My time of rest normally went uninterrupted, but I found myself in a disturbing dream. Darkness blanketed the sky and fire burned all around me. There was a narrow path through the fire so I tried to make my escape through there. The heat from the fire felt so real even though I knew it was just a dream. I ran and ran, unsure where the path would take me. The narrow path was being engulfed by the fire behind me as I ran. I picked up the pace until I finally found a clearing where the fire had already burned everything to the ground. The ashen ground smoldered and the smoke rose high into the black sky. I hoped I would simply wake up in order to be freed of this strange, hellish landscape, but an outrageous sight caught my eye.
In the open field stood a large, wooden cross, one used for crucifixion. Someone had been nailed to it and I could hear the sounds of her suffering. Too far to see who it was, I made my way towards the cross. Who I found filled me with the same suffering that she was in. It was the vampire, Remilia. I couldn't believe it. Even if this was just a dream, she should be able to free herself from such a situation, but she could not. She wept in her anguish and it filled me with rage to listen to her pain. I needed to free her and thrash whoever put her is such a sickening state. I called to her, telling her everything was going to be okay, but my voice was silent in this dream. Just as I reached her, an aberration of a person appeared right in front of me. The figure was blurred in my vision, making it impossible to identify who they were. All I could make out of the figure was its green hair. I went to attack the creature and save Remilia, but that was when everything went dark. The dreaded dream had ended.
The day was somewhat of a nice day. Clouds made up most of the sky so I was able to hang out in the courtyard during my break without being driven insane by strong sunlight. I was waiting impatiently for Sakuya to return from her shopping. You can probably guess what I asked her to get me. I prayed to God that she was able to find some and I prayed she would actually get me a pack. While I waited, I hung out at the front gate, talking to Meiling. We made mostly small talk, but I also decided to playfully hit on her a little bit. Not too surprising, she ended up being a fun girl and answered my advances with advances of her own. She was loads of fun to talk to and I'm very glad I got to meet her.
Talking with Meiling passed the time quickly and before I knew it, Sakuya had returned. Meiling opened the gate for her and let her in. I ran up to Sakuya, begging her with my eyes. I didn't need to open my mouth to ask the question that I've been dying for an answer for. She simply stared back at me, not saying a word. After several intense seconds she finally spoke up.
"I shouldn't have gotten you these," Sakuya said as she reached into her pocket. And behold! She pulled out a pack of cigarettes. The one thing I have been dying for and she got them for me. I love this girl!
I eagerly took the pack from her and held them in the air. "Praise the Lord!" I exclaimed happily. I then realized I was missing a very important item. "Shit," I said. "Did you-"
Before I could even finish my question, Sakuya pulled out from her other pocket a lighter. She handed it to me and I gladly took it. I inspected the lighter and found it to be a nicely designed piece of work. It was silver and the head was that of a dragon, with its tail circling the body of the lighter. I will take care of this thing till the day I die. I didn't waste time taking out a cigarette and tossing it in between my lips. I lit it up and took in a deep breath of smoke then blew it out.
"Isaac-" Sakuya started, but I hushed her.
"Shh shh shhhh." I took another deep breath of smoke before exhaling. "Moments like this need to be appreciated, Sakuya," I stated as all my anxiety slowly died down.
"That lighter was given to me for free. You can thank the shop keeper, Rinnosuke, for it," Sakuya said.
"Guy or girl?" I asked.
"A man."
"That dude is now my best friend," I said happily.
"Finish your cigarette so we can go back inside," Sakuya began. "You still have some work to do before you can be dismissed."
"Yeah yeah," I answered then quickly finished up the cigarette.
Meiling poked her pretty head through the gate. "Please do come and talk with me again, Isaac. It was fun having your company," she said with a glowing smile.
"Will do," I smiled back.
"Concentrate on your job, Meiling," Sakuya ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!" Meiling answered with a salute then returned to her position.
Sakuya and I made our way back inside the mansion. The cigarette made me more tired than I already was. Unfortunately, I couldn't hit the sack quite yet.
"It looks like you are getting along well with Meiling," Sakuya mentioned.
"Yeah, she's a fun girl. Even for a nonhuman, I like talking with her," I said.
