time!"
"BUT WHY? ! AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, HOW? !"
"Hey, why ask me? I don't have a clue!"
Calm down. There must an explanation to this. And for now, I'm going to put those questions on hold. Focus on the important.
The graveyard...I think it was through here...
Where the hell is it? !
I know the graveyard was through here! I'm sure of it!
"...? Hey kid, doesn't it seem that the same scenery is repeating over and over again?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Look around!"
He's right. The path here showed the same rock over and over. And I'm pretty certain that I crossed through here to reach that graveyard.
Okay, first a time warp. Then, I cannot get back to that same destination. What the hell?
Wait a second...wasn't I supposed to be immune to effects of all sorts just by holding Kraid?
"Isn't that right, Kraid?"
"I don't know what is going on either."
Fantastic.
Okay, so this someone can ignore the negating effects of Kraid and has complete reality changing powers. Meaning that I'm just a play thing compared to it.
...In all honesty, after all the crap I've been through, that is, the fact that YHVH is after my ass, the fact that Louis' warnings creeped the hell out of me and surviving an apocalypse caused by the paranoia of a Norse god, I'm actually more annoyed that scared at this point. Still, this kind of revelations does kind of drive someone to an edge...
"Aw, shake it off, kid. You survived many other things. What makes this different?"
"Well, the main difference this time is that I really don't know who is doing this. And if I don't know exactly who or what am I dealing with, then I can't elaborate a plan."
Besides, this someone might be hearing this.
...Which raises the question of why doesn't he just destroy me with a thought, since he can, as far as I can see, mess with the natural laws of time and space. Unlike Sakuya, these effects were instantaneous and I couldn't even sense them.
What is stopping this someone? Or perhaps there are limits that he cannot break?
"...Let's go back." I sighed defeated.
"...You sure?"
"Yeah." I said. "If I keep trying, I'll only exhaust myself. If I really want to survive what is coming, then I have to be in top shape, don't you think?"
"Yeah yeah, sure." He didn't sound amused. "Still, look at the bright side! We have God and some random asshole with reality bending powers after our asses. Can you feel the excitement?"
No. Stop talking.
"But you know...there's something that's also bothering me."
What now?
"If this guy can and has controlled you, what if all of your victories and the fact that you survived was actually orchestrated by this someone?"
...What? !
"I mean, think about it. Doesn't it seem logical to you that he isn't destroying you...because it amuses itself by your suffering?"
That's...actually quite...logical.
"Yes, somehow, the majority of people enjoy themselves when the rest is having some sort of misfortune, as a way to make themselves forget of their own suffering. That is just sickening...and sadly, too common nowadays, with the growing cynical view of this garbage can that is the outside world."
That's right. People really do love laughing at someone else's misery. I mean, look around...
"Sheesh. You really have issues." Glid snarled. "But wait! What if this someone not only enjoys making you suffer, but is actually using this to generate pity?"
"Okay, you lost me."
"Remember that Louis said this is technically what you people call fanfiction."
"...You're really not going to..."
"Oh yes!" He seemed quite...happy for some reason. "People like to see someone else suffering. So then, what if he's making your life crap just to attract readers."
...!
"Just due to their shared pity for you." Glid...you...! "Isn't it just sad? Doesn't this fill you with anger, kid?"
This...this...this...!
"...Wait! I just realized something even better!"
You will stop...!
"What if this someone not only is making your life miserable, but is actually trying to make you into its avatar!"
What.
"Think about it. According to Louis, this place is based on something called Touhou, I don't care. And bear in mind we're talking about japanese writers here. Imagine, a land full of shitty girls that satisfies every fetish any pervert wants. I mean, you got mikos, maids, furries, hell, even vampires and immortals! ...But you can't reach them, oh no, you can't! ...So, what would an hormone ladden asshole do...?"
...
...Oh, son of a bitch!
"YES! THEY MAKE SOMEONE UNLUCKY OF THE OPPOSITE SEX AND MAKE THEM ACT IN THEIR STEED! Just to gain some...satisfaction."
THAT BASTARD!
"And in the end, who knows? This someone might have tried to go...a little bit far with them, don't you say? Disgusting, yes, but completely inside of human desire. I mean, manipulating fictional characters to do his author's bidding. There's nothing wrong with that, huh? Huh?"
ENOUGH!
You're here, are you? !
Yes.
You.
What the hell are you doing? !
Do you see this as a joke? !
Do you think I like this? !
...No. You don't. You would have stopped back then. But you continued. You continued without even seeing at yourself how disgusting this is.
I'm not your puppet! I hate being controlled, you hear that? !
"So...are you going after him then, huh?"
"This was your purpose all along, right? Well, fine!" I yelled at Glid "I'll do it your way. I'm sick of my life sucking so much!"
"But weren't you fictional?" Glid said.
"I'll be the judge of that! I won't let some asshole control MY life!"
"Even though perhaps maybe, just maybe, all of your victories were orchestrated by him?"
"I don't care!"
"You don't have proof of that." Kraid finally decided to talk. "Kid, you really aren't taking him seriously, are you?"
"Well...yes!"
"I knew it...wait, what? !"
"He has a very good point!" I said, slowly losing my grip on my sanity. "If this guy remains alive, who knows what else can this someone do to me...or to them."
"I thought you didn't care."
"...Well, I don't exactly care about them, per se. But...with time, you kind of get sorta fond of them. Sorta. To the point that, if they are gone or start acting differently by its hand, I would actually be kind of sad. Except Yukari. I really don't like that bitch. But then again, nobody, and I mean, nobody, deserves to be someone else's puppet. Not even her."
"Well, whatever." Glid didn't seem to care. "So, we agree to hunt this guy?"
"What do you think?" I snarled.
As soon as I said that, the ground shook a bit.
Is he trying to threaten me...or is he nervous?
"Heh...what's wrong? ******** your pants already? Because after I deal with this mess, you're next!"
The ground stopped. He seemed to either have lost interest or he is actually afraid.
"...Let's get outta here."
"Right."
The trek back to the village was awkwardly normal. I expect something more from this guy, but he seemed to have stopped...for now.
...I'm calm. Yeah. I'm still calm.
I can deal with this mess. Yeah. Yeah, I can do it.
...
...Right?
No. The time of doubts has ended.
I rejected Louis' help. And I found out about this someone...pulling the strings in my life.
And the fact that YHVH is coming.
I am on my own now.
