15. Bound to a Vampire

"A… maid?" I asked.

"Yes." Remilia stared at me.

"…What kind of work would I be doing, if I may ask?"

"What do you think? House chores, errands to the village, things like that. Nothing life-threatening, at least to begin with. In time, we can pin down your niche skills and set you to more important duties appropriately."

"But… why? Why make me do work—work that, to be fair, I'm not trained for—when you have a staff of numerous, low-maintenance fairies who can do the job better?"

"It's a matter of worth," Remilia replied tiredly, as if it were common knowledge. "I need to know that anything I invest in you will benefit me somehow—what's the point in sacrificing time and resources if you're going as useful as a doormat?" I averted my eyes as Remilia glared at me. "By working as a maid, you can carry your own weight. Now, will you accept my conditions for your stay?"

Well… there's no real alternative, is there? Besides, the only real dangers to the job would be anything involving Flandre, and the possibility of an invasion. "Just to confirm, by working here, I would be protected?"

"You'll be safe from everything but what you bring upon yourself."

I took a deep breath and nodded. "In that case… alright. I'll work for you."

Remilia smiled. "Good. Now... on your knees, if you would."

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm going to mark you. Just a small exchange of blood, so others will know that you answer to me. It's standard procedure for my servants."

I flinched. I'd said I would let her bite me if absolutely necessary, but to have to live up to my word this quickly… "Will it be permanent? Just how much blood do I have to give?"

"The effects will last until I release you. Patchy says I should take just enough blood to 'prevent a spike in your blood pressure' when I give you my own… but I'm actually in the mood for a snack right about now." Remilia snickered. "Think of this as an advance payment for your stay here at my mansion."

"If it's my only option…" After several seconds of consideration, I quietly whimpered and tilted my head. "Just be quick about it."

Remilia grinned and stepped up to me. "Oh, don't worry. It's not going to hurt… much."

And then she bit me.

What started as an intense pinching sensation quickly escalated to incredible pain, as if somebody was jabbing a pen into my neck. As soon as it came, though, the pain was gone, replaced with a tingling numbness that rapidly spread across my entire body. My vision began to dim and sound became muffled. All I could feel was the tugging at my neck.

After what I think might have been a minute or so, the tugging stopped. I had no control over my body, but even if I did I wouldn't have had enough time to sigh in relief before a feeling like liquid ice shot down my spine. My heartbeat became increasingly erratic as the alien cold pulsed through my bloodstream. I'd stopped thinking consciously at this point, my body fully submitting to the bite of its own accord.

Finally, when my body was on the verge of collapse, I was released. The numbness faded, and my strength was gone. Suddenly exhausted, I couldn't stop myself from collapsing on the floor.

"…Thinking back to my first impression of you," Remilia said, licking her lips, "Your blood was much sweeter than I expected. Must be the moon-woman's medicine…" When I didn't respond, she glanced down at me. "Whoops. Must have gotten a little carried away with the feeding. I rarely get an opportunity to have fresh blood, and I'm so used to draining my victims dry…"

"You think?" Patchouli stepped over and gently pulled me to my feet. Once I was standing, she very slowly released me. I wavered dangerously, but I managed to stay upright. "Are you alright, Lucy?"

I raised a jittering hand to my neck. A wave of nausea shot through my body, eliminating what little control I had left over my legs. I couldn't even feel pain when I hit the ground. "…I... I don't feel so good," I said, weakly pushing myself up with my hands.

"That'll pass." Remilia brushed me off. "Now, here are my most basic rules: One, you are never to address me informally. You are to address me as Milady, Mistress Remilia, or Madame Scarlet at all times. Two, my word is LAW. You do as you are told, and if I call for you, you will drop whatever you're doing and come to me. In my absence, you will answer to either Sakuya, or to Patchy here. Three…"

Remilia's words drifted off as the nausea hit a breaking point and I emptied the contents of my stomach on the floor in front of me. "…I will let that insulting display pass since you are new—the next time I won't be so lenient." At the snap of Remilia's fingers, two fairies came forward. They pressed against me, pushing me a short distance away from the vomit, and got to cleaning up the mess.

Remilia yawned, and blinked. "I suppose I did overdo it; I'm tired all of a sudden. Well, I'm off to my chambers for a nap. Sakuya and Patchouli will show you the ropes in my stead." With that, she lazily moved away. "Your first day begins tomorrow."

