The sun rises and sets. The moon goes through its phases. The seasons take it in turns to dictate the climate. Time ticks on. Minutes become hours, days become weeks, months become years. So why does it feel like time has completely forgotten about me?
The Chief Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion entered with tea for her mistress, Remilia Scarlet.
"Your tea, Milady." The maid set the tea in front the mistress.
"You haven't aged a day, have you, Sakuya."
"You don't think so, Milady?"
"It's amazing how time passes just like that. Just the other day, I visited the Hakurei Shrine for the first time in a long while. It was so nice to see Reimu and her grandchildren."
"Maybe I haven't aged because I can stop time. I suppose time flows differently for me than for a normal human." Sakuya sighed. "I haven't really thought about it until now."
"Well, it doesn't bother me. You'll stay with me as long as you live, won't you?"
"Yes, I will, I've never thought about anything to the contrary, Milady."
And so life went on in the Scarlet Devil Mansion and in the rest of Gensoukyou. The years felt like the years they were, but looking back, the next few decades were extremely short. A new Shrine Maiden had inherited the burden once borne by the fabled Reimu Hakurei. The population of the human village in Gensoukyou had passed on their legacy to an entirely new generation. The longer lived youkai of this world lost contact with friends who had shorter lifespans.
It was just another day at the library in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Patchouli's thoughts wander to an old friend. Someone who had a tendency to borrow things without returning them for a long time.
Every now and then, she would come to the library to borrow some books. This would present a problem to the librarian. How would she prevent the book theft that has occurred since this person came into her life? Her solution turned out to gravely traumatize the thief and they had agreed never to discuss what happened. She would visit every now and again after that amusing incident, until her human body eventually withered due to age. It had been about 25 years since they last spoke with one another. During that time, every couple of months or so, Patchouli would visit the grave of one of the few friends she had who did not live in the mansion.
The librarian stood up to walk to some random shelf to find something to read. Eventually, she turned toward one set of shelves, but suddenly stopped when she tried to inhale and found out she couldn't. She still had to deal with the occasional asthma attack every now and then, but they would either be minor or brief. But this wasn't one of her usual attacks where she simply had shortness of breath, no, her airway closed itself off completely. Air could not enter or leave her lungs. Being a natural-born magician, she never needed to eat or sleep, but she still needed to breathe. No matter how many times she inhaled, there was no evidence of air entering her lungs. She laid on the ground and pushed her hands against her own chest. She tried anything she could to bring fresh air into her lungs. Nothing worked.
Her servant, only known to the other residents as Koakuma, had seen her and rushed to her aid. She pushed her hands against the librarian's chest to try to force air out of her lungs. The imp took a deep breath in and separated Patchouli's lips. With all of her strength, she attempted to blow open the magician's airway. Neither of them felt any movement of air.
This had never happened to Patchouli before. Never before had her airway sealed itself completely. All she could do was wait for her windpipe to open itself, even the slightest opening would do. The next few minutes were torture, she kept on trying in vain to inhale or exhale. Even as she faded into and out of consciousness, she kept trying to breathe.
"Lady Patchouli, we need to tell the others!" Koakuma lifted Patchouli off of the floor and ran for the entrance to the library.
Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, Patchouli knew that she could not be saved. She never had a permanent solution for asthma, anemia, or any of the other afflictions which plagued her. She could do nothing about these problems but accept them. She had long conceded that her health would fail and she would leave this world behind eventually. She lifted her eyes to Koakuma's face, she lifted her hand to her shoulder. She felt the imp come to a stop. But everything around them also came to a stop. She did not see Koakuma's eyes look back at her. The imp's cries of despair never reached her ears. Neither did the footsteps of her friends...
"She was a dear friend of mine." A carefully wrapped bouquet of flowers fell from Remilia's hand, and came to rest on the soil directly above where Patchouli had been laid to rest. "I never once thought of the day when I would finally have to bid her farewell. I always knew it would happen eventually, but I could never prepare myself for that moment as I believe that death is not the end." The Scarlet Devil sighed, and then smiled. "I hope she can forgive me for not properly seeing her off."
