Disclaimer: All characters and locations belong to their respective owners. OCs and locations not recognized in the fandom belong to me.

A/N: Long chapter is long for a reason. You'll know why~

XI.
Blue-Eyed Jezebel 3: LIVE A LIE DIE A LIE

"They're coming this way," Yukari Yakumo said as she sipped from the teacup.

Remilia made a noncommittal sound, nodded. "I know," she said quietly.

"Are you going to run?"

"No."

"Will you cry?"

"…I don't know."

"It's okay if you do. She's lived here for a very long time. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I…I know, but…." She clenched and unclenched her fists, breathed heavily through her nose. The reflection in her cup wavered. "I can't send her off like that. To be so sudden, right out of the blue…can you imagine what that would be like to her?"

Yukari sipped again, peered at the vampire over the rim. "She will grow from it, or she will suffer…just like Eirin is."

"Eirin," murmured Remilia. "The one who caused it all."

"And the one who can end it all," Yukari included, swirling the liquid round and around. "Their reunion will only be the beginning."

"What comes after that?"

"I do not know. Even if I were to use my ability to travel to the future, I could not tell you. Nothing is for certain when it comes to the unknown. For each and every action, there is always a consequence."

"And the consequences for what will happen…they are…?"

"My dear, that is for them to know and us to find out."

"What about the other two? Is it right to drag them into this?"

"I'm afraid it's too late to stop them, but they are good people. Little Sakuya is going to need the support; as will Eirin, if her heart will allow it."

Remilia exhaled, the tea rippling in spreading spherical waves.

"You can still call it off, Miss Remilia. You can have Sakuya turn the other way. Just say the word, and she will show those girls the door."

"I know."

"It's up to you, but you don't have much time. Once they cross the threshold, there's no turning back."

"I know."

"Will you…or will you not?"

Remilia stared into her cup, face unreadable but eyes gripped with a diamond toughness threatening to break, threatening to crumble and blow away in the wind. To the common person, it would seem the world ceased to exist for this old vampire. However, for one who was as wise and ancient as Yukari Yakumo, the apocalypse was on the horizon, looming like an ominous storm on an otherwise sunny day.

The doors at the end of the chamber started to creak outward.

Remilia Scarlet straightened up. "You," she said sharply to a passing fairy. "Give my guest a refill. Don't just stand there, come hither and do as I command you." The fairy nodded wordlessly and poured steaming amber-brown liquid from the kettle.

Yukari Yakumo sent her a rueful smile, then thanked the fairy and put the cup to her lips.

The doors opened.

"Milady, I have returned," Sakuya Izayoi announced upon entering.

The dining hall was a large, spacious chamber, abuzz with the paper-thin clapping of fairy wings as they fluttered to and fro from station to station. Rows of candelabras and a magnificent crystal chandelier suspended above a series of round tables decked in fine linen cloth and exquisite cutlery. At one of these tables close to the entrance sat two ladies – one whom Aya and Momiji recognized as Yukari Yakumo, and the other a younger girl with the sharp nose and bony frame of regality, elbows on the surface and fingers steepled at her chin.

Sanguine irises flitted to the maid and the tengu at her side, slit pupils dilating with the turn of her head. "Ah, it took you long enough, Sakuya. Did you find Flandre yet?"

"Lady Flandre has been incapacitated by Patchouli. She will not be causing any more trouble."

"Good to know. Come on over, I want to have a look at these friends of yours." She gestured them with a bob of her head.

Sakuya escorted Aya and Momiji to the table. The girl appraised the pair with an offhanded scrutiny, eyeing them up and down as if she were judging their worth. "Hmmm, yes, they're a pretty lot, alright. Not too soft, not too hard; they must be taking great care of themselves. I wonder if the same applies to danger."

"Pardon my intrusion, ma'am," said Aya, "but…do you happen to be Remilia Scarlet, Lady of the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

The girl's gaze fell upon her, and for a brief moment Aya wondered if she should have waited until she had been asked to do so. She braced herself for the scolding, but instead, and to her great surprise, the girl smirked. "Truer words have never been spoken," said she. "Indeed, I am Lady Remilia Scarlet. I have ruled this manor for many years, feared, loved, and hated by human and youkai alike. Some call me child, others blood-sucker, but most if not all know me as the devil in disguise, and you would do well to remember I am not one to be trifled with."

