Friday, July 30, 2010

The Story of a Past Scarlet 5

A/N:
This story contains bloody scenes/moments, so if you aren’t fond of these, please go back. Also, though I am trying my best to follow ZUN’s actual SDM back story, note that he is vague with details, and I’ve filled those vague gaps with what I believe happened. The point is, you may disregard this if you like. Please leave a review/comment, and thank you for reading.

She has the power to see and change the fate of anyone, even her own, having done so already by never allowing herself to grow up; and in doing so, she has gained two special servants, though she still lost her sister. With the help of Patchouli and her assistant, Koakuma, Remilia finally got that book with that particular spell she wanted; the spell that could send them somewhere else, a place she could truly call home, and maybe through that, get her sister back. Again, she failed to foresee her fated failure, and thus, failed to change it, and again the hard blow of reality breaks the strong spirit that is Remilia Scarlet. But it’s not a complete loss, as her newest servant, Patchouli Knowledge, has proven to be a most valuable servant, ally and friend, comforting her mistress in a time of dire need for her. Even though she failed to foresee and change her fate, she has gained something she never expected; she is regaining her family, yet Flandre remains. On the night of the full moon, after they have their dinner together, for the first time, Remilia, Patchouli and Meiling go their separate ways inside the mansion, unaware that they are being watched by a strange figure from the darkness. As soon as she sees her chance, the figure rushes to infiltrate the mansion, but fate has once again stepped in, and Meiling walks back to her post before the dark figure can even come close to the gates, but this dark figure isn’t about to give up, and has revealed herself to Meiling, brazenly challenging the mansion’s gate guardian. Meiling stances ready to fight and says “I can’t let you through these gates. Please leave now, or I will have to kill you!” The figure reveals two knives under her very long sleeves and immediately rushes to Meiling, who only has time to cover her face before the woman tries to cut her. Even though she has a diagonal cut on each forearm, Meiling moves fast, as though not feeling any pain, and grabs the woman’s arms, pulling her close for a headbutt, but the figure is quick, and using Meiling’s own strength, she runs on Meiling’s body, as though running up a wall, and lifts her head above the gate guard’s just before the impact. Surprised, Meiling pushes the woman to the air and away from herself, and before falling, this figure flips in the air and lands on her feet effortlessly, then rushes forward again. Meiling sees an opening on the woman’s head and quickly unleashes a powerful punch, surrounding it in rainbow flames, but the woman disappears right before her eyes. Surprised, Meiling lowers her guard and looks around, asking herself “huh? Wait, wasn’t there someone here just now?” Acting on instinct, Meiling crouches just before a silver knife cuts her neck, and manages to spin-kick behind herself to reveal the hooded woman, who jumps away just in time. Still crouching, Meiling glares at the hooded woman and says “I don’t know how you did that, but it’s going to take more than cheap tricks to deal with me.” The woman chuckles and says “fine. I’ll use one of my more expensive tricks.” The woman seems to disappear for half a second, then reappears a few feet away from Meiling after somehow surrounding the gate guard with a legion of knives. Meiling gasps and covers her face in fright, then all the knives fly at her, stabbing her deeply. After the knives stop flying, Meiling starts to shake the knives off her body, causing her own blood to splatter all over the wall, the ground and the surrounding trees, asking “ow, ow, ow, ow! What is this? Where did they all come from?” She finally pulls the very last dagger off her back and realizes the woman has moved an inch. Meiling gasps, and right after she blinks, she finds herself surrounded by more knives, so she holds on to the knife she just pulled off herself and starts deflecting as many of the knives headed her way, though some do make it through, and one of them stabs itself hard on her right calf, making her fall to the ground after a shriek. Whimpering, she tries to reach for the knife on her calf, but when she tries to move her leg, she yelps in pain and stops. The woman glares down at her fallen opponent, then says “good night”, stabbing a knife on her left temple and defeating the gate guard. She pulls off the knife from the woman’s temple, then the one on her calf, then says “these aren’t cheap. Besides, it’s not nice to leave these sharp objects just lying around. What the-!” Meiling is still alive and conscious, and has grabbed on tight to the woman’s leg under her long makeshift cloak. Surprised, the woman shouts “let go, you stubborn monster!”, and kicks Meiling on her forehead, knocking off her hat and knocking the gate guard unconscious at last. The woman takes a few breaths of relief while sitting next to the bleeding gate guard on the ground, then says “gee, you monsters are very resilient creatures. Phew, you sleep tight now. In the morning, you can mourn your master all you want.” With those words, the woman walks toward the mansion, admiring the garden behind the gates, and brazenly enters the front doors.

Inside the mansion, the woman looks around, and after a long sigh, she throws three daggers to her right, killing three fairy maids that were just about to go and alert the others, then looks around the mansion some more, admiring the collected dust on the corners, and the somewhat clean ornaments hanging on the walls. While looking around, she thinks “filthy creatures, these monsters. They mock us by trying to live like humans. Curse them all!” She starts to walk up the stairs to the next floor and thinks “these are the worse, living in luxury like this, even though there are humans that can’t even afford some food, let alone some suitable accommodations!” Fire rains down on the woman, breaking her line of thought as she falls down the steps, rolling while grunting and desperately trying to take off her burning cloak. Finally, the cloak turns to ashes as it rolls down the last step, then the woman lands on her knees behind those ashes. From the stairs above, Patchouli says “my, another foolish ‘explorer’. Not to be rude, but you aren’t welcome here. Please leave now.” Staring at the intruder with her unfriendly eyes, Patchouli readies another fire spell as she says “oh, a woman. And quite a beauty. The mistress will be pleased with this catch.” The woman glares back with her dark blue eyes as she stands up. She wears a red scarf around her neck, a dirty and tattered white, short-sleeved shirt under a small grey jacket, a pair of brown fingerless gloves, a pair of tattered long grey pants, and a pair of worn brown boots. Her more distinguished feature is her long, shiny, silvery hair that reaches down to her waist, and her face, though twisted with years of suffering, still holds a certain unexplainable beauty and finesse. With a challenging smile, the woman looks up at Patchouli and pulls a knife from her pocket, then says “a magician. I know how to deal with your kind.” Patchouli stares back with a very unfriendly face, then her fire spell seems to grow right above her hand. Instead of throwing the fireball, as the woman expected, Patchouli makes the fireball spread into hundreds of smaller fireballs, causing a curtain of fire that rains down to the intruder, threatening to cook her alive. The woman screams as the fire engulfs her and falls to the ground almost immediately. Patchouli smiles and says “well, that was a lot easier than I anticipated.” The magician’s eyes expand as she gasps in surprise at the sight of the woman right next to her, holding her dagger right beside her neck, saying “you almost got me there, miss magician.” The woman suddenly jumps away, back to the first floor, where the magical flames start to fizzle out, revealing the little damage done to the mansion itself, then runs toward the dining room just as a massive curtain of round bullets heads her way. Patchouli sighs with relief while holding her neck, then says “phew! Thanks Koa. Y-you came in just in time.” Koakuma and a small army of ten fairies stand just above Patchouli, on the small, first floor balcony, and after flipping a thumb up to Patchouli, Koakuma turns around and says “let’s get that intruder, girls.” The fairy maids all cheer, then follow Patchouli and Koakuma as they fly after the silver haired woman.

Inside the dining room, the woman finds herself trapped, as the fairy maids, regardless of all her stealth attempts, are fully alert of her presence, and are blocking any other possible way out. The woman snarls and says “dammit all, I got careless! I have no other choice!” Working as fast as she can, the woman flips, jumps, bends and crawls to avoid the relentless attacks from the fairy maids, while killing ever last one of them with her knives. She manages to pick all her knives again, but Patchouli has placed a barrier on all the other exits and says “you know, you are the worst of all our intruders so far. The mistress might get mad, but I have no choice but to take care of you myself.” The silver-haired woman snarls at Patchouli, then backward-summersaults to the table, avoiding a heavy barrage of bullets. Patchouli looks behind her and sounding surprised she says “Koa, I thought you ran away to the basement!” Koakuma smiles and says “don’t get any ideas now, I just want this intruder out of here! Oh, and I read your diary again. Sorry~” Patchouli grumbles and says to herself “mukyu. She can get on my nerves sometimes.” The woman finds herself surrounded almost immediately, and high in the air, to her left, Koakuma points at her and says “don’t even think about begging! I’ll prepare you as a special meal to miss Remilia and miss Patchouli with my own hands!” Just as Koakuma ends her threat, she realizes there is a knife flying straight at her, and while spraying tears from her eyes she flies away as fast as she can and shouts “I forgot! I left the library unprotected!”, then flies through the door behind Patchouli, headed straight toward the safety of the library. The fairy maids aren’t as quick, and all die with a knife or two to the face. Patchouli finishes an incantation and surrounds herself within a large watery bubble, then stares back at the intruding woman. The silver haired intruder points at Patchouli with her right hand and says “monsters like you don’t deserve to live in such nice places like this.” Patchouli chuckles, then replies “my, you are jealous of us. How cute. Still, you have no right to say such horrible things.” The woman is suddenly standing on the floor and has picked up all her knives again, then points one at Patchouli and says “go to hell.” Patchouli finds herself surrounded by countless daggers all around, surprising her as she prepares another spell. The magician manages to summon some knives of her own, this time black in color and surrounded by a green glow, then immediately unleashes them to block off the woman’s own knives. Thanks to her bubble, she is protected from the few knives that escape her own, and when she’s ready to cast her next spell she realizes the woman is gone. She looks around frantically, then gasps when the woman speaks to her from behind, saying “you need to work on your defenses.” While Patchouli gasps and asks “how did you do that?”, the woman uses her knife to cut a perfect vertical line on the magician’s bubble, making it pop just as Patchouli flies away. With a wicked smirk, the woman says “oh no, you’re not”, then chases after the purple-haired magician on foot. Patchouli manages to fly away to the kitchen before turning around and firing mercury orbs at her attacker, opening an escape route to the corridor back to her library. She is determined to reach Remilia and alert her of the intruder’s presence, but when she looks to her left, she sees the woman reaching for her, so she yelps in fright and veers to the right, crashing against an ornamental column. She tries to get back up, but feels dizzy and heavy. The woman places her boot on her back and says “you really need to work on that body of yours”, then strikes Patchouli on the back of the head with the hilt of her knife, knocking her out cold. The silver-haired woman walks back to the foyer and says to herself “now to deal with the head of this monster’s house.”

While the woman makes her way around the mansion, searching through a few doors, she deals with the fairy maids that attack her so relentlessly. As she kills another five fairies and continues her way, she thinks “how can these monsters have so many servants? And that’s not all. It is as if they are fighting for more than just their master. It is... as if they are fighting for someone they love. How can this be? How can a monster like her have others that love her, while a human like me...” The woman screams with rage, getting the attention of eight more fairy maids, which she deals with effortlessly, jumping as high as she can, throwing her knives at them, using the walls and running and jumping on them as though they were the floor. After she kills the last of the fairies, she thinks “those girls, the magician, the gate guard, and even that devil. I envy them! They all have a reason to be alive; a purpose! I hate them! No... If I really hated them, I would have killed them all. Why? Why did I stop? Why did I stay my hand? They are monsters! If I kill them, the humans will accept me, even with this power of mine!” She runs through another fairy-infested corridor, and as she runs through, she throws her daggers at them with deadly accuracy, even though her mind is elsewhere. After the makes it thought the corridor, she finds a large door at the end of yet another corridor, and as she walks toward it she thinks “you stupid girl, FOCUS! The master of this place is there, I can feel it. Keep focused! Don’t waver now! After you have her head, you can show your face to the world again! You will find your purpose!” She pushes the doors open and finds Remilia sitting on her chair, smiling as the full moon shines through the large window behind her. She looks at the silver-haired woman and smiles, then says “welcome, you rowdy rat. You have been stirring quite a lot of trouble.” The woman quickly grabs a knife from her belt on each hand, and glares back at Remilia, saying “shut up, you monster. Your head is mine now!” Remilia smiles again, then crosses her legs while resting her head on her hand, resting her elbow on the chair’s armrest, then says “really, I want to thank you for not killing my servants. It would have been a pain if I had to look for new servants again.” The woman snarls and shouts “just DIE!” Three knives fly straight toward Remilia’s head, surprising the vampire as she notices the woman still holds the very same knife she threw on her hand, while making her fly right out of her comfortable chair. Remilia flaps her wings to keep herself airborne, then says “how impatient. But I must say, you surprised me there.” Again, three daggers fly straight at Remilia, making her dodge, only to get stabbed on the neck by two more knives. Remilia casually pulls the knives right out of her neck, which heals almost immediately, then says “so I was right. You manipulated the space around you to create copies of that single knife, letting go at just the right moment while actually stopping time. You know, that skill shouldn’t even be on a human’s incapable hands.” The woman gasps and stares at the vampire with surprise, then smiles and says “well, for a moment, I thought you were just some brainless monster.” Remilia hums and casually says “who needs useless organs like that. Only you humans need those.” The woman throws more daggers at Remilia, but the vampire foresees her move and manages to dodge and get close to the woman. She grabs her long silver hair and runs it through her fingers, then says “such lovely hair. Tell me, how much work you put into it?” With a loud battle cry, the woman swings her knife and cuts the vampire’s neck, severing the head from its body, then says “there. That should shut you up.” The woman gasps and jumps away when she realizes Remilia’s body is still moving, then Remilia’s head on the ground speaks, casually saying “you really need to learn some manners. I wasn’t even going to attack you... yet.” The woman watches with horror as the vampire picks her head from the ground and places back on her shoulders, and how the cut heals up very quickly, right before her very eyes. Remilia notices the woman’s curious and terrified gaze, then says “the full moon is so beautiful, isn’t it. It gives light without burning my skin, unlike the sun. It also gives me more power. You chose poorly when you decided to attack me tonight, girl.” The woman shouts back “that means nothing! Either I kill you, or you kill me! But I warn you, I do not intend to lose to you!” Remilia smirks and says “oh really? I can see it, you know. Your eyes, those beautiful blue eyes of yours. You are looking for a purpose in life! You want to be accepted by others, by humans! HAH! They will never accept you! They are... not like us.” The woman starts to cry while clenching her teeth, then shouts “y-you know nothing! You’re just trying to take my head!” Remilia smiles wickedly, baring her fangs as she says “fine. You want to fight, then we’ll fight. Come with me to the clock tower. There’s enough room there for a fight, and... well, the view is to DIE for!” The woman throws a total of nine knives as Remilia swoops away and breaks through the window, missing her as she heads to the tall clock tower in the center of her mansion. The woman’s tears dry up as she glares at the vampire and whispers “don’t run away from me, you lying coward!” She jumps out the window and manages to soften her landing on the ground outside by using her space manipulation, then she manages to jump high enough to reach the mansion’s roof and give chase to Remilia.

