Chapter 4: Home of the Scarlet Devils
Chris slowly walks inside the mansion and takes in the sight of the place, not even noticing that it's become nighttime as the sun sets down behind him.
The entrance way of the mansion, or foyer to say, was vast and wide with enough space for thirty or more people standing in here, two hallways on the bottom going toward a west and east wing, some doors leading to rooms probably, a small fleet of stairs leading up towards the second floor which has many doors leading to either a room or a hallway, two hallways leading left and right, a large chandelier hanged above the room with many candles and lanterns on the walls of the place.
There were portraits scattered across some of the walls, small tables around the room with some rare vases and potted flowers with a lovely fragrance to fill the room. Everything in this place was made out of wood and it was absolutely spotless and unlike the Eastern, or Japanese, style of the world Chris land himself in as it seems like this place came out of nowhere, making it seem like it didn't belong here yet it did. Chris was utterly speechless, this place was beautiful and shows that someone very wealthy or with a great sense and passion of style lives here.
"Man! Whoever lives here has great taste! I've never seen a more beautiful mansion than this!" whistled Chris and he looks around the room walking towards the stairs.
The boy shakes his head and focuses, he reminds himself that he's looking for the ECHO monster that escaped into here, ECHO Vocals, and prevent it from causing damage to this place or harm to anyone.
"Now which way do I go?" Chris asked to himself looking at the two hallways on the bottom and top, as the ECHO didn't leave any trails behind. "Oh great, I guess I'll just wing it."
Chris took the bottom right hallway, towards the Eastern wing, and scans the long and narrow path to find his little monster buddy to capture. He walked down the hallway for quite a while now passing rows and rows of doors, slightly peeking into some of them carefully and quietly to check seeing a few female beings sleeping soundly in their beds which Chris presumes are fairies as he sees some wings on them, to continue his search.
A daunting feeling crept into Chris's mind and it felt like the place was bigger than it actually was judging from the outside of the mansion's architecture, looking slightly worried and stopped into his tracks.
"Let's see I've met a shrine maiden with magical powers, a witch that flies on her broom and uses a tool to fire a beam, a pair of Onis, and this world is filled with lots of different Youkai with different abilities so…" Chris pondered surveying the area.
Then, "There's someone living here with space manipulation, whether it be Human or Youkai."
Chris nodded to himself in satisfactory with his theory, it didn't sound too far-fetch and given that he's met an evil god and other people with extraordinary abilities he believed it even more. He scratched the back of his head nervously with a wryly.
"Guess I have to be extra careful and try not to disturb the residents here or get them angry at me."
He started to walk down the hallway again and after a couple of minutes, stopped and slowly turned his head towards the wall to his right with a disbelief and shocked expression appearing on his face.
There was graffiti drawing on the wall. With green paint. With the ECHO's face on it with a taunting expression. There was also writing on the wall too:
Hahahaha! Got'cha you losers! ECHO Vocals was here! Enjoy the new artwork!
Chris's face twitched, also his eyes bugged out, and slowly clenched his teeth in angry with a look to match. "You got to be kidding me! It put graffiti on the wall!"
Chris planted his palm into his head and shook his head with a sigh. He'll have to clean it, it's his fault for not catching the ECHO in time and he didn't want to make the residents here to clean it up, and since it still looks new it should be easy to clean up. Chris remembers a few flights down there was a broom closest with a bucket of water, soaps, and some towels strangely well-prepared and ready to be used at any time and headed back to get them and returned.
"Unbelievably, this creatures really do nothing but pulls pranks!" muttered Chris as he started cleaning the wall having some tough time getting rid of the green paint. He made sure to bring extra cleaning supplies to make sure that it didn't stain the wall or smudged the painting worse to cause further problems.
Just as Chris was halfway done finish cleaning the graffiti wall he heard someone snickered to his left and prompted to turn his head in the direction of the sound.
Standing there a few feet away from him was the ECHO Vocals he was chasing, cracking up a bit covering its mouth with its hands seeing Chris struggle cleaning the room.
Chris looked on surprised at the ECHO's sudden reappearance and quickly scowled at it. "You! This is your fault, you should clean this up!"
He tried his best to keep his voice leveled as to not wake the residents here and the ECHO stopped laughing but looked at Chris with a smug grin showing its rows of razor sharp teeth.
"Echo echo? Echo echo, echo echo echo echo! Echo echo echo?" the ECHO Vocals mocked in its native language as it sways its index finger at Chris.
Chris twitched with annoyance. "I thought you guys can speak in our native language, but it seems I was wrong. Looks like you can only speak in our tongue when you call out your attack 'Wall of Sound'."
The ECHO scoffed at this and laughed.
"We do speak in your tongue, since we've born from the positive and negative emotions of everyone and we gain their knowledge and abilities as well as some of their traits, but we prefer our native tongue. You people overly complicated your speaking language with different ways of talking its annoying! Come up with something simpler and easier!" the ECHO spoke, its voice was somewhat annoying with a slight squeaky and high-pitched voice.
Chris looked on plainly and his eyes narrowed in an annoyed manner. "Duly Noted."
The ECHO cracked up again. "Hahahaha! Good, so don't think you're so high and mighty right now since there's only one of me! Since Levin hasn't communicated with us yet we can cause as much havoc and mischief as much as we like! Down with peace and up with chaotic fun!"
Chris perked his brow up. Levin has lost communication with his ECHO army or he doesn't care about them at the moment, which leads to Chris remembering a couple things about them.
"I got some questions for you little ECHO," Chris said with a serious look on his face, "Why do you obey Levin and why are you called ECHOES?"
The ECHO looked at Chris curiously and gave a mischievous smile. "'Cause Levin told us his plan and it sounds like a lot of fun! We get to cause trouble and we get to materialize our bodies much faster! We ECHOES hate peace! So boring and dull, that's why causing endless mayhem and chaos everyday is a whole lot more fun! Making people's lives miserable is always a plus!"
"That's why!" outraged Chris, forgetting his temper and yelling but luckily no one woke up from the sudden outburst.
"Hahaha! Yes, echo!" replied the black creature with glee.
"And why are you called 'ECHOES'? It's strange we're called that yet you don't seem to have any sound-based attacks and you're energy beings," Chris pointed at the ECHO.
"That's easy! We ECHOES are called ECHOES because recently born ECHOES bear the abilities of the emotions of the people they're born from and over time disappear reverting to just pure ECHO abilities. Though we do lose those abilities after a while, but our ECHO abilities increase as a result, like how people shout in a canyon and hear their echo until it's all gone!" shouted the ECHO as it danced around.
However it immediately stopped its mouth, realizing it told Chris it shouldn't have.
Chris blinked a few times until he gave an evil grin at the ECHO. "Ooohhh… so you do have a weakness, after all? Not much, but you're ECHO abilities are easy to understand and counter against which you've learned it."
"So what, echo? We're still have the strength of the emotions we're born from plus our abilities so we're still stronger even without the unique abilities of others! Smell ya later, echo!" pointed the ECHO in rage and slowly backs away.
Chris was getting ready to pursue the ECHO once more until he realized he didn't finish cleaning the graffiti on the wall. He clicked his tongue on annoyance and glared at the ECHO as the little black creature smiled back triumphantly.
"What'cha going to do, echo?"
"Guess I have no choice, I forgot about this technique I had when fighting Levin," said Chris as he pointed out his index and middle fingers from both and place in forward in front of him in an X cross. The ECHO Vocals looks curiously at the hand sign Chris.
A grayish black aura surrounded Chris and shouted, "Phantom Replica!"
A mass of gray light took on human form next to him at lightning speed, materializing it in seconds and there stood another Chris. The ECHO looked stunned and rubbed its eyes and blinked, and rubbed its eyes again to make sure it saw it correctly.
"Yup, I can make solid clones of myself!" Chris looked on with a cocky grin at the ECHO and both Original and Replica Chris looked at each other.
"And now," said Chris's Replica. "Which one of us will go after the ECHO and the other staying here to clean the mess?"
The ECHO blinked dumbfoundedly. "Echo?"
"I'll clean up the mess here, I already started," said the Original Chris.
"No no no, I'll do it! Besides you need to catch it before it causes more trouble, right?" replied the Replica.
"But I feel like I'm just dumping the cleaning part to you, you deserve a little excitement right?" the Original Chris concur.
"This isn't getting us anyway…" said the Replica Chris dishearten.
