東方壊れ楽園 (Touhou Broken Paradise)

[Larxene]

Greeting, betches.~ I'm sure probably none of you even remember me by this point. If you do, good for you. But odds are I wouldn't have remembered who you were anyway, since it's been so long. So eh, I dunno why I'm postin' this anyway. But I figure hey, the more readers the better, right? And any feedback is still good feedback. Usually.

 

So, on to what this is. This is basically the novellization of an old Touhou RP I took part in several years ago. When the RP first started, UFO had only just come out, and there have obviously been many games since then. One of the main reasons for this rewrite is the fact that we wanted to incorporate events from the later games into the canon of the story. The second reason, and most important one, is that all of the chat logs from the RP are long gone. Thankfully though, I remembered most of the major events, and have improved my writing skills enough that I think I can make this work. It's been going well so far though, so I'm pretty optimistic.

 

There are a total of six story arcs that this will inevitably cover, if I actually manage to finish this. Currently I'm working on the first one, based on the Rumia Arc of the RP. Each story arc is titled in a similar manner of most canon Touhou works in a series, each with a matching Japanese title that serves as the title for the RP as a whole, followed by an English title, which is the name of the individual arc. (Similar to how all the Touhou works involving the three fairies begin with 'Touhou Sangetsusei'.)

 

So enough of my needless ranting. Enjoy.~ Or not.~ Whichever, I don't care.~

 

 

[spoiler=東方壊れ楽園 ~ Embrace of Darkness]

Part 1

• Chapter 1: Medicine (I)
• Chapter 2: Yuuka (I)
• Chapter 3: Miasma (I)
• Chapter 4: Reimu (I)
• Chapter 5: Alice
• Chapter 6: Shinki (I)

[/spoiler]

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1: Medicine (I)

 

 

 

 

It had been a little over eight years since Medicine Melancholy had first encountered Yuuka Kazami, way back during that sixty year flower incident. Had she known just how powerful Yuuka was at the time, Medicine very well might have fled from that battle, and spared herself the trouble that followed it months later. Yuuka hadn't exactly openly antagonized Medicine by any means. She'd just been merely exploring Gensokyo on her own for the first time, spreading her poisons as she deemed fit, and had inadvertently managed to defeat Yuuka in battle by merely overwhelming her with poison, to the point where she'd been forced to flee.

And had Yuuka been merely another youkai, that would've been the end of it. A few weeks after the flower incident had passed, Medicine had returned to her relatively secluded life among her flowers, with occasional visits from that Eientei doctor, Eirin, who expressed an interest in using her poisons for research purposes. That was at least, until Yuuka had arrived, seeking her out at some point during that following summer.

She mentioned that her defeat at Medicine's hands had actually been her first debilitating defeat in quite a long time, likely in almost a thousand years she believed. Medicine hadn't actually known Yuuka to be that old at the time, since she herself was a relatively young being. But for a time, Yuuka made a few regular visits to see Medicine, slowly building up her tolerance to those poisons of hers. All under the claim that Yuuka found her abilities to be 'interesting'.

But of course, that was all until the following Autumn, the last time that Medicine had ever seen Yuuka Kazami. And in the end, she came to the conclusion that youkai were just the same as humans, who simply viewed her as a tool to be used. Just like how Yuuka had merely used Medicine as an outlet for her sexual deviancy during that last meeting. And then she had merely been tossed aside, never to see Yuuka again from that day forward. Nor did Yuuka herself ever realize that she had left Medicine with child that day.

Months later, in the following Spring, one year after the flower incident that had started everything, Medicine gave birth to her daughter. A girl she had named Miasma Melancholy, something she deemed rather appropriate, considering the circumstances of her birth. And every day since then, the girl served as a reminder to Medicine of her newfound hatred toward youkai. But still, she raised Miasma as her own, vowing to never speak with Yuuka again, even if that meant finally being alone again.

Medicine never left the suzuran field again after that day, not for many more years, and she had tried to make Miasma to do the same. At the least, Medicine figured, maybe she would have someone to share her mutual hatred of humans and youkai with. But that became an increasingly difficult task to manage as the years went by.

