*Slap*
Remilia shook her head to clear the pain, then forced herself to stand up perfectly straight. She stared past her father's angry visage doing her best to hide her pain.
"I've given you years to fix this! So what's your excuse for this farce!"
She knew that there was no answer that could satisfy him. She simply gritted her teeth and replied, "I don't have one, father."
"You don't have one?" The second slap was lighter then the first, though it still sent her small body flying. She thought she heard Flandre whimper in fear. Or maybe that was her own voice.
Her father dragged her upright, glaring down at his wayward daughter with fury in his eyes. "You disgust me, Remilia. How could someone of the my bloodline be so pathetic?" He sneered at her. "A noble of house Scarlet who can't even correctly transform to and from bat form? Sickening! And what's worse is that you failed in the most egregious manner possible. Now every time I look at these," Remilia trembled in fear as he placed his hands on her wings, "I'm reminded that my daughter is inferior to a commoner!"
Remilia couldn't help but scream as he ripped the wings from her back with his monstrous strength. She collapsed to the ground, desperately fighting back sobs. He'd stop hurting her if she didn't cry.
Her father tossed her broken wings aside and walked away in disgust. They'd grow back soon enough.
Her mother walked over and looked down upon Remilia as she tried to stand. "I should toss you out into the sun and start over. Give Flandre someone worthy to compete against."
Remilia gritted her teeth. "But you won't."
Her mother smiled at that. "Yes, I suppose it's hard to threaten you since you know the results. So long as you keep that power you are of some use. Maybe your sister will keep you alive if she proves herself worthy of the Scarlet name."
Remilia grunted in reply and stood.
Most vampires had powers, but normally they simply gained greater strength in one of the vampire's traditional skills. She on the other hand was weaker, physically and magically, then the norm for her race. But her power was unique. She possessed the ability to see fate, and plan around it.
She wondered if her parents would be more or less impressed if they realized she'd been lying to them all this time. Because the one thing she could not see was her own fate.
Her father had moved to stand before Flandre, the lesser daughter forgotten. Remilia could sense her sister's fear, but it didn't show on her pale countenance.
Her father looked down at the girl. "Bat form." Flandre immediately transformed into a bat at his command. "Vampire form." Flandre switched again, quickly resuming her true form. Unlike Remilia no wings marred her form. Of course their father wouldn't be satisfied with just that.
"Wolf form." In Flandre's place sat a night black wolf with blood red eyes. "Mist." Now there was just a haze where Flandre once was. "Vampire." Then Flandre was back, whole again.
"Mist, Wolf, Vampire, Bat, Mist, Vampire, Wolf, Vampire," her father rattled off. Flandre immediately began shifting, trying to keep up with the commands as they came. She of course fell behind, but she did all the transformations, in the correct order.
Her test complete, Flandre stood there awaiting judgment.
"Acceptable," was her father's final verdict. "Your mist transformations are still slow though. Work on them."
"Yes father!" Flandre replied quickly.
"Well then, shall we have dinner Flandre?" Mother asked.
Flandre glanced back at Remilia for a moment, but the young girl quickly turned back. "Yes Mother."
Father nodded as well, and the three left towards the dining room. Remilia didn't follow. She knew she'd been dismissed for her poor showing. She would get no dinner tonight. Her stomach and body would complain, but she wouldn't cry about it. That would only show she was less worthy then she already was. She would stand there until the massive doors to the dining hall slammed shut.
Then she could collapse to the floor and try to wrap her arms around herself.
She wouldn't cry about it, when they could see.
As her choked sobs slowly subsided, she smelled something sweet. Her hunger drove her towards the smell, and she found herself looking down at the blood she'd lost when her father had ripped off her wings.
She pushed herself off the ground in disgust. She was a vampire. She wouldn't resort to licking her own blood off the floor like a wounded beast!
Or that's what she wanted to say. She hadn't eaten in two days, and the scent of blood, even her own, was distracting to the point of madness.