"Indeed… so how about that?" asked Chris smirking.
"Hm? Or that, of course! We can settle this with that!" the Replica Chris said cheerfully.
"Ready?"
"Yup!"
Both the Original and Replica Chris raised their fist into the air.
"Rock… paper… scissors… GO!"
The Original Chris threw out paper as the Replica Chris threw out rock, sealing the Original Chris's victory.
"Alright it's agreed, I'll stay here and clean and you go after the ECHO!" said Chris with a grin.
The Replica Chris smiled back, admitting his defeat. "A lose is a lose, but I'll deal with it. Good luck with the cleaning I'll get the ECHO so don't worry!"
The ECHO stood there scratching the side of its side with a dumfounded expression on its face. What exactly are those two doing anyway?
"Now then!" said the Replica Chris, a serious look etched into his features, as he turns toward the ECHO. "It's time to deal with you!"
The ECHO snapped out of its daze and ran down the hallway with the Replica Chris on hot pursuit, leaving the Original Chris to resume his work on cleaning the wall.
Thinking back at what the ECHO said, if these ECHOES are born from the collaborating positive and negative emotions of people gaining their abilities in the process but slowly lose it over time there was a problem. He didn't know how long it takes for them to lose the abilities and given that the inhabitants of this world are strong, Onis, Shrine Maiden with godly powers, Witch with crazy spells, a possible space manipulator living here, and the one who created Gensokyo… if these ECHOES were to be born from all of them.
Replica Chris shuddered; this was going to be a major problem if these ECHOES start attacking everyone on sight! He had to hurry!
And with that determination Replica Chris chased the ECHO that ran through a door that looks like it was heading into a basement.
"Ah man! I lost it! Where did it go!" complained Replica Chris as he looks around in the basement hallways losing sight of the ECHO Vocals. He could detect Ki signatures from the ECHO, but he was still unfamiliar with it as its Ki readings change when these ECHOES do their Shadow Dives, entering into the shadows, making it impossible to locate them.
The black-haired boy sighed in defeat, this is taking even more longer than he had hoped. He wasn't sure how long he's been here, but even though it feels like hours he believes he's been here almost a half an hour already. He quickly looked around and found another door and opened it, and little did he know a big surprised awaited him.
Upon entering the room, he saw something extraordinary. There were rows and rows of giant bookshelves with many different kinds of books stack together, and Chris's eyes widen with amazement and wonder. This place looked like the world's biggest library and his book-loving blood is boiling, excited to read almost all of these books.
"This is a book lovers' Eden! I could live here forever!" Chris's eyes glittered, like a child in a candy store, scanning each bookshelf to see what they hold. However Chris shook his head, he had a task to do beforehand and he couldn't be distracted by this.
However, it wouldn't hurt to pay a visit here to read once in a while.
"Who are you?" a female voice called out.
Startled by the sudden new voice, Chris jumped a little in fright and turned around to see another beautiful girl before him. Was it just him or are all the girls in this world possess utterly goddess-like beauty and Chris was slowly feels outnumbered by the number of girls here. Are the no males in this world?
The girl had calf-length purple hair wearing a cap-like hat with a decorative small crescent moon, her bangs with tied with two red and blue ribbons, she wore a light purple robe or some kind which kinda look like pajamas, and had a book under her arm. She looked very pretty in her unusual garment, a feat not easy to do for some, as her purple eyes stared directly into Chris's blue eyes.
Chris blinked, but then smiled as he scratched the back of his head in a nervous manner. He was caught.
"Hello there my name is Christopher Trevas Corona, but everyone calls me Chris! It's nice to meet you," bowed Chris respectfully with a cheery smile.
Her eyes narrowed a bit, like she didn't trust him. "I see, anyway tell me what are you doing here?"
"Ah… well that… I came in here after chasing a monster that ran into this mansion. I'm trying to capture it before it causes a lot of problems here. It's a black-colored creature with silver markings on its body, have you seen it?" Chris stated.
"A monster? You mean a Youkai?" the girl asked as she raised her eyebrow. She never heard of a Youkai with that description before.
"Not a Youkai… it's a creature called an 'ECHO', it's a monster born from the positive and negative emotions of all living beings whether it be Human or Youkai. They're dangerous and one of them got in here," Chris explained in more serious manner.
"An 'ECHO'? I've never heard of something like that before," the girl pondered.
Chris briefly explained what he knows about the ECHO and their abilities and the girl nodded and understood what he was telling her.
"I know I just met them for the first time today I believe with little to no information on them at first, but I'm slowly getting some intel on them. By the way what's your name?" smiled Chris.
"Please call me Patchouli, and you've only met them today? Why are you so eager to stop them?" the girl said as she pointed at Chris.
"Well I can't let people get hurt because of them! And it's my fault for not catching it in time before it snuck itself into this building. I can't stand people getting hurt around me," shyly said Chris scratching the side of his head.
This time Patchouli gave a small warm smile. "So you enter the house of the Scarlet Devil just to prevent it from harming the residents here? You're a strange one indeed."
"It's it really wrong to worry about people?" Chris scratched his head in embarrassment. "Besides this ECHO already put graffiti on the wall and I have to stop it…"
"It put graffiti on the wall?" she sighed, hardly even surprised by this, and then she suddenly coughed.
"A-Are you OK?" asked Chris worried as he rushed to her side.
"I'm fine… just my… natural asthma acting up again," Patchouli coughed as she struggles to stand up.
"That's not good! Natural or not! Here let me help you," said Chris as he holds Patchouli's left hand with both of his hands closing his eyes as he gathers his Ki energy.
Patchouli blushed a bit from the sudden action from the boy. "W-What are you…?"
Suddenly a green aura wrapped itself around Chris's hands and onto Patchouli's hand quickly spreading all over the rest of her body. She was a bit surprise, this wasn't magic he was using but something different yet similar and she knows what it is. After a few seconds Chris slowly opens his eyes and let's goes of Patchouli's hand.
"There! You should be feeling much better now and from now on too!" smiled Chris visibly happy with his work with his arms behind his head.
Patchouli looked at her hand and breathed. Her entire body was more relaxed and she could breathe easily now, her natural asthma didn't bother her anymore or at the least barely affecting her as much. She looked back at the boy with her eyes widen in astonishment, it's takes a lot to surprise her and the boy sure did a good job at that.
"That just now was Ki wasn't it? What did you just do?" asked Patchouli still looking blankly at Chris.
"You know about Ki? Well I was informed about another Ki user here, and that technique I used is called 'Light Style: Ki Cure' which allows me to heal minor injuries and anomalies within the body. Basically I manipulation the life force energy within your body to help you," Chris stated getting excited explaining.
Apparently he never got to go into detail about his abilities to someone other than his friends judging by the way he spoke and act.
"You're just like our gatekeeper here, she manipulates Ki as well or Qi as she calls it," stated Patchouli narrowing her eyes a bit. He seems much more reliable than a certain gatekeeper at this moment.
Chris's eyes dazzled with eyes at that comment and smiled. "Seriously! The girl outside is the other Ki user I heard about! I can't believe I'm so stroked now, I can't wait until I ask her about her abilities!"
Patchouli could practically see the joy in his eyes, his mannerism suddenly becoming that like a child. She giggled, it reminded her about her friend the mistress of this mansion childish manners as well.
"Which reminds me, what was she doing prior to you and this 'ECHO' intruding into this place?" she asked narrowing her eyes in a more serious manner.
Chris stopped in his track and nervously looked away. "She… urm… was sleeping?"
Patchouli sighed and planted a palm to her head, Chris could take it this isn't the first time the gatekeeper did this.
"She sleeps about everyday doesn't she?" Chris asked with a worried expression.
"Yes, anyway about that graffiti on the wall…"
"Don't worry about it! I'm cleaning it as we speak!" Chris said raising his arm in front of him in pride with a goofy grin.
Patchouli took a step back. That had to be the strangest thing the boy has said to her all night. "You're cleaning it… right now?"
"Yeah! Well the original me, I'm just a replica of him using the Phantom Replica technique!" said the black-haired boy.
"Replica? You can make solid copies of yourself?" Patchouli perked her brow in curiosity she knows another living here with an ability similar to his.
"Yeah, we decided on what to do through a game of rock-paper-scissors and so he stand behind to clean the mess while I go after the ECHO," the Replica Chris stated, and the comment about the game made Patchouli form a sweatdrop behind her head.
