Border of Angel and Demon (Recon)

[shiningdrake]

...This was odd. Why did she suddenly feel drained? This wasn't a normal side effect of coming into another world... Unless... "Oh great," she complained to herself aloud, "Power taken away again... Just what is going on here?" If Drake had lost his power as well, that would probably explain why he hadn't come back...

The girl who looked strangely like some kind of angel or something brushed her golden hair away from her eyes with her hand as she stood up, before looking around at her surroundings. "Where am I?" she wondered aloud.

She seemed to be in some sort of town... Which was odd. That rarely happened when she first entered a world... Granted, it did sometimes happen, it was just rare enough to be notable... What was even stranger though, there were several people around, but she'd gotten little more than a glance, barely seeming startled at all, before most of them walked on. Were they used to this sort of thing?

[recon5]

The people around her were used to this sort of thing, actually. While the girl had no way of knowing it, almost all of the townspeople were also from other places with a fairly large number having arrived from other worlds just like she had. If she had been paying more attention she would have noticed that many of them were clearly not human and one or two had forms which were incomprehensible to mortal eyes, though they had likely escaped her notice considering that she was still rather calm.

She also seemed to have overlooked the eyes peering out of the shadows around her. They were of various colors but all glowed with eerie light. Some of them began to move after a minute or so, their owners stepping out of the shadows and revealing themselves to be cats of varying shape, color and breed. A few had more than one tail while others were larger or smaller than any normal cat but all of them moved as part of a whole and all were silent, watching the newcomer with what seemed to be expressions of mild interest. Those who had emerged stopped a foot or so away and sat down to continue their observation, some with their tails swaying gently in the air.

The girl should have realized by now that the cats had formed a perfect half-circle around her, to the point that she would have no choice but to step over (or on) a few of them if she wanted to proceed, and they would battle her ferociously if she tried. This was their duty as defenders of Mayohiga, the Wandering Town.

For now, though, they continued to watch her without a sound.

[shiningdrake]

The fact that many of the inhabitants of the town weren't human was essentially irrelevant in Alicia's mind. She'd seen lots of worlds where towns with multiple races were extremely common. Although the number here was slightly odd, but whatever...

However, she then noticed some of the more... Disturbing ones. And yet, it was merely enough to make her more on her guard... Because she'd seen things on that level of insanity before, and they rarely meant anything good.

...And now there were a bunch of cats in front of her, many of them not looking like ordinary cats. Not surrounding her, but in a half-circle. "Would someone tell me what's going on here?" Alicia asked everyone around in general. "Where am I, and why are these cats ganging up on me?" She sighed. It would be nice if she had some sort of clue what was going on, but that rarely happened...

[recon5]

None of the townspeople responded. Those who were near enough or who had good enough hearing to catch her question went right back to what they were doing when they heard her mention the cats. Mayohiga was generally a pleasant place to live but strange things happened when one tried to mess with the local felines. Not bad things but inexplicable things like strange sights and noises or stuff moving around, maybe a bullet or two flying out of nowhere. There hadn't been any deaths so far but the people weren't prepared to try their luck this time.

The cats around the newcomer tilted their heads at the exact same time when they heard her question but they didn't make any sounds or movements. There was a stranger trying to get into Mayohiga and they would need their leader to evaluate her threat level before they allowed her to pass... or otherwise.

A few long, awkward moments later a soft rumbling could be noticed although strangely enough the silence was not broken. The rumbling grew as the seconds passed until it surrounded the girl and the cats before her, then a white cloud rolled into view and stopped right behind the feline semicircle. It shifted around a bit after that, revealing itself to be a massively overweight, impossibly fluffy cat that was as tall as an adult human, and then it plopped its hindquarters onto the ground and began to clean itself without paying any attention to the newcomer.

Something began to move under the giant cat and soon a pair of feline ears appeared, followed immediately by a green cap and a head of short, dark hair. White-sleeved arms reached out to either side of the head just then and dug their hands into the ground to drag their owner out from under the mountain of fur and fat.

