Hong Meiling huffed as she ran through the hallways of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, trying to run away from anyone that could potentially capture her. Beads of sweat ran down the Youkai's forehead as she ran, traversing through the dark and (thankfully) empty hallway. Meiling looked out the windows as she passed by, looking at the bright full moon as its luminescent light served as the only source of its kind for the Youkai. Luckily for the red-haired woman, her existence as a Youkai and her training prior to working for Remilia had made her hawk-eyed and thus able to see well in the dark, at least more than most humans. In fact, the only human that Meiling is certain is better at seeing in the dark than her is none other than Sakuya. Still though, her two chasers were even better at seeing in the dark than her, so her eyesight wasn't her best advantage. If she had any in the first place.
"Oh Mei~li~ng." A high-pitched voice of a young child said in a playful tone. To most, this would come off as being something cute. However, with her knowledge of who the 'little girl' is and her current situation, Meiling froze stiff upon hearing the sing-song voice. Meiling slowly and shakily turned her body around. Deep in the darkness, so deep that not even the hawk-eyed Meiling could see through it properly, was a pair of two scarlet eyes, glowing in the darkness as they looked at the red-haired Youkai with a playful desire to hunt. The scarlet eyes came closer to Meiling with footsteps, the body of a blonde Vampire with unique wing that had multi-coloured crystals connected to them nearing her. Flandre Scarlet made a mad smile, showing off her two sharp fangs made to drain blood. "I found you, Mei-Mei~!"
The blonde Vampire crouched and lunged towards Meiling. "You haven't won until you caught me. I can still fight against you." Meiling yelled as she fired a wave of rainbow-coloured danmaku at the nearing Vampire, taking her by surprise due to their close proximity. Flandre made a screech as the danmaku hit her face, causing the eternally young girl to close her eyes. While Meiling wasn't exactly comfortable with hitting either of her two mistresses, she continued with her attack. Using her skills in fighting, Meiling kicked Flandre in the face as the powerful Vampire was opening her eyes, knocking her back; her face swinging until it was facing away from Meiling. Flandre once again let out a screech, however she suddenly stopped and floated in the air, like Sakuya froze the Vampire's time.
Admittedly it would be useful to Meiling to have Sakuya's time manipulation however she already had an idea of what would happen. Flandre continued to float above the ground in her frozen state, cracks appearing on her skin, eyes, hair and clothing. The Flandre broke into thousands of tiny shards, which all disappeared - some even before they could touch the ground - being nothing more but another one of her clones. Meiling made a sigh of relief, thankful that it wasn't the real Flandre. All that she would do is prolong Flandre capturing her, she only attacked out of reflex and instinct. However the clone's screeches must have alerted the others, Meiling knew that she must start running again.
Meiling started running again, the Youkai finding herself in one of the mansion's halls. Meiling looked up at the ceiling, finding a chandelier hanging overhead, the scarlet-haired gatekeeper flying upwards. None of the chandelier's candles were lit, making it a good hiding spot... at least in Meiling's head. The martial artist made a quiet giggle, thinking her plan would work flawlessly.
"Where do you think you're going, Mei-Mei?" Asked a child's voice in a playful and eerie tone. Meiling turned her body around, see three Flandre Scarlets, only one of them being the real one while the other two were just a clone (though which ones were which was the true question). Nevertheless, Meiling knew that luck wasn't smiling on her today. The Flandre who was flying slightly in front of the other two (presumably the real Flandre, as she was always the leader of the clones whenever she wanted to or not) held out her odd, clock hand-like needle weapon, the magical object floating above her hand. The object glowed, transforming into a giant sword of fire, the legendary Lævateinn. Definitely the real Flandre. "Did you forget? The game doesn't end until the sun rises in the sky."
Flandre then swung Lævateinn at Meiling, the Youkai luckily being able to just fly out of the way before the gigantic fire sword could hit her, the same legendary weapon destroying the chandelier. While Meiling would have also been destroyed by the Lævateinn, she would have been resurrected by her Youkai immortality in only a matter of seconds. And while being destroyed by the Lævateinn wouldn't have meant an instant loss, she would have still most likely lost the game nevertheless.