"That must be very convenient to have," said Patchouli thinking about the benefits of this skill of his.
"Hardly, it comes with disadvantages so I have to use them strategically," sighed Chris looking slightly annoyed about the drawbacks of his technique.
"How so?" she asked, she was quite curious now.
"Well the main thing about this technique I learned is that it makes perfect solid copies of myself in other words they can bleed, sweat, feel hungry, etc. and unlike the weaker version called 'Shadow Clone' the Phantom Replicas can take the same level of beating like the original so it's very hard to find the original among them should that person mix in with them," Chris explained as Patchouli listened.
"Also when a replica disperses the knowledge, experience, and other endeavors transfer back to the original and the rest of the replica if they're still around, but that's the drawback," Chris pointed his finger into the air, "They also transfer the 'pain' as well to a certain degree. For example if a replica got its head cut off and disperses, the pain from that event will transfer to the rest and will feel (at this part Chris rubs his neck) about 1/5 of that pain onto us which is very uncomfortable and causes us to lose focus."
"I see… that does seem like a bad tradeoff for using that ability," Patchouli acknowledged.
"No duh, am I right?" Chris folded his arms and smiled. "I remember one time I was training with one of my replicas and it broke its arm and disperse and oh man! Did my arm feel numb for a few minutes so I couldn't use it, not a pleasant feeling and because of the high-energy input to use this technique and maintain it I'm only allowed up to 10 copies of myself plus the original. Unlike the Shadow Clone technique going up to 100 or so clones, the Phantom Replica is limited to 10 clones."
"That's interesting. I've read a few books about Ki manipulation, but never heard of this," pondered Patchouli.
"I see that's cool. By the way, are you Human or Youkai?" asked Chris.
"I'm a Youkai magician as I've lived for over 100 years by reading my books," stated Patchouli with a small hint of pride in her voice.
"You're over 100 years old?" Chris perked up on that comment.
"Yes… is there a problem with that?" Patchouli glared not liking how Chris point that out.
Chris blinked a few times and smiled. "Whoa! You look really good and you have a great complexion too!"
Patchouli's face heated up. "Huh? R-Really?"
"Yeah! I don't think anyone can top the 'pretty in pajamas' look like you can!" he smiled even brighter now.
"I see, thank you," said Patchouli her face still red, "That's good and all but weren't you here chasing after an ECHO monster?"
Chris froze, he was enjoying his talk with Patchouli that it slipped his mind about the ECHO. "You're right! I'm sorry I have to go! Laters!"
Chris turned around and was about to run at the door, but stopped in track and looked back at Patchouli. The girl in question raised her eyebrow.
"By the way Patchouli-san… you live here in this room, right?" Chris asked.
"Yes, what of it?" she replied.
"This place is like a library right? Do you think?" he said with a pleading voice holding his hands together like he was praying which Patchouli knew where he was going with this.
"You cannot check out the books here, they stay here," she coldly stated.
"Ah I see," Chris looked disappointed then perked up. "Then can I come over and read some of the books here? I love reading!"
Patchouli smiled a bit. "I have no problems with that."
"Awesome! Do you have any Romance novels around here?" Chris asked with ecstatic enthusiasm.
Patchouli looked baffled this time. "You… you read romance novels?"
"Well I do like reading fantasy and other fiction works. Why, is there a problem with a guy reading romance novels?" Chris tilted his head with an innocent and blank look on his face thinking he said something wrong.
Patchouli shook her head and giggled a bit. "Not at all, I was just surprised. I wasn't expecting you to be the type to read that kind of book and I do have some."
"Awesome!" said Chris excitedly and return to his task at hand. "Well I have to go now! It's was nice meeting you Patchouli-san!"
"Wait a second, I'll accompany you. I rather you not get lost plus this ECHO monster has me concern," she said as she place her book on a nearby table.
"You sure? Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to bad seeing how a space manipulator lives here and has expanded the inside of the mansion. But if you're not feeling well tell me OK?" Chris winked.
Patchouli looked away with a light flustered face at that wink. He looked… kinda cute doing it. Then she remembered his other comment and was taken aback.
"You're more perceived than I thought. You figured out that someone here can manipulate space?" asked Patchouli pleasantly surprised and smiling.
"It wasn't that hard, judging by the structure of the outside of the building and how vast the inside was plus knowing there are people living in this world with different abilities it wasn't that hard to figure out even this is this my first day here in Gensokyo!" Chris spoke with both his arms behind his head.
Again Patchouli was surprise, something that was rare especially happening constantly in a single day. "This is just you're first day here? I knew you were from the outside world judging by your clothes, but I never thought this would be your first day."
"Well I'm actually from a parallel world of some sorts, a second outside world, but yeah. Anyway I should notify my original," said the replica and performed the hand sign and created another clone.
"Alright go tell our original about the situation now and get a reply if he's done with the graffiti cleaning!" asked the first replica.
"Hai!" saluted the new replica and disperse and moments later the first replica head perked up.
"OK, the original already cleaned up the mess and is searching for the ECHO right now! So let's go!" smiled Chris gestured Patchouli to follow.
She mused as she followed him. "That is a very useful way of information gathering."
The pair returns to the upper levels of the mansion where Chris was as they saw a black shadow retreat back up at lightning speed and chased after it. They walked down the long narrow hallway with only the candles on the walls lighting up the way.
Suddenly a black shadow darted at the both of them as they side-step out of the way.
"I missed, echo!" croaked the ECHO looking annoyed as it stared back at Chris and Patchouli.
"Found ya, you little brat!" shouted Chris as he pulls out his twin swords.
"So this is an ECHO? What a strange creature, it's giving off multiple different energy signatures from it," said Patchouli as she pulled out a card.
"Not so fast!" said the ECHO whipped its head at them, shooting it off from its body trying to bite Chris as the boy started to slash at it, the head bouncing away from all of the attacks. Patchouli was caught off guard by the sudden attack, not expecting it to shot its head off and suddenly the body started to swap at her.
"Mukyu~!" she cried out as she tries to avoid the attack, being limited in the hallway like this put her in a disadvantage as the ECHO's body was fast but Chris manage to elbow it away from Patchouli in time and started to attack it.
The head of the ECHO laughed as it lunged at Chris as the body used a form of martial arts to attack Chris as the boy parried the attacks and counterattacked only for the ECHO to dance around the attacks not getting hit and Chris doing the same from the attacks from the head and body.
Patchouli watched on, it was like a dance between the two, or three, individuals with all their attacks missing each other and avoiding the others attacks. She wasn't sure when to attack as they were moving too fast for her eyes to catch an opening in their forms.
"I had enough! Wind Style: Shockwave!" cried Chris as he threw out his arms to the side in the air as a gust of wind encased Chris in a sphere and expanded outward knocking the ECHO away as the ECHO's body jumped back on its feet and the head jumped right back on spinning like a wheel and stopping back in place laughing away.
"Fire Style: Fire…" Chris started as he performed his hand sign and started to breathe a small fireball from his mouth, but stop midway realizing that was a bad idea. "… Shoot!"
He didn't want to burn down the mansion and as he stopped his attack he accidently burnt his tongue prompting him to shout in pain for a second and wave his hands on his tongue like a wave to cool his tongue.
"Ittai, ittai, ittai!" Chris winced as Patchouli had a look of disappointment.
OK… maybe not so reliable… she thought as the ECHO ran down the hallway into the darkness losing sight of it.
"Why did you stop you attack?" asked Patchouli as she approach Chris as he used his Ki technique of healing on his tongue.
"Well if I used my Fire Style technique and breathe fire here I could torch the walls or worse! Burn down the mansion!" Chris said with a worried face.
"You did that for that sole reason?" she perked her brow up.
"Well, yeah, someone here has to clean the place right? And since it's so big I don't want to cause them any trouble by my careless reckless, plus it's a very beautiful mansion so I rather not damage it for their sake," Chris said rubbing the back of his head and looking away shyly.
Patchouli eyes widen for a second and slowly melted into a smile. "You're a very kind person, not many people are that sincere."
Chris looked down to the floor, embarrassed as his cheeks heated up. "A-Anyway, we have to go after that ECHO! I can't let it get away!"
On that note Chris sheathe his swords and dashed as high-speeds, a burst of gust erupted where he once stood, leaving a baffled and confused Patchouli.
"He… he's just as fast as that tengu…" Patchouli winced, once again surprised. "And he forgot he left me behind… what a troublesome boy…"
Patchouli quickly ascends into the air and chases after them.
