Steward Of Paradise At Work

by Tall-Gothic-Guy

I didn't come here to meet shrine maidens or monsters. I didn't come here to erect a cross. No one even told me about magic being a thing here. Actually, I didn't expect myself to be here at all. I was simply chasing a woman who created eye portals. But it beats being a runaway thief. I just wish I knew sooner, that this place will never give me a break, not even God...Bring it on.

19. Turn the Other Cheek

"You nervous, dude?"

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye and cross my arms, trying to look un-nervous, [Yeah.]

[U-uh huh.] You sounded like you expected a different response there, girl. [At least ya did good at not soundin' like it. And 'stead of lookin' scared, ya look like yer gonna get an earful from yer ma or boss-ze.]

Um, Marisa? [That's kinda what's goin' on.] I'll throb my thumb behind me if you don't get it. [I broke and destroyed the library, and the almost the entire reason of why Flandre's hurt and nearly dying last night was because of me. I'm pretty sure Remilia's not gonna let me off being anemic for a whole month for all that.]

"Hrm!" OW! You punched my bicep, girl! That hurt! "Ya were possessed, dumbass! Just say that to Rems face and she'll forgive ya! Don't forget that ya got witnesses, Flan included. She's a brat but I know she ain't unreasonable-da ze."

Sigh. [I'll be in the doubt, just in case, Marisa.] I released the crossed arms and let them hang by my sides. My right hand felt for the hilt of my knife almost automatically though, [If she's angry then it won't be likely she'll listen. She'll just blast me immediately….but I guess I can hope.]

*Pat. Pat.*

The shoulder patting is comforting, Marisa, but I get the feeling that you're just sending me off to my fate with confetti falling all around me. At least you accompanying me as an additional escort puts me at ease. I don't think I could stand being this close to Sakuya alone. Her attempts yesterday is still fresh on my mind, and I'm very tense, even though I beat her.

Then no more words. The only sounds filling the air are my new shoes, Marisa's shoes, and Sakuya's heels clicking against the floors as we walked.

And by the way, how long have we been walking? I've already walked out the door and followed Sakuya for about….probably 6 minutes already, and there's still a fucking distance ahead of the hallway for me to go through. Geez, why the unnecessary space? There's not even that many guest rooms. It's just really long walls before I see a door after the last one.

Whoever made the reality of this place just wanted to make this place feel like a mansion, even though it already is. Redundancy at its finest, I guess.

Oh, Sakuya's looking over her shoulder to look at me. Her blue-eyed stare only lasted for about 3 seconds before she looked straightforward once again. "Do not worry, Mr. Eman." She assured. "The Mistress calls for an audience. Property damage is tolerated here, and your attack against Flandre-sama is justified, for it is self-defense."

I squinted my eyes in question, [So….she just wants to talk to me.]

"That I am sure. But I cannot promise anything."

Ugh.

"Of course."
[Of course.]

Whoa, Marisa, we did it again! Fist bump, sis.

*Fist bump*

"Yeah~"
[Yeah~]

Then ensues another long 6 minutes of walking, passing through boring vases, boring pictures, boring walls, even more boring walls, boring fairies, and ominous candles. The hallways are not really illuminated that much, the lack of windows did that. The endless number of candles and chandeliers kept everything in a decent lighting of yellow and orange, good enough that I can safely read a book in the area without straining my eyes. Not to mention the illusion-esque way the chandeliers light the floor even though they're as high as 50 feet.

This slow pace was getting into me, and it's making me have the urge to tell Sakuya to pick up the pace, but I refrained. I don't think it's a refined move to make, plus I don't feel like seeing her run in them heels. Because if she can, I'll just die.

But seriously, we're moving too slow. This just makes Crazy Legs itchy, and I'm trying my best to not do a Webster while I'm walking. Again, not a refined move. I can only feel fine doing that when I'm outside.

Okay, that's it. When I leave this place, I'll run all the way to the Hakurei Shrine and go up those stairs if I have to. My athletic urges are too pent up thanks to this slow pace. I'll have Marisa lead me home when I do. If we meet trouble on the way….well, that's a chance to use these flames on somebody else and try out the constitution of these threads. I'll let 'em land a bullet on me just to see how it feels when I wear it.

I gotta be careful in case I end up causing forest fires. There is too many plant life everywhere, and they don't deserve getting caught in the cross fire. Unless it's still wet from the hell storm last night, at least in that fashion I can go wild without worrying. But then, I wouldn't be able to run. With no stone pavements, I can only worry about slipping on the mud or whipping mud on my new threads if I wanna free-roam on animal paths. I don't want that.

Oh look, it looks like we're close.

And quite the design this big ass double doors has.

Disregard the ornate carvings it had, loaded with intricate vines, the crosses, and the standard gargoyle art designs that filled the corners of the door, there are some of those old-fashioned knocking rings you'd use to knock the door with instead of your knuckles. They're shaped like a gigantic bat's head biting a metal ring.

Weird, but I find it artistic. Fits the vampire motif around here.

"We're here." Sakuya announced as she stopped before the door. Turning around, she regarded Marisa, "I'm sorry but Marisa will remain here. This is only between Mr. Eman and the Mistress."

"Oooh." I could hear the flirtatious grin you're wearing, Marisa. Wipe it off! "I wonder what they're gonna do in there~?"

Oy. Of all the times, Marisa, why now?

Sakuya takes ahold of one ring and knocks it against the door twice. "Mistress, Mr. Eman is now present."

….

"Very good, Sakuya." There's the Draculina's childlike but undeniably regal voice, "Let him enter."

I turned to Marisa and held out a hand for her. She turned to me before she slapped her hand atop it, sending me a sting. I ignored that and shook it. "Good luck in there, brah."

I'm starting to love her new nickname for me. She's not calling me 'Kuya' but the feeling I'd get every time I hear it is just the same. I smiled to her, [Thanks, sis.]

She patted my back as I walked forward, passing by the opening Sakuya left on the opened double doors.

Within nearly made me thought my vision had gone red.

This is definitely the throne room. Expansive space aside, this place looked like a cathedral's interior, minus the pews. There are some pillars present, big and rather imposing, and they have gargoyles perched on it. There are no windows visible in sight on those walls, they're only occupied by paintings of noble men and women in very grandiose clothes that looked old enough to fit in the setting of the first millennium year of A.D and proceeding onwards in later centuries. Look at 'em all, equally beautiful (exaggeratingly so), and red-eyed. From the end of the set of paintings, there was Remilia on the left wall, and Flandre on the right wall. Banners hung from the ceiling too, colored scarlet and having the design of bat wings being pierced by a spear and Flandre's Lavætein crossed together. Whatever detail of this room that wasn't colored white stone, it was always tinged with the color scarlet.

The path I'm walking on had a long carpet that extended forwards, also colored scarlet, with some trimmings that looked like they belong in the 14th century. The floors outside the carpet was checkered, unsurprisingly red and black.

And at the end of this carpet was the vampire herself, Remilia Scarlet.

She sat very formally on her extravagant throne, looking at the cup of tea she held in her hands. It doesn't look like she noticed me yet, or maybe she had but will only acknowledge me once I'm nearby. For one thing, she looked rather….solemn and serious at the same time. Behind her, that could only be taken as the only window in this throne room, but it was covered by a really thick red curtain. Thick enough that I couldn't see the sun behind it. This place was also dark, but the only lighting that existed are a couple of lamps that hung from the pillars, and some lighting beside the throne that made Remilia visible. They were bright enough to light a ten meter radius despite their size. Magic, maybe. There was Patchouli too, sitting on a separate chair on the side, minding her own business by reading a book.

Once I was at a decent distance before Remilia, enough that she would see me in her peripheral vision, she turned her red eyes to me. They glow, man.

"Finally, you're here." She remarked.

I nodded in agreement. I don't look like it but I'm stiff as fuck. My posture is stick-straight, my hands are really flat against my side, and my feet are 45 degrees apart. This atmosphere was heavy, the same kind you'd feel when you're sitting in front of a really important individual, like a president or the Queen of England.

"You have made quite the ruckus in my absence. Under one night that's quite a feat for a human."

I took a deep breath. Oh dear.

"But that will be addressed later. There are other things I must speak to you about." She drank from her cup and set it on the table beside her. "Leave us, Patchy." She ordered, crossing her legs and resting her cheek against her fist as the elbow rested against the arm rest of her throne.

Patchouli wordlessly did as told, rising from her chair by floating from it and levitating for the door. For some reason, the chair was also floating and heading towards me. Once it reached my distance, it neatly placed itself behind me without a sound. I look back to the magician again and she was already at the door, one side opened by Sakuya, and she was gone.

The thud that echoed from it sealed my fate here with her.

I turned back towards Remilia and patiently awaited her next move.

She blinked slowly before she spoke, "I have the inkling that our time together will be long….and burdening." She gestured behind me. "Please sit beforehand."

I glanced behind me before I bowed gratefully. Without looking away, I felt for the chair behind me with my left hand and sat down once I felt the arm rest. Silently, I sighed and tried to ease my nerves as I am no longer using my feet. No matter how I look, no matter how firm and formal I looked, I am silently nervous inside.

"Allow me to inform you that whatever is said in this room does not leave it, therefore you must swear to me that everything that reaches your ear shall remain confidential. Do you understand?"

I nodded and replied in the same language, "I understand, Lady Scarlet. Not a single word to a single soul, not even Marisa."

"Good." She straightened her posture on the chair and began, "Do you remember your history, boy?"

Hm. "What is it that makes them relevant to the topic, if I may ask?"

"I have lived for more than five centuries," She informed, "That can only mean that I have been alive when the Salem Witch burnings were still ongoing in Europe, and when the Church ruled and governed towns and villages."

Ah, I see. "If I can summarize what little I know of such times, it is that people before are quick to accuse and are not particularly rational, given the primitive state of mind they have. The superstition of the devil and his 'evils' was common knowledge amongst the townsfolk, and that made it easy for people, even with the slightest suspicion, to accuse their neighbor of 'witchcraft'."

"It is also a time when self-righteousness within the Church is massive." She sounded like she was eating venom when she said 'Church'. Did something happen? "Tell me, boy: Do you think it is right for the Church to govern lives, especially at a time like that?"

I slowly curled my hand into a fist before I eased it up, letting it rest against the arm rest. My face remained neutral as I spoke, "No." Even for me, I fully disagree. "If it was so easy to see the evil in a person, this world would have been a paradise long ago. Humans are flawed, Lady Scarlet. No matter what noble cause we serve to the end of our lives, the pride in our hearts will always blind us from ever seeing the right thing." I sat a little straighter, leaning away from the backrest. "The Church should be the conscience of the public, guiding their lives for the greater good. They are not meant to control the people."

Her eyes that have been neutral since the start began to glare, and it looked like she was trying to read me. After a few seconds, she spoke again, "Is that so?" She closed her eyes before leaning back against her throne, clasping her hands in front of her abdomen. "Let me tell you a story, boy. A story of a little girl and her sister….who suddenly became vampires at a certain young age."

I blinked slowly at that. "And who were they?"

This time, she gave a smile. A small wry smile that cut the tension of the atmosphere, giving me a small sense of ease, "Me, and Flandre."

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

Once upon a time, I was just like any other girl. Young, spirited, happy, and loved. My beloved Mother and Father showered me with love for as long as I can remember, and when Flandre was born, their love grew. Me and my sister were inseparable, playing together, learning to read and write together, played instruments together….it was a time when I thought I never wanted anything else in the world other than my entire loving family.

My Father was a wealthy benefactor to the Church, contributing our riches to the Holy See. Not only that, he was devoted to the duty of looking after the welfare of the nearby villages, he gave to the poor, provided to the orphans, and even prepared all the villages for a famine that the Church did not predict. Despite such responsibilities, it never impeded him from ever being a father to me and my sister. I and Flandre adored him, worshipped him, like a God before our eyes.

My Mother….she was different. It was because of her that made us different from the common townsfolk. For one thing, she delved into the unknown. In other words, she was a witch. A direct enemy of the Church.

Hmph.

Her actions are questionable and would likely send her to the Burning Stake, but not while everyone is oblivious. The Great Library was once her little office, and it wasn't as expansive as today. Mother rarely ever leaves the place, always reading books and tomes, either literature or archives about magic. But despite her quirks, she was still a devoted mother to me and Flandre, always there to read us a bedtime story before we sleep.

Living with a Christian Father and a Witch Mother gave me an enlightened view of the world compared to the villagers. I understood that their way of thinking is foreign to our own, because they blindly follow dogmas. The Scarlet Family does not believe in such things, but Father was smart enough to hide such a thing before he could be called a Heretic.

I know what you are thinking, and yes, I was once a Christian. A rather unconventional one at that, having a different set of beliefs that was influenced by my Mother. But considering our ways, I doubt I could ever consider the entire Scarlet Family Christian. We barely ever go to church, not even Father.

Due to the times in the day, Father is obligated to learn war strategies, combat, and warfare. He was a great warrior, and the soldiers he trained were among the best of the land. He was a great man in their eyes, a father to his men. There was once this particular knight who fought his way to nobility but decided to serve….us. For all the wonderful feats of skill, mastery, and loyalty he displayed, he decided to humble himself as a faithful knight to my father, a bodyguard.

The knight was parentless, no siblings, no family. He was all alone, and he found my father as a figure of authority he trusted more than God. He was devoted to him like a disciple. For his loyalty, his bravery, his skill, and his dedication to my family, he became the Scarlet Family's champion and Lord Protector to the next generation. All our secrets, all our doings, we openly shared to him for he is not simply a knight, but he was family now.

He became Jedidiah Scarlet. Father called him Jacob more often, so much Flandre and I began to think Jacob was his first name.

Ah….he was such a handsome man. For how young we are, Flandre and I were enamored by him. At times we fought for his attention but he treasured us both, saying that he couldn't choose between such wonderful angels. Still, we persisted and continued competing for him. At times when he was ever free from my father's service, he would spend time with me and Flandre, playing with us and watching over us whenever we decided to play with the other commoners.

It may sound unheard of at the time but the villagers were familiar enough with the Scarlet Family's children playing with the peasant children as a display of being down-to-earth.

As for Mother and Father, they worked hand in hand in their contributions to the public, politics, and the church. Father would be the mind and face that shall appeal to the Church, Mother would be the arm and resource that shall grant the village miracles guised as 'God's blessings' if the need arises. But mainly, it was Father who worked outside our home more often. Mother is the luckiest to have all the time in the world to read her books anytime she wishes unless her service is called.

At a time when people are quick to accuse of devilry and witchcraft, the Scarlet Family had to be careful. We must never expose how we truly do our work, for it would mean nothing but the death of our entire household. Father and Mother taught us that, and firmly they did. They were merely expressing their concerns and wanted me and Flandre to live without worries. They apparently have been doing this before Flandre and I were born and wanted it to stay that way.

We, of course, understood and swore to keep the masquerade forever lasting.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"It failed to last, didn't it?" I ended up asking.

Remilia's facial expressions had once been nostalgic, becoming cynical, was now a baleful crinkle. I could tell that the next part was not going to be pleasant.

"Everything was perfect….until that man came."

I crumpled my fist almost immediately. "I see someone exposed it." I concluded.

She shook her head slowly, the burning glare in her red eyes beginning to intensify. I'm glad they weren't pointed at me. "More than that. He brought ruin…..and fire."

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

It was just like any other day when I spent time wandering around the village with Flandre and Jacob, being greeted by the townsfolk and looking for books to read. It wasn't particularly eventful that day. Merely a simple good day. The harvest was bountiful, the people were happy, and the land was free from strife.

Then a deranged man came. He was the type of man you would see on the streets, tattered and dirty, but he was extraordinarily wild and brazen. Once he saw me, he…accused me. He called me the devil's child, and said my family were the spawns of devils that went against the church and committed witchcraft. He even proclaimed such things to passing priests, in the loudest voice as possible as if he was announcing the end of the world. His words were never taken seriously, brushed off as the words of an insane man that could not see fantasy from reality.

Once Jacob casted him away with a single punch to his jaw and shattered it, we never saw him again. We never told Mother and Father about the incident because we thought he was just an unimportant crazy man…but when time passed by, the rumors began.

Whispers and gossip rang all throughout the village. The villages began to distrust us. They began to suspect us. Us, their benefactors. Before we decided to refrain from leaving the mansion until all this suspicion is over, word of the Scarlet Family's children bearing red eyes began to ring in their ears.

