Hello again! So far, I appreciate the reviews I've gotten so far, and I have to admit that this chapter got a little out of hand. Along with that, I was assailed by the first case of sinusitis I'd had in almost a decade! That did a good job of debilitating me for a good amount of time, along with me taking this at a leisurely pace. Remember that just like the rest of us, I work on this in my spare time.
Either way, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
It was early in the morning when Ray made a small fire in the hearth. The birds were singing, and the morning sun shone through the windows of the building that Ray had found himself in. The elder said that this was the place where they allowed outsiders to stay for a while. The building was very empty since he was the only outsider that had shown up in quite a while, according to the elders of the Human Village. It was so empty in fact, that he had only ever opened the door to his room specifically. Ray got started on making himself a meager breakfast out of the rice and smoked fish that the elders had pooled together for him as a welcome gift. It seemed that the elders were very welcoming of outsiders, and since he knew a fair amount about Japanese customs, he was told that he'd be able to find his place here eventually.
He thought about all of the questions, the very polite interrogation that they had performed on him, over more tea and rice crackers. They asked him all sorts of things, so many things that he actually had a hard time remembering all of them. Eventually, their questioning had gone on well into the night, and they told him to come back in a few days. When he did, they presented him a few sets of clothes and a week's worth of food and told him that he would be living in the outsider's dormitory for the time being.
He sneezed due to some of the dust in the building and rubbed his nose. They had done a good job of cleaning the place for him, and he appreciated it, but you can only do so much when a place had not been used in a few years. The place was very spartan in its furnishing, with the only furniture in the moderately large building being what was given to Ray. The furniture amounted to just a futon, a table, a small chest for storing personal possessions, and a few oil lamps for him to see at night with. When he was finished with his breakfast, he started to get dressed. He donned one of the yukatas that the elders had given him, along with the complementary garments, like the tabi and such. He chose not to wear the sandals that they had given him, instead having opted for his sneakers when he discovered he could wear them with the tabi. His normal clothes were rather dirty due to him falling into "Misty Lake", as Marisa and Kourin had named it, and he had not been given a chance to get them washed yet.
When he was dressed, he knelt down and looked over his worldly possessions. These possessions were very meager, and were what he expected to have found by whoever fished his corpse out of San Francisco Bay. He had his wallet and smartphone, and his wristwatch, which that kleptomaniacal "night sparrow" Mystia Lorelei, who was not just a youkai, as he had been corrected on the fly over to Reimu's shrine, didn't notice. He had wrapped his phone and wallet liberally in plastic wrap tape to make a makeshift seal, which thankfully held up during his plunge into the lake. His wristwatch was thankfully unharmed, and he had finally gotten around to setting it for the time zone that Japan was in. Along with that, he also had his only weapon for now. He pulled it out from under his pillow to make sure nothing happened to it.
The weapon was a revolver. It wasn't an overly-large and unwieldy weapon, but it was still large enough to give someone pause if he ever had to pull it out. As he inspected it, the stainless steel that made up its frame reflected the light of the sun on to the ceiling. He read the words that were etched above the trigger: Ruger Speed-Six. He had cleaned it before his jump, and was sure that since the water at Misty Lake was not salty it would not have hurt the rounds or his revolver. When he had a chance he still cleaned it off as best he could when Reimu was asleep, though. Along with those six shots, he had twelve more stored in two rubber speed strips that he had within an inner pouch that he originally had connected to his belt, which he could store in his waistband. He was glad that no one ever tried to search him, because he would not have had any way to explain himself had he been caught with it. He looked down at his holster, which had originally been in the small of his back, but if he were to wear a yukata, he lacked a belt with which to store the holster, and wearing two belts was out of the question. He guessed that he would simply have to leave it here for now, and hid it and the spare rounds in the chest behind his futon.
Just as he closed the lid, he heard a knock on the door.
"Excuse me, Dobbs-san, but are you awake? Should I come back another time?" A voice asked.
The voice was femenine, and he had never heard this voice before, so it was not Reimu, Yukari, Marisa, or any of the other ladies that he had already met. He had been told by the elders that he would be expecting someone to give him a more in-depth tour of the village today, since Marisa more so gave him a tour of the stores that youkai visited, as well as stores that can assist Ray with magic. He still was racking his brain trying to figure out why Marisa showed him those places, but that would have to wait. He had a guest.
He walked over to the door and opened it, shielding his eyes from the morning sun that threatened to scorch his retinas. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he could make out the young woman that was standing in front of him. She looked to be around his age at twenty-five or so, maybe a few years younger. His gaze went to her hat first, which to him looked like she had a tiny model building resting on the top of her head. When his eyes met hers, she spoke again.
"Good morning, Dobbs-san. It's a pleasure to meet you." She said, bowing slightly, which Ray returned.
"Likewise, Miss..." He started, until he realized he actually did not know her name.
"Keine Kamishirasawa is my name, Dobbs-san." Keine replied.
"Thank you, Kamishirasawa-san. I apologize for not asking when the elders told me you would be coming to meet me this morning."
"Oh, it's not a problem. Today's not a school day and I have nothing but time, so I offered to them when I read the Bunbunmaru that I could show you around if you survived long enough to get here."
