[Closed]

[thirdeyeclosed.livejournal.com]

Koishi liked the City. It was big, bigger than even the Underground City back home, and there were a lot of interesting buildings to explore. When she wasn't helping Sasami clean the Jurai Palace or bothering her sister, Koishi liked spending her time flying around the city, checking out the sights.

During one such trip Koishi finds a shrine. A very familiar, slightly run-down shrine.

The Hakurei Shrine. It looked a little worse for the wear, and it looked like it's been unoccupied for months, but it was definitely Reimu's shrine. Koishi had visited a few times after she ran into the shrine maiden and her witch friend.

But... what was it doing here? The Hakurei Shrine was supposed to be really important to the border between Gensokyo and the outside world, right? If it was here, then did that mean something happened to the border back home?

Comments

[thirdeyesighted.livejournal.com]

Koishi wasn't the only one to do a lot of wandering on the ship. Aside from being bigger and brighter, the City was the place on the ship most similar to the Underground City. After all this nonsense with the Yeerk, it was nice to just unwind for a bit.

So did she stumble upon the same shrine, although she barely paid it any note, never having visited the place herself. She noticed that Koishi seemed quite preoccupied with it, though...

Satori drifted towards her sister. "Have you seen this before somewhere?"

[thirdeyeclosed.livejournal.com]

"... It's Reimu's shrine." Koishi said. She sounded confused, and she was, for obvious reasons.

"Why is it here? And why isn't Reimu here with it?"

[thirdeyesighted.livejournal.com]

...Ah. This complicated matters. Well, it's not like she could hide it forever.

"Gensokyo..." Satori hesitated, trying to think of how to word this. "Gensokyo doesn't technically exist at the moment."

[thirdeyeclosed.livejournal.com]

Koishi turned to face her sister, even more confused. "What are you talking about? Of course it exists! Gensokyo can't just disappear all of a sudden."

[thirdeyesighted.livejournal.com]

"Yes, it can." Satori's expression darkened. "When I told you we were fighting, this is what we're fighting against."

[thirdeyeclosed.livejournal.com]

Sure, they didn't spend a ton of time together, but Koishi knew her sister. Satori wasn't the most cheerful person she knew, but Koishi was able to tell when she was serious and when she was... normal Satori. So she knew she was telling the truth.

"So does that mean..." Koishi's eyes briefly turned back to the shrine. "Everyone is gone?"

[thirdeyesighted.livejournal.com]

"Maybe." Satori looked at the shrine, reflecting on what its presence here meant. "Just as you and I were saved and brought here, the others might be as well."

[thirdeyeclosed.livejournal.com]

"Oh... that's good, then!" Koishi said. But there was something... off, about the way she spoke. Finding out her friends and everyone else she cared about might possibly be dead should make her sad, right? She should be crying now, but she wasn't.

She curled one of the tendrils of her Third Eye around her finger as she thought this over, and the eye itself seemed to be reacting to her thoughts; it was twitching, the lid clenching and looking as if it was trying to open.

[thirdeyesighted.livejournal.com]

The Eye's movement didn't go unnoticed by Satori, but she elected not to comment on it. Koishi would be happier if it stayed closed.

"This is why I fought Nanoha again." Satori's expression remained serious. "There will be fighting, and we must win if we want to bring our world back from annihilation."

[thirdeyeclosed.livejournal.com]

"Win? You mean if we beat those Ohm things, Gensokyo and everyone will come back? Great!" Koishi's face lit up, but the damage had been done: her Third Eye's lid was opened just the tiniest of cracks, just enough to see a small flash of white.

"But if those things don't follow the Spell Card rules... that means I'll have to learn how to really fight, like Nanoha, right?"

[thirdeyesighted.livejournal.com]

"Yes, it's quite different." Satori glanced again at Koishi's Eye. The damage had been done; this much, at least, was probably inevitable. She didn't want Koishi to end up like herself.

[thirdeyeclosed.livejournal.com]

"Can you teach me those spells you used, then? The bind and that 'Divine Buster'?" Koishi asked. She didn't seem to notice the change yet, so that's good, at least. For now. "I'd ask Nanoha, but it might be easier if I asked you first!"

[thirdeyesighted.livejournal.com]

"I don't think Divine Buster suits your style, but I can at least teach you the principles of binding magic..."

[thirdeyeclosed.livejournal.com]

Good enough! Have a hug, Satori. "Cool! Thanks, sis!"