The silver-haired woman finally reaches the clock tower, surprised that the vampire’s words were true; that there is enough space for them to fight, and yet she cannot find the vampire. After looking up to the sky, she sees Remilia with her back turned, standing on one foot on the very tip of the tower while gazing at the moon. Remilia turns her face to reveal a bright red glow in her eye and a wide grin, and in a sinister tone of voice, she playfully says “I can see you fate~” The woman doesn’t hesitate and throws an absurd barrage of knives at Remilia, who disappears just as the knives are about to hit her back. The woman looks frantically around, then suddenly gasps and jumps away, just before Remilia strikes her down with her scarlet fire spear. Turning around in mid-jump, the woman throws eight more knives at Remilia, and as soon as she lands she rushes toward the vampire. Remilia uses the back of her wings and shields herself form the knives, deflecting the last two and getting ready to intercept the woman, who jumps straight at her while aiming at her heart with her knife. Remilia’s smile turns to a frown the moment she notices this, then jumps backward while tossing two of her own cursed daggers. The woman uses her knife to deflect one dagger, then stops time to avoid the second. While time is stopped, the intruder sees everything in grey, and she can see that cursed dagger is headed straight to her. She manages to bend her knees and body back, as she lands on the ground and slides underneath the cursed dagger. Once safe, she sets twelve more knives and releases time, making those knives fly in an arc straight at Remilia. The vampire used the back of her wings to protect herself, yet she fails to deflect one knife that stabs itself hard on her forehead. Remilia doesn’t even flinch as she pulls the knife off, then uses the blood of the knife to create many small spears, throwing them all straight at the woman, who finds herself dancing in order to dodge the attacks. Remilia opens her eyes wide and exclaims “how elegant! Elegance like that doesn’t come often in humans like you!” The woman reaches the wall of the clock tower and uses her space manipulation, as well as the momentum of her run, to run up the wall and back-flip away from the last spear, then asks “what is it to you if I’m elegant or not? Besides, I’m trying to kill you!” Remilia grins widely, baring her teeth, then says “yes, you’re right! Let’s finish this game, and THEN we talk!” Right after finishing her sentence, Remilia fires a massive scarlet beam that spreads around into five more beams, and as these beams trap the woman between them, giant blue energy orbs spread out in a cross formation. The woman yelps when one of those orbs hits her chest, burning her skin and burning most of her under shirt as well, but she won’t stop. She sheathes the dagger on her right hand and quickly bends down to pick a red hilted knife from her boot. As soon as the beams fizzle out, the woman stops time and uses the red knife, and her space manipulation, to set as many knives as she can. She releases time and surprises Remilia with the amount of knives flying around without an actual pattern. Remilia smiles as she jumps and flies around while avoiding the knives, yet she still gets stabbed on her left ankle and right thigh. After she land, she pulls the knives off, unaware the woman is right next to her, cutting her arm and back deeply, leaving a large gash. Remilia yelps as she falls to the ground, then rolls away to safety. She looks at the woman, who is already rushing forth, and while breathing with effort, she says “damn! That was pure silver!” The woman kicks Remilia’s ribs as hard as she can, using her space manipulation to augment her own strength, sending the vampire right through the tower’s walls, but not before Remilia sets a trap, and engulfs the woman with her smaller scarlet cross. As she recovers and sits on the rubble of the wall, Remilia rubs her head and arm, then says to herself “I was being too nice.” She takes a deep breath and jumps to the moonlight, where her wounds quickly heal up, then looks at the woman, who stands up after recovering from Remilia’s trap, then shouts “play time ends here, lady!” Remilia’s eyes start to glow bright, and this time the glow won’t stop. The woman struggles as she stands up, knowing well the vampire is furious, then thinks “this brat was actually toying with me before. Dammit all, and I was going at my fullest the whole time! Can I beat her?” Even with that doubt, the woman grabs one of her blue hilted knives from her belt with her left hand, then grabs the red knife from the floor with her right, then readies herself to attack and says “fine! I’ll stop playing with you then!” Remilia smiles widely as she looks into the woman’s blue eyes, taking notice of her doubt, knowing full well she now has the upper hand.

Wasting no time, Remilia surrounds herself with her own scarlet energy and rushes straight at the woman with all she’s got. The woman gasps, realizing their actual difference in power, and fails to react in time. She soon finds herself in Remilia’s claws, who grabs her by her ruined jacket, and now she’s being lifted in the air, while that scarlet energy burns her down to her bones. After the woman screams out of pain, Remilia sighs with satisfaction and drops the woman from way up high, but the silver haired woman is not about to let herself die, so she grabs on to Remilia’s left leg, dropping her red hilted knife, then cuts Remilia’s abdomen with her other knife before letting go and gabbing on to the tower’s wall, sliding down safely by using the wall itself for support. With her dress broken and stained in blood, Remilia flies down with an angry snarl and prepares her next attack without pausing, even to heal that large diagonal gash on her ribs and abdomen. The woman takes a few breaths to recover, then notices the left leg of her pant has been burned away, while the other leg is in tatters, still burning with scarlet flames. A bright red flash gets the woman’s attention, then she notices Remilia has surrounded herself by thick scarlet magic, and is ready to unleash her powerful attack. Remilia reveals her eyes through the thick scarlet magic mist, and as soon as she sees the woman, she releases the spell, making it look like a scarlet mist that leaves lingering bits behind. The woman sighs and says “oh dammit!”, then starts running away toward the inside of the mansion, only to find the door to safety is locked. Remilia laughs and asks “what’s the matter? I thought you were going to kill me.” The woman breathes rapidly while looking around herself, drops to the ground to avoid the thick scarlet flame, then concentrates for a moment. The clock tower’s floor expands considerably, allowing the woman to roll away, just as Remilia shoots another concentrated blast of scarlet magic. Remilia gasps with admiration, then says “that is amazing! For a mere human to hold such control over her power like that!” Without Remilia’s notice, the woman has set many knives behind her own scarlet magic, and as soon as she takes notice, the knives fly at her and stab her from her abdomen to her face, losing her left eye. Remilia falls to the ground and rolls around while pulling off the knives, and after pulling the one from her eye, she starts to breathe heavily while struggling to stand up. When she looks at the last knife, then realizes it’s red hilt, and that it’s made out of pure silver. The woman wants to take the chance to stab the vampire’s heart, but when she gets closer, Remilia furiously flails her claws around, screaming out in pain and rage. The woman thinks she’s won the battle, and gets close enough to strike the vampire as soon as she stops flailing her arms around, but Remilia catches her off guard and jumps straight at her, ready to use her claws. The woman notices and manages to stop time just before the vampire’s claws make contact, however, her energy is low, and time starts flowing again before she can get away, and just as Remilia notices her target is escaping, her claws glow scarlet, then she manages to cut off the woman’s hair, leaving it just long enough to barely reach her shoulders. The woman falls to the floor and rolls away from Remilia, who stops attacking to slowly pick up the chunk of soft, silvery hair from the floor. As she holds the hair, she calms down and smiles, then looks at the woman with that wicked smile and says “I got your hair, young lady. I got your life in my hands.” The woman stares at the vampire with hatred in her eyes, then says “go to hell!” Remilia smiles when she notices the held back tears from the woman’s eyes, then smiles even wider when she notices her trying to grab hold of what little hair she has left as she stands up again. While standing there, the gash on Remilia’s abdomen heals to perfection, the stab wounds vanish in an instant, and her eye start to grow back quite rapidly. Remilia takes a step forward, making the woman take one hesitant step backward, then laughs and says “time to finish you off!” She rushes straight at the woman, ready to finish the battle, but the woman pulls a pack of cards from her right pocket, then vanishes, leaving a 3 of hearts to be cut in half in her stead. Remilia raises her head with a crazed look, then starts to laugh as she looks back and says “you still have energy for that? I am so impressed! That’s it, you are just too much! You are now MINE!” The woman stands behind Remilia, trying to somehow kick-open the door, but when Remilia says those words, she stops and shouts “I’d rather die! I’d rather die before I let you turn me into one of you monsters!” Remilia shows off the chunk of hair and says “it’s too late! I already took your life! Look, it’s right here in my hand! This is your FATE!” The woman loses herself and foolishly rushes to attack Remilia with her bare hands, so Remilia cuts the skin of her own abdomen with her claw through the tear in her dress, then throw the blood on her claw all around herself, turning it into red energy orbs. The woman stops running, knowing it is over for her, and just like that, hundreds of blood-red orbs of energy fly to her and explode hard on impact.

While the smoke from the blast clears off the floor in front of the clock tower, Remilia frowns and says “shit, I think I overdid it”, but when the smoke starts to clear, she sees the woman’s silhouette on her knees, still alive, though barely able to stand. Remilia smiles and walks toward her, getting a better look of the woman. Her shirt is almost gone, only bits of her jacket remain, her pants are in tatters, and that’s when she notices the golden pocket hand-watch falling off the right pocket. She smiles and says “hmm, I see. That’s the catalyst for your time stopping powers, isn’t it? You were wise to hide it from me.” The woman softly sighs and smiles, then simply nods. Remilia continues to admire her and notices how the light of the full moon accents her inhuman beauty, then says “for a human, your beauty admirable, even to me. Tell me, what’s your name?” Remilia continues to walk around the woman, looking at the singed red scarf, now more visible, due to her shortened hair. The woman sighs and asks “aren’t you going to kill me already?” Remilia stops in front of her and grabs her chin to pull her face up and stare into her eyes. After staring for some time, Remilia says “no matter. Whatever name you had doesn’t concern me anymore.” The woman angrily asks “are you going to continue torturing me like this?” Remilia smiles and says “tonight, at the end of the night of this beautiful full moon, miss, your fate has changed. You now have a purpose! You will serve me for as long as you live. You will follow my every command without question, care for my mansion to your best of abilities, and use those magnificent powers for me!” The woman opens her eyes wide as she slowly straightens out, then Remilia looks away toward the setting moon and says “and from this night forth, you will be known as Sakuya Izayoi. The beautiful flower whose beauty shines brightest under the full moon, and whom I defeated on the sixteenth night, just as the full moon sets.” After her declaration, a swift gale courses around Sakuya, and as she looks at Remilia’s glowing red eyes with her own shocked and surprised eyes, she whispers “of all possible fates...”, then falls to the floor and passes out from exhaustion, but not before thinking “I can’t believe this. I never thought, in all my life, that I’d find a purpose to live thanks to a monster. How... ironic.” Remilia stares at her new servant with an expressionless face, then bends down to pick her up, then quickly flies around the mansion and lands in front of the entrance. Once inside, she finds Meiling helping Patchouli keep on her feet, while Patchouli heals their wounds. With a very light smile on her face, Remilia says “this is Sakuya... my newest servant.” Patchouli softly asks “are you sure it’s ok to have her here? She’s pretty dangerous for a simple human.” Remilia smirks and says “that’s exactly why she’s staying, Patchy. Come, help me take her to her room. We’ll pick something popper for her to wear.” Patchouli nods, and Meiling salutes, then they all head up to the next floor, followed promptly by Koakuma, who looks very curious about the silver haired woman.

Only two days after Sakuya’s fate was changed and she became another one of Remilia’s servants, and the mansion never looked better. The floors, walls, ornaments, and even the ceiling all look sparkly clean. The fairy maids seem more organized as well, and somehow the mansion itself looks brighter, but the biggest change of all is the immense size of the mansion’s insides, though outside it look normal. Sakuya is in her new room, looking at herself through the mirror on her dressing table, sitting while braiding the left side of her hair, having already braided the right side and tied it with a green ribbon. Her old red scarf now sits inside a drawer of her dressing table, while her old clothes were thrown away. She ties another green bow to her left braid and smiles at herself, then stands up and twirls in place to make sure her new maid’s uniform is straightened. Hers, unlike the ones Remilia’s old human maids wore, is blue and short, her skirt only covering to her knees. She still wears a white apron on top of it, as well as a bonnet on her head like all the other maids. She picks her hand-watch from her skirt’s pocket, then says to herself “ah, I’m going to be late.” Just like that, she stops time around her, and as she leaves her room in a rush, her skirt lifts just a little, revealing a few set of knives sheathed in a small belt she ties around her right thigh. Meanwhile, at the main hall, Remilia sits on her chair, tapping her fingers on her armrest as though waiting for something. Noticing her impatience, Patchouli says “Remi, calm down.” The magician stands to Remilia’s right, and now wears a set of blue and lilac ribbons all over. Two on each side of her hair, another pair on her hat, making it look as though she’s wearing her hair in a double-bun, and on the right bun she ties a yellow amulet as well, and two more ribbons on the shoulders of her robe as well as a blue ribbon on her left shoe, and a red one on the right. Remilia stares back at Patchouli and says “I just want to get this over with, Patchy. Ah, here she comes. Close the curtains.” Patchouli waves her hand, and the thick red curtains behind Remilia’s chair completely cover the large window. She waves her hands two more times, then closes the thick red curtains on two small windows on the left and right side of the room. Sakuya enters the room just as it gets dark, then Patchouli uses her magical flames and sets them around like magical lamps to light the room. Sakuya smiles at the sight of her mistress and says “I am sorry I’m late, my lady. I just wanted to make sure to be presentable to you.” Remilia smiles and says “you shouldn’t worry about that, my chief maid. You’ve already improved this mansion so much and just two days, and you have certainly demonstrated your worth to me.” Sakuya bows and says “and as your chief maid, I must always be presentable to my lady, no matter what the circumstances.” Remilia grins, then gets off her chair and slowly walks to Sakuya. The chief maid kneels in front of her mistress, then bends her body down and lowers her head. Remilia presents Sakuya with her right hand, then Sakuya immediately kisses it before lowering her head again. Remilia smiles, then chants “I thus declare this human being, a defiant of both soul and body, as a servant of both honor and high caliber.” Patchouli stares with great interest, as Remilia grabs a ceremonial knife from a small table to her left. Staring at Sakuya with a wicked smile, Remilia continues chanting “my body and my soul will remember this pact, and thus, shall be sealed by the blood of the chosen master.” Remilia raises the knife and cuts the palm of her right hand, and without hesitation, Sakuya grabs Remilia’s hand and sucks the blood of her mistress. Remilia smiles and whispers “good girl”, just before the back of her right hand starts to glow brightly, then the image of a pocket hand-watch burns itself on the back of Remilia’s hand. Sakuya smiles, her lips still stained with Remilia’s blood, then Remilia smiles back as she grabs the skin of the back of her right hand and rips it off, turns it around to hide the hand-watch image, then presents it to Patchouli, saying “go ahead, Patchy.” Patchouli silently nods, then raises her own right hand and surrounds it with a green spell, healing Remilia’s whole hand in an instant. Sakuya elegantly cleans the blood off her lips with a handkerchief she had in her apron’s pocket, and as soon as she pockets it again, Remilia stares at her and says “remember, for your safety, and for secrecy, what happened in here today stays. Understood? Both of you?” Patchouli and Sakuya bow their heads, then Sakuya’s eyes glow red for a brief second as she says “whatever my lady wishes.” Remilia smiles, then says “good. Now, Sakuya, bring me that tea you make. And bring three cups. I wish to celebrate this moment.” Sakuya asks “are you expecting guests, my lady?” Remilia stares at Sakuya with that expressionless face of hers, then Sakuya bows with a smile and says “understood, my lady.” After Sakuya leaves the room and heads toward the kitchen, she thinks “she could have killed me just as easily, and yet she gave me a life. No matter what, I don’t care about pacts, I don’t care about power, I don’t even care that I am the only human here, I will devote this new life given to me to miss Remilia.”