"Oh, but you hardly ever go out, Remi~" Yukari chirped through a sugar cookie she was nibbling on. "How can you say you're powerful if you don't breathe the fresh air?

A tic throbbed between Remilia's eyes. "Because, granny, I am sensitive to sunlight. And when I come into contact with said sunlight, my skin boils over like the goddamn plague!"

"Not unless you're a blueblood~"

"You know how rare those buggers are. When was the last time I ever crossed paths with such a person?"

"Miss Remilia," began Momiji.

"That's Lady Remilia to you," the Scarlet Devil growled.

"Ah, excuse my manners, then. Lady Remilia, my colleague and I request permission to speak with your servant, Miss Sakuya, regarding information we've obtained that may concern your trip to the Moon."

Remilia scoffed. "What trip? There is no trip! Those pieces Sakuya brought back, wherever she got them, they're worth squat. Patchouli, our librarian, she tells me we would need a helluva lot more than cables and DVD players to build a rocket ship. And the time it would take to begin from point A to point B…it's too much trouble, so we scrapped the project altogether."

"Our apologies, Lady Remilia," said Aya. "What will you do now?"

"What everybody else has been doing these past two days: get over it and move on. There's nothing more we can do."

"Remilia," said Yukari, nudging the vampire in the ribs.

"Ah, yes, that's right. You said you want to talk to Sakuya. About the Moon." Remilia cleared her throat. "Ahem, as the ruling head of Scarlet Devil Mansion, I grant your request. Now join us, have yourself a bite. Don't give me that look, you know you want it. Sugar cannot be denied."

"Remilia~" Yukari whined, probing the older Scarlet harder with her elbow.

"Alright, alright!" Remilia complained, swatting the youkai away. "Sakuya, you're off for the rest of the day. I want you to sit next to me."

"But Milady, there is much to be done—"

"That's an order, Sakuya. You two – Aya and Momiji, right? – sit and be merry. Eat and drink to your heart's content. And you, grandma, get your elbow out of my spleen!" Yukari groaned and retracted her limb, looking crushed and defeated like a wounded puppy.

So they sat among the Youkai of Borders and the Scarlet Devil. For a while they were indulged in casual conversation, discussing the weather ("It's too bright for Milady to take her afternoon stroll," said Sakuya.), the hi-jinks that erupted from Misty Lake earlier today ("The fog's only thicker than usual because that idiot fairy kept blasting some new ice cannon she made!" Remilia complained.), the latest merchandise Rinnosuke Morichika had to offer on his trade routes, on the origin of the Scarlet Devil Mansion ("Our family was very influential in the Outside World," she told the tengu. "Of course, when we were turned on the eve of the flu, everything went belly-up."), and the reason behind Yukari Yakumo's visit ("Nothing wrong with seeing a friend, dears," she said. "I do like to get out every now and then, just…only when I feel like it.")

Their talk had lasted a good hour and a half, but eventually Aya and Momiji brought up the subject of their being here. Even Yukari had set aside her refilled cup of tea and suggested to Remilia that they listen. The Scarlet Devil relented, albeit reluctantly, almost hesitantly. This did not go amiss by Sakuya, who glanced at her mistress before turning her attention to the crow and wolf.

"What did you want to speak to me about?" Sakuya asked. "You are already aware that we do not have the means to travel to the Moon."

"That's when we took matters into our own hands," said Aya. "You got Momiji and I thinking about the Moon, so we went out the next day and asked a few people we believed might have the answers. One of which we asked was Miss Yukari. She told us that the Moon is inhabited by a race of humans called Lunarians, whose technology is superior to ours here on Earth. Now I didn't believe her at first—OOF!" She glared at Momiji's retreating elbow. "But, uh, regardless of personal opinion, she directed us to someone who was much more knowledgeable in that field. That someone was Doctor Eirin Yagokoro, a woman who lives deep within the Bamboo Forest of the Lost in an area called Eientei. Does it ring a bell, by any chance?"