"Survived? They keep saying that and they won't tell me why. Do outsiders die a lot when they come here?"
"More or less, depending on who they meet first. A lot of the yokai here don't look even remotely intimidating, so they take many of you outsiders by surprise."
"Makes sense, I guess. I thought that Cirno and all her friends were little kids when I first met them."
"You're lucky that Rumia didn't tear you limb from limb and eat you. She's the only one of them that actually eats humans, but sometimes her friends can't talk her out of it."
The thought of that girl, who Ray last saw bouncing around trees like she were a pinball due to her being unable to see where she was flying. doing something so grotesque broke his composure, and he started to chuckle, which drew him a confused glance from Keine.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing. So you said we were going to see the village? Marisa-san didn't give me the most informative tour."
"Yes, I am. Please come along, we've got a lot of places that you'll need to commit to memory, since the village is much larger than people think when they first see it."
Business was starting to slow down at the Suzunaan book renter, and Kosuzu Motoori chose to use this time to take a well-deserved tea break. The last mother left, her children in tow, and she could afford to do nothing for five minutes or so, since her parents were both out as well. She stepped into the back of the store and into their connected home, and poured herself a cup of room-temperature tea that she had made for herself and brought with her in the morning. In this Summer heat, she just couldn't understand how some people could drink hot tea and not pass out from heatstroke. She closed her eyes and took a sip of her tea, and then let out a contented sigh.
She had just gotten comfortable in her chair when she heard multiple sets of footsteps enter the store. She didn't want to get up and meet the customers, but she forced herself to her feet and stepped back into the storefront.
"Good afternoon, and welcome to Suzunaan! How-" She started, then realized who it was.
"Good afternoon, Kosuzu-chan." Keine greeted.
"Keine-sama!" Kosuzu exclaimed.
She advanced on the teacher and embraced her, with the teacher returning it in kind.
"It's good to see you again. The children have missed you, you know."
"I-i'm so sorry, Keine-sama! Father's been sick recently and they've needed me more than normal and-"
"It's okay, Kosuzu-chan. I was just teasing you a little."
"Oh..."
Their reunion was cut short by the sound of someone going through the nearby shelves. Both of them turned and looked at the culprit, which was Ray. His expression lit up when he pulled a specific book off of the shelf he had been perusing.
"Hey Keine-san, they've got Moby Dick! And they've even got it in English! You ever read this? Good stuff. A good allegory of how an obsession can lead to your ruin if you let it consume you."
"Who's this, Keine-sama?" Kosuzu asked as she looked at Ray.
"Kosuzu-chan, this is Ray Dobbs. He's the newest outsider to arrive in Gensokyo." Keine explained as she motioned to him.
"Pleasure to meet you, Ma'am. Ray Dobbs, just like she said." Ray stated with a bow, his hands at his sides.
"O-oh! I'm Kosuzu Motoori. It's a pleasure to meet you, Dobbs-san. It's not common for me to get to meet an outsider." Kosuzu replied.
Ray looked at Keine, one of his eyebrows raised and a quizzical look in his eyes.
"He's no one special, Motoori-chan. He told me himself during our little tour."
"I didn't phrase it like that, but yeah. Nobody special," He walked back over to the nearby shelf. "But I definitely like this place. D'you got any more books in English? I mean Moby Dick's a literary classic and I can reread this all day, but eventually it'll run out of novelty, you know? I know enough Japanese to get by in the countryside, but outside of that I'm not as well-versed as a natural speaker."
The conversation must have turned to something that Kosuzu was capable of, and her eyes lit up and her lips curled into a smile.
"Why yes, we do have a small selection of imports that are in English. Most people here aren't versed in the English language so they mostly sit and collect dust. Allow me to show you." She explained, her tone sure and professional.
"While we appreciate the offer, Kosuzu-chan, I still have a multitude of other places I need to show Dobbs-san before the day is out. He needs to secure himself employment as soon as possible." Keine replied.
"Yeah, I was gonna ask that too; you guys hiring? I can read a little Japanese but I may as well try."
"Oh... we don't make enough to actually hire anyone. I'm sorry, Dobbs-san."
Ray snapped his fingers in defeat.
"Damn. Didn't hurt to ask. But yeah, we gotta get going. Thanks for letting us bother you, Motoori-san."
The two went to leave, with Keine exiting back out into the midday light, practically disappearing as the light enveloped her. Just before Ray left, he snapped his fingers again and quickly turned around.
"Oh! Since I'm probably gonna be coming here a lot, you can just call me Ray. You don't need to treat me like anything special." Ray said, a thin smile on his face.
"Okay, bye Ray-san" She said with a wave, which he gladly returned. With that, he stepped out into the light and was gone.
A few days passed, and by this time things began to settle into a somewhat normal routine for Ray. He would wake up, work an odd job to put some money in his pocket, and go back home. He sat in his room and read by the light of the sun through the window. When he heard a knock at the door, he placed a bookmark in his book and went to check to see who it was. Before he even got to the door, he could tell who it was.
"Yo Ray! You in there?!" Marisa's voice, albeit a little muffled through the door, could be heard through it.
"Coming, coming!" He replied.