Flandre and I thought it absurd. I was blue-eyed like my father, and Flandre inherited mother's emerald eyes, but the way our parent's acted told a different story.

They were…..paranoid.

I looked at the mirror everyday, checking if it were true. My eyes were the same, for a whole month they were the same blue eyes….

….Until I no longer saw myself in the mirror.

Then I became thirsty….so thirsty. My skin began to pale even more, my hearing was sharper than I thought possible, and I could see the most pathetic insect that burrowed into the earth from the clock tower.

I was scared, I didn't know what was happening to me. I ran to my sister when Jacob accompanied my father to dissuade the public from all the suspicions. But when I saw her….I could not stop myself and….became the cause of her curse.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

What….the fuck!?

"You….drained your little sister?"

She clawed her face even more, the sneer displaying all the teeth that could rip my face off, the same teeth that sunk into Flandre's neck. "It was never by choice, I did not know what came over me."

"But….how did you become a vampire?"

"That has been a mystery, even to this day…" She sighed sharply, "….but father and mother had a theory…and it was the most possible cause." She turned to me, "It was the rumors and the belief of the villagers that caused it."

"I…I do not follow."

She narrowed her eyes, "Do you know how Youkai are born, boy?"

No….I do not.

"Belief." She answered, "Whenever in the darkness, you would always assume that something is there staring back at you, patiently waiting for a chance to pounce on you. Because of that line of thinking, you began to fear that darkness. You personalized that fear into the existence you call 'monsters'. But when you reach your home where you feel the most secure, you failed to realize that there was absolutely nothing in that darkness. You could have known that the sound you heard was simply an animal or a bird, or simply the wind creating strange sounds."

…Keep talking, Remilia. I'm hanging onto everything here.

"But the laws of the world hung onto belief with a vice grip and created the personalization of monsters to being. When you believe in monsters, that monster is born. When you believe in demons, a poor child was possessed by the devil. When you believed in the gossip of the Scarlet Family being devils…..I became ME."

[KKUUUUUHHHHAAAAAAAAG…..!]

Before I knew it, I was instantly crushed and nearly fell off my chair, clutching my heart and breathing sporadically.

What the fuck!? What the fuck!?

Nobody touched me, nothing even touched me. But Remilia…Remilia's presence became mountainous. That feeling you'd feel when a gigantic boulder was coming to crush you and for some reason you couldn't even move away. Remilia. Did. That. Just by sitting there, she became the boulder that was coming to crush my head.

How in the fuck did she do that!?

[What…..did you do…..!?] I rasped, looking up to her as the mountainous pressure was lifted off me.

Remilia now looked like she hated me.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

You be silent and sit still.

Now where was I…..? Ah, yes, when I lost control.

It was fortunate for mother to incapacitate me when she caught me draining her youngest child's neck. When I turned to her, I was no longer conscious.

But when I was again….I found that I forced Flandre into the curse of immortality.

Mother told me that we became the nosferatu….vampires. The demons of the night.

Mother and father were no longer themselves anymore. They became paranoid….desperate. They were beginning to shirk their duties as nobles and began searching for ways to reverse our curse. All their riches, all their investments….all spent on me and Flandre. The village has been neglected. Cures….miracles….even Mother's witchcraft could not do any good. The things they have done…all for me and my sister's sakes…..

And when the rumors and the gossips became numerous and varied to the point of madness…my father fell to the same curse as me.

His thirst unfortunately led him to the killing of his men in the process. He was not a light eater like me.

Then…..they knew. The entire village, the entire Church knew. I don't know how they knew but they knew. It all happened so fast. It wasn't even the entire night before an entire mob of all villages came to the gate, demanding us to be burned for the murder of the knights, for the act of witchcraft, and consorting with the devil.

The Scarlet Family became the spawn of Devils that deranged man had said we were. Mother was no longer human when she found her husband becoming the same devil as me, turning herself into a Youkai magician. But she didn't become such a being because she didn't want to leave her husband all alone. She was planning something, and me and Flandre wallowed in blissful ignorance and suffering. All these things happening to our beloved parents while we sit in each other's comfort oblivious of their suffering.

Jacob, my faithful knight, he remained by Flandre's side and mine. Despite our transformation, he remains to see us as the same Scarlet Angels he adored in his service to our family. He swore to protect the both of us, he swore to always be by our side, he resigned his loyalty to God and country for us.

When father came home, coated in the blood of his men, he called every member of the family to gather. Ladies-in-waiting, servants, all of them. He and mother had devised a plan to teleport the entire mansion to a place far away. Away from Europe, someplace where the Church cannot touch us. But he told that not everyone can go with him. He gave permission to every servant to leave before they could fall to the same punishment as him.

To my shock, every single one left. Wordlessly and without a look back over their shoulder. They ran like cowards, throwing away their loyalty to the family as if it were an expendable resource.

It was only me, Flandre, Mother, Father, and Jacob. Just us five.

I was level-headed enough to help in any way I can to finish the incantations. But Flandre…..she was falling apart. Jacob and I did everything we could to calm her down, just so we could escape the mob.

But fate did not seem so kind to us that day.

Just when we were close to the end of our preparations, the mob was there, chanting, shouting, holding their torches and makeshift weapons, cursing our name. Every single villager we served, every single villager my father served, they were at the gate, ready to kill us. I was indignant on his behalf, and saddened from it all. All of our works falling apart, all around us.

All because of one insane man's cursing.

The mob was already breaking through, and we knew we didn't have enough time. Father threw away all that he had to buy us as much time as he could. He threw away his loyalty, he threw away all the trust he earned from them, he threw away his fame and honor, even his innocence—he accepted the role of the monster and ravaged all that came close to the walls of my home. Mother…she left the instructions to us and Jacob and joined father in defending us.

The cries Flandre made when I held her back from running out there…..I will never forget them.

The last I saw of my parents…my mother was burned to the stake alongside my father. They didn't resist…..my father being a vampire and my mother being a magician, they had all the power to break out of their binds and run to us….! But they didn't resist…they simply sat there, accepting their fate….like sheep to the slaughter…!

When I surrendered to my emotions and quickly ran to the door…the sun glared at me, and burned my skin nearly to ashes.

We were no longer in the night of Europe, we were now on another continent.

…Flandre….Jacob, and I….were free….saved, no longer having to worry about the Church….and our parents were left behind….to die.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

…my god…

….I'm…so sorry…..Remilia Scarlet….you poor soul…

I held on to the rosary through my shirt and prayed my condolences, prayed for the souls of her dearly departed mama and papa.

Look at the way she is now, she doesn't look so regal and sophisticated anymore. She looked like a little girl who needed a hug. I would've given her one but…I don't know, courtesy? Preservation of her pride by not pitying her? I really don't know, but she will know that I am very compassionate.

She's really trying her best not to look like a weak kid, she's retaining as much pride as she could as she wept into the handkerchief she placed in her eyes. I stayed silent, paying respects in the silence.

I don't know how much time has passed but once she had the energy to talk again, she rose from her throne and looked down on me. I could feel the pride lingering around her, the 'high and mighty' kind, but the hate I felt from her burning gaze was the most prominent.

I think I know what's going on here.

"On the days that followed in the new continent we lived in, we were lost…but Jacob did his best to sustain me and Flandre. In the middle of nowhere, there was plenty of animals for him to eat and for us to drink. But such a livelihood cannot last forever, not while my knight is still human. I offered him a chance to be like me and Flandre, to be immortal and long-lived, so we can be together forever."

Her downcast told me what good man Jacob's response was before she even said it.

"He refused." She sniffled, "He refused…he said he would be with us forever. He said he would look after us forever, that's what he promised to father. How could he? How could he break his oath that way? Is death preferable to being with me and Flandre forever!? I…I….I loved him! I vowed to marry him…! I was the first to propose…he….he…" She cracked down again, taking the handkerchief in her hands and wiping her tears with it.

…..I have no words to say, Remilia. He simply wished to die a human.

After blowing into it, she continued with a shaky voice, "…but before he passed on to dust, he had been having secret meetings with a young lady called Meiling. He asked the woman to take his place once he passes on. When we finally met her, she was as similarly devoted to us as him. Over time, she became Hong Meiling. She was our maid since then before we found Sakuya."

I nodded solemnly.

Rest in peace, Jedidiah. For your sacrifice, for your loyalty, God will hail you the hero of the Scarlet Family in heaven.

"After one century, Flandre's power of destruction began to emerge. Not only that, but our wings have blossomed from our backs, enabling us the ability to take flight. Unlike me, my little sister didn't want it. She didn't want these gifts. She wanted to be normal. She wanted to be a human again. At one incident, she severed her own wings with her power, denying it any chance of regenerating. Meiling and I were able to restrain her before she could cause anymore greater harm to herself."

…..Poor kid.

"She agreed to my suggestion of secluding herself in the basement to make sure she doesn't harm anyone with her own powers. To keep herself occupied, Meiling and I visit her regularly and bring her toys to play with." Her lips pursed, "But as several decades passed by, her memories deteriorated and her mind is steadily reduced to little fragments thanks to her isolation. I can say that it is her way of coping with the loss of our parents. She was the one who grieved the most."

She turned her eyes to me, her red gaze locked into mine with a sharp focus, "Then I found one of Mother's books. It was a personal work of her own hand: a tome that told of ways to reverse the curse of vampirism. There were many ways but each one demanded I must gather such eccentric ingredients that would be impossible for any being, dead or alive, to accomplish…except for one."

Which is….?

"The blood of Jehovah. In other words: Holy Blood. If a vampire were to drink the blood of the carrier, the curse of vampirism will be vanquished like a stain and the victim will finally be a human again." She stated. "If I were to find such a thing, where should I head to? Where can I find the nearest community of Christians that could possibly have a person that carried it?"

Hesitantly, I answered that, "B-back to Europe."

She leered maliciously at me. "A merchant ship is about to sail across for Europe, and I took the opportunity as it presented itself."

"You did not venture to Europe simply for the carrier, did you?" I asked.

She grinned wickedly at that, "You have caught on real fast, boy…! I like it!" Her voice is starting to rise in pitch, and I could hear her madness coming to rise. "My mother and father's murderers! They have already withered into pathetic dust when I traveled to the villages we once served. But their later generations have lived, lived and expanded their borders on the grounds the Scarlet Family once occupied. And what did I do come nightfall?"

…..I knew it. "You slaughtered them, didn't you?"

"Yes." She breathed, her grin already stretching far beyond human possibility. "Men, women, children, old, young, rich and poor alike, I never discriminated! I even decimated the same Church that once conducted the burning of my mother and father! Their screams and pleas for help and mercy….if they think they are so innocent as to not deserve what is coming for them, what of Mother!? What of Father!? What have they deserved to be burned to the stake!?"

Fucking hell…..she was both enraged and driven mad in her past bloodlust. By full honesty, I was genuinely frightened. I never moved a muscle as she continued.

"Since their passing, I have never forgotten what they called me. The Scarlet Devil, they called me. Well, I hope I never disappointed for the role they handed out to me….for I left the lands paved with the blood of all who desecrated the Scarlet name."

…..looks like it's another one of Christianity's greatest mistakes, and they ended up creating a demon out of a crying little girl.

The world before sure was a fucked up place.

"But did you ever find it, Lady Scarlet?" I asked politely, "The carrier, did you find the person?"

She slowly shook her head. "Not even the pope or bishop bore such a sacred thing. For years, I have searched. For centuries I have searched, but not one was there! Not even a single one!" Her shouting voice was powerful enough to make me wince, and it echoed all throughout this entire room. Then her voice was now lower, "I have given up. Nothing is ever going to save Flandre from her suffering. Even when Patchy came to my home, the ingredients needed are long spent, extinct, or simply gone."

Then she raised a pointing finger, and aimed it at me.

"Then you came."

…..

…..What?

"What is it you are implying, Lady Scarlet?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"You…" She emphasized. "…are the carrier."

I was instantly off my seat, [WHAT!?]

"You really didn't realize that, did you?" She flatly asked amidst the echo of my voice, "I speak the truth, you are the carrier of the blood of Christ himself."

No! No! No! No! No! This is all wrong! How could I be!? How do I have the fucking right to even bear that kind of thing!? What kind of privilege do I have!?

"It's your choice whether to believe me or not, boy. My point here is that the main cause of everything that you suffered last night was because of your blood. You're purifying blood that had all the potential to cure my darling little sister!"

…..

…..…..

….….…...everybody stop.

Everybody fucking stop. Something about her words somehow signified something. Whatever it is...it pushed me into a stiff mood.

[Paraphrase.] I wasn't requesting this at all. I don't know why but I'm having the internal instinct telling me that what's coming next is something I'm not gonna like. [Why did everything happen last night? Where were you even?]

"I left." And just like that, she just tells me. What the fuck? "I left you to my little sister's whims."

Huh. [So what? You expected me to nanny her for the entire night?]

Her eyes burned, "I expected you to die."

Kttttthhhh!

Now I actually recoiled at that.

I literally back-stepped out of a survival instinct thanks to her looking hostile for just a single second that I ended up pushing the chair behind me and tipped it over. The slam it made was loud enough to be a gunshot in this expansive and silent room.

When I bit back the growl from coming out of my throat for the first few seconds, I held myself back from ever pulling out my knife or lighting up a torch in my hand and simply crossed my arms.

Let her speak.

But first, I need to say this, [I technically did die, mind you. Look at what happened to Marisa. If anything, it's entirely your fault.]

*Twitch*

…..I saw that eye twitch, you little brat. You wanted me to die, Marisa instead nearly took that in my place! And look what that led up to: your li'l sis nearly got raped and killed because of me!

"An unexpected intervention which led to a disaster that was thankfully averted. If not for her, everything would have went as planned."

That's right….save face, Draculina….keep talking and make this interesting for the both of us. Give me every fucking reason to hate your fucking guts….!

If we end up fighting, I'll make you suffer equality by going through what the both of them went through! First it'll be an eye-gouging…..then comes a proceeding mutilation. I'll be careful not to have any of this 'holy blood' going through your throat and revitalizing you.

"Everything nearly came to plan." She sneered, all the dislike she had towards me oh so fucking clear in her eyes. "No matter who that interloper was that attacked you in that hallway, it was enough to trigger Flandre's thirst, and if it weren't for Marisa's arrival, she could have been human again."

Keep talking, bitch.

"Flandre, sweet little sister, Mother's little moonlight, Father's Jewel, Jacob's second Scarlet Angel, she could not forgot it all! Every memory of her happy days are locked in her head and the trauma left her mad! Mad, unpredictable, and excitable! Your blood is all that is needed to heal every scar!" Her rant was not only loud (enough to split my ears) but supernatural. My vision was tunneled from an unknown source, and there was a spiritual pressure on my being that's trying to put me down on my knees. My anger is all that kept me standing. "The curse I passed on to her, the pain that she suffered because of me, every century year she spent in isolation because of her dangerous power, all that will be healed and amended once she feeds from the carrier of the Holy Blood that is YOU!"

…..…..

…..…..…..

…..You fucking obsessive-compulsive gambit-addicted CUNT!

[Then why?] I fucking demand that you tell me, you bitch. [Why didn't you say so? Why did you go through all that trouble just to have her feed from me?] Look what that plan of yours did. Look at what happened to your sister! That was all your fault! FUCKING YOURS! [Why didn't you just have me give it to her!? Huh!? Do you have a fucking problem with asking or something!? Is that it!? You could've just said 'hey Eman, feed my sister because she is thirsty', y'know!? I would've let her! What made you think I would refuse after I just let you drink from me not a day before!?]

Don't fucking boil. Don't fucking boil! Do not ignite! Flames, do not come out and make me look hostile! Let me yell at this bitch in my indignity like a normal powerless human!

[Why'd you have to go through all that hassling just to feed her, huh!? Why do you even need to kill me!?]

"Because I hate you."

…..…..…..

…..…..…..…..…..…..

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..

"You are a Christian, a person from a self-righteous religion that sought to deny all other religions, all other beliefs, all other gods, all other ethics because it thinks it is the right and true religion! A religion with followers so quick to point at 'demons' and have them executed without a trial! Men, women, children, my parents! You Christians do not discriminate when it comes to the executions and the burnings and the hangings and the lynching!"

….so….

"I don't care what kind of a person you are, Eman! You may not be like them, but there is no denying that you will end up doing the same thing."

So it's like this, huh…..…..

