Darkness of Illusion

Chapter 1

Arrival

"This place is a dump."

The gray-skinned man sighed as he landed. His companions reaction was to be expected, and to tell the truth, he couldn't help but agree with her. The shrine was truly run down, and as far as he had strayed, it still disappointed him to see a place of faith and worship degraded into such a state. It did appear as if the residents were making an effort, (little as that was), to keep it livable. Still, considering this was such a crucial place in this land, it deserved better.

"Should we bother with the ones here?" Asked his other companion. Her hair was waist length and silvery with streaks of purple. She wore a simple ankle length black robe. Holes were cut in the back to allow for two purple bat wings and a long tail ending in a triangle point. Her eyes seemed to change color, as if they couldn't make up their mind on an appearance. "The priestess is powerful. It's mostly untapped, but I can still sense what it might become. Then there's the Oni and the shrine guardian."

"No, dear. If the information we received is correct then we have not any need to trouble her at the moment. Her part will come later." The gray man said.

"Well then why did I bother coming with you two?" The third complained. She had black hair, done in two pigtails. Her clothing was what one might typically associate with a girl from the so called "outside world," a lose tank top and skirt. There were holes cut in the garment like the first girl, allowing for a tail and bat wings. Different features from the first were two horns that came from the top of her head and the fact that her hands were pitch black and ended in razor sharp claws.

"Whatever do you mean, child?" The gray man asked.

"I only agreed to this deal because I thought I might see something new and exciting for the first time in a long while. And now you're telling me I can't even fight anyone? And don't call me child! I'm almost strong enough to be your equal."

"Ah yes, but strength has nothing to do with it, dear Kyreth, we are far older beings than yourself."

"You didn't answer my first question! Was coming to this so called Gensoro or whatever the hell it's called a waste of time?"

The man looked up at the sky. It was a summer night, with a half moon. The stars shone brightly, and far more were visible in this natural land then in the artificial world of outside. "I never said anything about there being nothing for you to do. I personally requested your presence, did I not? And please keep your voice down. It is night, may I remind you. We may not need it, but the others around here are sleeping. Additionally, alerting the guardian at this time would be bad. Also impolite."

"Very well then," Kyreth replied. "What is it you would have me do?"

The gray man made a gesture with his hand and a scroll appeared in mid-air before slowly falling into his outstretched hand. "Your task will take you to this land's underground. It would be far too tedious and time consuming for me to explain this in full here, considering you failed to show up to the initial meeting... You will find detailed instructions on your role in reading this scroll. It should have enough 'action' for you to have your fill. You are free to use any methods to complete said mission, provided they do not cause too much of a disturbance. Can't have the natives here discovering our plans before they've come to fruition, now can we?" He smiled cheerfully. "I trust this is to your liking. Do we have a deal?"

Kyreth skimmed over the scroll. Her yellow eyes changed color to violet and she smiled, far too wide for her human appearance. "I stand corrected. This is going to be fun!"

She turned around, her wings growing larger. She took off from the shrine grounds and flew out over Gensokyo.

The man started walking up to the shrine, his attention directed to a box near the entrance. He made a gesture and something appeared in the palm of his hand. He knew the gesture would be ultimately meaningless, but it would keep bothering him until he at least made a token effort.

"What are you doing?" The woman asked, perplexed.

"It's a shrine, my love." He said with a smile. "It'd be rather rude to leave without at least giving a donation."

Later…

"Milady, your tea."

Two figures were on a balcony overlooking a lake. One was silver haired and wore a maid uniform. She placed a cup of tea on a small table, where sat a girl with the appearance of a child. She had blue hair, red eyes and bat wings. She wore a pink dress and hat.

"Thank you, Sakuya."

Remilia Scarlet sipped her tea as she looked out over the peaceful night. The half-moon and stars above were perfectly reflected in the still waters of the lake. Fairies flew about the lake, glowing in various colors, like stars of their own. Some hovered in place, viewing the scenery, while others playfully chased each other about. Remilia loved quiet nights like this, able to sit back and relax.