The two Flandre clones flew towards Meiling, laughing crazily like the girl that they originated from and obey. The two clones released the red danmaku that the original Vampire commonly uses, the scarlet-haired Youkai that they were after. Meiling dodged by the skin of her teeth, trying to repel them with her own danmaku. Luckily the Flandre clones weren't as good at dodging as the original, making it easier for Meiling's multi-coloured danmaku to hit them. One of the clones broke apart into pieces like the one hit earlier, however the other one shot a wave of large, blue-coloured danmaku at Meiling, the gatekeeper grazing at the slow-moving magic projectiles. Meiling suddenly heard a swoosh behind herself, as well as a sudden increase in heat. The red-haired looked behind, seeing Flandre with the Lævateinn in hand.
Flandre swung the Lævateinn down, the sword made of fire touching the side of Meiling's body as the Chinese Youkai barely escaped. If it weren't for the spellcard rules, Meiling's arm and leg and entire side would be burnt and charred to the point where it would take her at least days (and at most weeks) to heal - and if she were a human than the damage would be much worse, and even if it wasn't it would still be permanent. Luckily everything was still operating under the spellcard rules, so the damage to Meiling's side was barely as bad as a mild sunburn.
Meiling was pushed forward towards the ground by a force behind her, tiny hands that held frightening, monstrous strength. Meiling made a grunt of pain as her body was slammed into the ground, a large crack appeared on the floor of one of the mansion's many hallways; many more smaller cracks appearing and growing and spreading along the ground like an odd virus, looking like the roots of a tree ground from underneath the mansion's floor. And Meiling knew that if she was a human, her bones would be crushed and her organs would become a smoothie made inside of her skeleton. Meiling hit the Flandre on her back, no doubt the last Flandre clone, in the face with her elbow, knocking the little Vampire clone off her. Meiling was quick to get rid of the clone, delivering a sharp kick to the stomach before firing a sphere of her magic power at the clone, destroying it. While Meiling would end up feeling guilty if she dangerously hurt either of the two mistresses, she didn't mind it if it was one of Flandre's clones.
Meiling heard giggling from above, looking up to see Flandre still flying above her, her unique wings making slow flaps, not that those wings were necessarily required for the Vampire to fly. Maybe she was a bit like her sister and just flapped her wings to make it look like she was using them to fly, in an attempt to look intimidating. The giant sword made of burning flames had disappeared, the Lævateinn having turned back into its twisted clock needle form. Flandre continued to giggle at Meiling, the aforementioned giggle sounding innocent with a hint of Flandre's slight mental unstableness added into the blend.
"You defeated my little slaves." Flandre said, not sounding sad or angry. Instead Flandre only made more of that amalgam giggle of innocence and insanity. Flandre clapped at Meiling; despite her tremendous strength that came with being a Vampire, Flandre didn't cause any powerful vibrations, the sound being quiet like a clap from any regular child, especially in the comparison of Flandre's giggling. "Yay, now I have you all to myself. Lets make this game more fun~!"
Flandre outstretched a hand towards the red-haired Youkai that was a good distance from her, a red magic seal appearing in front of her outstretched palm as six red, pointed projectiles flew towards the Chinese gatekeeper. Meiling rebounded from the floor and somersaulted away the projectiles struck at the ground near her, creating explosions as they made contact with the ground. Flandre sent more of these scarlet, pointed, exploding projectiles at Meiling while continuing to laugh like an innocent maniac. Though an innocent maniac wasn't a farfetched description of Flandre. Meiling bent her knees and jumped towards Flandre at high speeds, hitting the little girl-like immortal with a roundhouse kick, causing Flandre to spin away from the attack.
Flandre stopped her momentum and her spinning, her head still swinging around dizzily. The Vampire shook her head from side to side, getting rid of the dizzy feeling in her head. Flandre only grinned more at Meiling, sending a frenzy of danmaku at the scarlet-haired Youkai, the bullets of varying shapes and colours, though of course most them are red. Flandre and Remilia did definitely live up to the scarlet in their surname. Meiling leaped and swooped across the hall and then once again the hallways of the mansion, sending more waves of her multi-coloured danmaku at the eternally young mistress. Of course, as both the one that her clones replicated from, as well as the one that commands over them, Flandre was better at dodging Meiling's danmaku. She was more used to it and had better experience.
Eventually one lone bullet of the swarm of danmaku that Flandre sent Meiling's way had managed to land a hit on the Chinese woman. Meiling ended up falling to the ground, her body whacking against the floor. Meiling stopped on her back, but before she could even attempt to get up, Flandre went on top of Meiling. The gatekeeper Youkai tried to fight back, to get the little girl-like Vampire off her; however despite her physical strength that would be considered superhuman, even among the already highly physically strong Youkai, Flandre's strength as a Vampire - physical strength that one could compare to an Oni - outclassed Meiling's own.
