Gensokyo was wrapped in a calm night, no different from any other. At least, that was how it appeared to human eyes.
Yet beneath that stillness, the youkai had already sensed the signs of an incident.
So slight that no one could notice it, and yet undeniably real, the full moon was gradually disappearing from Gensokyo’s night.
Even on nights when a perfect full moon should have shone in the sky, the moon was ever so slightly incomplete.
A distortion so faint that humans would not even recognize it as strange. And yet that tiny deviation marked the beginning of an incident that would spread across all of Gensokyo.
A moon shattered by someone’s hand. A full moon that had been lost. And an unnatural tremor lurking within the night itself.
If this continued, Gensokyo’s night would lose its true form. Realizing this, a human and a youkai rose together to uncover the fragments of the broken moon and the true cause behind the incident.
Even if it meant stopping the flow of night itself.
Even if it meant sealing the world away in an eternal night.
Until the lost moon was restored, the two would press onward through the darkness.
And so, the human and the youkai set forth on a journey to halt the passage of time through the night and seek the reason the moon had been shattered.
Where the Fireflies Fly / Are the fireflies brighter than usual, or is it just your imagination? Tonight will be a long night.
Hey, hey, hey!
You've got some real nerve, brushing me off like this.
I hope you’re prepared to face the consequences!
The Path Where Humans Vanish / Beasts and youkai are what stroll at midnight, even on the humans' roads. There shouldn't be a human form in sight, at the least.
Wait, waaaait! I thought you were some tasty, foolish humans at long last.
What exactly are you twooo? Non-humans using this path. What a rarity.
Aw, but I haven't had playmates in so long...
Allow me to turn you night-blind!
Humans call her the Night Sparrow, but few have ever seen her appearance.
This is because she only plays during nighttime, and humans around her become blinded by darkness anyway.
Had they seen what she actually looks like, they probably wouldn't have called her a sparrow.
Her song can cloud a person's judgment; humans who walk into the night in that condition inevitably disappear without a trace.
In addition, she's known to give humans night-blindness (an illness where one's eyesight degenerates a lot in dark places) to hide her form.
Memories of the History-Eater's Home / At the end of the direct pass, there was a small village where humans lived. However, in the place where the village should have been, there was nothing at all.
Is it you? Are you the ones trying to attack the village in the middle of this night?
I won't hand the humans over to you youkai.
I'll make this night never have happened!
Aah, what the heck are you? So persistent.
What happened to the village and its people, you ask? I just made it so that the village was invisible to your kind.
"Humans never settled here in the first place."
All I did was make it look that way.
I'll protect the humans from this ill-omened night.
If you're going to say that, I won't let you take it back.
Tonight, I'll make an imperial feast out of your history!
Keine looks like an ordinary human most of the time, but she is actually a were-hakutaku who transforms into a hakutaku under the light of the full moon.
As a human, she has the ability to eat histories. As a hakutaku, she possesses all knowledge about Gensokyo, and possess the ability to create history.
When she first noticed this incident, she thought it was an opponent with considerably great power, and she decided to seal the Human Village during the night in order to protect humans from youkai.
She devoured the village's history to make it unable to be seen.
Wha? You mean the cause of this full-moon incident?
It could only be their doing. There are few people capable of such a thing.
Then, where are you trying to go?
If you're after the ones behind the recent unusual Moon, they're that way.
The bamboo country under the moonlight looked eerie, almost like a dream.
Bathed in pale, frozen light, the bamboo seemed as though it might at any moment begin to sway with something uncanny, and shine in silence.
Its stillness was beautiful, and yet at the same time concealed something unfathomable beneath it.
Beneath those powerful stalks rising straight toward the heavens, even stronger roots spread in countless layers deep into the dark earth below.
And yet, both humans and youkai chase only what can be seen, looking at nothing more than the surface.
The bamboo country beneath the moonlight looked eerily dreamlike. Beneath those stalks, which seemed as though they might at any moment begin to glow with something uncanny, even stronger roots spread in countless layers below.
And yet, knowing nothing of that hidden depth, the only ones who look at nothing but the surface are foolish humans and youkai.
Just as I thought that it was strange that the night still hadn't ended... So it was you, Marisa.
Doing something like this... What on earth are you two plotting?
I'll definitely have to teach you a bit of a lesson tonight.
Ahh! This moon is your doing too, huh?
In this bamboo forest bathed in moonlight,
you two will become one of the shining bamboo trees. How beautiful!
C'mon! This endless night will end right here!
Reimu had gone to sleep as usual, and yet no matter how long she slept, there was still no sign of dawn.
No matter how you looked at it, something was wrong. Thinking that, Reimu could no longer stay put and rushed out of the shrine.
Heading out to resolve an incident in the middle of the night was not all that unusual in itself.
But to set out while it was still midnight after having slept more than enough was, even for her, an exceptionally rare thing.
