Defend the Library PatchCon

Disclaimer: All Touhou characters belong to ZUN. The concept of PatchCon belong to Tasofro. The ideas and original fanon however belong to me! XD

Chapter 3 - Preparation

10.30 am.

Inside a large lounge room of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. There is a royal and aristocrat feel to this room. Decorated with French designed furniture that belonged to the Reconnaissance era, stylish wooden framed armchairs, with lavish red cushions. A king sized thick red carpet laid out on the floor. The walls were also decorated with large oil paintings, of country side scenery, another of giant sail vessels at a harbor. Several crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling, which had breathtaking realistic paintings of heavens of the clear night sky. The crystal chandeliers add a sparkle effect on the painting as well.

Lying on a sofa, this is the first sight Koakuma sees when she comes to. A head splitting headache is also what greets her and she moans in pain.

"Auu,….am I dead?"

"No you're not." It is Patchouli's voice. "you were knocked out for quite a while"

"Ah, Lady Patchouli!" Koakuma sits up. "The thief was there! I'm so sorry I couldn't stop her…my Lady, the black white had made off with a sack of books….I've let you down…." Koakuma hangs her head in shame and self pity.

"There's no need to worry Koakuma", a new voice comes from behind.

"Ah, Sakuya!" Koakuma greets Sakuya who had just entered the room, holding a tray with a glass.

"Mistress Remilia" Koakuma bows to the next person to enter the room. A short girl, whose appearance is no younger than age 10 with pale white skin.
She wears a fancy pink dress that is reminiscence of old style ballroom, with a pink head cap and ribbon tied on it. She exhibits an aura of feminine elegance and confidence just like Sakuya, constant straight posture, and hands clasped behind her back. Her striking features are her blue short hair, deep crimson irises that would hypnotize any normal humans, and two leathery wings when expanded become twice her body length. She is the Mistress of the Scarlet household, the sole owner of the property and a powerful vampire. While Remilia is the mistress of the house, Patchouli is Remilia's personal tutor and long time friend, so basically, Patchouli and Remilia share equal power over the entire household. There is a rumor that Remilia might be related to the famous vampire Dracula, but Koakuma wouldn't believe rumors that have no evidence.

"Here drink this tonic; it will help you clear the headache." Sakuya hands the drink to Koakuma. "Thanks"

Sakuya is the only human in the entire household. It's strange that a human serves a vampire, and she isn't sucked dry of blood yet. Koakuma mentally muses.

"As I was saying, the sack of books that Marisa stole is retrieved" Sakuya continues her speech. "I encountered her when she tried to escape. I manage to get back the sack of books, but Marisa escaped" No need to tell of the window that needed to be replaced.

"Indeed, Sakuya here is always the one to clean up." Remilia interjects "I've trained her well to be very reliable"

That's true. Countless times Sakuya has fought with many intruders other than the black white. Thought Koakuma. I wish I could be as reliable as her, but all I did was let Lady Patchouli down….

"Well, everything is okay now right Lady Patchouli? The books are retrieved and the thief failed. Patchouli?"

Patchouli doesn't seem impressed with the news, instead her face remains a serious and gloomy expression since Kaokuma came to.

"No. Things here just got a lot more…complicated" Patchouli sighs.

Everyone is silent, waiting for her explanation.

"PatchCon has been taken by Marisa, along with the Manuals."

Koakuma gasps in shock. Sakuya raises an eyebrow. Remilia looks more attentive now.

"Its just a matter of time now, with the Manual taken, Marisa will learn how to operate it by now, and she will use it against us soon."

"Pardon me Lady Patchouli, but what is PatchCon?" Sskuya asks "from the name, is it your invention?"

"Yes it is" Patchouli then briefly describes the purpose of PatchCon to Sakuya.

Oh no, oh no, I failed big time. Not only I couldn't stand up to that meddling black white, it's my fault PatchCon is stolen. Now things are getting worse and it's all my fault! thought Koakuma.

"I'm so sorry Lady Patchouli!" Koakuma kneels and cries, "I've let you down. I've been defeated by the witch and it's my fault PatchCon was stolen. Now we have only ourselves to defend against Marisa and her weapon. I should have done better, please forgive me! Punish me if you must."

