[Scarlet] Touhou Writing Competition II- Start!

To the friends I left behind,

In a rather ironic twist of fate, you must think I’ve got insane. Perhaps I looked in a mirror and became a victim of my own powers, or maybe I was a lunatic all along. I’m sure there’s some semblance of truth in whatever reasons you’ve come up with to justify my foolish action. Not even I’m sure if what I did was a good idea…


Even so, it pained me to leave without even a goodbye. I lost the chance so many times in the war, and I hate the idea of causing someone else a similar emotion. Nothing can quite fill the hole left in me, a hole torn open by the meaningless violence seemingly inherent in our culture. So, please, try not to miss me, try to understand why I had to do what I did. Forgive me for taking the turn, while all of you must continue straight on.


I was not treated poorly in the Capital. I was a survivor of the war, and kept good care of because of it. The lifestyle I led was that of royalty, considering those who took me in, and gave me my name. Thinking back, my choice to abandon it all was one of sheer nonsense. You all know me, level-headed and pragmatic. I’m still alive because of method and logic, and wouldn’t abandon it for the world. Even with all this, though, I made the choice. I’ve come to learn that absolutely nothing is more powerful than the choice.


We had no choice in the Capital. We were given an assignment, and we did it, and not much more. There was no event, no interest, merely a line of workers earning their bread. We were nothing but pets, albeit well kept. And I was fine with this, until that single moment. A door of opportunity, by chance, had opened before my very eyes. In that very instance, a fork appeared in that seamless, perfect road of mine, this road that stretched infinitely to the horizon without meaning, cause, or care. The rails on which I was placed were set there for me, with no chance of deviation. Thinking back, I believe I made this ridiculous choice because, for the first time in my life, I COULD.


This letter will never reach you. I am simply writing it for my peace of mind, as I sit comfortably at a table. This was a suggestion from my master, who is very kind and considerate. Humorously enough, my life here is quite a bit busier than my life up there. I’m given quite a bit to do, but I have a purpose, I have choices. The road I walk is rocky, curved, and I am unsure of its future. The fork gave me the option of security or choice, and I had the gall to deny the perfection and sheen of the former. Even so, I have no regrets. Even for all its faults, all its bumps and scares, I can firmly say I like this road.


-Your Old Friend, the Lunatic

A lone figure trudged down a empty road, in an empty surrounding.

All that could be seen was the road, the ground and the sky.

Wondering aimlessly. The figure. Due to her ability. Everyone would eventually forget about her. No heart. No emotions. Not even loneliness.

"Maybe..." she began slowly.

"...I should travel back home..."

The girl decided it was time. She steadily started trudging again.

It was a long way home...

Down one road...

An empty road,

In an empty surrounding...

With one lone figure,

Trudging down it...

