Author's note: Just my little take on an oft-overlooked yet definitive incident in Gensokyo's past. I might write a second chapter detailing the fallout of the incident a bit more. This is more or less my headcanon of what happened.
Yukari's Home
"A vampire? You really let a vampire into Gensokyo? Are you mad?" Rin Satsuki simply couldn't believe her friend had gone behind her back on something this important.
"She found her own way in, somehow. She has a magician in her employ, which is likely how she managed it. I don't see what the problem is." Yukari sat in a comfortable chair in her home as she entertained Rin's questions.
"Do you have any idea how huge their feeding grounds usually are? Gensokyo simply cannot support one! There aren't enough people!"
"So we'll work something out; she leaves them alive when she feeds and you just heal them up afterward."
"You would really shackle your best friend to a monster like that? It would be nothing less than enslavement, and I, for one, won't stand for it."
"I don't know why you're bringing Yuyuko into this. She's already shackled-"
Rin was struck speechless. "But... after all we've been through..."
Yukari laughed. As ancient as Rin was, she still just never quite caught on. Of course, that's why Rin was Yukari's best friend. Yuyuko was a close second, of course... sometimes Yukari wished an equal, and Yuyuko was able to keep up. It helped her keep herself balanced, as well... too much time around the princess of the Netherworld could distort her views, but so too would too much time around a manifestation of life like Rin. "I'm just kidding, Rin. What do you suggest, then? Removing her would be easy enough, but ensuring she can't return is likely beyond me. I don't even know how she got here in the first place."
"Yes... yes... and if we simply kick her out, she'll just be more angry when she comes back. And trust me, you don't want to see a vampire throwing a temper tantrum." Rin shuddered at the thought, and from what Yukari had heard of vampires, it wasn't hard to understand what she was getting at.
"Alright. I'll set up a meeting... should I bring the shrine maiden along?"
"No... I think some matters are best settled between youkai. Her lot in life is hard enough without running afoul of a vampire."
"If you think she won't be needed, then very well. I'll have a few words with our illegal immigrant soon."
The Scarlet Devil Mansion
"Who are you? How did you get here? Tell me!" The childish tone perfectly fit the childish body that protested Yukari's sudden appearance.
"Oh my... someone should teach you some manners, little girl. Nice place you've got here, though. I suppose the spatial warping of the interior is the work of your magician? It certainly explains how you slipped past the barrier." Yukari paid little mind to the half-pint, and looked around instead.
"I'm not the one who's breaking into people's homes!"
"Actually, that's exactly what you've done. And unless you offer me a good reason, this mansion and all its occupants are going back where they came from."
"If you could remove us that easily, you already would have. Patchouli and Sakuya have anchored us here well, and you're not going to be rid of us just like that."
Yukari laughed aloud. "Well, at least you aren't stupid. So what is your name, child?"
"I'm hardly a child... I'm over four centuries old! And my name is Remilia Scarlet. May I have the 'pleasure' of learning yours?"
"Of course. I'm Yukari Yakumo, and I'm running a bit of a preserve here. If you don't cause trouble, you can stay... but I've heard vampires are nothing but trouble. You won't be one of those, will you?"
"Of course not. Wherever I go is graced with my presence, and those in my good favor receive good fortunes. And I trust as the local 'authority', you won't be getting in our way hunting. You're a youkai yourself; surely you understand our needs."
"Of course. Just don't harm the human villages and we'll get along fine."
"Don't harm the... are you kidding? What do you eat here?"
"Vegetables, rice... Sake of course, and some cattle, too. We may be monsters, but we're not the uncivilized ones of the outside world."
"I suppose I can live with that. Don't worry then. We aren't much for greens, so we'll stick to cattle."
"Good. Welcome to Gensokyo, Remilia Scarlet." Yukari stepped through a gap... though she realized perhaps she'd best keep an eye on this one.
A week later.
"I'm here to speak with Remilia Scarlet." Rin looked over the gatekeeper warily. She looked normal enough, wearing a green chinese dress and matching beret, sporting a braid in her long red hair and standing calmly vigilant. Appearances could be deceiving though, and anyone who would willingly serve a vampire was either mad or evil to the core.
"I'm sorry... Rin Satsuki was it?"
"Rin will do fine."
"Rin, then. Sorry, but the mistress is out of the mansion on a hunting trip."
"Its those exact hunting trips that I need to speak with her about."
"You're welcome to wait at the gate, I suppose. She ought to be back before sunup, obviously."
