I followed Orin through the large doors and found myself in a large hallway. The hallway was dim, with the only lighting coming from a bunch of luminous tiles on the floor and stained glass panes on the walls. The eeriness of the corridor was only augmented by the stone statues that lined the walls. I saw many statues depicting a creepy figure, some more terrifying than others. The one that frightened me the most was one that showed some kind of girl wearing a dress, within a sphere of something, perhaps darkness, in the middle of eating a human. Seeing the appearance of this hallway, I became unnerved and worried about what this place was and what took place inside, especially after hearing Mio’s report that this person who was guiding me apparently had the job of carrying corpses. Even though many parts of the description hint that Orin was friendly and would not purposefully kill people, I couldn’t prevent myself from feeling that I had gotten tricked by her and that she was leading me into the mansion to kill me.
That feeling petrified me and I was unable to move for several seconds. While I was frozen in the spot, I heard a loud sound behind me.
THUD
I quickly looked behind me to find what caused the sound, and I discovered that somehow the door behind me had slammed shut. Soon afterwards, I heard a much quieter sound, yet somehow the sound unnerved me more than the sound of the door shutting.
Click
From the sound, I knew that I had been locked in the palace with no hopes of escaping. Suddenly, the hallway began to grow darker, even though the room was already very dim. The fear that I felt grew and I started to tremble in terror, thinking that this would be the end of my life in this place called Gensokyo. I felt my cheeks growing wet as my eyelids were getting heavier, and before long, I fell to my knees and started to sob uncontrollably in fear.
Orin, hearing a faint sobbing sound from behind her, quickly turned around and saw me on my knees, crying my eyes out. She started to approach me, holding her arms out trying to embrace me, but I tried to back up, still suspicious of her intentions. Despite seeing my suspicion and fear of her, she continued to approach me until I had nowhere to escape. When she finally reached me, she kneeled down and wrapped her arms around me, putting me in as gentle of an embrace as she could. At first, I tried to escape from her embrace, but I found out that my strength was quickly fading. Her embrace reminded me of my mother’s embrace. Despite not remembering my mother, I could remember the feelings of comfort and serenity imparted from her hugs. That same feeling was being given by Orin, and soon enough, I surrendered myself to her and leaned into her embrace. I wrapped my arms around her and started sobbing into her shoulder.
“There, there” Orin consoled as she started to gently pat my back.
After a while of sobbing, I finally returned to my usual mental state, and despite having spent quite a bit of time embracing her, I couldn’t help but ask her the question that had made me so afraid in the first place.
“A-a-are y-you g-going t-to k-kill m-me?” I asked in a voice just barely louder than a whisper with a few tears still remaining in my eyes.
“Hahaha, that was what you were so worried about? No, I’m not going to kill you, I’m bringing you into the palace so you can rest. Also I thought that my master, the mistress of this palace, could help you.” Orin responded while wiping the last of my tears from my eyes.
Unconsciousness, I began to pout hearing her laugh at my concerns. I heard her quietly chuckle before I heard Miu’s voice in my mind. Hearing Miu’s voice, I turned my attention to her.
I can confirm that she is not lying, she bears no hostility or nefarious intentions towards you. Miu reassured me.
‘How do you know?’ I asked.
I possess the capability to detect if an individual hosts evil or harmful intentions towards you and if they are hostile to you. Miu replied.
‘Neat, thank you for telling me.’ I told her.
Turning my attention back to Orin, I saw her reaching towards me with an outstretched finger. I was curious about what she was doing, but before I could ask, I felt the finger poke my cheek. This caused me to release the air that I had unknowingly used to puff out a bit of my cheek. I blushed when I realized that I had unconsciously pouted, and I heard her laugh as a result of my blush.
“Are you okay now?” I heard her ask me after she stopped laughing.
I nodded my head and slowly rose back to my feet again. I saw that she had also stood back up.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to continue hugging you a little longer?” She asked while dusting her dress.
I felt my face redden even more than it already was before frantically shaking my head.
“Hahaha, follow me then” She instructed me while walking away from me at a much slower pace than before. “If you get scared again, you can always hold my hand.”
I felt as if I could not be any more embarrassed than I was at that moment, but I still followed after her. Afterall, she was the only guide I had and seemed friendly enough. While following her, I reflected on what had just happened, and many thoughts appeared in my head now that I had a clearer mind.