What emerged was a young girl dressed in a vaguely oriental costume and sporting a pair of cat tails along with the ears. She picked herself off the ground and turned to glare at the giant cat. "That's the last time I ride YOU!" she said in a shrill voice, which her former mount seemed not to hear as it continued to lick itself without even looking at its mistress.

Then the girl turned to the newcomer and looked her over. When she was sure the stranger was not a threat she ordered all the other cats to leave them and they did, except for the giant which continued to sit and lick itself without a care in the world. Its mistress glared at it for a few moments before finally deciding to leave it alone and go back to dealing with the visitor.

"I'm Chen!" she said, bowing deeply to the girl in front of her. "Welcome to Mayohiga."

[shiningdrake]

No one was answering... Alicia was far from an idiot, she didn't assume that no one heard her. She just sighed and facepalmed while she waited for something else to happen. Soon she heard a strange rumbling noise, getting louder and louder... And then what looked like some kind of cloud at first glance came into view. As it got closer, Alicia soon realized that it seemed to be rolling...

Eventually, it stopped just behind the cats that were already there, and she realized that it was probably some kind of creature. This thought was soon proved correct when it rolled around and revealed itself to be... A huge, incredibly fat cat.

This was a bit just plain... Weird, even for Alicia. She simply waited for something else to happen, because she had no idea how she was supposed to react to the absurdity of the situation... She watched as the cat cleaned itself... Then saw another pair of cat ears appear from underneath. Just when she thought she'd seen everything...

At least it was an entire separate creature rather than a second set of ears... Of a different color... In a very weird place... A young-looking catgirl with two tails was what emerged from underneath the huge mountain of fat and fur.

Said catgirl then proceeded to examine a still very weirded-out Alicia after berating the cat she'd come in on, and then sent the other cats away... Except the giant one, who didn't seem to want to listen.

The girl bowed as she introduced herself to Alicia as Chen, welcoming her to "Mayohiga" which Alicia guessed must be where they were now... Then again, considering how strange everything so far had been, she wouldn't have been surprised if she was being welcomed to somewhere halfway across the world from where she was.

Alicia replied, "Er... Hello Chen... My name is Alicia." She then asked, "What exactly is this place? It seems a bit... Odd, even for what I'm used to seeing. And trust me, I thought I'd seen just about everything until coming here." She paused, and then decided that it couldn't hurt to inquire about Drake. "By the way, I was looking for my friend before I came here... He's very tall, has brown hair and usually has green eyes, likes to wear green, and he can transform into a dragon..."

Alicia figured that not even someone being able to transform into a dragon would freak out someone around here. Since stranger things than that walked the streets around here as if it was nothing... Actually, most people probably would have been even more freaked out by what they'd seen here... As in, become convinced that they were insane.

[recon5]

Chen's eyes widened when she heard that the girl's friend could transform into a dragon. Even her mistresses Yukari and Ran spoke reverently of dragons. The dragons of Gensokyo were more powerful than any Youkai and Chen had heard claims that they were even stronger than gods. They had also been absent from the land for as long as Chen could remember but there was always the chance that they were alive somewhere. Maybe one had escaped and had disguised itself to befriend this stranger, meaning it wasn't that her friend could become a dragon but a dragon had become her friend. That demanded Chen's respect and she willed herself to be cordial, but inside she was bursting with curiosity about the girl's friend.

She bowed to the stranger again, though not as deeply as before. "This town is on the border of Gensokyo. It's... complicated. People arrive here when they get lost in the border. Sometimes Yukari-sama herself brings new folks here. It's a nice place and you can leave any time you want but you can't get back here after that even if you fly, unless you're Yukari-sama or Ran-sama... or me, Nya~! As for your friend, well, I haven't seen him... excuse me."