"What does your bible say? 'There's no God other than me'!? There are many gods here, Eman, and you will strive to loathe them and deny their existence! Hmm, what else is there? Magic is a device of the devil? You have already realized that your friend, Marisa, is a practitioner of magic, haven't you!? Well, what else is here in Gensokyo? Oh, thousands and thousands of practitioners of magic! Does the bible conceptualize Youkai as 'demons' as well? I do not know, you tell me. Oh, right: I am a demon! I don't have to mention about the absurd number of animistic pagans that reside in the Human Village, do I!?"

…..…..yeeeeup, it is definitely like this.

"Christianity is Gensokyo's poison, Eman. And you are the catalyst of its destruction. Maybe not you, but someone else. Soon…..soon, people will know you, Eman, and later afterwards, your religion will be known. One among them, maybe one so spiritually devoted, will soon convert to your religion and abandon the one they were first raised to have. You will know the prejudice the human village has for Youkai, and once they hear of your particular faith that shields against demons, their zealousness over this religion of yours will be greater than any other devotion that existed. They will deny all Youkai. They will deny all gods. Everything in Gensokyo's well-being will be denied, all because of that religion of yours."

…..…..

…..…..…..…..…..

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..Remilia…..

…..…..you dug yourself even deeper. To hear about your plan nearly killing your sister already ticked me off to the point where I can no longer bring myself to respect you, but to hear this coming out of you?

I'm not gonna let this go. Oh no, no way. You are officially on my SHIT LIST.

Now that you are an honorary member of that particular group, you deserve a warm round of applause.

*Clap...Clap...Clap...Clap...Clap...Clap...Clap...Clap...*

Bravo. Braaavoooo, Remilia. Bravoooooo.

"What?" Oh, you look confused, Remilia. Can you tell me what's wrong? "What are you doing? Why are you clapping!?"

*Clap..Clap..Clap..Clap..Clap..Clap..Clap..*

]Bravoooo! Braaaaavoooooooooooo!] IT'S A FUCKING SPECTACULAR SIGHT TO BEHOLD IT MAKES MY HANDS CLAP FASTER! [Just bravo, Remilia! That was a very bombastic speech!]

*CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!*

You look so fucking lost for words, bitch. What reaction did you actually expect from me, huh? What? Did you expect me to question my faith? Were you expecting me to crack down? A spiritual crisis, perhaps?

Who the fuck knows?

All I know is that you didn't expect me to look like the MOST impressed unimpressed audience of your fucking unlife!

[Halle-fucking-lujah, everybody! We got ourselves a very special specimen! Clap your fuckin' hands for this pity party…..!]

*BBRSSSSHHHHHH!‼!*

And just as I finish, Remilia fucking throws giant orbs of scarlet to either side of me, strong enough to create deep holes on the checkered floors, loud enough to make my ears go deaf, enough to shake my bones, but not enough to make me fall over.

You look upset, Lady Scarlet. Is something wrong? You look like you want to kill me on the spot. "You….! Don't you dare make fun of me, you lowly Christian scum!"

You did manage to make me stop clapping like a complete douche, bitch. You should get an additional award for that. I'd clap my hands, but no. I got a speech of recognition for you instead.

[Congratulations, Remilia Scarlet.] I coldly praised, each syllable I let out was loaded to the brim with sarcasm. [For all your altruistic efforts of sanitizing Gensokyo from the fundamentalist Christians that once killed your mama and papa, you have made yourself into their image.]

Oh you look like you don't get me. "What image…!?" She asked in a growl, sneering all that wicked teeth that are best fit to rip the half of my head off, including the skull.

I sneered back, showing her all the teeth that allowed very parasitic fires to worm inside her sister's tiny little living corpse. [You….FUCKING HyPoCriTe, YoU kNiGhT tEmPlAr ImMaTuRe BiTcH-fUcK!‼!‼!‼]

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

She's angry. She was so angry.

She didn't hold back as she blasted all forms of gigantic scarlet danmaku on me. I don't know whether she had bad aim or she was deliberately trying to not hit me, but being surrounded by endless amounts of blast waves that were equal to a grenade explosion in each one but was not able to kill me was not something I experienced everyday.

My magic-proof clothing may have taken the blows of Remilia's onslaught like a champ, but nobody mentioned that I won't feel the pain.

The memory of the cauterizing flames have already came back when I showered, and once Sakuya had closed the door, I had prepared to use them in case things got rough.

I expected her to blast me when I said it, but the level of pain was not part of the expectations. The first blast was a murderous bitch. My ears bled upon the explosion right next to me, my right leg was literally dislocated, and I slammed against the nearest pillar. That one hurt like a bitch, not to mention that I was genuinely horrified thanks to the number of broken bones I had.

The healing flames had already activated simply by response to the injuries I've already taken, the warmth spreading all over the numerous internal injuries in my body, especially the rib cage and my leg. The temperature is close in comparison to burning paper, both comforting and discomforting. The flames sort of dulled the pain, but the sensations of the fractures are still excruciating. It still wasn't enough.

Everything hurts….but I could still think…..I'm still coherent despite all this pain…..! The warmth…..the healing fires are keeping me…..aaghh…!

If it weren't for these healing flames…! AAgghh….! It hurts….! How could I still be able to think like this….!?

Those last two years sure did something to me. I can think through the pain….almost…..hehehehe…..!

As if cracked ribs and a fucked leg wasn't enough, she picked me up from the collar and threw me against her throne. Her throw was enough to break it apart upon my landing. I bled from the mouth, I felt my bones crack even further, I'm not even sure if there was an external fracture; broken bones that pierced out of my skin. If that was so, I'm not sure because I'm wearing pants that entirely covered both my legs and I don't see any on my arms.

It's already obvious that I growled and grunted in every punishment she gave me. Everywhere around me hurts. It was hell. The flames are almost not enough to soften every sensation. I was almost losing my cognition.

But I didn't scream. I'm not letting her have the satisfaction.

No. Fucking. Way.

As if that thought was some sort of activation as well, the flames in my body had increased in temperature….and the pain of all the broken bones had lessened, only to be replaced by the heat…..

…ha! I could take it…! This hurts even less….agh….! Ow….! Water…..water….give me water….!

A hand once again grabbed the front of my collar and pulled me up close to Remilia's monstrous face. "Do you know how cathartic that was for me?" She asked in mock politeness. "Do you now know how much pain I have to make every single murderer of my parents suffer for?"

Then she threw me to the place I once stood in her rant, right on top of a fucking pile of broken wood that was once the chair I sat on. No need to emphasize the fact that I landed on hard ground or dangerous wood while having broken bones and more than a million bruises around me, it was the sharp spikes from the broken pile of wood that pierced my sides and back that needs to be emphasized.

I'm definitely bleeding now. I can see the flames poking out of my wounds to cauterize them. I just got these new clothes and they now reek of the wearer going through some violence.

"That is not even close to what they have suffered. Not even close."

Glad to hear that Remilia is still not done talking, even with that polite tone of voice.

There was one thing about me that made me slightly beyond her control of the situation: I was still smiling, and I never stopped since she threw the first bullet and fucked my skeleton over in ways I have not experienced.

I have coughed, I have growled, choking in my own blood is not even excluded, but no matter what I went through, I never stopped wearing this smug-as-fuck smile.

You fucking lost, Remilia.

[You….say that those….fucks are quick to declare somebody evil….w…without even trying to verify the truth in their words…] I wasn't shouting or even talking. My body was too fucked and my mind too clouded with pain to make myself have the will to be loud. My body is literally burning on the inside thanks to all the healing fires doing their very best to dull and heal my bones. But I could still think. I'm not broken yet. I just needed to whisper, no need for the extra effort. Vampires got a good hearing, after all. […what does that make you…..when you automatically assume that a Christian like me will immediately start gathering lynch mobs because the book says so?]

"AAAAGH!"

I could've laughed. But her next attack didn't allow me that action. Couldn't tell what she did. My eyes were closed, and that made the pain and punishment that my body received all too perceptible. Forget the other broken bones she added to my body, I think she had slammed me against the wall. I could already feel her knuckles against my throat as she held me against it by the collar.

I spat at her face with my mouth blood. You sure looked surprised at my defiance, I'm not sure whether it's the spit or the smile on my face.

[….you think I'll hate other gods because they're not great, that they're false. Ha….because of me worshipping one God, you think I deserve to die….] I was merely breathing my words at this point. My vocal chords might have been gone, or I was rendered unable to use them, but I know that she understood me. That's good enough. [….what did those fucks think when they found out your mama was a magician…!? Did they think she worshipped God…..or the devil…!? If it was the latter, would they spare her!?]

The next thing she did, I'm very certain she threw me to the door. For one thing, the surface my back landed on was relatively soft compared to the last ones. Not to mention the resounding thud. Cement don't thud, only bones and wood do when you hit them.

I did land the back of my head against it and fell unconscious, but before I knew it, my eyes were already open. The aches in my body are still present, and it made me feel like I only passed out for a single second. Not until I realized the state of my right hand.

I have used it to cushion my head against the wood. Wasn't sure if I could move a single finger on it.

Survival reflexes are scary, especially if you were once trained to always protect your head.

Before I could actually verify the entire state of my body, Remilia was suddenly in front of me, holding a fucking scarlet spear. Not an ordinary spear, it's one made entirely out of red magic, the size too big for her, and it glowed bright with dangerous energy, and she had it pointed close to my eye.

"Don't you dare….." She growled, nearing it even closer. I didn't move. My body was too messed up to do anything. "…talk about my mother….!"

[you…you think….I'll hate the villagers the sooner I'll see them….for no reason o-other..than the fact that they're animistic….] Trough the red haze that came from my bloodstained eyes, I leered at Remilia. […..what did you think those fucks will do once they knew that you don't worship God like they did?]

As if I had nailed it right on the fucking head once again, she stabbed that massive spear into my fucked right hand onto the floor. Thanks to that, the healing fires immediately tried to close it, even if her spear is still stuck in it.

Thanks, it wasn't of use anymore anyway.

"Shut up…..!" Yer losing it, Remilia, and I love it! "Shut up! Shut up! You are the worst! Worse than I am! Such fundamentalists still exist in the outside world! Don't you dare deny, because I was still present when the Americans had created an extremist church that has still existed to this day!"

If she's talking about Westboro Baptist Church, I swear to God I'll blow my fucking ass off, even if my vocal chords are all gone.

Flames…..heal me. I don't care how hot it is, just fucking burn me!

I really don't know the kind of scientific explanation I would think up for this magic. I forgot my anatomy lessons long ago. I'm not sure if the white blood cell fix bones besides fighting bad bacteria or not but I'm pretty sure that the heat that was rolling over me was doing something. If I were to hypothesize, the increased flow of blood (or heat) in my body also accelerated the regeneration process in the interior of my bones. Whatever biological agents in my body were responsible for healing the bones and regenerating tissue, they went to work with adrenaline.

In such a painful state, I doubt anybody might be able to cast it. But I was an emotion-trigger, and I used my feeling of absolute superiority to fuel my magic.

Yep, I drowned myself in megalomania. The pain have probably messed up my head and gave me a mental disorder of being high and mighty, but it was a necessary evil. I just needed to heal.

There's also no denying that I'm in the right here.

While I sat crumpled against this door behind me, I reveled in the warmth that's spreading all over me as the healing flames coated around me. Weird. This thing should be painful. Maybe this sort of pain now pales in comparison to what Remilia did.

Or maybe I became a masochist? For one thing, I'm enjoying this.

For one thing, it softened the numerous excruciating pains in my body, and even cleaned out the blood that stained my eyes, making me see the clear yellow of my healing flames.

Mending and painful at the same time.

This feels greeeeaaat…..!

I have officially lost my mind, haven't I…..!?

I'm pretty sure I had splinters on me from the pile of wood I landed on, and a single piece that pierced my left forearm was burned to ashes. When there were ashes on the open wound, they were burned too. When there was no more, the flames cauterized it and became an instant scar. It stung at the entire process.

While I healed and have recollected my scrambled thoughts, I have gathered the energy to start using my voice. It felt weird to speak, even as the flames kept coming in and out of my mouth to heal whatever was injured inside. [You hit me…..cuz yer mad…..and yer mad….because I'm correct…..hehe…..!]

Pretty sure she shouted something back, but I wasn't paying attention. I was laughing at what I'm seeing. My fucked right hand that Remilia pierced was now healed but it had a hole in the middle of the palm. I got stigmata now.

Now, I'll continue, [People grew up, Remilia.] My voice was now clear, especially as the flames were no longer seeping into my mouth. [Christianity changed. Haven't ya learned anything after all the time we've been through, despite how short it is? I didn't start thinkin' I should convert people to Christianity when I found out about the dominant religion in Gensokyo, I didn't start thinkin' Youkai are evil unless I saw that at face-value. You could see that Christianity is different through me. You should change too, you pint-sized brat of a Draculina! Ya still haven't matured from your 500 year old impression of Christians yet…..!]

I wasn't even done healing, and already Remilia was lifting me up by the collar, flying above the ground just to make herself look tall. Pathetic. It's like she wants me to be scared~

"Don't you dare tell me to change…..! Christianity's dogmas hasn't changed, even before the time I transported to Gensokyo!"

Well!

[THEN YOU'D BE RIGHT AT HOME IN USA! LOTSA PEOPLE HAD GIVEN UP THEIR FAITH AND ARE HAPPY BEING SECULAR!] I didn't resist as she held me. I may have regenerated but not completely. My bones are still at the wrong places, I could feel it! Any exterior fractures that existed may still be jutting out, and only flesh wounds became scars. [BUT YER STILL BLIND! BLIND AND IMMATURE! SO IMMATURE YER HEAD NEVER REALLY GREW UP JUST LIKE YER FUCKING BODY!]

Oh, I hit a nerve! She immediately slammed my back straight to the ceiling. Never mind the new pain and injury she just gave me, with my bones being this fucked up and completely stuck in place, gravity became my enemy as it made the aches come alive once again at the odd angles.

AAAAGGHHH! THIS HURTS! YOU'RE MAKING THE FIRES HURT EVEN MORE, BITCH!

HE…..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA‼

YES! KEEP DOING IT! I ALREADY HAVE EVERYTHING AGAINST YOU THOUGHT UP IN MY MIND CLOUDED WITH SO MUCH PAIN, RELIEF, AND ABSOLUTE SMUGNESS!

"I am not blind and immature! I am five centuries older than you are! I have suffered more than you could imagine in this cursed world! Your minuscular existence of a mere 19 years pales before mine!"

[BEING OLD DOESN'T MAKE YA INTELLIGENT, YA STUPID BITCH!] It's time to resist. I grabbed on the wrist that held on to the scruff of my collar and burned them. Megalomania was now fully aside, and I wrought out the pent-up rage I've been stocking up ever since hearing her hypocrisy. The smoke that is coming out of my head will be the only indication of my emotion. With a normal tone of voice, made monotone because of the burning emotion brewing up within me, I said, [We humans learn from the mistakes of our ancestors! From the inquisition, from the witch burnings, from the slavery, from the racism, from the segregation of races, from the control of people using religion, so many of us have grown past all that! Even religion! Considering how long humans have recorded their history, we have wisdom far older than you are!]

"GGGRRRRRRRRAAAAAAGGGHHH!‼!‼!‼!‼!‼!‼"

Then she threw me straight towards the ground.

Hmph, as if that'll kill me, you fucking bitch!

Explosive fireballs, gather into both my hands, stat!

Swinging my fucked hands forward (thank god for how tall the ceiling is), the explosion that followed as they hit the ground created a blast force that reduced the momentum of my fall before I landed beside the blazing impact zone.

Okay, that hurt. I hate being broken boned.

Nonetheless, I forced myself to stand up, increasing the intensity of the healing fires as they numbed the pain. My left leg was indeed fucked but thankfully unbroken. It simply hurts to stand, but I forced myself through it. The flames can support me, even if a little.

I faced wounds worse than this. Even if I haven't, the pain ain't no problem. I used to get hit a bunch of times when I assaulted people before. I already faced broken bones, much so on my first day in Gensokyo.

Nothing new…..I'm still not broken…!

When Remilia descended just a descent height above the ground, floating with her wings flapping slowly, her burnt wrists already repairing themselves, I continued to speak, [I am far different from the average Christian, Remilia. You won't see most like me so open with letting people worship their own gods, believe in their own beliefs, and let them live as they please.] That's a stretch of what I truly feel about people outside the Christian faith. I don't let people, I accept people, as in tolerate. I still want people to be Christian but I am respectful enough to let them be when they don't want to. But when they want to, I'll guide them, with respect and love.