Life has many choices, either good or bad. Some weak people is influenced by others to make poor choices and some of them don't even know what to do with their lives. Once, there was a lonely girl who thought that life is meaningless and lost all her hope in her life, because a friend abandoned her when she was need the most, without even saying a word.
"I really count in this world? Am I significant?", She mumbled.
However, her mumbling has been heard by a girl nearby. She got worried of what she said and tries to comfort her:
"Why are you telling something like that to yourself? You are a good girl, aren't you?"
"It's none of your business!" she yelled at her and tries to leave and ignore her, but the other girl wouldn't accept this and she quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"It is... Don't you remember me?"
The lonely girl suddenly has remembered something very important when she grabbed her wrist. She felt that touch before: It's her lost friend...
"Oh, I remember you now... You were my best friend, my only hope... But you left me rot in here alone! How could you do something like this to your best friend?"
"I haven't left you, I always was besides you and I tried talking to you as best as I could!", she replied calmly with sad eyes.
"Lies! I haven't seen you in years! You left me miserable here alone, while you were enjoying every part of your life!"
"That's not true... The problem is that you haven't even spoke to me in all these years while I tried comforting you all this time. You were too blinded by your own mind! Do you still think that it's my own fault?
"Of course it is your fault! What do you mean, that you always were besides me? Stop taking me as a fool!"
"I told you that it's not! I'll try my best to help you, just how you helped me before! Do you remember that you were the one who came to me first? You helped me open my heart and now it's my turn to open yours!"
The depressed girl acknowledges her words, but she still negates the fact that it's actually her fault:
"No... this can't be. It can't be my fault... It's obviously your fault. Leave me alone, you're the main reason I am this depressed. I would be much happier without you! Go ahead, treat me like a junk just like others, I don't even care anymore!"
"That's not true and you know it! I'm the same as you! Even my sister treats me like I'm not even there, she completely ignores me. It hurts me so much to see her like that, but it hurts me more to see that even you started to ignore me! Stop lying to yourself! Have you stopped caring about me? You truly wanna be alone? Have you opened my heart for no reason? Your feelings actually reached me back then! That didn't mean anything to you?"
Hearing these words, the lonely girl realised something important. It truly was her fault and she finally accepted the truth.
"I understand... I was so afraid that I would lose my only friend that I actually lost it. I have lived a living nightmare and made the same thing to you. Oh, I'm such a bad friend. I don't want to be with you with all that I've done, I'd rather sorrow here..."
"Stop it!", the other girl quickly interrupted her. "Listen to your words! You have become completely insane! Your friend is right in front of you and wants you back... If there's a fork in the road between me and nothing, would you rather choose nothing over me? Am I that bad?"
Hearing those words, she started to cry and warmly hugged her.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry that I left you! You are so kind and cute and I thought that I am just a burden to you! It was so hard to believe that you befriended someone like me... And then I deluded myself from the truth and lived in a world where I thought you don't even exist. I think it's so hard for you because of all these stupid things that I've done..."
"It's okay... You're the only person in the world who remembered me. It doesn't matter how much time it takes for me, I'll still get you back, no matter the cost. We have each other and that's the most important thing for me. And now, let's do something nice together, shall we?"
"Of course! I have so much things to tell you and I hope we'll always be together!"
"I hope too..."
It's been such a long time since she smiled. That smile definitely shows a hope for a better future. she truly chose the correct road that leads to happiness. Does her friend truly exist or is it just a hallucination? This question will never have an answer and it's better if it's left unanswered...

A cool and quiet night, not at all different from the usual, spread out across the fantastical land of Gensokyo. That particular night, however, a few solitary souls were still awake, looking up as their eyes shone against the waxing orb in the sky. Even through the cover of the forest, the illumination barely showed some details of the night-time entourage -- grotesque, twisted limbs, and inhuman features were a mainstay throughout. It wasn't too much of a surprise, given their nature as youkai. What was a surprise was the one that led the group, clearly set apart from the others at the front.

A pair of twinkling violet eyes led the group, with the rest of her face shielded from the wind by a white fan. One of the youkai behind her approached. Perching on unusually tall geta sandals, the winged youkai thumped on the ground with a staff topped with golden rings. The rings clanged together. Almost immediately, a nearby pile of branches and tinder lit up, providing warmth to the group of youkai. The supernatural party proceeded to make themselves comfortable on the grass, save for the two at the front.

"Yakumo Yukari," the tengu called out, "I can't say I've ever been impressed, but this is a fine piece of work."

"I accept your gracious praise, Tenma-sama," she said, closing her fan and bowing slightly in response. Setting up the framework had been difficult, but at last, the Great Hakurei Barrier was almost ready to go. She turned towards one of the trees being illuminated by the fire, and all the other youkai followed suit. The large fir looked very unassuming, but the uncountable magic hidden within the swirls of its bark held one of the keystones of erecting the "Boundary of Fantasy and Reality". Thanks to the youkai sages around her, on the full moon, they would herald Gensokyo as the frontier for the Youkai Expansion Project.

