The Youkai Mountain… all sorts of creatures can be found there. Down its streams and up its sides, at the peak and under the base, whole societies thrive on Gensokyo’s great mount landmass still attached to the ground. After all, despite being a mass of stone, it’s spire rises higher than many things in Gensokyo that no longer adhere to the laws of gravity.

At times, it almost seemed like a siren for the Immaterial Children; calling out to them, one by one. However, for one reason or another, we’ve strayed away from the mountain. Marisa didn’t even get her chance to go there - the path you all took was a replacement from one that would only lead to darkness with Reimu’s form.

But… there is a scenario in which the Youkai Mountain was where the Immaterial Children came from. Where Youmu was a wolf, Reimu a crow, Kosuzu a kappa and even Marisa in a viable form for the mountain crags.

But even if it was a lightning rod to as many as possible, there is one Immaterial Child whose place was never to be part of the mountain. We begin with Akyuu, born on the moon once more - though this time of a higher caste…

Kishin Akyuu soared above the mountain, looking down at Gensokyo. It was sprawled out below her, the hills and forests like a patchwork map. The sheer awe of it struck her, still looking so oddly small.

It wasn’t like she was unfamiliar with looking at the earth. Seeing the blue globe hanging in the sky from her mother’s balcony had been an astounding moment, but it bordered on the abstract - in some senses, it wasn’t much different from the globe that had long sat in the Hieda manor. But Gensokyo was a different matter, seeing a place she personally recognised from an entirely different perspective. She could actually see the Human Village, and the Hakurei Shrine; she could even pick out that old mansion where she’d grown up. It probably even still had the globe.

But her destination wasn’t anywhere she had personally travelled; it was the mountain itself, near the peak. She’d managed to stir the memories of Reimu, now the scion of the Iizunamaru family; when it finally came time for her to leave the moon, it had been the young Daitengu who had offered her an initial landing point, and a place to stay while she found her feet.

Akyuu hummed, checking her notepad again. As far as she knew, this was the right location… she was supposed to meet up with an escort who’d lead her to the palace. And, apparently, she’d know them when saw them. She could see a few wolves, but who-

Wait. That one. The one who was waving to her. It couldn’t be… could it? Akyuu gave a mad grin, turning and pulling into a dive.

The wolf saw her coming, starting to panic as she realised the white heron’s approach speed. Too late to dodge, she instead dropped her gear and braced herself, ready for the incoming divebomb.

As Akyuu got closer, she took in the wolf’s clothes. She had practical, evenly-cut hair, and the standard light outfit most wolves wore. She even had the classic one-tooth geta - the precarious-looking sandals were a staple of tengu fashion, after all. But the pom-poms on her clothes (including her sword’s pom-pom pommel), the stem of the leaf pattern on her shield, and even her actual tail all came to wispy, wiggly tips - the kind Akyuu knew some spirits resembled.

And that meant there was only one person this could be.

“Youmu!”

Akyuu slammed into the wolf girl at speed. Youmu grunted from the force, staggering to avoid toppling off her feet. She coughed a few times, trying to regather her breath from the impromptu winding.

“Geez, Akyuu, could’ve given me a bit more warning… who just tackles someone out of nowhere?” The older girl chuckled, running her fingers through Akyuu’s hair. “Good to see you again, pup. It’s been long overdue.”

Akyuu nodded, burying her head in the wolf’s chest. Youmu was here. Youmu was here. With Reimu as well, they were half done finding the-

“Well, with your arrival,” Youmu began, “that makes five.” The white heron’s head shot up, eyes wide. “Yeah, Lady Reimu’s been busy. She actually found the rest of us pretty quickly once you woke her up.”

Akyuu paused, tapping at her sides. Youmu just chuckled. “Let’s get inside, first. Kosuzu’s dying to meet you, and you’ll be spoiled for spare paper when you get there.” Her face fell, slightly. “And there’s some things we have to explain before Marisa arrives, too.”

---

Akyuu was… more than a little disconcerted. Her arrival in Gensokyo was not quite turning out the way she had imagined.

One of the - somehow - lesser aspects of that was the food and drink Reimu had provided. Being the daughter of Sagume herself had meant that she’d been presented with lavish food made in true purity; the consequence of this was that her palate had become more sensitive. She’d just about had to choke down anything with even the slightest bit of spice, now that those flavours were absolutely overpowering. And it was shocking how… uneven things like simple juices felt in her mouth. Akyuu knew quite well that Reimu had given her some quite expensive food and drink; as an honoured guest, she had no choice but to swallow them down and hope she didn’t throw up later.