XXXXX

The girl drifted in and out of consciousness for several hours, utterly wrecked from her heavy blood loss. Whenever she was awake, she was extremely light-headed and very slow to respond to outside stimuli.

And as such, Sakuya was heaving an incredibly difficult time speaking to her. "You're the first human maid we've had at the Mansion since my own arrival years ago. Of course, there were many before me, but none of them had my gifts. Please, I would really like not to become the lone human in the mansion once more."

Lucy blinked. "…I, er… I-I'm sorry, could you… repeat that?"

Patchouli rested a gentle hand on Sakuya's shoulder upon spotting the maid's hands tightening into fists. "Let her be, Sakuya. I'd estimate Remilia drained about two pints of blood from her while she was marking her. Even if you can get her to focus on you, she's probably not coherent enough that she'll remember any of it later."

"Hey… wait…" Sakuya turned to the girl. She was pawing at her pockets meekly. "Medicine… wake me up…."

"Uh… okay." Sakuya moved forward and stuck her hands into the girl's pockets. She came out holding several bottles… one of them reading 'energy pills.' "Oh, this is what she meant."

She took out a pill. "If you can still hear me, Lucy, I need you to swallow this." The girl was just barely conscious enough to take the drug and put it in her mouth.

After a few minutes, the girl began to stir.

XXXXX

Ugh. That medicine tastes awful… I shook my head to get rid of the buzzing in my ears and the stars in my vision. I was back on the couch I'd woken up on when I came here. Sakuya had pulled a chair up and was sitting in front of me. Patchy was at the table.

I slapped my cheek lightly, trying to get some feeling back in my face. "I should have thought of the supplements before."

"You probably couldn't." Patchy said. "You gave quite a bit of blood. I'd be careful, Lucy—it seems Remi's taken a liking to your blood."

I shuddered. "I don't think I can do that again."

Sakuya shrugged. "Look on the bright side. If you allow the Mistress to feed on you every now and again, she'll look after you, even if you're no good as a maid."

"…As much as I'd prefer not to resort to that, you make a good point. So… how long was I tripping?"

"A good six hours," Sakuya answered. "It's pretty close to nightfall."

"That's just great," I moaned. "How am I going to learn how to do my job and still get the sleep I need?"

"No worries. I can just stop time and—"

"NO!" I cried. When the other girls turned to me with a confused glance, I shrunk back a bit. "It's just, I just spent a long time in Eientei, around two months thanks to a time-dilation effect. I'd rather not get mixed up with the time-stream again if I can avoid it."

"…Okay," Sakuya said awkwardly. "In that case, I'll just give you a crash course. First order of business, you'll be learning the layout of this mansion."

"Yes, please. I hate feeling lost."

"Good." With that, Sakuya turned and paced away rapidly.

"What…? Wait! Slow down!" I shot to my feet, stumbling over the ground briefly, and excused myself to Patchouli before running after Sakuya.

"The mansion is quite large, so even if we hurry it will take time to cover everything. For now, just pay attention and keep up."

…

"…And that concludes my tour of the mansion. I trust you'll be able to make your way around without getting lost?"

I leaned against a wall behind Sakuya, sweating and panting from chasing after her for the past hour. "Why does the universe seem to have it out for me?" I groaned.

Sakuya turned back to me. "It's alright. Fate has simply dealt you a bad hand. My mistress controls the fate of all who enter her home; you are safe under her wing."

I was silent for a few seconds, pondering Sakuya's statement. "That's not very reassuring. Just what does it mean when you say she can 'control fate?' Does she have some sort of oracular sense that lets her alter the course of events? What's the difference between 'fate' and 'destiny?' Does Remilia even understand her power?"

"Technically, she… er…" Completely dumbfounded by my question, Sakuya's solid, elegant demeanor faltered for a brief moment. "Well, how do I put this into words…?"

I cut her off. "You can't. 'Fate' is simply too vague a concept for any one person to control, youkai or not. It would take literal divine intervention." Sakuya was silent for several minutes as she pondered my words. Meanwhile, I slid to the ground on the wall, gripping at the soft velvet carpet. It was leagues above the carpet my home had in terms of comfort; I could probably take a nap on the floor here, and not wake up with my skin irritated.