The original Chris was hurrying back to the main entrance to the mansion, remember which direction he took, and proceed to where his replica was as it conjured up another replica to tell him where he is and where the ECHO was.
"This is getting ridiculous! I got to get rid of that ECHO pronto!" Chris exclaimed.
The suddenly he stopped and his head perked up. His replica dispersed.
The information rushed to him, the ECHO shot out what appeared to be white knifes from its body at blinding speed as his replica as his swords were locked with the ECHO's hands as the knifes pierced his body slashing through his guts and one knife slashing through his heart.
Chris winced and placed his hand over his gut and then his heart. The feeling of something like that was uncomfortable, prompted it wasn't enough to kill him but the slight sensation was very daunting.
"That isn't a pleasant feeling…" Chris stuttered, his body started to feel numb for a bit. "But there's no time!"
Chris hustles back to the entrance, the familiar foyer coming into focus as the ECHO was at the other end of the hallway.
A flash of silver flew passed in front of Chris almost hitting him on the side of his face prompting him to stop dead in his tracks, a whoosh of air following it as Chris looked on where the knife landed. Where did that come from?
Wasn't that the same type of knife used by the ECHO used on his replica? Chris quickly turned his head around to glare back at the ECHO, who threw the knife, but what he saw wasn't the ECHO but a maid with silver hair, with long braids on her sides tied with a green bows at the end, and with her arm stretched out as she slowly retracts it.
The look in her dark blue eyes was surprising cold as she looks into Chris's eyes, who stood there blinking with a innocent expression.
She is wearing a pink and dark blue French maid outfit, mostly dark blue, with short sleeves, a white apron, and a white maid headband on top of her head. Chris's face blushed slightly, she is remarkably beautiful like the other girls here, each with their own unique beautiful, and would of even be more so if she smiled.
Truth be told, Chris had a slight maid fetish but shook his head slightly snapping him out of his daze. He realizes he's in a bad situation right now.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she coldly stated.
"Urm… me? My name is Christopher Trevas Corona, but you can call me Chris. And who might you be miss maid?" said Chris with a wryly smile as he bowed respectfully.
"Hmm…" she hummed. She look a little more relaxed now but still had a cold glare, thinking if she should answer him. "I am Sakuya Izayoi, the head maid here, and I'll ask again. What are you doing here?"
She took out a knife from her pocket, signaling him if he did anything suspicious she would knife him down. Dang, he wished he didn't leave Patchouli alone now after booking it after the ECHO.
"I came in here chasing after a black monster and I've been searching for it since, but I've lost track of it," said Chris explaining his situation truthfully.
"Hmmm… I haven't seen any black monsters that you speak of," said Sakuya, "However since you're an intruder I'll have to deal with you."
Right on cue after she said that she threw the knife at Chris, taking him by surprise.
As the knife got closer to Chris he caught the tip of the blade between his index and middle fingers of his right hand, and irritated by the sudden attack without proper explanation, Chris hurled the blade back with unparallel speed and strength that the maid instinctively knew of the danger before he threw it and step out of the way as the blade was sticking out in the wall behind her where her head was.
She turned her head to see where the blade was, utterly surprised and taken aback as she didn't expect the boy to do that, as the wall shown cracks around where the blade hit. She winced she'll have to fix that later as she returned her gaze on the mysterious intruder before her.
Chris perked up with a shock and worried expression on his face, causing Sakuya to look at him strangely.
"I am so sorry! I-I didn't mean to do that, honestly! You just took me by surprise by that attack and I got a little angry and threw it back without realizing how much power put into it! I'm sorry!" Chris frantically waved his hands in the air in a comical apologetic manner and bowed as well.
"Eh… in anyway case I still have to deal with you. I need to prepare the mistress's meal soon so let's wrap this up quickly," said Sakuya as she pulled out a set of knifes in between her fingers, with three blades in each hand as she dashed forward.
Chris sighed in an aggravated tone as he pulled out his twin swords, how in the world was he going to fix this misunderstanding?
Sakuya threw a wave of knifes at Chris as he parried them away with his swords and slashed the air creating an air turret at Sakuya as she gracefully back flips away from the sudden gust of wind as Chris quickly closes the gap with extraordinary catching Sakuya off guard a little bit as she pulled out a pair of knifes in reverse grip and parry against Chris's swords in his reverse grip style.
The two danced with their blades, sparks of silver light erupted into the air with each collision of the blades slashing in a circular arc, horizontal arc, and vertical arc as Sakuya jumps over Chris's head and throws her knifes at him as Chris spun himself around like a saw with his blades parrying the knifes away.
"Fire Style: Fireball!" roared Chris as he performed his usual hand sign and shot a burst of flames from his mouth as the room was big enough for him to shot his flames but limited it size that could engulf a human male's torso to make sure he didn't burn the place.
Sakuya wasn't expecting this, a human breathing fire in front of her as she side steps away with Chris doing a follow-up attack with his Wind Style: Air Slash pushing Sakuya away.
"What are you?" she asked in astonishment looking surprised.
Chris looked at her seriously then his eyes widen in shock. "The vase!"
Sakuya turned her head around to see the mistress's favorite vase about to fall from the table, because of Chris's Air Slash attack.
"Illusion Image: Luna Clock!"
A magic clock-shaped circle appeared behind her Sakuya and the entire room turned blue, everything frozen in time. This is Sakuya's special ability, time manipulation which she can also use to bend space to a certain degree. She slowly walks over to where the vase was about to hit the floor and place it back onto the table.
"And now for the intruder…" She muttered to herself as she pulled out her knifes.
"Whoa! You can stop time? That's awesome!"
Sakuya turned around utterly astonished to see the black-haired boy in red looking around with amazement in his eyes seeing the world around him frozen. She blinked. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. How come her ability didn't work on him?
"I see now… you use your time manipulation ability to bend space as well to expand the hallways of this mansion. That's interesting," said Chris with interest with his hand under his chin.
"Y-You… you've figured out about the space manipulation portion of my ability?" Sakuya asked in shock, her calm and composed nature earlier was now rewritten with pure astonishment and confusion.
"Yeah… wait a minute? If you can stop time then how am I not affect by your technique?" Chris asked now realizing he should also be frozen in time, he too was surprise by this turn of events.
"I like to know that answer as well since this is a special ability of mine's," said Sakuya returning to her calm and compose attitude.
"I see…" Chris plainly said.
How am I doing this… it's like I have an ability canceling power… is this because of that Divine Darkness form? Is that way? Chris thought to himself, after transforming into that form and reverting back to his normal self his body felt strange and weird since then.
"Unfortunately I have a meal to prepare so please go down quickly and quietly," declared Sakuya as she readies herself to attack once more.
"Wait a minute! Hold on, let me explain better! I'm not here to cause trouble!" cried Chris trying to get the maid to change her mind.
However she didn't listen as she dashes in to attack again. Chris brought up his sword to block the attack and threw a roundhouse kick at her side which she blocked with her shin and brought her knife down towards Chris's chest but he bent himself out of the way and electricity started to circulate around his body.
"Thunder Style: Lightning Ripple!"
Sakuya backed away as Chris's body shot out danger high-level voltage outward. How many different skills does he possess?
She tosses that thought aside and pulls out more knifes once again and threw them.
Chris thought to himself, in that Divine Darkness form he used against Levin he also stopped time. Maybe he could…?
He raised his hand into the air, after sheathing his sword.
"TIME STOP!" he shouted.
A blue sphere encased the knifes as a semi-transparent clock shaped object projecting itself around the sphere and disappearing.
Sakuya's eyes widen with shock and Chris smirked, he couldn't believe it worked!
"You… you can also manipulate time!" she was verbally astonished.
"I guess…" Chris chuckled, but sudden fell ill and kneeled to the ground. He coughed out some blood from his body as an unbearable pain radiated throughout his body.
OK I guess I can't use my Divine Darkness's time stop ability without causing severe damage to my body… and it seems weaker too! Chris gritted his teeth as he heals himself with his Ki Cure but it couldn't heal the more intense pain. His time stop ability stopped working the moment he felt pain and the knifes fell from the air which Sakuya slowly walks over to pick them up.
Sakuya perked an eyebrow and studied the boy in front of her as he slowly gets back up. "It seems like you can't really use time manipulation without some sort of drawback. Unfortunately for you this is the end."
"Sakuya please wait," a female voice called out.