Suddenly, something brushed up against Yukari's leg, startling her. She glanced downwards, and found a mischievous brown fox at her feet. "Ran! Come on, I didn't summon you to make me look silly," Yukari scolded the fox. She pushed down the fox's ears playfully, while her familiar lowered its numerous bushy tails in response. Tenma chuckled at the spectacle. "Let us try to get some well-earned rest tonight. We've all earned it, most of all you, Yakumo," he said, before trotting off to join his comrades at the fire.

As the tengu chief left, Yukari sat down on the grass herself, and her fox familiar leapt up onto her lap.

A lilting voice echoed in Yukari's head. [This spot is the warmest, as always.]

"Come on, Ran, all this fur is going to be so hard to get off later," she groaned, though she made no effort to push the fox off her lap.

[It's going to be even more fur when I get my ninth tail soon.]

"Hmm? Oh, it's already going to be your eight hundredth birthday in two days, too, isn't it?"

[Don't tell me you forgot about it.]

Yukari giggled, flipping her fan open. She had met the senko "only" about so many centuries ago, compared to how long of a life she has experienced. Yet the familiar at her feet never ceased to make each day seem brand-new; Yukari hesitated to call it a master-familiar relationship at this point. Having rescued her as a young cub from a forest fire, she had given her the name "Ran", and adopted her as a familiar. Centuries passed, and their collective power grew. As Ran's strength and wisdom increased, so did her master's.

Yukari was a "gap youkai", and her specialty was the manipulation of boundaries. In tandem with Ran's power, at her peak, she would even manage to breach the highest boundary -- the boundary of mortality, and divinity.

Sadly, not many others were as fortunate as she was. During her travels, she had seen many powerful youkai succumb to the earth, as belief in the supernatural died out rapidly. Among these were, of course, the kitsune fox spirits. Even the kyuubi-no-kitsune, the nine-tailed foxes of legend, were succumbing to the earth; Yukari tried to recount the last time she had seen one. She sighed, but her resolve kept her strong. Her greatest creation, the Great Hakurei Barrier, would act as a boundary between Gensokyo and the "Outside World". The barrier would establish Gensokyo as a new world, allowing the youkai weakened by the lack of belief to migrate there and survive in the isolated area of spirituality. Dubbed as the Youkai Expansion Project, it would soon let all of her old friends live on, in the "illusionary world" of Gensokyo.

A dreamland that would last forever.

[Yukari? Is something the matter?]

"Ah, no, I was just anxious for tomorrow. It's going to be a big day, let's go back home."

Yukari held her hand up in the air, and traced out an arc with two of her fingers. A purple void leaked out of thin air, and she tore open the gap in space. Before she disappeared, she looked back at the group of youkai that had accompanied her. One of the oni had already extracted two jars of sake from who knows where, and the band of wise sages rapidly turned into rowdy village drunkards. Celebratory laughter echoed throughout Youkai Mountain that night, and Yukari crept into the gap, satisfied with the spectacle.

--

"Everyone's ready, Yukari."

Yukari nodded, and the blonde-haired familiar smoothly swept behind her after delivering the report. Dressed in a blue and light purple robe, with a pink two-pronged hat, covered in amulets, the fox had assumed her human form, which was a lot more helpful in assisting with the boundary setup. The sages from yesterday had all climbed up to the summit of Youkai Mountain, which was at the centre of a vast and complex magic circle, encompassing the entirety of Gensokyo.

She glanced around. The early morning was cool and calming, with the sounds of the forest allowing the raucous atmosphere from yesterday to vanish. Some had their lips moving in silent meditation mantras, and the circle's markings beneath them faintly glowed in response.

Clap, firmly sounded from the center of the group.

"Begin forced demarcation."

All the voices chanted in unison.

"Origin is the blossoming flower.
Three lights enchant, and personify.
Four seasons change, and enliven.
Five phases materialize, and bring into existence.
The sixty sequences converge into the natural order.

Separate. Separate. Separate.

The fantasy is sealed, and I swear an oath.
From the heavens that count seven, under the power of words thrice said,
Farewell to the world of man,
and glory to the world of spirit."

