東方プロジェクト二次小説・オリジナル小説サイト
Chapter 9:Imperishable Night

𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘒𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠—𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳-𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨.


—25—


"Come on, Merry, Let me use your eyes." Renko had found her way to me as I sat there in a daze and grabbed my hand, pressing it to her face. "Where did she go? Don't tell me I missed her again! Merry, snap out of it, which way did your look-alike leave?"

"...that way." I pointed vaguely.

"Well come on then, we're going after her, Merry!"

"What are you going to do if you catch her, Renko?"

"Get some answers! I'll grill her here and now. It's our duty, both as members of the Hifuu Club and the Hifuu Detective Agency! There's no bigger mystery to reveal!"

With that she took my hand and lifted me to my feet, pulling my arm over to keep my palm pressed against her eyes. Walking around like this was dangerous, and I was worried she might trip, but with her having already come this far on her own, it would be pointless to try to convince her to turn back. Moving together we made our way deeper into the corridor

"Ugh Merry, I don't know how you deal with this all the time. This hallway gives me headaches. Can you do anything about it?"

"What would you have me do? I don't like looking at it either. This hallway gives me motion sickness even when we're standing still." The stretched-out perspective of the hallway would have been disorienting on its own, but moving through it was even worse, as the vanishing point in the distance seemed to get further away with every step we took. I wondered if the view might be even more nauseating for Renko than it was for me given that I had at least seen this illusion before. Moreover, was it possible that looking through eyes as strange as mine could make her symptoms worse?

We were only a step away from the point in the hallway where Yukari and the others had vanished into the dark. A few straggling rabbits still hopped and nuzzled around our ankles, tangling our feet. Looking over at Renko I could see that her face was worryingly pale already, her features contorted in silent effort beneath my fingers. I sighed and pulled my hand from Renko's grasp, away from her eyes, moving to support her when, suddenly blinded again, she stumbled forward.

"Whoa! Hey, Merry, what are you doing?"

As I held her shoulders and stood her up she looked up at me with her unseeing eyes. After being in the mask for so long, it was nice to see her face again, even with her eyes dimmed and blackened as they were. I smiled at her. Knowing she couldn't see it, I raised my hand to her cheek, so she could at least know where I was.

"Renko, I can't let you do this."

"What? But—"

"Reimu and the others are probably in a danmaku match up ahead. If you're relying on me to see what would you do if we got caught in the middle of it? As assistant to the chief inspector of the Hifuu Detective Agency, it would be irresponsible of me to let you go. And as your partner I don't want to see you get hurt."

"...Merry..."

"Besides, I'm too young to commit to taking care of old granny Renko for the rest of her days." One of the rabbits bounding down the hallway brushed against my leg just then. I scooped it up and pressed it into Renko's arms. She was surprised by its warmth and weight, taking it with both hands and releasing me.

"There. Now I know you'd never forgive me if I did this and you never got any answers, so I'm going to go and see what you need to see for you. You just wait right here with that rabbit."

"What? Merry! You can't..."

"I can't go do something reckless for the sake of sating your curiosity? You do it all the time, so you can hardly complain." I gave her a poke in the middle of her forehead.

"Wait a minute Merry, this is silly! You can't go after the Youkai Sage by yourself, what if you get caught in a danmaku fight?"

"...You've been dragging me behind you into incidents for more than a year. Now you're worried about it?"

"...ugh."

"Well maybe now you'll know what it's like to have a reckless and foolhardy partner. Serves you right. Keep safe, Renko. And you make sure she doesn't move!" Those last words I called out to the bunny in Renko's arms as I stepped away. I gave Renko a last pat on the head as I walked past her, careful to keep out of arm's reach. As I passed by I got one more look at Renko, who seemed like she was about to say something. There was no time to hesitate though. Before I could second guess myself I broke into a run, pelting down the corridor.

Somewhere ahead I could hear the sounds and see the reflected light of danmaku bursts. It seemed like it hadn't taken the group long to catch up with Reisen.

