Inside the thick, bamboo forest whose branches seem to reach up towards the moon itself, two relatively small figures traversed through it, brushing past bamboo stalks and squinting to be able to see in the pitch blackness of the forest.
Alice Margatroid yawned, blearily rubbing one of her eyes as she glanced at her doll Shanghai and had it check the time by flying to the top of the forest. Judging from the position of the moon and stars in the sky for this time of year, it was about 3:00 AM in the morning.
"Hurry, the sooner we get there, the better!" Remilia said, not seeming exhausted at all.
The Youkai Magician yawned once again, stumbling forward and being held up by Shanghai as she stopped at an intersection in the poorly lit path. As Remilia stopped behind her, Alice looked around, trying to remember the direction it was in, the Youkai remembering the conversation that the two had had earlier.
At the pounding on the door, Alice groaned, stumbling out of bed and heading towards the door, tripping over a few of her books. A few of her dolls scuttled out of her way as she made her way over with a frown. Only person would ever call upon her this late at night.
"Marisa, you'd better not have blown up-" Alice stopped, blinking as she stared at Remilia Scarlet. The Vampire was not one to normally have social calls. What was she doing here? "Can I help you?"
"We will be heading to Eientei."
"...Huh...?"
Remilia didn't give the puppeteer a chance to respond before grabbing her arm and pulling her out the door. For someone that looked as if she was only ten years old, the Vampire was very strong indeed, pulling Alice along the path without any effort.
"Why me...?"
At this, Remilia actually stopped and glanced at her, seeming irritated at first, but then saying something. "I needed someone that I could work with to accompany me."
"Your staff...?"
"Meiling needs to guard the mansion and has a short attention span, Patchouli is anemic and asthmatic and prefers to be reading her books, and taking Sakuya would defeat the purpose of this journey unless I know for sure."
"The other girls that fought with us against the Lunarians...?" Alice nearly hit a tree, barely missing it as Remilia swerved and took them around it.
"The ghost and the half-ghost returned to the Netherworld, the Youkai needs to guard the border and follows her own agenda, the witch is just as insane as Flandre, by her own admission no less, and the Shrine Maiden has more important matters to be dealing with. Besides, the last two are humans, and we would be constantly attacked for their mere presence." Remilia paused in her ranting. "There are tales in the Human Village of a Human girl that disappeared nearly eight years ago after entering the forest... a pity, or I might have taken Reimu or Marisa with me. And if I have heard correctly, you visit Eientei on a regular basis for medicine."
Even at this time of night, when not even most creatures of the night were out, Alice was still able to recognize that there was no way she would be able to get out of this. So she just nodded and shuffled along after her, Shanghai following her.
The Magician had never been so happy to see Eientei in her life. Upon finally reaching the place where Eirin lived, she practically stumbled towards the wooden house, leaning against it and resting her head against it. Remilia simply sighed, and went to knock on the door, but it opened before she could.
Eirin appeared a bit tired herself, but her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the Vampire and the exhausted Magician. "Hello there," she said. "Do you need something?" She gravitated towards Alice, though, wrapping an arm around the Youkai's shoulders and letting her lean against her. "Come inside, both of you. Alice, dear, there is a couch inside you can rest on, you look terrible."
Alice yawned, laying her head on Eirin's shoulder as the three headed inside. She had been here several times to pick up medicines for both herself and Marisa, because, as strong a witch as Marisa was, there were too many things that ate Humans in the forest and it was very easy to get lost. Each and every time, Marisa would protest, only for Alice to remind her what happened the last time she had ended up alone in the forest - namely, being chased for several kilometers by Reimu, Yukari, Yuyuko, and Youmu, defending herself from their attacks.
"What brings you here, this late at night?" Eirin said, helping Alice sit on the couch. The exhausted girl dropped down, curling up with her eyes closed in an attempt to get a few minutes of sleep. She no longer saw the pacing Remilia, who was studying Eirin with a rather interesting expression in her eyes.
"I have a few questions to ask of you," Remilia said. Alice, though she wished nothing more than to go to sleep, perked up with interest. It had to be something huge for Remilia to grab a Youkai that she barely knew just to guide her into the bamboo forest at 3 AM in the morning.
"As I for you," Eirin studied the relatively young Vampire, eyes narrowing a bit. "But go on. I will listen."
At those words, Remilia made an amused sound, prompting Alice to open one eye to watch the two of them. Eirin was looking very serious and rather pale for the normally composed nurse, and Remilia had this puzzled but interested smile on her face. Now that Alice thought about it, though, both mannerisms were present in that other Human girl she had seen - what was her name, Sakuya?
"You have questions?" Remilia asked.
"What did you do to her in the past several years?" Eirin replied. There was an unusually cold tone in Eirin's voice that Alice had never heard before, not even when they had found her during the night when the moon had become strange.
"Who do you mean by 'her'?" the Vampire chuckled. "Gensokyo's non-human population is over 98% female, Eirin Yagokoro. You will have to be more specific than that."
"You know perfectly well who I'm talking about."