I willed the healing flames to fade when I couldn't take the heat anymore…..and came afterwards a powerful STING of all the excruciating sensations that have been held back to come surging into my head….fortunately, they're not as bad as I thought.

I could still think amidst through it…..looks like the pain of the flames before have topped this one that it feels like having winched bones from being crushed because the car was cramped.

As much coherence as I could gather with my words, I said, [When I first heard that monsters existed, I was happy. I always wanted to see a monster, and being in Gensokyo granted me that wish. When I met Suika and Yukari, I finally had a grasp of how dangerous Youkai can be, despite their amicable moods.] I looked meaningfully into her baleful red glare, [When Marisa told me that vampires existed, I was beyond happy. It gave me the urge to know that vampire, to understand that vampire, to learn about that vampire. It went as far as to learn just about every Youkai that existed.] Do you see, Remilia? Do you see? [I'm not like those fundamentalists, Remilia, and there is nothing you can do to change that. If you ever want to see me become shitty to a Youkai, it'll be the ones who attacked first and the ones who would want to harm an innocent life. If you wanna see me hate a god, it'll be a god who doesn't care about his/her worshippers.]

She didn't say anything. Her eyes went staring into space, the malicious hatred on her face slowly becoming vacant. Her mouth moved, as if she was about to say something, but I hardly hear anything.

The pain has considerably lessened now. It's a relief. In turn, I willed the healing flames to come back, and the pain became nothing more than a throbbing sensation in my body.

…..now I could think clearly…..

[I'll be honest, Remilia.] I drew her attention back to me. [I truly felt for you.]

And then she instantly became angry as fuck again. "Don't you dare pi—"

[I'm a Christian, do you expect me to be apathetic?] I bet Remilia here has forgotten what all Christian's are supposed to be. We are supposed to be like Jesus; compassionate, self-sacrificing, caring, and loving. We don't assume God's thoughts, we don't assume God's will, and we certainly do not kill for His name. We simply do His Original Will, that's it. I'm not a model Christian, but I sure as hell know where I stand.

[When you told me of what happened to you, I cried on the inside. Your mama and papa were good people, they didn't deserve to die. No one even deserved to die that way, betrayed and left all alone to their demise as you live on.] I am not lying here, Remilia, all these words are straight from the heart, and even a vampire like yourself should see that there's no point in lying, especially about something personal like this. [Your revenge on their generation in Europe is understandable, because you were grieving. Even I would have murdered innocent men, women, and children for my parents' murders.] Even if mine weren't the model type of parents to begin with, I'd still honor them. Not by loving them, but by never forgetting their names, faces, and all the good they have done for me, even if they were few. It's my right as a Christian.

[But what you have pulled last night has gone too far, Remilia.] She narrowed her eyes at me. [That grudge of yours still hasn't left, you held on to it, even to this day. For how long? 500 years? In a human perspective, that's so fucking long. It just shows how immature you are.]

I already saw her next move coming before I even finished saying anything: she was about to throw that red spear at me. "Don't you lecture me—!‼"

[YOU HIT ME, YOU'LL ONLY PROVE MY POINT!] I hastily shouted, and Remilia was stiff in the air as she was stuck in her position of rearing back her spear. The flames inside me had worsened due to my outburst, creating a boiling point inside. Nonetheless, I continued speaking, but my speech had already become heated due to the volcano inside me. [If it was me, Remilia, I would have given up on my grudge right after I killed the entire generation! I would've committed suicide before I could hold on to that grudge for another 50 years! Do you know how that'll tire the fuck out of me!?]

"You don't understand….!" Oh, this bitch is stubborn as fuck! This is fucking ridiculous! "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DICTATE ME HOW TO FEEL! HOW COULD YOU UNDERSTAND ALL THE SUFFERING FLANDRE AND I WENT THROUGH!?"

[IS THAT YOUR EXCUSE FOR KILLING CHRISTIANS WHO'RE BARELY RELATED TO THE PEOPLE WHO TURNED YOUR ENTIRE LIFE INTO A PILE OF SHIT!? THOSE FUCKS GOT WHAT THEY DESERVED ALREADY!] I can't take this anymore! I fucking can't take this anymore! I don't care how I sounded! I am so fucking done with this bitch! I'm fucking done with this pain! I'm fucking done with everything! [FUCKING MOVE ON! HUMANS MOVE ON WHEN THEIR LOVED ONE DIES! ANIMALS MOVE ON WHEN THEIR YOUNG DIES! WHY CAN'T YOU DO THE SAME!?]

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

A red nuclear bomb exploded in this very room.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

There is an anger called 'Righteous Anger'. It isn't a really uncommon emotion, but not a lot of people could identify it when they began feeling such anger. If I were to define it in my own words, it is an anger not born of pride and legit not a sin.

The most basic anger we feel almost everyday, when we get insulted, punched, frustrated, stressed, wronged, or simply cheated, all that had something to do with pride. It was either wounded or affected and you would immediately defend it like a champ.

Righteous anger is an anger that is meant for others, not against others. An example would be the anger born from worry, the anger born from sympathy, the anger born from looking at the immaturity in front of you. I've felt that anger when I looked at Marisa stealing Patchouli's shit or ruining the Mansion's property.

At this minute, I am feeling that anger once again, and the level of amplification that did to my fire ability is actually quite profound:

When Remilia released all of that scarlet hell, composed of so much destructive energy thrown at every direction possible, even destroying the portraits and banners and everything that isn't nailed down, she was releasing her frustrations, her guilt, and all her rage against this very room….and me. So many tiles are already flying everywhere, stone and cement cracking and falling apart, and some of those dangerous scarlet lightning that flew everywhere could have turned me into a pile of mush.

But her display of throwing all that tantrum….all of Remilia's immaturity, despite being this old…..all of that just genuinely pisses me the fuck off.

All that anger that came over me was manifested into a great fiery shield. I didn't even have to will it, it was just so automatic. It was the round shield of fire that I used on Marisa last night, but this time it was wider, hotter, and more than one was there. Shielding In front of me, above me, on both sides, and behind me. I wasn't able to comprehend how effectively they were sucking in the destruction that could've hit me. Whatever debris that could have fell on me, they instantaneously turned to dust as soon as they hit the flat surface of my shields. Whatever danmaku or scarlet magic Remilia threw in my direction, it was eaten away by my righteous anger.

When the destructive temper tantrum was finally over, the flashing of scarlet lights ceased, the shaking on the floors stopped, the explosions also fell silent, and when the dust of the masonry around us cleared, I only see Remilia kneeling on the floor just a few feet away from me, surrounded by the grand mess she left on her own throne room. Cracked and shattered floors, pillars either cracked or toppled over, and the walls….they're done.

I dismissed the shields as I could clearly see that she was completely deflated of all her energy.

My body was literally burning like a steam pot. So much pressure is building up in me due to all the fractures I'm suffering. If it weren't for the reopened wounds I've suffered when I fell down to the floors again due to the shaking that allowed ventilation to release the pressure, I swear I could've exploded.

I can see from here that her shoulders were shaking, her wings drooping so weakly like the stock of energy in her left, and I could clearly see the red liquid that fell from her face and into the ashen floors below her.

I couldn't cross my arms, I couldn't even stand up straight. My entire skeletal system is still fucked, disabling all of my mobility for anything, but if she just takes a look at my face, she'll realize how I truly feel for her: I was done with her.

It was almost impossible to keep up like this, much more so to think coherently and think up my words. I was already crying from the pain, my fists clenched so tightly they bled from my fingernails, and my only useful leg couldn't hold me up for much longer. But like every time….I persisted like a motherfucker.

[If ya had let it go….if ya had just given yourself the time to rest…..the time to focus on being with….your fa-family rather than goin' out there getting' revenge, you could'a helped your li'l sis….move on properly from her parent's death 'stead of lettin' her fall into insanity in her isolation just to cope.] Things could've been different if you had. [That's what a big sister'd do, helpin' the li'l ones. In turn, she could'a done the same to ya, 'cuz it's her role to support ya. Flandre had no one else but you. That's what family is for: look out for each other.]

I have followed that principle all the way until the day my little sister has been taken away from me. I looked out for Emmanuella, she would do everything she could to support me, even if she couldn't walk for shit. It just sucks that I couldn't bear the thought of living without her those years ago. If I had just prepared for it, things could've been different for me too.

But I guess all things in life are never easy for anybody. Because of that lack of preparation and the inability to face the truth, I ran away from home and left my parents to themselves.

[All 'cuz a yer grudge against people in mah….rel'gion that led to all that bullshi' las' nigh', Remilia. The library being fucked, Marisa nearly dyin'….Flandre herself going through another trauma…we could'a avoided all that, y'know. Not just last night, but Flandre's sanity could've been saved if you had just dropped it long ago.]

But you are already too late, Remilia. You're past the point of making things right, and there is nothing you could do to change it.

[But no….ya missed yer chance….twice….because ya still haven't moved on….It's all yer fault, Remilia.]

You oughtta learn from this.

Her hands curled into tight fists, taking handfuls of ash and surviving stone in her hands before instantly crushing them into pathetic dust. It wasn't loud but I heard the faintest sniffle come from her and the words she said barely came out without shaking, "Get…out…."

If I could curl my fingers into fists, I could have. Instead, I only crinkled my face into a sour expression. The times I was truly cold and blunt, I rarely come out of them feeling like a winner or dignified. I broke someone, and I know that they'll hate me for it forever.

This is why I hate being a good person.

"Get out….! Get out before I will seriously kill you!"

I needed no other prompt. I limped out of her distance, and towards the door. My stride was unbearably slow and careful, careful not to aggravate the fractures and dislocations in my body. Not to mention the broken ribs. But because of this slow speed, I did not miss the sounds of Remilia's crying. They were suppressed, meant to keep herself dignified while I was still in her presence, but I know that she won't hold that up for long. Once I was near the door, she could no longer hold it in….and my heart tore itself apart listening to her despair.

She did not sound like the mature vampire I've met on the dinner table anymore, she sounded like a poor little girl who is grieving the loss of her mama and papa. If anything, I made her relive that 500+ year old pain. It was a very harsh blow, even for me…

But I regret nothing.

Even vampires like her ought to be hurt in order to learn. All half of that was a lesson, the other half was for my revenge. But the latter is on Flandre's behalf more than anything. What she went through last night is worse than mine.

As the door opened before I could even touch it, I immediately collapsed forward and let myself be caught in Meiling's arms.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"Done." Jergo told.

"Well done." Patchouli praised, dismissing the healing arcane interlacing her hands alongside the goblin, observing the pile of pale mush that once was a literally broken-boned and mangled Eman. "How are you feeling, Eman?"

[…..] The fully-healed teen breathed heavily on the floor, but only after a few seconds of doing so did he answer her, with a very husky and breathy tone, [ooooorgaaaaasssssmiiiic.]

Being healed by not one but two magicians is a completely different experience for people who don't deal with magic everyday, apparently.

"Yeah…." Marisa nonchalantly kicked him on the ribs, eliciting a pained grunt and a major turn off towards Eman's stimulated nerves. "…lookin' at all them fractures pokin' outta yer skin didn't make it all funny, brah." Marisa shivered at the memory, "Eeegghhrrr…."

"Agreed." Meiling nodded, "Whatever you have done to heal yourself, you should not have done so while your bones were in the wrong places. It is like nailing a board in place without any sense of symmetry. It's just not right." She wondered if he even felt the agony that followed when she dislocated his bones just to readjust them before Jergo and Patchouli mended them properly. He was certainly awake during the whole operation, but he didn't scream, only grunts and hisses.

[I didn't have time to think that one through.] Eman replied calmly, holding his kicked side as he rose up to his feet. [Remilia was kicking my ass.]

"Understatement." Patchouli quipped with a dispassionate gaze.

Jergo nodded in agreement.

"She fucked you up, dude." Marisa remarked with both awe and disgust. "I'm kinda surprised yer still sane after all that-ze."

The male smiled wryly, receiving the pants Meiling held out to him. He had been undressed during the entire operation, leaving only his underwear to bear. [Maybe I'm that tolerant to pain…or maybe I already am insane, and doing a good job at looking sane.] He answered, buttoning his pants and stretching his legs to test his mobility. He was delighted to see that they were fully restored.

The witch laughed fervently at that, patting his bare back. Eman barely felt the sting of her hand. "Welcome to the party! Ever'body's got their own kind of crazy 'round Gensokyo-da ze."

He chuckled, receiving the shirt Marisa passed him, [Good to know that I'm not alone.] As he finally slotted the black shirt into his torso, he looked around the hallway adjacent to the door to the throne room. [Where's Sakuya?]

The purple magician stared at the direction of Remilia's last known location since leaving it, "Inside, cleaning the mess you and Remi left behind as per her duty."

Meiling noticed the millisecond lapse of a sad face that fell over Eman's face before it was instantly schooled into a casual one. [You lucky lot, havin' a time-stoppin' maid to keep this place squeaky clean. I bet she could clean up the entire fuckin' place under one second.]

"That assumption has happened multiple times every year, Comrade." Meiling commented with a smile, though mirthlessly. She can already discern through his body language that everything that happened behind the door did not simply result with Eman as the only one getting hurt.

As Jergo finished tying the same knot on the laces of his undamaged shoes after slotting them into Eman's feet in a servant manner, the latter tapped his toes against the ground as a minor adjustment before asking, [If it ain't any bother, can I visit Flandre before we leave?]

"Ya don't hafta ask, dude." Marisa told, placing her broom over her shoulder. "The two of ya really gotta talk, 'specially after last night. If I were to reckon, I'd say she's done cryin' and ready to go heart-to-heart with ya-da ze."

[Thanks a big fat bunch, Marisa] He extended a fist for her and she gave it a good firm punch. It didn't hurt but the level of impact force she sent him was so astounding that he couldn't help but be impressed. [Oh yeah, just for you to know.]

"Yeah?"

[This uh…heart-to-heart thing with me and Flandre….might gonna take forever…so uh…]

"Yeah, yeah, I getcha." Marisa patted him gently on the back. "Take yer time, I'm gonna have some magic talk with Patchy here. I can wait."

Patchouli stared at the witch, wondering when did she ever used the word 'magic talk'. It's usually 'bug Patchy' or 'bother Patchy' or even 'tea and chat with Patchy' but 'magic talk'? That's completely out of character.

[Alright, see ya in a bit.] Eman patted her shoulder and he quickly turned on his heels, heading for the direction of the basement, where Flandre was imprisoned. The thought sours his mood but logic dictated that it was for the best, so he suppressed his righteousness down.

"I'll accompany you there," Meiling offered, already trotting up to his side as his speed turned into a light job. "I doubt you know the way to Ms. Flan's bedroom."

[Not really, I don't.] His voice echoed as he became more distant from Marisa and Patchouli and into the long hallway. [Thanks, lead the way.]

The friendly chitchat between the two tall individuals continued on as their jogging figures became smaller and smaller, their voices becoming more hushed and distant, and Marisa continued to stare at them, even as Patchouli's range of vision could no longer perceive them.

Once the tiny figures of black-orange and green turned around the corner at the faraway distance, Patchouli finally realized that the atmosphere was tense. More so when Marisa slowly turned her head around and faced her, giving her the friendliest of smiles.

Marisa's eyes, however, did not look friendly.

Patchouli set her mouth in a line, "There's more to this 'magic talk' you mentioned, isn't it?"

Jergo suddenly vanished.

"Ha ha, Patchy, you know me so well." The other witch replied jovially, her bright smile unfading. The insincerity in her being was supremely clear, and Patchouli knew that it did not bode anything good coming afterwards.

Marisa raised a hand up to her hat, lifting it just a tad to reveal the mini-hakkero that nestled innocently on the top of her golden head before she tilted it sideways, letting it slide down and land to her palm, the hat nestling comfortably back.

Patchouli stiffened as she felt the absurd amounts of heat energy coming from the volcanic artifact embedded behind it like the heat from a furnace, clearly indicating that it was about to be used on somebody, and that somebody is going to be the one person nearest to the one holding it.

"Ma-Marisa…" Patchouli became uneasy, invisibly performing intricate hand gestures that heralded the wards that had blocked Marisa's sparks before. "What are you….?"

Marisa pointed to her left side with a free hand, then she shook her head disapprovingly.