Despite my bravado in front of Renko, I had no desire to get anywhere near a danmaku fight in progress. I 𝘥𝘪𝘥 want to catch up to the Youkai Sage though. I needed to know what it was that she, who looked so much like me, had planned for us, and what she expected us to do. I needed to know why we had been brought to Gensokyo.

If I found her, she likely wouldn't give me the answers I wanted. Maybe there were no answers. But seeking them wasn't something I could forgo. For better or worse I was a member of the Hifuu Club, just as much as Renko was. The two of us combined were the only way it worked, and if Renko couldn't see her way to the truth just now, then the duty fell to me. If I pulled back here and let my anxiety get the better of me, then I could hardly call myself a part of our circle any more.

The decision was made. I clenched my fists and continued to sprint down the hallway.

—

The fight with Reisen had just ended when I caught up to them. Reisen was once again laying spread out on the floor, and Youmu was stumbling about nearby, reeling dizzily from one side to another.

"Ohh my head is spinning. I’m starting to feel sick…" she moaned, barely keeping her feet under her. The color of her face was fast approaching the color of her dress.

"Oh dear, you must have gotten drunk off of all those distortions."

Reimu was standing with her hands on her hips behind them, frowning. "This place has way too many doors. Which one leads to the mastermind?" As her eyes scanned along the hallway, they met my own. "Merry? What are you doing following us?" She turned then, her eyes flitting between the face of the Youkai Sage beside her and my own. "You know, I've been wondering this for a while, but why do you two look so much alike?"

Yukari opened her fan in front of her mouth. "It's merely a superficial resemblance. It's said everyone has three people in the world who look just like them."

"But you're a youkai, aren't you? Why would there be a human that looks like you?"

As she spoke, the Youkai Sage seemed like she was avoiding meeting my gaze, turning to look at Reimu, or down the hallway whenever I tried to make eye contact.

"You're getting caught up worrying about the wrong thing again, Reimu. Your first question was the better one. And as for an answer, I bet that one over there knows it." She pointed at me with her fan, still avoiding looking me in the eye.

"Huh?"

"Me?"

"You can see it, can't you? The door we should go through?"

My eyes flitted to it immediately. The one door that had remained unsealed. To my eyes it was obvious, it was not only the only door without the distortion of a strong barrier over it but the same door Eirin had taken me through earlier tonight. To the others though, it was just one door among many. Even without Reisen's manipulations, the hallway was quite long, and every door looked the same.

"That one?" I asked.

Reimu followed my glance, walking toward the unsealed door. From the ground in the middle of the hall, Reisen groaned. "Not that one, I haven't sealed it yet. Awww Master's going to be mad at me."

"That would seem to be correct," Yukari said airily.

"My intuition points that way too," Reimu confirmed. "Let's go."

"Let's follow along, Youmu. You can rest once we get where we’re going." Yuyuko said, following behind Reimu.

Youmu groaned and woozily followed as well. After the four of them had passed through the doorway, leaving me alone in the hall, I made to follow as well but before I could open the door Reisen's voice called out from behind me. "You! What the hell are you doing leading them to the princess?"

I stopped and turned to face her. Reisen was raising herself up off of the floor on one arm to talk to me, but as soon as I turned around and met her eyes, she recoiled, curling up and groaning in discomfort as she cringed away from me.

"Gah, why are your eyes like that? No Earthling should have eyes like that. Are you really a human?"

It was a question I didn't feel I had an answer to. Once again these eyes of mine had marked me as monstrous, even in the eyes of a creature not of this Earth. These eyes that see the borders between things. To me they were natural, something I'd always had. Renko often mentioned that she envied my eyes, and wished she had my ability to look into the hidden nature of the world as I did. But even here in a world of fantasy, illusion and nightmare... Even here my eyes were strange. More than once beings powerful enough to see humans as prey had recoiled or been shocked by my eyes, and nearly everyone we met immediately thought they were reminiscent of just one person. In a world where gods, monsters, myths and dreams were real, even here, my eyes seemed inhuman. Just what did that make me?