Chen turned walked a few paces away before raising her right hand and snapping her fingers. In moments she was surrounded by a multitude of cats, many of which seemed to have appeared from thin air. After a bit of conversation in their cat language she dismissed her subordinates and they disappeared as suddenly as they'd arrived, then she returned to the stranger. "My friends haven't seen your friend either, so I guess he must have appeared somewhere outside Mayohiga. That often happens to people who come into Gensokyo on their own. Yukari-sama would surely know where he is but she's asleep right now... but maybe Ran-sama might be able to help. Want to go meet her?"

[shiningdrake]

Alicia was slightly puzzled at how Chen's eyes widened upon the description of Drake, but didn't bother speaking up about it. Maybe being able to turn into a dragon was unusual even in a place like this?

She listened as Chen explained a bit about Mayohiga. Not knowing anything about Gensokyo herself, she found the explanation to raise more questions than it gave answers. How did you get lost in a border? And what was Gensokyo anyway? Was it the name of this world?

Chen then answered that she hadn't seen Drake, before suddenly calling a bunch of cats out of nowhere and then speaking with them. Or... Meowing with them? She supposed it wasn't surprising, Chen did appear to be part-cat, and it was a lot LESS strange than some of the other things she'd seen so far.

Alicia simply waited for Chen to finish conversing with the cats, and after a bit, the catgirl turned back toward Alicia and said that her friends hadn't seen Drake either. Also saying something about that people who came to Gensokyo on their own often appeared outside Mayohiga? Wait... How had she guessed that Drake had come on his own, if she really did know someone who could bring people from other worlds? And how often did people traveling between worlds come here anyway?

Alicia didn't have time to get anywhere near lost in this confusion however, before Chen mentioned "Yukari-sama" and "Ran-sama" again, saying that they might be able to help, though the former was asleep. When asked, Alicia replied, "Yes, I would definitely like to meet her if she can help me find Drake! Er... My friend that is. That's his name, Drake."

Alicia paused for a moment, before deciding to ask Chen some questions. "You said that people who come to Gensokyo on their own often appear outside Mayohiga... I'm guessing Gensokyo would be the name of this world then? But... How often do people come on their own anyway, that you'd already guessed he did? I'm not sure that I've ever found a world where people frequently enter on their own from others before..." She shook her head"Sorry about all the questions, this is just so confusing... " She finally simply sighed, before waiting for Chen's response.

[recon5]

Chen thought silently for a few moments, trying to recall everything that her mistresses had told her about Gensokyo. There was a lot to know about their 'quaint little pocket' as Yukari often called it, but a lot of the things that she and Ran had said about Gensokyo were contradictory. Some things were consistent, though, and those were the things the Nekomata would give to the newcomer.

"I don't really know everything about Gensokyo or Mayohiga. Maybe only Yukari-sama knows everything because she said she made these places. I do know that Gensokyo is inside the Great Hakurei Barrier, and that there's an 'outside world'... well... outside that. Yukari-sama sometimes says that there are other 'outside worlds' as well but Ran-sama says it's 'mathematically impossible'. I don't know. Usually I trust everything that Ran-sama says because she's honest and all but she herself says Yukari-sama knows better and I... Nya~! Sorry, I got carried away talking about Ran-sama again."

Chen bowed in apology before continuing. "Anyway, what I know is that people from the 'outside world' sometimes walk into the border of Gensokyo, which is what the Great Hakurei Barrier is, by accident. Then they get lost and most of them end up walking back out. If they're amazingly lucky or if they have special powers they pass through the barrier instead and they end up somewhere in Gensokyo. I don't really know how that works. Yukari also says that some people from other 'outside worlds' can cross borders like she can and that's how those people get here."

"Once you get into Gensokyo it's hard to get out again because if you try crossing the border without the proper powers you'll just end up back inside. Of course, Yukari-sama can send people out because she controls the border and Reimu at the Hakurei Shrine can open the border for people to get through but other than that you've got to be a Youkai or a magician or some other kind of magical thing if you want to leave Gensokyo on your own."

