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        It is getting really cold, isn't it? Such are nights this season. Maybe I should start a fire? If only we had something to roast over a fire....

 

        What's that look for? I was talking about something nice and sweet like marshmallows or cherries. What? You've never had roasted cherries before? Hmmm, maybe it's for the best? It might give you diabetes. Then your blood might become just sweet enough for....

 

        Come now, I was only pulling your leg. Not like I want to eat it or anything. Eheh, sorry, sorry, really, that was immature of me. Then again, I am a youkai. The concept of maturation is beyond us, as is the very concept of change. Ah, speak of the devil, look over yonder. See the glowing red eyes in the darkness beyond? Oh yes, those are indeed youkai. They know I won't share though, so don't worry. Nobody else will sink their teeth into you tonight.

 

Did I say 'else'? Eheh~ Oh, the story? Yes, the story. Where were we?

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 To-do-list for future incarnation

 

[  ] Acquire literacy to read this list

[  ] Reclaim old home

[  ] Make sure fairies did not get into home

[  ] Cash in life insurance from Kourin

[  ] Spend life insurance money on sweets supply for fridge

[  ] Use leftovers to hire new assistants

[  ] Check if sake in storage matured adequately

[s][  ] Achieve legal age to drink[/s] Note to self - nobody checks

[  ] Organize Gensokyo Chronicle

 

....

 

 

 

Akyuu sighed inwardly. Why can't she really have that so-called 'Curse of Miare' everyone in the village are so scared of? Most of her human neighbours were too afraid of 'catching' her said curse to come visit and pay their last respects. Sure, her lifespan shortens with each incarnation, but how people could compare it to the common cold is beyond her.

 

Now, if only that lack of common sense extends to people like this hermit now pacing her room, Seiga Kaku. Better yet, if only it really were as contagious as the common cold....

 

"So, Hieda....san...." The hermit's voice oozed with condescending smugness as she paced across the soft tatami floor, tracing a finger across the Gensokyo Chronicle volumes arrayed neatly on one of the room's many bookcases. "I see you have all your affairs in order." She commented airily, noting the neat pile of letters and other, more legal documents on the young sage's desk in the corner. "Convenient, the gift of knowing one's time."

 

"Indeed, Seiga-san." Akyuu smiled back, fixedly. Only those with enough sense, courage or fondness for her dared visit. She didn't expect Seiga Kaku, the azure hermit, to qualify for any of those. Plus using the words 'pay' and 'respect' with Seiga Kaku would be stretching their use. She sat, staring back out at the darkening courtyard, paying the hermit no more mind that she had to.

 

Why did she have to be here? When the one person she wanted to see hadn't visited her all day? Keine....

 

"Though I sense that 'knowing' does not equate 'readiness'." The hermit whispered, almost with relish. "Do you still fear death, Child of Miare, after all this time?"

 

Akyuu's surprise must have shown on her face, for the hermit smiled a devilish little smile. "I see. No amount of forced smiles and shows of defiance can hide such sentiments when you're this close to death. Is it fear? Or...is it regret, perhaps?" She asked, slowly pacing around the young sage, who, much to her apparent delight, had stiffened up. "No....I see...it is...desire? You wish for more. Much more. More than your pitiful destiny as the Child of Miare can offer. But here you are, dying this young, only to be reborn again, to die even younger....until one day you cease to exist altogether. You who remembers everything....who will remember you, Child of Miare? You will disappear beyond the cycle of rebirth, beyond mortal memory. And for what? For that pathetic little record of this over-glorified backwater youkai zoo at the edge of the world...Gensokyo Chronicle indeed...."

 

Seiga paused in her slow orbit around the frozen body of Akyuu to slowly lean in close, voice lowered to barely a whisper. "How would you like to....never have to die again, Child of Miare? No...rather...you, just you, Akyuu...chan?"

 

The young sage couldn't help it. She looked up at the hermit, giving her cold, sapphire eyes a searching look.

 

"How would you like to...become immortal? As my companion in eternity, Akyuu....chan?" The smile, suspicious as it was, was almost mesmerizing as the hermit caressed the young sage's cheeks gently. Akyu gasped at the touch, it was surprisingly warm, almost comforting. "Come with me, Akyuu-chan. I will....free you from death....I will grant you.... immortality."

 

Akyuu gulped silently. Before her, held up daintily by the hermit, was a Jiang Shi paper charm, a devious product of arcane science capable of reanimating any dead body to serve its Master's will.