The two sat for a while. After some time, the guard started going through a series of exercises, and Rin was treated to quite a sight. There weren't a great many who could manipulate Ki as Rin could, and while this guard was far from Rin's own level of skill, her ability to do it at all was impressive. Coupled with her dress and the nature of her exercises, she seemed to come from the mainland... which wouldn't be especially odd if the mansion she guarded weren't so clearly European.
"You're a bit of an odd guard. I'd like to speak with you later, perhaps." Rin couldn't help but wonder what someone with such obvious mental discipline was doing aiding a vampire. Perhaps there was more going on here than she suspected. The guard paid her little mind, focused as she was on her meditations, but it was only a few minutes more before Remilia came back. Her dress was stained red with fresh blood, doubtless from the badly injured, still living human she carried in her arms.
"Oh, we have a visitor, Meiling? Well, I'll speak with her here and watch the gate while you Go fetch Sakuya and tell her to get ready to prepare dinner." The vampire then turned to Rin as the gate guard ran off into the mansion. My apologies for not being here to receive you, I was just out grabbing a snack. Would you like a drink?" Remilia held the body out, and Rin slammed it out of her hand.
"No. In fact, you are to cease your killing of humans from now on. Yukari did explain to you the rules, didn't she?"
"Yeah, she did. Only feed from the cattle. So that's what I'm doing. Well, what I was doing. That one's all covered in dirt, now... Guess I had better go out and find a fresh one." Remilia gestured to the poor soul she'd gathered, still drawing weak, desperate breaths.
"Those are people!" Rin shouted.
"No. They are cattle, and they are fools. A person would have begged for their life or something... rather than stand in shock as I took their arms. I thought Yukari said youkai live here... yet the people here don't fear them."
"We've learned to live in peace, you fool! Your thoughtless murders threaten-"
"Your thoughtless peace threatens our very existence!" Remilia shot a piercing gaze at Rin. The Kirin felt some magic at work... felt her Ki being warped by the vampire's gaze, but managed to keep it under control. Remilia acknowledged this, and the gaze softened.
"See, you are a person. You refuse to submit to a mere glance. And yet, almost all the 'youkai' I've run into here lack even that will. They've lost all drive. And I intend to give them back what they've lost, before they lose themselves."
"How poetic. And you believe murdering people in the dead of night will... what, reinvigorate youkai? Youkai that are perfectly happy the way they are?"
"They aren't happy; they're dying, and too numb to even realize it. And no, I don't believe my hunting will change things. But I came here to escape the outside world and its people, all dead inside. Only to find out this place is no better! And though changing the world is within my grasp, changing this small country would be easier."
"We won't let you just continue, Remilia! No one but no one can stand against us. Least of all some young upstart who hasn't even seen her first thousand years."
"Then try. Try to stop me. Try as no one else will: I relish the thought of fighting against such resolve."
"Enjoy the image while you can, for you won't like what comes afterward. Your days are limited, Remilia. Change your ways or we will strike you down."
"Even if you could, you shouldn't. But I can already see you're done discussing this. Begone." Remilia flew back into the night, leaving the badly injured young girl she had brought. Rin picked her up and healed her... and the doubts and fears the vampire had put into Rin faded away with the priceless words of the girl now spared from death. The words that made it all worth it.
"Thank you."
Yukari's Home
"Again? She still refuses to stop? Rin's usually so good with people." Yukari frowned. She wasn't used to things not going her way, and being awakened in the middle of the day didn't help her mood any. Remilia had been stealing humans from the villages... two a night, but that was simply too many. At that rate, the villages would be empty within a few years... Rin hadn't been kidding about vampires needing a lot of living space.
"I guess vampires aren't people, then. At this rate, the human population won't be able to sustain itself any longer within a few-" The nine tailed Fox Youkai Yukari had bound as her shikigami was at times a handy advisor, and had been a useful spy, easily accepted among the humans as she was. Right now, she was unmatched at the annoying art of stating the obvious.
"I know, Ran."
"She also has been gathering youkai to her cause, and now they've begun to attack the villages as well."
"I know, Ran."
"I know. I just thought you might like to see them in action."
"Ran, it's noon. The Youkai are-"
"Wide awake, and attacking villagers in the light of day." Ran finished Yukari's sentence a different way than Yukari had intended. The youkai of boundaries found it difficult to believe... she'd made it clear that youkai weren't to attack people, and that the night was when they were allowed to roam free. Roaming about during the day was forbidden nearly as strongly as attacking humans in the first place... to do both at once showed a complete disregard for the rules Yukari had set up.