Following a powerful youkai presence all the way to the bamboo forest, Reimu found the culprits there—a human and a youkai she knew all too well.
Now, I'll show you two my true boundary.
There's two of you, so I get two tries!
Move and I'll shoot!
I messed up. I mean, shoot and I'll move. Right away.
Well, uh, I'm just hunting some troublesome youkai, like usual.
What I'm saying is "hunting troublesome youkai." In your case, it's troublesome "youkai hunting," isn't it?
I'm already tired of staring at today's Moon. It's about time to make it be tomorrow.
You! You messed with the boundary of night and day again, right?
Around the Hour of the Rat, the forest began to grow restless.
She had sensed something ominous in the air, and before long, that feeling proved true.
Even after the Hour of the Rat had passed—at a time when dawn should already have broken—the night still covered the sky as though it would continue forever.
Now this was getting interesting, she thought, and hurried out at once... but the moment she caught sight of the culprits, even she could not help but be a little taken aback.
That last one was for Yukari. This one's for you!
A Pure Cage in the Filthy World / Why have you lingered so long in such a filthy place?" Then, all the locked doors opened, untouched——
You're too late. I've sealed all the doors. You can't take the princess away now, can you?
What, are you youkai? You shouldn't have been able to find your way here, though. Nothing to worry about.
Mischief? Nnn, you mean sealing up the Earth?
Ah, you're talking about the Moon? That's my master Eirin's most powerful spell.
It makes this Earth into a giant, sealed chamber. Do you get it now?
Humans can't understand with an explanation like that.
Also, about that full moon-erasing spell. It's hardly my most powerful one.
...It's still too early for that. There's no way I can undo this spell yet.
Udonge. Conflict and insanity are all your job, correct?
I'll leave this to you.
Leave it to me. I won't let a single one of those closed doors be opened.
Hmph. I haven't had anyone to fight with lately, so this is just about perfect.
I'll show you two everything of the Moon's insanity!
It's my hypnosis, that drove the humans who came to the Moon insane. Those humans were weak.
The Moon drives people insane.
So, I wonder if you can remain in your right mind while gazing into the eyes of this lunar rabbit?
Follow your eyes and trust your intuition.
The Orb in the Night Sky, Hiding the Princess
A long, long corridor. Is it a lunatic delusion being shown by someone? For the youkai, the memory of this closer Moon was sweet and slim.
Good, so you're following me.
Ahahaha. My, aren't you two stupid.
The morning will come soon. After that, I'll return the full moon to you.
It's impossible for anyone to take the princess from here. Don't worry. When morning comes, I'll give it right back.
But, look at the place we're in right now. Do you know where this is?
This place is between the false moon and the Earth.
That endless corridor just now was a false passage that connects the two.
You two were fooled by an illusion that the false full moon produced, and came here.
Do you have any method of returning home?
How can someone who was so perfectly deceived by my spell think they can still oppose me? It's quite strange.
And the Lunarians are just the same. With this, none of the Lunarians should be able to reach the Earth.
This is one of my greatest secret spells. The Earth has become a gigantic sealed chamber.
Even so, I can play until morning.
Also, it was you who was stopping the night, yes?
I'm afraid I lack the power to play forever, but...
Now, the dawn of Gensokyo is at hand!
She's a person from the moon. That means she's an alien. She has lived on the Earth for a long time. Her relationship with Kaguya dates back to their days on the moon.
Long ago, Eirin was one of a party of messengers who were sent to bring Kaguya back to the moon.
Eirin had made the Hourai Elixir, yet she alone remained without blame, and because of that, she was filled with guilt toward Kaguya.
That feeling ran deep, and Eirin came to believe that, for Kaguya’s sake, she had to do whatever she could. And so, she chose to live on Earth together with Kaguya.
Eirin betrayed the Moon’s emissaries and let Kaguya escape. And so, the two came to live quietly in hiding deep within the mountains, far from any human village.
Yes, this is the true full moon, as seen from the Earth.
I'm Kaguya.
Recently, Eirin hasn't let me out of the mansion at all.
So, these odd guests are most welcomed.
The human body houses a fragile, round soul.
What those humans live on is a huge, round orb below.
And, what the superior people live on...
Is that lunatic orb behind me.
Even without hurrying, I'll show you...
The miasma of the true Moon! And, my beautiful impossible requests, as well!
I'm afraid you can't see the true full moon from anywhere but here.
Well then, are you ready?
My five requests that so many humans in the past have failed to complete...
How many of them can you fulfill?
Kaguya was raised as a princess of the Moon with every comfort, but her fate changed dramatically when, out of mere curiosity, she reached for the forbidden Hourai Elixir.
Though she was condemned and executed for her crime, her immortality made death impossible, and as punishment she was cast down to Earth, where she was eventually found by a single human and came to live under the name “Kaguya.”
