Now that I had a tool (in the form of a cute little mouse youkai named Nazrin) that could help me find the last two glowing nails, I couldn't be in a better mood. The only fear I had was that the remaining nails may not be in Gensokyo. But this rather ominous sense I had made me feel that the nails were indeed within Gensokyo, leaving me confident. I was anxious to find the last two nails not just because it would mean my dark dream wouldn't come true, but that I was sure Lady Remilia would be very proud of me and this act of service would show her that I was indeed forever in her servitude and that maybe it would erase my sins of the past. I was eager to show just how loyal I was to Remilia. Showing the others of the mansion my loyalty was also a goal of mine. I wanted to cement my place within the Scarlet Devil Mansion once and for all.
Me, Marisa and Nazrin had landed right outside of what was simply called the Human Village. Suika, unfortunately, had passed out and had fallen off the broom while we were flying. I tried to get Marisa to turn around to retrieve her, but she insisted Suika would be fine on her own. Not that we had to fly far from the Myouren Temple so maybe Suika would show up somewhere. Though more than likely she's sleeping where ever she fell.
Marisa and I followed close behind Nazrin who now had a pair of dowsing rods in her hands. I had given her the exact description of the first glowing nail I found so that she could hopefully find the other two. We made our way through the streets of the Human Village. I would have been looking around the place had it not been for another distraction. The tail of the mouse girl and the cute butt it was attached to was what had my full attention. The tail waved as if it had a mind of its own and my eyes couldn't help but follow it as it went back and forth. After an intense stare off with the tail, I finally decided to grab a hold of it. I reached my hand out to give the tail a little tug, but just before I could touch it, it had whipped me across the face.
"Gah!" I cried out, nearly tumbling backwards. My left cheek now stung something fierce.
"Don't touch me," Nazrin said nonchalantly.
Marisa merely giggled. "It's not just your tail he wants, but that butt of yours also," she said before giving Nazrin a smack on the ass.
Nazrin went to her tippy toes. "Eeek!" She turned around, face beating red. "What do you think you're doing, Marisa?!" she angrily asked.
"Just felt like getting a feel in," Marisa said with a golden smile.
"Well, that's not fair," I stated with a pout. "I want to get a feel too."
"Touch me and this rod is going up your ass!" Nazrin warned viciously.
Marisa giggled once more then turned to me. "I'm surprised you're not that interested in the Human Village, Isaac," she said.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh… It's called the Human Village. What can I honestly expect from it?" I said.
"Well, I thought that maybe you would have some thoughts about your past being in a human village," she said.
"Hmm… Well, I don't remember much about my past and I prefer it that way," I stated.
"Do you ever have any regrets in becoming a vampire?" she asked.
"I told you already didn't I? I didn't have a real choice in the matter," I said. And I'll be honest. The way the embrace happened between me and Remilia still irks me to this day. Though, I like to think that Remilia just really wanted to turn me.
"Really? I thought you two were, you know, doing it when it happened," Marisa said. Nazrin, though she was acting like she wasn't paying any attention to us as we walked, her ear had twitched in interest.
"Oh, for crying out loud," I said with a face palm. "No, for the umpteenth time, we were not in the act. Tired of telling people that."
"You two are making it very hard for me to concentrate," Nazrin stated.
"Sorry," I said. I then took notice for the first time all the stares we were getting from the few people who were walking the night streets. I leaned in close to Marisa. "You see that?"
"Yes, yes. You're a youkai. A vampire one at that, so you're going to get stares like that whenever you come to this village. Not everyone here likes youkai," Marisa said.
"I see…" I said. "Nice place though. I guess this is the place Sakuya goes shopping."
"Yeah. You can also find people here who wandered into Gensokyo from the Outside World," she said.
"Really?! That's cool. I would actually like to meet some of those people," I said.
"You probably will in time so be patient," she said.
After a while of walking, we came to the edge of the village and stopped when Nazrin stopped. I'm going to have to travel here to the Human Village sometime with Sakuya. Not that I mind being around youkai anymore, but being around normal human beings is a nice thing. I guess you could say that I miss being a human, but that's something that I'm sure will fade with time.
I walked up next to Nazrin and placed my hand atop of her head. "So what's the hold up?" I asked.
Nazrin quickly swatted my hand away. "The trail to your missing nail leaves the village and out into that direction," she said as she pointed forward. "We might have a long walk ahead of us."
"Hmm… If we go on in that direction for long, we'll be hitting the Bamboo Forest of the Lost," Marisa informed.
"Love the place already," I said sarcastically.
