rakuen | New Arrivals (All new characters)

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You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

Ah, I remember now. It's... a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her. The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess. No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because--

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep. Mechanical, monotonous.

"Next stop: Rakuen City. This train terminates here. The next stop is Rakuen. All change." The train rocks steadily. The sun shines through the window cheerfully and if you look out the window you will see rolling meadows full of spring flowers. Steam drifts past the window, it is warm. A mixture of sunlight and the heating of the seats, it adds to the dreamlike atmosphere.

It's strangely difficult to shake off the sleep; the rhythm of the train seems to lull you back into slumber and the air is warm and heavy, making it hard to keep hold of a thought. Finally, though, the nausea settles, the last of the dream fades and you can take in your surroundings. And, perhaps more importantly, those around you in a similar state. The train judders to a stop, through the rain lined windows there is a building and people gathered on the platform.

"We have arrived at Rakuen City. All passengers must leave the train. This train is terminating here. This is Rakuen."

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Shion opened his eyes the strange story; unlike anything he had ever heard before echoing in his mind. For a moment his mind was lost, caught in the sleepiness of the atmosphere. But it was only for a short time, before he realised that he was not supposed to be here. He wasn't even sure where here was and he stood up.

His face hurt, his shirt was covered in blood. Touching his mouth his fingers came away stained but his ankle wasn't too sore. There was blood there though, blood everywhere and most of it wasn't his.

Where am I? Nezumi are you here? Is this No. 6? He took a few steps, enough to tell him it was not. He was moving, a train then. Was this a dream? He walked down the carriage looking for Nezumi, or anyone who could answer his questions.

Just one question really.

Where am I?

Blood wasn't something unfamiliar to Asagi, but to show up here after getting that much blood on you, even if it isn't your own, is probably not a pleasant experience. Anyone who looked that dazed and confused was not likely to be a common killer.

Frankly, the kid looked like he needed a break. It wasn't common for Asagi to share, but getting dragged into what seems to be an alternate or pocket dimension after getting covered in blood seemed to be enough to make an exception. Asagi lights himself a cigarette, then silently offers one to Shion as well.

Shion looked over to the man who was offering him a cigarette and shook his head politely. "No thank you... Do you know where we are?"

He seemed friendly at least, he might know what was going on.

Asagi shrugged, putting away his pack and frowning at the empty matchbook. "Some city called Rakuen. I doubt it is part of the normal world, but something seems to be blocking my senses." Most of the time he's talking he stares at his lighter, looking somewhat puzzled. It seemed like he'd need to find somewhere to get more matches.

"Not part of the normal world... What do you mean by that?" How could it not be part of the world, they were here weren't they. But... there was no city called Rakuen, it didn't exist...

Yuka's head perked up at this comment, and she turned away from the window.

"My home is a place like that. A barrier blocks it off from the outside world, and only people with special abilities can even tell it's there, let alone enter or leave." She looked out the window again. "I don't think this is my home... but maybe there are other hidden lands like it."

Shion looked over at the other girl. A barrier? A little like No. 6's wall? Which city was she from... "What kind of special abilities?"

Yuka shrugged. "'Manipulation of Boundaries' is what it's usually called, but I don't really know much about it." Her face reddened a little. "That perennial mostly seems to use it to pull pranks on everyone..."

Shion blinked, "Sorry... I don't understand what you just said."

Nothing made any sense, Shion wondered if this was some strange dream.

Yuka tried to remember how it had once been explained to her.

"Well... the whole thing is pretty metaphorical, except for the part where it works. You could say that there's a boundary between where you're standing and where I'm standing. A boundary manipulator could change that boundary to make those places closer or further apart, or make a barrier in between..."

Yuka blushed some more. "... But she's a lot more likely to do something like make the location of her hand and the location inside my skirt equivalent."

Shion nodded, still not fully understanding. How could something metephorical be real? But something to change the distance of things, or create barriers, he could see how that could work.

At her final comment he blushed as well, when he realised what she was saying. "Oh..."

"Let me guess, there is no city named Rakuen in your world?" Asagi's smug smile indicated that he was sure that there wasn't one. There wasn't one in his world, and the look in Shion's face, he could tell there wasn't one in his.

"Well, it can happen. Certain beings are capable of creating a seal around a place so that the inside doesn't change, out the normal world will project what you want it to, but to make something that would cross into different realities would take a great deal of power." He frowned. It would mean he was not on top of the food chain, and that was where he liked to be.

Shion nodded, "My world? Surely that is the same world as you..." There was only one world... But a seal created by power? What kind of power? Some kind of electronic or magnetic field?

