no matter how loudly I scream on the inside, there's no one left to hear me.

My sister is not what you would call a talkative sort. Pleasant? Yes. Cheerful? Yes. Childish? Certainly. But she is often standoffish, speaking only when spoken to— like when that tengu girl had her interviewed for that newspaper of hers.

She's quite enough that she won't even speak to me.

There's an old saying where I come from that I was taught: "Silence is golden." Children like Flandre or I are the ones who are meant to be seen and not heard. Swallowing down your sharp-edged words in favor of a placid silence is the type of thing that they value. Treasure that muteness in the air for as long as you can, they think, because it won't last for long.

I hate silence. I hate the stifling lack of noise, hate that smothering anticipation where you want something to happen but it never does. That's why I always make an effort to start or dominate the conversation, I'm usually the one who talks the most because there are often things I don't want to hear.

Flandre is the opposite. It's still affecting her, even when I've repeatedly tried to tell her that it's not her fault, nothing was her fault. It was just a thing that had to be done— what I did, and what she did. She doesn't believe me: She'll nod her head to trick me into her acknowledgement, but she still doesn't dare to say a word. Sometimes I just want to grab her by the collar, scream at her so that she will say something, anything to me.

She doesn't want to tell our story, even though she's the one who knows it the best. Doesn't want to tell about the darkest nights, red moons blocked out by large maroon wings, the sharpened knives. She's tried writing it all down on paper but in the end she always throws the pen aside and smears ink on the page, trying to get the salty tears to subside and continue.

So that's why I'm the one telling our story today. That's why I'm here.

My name is Remilia Scarlet. And today, I am telling of how we of the Scarlet Devil Mansion came to this land.


warning for content up ahead: there is more violence than usual with this story, so proceed with wariness if you wish to keep reading. this serves as a backstory for the scarlet sisters, and should be considered non-canon. it is based upon theOVJM's theory on the two and some original ideas of my own, also taking the time to explain the signifigance of the characters such as sakuya, meiling, and patchouli.

also this is one of the very few times I'm attempting to write in 1st-person perspective, which is my least favorite :/ but considering remilia's a person centered on herself, it's probably fitting to tell it in this perspective.

now enough of my rambling. please sit warmly and wait for the longer chapters to come.