Reimu’s imposing presence also wasn’t the main focus, although she did make quite an impression. She was undeniably Iizunamaru’s daughter, wearing red clothes modelled after her mother and even inheriting the tendency to swing around what was probably camera equipment as a bludgeoning weapon (though the extendable metal mount was obviously more of a hand-held item, and she’d attached some paper streamers to create a makeshift gohei). Youmu referring to the reincarnated Miko as “Lady Reimu” and being clearly subservient to her was more worrying, but fortunately Reimu was just as uncomfortable with it as Akyuu was.

The current source of her bewilderment, in the end, came from nobody else but Kosuzu Kawashiro, reborn as a kappa - and now the third person who’d reincarnated among the mountain youkai. Two being part of the biggest youkai society in the land of the living had been one thing, what Akyuu was willing to dismiss as an odd coincidence. The third being part of another society on the same mountain was rather bewildering.

The kappa in question was the shortest of them all by a good margin. Even if Akyuu wasn’t especially tall, the river-youkai was tiny, two heads shorter at least. But where her size had been reduced, she made up for it in boisterousness - Kosuzu was practically bouncing around the room. She deviated from the kappa’s natural blues and greens with a bright pink-and-red outfit, complete with a lock on her chest - and a backpack that essentially amounted to a small standing bookcase she was lugging around.

“Akyuu! It’s so good to see you! I only woke up yesterday because I ran into Marisa while looking for some new materials!” The kappa was practically on top of her, and the chair she was sitting in was only large enough for one. “I have so many questions to ask! What’s it like on the moon? How’d you get a baku to help you? Do you fly with that wing, or is it just for show? What other powers do you - quek!”

“Give her some space to breathe, Kosuzu.” Reimu pried the young girl off of Akyuu, carrying her by her bag. “She just landed, after all.”

The daitengu gave the white heron a gentle look, as Akyuu pulled out her pen and notepad. “Besides, it’s actually harder for her to explain if you’re all over her. Because one of the powers she has is the ability to reverse situations with just her words.”

Akyuu held up her finished note for the kappa to read. Reimu’s right. I can speak, but I have to be very careful about what I say. Writing it out is usually safer.

Kosuzu’s face fell. “O-oh. I see… That, uh. That might be a problem.”

Honestly? It’s nothing but problems. Not least of which being that old habits die hard. Akyuu gave a small chuckle. But it’s worth it, for the contact with the Lunarians.

“Oh yeah?” Youmu asked, leaning around the chair. “What’s so cool about living on the moon?”

Akyuu fought down the urge to make any comment about the food as she wrote. They’ve taken my word as a prophecy. We’ll have the full support of the Lunar Capital if we need it. Perks of being a commander’s daughter. I just have to watch that I don’t get too ‘corrupted by the impure earth’, and we’ll be able to call on the power of the moon itself.

Reimu raised an eyebrow. “Why’s getting ‘corrupted’ an issue? Because you would be banished from the moon?”

Not just that. According to mom my mother, if I get corrupted enough I could even fall into becoming a regular amanojaku. She could hear each of the girls gasp as they read the line - first Kosuzu, then Reimu, and then lastly Youmu. Granted, I’d probably lose my cursed words, and it might just be a story to make sure I’m on my best behaviour… but it’s best not to risk it.

Youmu snorted. “I’ll say. The thought of you getting an amanojaku’s urge to mess with people sounds like a nightmare scenario. Though there’s some issues with a cursed tongue, too-” The wolf tengu straightened up. “Ah, pardon me for speaking out of turn.”

The daitengu rolled her eyes. “For gods - at ease, Youmu. This is a friendly meetup, save the tightassery for when my mom’s in the room. Look, Akyuu, Marisa’s arriving late for a reason - there’s something important you need to know, to prepare you for that meeting. Because, well… she remembers the least of all of us.”

That statement was followed by a pregnant pause between the two tengu. It seemed like as much as they wanted to prepare Akyuu, they weren’t actually ready themselves. The white heron began to feel nervousness creep up on her.

Does she have an issue with Lunarians or something? That had been one of her biggest fears. Lots of people had bad blood with the Lunar Capital, or were otherwise incompatible due to their natural impurity. She didn’t know what she’d do if one of her closest friends was one of them.

Youmu shook her head. “No no no, nothing like that. She won’t spurn you by default.”