The next day, at noon, Sakuya and Remilia walk out of Patchouli’s library, as Patchouli shouts to them “I’ll leave that on stand-by.” Remilia turns around and says “right, right. Don’t let Koakuma or the fairies near it.” Koakuma shouts “hey!”, just before Sakuya closes the door. Sakuya turns around and looks at her mistress to tell her she’s going to start cleaning the basement, but something’s caught Remilia’s attention. Unknown to Sakuya, Flandre, Remilia’s sister, sleeps near there, though with Sakuya expanding the mansion’s space, it’s not as close anymore. Sakuya asks “my lady, what’s the matter?” Sounding almost depressed, Remilia says “my sister... I haven’t seen her at all this year.” Sakuya is about to ask, why not visit her now, but Remilia beats her before she can ask, and says “she wasn’t like that. She wasn’t a monster. Sure, she’s never been able to control that power, but now... I miss my real sister.” Sakuya softly says “my... My lady, don’t be afraid. Let’s go see her now.” Remilia turns her face slightly toward Sakuya, looking at her maid through the corner of her eye, then says “you caught on so quickly, and we just forged the pact. Impressive. Sakuya, I am afraid. That is not my sister, not anymore. I am very afraid of what’s in that room, mimicking the shape of my own sister.” Sakuya keeps quiet, thinking over and over, trying to find comforting words for her mistress, then Remilia continues “that’s how we landed in this wretched world. I wanted to move my castle somewhere where me and my sister could be free... and all that happened was me having to seal her away.” With a determined look on her face, Sakuya grabs Remilia’s hand and pulls her along with her toward Flandre’s room. Though shouting “Sakuya, what are you doing? No, let me go! That’s an order!”, Remilia doesn’t break free from Sakuya’s grasps, knowing what her maid intends to do. Once they reach the grey door, Sakuya says “my lady, if you keep running away, you’ll never see your sister again. Maybe it’s impossible to bring her back, but if you don’t give it at least another try, you’ll never really know if she can come back to you or not!” Remilia sighs, placing her right hand on her right eye, then says “I suppose I could present her to you. But listen to me, she is mad! So whatever happens, you stay behind me at all times, and run away if I tell you to.” Sakuya bows and says “as you wish, my lady.” Slowly, the grey door opens up, Sakuya admiring how special the metal used to make the door is, also noticing a small magical circle on the door’s archway. Remilia quietly looks around, then she and Sakuya both open their eyes wide and gasp in surprise when the sinister voice of Flandre reaches them, saying “I haven’t seen you for so long, onee-sa... chan. I was starting to think you were broken. Oh, and what have we here? A new maid? She looks fun! Can I play with her?” Flandre’s voice seems to come from all the corners of the room, making it almost impossible for even Remilia to pin-point her location. Angry, Remilia shouts “Flandre, present yourself already to our new chief maid!” Flandre suddenly appears with a smile to Remilia’s right, innocently saying “but I’m right here, onee-sama!” Remilia and Sakuya jump in place after the surprise, but both recover quickly, then Remilia says “Flan, I want you to meet Sakuya. She’s our new chief maid.” Flandre smiles innocently as she gets closer to Sakuya, looks up at the chief maid, then says “miss Sakuya, hi. I am Flandre. Will you play with me?” Sakuya bows and smiles, then says “I’m sorry, miss, but I am just too busy.” Flandre frowns and whines as she backs away with a sad face, then asks “why won’t anyone ever play with me?” Starting to feel a little uncomfortable, Remilia says “Flan, you have to learn to control your powers first. Then we can all play with you all you...” Remilia looks behind, then realizes Flandre is closing the door. Before she fully closes it, she stops and flies away, giggling and saying “whoops, you caught me! Alright, let’s play now. We play until you break!” Speaking over Flandre’s insane cackle, Remilia shouts “Sakuya, get out of here now!”, and just as she says that, Flandre runs straight at the maid. Remilia aims to intercept her, but Sakuya stops time and jumps behind Flandre, then locks her arms around Flandre’s, then releases the flow of time once more. Relieved, Remilia sighs and says “phew, she got her.” Still unaware of what’s happened, Flandre looks around, wondering why she stopped moving, then looks up at Sakuya’s face and asks “how did you do that?” Sakuya smiles as she looks down at the little blonde vampire, then says “it’s a special skill of mine. Now, I am truly sorry, but I must be getting back to work.” Flandre frowns and whines again, allowing Sakuya to place her on the bed, then says “fine. See you later.” As Sakuya and Remilia walk out of the room and close the door, Flandre looks at them with her glowing left eye and insane smile, then says “sis, aren’t you forgetting something?” Remilia fakes a smile and says “I’ll see you later, Flan.”

After the door clicks shut, Sakuya bends her body and supports herself placing her hand on her thighs, then takes a deep breath of relief and says “whoa. That sure was something.” She soon notices the saddened eyes Remilia tries to hide with a stern look and stands in attention. Remilia softly says “you see? My real sister would be sweet and innocent. Maybe a bit of a brute, she not that monster you saw in that room.” Sakuya wants to comfort her mistress, but Remilia beats her again, saying “you saw all her toys, that mirror... that look on her face!” Remilia starts her walk back to her room, hiding her face from Sakuya, then says “I’ll be in my room. Please inform me when dinner is served.” Sakuya stares sadly at her mistress, then bows and says “as you wish... my lady”, then looks at Flandre’s door for a while before starting with her chores. That night, after Remilia and Patchouli leave the dinner table, Sakuya approaches Meiling and asks “so, have you met the young mistress in the basement?” Meiling stares with fright at the maid, then nods and says “she tried to kill me and my lady from the very first night.” Sakuya stares curiously at Meiling, then remembers what Remilia told her about her memories. She looks into Meiling’s eyes and notices some pity for the little vampire, then asks “well, has she ever been outside her room? Maybe with miss Remilia before?” Meiling shake her head and looks away, trying to avoid the subject from going any further, and Sakuya, after noticing this, says “alright. I’m sorry, I may have asked too much. You may go to your room if you want.” Sakuya begins to pick up the dinner plates from the table, then Meiling suddenly says “I’m sorry I wasn’t any help, and it’s alright. It’s just that talking about that makes me remember that face my lady had.” Sakuya stares into Meiling’s sad aquamarine eyes, then nods and says “I see. Thank you very much, Meiling.” After the gate guardian leaves, Sakuya sees a fairy maid taking Flandre’s food plate to the basement, so she decides to stop her and have her clean the dinner plates instead, while she attends Flandre by herself.

Later that night, standing in front of the silver door, Sakuya prepares herself before entering Flandre’s room, softly knocking on the door, calling “young mistress, I have your dinner here.” The maid enters the room and closes the door behind her, immediately taking notice of the maddening silence and thick darkness in the room. Sakuya finds a lamp on the wall to her right and promptly turn it on with a small match she had ready on the tray she carries. Immediately, in a sinister and angry tone of voice, Flandre demands “turn that thing off! It’s too bright!” Sakuya bows and says “my apologies, young mistress, but if it’s too dark, I can’t properly give you your dinner.” As if understanding, Flandre lowers her tone of voice as she says “hmm, you got a point.” Sakuya bows and approaches the bed, where she sees Flandre’s wing, then stops and winces when the plate’s cover suddenly explodes and flies high to the air. Flandre starts to giggle right after the cover falls on the ground, making a loud clang that seems to continue to ring on in Sakuya’s ears, and with an innocent, yet twisted tone of voice, she says “you are the first to enter here to brazenly. Even onee-s... onee-chan. Even onee-chan stays by the door, as if she’s scared. Tell me, is she scared of me?” Sakuya keeps her composure, even though she’s filled with fear, then says “your dinner’s getting cold, young mistress.” Flandre snarls and turns to face Sakuya, start to fly just above her bed, then growls as she says “rah! I’m going to play with all night, even after you’ve broken!” Flandre dives straight at Sakuya, but before she even know what’s what, Sakuya has placed the food tray on Flandre’s destroyed dresses and stands behind her, stabbing her shoulder with the tip of one of her pure silver knives. Sakuya quickly places another knife against Flandre’s neck, then slowly starts to push the knife on the vampire’s shoulder in deeper as she speaks in a sinister tone of voice, saying “you know, you make my mistress so sad. Maybe if I kill you with these silver knives I’ll rid my lady from this pain.” Sakuya presses the knife on Flandre’s neck a little harder, threatening to cut her, then slowly rises the stabbed knife up the little vampire’s shoulder, making her gasp with pain and tremble with actual fear. Flandre starts to cry, then shouts “you’re mean! I hate you!” Sakuya smiles and softly chuckles, then releases Flandre, who immediately flies away to her destroyed toys and tries to hide between them. Sakuya notices how her dolls are all torn and her toys burned and broken, then also notices the innocent look on Flandre’s crazed face. She sighs, then says “now I understand why my lady still has hopes for you.” With tears in her eyes as she quietly sobs, trying to look brave in front of that mean maid, Flandre cries out loud “get out! Leave me alone!” Sakuya smiles and bows, then says “I’ll be picking up the plates later. Make sure you eat it all.” With tears of fright, Flandre watches as Sakuya leaves the room and closes the door behind her, and as soon as the maid is gone, Flandre hugs a large, destroyed stuffed bear while letting out some sobs, then she begins to smile again, and even though she continues to cry, she giggles while pulling her face away from the stuffed toy. The next day, when Flandre wakes up in her bed, she notices the single lamp next to the door is still lit, the dinner tray is gone, and oddly enough, next to her is a stuffed rabbit with black buttons for eyes, one of her old, destroyed dolls, completely restored and stuffed full once more. Curious, she picks it up and stares at it for a while, turning it around to explore it, then notices the rest of her dolls, even the giant bear is completely restored. She continues to look around and finds her mirror is also restored to perfection, and that’s when she notice a small note on her bed-side drawer. She gently pick up the note while holding the stuffed rabbit around her right arm, opens it up, then reads “if you break them, I’ll fix them for you.” There is no name on the note, yet Flandre knows it’s the new maid, and with a smile on her face, she whispers “thank you.” Just a second later, her eyes start glowing bright red, her smile twists, then she starts to giggle, quickly progresses to laugh manically, then she grabs the stuffed rabbit and rips it in half. Her body splits into three more, then the real Flandre looks at her other selves and says “alright. Let’s play until we break!” The other three Flandres cheer and laugh, each picking a toy to play with it for a moment before destroying it, then the real Flandre stops for a moment to look at the large stuffed bear, then says “remind me to thank that Sakuya”, then rips the bear open with a childish and twisted smile, while the other three Flandres nod and say “we won’t let you forget!”

To be continued...

Characters and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
JUL 30 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Note that this story has been and will be used as base for anything concerning the SDM's cast history on my stories, unless noted otherwise.
And thus, this is what I think happened when Remilia and Sakuya first met, and what happened after Sakuya joined the SDM crew. Honestly, maybe they didn’t even fight at all... maybe they did. Maybe that is something we fans will be discussing forever. Also, yes, I do believe Sakuya had very long hair before, and lost it during her fight with Remilia. As for when she first met Flandre, that is what I think may have happened. ZUN’s never said much about that meeting either. Anyway, thank you very much for reading and I am both glad to know you’ve liked this story so far, and hope you’ll continue to leave comments. And yes, I’ve read those doujins (quite rare) of Remi’s and Patchy’s... special relations. As for another comment, Patchouli didn’t erase the memory. She simply blocked it, and yes, there is a chance they can come back. Particularly if something from her past, say a diary, were to fall on her sights. I’ve already triggered a brief memory return in one of my Sukima fics (One Random Sukima). Again, thanks for reading, and please leave comments/reviews.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Story of a Past Scarlet 4

A/N:
This fiction contains bloody scenes, so if you don’t like those, please hit the back button. Also, although I am trying my best to write the canon back story for the Scarlet Devil Mansion cast, keep in mind that ZUN is vague with his information, and most I have filled with what I believe happened. He loves it when fans do that, doesn’t he? My point is that you may disregard this if you wish. Please review/comment, and thank you for reading.

