Epilogue: A Well-Deserved Unawareness

"Ha…Ha…Ha…Ha…Ok…It looks like you're finally going to stay down this time." Mamizou says while panting rather heavily, holding onto the top of her strange sword with both of her bloodied hands as it was planted in the middle of a bunch of shredded leaves on the ground. Mamizou's hair was strung down on both sides of her head due to her currently kneeling, and there was some blood dried on many hairs. You could barely recognize the clothes in her human guise due to how much damage she had taken, but she seemed to be smiling proudly and without a care towards her condition.

It's easy to see why she's proud when you take a look at her opponent, Ran. The kitsune was lying in a pool of her own blood, her tails tattered and drenched as her once regal clothes are soaked red. The kitsune could barely raise her head up with her still furious eyes glaring at Mamizou, but she could only mutter out two words as blood dripped from some of her broken teeth "Damn….tanuki…" Ran then fell unconscious, disappointed that Mamizou will not do the same.

Catching her breath for a few seconds, Mamizou steadily tries to lift herself upright while feeling a huge and sharp pain from her spinal cord. "Urk! Haven't worked these muscles in a really long time, but that doesn't mean I was going to lose to some punk…Though I wonder if we did get a little out of hand…" Mamizou remarks, ending with her looking around the forest…If you can even call the surrounding area that anymore. Torn apart from the ground were many trees that were thrown about by Ran in battle, the soil disrupted in such a manner that it would be a miracle if it could ever be used again.

For at least one mile out in all directions, there was barely a single tree standing. The area was a graveyard of foliage both thick and thin, and the lack of greenery did not sit well with Mamizou considering all the red and brown she's being forced to look at around her. "Hmph…What an oddity…No one else happened to notice our battle? …Hmm, day and night has passed by for certain, but how many hours have I wasted by disciplining this dog? Kokoro…I'll find you soon enough." Mamizou, as steady as she can be on her feet, uses her powers to disguise the blood and scars all over her, essentially making herself look clean for the moment.

She turned her sword back into a pipe and stuck it away, then pulled out her untouched glasses and placed them in front of her eyes. Resting one arm under her chest, Mamizou was about ready to venture off when she hears someone begin to clap slowly. "Bravo, bravo Futatsuiwa Mamizou! A splendid battle if I do say so myself!" Don't really need to be suspenseful here, we all know it's Yukari calling out to Mamizou. The tanuki was not at all pleased, especially once the gap Youkai appeared from one of her gaps above where Ran is currently lying.

Yukari laid forward on a miniature bed of gaps, folding her arms atop of one larger one as she looked down at Mamizou and smiled. Mamizou opened her mouth slightly with words already prepared, but Yukari quickly raised a pointer finger up and said "You need not say anything towards me, Mamizou. I will have you know that you are already too late…Hata no Kokoro was returned safe and sound almost twelve hours ago." Mamizou was actually taken aback by what Yukari said to her, though that was quickly drowned by relief at the fact that Kokoro had managed to survive.

With a proud smile, Mamizou stated "Then I suppose she managed to best the vampire." Yukari brushes the left side of her hair and remarks after a bothered sigh "Well, not exactly…But the result was not something I was hoping for." This causes Mamizou to open her eyelids slightly and remark "Excuse me?" Yukari spreads her lips into a chesire's grin before stating "Oh don't mind the musings of little ol' me…We should be more focused on your little accomplishment of beating Ran. It only took you roughly two full days, but you managed to pull through in the end."

With a casual snap of her fingers, Yukari opens up a gap that makes Ran slowly droop into it with little care taken into making sure she lands safely on the other side, as evidenced by the thud heard from the other side. Yukari then closes the gap and looks at Mamizou, who says with a tired but piercing glare "You aren't ignoring me this time, I have the right to answers since I bested your lap dog." Yukari lifts her eyes up and says while laying a finger gently on her bottom lip "Well…I suppose I have nothing better to do for the next few days besides punish Ran for her loss, so why not? It seems like the appropriate time for us to have a conversation anyways."

Yukari then lays both of her arms out beside herself and remarks "First off, are you impressed by the little barrier I set up for your battle, Mamizou? It is one of my favorite types actually…It disguises the presence of all within it and warps away those who try to get close to it without making them aware that they had been moved. I figured it'd be for the best that you didn't have any interruptions…Or more annoyingly, back-up." "…You really didn't want me to find Kokoro, did you? What type of game are you playing here, Yakumo?" Mamizou says with a hint of annoyance and demand in her voice.

