The moon is a silver sliver in the eastern sky, the stars crushed crystal scattered on smooth black silk.
Curled up in the crook of a first-floor bay window, I watch a falling star streak across the blue-black sky. An ill omen—to me, who has no faith in fate or gods, it means nothing.
The day's duties done, my mistress's mansion lies dark and still.
I sigh, content.
I've already put Lady Remilia to bed. Earlier that night, I changed her into her nightgown, tucked her into bed, and held her hand as she drifted off to sleep. She stayed out all day; contrary to her nocturnal nature, she will sleep all night.
After that, I headed to the cellar to feed Mistress's sister. I tossed down her daily slab of raw meat, which she voraciously devoured. She ate with relish, blood and fat dribbling down her chin. I suppressed a gag. Caring for Flandre may not be my favorite chore, but my mistress loves her. That is enough.
The other servants finish their duties as well. The cleaning crew ends their shift at sunset, the kitchen staff an hour afterward. As the groundskeepers trudge back to their bunks, dirty and weary, the night watch stumbles out to relieve the gatekeepers.
As the head maid, I oversee it all, morning and evening until morning again.
The house is deathly quiet after dark.
Footsteps break the silence. I glance askance. Two maids approach me, heads bowed. They pause a moment. "Um, Miss Sakuya?" the left one hazards. "Hong Meiling asked for you. She, um, needs more guards for tonight's watch."
I fold my hands in my lap. "Where are the girls on the schedule?"
"Quite ill, ma'am. Must be something in the air."
I study them with a frown. A pair of Meiling's lackeys. Mousy-haired girls in frilly green gowns, close enough to be twins. Eyes drooping, shoulders sagging. They must be tired.
"Maria. Roberta." They look up. "You may return to your rooms," I say. "I'll take the night watch."
Struck speechless, they stammer their gratitude. I wave them off; they take their leave. Whispering to one another, the maids wander toward their warm quarters.
I probably won't sleep tonight.
Sighing, I slide off the windowsill. I land on my feet, standing up straight. I smooth down my apron to the comforting tinkle of hidden knives.
I patrol the empty corridors, each step resounding in the inky black. I know the mansion well enough to navigate in total darkness. I've lived here for as long as I can remember.
Pounding sounds on the front door.
Keeping cool and cordial, I stride through to the entry hall to greet our guest. Wearing a professional smile, I open the door. To my surprise, it's one of the night watchers, wild-eyed and panting.
"Chief!" she cries. "There's trouble at the front gate! Someone's breaking in—come quickly!"
I tense. "What? Where? Show me!"
We dash down to the grounds. At the east entrance, a gathered flock of green-clad gatekeepers warily eyes the gate.
Beyond the iron bars looms a sinister shape, shrouded in shadow.
"We want none of your kind here," Meiling says, her tone sharp. "Leave, now, and never come back!" Despite her show of bravado, her voice quivers.
Haughty laughter seeps from the shadows. "Silly girl, you don't understand," the darkness hisses. "I am expected."
With a low groan, the bars bend backward.
Meiling gasps. "Everyone, get back—"
Shrieking shrilly, the gates crash open. It releases a rush of bitter wind—the guards scatter. Only Meiling and I stand strong.
I brace myself. Show yourself, I murmur.
A stately silhouette glides through the gate. She twirls a parasol of pale pink silk. Squinting, I glimpse the lacy hem of a long purple dress—regal yellow hair flowing from underneath a white mobcap—a piercing stare, older and colder than the farthest stars…
"Yukari," I growl, teeth clenched. "What brings the youkai of boundaries to Scarlet Devil Mansion?"
She regards me with an odd, knowing smile. "Nothing that concerns you at present," she replies. "I would like to speak with your mistress. Is she available?"
"Not for you." Her arrogance infuriates me. Beneath my apron, I clutch a pair of knives. "My mistress is asleep, not to be woken till daybreak. And as she sleeps, I have firm instructions about how to treat trespassers…"
Yukari chuckles—a chilling sound.