Even though she’s gained a new servant, Remilia feels distraught at the loss of her sister. Having to ask her to stay in her room forever, to her it feels the same as though having sealed her loving sister for eternity. Though she hides these feelings well from others, she is starting to realize her sister is lost, and to her, there is no way to ever bring her back. Yet she continues, living each day, trying to teach her new guard how to do her job, as well as how to speak. She feels pressure from many sides now, and is starting to leave her mansion a little too often, exploring the land she still hates, and that is no exception on this night; the night she decides to visit the human settlement, that to her great comfort, lies away from her home. She lands on the roof of one of the largest houses in the village’s center in order to watch certain events take place, where various of the villagers are trying to kill one of their own, just because she uses magic. She watches as the woman loses her mind and starts attacking her attackers relentlessly, killing quite a few of them in just minutes. After the woman falls to the ground, ready to take her own life, Remilia reveals herself to her and the villagers, scaring them all away, then extends her hand to the woman, offering a new home and a new life. The woman stares up to Remilia with tears in her eyes, her entire body shaking uncontrollably as she points her hand at herself and readies a spell to kill herself. Remilia smiles and says “you’ll care for my own library, which lies in the basement of my mansion. It’s so large and full of books, it could be called an ‘Eternal Library’. Think about it. Nobody there will ever dare to judge you as long as you have me there. Yes, I would be like your friend, if you want.” The woman starts to whimper as she slowly lowers her hand and calls off her spell, staring into Remilia’s glowing eyes. She trembles violently as she turns around and sees the butcher’s knife that almost took her life, still stuck on her house’s wall, then trembles even more violently as turns her maddened face back to Remilia. Being the impatient vampire that she is, Remilia excitedly urges “take my hand already! Unless you want to go back to that dinky and derelict house. Stay here, surrounded by these fools.” The woman suddenly stops trembling, and in an impulse, she throws her hand at Remilia’s, who grasps it with a smile and glowing red eyes as she says “good. Let’s get going.” Remilia tries to lift the purple-haired woman to her feet, but quickly realizes she can’t stand up on her own just yet, so before the woman falls down, Remilia flies up and grabs the back of her robe, then pulls her up along with herself. As they fly above the market area, Remilia looks down and notices some bread being displayed in a small kiosk, so she swoops down, saying “that’s right, I’m gonna need some human food for you”, and grabbing a lump of bread at the same time she tosses some coins inside an empty cup next to the surprised shop owner. As they fly away, Remilia says “how strange. He still has good bread at this hour. Oh well, it’s better for us, right?” The woman lets out a sob, so Remilia sighs with frustration and says “oh great, another quiet one.” The few villagers and shop keepers in the area look surprised at the woman being carried off by the vampire, and one of the frightened men asks “wa... was that a vampire?” A woman replies “by the gods! She had one of us with her!” The surprised shop keeper, who drops the boxes he was storing for the night, looks up and says “someone get the shrine maiden.” A man with a knife stuck on his shoulder struggles to stand, and taking the other villagers by surprise and with some effort, he manages to say “DON’T! Don’t bother!”, and after getting the attention of the other villagers, he continues “she took... that murderous witch... with her! Let her die... pay for all the lives she took! UGH!” With his last breath, the man falls on his face, cursing the purple-haired woman, and revealing a large chunk of flesh missing from his back, making a total of eight deaths caused by the purple-haired woman’s loss of control. The women and men gasp and scream at the sight of the man as his blood stains the ground in front of a small fruit stand.

Later that night, Remilia holds the woman while hovering above the gates of her mansion, staring at Meiling as she starts dozing off in front of the gate. Remilia slowly descends, and immediately places the woman on the ground, where she whimpers as she crawls backward and stops when she hits a tree, waking Meiling and getting her full attention. The gate guard frowns and stances ready to attack, saying “intruder!”, but Remilia stands in front of the woman, placing a hand in front of Meiling’s face, and staring back sternly at her servant. Remilia looks around, as though expecting something, then stares at Meiling and says “she is not an intruder. She is a servant... a friend.” Meiling lowers her guard, then stares at the lump of bread on Remilia’s hand with hungry eyes. Remilia sighs as she breaks off a large piece and says “fine, you can have some. Now, girl, what’s your...?” While Meiling happily nibbles on her piece of bread, Remilia turns around and gets surprised at the sight of the woman hiding her face under her knees, curling into a ball while trembling and whimpering. Remilia face palms and asks “you really think we’re going to kill you after I went out of my way to save you twice?” The woman slowly lifts her head, then softly says “I’m... hungry.” Remilia’s lips wriggle after that unexpected answer, then recovers and shrugs while turning around, heading inside her mansion and saying “Meiling, bring her to the dining room”, and as soon as Meiling picks the woman up like a princess with just one arm, while still nibbling on her own piece of bread, Remilia tosses the lump of bread at the woman and continues “you may eat on the way if you like, but it would be more appropriate if you wait until you’re are the dinner table.” Moments later, at the dinner table, the purple haired woman starts eating pieces of bread she picks with her fingers, admiring her surrounding while keeping caution. She starts to realize she’s inside the mansion of a vampire, and that there is a youkai woman of admirable strength standing close to her, and now fear starts taking over her again. Unable to finish her bread, since her stomach starts feeling as though someone’s wrenching it, she observes as a fairy maid flies in with a plate of food for Remilia, paying close attention to the red sauce that adorns the food. Remilia notices the woman’s curious stare and as if knowing what the woman is thinking, she says “yes, you are correct. This is blood. However, it’s not human... and sadly, those spells you used stained the blood of those other humans. A pity, as I truly miss the taste of human blood.” Meiling stares at Remilia with both curiosity and longing, then asks “human... good? Food?” Remilia glares at Meiling and says “don’t you dare touch her! She’s to care for my library! Hmm, wait, now that I think about it, I still don’t know your name, miss.” The woman nervously looks around, trying to keep her nervous eyes away from Meiling, who for some reason continues to stare at her. She looks at Remilia and notices her impatience growing, so the softly and nervously says “my-my name? My name is... P-Patchouli, miss?” Remilia stares at her clean fork for a moment, then looks back at Patchouli and asks “just that, huh? Patchouli? No family name?” Patchouli winces, thinking she made the vampire angry, so she thinks for a bit, takes a deep breath to calm herself down, then says “you, um, may call me Patchouli Knowledge if you want.” Remilia smirks, then lets out a quick laugh, knowing full well this woman has just made up a family name out of the blue, but instead of finding this insulting, she thinks it’s amusing. After staring at Patchouli for a while, Remilia drops her fork and jumps off her chair, then walks toward the still nervous woman and says “well, miss Patchouli ‘Knowledge’, welcome to my mansion. If you were so kind as to accompany me, I’ll immediately take you to your... what?” Remilia notices how Patchouli stares at Meiling, who keeps touching her hat, then her own scarlet hair, as if wanting a hat of her own. Patchouli looks at Remilia, noticing her impatient eyes, knowing full well she just ignored the mistress of the mansion, then softly says “um... I-I’m sorry, but it seems miss, um, Meiling wants a hat too.” Remilia’s eyes glow bright red for a moment, showing the surge of anger that’s just passed through her entire being, so Patchouli hurries and says “I’m sorry, it’s just that I believe it would be prudent to get one for her... to, um... keep her happy... with her working environment... miss Remilia.” Remilia stares sternly at the two girls for a moment, making them both very nervous, then smiles and says “Hmm, you’re already showing me you’re high quality, Patchouli. Fine, I’ll find her something suitable. In the meantime, I want you to come with me to the library... oh, but before that, there is someone you have to meet.”

Moments later, Remilia and Patchouli stand in front of Flandre’s silver door, then Remilia says “you are going to meet my sister. Her name is Flandre Scarlet, and she is very dangerous, so whatever you do, stay outside, and let me do the talking.” Patchouli quietly and nervously nods, bowing her body very rapidly, then Remilia slowly opens the door, saying “Flan, I want you to meet our newest servant.” There is no answer from the dark room, so Remilia peeks inside and asks “Flan, are you awake?” Without waiting for the order, Patchouli raises her hand, and a bright orb of light that sits on the palm of her hand illuminates half of the room, revealing Flandre hanging on the ceiling, her eyes completely red as she bares her fangs. Frightened by sight, Patchouli instinctively unleashes her magical bubbles and backs away, just as Flandre swoops down to attack. The bubbles explode on Flandre’s face, making her scream out loud and back away from the door, as far into a corner of the room as she can, even trying to get into her closet. Patchouli’s eyes show the terror in her face; having attacked the mistress’ sister will cost her dear life, but again she is surprised. Instead of getting angry, Remilia stares at Patchouli with awe and says “ah~, although you are weaker than us, you can use water spells. Well Flan, I hope you learned not to attack our servants again.” Flandre whimpers and shouts “onee-sama, you’re mean! Scold her already!” Remilia replies “but you attacked her first.” Flandre starts to sob and says “onee-sama hates me!” Patchouli summons some courage to herself and takes one step inside the dark room, then bows and softly says “I am so sorry, miss. P-please forgive me.” Remilia grabs Patchouli by the back of her robe and pulls her out of the room again while saying “you see, Flan? She apologized. You should follow her example!” Flandre is suddenly standing next to the door, revealing herself under a dim light, then bows and says “I am sorry too. And next time, we play until you break.” With a wide smile and a sinister laugh, Flandre slowly closes her door by herself and says “I’ll be here when you want to play. Just like onee-sama asked.” After the door closes, Patchouli stares at Remilia, and notices a terrible pain hidden deep within her eyes, but she decides to keep quiet about it, thinking she’s already done enough damage as it is. Remilia turns her attention to Patchouli, seemingly calm, then says “come. I’ll take you to the library now.” Walking back toward the basement stairs, it only takes them a couple of minutes before Remilia stops in front of two large doors and says “and here we are. My library.” When Remilia opens those door to the dark library, Patchouli’s eyes open wide as she admires the countless books all over the room. Stack after stack, shelf after shelf, reaching up to the dark ceiling, all filled with books of all sizes and colors. Patchouli enters the room while still looking around with such awe in her face, then she notices Remilia’s stare, drops to her knees out of her overwhelming excitement, then softly asks “a-are you sure? You want this... human to care for such... such magnificent library?” Remilia smirks wickedly and says “not only will you care for it. You will also learn the many spells in these books, and you will instruct me about them, with the outmost of detail. Also...” Remilia gets closer to Patchouli, helping her on to her feet, then whispers “I need your help with two things. First, I need you to find me a very special book. It has a black cover, titled ‘Ancient Arcane Spells’. You are to inform me immediately, should you find it, no matter what.” Patchouli silently nods, then Remilia whispers “the second thing... would be Meiling...”

The morning after, at the Human Village, only the sound of sobbing and crying, as well as mournful chanting fill the atmosphere of the village, replacing the usual busy energy of the humans as they go through their daily lives. Most of the villagers stand around the center of the village, creating a giant circle around eight large coffins that carry the bodies of their murdered comrades. In the center of this circle are the families of the deceased, and the young maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu Hakurei. She wears her long red pants and long-sleeved white kimono shirt, and her hair looks dark brown, almost black, but the light that shines against it make it look purple. She offers a prayer to the last coffin, then the man next to it, one of Patchouli’s attackers, clenches both fists and his teeth, snarls, then says “after that... WITCH killed my wife, she was taken away by a vampire. Good riddance!” Reimu stares at the man with a reprehensive glare and asks “you speak like that about one of your own?” A woman standing next to one of the first coffins shouts “she was evil! I am still appalled you did nothing to seal her!” Reimu glares back at the woman and says “oh sure, and leave her defenseless to your attacks! Yeah, that’s fair.” A man from the crowd angrily asks “how can you side with that monster?” The young maiden sighs while rubbing her forehead, then says “you are incredible. She never attacked you once before this, then you attack her and cause all of this, you want me to hunt her down because of your mistake, and you just want to leave her to die by the hands of a vampire. A vampire that can easily use her powers against us.” The villagers all look down to the ground, all feeling frustrated when they are unable to find a proper excuse for their actions, then Reimu continues “now I’m gonna have to hunt that vampire down before-“ The young maiden looks up to the sky and notices many youkai flying in the sky, fighting each other while heading toward what looks like giant floating ruins. One of the elders approaches Reimu with concern and says “miss maiden, you better look into this first! It seems dangerous.” Reimu smirks and calls “GENJII~”, then a large round shadow is cast right above Reimu, and to her left lands the old, bearded, large flying turtle, Genjii. As soon as she gets on his back they start flying, then Reimu says “I’ll come and perform the burial ceremony as soon as I solve this incident.” With a smile on her face, Reimu points at the ruins and shouts “let’s go, Genjii! Let’s see what is going on over there!” The villagers stare at Reimu and Genjii as they make their way to the sky, some villagers wondering if the maiden is too excited about the sudden turn of events. After she leaves, a young boy and girl stand in front of the magician’s large house, then kneel down to pray. The other villagers glare at them, then another young girl steps up and shouts “the maiden is right! What we did was terrible! All we did was torture that girl and she never even said a word! We want this to change! We want to live in peace!” While the adult villagers glare at the young boys and girls that offer a small prayer to the large house, a single elder, the one that approached Reimu, smiles and says to himself “we have a bright future ahead of us.”

