A/N Howdy all! This certainly came out of nowhere, didn't it? I'll be honest; I've never been a big fan of anime, or manga in general. And this isn't the first time I've tried to get interested in this fandom. However, after watching Touhou Mother and reading Eastern Starlight Romance, I finally succeeded. If you've never seen either, I'd recommend them. They're are both good, and well written. I've taken a lot of inspiration from the latter, which helped shape Marisa, and her back-story.

As for this story, I was trying to find some good fanfiction on these games, and I read a post asking what if Marisa's spells weren't powered by her own love, but by the love of others. And thus… this sprung out of my head, as Athena did from Zeus. Except, not so dramatic. Or messy. Anywho, this is definitely not canon, and there is a lot of Alternate Character Interpretation. Perhaps even OOC-ness. But I found it interesting, and thought I'd share. So, enjoy!

Disclaimer: In no way, shape, or manner do I own Touhou. That's all Zun's domain. I did ask Keine to see if she would alter history so it would, but she threatened to gore me in were-form, and deliver me to Flandre. Gift-wrapped. Considering I value my life… I desisted.

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Ordinary Black Magician

The people around here all have such interesting notions about how I think. The reason that I do things. They wonder the hows and the whys of me. The reasons I have for the way I act. Why I learn, why I study, why I steal. But that doesn't truly matter, does it? I know why I do it.

Oh, who am I, you ask? Pity, I thought you'd know by now. Let's just say that I'm an ordinary black-white magician.

No, I didn't make up that title. Nor the other titles that people bestow upon me. What titles are those? It doesn't matter. Not now at least.

What matters more is how I earned the first.

If you've seen a picture from me, you'd be surprised what I do. At least, if you're from the outside world. I've been told by the various immigrants we've had about how stereotypical I look. I look like some witch out of a fiction book, or out of one of your boxed picture shows. Do you know what though? We have those same stories here. What do you think inspired me? But the thing is, I make those stories come true.

Granted, maybe not in your usual sense. If you know anything about my home, anything about Gensokyo, you should know that it's the case. Nothing is quite normal there. Even for us. But I'm afraid that you'll find that I have no stories of me transforming people into frogs, or luring little children into a forest in order to eat them. Not that I don't know a few that wouldn't mind either. And I'm sure if I actually wanted to, I could learn how to transform people into frogs. Perhaps I could learn how to transform them into mushrooms instead.

Pardon me if you know this, but the thing you need to know about Gensokyo is that there is one thing that is important. Power. I may not be the most skillful witch, or one that uses the most varied techniques. But the correct application of an excessive amount of power… That always does the trick. What does it tell you, when simple power is enough to defeat gods and demons? You must be asking yourself, are they that weak, or is she just that strong?

Not to brag, but there is only one person who is stronger than me. And it's not even one of the gods. It's one of the god's shrine maidens.

Of course, while I am proud of myself, I must also remind myself not to be filled with mine own hubris. There are plenty of others that could beat me if they wanted to. The new shrine maiden's gods come to mind. Or the boundary youkai, in all her passive aggressive ways. Or even that hell crow that ended up with the power of the sun infused into her. There are certainly others that I could list. The vampire with control over fate itself, and the satori, able to read and influence one's own heart and mind. Yet, here I am, a girl whom has not even reached her second decade, and I have defeated all of those I've listed. These are beings that are thousands of years old.

Perhaps they were lazy. Perhaps they underestimated me. Perhaps they simply did not care. These are beings that could outsmart me, outthink me, and generally outperform me. Yet, I still won. So maybe it is the hubris talking, but does that not make me the better? Besides, I'm becoming more and more powerful every day

You probably are wondering, then, why would a simple shrine maiden give me trouble? Originally, it was because I was younger, less experienced. Simply weaker. It also does not help that she has a power passed down in her bloodline, not from the hard work of learning skills alien to your very being. It infuriates me sometimes, I have to admit. Why should she be strong without putting the slightest bit of effort into it? But then, I realized that it shouldn't matter to me. If I had the powers that she had, would I ever work to improve? If I could do all I could do now without the studying, or the practicing, would I get better? Sometimes I wonder.

Not that it is to say that I hate her. I'd have to say that Reimu is one of my best friends. We've come a long way from when I first met her. That is probably a friendship that has been forged by the fires of… well, war would be the saying. And some of the incidents we've been involved in certainly do count. Sad things is that she is that even though she is the one responsible for the border, for hunting down the stray youkai, I'm the one who has to persuade her to do her job. I am the one who has to rag on her to get better. And a few times, I've even had to bail her out of a mess.

