Reimu and her companions were traveling to the Forest of Magic, hoping to obtain a mushroom under Eirin's instructions. Marisa led the way with Reimu, Remilia, and Yoshika trailing behind. The moon was beginning to set over the horizon, becoming a reddish glow that looked like a blood drop in the sky, only visible through various patches of trees.
It was still dark, but the forest was cool and serene. The fallen leaves of autumn crunched under their feet while a night breeze gently shook the nearly barren branches of the trees. An occasional owl could be heard calling.
This peace was the last the land of Gensokyo would ever experience.
Marisa halted the group and pointed towards an injured girl lying on the path. She was beaten badly and had several cuts and bruises. Blood stained her clothes and the ground, making a grizzly sight.
Remilia shouted out and ran towards her. "Oh my god, Meiling! What happened to you?!" She held the limp body in her arms and felt for a pulse, "… still alive. If she wasn't a youkai, then…" A tear ran down her face and she hugged Meiling tightly.
Reimu felt relieved and at the same time uneasy. Remilia had never acted this way before and now, the once confident and composed vampire was reduced to a crying emotional girl. It didn't seem right at all, but even Gensokyo was not as it should be.
"Let's take her to Alice's place, it wouldn't be safe to leave her like this," suggested Marisa.
The party agreed and Meiling was placed on the witch's broom. With a little magic, it acted as a comfortable stretcher that let the injured gatekeeper stretch out on an invisible bed. It was the best they could do until they reached Alice's house.
"What do you think she was doing out here?" asked Reimu.
Remilia shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe she was headed in the same direction?"
At that moment, Yoshika hopped forward with her eyes glowing red and yelled, "Something's coming!"
A shadowy figure appeared ahead of the party and was walking steadily towards them. It had no definite shape, but seemed to imitate a human form. Black claws reaching the ground stretched out from its arms and two blood red dots were its eyes.
The forest melted and shriveled around it and the air became heavy with the scent of death.
"Ugh, it's making me nauseous," groaned Marisa.
Remilia let out a bloodcurdling howl and her wings grew several times in size. Her nails became deadly claws and a powerful aura surrounded her.
"YOU DID THIS TO HER, DIDN'T YOU" growled a voice that was hardly recognizable as the vampire princess. "I'LL KILL YOU!" yelled Remilia as she lunged forward.
"No wait!" called Reimu.
The dark figure dodged Remilia as she lunged forward and swiftly cut one of her wings with a slash so fast that no one was able to see it.
"GUH?!" grunted the vampire in surprise as she tumbled onto the ground. Blood poured profusely from her wing that was nearly torn in two. "What the? How could I…?"
"We need to run! There's no way we can face that thing!" yelled Reimu.
The dark figure began to walk towards the rest of the party while flexing its claws. Its eyes were fixated on the injured Meiling and a growl began to emanate from it.
Marisa guided the broom behind her and began running into the forest. "Follow me! I know how to get to Alice's! We'll lose it on the way!"
Yoshika pulled out a spell card and chanted something unintelligible. She then turned into a floating cloud and began to follow the path Marisa took.
Reimu looked over at Remilia who was holding her injured wing in pain and glaring at the dark figure angrily. She was not intent on running away so easily.
"I… can't… give up, not now," growled the angered vampire. "I will kill this thing, for the sake of everyone."
The shadow was not following Marisa into the forest at all. It turned instead to Remilia and looked at her with piercing red eyes. Then, with a sickening tearing sound, a large gap tore across its face, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth and it smiled an insane hostile smile.
"C'mon Remilia, we need to get out of here!" yelled Reimu in a desperate attempt to get the vampire's attention.
However, she didn't move and stood transfixed as the shadow began to walk slowly towards her with its mouth wide and claws flicking back and forth, schwick- schwick.
Reimu ran over and grabbed her shoulder and realized that she was shaking. "Remilia!" There was an empty look in her eyes and she didn't move.
Schwick-schwick.
"Dammit!" cursed the miko as she reached into her dress and pulled out a spell card. "I have no choice then," she grumbled and began to focus her energy into the card. "The fool wanders and the dream ends, leaves turn to ash and rivers flow gold, the final border, Musou Tensei!"