Sakuya instinctively stopped and look passed Chris as the boy did the same and saw Patchouli standing near the hallway and slowly approaches the two. Chris finally caught his breath and starting to feel slightly better now, but was still in pain as he wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Lady Patchouli, what are you doing here?" asked Sakuya respectfully, wondering why she was out of the library at this hour.
"I was with him until he ditched me earlier to pursue that ECHO monster that's lurking around here," said Patchouli giving Chris an annoyed look prompting him to cast his face away in ashamed.
"Sorry about that Patchouli, I just had to get rid of the ECHO as soon as possible," apologized Chris with his head down.
"It's alright, but please do remember when they're people with you. I understand your want to stop this little creature," Patchouli consent Chris as the black-haired boy scratched his nose in a shy way.
"Sakuya, I understand it's your job to deal with any intruders who enter the mansion uninvitedly but please excuse him. He's trying to help, this ECHO monster is already caused trouble by putting graffiti on the wall," explained Patchouli.
"Excuse me!" Sakuya's eyes widen with shock and angry. Her face tensed up with a dark expression, she wasn't happy one bit hearing that.
"Don't worry, he cleaned it up already," Patchouli gestured over to Chris waving his hand towards Sakuya as she looked at him baffled a bit.
Chris nervously rubs the back of his head as Sakuya studies him.
"I see… I owe you an apologize," she said as she bowed with a much softer look on her face now smiling at Chris. Apparently he got on her good side by cleaning the mess up.
Chris frantically waved his hand in the air. "No, you don't have to! You were just doing your job, I have nothing against you for that! It's my fault anyway, I didn't stop the ECHO in time and I enter without permission."
"I see, but let me ask you this. What was the gatekeeper doing at this time?" Sakuya asked with a dark look in her eyes.
Chris nervously chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.
"I see, I'll have to punish her later," she said sternly as she closed her eyes.
"Sorry," Chris apologized.
"Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong," spoke Sakuya with a warm smile this time.
Chris's heart melted a little from that. Damn his slight maid fetish, and her beauty wasn't helping him relax either.
"Well… I should have woke her up when I had the chance and now she's getting to get in trouble because of me now," sighed Chris dishearten.
Sakuya tilted her head curiously. "There's no need to worry besides she's not that easy to wake unless I'm there or you know how to wake her."
"I know, but," Chris said as he scratches the side of his head and looks away shyly. "It just puts me I in a spot when I see or know when people suffer around me."
His mannerisms and the way he said it made both Sakuya and Patchouli blush a little. He was quite cute sometimes.
Sakuya giggled. "You're quite the cute young man aren't you?"
"N-No am I not! I'm not cute at unlike you who's very beautiful!" Chris blurted out as he rubs the back of his head in embarrassment in a very cute manner.
Sakuya's face started to turn beet red looking very surprised by the sudden comment, she wasn't expecting him to say that. Even Patchouli was surprised. The way he said it and the charming atmosphere around him made the effect of his words stronger.
Chris took note of Sakuya's fluster face and a worried look etched into his features. "Is there something wrong? I honestly meant what I said about you being beautiful, or did I say something wrong?"
Sakuya stood there with a blank stare and chuckled to herself. "You didn't do anything wrong, but you do have a way with words."
"Sorry! I hope I didn't disrespect you in any way!" Chris sadly said and bowed towards Sakuya. "Please forgive me if I said anything wrong."
"You did nothing wrong," said Sakuya, her face visibly red still. "Now then about this creature you've been searching for?"
"ECHO!" a screeched came out from the other hallway as all three heads turned in the direction of the sound as they see the ECHO monster running along with a paintbrush painting the walls with green paint.
Sakuya's face lit up with angry and threw a knife inches before the ECHO's head as it stopped to see where the knife came from and smiled an evil grin.
"I'll have to clean that later," she irritatedly said and pointed another knife at the ECHO, "I'll have to finish this up quickly, I still have to prepare the mistress's meal."
The ECHO laughed and clapped its hands together and vanished into the shadow below. Both Sakuya and Patchouli were taken aback from his as the shadow hurried passed them towards the entrance as it popped out from the ground.
"You're not getting away this time!" yelled Chris as he readies his twin swords.
"I'm bored anyway, let's fight! I could use a good punching bag right now, echo!" laughed the ECHO Vocals as it positions itself into a defense position.
"Patchouli-san, sorry to trouble you let this but can you stand back?" asked Chris without turning his back. "Let me and Sakuya handle this, if it's OK with you Sakuya-san?"
"Very well, I'll stand back but if this gets any worse I'm jumping in," pouted Patchouli having to come all this way just to watch.
"I have nothing against that proposal, it will be quicker this way," said Sakuya as she pulled out her knifes.
Both Chris and Sakuya sprinted to each side of the ECHO's body as the ECHO's hands shot out Sakuya's knifes from its body.
"Why are my…?" Sakuya asked visibly disturbed by this.
"We'll explain later! We have to stop it!" exclaimed Chris as he threw a slash at the black creature's head which the ECHO's head jumped into the air making it seem like Chris cut its head off as it landed back down on its body laughing away as a few silver lights almost hit it in the face.
The ECHO jumped back and its body started to form a strange box around its chest.
"Now what's it doing?" Chris asked as he perked his eyebrow up.
"Wait a minute…! That looks just like!" Patchouli cried out.
The ECHO grinned. "Love Sign…"
Chris and Sakuya's eyes widen, there's no way!
"Master Spark!"
A familiar beam shot from the box-shaped in its chest. Sakuya moved out of the way as Chris centered himself in front of it which both Sakuya and Patchouli gave him an odd look.
"What are you doing!" cried Patchouli as she pulled out a spell card.
A familiar cluster of energy circulated around Chris's hands and he pulled his hands behind him and threw them out it at the ECHO.
"CHAOS BEAM!"
Chris fired his signature red and black collided with the ECHO's version of the Master Spark. A rematch with the beam and spark assured once again however Chris's beam pierced through the ECHO's attack and exploded on impact knocking the black creature away.
"What are you…?" Sakuya started to ask visibly surprised.
"This? I'm a Ki manipulator, though I do have other abilities, this is my favorite technique I developed during my Ki training. This is nothing!" Chris smiled.
Sakuya hummed to herself. He wouldn't make a bad gatekeeper… at least he's focus on the task at hand and is willingly to carry out his job to the end…
The ECHO slowly got up and rubbed its head, feeling the pain from that attack. Chris admit it was stronger than the ones he fought against back home, but noticed something.
"That's a bit interesting, you're still a young one right? Is that really the max power of using other's abilities?" Chris cheekily said. "Seems to me you use weaker version of other people's abilities now matter how much of their emotions you're born from."
"Shut up, echo!" yelled the ECHO in angry.
"Born from emotions?" Sakuya perked a brow.
"Yeah, basically we gave birth to these creatures. As long as we're happy or sad or angry things creatures called 'ECHOES' will be born from them, they're a fusion of everyone's emotions," Chris briefly explained to Sakuya.
Sakuya winced with disgust. "I gave birth to that thing?"
"Though that raises another question, Marisa uses a box to use that attack and Sakuya's knifes are just weapons. I'm pretty sure those are non-living being unless… the love and care put into taking care of it would also take into effect with your birth?" Chris prompted the question as he analyzes the ECHO's ability.
Very quick-witted and sharp perceived skills… he's not bad, Patchouli thought still with a card in her hand.
Chris raised his sword to attack. "Now then let's…!"
"Sakuya, what's going on? Why am I hearing strange noises in my mansion at this time?" a refined female voice spoke.
Everyone turned their attention to the young lady at the top of the stairs, an air of refinement and dignity aura surrounded her.
She appeared to be around the age of ten or so years old, yet Chris could tell she was older than that, with a slight pale complexion. She was very cute and beautiful at the same time to Chris.
Her scarlet red eyes stood out elegantly with her light-blue hair, a fang jutting slightly over her lower lips, wearing a pink mop hat and a dress to match with bright red trimming, and finally a pair of bat-like wings extended from her back which was bigger than her. Wait… wings?
"Mistress! Please forgive me, I'm dealing with small annoyance at this moment. I will prepare your meal immediately after this," said Sakuya as she bowed towards the young lady on top of the stairs.
"Annoyance?" the mistress said as she perked her eyebrow up looking at the scene before her.
"That would be me, echo!" the black creature raised its hand to notify it was the troublemaker.
