Hey, Readers!: Finally rebuilding my buffer to some degree. If I can maintain it this time, we'll get to the end without much trouble. Please leave criticism.

Disclaimer here: Touhou belongs to the mortal god of drunkenness himself, ZUN. I also don't own the concepts of ghouls, basements, friendship, or mistaken identities. Enjoy.

[Springtime – Forest of Magic – Morning]

"It's funny." Simon said, "I wasn't expecting to be followed so quickly." He hadn't bothered turning around. The winged rock hanging over his shoulder was watching the small group that was following him. The villagers hadn't taken kindly to his general viewpoint, let alone him refusing their attempts to make him follow theirs.

"You'll pay for what you've done, Youkai!" The leader of the small group shouted at him, waving a crude sword. The other villagers had other various weapons.

"And what, precisely, makes you think I'm a Youkai?" Simon asked, turning around to face them himself. In the shade from the trees, the runes across his eyes glowed faintly.

"No human could do what you did to Shiki. He's got the best eyes of all of us."

He couldn't help it. Simon began laughing at the way the thug had been complimented. "Oh, wow," he said after regaining some control, "He had the best eyes of you lot? I'd be amazed if he could spot a rookie agent."

That statement shook them. Good, it was a time for grandstanding. "He's bluffing, men!" the leader said, "Don't listen to him!"

"You would love to think that, wouldn't you? Let me try and get this across in as simple a way as possible, so your backwards, uncultured, and bigoted mind can grasp it." He responded, "I've been hunting the most dangerous creatures the supernatural world could offer since I was a boy. I'm fluent in thirteen languages, and, because I learned magic along the way, I developed a way to understand and speak languages I don't know." He raised his hand towards them, keeping it limp. "I am a human mage, and the difference between you and I has nothing to do with power. It has nothing to do with speed, or endurance, or magical ability. All of that could be honed from any starting point into something I'd probably never match." His arm flicked into an odd position. "My advantage, which you could never hope to match while I was alive, is experience. I have seen, have fought, things you couldn't comprehend, and not only survived. I won." He triggered the rune on piece of paper hidden in his palm, unleashing an incredible flash of light. Thankfully there was little magic in the ability.

"What's going on!" The would-be avenging party was temporarily blinded by the light. He walked up the leader, and removed the man's sword. He moved on, disarming all of them while the groped around blindly.

"The blindness will wear off in a few hours, but if you need it, there are two magicians who live in this forest, and one might even take enough pity on you to save your sorry asses." Simon walked off, the winged rock turning to follow him.

[Springtime – Bamboo Forest of the Lost – Morning]

Simon had been right, Keine realized. A small group of villagers had been waiting to ambush her at the school. She snuck into the building from the back, and quickly retrieved some personal items before leaving the way she came. The back door slammed a bit, however, and the group chased her out. The thuggish villagers got lost in moments inside in the bamboo forest, and she had been confronting the few who kept on her trail individually, and went so far as to help them out of the forest.

A fireball igniting behind her snapped her out of her reverie. "Mokou!" She shouted, more out of surprise than anything else.

Mokou Fujiwara was standing there. "Sorry, Keine." She said. Her voice had a slight odd quality most couldn't place. The only ones who recognized it for what it was were either historians or immortal.

"I suppose it's been a long time since I've been here in my normal form." Keine responded.

"Yeah."

"Do you mind if I stay here for a while?" Keine sat down, feeling tired as the adrenaline rush began to wear off. "I'm kinda...tired." She yawned, and fell asleep sitting up. Mokou sat down next to her, ready to protect her best, and only, friend alive from anything that came along to harm her.

[Springtime – Scarlet Devil Mansion – Mid-day]

Simon relaxed against he brick wall. It was well designed, and as a result, left almost no footholds at all. Everything about the mansion's security was well built, including the gate guard around the corner. The moment he started to try and watch with his winged rock, she had smashed it with some well placed danmaku. Taking a deep breath, he rounded the corner, where the gate guard appeared to be sleeping.

"Appeared", as the moment he got within a few hundred feet of her, she immediately snapped to attention, floating in the air, ready for combat.

"Greetings." He said to her. "What's your name?"

The polite greeting didn't faze her too much. " I am Hong Meiling."

He bowed his head slightly. "I'm Simon. Pleased to meet you."

Her magic shifted through several rainbows before stopping with one and unleashing a spell card against him. Colorful danmaku seemed to rain down around him. He dodged them with a practiced ease, flying only when necessary.

"Must we fight?" he asked, dodging a drop kick she had mixed into the flow of the fight. He continued to dodge without fighting back, though the mid-air martial arts made it rather difficult. "I'd rather not fight if I don't have to, and just got through dealing with a second ambush this morning."