A powerful aura surrounded Reimu as she summoned her strongest Danmaku and fired everything she had towards the shadow. Amidst the explosions and dust resulting from her attack, she grabbed Remilia and summoned another spell card, "Fantasy Seal, Blink," and escaped the area.
As she ran with Remilia, Reimu did not look back once and had no idea whether or not the enemy was following. Eventually, they reached Alice's home and greeted Yoshika who was standing guard outside. It seemed like they lost the shadow.
"Everyone's waiting inside," said the Chinese vampire with a stout salute.
Reimu gave her a nod and entered the house.
The inside was comparable to what the outside world described as "Santa's Workshop." Unfinished dolls rested on tables with tools strewn about and various blueprints with plans for different types of dolls were tacked on the wall. A few bookshelves lined the walls along with cabinets and various supply closets. Another room in back was Alice's bedroom.
One of the tables had been converted to a bed and had Meiling recovering on it. Her wounds were already bandaged and the bloody clothes had been changed with some of Alice's robes. Puppets floated above her body with little nurse caps and monitored her status. She was looking alright.
Marisa was busily browsing the book collection. Her attention had been drawn by a pinkish book with an unintelligible title. Looking closer, Reimu saw a small rivulet of blood seeping out of her nose.
Alice came out of her room and waved. "Reimu, they told me everything. Is Remilia with you?"
"Yeah, she's right here," she replied while stepping aside to allow the vampire to walk in.
"Hello Alice."
"Hey Remi." Alice walked over to one of the supply closets and began digging around for something. "Meiling is doing fine now, I managed to bandage her wounds and clean her up."
Remilia nodded in thanks and sat on a chair in the corner.
"I was cleaning this morning and went outside to throw away some garbage when a really dark cloud passed overhead. It was headed in the same direction you guys just came from. Does it have anything to do with what you're running from?"
Reimu shrugged and leaned against the wall. "I don't know. Maybe."
"Well, the sun will rise soon. You'll have to excuse me then while I continue working on the dolls. But aside from that, any reason you guys chose my place to go to?"
Marisa put the book back on the shelf and walked over. Two small rivulets of blood still ran from her nose. "Ah, sorry Alice. It was the first place that came to mind back there."
Alice sighed and shrugged. "Whatever. I don't mind seeing you, but it was kinda sudden."
"Heh heh, sorry."
The night sky was turning a light blue and the horizon began to seep an orange glow. Reimu looked out a window and watched the last of the stars disappear.
Yoshika banged open the door and yelled, "it's back! That thing followed us here!"
"What?!" exclaimed Marisa.
Everyone ran outside and prepared to fight. Something moved in the forest and rustled the trees and bushes. Then, the shadow stepped out and stood in front of the party. Its mouth was closed.
"Tch, what do we do?" asked Marisa in a stressed tone.
"We don't have much choice," replied Reimu as she pulled out a talisman. "There's no way we can get away from it, we have to fight."
The shadow swayed back and forth and slowly looked at each girl until it saw Remilia. It growled loudly, shaking the ground and opened its mouth, revealing the rows of razor sharp teeth and smiled insanely.
Remilia stepped forward and sharpened her nails. Reimu grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.
"Don't! You're still hurt, we can handle this. Just rest and stay back."
She shot Reimu an angered look, but understood and stepped back.
"Alright, let's go Marisa!"
"Gotcha!"
The miko and the witch lunged forward and attacked the shadow. It easily countered both of them and sent them flying into the trees.
"GUH," gasped Reimu as she struck with tremendous force. The wood cracked behind her back and she slid to the ground. Marisa had suffered the same and was struggling back to her feet.
"Hah, hah, hah… Reimu… we can't take it down like this. I'll shoot and you hit it with a seal up close!"
"Mnnng, gotcha."
The two girls got up and lunged forward again. Marisa jumped on her broom and circled in front of the shadow, firing lasers. It deflected each one and appeared distracted. Reimu ran behind it with a purification seal ready and lunged forward to slap it onto its back. The shadow dodged to the side with extreme speed and allowed a flurry of lasers to pelt Reimu head on. She was blown back unconscious.