Feeling Shanghai next to her, Alice shifted on the couch, keeping her eyes closed and hugging the doll to her. She mentally instructed Shanghai to watch both Remilia and Eirin, attempting to see the world through her doll's eyes. The Vampire and the Lunarian were still facing each other, though this time, Remilia looked quite... smug? Really, seeing such a smug expression on a Vampire with the appearance of a child was frightening. Eirin still looked serious and calm, but there was a definite tenseness in her body, as if she was upset but hiding it the best as she could.
"No, I don't. Tell me, is it a member of my household?"
"My. Sister."
Eirin had a sister, that was connected to Remilia? Still Alice kept her eyes closed and her body still, letting Shanghai do the seeing for her. It was not hard to fake sleep, as she was still exhausted.
"Which sister would this be?" Remilia asked, examining her fingers with a bored expression.
"Matoki!" Eirin said in a hushed shout, glancing quickly towards where Alice was 'sleeping'. The puppeteer had never heard the name before in her life. Yet Remilia seemed to be excited upon hearing this. Whether it was in a good way, or in a bad way, Alice was unable to tell.
"So, Matoki Yagokoro is your sister!" the young Vampire said, locking her fingers together.
Who was Matoki Yagokoro?
Eirin's face seemed to go whiter than her hair at those words. "What did you do to her? I know I saw her that night when you, Alice, and the others fought me. She was with your group."
"Nothing, I simply fought her 400 years ago," Remilia replied calmly. "She's very smart."
At that moment, however, Alice was unable to stop herself from letting out an exhausted yawn, turning over on the couch so that she was facing the wall. Shanghai squirmed a bit in her arms but didn't pull away, blinking as it stared over at Remilia and Eirin before drooping down over the puppeteer's arm, eyes as tired as Alice felt.
"..." Eirin had her mouth open as if she was going to say something, but upon Alice shifting, she closed it. "...This is not the place. I don't know about you-" That statement seemed to be directly pointed at Remilia and her Vampire. "-but most people are not awake at this time of night." Alice could believe that. That one night when she and the others had crafted that charm to keep the night from breaking into day had been one of the only nights that she had been awake at those hours. Though she had managed to find enough power to keep her going for the entire night, she had been very exhausted. Marisa had had to carry her back home on her broom, as she had been too tired to continue flying.
"It doesn't matter," Remilia sounded cheerful. "I got what I came here for." The Vampire then walked over to Alice, shaking her. "We're going now." Alice groaned. She had just been about to fall asleep.
"Leave the poor girl alone," Eirin said. "She is allowed to stay here until daybreak."
"How will I find my way out, then?"
"I will have a few of the rabbits guide you out," Eirin was sounding more impatient. "But we will be speaking again, Miss Vampire."
A few Earth rabbits walked into the room, clearly nervous as they smoothed their dresses down. Eirin ruffled their hair affectionately, explaining to them they must show Remilia out, and Alice, and by extension Shanghai, was not aware of anything any longer as they fell asleep.
"Alice dear?"
Alice blinked, light reaching her eyes as she woke up on the couch. She looked down in surprise to find Shanghai in her arms, and that she was not at either her house or Marisa's. Where was she?
"Alice? Are you awake?" Finally, the Magician focused on the blue, red, and white figure standing above her. A hand was on her shoulder. "Oh, you are!"
"Where's... Remilia?" Alice asked, sitting up.
"She left early this morning," Eirin replied, pausing. "How much did you hear?"
Alice seemed to frown, looking down at Shanghai in her arms. Should she lie, or tell the truth? If she told the truth, Eirin might become upset with her for spying on their conversation. One the other hand, if she lied and if Eirin found out, the consequences might be even worse. Finally, the Magician opted to just tell her the truth. "Quite a bit..."
"..." Eirin seemed to watch the girl. "Well, it can't be helped. We were quite loud." Then her voice became cheerful and more open. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes... oh! What time is it?"
"Around four in the afternoon."
"-! I need to return!" She had a previous appointment to keep with Marisa later.
"Ah, before you go!" Eirin called after her as Alice ran for the door, but the girl paused as the Lunarian picked up a box of medicines and put it in her arms. "Since you were here, I took the liberty of finishing yours and Marisa's orders early this morning."
"O-Oh, thank you! Goodbye!" And with those words, Alice was out the door. The forest was not as frightening in the daytime as it was at nighttime and less creatures milled about in there, so the Youkai quickly ran back through the forest, heading out of it and entering the Forest of Magic where she lived.
Shanghai struggled to keep up with her as Alice all but ran into her house, her dolls on the floor scattering to give her room. "Huff... huff..." She'd made it, before Marisa could arrive! Carefully, she deposited the box of medicines on the table, separating hers and Marisa's orders so that she could give them to the other before heading to freshen up.
Just as Alice dropped down in a chair, there was a loud crashing sound from outside. "Marisa?" Did she crash her broom into a tree again? That girl never changed. The door then opened, and a rather dusty-looking Marisa stared back at her. "What happened to you?"
"Well..." the Human witch said, a sheepish look on her face. "That's a long story."
Alice sighed. It was going to be a long day.