"No, it doesn't," said Remilia, "but carry on. What did this Eirin character tell you?"

"She said she was a Lunarian," said Momiji. "She said that Lunarians like her live far longer than humans and that there are those who are said to live forever."

"How old is she?"

"According to her, she is two-thousand years old."

Remilia gave an ironic smile. "Just like the man on the cross."

"Well, yes, but beside the point, she explained a great many things to us. She tells us she was an important figure during the founding of Lunarian civilization, and that throughout her life paved the path towards modernization. She left the Moon forty years ago to offer her services among the peoples of Earth, only to be rejected when they learned she did not share the same lifespan as they did. It was because of that she stumbled upon a, what was it, tear in physical reality, and ended up in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. With the help of a local resident she was able to find Eientei, and she's been living there among the rabbitfolk ever since."

"What proof do you have? How do I know you're not making this all up?"

"We took notes during the interview," said Aya. "Take a look." She offered the Bunkachou to Remilia, who opened the book and skimmed through it.

"Hmph, you did your research alright," she said. "Anything else?"

"That was about it."

"I don't understand," said Sakuya, who had remained silent throughout the conversation. "What does your investigation have to do with me?"

Aya rubbed her shoulder, shot a glance at Momiji."Well, this is where it gets, um, a little complicated. We were about to leave when we were confronted by an acquaintance of Doctor Eirin's, a Moonborn rabbit named Reisen. She told us she and Eirin were exiled to Eientei. She was going to say more…I don't know how I should word this, but…."

"We believe Eirin Yagokoro attacked Reisen," Momij finished for Aya. "I'm just as confused as Aya, but something made Reisen seize up during mid-sentence. I was going to go fetch Doctor Eirin, but she came around the corner…almost as if she were walking right behind us."

"I mentioned you to Eirin, Miss Yukari," said Aya. "The look she gave me would have struck me dead on the spot."

Yukari let slip a tiny smile, picked up the teacup, took a sip. "That bad, huh? I would figure that much."

"You still haven't told me how I'm involved," Sakuya repeated, and although she took great pains to hide it a hint of impatience was creeping in her tone. "I want to know."

"Sakuya," Remilia began, but a hand touched her shoulder. She whirled around, and saw it was Yukari Yakumo, her face ever calm.

"And know you will," said Aya. "When we were on our way back to Youkai Mountain, I found this in my skirt. Reisen must have somehow placed it there when I wasn't looking." She retrieved a folded scrap of paper from her blouse and held it out.

Sakuya took the paper and unfolded it. It was a photograph, complete with the wear and tear of ages past. In the picture were four girls posing against a backdrop of tall sharp angular buildings standing amidst a star-studded sky unlike any she had ever seen. Each of the girls appeared to be happy in each other's presence, be it through shining eyes, lazy smiles, or the hand which curled around the pale stalks of another's longer fingers.

At first Sakuya didn't understand what importance the photo instilled, but then her eyes strayed and stopped on the pair on the left. Sapphire irises studied the similarities they shared – eyes the color of eventide; the delicate slope of silver tresses; high cheekbones and sharp chins.

She stared harder. Something in her mind cried to come loose, fought to free itself from a self-imposed prison. If she could probe just a little bit deeper—

"—You're not going to fit in the picture if you're standing all the way over there," says Yorihime. "Come by me."

"Oh, let Selestine stay next to Eirin," Toyohime says, giggling at the younger's blushing, pouting face. "I'm sure we can find some way to capture everyone in one shot, can we, mister cameraman?"

The man laughs wholeheartedly. "No need to worry, milady. I've got you all just fine. Just let me step back a bit, and…there we go! Perfect!"

"I told you he could squeeze me in," Selestine grumbles playfully to Yorihime.

Eirin barks with laughter and wraps an arm around her sister's waist, pulling her closer. "I had a feeling you would! My sweet Selestine o' mine, big or small, you know how to wriggle in all the right places!"

"Selestine?" Sakuya Izayoi pronounced out loud. The photograph shook between her fingers. "Why is she calling me Selestine…and not Sakuya?"