There they mourned in silence...
... It was the first time in a long time that this many people were in the library at once. The residents of the mansion had the idea to set aside some time each Tuesday to read a few of the uncountable number of books which laid dormant on the shelves.
Sakuya had just reached the back cover of a famous poet's biography. She laid the book down on a table next to her.
"I will make us some tea. I will return shortly." The maid stood up and walked through the entrance to the library. She had not even left for more than a few seconds when she returned with a cart bearing a pot of freshly brewed tea and an empty cup for each of them. To each of her fellow residents, she brought a cup of hot tea. Once this was done, she returned the cart to where it was before and re-entered the maze of shelves to find another book to read.
While Sakuya was still in the process of selecting another text, Remilia had just finished a novel recounting the story of a girl who could read the thoughts of others and how she dealt with the fear this caused. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what appeared to be Patchouli Knowledge, alive and well. This did not make any sense, so naturally she looked in the direction where she saw her, and found that it was too good to be true.
"Can I ask exactly what you are doing, Koakuma?" Offended by her friend's memory being disgraced out of denial, Remilia did not offer her friend's servant a chance to explain herself. "Do you honestly need to satisfy your delusions by pretending to be her? Does her memory need to be tarnished simply because you can't accept reality?"
Even though it had happened right before her very eyes, even though she was the first person to feel the lifelessness in the librarian's body, even though there was absolutely no chance that Patchouli's life had not ended, she could not accept the truth. Koakuma had just been exposed once again to the reality she tried to abandon and was immediately reminded of the reason for which she abandoned it in the first place...
The hands of time continued to move without stopping. More than a full day had passed when Sakuya summoned the other residents for dinner. Koakuma had failed to appear. The door to her room was closed and locked. Sakuya knocked lightly and did not receive a response.
"She might be in the library." The maid muttered to herself. She turned around and walked toward the library, expecting the imp to be satisfying her delusions. Inside the library, Sakuya found no one. She had expected Koakuma to be sitting behind the counter as usual, but she only found a note on the counter. She began to read the note, when the other residents, in their own search for the librarian's servant, found the maid reading the letter.
The gatekeeper Meiling looked over Sakuya's shoulder, while Remilia and her sister Flandre stood next to them, also reading the message left behind.
To Lady Remilia, Lady Flandre, Miss Meiling, and Miss Sakuya,
By the time this message reaches you, I will have disappeared. I was reminded of a grim reality yesterday. I guess it's time for me to accept the truth. I had pretended that Lady Patchouli lives on. Dressing as her and picking up where she left off was my way of escaping reality. I managed to cope for a few days, until yesterday, when I was reminded that Lady Patchouli had moved on to the afterlife.
I had developed a strong bond with Lady Patchouli over the many, many years I worked in the library. Even now, I still cannot accept reality as it is. My natural lifespan is much longer than hers. Her passing reminded me of that dark truth.
Lady Remilia, you once said that death is not the end. Those words will comfort me as I begin my journey to the next world.
I thank all of you for everything and look forward to my next life.
- Ljuba Jeseník
By the time her last words reached those closest to her, she had indeed vanished...
In any case, with or without Koakuma, more decades passed. Over time, the grief caused by her disappearance became a calm and peaceful reminiscence of the past. Meiling stood outside the mansion, watching for any visitors or intruders while practicing new styles of fighting. Meanwhile, Remilia and Sakuya were discussing the new Hakurei Shrine Maiden's regular visits to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The conversation quickly turned however, and they found themselves discussing how Gensoukyou had changed around them in the last 150 or so years. Downstairs, Flandre was putting the finishing touches on a new spell card. The Shrine Maiden could return for another friendly duel with her and the others and Flandre wanted to be prepared...
That night, everyone went to sleep. Flandre dreamt about fighting a dark counterpart of herself which embodied everything she hated about her past and who she was. Sakuya dreamt about being forced to repeat the same day over and over again. Remilia dreamt about everyone in Gensoukyou suddenly disappearing except for her. Meiling however, dreamt about her entire existence up to this point in time.