Akyuu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling tension release from her. “Ah, good. Then hopefully this introduction will go well-”

She clapped her hands to her lips, as Youmu covered her face with her palm. “Oh, Akyuu…”

Reimu scoffed, looking about ready to whack her guest with her gohei-like weapon. “Well, that’s any chance for prep probably scuppered. Guess we’re gonna sit back and watch the fireworks.”

“Eh… is it really that simple?” Kosuzu looked between the taller girls. “I mean, she just said one thing… how much trouble can that cause?”

[Hyper Mining “Drill Spark”]

Akyuu blinked. When she opened her eyes, it seemed like the whole room was suddenly lit, casting strange shadows across the room. But the shadows were all on the roof… and Akyuu’s feet were getting oddly hot.

And that sound… it was almost like-

“Go!” At Reimu’s command, she and her subordinate moved in sync. The daitengu grabbed the young kappa, hauling Kosuzu back behind her with one hand while throwing up a barrier around them both. Youmu instead rushed forward, tackling the Lunarian with enough force to launch and topple both the chair and its occupant, using the former as makeshift cover and throwing her shield over the latter.

And then the room exploded.

Two pillars of light burst from the floor where Akyuu had been sitting just a moment before, twisting and spiralling around each other. The white heron’s eyes stung from the intensity, and as the lasers died down, her ears were still ringing.

While her eyes were still trying to recover from that display, she managed to see the vague silhouette of someone climb out of the hole. Whoever they were, they were definitely the tallest person in the room - closing in on six feet, if not there already. And despite having burst out of the floor, they were seemingly barefoot, completely ignoring any risk of splinters or other damage from the rubble.

“Damn.” A girl’s voice, a surprisingly young one at that. And though it had a rougher edge than Akyuu expected, it was still immediately recognisable. “Where the hell did I end up this time?”

As the dust settled and her eyes recovered, Akyuu found her way to her feet. The girl in front of her had hair of a dirty blonde colour, with a hint of green as well. Her black clothes were adorned with green rings, and she had one more acting as a hairband for a braid on her left side. As the girl hooked a golden tool on her side, Akyuu couldn’t stop herself from saying one more word.

“Marisa…?”

“Yep, that’s me. Himemushi Marisa, the Oomukade Magician.” The centipede-girl chuckled, giving her a cheeky grin. “And if you’re who I think you are… Hey, Akyuu. Long time, no see.”

Akyuu stared up at the girl in front of her. So much information was hitting her at once, she wasn’t even sure where to start.

Marisa, by all accounts, should have been 13-and-a-half. Akyuu and Reimu had both been born on the exact same day in both their lives, as she understood it - and when looking at Marisa’s body in an abstract sense, she didn’t look older than someone who’d just entered the teens.

But looking at Marisa in context of the world around her, she was huge. If she really was only thirteen, she was going to pass six feet tall, guaranteed. A far cry from the diminutive magician Akyuu remembered.

Also, she was shockingly muscular as well. The Ordinary Magician was slight in build, far more slight than she’d ever wanted to be - the Oomukade Magician was very much not. Akyuu recognised that the golden weapon she’d holstered appeared to be some homebrew iteration of the Mini-Hakkero; though now it looked heavy and sturdy enough to be used as a bludgeon in a pinch.

It didn’t even require a Lunarian’s sensitivity to know Marisa was filthy. She stank of dirt and sweat, mixing into outright mud on parts of her body. Perhaps catching that Akyuu was staring at it, the centipede-girl tried to wipe a patch of dirt off her cheek, only succeeding in smudging it further..

But, to some part of Akyuu, the most stunning part was that she was now the fourth girl to be born on Youkai Mountain. (Or, rather, she’d probably been born in it, but it was still absurd.) It might have a decent share of the youkai population, but it wasn’t any near large enough to make four-out-of-five anything other than a bizarre coincidence. (And why had she been left out?)

Before she could even begin to ask, though, she saw an extendable gohei rise, behind the oomukade’s head. It swung in a vicious arc, slamming into the back of Marisa’s skull and producing a sonorous clang.

“STOP! BLOWING! HOLES! IN! THE! FLOOR!” Reimu punctuated each word with another strike of her gohei, each time producing another clang that made Akyuu wince from the force. Marisa flinched, but seemed to treat it more as an annoyance than a serious problem. “You can’t just go around without looking where you’re blasting!”