He opened the door, and as he had expected, the black and white magician was standing on his doorstep, grin on her face and broomstick in her hand. Strangely enough, she also had a bulky-looking satchel hanging off of her shoulder.
"What's up? Is something wrong?" He asked.
He looked down at her with an eyebrow raised, and she shook her head in response to his question.
"Nothin's wrong, I just was wonderin' if you were busy today."
Ray stroked his chin as he stared into the cloth of Marisa's hat. He had more than enough money to last him for a little while now, and his willingness to work made sure that his myriad of employers were willing to let him come back and work at any time, according to a multitude of them.
"No, I'm not busy. Why?" He asked her.
"Great! There's somebody I want ya to meet!" She answered.
"Fine by me. Let me get something else on."
After he got himself changed into something more presentable, Ray and Marisa started their journey toward the edge of town.
"So who is it we're meeting today? I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into before I work up the courage to get on your broom again." Ray asked.
"A frienda' mine. See, when I first met ya, I felt something and I want her to see if you've even got the potential for it, ze."
"'Potential'? For what?" He asked. He looked at her, his eyes narrowing, but without him radiating anger. She grinned at him in response to his question.
"A lady's gotta have her secrets, right? What else do you really have to do right now? Just come with me!" She said.
He looked at her, then looked at her broom, then looked back at her, and then looked at her broom again before he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He breathed in and then sighed in defeat.
"Fine. I ask that you give me a few minutes to get ready before you take off like a goddamned rocket." He replied.
Marisa rolled her eyes at that, but after a few minutes of letting Ray amp himself up, she took off gently. She looked at him, with his white-knuckle grip on her broom, and let out a slight chuckle. She caught a glare from Ray, but after what he guessed would have been fifteen minutes of gentle flying, he relaxed a little.
"So where are we going? You never actually told me." Ray asked.
"So, you know Misty Lake?"
"You mean the lake I fell in? The one Where I met Cirno and her friends? Yeah, I know of it."
"I don't know if you saw it or not when you were getting carried to Reimu's shrine, but there's a mansion relatively close to the lake that my friend is a resident of, ze."
"And she's gonna be able to see if I have 'potential', somehow?"
"Yep! She'll probably be able to. Oh! We're comin' up on the mansion, da ze!"
She pointed to it, but it was pretty hard for Ray to miss it. The mansion in question was stunning, to say the least. He looked over the beautiful red brickwork, with it seemingly barely marred by the elements. It was positively massive in size, and he would have called it a small castle more than a mansion.
"Did these crazy rich folks steal Big Ben?!" He asked as he pointed to a large clock tower that was on the grounds.
"Nope! The mansion's owner told me that it was a recreation of it, though!"
"Jesus Christ! Just what kind of people live here?"
"Oh, you'll meet them soon enough, ze!"
When the duo landed nearby, Ray straightened his tie and started to walk toward the imposing structure in the distance. Before he made it even five feet closer, he was pulled behind a tree. When he looked to see who had done it, he discovered that it was actually Marisa who pulled him behind it.
"Hold up! We can't just go waltzin' in like they're expectin' us!" Marisa whispered.
Ray looked at her, then looked back at the road that led up to the mansion. The look on his face would have been rather hard for Marisa to describe to anyone. If she had to describe it, she would have described his look as a mixture of concern and confusion.
"I thought you said she was your friend." He replied.
"I mean, yes and also no? It kind of depends on the day."
When he heard that, Ray placed his hand on his forehead and looked up at the sky. After a moment, he sighed, shook his head slightly and looked at Marisa again.
"So what's up then? How do you get in if you are and aren't her friend at the same time?"
"Obviously we're gonna sneak in, da ze!"
Ray just stared at her, and as his eyes slowly narrowed and it looked like he was going to speak, he stopped and nodded his head slightly.
"Y'know what? You're my ride home, and there was obviously a point where you should have stopped and reconsidered your actions, but we're long past that point; so let's just see where this goes, even though I get that I'm gonna get hurt or die because of this."
When Marisa had finished telling him her plan, they sprang into action. They crawled along the treeline until they got close to the gate itself, instead of simply being able to see the top of it from the horizon. The two of them peered out from behind the tree that they had hid behind this time and saw the woman that Marisa had told Ray about, the one that she referred to as "China". She was pretty tall for a woman from China, and was probably about as tall as he was. He had to guess that she wasn't human, along with that. She rocked that beret though, and it went well with her hair.
Marisa had told him that she usually was asleep around this time, but today she was not. In fact, she looked very much awake. Ray and Marisa watched as her gaze shifted from left to right. Just as she was about to see them, they hid once more.
"So, great master of heists and hunter of treasures; how do you plan on getting in there with the two of us, now that we know she's awake?" Ray asked her.
Marisa looked at him, her eyes having narrowed slightly as she stroked her chin in thought. She looked away, placed her hat on the ground and peered out just so slightly to keep an eye on "China".
"Let me think a little more. She's awake sometimes. Sakuya probably got on to her for it again, so she gets really amped up for a little bit to put on a show for her, then falls back asleep after a little bit." Marisa reassured.
"And how long can that take?"
Marisa shrugged her shoulders in response to his question.
"Depends on the day. It's pretty warm out, so it could be anywhere from a few minutes to... maybe an hour? Do you know what time it is right now?"
