Gensokyo: The After Years

[fantasysuccessor]

It is the year 187 by the Gensokyo Calendar.

58 years have passed since the Taoist group arrived in Gensokyo. The Hakurei shrine is now under the care of Hakurei Maiko, Reimu's granddaughter. Reimu died several years ago. Nobody is sure where the intervening shrine maiden has gone off to these days, so it's up to Maiko to keep things running. At age 12, she's growing into her powers quickly, but only has a vague idea of what her actual responsibilities are supposed to be.

What else has changed? Well, Marisa is a youkai magician now. The rest we can figure out as we go along. Most of the old guard are still around, being youkai.

Welcome to the Hakurei Shrine. Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter, Maiko is probably busy tidying things up - clearing paths of snow, clearing paths of leaves, clearing rooms of dust, drinking tea on the veranda. Some things are forever.

[Feel free to bring anyone in, and decide for yourselves how the last 50 years have treated them. This is all very open-ended.]

Comments

[not_good_not_wicked]

When Yukari had been more active, she had had a bad habit of appearing out of nowhere to dispense cryptic advice before disappearing just as mysteriously. Marisa was more straight forwards: she strolled up along the main path, looking maybe a little older but certainly not sixty years older. She had not appeared at the shrine since Maiko's grandmother had passed on, but by her demeanor she might have been there last week.

She stopped to watch the little miko do...whatever it is shrine maidens do.

"Wow, Amina has you running things already? She always struck me as the more responsible type."

[fantasysuccessor]

"I'm just holding things together while she's on vacation." That's what Maiko calls it, at least.

The shrine maiden steps sweeping to peer uncertainly at the witch. Reimu did live to see her granddaughter, but... not for very long after that.

"...Do I know you from somewhere?"

[not_good_not_wicked]

"Oh yeah, we've met a few times. I think the last time was at your...fourth birthday?"

She considered this for a moment. "Something like that. Wow, I guess that was almost ten years ago wasn't it? My, how time flies."

[fantasysuccessor]

"Does that make you one of grandma's weird friends?" Maiko does her feeble best to look aloof about it.

She's met some of them. If the pattern holds, she's about to be compared to Reimu again.

[not_good_not_wicked]

"She didn't have a lot of friends, really. Just people she put up with."

Marisa sauntered passed Maiko to take a look around the shrine. "Hasn't changed much here, has it?"

[fantasysuccessor]

"Why would I change anything? Everything is already where I want it to be." Maiko brushes off the question, while trying and failing to think of something to ask this person about Reimu. Why's she strolling in like she owns the place?

[not_good_not_wicked]

It was just her style. Marisa nodded absently as she continued her tour around the shrine, smiling at things that had been there for Maiko's whole life like they were old friends. She actually laughed out loud at a plum tree with a shimenawa around it.

"I can't believe this stupid thing is still here!"

[fantasysuccessor]

Maiko regarded the plum tree, hands on her hips. "I still don't get what the point of this thing is. It doesn't even grow very good plums."

[not_good_not_wicked]

"It was one of Reimu's stupid ideas to get more humans to visit the shrine. It didn't work."

She glanced back at Maiko. "But you don't seem to mind that very much, do you?"

[fantasysuccessor]

Shrug. "There's enough youkai hanging around the shrine that I don't need a lot of human visitors."

[not_good_not_wicked]

"It doesn't bother you that lots of humans think this shrine is haunted and fear it just a little bit?"

[fantasysuccessor]

"Even if it did, it's not like I could just go tell people the shrine isn't haunted and have them believe me."

1/2

[not_good_not_wicked]

[Momentary pause...]

[not_good_not_wicked]

Eh, if it's good enough for you it's good enough for me.

[fantasysuccessor]

What does this place need visitors for, anyway? I don't even know if there's a god in the shrine. I just keep things clean and make sure nobody suspicious shows up.