False Advents (Chapter 7: Opportunity)
He continued to stare into the scrying orb, hoping that something would change, but the words continued to float there as is.
"So… any idea what that's supposed to mean?" He asked.
Marisa shrugged, "Beats me. Patchouli?"
"According to Aria, it's supposed to be a "placeholder" of sorts" She explained, "In other words, we simply cannot tell."
"Wait a sec, who's Aria again?"
"My dear apprentice whom you nearly concussed two weeks ago. It's why you should start using the doors like a proper visitor."
"Ah right… her." Marisa averted her gaze towards the ceiling, "Anyway, where's she now?"
"You haven't heard? Last week, she went to apprentice at the Myouren Temple with her brother, and they suddenly decided to leave two days ago."
"So in simpler words, they're gone, and not comin' back."
"That is correct. The best the kid can do right now is experiment on his own."
They took a quick glance towards Reol, who continued to stare into the orb and at the "bottom text" that continued to hover about the center of the orb.
"However, the previous subject is not the point of interest." She continued, "What is interesting, though, is his soul, especially that shade of white."
He didn't quite understand how the clear, white color that was supposed to represent his soul held any significance, nevermind striking them as interesting.
"Mind explaining what this clear, white color's supposed to mean?" He requested.
Marisa tapped her chin, "Think of it this way: every one of us are unique, and so are our souls. That uniqueness, when projected, takes the form of a color, or in many cases, several colors; orange being hotblooded, light blue's naive, purple's perceptive, yadda yadda yadda… So far, there're two colors which we've never seen before, but should be hypothetical; black, which signifies that the person's a conglomerated mess, and white, which signifies that a person's empty in several senses."
"It's no longer hypothetical now that it has been proven." Patchouli interjected. "Moreover, that clarity of his. He lacks quite a lot of things that an average human shouldn't; a few being desires and most key emotions. You could say that he's "clear of mind", but not completely."
"Interesting…" Marisa turned towards Reol, "Were you a hermit candidate before you found yourself here?"
He made a puzzled expression, "What gave you that idea?"
"Ah, it's just a little bit of a stereotypical thing, although ya don't seem like the religious type."
"Well I believe it's just my upbringing…"
He reached into his pouch and pulled out one of the guidebooks titled "Perfect Memento in Strict Sense"; with the author's name "Hieda no Akyuu" written calligraphically near the bottom, and began reading through the pages. While he did find the contents interesting, he had also noticed that printworks of such high quality, and printworks in general, shouldn't exist during this time period. He was rather certain that a third party, likely from the outside world, had been involved.
"Y'know, I'm actually kinda surprised that you'd offer to help him, Patchy."
"If it were anyone else, I'd be reluctant to." She dispelled the projection within the orb, "However, that kid is a special case."
"My name's Reol," he interjected. "And what do you mean by special?"
"That alien-esque constitution of yours. I'd like to do some research on it."
He paused his reading momentarily and looked up at her, "What exactly does research equate to?"
"There's no real harm involved, so you needn't worry about it. Worst comes to worst, I'll request a few drops of blood from you."
"I see, and out of curiosity, what am I getting out of it?"
She sighed, "You're all the same, every last one of you… would knowledge suffice?"
"Knowledge, in the form of a library? Deal."
His gaze shifted over to Marisa who seemed to be acting quite odd over the past few minutes. He had also noticed that there were now slightly fewer books on the table, which reminded him of something.
"Hey, Marisa. Didn't you have books to return?"
"A-ah yeah," she pulled out half a dozen books from behind her. "Here we are."
"Returning books?" Patchouli asked with a smirk, "Did you bother telling Reol about your true motives?"
"And what do you mean by that?" He asked.
"She comes here every so often to steal my books under the pretext of "borrowing them for life"."
He spent a few seconds processing what Patchouli had just said, and after finally remembering what Remilia had told him earlier about not bringing a certain kleptomaniac, he interlaced his fingers and stared down at the table with a blank expression.
"Marisa… you wouldn't happen to have garlic on you, right?"
She laughed, "Sorry, don't got any at the moment. Just stop worrying about the repercussions, it ain't a big deal."
He sighed and glanced over at Patchouli, who had conjured a light blue orb in her palm, and was now speaking into it. A few seconds later, she dispersed the orb and turned towards Reol.
"Sakuya should be here to pick you up within the next few seconds." She informed them, "Reol, word of advice: comply with Remi's requests if you wish to avoid trouble."
Before he could offer a reply, the scenery immediately changed and he found himself standing on a moderately spacious balcony with an equally large overhang covering it. There wasn't much on the balcony; just a few potted plants placed in the far left corner and guardrails bordering the balcony. To the far right corner of the balcony was a round tea table with two chairs placed opposite of each other. Seated at the table was none other than Remilia herself. Sakuya was standing to her left with a serving tray in hand.