But in the end, she enjoys having me around. It's one of those things I can tell. The exasperated tone of voice when I try to get her to work harder at her job. The indignant reaction when I steal some bit of food or a trinket just out of the corner of her eye. The smirk on her face when she teams up with someone I've wronged. She thinks that she is doing all this to shape me, to make me the better person. By now, she should know that she couldn't change me.

However, I am changing her instead.

No, I'm hardly getting sappy here. I'm just stating what should be obvious if you bothered looking at it. But I suppose you'd need my side of the story. The reason why I would be trying to improve what should be my biggest rival. Oh, yes, she is my biggest rival. We both know that. Not that I have others nearly as important.

That is the question isn't it? Why help a shrine maiden, with all her powers, while I am a plain, ordinary, magician.

It takes us back to my earlier point. Power. Perhaps you know of my signature spell? It doesn't really matter, as I'm going to tell you. The Master Spark. Specifically Love Sign, Master Spark. That is the key part. It's a spell fueled by love. I have a few others that use it, and all are equally useful. None so powerful as the Master Spark line, though. The furnace I have, the hakkero, is what I use to focus it. But every fire must have its fuel.

No, you are mistaken. It is not the love I feel for someone. I honestly can say I don't love anyone that truly, or that deeply, now. Do I know people that I could love like that? Yes, there are quite a few. But, none right now. The love I that I use, is the love that others have for me.

Sound familiar? It should. It's the same way that a lot of gods get their powers. Or rather, it's similar. Rather than faith, I just need them to love me. Not be in love, not even think the word, I just need them to feel the feeling. That is, after all, one way I know that my mentor still exists. I love her, as I did my mother. And certainly more than I did my father. She is the one person still alive I can say that word about without an inkling of sardonicism or prevarication from coating my voice.

My friends however, are simply that as of now. Reimu is my best friend. And her love for me, as my friend, as someone who has been there for me, and for whom I have been there. Someone whom looks over what she perceives as flaws, and does attempt to get to know the real me. And sometimes, I even let her in.

Yes, it is a bit cold saying it like that. But if you know me, I prefer not to skirt around the issue. Not to say that I can. But would you rather let a magician use sly words and a silver tongue to skirt around the issues?

I didn't think so.

Now, you probably wonder why I act the way I do? If I so much value love and its power, why do I act so badly? Why do I tread over others so much? Why do I steal and cheat and lie? Simply put, it's just the way I am. In case you haven't noticed, I'm the one who wants to get things done. I make my own way. And I take every advantage I have. I'm doing the right thing, after all. By making my own way, doing what it is that I want to, Gensokyo is kept safer. If I have to step on a few toes to accomplish my goals, knowing the end results, I frankly don't give a damn.

Oddly enough, to you at least, some of those toes don't mind being stepped on at all. Take Miss Margatroid, over the river and through the woods, so to speak. Does she mind so much that I come over when she least expects it? Hardly. Oh, she'll put up a fuss and bluster, but give it a few minutes and we will be carrying on like two old friends. Of course, the moment she knows not to turn her back for two long, lest something else goes missing from her abode. Of course, that can't really stop me.

The danmaku that ensues is always entertaining.

Of course, I have one of her signature dolls here. It sits in another corner of my home, perched precariously on a stack of books. Of course, it ended up there after I removed all the… questionable material from it. Explosives sitting out would always be bad for me, if there was the chance that I had visitors. As if they had a chance of maneuvering through the veritable jungle that is my house in the first place.

Listen to me, getting off topic again. But as useful as she is as a resource, little Alice is becoming a good friend. It makes you wonder what she see's in me. A competitor whom haunts her library, looting spells when she isn't looking? Or perhaps, just what she once was, decades and decades ago. The familiarity of what she gave up to become what she is now?

Perhaps all at once. Either way, whatever draws her to me, it does it well. It may just be simple company. After all, it isn't common to have visitors this far out in the woods very often. And considering her unique brand of magic, many attempt to avoid her. So, perhaps it is just sheer happenstance of being her closest neighbor that has created this friendship? I know what causes it at least. Do you?

The Puppeteer is an interesting case though. But not the only one. The other happens to be my favorite game. A very particular cat and mouse game.

If you ask her though, it's just a rat catching game.