‘Is the figure I saw on the statue real or just a myth? I’ll have to see if I can find anything similar in one of the books that fell near where I awoke. On a different note, why did the door suddenly close and why did the lights suddenly dim after the doors closed? Why did Orin hug me, and why did her hug feel like the ones I got from my mother? Actually, who even are my parents in the first place? All I can remember about them is their names and the sensations that arose from them.’ I summarized everything that seemed odd in my head. ‘I should probably ask her about why she decided to hug me because that is what I am most curious about. After all, to her, I am just a stranger who waltzed into the property of her master, whoever she may be.’
I stopped walking and stood still, trying to once again gather enough courage to ask her a question. To me, it felt like hours of trying had passed, when in reality, it was probably less than 10 seconds. Within these 10 seconds, Orin had turned around to face me, likely because she stopped hearing my footsteps following her. Honestly, I was a bit surprised that she noticed a lack of footsteps from me because whenever I walk, the sounds accompanying the action are very quiet and normally completely unnoticeable, but she not only heard them, but realized when they stopped within a small time window. I wanted to ask Miu about why she was able to notice these miniscule differences in sounds around her, but I was not able to because Orin had turned to me and opened her mouth to talk.
“What’s wrong? Why did you stop?” Orin questioned, worried about why I suddenly stopped following her.
“A-a-ah, s-sorry, b-but I w-was just i-interested in why you su-suddenly hu-hugged me earlier.” I responded while stuttering less because the intimate hug that she had given me gave me a sense of familiarity with her. At this point, I felt a little more comfortable around Orin because she has been nothing but nice to me this whole time, going as far as to hug and pat me to calm me down. She has also tried to lift my spirits even though I doubted her kindness through her teasing. I felt that a sort of bond was slowly developing between me and her, a sort of kinship or I guess even a familiar connection.
“No need to apologize and I hugged you because you seemed like you needed someone to comfort you. I’ve heard that hugs are the best way to calm someone down when they are feeling distressed, so I hugged you to calm you down. I hope it wasn’t uncomfortable for you. Also, who could resist hugging a cute girl like you when they need one?” Orin answered while showing me a gentle smile.
“I-I’m c-cute? N-no w-way. A-also, i-it wasn’t un-uncomfortable.” I responded to her while I started to blush due to her compliment and remembering the feeling of the hug. “I-it actually felt p-pretty g-good” I whispered.
I saw Orin’s ears twitch before she showed me a wide grin, so I knew that she had heard what I whispered, so I grew even more embarrassed.
“If that was all, then do you want to continue?” Orin decided to ask, while I was still a blushing mess stuck in the same place. I nodded and continued to follow her when she started walking again. Now that I had a chance to, I decided to sate my curiosity of Orin’s sensitivity towards sounds.
‘Miu, why can Orin hear such quiet noises, like my footsteps and even my attempts of speaking aloud?’ I asked Miu
Well, I think it is because of the ears on top of Orin’s head. They seem to resemble cat ears. Cats’ ears allow them to hear a greater range of frequencies than humans can. In addition, their ears are much more sensitive to sound waves than human ears are, so they can hear much quieter sounds than we can. Miu answered.
‘Thank you for such a quick answer’
No problem Ayaka, it’s my duty to help you through your journey, so feel free to rely on me! Miu shouted in happiness, maybe because I had thanked her.
‘I’ll have to keep thanking her and maybe even praising her because it seems like it makes her happy’ I thought to myself
Y-you d-don’t have to do that! Miu yelled in embarrassment.
Since the first time Miu talked to me, I wondered if she had emotions or if her bright voice was simply her default voice, but this reaction almost guarantees that at least Miu feels emotions. I decided to ask her to confirm this.
‘Miu, can you feel emotions, actually, can the whole system feel emotions?’
Well, I can feel emotions, but Mio can’t. Miu answered in a calm tone, seemingly having recovered from her embarrassment.
‘Interesting, I will keep that in mind then’ I replied in my mind.
Concluding my conversation with Miu, I saw that we had arrived at another set of doors. Orin slowly opened the doors and I got a glimpse of what was inside these doors. What I saw rooted me in place, as I peered, flabbergasted, at the sight beyond the doors. I saw a giant room lit by a chandelier made completely out of some kind of gemstone that I could not identify. The floor of the room was almost entirely marble, apart from similar looking glowing tiles and stained glass panes. I figured that these tiles and panes were probably one of the defining features of this place, and that I would likely see these tiles and panes in each room. I noticed that the ones in this room emitted a much brighter and warmer light than the ones before.
Looking around the room, I saw tens of armchairs all lined up against the wall with a small bookshelf and table right next to each armchair. Each bookshelf was completely full of books and each table was decorated with a different type of potted flower. Many paintings also hung on the walls, but none of them really attracted my attention. The defining feature of the room that I noticed was the amount of doors I saw in the room. Counting the door I entered from, there were a total of 7 doors.