"Oh? I'm not mad at you Koakuma. I'm sure you've done your best, and right now, there's no time for punishment. What matters now is that we all focus on how to handle the imminent attack from Marisa."

"But as Koakuma said, PatchCon is in the hands of Marisa. Do you think we can handle an army of Combat dolls?" Sakuya says.

"We won't be doing the fighting…you see, I've kept plenty of documentation during the creation of PatchCon. I can still recreate it using the documents as reference. It will take an hour. If someone helps me, it will take half the time."

"So we're going to fight fire with fire!" Remilia exclaims.

"Yes. So this is what we must do. Remilia and I will recreate PatchCon. Koakuma and Sakuya will gather the materials for the production. There aren't enough firewood supplies in our stock, you will have to go to the forest and get more wood. Time is running out. Marisa may be already producing Combat Dolls as we speak. Let's move out!"

10.45am.

Just outside the Mansion's gate. Kaokuma, Sakuya and a team of fairy maids are carrying axes and hurtling carts out of the mansion. The fairy maids come in a huge variety of heights. Some are as small as little children; some are as tall and matured as a human teenager. However, it seems the scarlet household doesn't want to employ any fairies that are too matured as adults. Perhaps it is the fear that adult fairies can be stubborn and rebel against their masters. All however are required to wear matching Maid uniforms just like Sakuya's. Even Sakuya, the Head Maid who has total management of the fairy maid team has to wear the matching uniform, making it indistinguishable who is the servant and who is the master at first sight. The only clear Masters are Remilia and Patchouli.

"It encompasses an atmosphere of belonging and teamwork within a vide variety of teammates" Remilia says when first asked by Sakuya during her first day as a Maid in the Scarlet Mansion.

"Sakuya! Where are you guys going with all those axes and carts!" a voice calls out from the gate. It was the gate guard; Hong Meiling, dressed in a green cheongsam. Meiling is the only servant in the Mansion to be as tall as a grown adult human.

Kaokuma and Sakuya then explain the current predicament the Scarlet household is in.

"A massive invasion! By an army of dolls! And now you plan to fight back using your own army of dolls?!", Meiling exclaims in amused disbelief. "I thought I've seen strange things but it seems that every big event that happens in Gensokyo is getting stranger and stranger!"

"No, I'm serious China. Marisa has broken into the Mansion recently and stolen a powerful magical item from Patchouli…", Sakuya says in a more dreadful tone.

"Ah…if its Patchouli's invention, then it should be quite powerful…wait…it's in Marisa's hands now?!" my names Hong Meiling you ignoramus!

"Yes, its only a matter of time before something big happens….wait a minute!..."

Sakuya's expression just becomes more contemptful and eyes Hong Meiling.

"Your job as the gate guard….is to prevent intruders from entering the Mansion"

Uh oh….i'm in BIIGG trouble this time….

"With the evident infiltration, you clearly haven't been doing your job! Explain yourself!" Sakuya brandishes her knife and points to Meiling in a threatening manner.

Several fairy maids step back from the commotion in fear.
Sakuya isn't the kind of person to take incompetence lightly, and her tough ways ensure all fairies under her management do their job with absolute efficiency and effectiveness. But sometimes her tough ways can push her subordinates too far until they break down crying.

"Ah…um..I was on guard all the time! I swear! I didn't see anything or anyone approach the front gates!" Meiling puts up her hands in reflex and panic. "Please forgive me! I really don't know how Marisa manage to get past me"

"Meiling, you were guarding the front gates the whole time? No breaks or recess what so ever?" Kaokuma asks.

"Yes! Yes! I swear!" Meiling keeps her eyes on the tip of the knife pointing at her

"Then it wouldn't be Meiling's fault. The black white would have found other ways to enter the mansion. I've always known the Black-White to never use the same routes of entry into the library, which is why it can be difficult to track or predict her sometimes. She could have flown over the lake and over the Mansion walls from behind the mansion, or even come from the sky approaching from the top! While Meiling is left to guard the front gate alone, the rest of the mansion is vulnerable to infiltration. That's why Patchouli came up with the idea of creating the Combat Doll for more added security." Kaokuma reasons with Sakuya.