"Please, Marisa…it was not me who has initiated it."

"I know." Marisa's entire friendly demeanor vanished. Her voice had a visible edge, her eyes became stone cold, and her expression conveyed all the disdain that had been pent up ever since Patchouli, Meiling and Jergo gave an exposition of the entire plot to her while Eman was being blasted behind the door. "And even though ya knew better, ya followed along anyway."

Patchouli knew very well that this spell card battle will not be the usual one she suffers from her this time.

With a flick of her wrist—

Marisa was already ahead of her: the mini-hakkero pointed at her face and the iconic incantation piercing through the silence like an explosion in the middle of nowhere. "«MASTER SPARK»!‼!"

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

The explosion of the door coming from the massive door way jolted Remilia's head out of Sakuya's chest, and they both witnessed the sight of Patchouli careening out of the cloud of dust before she righted herself and floated several spaces closer to the two.

"Pa-Patchy, what is going on!?" Remilia spatted, her tearstained face snapping towards the magician with a hateful glare, demanding what would interrupt her valued privacy.

"It's Marisa." The magician answered grimly, not looking away from the door as her book fluttered open.

"DAMN FUCKIN' STRAIGHT, IT WAS ME!" A wild holler erupted from the broken door before one side that barely hung from its hinges was pushed down against the floor, creating a resounding thud that filled the throne room's silence.

Marisa Kirisame stood at the door with a broad grin and a smoking mini-hakkero in hand. "Sup."

"About the many consequences I've told you about, Remi?" Patchouli recalled, sparing one glance to the vampire. "Time to suffer one of them now. Be thankful you are not alone, as opposed to what I expected to happen."

Sakuya narrowed her eyes at the assailant, standing up straight and drawing her knives from the holster in her thighs. At a closer look, her beautiful blue eyes have held the resignation in them, as if this was something she had long saw coming.

"So you came, Marisa…!" Remilia growled, rising to the air as her wings began to flap slowly.

"YES, I DID!" The witch joyously affirmed, "Patchy told me all 'bout what really happened last night." Her eyes hardened, her petite form beginning to rise up from the ground as the broom below her feet began to levitate. "Turns out I didn't really like it-da ze."

"So….." The vampire sneered, glaring at Patchouli's back before focusing back to the witch, scarlet energy beginning to gather around her. "…You have come to do what I think you shall do!? Do you intend to avenge your friend? Do you intend to punish me on his behalf when he could not!? Do you intend to be the hand of punishment that shall strike my head for what I have done to him!?"

To Remilia's surprise, Marisa was perplexed over her assumption. "What, him? Pffft!" She scoffed carelessly. "Fuck him, it's his own fault 'nyway! Whatever happens to 'im ain't no skin off my back-ze! Get yer mind outta the gutter, Rems! What made ya think this all about him, eh!?"

A laser that shot out of the petite woman's hand signified that Marisa wasn't expecting an answer as Remilia barely escaped the assault.

"No, this ain't 'bout him!" Marisa continued, effortlessly dodging the three consecutive strikes that came from her three opponents. The danmaku orbs revolving around her, she relentlessly threw a monstrous barrage of stars and danmaku that was reserved for Seija in case she finds her. "Sure as hell ain't 'bout me either...well, partially!" She barrel rolled out of the trajectory of a giant blue electric orb that rivaled Jergo when he wasn't happy. "But ya sure as hell know that Flandre deserves all the fuckin' right to be kickin' yer ass to the next 60 year cycle!"

Remilia's face contorted into a mix of fury and fear, zigzagging in her flight as her wings flapped furiously, firing back danmaku of her own, scarlet orbs matching the absurd quantity the witch was throwing at her. "You told her!?" A gigantic orb careened towards the witch's flying form. A plethora of knives descended from above while a line of danmaku came to be from the floors. "YOU TOLD HER!?" The Spear of Gungnir slowly conjured in her hand, the violent energy humming loudly that it was almost heard over the sound of conflict. "WHO ARE YOU TO MEDDLE IN MY FAMILY AFFAIRS!? THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU! YOU AREN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE INVOLVED IN THAT FARCE LAST NIGHT!" She reared her hand back, preparing to throw. "WHAT RIGHT DID YOU HAVE TO TELL!?"

«Divine Spear—Spear the Gungnir»

Marisa's eyes glinted with a challenge and she pointed the hakkero towards the sure-fire spear that was coming to strike her in the abdomen, promising to leave another hole in her body.

"«Magicannon—FINAL SPARK»‼!"

She managed to witness everybody's priceless expressions of shock and fear before her superweapon engulf everything in front of her with a blinding light of pure heat and energy, the artifact of the Fujiyama salamander empowering the strike by several margins. No doubt the Spear of Gungnir was eradicated by it before it could have any chance of hitting her.

When the laser dissipated, she was treated to the sight of a really blackened throne room and lucky Scarlet Devil Mansion Residents that managed to survive it, but not without being worse for the wear. Patchouli was breathing haggardly, purple robes tattered and slightly blackened, looking like she was about to cough violently in the next several seconds as the ward she regularly used to block the Master Spark failed to match the intensity. Sakuya shakily rose to her feet before taking flight, her immaculate maid outfit now marred with burns, eyes wide over the fact that she used a Destruction Spell Card right off the bat.

Remilia was everything but pleased. Her eyes were beginning to glow bright, her teeth were all bare and mean, signifying all of her rage coming to the breaking point. Her clothes were indeed damaged but that only made her appear far more menacing. Her wings had visibly grew a few sizes, her claws too had looked like they morphed into something demonic, and her anger made all the scarlet energy around her appear far more lethal than they should for a proper Spell Card Battle.

Fortunately for her, Marisa did not expect a simple Danmaku battle. This was something that had anger, righteous anger, hatred, and guilt minced into it. Nobody in their right mind would use the standard non-lethal approach if they want to get anywhere against the opponent. The only person who'd do so is the number one human in Gensokyo, Hakurei Reimu, who had authored the Spell Card System to make everything fair.

"No," Marisa's voice was soft, understanding. Staring back at Remilia's hateful gaze sympathetically and critically. "I didn't tell her. Nobody did. I ain't that cruel to divide two lonely orphans when all they have left is each other." She tilted her head sideways, eliciting a crackle to erupt out of her neck. "But I sure as fuck know that ya deserve HELL for what ya pulled last night. All of ya."

Marisa snapped her fingers, and a geometric circle came to be behind her form that stood on the levitating broom. Six globes of varying colors revolved around the insignia, humming heat and light energy that begged to be released.

"Flan was cryin' her eyes out, regretting everythin' she did. To think that it was you of all the fuckin' people I expected to be the reason for her sufferin'…" A flash of pure fury crossed Marisa's face before it had disappeared, schooled into a calm exterior. "….Sakuya, Patchy, ya could've said something. Ya knew. Ya'll knew it wasn't gonna go right, and ya went right along because she..." The disdainful emphasis was thick in Marisa's tone. "…says so. And you, Rems, why didn't ya just go for his blood? Why didn'tcha just kill him and siphon the blood in a fucking cup? Did it kill you to even ask?" Marisa's tone rose over the incredulity of the facts. "Why didn'tcha take the chance to fix Flan when he was right there….!?"

"SILENCE!" Remilia's intonation altered, switching to the adult and mature frequency and inflexion that heralded all the rage that was building up inside of her. She rose to her feet, fists clenched at her sides as her words echoed all over the throne room in great frequencies. "Do you think I have not been regretting my actions at every single minute that has passed!? Do you think I do not feel guilty over what my plans have done to my sister!? Do you really think I haven't thought about all the things you said before you specified them for me!? HAVEN'T I SUFFERRED ENOUGH!?"

Marisa's scowl only deepened once the surprise in her eyes over the vampire's outburst disappeared. Remilia's anger was only enticed by all the guilt that gnawed at her belly, and such emotions have already brought her to tears. Red bloody tears.

"MUST YOU MAKE THIS ANY HARDER FOR ME THAN IT ALREADY HAS!?" Despite her tears, the dignity in her words are still clear. "I have already grieved for my mistakes, even before your fucking friend has already made an affront against me for my actions! And now you seek to do the same! All to sate the desire to punish me within you! Is not my guilt punishment enough!? WHY CAN'T YOU LEAVE ME BE!?"

…..

…..…..

…..…..…..

The incantation behind her dissipated along with the revolving globes. For once, Marisa wasn't sure anymore. She came here in a righteous fashion, to punish the culprits of Flan's suffering on her behalf, but now her resolve to do so is waning. Remilia's words proved that her self-imposed right to punish would only defeat the purpose of the vampire's guilt. And it would only sour the relationship between them both otherwise. Marisa loved the Scarlet Devil Mansion, especially the library and its books, she can't just throw it all away for her own satisfaction.

It seems there is only one way that could make this entire bullshit settle down, just like every problem in Gensokyo should be.

"Listen, Rems." Marisa began casually, crossing her arms. "It's one thing to feel bad 'bout what ya did, it's another thing to accept the consequences of yer actions. Attempin' to kill mah friend is one thing, making yer li'l sis go through all that is another. You deserve to be gut punched for that."

"What…." Remilia gritted her sharp teeth, "…makes it your business to nose in on our affairs!?"

"None." Marisa answered. "Nothin'. Nada. None at all. What makes ya think I do? I'm really aware that this don't involve me. Ya clearly didn't expect me ta come outta nowhere last night. But yer forgettin' somethin' really important, the one thing about me that made me come this far."

"What!?"

"I'm a human." She did all she could to emphasize that without mincing her words. "The reason why I was even here last night was because I was worried. There was a shitstorm goin' on, tougher than any typhoon I went through before. How was I s'pposed to know if ya guys're okay, even with Patchy around?"

There was the sign of indignity in Remilia's eyes, upset over the presumption of her friend being incapable of handling something as mundane as a storm. "You underestimate us….!" She growled, "I find myself barely able to believe in your altruistic—"

"If ya think I was there just so I could nab a book or two, why would I even do that in the middle of the night during a storm?" Marisa criticized, eyes narrowed and scowling even deeper. "You know that I don't work at night. I've spent years doin' the same damn thing every week, comin' in to borrow some books under the sunshine, what makes ya think I'll change routines now?"

Unsure and conflicted glances were exchanged together among the three. All their presumptions and questions that had been stirring their minds the entire night vehemently debunked and answered. But questions regarding their understanding of Marisa's character began to develop. For one thing, new sides of her were presenting themselves.

"For the reason why I'm even botherin' with all the bullshit of beating ya'll up: I just don't like it." Marisa made sure to make them get the point, "For me being human, I didn't like the way you want Eman dead 'cuz he was somebody from a religion you got a grudge on. I also didn't like the fact that Flan just went through so much bullshit 'cuz of you. So what if Eman's one of the fuckin'….Christians or whatever who killed yer ma and pa? Other religions could'a done the same thing! He's just an outsider that happened to like Gensokyo far too easily. For one thing, he was fuckin' excited to see ya when I told him all about ya! And Flan?" Marisa shook her head disapprovingly, "You don't know even know half of what she went through. I was there, y'know, and I got her red tears wet on mah shoulder the entire night when she needed someone like YOU to cry on."

A storm of red lightning that erupted out of Remilia's being that struck forward to Marisa's position told that she had enough of the second verbal attack regarding last night.

But to her surprise, the witch suddenly exploded in a flash of blue light, blinding her along with Patchouli and Sakuya. When their vision cleared, they were graced with the remarkable sight of Marisa floating without her broom and holding a shining blue staff with a bulbous gemstone at the top, unharmed and untouched by vampire's lashes.

To Remilia's eyes, she looks just like a typical wizard in the fairy tales of children.

Now they question just how much of Marisa has changed over time.

"I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do, Rems, and it's a no-holds-barred beatdown from the Ordinary Wizard, Kirisame Marisa, to you, Scarlet Devil." Marisa's voice reverbed in every syllable, and Patchouli just realized that the 'staff' was actually the broom with the whisk end shaped like a gemstone. "But hey, you have all the freedom to beat me back too."

Remilia scowled, Patchouli readied a set of incantations, and Sakuya readied a menagerie of knives behind her wrist.

A familiar smirk of mischief and childlike glee crossed the witch's face, reminding the trio that this Wizard is still Marisa herself, "All that guilt and rage in ya, it's still brewing, ain't it? Ain't it still gnawing ya on the inside? Don'tcha wanna blow it all out? Don'tcha wanna have it gone? Break it? Particularly, on somebody?" The broadening grin on Marisa's face threatened to split her head in half, "Well, go ahead! I'm makin' this fair for the both of us! 'Sides, we all want somethin', right? I wanna beat ya'll to shit for what ya did to Flan, to me, and to Eman. You wanted to vent it all out. All that guilt."

With a single horizontal swing of her bright blue wizard staff, leaving a trail of blue light in the motion, four blue orbs came to be in a box formation with her in the center, brimming with an energy that seemed foreign to the Scarlet Devil Mansion Residents, not even Patchouli is familiar with it.

"Then we'll do that….in the same ol' Gensokyo way." With a booming voice that rivaled Remilia's roar, amplified by her reverberation, she announced with all of her spirit, "A FUCKIN' DANMAKU FIGHT IT SHALL BE! WHY!? BECAUSE THAT'S COMMON SENSE!"

Blue lightning erupted from all four orbs, interlocking with each other into the shape of a box. Secondly, water began to flow out of the gemstone of her staff and revolved around it like an orbiting stream of asteroids around a planet. Marisa's two favored elements, light and fire, stood back in place for her new elements while she plays the wizard, lightning and water, the second being her most innate magical gift since her newfound talent as a magician.

"Three against me, I'll fuckin' take ya all on!" She struck her staff forward, and the water from point became the head of a dragon, snaking forward like a hungry predator and targeting the one weakest to its being: The Vampire, Remilia Scarlet. Lightning struck from the orbs, striking whatever they pleased, but steadily coming close to striking both Patchouli and Sakuya as they took into the evasive. "Feast yer eyes on what ya have created-da ze!"

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

[Is Flandre fine with her room being this….deep?] I asked, frowning over just how further we are from the 1st floor since entering the basement.

"She is used to it, Comrade. You don't have to feel bad for her." Meiling assured warmly, rubbing my back. "Besides, it is for the best, and she understands that. Her power over destruction is too unsafe for the public."

Hmph. [Didn't seem that way when I met her. For one thing, she barely used it, even when she was triggered by her thirst. The one time I saw it, it was when I plucked her eyes out and tried to get back at me blindly.] And there's also this, [If anything, the only thing dangerous about her is her lack of self-control, and she gets that.]

"Well, yes, but you can never be too sure." You're quite adamant about this, friend. "In a full moon, she's twice as excitable….and careless."

[….well, you got a point on that.] But still, she deserves a better place for a room than this dank place. The air is musty, the walls are wet and slimy, and I'm not even close to the door of her room. This passage way's like a fucking maze. Was it part of the idea to keep Flandre captive in here?

This feels more like a fucking dungeon the more I think about it, and I'm hatin' it more than ever.

It's understandable so that random guests won't end up wandering all over here, disturbing a thirsty Flandre but still.

Wait a minute…..what the…..?

[Is it me or do you feel the rumblin' too?] I had to stop walking before I asked, and it feels like there's an aftershock going on.

"Aye," She nodded, not stopping with me and instead continued walking. I followed suit, "It is coming from Mistress's throne room. From what I can hear, Marisa seemed to have challenged Patchouli to a danmaku battle and led it straight to the place."

Okay, [Anything else after that?]

She shook her head. "No, Comrade. The throne room became a closed space since you entered it. Patchouli has magically soundproofed the place down to the point that even with the door ajar, nothing could be heard. If you want me to commentate the battle based simply on hearing, I am very thankful that I will not because I could hear nothing."

You look really amused there as you joked that, girl, and I'm laughing. Good job, [Ha ha. I bet it'd be wild listenin' to you, accidently sayin' innuendos without you even realizin' it while I'm just laughing my ass off in the background…! Ppffft—]

*Smack*

[Ow.] Ya really gotta do that, girl, punching my side like that?

"I will never commentate any conflict for your sakes anytime, Comrade Eman."

[Oh you break my heart, I thought we were special friends.] After all the time we spent together, why would you do this to me!?

"You say 'special', when our relationship had revolved around standard chitchat and you attacking me, whether by choice or not since last night."

