Chapter Text
Mokou awoke to the few beams of morning light that penetrated the colossal array of bamboo stalks around her, lying on the cold, hard ground.
The same way she had awoken for tens of thousands of mornings past.
With a yawn, she slowly pushed herself to her feet and stretched. Today was going to be as interesting as her days could possibly get. Even after so many decades spent wandering, one blank spot remained on her mental map of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, and she was going to attempt to reach it today. Mokou had long since realized that the forest's namesake wasn't a psychological effect it created, but rather its bizarre non-Euclidean structure, and had spent the past few centuries of her eternal life making sense of each and every one of these physical anomalies through sheer trial and error. This blank spot, though, was only accessible through a particularly tangled path, which Mokou had tried to cross through for months on end, thus far to no avail. Perhaps today, though, she would find the right movements to reach the other side.
And of course, if not, there was always tomorrow.
Always.
From now until forever.
Even once she had explored all of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, there would still be tomorrow.
Even when there was no longer a Bamboo Forest of the Lost to explore, there would still be tomorrow.
Even when the Earth itself was swallowed by the sun, destroying its orbit and with it the very concept of daytime that led to "tomorrow", there would still be tomorrow.
…Mokou snapped back to focus, no longer consumed by her rambling thoughts. She shook her head and immediately got to work, stepping forward and making a sharp right, only to immediately turn fully around and walk back to where she started. She turned right again, but began walking backward to the left. Sheer lunacy from an outside perspective, but absurd steps such as these were what consistently allowed Mokou to make her way through the forest. By following these arbitrary paths, and fine-tuning each part, she could find ways to navigate its illogical structure. Eventually, she reached the interesting point. Trial and error had gotten her here thanks to past expeditions, and now it was time to experiment and continue that cycle. This morning, she decided to start her attempt by sidestepping and following a 45-degree angle to her right. There was absolutely no reason why Mokou thought this might work, except for the simple fact that it might. Such was the nature of these adventures. If this arbitrary decision didn't work, she'd go back and retrace her steps before trying a different arbitrary decision, and simply repeat the process day after day until-
Mokou found herself staring at a particular arrangement of bamboo stalks. After so long in the forest, she could use something as simple as that to immediately tell where she was.
But this wasn't an arrangement she recognized.
Excitedly, Mokou looked around and stepped deeper into the uncharted territory. It really was as it seemed. She had, at long last, visited every major area in the entirety of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost! Countless years of work and memorization had led up to this moment, and Mokou supposed she'd have to find a new hobby. She smirked at herself, before freezing in place. Her jaw dropped as she looked on in sheer disbelief. There was a mansion in front of her. An actual mansion in the middle of the forest! Eyes wide, Mokou stepped closer to the mysterious structure. The floorboards on the porch creaked as she stepped up to the first door she saw. Slowly, carefully, she knocked, not knowing what to expect. A few moments passed before an unfamiliar voice came from inside.
"Identify yourself."
It was stern and cold. Clearly, whoever was inside didn't want visitors. But Mokou wasn't going to leave. This was by far the most amazing thing that had happened to her in centuries, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to see it through. She attempted to speak, but merely let out a strained groan, her throat weakened from months of silence - after all, there was hardly ever a reason to talk around here. Clearing her throat deeply, Mokou again tried to carefully make her reply.
"I am Mokou. Fujiwara no Mokou. I simply live and wander in this forest, and wish you no harm. Who may you be?"
No response. A deafening silence filled the air, and after a few seconds, Mokou heard a creaking noise. The door slowly cracked open to reveal a white-haired woman dressed in strange red-and-blue attire, staring down at her with squinted eyes. After another pause, she opened the door the rest of the way.
"My name is Eirin Yagokoro. I am a doctor. Come inside."
The invitation's delivery was far colder than its wording, but Mokou certainly wasn't going to decline. She stepped through the entryway, Eirin shutting the door behind her, and examined the mansion's interior. It was cozy, yet elegant. The floor appeared to be made of harvested stalks from the forest, though perfectly smoothed and polished. The walls were covered in ornate bamboo panels, and lanterns hidden behind them coated the wooden room in a warm orange light. Though inviting, it was clearly out of place with the foreboding forest outside. Mokou wondered if it even was in the forest, or if it was merely connected to it via a particularly strange spatial anomaly.
"Take a seat," Eirin said, still cold and blunt. Mokou did as she said, settling into a comfortable cushioned chair. Eirin sat across from her, her eyes focused intensely on the girl.
"...well," began Mokou, breaking the tense silence. "I suppose you're wanting to hear about me?"
"Yes," replied Eirin with a nod, "but there's something extremely important you must know first." She leaned forward, her eyes somehow both more focused and wild at once. "This place is a closely-guarded secret. If you tell anyone about absolutely anything you have learned about it or its inhabitants, I can't risk what might happen. I am going to have to kill you." Mokou stared worriedly and raised an eyebrow at the doctor, before relaxing her face into a smile.
"Don't worry, doctor. Whatever you're hiding for, your secrets are safe with me," assured Mokou. "But, as for that last part… I think that might be difficult to arrange." She smirked, letting out a soft chuckle. "You ever heard of the Hourai Elixir, do-"
Mokou's question was cut off as Eirin inhaled sharply and snapped up from her chair, her eyes wide and pupils trembling, but focused on Mokou with ungodly precision. She spoke in a quiet yet icy-cold voice.
"What. Do you. Know?"
Mokou stared back in bewilderment. "Jeez, I could ask you the same. As for my answer, I drank the damn thing!"
Eirin slowly exhaled and sat down, lowering her head and shutting her eyes. "If you were to ask me the same thing, I would say I know more than you." Her eyes opened to glare at Mokou. "Because I created it."
Mokou could only stare. She tried to speak, but only sputtered gasps came out. This doctor, whose existence and residence were already shocking... she had made the Hourai Elixir? Some part of her deep inside felt anger, hatred towards her for condemning her to this fate; but it was all drowned out by pure, overwhelming shock. This mysterious mansion was bound to be interesting somehow, but this was... unbelievable. And not only that, it had all happened so, so fast...
"Stay here," commanded Eirin, raising herself from her chair. "I would imagine the princess would like to speak with you."
The doctor left, leaving Mokou alone with her thoughts. Princess? It was insane already that this doctor lived in a mansion in the middle of the forest, but she lived here with a goddamn princess? What the hell would she even be doing here!? And add on the fact that said doctor apparently made the Hourai Elixir, and it frankly all felt… suddenly, an uncomfortable thought raced across Mokou's mind, forming a deep sinking feeling in her stomach. An association between the thoughts of a princess and of the Hourai Elixir, converging in… no. No, it simply couldn't be. She didn't even live on this planet any longer. Deep breaths. If she ever got a chance to meet her again, it wouldn’t be here. Creaky footsteps began to fade into earshot. It must have been Eirin and the princess. And whoever this princess was, it was undeniably, most definitely, absolutely NOT-
Mokou's face went pale; her mind went numb; her focus became undivided from the all-too-familiar woman standing before her. The primal, desperate denial in her mind crumbled to ashes as Eirin spoke.
"Fujiwara no Mokou," she began with a bow. "I am honored to introduce the head of this clinic. My mistress and beloved princess, Lady Kaguya Houraisan."
"Pleased to meet you," said Kaguya, smiling at her guest.
Mokou politely responded by throwing herself face-first off her chair and onto the floor, clutching her temples, and screaming in sheer, unbridled agony.