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.

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