Narumi Yatadera
Narumi Yatadera's Fantasy Rebirth Story
Narumiii? You there?
Narumi
Huh?! What are you doing?!
Narumi
This area's loaded with miasma! Surely you know that, right?!
Narumi
This is bad! You need to get back to safety right now!
Oh, uh... For some reason, I'm totally OK.
Narumi
You are?
Narumi
Huh.
Narumi
Now that you mention it, I've never seen you struggling with miasma before!
Narumi
Have you got some kinda protective charm?
I have items from Reimu, Marisa, and the others...
But I don't know which one does what.
Teehee!
Narumi
Teehee, huh...?
Narumi
There's nothing teehee about it!
Narumi
What if something started affecting you?! Like a doll's poison, or a tsuchigumo's disease, or volcanic gas!
Narumi
What if you got stuck somewhere, like a cave you can't breathe in, or the vacuum of space... or some corner of Hell?!
Narumi
I heard you can be swept off to places like that without a moment's warning!
Narumi
Marisa and Enoko told me!
Narumi
And Alice talked about Makai!
Narumi
Makai's gotta be way worse than here, right? It's probably some miasma-filled urban nightmare!
Narumi
A regular human like you wouldn't last a second!
But... I've been to most of the places you mentioned.
Narumi
What?
Narumi
Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
Narumi
When?! How?!
Narumi
Let me examine you!
Eeeeeek!
Narumi
Everyone forgets I'm a magician. They just see a lazy old jizou statue wandering around.
(I wouldn't go that far...)
Narumi
But I AM a magician. Studying my own magic is what gives my life meaning.
Narumi
My specialty is life manipulation.
Narumi
In other words, studying the nature of life and altering it to my will!
Narumi
My ultimate goal is the salvation of all beings! So go ahead, ask me anything!
OK, Professor! What did you learn by examining me?!
Narumi
Absolutely nothing!
Narumi
But finding out what you don't know is important, right? My research is far from over.
Narumi
If you learn anything about yourself, tell me immediately. No exceptions.
Narumi
All right, next question.
Hm... I know! Why aren't fairies suitable for salvation?
Narumi
You always ask that!
Narumi
I've lost count of how many times it's come up. I always dodge giving a real answer, so I guess it's my own fault.
Narumi
OK, I'll answer properly this time. You and I are friends, after all.
Narumi
Let's start with my Fairy Non-Salvation Theory.
Wait, there's a whole theory about it?
Narumi
Yes, and an important one at that.
Narumi
It holds the key to combating the Lost Word Incident.
It does?! You're not kidding, are you?!
Narumi
No. But everything I say should still be taken with a grain of salt. I devised this theory myself based on my magic.
Narumi
I believe the secret to defeating the Lost Word Incident lies... in the origin of life!
I dunno, that sounds kinda... vague.
Narumi
True. But I'm not too worried about that.
Narumi
Fairies are the embodiment of life itself. That much we know.
Narumi
The question is: Are they themselves alive?
Isn't that a little rich coming from a moving jizou?!
Narumi
Hey!
Narumi
That's a sensitive subject! Just listen.
Narumi
I'm not trying to throw shade at fairies. It's all a matter of definitions.
Narumi
Life is defined by the ability to move.
Narumi
Sure, fairies move.
Narumi
But nature's movements are all repetitive. Wind cycles, river currents, the seasons, the stars...
Narumi
Movements like that don't count.
Narumi
I've heard that in the outside world, there are magicians called "scientists."
Narumi
They say everything's made of atoms, with nuclei in the center and things orbiting around them.
Narumi
If we counted spinning as movement, then EVERYTHING would be alive. So spinning also doesn't count.
Narumi
Elementary particles, aka the tiniest bits of temperament, spin like tops, but their spin doesn't count either.
So they're spinning but not moving? My head hurts.
Narumi
It's simple. Spinning doesn't make something special.
Narumi
Which is why the spinning cycle of reincarnation doesn't bring salvation.
Narumi
Youkai can be saved because, unlike fairies, we can change.
Narumi
Some of us, like nyuudou or kozou, even seek to escape the cycle of reincarnation.
Narumi
Maybe it's because they were human in their past life, or might end up one in their next.
Narumi
Of course, becoming human isn't the end goal. Unless they attain salvation, they'll keep spinning forever.
Narumi
But nature itself can't be saved. It just exists.
Narumi
It never really changes. That's why fairies can't be saved either.
But... you're a jizou made from stone.
Narumi
Exactly!
Eep! You startled me!
Narumi
Heh heh, that's where the magic comes in!
Narumi
Magical power is essentially energy, and it's nature and fairies that keep it circulating.
Narumi
But here in the Forest of Magic, I absorbed so much magical power that I started moving in a non-cyclical motion!
Narumi
That's how I broke free from being a stone statue. I control my own movement now... just like a magician!
(This kinda reminds me of tsukumogami...)
Narumi
Long ago, there must've been a great spark of magic that created the first forms of life from unliving things.
Narumi
That spark, aka the origin of life, lives inside me now. Pretty amazing, huh?
I'll say!
(She holds the answer to biology's biggest mystery!)
Narumi
I used to just spin on a flat plane, but now I've gained magical power that allows me to move along a perpendicular axis.
Narumi
In other words, now I'm spiraling―spiraling towards salvation.
Narumi
And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to save Gensokyo from the Lost Word Incident.
How, though?
Narumi
Well, uh...
Narumi
I guess I haven't quite figured that part out. I need some time to think it all through.
Actually, Lady Eiki said something kind of similar!
Narumi
She did?!
Narumi
If I'm on the same wavelength as Lady Eiki, my theory must be correct!
Narumi
PLAYER! Let's save Gensokyo with my Fairy Non-Salvation Theory!
(First, we need to come up with a catchier name!)
Narumi
Whoa, what's this?! Some kinda offering?
Narumi
Wow.
Narumi
This is great! It'll turn me into a modern-day kasa-jizou.
The secret god sender said to go easy on the fairies.
Narumi
The god hiding behind the state of Buddha, huh?
Narumi
Got it. Since she made me a kasa-jizou, I've got to return the favor.
Narumi
I'll keep up my research into life manipulation magic. And I'll make sure it helps us in our fight.
Narumi
Just you wait!
Costume Presentation
Narumi
You know reincarnation, right? Samsara? I think that's another way life moves. So the fact I can use life-manipulating magic must mean it's my duty to liberate all sentient beings! But this incident stands in my way, so let's resolve it together!