"Well, that's where the trail leads," Nazrin said. "So if you want that glowing nail then we have to go through it."
"Hey, I'm all for it if it means me getting a hold on another nail. So lead the way, Minnie," I said.
"That's not my name!" Nazrin yelled at me.
We continued onward on our journey, leaving the Human Village behind. It was a long walk, but eventually we came upon a forest of bamboo. Just by looking at it I could tell that it would be very easy to get lost inside the forest. The name of the place was not lying.
"Well, in we go," Marisa said and in we went.
Nazrin lead us into the bamboo forest. We traveled for a good amount of time, but there seemed to be no end to the forest. I was already spooked by the place and now I was sure that Nazrin may not exactly know where to go. It seemed like she was taking us around in circles, so I spoke up.
"Hey, Nazrin," I said. "Do you know where you are going?"
The mouse girl's cheeks flared up, obviously insulted by the question. "Of course I do. The trail is strong so all we need to do is continue following it," she said.
"Are you sure?" Marisa also spoke up. "I could have sworn I saw that broken bamboo before."
"I'm sure I'm sure," Nazrin said confidently. "Just be patient."
"I have to say it… The bamboo forest is tricking you," someone not of our group said.
We turned around to find a lady standing behind us. She had long white hair and red eyes. She wore a light brown shirt and a strange pair of pants with straps going over her shoulders. All over her pants appeared to be red and white charms randomly placed on it. Her hair was also tied up with these same charms. I wish there were more words in the English language to describe how pretty these girls I meet are.
I was the first to greet the girl. I walked up to her and held out my hand. "Hello! I'm Isaac and these two are Marisa and Minnie," I said.
"It's Nazrin, you shmuck!" Nazrin yelled.
The girl had her hands in her pockets and kept them there despite me looking for a hand shake so I eventually dropped my hand in rejection. "I'm Fujiwara no Mokou. Just call me Mokou," she said. "I already know who those two are, but you're a new one." She held a stern expression as she stared into my eyes. "I've heard about you from that tengu. You're the newly born vampire, am I correct?"
"I am," I answered.
"What brings a devil from the Scarlet Mansion all the way out here?" Mokou asked.
"What? No 'Hello, Marisa!' or anything?" Marisa said, but Mokou continued to ignore her. Her attention was fully on me.
"Well?" Mokou said in a demanding tone. What is up with this girl?
"I'm looking for something. Nazrin here is helping to look for it, but she seems to have gotten us lost," I said.
"I'm not lost!" Nazrin pouted.
Mokou nodded. "I see. Well, you're not going to get anywhere by going around in circles so I'll lead you to Eientei and you can restart your search from there," she said.
Eientei? Where have I heard that word before? Eientei… Eientei…
I then remembered. "Oh! Shit, I needed to go to a place called Eientei to get Sakuya some medicine! Damn it, I got so caught up with the nails that I had totally forgotten," I said.
"Whoops! I had forgotten you wanted to go there too. Hee hee," Marisa said with a bashful giggle.
"Well, you're in luck," Mokou said. "I know exactly how to get there." She started to walk in a direction before looking over her shoulder at us. "Well, come on. Follow me," she said. And we did just as we were told.
After another lengthy walk, we finally made it to our destination – apparently Eientei. What I saw there was astounding. Little rabbit girls everywhere! No joke, they had the ears and tails of a rabbit! They were running around the outside of a building doing odd jobs here and there. All I wanted to do right then and there was to grab one of the rabbit girls and hug them to death. Maybe I should do just that.
I gleefully ran up to one of the girls. She stopped what she was doing and stared curiously up at me. She looked at me with wonder as I too to her. With my hands nearly reaching out for the soft looking rabbit ears on their own, I spoke to the girl.
"Hello! I'm Isaac!" I greeted cheerfully. "Would… Would you mind if I touched your ears? I wanna see if they're real."
The girl just continued to stare at me until a realization suddenly hit her. Her eyes went wide open. "Oh, my gosh! It's a vampire! And he wants to eat me! Help!" she shouted then ran away from me.
I stood there confused before going into a panic. "Wha- Wha?! N-No! I'm not going to eat you! Come back!" I shouted for the little rabbit girl. She stopped, turned around then stuck her tongue out at me before running off. "Well, that's just rude."
"You're being rude, dummy," Nazrin said.
I then noticed all the rabbit girls had come to a halt and were staring at me. The stares were ominous and suddenly I was afraid. Maybe even petrified. But I stood my ground. I mean, what could a bunch of small little rabbit girls possibly be able to do to me, a vampire? Then it happened; they all went into a mad sprint towards me.