 

A treacherous part of her mind was overcome with intrigue. To become a Jiang Shi? She was already bored stiff with life as it is. Surely she couldn't get any stiffer? But....wouldn't that mean becoming the hermit's servant? To forever lose her own free will? To become incapable of deciding right and wrong for herself? At the hands of Seiga Kaku, who knows what she will end up doing?

 

Akyuu found her mouth open, an answer at the back of her throat. But what it was she never heard it. They were interrupted by a voice, sharp, cold, firm. "There is no such thing. You know that better than anyone, hermit." Byakuren had returned to the room with a tray of tea.

 

"Hmph...." The hermit lowered her hand from the young sage's cheeks and straightened up to her full, terrifying height. The Jiang Shi charm had disappeared into whatever dark recesses it had come from. "If I knew this house welcomed 'prophets', I would have given more care to my manners."

 

"As you should, hermit. I apologize but I wasn't aware of your visit. I prepared no tea for you." The Buddhist monk said, her voice level, calm, yet firm. Akyuu sensed that something, perhaps something Seiga had said, had offended the monk quite deeply, for her to be so openly cold, even to one she resented.

 

"I merely wondered whether or not Hieda-san would like to consider a future by my side. Surely you too agree Hieda-san deserves much more out of her life?" The hermit asked, almost innocently.

 

"If you are referring to the pitiful undead you have robbed of peace, Hieda-san definitely deserves more, I agree." Byakuren said, gazing upon the hermit, not with contempt, but a probing, almost penetrating gaze. The sun sank. The room darkened. A cold, almost bitter wind blew through the open sliding doors, scattering what fallen petals there were on the floor into a feeble flutter across the tatami.

 

The silence was oppressive, lasting almost an eternity, as the two figures towered over one another, neither glaring, neither blinking. The tension was almost palpable. Seiga  finally broke the silence with her final parting words, "It is something I would like Hieda-san to consider. My offer stands. Now I take my leave." With that, Seiga nodded at the young sage, and, without another look at the monk, strode out into the gathering darkness, vanishing as abruptly as she had appeared.

 

"I apologize...I left you to have a calm moment with your own thoughts. I did not expect such a...distraction." The monk said, setting down the tea and kneeling by Akyuu's side, her stern expression melting into one of friendly, compassionate concern.

 

"Barely." Akyuu's usual smile returned, almost as if it had never left. "Hijiri-san, either you have been fibbing or you have failed to notice the third cup of tea on your tray." She said, nodding at the laden tray.

 

"Ah, yes. This is for your other visitor." Byakuren replied, with a sudden smile.

 

"Other visitor?" Akyuu asked, not missing a beat, sighing inwardly in relief that her attempt at a change of subject succeeded.

 

"Yes. You can come out now." The monk told the ceiling above.

 

"I thought she'd never leave!" A light, dark frame swung down from the roof's edge, dark wings fluttering gently as it landed lightly on the veranda. A mess of bluish silver hair flaming red in the sunset crowned a face beaming with genuine happiness at seeing her. With a lunge, the petite youkai had engulfed the young sage in a tight embrace. "Hieda-san~!"

 

"T-Toki-chan...?" Akyuu gasped, winded somewhat, as the young crested ibis youkai buried herself somewhere around  her midriff.

 

"I was hoping you'd finally stop calling me that...." A muffled voice came up from below, a look of playful disapproval peeking up at her.

 

"Sorry, Toki-chan, your real name is a little too long. I'm afraid I might bite my tongue." Akyuu replied, giggling.

 

"Better to hurt my feelings than your own tongue, huh?" The little youkai sighed, straightening up and reaching into her little satchel. "Well, prepare your tongue for something else. I brought you some more Ireisen." She said, excitedly, wings fluttering, echoing her excitement, as she produced a leather bag full of fresh flower petals. The unmistakable scent of the rare Ireisen flower filled the room.

 

Akyuu bit her lip for the briefest moment. You see, the Ireisen are rare enough in the autumn when they are supposed to be most abundant. But in the spring there shouldn't be any at all.

 

She looked at her beaming youkai friend, noting the large tears in her one and only dress and the scratches and scars on her skin. No doubt she had been combing the perilously dangerous mountains for them again, believing they would continue extending her life. She admits that the Ireisen, when ground into a medicinal drought, is indeed invigorating and may have given her that little bit more beyond her lot. But as for extending her life....