Meiling stayed loyal to her job, and simply fought harder. He began blocking her attacks, eventually being forced to fight using his magic knives. She knocked him down with a well placed kick to the chest. He heard something crack as he landed. "Damn, I just healed that rib, too..." He said as he pulled himself to his feet, and reconsidered his opponent. She was a Chinese Youkai of some form. Her skill with martial arts was comparable to his CQC instructor, and she had to be at least a century old. "I don't want to fight you, Meiling. I'm only looking for information."

"Leave." She said.

"I'm not going to." He was casting a rune onto a rock below him. "I can't go home until I can finish this."

"Finish what?" Meiling wasn't attacking him at least. May as well continue his story.

"I'm looking for a little vampire who looks like a young girl. She's killed four people, that I know of."

"The mistress of this house has never killed anyone. Leave." The mistress of the mansion, it seemed, was a young vampire girl. Joyous.

"I hadn't said- anything about the mistress." He said, wincing as he stood up. "I was following rumors to this place."

"I will not warn you again. Leave. Now. Or I shall make certain that you will never be able to return again."

"I like the wording there. Very protective, Miss Hong Meiling." Simon grinned, before jumping up and down in place for a bit. He settled into a dual knife combat stance, though he lacked the knives in physical form, his rune magic blade would work just fine, though he didn't summon them yet. "I'll have to fight my way through, then."

Meiling opened fire. Simon, still grinning, broke to the side, and unleashed a torrent of danmaku at the gate guard and the door behind her. She attempted to throw a punch at his face, before suddenly shifting her movement and attacking the chest simultaneously with her hand and knee.

Simon had been ready, and summoned his energy knives to his hands in time to parry both attacks to his chest, cutting Meiling's left hand open. The blood inside seemed white with all of the magic inside. She fell, only to pull herself back to her feet.

"You want another round." He observed. "I'll wait for you to be ready."

"There's no need. Meiling, stand down." A surprisingly powerful voice said from the doorway. The voice belonged to a slightly short woman who's magic seemed divided into clean sections of grey, green, blue, and red. She had to be a magician, and a skilled one at that, with that degree of organization. "I was expecting him to arrive." Meiling grunted, and went back to leaning against the wall next to the gate.

"You were expecting me?" Simon asked, genuinely surprised. "I'm honored to meet you. My name's Simon MacGregor."

"I am Patchouli Knowledge, the Librarian of this mansion. Alice Margatroid mentioned you."

"My reputation precedes me, it seems. I understand human magicians are rather uncommon in these parts." Simon said, as Patchouli discreetly cast spells to identify his intent.

"That is indeed correct. The idea of using runes as a method for casting magic when there isn't enough magic in the air to use a spell directly is fascinating. I wish to speak with you of this branch of magic."

"I would be honored to accept." Simon said, stepping through the gate. Meiling glared at him out of the corner of her eye as he passed by.

[Springtime – Scarlet Devil Mansion Lobby – Mid-day]

He followed her into the mansion. A quick glance to either side told him that the mansion was indeed bigger on the inside, with the hallways going on for the better part of a mile to either side. Someone was capable of space time distortion here, and his gut told him it wasn't the magician he was following. She stopped in front of one of the doors. "Don't touch any of the books. It's hard enough with one human magician stealing from me."

[Springtime – Scarlet Devil Mansion Library – Mid-day]

"I understand." He knew how valuable a library was for a magician, especially as his family, himself included, had all learned the basics reading from an ancient tome. Stealing books from the collection was something akin to stealing a mage's history. And what a history it was, he realized, seeing the sheer size of the library, which seemed to rival the size of the mansion it was in. Considering the space time warping already present, such a thing was quite possible. "...This is amazing." He eventually said.

"Indeed." Patchouli said, sitting down at a table hidden behind one of the bookshelves. "I'd like to hear of how you came to learn the art you practice."

Simon sat down across from her. "It's a fairly long story. My grandfather was a scholar when this began. He was studying ancient texts that had no translations published, and came across a tome, entitled The Art of Magick, by one Father MacGregor."

"Your family's name. There's more to this story than I am being told."

"Naturally." Simon nodded. "I'm leaving out some of the conjectures I have made over the years researching my family history. The name may even be little more than a coincidence, though to be honest, I doubt it. In any case, the book, written in Gaelic, contained an in-depth analysis of the mechanics of mana runes, and quite a few example runes, complete with explanations of their respective purposes. My grandfather determined to learn and expand upon the art."

"And he taught his children, who taught their children?" Patchouli asked dryly. Interesting that the concept bothered her.

However, it wasn't the truth. "Not the case. My father disliked using magic, and became an investigator. He died at work one day. The official records are completely blacked out on that matter. I learned from my grandfather."

"Your grandfather seems to be important to this story." Patchouli sipped at the Tea.

"I owe a good chunk of what I am to him, good and bad." he responded. "He was an amazing man. He sought work with one of the few active exorcists at the time: one Abraham Van Hellsing."

