Chapter 37

"The First Day"

Roy awoke in his bed but something was wrong. He checked his watch. "3:10" It was early but he felt an urge to get up. Roy went out into the hallway slinging his Alice gear onto his body as he ran through the mansion. As he approached the front door, he stopped.

He opened the door slowly drawing his pistol into the opening. It was all clear in the front yard but then something moved. Roy aimed at the shadow but before he could cock the hammer, a soft voice came from the darkness.

"Don't move…" Hong said from the shadow.

Roy froze as she crawled over to him.

"They were here…I can sense them…" Hong said as she motioned Roy to get down on the ground.

"VC…NVA?" Roy whispered.

"No…wild Youkai…I can feel their Chi…" Hong said as she peered around the front yard.

"Yo-Kai?" Roy asked with a shiver.

"They're spirits from the dark. Beings of myth and folklore that are born from a fear or presence that someone or something was there, The ones around here come from the what the locals fear…These ones kidnap and devour humans." Hong said as she got up from her place.

"Those aren't those moss things that attacked us in the woods are they?" Roy asked.

"They look like tree creatures...and they're very hard to see." Hong answered.

"I hope their weakness is conventional bullets." Roy said as he looked around.

"We'll I'm quite impressed that you and especially Rhodes managed to come back alive." Hong nodded.

"Yeah that's why we came back in the tank." Roy scoffed.

"I don't want you to be alarmed Roy…I'm not a human, I'm a Youkai as well." Hong said putting her hand on Roy's back.

"Is that why you told Rhodes you taste good?" Roy teased.

"You're lucky that I like you…also I don't eat humans." Hong said in a serious tone.

Several of the Youkai jumped from the shadows and headed straight towards the two as they stood in the open.

Roy and Hong held their ground with a blast of automatic fire. The rest of the mansion quickly rushed out to assist them. Patchouli and Sakuya in the lead of a dozen Fairy Maids rushed the large groups of the beasts from where they gathered. A combination of rapid rifle fire and elemental spells were enough to ward off the pack.

"Stations." Roy said as everyone scrambled to their defensive positions.

"All clear…" one group of Fairy Maids said in the distance.

"Damn…this was a waste of time." Roy muttered to himself as he walked through a trench. Rhodes scanned the horizon with his starlight scope as the rest of the Fairy Maids stood around looking into the darkness.

"There moving…I hope we don't have another enemy to worry about." Rhodes said looking through the scope.

"Well the NVA might not have relayed information about us yet…there focus is primarily eastward, im worried that they might have discovered the Fairies." Roy said as he drew a map in the dirt.

"Did anyone survive that night Remilia took out that platoon?" Roy asked.

"I wasn't outside…Sonu might know…" Rhodes said putting down the scope.

"There was one…" Sakuya said as she came to sit by the two.

"Only one?" Roy asked.

"An officer…Patchouli said.

"he left through the back door and fled into the woods before he joined the rest of his men." Sakuya said.

"I guess I would run too." Roy whispered.

"If he gets the word out to attack here, I don't know what's going to happen." Sakuya said somberly.

"If I told my commander I was attacked by Fairies and Vampires they would think I was a nut job, granted I'm sure by now they know exactly who she is." Roy stated.

"Some of them do know about Remilia already but they don't know where she lives." Patchouli said as she descended into the trench to join in on the conversation.

"Was anyone able to find her in the last wars?" Roy asked.

"Remilia hid in the Hoia forest in World War One and she hid in Gensokyo during the pacific war, the Japanese and americans wouldn't be able to find her even if they tried." Patchouli said.

"So we've got her on the radar now?" Roy asked

"Precisely, thanks to you we might have a better chance of getting the world to take her out." Patchouli added.

The light from the morning sun pierced the sky giving way to the sight of the beautiful valley around them.

"Everyone get some sleep if needed, we start our sleep shifts today…I want lookouts on all corners and tell Koakuma to keep an eye out on the roof." Roy said as he picked up his M14 and headed back to the Mansion.

A distant rumble of engines echoed from the mountains as Roy began heading for the door. Roy turned to face the direction of the noise. As the sun came overhead, the valley began to fog over covering up the eerie echoes from the forest around them. A machine gun sounded off in the distance as Roy thought what he heard was an Armored NVA unit engaging with the Youkai and possibly the wild Fairies. "That might be the Fairies." Roy said as he looked onward with a pair of binoculars.

The firefight raged on through the day as countless gunshots and explosions had the whole Mansion on edge.

"Rhodes, Hong get your weapons ready we're going off to investigate." Roy said as he checked his supplies.

"Can I come this time?" Sakuya asked as she slung a garand belt around her waist.

"Yeah…you can come now." Roy said patting Sakuya on her shoulder. Patchouli, Remilia and Koakuma took action to conceal the mansion beneath a thick fog.

Sakuya was excited as she kept pace through the jungle but as the gunfire got louder and louder, her excitement faded into terror. They came out of the fog onto a ridgeline overlooking a clearing into the forest below. There, a small armored unit of NVA regulars were pushing back what was believed to be Cirno's army of Fairies and Youkai.

Bodies of the little Fairies were scattered across the forest floor among the other bodies of the practically invisible Youkai. Roy felt a feeling of pity as he saw the faces of lifeless Fairies poking through openings in the foliage. Suddenly a V-100 armored car moved up to let loose a Flamethrower into a corridor of bamboo between the hills. The screams from several of the wild Fairies echoed through the trees around them as several of them flew skyward swiftly being consumed by the gelatinous flame. A terrible feeling overtook Roy as he watched their bodies drop to the ground like charred flies.

"Those fucking bastards…" Roy said as he peered through a set of binoculars.

"Over there on the other side of the hill…" Hong said pointing to a shape in the distance.

Roy aimed the binoculars over to find the familiar white and blue pattern of Cirno's dress among a group of Fairies waiting in ambush.