"Remi," Patchouli starts, irritated, "This really isn't necessary." It felt like it was the hundredth time she'd said it today alone, but she knew that Remilia wouldn't be dissuaded from her task. No matter how much she whined about it. Remilia was just that kind of person; once she was set on something, she couldn't be torn from that path, no matter how much Patchouli pushed and complained.
"I think this is quite necessary, Patche," Remilia mutters, not looking up from her work on the summoning circle. "You need a familiar to help manage that library of yours. And..." She finally looks up, glancing at Patchouli from the corner of her eye. "A familiar would help you take care of you. I think we both know that you're not the best at that." She looks back at the summoning circle. It was drawn in her own blood. Devil summoning circles always needed to be drawn in blood, apparently, and Remilia's blood was supposedly higher quality when it came to this sort of thing.
Patchouli pauses, only for a moment, before scowling and crossing her arms. "That doesn't mean I need a devil holding my hand every moment I spend away from you. And even if I did, you should at least give me the courtesy of letting me draw the summoning circle myself!" Shouting hurts her lungs and her throat, and Patchouli coughs into her hands violently, stumbling a bit.
The vampire stops in her work, turning to Patchouli, evidently worried. "Patche, are you - "
"I'M FINE!" Another violent cough. Patchouli feels blood spatter over the fabric she had coughed into, and she wipes it from her mouth. "Just. I'm fine." She slumps over, falling down to her knees, and smooths out her skirt, taking a long, careful breath. "Sorry." She adds, almost as an afterthought, though she tries to sound sincere. It wasn't easy for her to sound much like anything.
Remilia just looks at her, still concerned, before sighing. "Okay. You can finish the summoning, if you want. I just needed it to be my blood. Summoning a devil through your blood wouldn't be the best for your body, you know." Patchouli nods, weakly, rising back up to float over to the summoning circle. It was nearly complete. All the needed blood was already where it needed to be, tracing out all the complex lines and shapes of the ritual. All the materials were gathered. Remilia knew a lot more about magic than she ever let on; at least, when it came to summoning.
She could have pulled any random minor devil out from Makai without the ritual with minimal difficulty - perks of being a vampire - but she had wanted to put more effort into this, to get a more powerful, more relevant devil. Patchouli reaches out slowly with a shaky arm, setting her palm down in the center of the circle. And as her magic flows out into the ritual, tracing the carefully drawn lines of blood, she began quietly reciting the incantation. She feels Remilia move behind her, small hand grabbing onto her shoulder and squeezing, gently.
The incantation is thankfully short - Patchouli still feels out of breath when she starts, and the words are mumbled under her breath. The blood that makes up the circle slowly boils away as more magic flows into it. The candles nearby flicker. Patchouli feels Remilia's grip tighten, slightly, and feels the warm glow of magic spread through her body as the ritual reaches its conclusion. It leaves a tingling sensation in her fingertips and a burning pain in her lungs and heart. By the time she's done, she feels exhausted, and Remilia pulls her back, gently, letting her collapse into the soft fabric of her poofy skirt. "There. You're done, Patche."
There's a confused looking devil standing in the center of the summoning circle, with long, wavy red hair, and bright red eyes. A small pair of black, bat-like wings flutter on the sides of her head, poking out from locks of hair, and, on her back, there's an identical, but much larger, pair of wings, spread out wide. She's wearing a simple-looking black suit, tie, pants, and all. "Um... where - ?" She looks around, bewildered, before her eyes settle on Remilia and Patchouli. "I - Oh! You summoned me? One of you...?" Her voice is quiet, but peppy and excited-sounding. The confused look on her face is rapidly giving way to a wide, toothy grin.
"She did." Remilia says, fingers sinking into Patchouli's hair and pulling through, softly. The mage just takes in a deep breath, trembling from overexertion. "She's a bit drained from the summoning. Give her a few moments to regain her breath. For now..." Remilia's gaze slowly runs over the newly summoned devil, and she clicks her tongue. "You're 「 」, right? The devil she summoned."
"Um, yes! That's me." The devil straightens out quickly, nodding and folding her arms behind her back.
"Pleasure to meet you!" Remilia grins, shifting a bit to reach out with her hand, for a handshake. "I am Remilia Scarlet, the mistress of this household. You may know me as the Scarlet Devil..?" Her voice trails off hopefully, and Patchouli rolls her eyes.
「 」 leans down - she's surprisingly tall - and takes her hand, shaking it slowly. "It's nice to meet you too, Miss Scarlet. And, I'm sorry, but I have not heard of you before." She bows her head respectfully, before rising back up to her full height, tapping her foot against the ground.
Remilia sighs dramatically, an exaggerated expression of disappointment spreading over her features. "Figures. Anyways, this is - "
"Patchouli Knowledge," Patchouli interrupts, talking quietly and slowly. "Resident witch. Hello, 「」."
「 」 looks at her for a moment, before bowing her head. "It is nice to meet you, Miss Knowledge."
"You don't have to call me that. Patchouli's fine."
"Miss Patchouli." Remilia interjects. 「 」 blinks, confused.