Ray looked at his wristwatch and noted the time.
"Yes I do, actually. It's about eight after twelve."
"Great! That means Sakuya's busy getting Remilia's breakfast ready right about now, so she won't be too much of a problem. That means we'll just have to deal with China and maybe Flan," Marisa looked at him, a smile still on her face. "Since you're new, I'll tell you that it's a good idea to not run into Flan. She's known to get excited when she meets new people."
The sudden change in the atmosphere made Ray reconsider his past actions up to this point, but he shook that feeling off and gave Marisa a thumbs up.
"... Alrighty then. Duly noted," He stated flatly. "You ready?"
Marisa nodded in response, her normal smirk in place of the flat expression that she had a moment earlier. She returned his thumbs up in response.
"Born ready," The two started to move, but Marisa stopped Ray before he could start moving to his position. "Wait! Take this."
She reached into the satchel and pulled out a burlap sack, then took it off and handed it to him. When he opened the flap and took a look inside, he raised an eyebrow at the contents of it. Inside it were books, about three or four of varying sizes. Their covers ranged from incredibly plain and leatherbound to one that he was sure was gilded with precious gems and gold.
"Uhh..."
"It's a failsafe. It'll get you in when you get caught, and it should keep you more-or-less safe from Sakuya's wrath if she catches you. Probably."
Rays expression hardened at the addition of that final word.
"... Probably?"
Marisa nodded in response to his question.
"Probably."
It took Ray a few moments to respond. He looked at her and then looked at the gate, and its guard, who was now practicing some sort of martial art.
"Great. Great! Great."
Hong Meiling practiced her Shaolin Kung Fu in a vain attempt to stay awake in this summer heat. She let loose another punch, and it collided with nothing but the air. Practicing it put her mind at ease, even though her form of fighting was fundamentally useless in Gensokyo, since everyone here seemed to be able to cast magic that would blow her away, along with the gate to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It brought her a peace of mind that she rarely had after getting scolded by Sakuya though, and she was going to practice it anyway, usefulness be damned.
"Hey, China! What's going on?!" Marisa called out. The guard looked at her quizzically as she descended in front of her.
"Marisa Kirisame! The woman herself! And to what do I owe this visit? Come to steal more of Miss Patchouli's books, I assume?" She asked, her arms crossed.
"Oh no no no! Not today. I'm just here because I was out looking for more mushrooms, and I wanted to take a break and chat, ze." Marisa answered.
Meiling's eyes narrowed as she tried to read Marisa's body language. She did not look like she was lying, and she did have a bag. It was currently empty, but that did not mean anything, since she was known to hunt for mushrooms and "rare items" from time to time for all manner of experiments.
"Well, it doesn't look like you've had a lot of luck today." Meiling stated as she pointed to the empty sack.
Marisa looked away and rubbed the back of her head.
"Yeah, yeah. I've not been very lucky today. I was told about this type a' root that apparently grows around Misty Lake, but I just didn't seem to find any yet. I was gonna check the little patch of woods near the Mansion, but I thought it might be good to check with you first and ask if you've seen it before. You occasionally go out with Flandre to play around here, right?"
"Well, what does it look like?"
"It kinda looks like..." She looked around a bit until her eyes lit up. "Like that over there, ze!"
She pointed over near one side of the mansion, close to the wall and jogged over there.
"I think this is it! Come over here and take a look!"
"I can't just come over there! I have to guard the gate!"
This response caused Marisa to roll her eyes and let out an exasperated groan.
"Hey, you're the Mansion's gardener! You should know what it looks like! What if I pick it and it poisons me or something? Do you want to know that you killed me, da ze?!"
Meiling crossed her arms once again and huffed, before she finally started to march over there. Ray took this as a good sign and sprang into action. He kept to a crouch as he snuck over to the gate. When he got to it, he pulled on one of them, and raised his eyebrow at just how light the gate felt, and just how smooth it was. It looked like it was wrought iron or something, so he was expecting a loud creak. When the gate was perfectly silent, it caused him to raise an eyebrow. After he snuck inside the gate and shut it behind him, he finally was able to get a good look at the mansion. Now that he was closer, the beauty of it, along with the sheer size of the compound, made his jaw drop.
He walked around the courtyard and took note of just how expensive it was. The hedges that were under the windows were perfectly trimmed, and the fountain that was in front of the main door was a beautiful sculpture of some sort of mythical creature that he had never seen before. Overall, he had to say that this was the kind of house that he expected someone who was very, very important to live in. The only thing he found that he could say was a big drawback to the building's extravagance and beauty were the massive steel shutters on all of the windows that he could see. To him, that seemed a little excessive, but he wasn't the one who designed the security for this place, so he couldn't really nitpick.
He walked over to the only door he could find and checked to see if it was locked, and when it opened, he took a peek inside. The interior was just as extravagant as the exterior. He stepped in without even realizing it and began to look around the main hall. The fact that it seemed like the walls and floor were both differing shades of red should have gotten to him, but the way in which the two complemented each other made him accept it. His gaze was drawn to the massive chandelier that hung above him. Before he had a chance to look all the way down he felt something sharp at his neck.