"Get him before he eats us all!" one of the rabbit girls shouted.
I took a step backwards in fright. "Wa-Wait a minute here. I'm not here to eat anyone. I just… Oh God…"
Before I could do anything, they had all dog piled me. I suddenly found myself trapped under a pile of little rabbit girls, their fluffy ears all over me. It wasn't a bad way to go, I guess. There was so much I needed to do, but, alas, this was the end for me. I closed my eyes and let my consciousness drift away from me. It was over.
Not.
With a burst of strength, I blasted all the girls off of me with a roar to the heavens. I was free of their fluffiness. They all landed all around me, hitting the ground with a thump. After a moment, they all slowly got back to their feet as they rubbed their sore heads and butts. They all got into a defensive position as they glared at me. I got into my fighting stance, ready to fight the horde of bunny girls. Why were we fighting? Hell if I know.
At that moment before any sort of fighting could happen, another, bigger girl with rabbit ears and tail came out of the building. She had long light-purple hair and red eyes. She wore a black long-sleeved shirt over a white shirt and wore a beige skirt. Now this girl was sexy looking for sure. Seeing all the smaller rabbit girls circling me, she clapped her hands to get their attention.
"Oy, none of that, now," she said in a raised voice. "If these guests are causing trouble then I'll take care of them. You all get back to work."
With the order given, the little rabbit girls went on to doing whatever it was they were doing before attacking me. I sighed in relief, thankful to the sexy looking rabbit lady for getting them off my back. With no more trouble, I walked up to the bunny girl and held out my hand.
I smiled. "Sorry for the commotion. I didn't think I'd trigger them the way I did," I said.
The girl took my hand happily and we shook hands. "Yeah, they get like that sometimes when a strange youkai shows up suddenly. Especially a vampire. You must be who they call Isaac. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said with a firm smile. "I am Reisen Udongein Inaba. Just call me Reisen." I couldn't help but stare at her ears. They looked so nice!
"Heh… I guess it isn't a bad thing to be well known around Gensokyo, but I do admit that it's sort of embarrassing," I said.
Marisa suddenly clinged to my arm with a bright smile. "Don't be, buddy. A new vampire is just such a surprise around here that everyone wants to get to know you," she said.
"Surprising, yes, but also a tad worrisome," Mokou said as she approached along with Nazrin.
"Oh, it's not a big deal," Marisa argued.
"Yes, I heard before about how having a new vampire under Lady Remilia makes her more powerful, but I doubt she'll do anything with it other than defend herself. So no need to worry," I stated.
"One can wonder…" Nazrin chimed in.
Reisen clapped her hands again to get our attention. "I suppose all of you came here for a reason, correct?" she asked.
"Yeah, I need medicine for a friend of mine. She's pretty ill," I said.
"For the maid, I presume?" Reisen said.
"Yup."
Reisen nodded. "Then follow me. We will go see Master Eirin."
I nodded in agreement. Reisen turned and entered the large building, with Marisa darting forward close behind her. I went to follow, but someone tugged at my shirt. I turned to see that it was Nazrin.
"The trail is most powerful here. Your missing nail may well be inside there somewhere," Nazrin said.
I went wide eyed. "Are you serious?" I asked and she nodded in answer.
"I will remain out here while you get it," Nazrin said.
"I don't know what you two are talking about, but I will be remaining out here also so don't be long," Mokou said.
"Alright then," I said before making my way inside the building.
The second I took a step inside the building, a sudden, ominous feeling inside my gut almost overwhelmed me. It forced me to a halt. This feeling was not new. I've felt it before. It was when I was in the home of that flower youkai. That feeling led me into finding the first glowing nail. Nazrin was right. The nail IS inside this building somewhere. I clenched my fists as determination burned within me. The second glowing nail was within my grasp and soon I will have it. It's just a matter of time now. With a huff, I quickly made my way down the hallway, catching up to Reisen and Marisa.
The building was that of an old style Japanese home. It was a large home, with many corridors going in different directions and rooms on either side. I assumed most were bedrooms for all those little rabbit girls. After a short stroll we came to what appeared to be a waiting room. I guess this is where their pharmacy was located. Kind of strange to have a pharmacy inside of a home, but I didn't question it.
Reisen gestured us to sit down in one of the many seats lining the walls. "I will get Master Eirin. You two wait here, please," she said.
I did as I was told, as did Marisa, and Reisen disappeared into the next room. Marisa tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention.
"Want to know something cool?" Marisa asked.
"Sure," I said with a nod.
"That girl and the pharmacist are from the moon," she said.