Remilia stared at the puddle of blood for a long time, before running off to her room to escape the enticing smell.
"Big sister, can I come in?"
Remilia nearly jumped from her bed at the voice. "Of course. Hurry though before you're seen."
The door opened and Flandre slipped through. "You don't need to worry Remilia. Mother caught a priest. They'll be gone the rest of the night."
Remilia stood and hugged her sister. "That's good." She almost felt some pity for the priest, but considering the fact that the way Mother hunted was seduction, it was obvious he wasn't a very pious man.
Flandre hugged Remilia back, then loosened her collar. "Here big sis. I ate too much at dinner, so you can have some."
Remilia stared at her sister's neck. Kin feeding was possible, but frowned upon. "It's okay Flandre. I'm a light eater, I don't need much food. Besides they might notice."
"They won't notice if you don't spill anything." Flandre paused, then said in a meek whisper, "Besides, they're going to take me to the village tomorrow. I'll get more blood then."
"Eh! Tomorrow?" Remilia started at that. She was only 17, and Flandre had just turned 13. To go on an active hunt so soon...
Then Remilia understood. "It's because of me isn't it."
Flandre didn't say anything, but Remilia could tell by her sister's silence she'd hit the mark.
Soon after little Flandre had mastered speech the two sisters had learned the reason their parents had gone through the effort of having two children so quickly. They were only going to let one of them inherit the Scarlet family name. One of them was going to become one of the rulers of the night, the other was simply to be a challenge for the true vampire to overcome. A tool to be discarded.
Thus for the next three years the sisters had been at each others throats. Both knew only one of them would survive. Remilia had the advantage in age and her ability to see fate. Flandre however quickly started beating Remilia in strength and magical aptitude.
Then shape changing lessons had come, and everything fell apart.
Remilia's failure had made it impossible for her to pretend to be human. She'd been terrified her parents would have killed her right then, but her ability to see the future convinced them to spare her.
But that meant Flandre had no 'worthy' competition. Which meant their father had come down twice as hard on the young girl.
The two sisters had slowly banded together after that. Flandre needed Remilia to help tutor her. There was no way someone her age could understand the subjects being thrown at her with simple self study. And Remilia...
Remilia needed a friend. Someone who thought she had the right to exist. Especially since most of her life these days was being used as an object lesson in the penalties for failure.
Remilia sighed and shook off her reminiscence. "Well, I guess feeding should help you calm down a bit. I'll be careful not to take much."
That brought some of Flandre's color back. "Yeah, and no bloodstains, alright," Flandre said in an imperious tone. "It's bad enough you've ruined your own dresses like that."
Remilia smiled weakly before slowly biting into her sister's throat, her hunger allowing her to ignore the terrible taste of vampire blood. Flandre sighed and relaxed as the tranquilizing agents in Remilia's vampiric saliva helped remove her fear and tension.
After a few seconds Remilia stopped drinking and very carefully drew back. To her immense relief she hadn't spilled any blood this time. And despite the foul taste, she wasn't starving anymore. "Thank you sister."
"Hm, well sisters are supposed to look after each other." Flandre crossed her arms and turned away. "Though you're supposed to be helping more, big sister. When are you going to stop slacking?"
Remilia smiled weakly. "One day you'll be able to rely on me for everything you need. Just you see."
Flandre's voice seemed to shift as she said, "I know."
Remilia shuddered at that. Only she had seen it happen, but Flandre sometimes knew things. Things that even Remilia couldn't see. Perhaps it was a weak echo of Remilia's power. Or perhaps it was something else.
Flandre started walking for the door. "I should go to bed early."
"Yeah. Take care Flandre."
Flandre opened the door, then stopped. "Remilia?"
"Yes, Flan?" Remilia replied.
Flandre hesitated a little longer. "I know it won't matter, since you can't change fate, but I need to know. Does everything go okay tomorrow?"
Remilia stood up and called upon her ability. She stared at Flandre, and the rest of the world seemed to fade away, leaving her sister in a darkened field.