“Yeah yeah, I get it. Sorry, alright?” The oomukade grabbed the swinging gohei, pulling it out of her friend’s hand without much issue. “Seriously, Reimu, chill out. I got some new rocks to work with, I’m sure we can budget your balances or whatever.”

“That’s not what Lady Reimu was getting at,” Youmu growled. Her fur was bristling. “You nearly blew poor Akyuu back to the moon.”

“Eh, really?” Marisa took a moment to observe the overturned chair, and the somewhat shellshocked expression the white heron was sporting. “Ah… sorry. Thought I had a shortcut up, but uh… got a little lost, in the end.”

Akyuu shook her head, trying to wave it off. It was likely Marisa’s entrance had been unfortunately spoiled by her own poor choice of words. But, ah, where was her notepad? She paused, before noticing it on the side of the room, and beginning to make her way over.

“Woahhhh…” Kosuzu’s voice sounded from behind her. “Marisa… how did you do that?!”

“Heheheh…” Marisa chuckled as she rattled something. “Well, it’s mostly just natural oomukade power, buuut the Golden Hakkero is really handy for making some big beams.”

Youmu sniffed at that. “I suppose calling it the Mini-Hakkero is out. That thing’s larger than a buckler.” The oomukade took it as a compliment, judging by her hearty chuckle.

Akyuu grabbed her notepad from the side of the room, beginning to write out a response. She had to pause, and steady her breath, before she managed to produce anything legible.

“Can I take a look?” As she turned around, she could see the kappa’s eyes sparking. Marisa had to squat to get to eye-level with her. “I’m really curious how you managed to make it do that!”

“Heh, well… truth be told, it’s pretty crude.” She handed the tool over, giving the small girl a pat on the head. “Maybe a certain clever kappa will help me rejigger it, eh?”

Marisa straightened up, stretching. “Damn, I really did blow a chunk out of the roof, eh?” She gave a sheepish grin to Akyuu. “Sorry about that. Every new life has some up and downs, but using too little power is definitely not one of mine.”

Akyuu gave a small chuckle as she turned her notepad around. Nothing to worry about, Marisa. I’m glad to see you too. How have you been, as an oomukade?

…There was an immediate tension in the air. The other three girls stiffened.

Marisa herself couldn’t meet Akyuu’s gaze. “Ah-um. Uhhhh… thanks, Akyuu.” She gave Reimu a nervous look. “Maybe I shoulda waited a little longer, huh?”

Reimu looked guilty. “Sorry, Marisa. One thing lead to another, and we never got the chance to explain…”

What’s wrong, Mari- Youmu grabbed the top of Akyuu’s notepad before she could finish her note. “Do you still want us to tell her, or would you rather do it?”

“Iiiit’s fine. I probably should just bite the bullet. No point chickening out, right?” She gave the white heron an awkward look. “...Gimme a sec to choose my words. Don’t have quite as many this time around, after all.”

Marisa turned more fully to Akyuu, gesturing for the Lunarian to put her notepad away. “Well… Akyuu, as far as we can tell, I was the first one to go. Youmu’s told me as such. And it seems like that means I remember the least of everyone here.”

She paused, rubbing the back of her head. “When Reimu found me, she had the idea to get me reading some of the books in my last life, hoping that’d jog my memory. ‘Cos even I remember doing a fair bit of that, right?” The heron nodded. “But… well. It turned out to be… trickier than we thought.”

Akyuu blinked. What, jogging her memory with books was tricky somehow? Sure, it might be a touch difficult to find exact books, but surely there’d be at least a few she recognised as important. And what did that have to do with Akyuu’s notepad?

…Unless… the truth struck Akyuu like a lightning bolt. She gasped, covering her mouth in shock. “Marisa… y-you can’t-“

“Uh-huh. Now you know why I wanted the tengu to clear things up first.” The oomukade gave a hollow chuckle. “After all, I’ve been living under a rock. What does some centipede get from reading?”

There was a long, heavy silence that followed. The one to break it was Kosuzu, stepping forward. “Um… m-maybe I could make a text-to-speech device?”

Marisa shook her head. “Nah, it’s fine. I’d rather learn to, y’know, actually read than get a handout just for my sake.” She side-eyed the white heron. “And I don’t want you to dumb your words down for me, either.”

“Marisa…” Akyuu hesitated. She wanted to apologise for bumbling into this mess, but how could she safely do that when she could barely speak, and Marisa couldn’t even read?