"Who are you, and how did you get inside our mansion?" A female voice asked him. He instinctively put his hands up and locked his body. He could hear the malice that dripped off of her words, even if she kept her tone neutral.
"Uhh..." He stated, his mind having gone blank from the sudden threat to his life. He felt the blade press harder against his neck and he stiffened up even more.
"Answer me now, or you won't leave this mansion alive."
"Okay okay okay! Uhh, I've got books that need to be returned."
"How do you know we have a library?"
"Lady! I don't know jack shit about you guys! All I know is that a friend of mine told me to come with her here and she gave me this bag!"
With that answer, the pressure from whatever this woman held to his neck was gone. He finally moved his head down to see who it was who held him at what he assumed was knife point, and saw a maid. This maid was as beautiful as every woman he had seen so far in Gensokyo, but he was shocked at the sight of her silver hair, along with the fact that she had somehow disarmed him of his weapon. She held it in her right hand and inspected it. He furrowed his brow at just how well she knew her trigger discipline for being a maid, but she had just been holding one of those silvery knives to his throat, so she must have had some sort of training.
"It's not every day that one sees a firearm in Gensokyo, Outsider. Especially one that is in such good condition as this one." The maid stated.
"Well, yeah. Besides, that's stainless steel so it kind of takes care of itself." Ray replied.
Ray's demeanor caught the maid off-guard. Usually, when someone was caught trespassing within the mansion they would usually beg and plead for their life. Then again, it had been quite a long time since someone aside that black and white witch had been caught trespassing there, so her memory was a little fuzzy on how those that did usually acted. The maid's eyes narrowed as she inspected Ray. Overall, he looked rather calm and composed, as if he had forgotten that she had a knife to his throat only a moment ago.
"What? Is there somethin' on my face?" Ray asked her. He felt around on his face to check it for anything that was not supposed to be there.
She closed her eyes, shook her head, and let out a sigh. She stowed the revolver in her apron pocket, which caused Ray to point at her with his index finger. His face showed no signs of anger, having stayed calm and composed.
"Uhhhh... Am I gonna get that back?"
"You will get it back when your business is done here," She turned around and started to walk down the hallway to his left, and with her hand she beckoned for him to follow. "Come with me. We'll take care of your business here."
He nodded in response and followed along behind her. He took in the sights as they walked to... Wherever it was that Marisa had planned on taking him if her plan had not completely fallen apart. The maid had not even tried to make conversation on the way, so Ray decided to break the ice. He walked a little faster so that he was walking side-by-side with her. When he got there, she did not even take a look at him, her eyes still focused on the hallway in front of them.
"I'm Ray Dobbs, pleasure to meet you. What's your name?" He asked.
"My name is Sakuya Izayoi." Sakuya answered.
"Well, Miss Izayoi, it's a pleasure to meet you, even with the... Alarming way that we first met."
"If you had simply knocked, you would have been met at the door in a less threatening manner, Mister Dobbs."
"Yeah, I kinda realized that after I shut the door behind me. I don't really have a good excuse that would hold any water, aside from-"
"Getting caught up in Miss Kirisame's plans."
Sakuya's gaze went in Ray's direction, and he looked away from her out of reflex and rubbed the back of his head. He could his face getting warmer as he thought about what he had done, and who he had listened to, to get himself into his current predicament.
"I probably shoulda said no. I mean, I got to see this beautiful work of engineering, at least. I wouldn't have seen it if I'd stayed in the Village. You guys really have a gorgeous place to live at. All I've got is a room no bigger than a low-end college dorm to call my own."
"We take great pains to keep the mansion well taken care of. Our fairy staff is more than capable of ensuring the cleanliness of the grounds."
Ray looked around in an attempt to see any of these fairies that worked at the mansion, and when he saw none, he turned to look back at Sakuya.
"Fairy staff? I haven't seen anyone other than us. Not outside, aside from that redhead and Marisa."
"They are quite shy around trespassers. It is part of our safety protocols for dealing with... trespassers who look like they are not very dangerous."
Ray stopped in his tracks at the mention of "safety protocols". When Sakuya noticed that he was not walking beside her, she turned around and looked at him, one of her eyebrows raised.
"I'm not gonna die here, am I?" He asked.
Sakuya shook her head in response. She turned and looked at him with that blank expression, which sent a shiver up his spine this time.
"You are of no threat to anyone within this mansion, so there would be no reason to end your life. If you had not had these books in your possession, you would have simply been escorted off the premises by me."
Ray stared at her for a few more moments before he blinked, having processed what he had been told.
"Okay, then. At least I wouldn't have had my head on a spike. So..."
"Just follow me and we will return these books to their owner."
The two of them walked in silence for a little while longer until they reached a large and grandiose-looking door. It was beautifully inlaid with gold and other precious metals, the handles were also made out of gold, as were the knockers that were attached to it. Ray let out a whistle in awe at the third display of extravagance that he had seen so far.
"Damn. There's a part of me that feels that you're kinda bragging to me with all this."
"That part of you is quite wrong. The Mistress's home was this extravagant when she inherited it, and she has seen no reason to remodel it. Those of us who live within the Scarlet Devil Mansion see no reason to attempt to impress mortals such as yourself."
"Alright."