"It doesn’t matter any more. None of you seem to be messengers from the moon at least, so once you've done whatever you're going to do we’ll still have won. Master's plan still will have worked. There's nothing any of you could do that would harm the Princess." Reisen muttered to herself bitterly.

Just like the first time I had seen her, Reisen was talking to herself. "I’ll never understand you Earthlings. Why would you…" Suddenly she stopped and climbed to her feet, then raised her head to glare at me again. "I couldn't stop them, but I can stop you. Not another step toward the Princess." She raised her right hand and pointed at me with her arm outstretched, fingers arranged in the shape of a gun. Back in our world it would have been a comedic pose, something a child might have done on a playground. Here, I didn't doubt that that outstretched finger had the power to kill if Reisen had a mind to. A single hit from one of her light bullets was sure to be injurious, if not lethal.

"Master and the Princess will have to fight on their own. I don't know if they can fend off that many intruders, but there's nothing that can hurt them. You can just stay here quietly with me though. The last thing anyone needs is you complicating matters and sooner or later the intruders will be repelled. Have a seat until then."

I sighed and raised my hands above my head in surrender. There was nothing I could do to keep my promise to Renko.

And so, I never got to see the end of the incident. I was not witness to the battle between Marisa's group and Eirin, or to any conversations that might have occurred between Reimu's group and Kaguya. Both of those stories occurred behind closed doors, from my perspective.

I wonder how much time passed, with me sitting dejectedly on the floor of the hallway and Reisen leaning against the wall watching over me. It felt like a few dozen minutes, but it might have been hours. Perhaps those units had no meaning with the night having already been stopped by Sakuya.

Eventually though, it ended. Suddenly. All at once, the darkness outside vanished, as if wiped away with a cloth and the midmorning light streamed in through the windows and screens. Both Reisen and I were surprised as, in an instant, the dark and gloomy hallway we were in became illuminated by light shining in through its many doors.

"It's..... dawn" Reisen muttered vaguely, as I blinked my eyes in confusion.

And that was the abrupt and true end of the Eternal Night Incident.


—26—


We would not learn the whole story of this Incident for quite a while after it ended. Even though we had been right in the thick of things we were blind to many of the events that became wrapped up in it —literally, in Renko's case. Our proximity may even have helped to obscure things from us. We were not alone in this confusion though. No party involved was operating with complete information and much of the incident stemmed from assumptions and misinformation of various sorts.

If there was any single party at the time that grasped the whole of the incident, its origins and repercussions from beginning to end, I've never met them.

With the advantage of hindsight, and using information gleaned from interviews and discussions after the fact though, I have tried to save you, dear reader, from the trouble of having to try to piece together a timeline.

What happened was this: soon after dawn, Eirin emerged from the depths of the corridor and bustled Renko and myself out of the mansion and back to the detached room we had been staying in.

"I understand I have you to thank for another group of intruders finding their way to the princess?" she had asked as I guided Renko up onto the veranda and in the door.

"Umm, sorry," I muttered, unsure of what else I could have said.

"It's nothing to worry about, it seems. The locked room I created to hide the Earth from the moon is sealed and Kaguya is protected. She's even managed to find herself a new amusement. I do regret that the mansion has been rendered impure, but perhaps that was inevitable in the long run."

Having said that, Eirin then turned from me to address Renko. "Now, it seems I have a patient here who is refusing to properly rest, is that right?"

Renko groaned guiltily.

"Well, lucky for you, you should have recovered by now and there's no further need for my moon illusion, so there should be no harm in giving you your eyes back. Open your mouth please." Eirin fished an eyedropper and bottle from a pocket, then placed a hand over Renko's eyes after opening it.

"Ahhh," said Renko, opening wide.

Eirin let a single drop fall into Renko's open mouth, then removed her hand. "Open your eyelids slowly."

Renko's eyelids slowly rose. I could tell the moment that I came into focus for her from the way her face lit up in a wholesome grin.