That's real subtle… Chris thought as he narrowed his eyes.
"So you're the one who's causing trouble. Sakuya, make sure to thoroughly get rid of it and prepare the maids to clean up the mess after you're done," she spoke with authority and charismatic way Chris was a little nervous.
"Yes mistress," Sakuya responded with a bow.
"And by the way, who is this?" said the mistress pointing at Chris.
Chris gestured to himself, with a nervous look. "Me?"
The girl smiled. "You're someone I haven't seen before and I'm curious why a human is here… though I do have to say your clothing style is quite… interesting."
Chris shyly smiled the comment about his clothes, it didn't sound like she was making fun of his clothes and she was curious about them.
"My name is Christopher Trevas Corona, but you can call me Chris," Chris spoke as he rubs the back of his head, "And I came in here after that creature over there. Sorry for not detaining it beforehand."
"Is that so?" the girl spoke sounding a little uninterested.
"By the way… you're a vampire right?" Chris asked with his eyes widen.
The girl gave him a mischievous smile and look in her eyes. "Indeed I am, am I Remilia Scarlet, the lady of this mansion. Are you scared of vampires?"
Chris blinked his eyes a few times. "That's…"
Patchouli looked over to Chris as well as Sakuya curious about his response.
"That's just totally awesome! A real vampire, cool!" he shouted in glee with stars in his eyes with his hands brought up in an excited manner.
Sakuya and Patchouli were taken aback, they were not expecting a human to be so… excited meeting a vampire and with such enthusiasm as well.
"You're not scared or worried that she's a vampire?" asked Patchouli slightly stun by Chris's reaction as he shook his head. Will he ever stop being full of surprises?
The one calling herself Remilia's eyes widen in surprise, but slowly converted to a mischievous smile.
"This is surprising. You don't mind I'm a vampire?"
"Not at all! Your place is very beautiful too, you have quite the excellent taste, I like it! Sorry for not stopping the little guy over there from entering this place," Chris replied with a warm smile.
Remilia giggled. "I'm glad to hear it meets your approval, and though I'm not interested in most humans and they usual faint from that sight of me. You've gotten my attention Chris."
Was it me or did that sound kinda childish? That… was kinda cute… Chris smiled.
"I hate to break it to you, but we got the small problem over there?" Patchouli spoken up as she pointed towards the ECHO who decided to take a nap while they talked.
For whatever reason, Remilia looked quite mad. "It… It dares sleep in my presence? Sakuya… I don't want a single trace of it left behind, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes mistress," Sakuya answered.
With that Sakuya dashed over to where the ECHO was.
"Wait! I'll help too!" shouted Chris as he joins in with Remilia looking over him with great interest.
The ECHO suddenly snapped from its sleep with a yawn and jumped away as Sakuya threw her knifes at it, Sakuya decided to close the gap between them and started to slash away at the ECHO but it blocked her attacks with its arms. The sound it make when the knifes collided with its arm were like metal hitting metal.
Sakuya was about to pull out a spell card when the ECHO reached out toward her with its hand for curiosity for some reason grabbing a peculiar spot.
The ECHO grabbed her left chest.
Everyone froze in the room. Sakuya winced with surprise and disbelief, along with Chris, Remilia, and Patchouli. The ECHO just groped her and it was feeling her chest.
"C-Cup… not a bad size, thought it was a B-Cup for a second," said the ECHO with a pervert smirk in a very familiar mannerism Chris recognized which caused him to wince.
Even though you're not here… a part of you is still here Alvin… Chris wince with that thought being a few feet away from Sakuya and the ECHO were as he planted his palm into his forehand.
"I did not need to hear that!" complained Chris shouting at the ECHO as it let go of Sakuya's chest.
Sakuya slightly glared at Chris, irritated and embarrassed that a boy was presence to that, and gave the ECHO the most cold-heart dark glare at it with a very dangerous aura surrounding her.
"You… how dare you!" yelled Sakuya with an anime angry pulse over her head as she sweeps away at the ECHO prompting it to jump away from her attack laughing all the way towards the door. She pulled out a card and 'crushed' it as the card shatter and materialized something in Sakuya's hands.
"Cutting Soul: Soul Sculpture!"
In Sakuya's hands were five knifes each and she started swinging them wildly yet in a elegant motion as they came hurling towards the ECHO at blinding speed giving off violent energy from them increasing their range of attack as the ECHO tries dodging all of them.
The ECHO brutally took on the assault, but suddenly smiled to which Sakuya didn't care as she continue to pummel the black creature with her knifes.
"Illusion Image: Luna Clock! Echo!" shrieked the ECHO Vocals as the world slowly turned blue as everyone's face became shock by the move the ECHO used as the ECHO shot out a small energy ball of its mouth.
"Sakuya-san!" Chris cried out as he grabbed her waist before the effect of time spell took and pulled her away from the attack in time however it nicked Chris's fingers on his left hand.
The ECHO clicked its tongue in annoyance as the time spell didn't affect Chris as the world became blue, however Sakuya was also unaffected by the time spell. Sakuya looked around and as astonished that she could move knowing only the user of this effect can move around, even if the victim shared the same ability, and people within the sphere it activated can move around the user as well.
"How?" Sakuya asked.
"I guess it must be me, I don't know why but I'm not affected by your ability and since I grabbed you in time as guess the same rules apply to you. Here let me help you up," said Chris as he extended his hand and helped Sakuya get back on her feet letting go of Chris's hand.
She was still not affect by the spell. What a strange boy…
"Thank you," smiled Sakuya and returned her glare at the ECHO.
"What you did earlier was uncalled for! A gentleman should always respect a lady!" yelled Chris with a fist in the air.
The ECHO looked confused. "Gentleman? We ECHOES are genderless, we're just energy beings anyway and we don't reproduce."
"Oh… that's interesting?" Chris said in an unsure tone in a statement rather than a question.
"Not only did you have the nerve to ruin the mansion walls with graffiti, you prevent me from fixing the mistress's meal… and… and… violated me! I'll make sure you're punished severely," said Sakuya with a dark glare as she pulled out another knife.
How many knifes does she have on her? Chris thought with a sweatdrop on the side of his head.
"Forget this! Fighting too many people is too boring!" the ECHO whined as it snapped its fingers and time began to flow normally.
Remilia and Patchouli stood there blinking, they remember what attack the creature used.
"How in the world did it use Sakuya's ability?" asked Remilia quite surprised.
"I'll have to explain later, but first that creature must disappear first," spoke Patchouli.
"Now let's do it again! Illusion Image…" the ECHO grinned. This time it was going to freeze everyone in time and then attack Chris alone.
"No you don't stop…!" Chris cried as he reached his hand out.
The moment he did that it felt like the world around him became like glass and shattered around him, like he broke something just from extending his hand out.
"Luna Clock! Echo!" shouted the ECHO in glee, but nothing happened. "Eh… echo?"
Everyone also looked around, the world didn't turn blue or anything and everyone was still moving around.
"Hey, hey! Echo! What's going now! Why can't I freeze time again! And why can't I feel my other abilities!" cried the ECHO looking at its body in distress.
Chris looked at his hand. Did I just do that? Does that mean I can use this… Ability Cancel… to prevent anyone from using their abilities?
"I have a feeling it was you," said Sakuya looking over to Chris, "But now we have a chance to finally rid us of this nuisance."
Sakuya pulled out her knifes again and attacked the ECHO as the black creature backs away to the door. It was in trouble now as Sakuya relentlessly attack the ECHO by throwing, slashing, and even kicking at the ECHO without giving it a chance to breath.
Suddenly the creature grabbed Sakuya's arm with a powerful grip causing her to wince and stare at the creature's sudden speed and power.
"Ah! I feel my powers coming back again, echo!" smiled the ECHO in an evil grin.
Chris winced as he just stood there not wanting to get in the maid's way. So it lasted only for a few seconds… so it temporarily disables their abilities, but for how long exactly? I know I did it on impulse and so of my energy left me… if I put more in…
"Buh-bye, echo!" shouted the ECHO as it spun Sakuya around and tossed her at high-speeds towards the wall near the hallway where Patchouli was, the force of the speed could easily shattered her spine. The maid was taken by complete surprise and the speed of the throw prevented her from reaching for her spell cards or knifes.
"Sakuya!" cried Remilia as she flies toward her, even knowing that she couldn't reach her in time, to save her.