Three days later, at the Scarlet Mansion. It’s morning, and Meiling looks happier than ever, hugging a green beret she got from Remilia and Patchouli. She looks at the star on the top and reads the word “dragon” on it. She gasps and smiles, and hugs it again, then places it on her head and stands firm in front of the mansion’s gates, ready to repel any intruder. Meanwhile, inside the mansion, down the basement and deep into the dark library’s center, Patchouli has fallen asleep on the desk with her face buried in a book, but even asleep, something torments her. She groans and whimpers, clenches her eyes, gasps, hyperventilates, softly says “no... it was... and accident.” She starts to moan and move her legs as though trying to run, then wakes up and springs up straight on her chair while screaming “don’t kill me!” Frantically, she looks around and slowly realizes she’s in the mansion’s library, safe and away from the villagers. She notices the sweat running through her face down her neck, then yelps in surprise when a thick brown book falls right in front of her with a loud bang. She looks at the book and reads “spells for to self?”, then looks up and notices a woman with short red hair, two pairs of bat-like wings, one pair on her back and the other on her head, and wearing a small brown cloth to barely cover her body. She glares at Patchouli and whispers “drat, she moved”, before hiding behind a bookshelf, hiding in the darkness before saying “you should read that. It’ll help you with those nightmares of yours.” Patchouli continues to look at where the little demon girl was for a moment, then turns her attention to the book, and indeed, after opening it and going through the pages, she quickly finds a spell for blocking selective memories. She looks back to where the devil was, thinking of asking her where she found that book, yet her strong desire to completely forget her past in the village pulls her back to her book, then quietly reads the spell. After just a few hours, Patchouli memorized the spell and writes a blue magical circle on her own forehead with the help of a small mirror stored inside one of the desk’s drawers. Crying, she looks into the mirror and says to herself “after you do this, Patchouli Knowledge, you will be even more grateful to Remilia. She saved you *sob* and she brought you home. Th-that, and your spells. That is all you need to remember.” After one loud sob, Patchouli points her finger at the magical circle on her forehead, and as soon as she touches it, it starts to glow and spin. She closes her eyes and feels as though her body is being lifted to the air, even though she is still sitting on her chair, and after the circle suddenly vanishes and the spell ends, Patchouli opens her uncaring eyes and looks around again. She feels calm, and somehow happy, and feels a great sense of appreciation for Remilia, yet she can’t remember exactly why. All she knows is that she is home, and now feels eager to find books on elemental spells. Flying around the library, she asks herself “elemental spells... where can I find books on elemental spells?” She finds the little demon woman lounging on one of the shelves, and sounding bored and unamused, she says “I know where they are.” Patchouli flies slowly toward the demon, but keeps her distance so she doesn’t fly away, then asks “can you help me find them?” The demons starts to laugh, and right after she stops, she says “who the hell do you think I am? Some kind of dog or something? I’m a demon! I don’t work for you unless we make a contract, magic girl.” Patchouli thinks for a moment, then says “work? I never mentioned anything about work. I was merely asking if you could show me where they were, that’s all.” The demons flaps her right wing, then says “they’re right below me... some are all the way up on the second floor, and there’s one more on the third.” Patchouli smiles and immediately begins her search, while the demon thinks what just happened, then finally realizes she’s been tricked. Angry, the little demon rolls on her knees and bangs on the shelf, then says “hey! You tricked me!” Patchouli flies up from the shelf a little too close to the demon, scaring her and making her fly away in a hurry, then giggles and says “I’m sorry, but I had to test you. You really know your way around here, huh?” Safely behind another bookshelf, far away from Patchouli, the demon bravely shouts “yeah, I do! What of it?” Patchouli stares at her with those uncaring eyes and light smile, then asks “would you like to forge a contract with me?” Before Patchouli even notices, the little devil is right next to her, saying “well, I guess I could. I mean, I got nothing better to do anyway. Besides...” The demon starts brushing her hands through Patchouli’s face, neck and shoulder, and sounding mischievous, she says “I kinda like you, young lady.” Patchouli stares back at the demon with her cold face, showing no emotion, yet hiding her excitement, then says “alright. Give me a moment so I can make the summoning circle. From there we can forge the contract.” The devil nods, and she and Patchouli fly down to the center of the library, where Remilia’s old magical circle was, but seems to have been cleaned off by now. The demon stands in the center of the room, while Patchouli draws the summoning circle and asks “so, do you have a name?” The demon replies “I used to.” Patchouli smirks white finishing her circle, then says “that’s fine, then. Let’s begin.” Patchouli brushes her lower lip with her thumb, then places her hands on the circle, making it glow brightly and generating a wind that lifts the demon’s cloth up, revealing she’s actually covering herself up quite well. Patchouli starts chanting in a strange dialect for a few minutes, and when the wind becomes a strong gust, she smirks and says “and with this blood sacrifice I bind this demon to me.” The woman suddenly gasps, noticing Patchouli cut her thumb with her teeth, and angrily shouts “hey~ You cheater, you can’t-!” Before she can reach Patchouli, the little demon finds herself unable to move while Patchouli smiles at her and says “but to show you I’m really not that bad, I’ll give you the name of Koakuma.” Struggling, Koakuma asks “wh-what’s... the point... of that... name?” Patchouli smiles lightly and says “it’s cute.” Just like that, the circle vanishes, the summoning and contract binding spell ends, and Koakuma can move again. She rushes to Patchouli and angrily says “you cheating human, look at what you did! Now I’m stuck with you forever!” Patchouli continues to smile lightly, closing her eyes and demonstrating her happiness. Koakuma blushes, gulps, then says “gee, at least you are cute.” Patchouli sighs, then says “then it’s not that bad after all.”

The next night, Remilia walks down to the library to see if her new servant has found the book she’s so eager to find. Upon opening the door, she hears Patchouli saying “alright. Once you find me those, try and find that black one again.” She hears a girl replying “geez, alright already. So bossy.” Patchouli replies “it’s the only thing I asked you to do.” Curious, Remilia takes flight as she hears Meiling saying “what... did that mean... miss Pat... chouli.” Patchouli sighs and says “don’t worry about it. Just concentrate on your pronunciation.” Remilia can see the little demon leave the area with a bored look on her face, wearing a black dress with a long white sleeved shirt underneath. Remilia hurries to Patchouli with a stern look on her face, feeling angry at Patchouli for having a demon as a servant without her permission. When Patchouli takes notice of Remilia, her heart races as her appreciation for her mistress flows out, and with a light smile she says “my lady Remilia, it’s an honor to have you here!” Ignoring Patchouli’s praise, Remilia sternly asks “Patchouli, what is the meaning of this?” Though seemingly uncaring, Patchouli’s eyes show the sudden feeling of disappointment and failure in her heart, fearing she might have done something to offend her mistress. Trying to hold her desire to cry, Patchouli gulps and asks “wha-what seems to be the problem, my lady?” Remilia looks into Patchouli’s eyes and notices her old despair and fear of others has left her, then notices her fear of failure instead. Something inside Remilia urges her to calm down and listen, so she lowers her tone of voice and asks “Patchouli, why is there a devil serving you in the library?” An inexplicable cold feeling takes over Patchouli’s heart as she thinks “oh no, I crossed the line. She’s angry and she’s going to kick me out.” She calms down after gulping, then looks around nervously while saying “um... that is, she knew so much about this vast library, and since I needed some help, I thought you wouldn’t mind if I had a helper, and so...” Remilia sighs as she face palms, then looks toward Meiling with a very light smile and says “it’s alright, then. Just be more prudent and ask me before hiring more hands next time.” Feeling a weight lift off her shoulders, Patchouli quickly bows and says “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. I-I’ll be more thoughtful of my lady next time.” Remilia gently pats her head and says “well, you seem to be talking a little bit more than a few days ago. Tell me, did something happen?” Patchouli wants to tell her how grateful she is for giving her a home, yet doesn’t really remember why she feels this way, so she just smiles as much as she can, which isn’t that much, then says “I just wish to show my gratitude to you, miss Remilia.” Remilia smiles, feeling proud that one of her servants show such loyalty, then looks at Meiling and asks “and how about her? Think she’ll come through?” Patchouli straightens up and rushes to Meiling and places an open book in front of her and says “try and read that whole page and I’ll be back soon”, then rushes to Remilia and whispers “I need to ask you something.” After they hide behind a bookshelf, Remilia asks “what about Meiling?” Patchouli softly says “well, she seems very tired, and she’s complaining about her back. I did my best to heal her with a spell I found, but it’s as if she’s sleeping on the floor. Does she have a bed?” Casually, Remilia says “well of course, but she always sleeps coiled on the floor next to it.” Patchouli rubs her chin while thinking, then says “I see. Alright, I guess I have something extra to teach her, but she should come around soon, so don’t you worry about her.” Remilia looks away, wanting to say she doesn’t really care, but instead, she looks into Patchouli’s eyes and notices the admiration from her. She doesn’t want to lose her servants faithfulness, so she decides to nod, keeping her opinion about Meiling and her servants to herself.

Two years pass, and many things have changed for the inhabitants of the mansion. Remilia’s visits to Flandre have diminished, first visiting every three months, then only twice in one year, and this year, on the 8th month, she still hasn’t visited her sister. Meiling, after a whole year, has finally learned to speak fluently and be more thoughtful. On the second year, her skills in the garden have also improved, thanks to Patchouli’s books on channeling energy through tools, and although Patchouli meant for this to be used for defensive purposes, Meiling refuses to use weapons, and only channels her energy through objects when tending to the mansion’s garden. While in the darkness and gloom of her room, Flandre has lost herself, and constantly fights to find herself once more, breaking her toys, claiming all she wants to do is play, an excuse she’s using to make her search more fun for herself. She has also acquired a most peculiar ability only known by Remilia at the time. She has learned how to split her body into four parts, and uses this ability mostly to keep herself some company. Perhaps a desperate attempt to keep herself from completely falling into the precipice of madness. Koakuma has taken a liking to her job, and has settled down, yet she will sometimes play pranks to Patchouli or Meiling, and always keeps away from Remilia, knowing full well that if she makes the mistress mad, it could cost Patchouli her peace, or it could cost her own life. For Remilia, her hatred for Gensokyo hasn’t risen, thanks to Patchouli’s help, but it hasn’t left her either. She still hopes for the day that book can be found, and they can all move somewhere else; somewhere she could really feel at home once more. Although she knows of the human settlement, she hasn’t attacked the village yet, however, some foolish humans, claiming to be explorers, try to enter her mansion, and if they manage to get past Meiling somehow, they disappear without a trace, though the mansion knows full well about their fates. Finally, three nights before the next full moon, Koakuma lounges around one of the darkest and tightest corners of the library, ignoring Patchouli’s calls. She sighs and says to herself “geez, she’s already read through twenty books. Doesn’t she ever want to go to sleep? Huh, w-what?” Meanwhile, Patchouli sits on her desk with her unfriendly eyes, looking around for Koakuma while saying “Koa~, come on, need to finish this volume before I go to sleep.” From the other side of the library, Koakuma bursts to the air, screaming with excitement, and after she stops screaming, she excitedly calls “Patchouli! Miss Patchouli I found it! That book, it’s here, it’s here!” Patchouli’s eyes open wide as she excitedly asks “you mean, the black book of Ancient Arcane Spells lady Remilia was looking for?” Just like that, Patchouli starts to cough violently and drops to the ground, holding her chest while wheezing, trying to take a breath of air. Noticing Patchouli’s state, Koakuma drops the book on the desk and rushes to help the magician out. Finally, after managing to calm her down, and making her drink some water, Koakuma hands Patchouli the book, saying “it was hidden pretty well. I almost couldn’t see it.” Patchouli opens the book, and immediately notices its magical properties. She looks at Koakuma and says “we better find miss Remi, and quick.” As they fly through the mansion corridors, searching for Remilia, Koakuma asks “why is it so important to do this in such a hurry?” Though flying around, Patchouli reads through the first pages of the book while saying “this book has a powerful spell, and will disappear during the daytime. If I am sensing this right, it only appears for one night and disappears at dawn. The magic is chaotic, which means there is no set date for its next appearance.” Koakuma stares at Patchouli for some time, then says “wow, for a human, you are really good with this magical stuff.” Patchouli’s gaze suddenly changes to a sad expression as she looks back at Koakuma, then says “you could say I’m not really that much of a human, yet... I’m not that much of a youkai either.” Noticing the sadness in Patchouli’s eyes, Koakuma says “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“ Patchouli sets her unfriendly gaze again, signaling the little devil that she is alright, and they simply continue their flight around the mansion.

After flying all over the mansion for hours, Patchouli and Koakuma regroup at the mansion’s foyer, then Patchouli asks “did you find her?” Koakuma giggles and says “no, but it’s for the best. I forgot what I was supposed to tell her.” Patchouli groans in frustration, then excitedly says “it’s almost dawn! Where could she be?” Meiling suddenly bursts through the front doors, frightening Koakuma and making her fly to the ceiling. Patchouli looks at Meiling and asks “Meiling? You’re still on duty?” Meiling smiles as she rubs her forehead with the back of her dirty left hand, then says “ah, lady Patchouli. I was just taking care of the garden. That flower you asked me to grow is still... umm, what was that word... grow...ing. Yes, still growing!” Patchouli stares at Meiling with those seemingly unfriendly and uncaring eyes and says “you still have some trouble with that word. We’ll need to work on that, but now is not the time. Tell me, do you know where miss Remilia is?” Meiling chuckles and says “she is on the clock tower. Why, is something wrong?” Patchouli looks up and says “Koakuma, get the library ready. I’ll go get the mistress.” Outside the mansion, on the very top of the clock tower, Remilia looks to the night sky as the wind hits her face and makes her hair dance around her, letting it hit her face, feeling soothed by this simple pleasure. Patchouli’s voice reaches her, making her eyes glow red in anger, her peaceful moment ruined by her servant, yet she manages to sound as calm as she says “this better be important, Patchouli.” The magician shows the book, making Remilia gasps with undeniable excitement, even evident in her eyes. Down at the basement corridor, Patchouli says “and if we don’t do this now, we won’t be able to find this book again, you understand? We have to do this before the sun rises!” Remilia grabs hold of Patchouli and starts flying so fast the reach the library in seconds, and the library’s center in the fraction of a second. Koakuma has already prepared the spot in which Remilia will draw the magical circle, and with a smile she says “ready~” Remilia takes the book from Patchouli’s hands and lets herself fall to the floor, being careful not to hurt Patchouli, immediately opening the book and frantically looking through the pages, eager to find that spell again, thinking she can finally go to a new home, more suitable for her and Flandre, and all of their servants. She excitedly shouts “I can’t find it! I can’t find the DAMNED SPELL!” Patchouli shouts “miss Remilia, please, calm down! You’re turning the pages too fast!” Remilia shouts “it’s almost sunrise! We have to do this NOW!” With luck, she stumbles across the page she was looking for and hurries to read the incantation, and just as she places her fingers under the symbols, the sun rises and the book turns into a bright blue light before disappearing right before Remilia’s eyes. Patchouli and Koakuma are afraid of what might happen now. They think Remilia will take her anger out on them; that she will tear their limbs off and kill them both, but to their surprise, all Remilia says is “it... disappeared.” She looks up at Patchouli with empty red eyes, and softly says “it disappeared”, then slowly walks to the library’s entrance, letting her arms and wings hang limp, feeling her feet as heavy as though they are filled with lead. Her heart beats slow, but hard, hurting her every time it beats, as though cold and heavy thorns of ice have set themselves in there. Patchouli and Koakuma looks at each other, feeling relief they weren’t killed, but feeling empty after seeing Remilia’s reaction. Hours later, Patchouli follows Remilia to her room and enters without permission. Remilia sits on her bed, admiring her curtains and holding on to them as though contemplating their removal. When she looks at Patchouli with her empty red eyes, the magician decides to close the door behind her, walk to the bed and sit next to her mistress, take the curtains away from her little, yet dangerous hands, hold them tight, then look at Remilia. The mistress of the Scarlet Mansion suddenly sinks her face in Patchouli’s belly, and all over the corridors of the mansion, her wailing echoes through, even reaching Flandre, who lets a tear escape, even though she continues to smile while staring at the broken mirror in front of herself. Outside the gate, saddened, Meiling lowers her hat as rain starts to fall, mixing the noise of the water droplets fall, and the incessant cries of her mistress.

