Four years had passed since the day Mima, Yumeko, and Shinki seemingly vanished off of the face of the Earth. It was currently the afternoon, and during this afternoon, Reimu was doing what she normally did; sitting on the steps into the shrine and sipping tea from a cup in her hands. At that moment, she was interrupted. Something made an impact on the pathway to the Shrine. Someone came from the sky and landed with forward momentum. The person landing had to run forward a few steps, just to avoid falling. Eventually, the broomstick the person rode on came to a step. That someone was wearing a black dress with a white petticoat and a black pointy hat. Reimu knew who it was, "Hi Marisa!"

Marisa responded, "What's up, ze?"

Reimu glanced at the witch. "Nothing new. So, how long have you've been living in the Forest of Magic? It seems like it's been a year now."

Marisa corrected her, "Not a year, ten months. Learn to count!"

Reimu said, "I can count, for your information. It's just hard for me to keep track of the times. Days become weeks, ya know? By the way, how do you even survive in a place like that? It's gotta be dangerous all the time."

Marisa answered, "Not really. I get help from Rinnosuke, and Alice. And you, of course!" She then drew what looked like white cards, "These are a real lifesaver! I can't thank you enough for making these!"

Reimu said, "Oh yes. By the way, you mentioned Alice, how is she?"

The blonde girl stated, "She's a lot more stable since that day. Instead of trying to kill me one hundred percent of the time, she only tries to kill me twenty percent of the time now!"

Reimu formed a wicked grin on her face and muttered, "Heh. Knowing how irritating you are, I'd say that's a big improvement for her."

Marisa suddenly appeared right behind the shrine maiden, with a wicked grin of her own, and murmured, "Say that again, ya red-and-white snotball."

Reimu then went back to a more normal smile and replied, "Oh, there's no point in repeating the obvious." She then looked a little more serious, "Then again, that day when your mistress disappeared, that was over four years ago. Are you still hurt from then?"

Marisa, in a rare moment of seriousness, replied, "Mima-sama was my best friend. I still feel a big gap in my heart since then. I still have hope, though. No one's found her body, so maybe she's still alive."

Reimu reassured her, "She was pretty strong. Granted, we could best her with our bullet patterns, but she was a tough customer. She wouldn't die for just anyone, not even a goddess from Makai."

Marisa continued, "Uh huh. I like to think that she's hiding somewhere, biding her time. She's waiting for everyone to think that she's dead, only in the past, just a memory. When everyone's forgotten about her, then she'll return, and she'll finally conquer Gensokyo, just to prove them wrong."

Reimu was nodding her head in agreement, "That actually sounds like something she would really do."

Marisa added, "I could picture her right now, laughing in that noble manner." She began to impersonate Mima's voice, "A ha ha ha ha! Those foolish Gensokyans must think I died in vain! How sad of an error of judgment! Why, once I have mastered the Hidden Forbidden Artes of Mystique and Powerfulness, I shall return and show them that I, The Great Mima, deserve my rightful place as the ruler of all of Gensokyo, as I was always meant to become! Oh ho ho ho ho ho!"

Reimu and Marisa were experiencing fits of giggles. Reimu managed to enunciate, "It's like she's right here!"

Marisa, in between her laughter, managed to say, "I know!"

Reimu then asked, "Hey Marisa, don't you think it's odd how we're both from the Village, and yet now we live away from the Village, especially since everyone else in both of our families live there? And also how you, me, and Alice were all born just a few months apart? Don't you find that to be a strange coincidence?"

Marisa boasted, "Not at all! In fact, successful witches strike it out on their own at the age of 13!"

Reimu tilted her head, "You're lying again, aren't you?"

Marisa waved her heads, "No, seriously! I read it in a book! Good witches strike it out on their own by the time they're 13! It just goes to show how good Alice and I are!"

Reimu sighed, "Whatever you say."

Somewhere within the Forest of Magic, a cottage lay within a clearing of the forest. It was a basic one-story house, with white walls, a blue roof, and brown trimming, though the bedroom was in an adjacent two-story addition to the house. Inside the house was a beautifully furnished room, lined with completed dolls, books, and supplies for building dolls. Alice was sitting near a desk, with a doll facing her. Her hands had strings attached to them. She was holding a conversation with the doll, "So you want to know what I want to do, more than anything else, Shanghai?"

The doll said in Alice's falsetto voice, "Yes! Please do tell, Alice!"

Alice told the doll, "I want to make a doll that can act entirely on its own, without strings or anything else holding it up."

The doll said back, "Reallyǃ? That sounds amazing! But, why would you want to do something like that?"

Alice smiled, "I'm glad you asked, Shanghai! You see, I've lost people in my life, people very important to me. I feel that if I could make a doll that can act and think on its own like a human or a youkai, that then I could build replacements of all the people I love to replace them!"

The doll said, "Aww~, that's very sweet of you, Alice! I hope you succeed!"

Alice replied, "Yes, I hope so, too."

With her resolve strengthened, Alice went to work on her new goal.

Elsewhere in Gensokyo, a debate was brewing.

A calm voice said, "But my lady, such a thing is outrageous."

A younger, more childish voice responded, "Well I don't care! I tire of not being able to leave the mansion whenever I want. Why should the arrival and departure of the Sun determine when I can and can't leave? Well come next sunrise, I will put to practice that spell Patchouli has been working on and teaching me so that I may finally act on my own whims whenever I see fit, and you will agree to this, whether you want to or not."

The first voice said, "If Patchouli has agreed to it, then so shall I. Excuse me, my lady."

It was the beginning of a new era in Gensokyo.

[Author's note: Wow. I did it. I actually did it. I rewrote a good chunk of the PC-98 era of the Touhou Project. Granted, I took a few liberties here and there, but I finally did it. It took me nearly 17 months to finish, but it was worth it. With that said, I didn't do this all by myself. I had help. It's only appropriate that I now give thanks to those that helped me make Mentor and Protege.

Thank you Usually Dead, for showing me that good Touhou fanfics can exist in the English-speaking fanbase. I was inspiring to your level when I wrote Mentor & Protege. I may not have been as descriptive nor as edgy as you, but you were a major influence nonetheless.

Thank you 7TC7 of youtube, for your videos on the PC-98 Touhou games. They were invaluable in my research, since I could not get the games to work properly on my computer.

Thank you Heraklinios, for standing by me and supporting me even when I was blocked while writing Mentor & Protege.

Thank you MaxKnight10101, for also standing by me and supporting me.

Thank you Doujinstyle, for giving me a place to talk about Touhou.

Thank you Maidens of the Kaleidoscope, for also giving me a place to discuss Touhou.

Thank you Gensokyo dot org, for your doujin downloads. They helped stir inspiration within me during the droughts of imagination I had while writing Mentor and Protege.

Thank you Touhou Wiki, for research on the characters and settings of Touhou. I know I'm addressing a website whose content could be easily altered by a user, but I will say that no self-respecting Touhou fanficcer should write without constant access to the wiki.

Thank you tvtropes, for your research on Touhou in general, and especially the information provided in the alternate Touhou character interpretation threads.

Thank you Fanfiction dot net, for giving me a place to host Mentor & Protege, even if you do screw up my formatting occasionally.

Thank you, ZUN, for creating the Touhou Project, and without you, this obviously wouldn't exist. None of these characters (save for at least one OC of mine) are originally mine, and neither is Gensokyo. Don't worry; I won't make a profit off of this. I respect you too much to even think of doing such a thing.

Thank you to anyone who has read Mentor & Protege in its entirety. You played the most important role in the creation of this fanfiction by doing so.]