It was the summer of 2013, and Miasma had just turned seven a few months prior. Though in terms of human appearance, Miasma resembled a child of at least eleven or twelve, since youkai tended to mature at a faster rate than human children. Although Miasma was certainly taller than Medicine, she was still rather short for someone of her approximate age. And aside from her rather small stature, she looked more and more like that damned youkai every day, and less and less like Medicine herself. Her hair was a very light green, and just past shoulder length, while her eyes were the perfect contrast, being a bright red. On top of that, she'd inherited Yuuka's physical strength as well. As if Medicine wanted another reminder. Miasma's clothing was a rather shabby looking black blouse and skirt, with some white trim here and there, along with a black bow and flower in her hair.

Worse than any of those resemblances to Yuuka in her appearance, was Miasma's growing insistence that she wanted to leave the suzuran field, and go out to explore Gensokyo on her own. Despite the fact that Medicine would've greatly enjoyed the solitude, she'd still have to cope with the fact that Miasma would probably choose to abandon her in that flower field. She wasn't exactly the most loving mother in the world.

And today in particular, Miasma had been particularly insistent on leaving the field. "Come on, mom... I've never spent more than an hour outside of this tiny flower field. I've never even had the chance to talk with anyone else other than you!"

Medicine could only assume there must have been some other kind of new incident going on lately, what with all the recent activity from the humans and youkai in the nearby area. Sure, it was a common thing to see the occasional human, youkai, or other being fly by overhead once every day or two. But they'd become increasingly common for the past couple days. A few days prior, when she'd first noticed this, she had ventured outside of the suzuran field without Miasma's knowledge for the first time in many years, only to confirm what she believed to be true. Of course, it had to be some kind of incident again, as she saw a considerable number of people she didn't even recognize getting into apparently pointless fights over trivial matters. Without even having left the flower field, Miasma had apparently jumped to the same conclusion.

"Leaving here would be pointless, Miasma. Humans and youkai... They're all the same, you know. They just treat us like tools, and then they simply throw us away when they have no more use for us." It was something she had tried to force Miasma to believe since the day she'd been born. And for a long time, she'd apparently believed it. At least, until Miasma had finally started to mature on her own, and grow more curious about the world around her. "If you leave here and try to meet with them, the same thing is going to happen to you, too. Is that really what you want to happen?"

"You don't know that for sure!" Miasma finally shouted, balling her hand tightly into a fist. Medicine winced at the sudden increase in Miasma's temper, and she recoiled a bit, knowing just how strong Miasma could get when she was angry. "Just because... Something might've happened to you a long time ago... Doesn't mean that all people are the same, you know! You've just kept me here for seven years, and... I've never had the chance to meet anyone else, even if I see them fly by all the time, not knowing I even exist!"

"Because it's better for you that way, Miasma. Better for both of us." Medicine glared up at her daughter, stubbornly. Staring into Miasma's eyes, particularly when she was angry, just made her all the more aware of how much she resembled Yuuka. She almost completely despised Miasma when she saw that look in her eyes. "You don't know anything about what humans and youkai are like out there. You're still just a stupid little kid, and you don't know any better."

That last statement seemed to be what finally pushed Miasma over the edge. The glare in her eyes switched from anger to pure defiance in just that one moment, and Medicine almost feared that Miasma would've finally acted out violently, and perhaps punched her to the ground or something. But the blow never came, much to Medicine's relief, but what followed wasn't exactly an improvement. "Ugh... You're... You're just so stupidly close minded...!" Miasma turned away from her mother, and began to fly up into the air, not once turning back to look at her.

"Miasma! Where do you think you're going!?" Medicine shouted out to her daughter, taking a few steps forward to attempt to close the growing distance between the two.

"I'm going out on my own for once!" Miasma stated, not once turning her back to face her mother again. "If you want to shut out the entire world, that's fine! But I'm not going to be the same as you... I'm not going to just be alone my whole life like you clearly want to be!"

"Fine, just go then!" Medicine called back, but she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of remorse as Miasma flew off into the distance, off in the direction of the Human Village. "You'll be back eventually, Miasma... You'll see what I've already realized..."