"Looks like I won this game~." Flandre said in a playful tone.
The library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion was dark and quiet, a sight that was admittedly usual for the aforementioned library. While the keeper of the library wasn't a Vampire like the one that owned the mansion, she was still one who wasn't much of a fan of the day.
What was, however, an unusual sight was the magic barrier comprised of water and sunlight that surrounded the magical librarian and her Devil assistant. "Lady Patchouli, are you certain that you can keep the barrier up?" Koakuma asked, worried that her physically impaired Youkai of a master was putting a strain on herself by keeping the barrier up.
"I am. Now finish off with activating the magical wards and protection spells, one of the Scarlet Devils will get here soon." Patchouli responded. While she was physically sick, not only by Youkai standards but also human standards, the purple-haired Magician still possessed tremendous levels of magic power and a plethora of knowledge on magic and spells; she knew exactly how to cast the barrier spell and had the magic power to make it last for hours. However there was of the course the problem that was the illnesses she has had throughout most of her long life, if she ends up in a coughing fit then the barrier is down for the count. Luckily, as Koakuma has also learned a lot about magic because of her long time serving Patchouli, as well as her own love for learning about magic in all forms (helped by the Scarlet Devil Mansion's vast library), the Devil was able to cast protective magic wards.
And with Patchouli's health problems, these wards would needed to be set up as fast as possible with as many as possible. Though considering who these wards are meant to be put up against, there was no certainty that they would successfully protect the Magician and the Devil.
Patchouli kept her focus on the barrier, trying to keep her breath as even as possible, though she could practically feel the cough that was building and rising up in her throat. While Patchouli didn't have the same privilege that most Youkai have when it came to physical capabilities, especially over humans, her vast knowledge and power in magic had made it possible for her to place an enchantment on her glasses, making it possible for whoever was wearing them to have excellent night vision as long as they were looking through the lenses. And through these enchanted lenses, Patchouli could see a shadow move quickly across the library. Despite her confidence that her barrier could serve as a good source of protection from either of the two mistresses, especially as the magical barrier was comprised of two elements that Vampires were greatly weak against, the quick shadow still caused surprise to the magic librarian. And as such, the cough that grew and crawled up her throat had grown stronger, feeling like it was burning inside her throat and clawing its way up.
A cough escaped past Patchouli's mouth, and then another followed, and then another, and then it was an endless fit of coughs. "Koakuma...!" Patchouli rasped, the coughing Youkai loosing what little strength she had in her legs, only saving herself from landing flat on the ground by placing a hand over a stack grimoires while the other covered her mouth. "Get... the inhaler...!"
The red-haired Devil panicked, getting the portable breathing device that sat on one of the tables, not too far from Patchouli and inside the barrier. However, without Patchouli's constant attention and usage of magical energy to sustain it, the magical barrier of water and sunlight faded into nonexistence. The figure behind the shadow moved closer, however it was still a certain distance away from the Magician and her Devil, only the creature's scarlet being seen. Though it would be no secret now to call the 'creature' a Vampire.
A circle of magical runes that surrounded Patchouli and Koakuma, created by the latter, glowed bright as the magic in them activated, four red magic seals appeared inside the rune circle, shooting spear-like projectiles of fire at the Vampire. The Vampire jumped out of the way, the fire projectiles instead hitting some of the many bookshelves in Patchouli's library. Luckily though, the fire spells were danmaku-styled, so they didn't put any lasting damage or burns on the bookshelves, if they put any damage or burns on them at all. The Vampire flew around the enormous library, evading more and more spears of fire sent towards her by the magic seals. The Vampire raised one of her arms and hands high, a scarlet-coloured energy building in her open hand.