The centipede girl just sighed, taking a look around the room. “...Y’know, I’ve kinda made a bit of a mess here. Maybe I should just go.”

The daitengu reached out for her. “No, no, there’s no need for you to depart. You just got here, after all.”

The taller girl waved her off. “Nah, don’t worry. It’s fine-”

Akyuu jumped forward. She threw her arms around the older girl, giving her a hug. A part of her screamed at the dirt and the sweat, but she pushed past it, just focusing on comforting her long-lost friend.

“Marisa…” the white heron’s voice was small, uncertain. “I’ve… missed you.”

Marisa paused, before giving a small chuckle. “Yeah. I’ve missed you too, Akyuu.” She turned around, returning Akyuu’s hug.

Reimu stepped up. “It’s the first time we’re all together, after all. We gotta have a party, don’t we?”

Youmu hummed in agreement. “Akyuu’s eating like a bird, anyways. We might actually have enough that you don’t go hungry this time, Marisa.”

“Oh yeah?” The miner’s chuckling picked up a little more feistiness. “Let’s see if the tengu chefs have finally learned to keep up.”

There was the sound of rattling books, as Kosuzu tottered up on the hugging pair. Two mechanical hands extended from her backpack, pulling Kosuzu up with the other two - and allowing her to join the hug with her real arms as well.

Akyuu could hear Youmu stepping up around her, on the other side. She extended her wing out, wrapping the white wolf within it.

…Slowly, four pairs of eyes turned to the last person in the room. Reimu paused, midway through picking up her gohei.

“Y’know, now that you’re all here, I should let the staff know to bring in the refreshments. Probably make sure the repairmen are notified too.” The daitengu turned away. “Just let me pop out and - awk!”

She fruitlessly tried to pull her wings free of the hands - one mechanical, one merely strong and muscular - that had reached out to grab her. Kosuzu and Marisa reeled her in, the latter hooking her arm around the protesting noble’s throat.

“Let me go, damnit!” Reimu tried to wriggle free, without much success. “Get your dirt and oil off me! These clothes are brand new!”

“All the more reason to give ‘em some tough love, right?” Marisa guffawed. “Gotta make ‘em feel lived-in, y’know?”

Akyuu laughed, as the daitengu gave up the fight, sagging into the hug. Well, they were all a little different, but they were still friends, that much was certain. And they’d figure out this writing barrier in time, too.

“Hey,” Marisa began, “we gotta do this again when we find those other two.”

Everyone else agreed (with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and one protest to let the protester put on some less expensive clothes first), but Akyuu didn’t have the slightest idea why. Hesitantly, she cleared her throat. “Um… other two?”

“Oh, yeah!” Kosuzu looked up at her Lunarian friend. “You don’t know, do ya? Apparently there’s a whole other group of Immaterial Children!”

“I’m the only one who knew we’d need to find them,” Youmu admitted. “Apparently, their names are Sanae and Tenshi. Got any ideas where we might find them, everyone?”

“Hmmm…” The white heron rubbed her chin in thought. Tenshi she wasn’t sure about, but for Sanae… one person came to mind.

But surely not, right? After all, that Sanae lived on the mountain. And the thought of that many Immaterial Children all coming from one place was frankly ridiculous.

“Well,” Akyuu chuckled, “chances are you’re not gonna find them on the mountain-”

She paused, belatedly realising how casually she’d been talking. Everyone else side-eyed her, before Marisa burst out laughing. “At least now we won’t have to look very far!”

Akyuu groaned, sagging into the hug with a growing blush. Well… perhaps she had made everyone the job of tracking them down easier. But still, if that played out the way it seemed like it would, that meant she was the only one who hadn’t been born on Youkai Mountain. Out of seven people and counting.

Was it really just her clumsy hand on the scales of fate?

…Or was something else entirely guiding them?

---

As you may surmise, this was the first time in this reality one of the Immaterial Children suspected the hand of Hollow Psyches - though it would be some time before they would come across that name.

And unfortunately, it would be even longer before Kishin Akyuu learned to hold her tongue…

But that’s a story for another time. Now I turn to you, little Hollows. Are there any scenarios you would like to explore? They don’t have to be anywhere near as drastic - sometimes even simple changes could have shocking effects.

For now, just give me your suggestions. I’ll take the ones that lead down intriguing paths, and call for a vote once we have a shortlist. You are of course allowed to show your support for ideas you like - but even then, I give no promises they’ll make the short list.

[ ] I believe you all call these write-ins?