…..wonderful, ain't it? Would you like to reenact all that has happened in this confined space as an expression of our relationship level? I got the flames already rolling around my body, lighting up the darkness of this passageway along with the lamp yer holding.

Oh, I see ya wanna go at it too. Rainbow fires are glowing around you, and that smile you mirrored from my face had already morphed into a Youkai visage, friendly and challenging. Look at you, slit eyed and fanged, ready to rip my fucking head off once I even so much as twitch my finger.

My adrenaline's already rolling all around me, Meiling, don't think you'll get the first blow on me. One thing about Western Quick Draws, the second one to shoot always hit first, because a reactive move is faster than an initiated one.

…..

….…..…..

…..…..…..…..Hmph.

I dismissed the flames, so did she for her rainbow lights, and I gave her a one-armed hug on her side. [We're still friends, right?]

She chuckled, ruffling my head so sisterly before bumping her forehead to mine. "Remember that I'm the one apologizing, Eman. Your possessed state justifies your actions. I should have been there monitoring you before you ended up being...dead."

Hmm. I see you look bad from that. [Then we both let each other down. I was half-conscious when I attacked you, meaning I was aware of what I was doing.] I took her hand that held my head into mine and interlocked fingers, looking at her knuckles. For her being an expert in martial arts, her hands are clean, no scars or anything. They don't tell you that they've been beating up intruders since day one. [I tore this arm off, and I laughed about it.]

I honestly feel bad, and her forgiving me like that just makes it worse for my conscience.

"Hm, then why don't we forgive each other and move on from our dark moments?" She suggested warmly, squeezing our interlocked hands with a rather tight grip. Ow, "That's a duty among friends best kept, yes?"

I squeezed her from the arm that wrapped around her waist, [Yeah.] Then I rubbed our foreheads very slowly, a rather soothing gesture compared to what me and Suika shared. She tried to flatten my face.

If I could kiss her on the cheek, I could have done so already but….I didn't establish our relationship as a friendship between a young teen and a young adult where it is fine to consider each other practical sibling figures. Even though she could be past a century of age, I only see her as a person equal to my age. I can't see her as a sister figure that way.

Maybe it's just because I see her as a human more than her actual race is. Maybe that's why I can't see her as somebody older than me.

After one little kiss to her knuckles, I parted the embrace and led her forward. [Come on. I'm starting to realize that Flandre's really expecting me.]

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

The smell of decayed blood is thick here, or maybe that's the rusted metal from the double doors to Flandre's room doing that?

As she pushed the doors open, a teeth-clattering—AGH! Fucking hell, that grating hurts my ears! The rust on those hinges need to be fucking oiled! Why are you the only one not having any problems with it, Meiling!? You said you had the sharpest ears!

*Bang* Both rusted metal double doors banged against the wall.

Meiling, when you leave, dig an entire pit of oil to grease this fucking door!

And the lighting within is completely black. The darkness was so thick even the lantern Meiling placed on the floor didn't go far in illuminating the inside of Flandre's room.

"Ms. Flan, are you awake?"

Sure she isn't, she totally didn't wake up from you making all that racket with her fucking door.

Oh….I see those little lights over there. They're lookin' a little dim right now, but I can't miss those little red circles leering at me. "Eman-san?"

"Good morning, Ms. Flan." And there goes a courteous greeting from Meiling, even though these two were together for who knows how many centuries. I guess these kinds of courtesies are common among royalty. "A guest has come to meet you."

I smiled, [Hi, kid.] I stood beside Meiling, [May I have the permission to enter your quarters?]

She didn't reply. Instead, the little lights spazzed as the owner of those wings just jumped up from whatever spot she was sitting on (or lying on) and ran over to us. As the rainbow lights came into the luminescence of the lantern on the floor, the little bloodsucker named Flandre Scarlet grabbed ahold of my waist and squeezed. "Eman-san!"

Okay….her grip's…soft. I thought she was gonna break the air outta me but she didn't. Good girl.

I chuckled, ruffling her poofy mobcap head. [Yeah, missed ya too.] I lowered down, placed hands underneath her arms, and lifted her up so I could hug her at my level. After just a few seconds of warm (or cold) squeezing, I parted the hug without letting go of her waist, including the forearm she sat on in front of my chest. [How are you feeling?]

"Fine!" She replied, hands placed on my shoulders. "In fact, I'm happy!" Then a melancholic expression crossed her face, "I'm….I'm just glad you and Ms. Marisa are alright."

Sigh. I hoped she gets over it soon. I can already tell that she suffered quite the impact from the experience and definitely learned so much from it, I don't want her guilt stopping her from that growth. [Ease up now.] I assured, kneading her little head. [C'mon. I already forgave you, Marisa too, so forget about all the things you did and just let it go, okay?]

"Why?" She asked softly. "I should be taking responsibility…"

Hmph, this kid's much older than she looks. [I can see that, but it ain't an excuse to beat yourself up for it. Take it as a lesson, and learn from it. Okay, kid?]

She stared up to my eyes for a little bit, then looked away to ponder, then nodding.

Good kid. I lightly pinched her cheeks for that. Then I lowered her down to her feet, and knelt down to her level. [Let's start over, Flandre.]

She turned to me, perplexed. "S-start over? What do you mean?"

[I wanna restart our relationship.] This is something we gotta do, kid. Last night was horrible for the both of us. [You see, kid, all that happened last night, it was a very ugly time. You think so too, yeah?]

She nodded meekly.

[Yeah, with all the things you and I did to each other, especially to Marisa and Meiling, it wasn't a very nice first impression for first meetings. Even though we talked and all that stuff, the majority of what we did was just attack each other.]

Flandre lowered her head.

[So what I think we should do is this.] I placed one finger below her chin and raised it up, bringing her cherry-eyed gaze back to me. [Let's declare that everything that happened…did not happen.]

She tilted her head, the side-ponytail hanging from another angle.

Even though the question marks are floating all over her head, she looked cute doing that. [Like this: I'm going to start thinking I never met you last night. I never got toured around the mansion by you, I never even got attacked by you. I certainly never fought against you in a danmaku fight.] Then I subconsciously placed my hand over the area of my arm that was once a stump. I'm already bearing new scars thanks to Remilia's attack. [And I absolutely did not attack you before I ended up losing my arm as a consequence and died in the process.]

Her expression went downcast as she placed her hand over the same area of my arm, rubbing her thumb across the once-existent cross-section and squeezing it.

Lemme take that hand, Milady. [Allow me to introduce myself.] Kiss the knuckle as a show of respect, and speak formally in the language she commonly uses. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Madam. My name is Eman Letitia, a Former Thieving Outsider from the Christian Community. May I have the honor of knowing your name?"

As expected, she was caught off-guard by the way I conveyed that. Then she showed a playful smile, retracting her hand and doing a very ladylike curtsey. [It is a pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Eman. My name is Flandre Scarlet, I hope we can develop a bountiful and healthy relationship with each other in the coming years.]

Wow, her accent. I don't know why but it's so…damn! It's CLASSY…..and diabetic! And I'm absolutely amazed by her switch of language and her flow. Nicely done, kid. Was that a rehearsed line or did you make that up on the spot?

"It seems I am not wanted here." Oh, I forgot Meiling is still here. "I will take my leave and give you two some privacy so…"

"Okay." Flandre replied.

Hmph. [I'll see ya in a bit, alright?]

Meiling grabbed ahold of one door—uh oh.

*SKRREEEEEEEEEEE—!*

AAAGH! MY FUCKING EARS!

*—EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!*

Oh thank God, it's over. Ah, Flandre's laughing at me in a suppressed manner with her hand hiding her mouth. Real nice, Meiling. You made me into a laughingstock. Wait, it just got darker. Was the luminescence of the lamp now hampered because of the closed door?

"And Eman?"

[Yeah?]

She smiled, showing fangs, aquamarine eyes turning into slits—and there was a flicker of rainbow fires coming from her back.

Then her face suddenly turned human, "Be nice now, okay?"

…..yes, ma'am.

*Bang* The double rusted doors closed with a loud bang.

And everything was swallowed into darkness.

What the fuck? She just happened to have shown me her game face, ensuring that I don't do anything stupid. That was a hell of a way to remind me that she's still a muthafuckin' Youkai. Geez.

…Hmm?

Oh, Flandre's gem wings are starting to light up brightly, and how. Look at them, lanterns of their own, and the variety of colors she got made everything she brought to the light, even just the floors, looks so…..

I brushed a hand across the orange gem. [So beautiful.]

Flandre giggled, "Thank you."

Cute. I stood up from my knelt place and did a little magic trick: scrub my hands together, as if I was molding something into my hands, like clay or something, then I opened my left hand, palm upwards. Since I am standing and Flandre is short, she couldn't see what I hold in my hand, and she's trying to tip-toe to see.

Here's what it is, kid: I brought my right hand close to the open palm, snapped my fingers—

*Snap*

*whoosh*

—and let there be light.

I got me a little ball of fire to shine my surroundings. That's what I got cookin', kiddo.

I smiled smugly. Flandre's response? She simply flapped her wings once, a jingle song filling the echo-ey silence, brightening the gems even more, close to the blinding magnitude, and shot her smug face back at me.

I giggled, poking her little nose, which made her squeak in surprise. [Cheeky girl.] Then I brightened the light in my hand into a lantern, whoosh it goes, fully incasing my hand in slow and gentle yellow fires and keeping it above me, the circle of light it makes now even wider.

….well, well, look at this room.

Compared to outside, this room's quite pristine, and the air somehow isn't so musty, even though I don't see some source of ventilation around here somewhere. Tiled black and white floors, its structure weathered due to time and probably lack of maintenance. Forget the ceiling that is either too overshadowed by darkness or simply too high, this square-shaped room is quite expansive, much more than the guest quarters, which was already expansive enough for me to walk five footsteps across the entire room (Mistress privileges, I guess).

There's a little play corner for the kiddo to play her games and stuffed animals with; a full set of table and chairs for a tea party, a squad of cute little critters being the occupants. On the walls beside it, there are some childish drawings, some renderings of the mansion, the residents, and even some adventures fighting dragons with the entire Scarlet Devil Family as the cast, the two sisters being the main heroines (cute). Besides the wall nearby the table, it was a toy box; I could see a ball that looked suspiciously like the ones we had Outside, a couple of American civil war soldiers lying on the floor beside it, and there's even a toy sword.

Look past her wings, her cherry eyes, and her fangs, she's a real total kid at heart.

Let's see what else is here.

There's a shelf up against another wall, containing books of rather sophisticated titles. Looks like she's an Agatha Christie fan. Whoa, look at that, she got some modern day comics too…why does she have Crossed in there? That's not a kid-friendly comic, bro!

[You read Crossed, kid?] I asked, shocked as fuck.

"Yeah! It was a wild read!" Oh fuck, she sounds like a total fan to it. "Oh, but don't tell Big Sister that I have it. She told me that it's not good for me but it was such a great story! All the infected people with crosses on their faces and all the blood and all the guts flying everywhere….! Agh! I want a new issue!"

….maybe that's where she learned to creep the fuck outta me last night. From the murder face she wore to the Youkai-like dialogue she lets out at times. I don't even wanna mention the fucking Heavy Metal comic in there, that thing did not simply come with vampire violence and a rather steampunk-futuristic setting.

I'm just glad that this kid still retained her innocence at such a mental age….well, as innocent as a vampire could be (not that I know how innocent a vampire could get). Same way I grew up: I discovered the world of sex at such a young age (9) but I happened to grow up mature and having standards. My nanny raised me right. I was repulsed at the sight of sex, but I will not lie that I ended up fantasizing about it over time, and that came my dreams of rape and murder.

….anyway, what else is here?

At another side of the wall, there was a brown closet, containing her usual wear and sleep clothes. Besides that, a rather ornate makeup desk. Though, I don't get why she'd need a mirror, or even the entire furniture at all. Vampires don't have a reflection, I don't even see her beside me right now in there. The bright rainbow lights are the only indication that she was ever there….why would she even need a fucking large round mirror on the wall?

If I were to be a little understanding, I guess she kept some of her human habits before she became a vamp. I wonder how she feels over having no reflection. Is she secure with it? Or maybe she got over it in time?

Okay, what else is here? Well, look at that, she got a fireplace in here too, right before the green sofa. I also didn't realize the red wallpaper that covered up every wall that existed. Love the gold old-fashioned trimmings it had, almost like the red carpet in Remilia's throne room.

At the sight of this room, I take back everything I said. So long as her room looks like this, there is no problem at all for her room being posted down this basement.

Her bed though….it's a four poster type, quite the fanciest bed I've ever seen in my life that I'd die to throw myself in it naked. Look at that, poofy mattress, really fluffy pillows and cottony blanket…a 'roof' held up by four posts. I don't even have to mention about the color anymore.

What put me off was the coffin placed on the surface. Compared to everything around me, this coffin wasn't really fancy or extravagant. It's the most simplest object in this room it made the toys look high-class. And the size of it kinda gives me a little bit of a heartbroken mood.

Just looking at that thing gives me the harshest impression about Flandre's life: an innocent little girl once slept here, and never came back.

And that innocent little girl became an unstable vampire….and nearly killed me.

Sigh. Poor kid.

"Mr. Eman?"

[Hmph.] I took her little hand in mine, [Show me around? I don't think I've seen everything around here yet.]

WHHUAAII! She nearly yanked my arm off!

"Come on then! I'm going to introduce you to my party mates!"

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

Excluding the fact that she nearly dislocated my shoulder from the joint, she made her tour around as fun and exciting as possible. She did well, and I did my best to feel as entertained as her. Frankly, I placed myself in the mindset of being childish and ended up enjoying myself. We made quite the adventure with Flandre and company.

I didn't quite expect myself to start teaching Flandre all about the American Civil war when we went for her army men. She's quite amazed with me knowing this much and inquired about how I learned. Then came a moment when a noble child from the 1500s, where children are taught to read and write in their homes, is shown how modern men and women are educated through me.

I elaborated about being in kindergarten for 3 years, being in elementary for 6 years, being in high school for another 6 years (was once only 4 years in the Philippines until the new k-12 curriculum came). Then comes college for 3 or 4 years (I forgot how much), which I never went through because….

"Why didn't you go to uhm….Co-college?"

Sigh. I just led myself into the sensitive topic area.

[…I….] Do I really have to tell her? […..I did…..] Haaaah, fuck it. My past life don't matter to me anymore. [Oy…..I was a bad man before, Flandre. I…I hurt people, and I steal from them.]

I'm a little off-put that she didn't gasp or anything. Sigh, she's a Youkai. Gotta remember that. "Why?"

I prepared for that kind of question, and I was too ashamed to admit the truth to anybody. Usually, I just brush whoever asked off and remind to never bring it up again. But the person who's asking is a minor. I feel no shame telling her.

I simply told her that I lost my family…family that mattered. It led me straight to what was like a lifetime of depression…..and anger. Anger that was vented out on people that walk around alleys and drug users. I was quite the cynical type, thinking they all deserved it. I was the violent kind of thug, but I make sure that I only meet my victims once. A second assault is unnecessary and troublesome, knowing that'll draw a whole lot of attention towards me. Thievery was done out of an excuse of being hungry, but I do dick moves like taking the drug money out of a junkie's pockets and using it to buy me some food, just as every sane person should do with their moola.

I told her that I had been reformed by Doc, shown that there's still hope in humanity. I even boldly stated that my thuggish habits had all but waned. I will never steal again, and I will never attack unprovoked. I even had to go far such as saying that what I went through last night is something in the form of a punishment for all the things I did. Admittedly, it actually kinda is. If anything, I deserved all that, now that I think about it.

When she couldn't say anything consoling, she simply stood up from her chair, went up to me around the table and gave me a little hug, patting my back and all. Such a sweet kid. I pecked her head and hugged her back.

When I diverted our thoughts away from my life, I asked about her little room, especially its cleanliness.

Turns out she's got a fancy sense of duty. Unlike my first thoughts of the maid cleaning up this place, she was the one who kept this sanctuary of hers prim and proper (the mess in the play corner is understandable). I got the presumption that she's trying to impress her sis, needing no servant and simply being a strong independent little girl. But whether it's from a motive or a genuine sense of cleanliness, I respect her.

When I asked what she eats though…..everything delivered by Sakuya was just simple dishes that fit for nobility, don't know what they are but she said that she doesn't feel thirsty for blood whenever she eats.

….is it me or did Sakuya sneak some blood in her food? Because I do not believe that simply eating human meals could actually sate a vampire's natural thirst for blood. It even looks like Flandre's not even aware of that.