"Fine." Patchouli mutters, before descending into another coughing fit.. Her mouth still tastes like copper and iron, and the sudden, head-jerking coughing fit makes her head spin, and nausea build up in her stomach. "Ugh."
Remilia massages her back gently. "Could you perhaps go fix her some tea? I can show you to the kitchen."
"Of course!" The devil replies, quickly. "I'd be happy to!"
"Okay! I'll show you to the kitchen, and around the mansion, but while that's happening..." Remilia nudges Patchouli's head gently with her own. "You should get to bed, dear. You need to get some sleep."
Normally, Patchouli would refuse or at least try to argue, but Remilia's right, and she knows it. Her entire body is sore, and she feels like she's going to pass out. Thankfully, Remilia had the foresight to do the ritual in her own bedroom, so it wasn't far from her hilariously oversized bed. As her voice is too hoarse to mumble an agreement, Patchouli just nods, shakily trying to rise to her feet. But Remilia just scoops her up in her arms and hovers into the air, carrying her over to the bed and setting her down, gently.
The vampire presses a small kiss to her cheek. "Love you, Patche."
In lieu of returning the statement, Patchouli squeezes Remilia's hand, before burrowing her face into the pillow.
"Okay, 「 」. Let me show you around the mansion."
There's the sound of the devil muttering something, and footsteps, before the door swings shut, and Patchouli is left alone in the room.
She passes out a few seconds later.
The contract that 「 」 had accepted was simple. An indefinite amount of time - terminated at the discretion of either summoner or summoned - to be spent aiding a witch - Patchouli Knowledge - in magic, along with living in general. At first, she had been a bit confused about what Patchouli would need help with, personally; but that had quickly became apparent as her health deteriorated further. But it wasn't anything that 「 」 wouldn't be prepared for. She had signed up for this, after all!
Remilia shows her around the mansion. It's bigger than she had expected, filled with random corridors going off in random directions, and rooms either filled with garbage or nothing at all. When 「 」 asks Remilia why, the vampire just waves her off and says something about the 'atmosphere' of their 'creepy mansion deep in the woods'. After that, the vampire shows her the kitchen, pointing out all the ingredients Patchouli normally puts in her tea. 「 」 doesn't have the time to start making tea, however, as Remilia quickly drags her away. "You need to see Patche's library, first. Come on."
The walk to the library takes a while, going through dark corridors and, eventually, down a long, dark staircase. But, as they get closer, 「 」 feels the distant sensation of magic, in the form of hundreds and hundreds of books, and she feels a little trill of excitement. This is what she had been looking forward to! Behind every great mage was a great library. She couldn't wait to look over all the books Patchouli had sitting around in her library...
She isn't disappointed when Remilia pushes open the doors with a dramatic proclamation of "Welcome... to the great library of the great Patchouli Knowledge!" There's bookshelves stacked to the top of the ceiling, books cluttering desks scattered across the library, books everywhere. 「 」 claps her hands together in delight, and Remilia smirks at her. "You like it? You should! It's great. Patche's spent years collecting all these books. Anyways... as you can see, it's a bit... unorganized, and Patche complains about that sometimes. So... after you make that tea, perhaps you could come down here and try to organize things a bit?"
"Of course! I'd be happy to!" Others would be humbled by the sheer amount of books in front of them, but 「 」 was just excited.
"Excellent!" Remilia grins, smugly. "Well, then. I'll lead you back up to the kitchen, and then I think I'll join Patche in bed. It's quite early. Too early to be up and active, really, and I can't leave Patche all alone in bed! Come on, now, 「 」."
The walk back to the kitchen feels even longer than the walk to the library, and 「 」 finds herself rushing. She wants to get there as soon as possible. She wants to get back to the library as soon as possible. There were just so many books. Once they're back in the kitchen, Remilia points out the ingredients again, before flying off to join Patchouli. As 「 」 makes the tea, she thinks about her apparent new master. She seemed... cranky. And she was evidently in poor physical condition. Not that this was surprising. Most magicians that settled down and started working in labs and libraries got all sorts of nasty chemicals and curses in their system. Still, 「 」 gets the impression that her physical health hadn't ever been great.
Not like that was that big of a deal. 「 」 likes to think that she knew a great mage when she saw one. And Patchouli was evidently a great mage, with a lot of knowledge. 「 」 taps her fingers against the counter, nervously. She hopes Patchouli likes her. Then again, she would have wanted a familiar, right? If she summoned one? Whatever. 「 」 suddenly notices that the tea is done boiling, and carefully pours a small, steaming cup of tea for Patchouli. She quickly moves it up to the room she shares with Remilia, and knocks on the door.
No answer.
She slowly pushes the door open and moves inside, looking over at the sleeping figures in the bed. Remilia had fallen asleep, already, pushed up against Patchouli's back. The witch was curled up, face burrowed deep into a pillow. She was drooling. 「 」 looks at them both, for a moment, smiling, before carefully setting down the cup of tea on the nightstand. It'd be there whenever Patchouli woke up. She didn't want to disturb either of them, with how cute they looked, cuddled up like that.
