Master's Spark 10: Those Who Live in Illusions

In the months that followed Yuuka's mental freedom, she found herself loosely associating with Reimu, Marisa, and Mima, the team of guardians who protected the Hakurei Border and kept the peace in Gensokyo. When called upon by Reimu for assistance, she would gladly agree to help, though often masking her sense of obligation under the guise of boredom.

However, Yuuka still spent most of her time at that workbench in her mansion, tinkering with her broken Hakkero in an attempt to someday rebuild it—no longer as a tool of destruction, but as an enforcer of peace. She took her dear time working on this project, placing a precaution behind every precaution, and leaving the Scarlet crystals out of the question. It was something to focus on, to keep her mind from growing restless between assignments from the shrine maiden.

One particular day, Reimu had recruited Marisa, Mima, and Yuuka to seek out a cave from which a large influx of strange foreign youkai were somehow finding a way to invade Gensokyo, while she herself remained at the shrine to reinforce the Hakurei Border from a possible flank.


"Man, where are they all coming from?" Marisa jeered while fighting off several creatures with her magic.

"Must I remind you that's what we're here to figure out?" Yuuka replied, lightly firing her parasol's laser into another crowd of them.

Mima began to recognize the crowd they had been fighting. "The Doll Maker?" she deduced as she swatted several of the living dolls away with her staff, blasting them with restrained power once they were in the distance. "What are her minions doing here?"

Marisa nearly fell from her soaring broomstick as the dolls attacked. "There's too many!"

"They're just weapons powered by her aura," Mima shouted to her apprentice from across the cavern. "Use an aura-canceling card; that should take them out."

With a nod, Marisa retrieved the card from her pocket and tossed it into the air with a spellcast, duplicating Reimu's technique. The wave of canceling energy returned the dolls to their inanimate state as they rained to the cave floor, devoid of their master's magic to power their own artificial lives.

Yuuka grimaced as she held her head.

"Kazami," Mima called from the distance, floating down to her side, "you okay?"

"Yes," she replied, removing her hand, looking at its palm before placing it back onto her parasol's handle. "Only a slight headache."

"Lucky for us, it looks like the Doll Maker hasn't caught wind of the secret to bypassing the aura cancellation," she smirked. "Honestly, that child and her big mouth; I'm surprised not all of Gensokyo knows that trick by now."

Marisa descended to the cave floor to convene with the others.

"Child, go find Alice, the Doll Maker," Mima instructed before Marisa could dismount. "Get her to stop however you can. Without her minions, she's about as adept as you; it'll be good practice." Dolls that were outside of Marisa's cancellation range began to approach. "We'll keep the rest of them away."

"Got it," she smiled before flying her broomstick deeper into the cave.

Yuuka's headache worsened. She began to massage her forehead, feeling as though a gap in her mind was eating away at her brain, spreading from vessel to vessel, expanding, overwhelming her senses, her vision blurring, her legs weakening.

Suddenly, the pain vanished.

A strange feeling slowly returned to her, one she had not felt in quite some time. It was a good feeling—a bad feeling. She hated it; she enjoyed it. Her halves flickered, battling for control. Her eyes widened, intertwined with both rage and remorse, turning to Mima's face.

"Come on, Kazami," Mima grinned as she stood back to back with Yuuka. "We've got this. A bunch of weaklings like these are no match for us."

Yuuka sneered, then smirked.


"I did it!" Marisa cheered for herself as she returned to regroup, hopping down from her broom. "Alice will be feeling that in the morning. I—"

Her broomstick fell to the ground.

Marisa's smile vanished as she stood there, staring at a blue figure in the distance, stained in red, surrounded by red, lying on the ground, motionless. "No." She stepped forward. "No no no." She ran to her. "Master!"