"I take it you still have some trouble around other youkai. Is this correct?"
I let out a drawn out sigh. "Yeah, you could say that," I stated. I then glanced at the Boss Maid with a wide grin. "But you know… You should be a little more like Meiling and loosen up that butt of yours," I said, only to receive a slap across the face. "Ow! Jeez!"
Another day of hard labor went by without incident. The only thing to bother me was that strange dream. The dream came up repeatedly for a while now, getting more and more vivid each time it manifested. The last dream was the worst. I could still feel the heat of the fire on my face. It now bothered me to the point that I wanted to talk to Sakuya about it. Hell, I even thought it appropriate to speak with the vampire and see what she thought. The dream wasn't sitting well with me and it was about time I got some answers. So, with that in mind, I decided to speak up about it the next time I see Sakuya or the vampire.
Yawning my face off, I made my way back to my room. It was a long night and I was ready to sleep for an eternity. The night was actually good – there was no sight of that vampire at any point during the night. I was free from her nagging and was able to do my work in peace. I knew I needed to speak with her, but, eh… We both still don't see eye to eye on some things and tend to get into fruitless arguments. But now it was time to have another cigarette in my room before jumping into bed. I was told not to smoke inside, but my room was my Sanctuary – I could do whatever I wanted within its walls.
Just before entering my room, the impossible happened. Down at the end of the hall was a large, stained window, and through that window came bursting a blonde female figure. The glass shattered and scattered everywhere, coating the floor with numerous shards of glass. The girl landed on her feet amongst the glass. Was I happy to have the window of my hallway smashed the way it was? Nope.
I sneered greatly. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" I yelled.
I recognized the girl. She was at that party. It was the Wicked Witch of the West. Believe it or not, I could actually remember her name – it was Marisa. She got off the broom she was sitting on, wearing a cocky little grin.
"I think I made it in record time," the witch said. She noticed me and smiled. "Well I be damned. It's the newcomer! How you making out, buddy?"
I continued to sneer in anger. "I was doing pretty good until someone smashed my window up. How did you even get up here? This is the third floor."
"I flew," the girl said plainly.
I raised an eyebrow. "Flew? As in fly?"
"Yup," the girl said with a haughty nod.
"That's impossible," I stated.
The girl's cocky grin returned. "You really are new to this place, aint'cha?"
"Enough of that," I said with a heated huff. "You put that broom to some use and clean this shit up," I ordered.
"No time for that." The witch tossed her broom over her shoulder and started walking away from the mess, casually stepping on and breaking the shards of glass into even smaller pieces. "I got books to borrow."
She went to pass me, but I threw my left arm up as a barrier, stopping her in her path.
"I remember now," I started. "Sakuya had warned me about you. She said you like to steal things that aren't yours." I glanced intensely at the thief.
She returned my intense glare with one of her own, all the while wearing that cocky grin of hers. "Do you really want to do this, newcomer?" she asked.
"What I want is for you to clean that mess you made so I can go to bed. Then I want you to get the hell out," I demanded.
"I have a better idea," the girl said as her grin enlarged. She took her broom and sat on it as if she was going to ride it. "Hop on, pal. You're a newcomer so I'll play fair. If you can survive a ride with me then I'll go home. Deal?"
I wasn't sure what she was getting at, but I wasn't about to say no to a dare. If I could get this girl, Marisa, to leave the mansion then I might get rewarded with something from either Sakuya or that vampire.
"Fine," I agreed.
"Then hop on so we can do this," she said.
I did exactly I was told. I sat down on the broom behind her, but then I thrusted my pelvis into her butt.
"Hey now…" the girl said, a little confidence leaving her voice. Then I held onto her hips and squeezed. "Hey now!" she exclaimed in shock.
"What? I'm just getting confortable," I said with a smirk. I would have messed with this cocky girl more, but I wanted to get this bet over with.
Once we were both settled on the broom, it suddenly began to rise. I gasped at the impossible feat. Sort of freaking out, I nearly jumped off the broom, but I refused. No way was I going to lose this bet. All I needed to do was to hang on to the cocky witch's hips and I'd be all right. I hoped… We slowly hovered out of the busted window and the bet began.