The Vampire shot scarlet danmaku at the magic seals, destroying them. Luckily the rune circle had more means of defence. Patchouli and Koakuma watched as more magic circles appeared around the rune circle, The Vampire's gleaming light glowing in amusement. The Vampire came closer and closer to the rune circle whilst still avoiding the projectiles. As she came closer, The Vampire's appearance became more distinct, revealing that of the Scarlet sisters, it was Remilia; the official mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"Your magic is as amazing as ever, Patche." Remilia said as she came closer and closer, raising her hand as she came closer. A gigantic, red spear appeared in Remilia's hand, her famous and powerful Gungnir. Remilia threw the Gungnir, the spear piercing into the rune circle and the wooden ground beneath it. The magic in the runes disappeared, dispelling all of the magic seals created by the rune circle disappearing. Remilia grinned at the Magician and Devil, the two taken by surprise by the fact that she was able to destroy the circle. Though, with her power to manipulate fate... "And even if you also have good magic, Koa, it is still weak against the power of the scarlet fate."
Patchouli activated a water spell, Remilia Scarlet somersaulting away as the beam of water fired towards her. Patchouli and Koakuma started running away, the former quickly feeling exhausted as her sickness was especially bad today. Koakuma wrapped one of her arms around one of Patchouli's, leading her further through the library as their blue-haired mistress would soon chase after them again. Patchouli huffed as she was pulled further through the mansion by her Devil assistant, not only did she almost feel that she would pass out but her pyjama attire made mobility a difficulty (though with her general lack of physical activity including walking, mobility wasn't the purpose of the pyjamas).
A gigantic swarm of bats flew past Patchouli and Koakuma, the bats flying in front of the two females as a hoard before piling together back into Remilia Scarlet. "Looks like you two lost~." Remilia said playfully, her hands in the form of fists and pressing against her hips (or at least where her hips would be if she wasn't eternally in the form of a little girl). The Vampire walked towards Patchouli and Koakuma in a leisurely manner, the two aforementioned girls turning around to see another swarm of bats, the sound of Remilia's footsteps coming closer and closer.
"I'll barely have the power to even stand, nevertheless walk, after I do this in my current state. Koakuma, you will have to carry me after this." Patchouli said, opening the large grimoire that she was holding onto tightly throughout the night and was intending on holding onto if she wanted to make it until sunrise. The grimoire floated above Patchouli's two open palms, the pages turning rapidly turning to and fro. The Magician's mouth moved without sound, silently speaking the incantation to cast an ancient and powerful spell. A small sphere of fire rose from the pages on the grimoire, glowing brightly as the physically weak Youkai was pouring her reserves of magic power into it with her incantation. A sharp gasp came from Remilia and the bats she summoned were already flying away. The sphere floated upwards as the tome it came from stayed where it was, the purple-haired Magician that summoned it stretching her arms upwards. "Royal Flare!"
The sphere of fire increased in size, releasing powerful waves of fire. While this was a danmaku-styled attack, meaning that the library wouldn't capture any fire or that Remilia would be killed by the spell, the scarlet-eyed Vampire immediately flew away, as the spell would nevertheless be powerful and deal a considerable amount of damage. The spell cleared, lighting up the entire library for the few seconds that it existed. Patchouli fell to her knees, breathing in through a raspy gasp, hoarse coughs forcing themselves out of her throat as she covered her mouth with a sideways fist.
"Kuma...! Inhaler...!" Patchouli said, one of her hands reaching out wildly for the device that Koakuma put in one of her pockets. The red-haired assistant quickly obeyed, kneeling down helping Patchouli breath with it. The Magician breathed in through her inhaler, the sore burning in her throat dying out. Koakuma kept an eye out while she helped Patchouli with her inhaler, making sure that Remilia wasn't using the chance to ambush the two. Whilst the Devil girl couldn't see the Vampire hiding in the darkness, she could still feel her scarlet eyes watching her and Patchouli. The two were spared being jumped by the Vampire, however they knew that it was only a matter of time before she continues her pursuit.
"Patche, we should go back to where we were and reinforce the rune circle." Koakuma said, wrapping Patchouli's arms around her neck and wrapping her arms underneath Patchouli's shoulders, giving the ailing Youkai a piggyback ride. The Devil ran through the library, trying to locate where she and Patchouli were through pure memory alone.
Patchouli, however, shook her head from side to side, covering her mouth with her hand as she coughed. "No, Koakuma." Patchouli said, causing the girl carrying her to stop. Koakuma turned her head as best as she can to look at Patchouli, trying to give her master a confused look. "Remilia not only destroyed the rune circle, but she also broke some of the ground used for it. It would take too long to fix the broken piece of the floor or to start another rune circle from scratch."