Then the scene changed. There was a village full of fire. Blood. A broken cross. And mad laughter ringing through the air.
Remilia closed her eyes to block out the sight. "Yeah. It'll all turn out okay Flandre," she lied.
"Thank you sister."
Remilia waited until the door latched before burying her face in the pillow to contain her new tears. "I'm sorry Flandre. I didn't want to lie. But you should have one good night's sleep. It's all I can give you."
The waiting was interminable.
Flandre and their father had left after lunch. Remilia had been ordered to her room at the same time. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye to Flandre. Not while their parents watched.
And so Remilia was left to pace. Thirty seven short steps one way. Thirty seven short steps the other. A mindless exercise to keep her body occupied while her mind wandered.
As she paced she wondered again why she hadn't aged from her current state. Perhaps it was because she felt she was still a child. Her parents had beaten that into her enough. Or perhaps it was because she felt more like Flandre's little sister then her big sister. She hoped Flandre didn't have the same problem. It would be sad if both of them were trapped at this age forever.
She hoped that her worries about Flandre would actually matter.
The vision once again flashed through her mind and she shook it off. It didn't matter. It was probably meaningless. It was a vampire's job to cause pain and suffering to humans. If there wasn't blood and fire after an attack from Flandre her father would be disappointed, right? All that mattered was keeping the fact that there were actual vampires hidden to all but the dead.
Remilia started as the door opened. She quickly snapped to attention and found her mother standing there looking displeased. "Follow me," her mother said curtly.
Remilia followed.
Mother led her to the sitting room. Father was already there, staring at his painting while growling. His clothes were torn slightly, and he smelled of smoke.
When Remilia entered he turned his glare on her. Remilia couldn't help but flinch back at the hate in his eyes. "You! Prove you're still useful and tell us where we'll be in two days time!"
Remilia desperately wanted to ask why, but she didn't dare anger her father further. She quickly concentrated on her parents. She saw a manor, similarly decorated, but not the same. She saw mother and father sitting there, looking annoyed but relieved. And a place entered her mind, 'Bavaria.'
"You'll be in the Germanys, Father. Bavaria." Remilia paused for a moment. "I... don't see Flandre, Father."
"That's not of your concern wretch," her Mother said. "You've proven useful enough to let live again. Now go to your room until we call for you."
Once again Remilia desperately wanted to know what happened, but she didn't dare refuse. "Yes mother." Remilia turned around and walked out. The door slammed shut behind her.
Remilia walked halfway down the hall towards her room, then stopped and turned into a bat. She might never be able to get the bats wings off her back, but she could still make the transformation. And she needed the bat's hearing now.
She focused her ears at the crack in the door and listened in on the conversation.
"Are you sure we need to flee?" mother asked. "The Church isn't usually so quick."
"Normally they don't trust some random villagers claims. After all who cares if a few peasants die to vampire attacks? But that little thing revealed a power no one should possess and some witnesses survived. The church will be here in force to kill her." Her Father's voice almost sounded worried.
"Is it really that bad dear? Power is power," Mother replied.
"Power is fine, but the little child went mad!" Her father's exclamation was followed by a loud thump. "She killed one human, then just lost her mind. She broke the church while hovering in the moonlight for all to see, then started attacking people at random to see if 'they all broke the same way!' She even attacked me! I was lucky that a strong slap brought some semblance of sense back to her. But she was giggling even then and muttering things in tongues."
"Hrm, that is bad." Mother sighed. "How foolish, to break over some human. I guess we'll have to start over then. We can't have madness in the family, no matter the power."
Her father grunted. "Especially with that power. I swear half the time she just looked at something and it would explode. I feel lucky that she tried to kill me in a conventional fashion."
"You think she's that dangerous dear?" Mother seemed shocked. "Is that why you let her live?"
"Yes. Tomorrow night we just pack up and leave. Don't even bother with the seal on her door. Let the church handle this mess."