Sakuya knocked on the door, and within a few moments, it was opened by another redhead. This one was not wearing a beret or anything similar to what "China" was wearing, but what made her stick out were the small, bat-like wings that protruded from her head. Other than those, she was generally rather plain. She was still quite attractive, in fact, he had to say that she was probably the most beautiful of the women that he had seen in Gensokyo so far. It was almost unnatural just how beautiful she was, to the point where it made him uneasy.
"Good afternoon to you, Miss Izayoi. Do you require my assistance?"
"Not today, Koakuma. I have someone here that needs to meet with Miss Patchouli. Could you please see to that for me? I'm assuming that Marisa has already made her presence known to the two of you."
She motioned to Ray, who nodded in response.
"The name's Ray Dobbs. It's a pleasure to meet you."
When this "Koakuma" realized that Ray was a human, she scowled at him and narrowed her eyes. She disappeared behind the door, and it opened enough to allow him inside. Sakuya motioned for him to enter. He stepped forward. Just when he was about to pass the threshold of the door, he looked back at her one more time. She motioned once more for him to enter, and with a wave, he did so. When he finally looked back from the door as it closed behind him, his jaw dropped once more.
The interior of this room was one of impossible size. The room seemed to stretch higher than what should have been physically possible. The ceiling must have been so high up that it simply could not be seen, as he could only see darkness. The walls were lined with bookcases, and everywhere he looked, he could not see a spot on the walls that did not have a bookcase built within it.
"Human! Don't you just stand there and gawk at the magnificence of the Great Library! Madame Patchouli is waiting for you!" Koakuma shouted.
Ray saw that this Koakuma did in fact have wings, and was lazily hovering above him ten meters or so above him. The scowl on her face told him all about how she felt about him, and humans in general. He hurried and followed the woman through the aisles of bookcases until he came upon an open area. This area had a long table in the middle, along with all manner of what he guessed were scientific implements and other, more esoteric things. Aside from him and Koakuma, there were a fair amount of people gathered here. They all sat around the large table and lazily drank tea from very beautiful looking teaware. When he spotted Marisa, he narrowed his eyes and scowled. When she finally noticed him, she waved at him and smiled.
"Yo, Ray! Took you long enough to get here!" She exclaimed.
He stepped forward a bit, and when he felt himself touch the table he pointed at her, the look of contempt he had was still on his face. He turned his head slightly to what he thought would have been more of an imposing look.
"Y'know, if it weren't for the fact that no harm befell me, and the fact that I didn't run into this 'Flan' that you told me about, I'd probably be a lot angrier about you letting me get caught by Miss Combat Maid here," He looked back at Sakuya, who was standing at attention for some reason. "Thank you for not killing me, by the way. I don't know if I told you or not."
Sakuya simply nodded. She went around him and stood next to this little girl. Ray couldn't really say for certain how old she was, but he guessed that she was at least nine or so years old. She was dressed like she had just stepped out of an old-timey movie, with her funny-looking cap and just how old-fashioned her clothing looked. When she finally looked up from the book that she was reading, he saw that her eyes were a deep red, and very much abnormal by his standards. It took him a bit, but he finally saw her wings. Black, leathery bat wings were attached to her back. When he saw them move slightly, it sent a slight shiver down his spine and he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Another one motioned for him to sit down, which he did. This one was visibly older, but he guessed that she must have been in her early twenties at the oldest. Along with that, she looked like she had just rolled out of bed, with her clothes that looked very much like pajamas and the cap that she wore. It looked very similar to the one that the little girl wore, but it was different somehow, even if he could not put his finger on it. Just like the kid, she had been reading a book before he had made himself known. Before he had a chance to speak, Marisa spoke first.
"This is the guy I was talkin' about, Patchy! He's the one I felt that weird feeling from!" Marisa stated.
"Yes, the newest outsider, correct?" The pajama-clad girl asked, not even looking up from her book.
"Ray Dobbs, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet all of you, even if it had to be in such a rude way," He reached into the satchel and set the books on the table. "But I hope these will help smooth things over."
The books being placed on the table drew the girl out of her book. She picked them up and looked them over, then handed them off to Koakuma. Koakuma must have known what to do with them, because she took to the air again and flew off toward somewhere further into the library.
"I know for a fact that those books were stolen-" She started.
"Borrowed!" Marisa interjected. The mention of that word drew a glare from this "Patchy", but her attention was quickly placed back on Ray.
"Stolen... By Marisa a few weeks ago, and whilst I appreciate that they are back in my possession, and without any noticeable damage, I have to ask why they were in your possession and not hers."
Ray looked at Marisa and crossed his arms. Eventually her face got red from embarrassment, and with a sigh of exasperation, she relented.
"Okay, so I told him that when he got inside he might have to worry about Flan and Sakuya. More so Flan than Sakuya, so I gave him the books so he'd have an excuse to get here, ze!" Marisa said, throwing her arms up in defeat.
"Probably shoulda told me that she can just appear anywhere. It was like she just came outta nowhere." Ray added.
"I didn't see a point in telling you about an inevitability, ze. Even if I'd met up with you right away we'd have been caught. I'm not used to doing this with another person involved."