Next to me, Meiling shrinks. I silently plead with her not to abandon me now.
"You've grown, child," Yukari remarks, holding me in her golden-eyed gaze. "After all these years, do you still not recognize me?"
I step back, assuming my battle stance. "I recognize the oldest, supposedly strongest youkai," I retort, "and no m—"
She suddenly appears right in front of me, eyes gleaming with cold fire. I stagger. She leans in close, her stale breath on my face. "Never…call…me…old."
Time to act—I snatch up the pocketwatch swinging at my side. I press down the button on the crown, and in an instant, everything stops—the clouds over the swollen moon, the flickering starlight on the lake, Meiling cringing, Yukari lunging.
Time freezes. I leap back from Yukari and fling fistfuls of throwing knives. Once they leave my hand, they hang in midair. I press down the crown of my pocketwatch; time unfreezes. The knives fly toward my opponent.
Yukari releases a lazy sigh. With one wave of her hand, she swipes my knives aside. Unhindered, she saunters toward the house.
I stand in her way.
"Meiling!" I shout. "Rising Dragon, like we practiced! Go!"
"Rising wha—"
Freezing time again, I plunge my hands into my pockets. I dance around Yukari, surrounding her with a cloud of flying knives. Soon, she stands at the center of a sharp-edged storm.
Unfreeze.
Momentum regained, the knives shoot toward their target. As Meiling's hands expel a blast of bright orange flame, red-hot blades rain down on our intruder.
I watch, breathless. Did we get her?
Ping. Ping, ping. Ping-ping-ping.
When the flames fade, Yukari strides unscathed through a field of fallen blades. How she survived, I'll never know. She ignores us, her attention set on the mansion.
That technique drained me. I wilt, my weapons depleted. Yukari saunters on.
Grimacing, I call for Meiling to take cover—an order she obeys without question. Freeze. In the seconds between seconds, I scoop up my scattered knives and stuff them into my apron.
At the edge of my vision, I detect movement.
I start.
There should be no motion in my frozen world.
Yukari's eyelids flutter. She turns, her icy eyes burning into mine. Her lips thaw. She mouths three soundless words—"You're getting annoying."
Easily as slipping out of a kimono, Yukari shuffles off the boundary of time-space. She hardly has to lift a finger. At her unspoken command, a blaze of multicolored light flashes toward me, smashing into me.
Before I can blink, I'm flat on my back. Time unfreezes. Pain sears through my body. My senses scream and wane, one by one.
"That's enough!"
Through my blurry, bleary eyes, I look toward the familiar figure.
Lady Remilia floats down on silent leather wings. She storms toward Yukari. When angry, my mistress no longer seems a child—brows furrowed, fists clenched, bare feet thrashing through the dewy grass.
"Are you done bothering my servants, hag? Or must I drive you off myself?"
Yukari proffers her best condescending smile. "Dear little Remy! There you are. I've been meaning to talk with you."
"Make it fast—you're trying my patience. You already have a certain border incident to answer for. One of your pets almost got loose!"
"That? I've been otherwise occupied, you see: plans, preparations. And where have you been? Malingering in your mansion, servicing your sister? Abominable practices, you vampires."
My mistress gasps, aghast. She spouts denials, but Yukari hushes her.
"Scarlet Devil, I've come to claim my contract. The full moon marks the fifth centennial."
Lady Remilia falls still. I've never seen her so surprised.
My mistress averts her eyes. "Was it tonight? I'd forgotten…"
"She belongs to me now," says Yukari, glowering. "That was our deal."
"Yes, it was." My mistress's words are faint, her eyes distant.
As I regain my bearings, I rise up to stand on my feet. I glance between triumphant Yukari and my downcast mistress. Forgetting myself, I demand, "What do you mean? What contract?"
Yukari draws a deep breath.