Three days later
It’s finally the night of the full moon, when Remilia is at her strongest. At the dinner table, extra lamps have been lit as Remilia, Patchouli and Meiling have their meal. It’s the first time Meiling has been allowed on the mistress’ table, and feels very nervous about it, so she tries her best to act as civilized as she can, even taking miniature bites of food every time she scoops something form her place. Remilia stares at her and says “Meiling, relax. I know you’re starving, so eat already.” She turns to her right and asks “are you sure it’s alright for you to be eating this stuff, Patchy?” Patchouli looks quite content after taking a bite of her meat, and after chewing and gulping down, she nods and says “yes miss Re... er, I mean, Remi. This food will no longer affect me in a negative manner. And thank you for having me at your table.” Remilia smiles and proudly says “well, having dinner alone is so boring anyway. I thought it was time for a change.” Meiling is finally taking larger bites of food, yet remains a bit nervous, while Remilia looks at her through the corner of her eyes, feeling as though she is looking, not at a servant, but as a member of her own family, yet she reminds herself that they are all just servants, even though she admits to herself that they are special. Patchouli suddenly remembers something, and after gulping down the bit of tea in her mouth, she asks “Remi, are you really sure you don’t want to read more about the Hakurei?” Remilia flaps her hand in the air and says “forget it. They are just humans. And besides, we haven’t done anything wrong.” Patchouli sighs, then says “well, alright, but I strongly suggest you at least have another look at the records. They are your family’s own records after all.” Remilia scoffs and says “that’s boring. I rather do something more interesting with my time.” The girls continue their dinner in peace, unaware that they are being watched from a distance. A figure sits on a tree branch with a clear view of the dining room window. The person scoffs and watches as the three girls get off their chairs and head their separate ways after some light chatter. A sinister sigh reveals the figure to be a woman, who jumps off the branch and rushes toward the gate. She is too late, as Meiling exits the mansion and promptly returns to her post. The woman growls with frustration, but continues to move forward. The mysterious woman reveals herself to Meiling, covering herself with a brown makeshift cloak, and only a red scarf can be seen escaping from under this person’s hood. With blue eyes, she looks straight at Meiling and says “get out of the way before I have to hurt you.” Meiling’s normal peaceful face turns furious at the sight of the intruder, and after she stances ready for a fight, she angrily says “I can’t let you through these gates! Please leave now or I will have to kill you!” The woman reveals a pair of large knives under the cloak’s long sleeves, then rushes straight at Meiling, who only has the time to cover her face before the cut.

To be continued...
Characters and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
JUL 28 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Note that this story has been and will be used as base for anything concerning the SDM's cast history on my stories, unless noted otherwise.
What can I say? I believe that once Patchouli settles into the Scarlet Devil Mansion, everything starts to lighten up a little, though not enough. Not yet at least. And Koa; what did you think of my idea on how she was recruited? Anyway, this chapter was a little easier for me to write. I’m getting more used to writing like this, and I think it’s good. It has allowed me to see how far I can go to convey emotions through writing. Also, take notice that by my understanding, when Remilia recruits Patchouli, Reimu is going through the “Phantasmagoria of Dim Dream” story, which is the reason she won’t go after Remilia or Patchouli after that incident in the village. Also, by the end of this chapter, Reimu is already done with the events of Mystic Square. I’m sure some of you know where this is going. Anyway, I want to thank you for reviewing and letting me know how I’m doing. It helps me know if, and where I may need improvement, and it also makes me very happy to know my work is being enjoyed. Please keep leaving reviews/comment. See you next chapter, if the spirits will allow, and take care.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Story of a Past Scarlet 3

A/N:
The following contains bloody scenes, so if you don’t approve of these, I suggest you hit the back button now. Keep in mind that although I am doing my best to follow ZUN’s vague details on the SDM’s past, I am still filling those gaps with my own idea, so you may disregard this if you like.

After so many hardships, and many days of rest, Remilia finally regains her full strength, but during that time of recovery, her bitterness got the best of her, and now only feels hatred for her current home, and her frustration only seems to grow as each day pass. Finally, after many failed attempts to find the magic book that could send them somewhere else, she decides it is time to find out more about her new home, whether she likes it, or not. Remilia decides to go out one night and explore, only to find out she’s living on an island, surrounded by a scarlet lake. Now, after just starting her exploration, Remilia comes across a powerful youkai that lives surrounded by a thick mist that surrounds the lake, and has threatened to end her life. Remilia pushes her scarlet spear straight at the face of the crimson haired youkai that attacked her, but the woman holds the fiery spear with her bare hands and pushes her back effortlessly. Surprised, Remilia stares at the woman and thinks “this is no ordinary youkai. She’s holding the Spear of the Gungnir with her bare hands, like it’s nothing at all.” Desperate, Remilia uses the other two large spear she holds on her left hand, and tries to sneak an attack to the woman’s right, yet the woman easily uses her right hand to stop the attack, while still pushing Remilia and the other spear back with her left. Remilia smiles as she is pushed back, then says “you certainly are special, lady. To be able to bare this pain for so long.” The woman winces as her hands start to burn, then surprises Remilia by letting herself sink underwater, making the vampire lose control and lunge straight toward a watery death, but Remilia isn’t just about to give up without a fight, and throws all three spears to the water, where they explode and cause a momentary vortex that allows her to touch the Lake’s bottom and jump out safely, before the water settles again and crashes on her. The woman slowly rises from the depths and walks toward the sizzling spot, thinking Remilia is dead, then turns around and walks away. Remilia swoops down as silent as she can, ready to strike the woman’s back with her claw, but the woman turns around, just as Remilia is inches away from her skin, then kicks the vampire up, opens her mouth, revealing four large fangs amongst her teeth, and fires a fiery-red beam at Remilia, who uses another scarlet spear to deflect it. After the attack ends, Remilia looks excitedly at the woman, smiling with malice as she thinks “this creature is amazing. I want her!” Remilia relaxes her eyes, yet her smile remains, then points at the woman and says “you are perfect. You would be a perfect guard for my mansion!” The woman glares back and replies “no!” Remilia swoops down, baring her claws ready to strike, shouting “I WASN’T ASKING YOU!” The woman manages to grab Remilia’s arm, and with some effort, keeps her claws away from her face while Remilia says “you see? You stopped me! That’s never been done before, especially when I am at my PEAK! You will be a great guardian indeed!” The woman uses the pressure being used by Remilia herself to try and claw her, and tosses Remilia with all her might to the shore, making her crash against a tree and sending her skidding against three more trees, bringing them all down by force, all before Remilia stops while facing up to the night sky, laughing. The woman rushes to Remilia, jumping in the air while raising her fist, intending to finish her off, saying “you cannot have Scarlet!” Remilia continues to smile, even though the woman’s deadly fist is right on top of her, and just as that fist lands, her body turns into many vampires that slip right under the woman’s attack. Confused, the woman looks around in fright, trying to find her opponent, unaware that the bat are all gathering right on top of her.

Meanwhile, at the mansion, the fairy maids all scatter around, trying to fly away from the basement. Some of them explode for no visible reason, their clothes and wings fluttering to the ground as the insane giggles of Flandre fill the corridors. The little blonde vampire manages to capture some of the fairy maids, bashing them against the walls to keep them unconscious as she drags them farther into the basement, giggling and innocently saying “a present for onee-sama for when she returns.” A disturbing smile fills the little blonde vampire’s face when she speaks in a more sinister undertone, saying “a present to make her happy again”, then giggles excitedly. Back outside, near the lake’s shore, the scarlet haired woman in rags relentlessly searches around her surrounding area for Remilia, unaware the vampire has taken her full form already and lurks above, making no sound as she floats down behind the woman. She reaches for the woman’s back, ready so sink her claws into her spine, then the woman turns around with a low kick to Remilia’s legs, making her trip and lift to the air, and before Remilia even falls, the woman connects a downward punch, making the vampire bounce hard against the ground, then connects a powerful punch that sends Remilia flying backward against various trees, destroying them in the process. Remilia finally stops her forceful flight when she sinks her claws on a sturdy rock and manages to stand on her feet, her dress torn and stained with some of her own blood. Angry, Remilia swipes the bit of blood from her mouth, smiles, then rushes straight back to the woman, reaching her quickly and moving fast around her to confuse her, then manages to kick her upward, sending her to the sky, then throws 6 small scarlet spears at her back, making her scream before falling down to the ground, where the writes around the ground while holding her back with her hands. Remilia smiles and says “give it up and accept your fate already.” After assimilating with the pain, the woman stands up with a defiant glare, then says “do not stop. You only stop when your opponent is dead.” Remilia smiles and flaps her arm to the right of her own face, pushing away a strand of hair from her eye, then says “my, I’m going to have a most efficient guardian for sure.” The woman rushes to attack once more, saying “I am not your guardian!”, trying to land a punch on Remilia’s face, only to miss and get hit on the abdomen. Taking advantage of the moment, the woman grabs Remilia by her hair and punches her face, then tosses the vampire to the air and swings a kick surrounded in a fiery energy, making Remilia retreat after recovering in mid-air, avoiding the woman’s attack, yet now has a large tear on her skirt. Watching her opponent, Remilia thinks “she’s strong, and my scarlet spells have little effect on her. I have no choice. I’ll have to try that.” Remilia rummages through her right pocket, and after finding what she was looking for, she looks at the woman and smirks. The woman’s eyes glow bright red, then she runs straight at Remilia, lifting her right hand with her fingers straightened out, and aim’s for the vampire’s neck. Remilia stands still and simply smiles while waiting for the attack to connect, and just as the woman’s fingers brush her skin, Remilia moves slightly to the left and pulls a glowing red dagger from her pocket and stabs it on the woman’s right thigh, making her scream and fall to the ground on her face. Desperate, the woman tries many times to take the dagger off, but a powerful energy shocks her every time she does. Remilia smiles and says “that pain you feel, coursing through your very bloodstream, is a curse that will drain you from all your strength, and eventually kill you.” The woman clenches her teeth while glaring defiantly at Remilia from the ground, then manages to stand up, ready to continue the fight. At first, Remilia snarls at the woman with hatred, but smiles, shrugs, then says “if that’s the way you want it...” Remilia rushes to her with all her speed, and once in reach, she claws her chest, her abdomen, the left side of her face, her right leg, her back, then finally grabs her neck and squeezes tightly. The woman feels as her consciousness drifts away, then softly says “and so... my death finally comes.” Remilia stares into the woman’s lizard-like eyes and says “from now on, you will serve me.” She pulls out the curse dagger from the woman’s thigh and throws it away, then releases her grip, letting the woman kneel to the ground while coughing, and continues “you will be my servant for the rest of your life. You will devote yourself to serving me and guarding my mansion, until the end of your time.” With those words, a strange gale blows around Remilia and the red haired woman, then the woman slowly closes her right eye and falls unconscious in front of Remilia’s feet. The vampire stares at her new servant, scratches the back of her head, cleans the blood from under her left eye with her bloodied right hand, then says “and now I got myself a new guardian.”

Moments later, Remilia arrives to her mansion, carrying the unconscious woman in her arms, and after landing on the front yard, she gently places her new servant on the ground and looks around, admiring her derelict garden, and feeling disgusted at the sight she says “I’m having the maids deal with this garden immediately. Huh?” Remilia turns to face her new servant as she starts to wake up, moaning softly. The woman manages to sit on her knees, looks around for a short moment, admiring her surroundings, then turns her full attention to Remilia, giving the vampire a great surprise. Her eyes have changed completely, turning into a beautiful aquamarine color, and no signs of her lizard-like pupils. Her face looks more relaxed and clean, and as she continues to stare at Remilia, the vampire can’t help but get lost in her innocent stare as she admires the woman’s newfound beauty. Remilia’s cheeks turn a little pink as she stares back, yet keeps her face straight, though keeps her lightly scowled eyebrows as she asks “what is it? You want another defeat?” The woman points at the vampire and whispers incoherently, infuriating Remilia, who shouts “speak up already!” The woman smiles and says “master.” Remilia is a little surprised, watching how the woman stares at her own hand, as if exploring her body for the first time. Remilia touches the woman’s head and lightly brushes her hands through her face, then grabs her chin and lifts her head to look straight into her now aquamarine eyes. After staring for a while, Remilia lets her go, and as if addressing a dog, she sternly points down with her right hand and says “stay~ You stay here while I take a look at something.” The woman smiles and nods, then, as if confused, places her hands on her neck and start to squeeze herself lightly, apparently wondering how she nodded. Remilia takes this chance to fly up as high as she can, then looks around the lake. The mist that was surrounding the lake before is completely gone, and the water itself seems more calm and bright. When Remilia looks down, she realizes the woman is flying along with her, holding to her left arm while looking lost and confused. Remilia angrily asks “didn’t I tell you to stay down there?” The woman simply stares back for a while, then says “master.” Remilia face palms while letting out frustrated sigh, then slowly descends along with the woman, asking “so you know I am your master, right? Do you know what you’re supposed to do?” After landing, the woman nods and says “guard master and home.” Remilia sighs and whispers “good”, then stares at the woman and thinks “I wasn’t expecting this at all. Changing her fate has completely erased her memory. It’s as if her entire past never happened for her. She’s a whole new youkai now.” Curious about something, Remilia says “I want you to punch me with all you got.” The woman shakes her head and says “master. Guard.” Remilia sigh, and sounding more aggravated, she commands “I ORDER you to punch me, NOW!” The woman gasps in fright at the sound of her mistress’ commanding voice, and although trembling, she manages to throw a punch surrounded in a multi-colored flames at Remilia, who effortlessly stops her punch. The woman breathes rapidly with fright, thinking her mistress might kill her, so she curves into a ball on the ground and waits by her mistress’ feet. Remilia simply stares at her and thinks “she lost a lot of her power, yet she’s still strong enough. I supposed I can keep her.” Afterward, she places her hand on the woman’s shoulder, making her yelp, then asks “hey you, what is your name?” A little frightened, the woman looks at Remilia, then calms down and smiles. After sighing impatiently, Remilia asks “do you even have a name?” The woman smiles as she shakes her head, then Remilia smirks and thinks “so, I get to give you a new name too. Well then, what should I call her? Hmm, let’s have some fun here.” Remilia smirks as she pulls the woman to her feet, saying “come on. Get up. I want to get a good look at you”, then walks around the woman, admiring her shapely body through the torn, dirty and bloodied rags she’s still wearing. Remilia hums and thinks “this woman is beautiful. Honestly, I could get jealous of her if I weren’t so gorgeous myself. Hmm, I’ll have the fairy maids cut her hair a little bit... it’s too long. Though her scarlet hair surely matches my mansion. Alright, that’s it.” Remilia stops when she’s right in front of the woman, then stares at her and says “from now on, your name will be Meiling Hong. You are to be the guardian of my proud mansion. You are going to stop any intruder from going inside, even by force if it’s necessary. You will also follow my every command without question, but don’t think it’s all bad. I will make sure you are well fed. I can’t have unhappy, scrawny servants. Did you understand what I just said to you?” Meiling smiles as she looks down to her mistress, then nods and says “Meiling Hong. Guardian for master.” Remilia face palms while shaking her head and sighs, then says to herself “I guess it’s fine this way.”