We landed in a small clearing in a forest. Laughing my ass off, I got off the broom and ran around the small grassy field like a kid. Not only did I just win the bet, but I had the most fun I ever had since coming to this strange place. The fast flight across the sky reminded me of the open roads on my motorcycle. Oh, the wonderful memories. I'm so glad those memories stuck with me. No longer was I pissed off at the blonde witch. She had done something for me that I was in a desperate need off – she let me have some simple fun.
Marisa, looking a little down, snapped her fingers in disappointment. "Damn…" she muttered. Her smile didn't stay away for long. "Well, it looks like I completely underestimated you. I even did quite a few barrel roles and you only laughed more." I ran up to her, hugged her and lifted her off her broom. "Goodness gracious!" she exclaimed as I spun her around.
"Ah hahahaaa! Damn, that was loads of fun! You have no idea how much I needed that!" I shouted in glee.
"Okay! Okay! Put me down now, please," Marisa softly demanded.
I did as she commanded and sat her back down on her feet. I stared at her with a cocky grin of my own. "Looks like I won the bet," I said.
The girl let out a sigh of defeat, but then formed a smile. "Yeah, I guess so," she said. "But I warn you, next time I'll just do it harder."
I grinned harder. "Oh, please do it as hard as you can," I said, snickering.
Marisa blushed hard. "N-No that's not what I meant! Oh, jeez…" She pulled the brim of her hat over her glowing red face.
" Ah haha! I know what you meant. I'm just messing with ya." I said.
The girl was suddenly grinning again. "Well, you should be careful with who you mess with," she stated. She walked over to her hovering broom and had a seat on it.
"Wait, where you going?" I asked.
"Going home, just as I promised." She hovered higher into the air.
I ran to her, but she was now too high for me to reach. "Well, don't forget me! I need you to take me back to the mansion."
Marisa smirked and narrowed her eyes at me. "I never promised I'd take you home."
I gasped in response. "You wouldn't!"
"You need to learn to navigate the Magical Forest someday. That day may as well be today," the witch said. She raised her witch's hat and waved it. "See ya, champ!" she said before blasting off into the sky at high speeds.
"Nooo! Ah, shit! You gotta be kidding me!" I screamed. I looked around me and saw nothing but forest as far as the eye could see. I let out a disgruntled sigh. "Ah, crap baskets…"
The forest was dark despite it becoming day. It was trees for days in this blasted forest. I couldn't even find some sort of path that would, hopefully, lead me out of the spooky place. I swear, the next time I run into that witch, I'm blistering that behind of hers.
It felt like I had walked for a good hour through the forest. Not even the sight of life was found. I tried to view that as a good thing. Who knows what kinds of monsters lurk through these damnable trees. I kept my eyes peeled and my legs ready to make a full on sprint if I were to run into any sort of creature. If I were to run into anything, I would not hesitate in getting my ass out of there as fast as possible.
I heard it then, movement in the distance. My direction shifted immediately, not wanting to even see whatever it was out in the forest. I decided to quietly make my way away from whatever was making noise, but once I heard a particular sound, I stopped where I was.
Laughter. Laughter of that of a little girl was what I heard. It was a damn lucky find. I could go and find the little girl and see if she knew how to get out of this dark forest. I dashed my way towards the sounds of laughter. The thought that it was a monster playing tricks on me did cross my mind, but I had to take the risk if I wanted to get out of here ever. It wasn't too long by the time I came across the source of the laughter.
It ended up being exactly what the laughing indicated. A little Asian girl was wandering around, picking flowers then throwing them into the air, covering herself in petals. I smiled the second I saw the blissful smile on the kid. She didn't have a care in the world, despite the freaky forest she was wandering in.
I did not hesitate in greeting the little one. "Hey there, sweetheart," I hailed with a wave.
She turned to face me and immediately smiled at me. "Hi…" she said in a hushed voice.
I walked up to her then kneeled down to her level. "Hello. My name is Isaac. What's yours, dear?" I asked.
The girl pushed some flowers over her glowing smile, seemingly being a little shy. "Choko…" she said quietly again.
My desire to escape the forest had actually taken a backseat. I mostly wondered why a small girl was playing in such a dangerous place.
I kept my smile on, being careful as to not scare the girl. "Why is such a cute little girl like you playing around here in this dark place, hm?" I questioned.