She remembered her early life before the Scarlet Devil Mansion appeared and gave her life purpose, before then, she would fly over Gensoukyou aimlessly, occasionally fighting other youkai and invariably defeating them. That was until she was bested by Remilia Scarlet. Finally having found a worthy adversary, she asked to serve under her and was given the duty of guarding the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Later, she learned of the existence of Remilia's sister Flandre, a girl who had more power than she knew how to control and was confined to the basement of the mansion. Meiling remembered keeping Flandre company and gradually treating her psychosis. Admittedly, she saw a part of herself in Flandre, she saw the part of herself that did not know her way through life. Though she found that the isolation only exacerbated Flandre's problems, she had no way to solve that problem until the aftermath of what would be known as the Scarlet Mist incident. A shrine maiden and a magician were the first outsiders to see this girl as something other than a complete monster. The fear that was felt by others was slowly dispelled from them. Eventually, even her own sister, who feared her very existence like all of the others, was able to see that though Flandre could destroy anything, the cynicism required to break her hold on this power had vanished. She was no longer a major threat to Gensoukyou and her imprisonment in the mansion came to an end. After this, the years passed, with Meiling being told by Sakuya not to slack off, or analyzing manga imported from the outside world with Remilia, or watching Marisa fly into the library now that she had befriended Patchouli. Meiling would never understand the exact details of the trap set by the librarian. It is a secret that both Marisa and Patchouli chose to take to their graves.
Her dream ended with the events of the past day. She simply stood outside the mansion practicing some new fighting stances...
"She was the reason I'm the person I am today." Flandre stared at the ground, almost as if she could see Meiling through the earth which now cradled her remains. They had found her in her bed, as usual, but there were no signs of life from her.
Some see their whole lives flash before their eyes when their time has come. They are shown happy moments from their life, some of which they have forgotten or almost forgotten. As soon as their dream reaches the present day, they make peace with the life they have lived and part with the world.
"I struck fear into everyone who knew of my existence. I was a broken child, locked in a vicious cycle of fear. Meiling was the one who helped me see the light in the world. She helped dispel the darkness in me. When both Reimu and Marisa came to the mansion to play with me, I knew that the cycle had been broken. Finally, I was able to abandon the fear that had trapped me. Thank you, Meiling..." A smile of gratitude formed across Flandre's cheeks and it began to rain where she stood.
When a person cries, they are in deep despair. Tears poured out of Flandre's eyes, but she did not cry. She continued to smile and thank Meiling for destroying her dark side...
...
The world around them became increasingly different from the one to which they were accustomed. Centuries passed, many generations of humans came and went. Sakuya was genuinely confused as to why she was still alive after more than a dozen generations of humans like her were crushed by the passage of time. She knew that her ability to manipulate time set her aside from the rest of humanity, but she never suspected that she might be that different from other humans. Am I human at all? I sleep like a human, I was raised as a human. I don't have any youkai lineage. Yes, I don't see myself as anything other than a human. A human whose perception of time has been warped, yes, but still a human.
Meanwhile, Remilia and Flandre had returned to the library. Flandre sunk herself into a novel detailing a group of adventurers whose quest to destroy the embodiment of sin takes a dark turn when they discover that the sacrifices of others who came before them turned out to be fruitless. Remilia however, read from a text detailing ancient artifacts.
One in particular was surprisingly familiar. A silver pocket watch which symbolizes time itself. Its hands never stop moving for any reason. The first human to touch this pocket watch would be forever separated from the standard flow of time and their memories of their past completely rewritten to prevent them from making any connection between the watch and their newfound immortality. It is said that a young woman disappeared from her village after picking up this pocket watch from the ground.
Remilia had seen Sakuya with a pocket watch resembling the one depicted on the page. And it is no secret that Sakuya is able to control the flow of time. Could this be it? Could this be why Sakuya hasn't aged a single day since I first met her? Even worse, even she herself doesn't know why she doesn't age. It has always been a mystery to her. She briefly thought about whether she should tell Sakuya about what she just read, but the question soon became when she should tell her rather than whether she should tell her. This is something that Sakuya has to know. But how do I tell her? Remilia closed the book and hastily returned it to the shelf on which it had rested.