"Mayohiga is even more special. It's hard to get in even from Gensokyo and usually people don't arrive unless Yukari-sama brings them in... but Ran-sama says they can come here by accident but I don't know... Nya~! There I go talking about Ran-sama again. She's a really special person and you have to meet her sometime- but I'll finish up first. Anyway, Mayohiga is like 'a Gensokyo in Gensokyo' as Ran-sama likes to say. For Mayohiga the 'outside world' is the rest of Gensokyo and people will also get lost if they try to find it on their own. Here's the funny thing though: It's easier to find it if you're already lost but I've never tried because I'm Ran-sama's shikigami and I can get here easily."

"People come here quite often- at least one person each day. That's why Ran-sama has me and my friends guard the place in case a stranger turns out to be dangerous. Most leave immediately, though, and unlike Gensokyo it's really easy to leave Mayohiga- you can just walk out. You can't get back in, though, unless Yukari brings you or you're really lucky... or unless you're a servant of Yakumo. That's what Ran-sama and Yukari-sama are called, by the way."

Chen straightened, clasped her hands behind her back and eyed Alicia intently as she waited for the girl's reply. She couldn't wait to bring the girl to Ran and see what her mistress would say when she met the friend of a dragon.

[shiningdrake]

Alicia listened to Chen's explanation of Mayohiga, Gensokyo, and the border. It was certainly interesting to hear... So, from the sound of it, Gensokyo was basically a world that was very strongly connected to another. The border between it and the one outside was so weak that it could actually potentially be pierced by normal people, or outright opened by a few others. Though that was only from the outside, you needed magic to leave...


When Chen had finished her explanation, Alicia stated simply, "I see..." before then deciding to mention something else. "Actually, as far as those 'other outside worlds' I can confirm that they exist. After all, I'm from one... Well, I would assume so anyway. I don't know if my world is the one this is connected to, but I do know that there are a number of worlds. I can travel between them myself... Or rather, I could, before I suddenly lost a large portion of my power upon appearing here."

Alicia then said, "Anyway, would you please take me to this 'Ran-sama' you have spoken of?" She didn't actually know much, or anything, about Japanese culture, so she had no actual way of knowing that "sama" was an honorific. Well, she had a vague suspicion due to Yukari having been referred to with the same, but she could hardly be sure.

[recon5]

Chen thought her eyes were as open as they could ever be but after hearing Alicia's words about the other 'outside worlds' and her (regrettably lost) ability to travel to them she discovered that she was wrong about that. She had to blink and rub her eyes a bit before responding to the newcomer. "I'll take you to Ran-sama right away, Nya~! Follow me!"

The Nekomata grabbed Alicia's hand and was about to lead her up the main road when her path was blocked by a huge puff of white fur. The giant cat fixed its deep blue eyes on Chen with a pleading expression but its superior wasn't about to give in. Chen released Alicia and placed her hands on her hips before bending forward to glare at her subordinate.

A short exchange of cat-speak followed with the white giant growing noticeably more droopy as the moments passed until Chen rubbed its head and mentioned something that made it perk up again. It raised its two tails and trotted off the way it had come, without shaking the ground as it had done earlier.

Chen sighed and turned towards Alicia. "Sorry you had to see that. Manjuu somehow thinks he's my horse or something and he wants me to ride him everywhere. I told him to practice stopping for a bit while carrying something that isn't alive. Maybe I shouldn't have brought him to Mayohiga at all since he's so... big and all but he's really cute when he's being good, honest. Even Ran-sama likes him. Oh Nyah! I have to take you to her! This way, please."

She turned and walked some distance up the road before looking back to make sure that Alicia was following her.

[shiningdrake]

Alicia noticed as Chen's eyes got even wider. It almost looked as if they might pop out, which honestly wouldn't have been that surprising considering this place... Suddenly, the catgirl took her hand as she said she'd take her to Ran, but before they could go on, the giant cat that Chen had rode in on blocked their path.

There seemed to be some sort of exchange between Chen and the big white fluffball, before it walked away. Alicia chuckled a bit at the explanation she gave about the big cat, who was apparently named Manjuu.