Asagi shrugs slightly, "I thought there to be only one world, but looking at some of the people here, it is clear that they are not from a place contained within the confines of the world I know. Thus, it seems sensible that there are other worlds. This place must link to many different worlds."

He took an exceptionally long drag from his cigarette, clearly enjoying it greatly. "Of course, my sense seems to be off, so I could be wrong."

"Your sense?" Shion blinked at him. He was amazed actually at the conclusion the other man had came to, and how quick he had come to it. Shion had seen the differences in people but he had not been able to make the leap to assume different worlds and a connecter between.

It made him feel a little bit stupid, which was an entirely new feeling for Shion.

"Humans in my world call it a sixth sense." He sniffs the air, "Typically, I could sense exactly what kind of place this is, or at least sense how we got here. And quite a few other things, but that sense is dulled here, at best."

Shion shouldn't feel too bad, Asagi is an investigator. A paranormal investigator, to be precise, but still an investigator. Considering that he himself could actually be considered by humans as Paranormal, it made him a lot more qualified than most ghost hunting groups.

A sixth sense? Surely there was no such thing... But Shion's knowledge of the world was beginning to stretch and he knew that more things were possible than he was aware of. "Has it ever been dulled before?"

"Have you ever had trouble smelling something?" For him it was much the same. Of course it had been dulled, but to be cut off like this? It was troubling.

"Trouble smelling something? Do you mean like when you are ill with a cold?" Is that what this place felt like to him.

"Close, but even worse. Right now I can't tell if it is just dulled or completely useless. I'll have to meet a freak or ghost, or something in order to tell." It really was frustrating. He did not like having any of his abilities dampened, but things could be worse.

"Oh..." That was really strange, and ghosts didn't exist. But Shion tried not to judge as it was obvious something strange was going on... "I guess we will find out when we arrive at this Rakuen place..."

Yuka groaned. She wasn't used to sleeping in a position like this. Her neck was sore, her legs felt stiff, and her arms managed to be both at once. It was the most thoroughly unpleasant awakening she had had in a long time.

As she began stretching, she got a feeling like there was something wrong. Her movements slowed, and then abruptly stopped, her face turning bright red.

My parasol! Where's my parasol! ... Ah! It had rolled under her seat. She quickly retrieved it. I hope no one noticed that...

Modesty restored, Yuka took in her surroundings. Embarrassment was quickly replaced by confusion. What -was- this place? She could see movement through the windows... a moving building?

As a long-time resident of Gensokyo, there was one obvious conclusion. "Yukari is fooling around again..."

But somehow, that felt wrong too. Yukari may love mischief, but she had certain lines she wouldn't cross. Yuka had never known Yukari to do anything to interrupt someone else's sleep; she loved her own too much to be comfortable with it.

"Next stop: Rakuen City. This train terminates here. The next stop is Rakuen. All change."

A train? She'd heard the term before, even seen pictures in books. But that kind of technology was completeley foreign to Gensokyo.

Was this the outside world?

There weren't many people on the train, and none of them were Nezumi. Shion watched the girl with the parasol, if she was like the others he had spoken to she would have no idea why she was on this train traveling to a city that did not exist either.

"Rakuen City...?" came a similarly confused voice next to Yuka. Sanae tilted her head as she took in her surroundings once more. "This isn't Gensokyo..."

But what was even stranger is that she couldn't remember what Gensokyo was like. She could easily remember the name of her shrine... but not much else. Her head was spinning, and hurting. Just when she thought her day couldn't get any worse...

And then she noticed Yuka, and blinked. "Yukari? You mean... you're from Gensokyo too?" It was a wild guess, at least to her, but she couldn't remember any other place.

Yuka looked more closely at the girl next to her. She felt a vague sense of recognition, like she might have seen someone similar looking a long time ago, but not someone she really knew. Well, that wasn't so unusual. Gensokyo was a big place.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I know you. I'm Yuka Kazami. And yes, I'm from Gensokyo." She turned and looked out the window again. "It really doesn't look like it, does it?"

"Yuka... Kazami?" Sanae thought she had heard that name before. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but a few more seconds passed before she replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I thought I had heard your name before, in Gensokyo... it's very nice to meet you, Miss Yuka. I'm Sanae. Sanae..." Sanae what? She had to know her own last name. "This is so odd... I can't remember my last name." What was wrong with her? Forgetting her own name...?

Yuka thought about it. That did sound strange. Though one possibility did occur to her...