Koakuma was silent, thinking about other possible options for her and Patchouli. The Devil heard a floorboard creak, quickly turning her red eyes to the darkness where not even a silhouette could be found. Koakuma immediately started running throughout the pitch-black (at least for a human, Koakuma could still see in the darkness far better than a human) library. Luckily, Patchouli was a light Youkai, so she added little weight, barely slowing down Koakuma's run as she carried the Magician Youkai on her shoulders and back. "Lady Patchouli?" Koakuma asked, trying to get the Magician's attention. Patchouli squeezed one of Koakuma's forearms, the purple-haired too busy coughing to make a verbal response. "How much time until sunrise?"
Patchouli extended one of her arms out with the palm facing upwards, a complex, blue magic circle appearing above the palm, in view for both Koakuma and Patchouli. Numbers in a countdown appeared above the magic circle, blue like the circle it's floating above. "We have barely an hour left until this is over." Patchouli said, her voice sounding slightly rough from her hoarse coughing.
Koakuma and Patchouli were both suddenly tackled by something that was small and fast, but incredibly strong. Patchouli rolled across the floor, her inhaler falling out of her hand. Patchouli tried to push herself off the floor, however found it hard to breathe. The Youkai saw her inhaler, crawling towards the little, green device. Patchouli put one end of the inhaler in her mouth and she pressed down on the other, breathing in the air it was giving her, calming down the constant irritation in her throat. Patchouli looked around the dark library, and through her enchanted spectacles she could barely see Remilia Scarlet, the eternally young Vampire standing a sizeable distance away from the Magician if her barely visible form in the darkness (despite the aforementioned enchanted glasses) was any indication.
"I've already caught Koa, Patche." Remilia said, stepping closer to her purple-haired friend. A wide, open smile grew on Remilia's face, her two fangs somehow glistening despite the complete absence of light. The smile was however normal behaviour for the owner of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. "Now, Patche, if you just sit still and let me catch you this will be over with."
Patchouli created a ball of light in her hand and threw it at Remilia, the orb exploding into a bright flash of light. Remilia hissed as the bright light hurt her eyes, the Vampire looking away and covering her eyes with her arms. When Remilia moved her arm away from her eyes, she could see many tiny, black spots in the air. The scarlet-eyed vampire blinked multiple times until the black spots that seemingly floated in Patchouli's library had disappeared, the eternally young mistress looking back to see that the aforementioned purple-haired Magician had managed to disappear while Remilia was temporarily blinded.
"That was a nice trick, Patche. It was also dirty, which makes me like it even more." Remilia said with a light giggle. The Vampire tried to use her enhanced sense of smell to track Patchouli, however it seems as though the Magician used a magic spell or enchantment to hide her scent. Remilia started stamping her feet in annoyance, just like the little kid she still is, however quickly calmed her self down and started flying through the mansion to find Patche. Remilia smiled. "Admirable dirty tricks."
Patchouli flew through the darkness of the mansion, her body only slightly above the ground as she still didn't have much energy left. Her health was going to kill her one day, she's certain of it. Patchouli felt heat rise on her forehead, floating down to the ground. Patchouli was sitting on her knees, trying to breath in as much air as she could. Patchouli suddenly felt a presence close behind her, the purple-haired Magician was about to gasp until a hand went over her mouth.
"It's okay, Lady Patchouli, it's me." Sakuya whispered, calming down Patchouli's frantically beating heart. The librarian made a sigh of relief as the time-manipulating maid removed her hand from over her mouth, the same maid helping the sickly Youkai up. Sakuya and Patchouli walked through the mansion's hallways, even as the moonlight that just peered through the windows was their only light source. It was a good thing that her years of serving Remilia (and her previous occupation before then) had caused Sakuya to have a night vision that could make some Youkai and other mostly nocturnal creatures jealous, despite being a human. Sakuya heard a noise somewhere in the darkness, the silver-haired maid darting her eyes to the location, clamping the handles of three throwing knives between her fingers. Sakuya neared her mouth the Patchouli's ear and whispered. "Lady Patchouli, I think I hear one of the mistresses nearby...!"
Patchouli nodded. "How were able to constantly evade them throughout these hours?" Patchouli asked quietly as Sakuya helped her walk through the dark hallway, the maid keeping herself vigilant as she looked and listened for any sights or sounds that could be either of the two Vampire sisters. Sakuya's hand almost turned into a pale white with how tightly she was holding the knives.
"I mostly froze time to run away if I thought one of them was nearby..." Sakuya whispered in response, her mouth in a straight line as she looked at Patchouli with serious eyes. "I take that one of the mistresses has already gotten Koakuma."