"More than one thousand years ago, I led an army of youkai to invade the moon. Common knowledge—the Lunarians defeated us, and we returned in disgrace. But I found something sweeter than victory. On the night of the invasion, I captured the young princess, Kaguya.
"I brought her with me to Gensokyo. While the Lunarians sought to procure a substitute for the missing princess, I took the real heir as my ward. I raised her, trained her. Though she would appear human, I knew she would never die a natural death, but live for countless human lifetimes. As a child of the moon, she was born and blessed with strange powers, strange even to me. She excelled in combat. I decided: When she comes of age, I will attack the Moon again. This time, I will not be defeated.
"For hundreds of years, I molded her in my image. She was my secret weapon, my perfect servant. And at the end of her training, I gave one final task: slay the vampire who lives in Scarlet Devil Mansion. She obeyed. While I watched from the boundaries, she fought the Scarlet Devil. A splendid battle…but, for whatever cause, she failed.
"Though I went to rescue my precious apprentice, the Scarlet Devil stopped me. She invoked an ancient code of the vampires: if defeated, the slayer must serve the victorious vampire for a portion of her life. I conceded to the terms, if only to save her life. Out of mercy, I erased her memory—of her heritage, of the moon, and of me.
"I asked how long the term would last. Then the Scarlet Devil revealed her utmost treachery. For a human slayer, the penalty was ten years of servitude. Youkai, who lives longer than any human, were one hundred years of servitude. But my apprentice was Lunarian. Her debt was five hundred years of servitude.
Yukari pauses. She sweeps her gaze over Lady Remilia, Meiling, and me.
"So I waited. And after half a millennium, I have returned to claim my prize.
"Sakuya, you are the princess of the moon."
Profound silence settles over the field. Indescribable emotions churn inside me. My fingers tingle; my body trembles. For the first time in ages, nameless fear wriggles into my heart.
I can barely muster the question. "Is…is it true?"
My mistress hangs her head. I realize that she has lied to me for centuries.
With a serene smile, Yukari spreads her arms. "It's been many long years since we've met. Your master welcomes your return, Princess Kaguya."
I shudder. At the mention of that name, recognition stirs inside my murky mind. I'm so stunned I cannot speak.
Meiling gawks, jaw ajar, stuttering and sputtering. She points a shaking finger. "No!" she cries. "That's…not possible! There's already a Kaguya in Gensokyo! She lives in the bamboo forest! I've…I've met her!"
"Is there?" Yukari tosses her a languid glance. "Then she is the imposter. The lunar lords set her up in place of the rightful heir. After she stole your title, she dabbled in forbidden elixirs, and they banished her to Earth.
"But I must warn you. Word has spread of your impending return. At present, your reappearance would prove…problematic. Since she has reclaimed and regained her throne, the imposter is taking steps so that you cannot depose her."
I cannot bear to listen anymore. "I don't believe you," I snap. Ready for another fight, I tout my pocketwatch. "And I'll never go with you!"
Maddeningly calm, Yukari retains her smile. "Why won't you understand? That watch you hold is all proof you need. Look—see the full moon etched on its case. Manipulation of time?—the hereditary power of the lunar royal family. What was that watch's name, again? The Luna Dial…?"
Whatever its name, I'm ready to use it. My thumb brushes its button. But I pause when Lady Remilia holds up her hand.
"You've said enough, Yukari. Now get off my lawn, off my property, and off of my maid." Sparks scintillate from my mistress's scarlet eyes.
Yukari huffs. "The years have attached you to that servant," she says, not kindly. "You'll soon find she is dear to me as well.
"I meant tonight's visit as a warning. In actuality, the contract does not end until the full moon—three days. After that, she belongs to me.
"Farewell for now, Scarlet Devil. And farewell, Princess Kaguya."
Yukari slashes a black gash in space. She steps through the portal, casting a last longing look at me, and vanishes from sight.
We stand still, silent, shivering in the cold. For a while, no one moves or speaks.
I was right. I do not sleep tonight.