Remilia had heard enough. She flew away towards her sister's room.
The doors to Flandre's room had been sealed with a powerful spell. One far beyond her skills. Remilia could admittedly tunnel through the walls, but the door itself was impassable.
Perhaps that was for the best. After all, she had lied to her sister.
Remilia hesitated then knocked on the door. "Flandre. It's me."
"Big sister!" Flandre's voice rang out. "One sec! Lemee open the door!" There was a few steps from inside, then a thump as Flandre hit the warded portal.
"Flandre, it's sealed," Remilia said. "You can't..."
The mystical seal cracked, then the doorway shattered into a million pieces, revealing Flandre. "Kyuu!" Flandre said. Then she started giggling.
Remilia could only stare in shock at the altered form of the girl who was her sister. "Flandre, what... what have you done to your back?"
"Oh! The wings!" Flandre laughed again. A strange painful laugh that caused fear to shoot up Remilia's spine. "Well I'm a failure now, just like you Remilia! So that means I can get pretty wings like you too, right?" Flandre turned around, causing the strange crystals attached to the 'wings' to chime. Flandre's back was a mass of blood and Remilia could see where the iron bars that made up the 'wings' had been jammed into her skin. "Do you like them big sis?"
Remilia was terrified. The girl that she had spent so much time with, who she'd fought against, who she'd tried desperately to support, had shattered. Crushed under the weight of an impossible task.
But it was still Flandre. Remilia stepped forward and hugged her sister. "They're beautiful. They must hurt a lot, but they're beautiful."
Flandre stiffened at the embrace, then slumped into Remilia's arms. "I can see it big sister. Why did you lie to me? I can see it all. Killing people made me understand. Everything is so fragile. That door." Flandre kicked a piece of the ruined wood. "My bed." Flandre made a fist and it exploded into fragments. "Even you big sister." Remilia froze in fear as something in her chest tightened. It felt like she could pop at any moment. She wanted to scream. To run away.
But she'd had years of practice fighting back those emotions. She forced herself to hug her sister tighter. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to believe what I saw was real. I didn't want to know."
The tightness vanished. "I understand," Flandre said mournfully. "Sometimes not knowing is safer. Sometimes not knowing is the only thing that makes it stop hurting."
Flandre leaned into her. "Big sister. What will happen to me?"
Remilia closed her eyes. She didn't want to see. But she couldn't escape the visions. A head with blond hair lying on the floor. A silver knife. Broken crystals atop the shattered fragments of Flandre's bed.
"Do I die, big sister?"
Remilia bit her lip. Finally she said, "Your bed's broken. Do you want to sleep in my room tonight, Flandre?"
Flandre started. "Ah! It is broken." She giggled again. "I'm starting to forget whether things are broken or waiting to be broken." Flandre paused and thought. "Well, normally I'd get in trouble, but that doesn't matter, so sure!"
Remilia sighed and closed her eyes again. The vision flashed in front of her. Her sisters broken form. A silver knife. A ruined room.
Her ruined room.
And then she understood.
"Let's go to sleep early, Flandre. I think we'll have a long day tomorrow."
Remilia was always a light eater, which was great if you wanted to keep a low profile as a vampire. But she had another quality that was of great use for survival. She was a light sleeper.
Incredibly light for a vampire. Most vampires couldn't move at all once they retreated to their beds and the sun rose. However some, like her mother and her sister, could act normally while the sun was up. And Remilia alone could wake when the sun was high in the sky without stumbling about in lethargy for a while.
Which was a good thing. She knew what she needed to do, but her mind fought against it tooth and nail. She'd been trapped in a cycle of helplessness for so long she could barely believe she could escape it. It took her a full hour to pull herself out of bed. Another to get the items she needed. Then a third hour to push open the door to her parents room.
She thanked whatever dark forces might listen to a devils prayers that her parents didn't sleep in coffins, otherwise she might have lost another hour, and she didn't have that time.