"Yes." Patchouli answered. "Remi got her."
"I see." Sakuya responded. The human's sharp hearing picked up a sound that was similar to scurrying, the maid quickly throwing many knives where she heard the sound came from. Sakuya didn't hear any other sounds than the blades of her throwing knives hitting the wall and floor. Sakuya turned her face back towards the Magician that she was helping, keeping another pair of three knives between her fingers. "I think they may have gotten Meiling, I heard a danmaku duel a few minutes ago and haven't seen or heard her."
The familiar giggle of Flandre was heard echoing throughout the mansion. Patchouli and Sakuya looked where the echo came from, seeing two pairs of two scarlet eyes.
Remilia and Flandre walked towards Patchouli and Sakuya, the two Scarlet sisters holding hands, reminding Sakuya of a scene from a film from the Outside World that Remilia had access to by paying up something to Yukari. The two Vampires were smiling, the moonlight reflecting off their scarlet eyes and their fangs. "This has been a really fun game." Flandre giggled, letting go of Remilia's hand as she started clapping excitedly.
Remilia nodded in response, concurring with her little sister. "Indeed, Flandre, it has been one of the most fun games we have played in a long, long time." The fate-manipulating Vampire said. The corners of Sakuya's mouth had turned up slightly from the Vampire's comment, however they returned to their previous position as she remembered her role. Remilia kept her grin, stepping further towards the Magician and human in front of her, her scarlet eyes focusing on the two females. "But when you play against the Scarlet Devil, it is purely and ultimately a matter of fate that you lose."
Remilia and Flandre then froze, the entire world itself had froze. Sakuya held onto Patchouli as she ran them both further down the hallways of the Scarlet Devil Mansion while she kept time frozen, the only beings still able to move in this frozen world. However the maid knew that time would eventually start moving again, and it would be then that the Scarlet sisters would be quick on her and Patchouli's tails. And as expected, the world began to move again as time unfroze; everything in the unfreezing world, with the exception of Sakuya and Patchouli, started moving slowly before moving normally as time was brought back to its regular flow. The two females could hear a faint sound of the air whooshing from behind them.
Patchouli raised an open palm towards where the whooshing sound was coming from, a magic circle coming from her palm. Five magic stones appeared, philosopher's stones of magic that contained the elements of fire, water, wood, metal and earth. These stones won't be able to do much or last long, as Patchouli is not only rather sickly today but has already used up a great amount of her magic power throughout the night, however despite this knowledge, Patchouli still commanded over them to keep her two mistresses at bay. The elemental, magical stones complied to their summoner's command, glowing with their respective elemental magics as the two little girl-like Vampires were flying down the hallway.
The philosopher's stone of fire was the first to act, glowing a bright crimson colour, shooting out flames that was as crimson as its colour at the two Vampires. Remilia, the Vampire that was closer to the stone as it shot fire, had stopped and backflipped away before the flames could even graze her short dress. Flandre just stopped as the crimson fire didn't go anywhere near her, however she still made short steps backwards, the Vampire already knowing enough about fire and what it does. After all, Lævateinn, her weapon, was in the end a giant sword made of destructive fires.
The water philosopher's stone was the second to activate, glowing a sapphire blue as water surrounded it. The second philosopher's stone was encased in a bubble of its own element, shooting a beam of powerful water at Flandre. The blonde Vampire flew into the air, dodging the beam of water shot at her. Flandre knew that the water philosopher's stone would be the worst of the five of them, the magic crystal using a element that was always a problem for Vampires. Flandre focused on the Eye of the blue stone, holding it in her hand, ready to be crushed and for the stone to go boom.
However, before Flandre could make the Eye go squeeze and the stone go boom, two tree roots shot out from beneath the floor and wrapped themselves around her, causing the Vampire to lose her hold on the blue stone's Eye as she was taken by surprise. The roots managed to keep Flandre in a small hold, but it lasted shortly when the Vampire got over her shock; effortlessly breaking the two wrapping tree roots despite her eternally young body. The Vampire glared angrily at the philosopher's stone of wood, glowing a bright emerald green. More tree roots grew from underneath the floor, cracking the tiles and making some of them fly into the air as they grew and appeared under the floating, magical stone that was summoning and controlling them.