 

She almost had no heart to tell the little youkai that today was the day. But she had to. She owed it to her closest youkai friend. "Toki-chan....." She pulled the little youkai into a tight hug, holding her close.

 

"E-eeep....H-Hieda-san...?" The youkai squeaked, surprised, wings fluttering nervously.  

 

"Stop calling me that or I will really get upset." Akyuu threatened, glad that her little friend wouldn't be able to see her face in her embrace.

 

"T-then...K-K-K...K...Kyuu-chan...?" Tokiko stammered her childhood nickname for her closest and perhaps only friend.

 

The tears streaming down Akyuu's face came as a surprise to the young sage. All the forced smiles, all the false bravado, everything had come so naturally. 9 bouts of reincarnation had given her more than enough practice. But now, before this little youkai, all the masks she had so carefully crafted over 9 lifetimes crumbled in an instant.

 

"T-Toki-chan....I-I-I'm...." The young sage took a deep breath, "I'm....leaving...today." Akyuu said, her voice shaking.

 

"....." Akyuu felt her little friend tremble in her arms. "...l-leaving...? Leaving w-where? It....it b-b-better...it better n-not be the sweets store....n-not w-without me!" Her voice was tremulous as her petite frame.

 

The young sage took a deep breath, summoning up what little resolve she had left. "I'm...I'm dying today." She declared it, for what was, she realized, the first time.

 

"N-No....not...not today..." She felt the little youkai's grip tighten. "You can't!" She begged, eyes wide, brimming with tears, looking up at her pleadingly. "Please...*hic* J-Just...just t-take more *hic*...Ireisen...y-you'll be...you'll be....be...all....all better soon!" She sobbed, choking over her words. "We....we promised...." She hiccupped, looking up at her imploringly, "We promised, Kyuu-chan....we'd be friends forever...and ever...."

 

The young sage was at a loss. She didn't know how to reply. She never got to. The town bell tolled. Ding...Ding Ding Ding...Ding...Ding Ding Ding...

 

With drilled precision, dread filled the air. The bells spoke clear. It was a youkai attack, and it wasn't a drill. The three knew it all too well. It has happened far too often the season past. Cold, bitter mornings always arrived with another household grieving for their lost child.

 

Who was it this time...?

 

There were cries outside, the commotion of people rushing by.

 

Akyuu looked up through her tears and saw the monk give her a pained look. She understood, it was no longer safe for Tokiko here in the village. She had to leave, lest the villagers catch her.

 

"Toki-chan....y-you...you have to go..." Akyuu breathed, her heart almost breaking as she fought to get the words out. "...please..." She begged, almost to herself too.  

 

The commotion outside grew. More bells were rung.

 

"Come, Tokiko. I will take you to the temple where you can stay until everything is clear." The monk said, kindly.

 

"N-no! Please! Kyuu-chan! Please don't go! Don't leave me....don't leave me behind!" The little youkai pleaded, holding onto the young sage tightly, as if holding onto her own life.

 

The cries grew closer. They were getting more organized. Search parties were forming.

 

"You....you have to go, Toki-chan..." Akyuu repeated herself, feeling her resolve drain away through her broken heart.

 

"N-No...I won't! I w-won't go! I'll...I'll die here!" The little youkai asserted, fighting back. "I'll...I'll stay with you, Kyuu-chan! Even if...even if I have to die!"

 

"Toki-chan....please...you're strong enough to go find your own happiness now. " Akyuu said, summoning up what reserves of willpower she had left as she released the little youkai from her tight embrace, pushing her away. "Go, go now."

 

The little youkai staggered backwards into the arms of the monk. She continued to struggle, but only weakly, weakened by grief. "I-...I'll...I'll wait for you, Kyuu-chan! Forever! When...When you come back, I'll be waiting for you!" She declared, through tears and sobs.

 

Left to her own company, alone in the darkening twilight, the little sage burst out into a fresh torrent of tears. She had been so ready! Ever so ready! But why? Why now?

 

Keine, where are you? Why aren't you here?!

 

Why? Why?

 

What was it? What was it about this particular incarnation? Why is she so attached to life this time around?

 

"Because...." She looked up through her veil of tears at the rising moon, claiming the dark velvet sky. "....this time....I love...I love Gensokyo..." she heard a voice answer her question. She almost gasped, realizing it was her own.