"Reimu!" yelled Marisa in shock.
The shadow appeared behind the witch and knocked her unconscious with a blow to the back before she could react.
Remilia watched in desperation as her friends were being beaten badly.
Alice sent her dolls forward and got them back in shreds.
"What?! That's not possible! How could my dolls…"
The shadow laughed and released a powerful psychic wave which knocked her on her feet.
"Agh!" grunted Alice as she fell onto the ground. She sat up and began shaking her head. "I-I can't focus my magic at all! What is this?!"
With a movement too fast for the youkai eye to see, Alice was knocked out by one of her dolls thrown by the shadow. She fell to the ground unconscious.
Yoshika hopped forward with a spell card and began disseminating a thick cloud of danmaku at the enemy. It didn't move and was seemingly obliterated by the barrage. All of a sudden, the dirt and dust was blown away and the shadow grabbed her by the throat in an instant. It was too fast to react to, and Yoshika struggled helplessly as the life was crushed out of her. She couldn't hold on any longer and went limp.
The shadow tossed her body aside and turned to Remilia. It was still smiling insanely.
"DAMN YOU!" growled Remilia in fury. She released her magic and flexed her claws. Her wings were still healing and prevented her from moving at high speeds.
With a flick of the shadow's claw, a large gash was torn open in the vampire's side.
She gasped and fell to her knees. Gathering her energy and courage, she got back up and lunged forward. Slash after slash, she struck out at her target in a vain attempt to land a hit, but every attack was blocked and deflected.
Another flick of its claws and Remilia suffered a deep wound from her shoulder down to the opposite hip. She lost her balance and fell backwards and was grabbed by the throat and lifted into the air.
Desperately, she beat on its arms to get loose, but to no avail. Her vision was getting blurry and the world began to spin. Losing hope, she realized that there was nothing that she could do and began to give up.
I'm too weak. If I can't even protect my friends or myself, how could I possibly hope to save Sakuya? I… I… might as well just let go and…
The shadow lifted its claw and prepared to pierce Remilia's heart, smiling ever wider.
She closed her eyes and stopped struggling, accepting her inevitable death. Images of the residents of the mansion and all the youkai of Gensokyo came into her mind. And then, she watched one last memory of Sakuya serving her tea and sitting by her bedside. It was a happy memory.
Even if Remilia was a vampire, she had not fed on blood since visiting Reimu a month ago. That was long enough to make her regenerative abilities slow and weak, so an injury like a pierced heart that wouldn't usually be, was now near-fatal. She would be put into a coma for a very long time, recovering slowly. The miasma that the shadow released however, would prevent Remilia from healing and in effect kill her.
Remilia waited for the shadow to strike and began to wonder what it was doing. She felt it lift her up and pull its claw back farther, and then her mind went blank as she understood the instant it launched its claw forward. Her acceptance in that moment was final, with no regrets.
The strike never came. A painful burning sensation began to overcome the vampire. The shadow's hold on her throat lightened and Remilia was able to breathe. She opened her eyes and realized that the sun had risen over the horizon and was hitting the shadow and her. It shook and screamed, unable to move in the light. Remilia forced herself out of its grasp and dropped to the ground, crawling to the shade of the trees to recover.
The shadow screamed and began to change. Tendrils of smoke arose from it and dissipated into the air.
Remilia looked on horrified as she stared into the face of Sakuya. The shadow had assumed her form and was looking back, but then finally dissipated completely.
The vampire's mind was blank and the world began to grow dark. She fell back against a tree and passed out.
"… Ow! … what ar… oing? Sto… oking… that alre…." Voices went in and out of Remilia's head as she slowly regained consciousness.
"Hey! It look… is getting… up!"
"Good, get some blo…."
Remilia groaned and struggled up to a sitting position. She was covered in bandages and felt incredibly sore. Blood stains were visible on the surface of the bandages. Her sight slowly came into focus and she realized that she was in Alice's home on a makeshift bed. Reimu and Marisa were sitting on another table wearing bandages and getting checked over by Alice. Yoshika was hopping around healthily and helping by retrieving supplies. The sun was filtering through the windows.