And then Chen resumed leading to Ran, turning around and walking off. Alicia followed of course, and wasn't at all far behind when the catgirl turned around to check if she was following. Alicia stopped as well, looking calmly at Chen as she waited to resume being led.

[recon5]

Mayohiga was a sort of gathering place for immigrants from various lands both inside and outside Gensokyo, and as Chen led Alicia up the main road towards the Yakumo residence they passed by a veritable kaleidoscope of architecture. Due to the machinations of the border Youkai any group big enough to have a functional community would find its needs decently supplied and thus various tradesmen could ply their wares and their services, some of which were unimaginable for sanity's sake. The Grand Old Lady of Gensokyo had many interests and with her powers she could simply 'borrow' any things or beings that caught her attention. That was how the people of Mayohiga got there.

At least, that was what she liked to claim. Ran was absolutely correct in saying that outsiders could enter the Wandering Town by accident due to its border feeling the effects of Yukari's sloppiness but naturally her mistress would never admit to having done a less than perfect job. That was the reason for Chen's daily duties and indeed it was one of the reasons Ran had taken the Nekomata as a shikigami in the first place as her unique talents (and multitudes of agents) would allow her to keep a constant watch on the majority of Mayohiga.

Chen pointed out various oddities as they went along but she stopped right in front of a typical Japanese grocery store as she'd seen a familiar figure inside, one with a large number of tails...

----

Ran could sense Chen's presence even as she paid the store owner for what she'd bought. She also knew that there was a stranger with her shikigami but she wasn't worried at all as she trusted Chen's judgment. The Nekomata (and her cats) would only have brought a newcomer so far into the town if they were certain that he or she (or any other pronoun that might apply) wouldn't endanger the other residents. They did make mistakes every once in a while but on a whole their evaluation was rock solid.

She stepped out of the door, placed her bags on the ground and held her hands out to Chen, and the Nekomata jumped into her arms with a delighted squeal. After rubbing her shikigami's head for a few moments Ran pushed her off and asked her about the girl she'd brought in. Chen's face lit up as she answered. "Ran-sama, this is Alicia! She says she can go to other worlds and she's looking for a friend who can change into a dragon!"

Ran knelt down and looked into Chen's eyes. "Is that so? Well, you have certainly brought me an interesting visitor. However, I estimate that you still have more than half of your patrol route to cover and you might not have enough time to finish after this delay. Perhaps you should have made her wait until you were done."

Chen's ears drooped at that and she lowered her eyes. "Sorry, Ran-sama."

Her mistress smiled and patted her head. "Nevermind. Cover as much of your remaining route as you can before dinnertime but be sure you finish your other duties as well. Yukari-sama requested something special for tonight and I think you might like it too."

She winked at Chen and the shikigami snapped to attention. "You can count on me, Ran-sama!" was all she said before she ran off. Ran watched until the Nekomata disappeared around a corner before standing up and retrieving her groceries. "Such a sweet child, is she not?" she said to Alicia as she turned towards the new arrival. "I believe you must have some pressing matters to discuss with me or Yukari-sama, or else you would not be headed for our abode. I must ask you to follow me home as I have to return immediately but we can talk on the way."

[shiningdrake]

Alicia followed Chen through the town, taking in the different sights. All Alicia could think was that it was an unusual town, though it did seem to be fairly peaceful. Indeed, it wasn't often that you found worlds where there were people of this many races at all, much less one town where they coexisted. And even then, when they did, it was never, never as peaceful as this place appeared...

And really... It made her sad. So often, in many worlds, there was discrimination on class, race, whatever. Really, it seemed like a universal constant between all worlds that there would be some form of it...

Hopefully this town was indeed what it appeared to be on the surface. Alicia questioned how real a place like this could be, while the darkness still existed, the distortion it had placed on all worlds... Was this really what it seemed?