"Man, whatever," He turned to "Patchy", and since he was close enough to shake her hand, he extended it for her to shake, which she did. "Ray Dobbs. Former Marine, private investigator and journalist. Pleasure to meet you, Miss..."
"Patchouli Knowledge," She stated bluntly. "You said 'Marine', and you don not seem to have the traditional English accent, so I am guessing you are an American, then? It is not very often an outsider from shows up from there."
"Yep. You're the first person to know that it exists aside from Miss Yakumo." Ray replied.
"We, compared to many of the inhabitants here, are a rather new addition to Gensokyo, so we're somewhat more well-versed in Outside World history than many of the other Gensokyo residents." The little girl interrupted, rather rudely.
Patchouli and Ray looked at her, and she glared at the two of them from behind her cup of tea. Patchouli looked back at Ray, and then motioned toward her.
"Mister Dobbs, this is Remilia Scarlet, the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and a good friend of mine."
He looked at the little girl known as Remilia, with her batlike wings, the deep redness of the tea that had been drinking, and the fact that all of the windows to this mansion had been closed and that not light had been allowed through, and Ray finally realized what it was that he was meeting for the first time, and it caused his eyes to widen in disbelief. With all of the things that he had met and dealt with so far, this was something that he had not expected, and it filled him with both a sense of dread, and a sense of extreme curiosity. After a few moments, he finally spoke again.
"... You're a vampire, aren't you?" He asked, a very slight waver in his voice.
This caused Remilia's glare to deepen. If Ray did not know any better, he would have said that he saw an angry glow in her eyes. She slammed her hands down on the table, the sound resounding through the cavernous library.
"I'm more than just a vampire! I am the Scarlet Devil! A descendant of Count Vlad Tepes Dracula hims- w-whoa!"
In her attempt to quickly stand up on the chair that she had been seated in, she had almost toppled it over. If Sakuya, always ready to serve her mistress, had not been there to steady the chair she most likely would have toppled over with it.
"Please do not injure yourself again, milady." Sakuya advised. Remilia, whose face was as red as her eyes, nodded slightly as she did her best to avoid the gazes of the people who had seen her near-tumble. After a moment, she composed herself and began to speak again. "R-right! Thank you for assisting your mistress, Sakuya. Now," She pointed to Ray, who raised an eyebrow at her gesture. "You, human! Why did you trespass upon my land?"
Ray shook his head in response. He stood up to meet her gaze and crossed his arms. He had to hold back from losing his composure and cracking a smile, since even if this terrifying vampire, who had somehow earned that rather grim nickname, was the most adorable little girl he had seen since his youngest niece, he still had to be on his best behavior. Remilia seemed like the kind of person to get angry if someone did not take her seriously. Ray's gaze went from the angry vampire to the maid that stood at attention behind her, who had one of the most blissful looking expressions on her face that he had ever seen. It looked like for a split second, her nose had begun to bleed before it simply disappeared, which made him blink in surprise and return to Remilia's attention before she noticed.
"Miss Scarlet, I can assure you that I didn't mean to intentionally trespass on your land, as my associate Marisa here-"
"So you're a new accomplice in pilfering Patchy's books, then? Tell me why I shouldn't have Sakuya cut you down where you stand right now?" She interrupted, her voice raised.
Ray looked at her as she unfurled her wings in an attempt to be more intimidating. They were definitely impressive. They had to have been twice her height at least. She glared at him once more as she waited for him to say his piece.
"Well for one, I returned those books, and I don't plan on ever sneaking in here again. If I come back here I'll just ask that guard to see if you want visitors," Ray looked at Marisa, one of his eyebrows raised. "Just how did you get in if you were talking with her?"
Marisa shrugged in response, a smirk on her face. "It's not like China can stop me, ze! She's not even close to me in terms of strength. Oh! Speaking of that, Sakuya-"
"I understand. I shall go and collect Miss Meiling and organize some fairies to repair the gate when the two of you have finished your business here." Sakuya said, as if she knew what Marisa was going to say.
"But yeah, I'm not the kind of person to steal things. I never really needed to, thankfully. I swear, if I ever need something from you all, I'll make sure to ask directly." Ray assured.
Remilia crossed her arms, her eyes closed and a triumphant grin on her face. She let out a small chuckle. "Just like all you puny humans, you don't even try to resist us. If it weren't for Reimu and Marisa, we'd have conquered all of Gensokyo with barely any effort." She boasted.
As she carefully clambered down back into her seat, Ray smirked a little as he sat down himself. He knew to not let outward appearances skew his thoughts on the people that existed in this place, since he was sure that most of the people in this mansion could kill him without even breaking a sweat. He looked back at Marisa, who had poured himself another cup of tea during their conversation.
"So why did you drag me out here, aside from meeting all of these lovely ladies and the great and powerful mistress here?" He asked.
"Oh, I almost forgot! I felt somethin' with Ray here! I think he might have magic potential! Is there a way to check?" Marisa asked.
Patchouli took a sip of her tea, and then nodded. "There are indeed ways to measure just how much natural affinity a person has toward the magical arts. I agree with you, though. I can feel a slight aura emanating off of Mister Dobbs that makes me believe that you are indeed correct," She placed her cup of tea on the table. "Since I have never seen him use magic, I cannot effectively gauge just how strong his aptitude is toward any of the seven elements, if he even has an aptitude for Wu Xing."