"Come take a seat. How long do you intend to keep me waiting?"
He walked over to the tea table and took a seat across from Remilia. He had several questions he wanted to ask her, but the awkward atmosphere refrained him from doing so. They spent about a whole minute in awkward silence until Remilia finally decided to speak.
"You should understand why I invited you over, yes?"
"To fix your windows?" He presumed.
She held up two fingers, "That, and one more reason. Specifically the main reason."
"And that is…?"
"We'll get to that later." She turned to face Sakuya, "Sakuya, bring me the usual. Also get our guest something to drink."
"Understood, Lady Remilia." She turned towards Reol, "What would you like, Mr. Nea?"
"Please just call me Reol," he suggested, "And I'll have jasmine, thank you very much."
After hearing their request, Sakuya disappeared instantaneously, leaving Reol in a somewhat puzzled state.
"You're a tea person?" Remilia mused, "I wouldn't have expected that."
"Like you're one to judge by appearances." He retorted, "Now, about how Sakuya just disappeared…"
"Don't act so surprised, that is merely her ability." She explained, "You'll find similar ones in spades here."
"Good to know. So what's the second reason?"
"Hm, I suppose I'll ask you straightforwardly." She folded her arms, "Say, won't you work for me?"
He blinked twice, then readjusted his headset, "Pardon?"
"It's exactly what it sounds like. You see, I'm a little short on intelligent staff, so I'll be generous and cut you an offer; you won't receive wages, but in turn, you'll get a flexible eight hour work schedule, with free lodging and meals included, how does that sound?"
"Hold on, slow down for a second." He urged, "Please explain why you'd want to hire me."
She stared at him and chuckled, "For starters, your ability is somewhere along the lines of creation, am I correct, boy?"
"Yes, but how does that tie together?"
"You see, boy, your ability ,as it currently is, is already quite the hazard. Someone is bound to be after you sooner rather than later. What I'm doing is merely offering you protection against the more… unsavory side of Gensokyo's denizens."
He narrowed his eyes, "You're mincing your words, aren't you?."
She sighed and grinned ever so slightly, "Whether I am or not is for you to decide; the rest is for you to figure out yourself, although I do recommend that you accept my offer."
Reol considered her proposal for a substantial length of time; long enough for Sakuya to serve the two of them tea. After two cups of tea, and having factored in every variable he could think of, he offered her his response.
"That offer of yours, I'll take it."
She looked at him with a mildly surprised expression, "That's unexpected… I was quite sure you'd decline, just like the others."
"The benefits outweigh the risks." He said as he took another sip of tea, "So, when am I starting?"
Remilia snapped her fingers and Sakuya appeared next to her almost simultaneously with Marisa slung over her shoulder, whom she immediately dropped.
"Ow, what the hell!" She grunted, "Ya didn't have to be so rough damnit!"
"My apologies." She replied in a monotonous tone.
"Sheesh, at least say it like ya mean it."
He watched as the witch slowly got back up and dusted her off, then walked over to Remilia and pulled down the right side of her outfit's collar.
"C'mon, do whatcha have to. I'm waitin'."
Remilia smiled and stood up, then ,in one swift motion, proceeded to chomp down on the base of her neck. Reol flinched momentarily as he watched the vampire slowly consume Marisa's blood for an excruciatingly long thirty seconds. The latter, however, wasn't bothered with this at all, and simply grinned upon noticing Reol's expression.
After thirty seconds had passed, she pulled herself away from her and ordered Sakuya to bandage Marisa's wound.
"So, how'd it taste this time around?" She asked.
"Not quite up to standards, and quit adding garlic into your diet; it won't help."
"Was worth a try I suppose..."
She then wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and walked over to now hesitant Reol.
"Can we not do this?" He requested, "I've lost a little too much blood today."
"No, but I'll make it quick." She promised.
"Damn, why has everything involved blood in some form or another today?"
He pulled down his left collar then shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. About half a second later, he felt a pair of abnormally sharp fangs clamp down onto the base of his neck. The bite itself didn't feel nearly as bad as he had thought; practically nothing compared to the pseudo-amputation he had experienced hours ago, and although he could feel a large amount of blood leaving his body, he felt fine for the most part.
Just as Remilia had promised him, his process was much quicker compared to Marisa's; fifteen seconds as opposed to thirty. As she pulled her fangs from the base of his neck, he noticed that the puncture wound had already begun to heal, swiftly mending and stitching itself together with dozens of tiny, white threads.
"Hmm, your blood tastes rather strange, boy." She commented, "Not the usual uniform taste… I like it."
Reol processed the statement and cringed, he wasn't very fond of being told that his blood was a potential delicacy. He shook the thought out of his head and glanced towards Marisa and Sakuya, who were now casually chatting with each other, and back at Remilia, who was sipping away at her tea.