A deafening boom sounded throughout the sky. The morning skies grew overcast, and a magic circle filled with arcane marks began to spread above them. The air became charged with vitality, and throats grew dry. The youkai sages continued to repeat their chant, expanding the circle slowly about them, bending it into a hemisphere. A faint hum pervaded through the chant, and the grass beneath their feet rose up high. Yukari's eyes lit up with uncharacteristic joy as she led the chant; her efforts of four hundred years were finally coming to a close.

Then, her thoughts were brought to a halt, as an unearthly roar brought people to their knees with a huge tremor. Wind began to blow madly as a storm started. The sky turned dark, as lightless as the night of a new moon. Everyone's eyes immediately darted up to the sky. The magic circle had been shattered to pieces, and lightning tore the clouds apart. Though the morning had turned into night, through the flashes of lightning, everyone could see the figure floating in the sky.

A serpentine figure of legend -- the Dragon.

The youkai sages prostrated instantly, except for the two in the middle of the circle. Yukari and Ran stared up at the dragon in mixed terror and awe as it descended down towards the forest. Even as the deity hovered far above the trees, they could feel a strange heat sear through their faces, forcing them to their knees as well.

[Who dares disturb the order?] a booming voice echoed, though the dragon did not move its lips. [Do the youkai intend to surpass their existence? Do they not know restraint?]

As the dragon voiced its anger, it whipped its long body across the sky, and another explosive boom racked their ears. The storm raged on, almost drowning them with its intensity alone.

"W-We deeply apologize and request your forgiveness, great dragon," a feeble voice called out. "P-Please spare us your wrath, we mean no harm to the will of the world. We only desire peace, and will sacrifice anything you desire." Yukari hazarded a glance, and found Tenma shaking profusely in his prostration. The old youkai, who commanded thousands of youkai soldiers in the Lunar War, was pleading desperately for their lives. The dragon gave the chief tengu a glance, and sharply exhaled. Even through the freezing rain, Yukari could feel the dragonbreath almost burn through her clothes.

The deity paused for a few moments, and spoke again.

[Who is the one responsible? Speak, so we may judge your transgression.]

Having been called out, Yukari looked up, and stood on her legs. Almost immediately, the dragon swept out one of its enormous whiskers towards her. "Yukari!!" Ran called out, dashing out immediately and intercepting the blow. The impact was akin to a metal pillar swung by a hurricane, and Ran was sent flying into a nearby tree.

"Ran!!" Yukari cried, disappearing into a gap, and reappearing beside Ran, catching her familiar in her arms. The disfigurement was not something that would kill a youkai like an eight-tailed kitsune, but she was still fairly injured.

[We did not call for you to stand, only to speak. You have strayed from the order of the world, and we shall now judge your crime as such,] decreed the dragon.

Yukari looked down at the blood-soaked face of her unconscious familiar. Her eyes were red, and her tears mixed with the rain of the unabating storm. She threw back her head towards the serpent deity. "The order of the world desires for us to die! We only wanted to live! How is it a crime to want to survive?!" she bellowed.

"Please, o mighty dragon, grant us this transgression, so that we may continue to serve the earth! We only ask for your blessing that we may survive," Tenma continued.

"We plead for a chance to continue our legacy, so that we may not fade into history unremembered," one of the oni said.

One by one, Yukari watched the sages plead their case, with the storm continuing to howl in the background. All the while, she cradled her familiar in her arms, nursing the wound as best as she could. The dragon paused after the last sage spoke. It slithered about as the lightning illuminated its movements. After contemplating for what felt like an eternity, it delivered its verdict.

[We shall allow this. However, for the violation of the law of the natural order, we will demand that each of those present shall sacrifice something of their own. We shall determine this sacrifice as what we perceive to be the violators' most prized possession, and we shall observe your results. Thus is our decree,] boomed the dragon.