Finally, Sakuya spoke. "Don't tell anybody I said this, especially the Mistress… but I actually have to agree with you. There are just too many ways to define fate. It doesn't make sense to manipulate something so abstract." She gave me a look that I couldn't clearly define. "I'd be wary of using logic like that, if I were you. Not all youkai are intelligent; if they can't understand something, they'll destroy it."

"I'll take that as a complement. Thank you." I pushed myself up off the floor. "So, what's next?"

"The mansion's bathing facilities. You could certainly use a bath." Sakuya's answer came from way outta left field.

I checked and, sure enough, I smelled horrible. "No argument there, I guess."

"Good." Sakuya guided me to a simple door at the end of the hall. "I'll give you some time to yourself. You could afford to loosen up that posture of yours."

…

Fifteen minutes of furious scrubbing and rinsing later, I was squeaky-clean. The water was somewhat lukewarm; colder than I was used to, but after all the shit I'd been through up until that point, being able to just have time to myself to relax was a godsend.

I stepped into the large tub in the middle of the room, letting the water come up to my neck. "Rather deep…" I said to myself. I waded through the water towards the far end of the tub, and slumped over the side, content to stare at the wall. "…Why does everything have to be some shade of red here? I mean, of course it's the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but is there no consideration to the colorblind…?"

"You sure are taking it easy, for somebody who starts work tomorrow."

I froze mid-thought as a particular bat-winged girl stepped into the room. "Oh, Remilia! I, er… Sakuya told me I should get myself cleaned up…" That's it, point towards the head maid. Let the landlord know you're not doing this behind anyone's backs. "I didn't know anybody else would be coming in here."

"Well, my maid doesn't know, either. I snuck in here so I could have an early-morning soak to myself… at least, that's what I intended before finding you. She's excellent at her job, but she can be so clingy at times."

Early-morning…? Oh, wait, she's a vampire. This is technically the start of her day. "I see…"

Both of us were silent for a minute. "…Well? Are you going to turn and face your master when she speaks to you?"

"I don't think my modesty will let me do that. Besides, I technically start serving you tomorrow."

I heard a hiss behind me, and immediately realized that I'd overstepped my authority. "I injected you with my blood. For all intents and purposes, you already serve me, technicalities aside. Now, turn around."

I suddenly felt an intense tugging in my gut. Despite my conscious unwillingness to do as she said, I found my body slowly shifting from the edge of the tub. "What…?"

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Remilia cooed. "So much power can be stored in such minute quantities of one's physical form. Transplanted limbs, blood transfusion, even exposure to a fairy's essence… all of these have a little bit of magic in them."

Despite my struggling, my body finally rounded to face Remilia. As it turned out, I didn't really have anything to worry about, as her small body was wrapped up in a towel quite larger than was necessary. "What are you saying?" I asked warily, wrapping my arms around my chest.

"By drinking your blood, and giving you some of my own, I gave myself a degree of influence over you. This is to ensure you will obey me without question. To demonstrate again: hands at your sides." I blinked. As my gut clenched up again, my arms unfolded and dropped down into the water, exposing my body to the vampire mistress.

"…huh." Remilia said after a moment. "Yours are almost as big as the gate guard's. Your body fits the large bosom better than her, but she's more about the legs—the big boobs are just a bonus. Oh, how Sakuya will be jealous…"

My face started to burn intensely as Remilia evaluated my figure, comparing me to many of the people she knew. How does she even know what—oh, wait. Public spas, hot springs, Gensokyan lesbians. Damned Japanese and their lack of modesty…

"…Overall, a well-balanced and attractive figure." Remilia finished. "Certainly a body I'd like to have… if it was possible for me to age." She glanced up, looking me in the face, and smirked. "You look like you'd suit the color red very well."

I shook my head furiously, snapping myself out of my embarrassment. "I don't like the prospect of you being able to command me to do anything, with no say in the matter."

"You agreed to this, did you not? You should have thought to ask Sakuya or Patchy exactly what a Scarlet maid's duties entail."

All of a sudden, I didn't feel like soaking in the water any longer… or talking to Remilia. "Screw this, I'm just going to go to bed. I've had a really, really long day." Literally.

I moved to leave the bath, but the feeling of having my guts yanked out of my body pinned me in the water. Remilia folded her arms, snickering. "Not so fast. You need to excuse yourself to your mistress properly."