"They don't care about beings like us..." Medicine sighed, as she fell backward to lay face-up in the flower field, staring up at the sky. "Humans and youkai... They're such simple creatures..."

[Larxene]

Chapter 2: Yuuka (I)

 

 

Yuuka Kazami sat near the hot spring by the geyser near Youkai Mountain, watching the ongoing battle between Koishi Komeiji, that satori from the underground, and Mononobe no Futo, one of those newcomers from the Taoist sect. Things had been going on like this for days now, all these needless feuds over silly religious differences. "How pointless..." Yuuka muttered to herself with a sigh.

But at the very least, it was interesting to see some of these newcomers in action recently. Ever since the Moriya Shrine had appeared in Gensokyo a few years prior, everything really had turned into a big religious mess. But it had also brought quite a large number of people out into the open. Those that were brand new to Gensokyo, like those of the Moriya and Taoist groups, and those that had simply been sealed away, like the Buddhist group and the leader of the Taoists, Toyosatomimi no Miko. And of course, those from the underground, who had merely shunned the above ground world for so long. Quite an interesting bunch those were.

Perhaps that was the main reason why Yuuka had found herself watching the fight that day. That Taoist woman, Futo she believed her name was, didn't hold much interest to her. But that other one from underground, that Koishi girl. She had quite the unique ability. Able to act subconsciously, and fight in such an awkward manner while still holding her own against powerful opponents. Interesting indeed.

Lately, all of these fights had drawn quite the crowd as well. Typical for the area was one of the goddesses of the Moriya Shrine, Suwako Moriya herself. Though the other goddess, Kanako Yasaka, and their shrine maiden, Sanae Kochiya, didn't seem to be present that day. A few of the other mountain goddesses, like the Aki sisters were there as well, and a large number of the tengu and kappa populations as well, including Nitori Kawashiro. Even a few from the underground had shown up, perhaps to watch Koishi's fight. Namely, two of Koishi's apparent 'pets'. One that Yuuka hardly cared to recognize, a kasha by the name of Rin Kaenbyou. And the other, one that Yuuka had heard quite a bit about, but had yet to meet in person, the hell raven Utsuho Reiuji. The one who had gained the powers of the sun god, Yatagarasu, and gained control over nuclear fusion.

Notably absent however, was Satori Komeiji, Koishi's elder sister who was supposed to be in charge of Utsuho and Rin. Evidently, she had no love for the above ground world, even after all the recent changes had made Gensokyo much more aware of her presence, and of the entire underground society. But her absence suited Yuuka's intentions just fine. That mind reading ability of hers would certainly prove troublesome.

A deviant grin crept across Yuuka's face as her attention shifted away from the fight, and over toward Utsuho instead. "My, what are youkai from underground like yourselves doing so far away from home?" Yuuka remarked with a smile, as she stepped up behind Utsuho and Rin, acting innocently enough. Though anyone who knew Yuuka well enough would hardly have fallen for the act.

"Eeeh? Oh, heya miss youkai! Whoever ya are, anyway." Rin was the first of the two to take notice of her. "We heard our master's sister was up here takin' part in some of these fights, so we thought we'd come up and see!" Rin turned back and pointed out Koishi, up in the air as she fought against Futo. "That's her, right there, see?"

"So I see. How very interesting." Not that she didn't already realize this. Nor did she really hold any interest in Rin herself, despite her next question, which she yet again already knew the answer to. "And just who might you two be, I wonder? Pets of Satori Komeiji, I assume?"

"Yup! I'm Rin, and this here's my friend, Utsuho." Utsuho finally turned around, and waved cheerily back at Yuuka, apparently only having just taken notice of her. "Nice to meet ya, miss youkai!"

"Just Yuuka is fine, dear. No need to be so formal." Yuuka smiled back at the two, before focusing her gaze solely on Utsuho now. "My, I've certainly heard of your friend though. Utsuho Reiuji, the hell raven with the powers of a god..." An impish grin crossed Yuuka's expression as she spoke, and she draped an arm over her own chest, as she gave a slight bow. "Quite an honor to make the acquaintance of someone so powerful."