Of course, dear Patchouli has never been quite that generous with her possessions. All that time spent on that magnificent library… It is the culmination of centuries of work. And the books just sit there and gather dust. Of course I'm going to borrow some. Besides, after Remilia's little attempt to cast eternal night on the land with her scarlet mist, I figured I was owed a little something for my efforts at ending it.

Miss Knowledge being herself, though, she couldn't allow anyone to borrow books from her library. And this was all before her learning my "well deserved" reputation. For months after that, I found myself being chased out of the Voile with lasers and explosions galore. It was always such fun, winding her up as such. I could hardly visit the mansion without her eyes burning a hole in the back of my head.

Oh the hole she tried to create in my chest when I first stole a spell. If I were feeling particularly catty, I would say that she nearly gave me heartburn. Literally. Of course, it is always she that likes to be catty. What else is appropriate in a cat and mouse game, after all?

However, that cat is starting to enjoy playing with her prey a bit more than she anticipated. Perhaps through resignation that she wouldn't be able to stop me, without at least ensuring that the library was inaccessible to anyone else in the household, she stopped her attempts to forcefully control me. Mostly. Instead, she grudgingly allows me to stay and study with her. Not that this stops me from borrowing a book or two on the side. Slowly but surely though, her interest is piqued, and she just has to know what I am doing. What I am studying.

"Everything" might not be the most satisfying answer, but it is the truest one.

But what tells me the most is that the Librarian has taken no steps to reclaim her property. She knows where I live. (After all, I do sell many potions, among other things. Where else could I get legitimate and clean money?) So, you may ask, why hasn't she gone out of the way to reclaim her grimoires? Why bother indeed, when she knows exactly where they are. Much as she hates losing them, she knows that I will take good care of them. Can hardly study magic if I end up destroying the spellbooks that contain its arcane knowledge. And eventually, one day, I will die, and she'll be able to take them back.

After all, I'm just an ordinary human magician, aren't I?

I suppose I've rambled on a bit here. The original point is, that even Patchy is coming to care for me. An enemy, whom has hated me for so long, is slowly shedding her reticence towards me. And perhaps even growing fond of our games.

Oh, don't even bother; I can see what is going through your mind. Where could I learn to act this way? What kind of person would teach me to act as I do? To answer your question, it is the one person I know that loves me. My old confidant and friend, Miss Mima. She was the one that began to teach me true magic all those years ago. She was the one who held me close, after my mother died. She was the one who took me in after my father was tired of supporting a worthless magician such as I. And she was the one that drove me to be better, to do all I can to improve myself, for my sake.

Sure, she was a harsh master. But she didn't pull any punches, because she knew I didn't want her to. And truly, I didn't. She forced me to live up to my own potential, to grow as powerful as I have. She had a drive that burned within her, even though she was no longer of the living. That same drive is what she imbued into me. For all intents and purposes, it is Mima who shaped me into what I am today.

Now do remember, friend, that she was an evil spirit. And even though she (and I, too) mellowed from our encounters with Reimu, there is still that fact. Where do you think I learned my more esoteric talents? Please, you need not say, that was rhetorical, after all.

And my ability with love? Well, that's something I've learned through the power of observation. Both of my own efforts, and those of Mima. She did teach me almost everything I knew. That which I didn't steal from others, of course. But powering my spells through love? That was something else from her.

Of course, I can see it in your eyes. Your morality won't accept the way I am. My, do you think you hate me? For the way I've 'used' these girls? The manner in which I use love, freely given?

You might want to be careful there. You do remember my title, after all? It's been a while since I mentioned it. The ordinary black-white magician. Think of it for a moment. What is it that you expect to do? Run away, and tell everyone you can before I hunt you down. I'm afraid you don't want to do that.

After all, love and hate are very close, separated by just a little thin line. You might even say that they are two sides of the same coin. But for me? I'd rather be loved. I'd rather have my friends, whom I can spend my time with. Maybe, when I learn how, we could spend an eternity together.

I'd prefer to flip heads. I'd prefer to win.

But you're not thinking things through. You think that you could turn them against me? The friends that I've spent so long creating? Perhaps you could. After all, a little hint of the whole truth could prove disastrous. But you don't want to do that, friend. Do you really want to force my hand? The hand trained by an evil spirit? Knowing exactly what I'm capable of doing? And how much you don't even know? Remember that line. That little thin line.

Heads, I win. But if you interrupt my flip, cause me to catch it wrong… Well, tails, you lose.

After all, I'm an Ordinary Black Magician.

Now, isn't that the kicker, ze?

Edited on March 23rd, 2012 for clarity