The little girl simply smiled harder and bashfully looked away from me. She walked off and returned to picking flowers. She was off in her own little world, not afraid of anything. She made me feel embarrassed of myself. Here I am, scared out of my wits while this three or four year old was as happy as a clam.
I watched as she threw a bundle of flowers into the air before jumping around as they fall down all around her. "Why can't I be like you, hm? Not being afraid of anything and always smiling." The girl paid me no attention and just continued on with her routine of picking flowers then tossing them into the air.
It was at that moment that I decided to just follow and watch over the child as she innocently played. Watching her dance around in the petals was enough to make me smile in content. She made me feel calm in this dark place. She also made me feel safe, and in return for her calming presence, I was going to watch over and protect this little girl. I didn't care what kind of monsters wandered this forest, I wasn't about to let them lay even a single hand on this child. After quite a while of following the little Choko around while she played, I heard someone call out for her.
"Choko! Choko, please answer me!" It was a woman. Maybe Choko had wandered out here into the forest and gotten lost? I honestly didn't even think of that possibility until now.
Little Choko was too busy playing to answer the woman so I decided to in her stead. "Over here!" I shouted into the dark forest.
After a few seconds, a woman appeared out of the dark. But once she laid eyes on me she shrieked in fright.
"Sorry! Sorry for scaring you," I said with a smile. "Is this your little one? I was just following her to make sure-"
"Stay away!" the woman barked. "Stay away from my Choko!" She rushed over to Choko and picked her up, holding onto her for dear life.
My smile vanished in an instant. "What? What's the matter?" I asked, disgruntled. The woman, with Choko in hand, ran off into the forest. "Wait, you got it all wrong!" I yelled as I reached out for them, but they were gone before I knew it. I was totally confused at first, but that confusion was soon replaced with anger. "You're welcome!" I shouted indignantly at the woman.
Why was I getting angry? I knew exactly why the woman freaked out so why am I getting upset over it? Because it hurts… Because I knew why is what made it hurt so much. I couldn't get the thoughts out of my head. The reason why that woman ran tormented me. I knew the reason why she ran away from me yet I was getting angry at her for it. I shouldn't be getting angry at her. She was in the right to have run from me. But here I was, growing angrier every second I stood there.
"You shouldn't be mad at her, you know," someone, as if having read my thoughts, stated.
I turned around to see who had spoken. It was a girl, a girl who I happened to recognize from that party. If I remember correctly, her name was Alice. She was a tall, slender girl with blonde hair that flowed down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a dark blue and she wore a light blue dress with long white sleeves. She had a long pink ribbon going around her neck and another around her waist. Two dolls accompanied her; one sitting on each of her shoulders. The girl was shockingly pretty.
"I know…" I sadly agreed.
"It was nice of you to follow and watch over that child," the girl said.
"Thanks…" I said, still unhappy.
The girl approached until she got within arms-length of me. "We never got to introduce each other at the banquet due to that little stunt you pulled."
Remembering what I did at the party actually put a smile back on my face, but the girl's doll-like expression never changed. She just continued to stare expressionless at me. My smile faded once more.
"My name is Alice Margatroid. It is nice to meet you, newcomer," the girl greeted plainly.
"And my name is Isaac. Nice to meet you too," I said. I held out my hand in order to shake hers, but she simply stood there, never offering me her hand. I dropped my hand with a sigh.
"Hello, Isaac. I was actually following you when you found the girl. You seem to be lost."
"Yeah, a girl named Marisa left me out here." I shook a little from the anger.
Alice let out a short sigh. "So it was that girl's fault. Not too surprising I must say."
"Yeah, I'm going to need to pay her back at some point," I stated.
"Since it was Marisa that left you here, it is my responsibility to lead you out," she proposed.
"Oh, sweet, you will?" I asked, excited.
"Yes," she confirmed. "First we will stop at my home. It is on the way out anyways."
"Sure, as long as it's okay with you."
"It is," she said.
And so, the girl named Alice led me through the forest. I felt great relief now that I had someone who was going to finally get me out of the forest. My only problem with the girl was how expressionless she was. And I thought Sakuya was bad at times. Her unreadable face kept me quiet the entire trip to her home.