A few years later, once she had atoned for her sin, the time came for Kaguya to return to the Moon, but unable to cast aside her attachment to Earth, she did not wish to go back.
As Gensokyo neared a hundred years of separation from the human world, a rabbit named Reisen fled from the Moon and slipped into Gensokyo,
drawn by rumors of a land inhabited by beings other than humans, claiming that humans had invaded the Moon, planted their flags there, and ruled it as though it were their own.
Hearing those words, Kaguya remembered that she herself was one of the Moon’s people, and though still half in doubt, she took in the homeless Reisen.
On a full moon night, after decades had passed, Reisen received a wave-message from the people of the Moon: they would begin an all-out war against the people of Earth, and they would come for her on the next full moon.
That message brought back Kaguya’s memories of the past—of killing the Moon’s emissaries and being forced to live in hiding on Earth.
When Kaguya resolved not to send Reisen back to the Moon, Eirin proposed a plan to stop the emissaries for good by hiding the full moon itself, the one and only key connecting the Moon and the Earth.
So Kaguya and the others concealed the true full moon and replaced the moon seen from Earth with a false, slightly imperfect one, severing the path between the Moon and the Earth.
But their one miscalculation was this: the youkai, who were supposed to rely on the power of the full moon, still retained tremendous strength.
What the?!
I see. The ones who are stopping the night...
It's you two, isn't it.
This half-finished eternal night that you have made...
With my spell to manipulate eternity, I'll tear it all away.
The dawn shall be upon us soon.
How's that? With this, your spell of eternal night shall be broken, and the dawn shall come!
It's a night where the moon's power gets stronger. As soon as the youkai's true power returned, Gensokyo's strength came back.
This is the equilibrium of Gensokyo's power.
Humans are always food for youkai. And humans exterminate youkai so they won't be eaten.
If the moon's power is ever in disorder, this balance will shatter.
They felt that this incident posed that kind of threat.
The heavens began to regain their balance by designating the people who came from the outside to Earth as half-humans...
Doll of Hourai / Under the full moon, even the plants are asleep in the dead of the night. Just what is there to be afraid of in this human and youkai's trial of guts? Just where is the victim of the greatest sin?
I've been waiting for you. You've got some guts, challenging me on the night of the full moon.
I won't let you lay one finger on that human!
The Moon tonight is especially strong.
It's no wonder that all the creatures are rowdy, really.
So there are even fools who'd go out on a night like this, huh? You, obviously?
I'm a human who's lived here for a long time. I'm not here because I'm a fool.
So, what are you doing here, fools?
What! A trial of guts?!
You come all the way out here in the dead of the night,
with this lunatic full moon, and tons of youkai out, for a trial of guts, of all things?!
It's a miracle that you weren't killed by youkai yet.
More importantly... did you just say “Kaguya”?
I figured your trial of guts was suspicious. Of course she'd be behind this.
Yeah, she goaded the two of you into getting rid of me this time, didn't she?
Hmph. So, how about I see for myself just how strong you messengers of Kaguya's are?
Don't go thinking I'm some ordinary human.
I won't die. I'm completely unable to die. Thanks to that lousy Kaguya.
If you don't go all out, it's game over for your life.
There's no turning back now. It's a one-way street in the dead of the night.
Just what you wanted. Allow me to test your guts!
Long ago, before she became immortal, she was the daughter of an aristocrat. She wasn't allowed to go out in public, so it seems that she wasn't a wanted child.
One day, her father proposed to a commoner girl, but was humiliated because she responded by making an impossible request. That girl was Kaguya.
From that time on, the young girl had always seen Kaguya as her enemy.
She tried to strike back at Kaguya before she returned to the Moon, but failed, and so at the very least, she resolved to steal the “jar of medicine” Kaguya had left behind.
However, for some reason, the human who had obtained the jar was trying to throw it away in the mountains, and seizing that chance, she succeeded in taking it for herself.
The medicine inside that jar was the Hourai Elixir... From that moment on, no one ever saw her again.
Humans who never age cannot live in the same place for long, so Mokou was forced to live as a wanderer... Humans usually can't survive alone, but she can't die.
However, she still suffers from hunger if she doesn't eat and pain if she becomes injured. Eventually, she chose to live quietly like a youkai in desolate mountains...
After long ages had passed, even fighting with Kaguya had become part of Mokou’s everyday life.
When she first saw Kaguya in that remote mountain place, she was truly shocked.
But in the end, it was nothing extraordinary. The Hourai Elixir that made her what she was had been left behind by Kaguya.
Kaguya, too, was merely someone who had been forced to change where she lived. Somehow, the tension suddenly drained from her. Kaguya was just the same kind of human after all.
Even now, my hatred for Kaguya has not faded.
And Kaguya still tries to erase me. But I cannot die.
What a meaningful days and nights. This secluded place in a deep mountain is truly the land of Hourai!
How magnificent it is to be alive!