Back in the mansion, the fairy staff could be heard working, mostly, other times it sounded like the breaking of glass or something being knocked over. A sound at which Sakuya winced, knowing she was most likely going to have to clean that up. Remilia found herself trying not to laugh as her maid tried to keep the annoyance off her face.

By chance, Remilia looked down at the front gate, where the gate guard Hong Meiling, (called China by everyone, much to her annoyance) should have been standing guard. Usually she was on duty (albeit asleep) but this night, she wasn't at the gate at all.

"Sakuya, where's China?"

Sakuya reached for the knives she kept in a sheath under her skirt as she headed to the railing. "If she's slacking off I'll-" She stopped mid-sentence.

"What is it?" Remilia asked.

"She's hurt…"

Remilia rushed over to the railing to see China lying beneath a tree, clearly wounded. Her clothes were torn, revealing far too much of her shapely figure. Remilia was about to fly down towards her when she heard a commotion from inside. She turned to see an out of breath Patchouli Knowledge. She was leaning over trying to catch her breath.

"Patchy? What are you doing up at this hour? What's wrong?"

Once she was able to speak, again she delivered even worse news. "Remi! Flandre and Koakuma are both missing! I can't find them anywhere!"

"What? When did this happen?"

"I heard a crashing sound coming from Flandre's room. When I arrived, I found the door torn completely off its hinges and the inside demolished. I-" She stopped to engage in a fit of coughing. She had clearly overexerted herself here.

"Please have a seat." Sakuya said. She poured Patchy a cup of tea. "This should help."

Patchy quickly drained the cup. "Thanks." She said. "I couldn't find Flandre anywhere so I tried to contact Koa. But I can't sense my familiar at all."

"So Flandre's escaped?" Remilia sighed. Ever since the Scarlet Mist Incident, when that shrine maiden Reimu and her friend Marisa had entered the manor to stop it, Flandre had seemingly become obsessed with going outside. She certainly wasn't aware of the details of the Incident, but could most likely sense the high usage of magic. It culminating in her sneaking out of her room while Remilia was away. Fortunately, the two humans had been there to prevent her from causing any real trouble. Flandre had been mostly quiet after that, and Remilia thought she had lost interest in leaving, but apparently she had been wrong.

"Not just that. The door to her room was broken from the outside."

"What? What do you mean?" Remilia asked, perplexed.

"It appears as if Flandre didn't force her way out. Someone forced their way in."

"We let the entirety of Gensokyo know how dangerous the young mistress is at the last council. Who would be stupid enough to do that?" Sakuya asked. "And no. Not even her." She said to Patchouli when it appeared she was going to speak.

"I don't know. And it doesn't matter." Remilia said, she stood up and headed back over to the balcony. "I'm going out to look for her. Sakuya, you come with me."

"Yes, milady."

Patchouli also prepared to take off, but was again overcome with a fit of coughing.

"Patchy, you're not in any shape to be traveling tonight. Stay here and take care of China."

"I'm certain the fairies could…"Patchouli stopped mid-sentence, realizing what she was saying. "I'll tend to her wounds."

With a flap of her wings, Remilia took off into the air. Sakuya followed her.

"Forgive me for asking, milady…" Sakuya started.

"Out with it." Remilia sighed.

"Do we even have a clue where to look?"

"Well-"

Remilia's answer was cut short by a sudden bright light. They looked at the Forest of Magic just in time to see it engulfed in a massive explosion.

And there's the beginning of our story. While it's not apparent right now, this story will be something of a cross between Touhou and the D&D setting of Planescape, two things I really love.

The early chapters are for me the most difficult to get started on. Blank page and all. However, rest assured I promise the second chapter soon!

Please leave a review and tell me what you think so far!

~Dragonexx

P.S. Spell check recognizes Patchouli as a word, awesome!

EDITS: So I'm going through and revising this story, after years of letting it sit alone, while the ideas for where it should go smashing around in my head. I'm simultaneously working on the next few chapters to post as well. The changes here mainly consist of the first half, updates to the characterization of the newcomer and his companions.