Once beside her, Marisa fell to her knees, burying them into the rocky floor, to place a hand on Mima's cheek. "Master!" her eyes watered. "Master, wake up! You can't—"

Slowly, Mima turned her head the sound of her voice. "Nice work, child," she muttered in pain, her teeth outlined in scarlet.

"What happened?" she asked in panic. "What do I do? I know a healing spell I can..."

"No, Marisa."

Marisa froze.

"I'm finally dying. I can finally leave this curse behind."

"Master, you can't say that..."

"Kazami only sped up what was coming."

"Yuuka did this?"

"Her insanity—it's returned." She released a series of bloody coughs.

"I'll avenge you, Master. I... First we have to make you better." She prepared her healing spell, holding both hands above the large wound on Mima's stomach.

"I don't need vengeance... I deserved this for placing her onto this path to darkness. The spe—" Mima stopped herself. She knew that a fluke between the aura-sealing spell and the aura-cancellation spell caused Yuuka's mind to snap once again, but explaining this would only point blame to Marisa, and she did not want to burden her with this guilt. "The spell won't work," she instead averted.

Regardless, Marisa remained focused on the healing spell. "I can do this. You'll see, Master. I can do this, and you'll be proud of me. I can... I can do this."

With a painful breath, Mima lifted her head to see what remained of her torso, but the pool of blood in her stomach masked the gore. Without reaction, she lowered her head again. Instead, she looked to the child's face. As she continued to stare into that determined face, Mima smiled. "Marisa, do you know how to kill a ghost?"

She did not respond; she continued to hold her hands in place. "It's... It's not..." Tears began to run down her cheeks. "No, I... I can..."

"To kill a ghost, you must destroy her meaning of existence."

Marisa looked to her face. It was at peace.

"My whole existence was spawned to wreak vengeance on the human race—to destroy every last one of you... But I can't do that anymore. I've been dying ever since I met you, child." She looked into Marisa's eyes, weakly lifting her fingertips to the girl's chin. "Marisa, my child. Stay strong... Keep smiling... Never change."

Smiling through her tears, Marisa lowered her head. Within the few sentimental moments that remained, the ghost faded out of existence, her soul finally reaching its peace.

Marisa wept.



The door slammed open as Yuuka stood leaning against its frame, short of breath and mentally lost. "Wh—What have I done..." She clasped a hand over her eye, panting. "No, she made me who I am, forcing me to spend so much time around those crystals. All to make that stupid weapon—and the lot of good it did her in the end." Stumbling through the halls, she made her way into the work room. "No, it was my own research that doomed me. It was my fault for underestimating their power." Throwing her weight onto the workbench, she violently tugged open a drawer, smirking at the empty crystals within as they rattled to rest. "That glorious power." Her smile faded as she rubbed her forehead, feebly reaching for the weakening seal within. "I can feel it rushing out... The madness..." Her eyes watered as she grinned. "I—I can't slip away again... This isn't me..." She sobbed through smiles, her hands shaking as they grasped her head. "I don't want to forget myself... I can't die like this... I can't—"

"Miss Kazami?" Elly's voice traveled from down the hall. "You're back already?"

Her mind stabilized, if only for a time, upon hearing the familiar voice of the one closest to her, the one who cared for her over the countless years. She quickly wiped the tears away and cleared her throat. "I—Don't mind me, Elly; I'll be leaving the mansion again shortly," she answered before Elly could reach the room. She couldn't see her like this. She shouldn't remember her like this.

"Very well, is there anything you need in the meantime?"

She of all people shouldn't suffer from all of this.

Yuuka quietly pulled the entire drawer out from the desk, her collection of emptied crystals and Hakkeros within. She had to dispose of the source of all this chaos before it could infect Elly too. It didn't matter where the devices ended up, as long as they weren't here.

"Thank you, Elly, for everything. But..." She struggled to keep her mind intact and her tears withdrawn. "Please, just watch the mansion for me, Elly."

"Of course. As always, Miss Kazami."

"And please," she whispered, "remember me."