"Sakuya?" Aya asked, reaching out a hand.

Sakuya pushed it away and whirled on the vampire. "Milady, in all the years I've served you, I have never been to the Moon. So how is it," she swallowed thickly, "how is it I can recall something I've never done before?"

Remilia bit her lower lip and turned the other cheek.

Yukari took a long, slow draw from the teacup.

Aya and Momiji stayed their ground, watching the maid with rising uncertainty.

Sakuya's fingers crumbled the photograph against her hand. "Milady, why didn't you tell me? That…That I'm from the Moon?"

A low, tiny whine escaped the confines of the vampire's throat. Lips pursed together in a fine tight line, the corners pulling back in a frown.

"Talk to me, Milady. Please, I must know."

But Remilia refused to answer.

Sakuya rose, swiftly and suddenly, knocking the chair she had sat upon to the floor. "WHY WON'T YOU LOOK AT ME?" she cried. The sheer volume ricocheted all throughout the chamber. Every fairy servant in the vicinity ceased their activity and turned, stunned curiosity shocking them in their place.

Sakuya panted heavily, chest rising and falling in fast, labored motions. She reared up, eyes darting wildly at all those focused on her. "You two!" she said, twisting jerkily around at Aya and Momiji. "Tell me why! Tell me…tell me I'm imagining things! I'm not from the Moon; I've never set foot on it. It's a dead world. No one lives on it. There's no such thing as a Lunarian. I…I don't have any family! I migrated from the Border. I wanted to start a new life for myself! Tell me" she unwrapped the photograph with fumbling fingers and jabbed at the girl on the far left "Tell me that's some other person and not me!"

"But it is."

Sakuya whirled on Yukari Yakumo, fierce and beautiful and so very lost. "How would you know?"

"Because it is you," the border youkai said again. "You and no one else."

"You lie!"

"The last time I saw you, you were this high," Yukari indicated by placing a hand next to her knee. "You were very young, hardly a child, when your people fought against my forces. Eirin fought, too. It was the first time she ever held a gun, much less the bow and arrows she now carries. She was scared, but she went out into the battlefield, to protect her family, to protect you; so determined that the first thing she did was cut down the enemy and run directly to me."

"You bear no scars! You have no proof!"

"Right here." Yukari loosened the obi and opened the yukata. Above her breasts were three white pockmarks. "She got me in a moment of surprise, and three times it took before I could escape and keep on fighting."

"That still doesn't explain how you know me!"

"Are my words not proof enough? Words alone can be truth, lest you are an exceptionally good liar."

"Yet a lie told often enough becomes the truth," Sakuya countered bitterly. "I don't believe you."

"Then you may as well ignore what Remilia has to say."

"What?" Sakuya looked at the vampire, who was staring back at her. "But Milady knows everything there is to know about me."

"You tried to kill me," Remilia said emotionlessly. Met with her servant's incredulity, she continued. "It was on the night we found you. April sixteenth, nineteen-sixty. This oni girl came to us saying some metal thing had fallen from the sky. I went with her and showed where it was, but we when saw there was nothing was inside we headed back here. Halfway there you jumped out of the woods and attacked us. All you had to fight with were a holster of knives and that pocket-watch around your neck."

"The Luna Dial," Sakuya breathed.

"That's right. You would have succeeded in killing me, too, if it were not for that oni. We brought you to the mansion, tied you up to make sure you didn't pull any fast moves on us. When you awoke, you couldn't recall a single thing, not even the battle we had just fought. You hadn't a clue why you were in such a predicament. You were so…helpless." Her features softened. "I could have done away with you then and there. I planned on it…but I didn't. I took you in and made you into someone you never were to begin with. I gave you food, shelter, and companionship; I even gave you the name for which you are known for. You fought for me and, on several occasions, nearly died for me.

"I've been controlling your fate for forty years, Sakuya, and your loyalty has never wavered even as I drew away and left you to your own devices. But the times…they are a-changin', and with this slew of secrets now coming out in the open, your life will not be the same. It never will be the same. However, I am not the person you should be asking for answers; neither should you ask Lady Yakumo. It's not our place to tell you. That responsibility lies solely on Eirin Yagokoro."