All the sages stood quietly. Looking around, Yukari could feel the emotions fill the air like a suffocating miasma. She herself wasn't all too happy about the result either. The Dragon, being the absolute highest rank of authority in Gensokyo, would have no trouble deciphering her most prized possession. She looked at the one person who would be unable to defend herself against the dragon's sacrifices, and clawed at her aching chest. Sweeping away Ran's bloody bangs, she lowered down and kissed her familiar on the forehead. Her lips moved, as if saying something, but the storm was too loud for anyone to hear but herself.

[Yakumo Yukari, your sacrifice is due.]

The gap youkai nodded in acknowledgement. She stood up slowly, with her back towards the dragon and her hand clenched to her chest.

[We have determined your sacrifice as your kyuubi-no-kitsune familiar, and she shall forfeit her life,] the dragon said.

"I would like to make an amendment."

Suddenly, Yukari's hand sunk into a small gap on her chest, and reemerged briefly after. A smirk crossed her face.

"Please reevaluate your perception of my most prized possession."

The dragon's eyes widened slightly, as it hissed in response. [... As sly as you are learned, gap youkai. We shall accept the amendment.]

--

They say that a kitsune gains power and wisdom as their tails increase in number. Nine-tailed foxes are particularly powerful, and some even say they possess infinite wisdom. It's not so much of infinite wisdom as it is infinite perceptiveness, but that's really just some semantics. It's funny, you know? The more you're able to see, the less you know. A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool, I saw in a book once. I wish I was more of a fool. It's a lot easier to live as one.

Ah, I used to have a friend, but that was a long while ago. We had to give up some things between us, but I do wish the best for her affairs. It's not lonely at all! Even though Yukari-sama is out a lot, Chen keeps me company. Sometimes I need to bait her with some catnip, ahaha. I wish I could be as strong as Yukari-sama, that way I wouldn't have to do so to get Chen's attention. Yukari-sama used to be a lot stronger and livelier back in the day, you know! Now she just catnaps all day long, like Chen does. Chen's still a good girl, of course, just a little mischievous sometimes. She's not really much of a friend, as much as she is a stray cat, though, but that's good enough for me.

My, it is quite late, actually. You're leaving already, Meiling-san? Please do send my regards to Remilia-san and Sakuya-san. Have a safe journey back!

It was an interesting story. Yet at times it was a bit unclear, a few errors too but it's not too bad.

This was... confusing. I can't really see how it relates to Touhou. But it was mediocre I guess.

This was certainly an interesting and entertaining piece that was quite well done. Good job.

This was a good piece. It was quite funny and entertaining. I think it was bit short though. ,

An interesting idea with an interesting use of repetition. I think if there was more content and maybe a use of italics it would be better.

Miko~. The style was a bit confusing, at one point it was a poem? And an other point something else? But it wasn't bad...

To be honest, the layout made my eyes go funny, it was a huge wall of text. There were quite a lot of errors but I guess the general story was mediocre.

It was alright. But who was the main character? That was unclear for me.

I liked it. I liked the story and everything in general. Good job to the writer.

This was a great story. I liked the idea too.

Assuming this is indeed Alice, I like the idea of her using Shanghai (or just a doll, it doesn't matter) as an inner dialogue mechanism. A coping device or something, so I thought that's interesting in concept. Unfortunately for me, I am not too savvy with PC-98 Alice, so quite a bit of this flew right over my head. The use of italics would have made it easy to discern who was who, but I think you messed up which voice should have italics near the end. It made it kind of confusing. The dialogue itself isn't bad, but I can't quite connect everything that was being said to the conclusion, or which side the inner voice was actually trying to get Alice to go. All in all, it's a good idea, but it's a bit of a mess, and kinda confusing due to some (I assume) errors.

Literal use of prompt is literal. I like that bit. That earns you some points. The balls to do a poem also earns you a point. That's where the points stop. I'm having a hard time connecting the stanza's of the poem, except maybe stanzas 2 and 3. The first one might be setting the scene, but it doesn't seem to matter at all, and the last one just doesn't make any sense. Also, while the flow and rhythm of a poem can never be inherently "wrong", having mostly free-verse, then breaking out into rhyme at a seemingly random place, doesn't sound too good to the ear.