"Glad to see you're awake," said an unfamiliar voice.
Remilia looked up and saw someone she hadn't seen that often.
"Don't worry about Yoshika; I have the ability to revive her as many times as I need because, you know, she's my Jiang Shi."
"Seiga?"
The hermit was walking over with a vial filled with blood. "That's right, I'm Seiga Kaku. I've only visited you a couple of times so far, so of course you didn't recognize me at first."
Remilia looked at the blood and back at Seiga.
"Drink this, you need it."
The vampire princess hesitated but took the vial and drank the blood. She felt revitalized instantly and her wounds began to close up quickly. Her body regained strength very fast because it was the pure blood of a virgin maiden.
"Who did you get it from?"
Seiga innocently whistled and looked up. Remilia noticed Reimu watching and turned to look at her.
Reimu immediately looked away and appeared to blush.
"Ah, of course," smiled Remilia. "Wait, how is Meiling?"
A voice came from across the room. "I'm fine now mistress." She was sitting on a table and kicking her legs.
Remilia saw Meiling and a wave of relief came over her. Everyone was okay, that was enough for her.
"Meiling, are you interested in perhaps being my Jiang Shi?" Seiga was walking over to her with a creepy look on her face.
Meiling was taken aback and tried to refuse. "Huh?! W-wait, I don't think that's really… I'm okay so there's no need for that, right? You already have Yoshika, isn't that enough?"
"Well, one can't have too many helpers… and slaves."
"What?! No wait, don't touch me there…"
Remilia stopped listening to them and turned to look out of a window. She recalled the final moments of the battle with the shadow. There was something that bothered her deeply. It should have pierced her heart much faster, but… it was if it waited just long enough to be stopped by the sun. And then, when it was about to disappear, the shadow took on the form of Sakuya. Remilia was perplexed by it, but a faint hope began to take hold in her heart. Perhaps Sakuya wasn't completely evil and actually had something to do with the shadow's hesitation…
Reimu came over and sat next to her. She looked out into the light and sighed. "Well, we made it through the night. But how did you win?"
"Well, it might have been luck, but the sun came up and destroyed the shadow. But maybe…"
"What?"
"Ah, nothing."
Marisa was bothering Alice as she tried to change her bandages. "Hey Alice, can we ask another favor of you?"
"What do you want now?" she responded in an annoyed tone.
"The real reason we came was for something else actually. We need help finding a mushroom."
"A mushroom?"
"Yeah, it's called a Soul-less Black Mushroom. Know about it?"
Alice stopped changing Marisa's bandages and pulled a book off of the shelf. "Well, it certainly is a legend, albeit with a rather… generic name. Here, the mushroom you need has only been collected three times throughout history and they were all taken by… Eirin Yagokoro."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"
"Nope. She already got three of those. Didn't you say you came here because of her? Strange, she didn't come herself…"
"Then, wouldn't she have some left over at Eientei?"
"That's also been documented. It says here that she used all the mushrooms for some kind of enhancement to, erm, the chest area… it seems."
Marisa began to rage.
"Well, when you're all feeling better today, we can go and look for it."
The angry witch instantly stopped and began to squeal. "Really? You'll help us? Oh, I love you Alice!" yelled Marisa and intimately hugged Alice.
She immediately blushed and escaped into her room. Heavy breathing could be heard from it.
Reimu put her hand on Remilia's shoulders. The vampire accepted the gesture and put her hand over Reimu's.
"I'm sure the real Sakuya is still watching over you, Remilia. There's no way that someone like her would ever leave you."
"You're right. I can't lose hope, I'm sure she's still out there. I'm very sure in fact."
"Hm? You're very confident about that."
"Well, let's just say that I've had my life saved by her more than once."
Reimu nodded and looked out the window at the sky. It was still morning.
Marisa was bouncing around the house and singing. Every so often, a book or doll disappeared as she passed by it.
Yoshika was still hopping around with supplies and Seiga was molesting a struggling Meiling. Alice had just come out of her room with heavy sweat. She seemed… tired. Marisa was still "dancing."
With an excited leap into the air, Marisa exclaimed, "Let's go find some shrooms, ze!"