"Pfft. Sure, whatever," I said, completely disregarding her comment.
"It's true! Reisen is a moon rabbit. The rabbits you saw outside are Earth rabbits," she said.
"I believe the Earth part, but I don't believe you on the moon one," I said.
Marisa pouted, clearly upset with my disbelief. "Just ask them when you see them. There's even a self-proclaimed moon princess living here."
"Hmph. I'll ask, but I still don't believe you."
"With all you've seen, is the idea of people living on the moon such a big deal?"
"It's simply not possible," I stated, not giving Marisa an inch.
"You should even ask your master. She's been there."
"Now I know you're bullshitting me."
In the middle of our conversation, Reisen appeared from the other room with a woman following her. The woman had long silver hair with a braid in the back. Her eyes were a dark gray. She wore a blue and red dress with little white dots littering it. She also wore what looked like a nurse's cap. She clearly was the pharmacist. A very beautiful pharmacist.
I stood up to greet the woman. "Hello. I'm Isaac. I'm the one asking for medicine," I said.
The woman smiled at me. "I know who you are, young vampire. And I must say that I'm very excited to have you here. I am Eirin Yagokoro. It is a pleasure to finally meet you," she said.
"Likewise," I said, returning the smile.
"Reisen here has told me what you need. I am more than happy to get the medicine for you, but then you and I are going to have a nice chat together. I hope you do not mind," Eirin said.
"Nah, not at all," I said, curious as to what she would want to talk to me about.
Her smile grew a bit larger. "Good! Just wait here then while I get the medicine for the maid," she said.
"Will do."
Eirin gave me a nod then entered the next room to where I presumed was the pharmacy. Reisen followed close behind her. With that said and done, it was time for me to go find that glowing nail.
I turned to Marisa. "You stay here. I'll be back," I told her.
"Eh? Where do you think you are going?" Marisa asked.
"I'm going to go find that nail. So wait for me here. If they come back before I do, just tell them I went looking for the bathroom or something," I said.
"The nail is here?" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah. I can feel it," I said. "I'll be right back." I left the waiting room and began my search for the second glowing nail. It may not be an easy feat considering the size of the place, but I was determined to get my hands on that nail.
I started with one corridor and searched each and every single room that I came across. The corridor emptied into another corridor so I went ahead and searched the rooms there as well. I searched quickly and earnestly, but I came up with nothing. The feeling in my gut didn't get any more intense or less intense as I moved around the building. It already felt as if the glowing nail was right there in my face. There was no real trail for me to follow. All I knew was that the nail was somewhere in the building and I was ready to flip the building upside down in order to find that blasted nail. After searching room after room after room, I came to a particular room and stepped inside. When I did, my heart skipped a beat.
"It's here," I quietly said.
The room was dark and foreboding, but that didn't stop me from going inside. My attention immediately went to a counter built into the wall. All along it was what looked like different yet equally fantastic artifacts. I looked at each one, studying it for a moment before moving onto the next. I then came to what was a small pillow. And atop of it sat what I was looking for – a glowing white nail. I inhaled strongly from the sight before exhaling in relief. Finally. Finally I found the second piece of the three nails that I'm looking for. Lady Remilia will be so proud when I present it to her. I couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she sees the nail in my hand. I already knew what reward I was going to ask for too. I didn't hesitate in taking the nail and stuffing it into my pocket. Yes, I realize that I was literally stealing from these people who were giving me the medicine for Sakuya, but I didn't care. As far as I am concerned, these glowing nails belonged to me before time even began. So, with the nail now in my possession, I went to take my leave. But, suddenly, I felt a presence within the room. I have no idea how I didn't notice it before. I must have been too focused on finding the nail to notice.
I turned around to see a woman standing at the end of the room. She wore a pink shirt with many white bows. She also wore a long, dark burgundy skirt decorated with yellow flowers. Even in the dark, I could tell that her eyes were a dark brown color. She had very long, black hair. Yet another beauty to meet.
The woman let out a big yawn. I must have awakened her. "Greetings, young man. You seem to be lost," she said.
Nervous, I stood my ground. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," I lied.
The girl chuckled. "Then again, you were awfully quick in taking one of my treasured items," she said. "What makes you think you can enter the bedroom of a princess and steal one of her treasures?"
Boy was I nervous, but I needed to be blunt with this girl. This may lead to a fight, but I had no other choice.
"No offence, but this item belongs to me. It has since whenever it was created," I said stubbornly.
The girl chuckled some more. "My, my… You are quite bold. But do you even know what that item is?" she asked.
"Something very dangerous. That's why I need it to keep it out of the hands of someone evil."