Moments before Sakuya hit the wall, Chris appeared behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Sakuya's eyes widen in shock as Chris took the blow for her smashing into the wall, leaving a small crater embedded into it with many cracks circling around it. Still holding her around her waist he didn't let go as he and Sakuya slide down the wall.
"Why did you?" Sakuya asked quite surprise that he manage to catch her in time despite being the furthest away.
Even Remilia, staying in midair, was astonished as Patchouli was the least surprise knowing how fast the boy was beforehand.
"It's… always got to be… my back…" Chris winced as he lets go of Sakuya and gets up.
I swear I can take a beating like no other! If there's a true blue sadist in this world, that person will have a field day with me! Chris complained in pain rubbing his back as he got him.
"Here," Chris said offering his hand to help Sakuya.
"Thank you, but how you are alive? That should've broken you spine!" Sakuya pointed out.
"Trust me I've been put through way worse than that! Besides this was a minor injury nothing more," said Chris shaking off the pain and visibly returning to normal like it never happened to him.
Everyone started at him.
"What?" he perked up. Did he do something?
"Are you… even human?" Patchouli was the one to ask.
"Yeah… except I got many abilities. Why do you ask?" Chris looked at her innocently not knowing what was wrong.
"Nevermind," Patchouli shook her head.
"That's it! Time for the Wall of Sound!" roared the ECHO as it leaped into the air.
Chris flinched, he knew how vicious that attack!
"Sakuya! Can you stop time for a moment and open the front doors please?" asked Chris looking very worried and serious.
"Yes… but what are you planning?" she asked not knowing the danger of the ECHO's attack.
"Please hurry! We can't let it use that attack!" Chris said as he sheathed his swords.
Sakuya nodded and froze time again just as the ECHO was about to open its mouth and she hurried over to the front doors and opened them.
"They're open…" calmly said Sakuya as she looked over to see Chris charging up a red and black sphere around his hands which he pulled back behind him.
I see… that's what he's planning… and he's making sure not to damage the mansion at the time. Sakuya thought impressed with him with a smile. He would definitely be useful as a gatekeeper.
"Sakuya!" Chris said as he jumped into the air getting right in front of the ECHO.
She nodded and snapped her fingers prompting time to return to the flow.
The ECHO was about to attack as it noticed Chris right in front of him.
"Echo! Echo!" it cried realizing it was dead meat at the moment.
"CHAOS… BEAM!"
A familiar burst of Ki shot from his hand and engulfed the ECHO's entire being in the attack as the beam shot out of the mansion like a shooting star as it slowly disperse along with the ECHO Vocals that got hit by the attack. Chris slowly descends to the ground panting, he practically used almost all of his Ki into that attack.
"OK… crisis averted," said Chris as he wiped the sweat off his face.
"Thank you, now I can proceed with making the mistress's meal tonight," said Sakuya with a smile however she looked at the wall behind her still with green paint on it. "But I'll have to clean the graffiti off of the walls first, that thing causes more trouble than a certain person."
"It what!" Remilia cried out as she looked at the walls behind her as she descended to the ground. "That little…! Well that's what it gets for disrespect me and mansion!"
"Sorry about that! I'll clean that up, it's my fault for not stopping it from coming in here," Chris bowed.
"It's fine I'll clean it up. You've done enough for us tonight, you don't have worry," said Sakuya as she gave Chris a smile to reassure him.
"Oh please you really don't have to bow like that," chuckled Remilia watching Chris bow before her yet Chris felt like she enjoyed it going by her tone.
Chris gave her a warm smile then he winced in pain and looked at his left hand. He noticed a small cut on his index finger where the ECHO's energy attack hit. He was surprise that it actually gave him a cut and he was slightly bleeding too.
"Are you alright?" asked Sakuya as she notices the cut on his finger.
"Yeah, just a small cut. Nothing major… eh? Lady Remilia? Are you OK?" asked Chris as he noticed a strange look appearing on Remilia's face as she sniffed the air.
Remilia eyes widen like she was in a trace, her eyes becoming half-closed as she smelled the air with a dreamy expression. A strange smile etched onto her features as she looks at Chris with very playfully and hungry eyes, walking slowly towards him with a mischief humming.
"Eh? Lady Remilia?" Chris asked once more worried about her.
"What a magnificent aroma…" Remilia said as she inserted Chris's wounded index finger into her mouth.
Chris's face flushed and jump back in anime surprise, baffled by Remilia's sudden behavior. She was sucking and licking on his finger in a very suggestive way.
"L-Lady Remilia! What are you doing?" cried Chris as Remilia sucked his fingers, tasting his blood with every slurp.
"Mistress!" Sakuya surprised by her mistress sudden demeanor. Never in her life has she seen the mistress behave in such a way.
"Remilia? What's gotta into you?" Patchouli inquired as she watched her friend lick Chris's finger.
Remilia slowly let go of Chris's finger and licked her lips in satisfaction, still looking at him with a playfully hungry look.
"Chris…" she said in a sultry enchanting tone as she wraps her arms around his head.
"Lady Remilia? What are you?" Chris feared the answer as he had a gut feeling what she was doing.
"Can I drink your blood? I promise I won't bite too hard or deep," asked Remilia innocently in a playfully manner unlike her earlier attitude.
"Wait… you really shouldn't… Sakuya still has…" Chris started to say but he was slightly hypnotized by Remilia's charm and beauty of her words and manners.
Remilia apparently didn't hear him as she bite down into his neck gently and started sucking his blood.
"Ahh!" Chris cried out in pain.
"Delicious…" Remilia muttered as she drank Chris's blood, surprisingly not spilling a single drop and consuming more than she usually does. Stimulated by the smell and taste of Chris's blood, Remilia could not control herself.
"Mistress!"
"Remilia!"
Remilia snapped out from her daze as she lets go of Chris and jumps back onto the ground with a slightly embarrassed look.
"Ah! I got my blood sucked out by a cute vampire girl!" cried Chris running back and forth in the back in a semi-chibi appearance holding the spot where Remilia bit down.
"Remilia, why did you do that?" asked Patchouli shocked that her friend behaved in a way she never saw her before.
"I couldn't help myself. I've never tasted blood like his blood before! The aroma, the taste, everything was top quality!" said Remilia as she had her hands on her cheeks in a happy fulfilling manner. "I don't care if I was full I wanted more! It was intoxicating, he's definitely my new favorite blood type!"
"Well I do exercise and I always eat healthy, making sure to eat two cups of vegetables during lunch and dinner," said Chris holding his neck as he walked back to the trio.
"Are you alright Chris?" asked Patchouli surprise that he's still standing after that.
"Yeah… I still have plenty of blood left… I think," nervously laughed Chris.
"Still mistress, in all my years working for you I've never seen give into your urge to feed like that," stated Sakuya worried about her mistress's behavior.
"Don't be such a worrywart Sakuya, it was my first time having blood like his before. I'll manage next time," Remilia playfully said as she licked her lips.
"Don't behave like a little kid, Remilia. You could've killed him!" pouted Patchouli disappointed.
"You're only saying that because I'm short! If I was bigger it would be different!" shot back Remilia getting slightly angry.
"But bigger isn't always better, you should stay the way you are," interrupted Chris.
"Excuse me? What do you mean?" Remilia's tone suggested she didn't like what she heard from the boy.
"Well I know you're small, but I think that's a good thing! I prefer you the way you are, your height compliments your radiate appearance which I believe makes you very beautiful Lady Remilia! Getting taller will only take away that beauty," Chris said with a beaming warm smile. "I honestly believe that."
Remilia's face started heated up with a blank stare, no one has ever complimented her before he has especially a human. She was at a loss of words.
"W-Well I suppose it's not too bad being short…" muttered Remilia nonchalantly trying to hide her blush.
Even Sakuya and Patchouli surprised. This has never happen before.
He managed to make Remilia blush on their first meeting? Just who is this boy? Patchouli pondered.
To get on the mistress good side like that… I'm astonished… I wouldn't mind if he stayed here for a while to help around the mansion… Sakuya thought with a gentle expression.
"THERE YOU ARE!" shouted a female voice that drew everyone's attention, a voice Chris was all to accustom towards.
Chris looked behind him and saw Reimu, panting heavily, standing in the open doorway looking at him with death glares.
"Reimu? What are you…" Chris said until he remembered why Reimu was after him switching from his blank and curious expression to a panicked one. "Oh shoot! Now I remember!"
Apparently that was the worst thing to say in the situation he was in right now.