We reached a small clearing in the forest and in that clearing sat a small, humble house. I immediately assumed it was Alice's home and decided to comment on it.
"Now that is a nice little place you have there," I said, smiling.
"Thank you," Alice said.
As we got closer, I noticed small little things flying around the house. Once we got even closer, I discovered that the things flying around were like the two dolls that sat on Alice's shoulders. They were cleaning the outside of the house with small cleaning utensils and other such tools. I know that flying was a thing in this place thanks to Marisa, but how were these puppets flying around on their own? I went to ask Alice about it, but she spoke up first.
"Please come in," she offered as she opened the door.
I nodded at her then entered the house first only to discover more dolls flying about and doing odd jobs here and there. I had to admit, I may not know how these dolls work, but they were doing a fine job at keeping the house nice and neat. Alice shut the door behind her then walked passed me, going to what looked like the living room. I followed her.
How these dolls worked was bothering the hell out of me so I inquired Alice about it. "How are these dolls moving about?"
She sat down on a three-person couch, shifting through a stack of books that sat on the small coffee table in front of her. "You must be shocked to see such things," she stated. And she was right.
"Yup, that's pretty much it," I replied.
"To put it as simply as I possibly can, I control them through the use of magic," Alice answered.
I went in stunned silence for a moment before I spoke up. "Magic?" I asked as I struggled to accept that magic existed, but with all I've seen, I may have to force myself to accept that magic is a thing in this strange world.
"Magic," she repeated.
"That girl, Marisa, flew us on her broom. Was that through magic also?" I asked.
"Indeed it was."
I put a hand to my sweaty forehead. "Goodness…" I said in skepticism.
Keep an open mind, dude…
Alice pointed to a door. "You're sweating. Go wash yourself. You look unsightly," she demanded.
I sighed in response. "Yes, ma'am…"
So I went to the room she pointed at and I found it to be the washroom. Straight ahead was the sink and I went to it and began washing my face with water. As I washed up, I took notice of the mirror hanging on the wall. It was a fancy mirror, fancy like pretty much most things in the house. I then noticed the person in the mirror. I let out a disgruntled moan when I looked at the ridiculous uniform he wore. My sight went a little higher to the man's face. I noticed two fangs dipping from underneath his upper lip and I sneered in response. Again, my sight went higher and that's when I saw those wretched eyes. Crimson red they were and the pupils were like that of the devil I'm forced to work for. Anger sprang up in me and I ended up doing something incredibly stupid – I punched the mirror, shattering it to bits.
The owner of the home rushed in. "What happened?!" she exclaimed. She sounded like she had some emotion in her voice for the first time.
All I could do was stare at what was once a mirror. It took a moment to hit me as to what I had done. "Oh my God…" I gasped. I turned my face to Alice. "I am so sorry, Miss. I just… I was…" I could not even explain what had happened. What the hell was going through my mind? "I can't explain why this happened, but I promise you that I will replace your mirror. I promise you," I strongly offered.
Alice nodded. "I see… I won't ask you to explain and I will simply take your offer to replace it."
"Oh, thank you!" I took the girl's hand and shook it. I was so glad that Alice was so understanding.
Alice took her hand back and returned to the living room while I followed her. She picked up a few books from the coffee table and handed them to me. I took them without question.
"Let us get going," she said and I nodded. "I will lead you out of the forest and point you in the right direction to the Scarlet Mansion. You will then return those books back to Miss Patchouli for me."
"Yes, ma'am," I replied.
We took our leave immediately. Alice did exactly what she promised and led me out of that creepy forest. She gave me directions from there and I followed them to the letter. Eventually I arrived at the mansion. It was a tiring trip, but I was finally back. I explained everything to Sakuya and Meiling when I ran into them. Unfortunately, Sakuya forced me to go see that vampire, Remilia, so I could explain why I was gone to her. I did as I was told reluctantly, but the worst that could happen never did happen. I told the vampire that I got the witch, Marisa, to leave the mansion and she was happy with my accomplishment. Sadly, I was given no reward of any kind, only that I was forgiven for leaving the mansion's grounds despite it not being my fault. I was somewhat fine with it. I was just happy to be home.