After giving her new guardian her new name, Remilia and Meiling enter the mansion, Remilia looking around the foyer, furiously saying “and where the hell are my maids? Ugh! Useless fairies! They’re probably playing somewhere!” Meiling taps her mistress’ shoulder, then Remilia turns around and shouts “what?”, only to notice that Meiling is pointing forward. Remilia turns to look at where Meiling is pointing to and sees a trail of blood and pieces of maid outfits all over the walls and floors. The vivid image of her recent loss immediately takes her mind, playing over and over again, making her heart beat faster, feeling terror creeping up her spine again, yet she keeps a straight face, the same face she kept when she found her maids all dead before, and seemingly calms, she says “Meiling... come with me, and stay close.” Like a lost child, Meiling clings on to Remilia’s left arm and walks alongside her as they both head toward the basement. As they slowly make their way to the basement, both fear and rage begin to claim the seemingly calm vampire, her face slowly turning form calm and emotionless, to furious and twisted, even snarling lightly while trying to keep her rage hidden from Meiling, who regardless of Remilia’s best efforts, has already seen that twisted face. As they walk further into the basement, dripping and fluttering noises catch Remilia’s ear, and before she calls, a fairy maid flies straight to her, hyperventilating and speaking rapidly, saying “miss Remilia, help! Little sister is out and hunting us!” Remilia looks up to the ceiling and notices a rope on the fairy maid’s ankle that reaches all the way up, then immediately cuts the rope with her claw, releasing the fairy maid and walking further inside. After turning a corner, they find all the missing fairy maids hanging by their ankles by ropes that are tied to the ceiling, their blood dripping to the ground, some even missing their wings. Some of the fairies are still dead, others unconscious, and a few are starting to revive or regain their consciousness. Remilia notices some of them have even been adorned with disfigured drawings on their bodies and clothes using their own blood. Before Remilia asks, Flandre’s voice echoes all over the basement as she says “aww, onee-sama got here too quickly. I couldn’t break that last one.” The free fairy maid whimpers and trembles behind Meiling, while Remilia strictly demands “Flandre, show yourself!” Flandre drops from the dark ceiling right on top of Remilia, giving her sister a hug from the back, saying “welcome home, onee-sama!” Remilia sternly asks “do you know what you have done, Flan?” A disturbing crescent smile fills Flandre’s face as she hisses and says “I made a present for onee-sama. Don’t you like it?” Remilia pulls Flandre from her back and forces her to stand in front, and with her eyes hidden under shadow and sounding furious, Remilia says “no! Flandre, they are our maids, not your toys! What is the matter with you, Flan? You were coming along so well! Snap out of it! Come back to me, Flan!” By now, Remilia notices her words go completely unnoticed, as Flandre is staring straight at Meiling, placing all her attention on the new servant. Noticing Flandre’s stare, Remilia shouts “Meiling, get out of here! Go!” Flandre snarls, then smiles and sounding disturbingly happy and dangerous, she says “she’s going to play with me!” Flandre pushes Remilia away, ready to attack Meiling, but Remilia recovers quickly and punches her sister, sending her crashing against the wall, saving Meiling’s life. Remilia looks back and shouts “Meiling, I ORDER you to go, NOW!” Meiling stares at Remilia with lost eyes, then says “must guard master.” Meiling runs ahead of Remilia, and just as the furious vampire turns around to scold her, she realizes Flandre has her fiery Sword of Loki falling straight at her, however, Meiling grabs the sword with her bare hands and pushes it back, though with great effort. Remilia notices the fire in the guard’s eyes, as though some part of her remembers what she used to be, but admirations will have to wait, as Flandre starts to smile and giggle as she uses even more power, trying to kill Meiling, and enjoying herself while doing so.

Meiling’s arms and legs begin to tremble as Flandre uses more power and strength, smiling wickedly as her sword slowly reaches Meiling’s face. Refusing to allow it, Remilia interferes with Meiling’s fate once more, and using one of her spears, she strikes Flandre’s rib as hard as she can, canceling Flandre’s own sword and saving Meiling. The guardian looks at her burning hands, and although she feels pain, she doesn’t understand what is happening to her, but her attention turn back to the battle when Remilia says “Meiling, you disobedient dragon, now look what you did.” Flandre gets up from the ground, giggling as she sits on her knees, then looks up with a crazed smile and says “that was good, onee-sama! Let’s play some more!” As if knowing what she is doing, Meiling raises her fists and bends her knees, readying herself for the fight, then Remilia sighs and says “fine, you can help me, but we’re having a serious discussion about obedience, young lady!” After turning to face Flandre, Remilia finds herself flying backward with one of Flandre’s large crimson orbs on her chest, while Meiling dodges all of the blasts by moving her arms, torso and legs accordingly. Flandre laughs and smiles as she says “you are fun! You are so much fun! Please don’t break too soon! I want to play with you for a long time!” Meiling simply stares back, awaiting Flandre’s next move. With a mad smile, Flandre lunges herself straight at Meiling, locking her hands with the guard’s, staring back at the longing face with her own maddened smile. As Meiling and Flandre push against each other, Flandre surrounds herself and Meiling with a powerful fiery aura, laughing manically as Meiling grunts and pushes her back. Remilia finally recovers and immediately rushes in, grabs Flandre, then pushes her back, making her slide all the way under the bleeding fairy maids, which are starting to wake up, one by one. Flandre looks up at the fairy maids, then one of the blood drops falls on her face, then another, and another. Flandre smiles widely, then laughs manically as she sits up and looks at Remilia and Meiling. Hissing, she gets up and slowly points up at Meiling and says “you haven’t broken yet! We must play more!” Ignoring Remilia’s spears, taking them head-on as she ruses to Meiling, Flandre’s smile grows wider along with her eyes the more damage she receives. Her clothes are in tatters and torn almost everywhere by now, yet all she wants to do is play her breaking game with the new servant. When she reaches Meiling, the guard is ready to punch her with a fist surrounded by multi-colored energy, so Flandre responds with a giant scarlet orb. Meiling unleashes her punch on the orb, causing a powerful explosion that sends her, Remilia and Flandre flying backward. Remilia gets back up while rubbing her head, then says “these two are going to destroy my mansion at this rate! I have to stop this now!” Meiling manages to get on her feet, and immediately pulls Remilia back up by her arm, looking worried at her mistress. Remilia dusts herself and says “it’ll take more than that to hurt me, Meiling.” Suddenly Remilia notices the rag Meiling was wearing is barely there; most of it burned off by Flandre’s relentless attacks. Leaving her mouth wide open, Remilia says “Meiling, we need to get you some new clothes.” Meiling looks at herself and gasps, touching her abdomen and looking at it as though it’s the first time she’s seen it, but her attention suddenly turns to Flandre, whose clothes are almost completely destroyed, having only a piece of cloth around her chest, and only the right side of her skirt. Still smiling and laughing manically, Flandre summons her scarlet sword again, and although she’s starting to breath with some effort, she giggles and says “come on, we still haven’t broken! Let’s continue playing!” Meiling prepares for another attack, but instead of rushing forth, Flandre stays where she is, staring with her widened eyes and crescent smile as she continues to giggle. Her sword disappears again, then a large grid made of green beams surrounds Meiling and Remilia, making them look as though they are trapped in a large bird’s cage. While they look for a way out, a large yellow orb courses through the grid, breaking it apart and sending its pieces at the two girls. Flandre laughs hard for a moment, then says “don’t let it touch you! It burns like hell!” Remilia glares at Flandre and grabs one of the floating fragments of the green beams, her hands sizzling the moment her skin makes contact with it, yet her face remains the same. She flies just above Meiling and lands on her arms, then shouts “Meiling, use that rainbow energy and throw me straight at her!” Meiling quietly nods and surrounds both hands with her energy, surrounding Remilia as well, and holding Remilia like a spear, she throws her straight at Flandre. The blond vampire watches with surprise as her sister flies straight at her, surrounded in scarlet and rainbow energy while holding on to the green beam fragment, and using that same hand, Remilia punches Flandre on the face, sending her sliding on her back to the other end of the basement corridor with a large burn mark on her cheek. When she finally stops sliding, Flandre looks up with a smile as Remilia now stands beside her, staring angrily back at her sister while ripping off her own burned hand, then asks “do you see what you are causing here, Flan?” Flandre giggles and weakly says “that... was fun.” Remilia continues to stare at the crazed expression on Flandre’s face, then asks “Flan, are you going to stop this? Are you coming back to me?” Flandre continues to smile, then finally realizes the pain in Remilia’s eyes. She calms down and frowns, then asks “onee-sama, what happened?” Remilia sighs and places her hand cupped on her forehead, then says “Flandre, you leave me no choice. I want to ask you to stay in your room, Flan.” Flandre nods and quickly says “ok.” Remilia closes her eyes and shakes her head, then calmly says “no, Flan... I mean for you to stay in your room... to never walk out of those doors until the end of your days. Do you understand what I am saying?” Flandre sits back up, a tear escaping her left eye as she looks around. She looks at the fairy maids as they try to get back down, the only free maid trying her best to free all her friends by blasting the ropes, then looks at Meiling and notices the burn marks all over her hands and body. She looks at her own hands and notices the blood on them, then looks at Remilia and stares at her troubled face and missing hand. Flandre gets up on her feet and gives Remilia a light hug, then walks to the silver door to her room and before opening it, she turns around and says “I will be good to onee-sama and obey her. I will never come out of this room again... until the end of my days.” She opens the door and walks through, slowly closing it behind herself, and once inside, her eyes glow scarlet and her mad smile seems to illuminate the room, then she sinisterly whispers “unless I get bored. Heh, heh.” After dealing with Flandre, Remilia turns around to find Meiling helping the fairy maids come down from their entrapment, one by one, while the only available fairy maid blasts her companion’s ropes, sending them dropping on to the floor, whether yet conscious or not. Remilia walks toward Meiling and says “Meiling, come with me. I can’t have you walking around like that in my mansion. Let’s find you some clothes.” Meiling stops helping out the fairies and immediately walks after her mistress, still looking a little lost. Remilia escorts Meiling to a cozy room, and inside a small closet in the room are a set of Chinese-like clothes in green. Remilia sighs as she takes the clean set of clothes with her, then says “ugh, if only the maids... Come with me, Meiling. We are going to take a bath, and you are going to put these clothes on. You are going to take good care of them. Now come, let’s get cleaned up.” As Remilia and Meiling walk down the corridors, Remilia has Meiling carrying towels with her, as well as a fresh set of clothes for Remilia. While they walk to the bath room, Remilia gazes at Meiling’s new clothes with longing in her eyes, then whispers “Flandre used to love our last guard so much. Too bad she...” Meiling stares at Remilia through the corner of her eyes, then manages to free one of her arms to gently pat Remilia on the head. The vampire is too distracted to take notice, so Meiling simply continues to try and comfort her master.

