Do people still care about this?
[X] You find yourself in an immaculately trimmed garden, surrounded by a swarm of flourescent butterflies.
The butterflies flutter around you, iridescent wings glinting as they pinwheel about, swarming around you for a brief moment before scattering and disappearing into the distance. For a while, there is a complete and utter silence, punctuated only by the soft crunch of your feet on the gravel paving.
The gardens stretch as far as the eye can see, flowers and trees of all types and descriptions reaching to the horizon in every direction. And when you look up to gauge your bearings, you realize with a sudden chill that the dark skies have no moon or stars. Not underground, no - you've been in enough caves to recognize the distinctive scent of stone and earth and the quiet, everpresent chill. Wherever you are, it's certainly not on Earth.
For a while, you stare up at the seemingly endless darkness, feeling almost as if the ground could turn beneath at any moment, sending you falling into a bottomless abyss. A chill runs down your spine, and you jerk your gaze back down to the ground. Strangely enough, despite the complete lack of a light source, you can still somehow still see just fine.
With nothing better to do, you slowly start wandering your way towards the giant, withered cherry tree that towers above the rest of the gardens.
You walk. Perhaps for mere minutes, perhaps for whole hours. The pristine garden seems to stretch on infinitely in every direction, and after an indeterminate amount of time, your surroundings have yet to change, the cherry tree you've been using as your guidepost seemingly no closer than it had been before. Maybe this place truly is infinite? No, that isn't possible. It can't be possible.
You've no choice, though. You continue onwards.
Step by step, you stumble onwards. You stare down at your feet as you walk, listening to the rhythmic crunching of your footsteps. You don't dare look up, not when you can't be sure you've made any progress, not when looking up only to see the same, unchanged cherry tree will accomplish nothing beside completely killing your motivation to continue moving.
The gardens are beautiful. It has the austere beauty common to all Zen gardens, except writ large. Various ornaments dot the landscape, stones and bonsai and flowers all separated by calm swirls in the sandy gravel. As you make your way through the garden, your footsteps drag deep furrows through the neat lines. You feel a little guilty. The gardeners here have obviously worked hard making sure that everything is in order, and you've just ruined hours - maybe even days - of work.
And then just as you're about to give up-
There's a girl standing in front of you in the middle of the garden, with silvery hair, all dressed in green. No, not just a girl. The twin swords hanging at her waist mark her indelibly as a samurai of some kind. Is she the one who owns this garden? Or one of their retainers?
Unbidden, you think back to your vague memories from your old history classes. She steps forward, and, despite yourself, you take a half-step backwards.
"Are you lost?" she asks.
"I... Yes," you say weakly.
"I assume you cannot fly?"
You blink, and slowly nod. Before you can react, she rushes up to you and lifts you up in a princess carry. Then the world drops out from under your feet.
For a moment, you're too busy staring in awe at the plants in the garden slowly growing smaller and smaller to think of anything else. There's always been something romantic in the idea of flight. As you watch, the earth slowly shrinks beaneath you. The wind blowing through your hair, the feeling of someone by your side...
Something warm and soft presses into your side, and you feel your cheeks grow hot.
How long has it been since you've had someone this close to you? Months? Years?
You look up at the girl. She doesn't seem to have noticed your discomfort. There's a look of concentration on her face, and her gaze is fixed on the horizon. No, not on the horizon. On the withered cherry tree that you'd been making your way towards, which steadily grows larger and larger as you watch.
You turn away, trying to hide your discomfort. From your vantage point high above the ground, you have a much better appreciation for just how large the gardens are. They stretch from horizon to horizon, continuing on into the distance until they disappear into the unnatural darkness of the sky.
Soon enough, the girl lands by the tree and ever-so-gently sets you on your feet, right in front of someone else, sitting by a small, low table set up at the roots of the tree. From her regal demeanor, you have no doubt that she's the girl's superior in some capacity.
"Milady," the girl says, gently nudging you towards teh table. "We have a visitor."
For the first time, 'milady' looks up at you.
"Welcome," she says, gesturing for you to sit down. "I am Saigyouji Yuyuko. Konpaku Youmu here is my retainer."
"Usami Renko," you say, in turn.