I didn't ask further, I simply turned the topic around to something nonsensical and purely pointless.

[How do you spell your name, kid? If you got paper, use that.]

And I have made a major discovery.

It was spelt as 'Flandre', not 'Flander'.

[Wha-what!?] I asked, bewildered. [It's spelt like this? It's D R E, not D E R?]

"Of course. How could you not know?" You sound so incredulous there, kid. Excuse me for not being born in the same century as you!

[Well, sorry! I lived in the 21st century, need I remind you. A lot of names became simpler, and a lot more common.] And there's this, [Well, since yer name's spelled like that, I'm gonna start callin' you Flan-dreh from now on. I don't wanna end up calling you Flanders in the future. That'll just be hilarious.]

"What?" She whined, "That's not my name!"

"Don't care, you're Flan-dreh, and I'm gonna keep that up for as long as I live.] Lemme pat your head kid with the tenderest gesture, [Nice to meet you, Flan-dreh.]

She then gave me a deep pout, which was nothing short of endearing. I was tempted to poke her nose again. "Well, what's your name spelled like?"

[Gimme that pencil.]

…..hmm, should I go for my full name? Or maybe the abbreviated version I kept using ever since high school?

Well, for courtesy's sake, I let her know the real thing. Here you go, kid.

"Hmm." She held her chin as she peered at the paper with my rather elaborate name on it. "Emmannnnuelo D.L. Letishaw…."

[Letitia.] Do it with a fast 'shah' flow of the last syllable and it doesn't drag.

"Letitia." Very good.

[This is what my parents got for me when I finally breathed.] Hold on, lemme just get Him out. There we go. [You know what this is, Flandre?] I tapped the rosary as emphasis.

"Yes, it's Papa Jesus."

HGRK!

"….Are you okay?"

…..no one….I fucking emphasize that: NOBODY has ever referred to Jesus like THAT. Ever since America, I never heard of any Christian refer to Him like that, not even Christian children. It's always 'Lord', 'Jesus', or 'God'. In the Philippines, lots of kids always refer to Him like that. We were raised differently, seeing Jesus as more of a spoiling father figure than a God we must kneel down to.

Even though I see Jesus as a father figure, I just couldn't stop myself from spiritually prostrating, because I feel like I wasn't worthy to even call Him that. But still, a God of love would rather have His children be equal with Him than below Him (or I could be wrong, just assuming things again like always).

To hear Flandre, a European (possibly Romanian) girl born from a timeline where people bend their knees to God like a slave, call Jesus 'Papa' is absolutely mindblowing. Not to mention that she was a fucking vampire, an enemy of God in common media.

"Eman? Yoohoo~!"

[Uh, what?] Okay, I just realized that Flandre's hand was waving in front of my face. [Wait, what're we doing again?]

She pointed at—oh yeah, right. I asked her if she knew Him.

[Ahem, sorry.] I shook my head. Shit, I didn't see that coming. [Anyway, you know that Jesus was to be called 'Emmanuel' upon his birth, right?]

She nodded.

[Do you know what 'Emmanuel' means?]

She opened her mouth, then her eyes got lost into space. After a few seconds she just smiled sheepishly and shook her head, "I forgot."

[That's okay. Now see here,] I underlined my name like this: Emmanuello. [It means 'God is with us'.] I wrote that meaning above my name and drew an arrow leading from it to my name for indication. [But since I am of Filipino descent, my mom added an ethnic connotation to my name. With a 'lo' on the end, since there're lots of Filipino names with a 'lo' at the last syllable.] Like Emilio, Auxilio, Magillo, and others.

Now for my middle name. Underline that like this: D.L [Now for this one, it's a mark of my Spanish Descent when they colonized the Philippines 400 years ago. D.L. is Della Santos, which means 'Of the Saints'.] Then I write the full middle name above D.L. before I drew the meaning with an arrow to indicate.

Now for my last and substantially mundane name, [And then this.] I underline it.

"Letitia." That's right, kid.

[This one is my newly acquired mark as a half-American.] My dad got the full privilege of changing mom's last name. [This one's Latin, it came from my dad. It means—]

"Happiness."

What? [What'd you say?]

"It means [Happiness], right?" She asked, already expecting herself to be correct.

Wow. Nicely done. [Correct!] Hm, smart girl, you! [You knew because you're Romanian, right?] Egh, cheek-pull~!

"Hihihihihihi~!" Huh, she likes her cheeks being pulled. "I'm going to call you 'Emmanuello' starting today."

Oh really, kid? [Are you sure you could put up saying such a long name for the next several decades?] I stuck around Emmanuello the first time I got into America, and then people just shortened it since it's easy to say. I stuck around that nickname since then. [There's a reason why people called me 'Eman', y'know.]

"Don't care! I going to call you 'Emmanuello' now. Nice to meet you, Emmanuello!" Oh, she's gesturing for a handshake! This girl's gettin' informal now!

Gimme that hand, [Nice to meet you too, Flan-dreh. Would you care for a dance with me?]

She giggled much more mirthfully, not to mention an additional blush on her cheeks. "Sure! Let's do it! I haven't danced in a long time." Then she pulled me from the chair, sending her chair toppling over without her caring about it. Once she led me to the center of the room, she spoke again, "A knight called Jacob taught me how to dance, he always picks me as first his partner every time before Big sister!"

Aaah, old man Jacob. You sure left an impact on her.

[Where's Jacob the Kishi now?] Play dumb, Eman. Play dumb, don't give away that you knew. I don't want any questions coming my way.

As expected melancholic look crossed her cherry eyes. "He's….gone now. He's gone to sleep…forever."

I see you still miss him. I gently patted her head, [So long as you remember his name, he'll live forever.] I pointed at her chest, [In here.] Then I smiled, taking her right hand to my left and placing my right to her waist. [Now let's begin.]

"Oh!" She placed her feet atop mine, making herself look a little bit more taller, and she placed her left hand above my right bicep. Now, we look like a pair for the father-daughter dance. And boy, my partner is a beautiful jewel. Who else got a date with wings like these glowing babies? "But…there's no music."

I put on my best evil smile, [I'll sing.]

"Okay!" And she instantly says yes, oblivious to my evil intentions!

I am SO gonna sing the shit outta this one!

[But first, let's do the basics for a bit.] We'll do the waltz first. Let's do the 'small box'. Left foot forward, right foot backwards. Right foot to the right side, left foot to the left side. That was very good. Now the 'big box'. Left foot forward, turn partner and self to the left before laying the right foot down. Let the partner take the lead, doing the same thing I did. Then repeat.

[I still got it. Now, let's begin.] I don't wanna bother with the standard 'swing left, swing right, then spin' technique. I do that, Flandre'll hit me with her wings.

Deep breath…..then…..sing.

"L'amour est un oiseau rebelle~
~Que nul ne peut apprivoiser~
~Et c'est bien en vain qu'on l'appelle~
~S'il lui convient de refuser~"

This is Habanera, composed by Carmen, covered by tone deaf Dingbat named Eman Letitia! Tip the waitress if you could, and enjoy the show!

If I didn't know any better about how quiet and wide this room is, I would've thought that somebody bugged a microphone on me and placed loudspeakers in here. My voice was loud, and fucking deep, even worse because of my operatic baritone. How the fuck did I ever sound like that?

Flandre was losing her absolute shit the entire time. Besides the voice that sang all the way, which happened to be me (did I actually sound like this!?), her uproarious laughing mixed up together with my singing. It eventually got so fucking contagious that I was getting out of rhythm and out of beat, and about to lose my shit.

My lyrics are getting loaded with laugh energy about to explode, and when I committed the most heinous crime of singing ever known to man near the end of the chorus, that's where I lost it.

I fucking voice-cracked.

It sounded SO FUCKING HORRIBLE that it ended up being so FUNNY I snorted!

There was no more singing, it was just the two of us laughing like complete idiots. Holy shit, I got tears in my eyes. But Flandre just looked straight-up morbid, her tears are colored red, but her mirth is undeniable.

When she got "Again! Again! Encore! Encore!" I knew that I'm gonna have so much fun entertaining this kid.

Let's sing some of the best OPM classics when ya wanna boogy!

Here's Totoy Bibo by Vhong Navarro.

This time, we separated hands and danced the hell outta this one together individually. But mainly, it was only me that danced to the absolute limit. Flandre was having so much fun watching me and laughing her ass off till her sides were splitting open (I wonder if it'll literally happen). I'm pretty sure that she finds the foreign language of the lyrics funnier than my boogy-ass butt and absolute butchery of Michael Jackson's choreo. So fucking sorry, J.M.!

The song wasn't even over, but I immediately picked up Flandre under her arms, held her close to my chest, held on to her left hand and began dancing the most energetic waltz that would not be out of place in the Wild West! Think of Back to the Future 3, where the cowboys and ladies danced to the rather dancy Western song.

Now for the final song: Cha Cha, also by Vhong Navarro!

It was a confusion of setting and atmosphere when I realized that Flandre's lights are sporadically flying everywhere. Never mind that her jingling wings kinda made me go out of rhythm, but her gem lights that kept swinging back and forth all over the place as I swayed her just makes this entire room look like a fucking Disco was going on!

This is so fucking stupid!

But Flandre is having the time of her life, elated and laughing so much it hurts my ears. Her magnitude is greater than a human, I can tell myself that.

But I found no reason to stop. This dance must reach the end of its song, for her sakes.

My prom night was great, got awarded as the King of the Night and King of the Dance Floor, even earned myself a thank-you kiss from my date (and a couple other girls who've liked me for being respectful and kind to them for so long), but I never knew that the simple act of dancing with a laughing vampire girl was this FUN!

You'll never go through a real prom like us Outsiders, Flandre, but I'm gonna make sure you'll experience every piece of excitement and fun I went through, all the way until the closing remarks.

The one thing you won't experience is the elation you kept with you when ya got all those kisses and drove home with your friend's car the next day after staying over in a friend's place.

And it wasn't just the kisses that made my night complete: I had pulled off one of the BIGGEST 'I forgive you' moments in my life, and it came out RIGHT.

In every chance I've had when the slow music where you'll dance the Waltz with a partner starts playing, I sought out the girls who've made a move on me months prior. It was quite a hard search, with so many people around, and every girl's face being prettied for the occasion that you couldn't recognize your lady friend from somebody else, but like always when I wanted to do something important, I become a persistent motherfucker.

There were 4 of them, and I took my time, seeking one at a time.

First it was Layla, the outgoing girl who has done the first move, open with her sexuality and very experienced. She was shocked to discover that her victim was standing right in front of her, and I could tell just by looking that she was scared.

"May I have the honor of a dance with you?"

I asked that with the kindest voice I could ever muster, showing her that I meant no harm, I was planning to forget about what she has done and forgive her, and I want to do that not with words, but with actions. I want to dance with the people who nearly raped me.

People stared, and Layla was dumbstruck shocked. Everybody knew about the incident, and they were looking as if they were witnessing the President resigning his position.

She took my hand, stood up from the chair, looked deep in my eyes, and hugged me tight.

The applause that followed from every….single….student….was all for me.

Her makeup was ruined from her tears, and her apologies are endless, but I reminded her that the song is still ongoing. She needs to stay in beat, and be in rhythm with me.

The crowd cheered for us, and DJ backwarded the song back to the fucking start, and everybody gave the dance floor to us. Layla and I, we were always partners in terms of dancing and group work. That relationship was ruined, and we mended it back by dancing the routine that was iconic for the both of us.

The second applause as we finally finished was glorious, and she couldn't stop crying. A heartfelt hug was shared, and the disco comes crashing back, which sent me, and her straight into the mood. Not sooner afterwards, Jackie and Mary, my two other predators, came crashing towards me to the ground and started screaming their apologies like a mantra.

We mended each other's wounds and danced to our heart's content.

But the last dance was the most important part of the thing I was doing.

Ana, my sweet and precious Ana, the one person I fell in love with in high school. I couldn't find her.

She was the one who initiated everything. She started it all. She was the one who lured me in, the one who put me to the ground, the one who got aggressive, and the one who was struck the most. She destroyed our chance to be together forever because she couldn't wait.

She nearly committed suicide too…..

When I couldn't find her anywhere, even when I saw her come in with her date, I pulled the stupidest thing I could ever think of: I asked the DJ to freeze up and called out her name.

…yep, the stupidest thing I've ever done.

But despite the thoughts of regretting it when I held the mic, I kept calling her name, telling her that I choose her to be my partner in the Last Dance.

The things I've said…they were loaded with everything I got to get her to come and give me her hand. I told her everything I felt when she had nearly done the deed. I was saying everything with my honesty, but I also told her how I felt when the days passed with us no longer holding each other's hands everyday. Even after she nearly did it, I was still worried about her. She didn't have to take it too hard, because I was the only one in the school with a mental disability so complicated I could easily forgive attempted rape when it came from my lover.

But I told her all of my willingness to forgive her, because every moment I think of her destroying herself because of what she did destroys me too. She will truly damage ME and HERSELF if she refuses the ONE CHANCE to be redeemed of her sin. I am giving her the opportunity to be with me once again.

….then she came to the stage…..and wasn't able to say anything…..

She didn't have to say it, because EVERYBODY knows how regretful she was.

Slowly and slowly, my face drew closer to hers, and when she subtly held my hand that hung on my side, she knew with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY that I am more than willing to take her back.

So we kissed, and came the last final applause.

The last dance has never been sweeter, and when there was a moment of privacy: all 4 girls I've forgiven took the whole opportunity taking turns in kissing the living fuck out of me until I swooned.

At that wonderful night, after sending Layla, Jackie, and Mary back to their homes (not without a long smooching in each send-off), Ana asked me to have a sleepover in her home while her parents aren't around for tonight. I did not refuse her and let her take me. I was still pure in the end, but I mended our relationship, and that's good enough for me.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

The song was finally over, and I was so fucking exhausted. So sweaty.

When I didn't want to end it with me falling to the floor, I spun us around, Flandre's feet flying outwards from the momentum, the lights from her wings flying along with my speed, until I reached the sofa. I practically slammed her to the seat before I collapsed near the side of it, resting my back against the arm rest, screaming a [Hagh!]

Flandre's laughter was now lowered to tired huffles and giggles, equally tired and sweaty.

With eyes closed and a tired sigh, I asked with the usual tone of voice I regularly use, just to make myself not sounding exhausted. The big man should be tough, after all. [How's the dance, kid?]

It took just a couple seconds before she replied, "Great….thank you, Emmanuello."

Hmph, that name. I'm gonna have to get used to that. [Yer welcome, kid.] Then I yawned, [Aaaaagghaaaaaagh…..] Looks like the exhaustion wants to take me into dreamland again. I guess I'll book a flight.

Get off me, stupid shoes and socks!

….there. You both sit right there next to the sofa and wait patiently until I wake up. I hope you do not mind, Flandre. Bein' dancy and emotional can get ya beat, no matter how stacked you are in the stamina department.

…..

…..…..…..

…..…..…..…..

"….Eman….?"

Hmm? [What is it, kid?] I asked after opening my eyes. I frowned in question at her state: kneeling and looking at me quite meekly on the couch. [Something wrong, kiddo?]

"Co-could…" She stuttered, and she's nervous about something. "Could you please…..hug me?" The last few words were too soft, like a mutter, but I heard her.

[C'mere, then.] I took her under the arms and let her straddle my thighs before squeezing her to me. She returned her embrace by wrapping her little arms around my neck and resting her head on my shoulder. Her vampire strength was starting to show. Too tight, you're nearly choking me, kid.

I don't count how many seconds have passed whenever I hug somebody, so I didn't care to find out after Flandre parted, but her face being very close to mine by bumping forehead and noses were raising some questions.

Uh…I don't know what to say here. Her face is quite unreadable at the moment, looking deep into my eyes with her cherry ones, and I could feel her cold breath brushing against my lips.

…..her tiny lips that brushed against mine. Just a brush, not a full kiss. Our lips simply rubbed together, but it was enough to make my heart JERK. Even though her face is too shadowed by her wings lighting up behind her, I could clearly see Flandre's milky white face turning into a shade of red.

Gulp.

I tried not to jump into conclusions and instead smiled a friendly smile, tightening my embrace around her waist.

"…mm.."

….

…..…..

….…..…..…..

…..…..…..…..…..kissing me.

She's kissing me. A very simple, inexperienced, but undeniably passionate kiss.