"A game? Ohoho…You think I am playing a game here, don't you? If that's the case, then I've been very rude in not telling anyone that they are taking part." Yukari says with an innocent smile, and Mamizou immediately calls her out by saying "Like you're an honest person anyways." With a forced look of shock, Yukari lays a hand before her chest and remarks "Why Mamizou, I am quite offended! …Fufufu, you know though, you've caused me quite a bit of trouble lately."

"…Well that's good to hear." Mamizou says with a semi-satisfied smile, but Yukari remarks afterwards "No, no it shouldn't be. When I told you to help stabilize Kokoro's emotions, I thought you would understood that I meant to get her ready for what is going to come to Gensokyo. But instead you handed the menreiki off to the Buddhist and Taoist leaders, and they've managed to pacify her desire to fight…Worst still, it seems as though Kokoro's influence is going to slowly lower the aggression of the vampire, and neutralize many other Youkai as well. I can't have that, not when the time for their appearance draws ever closer."

"Ah, yes…Those two people you mentioned coming to Gensokyo and causing trouble. Truth be told, I have no reason to believe your little boogeyman tale, Yukari. You're just trying to rile up our fear so you can feed on it for your own survival. And regardless of that, Kokoro isn't someone who wanted to fight even before Byakuren and Miko became her adopted parents, and I'm the last person who should be teaching someone how to fight anyways." Mamizou states with the utmost seriousness in her voice, and Yukari wags her finger in front of her playfully before stating "What a rather bold misconception, Futatsuiwa Mamizou…"

"If my plan was to instill fear through that warning, then why are you the only person I have told it to?" Yukari states, followed by Mamizou widening her eyes a bit and remarking with a puzzled "What?" Yukari smiles at that point, lowering her eyelids slightly before she explains "I tell no lies, Mamizou. The two people coming to Gensokyo are real, and since you have not been doing a good enough job in preparing Kokoro for what's to come I'm afraid I will have to take matters into my own hands."

"…You wouldn't dare." Mamizou states with a scowl as she reads Yukari's intentions quickly, and the gap Youkai lifts her eyebrows up and asks with her arms resting below her chin "What would I not dare? I do believe you are not in any position to be telling me what to do, Mamizou." "Just because you think you are powerful doesn't give you the right to think you can do whatever you want!" Mamizou exclaimed in a moment of bitter rage towards Yukari.

"Ah yes…I had forgotten that you are not a big fan of those who abuse their power. The Kitsune-Tanuki war was caused because of your kind's desire to rebel against the kitsunes, if I recall correctly after all. But I hope you aren't planning to start a war against me now, Mamizou…Because in spite of your opinions, I am not the villain of this piece." Yukari says with a sly smile towards the tanuki, who perks her tail up behind her and exclaims "Bold words coming from the one who instigated the Gappy incidents!" At that point, Yukari suddenly becomes eerily relaxed as she glared at Mamizou.

"Tell me, Mamizou…How can I be the villain if I have not been defeated? That's the role a villain always plays in a story, regardless of how small or grandeur their goal may be. That's because for all your talk of black and white, I am a Youkai whose values exist on a level beyond mortal standings…But in the end, I have always put Gensokyo's safety above all other priorities. The two Lunar Wars, the Perfect Cherry Blossom incident, even everything that happened with the Gappies have all been necessary measures to prepare Humans, Youkais and Gods alike for what is to come. If you wish to paint me as the villain though, then you're welcome to attack me whenever, but if your performance against Ran is any indication you do not at ALL stand a chance against me."

When Yukari was at an end of her calmly spoken paragraph, she smiles and waits for the tanuki to response, but Mamizou was left with nothing but an irritated scowl as she had to admit that Yukari was far beyond her touch, especially in her current state. As such, Yukari waves a hand out and remarks "Now you are finally starting to understand your place. You know, I find it odd that a Youkai supremacist would take issue with me." "Don't you dare bring that up. You go way too far, regardless of the fact that you are a Youkai. You just see everything as a puppet to manipulate by their strings…" Mamizou states.

Yukari then lifts her hands up and wiggles her fingers around, saying in a playful tone "You are quite mistake again, Mamizou…There are no strings on me. Besides, I find puppetry to be rather boring, especially after the first few times around." "Go to hell, Yukari…" Mamizou says bluntly in response to Yukari's uneasy nonchalance, but to Mamizou's surprise Yukari remarks "Perhaps someday I will finally be allowed to go there…But for now, I must do what is necessary to protect Gensokyo again, and you know all too well what that means for our little menreiki, right?"