My body tensing up, I slowly turned back to the vampire. "I don't need anybody's permission to get out of the damn bath, let alone yours. Just point me to the living quarters."

Remilia held a hand to her ear, grinning. "I'm sorry?"

My burning gaze met her calm, cool stare, but for an instant, the whites of her eyes turned pitch-black, full of animalistic glee. Flinching, my resolve broke and I lowered my head in defeat. "May I have your permission… to retire for the day… Mistress?" I grumbled through clenched teeth.

The vampire's grin grew wider, and she waved me off. "Go ahead. Guest rooms are down the opposite side of the antechamber. Take any of the numbered doors, Sakuya will figure out which one you took later."

I wasted no time; in less than three minutes I was dried, dressed and out the door. Navigating the maze of a mansion more easily (with Sakuya's guidance still fresh on my mind), I crossed the building and located the quest wing. I made my way to the very end of the hallway. 7… 9… 11… I counted as I walked along.

Finally, I stopped at the last number. …13. Well… it certainly fits me. Sighing, I took the handle and opened the door.

For something to be attributed to guests, the room was quite extravagant—a queen-size bed with thick flannel sheeting, nicely-engraved furniture, large windows, and a full-body mirror. Not that I cared at the moment; all I cared about was the bed. Stripping my top layer of clothing, I flung the covers aside and dropped onto the bed.

I was unconscious before my head hit the pillow.

XXXXX

I was woken up by a tug at my body that was rapidly becoming familiar. I don't think I'll ever get used to that strange feeling… My eyes forced themselves open. I lay there for a few more minutes, simply relishing the comfort of the bed I'd collapsed in the previous night, before Remilia called for me again.

"I'm up, I'm up," I moaned to the ceiling, sitting up from the. Looking around, I noticed a red-and-white outfit sitting on the desk near the door, with a note attached to it. "Oh, no. Please don't let this be what I think it is…" I got out of the bed and snatched up the note.

Here's your uniform. Hurry up and get dressed, Remilia's waiting for you in the antechamber. –S.

"…Yes, this is exactly what I thought it was." I groaned. "Fuck." My thoughts turned to other, miscellaneous things, tuning out the motions of my body as I put on the uniform. Unlike Sakuya's outfit, the skirt on mine was more modest, reaching down to my heels instead of halting just above the knees.

"I can't believe I have to wear this..." I mumbled, tugging at the frills. After a pause, I grudgingly added, "…although, it is comfortable…"

A tiny head poked in through the open doorway. "The master is waiting for you," the fairy maid announced.

"Alright, I'm on my way." I replied. Turning back to my bed, I searched through the sheets and pulled out Marisa's Hakkero, tucking it into the convenient pouch on my outfit. When I made up my mind to keep it with me at all times, I wasn't exaggerating. I'd even stuck it in my bath towel as I'd bathed the previous night (leading to bit of an unpleasant surprise when I ended up whacking myself in the face with it trying to dry my hair). With everything ready to go, I silently hoped that nothing bad would happen to me.

I mean, it's only my first day. Things can't go wrong THAT quickly, can they?

XXXXX

(Savato93's AN: Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I've kinda been busy with things, Bioshock Infinite among them (an absolutely amazing game, by the way). On the bright side of things, I've finally got a handle on what I plan to do with this story. You may notice that there's no description of blood spurting everywhere when Remilia bites Lucy. Yes, I know Remilia is canonically a messy eater, but then, has anybody considered the fact that her victims may struggle? It's completely possible that thrashing about simply causes her fangs to tear into the flesh and make it seem like she's habitually messy. If somebody just sat still diligently, her feeding could be much cleaner. Anyway, this chapter is rather low quality, I'll admit. Going through a bit of writer's block, and I don't want to force the story because it will just look bad.)

(My AN: First, Eirin's DNA, now Remilia's blood... I don't know if you read this, Savato, but these two things are what allows me to made your flagship OC (Lucy Thesda) quite OP after some character developments. And you do have a point there. That possibility does exist. And speaking about which, in the next chapter, the home state of Luke/Lucy will be revealed. The question is already there in chapter 8. Again, anyone who watched that particular episode of Spongebob Squarepants should be able to answer it. Bonus for anyone who actually do the math from Chapter 8 to deduce the answer.)