An Origin Story (Trigger warning: people getting eaten by a monster.)

 A strange desert land...

The brave hero charged across the desert, pyramids in the background, dodging past the relentless hordes of monsters trying to keep him from rescuing his beloved. Mushrooms and turtles and giant flies all charged towards him. Sphinxes and spear-throwing fairies filled the air with lethal projectiles as the would-be savior ventured into flooded tombs in search of his princess, but every time she was within his grasp, the villains revealed their true forms, taunting the hero as he made his towards the leader of this wretched army of the damned, the one behind this insane invasion of the peaceful desert country.

An alien in a spaceship!

Now at the controls of his airplane, the valiant hero flew towards a final confrontation, destroying the vile cloud that served as the leader's last line of defense. He shot swarms of dive-bombing birds out of the sky, evading an endless stream of evil attacks until the wretched extraterrestrial showed himself at least. The two rivals flew about in an endless series of evasive maneuvers, the air full of their shots. The hero grimaced as the alien's blast grazed his plane, causing it to shrink even as he continued to unleash his own furious barrage. The alien cried out with each hit his vessel took and every exchange of shots brought the duel closer to its ends. Closer and closer and closer and-

The world suddenly went dark.

~

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

From the back seat of the Subaru WRX STi, the young girl shrieked as the screen of her Game Boy went dark, the batteries finally dying moments before Mario could defeat the evil alien Tatanga. As the girl tugged angrily on her hair, peels of laughter echoed from the front seat, her mother and father having an earnest chuckle at their daughter's expense.

"Well, I told you you shouldn't have been playing your game before we got in the car," her father suggested, shaking his head as they drove on the quiet mountain road, the night sky lit up around them.

"We'll get you another set of batteries the next time we stop for gas," her mother added reassuringly.

The girl crossed her arms, pouting at the cruel injustice of not being able to play more Super Mario Land as the car gently bumped and bobbed on the road home. Given the chance to reflect, she thought about her family's recent vacation. She knew her parents had spent months saving up for the week-long trip to the city, even after they'd given her the handheld game for her recent birthday. Her lip trembled at the inconvenience, but she smiled and leaned forward.

"Thank you for the trip. I had a lot of fun."

The parents, tired from the long trip, neither looking forward to having to go into their offices in the morning, smiled back at her. Her father took a moment to reach back and ruffle her hair, getting a smile out of her, as if the simple gesture was all the girl needed to know that she would have another chance to be the hero of a story. All was right again, the Game Boy forgotten...at least until the precious batteries could be obtained.

The mother suddenly cried out, prompting the father to slam on the brakes. The girl's seatbelt locked up as the car slammed to a halt, keeping her from danger. The three looked out the window, some large thing in the middle of the road.

"Stay in the car," her father said. "I'll take a look."

The girl began to cry as her fathered exited the car, stepping out and slamming his door shut, stepping out into the darkness to investigate. Tense minutes passed as the two women in the car watched and waited with no sign of the father. A clicking sound drew the girl's attention as her mother began to climb out.

"Everything will be alright," her mother said. "Your father probably just slipped. I'll have to drive home, I'm sure."

She smiled as she climbed out of the car, walking forth into the light from the car's headlights, calling out for her husband. As her legs began to enter the darkness, her shouts were suddenly silenced, the women vanishing from sight completely. The girl's heart started to race at the sight. Were BOTH of her parents now slipped and fallen, unable to drive? Unable to walk? Tense moments passed, the girl's breathing rapid and shallow, wondering if she too should brave the darkness. However, before she could start to leave, she finally saw something.

It wasn't her parents.

A strange, two-legged reptile entered the light, blood dripping from its jaws. It sniffed the air cautiously, looking about for more. The girl began to tremble, trying to hide under a small blanket, but it was too late to hide. As if it could smell her fear, the reptile turned its long nose towards the idling car, stepping towards it with a sickening growl, pressing its snout against the windshield, turning its head to look into the vehicle with a large eye that quickly narrowed its gaze upon the young girl.

She threw the door open and ran moments before the monster lunged forward, smashing through the windshield, sending shards where the girl had just been sitting. She began to run, as fast as she could as the frustrated beast shook its head, loosening bits of glass from the tip of its nose. It turned, snarling, and began to pursue. The girl screamed with pure terror, death approaching quickly, the ground trembling with each long-limbed step.

The air suddenly trembled with a shrill, sonorous cry.

The girl paused. The monster paused. Another massive shape, as fast as a blur, suddenly slammed into the two-legged terror, throwing itself between it and the girl. The child looked up, still afraid, to see a new shape standing before it, with muddy, rock-like skin and a large horn in the center of its stubby, round face.