It was strange, how guarded the peace ended up making her. Perhaps it was because of all the things she had seen, and what she'd been through herself at times... Times when she had her power taken away, like now. Times when her wings and her voice had earned her a gilded cage, for people to come and watch her like she was an object just for their pleasure...

So how could there be this much peace here, as long as the rules that held true to all realities still held? Was it nothing but a dream? Or had such a number of people of so many races truly managed to get past their differences?

Alicia remained on her guard, prepared for anything, though she managed to avoid showing the doubt on her face. She didn't want to trouble Chen, who seemed so nice... But what if that was an act? ...No. She refused to let thoughts like that have sway over her. If you look at everyone with suspicion, and let that suspicion guide you...

Honestly, Alicia was sick of this. Having no idea what was what anymore, being put more on guard by peace than war, all the things in all the twisted worlds. For all worlds were twisted... Death. Suffering. In all worlds, you would find these things... All of them. That was why she, and Drake, fought. To let all worlds become their true selves, free of the distortions that caused all this...

And why was she still thinking about this? She brought her full attention back on her surroundings, as she'd gotten a bit lost in thought during this time.

Chen led Alicia to in front of what would appear to be a store, which a woman with a number of fox-like tails was stepping out of. Chen then proceeded to jump into her arms, and after several seconds, was pushed off and asked about Alicia.

Chen happily introduced Alicia to "Ran-sama" which was who the fox-tailed woman was. Ran then gently chastised Chen for abandoning her "patrol route" for Alicia, before sending her off again.

Alicia heard Ran comment about Chen being a "sweet child" as she turned toward Alicia. "Hm?" Alicia replied back, "Yes, she does seem nice." Ran then spoke once more, guessing that Alicia must have pressing matters to speak of, and that they could talk on the way to her home.

Alicia spoke up, "Yes, I do. Chen already told you about my friend, and that's why I came here to begin with. However," she continued, "For some reason, when I came to this world, a good deal of my power was suddenly stripped away. Including my ability to leave... Do you have any idea what could have caused such a thing?"

Alicia didn't comment about what she'd been wondering on the way here. If there was something going on, it wouldn't be a good idea to voice suspicions, and she wasn't sure anyway. Saying such things aloud would be either just pointless, or have a negative impact on her ability to survive.

[recon5]

Ran inclined her head in thought, too interested in Alicia's words to begin walking as she'd intended. After a while she began to speak without looking up.

"I must admit that I do not have any knowledge of worlds other than Gensokyo and the lands immediately beyond the border, and even in that area what I do know must be horrifically out-of-date. Of traveling between realms I know even less, save that my mistress is apparently able to do so with her power over borders and that there are numerous other methods of achieving that transition."

She paused and thought a bit more before continuing. "I have, however, made many of my own observations regarding this phenomenon due to the sheer number of times it has brought strangers to Mayohiga. While Yukari-sama has the ability to transport living beings here without any changes to their characteristics, those who arrive by accident or malice often experience negative side effects including and beyond a loss of power such as that which has occurred to you. As far as I can guess, your particular problem could be a byproduct of the method you used to cross the border of Mayohiga, or it could be an act of sabotage."

At that moment she remembered that she was supposed to be on her way home, and after motioning for Alicia to follow her she began to walk up the road towards the Yakumo residence.

[shiningdrake]

Alicia listened as Ran spoke. An act of sabotage... That was quite possible. Estressa liked to do stuff like that to toy with them... Or at least, they assumed. None of them knew the extent of her power, just that she liked to use it to mess with their heads. It was... Frustrating to say the least. Alicia despised being used as a toy... And that witch thought of all worlds as her toy...

Once Ran had finished speaking, she began walking, and beckoned to Alicia, who followed. Even as she did so, Alicia spoke, "Actually... It wouldn't surprise me if it was sabotage. I've entered many worlds before with no such ill effects. And one of our enemies may well have such power to do something like that..." This was so frustrating...

((OOC: Sorry about the short post. I somewhat lack muse, and I'm forcing myself to try and write. Hopefully this problem will fix itself though.))