"You seem to be quite clueless to its power and origins. But you are right… It could be quite dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands," she said.
"So we're in agreement?" I asked, knowing full well this woman was not about to let me go with the nail.
The woman giggled as she shook her head. "I have wanted to meet you since the day I heard about your existence, young Isaac. But I never would have expected you would steal from me and without a shred of remorse. Just how exactly is that little vampire raising you?" she said before giggling some more.
She was being condescending. I don't think I like this woman. "Sorry, but that's just how it is. These nails belong to me and that's final." I was prepared for a fight.
"So you know there's more than one nail in existence?"
"Yes. Three to be exact. I already have another one."
The girl looked surprise at the news. "Goodness gracious. You must have been really busy. Finding not one but two of those nails." Her smile grew ominous. "But I'm afraid I won't be allowing you to keep that nail. And perhaps I will take the one you already have as well. You're too foolish to be holding such powerful items. That vampire already tipped the balance of power by simply creating you. Now she wants these nails of divinity as well? Such arrogance."
I shook my head in defiance. "I don't think that'll be happening," I said.
"Oh, goodness me. I forgot to introduce myself. Excuse my rudeness," she said. "I am Kaguya Houraisan, and I'll be taking back my nail now. I will make you bow before a princess," she said.
Suddenly, I felt magic emanate from Kaguya and she quickly lounged for me, throwing out a jab at my face. I dodged to the right, avoiding the strike. With surprising speed, she kneed me in the gut then uppercuted me, knocking my backwards. I remained on my feet and then threw myself forward, throwing my head towards the girl. I landed a hard headbutt to her forehead, knocking her backwards in pain. I went to tackle her to the ground, but with a magic empowered right hook, she caught me in the jaw. The impact of her first scorched the skin where she hit me. It healed a second after it was damaged of course, but the pain remained and it infuriated me. I grabbed her by the neck then through her to the floor. I then went to stomp on her head in order to crush it, but she rolled away. Before she could get up, I quickly got behind her and wrapped my arm around her neck, putting her into a head lock. She began to struggle, but I held fast. Eager to end this fight, with one quick twist, I snapped her neck with a sickening pop. It was done. I released her body and it fell limp to the floor.
Tired from the struggle, I sighed in relief. "It had to be done," I told myself.
I was saddened that I had to end a life, but I was content with the outcome. I had gotten a hold of another glowing nail and that's all that mattered at that moment in time. Now it was time to get out of this place before someone found out what I had done. Hopefully the medicine for Sakuya was ready and waiting for me too.
I went to leave the room, but a sudden chuckle that caused my skin to crawl froze me in place. There was only me and a corpse in the room, so the chuckle couldn't possibly have come from the corpse, but when I turned around, I saw that the corpse was standing there. Its head was dangling off its neck, and it was smiling at me creepily. A cold shiver ran throughout my body. The corpse then took its head and snapped it back in place with yet another sickening pop. I don't know how, but this woman named Kaguya was more than what she seemed.
"And where do you think you are going, hm?" Kaguya spoke.
I glared at her. "What the fuck are you?" I said.
"I was once the princess of the Lunarians. And after drinking what was called the Hourai Elixir, I became immortal. So your attempts at murdering me were in vein. Too bad, so sad," she said then laughed in spite of me.
I couldn't believe what she said, but it was hard to refuse what I had witnessed. Trembling in the face of something I could not kill, I sprinted out of that room. But the moment I took a step out of the room, I tripped over something. What a clumsy thing to do at such a critical moment. I went face first into the floor before hastily getting back up. I looked to see what I had tripped over, only to see another one of those small rabbit girls. It would seem that she was the one who tripped me. She had fluffy rabbit ears of course and black hair that reached her shoulders. She wore a pink nightgown. Her eyes were a dark red and she had a sly smile on her face.
"Well, hello there, newcomer. I'm Tewi. Nice to meet ya, yaddy yadda," she said.
Kaguya walked out of the room and stood beside the little rabbit girl. "Thank you, Tewi. This thief is in need of punishing. Would you please assist me?" she said.
"Ah, a thief the newcomer is, huh? Of course I will help!" Tewi said.
Now I was in trouble. I looked to my defenses because getting out of Eientei had just gotten a hell of a lot harder. And I still needed to get Sakuya her medicine. I needed the aid of Marisa. She could get me out of here quicker than lightning, but I had a funny little feeling that this so-called princess and her minion were going to make that a laborious endeavor. But I had to try. Getting this nail back to the mansion was the greatest of priorities for me and if I had to put my life on the line then that is what I was going to do.