For now... 「 」 had a date with several thousand books in the library.
Patchouli wakes up from a scrambled mess of a dream feeling sore and exhausted and disoriented. This was pretty typical. She doesn't bother moving for what feels like a few hours, but is probably only a few minutes, before she shifts and turns around. The small, warm figure that was pressed against her back slumps forwards, against her chest, still asleep, and Patchouli wraps her arms around her. Remilia stirs, before yawning and opening her eyes, grumbling to herself. "Blah. You woke me up."
"Mhm," Patchouli grunts, already slipping back asleep. "Good evening."
"Hmph. Good evening." Remilia pushes herself up a bit, high enough to press a small kiss to Patchouli's cheek. "How did you sleep?"
"It was fine," Patchouli mumbles. "And you?"
"My sleep was okay. Woke up a few times. That's not super important. You're the one who overexerted herself summoning a familiar. You alright?" Remilia already has her fingers in her hair, twisting and playing with it.
Patchouli had actually almost forgotten about that. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine." She has to take a moment to remember what had happened, exactly. "「 」, right? Tall devil. Red hair?"
"That's her. She seemed pretty happy to be here. She made some tea for you, too, though it's probably cold, now. It's on the nightstand if you want it."
"I think I'll pass. Cold tea isn't really my thing. Where is she now?"
Remilia yawns, again. "Down in the library, organizing things."
Patchouli pauses, and looks at Remilia. "... What?"
"Calm down, Patche. I know you're not super fond of the idea of someone else rummaging around in the library, but she won't pull anything. She's just going to be sorting out and organizing it. You want that, don't you? I can remember you complaining about being unable to find things on several occasions. She'll put an end to that, and will save you time by fetching things you need. Just give her a chance."
"Guh." Patchouli rolls over, rubbing her forehead. "Fiiiiine. She better not mess anything up."
Remilia grins, triumphantly, crawling closer to give Patchouli another cheek kiss. "She won't. No need to worry! I made sure we got you a high-quality familiar, alright?"
The witch sighs, dramatically, and nods. "I know. I appreciate it."
"You're welcome. Now, go back to sleep."
Patchouli rolls her eyes and moves back to face Remilia. "Yes, ma'am."
Remilia blows her a raspberry before nuzzling close, into Patchouli's neck, and the mage wraps her arms around her waist. It doesn't take long for the vampire to fall back asleep. Patchouli follows soon after.
There are exactly twenty one thousand, four hundred, seventy two books in Patchouli's library, some as old as thousands of years.
「 」 knows that because she spent the past ten hours of her life organizing them, carefully, first by subject, and then by alphabetic order. She'd have organized them by author, but many of the books lacked any mention of one. Either way, 「 」 had carefully noted the position and contents of each and every book in the library. Most people would have trouble remembering the place of even one book in a library this big - but, as a familiar, 「 」 was equipped specially for this sort of role. Numbers, placement, contents, rituals, incantations - keeping them all memorized was easy, and the information on each and every subject she needed came easily.
During her work, 「 」 had noted some trends. Most of the books in the library were devoted to simple, broad magical theory, along with many on alchemy, as expected. Most of the more specialized books were focused on either elemental magic - which 「 」 quickly discerned as Patchouli's combat specialty - or, oddly, homunculi construction and maintenance. Did she have a homunculus? Remilia probably would have told her if she did. Was she planning to make one, then? Maybe she'd ask her about it, later. She had left Patchouli's many desks untouched, save for neatly stacking the books on them, and tidying up their contents. She didn't think Patchouli would appreciate her putting all her half-done work away.
Currently, 「 」 was lying in a makeshift bed she had thrown together, tucked within a small side room in the library. After she had finished organizing everything, she had needed something to do, so she had ended up making a small bedroom for herself. 「 」 tugs off her tie, tosses it aside, and flops onto the bed. Organizing all those books, while fun, had been... quite exhausting. 「 」's brain was still racing with all the newfound knowledge she had discovered, and with anticipation over the next day. She shifts in bed for what feels like an hour, before she just plants her face into the pillow and pushes up against the wall.
All she really wants to do right now is sleep.
Patchouli stares at her newly organized library with a mixture of shock, confusion, and satisfaction, cold cup of tea in her hands.
It only takes a few minutes of investigation to figure out the organization scheme. Of course, she still doesn't know where most of her things are. So it wasn't really much of a change. Thankfully, her desks still had everything on and in them. The witch sits at her main desk for a few moments, looking over the bookshelves of her library, before floating up. Where was her familiar, anyways? It doesn't take long to locate her, through the connection that the contract had made. She was tucked into a small room that Patchouli had occasionally used for storage.
When Patchouli finds her, the devil is pressed against the wall, lying on a small, uncomfortable looking bed, unconscious.
Patchouli chews on her lip before setting down the cup of tea on one of the shelves, and leaving the room. The door swings shut behind her, and she sighs.
May as well let 「 」 get some sleep before she starts grilling her on where to find everything.
Remilia was right.
A little help down here would go a long, long way.