The philosopher's stone of metal was the next to use its element. The floating crystal glowed a golden yellow, summoning multiple giant metal gears that spun around at high speeds, almost like circular saws. The philosopher's stone aimed the metal gears at Remilia, the blue-haired Vampire flying towards and clinging to the walls as the gears hit the floor where she stood. Remilia bounced off the wall as the gears changed trajectory to once again fly towards her. The Vampire backflipped off the wall as the gears impaled themselves into it, shooting at the circular pieces of golden metal with her signature scarlet danmaku. The gears were nothing more than broken pieces after the danmaku made contact with them.
The philosopher's stone of the ground was the last to use its elemental magic, glowing an orange like the sun. The stone summoned large rocks out of thin air, commanding at the rocks to shoot at Remilia and Flandre. The sisters dodged and fired danmaku at the five philosopher's stones, the aforementioned stones being surrounded by their respective elements as they dodged the danmaku. This surprised Remilia, not only was she and Flandre good at making scarlet danmaku that was hard to dodge, but Patche's stones were never able to dodge before. Maybe Patche had managed to advance further in her philosopher's stones and make them able to dodge danmaku. Remilia would have otherwise given Patche accolades for her improvements in her field of magic, but in this current case it was really grating on the eternally young Vampire's nerves.
And it seemed as though Flandre agreed with her older sister, the angry blonde Vampire squeezing her fist, making the five philosopher's stones exploded, their respective elements disappearing.
Flandre stood on the ground as she looked at the many pieces of the different philosopher's stones, breathing in angrily through her nostrils. Flandre's body shook as she was trying to calm herself down, the scattered remains of the philosopher's stones disappearing as the magic that they were made out of was fading from them, the pieces eventually no longer existing entirely.
"There, there, Flan, it's all alright." Remilia said to her sister, rubbing her back. Remilia could feel Flandre's body stiffen from under her touch. Remilia already knew that Flandre didn't like being touched while angry, but the scarlet-eyed Vampire believed that she was able to calm down her younger, destructive sister. "There is still plenty of time to catch Patche and Sakuya. And we will catch them; it has already been determined by fate."
Flandre cheered up as she heard that. "Yay, we're going to catch Patchouli and Sakuya." Flandre giggled, jumping up and down. "We're going to win the game~. We're going to win the game~. We're going to win the game~."
Patchouli was barely conscious, no less lucid, as Sakuya carried her on her back and shoulders. The time-manipulating maid had her arms wrapped under the purple-haired girl's knees and Patchouli's arms around her neck, running through the dark hallways of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Sakuya looked out the windows as she ran past them, noticing that the moon and its luminescent light were disappearing. "Thirty... minutes...!" Patchouli whispered, her voice quiet even with her mouth so close to Sakuya's ear, the Youkai on the verge of passing out. Sakuya saw Patchouli weakly raise an arm from her peripherals, a magic circle appearing above Patchouli's open palm; a timer that was counting down with barely even half an hour left. Sakuya may have otherwise been exhilarated with such a low time left until sunrise, but she had a sense and feeling in her heart that it may still not be enough time.
That the Scarlet sisters will get her and Patchouli before the sun's rays reach up from beyond the horizon. After all, fate was usually in the favour of the Scarlet Devil.
Sakuya stopped to a halt, almost skidding and falling over. The maid was breathing deeply with her heart beating miles a minute. Before Sakuya stood Remilia Scarlet, the eternally young mistress of the mansion somehow managing to calculate where Sakuya was going and then getting ahead of her. Then again, even though Sakuya can manipulate time, Remilia is still a Vampire; her speed can be compared to that of a Tengu, Sakuya has no chance of outrunning or outflying her.
"It is remarkable of both of you to last this long. That's why you two are my personal favourites of those that work at this mansion." Remilia said. "Now it is time that you both lose."
Patchouli was suddenly taken off of Sakuya's back, the maid turning around to see Flandre now holding the now unconscious Magician Youkai in the air and flying off into the darkness. Sakuya sucked the air in through her teeth, knowing that Patchouli has now officially lost the game. Sakuya turned around, seeing Remilia leaping towards her with her arms outstretched, reaching out for the silver-haired maid. Sakuya once again stopped time as her mistress' hands were in front of her face, the Vampire's little fingernails inches away from the human's face.
Sakuya moved until Remilia was facing away from her, time unfreezing as the Vampire slowly started leaping forward again. Time returned to its original flow, however Remilia suddenly turned her hands flat, the Vampire landing on her palms and somersaulting back onto her feet. Remilia looked at Sakuya, smiling.