A large toad stared down at her. It seemed to be...smiling? The toad nodded at the girl and she nodded back as it turned to face the reptile. Another powerful croak echoed across the road as the amphibian-like creature charged into battle, slamming full force into its enemy. The two clawed and slapped at each other, growling and shrieking as they struggled. The earth trembled with each blow, the ground shook as the two monsters battled for supremacy, their cries piercing the air until a loud CRACK rang out.

The lizard fell, its back broken. The girl had been entranced the entire time, too terrified to keep running as the two creatures battled. She could barely see it now in the dim moonlight, the car's headlights having been shut off by the reptile's attack. As the toad approached, the girl squinted as its form seemed to change.

As it approached, the clouds moved in the sky, granting just a hint more light, enough to let the girl see her...protector? She still wasn't sure.

"Hello there!"

The girl blinked, surprised that there was a woman standing before her, clad in purple and wearing a strange hat, and not much taller than she was!

"My name is Suwako Moriya. Are you alright?"

The girl nodded as Suwako Moriya reached out, helping the girl to her feet.

"Good. That's one less Skull Crawler to bother people. I didn't even know they were still around. Eh...maybe we're lucky."

Suwako looked around, briefly removing her hat to rub her head in confusion. 

"This might sound strange, kid...can I call you kid?"

The girl rubbed tears from her eyes. "M-my name's Sanae, Miss. Sanae Kochiya."

"Pleased to meet you, Sanae Kochiya. You wouldn't happen to have seen any gods around here, would you?"

The young girl, Sanae, shook her head as she sniffled.

"Hmm. I heard somebody call me and got here as fast as I could...wait, speaking of here, what are YOU doing here? We're miles from a town."


Her lip trembling, Sanae pointed to the wrecked car, doing her best to hold herself together. The terror of the moment had passed though, allowing the reality of what had happened to come flooding back. Unable to stop herself, Sanae wailed, burying her face into the blonde woman's chest, tears pouring out. Suwako turned towards the car, then back at the Skull Crawler. Her face paled and she wrapped her arms around the distraught child, whispering prayers.

"I'm so sorry, Sanae," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

As the moments passed, only the sounds of Sanae's grief could be heard. Suwako remained respectfully silent, holding the girl close as a thought snuck into her head. She'd come to this place because she'd heard a call for help, a plea from another god like herself. Could this child be...?

~

Several days later...

"No aunts or uncles. No grandparents. No family at all..." Suwako muttered.

In the aftermath of the battle between Dinosaur Toad and the Skullcrawler, Suwako had encouraged Sanae to gather up what she could from the car and they would go back to the girl's home and find someone to care for her. For all of Suwako's inquiries, posing as a family friend, she hadn't been able to find a single person who could be responsible for the girl. It had been a long time since she'd spent awhile in the world outside of Gensokyo, but she knew the girl wasn't likely to have a great life with no family. Not to mention...she had a feeling. She paced through the house, quietly listening for any sound of Sanae; the girl had been almost completely silent since they'd returned to the home, quietly grieving.

It had given the God of the Mountain time to think though, time to reflect on what had happened. Gods heard mortal prayers all the time; they normally were pointed specifically at a deity though. Sanae's cry had rung out loud and far, a wide-band cry for help aimed at nobody and everybody. It should have gone unheard, but...Suwako had heard it clear as day. There was only one explanation for it in her mind and it made her sigh.

It would be tough talking Kanako into it, but if her hunch was correct...

"Sanae. Please come down here."

Footsteps slowly approached from on high, gentle footfalls hitting each stair.

"Yes, Miss Moriya?" she asked, her eyes red and puffy.

"I found someone to take you in, a distant relative of yours," Suwako announced.

"You?" Sanae gasped. "But...you said I didn't have any...any family..."

"I was wrong," Suwako answered. "It's me. I'm...your Very Great Grandmother."

Sanae gasped, unsure what to think as the goddess. "How...how can that be? Y-you're..."

The goddess laughed. "So young and beautiful and amazing? Well, you saw what I did before, right? I'm a god and you, young lady, are my descendent. And..." She paused. "You can come live with me."

The girl sniffled and seemed to look optimistic for a moment, but tears quickly formed in her eyes.

"But...I don't want to leave here. It's...my home!" she sighed.

Suwako grinned and took a step back, hovering above the ground.

"Sanae, you are speaking to the one and only Suwako Moriya, the goddess of the mountain, she who can bend earth and soil to her will! For someone like me, moving this house is as easy as breathing!

Now...hold on tight."

Sanae paused. "Why?"

"Because we're about to take a little trip to my home, a place called Gensokyo."

One moment, a small two-story house sat in the middle of a sleepy town in Japan, the next moment it was gone with the snap of Suwako's finger, leaving little but a hole in the ground where it once stood. Tonight, they would mourn for the deceased. Tomorrow, they would begin making Gensokyo a little girl's new home.