Yet when she opened a gap to one of the villages on the outskirts of her country, she could hardly believe the carnage. There were only a dozen youkai... the humans outnumbered them ten to one, easily. Numbers meant little though; youkai possess remarkable strength and endurance, and the humans were ill equipped to deal with them. The village was doomed if Yukari didn't intervene... yet she knew interfering now would only cause youkai casualties to be added to the list.
"Great... Ran, if they attack another village, send the Shrine Maiden to them. It seems the lesser youkai may have forgotten their place."
One of the Human Villages Later that Evening
"Reimu! Oh, thank heavens! Everyone, The Hakurei Shrine Maiden is here! We're saved!" The villager wept tears of joy as she saw the familiar red and white outfit. The Shrine Maiden's face, crowned by her long violet hair, showed her annoyance... she had just been getting ready for dinner when Yukari had shown up and sent her here to solve some youkai attack. It wasn't difficult, of course... the youkai here were weak, and Reimu had honed her family's traditional boundary arts into an perfect defense. Should she wish it, nothing could touch her, while she was free to attack with impunity. She wasn't the first to learn it, and she doubted she would be the last, but it was a comforting technique regardless.
Given her mood, she was perfectly willing to employ that technique now, removing her mortal weaknesses and transcending her body itself, floating free from the world. Then it was a simple business of stopping the four youkai with a few sealing amulets, and the village was saved. It had been odd for such a large attack to happen, and it seemed it would be neither the first nor the last.
"Yukari, I'm done. Send me back." She said to the air once the villagers had thanked her and left. Naturally, there was no reply.
"Great. Of course she wouldn't think to send me back to my dinner. Now it'll be all soggy and cold..." Reimu sighed as she began to fly back to the shrine, her stomach growling.
"If it's about Remilia, Ran, I don't want to hear it." Yukari growled. The vampire had riled up the youkai, and now even the villagers were beginning to take up arms... the peace Yukari had spent centuries fostering was at risk of breaking forever.
"I... oh. Uh. Should I... just... go then?" Ran was confused. Yukari had earlier told her to keep tabs on Remilia and fill in Yukari when necessary, but...
"No, just... just tell me what it is. What did she do now?"
"Well, she's gathered up a lot of the youkai... and they wish to speak with you about their 'independence'." Ran's tone made it clear Remilia wasn't ready to accept 'buzz off' as an answer.
"Fine. I'll show her why she shouldn't disturb my garden. Get Rin and the Shrine Maiden and meet me at her mansion. The kitsune nodded and left through a gap. Doubtless Reimu would be angry at being awakened in the middle of the night, but that was fine. She fought best when angry, and Remilia needed a good paddling to go with the humble pie she'd started baking for herself.
The two forces stood against each other. On one side, Remilia and her servants; various youkai she had coerced and manipulated into working under her. On the other, there were merely four: Yukari and Ran Yakumo, The Hakurei Shine Maiden, and Rin Satsuki. And yet Yukari knew it was an unnecessarily large show of force she had brought along. Any one of those four names would be able to handle the throngs of youkai arrayed before them, and any one other could likely handle Remilia herself.
"You don't get it, do you? Your little 'Youkai Paradise' is doomed to fail. We are not animals to be kept in a cage. Maybe you can survive easily, able to leave whenever you want. But I need food, and you aren't providing. You ask why I destroyed those villages? Simple, we need sustenance. And as for obeying your arbitrary edict? Hah! Why should we? And… " Remilia gestured to the large force of assorted youkai she had gathered. "It seems I have more support than you. You've underestimated a vampire. A mistake few have survived, and I doubt you'll be the first. Even worse, you've underestimated me." Remilia gave the signal, and the battle erupted.
It was hardly even a fight. As expected, Yukari's companions had absolutely no difficulty avoiding or enduring their foes attacks, (Rin had never been great at dodging, but with regeneration and endurance that would shame an oni, she had never really needed to learn). Even when Remilia was bound within an area by Yukari, and with all those under her command even more subdued, the vampire still refused to surrender.
"To surrender here would be to die... and itt would ensure all of your deaths as well. My sister... when she gets hungry, she gets crazy. Last time that happened, we had to move here, there was so little left."
Yukari spoke "You think I can't handle a little pair of vampire brats?", smug in her victory. And indeed, their victory had been complete. There were minor scratches among the four, with a few more serious wounds inflicted by Remilia herself. Poor Ran had suffered all of them, of course. Yukari would consider giving her some tofu later to make up for the trouble.
"I know you can't handle my sister, Flandre. Not when she's hungry. I'll keep fighting until I can't anymore, because we need food, and you need us to have it."