Awkwardly, you sit down on the other side of the table, feeling completely inadequate in the face of Yuyuko's serene elegance.
"Some tea for our guest, Youmu," she says. Youmu bows and heads off, leaving the two of you alone.
You swallow thickly, waiting for Yuyuko to make the first move. She seems content to wait in silence, though, deciding to stare intently at you in lieu of having a converation.
You fidget awkwardly, unused to the close attention. What does she want from you? Reparations for the damage to her garden? Or something else?
"You should not be here," she finally tells you, evidently content with whatever she's managed to discover.
"If I've intruded, I apologize," you say. "But I'm afraid I truly do not know where I am."
"This is Hakugyokuro", she says. "The White Jade Palace of the Netherworld, a domain belonging to the dead." You suck in a sharp breath. The Netherworld? Wouldn't that mean...
Some part of your unease must have shown through. "One must be dead to be reborn, no?" Yuyuko tells you. She gives you an enigmatic smile. "But still, you should not be here."
Before you can ask her what she means, Youmu returns, bearing a tray with a teapot and china in one hand and what looks to be a large plastic cup of bubble tea in the other. She sets a cup in front of you and pours out the steaming liquid before turning to Yuyuko. She produces a thick straw and punches it through the sealed lid before handing it to Yuyuko.
Yuyuko pouts. "I wanted to do that myself, Youmu~" she says. "I thought I told you to let me do it myself last time!"
"My apologies," Youmu says, not sounding particularly contrite. "If there was nothing else, then I will be returning to my duties."
Yuyuko waves her off, and Youmu quickly leaves the two of you to your conversation.
"What do you mean?" you ask. "Am I dead or not?"
"You are, at the moment. If Hakurei Reimu did her job correctly, you will not be for long." Yuyuko sips at her tea, and a few of the tapioca pearls in the bottom of her cup shoot up the straw and into her mouth. Somehow, she makes it look dignified. "But that is not what I meant. You... You should not be in Gensokyo. Your presence here has awoken things long forgotten."
"How?" you ask incredulously. "I've never been here before in my life!"
"Your fate is tied to this land more than you know," Yuyuko tells you softly. "Worry not - all will become clear in time." She sets her drink down and waits for you to finish drinking before continuing. "You have been looking for a lost friend, have you not?"
You stare at her. "I didn't-"
"News travels quickly here. In a land this small, anyone new will garner attention." She sighs. "I... advise you to give up your quest. You will find nothing but misery and hardship should you continue down this path."
"It's not the ending that matters," you reply, "but the path we take."
Yuyuko shakes her head slowly. "If that is what you truly believe," she says. "I cannot bar your way. But I fear... Well. Perhaps it will not come to pass. In any case, I wish you all the best, Usami Renko. It seems our time together has come to an end."
You open your mouth to protest, but before you can say a single word, the butterflies from before suddenly appear again. Just a few a first, but then more and more start gathering in the air, fluttering around you, surrounding you in iridescent wings.
"I look forward to our next meeting," Yuyuko says, and then-
=====
"Good, you're awake," someone says. You groan softly, trying to will away your throbbing headache. There's a strange, bitter taste in your mouth. Tea? You blink a few times, squinting against the harsh glare of sunlight and prop yourself up with one arm. There's someone you don't recognize in the room. Wait, no. You know who they are, even if the name can't quite come to mind.
"Who..."
"I am Kamishirasawa Keine," she says slowly. "Today is the fourth day of Taisho. Two days ago, you visited the Hakurei Shrine to formally sever your ties to the Outside. You've been asleep since then."
You groan softly. "I..." You can't remember anything after you set out for the shrine. You sit bolt upright as the panic hits. "What happened?"
Keine lays a gentle hand on your shoulder. "Your memory should return in time. Until then, you should try to rest as much as you can. You've been through quite the trial." She smiles. "You're free to stay with me for as long as you need."
"I understand. Thank you for your kindness."
"Let me know if you wish to leave the confines of the village, so I can arrange for an escort. Other than that, you're free to do as you wish."
[ ] Just go and wander the Village for a while. You need some time to collect your thoughts.
[ ] You still owe Akyuu a story, don't you?
[ ] Go somewhere else. (Visit Sanae? Aya?)