The location I next suggested I could search for answers at was a landmark I hadn't felt the need to examine closely on my way to the Hakurei Shrine, before a discussion with Reimu convinced me otherwise. I was told that it was often best to retrace one's steps when trying to figure anything out in Gensokyo, as the realm, despite being frozen in time within the barrier's hold, also constantly changed. Plus, with Reimu with me, I could have less fear of running into any unwanted contact, without anyone to back me up should things go awry.
"We're all good folk here," Reimu said as we made our way into the forest bordering Misty Lake. "It is simply the case that none of us really know how to resolve our differences without simultaneously relieving our boredom."
"Well, seeing as I'll be here a good while longer, I hope to meet more of this world's folk as long whilst I'm around." Recalling something Sakuya Izayoi had mentioned about Misty Lake, I continued, "I hear Misty Lake is home to monsters in addition to fairies. Is it safe?"
That last question was surely a pointless one to ask to someone harboring as much power as Reimu Hakurei, but Reimu seemed eager to put my fears to rest. "Any monsters there that would attack you can be negotiated with. Most fish tend to shrink away from human proximity. But there's always one or two..." She sighed.
I was on the verge of asking her about what she had said, but then her eyes brightened, and she pointed in front of us. "Look, there's the lake."
By now, the sunlight had already dimmed to the extent that the sky had turned bright purple, with blotches of red here and there, marred by the occasional passing of clouds. As we left the shadow of the hill upon which the Shrine rested, I couldn't help but mull over what Reimu had told me just before we departed.
As the sun had set, I had asked her about the possibility of leaving Gensokyo through the barrier, in the same way things often arrived here. She smiled sadly as I posed my question, and I knew then what her answer would be.
"Though we get the occasional item from the other side, no one from Gensokyo has ever been able to leave this place in a similar manner. Such is the power of the barrier, regrettably. Of course, it has preserved us in this state of harmony for so many centuries, but sometimes even I wonder what lies beyond..." She suddenly perked up, and leaned forward, eyes shining as she looked to me. "What's it like? Outside, I mean."
The modern era carried many features that, though seeming common and ordinary to us, would have seemed like miracles to those for whom time never waited. I began telling her as much about the world as I could, and with every new insight, she grew more and more incredulous.
"Flying tubes of steel that carry humans around?" She stifled a giggle. "Why bother, when you could just fly around by yourself?"
"Humans in our world aren't capable of aviation. We just don't have the ability to. Magic isn't exactly something we can... do."
"A regression, if you ask me, to a more powerless state." I knew most of the people in Gensokyo shared Reimu's view on the matter. Little wonder, then, that I was treated as a guest everywhere I went. "Though I'm sure if Patchouli gave them all a few check-ups, they'd be flying around in no time." She sobered up slightly. "Seven billion... it used to be a few million back then. I doubt any of us expected something like this."
The thought of having seven billion hostile entities surrounding your home would give even the most confident of people pause for thought. For the first time, I found it in myself to sympathize with the people of Gensokyo. Though of course, I believed the Hakurei Barrier would do its job for as long as it took.
As long as it took... for what? For the world to end? How long could this peace last for?
"Oi, traveler." Reimu snapped a finger in front of my face, and pointed in front of us again. "We're here."
"What?" Still slightly dazed, I followed the direction her finger was pointing in. What greeted me might as well have been the largest mirror I'd ever seen.
It was night, and through the trees, I could see the moonlight leaving a trail of searing white across the still water. A small breeze picked up as we neared the lake's brim, and the lake moved as one, rippling back and forth, the reflected moonlight on the surface shivering in the wind, but never breaking its stream. The trees shuddered, and I shuddered with them, pulling my jacket tighter towards myself. Reimu, though wearing only a cloth robe, seemed entirely unaffected by the incoming cold.
"I suppose she's sleeping now, but I'm sure some others are still awake," Reimu said. We began walking around the edge, taking care not to lose our footing and slip into the water.
"Who?" I asked.
Reimu glanced at me. "It depends what kind of answers you're looking for."
I shrugged. "I don't know what I would ask. What kind of information would I get from people who live in a lake, as opposed to people who live on land?"
"In all honesty, I can't say. Water sprites are a dumb lot."
"I'll have you take that back, Reimu," chirped a voice behind us.
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