Three months later. Remilia returns to her mansion just as the sun starts to rise, and lands next to the gates, where Meiling immediately, and with great effort, manages to say “has... a nice trip.” Remilia sighs and says “no, Meiling. That is what you say to me when I leave.” Meiling stares at Remilia with curiosity, then Remilia continues “when I get back home, you are to properly greet me by saying ‘welcome home, my lady’. Understood?” Meiling stares at Remilia for a little longer, then smiles and with some effort says “wel... come... home... My lady! Welcome home... my lady.” Remilia smiles proudly and says “well done, Meiling. I guess you are learning something after all.” Remilia suddenly takes notice of all the bodies of dead youkai surrounding the gate, then notices Meiling’s hands, uniform and face are covered in blood. Angry, Remilia asks “what the hell is this?” Meiling whimpers and shivers while backing away, then says “intru... ders. They were intruders.” Remilia sighs as she places a hand on her own left eye, then rapidly takes it away and says “Meiling, part of your job is to make sure this area is clean when I get here! I mean, look at this mess! And look at you! How dare you present yourself to me looking like that? Ugh! Clearly, you need much more training.” By now, Remilia notices Meiling is staring at her with tearful eyes, so she tries her best to calm herself down and says “whatever. Just help me carry some of these inside. After that, I want you and some of the fairy maids to do something about the rest of these corpses. And do get yourself cleaned up.” Meiling quietly nods, then grabs four corpses, two on her shoulders and two on each hand, then follows after Remilia, who grabs two more. Before they go inside, Remilia takes notice of her garden. It’s cleaner than she remembers it, and she also sees some sprouts on the soil. She looks back at Meiling and asks “who cleaned this garden? Was it you?” Meiling smiles and nods, making Remilia smirk and say “I see. Well then, after you clean yourself up, I want you and the fairy maids to take care of this garden. I want those vines gone, and... well, make it look nice and clean, alright?” Meiling nods, then she and Remilia head inside with the corpses on hand. The rest of the day passes by quickly. While Remilia sleeps, some fairy maids at the kitchen prepare and store the meat and blood from the youkai corpses brought in earlier. Some of the fairies are jumpy, and any sudden noise makes them jump in place or hide, still remembering what happened with Flandre. Others, the ones that had died that night, have forgotten everything and continue living as normal as ever, fluttering about, almost cleaning everything they may find dirty in the mansion. Outside the mansion, Meiling and some fairy maids follow Remilia’s mandate, and are tending to the garden, surprisingly, not missing any details. Even more surprising is Meiling, who is taking this job more seriously than her guard duties, and eagerly plants flower seeds after preparing specific spots on the ground with her bare hands. Night comes again, and after her meal, Remilia decides to take Flandre’s meal to her room herself. Opening the door to the dark room, Remilia whispers “Flan~ It’s me, Remilia.” Remilia is greeted by a pair of glowing red eyes that seem to glare at her from the bed, but the voice of her sister comes through quite normally as she says “onee-sama, I’ve missed you!” Remilia smiles with relief and says “so you’re awake. I’ve brought you your dinner, Flan. I’ll just leave the plate here for you. A maid will come pick it up when you’re done.” Sounding disappointed, Flandre asks “eh? You’re leaving already?” Remilia nods and says “I need to take care of something very important, so I must leave soon. Sorry I couldn’t say longer.” Flandre Reveals herself from the darkness, her face looking a little twisted as she smiles at her sister, then gives her a very light hug. Remilia hugs her back, then says “I’ll try to stay longer next time, Flan.” Sounding a bit sinister, Flandre looks at Remilia and says “I understand. After all, my sister is the mistress of this mansion.” The sudden shock and surprise becomes evident in Remilia’s face, but before she manages to ask Flandre how she knows about the mansion, Flandre giggles and says “I’m not deaf, onee-sama. I’ve heard you and the maids talk about it. It’s ok, I understand now. You don’t have to worry about me.” Remilia wants to grab Flandre and take her with her outside, but the thought of Flandre losing control outside the mansion walls frightens her more than anything, so she just sighs and says “glad to see you are doing well, Flan. I’ll see you later.” Flandre smiles as Remilia closes the door, and with a wicked smile and sinister voice, she says “don’t keep me waiting so much onee-sama. Little Flandre misses you very much.” Outside the gates, Remilia says to Meiling “I’m going to investigate that settlement I saw yesterday. You keep the mansion safe, and remember to keep everything clean.” Meiling salutes Remilia and with some effort, she says “ha-ha... ve... a safe... trip.” Remilia stares back at her gate guard, but says nothing and flies away.

Far away from the lake where Remilia’s mansion hides, is a small human village, surrounded by a wooden wall with three gates on it. One to the east, headed toward a small shrine on a mountain after a long, long road. Another exit lies to the west, and another to the north. Many houses are settled in, some empty due to their owners being devoured by youkai when outside the safety of the village’s walls. In the center of this village, there is a large house that seems to be abandoned, as the outside looks derelict. The windows are extremely dirty, vines are growing all the way up to the roof, some of the windows have been covered by small wooden planks that have been nailed on, and the outside walls of the house look dirty, and in desperate need of repair. Signs of life quickly becomes evident when smoke starts to rise from the chimney, and a faint light begins to glow from inside, though it’s hardly seen through the dirty windows. It’s late noon, and a group of young humans rush to the house, and through the crack of one of the boards that covers a broken window, they spy on a young-looking woman. The woman has long brown hair that reaches to her lower back, tied with a small ribbon on each side, and wears a long purple robe over what looks like a long, vertically striped, purple and lilac pajama. She sits on a small rocking chair with a book on her lap, and her robe and pajama lift up enough to reveal the lilac sleeping sandals with ribbons she wears for shoes. The woman looks to the window and the young humans run away and scatter, speaking excitedly amongst themselves. One of the males says “crap, that witch saw us!” One of the girls angrily says “run before she turns you into a frog or something.” Another of the girls adds “disgusting hag! Probably used a potion to look beautiful.” The young man laughs and says “yeah. Probably uses human blood or something.” They all laugh as they run away, unaware that the woman is watching them from the window they were peeking through. With her seemingly uncaring purple eyes staring, she sighs, then turns around and goes back to her chair to read her book. Inside the large house, the woman adorns everything with stacks and stacks of books of different materials, though the majority are books on magic and spell casting, as well as potions and charms. There is a small bed on one of the smallest rooms, and it’s also covered in books, as well as a small, empty pantry near a dirty little kitchen. The woman sits close to the fireplace while silently reading her book with great attention, especially on how to make a special charm in the shape of a crescent moon. She suddenly closes her book and looks around her house, then gets up from her chair and starts rummaging everywhere. She looks through a small and seemingly empty shelf, and with a light smile on her face, she pulls out a small black stone that shines against the light from the chimney’s fire. After that, she rushes to her kitchen and finds a golden plate that seems it was from a larger kitchen set, though the only remaining item from that set is a simple-looking golden cup. After placing the stone and the plate on a small round table, she rushes to the tiny bedroom and jumps on her bed, avoiding stepping on the books, then opens a small cabinet that hangs right above the bed and pulls two vials from inside; one full of a pink liquid, and the thinner one filled with a green and gooey liquid. The thin vial falls from her hands and goes straight to the floor, but after the woman mutters quickly, the vial start to float, avoiding being shattered and spilled on the floor. The girl sighs and smiles, then suddenly starts to cough and the vial drops to the ground, though it doesn’t shatter. Taking her time to recover her breath after coughing so vigorously, the woman jumps out of her bed, looking almost as though she flew, then lands on the floor next to the vial, picks it up, and with a smile on her face she rushes back to the large living room where the other two items she picked wait for her. Finally, she goes back to her kitchen and opens a large cabinet that contains a single large, black cauldron. With a happy sigh and light smile, the woman grabs the cauldron, and with great effort, she takes it back to the living room. After mixing in the ingredients; first pouring the green gooey substance, then the rock, then the pink liquid, and finally the golden plate, she grabs her book again and speaks an incantation. After the cauldron starts glowing, she closes her eyes and smiles, then says “I hope it works.” The light stops and the cauldron now looks empty. The woman frowns and whimpers, thinking the enchantment failed. She looks inside the cauldron, the gasps with excitement as she smiles wide, then excitedly puts her hand inside and pulls a small crescent gold moon. She hugs it and twirls in place, then lifts it in the air as if trying to show it off, then remembers she is alone. Her excitement rapidly leaves her as she looks around, and with a frown on her face, she says to herself “that’s right. All I have is you... my books.” Suddenly, her stomach starts to grumble, making her finally realize she is starving. She sighs and immediately heads to her kitchen, and after looking through all the cabinets and the small pantry, she realizes there is no food left. Looking a little frightened, the woman says “I need to buy food.”

As the woman walks out of her house with a medium sized basket on her left arm, she grabs her hat from a rack next to the door, then places her new crescent moon on it. With a small smile on her face, she looks at the door and her smile immediately vanishes. She walks out her door with evident fear in her eyes, then heads to the market area. By now night has taken over and many of the shops are closed, as well as there are less people now, so it’s a bit more comfortable for the woman to do her quick shopping. After picking some bread, fruits and some tofu, the woman pays the glaring store owner, trying to smile at him to soften him up, but she feels a bit afraid, so her smile falls short. She quickly hears the whispers of a couple as they speak to each other. The woman whispers “hey look, it’s that weird witch.” The man whispers back “let’s get away from her before she does something weird.” The quiet woman rapidly turns around, a tear clinging under her left eye, then opens her mouth to speak and defend herself, but she notices the few villagers there are all glaring and her fear gets the best of her. She turns around again with a red face and hurries away, but not before hearing the villagers whispering amongst themselves. One says “I thought something would come out of her mouth.” Another says “she’s so gloomy. She’s like a ghost.” A woman adds “she’s better off being dead anyway.” Another woman says “no wonder she doesn’t have any friends. She’s too damned weird.” A man adds “why won’t she just leave us?” The woman quickens her pace, her eyes hiding under shadow as she cries back to her home. After the long walk back home, the woman has finally calmed down, and the sight of her home sets her heart at ease, but before she is even close to the door, she turns her attention to her left, where a voice calls “pst. Pst! You, over here. There’s a strange book that fell from the sky just now.” The woman stops completely and continues to stare toward the voice. Her love for books kicks in, and her desire to investigate becomes strong, yet something inside her warns her of danger. She ignores this feeling and goes straight toward the voice, her eyes starting to gleam with excitement as gets closer. On the floor, right next to her house, lies a small book with a purple cover on the ground. She rushes to pick it up with a smile, only to realizes it’s not even heavy, and as soon as she opens it up she realizes it’s been stuffed with feathers between the very few blank pages it has. A man’s voice shouts “NOW!”, and water comes pouring down on her from a bucket on her ceiling, and tied to this bucket is a long rope that goes all the way toward a bearded man, hiding behind some boxes. Frightened, the man shouts “she’s not melting! The book said she would melt!” The woman is soaking wet, all her food now lies on the ground, her bread ruined and all her fruits and vegetables wet and dirty on the ground. While a group of men angrily speak amongst themselves, calling her a witch, and loudly planning on their next attempt to murder her, the woman starts remembering days past. The people always avoid her and call her names on her back when they think she isn’t listening. The children call her an evil witch, even though she tells them she’s not evil. She remember herself crying in the safety of her home while her closest neighbors knock on her door, demanding her to come out and explain the death of their cats. She remembers shouting from inside, drowning in her own tears, telling them she’d never hurt anyone. She even remembers one time when she got back to her home, how someone had taken her own cat, poisoned the creature, then tied its tail to a rope above her door with a sign that read “Get Out” The woman slowly returns from her thoughts, only to find the men bombarding her with eggs, repeating “evil dies when brought to the light!”, chanting this over and over while attacking her. One of the men loses his temper and throws a rock at her, hitting her on the right of her forehead, making her kneel on the ground while holding her head, blood dripping from her forehead to the ground. The woman can’t take much more; she can’t even feel the pain from that large gash on her head, then in a sudden burst of rage the woman rises to her feet, screaming enraged at the top of her lungs, her brown hair suddenly changing to purple as large daggers rise from the ground behind her and fly straight toward the man that threw the rock, falling dead on his back in an instant after the daggers strike him. The other men fall silent, and while trembling, the bearded man points at her and says “sh-she’s revealed herself!” Another shouts “get the Hakurei maiden!”, while the woman’s closest neighbors all walk out of their homes, glaring at her.

The woman realizes she just killed a man, and fear immediately takes over her. She knows she has crossed a very dangerous line, and there is no way for her to turn back now. She tries to run back to her house as fast as she can, but she quickly realizes there are two men with pitchforks standing too close to her door. She tries to run back to the market, but realizes a woman with a dagger, and two men with wooden stakes walk closer to her. There is nowhere to run as the villagers encircle her, trapping her against the walls of her own house. The woman screams “I’m sorry! I just got so mad! I swear, I didn’t mean-“ The woman ducks in time to avoid a large butcher knife that was headed straight to her face, and while cowering on the ground, she crawls toward her house, placing her back against the wall, then shouts “I DIDN’T MEAN TO!” The villagers get closer, encircling her like an animal, a woman saying “I knew it! It was just a matter of time before she’d kill someone!” A man shouts “hah! She’s probably killed others by now!” Another shouts “don’t let her escape!” The woman looks up at her attackers with tears in her eyes, shouting “no, you can’t! NO!” A hand reaches for her, but before it touches her, her eyes start to glow blue, a magical wind starts blowing around her, she starts to hover just above the ground, then she starts muttering a spell. A woman screams “hide! Hide! She’s going to kill us all!” Before the attackers can run, the woman gets surrounded by many blue orbs that drop like countless bubbles toward the villagers. When these bubbles touch the first victim, the explosion caused by them causes the man to lose half of his torso, then three laser beams that fly from the woman’s fingertips go straight through the woman with the knife, making three small holes, two on her chest and another on her abdomen, and that’s when the villagers all panic and try to run away. Another man falls victim of the exploding bubbles, then another falls victims to the lasers. The villagers scatter, the woman’s neighbors all entering their homes to take their children away, then it all stops. When the woman regains her senses, she realizes she has a total of seven dead villagers around her. Her eyes open wide, her pupils shrink, her mouth wriggles as it turns into an insane smile, then she starts to hyperventilate. Raising her right hand in the air, the woman summons a larger set of lasers that move slowly in a circle, destroying the walls from the houses of her neighbors, as well as her own house’s wall. Laughing manically, the woman continues to fly higher as she unleashes her beams and magical orbs on the villagers, but then she stops and looks around her. She falls hard to the ground, where she starts to scream while her tears run through her face. She can’t take much more and points her own hand at herself, preparing to end her life with a blast from one of her own spells, but a call from a villager gets her attention. A man screams out loud “VAMPIRE!” All the villagers in the area scream in fear, some calling for the Hakurei maiden as they all run away. Remilia stands on the woman’s roof, looking curiously at the situation while thinking “this woman would be a great asset to my mansion.” Finally, after the villagers leave the area, Remilia floats down, revealing herself to the woman, extending her arm, asking “how would you like it if you could live in the greatest library ever known, a place where you could practice your magic and experiment in peace; a place you could call home?” The woman stares back at the vampire with a lost and frightened expression, while still holding her own hand pointed at her head.

To be continued...

Characters and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
JUL 25 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Note that this story has been and will be used as base for anything concerning the SDM's cast history on my stories, unless noted otherwise.
For those of you wondering, yes I have read a doujin for Remilia and Flandre’s past story, as well as one for Meiling, and COUNTLESS for Sakuya. Being honest, I am using my vague memory of these manga to visualize the scenes, though res assured, I am doing my best to keep it original, as well as keep the canonical things in place, as they should. Also, from a question in the reviews; I know I answered this already but: The name for Shurelia I got as a suggestion from a friend, seeing as I needed to name the chief maid in order to give her move of a personality. Honestly, I was just going to call her “chief maid” but doing that wouldn’t do much for the story.
Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I am glad you are liking my view of the SDM’s past story. Again, I am trying to be as faithful to ZUN’s vague information, and filling in the gaps on my own, using some doujins I’ve read as base for visualization. This is really hard for me to write, but it’s starting to become a little easier now. Well, thank you again for reading and please leave a review/comment. I really appreciate those, and they let me know if I am doing a good job or not. Until next chapter. Take care.