She walked up next to her mother first. The tall elegant silver haired woman hadn't shifted at all. Remilia stood there for a while, trying to summon her courage. Then the woman's eyes fluttered open.
The shock and fear in her mother's eyes gave her the courage to raise the oak stake above the woman's breast and drive it home with preternatural force.
Her mother spasmed and jerked as blood splattered about. Remilia had hit the heart, but not pierced it. But the young vampires fear was gone, replaced by rage. "It figures your breasts would save you, fucking cow!" Remilia swore as she slamed her hand down on the stake again. "After all, that's all you ever used to hunt! Well they aren't big enough to keep you alive forever you stupid bitch!"
Remilia slammed her hand down one more time, and her mother jerked and was still.
She whirled around towards her father's bed. The elder vampire's eyes were open, but unlike his wife and daughters, he couldn't even begin to move while the sun was up. Remilia took her time walking to his side. "Well well well. Who's weak now!" She carefully put the tip of the second stake over his heart, reveling in his fear.
"Before I kill you father, I want you to know something. I lied to you every time I said you wouldn't kill me. I can't see my own fate." She paused and smiled even wider. "Because I don't have one. I can change the future as I see fit! I am Remilia Scarlet, and fate is mine to command! Am I worthy now, Father?"
She looked down at her old man's face, and she froze. He was smiling. Weakly, but he was smiling.
"NO!" she screamed as she hammered in the stake with her fist. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! You don't get to approve of me now! I don't want your approval! I don't need your approval! I'm murdering you God dammit! Scream! Beg! Cry! Plead for your life! Say you were sorry. That I was always worthy of being your daughter! DON'T JUST LIE THERE AND SMILE LIKE THAT YOU BASTARD!"
But her words were futile. Her father wouldn't be doing anything anymore.
Remilia wiped her eyes again before stepping into her room. "Hey Flandre, wake up." She held out a bowl with some soup in it. "Breakfast. Sorta."
Flandre yawned and turned to look at the bowl. "Good morning." Flandre took the soup and started slurping it down. Remilia should probably complain, but that was faster. And faster was better right now.
"When you're done, pack your clothes sister. We're going on a trip." Remilia started gathering her own belongings.
"Where to?" Flandre asked quietly.
Remilia paused for a moment, then smiled weakly. "Bavaria. There's a mansion there for us."
"What about Mother and Father?" Flandre asked quietly. "Won't they be mad?"
Remilia's hands started to tremble. She took a deep breath. "They don't care about us anymore, Flandre. We can go where we wish." She waited until her hands stopped shaking, then went back to packing her clothes.
Flandre looked over at Remilia, then back down at her soup. "Big sister, what's going to happen to us?"
Remilia shook her head. "I don't know Flandre. I can't see our fate anymore." She turned around and hugged Flandre tightly. "But I promise you, I'll do my best to take care of you. Because you're my sister."
Flandre sniffed, then hugged her sister back. "I knew you would."
To His Grace, Cardinal Borgia,
Our inquiries into the matter in the village of _ have turned up more questions then answers I'm afraid. Two of the devils were found slain by our crew, but there is evidence of more that escaped.
Further complicating matters is evidence that the Silver Witch is also hunting the creatures. Once again the woman evaded capture, and I fear she took the evidence we'd need to pursue the creatures with her. Then again this may be the work of the Lord in disguise. If nothing else the two groups meeting should eliminate one of our problems.
The bodies we did claim are enough to soothe the townspeople, and tithes are up in the area. I suggest a commendation for Brother Mark on keeping the matter local with a minimum of bloodshed, and I will report when our hunters have more news on where the other devils may have fled.
In Humble Service,
Brother Mikael.
I've wanted for some time to write a different version of how Remilia and Flandre's parents went away. It took me a while, but I finally put it together. It's darker then I normally write, but I hope the ending we all know comes in the future makes up for that.
I'm slowly pulling together my other writings. I imagine I'll have a lot more to post in Summer.