Patchouli broke into a coughing fit, startled. "You are referring to the Abraham Van Hellsing? The man who defeated Dracula himself?"

"One of two. Dracula was resurrected once." Patchouli's eyes widened. It was almost comical. "Yeah, my grandfather was the one who defeated him the second time. Was in the 1940s, and the one responsible turned out to be a god pretending to be a human. From what I understood, he was actually less of a threat than the vampire he thought would destroy the world. Dracula died that day, and his ashes were scattered to the winds." Simon knew his grandfather's version of the story by heart, and had read Prof. Van Hellsing's take on it once.

"You are descended from that man?" Patchouli asked.

"I was also trained by him." A thought occurred to him. "Oh wow, I hadn't added that up." He covered his face in embarrassment. "I forgot you work for a vampire yourself. Has to seem scary with a member of a family of exorcists chatting calmly with you."

"Just somewhat worrisome, yes."

"I do not intend to harm your mistress, unless she turns out to have been the vampire who has been killing those from the outside world."

"That's good to hear." A voice said from behind him. The owner put a knife up to his throat from behind him. "Now what are you here for?"

"Give me a moment." Simon said to Patchouli. Without turning around, he spoke to the woman behind him. "Physically young, roughly mid to late twenties. Preferred weapons are knives of all sorts, though you carry stilettos for ease of travel. You're older than you seem however. A vampire's ghoul, likely, which helps explain that oh-so-wonderful ability to stop time that you used there. You're here to act as the mistress's maid and bodyguard, and in that respect, you are extremely skilled. You came to listen in when you found Meiling seething over having been unable to finish fighting me."

Well, Patchouli seemed halfway impressed. "And just how do you know so much."

He smirked. "I heard you when you released time as I sat down. You use a pocket watch to help keep track of time while you're stopped, which I heard. My hearing's not good enough to tell me the material, I'm afraid, but given that I had deduced your role here, I'd wager it's a hand-wound watch, silver if I were to judge by the décor." He stretched slightly in his seat, and settled himself as he felt a second knife near the back of his neck. "As for the knives, I've had one too many situations like this to not be able to tell the difference, let alone be intimidated. If I needed to escape, all I'd need is to move to my left, duck, and flip the chair. The end result is that you're thrown into the bookcase behind me."

He turned around to face her, she merely shifted her knives to maintain them where they were. "I don't need to, however, so I would appreciate it if you would kindly move your knives away from my throat." He was still smiling. "I am Simon MacGregor, I'm an investigator, and I'm trying to find a vampire responsible for at least four deaths in the outside world. And you are?"

The maid was silent, but moved her knives away and leaped back several feet to the railing. She wanted space in case he decided to be hostile. Simon sighed, and turned back to Patchouli. "Sorry for that. My first instinct for somebody treating me as a hostage is to grandstand."

"How did you know she was a maid?" She asked, calming down now that there wasn't going to be blood spilled in the library. "You hadn't mentioned."

"The mansion's clean. That takes a maid. It takes a maid with a degree of control over the space time continuum to keep a mansion that's bigger than it is on the outside clean. I heard the sound she made when she stopped time to reach me. The air didn't flow away from where she landed towards where she was. It popped lightly as air rushed to fill a sudden gap. The sound's unique to the motion. From there it's connecting facts."

"You're dangerous." The maid said, still keeping a knife in each hand.

"I was invited in by Miss Patchouli, and was intending on engaging in a discussion about how the mana runes I use work. Runes such as the ones that let me see directly that you are indeed a ghoul, and are in fact rapidly approaching your 50th year alive despite your youthful appearance." The power restraining runes on his bandages glowed slightly as Patchouli cast a spell on herself. To him it was as if his sight became slightly darker as the runes overcompensated. He set the detail aside for a moment. "I will not deny that I can indeed be dangerous, and I am certain that those down in the human village who had tried to ambush me in bed this morning would agree with that assessment, likely adding that they believe me to be a Demon or Youkai of some sort, of which I am neither. I am as human as you are."

"Interesting," Patchouli said, drawing their attention. "those bandages of yours are thoroughly enchanted so as to limit the magic that can pass through. I take it that you chose that as a result of magical overload?"

"Partially. The risk of overload came with the cursed weapon that had damaged my eyes." Simon mentally asked himself how many times he would end up repeating this story. It was almost getting old. "The aforementioned weapon has since been destroyed through controlled overload." The maid was fingering the stilettos in her hands. Simon turned to her. "Yes, the weapon belonged to me. The wound came from my own errors." The maid stopped, gripping her knives.

"You've mentioned that the vampire you're chasing caused that wound." Patchouli said.