"Eirin Yagokoro," Sakuya returned to the tengu. "And you say I can find her at Eientei, the place in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost?"

"Yeah," said Aya.

"Then please take me there."

"Wait, now?"

"She is the only person who will tell me who I am. Who I truly am. The sooner we set out, the faster I will have those answers."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," said Momiji.

"Would you not want to be told of everything if you were in my position?"

"Yes I do, but Eirin can't be trusted. Remember what we said about Reisen—"

"Regardless of the circumstances, I will go and seek Eirin Yagokoro. Please, do this on my behalf. If Miss Eirin speaks true then I want you there to record it in your notes, in case for one reason or another I should renounce myself."

"But Sakuya—"

"If that's what Sakuya wants, then we should respect it," Aya interrupted quickly. Her eyes met with those of Sakuya's. "It's her right to know."

Momiji motioned to argue, but the silent plea in the servant's gaze was too strong to ignore. Her ears flattened against her head. "Okay," she said petulantly. "We'll go with you."

"Thank you. Lady Yakumo, by your request, may we travel to Eientei via Gap?"

"Done and done." With a wave of the youkai's hand, a Gap opened and droned at her side. "This will take you right outside the entrance."

"Let us part, then," said Sakuya to the crow and wolf. "I shall return soon, Milady. The answers will be within my grasp."

Remilia could only hope so, as the Gap closed behind them.

Stepping through a Gap was like being slingshot from one point of altitude to another – that is, if a tengu wanted to fly higher, he would have allocate his strength into his wings and push against the weight; if he wanted to fly lower, he would have to let go of the weight and allow it to filter past his plumage. That was how Aya (and Momiji, to an extent) felt when they crossed the imaginary boundary of endless red eyes and among the crowded screen of trees in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Sakuya, however, was not possessed with the gift of flight, not unless she had the spell card that utilized such an activation and cool-down effect. It must have been her first time traversing the Gap (it was Aya and Momiji's first, as well), because her balance seemed off and the glaze in her eyes unfocused. Yet her stance on the matter did not change; whether or not the effects of Gap-hopping wore off in a few minutes or several hours, Sakuya was going to plow straight ahead.

"Are you sure?" Aya asked her when she brought it up. "It's no different from flying. We can wait until you're equilibrium's settled."

"I appreciate your concern, Miss Shameimaru, but this cannot wait," said the maid. "I must speak with Eirin at once."

They pushed past the thickets and onto the green courtyard of Eientei, Sakuya taking the lead. As soon as they entered, Aya and Momiji saw Tewi Inaba, the rabbit girl who was acquainted with Fujiwara no Mokou. She was sweeping the steps when Sakuya called out to her.

"You there!"

"Oh, a visitor! What can I do for y—usakuso!" Tewi dropped the broom she was holding and gawked at the silver-haired, blue-eyed girl. "It's…It's you! Y-You're the girl from that picture!"

"If indeed I am," said Sakuya, stopping at the foot of the porch steps. "Is Eirin Yagokoro available? If she is, I request her audience."

Tewi nodded vigorously. "Y-Yessum, she's here. I don't think she's terribly busy. L-Let me go fetch her an'…an'…oooohhhh usakuso, EIRIN!" She bolted inside, nearly tripping on her own feet. "EIRIN! GET OUT HERE!"

A knot twisted in Aya's stomach, a greasy snake which squirmed uncomfortably among the intestines. She shifted weight from one foot to the other, wondering to herself why all of a sudden she was feeling this way.

"Just what are you fretting about, Tewi?" drifted a familiar, superfluous voice. Eirin Yagokoro emerged from the House of Eternity, who was being tugged along by the sleeve by an anxious Tewi Inaba. "Of course we're going to have people come here if we're going to distribute medicine—"

That was when she saw Sakuya Izayoi and literally stopped.

"…Who are you?" the doctor asked emotionlessly.

"I am Sakuya Izayoi, a servant to the Scarlet Devil Remilia Scarlet of West Gensokyo. I presume you must be Doctor Eirin Yagokoro."