Interesting take on Reisen's escape to Earth. It's pretty cool to see what might have been going on through her head when it happened, and how it wasn't really overly dramatic. The letter form is nice, and it sounds like a letter, so +1 for immersion. The fact that it's unsent is kinda sad, and is aided by the sort of bittersweet tone throughout. It could be a little longer, and there are some parts that aren't very fleshed out, or are a little boring. Also, a grammatical/spelling error or two, but it didn't really detract.

I concur with another review, it reads a lot like a children's story book. Which isn't a bad thing, I think the flow of it was quite nice and charming. I liked the bit about Alice and Marisa, that was kinda funny and a good use of repetition. Nothing really happens, though. I don't quite understand how Keine didn't want them to get hurt, but then thinks it's funny that they might get eaten by Remi (I know it was a joke, but still). The story is a little different than what happened in the game, which is fine, but the fact that it's based on in-game events ruins a bit of originality. I don't quite think you used the theme correctly, as (at least to me) it signifies an important decision, whereas it didn't really matter that they went the "wrong" way. Also they went both ways.

Good scene setup. I can tell who you're talking about by the end, so that's nice :V. Unfortunately, this is very lazy and boring. It details Koishi thinking for a second, then deciding to go back home, and that's it. The use of repeating the beginning at the end is cool in theory, but feels very awkward here.

I won't deny it, it's an interesting setup. I have no clue how they got to this position, so I wish you filled us in a little more on that. It's a decent use of free-verse at the beginning, and pretty smoothly transitions to standard dialogue. All that being said, her choice is really god damn dumb to me. Why would you ditch your best friend, who selflessly wished for you to achieve your own desires, for some girl you hate? Byakuren said it herself it was a stupid reason! And then Miko agreed! And then she said she didn't regret it? By all accounts, it doesn't make any sense! Also there were some grammatical errors but whatever, I'll chalk it up to poetic license.

Ow my eyes. Please invest in line breaks ;-;. Anyways, I guess it's some kind of inner discussion about something, and I like that the one girl who's sad is pretty stubborn in the beginning. That seemed fairly realistic. The dialogue itself SOUNDS natural, but what is actually said doesn't feel realistic in the context. It seems awkward how suddenly the depressed voice did a heelturn and though "Oh I was wrong forgive me!" Also, don't make us wonder if one character even exists if we don't even have a firm idea of the the other one. Assuming it's Flan, I would have to assume this person is a hallucination, which means this is even more sad than before and Flan is just absolutely bonkers, creating a friend that was sad, and then opening that imaginary friends' heart, and then getting ditched by the imaginary friend. It's cute but doesn't make much sense.

I'll be honest, I have no god damn clue what's going on here. I don't who this person is, why exactly they're in Makai, or what this persons overall goal is aside from "getting better". And I unfortunately don't really find out in the end. That being said, this is fairly well written, and interesting to read albeit frustrating to understand.

This was really interesting. It's a really neat take on the border creation, and I really like how you portray Yukari and Ran. The plot makes sense, and I find myself siding with characters. That being said, one thing that brings it down for me, is I can't figure out what the hell Yukari did in the end. Maybe it's obvious and I'm dumb, but it doesn't seem apparent to me at all ;-;. The bit with Ran talking about things at the end seems unnecessary, but I think it's supposed to reveal what Yukari did, but I still can't figure it out.

That was fun to read. It's a clever backstory as to why the hell Sakuya serves Remi. The italics to represent flashbacks to when she was with her old master are well done, and show Sakuya's emotions well. That said, there isn't much emotion in the rest of the piece at all. Everything that Sakuya says/narrates outside of italics (and I guess the last few paragraphs) seems so deadpan to me, but at least what she's saying is interesting. "I truly admire and respect your skills a lot and would really want you by my side." This line seems really out of character to me.