Epilogue - Reimu Hakurei
Reimu sniggered a bit when she heard Yuuki. Aggressive? Her? They hardly belonged in the same sentence. Reimu thought that Yuuki meant dutiful instead. Still, she couldn’t deny she wasn’t the least bit quick.
“Sorry about what I did earlier, Wakaba. Killing is still killing, and that applys to the death penalty. But yeah, Thanks for the compliment, Yuuki. I hope you see you all soon, but I have to go, I have to go back home. I’ll pray for all of you, to make a safe trip back home.”
After saying that, she closed her eyes and smiled.
And she was back home.
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Reimu was back in the position she had been last time: taking a nap on the floor in a fetal position. Had it all been a dream? All those adventures in Hyrule?
No. She felt something under her blanket, and all the memories came back. Her windcleaver was by her side, and fortunately, so were the rupees. Yes! She was going to be rich! The rupees were gems after all, and if she sold them, then she could finally get out of poverty! Even rebuild the shrine!
All her dreams came falling down when a girl entered. The girl was young, couldn’t be more then fourteen, and yet, she was dressed as a shrine maiden, a proper shrine maiden uniform unlike Reimu’s.
And the hair. The girl had a hime cut that was shoulder length, and two thick strands of hair were in red hair tubes just like Reimu. In fact, the girl had hair that was just like hers, only straighter, shorter and neater.
However, there was one thing that made her look shocked. The girl’s hair was purple.
Reimu once had the same shade when she was younger. She wasn’t sure about the intricate details, but she once heard that the Hakurei shrine maidens had purple hair when they were younger, and then it grew into a more normal colour like brown or black when they matured and aged.
But wait, if the young girl dressed like that, and had that hair, then...
“Ah! A bake-danuki! How did you get in here?”
Reimu stared at the girl as she took out her spell cards and ofuda. The girl was pointing at her, as if she was a yokai. Clenching her teeth, Reimu swiftly stood up and glared at the little shrine maiden.
“My question is why YOU are dressed like that. I’m the shrine maiden, not you. You know me, Reimu Hakurei, shrine maiden of paradise.”
The girl jumped back, and she went pale when she heard the name. She held onto her gohei like a security blanket. Stuttering, the girl replied.
“But I’m the shrine maiden, Hitomi Hakurei. Reimu disappeared without a trace a long time ago.”
She couldn’t believe it, it couldn’t be. Reimu pushed her way past the frozen girl and went outside the shrine, before she flew up to see what was going on.
What the girl said was true.
Gensokyo was different. The human village was larger and more populated then she had ever seen it, and the part of the Forest of Magic that was near it was cut down, so the forest had grown further away and became even more isolated. The Bamboo forest was also darker and isolated, and there were new buildings near the village, big ones at that.
Gensokyo had changed.
The girl flew up behind her, and Reimu turned around to face her.
“Listen, ‘Reimu’, I don’t want to hurt you, but you can’t disguise yourself as a shrine maide-”
Reimu shut her up by throwing a few charms at her, and had her spell card by her side. That was probably enough to convince the little girl.
“No, you listen. Tell me this, I’ve been away for a while, I know that. But what happened while I was gone...Actually, how long have I disappeared for?”
“No way...you even have charms and her spellcards...Well, uh, when Reimu disappeared last year, everything was chaos for a while, and the barrier wasn’t being maintained and..threatened to collapse. Miss Yukari had to find a new shrine maiden, and since I’m related to the bloodline, I was chosen as the new shrine maiden.”
So that was it, Reimu couldn’t see that she was lying. And Hitomi was dressed up and equiped with everything. So the shrine maiden of paradise was replaced, all because she was gone for a year.
Replaced. Reimu had trouble comprehending it. She wasn’t usually upset, but..
The girl seemed empathic, and flew closer to her.
“If you are Reimu..I’m sorry. I’ve know what happens to the previous shrine maidens once their someone succeeds them, and I’ve heard about your mother.”
Mother..
Once, when Reimu was still little, and the yokai were big, she had a mother. Her mother was strong, but was struck down by a yokai who destroyed the shrine one day. Reimu saw it herself. As her mother lay wounded, Yukari came to her, and took her somewhere else.
She remembered the gap yokai coming to her and comforting her. She remembered Yukari speaking to her.
“A Hakurei shrine maiden’s life is short and lonely. When someone succeeds you, then you too, will join your mother.”
Gah, worthless, painful memories of the past. She had to focus on the present.
“So, then, where do I go?”
“Um..I’m afraid that once Yukari finds you, you’ll be gaped away and never return. There isn’t any use in another shrine maiden running around.”
That didn’t sound so bad. Yukari would find her, and then she’ll spend the rest of her days with the other shrine maidens...
Surprisingly, Reimu found that despite everything, she didn’t want to go yet. But was there really a way to change the system? Of course there was! She was the shrine maiden, a job with high authority, she can convince Yukari and the other sages to let her live with everyone else!
That was what she thought, in a brief moment of hope.
...Deep inside, she knew it couldn’t happen. Gensokyo was in a constant state of balance. Burn a few houses to the ground, everyone will continue with their lives, A incident occurs that threatens the existence of Gensokyo, and it will be resolved and life will return to normal.
Inevitably, her life will return to nothing substantial soon as well.
The former shrine maiden flew away, with no destination in particular. All she wanted was a place to hide, for Yukari to never find. Where would that be? Reimu let her heart follow her instincts. They usually never failed her, and they shouldn’t this time.
She found herself at the entrance of the Forest of Magic. Why didn’t she think of that? This was where all the hermits and loners lived, since humans aren’t able to survive in the midst of poisonous mushrooms unless they were able to cast spells like her.
And the person that could be most considered a friend was living in there. That was right, Marisa would let her live in that little cabin, and she wouldn’t be found out.
Reimu had made her decision.
She walked deeper and deeper into the forest, and never came back.
Ending 02 - Normal End