"Yes, I am. Is there something you need?"

"I have questions I need to ask you, Miss Yagokoro. Questions that I believe only you can answer."

"Ah, yes. How may I assist you, Miss Izayoi?"

Sakuya swept an arm behind her. "These two ladies came to me bearing information about the Moon. Among their findings was a photograph of four girls. One of them is you, and the other…they say the other girl is me. I…I don't know if I should believe them, or if I should even want to. I have lived on the earth for forty years, and yet…when I looked upon this image, I had a clear memory of it; the day this was captured."

"May I see it?"

"Please."

Eirin descended the porch and closed the distance, step by step by step. Within seconds she was in front of Sakuya Izayoi, standing above her by a head's height.

Sakuya passed the photo into her hands. "Those other two girls…I recall they were talking about me, how I would not be able to fit in if I stood next to you. And yet they – you – did not call me Sakuya, but by another name. A named spelled Selestine."

Eirin did not answer as she continued to study the picture.

"I'm not sure if you recall exactly as I, but…I feel lost. It's as if a whole new world I didn't know existed has shed its light on me. I don't know if I should go toward it."

Eirin lowered the photograph, held it in loose fingers. "I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to tell me. If you're looking to retrieve more of these suppressed memories, I can prescribe you with—"

"I am not asking for a prescription, but for your guidance." Sakura stared into her eyes; eyes that she noted were the exact same shade of blue as her own. "Eirin Yagokoro, what is the relation between you and me? You called me Selestine, held me against you as if we were the closest of friends, told me I was your 'sweet Selestine o' mine.' This is the first time I have interacted with you, yet my body, my heart, feels as though we have known each other for so much longer." Her fists clenched. "Please Eirin, you must tell me! Tell me why I have this memory! Tell me what I am to y—"

Eirin's hand cracked across her face like a serpent.

"Holy shit!" Aya yelled, jumping back.

"E-Eirin!" Tewi shouted.

Momiji's lips curled over pink gums, tail bristling.

Sakuya lifted a shaking hand and touched the reddening mark on her cheek. "Wh…Wha…?"

"I know nothing about you," the doctor hissed. "I have never heard of you. What would make you think I know you by a single iota?"

"Yukari Yakumo," the maid forced out. "She said you protected me from her—"

"I WOULD NEVER PROTECT SCUM LIKE YOU!" Eirin roared, her face contorting nastily. "Those who defy, those who cheat, those who rebel, those who know not their place, they are not worth the salt they are! But liars – oh, those dreadful liars – they are the worst of the lot! Those who lie for the sake of themselves should be put to death, pinned to the wall and shot senseless until their bodies drain with the putrescence of their filth and selfishness!"

"If that is so," said Sakuya in an even tone, "then you deserve to die for your lack of honesty."

Eirin gasped with a look of pure scandalized shock.

Aya couldn't take it anymore. The knot was wringing itself so damn tightly, squeezing her intestines into a design she might not untangle. So she approached the two women, hands raised in a placated gesture. "Now now, ladies, I think if we take a nice, deep breath and talk more civil-like, we can put this behind us—"

Eirin didn't listen. Her fist slammed against Sakuya's jaw and sent her stumbling back.

"Shit! Sakuya!" cried Aya.

"Eirin!" said Tewi.

Sakuya didn't have the chance to recover. Eirin was on her in an instant, throwing punch after punch across her face. Each blow made stars explode in her eyes. She attempted to raise her arms, but Eirin pushed them up and away with her own. A punch to the abdomen knocked the wind from her lungs, then with an uppercut that jacked her head back and a spinning roundhouse to the neck she was sent flying and rolling across the ground.

"Sakuya!" "Eirin!" Aya and Tewi dashed toward them.

"Aya, Tewi, don't!" said Momiji.

Eirin charged after Sakuya, arms tucked in and body tilted low to the ground. Sakuya pushed herself up to her feet and blocked the machine-gun onslaught, arms crossed in front of her. Each blow struck harder and faster against her skin, vibrating in her bones and moaning like the damned.