Sakuya remains in deep thought absorbing what Kaokuma said. She then lowers her knife.
"Yes I suppose you're right."

PHEW. Close one. thought Meiling.

"BUT, this doesn't atone for not doing your job to its fullest! You're going to help us haul these carts and chop the trees for wood!"

"Yes! I will!" at least it's much better than her punishment…..Meiling thought

The fairy maids, Kaokuma, Sakuya and Meiling quickly set to chopping down the nearest trees. All of them are fast workers, and with in minutes an entire tree is reduced to piles of wood. Some fairy maids are already hauling carts of wood back and forth to the Mansion at full speed. Sakuya's presence was no doubt fueling their increased work speed. The fairy maids despite their size have a lot more strength than a strong man, and the fastest worker is surprisingly, Meiling.

Meiling is a Youkai, and has served Remilia for hundreds of years even before Kaokuma remembered being Patchouli's assistant.

Meiling's supernatural strength requiring just a few blows to the tree to bring it down, reminds her of the Combat Doll that just saved her life recently.
Meiling is extremely skilled in martial arts, particularly in Tai Chi. She had watch Meiling practice Tai Chi before, and Meiling as a Youkai, effectively divert her Chi accordingly to deliver very powerful blows, and even conjure a ball of energy which she throws at targets.

The reason for Meiling being the faster worker of them could be her extraordinary physical abilities.

Or it could just be wanting to atone for her incompetence and doing well in the presence of Sakuya? Thought Kaokuma.

"Hey, Kaokuma, I want to thank you for saving my ass back there. I owe you one" Meiling whispers as she came over to help Kaokuma chop up a fallen log.

"No problem"

"Kaokuma, would you mind telling me about this PatchCon? It creates an army of dolls right?"

"Well, PatchCon seems to convert this wood we are cutting now, into a doll. In which is magically charmed act on orders from the user of PatchCon. I'm not too sure about how it EXACTLY works…"

"Have you seen a doll being created?"

"Oh, yes. It was this small" Kaokuma puts her palm to her shin to indicate the height, "and it was a doll of you Meiling"

"A doll of ME?" Meiling gasps, her eyes seem to shine. "Patchouli made a doll of me! Wow! Its must have been a pretty doll, with good kung fu skills like mine!"

Meiling sits down to pause her work to listen to Kaokuma.

"It was a very well made doll."

"Where is it now? I would like to see it."

"Uh….its in the trash now…"

"What? But I thought you said it was a good doll!"

"Kaokuma!, China! Get back to work! The enemy doesn't rest!" Sakuya barks and they both go back to chopping immediately.

"Well….I suppose it wasn't a good doll then" Meiling pouts as she continued chopping.

"No, it really was a good doll! It served its purpose very well" Kaokuma consols Meiling

"But then why was it thrown away?"

"It was destroyed by Marisa when she infiltrated the Mansion."

"Ah…that witch…" Meiling growls in discontent.

They continued to chop the log in silence and haul the wood into carts.
Before Kaokuma started to haul the cart back to the mansion, she looks back at Meiling.

"Meiling, listen, I just want to thank you."

"Eh? What for?"

"You see, when I encountered the Black-White, I was almost shot down by her. But you…I mean, the doll of you jumped in front of the blast just in time, and saved my life. Even after I ordered it to retreat, it went to save my life. I wanted to thank it for such a heroic act, but it's dead now…..i guess you're the closest thing I can thank for. So thank you Meiling."

"Ahaha…", Meiling chuckled with a blush. "Patchouli sure did a good job then. The doll is just like me. In those circumstances, I would disobey direct orders to protect the well being of my masters. I may be incompetent, but I can at least make up for it by being loyal. After all, what am I without my masters?"

"Right…" Kaokuma says, before leaving. It was then Kaokuma understands why Meiling still remains as the door guard after all these hundreds of years. You simply can't find a Guardian with more loyalty. Meiling is actually a very reliable door guard and hence a very important member of the Scarlet Mansion. It's just that the infiltrator manage to out perform her…making her look very incompetent.

Kaokuma sighed, and thought, if only I could be more reliable to my Lady Patchouli.

End chapter 3