"I've heard certain kinds of injuries can cause memory loss in humans. Do you feel hurt anywhere?" She thought about it a little more. "I don't think I've heard of it happening to youkai. But I have no idea how I ended up on this 'train'. Other than being a bit stiff I feel fine though."

"No, I at least know I didn't hit my head or anything..." Or did she? That dream felt awfully real... but her head wasn't hurting. It was very strange.

"Then it's possible everyone else on this train has ended up here in the same way. But these people aren't from Gensokyo."

The story was the sort Asagi had read a thousand times, but the details were different. More Japanese- a bit like that one video game that was popular. Was it an electrician? Or a plumber?

It didn't matter. This was a strange train to a city that certainly sounded Japanese, but was beyond his experience. He didn't even bother waiting to get off the strange train to light up a cigarette. He quietly analyzed the situation around him- the other people on the train, the age of the train, even the announcer. She was speaking Japanese as well. It didn't seem like everyone on the train would understand Japanese, but the confused reactions were not over the language spoken.

Asagi slowly smoked his cigarette as he watched the people gathering, not seeming to care that he might look strange with his white hair, gold eyes, and face like a middle-schooler. Nor did he seem to care that he might sound crazy as he asks, "So, you got yourself stuck somewhere else, Izumi?"

Juri peered out the window, trying to make out anything familiar that might tell her where she was, but the scenery outside was completely strange to her. She must have missed her stop... although, come to think of it, she didn't recall having gotten on a train. Or even planning to leave Ohtori, for that matter. She shook her head a little, as if to clear it, but this proved completely unhelpful. No memories returned.

Out of reflex, she reached for her locket. It wasn't there, of course—she knew had lost it when... when... how had she lost it? She couldn't remember that either. What was wrong with her memory?

She took a deep breath to steady herself. It wouldn't do for her to lose her composure, not here in front of all of these strangers. Some of whom, she noticed, looked rather disconcerted themselves. Perhaps she wasn't the only one in this odd situation.

Shion had started to walk the train looking to see if Nezumi was here. He was self conscious of his blood stained clothing but smiled politely at the girl when he past her. "Hello..."

Was she as lost as he was?

Juri was a bit wary as she looked the boy over, taking in the bloodstains and the fact that he didn't seem injured—but he looked more confused than murderous just now.

"Hello," she replied, politely if not especially warmly. "Weren't you on the train as well?"

Shion nodded, smiling kindly at her. He was confused but it didn't stop him being friendly. "I was, I'm not sure how I got there though..."

Juri frowned. So she wasn't the only one after all—did that make it more disconcerting, or less? She wasn't sure.

"Neither am I," she admitted. "I simply woke up on the train with no recollection of having gotten on it."

"That is the same as what I experienced as well..." It was very strange and Shion was confused.

"Well, I'm sure there's somewhere in this train station that will have maps and schedules and such—so even if we can't figure out how we got here, at least we can figure out how to return."

Though she really did want to know how she had gotten here. If only thinking about it didn't give her such a headache.

Maps? Schedules? They were all old things. You didn't need maps for trains when you couldn't catch a train from one city to another.

"This can't be real..." He knew it was, but... How could he be somewhere that wasn't No. 6 or the West Town?

"It seems real enough to me."

Could it be a dream or illusion? It certainly didn't feel like one, but you couldn't always tell.

"Yes... It does but it makes no sense..." But there was no dream that could feel this real.

Juri shrugged. "Not everything in life makes sense." Her life certainly didn't, sometimes.

"No..." It should do but it didn't. The last... it had only been a few hours that he and Nezumi had been traveling through the correctional facility but it seemed longer... had taught him that.

"At any rate, it will never make any more sense if we just stand here wondering about it." Not that she really had any kind of plan herself, but anything had to be more useful than that.

Shion nodded, "I suppose we should go out there..." Into the unknown, once again.

"I don't see what choice we have," Juri said to the boy—what was his name, again? Come to think of it, had she even introduced herself? Perhaps she should remedy that.

"Ah, I'm Juri, by the way. Juri Arisugawa."

Shion blinked at the strange name but smiled. "It is nice to meet you Juri Arisugawa, my name is Shion."

"Likewise, Shion." Odd that he had only used what sounded like his given name, but that was his prerogative, she supposed. "And you don't have to address me by my full name."

"Your full name?" He had thought her name was very long but he had no idea how he should shorten it, perhaps she meant into a nickname. "What should I call you?"

"Arisugawa will do," she said. It wouldn't do to get too familiar too quickly, after all.

"Then it is nice to meet you Arisugawa." He smiled, this place was strange but he was determined to learn all he could and find a way back home.

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New Arrivals (All new characters)

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