Eirin's knee connected with her stomach. The impact was so sudden and so fierce Sakuya coughed blood and doubled over. Eirin hammered her to the courtyard floor with a hammer punch over the back of the girl's head. The doctor canted her hip and raised her leg.

"Sakuya, above you!" The maid lifted her eyes, saw the elder's heel come crashing down...

"SAKUYA!"

The axe kick stabbed into an empty space.

"Wh-What?" Eirin snarled. Wind whistled right past her eye, a gleam of silver.

She spun around. Clutched in between Sakuya's fingers and catching the daylight was a series of knives.

Beneath a curtain of ivory tresses was a pair of narrowed crimson eyes.

Eirin yelled angrily and rushed forward. As if it were a signal to some great event Sakuya launched the blades, first one arm and then the other. She unhooked the holsters at her thighs, snatched the knives out and flung them. Then she reached behind to the bow tied at her waist and unleashed a third volley. The air was alive with the sound of flashing, trilling metal.

Eirin moved like a dancer. She ducked and weaved amidst the projectiles, threading as a darning needle would to a tear in clothing. Drawing closer with each pounding step, Eirin reared back her fist and struck—

It hit only air.

A knife keened over her shoulder, ripping the fabric. Eirin whirled round again, and there stood Sakuya, knives collected and primed to soar.

The doctor's azure irises flared blood-red. A snarl disfigured full pink lips. "DAMN YOU!" she bellowed, and the predator raced toward its prey.

Sakuya flexed her muscles and tossed the first set of blades.

"Sakuya, Eirin, that's enough!" Aya flashed into existence, appearing as if she were a mirage. She stood between Sakuya and Eirin, ruffled black wings and arms outstretched. "There's no need to fight like this!"

"Miss Shameimaru!" shouted Sakuya.

Aya cast a sidelong glance, noticed the knives looming at her. Her eyes widened but then were squeezed shut as Eirin tackled her to the ground. She fought and wrestled, bucked her hips to throw the older woman's weight off. The doctor's knees snuffed her efforts of escape, locked them together on both sides of her torso. Fingers grabbed her throat and clamped down. Aya's hands latched onto the wrist and tugged, tugged, tugged.

"AYA!" screamed Momiji. She unsheathed her sword and brought up her shield.

"I shouldn't have let you go," Eirin growled down at the squirming crow. "I shouldn't have let you and that damn dog walk away from me. But I don't need a seal to crush your throat; no, no, I know a better way to deal with scum like you." She dug inside her lab coat and pulled a slim, metallic, cylinder object.

It was a gun.

She pressed the barrel between Aya's eyes, grinned at the terror dawning deliciously on the girl's face. "That's right, sweetie," she cooed. "Relax for me…."

"LET HER GO, EIRIN!" said Tewi. She grabbed the back of the doctor's collar and pulled. "NO MORE!"

"SHUT UP!" Eirin twisted her body round, aimed the gun at the Earthborne rabbit, and cocked the hammer back, index finger flushed on the trigger.

The shot never fired.

Sakuya plowed into Eirin, throwing the doctor off the tengu. The gun flew from her hand, winked in the daylight, and vanished into the thickets.

But the fight was only just begun. As soon as the two women rolled to a stop, they were on their feet and trading blows, disregarding knives and the spell card system in favor of brutal, old-fashioned fisticuffs.

"Why are you fighting them? Am I not your enemy, scum of the earth?" Sakuya snapped.

"It's their fault!" Eirin bit back. "I would still be living peacefully if it weren't for their meddling! I should have killed them! I should have killed Tewi and Reisen! I should kill everyone who harbors my secrets!"

"Then do yourself a favor and kill yourself if the burden is that troubling!"

"Never! I alone bear the weight of my sins!"

"What on Heaven and Earth is going on out here?" A black-haired girl in a flowing kimono ran onto the porch, followed by Reisen Udongein and a small collection of rabbits. Her demeanor shifted from wonderment to outright fury when she saw the fight unfolding just feet away. "Eirin Yagokoro! As your princess, I ORDER YOU TO CEASE THIS BEHAVIOR AND STAND DOWN AT ONCE!"