"…I will not let you lay even a fingernail on her." Mamizou remarks, and Yukari says in response "I won't even have to. Trust me, you won't be able to accomplish anything in order to stop me, so just stand back and let me do my thing, and you'll be a step closer towards a safer Gensokyo. Though at the very least, it'll be a few months before I make my move, so if you want to waste time trying to come up with a way to stop me, then you're more than welcome to." "Grrr…." Mamizou can only growl in the face of Yukari's supreme arrogance.

Yukari then remarks "Hata no Kokoro will be mine, and she will be the hero of this world under my guiding hand. There is nothing to worry about." "Like hell there is! Just train the Hakurei shrine maiden to tackle whatever threat is coming if you are so desperate to save this world!" Mamizou points out fiercely, but Yukari remarks "Reimu will have her part to play…Everyone does, in fact. And don't consider my acts to be born of desperation…I just simply do not wish to let the Elemental Overlord, the newborn Phoenix of Destruction, to get away with whatever he pleases."

For the first time, Yukari had let slip the title of one of the two people that were coming to Gensokyo, and she innocently laid a hand before her lips before remarking towards Mamizou's surprised expression "Oh my, did I say that out loud? Fufufu…Though now that I have done so, perhaps you can actually feed your curiosity a bit and find out more about him, wouldn't you say?" "…Hmmm…" Mamizou could really only murmur at this point, since she was far too tired and angry to have the energy for a response.

With a wave of her hand back to open a gap large enough to carry her away, Yukari gives one last glance to Mamizou and remarks "When the moon burns red with flames, and Shikieiki Yamaxanadu herself has been judged for her only crime…That is when the destroyer will make himself known." Mamizou raises her eyebrows in surprise, and with a chuckle as she slips into the gap Yukari mentions "That surprised look…It is no wonder why you will be one of the first to perish, Futatsuiwa Mamizou." With Yukari gone from her sight, the exhausted Mamizou can only begin to weakly walk away from the devastated forest, hearing nothing but the mocking echoes of Yukari's words in her head as she worried greatly about Kokoro's future…

Empathetic Masquerade…THE END!

To be concluded in "Phantasm Masquerade"…

Author's Note:

Two stories down, one to go for this trilogy of tales...Man, it's really weird to think that in three months, it'll have been two years since I started writing for the Touhou fanbase. I've been a part of it for much longer than that, I think starting around the time between when SA and UFO had come out. Really, when it comes to fanbases, Touhou has a very nice one. We all tend to get along with one another, and generally respect the work itself. I guess that's a benefit of being a fan of a somewhat niche series, but I digress...

Regardless of how many people have read this, I appreciate each and every one of you for sticking through. There were a couple delays both planned and unexpected, but I ended roughly around the time I expected to, thanks in part to the outline I made for the story ahead of time. It was my first time doing something like that for any of my works, and it made sure that the story remained steady barring a few exceptions. Everything you saw in this story was planned out from the start, though the order of events were switched around a bit, such as the conversation between Mamizou and Yukari in Chapter 7, which was originally going to be at the end of 6 until that chapter ended up being much longer than I thought, or the second dinner party with the Scarlets originally being in the start of the Epilogue before I decided it would've made the final chapter incredibly short.

Either way, you might be wondering what's next, right? Well I hate to say it, but the end of the trilogy "Phantasm Masquerade" won't be started for a while. I got a lot of ideas I need to sort through, especially since the big connection I need to make is going to reach a threshold...Heh, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what I'm talking about considering I mentioned "that' title in the Epilogue. Not to mention I need to put a heavy amount of work into my other story for the next few months, especially since it's reached the arcs I've wanted to write the most ever since I thought of them.

That doesn't mean I won't be writing Touhou stuff mind you in the mean time. I'm definitely going to revive the one-shots sometime soon since there are a lot of ideas I haven't gotten around to using yet, and I have a plan for a short story involving the hook I left in Chapter 11 regarding Nue wanting to gather monster Youkai together for a haunted mansion. Besides that, who knows though? Personally, I get the feeling you'll see me doing something for the new character in Urban Legend in Limbo whenever that comes out. But until then, the world is preparing itself...Are you ready to take the dive into fantasy again another time?