Orin had noticed my shock and quietly chuckled. Once she saw that I had recovered from my surprise she guided me into the room.
“Welcome to the Great Foyer of Chireiden! This place serves as the main hub for the house as most rooms of this palace are connected to this room. It also has the purpose of allowing guests to relax before they visit other parts of the property. As you are tired, I would recommend sitting in one of the armchairs to rest for a bit.” Orin explained as she led me to one of the seats in the corner of the room. Once I sat down, I felt how soft the chair really was. The cushion sank a bit as I sat down, enveloping me with a comfortable feeling. I started to relax almost immediately, and soon I fell asleep.
Once I woke up, I felt better rested than I had ever before. I was full of energy, but decided to stay sitting down to enjoy the comfort of the chair a bit more. If I could see my face right now, I’d imagine it would show an expression of pure bliss and contentment. I snuggled in the chair for a few more minutes before I heard a laugh.
“Hahaha, you really like that you, don’t you?” Orin, who was beside me, said.
“W-were y-you here this whole time?!” I asked, shocked at her sudden voice.
“Well, I left for a bit after guiding you to a seat to report to my master, and by the time I came back, you were already asleep.” Orin answered.
‘She left before I fell asleep?! I didn’t even notice, I was too engrossed in that seat!” I thought in disbelief.
“H-how l-long was I sleeping for?” I timidly asked while slowly pulling myself out of the best chair I had ever sat on. I scowled a bit due to no longer feeling the comfort of the seat, but quickly returned to my usual facial expression.
“Haha, about an hour.” Orin responded while laughing at the scowl that appeared on my face.
“T-that short!?” I responded, shocked that only an hour passed since I fell asleep.
‘Even though I only slept for an hour, I feel better than I have ever felt after sleeping. Weird. I’ll ask Orin then.’
I was just about to ask her about the reason why I felt so energized, just as I began to open my mouth, I heard a bell resound through the mansion.
‘What was that?’ I wondered
“You woke up at the perfect time, that bell means that my master Satori Komeiji is ready to meet you.” Orin explained while leading me toward the staircase directly in front of the door we came out of. After climbing up the stairs, I saw a set of elegant-looking doors adorned with all kinds of gemstones. Orin knocked on the door and soon a voice called out from the other side of the doors. Orin opened the doors revealing a long corridor full of expensive pieces of decoration. Once again, none of the pictures on the wall interested me, but they did make me wonder why the insignia of a rose was so important. The pedestals did not interest me either. What did interest me was a long red carpet leading to a conference table in the middle of the room. On both sides of this carpet, knight armors were lined up creating an imposing yet regal feel to the room. There was a girl who sat at the central seat of the table looking at Orin and I.
The girl had pinkish purple hair and some kind of wire around her clothes. The wire, stemming from some kind of red sphere about the girl’s chest. Inside the sphere, I could see some kind of eye. The wire itself was colored red, orange, and yellow. She wore a dress that looked like a light blue shirt attached to a whitish-pink skirt. At the bottom of the shirt sleeves, the same whitish-pink could be seen instead of the light blue. The white collar of the shirt was neatly folded downwards, giving the girl a professional atmosphere.
“I heard from Orin that a human I managed to make it here. Seeing that you look like a human, I’m almost certain you are in fact a human, but I’ll ask anyway. Are you a human?
‘Y-y-yes I-I-I am a h-human’ hearing the question, my mind began to answer the question involuntarily. Before I could start preparing my mind for answering her questions aloud like I did when I first met Orin, the girl already responded.
“I see, what is your name?” The voice calmed asked
‘W-w-why d-did s-she already m-move o-on, a-and h-how d-did s-she g-get a r-response?’ My mind filled with thoughts as I began to panic.
“Simple, I can read your thoughts.” The voice answered.
‘Y-y-you c-c-can r-read m-my t-thoughts? H-how? W-w-what s-should I-I d-do?’ I felt my panic increasing.
“Relax, as long as you answer my questions, I will not do anything to you. I just want to make sure you have no impure intentions for this place. As for how I can read your mind, it’s one of my abilities being a satori.” The voice slowly explained. “Now once again, what is your name?” Her voice became a bit more menacing and threatening when she asked that.
‘M-m-my n-n-name i-is A-Ay-Ayaka K-Ko-Komeiji’ I meekly answered in my mind.
Despite my panic, I managed to notice that the girl’s facial expression went from indifferent to completely shocked after she heard my last name.
“C-could you repeat your last name?!” The girl asked, stuttering a bit due to her shock.