"Merry! I can see you!" she exclaimed, taking a big step toward me, nearly stumbling off of the veranda to grab my shoulders.

"Careful! Don’t overdo it, Renko."

"I haven't seen your face in almost a week, let me get a closer look!" I could see my own face reflected in her eyes, now full of the same excited light and wisdom I had always known.

"Gah, Renko. I'm glad you can see again, but that's too close!" I pressed my palm against her face, pushing her away.

"How cruel, Merry! I go six days in total darkness and now I don't even get to look at something nice? Come on, let me have a peek. I still need to make sure it's really you!"

Eirin chuckled as I lurched backward away from Renko's grasping arms. "You two really are quite close," she said as she withdrew.

✱ ✱ ✱

A bit before that, Reimu and Yukari were hovering over the small, immaculately manicured courtyard deeper within the mansion as daylight dawned.

"Huh," Reimu remarked skeptically, watching as the dome of the sky transitioned from the dark of night to a blinding midmorning haze in the space of a second, with no period of dawn or twilight in-between. "Does that mean the incident has been resolved?"

Yukari smiled playfully from behind her. "Well, you came to solve the incident of the endless night, didn't you?" She placed her fan on nothing at all and it sank away, vanishing.

Reimu nodded. "Yeah, but that was just Sakuya's doing, and she's not even here. And you were saying something about the moon too, weren't you? Wait, did you resolve this Incident or did I?"

Kaguya, who was hovering a short distance before them, and who only moments before had been enjoying the new game of danmaku the intruders had explained to her, tilted her head in confusion. "Oh, is it over now? Why would you come here to bring back the morning if you were the ones stopping the night from ending? What strange Earthlings."

Reimu shook her head and growled. "Whatever, it's fine. The incident is over and day has dawned. I won!"

"Yes, yes. Excellent work, Reimu, you've saved the day once again. Now it's time for me to go home and get some sleep. Good night."

"Wait! Yukari, did you..."

It was too late. The Youkai Sage had already vanished into a gap in space decorated with two fancy bows.

Reimu sighed and scratched her head. Looking down, she saw Youmu and Yuyuko where they were reclining on the ground. She had expected Yukari to take both of them home with her. Leaving the two Netherworld spirits here seemed to make them Reimu's problem instead. "What are you two still doing here?" She asked with annoyance.

"Oh, just killing time I suppose, seeing as no one here can die anyway. Who knew there were people like that in Gensokyo?" Yuyuko mused. She looked over at Youmu, who was crumpled in a heap, trying desperately to stay conscious. Her eyes were deeply bloodshot.

"Laaady Yuyuko," Youmu slurred, unsteadily. "I shink I'mma little dunk."

Yuyuko sighed. "Youmu isn't doing so well, I'm afraid. We should probably head home."

"That would be great if you would." Reimu said flatly. "The sooner the better. Now what happened to Marisa and the others?"

✱ ✱ ✱

Five figures were walking down the corridor of Eientei, which no longer stretched to infinity and was now well lit by the morning sun filtering through the walls of the rooms lining it.

Marisa walked with her broom resting on one shoulder. "So the sun's up now. Will the moon be back to normal too?"

Eirin was walking in front of her. Seemingly unharmed, but with an uncharacteristic lethargy to her steps. "Like I've told you several times, I always intended to remove the illusion after last night. I would have removed it sooner if the night had ended at a normal time."

In some ways, Marisa thought of the match as a victory for herself and the pair from the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Certainly, they had managed to survive all of the Lunarians’ barrages. The fact that she had never been able to see whatever Alice had been complaining about regarding the moon irked her though. It made her feel like she couldn't be sure if she had won or lost.

Alice walked behind them, a sour expression on her face. "In the end, all of that was just to keep this princess from being taken back to the moon? Would anyone from there even been able to reach her through the Great Hakurei Barrier?" she asked.

Eirin stopped walking and turned to the magician. "The what? Was there already a barrier in place?"