Yukari scoffed and beat and abused Remilia. No one disturbed Gensokyo's peace and simply walked away, no matter how mighty. As dawn approached, Yukari finally let her go, unwilling to kill a youkai. Yukari knewthe little brat was exaggerating, and hoped the incident had beaten some sense into the child.
Remilia wasn't finished, though, and at the next sunset was once again in a village, and had killed one person already, and was clearly intending on a few more. Without an army backing her up, the results were even more one sided, and once again she failed to strike any sort of bargain.
"If you don't let us feed, you're going to regret it! You will give in. You must." Remilia managed to limp back to the mansion, but Yukari kept a close watch on it, and when Remilia tried to slip out the next day, Yukari and her trio of companions were there to stop her. The vampire had an addiction, and they would fix it; they would make her realize she didn't need blood any more than youkai needed meat.
This continued for about a week, Remilia growing increasingly more desperate. Her endurance had begun to fade, and she seemed more and more weary every day as she went out. Then, on the seventh night, she didn't leave for several hours. Once it had gotten well past midnight, the quartet disbanded... it was too late for Remilia to get into any real trouble, and they all breathed a sigh of relief... the crisis had passed.
The Hakurei Shrine, in the twilight of dawn
Reimu was awakened by the claws ripping through her door as the sun was getting ready to rise. Within moments, adrenaline flooded her body and she stood ready to face the intruder, though it wasn't quite what she was expecting.
Remilia lay on the ground, missing an arm and a leg, with her remaining leg badly mangled and her wings shredded. Her clothes were tattered and bloodstained, and she looked up at Reimu...
"I tried to warn you... I really did." Remilia sobbed pathetically. " It's too late, now... she'd be as likely to destroy her food as eat it. You and your damned failures of youkai have destroyed us all."
"What are you talking about?"
"I barely managed to escape... I think they managed to keep her inside... but once night falls... just... enjoy your last day alive... I fought... hard enough for it." Remilia crawled into a corner that would remain shaded, digging deep claw marks over the shrine's floor... and passed out.
That Night...
A large explosion erupted from the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Knowing Remilia to still be bound and recuperating at the shrine, curiosity and concern filled the four guardians of Gensokyo. They flew to the mansion, wary and ready for battle.
They were greeted not by the gate guard, but by another young girl, likely the sister that Remilia had mentioned. She had blond hair and some strange, artificial wings, bearing gems colored as the rainbow, though her outfit was a simple red dress. And while Remilia had remained in control, even while she was growing desperately hungry for blood, this vampire had no such restraint.
"Where's my food!? You! You four! I need some humans! Give them to me now!"
Yukari scoffed and began her assault, aided by her shikigami and companions. The young girl just reached out, and all of their attacks were suddenly gone, the sky clear of the magics that had been filling it mere moments ago.
"I'm HUNGRY! Give me some humans or I'm going to kill and eat whatever I find until I get one!" The vampire insisted.
Yukari, realizing that this vampire at least fought differently, changed her tactics. She opened gaps near the vampire, and used one hand to grab all four of the vampire's limbs.
"Look, we've defeated your sister countless times, and you're not going to do any better. You'll get over the craving for human blood before long, don't worry." Rin spoke up.
The vampire, though, seemed to be consumed by rage and hunger, having lost what small control she had clung to. There was no speaking to one so far gone. Then, the vampire clenched her right fist, and Yukari's arm was gone. Not merely damaged, but completely absent. Flandre, now free, began drumming her fingers on her palm, as though she were typing something, as dozens as attacks flew at her.
"Food, NOW! I'm HUNGRY!" Flandre shouted as every attack launched at her was defeated. Rin had healed Yukari's arm, but no assault reached Flandre. Even opening gaps near her failed as they were themselves almost instantly removed. Yukari grew worried… never before had anyone else been able to manipulate her gaps. Still, the four continued to try, knowing that with Rin on their side, any battle of attrition would be a victory. Flandre blasted them with wildly destructive spells, but Rin's unparalleled healing arts seemed to be keeping the damage under control. Flandre's rage grew and she howled in frustration. Realizing she wouldn't get anything out of these four, opened her fist, ready to deliver a crushing attack.
Yukari and Ran very quickly used gaps to avoid Flandre's sight, and the shrine maiden floated out of reality… But Rin had no such tricks.
Flandre closed her fist, and a great many things happened at the same time. Rin was gone. No blood, no scream, nothing. One of the most powerful youkai of Gensokyo was gone… so far gone, that none would ever remember the numerous lives she had saved, the many she had helped.