Meanwhile, Flandre reached the end of the book she was reading, "Never forget those lost, never forget those dreams that have faded."
...
"Milady, is something the matter?" Sakuya needed only one look at Remilia's face to know that something on her mind was weighing her down.
Remilia sighed. "I read something the other day that might have something to do with that pocket watch of yours. Do you know how you discovered that you could stop time?"
"I don't know how I discovered my powers. I did try to investigate how they manifested, but I couldn't find any useful information. I do know that time might flow differently for me because of my powers." Sakuya took the watch out of her pocket and simply looked at it.
"Follow me, Sakuya." Seeing the timepiece confirmed that it is the same pocket watch that was shown in the text. There was simply no way that Sakuya would believe the story that Remilia was about to tell her if she were to tell the story verbally. Sakuya followed the mistress to the library. They walked into a seemingly random row of shelves. The book of artifacts caught Remilia's eye and she turned to the page about the pocket watch.
Sakuya looked at the pocket watch on the page and the one in her hand. This was an exact match. Almost certainly, she was holding the artifact described in the text. She read the same passage that Remilia had read.
Is this what happened to me? Is this why I never age? I knew that my perception of time was warped, but to be completely separated from time itself? That's impossible! It's just a fairy tale! This is just a regular pocket watch!
"I remember, hundreds of years ago, you told me you would stay with me as long as you live. heh. I should be the one telling you that."
"I never doubted that you would, Milady." Sakuya had just discovered her own darkest secret. The passage of time could do nothing to harm her. The tale she had just been told seemed to be a contrived story, but there was so much evidence indicating that all of it was real. What other explanation could there be for her ability to manipulate time? What other explanation could there be for her agelessness? This explanation fit so well with established facts that there was no way it could not be true.
That night, and every night afterward, Sakuya had nightmares of being trapped, her world collapsing around her, as everyone around her slowly vanishes. Aside from those youkai who are immortal or already dead, all would eventually part with Gensoukyou and move on to the afterlife.
Day and night alternated repeatedly...
Sakuya had awoken from her usual nightmare. She walked to Remilia's room to summon her for breakfast. But she found the door to her room open.
"Pleasant dreams, sister." Sakuya found Flandre next to the bed, with the same smile she wore during Meiling's funeral, her hand on Remilia's shoulder. Remilia was still asleep, but the dust that surrounded her, what used to be her wings, showed that she would never awaken.
Sakuya fell to her knees. She was awake, but the nightmare had not ended. Tears flowed from her eyes as she was reminded once again that time would continue to march on without her. She gasped for air and then wept. She then felt two hands, one on each of her shoulders.
"Please, Sakuya, don't cry, my sister would not want you to cry." Sakuya's eyes met Flandre's. "She knew that one day, she would pass from this world. She simply wanted to make the most out of whatever time she was given."
"You don't understand, Young Mistress."
"And I won't pretend that I do, but even so, she wouldn't want to see you like this, Sakuya. Just like she means so much to you, you mean so much to her. This would eventually happen one day. Now that that day has arrived, we should see her off happily. I remember her saying, 'death is not the end'."
"Death may not be the end, but for someone who can't die, what then, Young Mistress?!" Sakuya held onto Flandre tight in a vain attempt to prevent the passage of time from taking her away as well.
Flandre continued. "My sister made a promise to stay with you as long as she lived. Allow me to make that same promise. All I ask in return is that you never forget about the time you've spent here. Death will come for me someday. Even if I become separated from this world and there turns out to be no way for you to visit us in the afterlife, I will never forget about you, Sakuya."
"Young Mistress,... thank you..." Tears continued to flow from Sakuya's eyes, but she no longer wailed in grief.
That night, Flandre and Sakuya prepared Remilia's grave. Remilia had asked to be cremated and her ashes returned to the earth, that is, buried. Now that Remilia's soul had parted with the world, the body she left behind was now flammable, no different from a human body. Sakuya thought back to Meiling's and Patchouli's burials. Patchouli had been buried normally, casket and all, but Meiling had asked to be buried without one, instead opting to be cradled by the earth. The casket which housed Remilia's now empty body was lowered into the ground, coming to rest on a layer of wood which lined the bottom of the grave, laid there to help the corpse burn completely. Sakuya and Flandre each lit a torch and dropped it into the grave.