"YOU! You dare forget what you did today! Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you!" Reimu was very angry with a bloodlust aura appearing around her.
"Now Reimu let's calm down!" Chris tried to reason with her using hands to gesture her to calm herself.
"What did you do to her?" asked Remilia was she, Sakuya, and Patchouli are completely astonished that Reimu was looking for him with angry in her eyes.
Chris winced. "You said you've been looking for me for long time? What took you so long to do that?"
"I didn't expect you to be here at the Scarlet Devil Mansion! I thought you either went to Marisa's house or the Human Village," shouted Reimu pointed at Chris, "But that doesn't matter anymore! You wasted my entire afternoon today where I could've stay at the shrine having some tea and waiting for a donation but you… you and Marisa had to destroy MY DONATION BOX!"
Remilia, Sakuya, and Patchouli eyes froze with horror and slowly looked at Chris with such a disbelief stare.
"You…"
"Destroyed…"
"Her…"
"Donation box?"
In the order they spoke: Remilia, Sakuya, Patchouli, and finally all of the together.
They stood there not believing what they heard.
Remilia was the first one to speak up. "Are you mental or something!"
"It was an accident, but it was my fault entirely even though Marisa had a small hand in it! I didn't expect that the Master Spark I deflect with my hand would…" Chris started to say.
"Y-You… you deflected Marisa's Master Spark with your bare hand?" Patchouli was even more shock than before.
"Yes I know! I was surprise too during their little sparring match! Not as much as he beat her in that match too!" explained Reimu remembering the event.
"You beat… Marisa in a sparring match?" Remilia perked up at Chris, she seemed more amused by this than shock.
"Yeah, I kinda surprised her with my skills. Anyway where's Marisa?" asked Chris since they're talking about her.
"If you're wondering where she is, she's right here!" said Reimu as she tossed a body to the ground. It was Marisa tied up and with a piece of cloth stuck into her mouth with many needles and cards sticking out of her head. She was completed knocked out and her clothes tattered.
For whatever reason Remilia snickered at the sight and Patchouli smiled with a victories look on her face.
"And I even asked this one if she saw you as well!"
Reimu threw another body of a girl with blue-haired girl with a blue ribbon tied to her head in a white and blue dress, and what looked like icicle wings coming out from her back, tied up in a similar manner like Marisa.
"You involved innocent bystanders in this as well!" Chris cried. He could understand her want to punish him, but she shouldn't involve other people into this who had nothing to do with this.
"Well she didn't make much sense except a 'red blur' vanished in front of her and then I saw a familiar red and black beam coming for the mansion and I knew it was you!" Reimu pointed at Chris.
So this was moments ago… Chris thought.
"But now that I finally found you…" shouted Reimu as she pulled out her gohei and gave that same eerie smile, "It's time for you to be properly punished for the death of my donation box!"
But it was a box… it wasn't alive…
"W-Wait, wait a minute Reimu! You're tired aren't you?" Chris asked as he noticed her breathing more heavily now his face becoming worried.
"Why should you care! You're going to punish you anyway, but yes I'm tired but that's not going to stop me!" yelled Reimu as she pulled out her cards.
"Just wait a minute, can you at least hear me out? I have a proposal for you and you can rest will I explain," pleaded Chris.
He's trying to reason with Reimu when she's in this state? He's either very brave or very foolish right now… Sakuya thought seeing how this will turn out.
What's he up to? Well I could use a good rest and he doesn't look like he'll run away… Reimu thought it over and looked at Chris with a little less taxed look.
"Fine, I'll hear you out but it better be good!" said Reimu as she sat down.
She agreed? This boy is very lucky right now… Patchouli thought.
"Thank you! But first," Chris said as he bowed in an apologetic manner towards Reimu. "I want to apologize for destroying your donation, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it and I take full responsibility for it."
"O-OK…" Reimu replied starting to feel a little bit guilty she was going to punish him.
"And to make it up to you, let me fix or build you a new donation box! I promise you, and I'll make it 10x better! Are you alright with that?" Chris said eagerly pitching his proposal at Reimu.
Reimu's face lit up a bit. "You'll build me a new donation box? You promise?"
"Of course! I never break any of my promises!" Chris smiled.
Reimu thought it over. It would be troublesome to get a new donation box after punishing Chris and having him make her a new one was quite tempting. She stood up and stared hard at Chris with a serious look then slowly her face relaxed in a more gentler look.
"Alright it's a deal, but you better make sure you do a good job!" Reimu sternly said.
Remilia giggled to herself. He is a very lucky boy right now…
Chris was happy and excited to hear that he shook Reimu's hand which surprised her to say the least. "Thank you so much Reimu! I'll get started right aw… eh?"
Chris's started to feel light-headed and his vision blurring, his body swaying back and forth.
"Chris? What's wrong!" asked Reimu worried by the sudden change of demeanor of Chris.
"I don't know why… but I suddenly feel… so light-headed," said Chris and he collapsed on his back to the ground.
"Chris! What the hell happen to him!" Reimu panicked as she went over to his side and noticed a small pair of bite marks on his neck and glared at Remilia.
"Oh! So sorry about that! He's blood was just so… delicious and I was very hungry I just couldn't resist. He's definitely my new favorite from now on," said Remilia as her cheeks heated up not feeling bad about sucking Chris's blood.
"Plus he wasted a lot of energy and smashed him into the wall so the fatigue finally caught up to him," Patchouli pointed out as she recalls all of the events that's happen to Chris.
"He smashed…! *sigh* I guess I have no choice, I'll have to bring him back to the shrine again," said Reimu as she carried Chris over her back, to her surprise he was much lighter than she thought.
"Sakuya go help Reimu with Marisa if you please," Remilia told Sakuya.
"Yes mistress," bowed Sakuya and proceed to carrying Marisa.
"Oh, and Reimu!" Remilia spoke up just as Reimu was going to leave with Chris in tow.
"What is it?" Reimu asked curiously with a suspiciously look on her face.
"Please tell Chris, that he's welcome to come visit me and my mansion anytime he wants," she said in a somewhat flirty and mischievous tone.
You just want to suck his blood again… Reimu coldly thought with an annoyed glare.
"Fine, I'll tell him when he wakes up," said Reimu as both her and Sakuya left to the shrine.
Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day indeed.
Author's Note: Hey guys back with another chapter! Sorry it took so long to get this one out, I was busy with schoolwork and some online gaming… I went back to play LaTale online after a 3 month break so it was very refreshing and time consuming. I went to play 10 hours straight last Sunday trying to promote my character to his third job class. And my parents had various things for me to do as well which took up a lot of time for me to start writing this chapter. At least I manage to get everything I imagine to happen into this chapter perfectly but it's super long again, I'm definitely making a novel here of the Touhou universe.
Anyway Chris finally enters into the Scarlet Devil Mansion to chase after the ECHO Vocals and encountered the residents there, making new friends after some misunderstanding and finally taken down the ECHO in the end as well as apologizing to Reimu for what he did and will make it up to her. And he managed to befriended Remilia the first time they meet and has become her new favorite blood type, poor Chris he was to be careful around her now.
I was exactly a little unsure which spell card she uses to do her time stop ability as a few of them do the same thing with daggers so I picked the one mention above as it seem to fit the scene and such.
Also this chapter shows Chris's unique ability that makes him somewhat dangerous, his Ability Cancel as shown with his brief fight with Sakuya. With this he is immune to other people's special abilities and is capable of temporarily disabling their abilities for about a minute which kinda makes him everyone's natural enemy but this ability does have some weakness to it which I couldn't show in this chapter. And I finally got to show Chris's Phantom Replica which originally was going to be used in his fight against Levin but forgot to add that in and I got to show a silly side to Chris and his antics.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, hoping I didn't deviate too much from the Touhou character's personalities, and next chapter I'll introduce Alice, Aya, Rinnosuke, Keine, and finally… Yukari! I hope you guys look forward to it, since I'm a little unsure what to do to the story after chapter 5 but I've got a lot of other ideas so let's see what happens! And get ready to see more of Chris's silly and strange side and see how bad his luck can be sometimes.
EDIT: I fixed up a line of Patchouli so she doesn't sound emotional than she is, sorry if I went a little out of character. It's easy with original character as you're making them and you know what goes inside their head and feelings, but it's tough for writing down other people's character and keeping them in character. I'm not how a person who's charismatic behave so I hope Remilia is in character as well. If there's anything more I need to correct please point it out.