"What was that situation back there about?" he asked.
She took another sip of tea, "You see, every time that kleptomaniac of a witch comes over, she always ends up breaking something, be it a wall, a bookshelf, or a dozen of Patchy's precious books; she's caused the residents quite a lot of trouble."
"I can see that…"
"Glad you can. After the hundredth attempt or so, Patchy requested that I should do something about it, so now whenever she pays a visit, I'll draw just enough blood so that it makes her feel sick for the next few days." She paused to take another sip of tea, " It's worked quite well if I don't say so myself. Her antics have halved since I've implemented that."
Just as Sakuya saw Marisa off, the two of them finished their final cup of tea. As Sakuya disappeared with their now empty tea cups and kettle in hand, he got up and stared out the side of the balcony; judging by the position of the sun, the current time was probably about half past ten.
"So, what now?" He asked.
She snapped her fingers and Sakuya instantly appeared next to her.
"Bring him to one of the guest rooms." She ordered.
She simply nodded, and in the next instant, Reol had found himself alone in a crimson-dyed, medium sized room. The room lacked a proper source of light, with the exception of a single shattered window opposite to the entrance and an overhead chandelier which gave off a dim glow. Placed against the wall to the left side of the room was a large bed, with a night table and a lamp on either side of the bed. Opposite to the bed was a dressing table with a closet to its left; both placed against the wall.
The door to the room slowly opened and a winged maid dressed in an outfit similar to Sakuya hovered in with a stack of clothes in her hand. She glanced around the room about half a dozen times before placing said clothes on the dressing table and hovered out of the room.
He noticed the mirror on the dressing table and it suddenly occurred to him that up until now, he hadn't actually seen what he looked like, and walked over to take a good look.
He took a long look and found his appearance to be quite strange, even amongst everyone else he'd met. He looked childlike, yet indifferent, emotionless even; much like a child who grew up too quickly. His black hair, which were neither short nor long, had streaks of white about it, along with a white left eye and a black right eye.
His gaze shifted away from his reflection and onto the outfit on the table, which consisted of a white dress shirt, a black vest, and a pair of black dress shorts, which he put on. After doing so, he felt as if something was lacking, and after a few seconds of contemplation, he noticed and decided to settle on a compromise.
"Sakuya, which outfit did you prepare for him?"
"That outfit from the twentieth century I showed you." She replied, "Does it not suit your taste, Lady Remilia?"
"We'll have to see about that."
She crossed her arms and leaned back on her throne. If her calculations were correct, he should arrive any second now.
About five seconds later, she spotted him walking down the halls leading to the throne. The outfit's color scheme fit well with his monochromatic appearance, and his unordinary earmuffs and muffler had been swapped out for a pair with colors that matched his outfit's, although his sword still remained unchanged. Upon getting closer, she noticed that something was a little off about him.
"Are those… wings?"
She got off her throne and walked up to him to take a closer look. Hovering behind his back were three pairs of wings that resembled a split up version of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden's Yin-Yang Orbs; with the three yin pieces hovering behind his left, and the three yang pieces behind his right.
"The outfit suits you, boy, but why the fairy wings?" She asked.
"So that I don't stand out." He responded, "I look like a human child, and children usually aren't employed."
"Fair enough." She returned to her throne, "Now I'll give you a brief overview of the rules, so listen carefully, understand?"
"Yes, Lady Remilia."
"Good, seems like you've already familiarized yourself with formalities."
She spent the next five or so minutes going over his duty and her expectations of him as a butler, which weren't all that high; most of which simply involved him doing repairs, aiding in gardening and that of the such. Before dismissing him, she assigned him to one final task which she deemed "special".
"I'd like to assign you to taking care of my little sister, Flandre."
"Taking care of Lady Flandre…" he repeated, "I see."
"Yes, that will be your primary duty. She might be a little hard to deal with, but you should do just fine."
"Understood, Miss Sakuya, please take me there."
In an instant, both she and Reol disappeared, and only after five minutes had the former returned. She had a slight look of concern on her face.
"Lady Remilia, do you think he'll be fine?" Sakuya questioned, "It is Lady Flan we're talking about."
She chuckled, "Sakuya, what is your opinion on that boy?"
She pondered the questions for a few seconds and answered, "Well, for starters, he certainly is different…"
"And that is precisely why I assigned him that duty."
"What do you mean, Lady Remilia?"
"Ah, you'll see." She sighed, "If my judgement stands correct, he should be able to see Flan's true nature, but for now, try not to worry about it."
Author's Note: Apologies to those who expected this to be released on Tuesday. I couldn't quite find the motivation to write the chapter in the past few days. The next chapter should be released according to schedule though.