Her voice cut through the air like a siren. Both fighters stopped at once – the point of Sakuya's knifepoint to the doctor's eye, and Eirin's thumb and forefinger gripped over the maid's carotid arteries.

For a moment, no one moved.

Eirin glared at the dark-haired princess out of the corner of one eye, a flower in bright bloody bloom. "Stay out of this, Kaguya. This does not concern you."

"Do you realize who you're attacking?" the girl, Kaguya, cried. "Do you even remember that girl's face? That girl is the only family you have left, the only person who hasn't turned her back on you! That girl…she is your younger sister!"

The knife slipped from Sakuya's hand. "…Younger…sister?"

"You think I don't know that?" said Eirin. "Of course she's my sister! I won't deny it! However, the last thing I wanted is for her to remember let alone find me! By all accounts she should be dead! And I…I will finish what I started forty years ago, right here, right now!" She tightened her grip.

Kaguya raised her hand and fired a single danmaku bullet. It homed in and exploded against the bend of Eirin's arm. The doctor yelped, releasing Sakuya in the process. A second bullet collided with her legs and forced her down on one knee. "You will do no such thing!" the Lunarian princess intoned. "If you are so intent on tying loose ends, I suggest you impart to Selestine the lives she had previously lived!"

"Previous lives…?"

"I will not tell this girl about her personal life!" Eirin exclaimed. "She's not worth my time and she never will be!"

"Then you should have refused Higa's offer and let her be," Kaguya said sadly. "However, Higa is not the problem. You deliberately attacked these girls with the purpose to kill in order to preserve your shame. I had hoped this would never happen, but you have proven me wrong." She sighed, folded her arms in the kimono's sleeves. "I'm sorry, Eirin, but I cannot allow you to continue living among us in Eientei. This habit of false pretenses has gone on long enough, and I…I grow tired of it."

"You can't do this to me!" Eirin complained. "No one else can treat the weak and ill as well as me! Eientei is my home! I know no other place!"

"That is the price you must pay for your actions. I'm giving you until midnight to pack your belongings and leave. If you are still here by then, I will make you my enemy and chase you off this property."

"Kaguya…!"

"Do not try to sway me, Eirin. My mind is already set."

"I don't believe this. This is your fault!" Eirin whipped her head round on Aya and Momiji. "It's because of your meddling I have been undone! And you!" She glared venomously at Sakuya. "May there be a pox on you and all who you know and love! I pray you meet a grisly end!"

"That's enough, Eirin," Kaguya commanded. "Ladies from beyond the forest," she called to the servant and the tengu. "I apologize for the trouble my friend has caused you. My heart is gladdened to know you are well. Unfortunately, as much as I wish to hear your side of the story, I must ask that you leave Eientei at once. This is a matter I alone must resolve, and I hope you understand I mean no ill-will behind my words."

Sakuya only nodded, Momiji too. Aya was too sore to make the motion.

"Good. Tewi, please escort these ladies to the forest entrance. Everyone go back inside, you too, Reisen. I need to have a word with Eirin."

"By your leave, Princess." The Earthborne rabbit waved to the trio. "Let's go, girls."

"You all right?" Momiji asked Aya as she pulled the crow tengu to her feet.

Aya dusted herself off, folded her wings in. "Yeah, I think so. What about you, Saku…ya…?" The maid brushed past her without a word, limping along on an ankle that had to have been twisted during the resulting fight.

But in that moment, as their paths crossed, Aya saw something in those blue eyes. Something soft, fragile, and porcelain.

It was a look of one with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

That moment only lasted a second, but Aya had caught it. Sakuya's face may be carved from stone, but it was there, shining like twin lighthouse beacons in the stygian dark.

The knot in her belly may have loosened, but it didn't make the discomfort anymore tolerable than when Eirin had cast aside the sheep's skin and revealed to everyone not who she was but what she was.

"C'mon," Aya was brought to reality by Momiji, who touched her arm and nodded at Sakuya and Tewi's retreating backs.

Aya nodded, cast one last wondering glance in Eirin's direction, and followed her colleague into the bamboo forest.

The sensation of eyes never left the back of her head.