Alice nodded. "It surrounds all of Gensokyo, creating an impassable barrier between this world of fantasy and the mundane world on the outside. It's been up for more than a hundred years. Didn't you know?"

"An impenetrable barrier of fantasy?" she mused. "I'll have to examine it to be sure, but perhaps none of this was necessary then. You Earthlings have been busy in the last few centuries."

"Do you hear that, Milady? You should now be able to resume your moon viewing just as before."Sakuya was smiling pleasantly, walking alongside Alice.

"That's all well and good," groused Remilia from beside her, "but how am I supposed to get home with all this blasted sunshine now?"

"Don’t worry, Milady. I was prepared for just such an occasion," Sakuya said, opening a parasol that she definitely hadn’t been holding a moment before.

"Oh, yes you’re very well prepared indeed," Remilia said, looking up at her with side-eye.

Eirin ignored them, having resumed her march along the corridor. "I imagine ending the artificial elongation of the night is the princess' doing. Hopefully that means she's unharmed." As soon as she finished speaking, one of the side doors along the corridor slid open, revealing Kaguya.

"Oh Eirin, there you are."

"Kaguya—" Eirin gasped, "are you alright?"

"Better than alright, now that I can get through this corridor again. Being trapped inside for several days was boring. It's alright if I go outside now, right?"

Eirin seemed surprised by Kaguya's bright expression. Before she could answer though, Reimu appeared behind Kaguya in the doorway, saying "Oh Marisa, you were here too? What were you all doing here?"

"Yo, Reimu! You came after all." Marisa was trying to peer around Kaguya and Eirin to get a better look at Reimu as the two Lunarians stood in the doorway.

"Of course I'm here." Reimu grumbled, leaning around to the opposite side of Kaguya to try and see. "I had to resolve the incident you all started."

"I'm tellin' you I didn't start any incident. And I definitely don't remember you resolvin' the thing I didn't start." Marisa leaned to the other side of Eirin just as Reimu leaned back the way she originally had, both of them trying to peer around Kaguya.

"Does it matter who resolved it?" Sakuya asked. "Morning has dawned and that's all that matters, isn't it?" Reimu glared at her.

"Oh my," Kaguya said, with a look of joyous surprise on her face. "We've never had so many guests before. Eirin, I think we should entertain them. Can you have the inaba make tea? Would all of you like to stay for a moon-viewing party tonight? I've never met so many new people at once."

Seeing this reaction, Eirin opened her mouth in shock.


—27—


I have already written at length to describe the events of the Eternal Night Incident as I and others witnessed them. I would like to conclude by presenting a final summary detailing all of the related events, even those that no one present was witness to, in order to provide the full picture.

Several decades ago Reisen arrived at Eientei, and began living with Eirin and Kaguya, who were in hiding, fleeing pursuit by agents of the Lunar Capital. Reisen at some point received word that agents of the moon would be coming to retrieve her, but Eirin and Kaguya decided not to send Reisen back to the moon in order to keep their location from being discovered. Eventually, they concealed the full moon by creating an illusory moon to block travel between the Earth and its satellite.

The first four people to attempt to address the problems created by this illusion were Marisa's group - Marisa, Alice, Sakuya and Remilia. In order to ensure their work was completed before dawn, Sakuya (with the help of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's resident magician) altered the flow of time in Gensokyo and elongated the night, ensuring that dawn would not come as long as her spell lasted.

Reimu was unaware that the moon had been replaced with a fake. She did, however, notice that the night had been stretched and dawn had not arrived as expected. As such, she sought out and fought the original four Incident-resolvers, but was overpowered by a combined assault. Leaving Reimu behind, they continued on their quest and confronted Eirin in Eientei.

Meanwhile, Yukari, Yuyuko and Youmu also set out to restore the moon, having started a little later than any of the others. They met up with Reimu in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost and also proceeded to Eientei, where they confronted Kaguya. In the course of that battle, Kaguya used her power to undo Sakuya's spell and return the flow of time to normal.