The mood was solemn. Both of them wished the Scarlet Devil a happy afterlife as her former body disintegrated. They spent the next hours reminiscing about her life and the time they shared.
The flames were extinguished by the passage of time. After a few hours, Remilia's ashes were now inseparable from the earth. The earth that had been dug from the ground to accomodate her funeral pyre was then returned to the ground.
Remilia Scarlet has parted with the world. She regrets nothing about the life she lived. May her next life be happier than the one she has left behind.
Being a vampire like her sister, Flandre herself had only a few years left. The days and nights she had left were spent watching Gensoukyou change around her. She was fascinated by how the world she would leave behind had become so different from the world which she entered.
"Your tea, Young Mistress."
"Thank you, Sakuya." While Flandre waited for her tea to cool, she began some small talk with Sakuya. Inevitably, they had established associations with some of the new youkai that had appeared in Gensoukyou, but they did not dare to try to replace those closest to them.
"It amazes me how so much can change given enough time." Flandre took a sip of tea from her cup.
Sakuya poured herself a cup of tea. "It has been so many years. I wonder how long it has been since I came here."
"548 years, I may have lost count, but I can't be off by more than a few. Who would believe that you tried to kill me and my sister then?"
"It was an extraordinary fight, never before was I that thoroughly tested." Sakuya sighed. "But after a few years at the mansion, I came to realise that vampires and the other youkai of this world are just like humans."
"Those were the days." Flandre sighed. Their talk continued for some time, into the evening hours.
Flandre yawned. "I think I'll take a short nap here."
"Allow me to carry you to your room, Young Mistress."
"Hm..., thank you, Sakuya." Flandre's eyelids began to close. Sakuya lifted Flandre from the chair and carried her to her room. Sakuya took a look at Flandre's face and that familiar smile. She looked so at peace with herself.
They arrived at the young mistress' room, and Sakuya prepared to tuck her in. She found a colored powder on her left hand. She looked at Flandre again. The wings on her back had crumbled to dust.
Sakuya sighed. The inevitable had occurred. Flandre's time in this world had ended. Her place was now in the afterlife. She made a promise to keep Sakuya company until her dying day, and sadly, that day had arrived.
"Pleasant dreams, Young Mistress..." Sakuya knew that Flandre would not want to see her in despair. Her tears ran down her cheeks as she was overcome with emotion. Now she was alone. Trapped in this world until the end of time. Her own life had no beginning or end. She is a human, but she is a human forgotten by time. Her existence would never reach an end...
The cycle of death and reincarnation would continue without her. The afterlife is simply a place where souls await reincarnation. Even if those she held closest to her heart returned to the world of the living, they would have no memory of their past lives. They would not remember who they were.
Sakuya looked at her pocket watch. What happened to the one who first held this watch? She is gone now. I know nothing about her except for how she became me. She put the pocket watch away.
I am a human who was separated from the flow of time. I am a human who was separated from the cycle of death and rebirth. This is who I am, this is who I will always be. I await death, but death will never come. Time has completely forgotten about me.
This story has ended, but her story never will...
Afterword
I got the idea for this story from a comic I found on Danbooru (the comic is safe for work, but the site is not, Safebooru also has this comic (post number 1007524, same as on Danbooru)). The comic was originally uploaded to Pixiv under the title "繰り返す日常" (Kurikaesu Nichijou, lit. Repeating Everyday Life).
I wanted to stay as true as possible to the original comic, but did not want to simply write a novelization. There are details that can be drawn but not written and I had to interpret those details and translate them to a written form. Additionally, I added scenes that were not shown in the comic.
Some of the books in the library are based on other characters in the Touhou universe or on other famous works. I leave it up to you, the reader, to find these hidden secrets.
One last thing... ah, never mind, I'll tell you more in later stories. Until then, read and review!
- 66sixx