"What the hell's 'Wu Xing'?" He asked. This question managed to get a sigh out of Patchouli, who rang a bell that had been sitting in front of her. The bell's jingle resounded through the library, and in a flash, Koakuma had returned to her master's side.
"Yes, Lady Patchouli?! What do you require?!" She asked.
"Koakuma, please retrieve a basic grimoire on the manipulation of Wu Xing, as well as a basic grimoire on western magical studies."
"Right away, Lady Patchouli!"
The winged redhead took flight once more, and after a few minutes she returned with a handful of books. The books were very similar to the ones that he had returned to Patchouli, and just like them, they ranged in various sizes, from one of them being a book that he could fit into his pocket, to one that was as large and thick as one of his uncle's encyclopedias, with a cover that looked to be made of metal plates. Patchouli went to lay them out on the table, and when she was finished, there were ten books laid out in front of the two of them.
"If you are capable, Mister Dobbs, tell me if you can read any of the texts that I have laid out." Patchouli ordered.
Ray nodded and began to look over the books. He looked at the large metal book first, and when he opened it, he couldn't read it in the slightest. The text looked to just be squiggly lines that left him with a very slight throbbing in the back of his skull. Next he chose one of the medium-sized grimoires. This one had a jewel embedded in the front cover that was carved to look like an eye. He opened it and once again had the same problem. He placed the book back down and looked over them. Eventually, he picked up the pocket-sized book. Like the others, it was bound in leather or what he had hoped was leather, and when he opened it, he snapped his fingers.
"This one's in Latin?" He flipped back to the front page. This book was very obviously handwritten, much like the other ones that had been placed in front of him, but when he read the first page, he was able to understand it. "Initiate's grimoire in the manipulation of thaumaturgical concepts. Lotario Nevio Rais. Must be the author."
"A basic guide for western magical principles. Seeing as how you are a westerner, I would guess that this would suit you the most." Patchouli added.
"An outsider that actually knows something cool for once?! Ray-san, just where did you learn this 'Latin' language?! I thought the Outside World didn't believe in magic!" Marisa said, standing up and slamming her hands down on the table, a grin on her face. Ray did not even look up from the grimoire when he finally responded.
"My parents raised me Catholic, so I kind of had to learn it. Nobody actually speaks it anymore but it's helpful for reading occult books and shit like that. I guess I can kind of thank them for that, it kind of helped get me into occultism when I was younger."
"Intriguing. This must explain why you have such an aura at your age." Patchouli commented.
"Aura?" He asked.
"The part of you that, along with being the manifestation of your soul outside of your body, can be an indicator of your magical prowess in some individuals, or at least the capability of learning. Yours is rather prominent for someone who has lived their whole life in the Outside World. You're definitely not as powerful of a potential magician as myself, Alice, or even Marisa, but you're powerful enough to still protect yourself with the right training and focus."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean, ze?!" Marisa asked, an angry tone in her voice.
"So... You're saying that I can be a wizard?" He asked.
He turned to look at Patchouli, but she had pointed at him, with a very slight scowl on her face. The presence of any sort of emotion on her face surprised him, and he had to blink to make sure that he did not imagine it.
"A wizard is just a magician that does not like being called a magician. But yes, you are capable of learning how to use magic." She answered.
"Well, that's a positive at least. So where should I begin?"
"There's much more to being a magician than casting magic willy-nilly. It is a long road of study and experimentation. A prospective magician who is not born one like myself, loses many things along the way to becoming one, and gains many more." Patchouli stated.
Ray leaned in a bit, one of his eyebrows raised. Patchouli was making being a magician sound better and better by the minute, and if he could at least learn to fly like they did, it would make getting around a lot easier. He did have some doubts, especially with how intentionally vague Patchouli was about learning how to use it, but it was not like he had to make a decision like this right away.
"This is a lot to process." Ray said. He placed his hand on his forehead.
"It's alright, Ray-san! You don't have to make a decision today, ze!" Marisa replied.
"The path one walks to become a magician is not an easy one, and it should be tread on a whim. If you ever decide to walk that path, you need to fully commit to it." Patchouli added.
"It doesn't matter. You'll never be on Patchy's level anyway. Not in a hundred-bazillion years." Remilia said.
Aside from Remilia's rude addition, which Ray had attributed to her being seen almost toppling a chair, he felt that he could do it, or at least put forth a good effort. If he learned how to fly, he'd accomplished more than he had expected him to, and that was a reason enough to seriously consider it.
"If I commit to it, I'm sure I'll end up surpassing you in half the time," Ray said with a smirk, which drew a raised eyebrow from Patchouli. "Are you sure you want me to give it my hundred and ten?"
Suddenly, the books in front of him began to float away. Koakuma began collecting them, save for the massive metal one. Ray looked between the books floating toward her and Patchouli.
"If you wish to learn the basic fundamentals, you are to do it here, under my supervision. I would rather not have any more of my grimoires being stolen." Patchouli answered.
Ray thought of trying to make an attempt to persuade her, but after a moment of deliberation, he eventually decided on how best to handle the situation.
"Fair enough."