"I knew you would do that." Remilia said to Sakuya, still grinning. Sakuya quickly grabbed four of her throwing knives and threw them at Remilia, only for the Vampire to make a quick and acrobatic leap upwards, dodging the knives. Remilia appeared in front of Sakuya, the blue-haired Vampire grabbing hold of the human's arms, stopping her from being capable of grabbing any more of her knives or escaping, even if she froze time again. Remilia laughed in triumph. "I told you, Flandre and I have already won the game."
Sakuya stopped struggling against Remilia's Vampire strength, a little sigh escaping from her lips before a small smile appeared on her face, directed at her mistress. "So it seems you did, Lady Remilia." Sakuya admitted as the Vampire had let go of her, the same Vampire jumping up and down excitedly.
It was late night at Gensokyo, the air was cool and cold, but not overwhelming in its lack of heat. It was certainty not at all a problem for Remilia Scarlet - the Scarlet Devil and mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion - or her little sister, Flandre Scarlet. Nor was it a problem for Hong Meiling, Koakuma, Patchouli Knowledge or Sakuya Izayoi. Meiling was running around the Scarlet Devil Mansion's garden with Flandre ridding the Chinese Youkai, the eternally young Vampire ridding her on her shoulders, both the red-haired woman and the blonde having their arms outstretched like they were pretending to be aeroplanes. Remilia was sitting at a round table on the mansion's patio, sipping on tea that was hot with Type-B blood mixed in, her favourite kind of tea. Patchouli and Koakuma were also sitting at the outside table, the purple-haired Magician drinking tea that was much like Remilia's (with the exception of the Type-B blood) and reading another grimoire about an ancient and powerful magic, while the red-haired Devil didn't have any tea as she was too enraptured in the novel she was reading to care. Sakuya was standing next to Remilia, her hands folded together as she kept a calm face with a hint of a smile.
"Last night's game was really fun." Remilia said, looking down at her cup of tea with blood mixed in. Remilia smiled, her fangs pointing out of her mouth slightly. "Yes, danmaku makes every game even more fun."
"I request that I never play that game ever again." Patchouli said, the studious Magician not looking up from her grimoire or showing much emotion outside of minor annoyance. "I was barely conscious after that game ended, and even when I was conscious again I was hacking until my throat was like sore sandpaper."
Remilia nodded. "I understand, Patche, you won't have to participate in the game if we play it again." The Scarlet Devil said.
"I preferably don't really like the idea of us using our powers against each other like it was a life or death situation." Sakuya commented. "Even though I did enjoy how happy you were after it had transpired, I feared that we may have ended up doing some permanent damage to each other."
"It was all played with the spell card rules in mind, we shouldn't have done any lasting damage towards each other." Remilia responded, sipping the rest of her tea from the cup. Remilia held out her teacup above the table, Sakuya quickly understood her mistress' silent command and pour some more of the special tea into her cup. "Last night's game was pure, regular Gensokyo fun."
Sakuya thinned her lips as she looked at Remilia sternly. Meiling, having overheard the little conversation at the table, decided to speak. "It's normal for friends to fight each other in Gensokyo, especially with danmaku."
"Yeah, it's fun to fight each other with such really pretty danmaku~" Flandre agreed, the Vampire flying off of Meiling's shoulders and looking at the flowers in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's garden. "Danmaku is really pretty, like these flowers."
Sakuya exhaled. "I guess it would be hypocritical of me to scold for casual danmaku use, especially as I myself tend to partake in danmaku duels." The maid said, looking at the Scarlet Devil. "Although I wish that next time it won't become so chaotic."
Remilia giggled. "Don't be silly, Sakuya. Making it chaotic only makes it even more fun."
Author's Note: This all really started off and began as me writing the Scarlet sisters chasing the other members of the characters in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but I didn't want it to be anything serious in the end. So I ended with it all being a game. A rather violent game. Though, like I tried to reference in the story, this all takes place in Gensokyo; where the formal way to say hello and goodbye to even your closest friends is to shoot a dozen and a half fireworks of mass destruction at them. So I guess this was what a regular game in Gensokyo would be like.
I guess I alluded to it all being a game... when I didn't get too into it being a chase and all that.
Whatever, as long as you enjoyed it then I guess it is at least okay enough.
Though I feel like I kinda botched it with the ending.