‘M-m-my l-last n-na-name i-is K-Komeiji’ I answered again.
“Impossible, what were the names of your parents?” The girl quickly asked regaining a bit of her composure.
‘M-m-my m-mo-mother i-is n-named M-Mizuki K-Komeiji and m-my f-father i-is n-named H-Hikaru K-Komeiji. W-w-why d-do y-you w-want t-to k-know?’ I speedily answered her question before a thought came to my mind. ‘P-p-please d-don’t g-go a-after them.’ I pleaded, frightened by the idea that this person would hunt and kill them. I did not know if my parents were still alive in this world, but I didn’t want any danger to come to them if they were.
“Mom, dad, you’re still alive” The girl, hearing the names of my parents, started to shed a few tears before sighing. “Well, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Satori Komeiji. Mizuki Komeiji and Hikaru Komeiji were the names of my parents, who both disappeared from Gensokyo when I was younger. Meaning I am your older sister.” The girl, who I now knew as Satori, explained.
‘W-w-wait h-how c-can w-we b-be s-sisters? W-we a-a-aren’t e-e-even h-have t-the s-same s-species. I-I’m a h-human, w-while y-you’re a s-satori.’ I asked, shocked at the revelation that I accidentally met one of my supposed family members.
“That is what confuses me as well. Mother was a satori with the power of DNA splicing and replacement, while father was a nine-tailed fox with the power of illusions. When you were with them, did mother and father look like humans and where are they?” Satori inquired, pressing her finger against the side of her face while tilting her head.
‘I-I-I d-don’t r-remember… A-a-all m-my m-memories w-were s-sealed a-and I-I d-don’t k-know h-how t-to g-get them un-unsealed’ I answered, trying to recall the appearance of mom and dad and the place we lived, but failing to do so.
“Interesting, we’ll have to come up with ways to do so then. At the moment the only explanation I have for why you look like a human is due to father’s ability of illusions.” Satori informed me.
Satori then went silent, I assumed to compile information and come up with an explanation for everything that she just learned. Just by looking at her face, I could tell that she did not want to be distracted, so I turned my attention to Miu, preparing to ask her how I could unseal my memories. Before I could ask her, a voice resounded in my head
Quest Complete
-Discover family origins
Bestowing Reward…
Unlocking family memory #1. Mio’s voice echoed in my head, as I felt a sharp pang of pain in my head.
This pain made me stumble to my knees holding my head in agony. Orin noticed that something was wrong and quickly ran towards me.
“Are you okay?!” Orin asked me, concerned at the apparent pain in my expression.
Satori, hearing the commotion, snapped out of her state of focus and saw me in pain. She also walked towards me before asking “What happened?”
“I think one of my memories is being unsealed.” I answered.
“What, how?!” Satori exclaimed.
“I don’t know…” I responded before a familiar scene appeared in my head
Memory
I saw a scene of a family sitting around a dining table, engrossed in a serious conversation. I can make out 3 figures, one male, one female, and one 5-year old child. Although the appearance of each figure was blurry, I managed to remember who they were. The male was my dad, the female was my mom, and the child was me when I was younger. The only thing I could make out from their blurry appearance was that all of them looked human.
“Ayaka, our family is not as simple as it looks.” Dad told me.
“What do you mean dad?” The younger me asked.
“Well, you see, mom and I are special people, we are much stronger than other humans.” Dad answered.
“Other humans? Aren’t both of you also humans?” The younger me questioned.
“Well, not exactly, we’ll tell you when you grow older. Just know that at the moment, we can’t tell you everything about our family. Just trust me that our family is very special because in a way, we are kind of like aliens.” Dad responded.
“Like aliens? What do you mean dad?” Younger me asked while tilting her head.
“We’ll tell you when you get older, we don’t doubt your capabilities in any way, but right now, you are too young for us to tell you the entire truth.” Dad deflected the question.
“All we can tell you right now is that you have two older sisters and pets, but they are not here at the moment for various reasons. Just remember Sweetie, that our family is very different from any other family.” Mom added.
The younger me simply nodded and accepted everything that her parents had told her.
Memory End
The scene started to fade away, and I was once again on my knees with Satori and Orin next to me. The headache I felt also started to dissipate. Slowly standing up again, I wanted to ask how much time passed, but before I could, I was interrupted.
Quest Complete
-View Family Memory #1
Bestowing Reward…
Evolution
Evolution Conditions Met
Commencing Evolution… Mio announced.
After Mio’s announcement, I began to feel my consciousness slipping once again. Before I fell unconscious, I had one last thought.
‘Evolution?’