 

Gensokyo had become such a beautiful, fascinating place. The land itself had not changed for centuries and centuries, even from far before it became a sealed border world. But it had become beautiful through its residents. Finally, after centuries of strife, youkai and humanity were slowly reaching, if not an understanding, then at least a coexistence, a symbiosis so close and intimate it was breathtakingly beautiful. Through that she had gotten to know so many interesting, colourful people. Through their stories and accounts she had witnessed a vibrant new Gensokyo come to life. With each passing day, the wish to become a part of that colour and life grew and grew. Now it was an unbearable, burning desire.

 

But now....

 

Someone threatens to destroy the peace. Who? Who dares violate the unspoken pact? Why would the youkai so openly invade the village and destroy the fragile peace everyone has worked so hard to create?

 

That was another reason, another reason why she couldn't die. Not now. Not when innocent youkai like Tokiko suffer the brunt of humanity's anger for this youkai invasion.

 

"You love Gensokyo, Child of Miare?" She spun around, recognizing the voice almost instantly. A figure stepped out of the shadows in a corner of the room. Akyuu was sure there was a hole in her wall now sealing itself up, for there stood the azure hermit, Seiga Kaku, sheathing her wall-passing Taoist hairpin in her hair. "You wish to save it? Save those children? Save the humans? Save the vilified youkai?"

 

"Everyone has their place, Seiga-san." Akyuu replied, lifetimes of practice modesty speaking for her.

 

"Your place is to record the heroics after they are done, is that it?" Seiga asked, stepping up to the young sage. "You have given many lifetimes to chronicling this...these senseless acts. To what ends, Child of Miare? What purpose, I ask you, will the records of this backwater youkai zoo serve? What, I ask you, has changed in the 9 lifetimes you have recorded the Chronicle? Have we attained peace? Are we free from fear and strife? What, I ask you, have the chronicles achieved, Child of Miare?"

 

"...." Akyuu stared back, her expression almost waxen. "....e-...everything has its place....Seiga-san..." She managed, her words sticking at the back of her throat.

 

"You will reconsider that, Child of Miare. I found the lost children. As we speak, they are lying unconscious on the Nameless Hill. Why? I know not."

 

"The children?!" Akyuu's face was a picture of sickly horror.

 

"Indeed. Some of whom are your students, I understand." Seiga added, thinly veiled delight in her voice.

 

"Did....did you...did you save them?" Akyuu asked, hoping for some miracle, some divine intervention upon Seiga's whimsical ways.

 

"I tried." Seiga replied, sounding almost convincingly grim. "The Suzuran bloom most abundantly this season and their nocturnal poison almost overpowered me. The best I could do was open up a small hole in the toxic fumes around the children to keep them alive a little longer. But as you have recorded in your chronicles, the softer the obstacle, the less effective my influence on it. The poison clouds are as soft as anything can be and it is consuming all of my powers to keep that small hole open. I cannot expand it any further. I know not how long the hole will last."

 

"What do you need of me?" Akyuu asked, reluctantly resigning herself to Seiga's games.

 

"That is why I desire you so, Akyuu-chan. You understand my intentions well. Only one already dead, a Jiang Shi, or a poison youkai can withstand that poison. There is little hope in having that poison youkai cooperate so that leaves us with only one option."

 

"Do you not already have a Jiang Shi of your own?" Akyuu asked, anticipating the answer.

 

"I sent her out to assist the were-hakutaku. I did not anticipate her necessity. What I lack in foresight I hope you will make up in aid."

 

Akyuu understood full-well the azure hermit's intentions. Worst yet, she knew Seiga knew that she knew. It was Seiga's game, and she had to play, one way or another. She will die, one way or another. She will become a Jiang Shi, one way or another. No force will stop Seiga from prying her grave open and getting what she wanted. There was no point in asking if she'd accept help from Keine or Reimu...neither will the young sage be given the chance to seek them out...Except....Except if....

 

"I will come with you." Akyuu said, rising up to her full height, her silhouette framed by a sudden explosive burst of danmaku in the night sky above. "I will save those children." She declared, her eyes bright with determination, lit by the fiery flames above. "Or die trying."

 

"Good....very good, Akyuu...chan....very, very good..." Seiga said, her voice suddenly flowing with honey again. "Come with me. We have a Gensokyo to save."

 

 

ED Song - Infinite Nightmare by Tumeneco - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkkhGsPtZuw&feature=related