"I have indeed. I consider it due to my own errors nonetheless. I cornered a scared creature that I had let gain control of my knife, and I wasn't focused on finishing the battle as fast as possible with as little damage as possible. That combination, and the mindset that led to that situation, were my errors, and mine alone." Simon said.

Patchouli stood up. "Please wait here. I intend to request the mistress's permission in allowing you to stay here under supervision. Sakuya, make sure he doesn't try anything."

The maid nodded, and the magician left, leaving the room in silence. "You were a vampire hunter before you met your mistress, were you not?" Simon asked, watching a shape move around the bookshelves on the other side of the room.

Sakuya started, surprised at his observation. "You shouldn't attempt to coerce me, MacGregor."

"Miss Sakuya, that is not on my mind unless your mistress is the one responsible for the deaths of four innocent humans." he scolded her, "To be perfectly honest, I doubt she is. I'm just trying to make some conversation."

"Then leave it." she said. "It doesn't matter."

"Eh," he said, yawning. "I'll look it up when I get back home." He relaxed into his seat, seemingly asleep, but muttered under his breath, "I just hope I get back in time for my funeral. Don't want to see her cry."

[Springtime – Scarlet Devil Mansion Library – Late Afternoon]

Several hours had passed when Patchouli finally returned. The time in between had been spent in silence, with Simon watching a young female demon attempting to handle the books on the other side of the room, a task made more difficult by the fact that some of the books didn't want to be on shelves, or disliked other books. He averted his sight from the amusing display to observe the magician as she reentered her library.

"Greetings, Lady Patchouli." Simon said. There was a small vampire, several centuries old at least, walking behind her. She carried an air of superiority with her, and given his inexperience with combat, decided to play to her ego and give her the first and last words.

Patchouli nodded her greetings back to him, before saying, "The Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion wished to speak with you."

The vampire smiled at that entrance, and turned to her maid. "Sakuya, Patchouli, you may serve as you wish. I do not need your services at the moment." Patchouli flew off to assist the young demon without a word. Sakuya nodded, and left, leaving her alone with him at the table. "You are very polite, compared to out previous guests."

"I'm glad to hear the compliment, even with that qualifier." he responded.

She smiled, and sat down in a chair across from him. "How do you feel, meeting a vampire for the first time outside of a fight?" Probing without heeding the consequence. She certainly felt in control. Pity he had to end that delusion somewhat early.

He chuckled, and smiled sadly. "It's far from my first time meeting a vampire on friendly terms. My old partner was a vampire, and a good friend."

"What happened?" She caught the subtext.

"A thug shot his head, managed to cause some brain damage. He went on a rampage that night, killed seven people, including three fellow agents. I ended up putting him down." He felt like he was supposed to cry. He didn't have tear ducts anymore, though. "Fuck, it still hurts to think about that night." He maintained his smile, and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Sorry about the language, it's just..."

"He was close to you." the vampire finished.

"Yeah." he said. "We were good friends. Had just gotten used to having a diurnal partner when this assignment came in."

She stiffened, flexing her claws. "What is your assignment, then?"

"I'm trying to find a vampire that had been hunting in the outside world. She fled to Gensokyo." She relaxed somewhat. "My lack of proper sight certainly isn't a help, either. I can see your wings clearly enough, however, to know they're the same type. Do you mind if I ask you a question about your librarian? I have the feeling she'd try to hide it."

"Ask your question, human." She hung an implied threat on that last word. He had defeated stronger vampires, but he didn't know how well he'd fare with the spellcard system.

"Is Lady Patchouli anemic?"

"What?"

"I am asking if she's anemic, because it's the most common symptom of regular blood loss, implying you feed from her blood. Reasonable, as her magic means you would only need to feed from her and she could still function fairly well." Simon explained.

"Call me Remilia, if you would, Simon." The vampire said after a moment, "She indeed does have anemia from my feeding from her. My sister does not feed from her, however. That role is shared between several of the fairy maids."

"Then you wouldn't feed from someone outside the mansion except in an emergency, and even then, you wouldn't kill your prey." Simon said, standing. "Besides, Remilia. You're not the coward that vampire is."

"You refer to the vampire you're chasing." She said.

"Yeah. Unless your sister was missing for about half a week a short while back, then this mansion isn't hiding who I'm looking for."

"My sister has shown up for supper every night since she was let out of the basement. She's not who you're looking for."

Simon watched her expression as she said that. Something had flashed momentarily. "Basements are nasty places." he said. "They leave scars."

The statement caught her off guard, but she smiled soon after. Somehow, her expression still managed not to tell him anything. "You may stay here for the next few days, given that you assist Patchouli with the matter she has been bothering me with."

"Mana runes. I will be honored to accept that offer, Lady Scarlet."

"I will leave you here, then. Sakuya will prepare a room for you by the time you need it."

"You have my thanks." Simon said, looking out across the library at the magician and the young demon. They'd need some help.