Had the two not been quite so naive, they might've realized Yuuka was lying through her teeth quite blatantly. "Well, thanks miss... Yuuka, right?" But if there was one thing Utsuho enjoyed, it was being reminded of just how powerful she actually was. Her ego more than made up for what she lacked in brain power. "I'm probably the strongest youkai in all the underground!" Rin giggled quietly at Utsuho's boast, no doubt having heard it many times before.

"That's certainly quite the claim. More powerful than even the oni, or even your masters, Satori and Koishi?" Utsuho grinned in response, nodding her head in confirmation. A rather concerned look took hold of Rin's expression, however. "Than I hardly see why someone of your status should ever call someone else 'master'. It hardly seems fitting."

"H-hey now, don't go tellin' her those sorts of things." Rin finally spoke up again. She didn't like where the conversation seemed to be heading. She still remembered quite clearly what had happened the last time that the power had gone to Utsuho's head.

"Now, now. Do not interrupt, especially when I was not speaking to you in the first place." Yuuka raised her hand to silence Rin, who seemed to shrink back in fear. There was something about this youkai that Rin didn't like. Something that terrified her. "Well then, Utsuho. If you are as strong as you claim, you should have no trouble proving it. Perhaps a quick battle to test that strength of yours."

"Yeah, you're on!" Utsuho responded, rather loudly, catching the attention of many of the other individuals who had been watching the battle between Futo and Koishi.

"Excellent. Let's keep this simple, for your sake." Yuuka certainly seemed aware of Utsuho's general lack of intelligence, but Utsuho certainly didn't catch the insult buried in Yuuka's words. "You can use any one spellcard of your choice. If you even manage to land a hit on me, I will declare you the winner."

"Hah! That's all? You're going down!" Utsuho was brimming with confidence, but Yuuka did not appear concerned.

Yuuka flew up between the two combatants, immediately interrupting the fight. "What dost thou think you are doing!?" Futo shouted at Yuuka, but the majority of the spectators, who all knew Yuuka well, turned a blind eye to her actions. Yuuka grabbed Futo's collar, hoisting her up higher into the air. "Hey! Unhand me, foul woman!"

But the glare that Yuuka cast at Futo seemed to be enough to silence her instantly. Yuuka didn't speak a word to her, and merely tossed her aside in the air. As she reoriented herself, giving one last look at Yuuka, Futo flew off back in the opposite direction, likely back to Miko's temple to sulk over her humiliating 'defeat'. Koishi merely shrugged, and walked off in midair, essentially disappearing from the sight and minds of all those whose attention was now focused on Yuuka.

Rin had watched the entire exchange, and appeared even more concerned than she had previously. A concern that Utsuho did not seem to share. "Hey, Okuu... Are you really sure about this...?" Rin asked her friend, calling Utsuho by her nickname, hoping to talk her out of the fight. "This Yuuka... She seems really strong, ya know? Maybe it'd be better if ya backed down, so ya don't get hurt..."

"No way! All I gotta do is land one hit remember? And besides, all these people wanna see us fight now!" That much was certainly true. Almost all of the various youkai seemed to have completely forgotten the previous battle in favor of the new one. Granted, however, Koishi's ability certainly played a part in that as well.

"But, Okuu--!"

But Utsuho had already begun to fly up to meet Yuuka in battle. "And here I thought you might have changed your mind. It certainly took you long enough." Yuuka remarked in an almost bored manner, raising her parasol over her shoulder. "I hope you're prepared."

"Damn right I am!" All attention in the crowd was on them, and Utsuho felt it. She had a captive audience, and this was going to be her chance to show all of Gensokyo just how powerful she really was. Not wanting to waste even another second, Utsuho had already drawn and begun to declare her spellcard. "Explosion Sign 'Mega Flare'!" The spellcard in Utsuho's hand glowed brightly for a second after her declaration, before fading away completely. A large number of massive fireballs seemed to spawn in the air around her, like miniature suns, before they were flung in Yuuka's general direction. As they traveled through the air, they seemed to lose most of their mass by the time they reached Yuuka.

How painfully simple. Yuuka had raised her parasol in front of herself like a protective shield, using it to block Utsuho's fireballs and other smaller danmaku. She's powerful, but she doesn't know how to maintain it. And her attacks are too random, no pattern whatsoever. Yuuka's only worry was of the smaller blue shots that occasionally emerged from the large fireballs, often in random directions. It would certainly be an embarrassment to lose her duel just because of a simple stray shot.