The shrine maiden's ability had saved her from the initial negation, but Flandre's attack had destroyed her invulnerability and pulled her back into the world. The shrine maiden's breath was quickly stolen from her and she felt as though she would explode, but the slashing wind that rushed into the vacuum was little relief as it cut into her, digging deeply with bits of debris mixed in from the ground, which now sported a large crater. She fell, bleeding and now unconscious, from several hundred feet up after being held aloft by the wind and debris. The gravity she had so easily ignored until now took its revenge, finishing what Flandre had started.
The attack reached into Yukari's gap, emptying what had been her collection of various artifacts collected through the years. The attack reached so far that it even hit Yukari, who had thought herself safe in the world outside of the Hakurei Barrier, though because of the distance and the poor way it was defined in the gap, she was only slightly effected. She hovered in awe that an attack could pass through the bizarre world she used so frequently. Panicking, she grabbed the nearest passerby suddenly, who cried out. Moving quickly, Yukari made another gap back to the fight in Gensokyo dragging her hapless victim along.
Flandre immediately saw Yukari and opened her fist, but Yukari quickly threw the victim at Flandre, startling her into catching the body.
"There's your human. Enjoy."
Flandre did just that, taking large bites out of the human, swallowing occasionally, and spitting out most everything that wasn't blood. There wasn't anything left of the poor human by the time she had finished... even the bones had been chewed up and spat out. Afterward, Flandre seemed to have calmed greatly. "I'm hungry… Hey lady, do you have any food? Sis says there's been a shortage because of some mean youkai."
Yukari surveyed the horrible destruction. She saw what remained of the shrine maiden in the middle of the crater hundreds of feet below, noticing Ran, out of breath and badly injured, had finally managed to catch up to her master.
How had this gone so wrong? She hadn't counted on Remilia's sister being anywhere near this destructive.
"I'll talk with your sister about seeing what I can do about that mean youkai. We might be able to get you some more food from outside…." Flandre, satisfied with this, flew away.
"Oh, you should probably get her some more food, though, she's pretty hungry too. She didn't put up a very good fight last night. She was worried I'd cause trouble if she let me out, she said. But I didn't, see! I just got some help. Sis is so silly." Flandre seemed completely ignorant of the destruction she had wrought as she flew happily back to the mansion.
Yukari brought several more hapless human victims to the vampire's mansion soon after. Upon reviving and feeding Remilia (who was relieved Yukari had finally given in), they worked out a simple bargain to provide the vampires with the humans they would need, and as the sun was poised to rise, they sat over the finished contract.
As they signed the contract with their blood, Remilia spoke out, relieved.
"At least you saw the light before anyone died." Yukari's face grew grim, and Remilia continued, noticingfor the first time the shrine maiden.
"Oh. That explains why the shrine maiden looks so much younger... and has black hair." Remilia looked to the new Hakurei Shrine maiden, appearing far younger than Remilia. Yukari sighed and nodded. It had been a quick rush job, but she was lucky there were others of the bloodline living in the human village. Only time would tell if she'd be able to deal with her duties, but someone needed to support the barrier, so Yukari had been left with little choice. This one happened to have been named after the previous one, which made things easier for her, at least.
As the fates of countless outsiders were sealed by her own signature, Yukari couldn't help but feel something missing... something Remilia seemed to pick up on.
"What's this? There's a stray thread in this contract. All four of us agreed to it, but... it seems there should have been a fifth here? I set this up as soon as I lost to you that first time..."
Yukari struggled to remember, but any memories of who her companion might have been were gone, along with any records she might have kept in her gaps... more than a few records and artifacts had been destroyed by Flandre's reckless action. She shrugged.
"I can't think of anyone." Yukari admitted, shrugging it off, causing Remilia to do the same. The vampire then pulled out the severed thread for quite a while, surprised at its length.
"Are you sure? It seems to have been someone vitally important. It's almost as thick and long as your own history and fate. Wow… this is tangled all over." Remilia carefully removed it while maintaining the binding elements of the contract. It appeared to have been cut very unusually.
"Ah, I think I understand. You did fight my sister, didn't you?" Yukari nodded. "That explains it. When she destroys something, it leaves a specific sort of cut to the victim's thread of fate. Normally threads unravel… people take a while to die, even from wounds. Even extremely sudden deaths leave frayed ends. But here, it remains tightly bound until it... stops. When my sister destroys someone completely, they're gone. I've been teaching her some restraint, but when she loses it... well..."
"What are you saying?"
"It means you faced me with three allies. You, the former shrine maiden, your shikigami, and another. Whoever that other was, he or she was powerful and ancient. Too bad, too. It seems they might have been fun to play with." Remilia let the thread go; the last vestiges of a long and full life, flitting away from reality and now lost to the world.