In other words, it was ultimately not Reimu who resolved the Eternal Night Incident, but Kaguya. Seeing as all of the events concerning the missing and distorted moon were never detailed by Akyuu, however, that's not the story you'll find in the 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘬𝘺𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦.

✱ ✱ ✱

"Alright, Merry. It's time to come clean. I want to hear your confession."

One by one, Reimu, Marisa and all of the others had returned home. Only Renko and I were left behind now, sitting in the detached room where we had spent most of the week, facing each other on the tatami.

"What confession?"

"About everything that's been going on since we got here, of course!"

Of course, that sort of confession. "Well I'd tell you if I could, Renko, but I don't understand half of it myself."

"That's fine, Merry. It doesn't have to make sense. I'll be the one to interpret it. I just need to know every detail of everything you saw and heard since the moment I collapsed."

It was a reasonable request, and I had no further reason to hide anything, but one detail still stuck in my mind. Mokou had asked me not to talk about her immortality or its origins with Renko, not until she had had a chance to explain the circumstances herself. To go against that would be a breach of her trust, especially after she had endured so much to see Renko here safely for treatment. Renko looked quizzically at me as I fell silent.

"What's wrong Merry? I'm all better now, so it should be fine, right?"

"I'm just trying to figure out where to begin."

"What's to figure? Start at the point where I collapsed. What happened then?"

How much could I safely reveal? I didn't want to tell Renko that Mokou was an immortal, but was it alright to mention her manipulating flames or staring down Kaguya? She'd be sure to ask about the history between them, and where would that lead? While I was considering, another voice interrupted us.

"Mokotan went out of her way, and humbled herself before me, her sworn enemy, just for you." Renko turned in surprise to see Kaguya standing at the door. With all the other commotion, it had never occurred to me that Renko had never seen or been introduced to the princess. I wondered if I should have warned her about Kaguya’s inhuman beauty.

"Sorry, who are you?" Renko asked in confusion.

"Oh, come to think of it, you were asleep the last time I came by, and Eirin had me cooped up in the house since then, so I never got a chance to properly greet you. How rude of me. I'm Houraisan Kaguya, princess of Eientei. Eirin, the doctor who was treating you, is my servant and Reisen is my pet."

"Princess Kaguya? From the 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘰 𝘊𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳?"

"Oh, very good. It's nice when people get it right away."

Renko let out a slow breath and leaned back. "Wow. A character right out of a fairy tale. Anything goes in Gensokyo, I guess. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised after meeting the Hare of Inaba. Oh, where are my manners though? Thank you very much for taking such good care of Merry and I." She bowed respectfully.

"Oh please, don't mention it. I'm sorry you had to wander into a dangerous mansion in such a state of disorder. You'll have to come by again some time after the inaba have had time to clean it up. It really is quite lovely, usually."

"It was no trouble to me, and don't worry about the mess, I couldn't see a bit of it. What's this about a sworn enemy though? I assume by 'Mokotan' you mean Miss Mokou? You're her nemesis?"

Kaguya turned to me with a look of mirth in her eyes. "Oh, you hadn't told her? I'm surprised Eirin didn't mention it either. Mokou and I have been spending our free time doing our best to kill each other for quite a while now."

"That sounds like a dangerous hobby."

"Well it's not like it's going to cause any harm. We're killing time more than anything else. Dying's not so bad, and it's not like it would permanently inconvenience Mokou or I. Or Eirin for that matter, if she gets involved."

Renko had no response for once. Her silence lasted only a moment. "I'm sorry, what? Dying's not permanent?"

I suppressed a sigh and buried my face in my hands. I suppose this was inevitable. I'd have to apologize to Mokou about it later.

Kaguya covered her mouth with one of her sleeves as her eyes contracted in mirth. "They didn't even tell you that much? I know Eirin likes to keep secrets but I thought you and Mokou were friends. She didn't tell you either?"

"Tell me what, exactly?"

Kaguya shrugged and shook her head, saying it as dismissively as one might list off a friend's zodiac sign. "Mokou's an immortal. She can't die."