Truthfully, Utsuho's lack of restraint was more dangerous to the spectators than it actually was to Yuuka. On more than one occasion, a large stray fireball missed its intended target completely, and flew off course to strike the ground near one of the spectators, forcing them to jump or fly out of the way.

"Be careful, Okuu!" Rin called out. "You're gonna hit someone!"

"I suppose I ought to finish this quickly, then." Yuuka didn't particularly care if someone else was injured, but she supposed that it would reflect badly on herself if that happened. She'd analyzed Utsuho's attack long enough to know its weak points. Seeing an opening in the hell raven's barrage, Yuuka flew forward, dodging her way expertly around the various fireballs and smaller danmaku shots, occasionally swatting one or two away with her parasol.

Utsuho could finally see Yuuka approaching, and becoming desperate, tried to focus all of the largest fireballs in her direction. But her efforts were sloppy at best, as she simply caused them to collide into each other, some of which merely bounced apart, while others outright exploded upon impact. A badly timed explosion occurred directly in Utsuho's line of vision, blocking Yuuka from sight completely. Yuuka smirked, and holding her parasol out as a shield, lunged through the explosion, with her parasol protecting her from the blast.

Yuuka emerged from the opposite end of the explosion completely unscathed, much to Utsuho's shock and horror. And not wasting a moment, lest Utsuho get the chance to strike back, Yuuka seized the hell raven by the throat. Almost immediately, the various projectiles began to fade, until it was merely the two youkai alone in the air. "Seems like I've won."

"N... No way..." Utsuho struggled to speak, until Yuuka released her grip. "How... Did I lose...?" Utsuho drifted a few feet down in the air. Her ego had no doubt taken a massive blow, losing so embarrassingly in front of all those people.

"You are powerful, no doubt. But you are reckless and inexperienced." As Yuuka spoke, Rin had flown up to Utsuho's side, tending to her friend. "But your powers are certainly... Interesting, to say the least."

"Yeah, ya won, can ya just leave her alone already?" Rin spat out at Yuuka in response.

"Your sheer potential might surpass even mine." Yuuka continued, this time not even acknowledging Rin's comment. "In fact... I would actually just like to see that full potential of yours. If it would not be a problem with you or your master, I would actually like the opportunity to help you train that ability of yours."

"R... Really...!?" Utsuho didn't seem sure how to react to Yuuka's offer. On one hand, Yuuka was the one who had baited her into a fight, before proceeding to humiliate her. A simple loss in a more secluded location was one thing, but she'd had an audience this time. Perhaps for that same reason however, Utsuho had finally realized that maybe there was some truth in what Yuuka was telling her. That she was reckless, and unskilled, and that perhaps she hadn't achieved her full potential. And now, Yuuka's offer sounded all the more enticing. "Y-yeah! Okay, I'll do it!"

"W-wait a second! Are ya even sure you can trust her!?" Rin protested once again, trying her best to defend Utsuho. "Even if ya did go with her, what would Satori say!?"

"Oh, it's no big deal, Orin!" Utsuho smiled back at her friend, though the look Yuuka gave Rin was considerably less pleasant. "Satori lets us do whatever we want anyway, so why would she complain? Besides! If she asks, you can always just tell her for me!"

"Excellent. We can leave any time you're ready." Rin was practically speechless, and Yuuka had chosen to simply ignore her yet again. "I trust you will have no issue staying at my home for the duration of your training."

"Nope, that sounds fine!" Utsuho replied, flying up beside Yuuka.

Yuuka smiled back at her, as she led the naive hell raven off in the direction of her home, Mugenkan, and away from her closest friend, who continued to call protests out to Utsuho in vain. All in all, Yuuka might've expected a little bit more of a challenge out of the hell raven, but she'd been so hopelessly clueless of Yuuka's real intentions. Unlike her annoyingly suspicious friend, anyway. But in truth, Utsuho's powers did greatly interest her. Perhaps she'd be worth keeping around for a little bit longer than usual.