Her lips…so tiny…..soft….cold….

…..why am I reciprocating?

This was criminal. Absolutely criminal, and likely a suicidal sight, especially when the elder sister is pissed as fuck at me!

…..but her age was passed mine, beyond human limits. She was biologically no minor.

Did that make it all legal and safe?

She parted and stared into my eyes, her face now very blushy red.

…..I swear….if I could fucking talk, now'd be the fucking time! Come on, Eman! Speak the fuck up!

Swallow that lump, snap out of the fucking trance, and SPEAK! [Wha…..what privilege do I have to….to have the honor of receiving your lips, Flandre…?]

Her head fell to my shoulder once again, her arms and wings encircling my form.

Then I heard a muffled sob.

What the? [Flandre?]

The sobbing continued, accompanied by the tightening of her embrace.

[Fla-Flandre? What's wrong?] I frantically asked, worried. [Was it something I said?]

She shook her head vigorously, and this time her sobs became wails, wails that I was spared from hearing the full force of due to her burying her face to my shoulder. I could feel the sorrow emanating from the contact, and my compassion demanded me to weep with her, because this fucking hurts.

I held back my tears, and did all that I could to comfort her while she let out whatever was hurting her on the inside. Gentle pats and rubs on the back, words of comfort that I let out at appropriate timings, and the simple presence of my being that tells her that I'm here.

Just cry, kid. Let it out. Her body shook and twitched in her tears, and it felt like I was no longer holding a vampire in my arms anymore.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

It was long, a very long time has passed before Flandre was able to calm down. With her tears spent, I hoped she could tell me what was troubling her. Whatever it is, I'll do what I can to get her to cheer up again. This kid has cried enough, she needs to smile once again, especially after what happened last night.

Wiping her bloody face with her hands, assisting her in the effort by wiping some excess tears with the underside of my shirt (its black so no stains), I asked very gently, [Is something wrong?] I held her tiny hands with my own, softly squeezing them and pressing my thumb on her palms.

She sniffled, looking up to me with her bloodshot eyes, "I remembered...! I remembered everything…!"

[What did you remember?] I asked, wiping some rogue tears that leaked out of her eyes with my thumb.

"I…." Her voice shook, and more rogue tears kept leaking out. "I wasn't a vampire from birth…! I was a human, just like you! Even big sister! I had a family, they were everything to me! I was happy, content—I didn't want anything else but them! I wanted everything to stay the way it is forever!" She hiccupped, wiping her eyes. "Big sister….she was everything to me! We played together. We slept in the same bed together. We ate together. We bathed together. We practiced songs and instruments together, even dancing. She would be the man, I would be the woman, and we would switch roles afterwards before Jacob was our knight…..But that was a long time ago…"

Yeah. I know, kid. 500 years ago, your past life had been everything you ever wanted. God blessed you with a wonderful life, a wonderful family, a wonderful sister, and a wonderful living.

Then it was all taken away from you.

"I've forgotten it…." She rubbed her eyes with her fists, teeth still grit. "…I've forgotten everything me and big sister ever did together. I love her, more than anything in the world, because everything she says and does was for my sakes. She knew better, and did it all for me. But I couldn't remember the times we were once happy, when we were once human." Then she raised her gaze upwards, meeting my eyes, and she gave me a smile. Even with tears, a bloodstained countenance, she never failed to be the sweetest vampire I've ever met with that smile. "You dancing with me…you playing with me…..coming to my room just to talk to me….you helped me remember everything.….."

An uncomfortable warmth was settling on my heart.

I smiled warmly, [Think nothing of it, Flandre. I simply wanted to cheer you up.]

She shook her head, "More than that, Eman." She closed the distance between us and hugged me, head atop my shoulder. I reciprocated. "….ever since the mansion came to Gensokyo….I never had any friends….nobody ever wants to…."

I frowned at that, nearly sneering.

"I guess Marisa can count…..but I don't know if she thinks the same way…"

I nearly opened my mouth and said that Marisa does. But I bit my tongue and said nothing, because that would've been presumptuous, and low.

Marisa does not think the same way. As sad as that sounds, it's the truth. She doesn't consider Flandre her friend, not until now.

"….but I understand." Her voice took a bitter change in tone. "…my powers….I know what they can do….it's bad….dangerous….I don't even know how to control myself…..it was right for me to stay down here….so long as I'm that way, I can't be friends with anybody….."

I don't like it. I don't like it at all, but no way in hell could I deny everything she said. It was all true.

"But you…." She lifted her head off my shoulder, and kissed my cheek. "…you…..you….." It seemed like she was struggling for the right words. She shook her head and tried again, her eyes taking a fierce light. "I hurt you, Eman. I hurt you, I did bad things to you. I even got you possessed, and that made you fight Marisa without wanting to! I was even the reason why you lost your arm!" She bopped her head rapidly with her tiny fists, screaming with grit teeth as red tears leaked out.

Once she had regained her composure, she opened her eyes again and continued, "….yet…despite all that I did to you…..you came to me." Her voice was nearly unheard at the end, "…you came to restart our relationship, you came to talk to me, you came to play, to dance….you are like the friend I never had."

She placed both hands on my cheek and kissed me again. This time, she deepened it a little, pulling my face closely and tilting her head. I wasn't stuck in a trance this time. I actively reciprocated, my arms around her waist.

Once she parted the kiss, she smiled to me once again. A truly heartfelt one. "That's why….I gave you my first kiss. You gave me…..everything." She placed a hand below my chin, her thumb rubbing the surface below my lip. "I love you, Emannuello."

….

…..I want to kiss her. I wanted to pull her close and kiss her again. As soon as she had said that, my heart had erupted like a volcano. The warmth in my heart couldn't be anymore disrupting to my senses, and my emotions were manipulating my thought processes: I wanted to return her feelings so badly. Her feelings….they were filled with every essence of her honesty, all of her love for me….they are all real.

But I can't….I couldn't...my reasons are neither comforting nor….none of them will not leave her happy.

"I know what you are thinking." Flandre suddenly said, and there was the unmistakable expression of pure hurt in her eyes. She drew back from me, no longer in touching contact, but she remained in place, only rising up in height by her knees. Being technically a head taller than me, her eyes became—

….what the?

…..who are you?

"You have said to me that you perceived all the disasters wrought to you last night as punishment for all the misdeeds you have done in the Outside World, correct?"

Her voice had deepened, her poise altered, and her entire demeanor had shifted into something demanding, authoritative, and dignified. Flandre Scarlet was no longer there. In her place was this….woman...a woman I vaguely remembered confronting me when I was possessed.

I didn't know what came over me, but I suddenly had every urge to pay attention to every fucking word this woman says and respond accordingly. Whoever this woman was, she demanded my full focus. "Yes, Madam." I even unconsciously spoke in her language.

The woman nodded in acknowledgement, "Then allow me to do the same." She placed a hand above my head, and I suddenly felt small, extremely small. "For all the things I have done to you, for all the sufferings I have wrought upon you and Mrs. Marisa because of my atrocious appetite, I will deem myself…..undeserving of your love."

Flandre…..you didn't have to go this far. Even if you switched to a persona I never knew existed, you couldn't hide the fact that you were really hurt by your own words.

"All of your affections, all of your doting, all of your love, all of your kindness…..I, Flandre Scarlet, Little Sister of the Scarlet Devil, Remilia Scarlet, shall never earn the privilege of receiving such….sincerity…from a kind man as yourself. I will never bring myself to love you, and you, in turn, will never have my hand." Her tears were unmistakable in her eyes as she slid the hand on my head down to my cheek, caressing it tenderly. "That is what you wanted, no?"

…I lowered my head. My fists were clenched, and my brow creased at the painful sensations that swirled at my gut.

Fucking hell, this hurts.

"Indeed, for I have already long chosen the woman I wished to court, even before I was found by the Scarlet Devil Mansion." I couldn't deny it, and it would be low of me to even assure her with words that do not even have the slightest worth of merit. There was nothing I could do except tell her what I truly feel. "But it pains me so to hear you do that to yourself."

She smiled warmly to me. One that would fit better in a mother's face. "Better sooner than later, for the pain would only be unbearable otherwise."

I gritted my teeth at the absolute truth in her words. If I had withhold my emotions and suddenly confessed to her that I could not bring myself to love her in the future, it could not have ended like this. The heartbreak she'll suffer would break her spirit.

Yep, it was for the best that I told her now.

"If only we could have met sooner…." Yeah, if only….things could've been totally different.

"If we had actually met sooner, all the blessings and misfortunes we suffered would have never occurred." She stated, her red eyes resigned and resolute. "We would have never grown into the way we are now."

I could only grimace: yet another absolute truth shoved into my face.

This kid really is more than a 500 year old vampire.

The woman suddenly plopped back down to my thighs, her once imposing demeanor now small and innocent, and the cherry red eyes that shined on the kiddo's sockets whenever they looked at me, or the sweet and childlike smile I always knew her by has come back.

Flandre Scarlet finally returned, "…..we can still be friends, right?"

Yep, she placed a barrier between herself and me. She put herself in emotional pain, humbled herself down from her noble position…for my sakes.

Among all the things she could have offered to me, this was the greatest thing she has ever given me. Greater than her kiss, greater than her attention, greater than the privilege of being the one who changed her: She let me go.

I would be a dick to not accept this.

I bowed my head, taking her hand off my cheek, and kissing it tenderly, "For as long as you wish, Lady Scarlet."

Then we embraced. I read before that physical contact was sometimes the strongest way to feel the emotions of the other person, and from what I can tell through this contact with her: we are slowly mending the pain. I am assured that even if I cannot be her lover, I will know that she holds a special place for me in her heart. And she is assured knowing that I hold her dear with my soul, despite everything she did to me.

My forgiveness is all she needed to know that.

"But…." Then her meek voice reached my ears, a shy and hesitant quality lingering her tone. "Just…just for today…..be mine…..please?"

…..…..

…..…..…..My heart was throbbing, and I was now fully conscious of the closed-contact we have with each other now. Be 'hers'…..such a request lit up something within me, and I'm pretty sure that I will not have the gall to resist it.

After everything that has happened up to this point, all my sufferings, all my blessings, and all the things I have created, the outcomes that came out of my actions, the victory I've earned from the things I've done…I deserve this.

I pushed Flandre away just a little, making sure I could reach my rosary and place it back inside my shirt. After doing so, I wrapped an arm around her waist, one snaking from her side and upwards to the back of her head, I drew her face close to mine, and bumped foreheads.

I'm officially deciding to fuck it all. This kid's already five centuries old, this is certainly no crime, and this will not be the first time. I'll even boast that this moment of indulgence will do nothing to my self-control. My abstinence has been my defining feature ever since, and I will never let that change.

"As you wish, Flandre."

Then she quickly crashed her lips to mine….her small, tiny lips. So….cold…but I don't mind. She tilted her head, her lips sucking on my upper lip with such inexperience that it did nothing but increase the warmth of my body…and excite me further.

Letting her take the lead just for several minutes, just so I could indulge in her inexperience that is nothing short of pleasing, I eventually took initiative and took the lead in the kiss. She could do nothing but let herself be kissed after realizing my assertion. I have my experience, and I intend to let them be known to her.

Such a small body…little arms….little legs…..and such tiny lips….her body temperature remaining cold, even if her body language implied otherwise….why do these things excite me? It was provoking so much desire out of me, desires of taking her and indulging what she hid beneath…those dreams of rape and murder will fall short from this.

My grasp on her would be considered crushing, my hand that rested on the back of her head had placed itself on her shoulder and gripping there with a vice strength. Same could be said to her waist. This could've harmed a normal person, even bruise them, but Flandre's a vampire, and she will only feel my death grips as nothing but the hold of a baby. She even did the same to my waist with her legs, crushing me with such unrestrained strength. The pain was slight….but why does it feel so pleasurable?

My assumptions are indeed right, this heart-to-heart moment will likely last forever.

It seems she will be experiencing the last and final moments of my prom night.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

All of Sakuya's efforts to repair the entire Throne Room without the goblins' help has been decimated like a spit to the grave. Pillars once standing tall and imposing have now fallen to the floors, nothing but pieces of mortar and ruined artistry that littered the destroyed grounds. Every tile of red and black that existed on the ground is long gone, merely a pile of sharp pieces scattered everywhere. Banners and decorations, desecrated as if the conflict had something against them.

Remilia slumped against the wall, her incinerated left wing losing its original regeneration speed due to her exhaustion and her beaten state. Her bitterness still lingered, and she fought to stay conscious and leer back at the winning party. Her rage had been peaking, especially if her opponent had been using one of a vampire's weakness: running water.

Sakuya was once blasted to the corner by a thunderbolt, and she wasn't able to return into a conscious state after being hit when the battle was merely halfway. She was a trooper to suffer several bullets before the bolt of lightning hit her square in the gut and sent her careening to the wall. The Spell Card System kept her from dying horribly and merely earned harsh bruises on her person.

Patchouli barely hung on to stay conscious. With new tactics, magic, and stance approached by the same foe, she was out of rhythm when she faced the witch. Water and lightning, as well as immense power coming from artifacts that were embedded or augmented to her gear, did little work to put her, as well as the other two to the ground, especially the vampire who was susceptible to the spiritual weakness of water.

The Ordinary Wizard that thoroughly punished the trio has long since departed, the rambunctious and roguish young woman that was Marisa Kirisame has taken her place. The glowing blue staff now reverted into a typical broom that she regularly rode on her flights, she sat against the stump of a pillar, exhausted and beaten as well. Bruises aside, her mended dress is now reduced to rips and tatters once again, her hat severely flattened due to landing on it as it lay beside her, and her hair is frazzled once again due to standing on ends earlier, a silly aftereffect due to using lightning magic for the first time.

The one thing that made her stand out more from the others was the dazzling innocent smile on her face. A mere human, winning against three people, which were far stronger than a mere human (even if one of them was a human herself), is enough to keep her good mood up, more than the immense amount of catharsis she earned throughout the fight.

I'z gonna be wild tellin' ever'body all 'bout this-da ze!

With a grunt of effort as she tilted her neck, releasing a crackle on her neck bones, she spoke to Remilia. It wasn't a shout, not even a whisper. She knew that the vampire will be able to hear her, no matter how beaten up she was. "Listen, Rems, ever'body agreed to never tell Flandre, for her sakes…..and yours too."

Remilia's lowered head slowly rose up, and a red eyed glare full of bitterness met her own.

Marisa practically stared her down by having none of it, "We're givin' ya an opportunity, Rems." For once, her usual cheery and loud attitude was put aside. "S'time for ya to start actin' less like a lady and more like a nee-chan. Don'tcha fucking waste this one in a million chance, Rems. Start doin' things ya should'a done yesterday….or should'a done long ago…Or live yer sad and miserable immortal life regretting it forever."

For how exhausted she is, Remilia couldn't make her anger known and merely presented how much of a sore loser she was. Her pride couldn't allow it all. The lectures, the punishing blows, and sheer audacity the witch had to deliver it all is nothing short of infuriating. Her form shook, all that was left of her scarlet energies gathering around her form, and her wings—

She slumped even further against the wall, having lost all the drive to protect her pride. "The boy…..what if he tells her?"

Marisa harrumphed at that, "Leave that to chance, Rems." She uncaringly answered, taking her hat off the ground, "However….If ya told 'im all yer reasons behind everything ya did las' night…then I'm pretty sure he'll keep his mouth shut."

Remilia's glare lingered for several seconds before she asked, "How can you be sure?"

"Just a guess." Remilia's annoyance had spiked, and her glare could have killed an entire herd of elephants. "He's human too, after all. Compassion's one of our strong suits. If he's gonna prove that he ain't like them Christians that hurt ya and Flandre, he'll fuckin' give ya the opportunity too."

Stiffly, Remilia continued to glare balefully at the witch, even as the latter had her hat lowered down to cover her eyes and visibly appeared to have fallen asleep. Then the vampire slammed her head against the wall, twice, thrice, repeatedly, deciding to punish herself in the most unladylike way she has known.

When she thought she had enough, her body slumped forward once again, the back of her head revealing a gruesome wound revealing brain matter and skull fragments that closed immediately as the wall remained plastered with her blood, muttering the smallest of words. "I…hope so."

An ambiguous smirk that grew on Marisa's lips upon Remilia's utterance revealed that despite the silence and such distance between her and the vampire, she more or less caught the words with her trained ears.