Chapter 21

Sometime after the events of the Scarlet Mist Incident, the spell Remilia cast on Sakuya had been lifted. The red hue covering her eyes had made way, revealing her beautiful blue pupils.

Naturally, Remilia was fully aware of this, having a much closer eye on Sakuya for weeks, observing the changes in her behavior and see if her memories would return, which might subsequently lead to her betrayal.

"That's strange… the spell I put should've lasted forever. Did she broke free of it herself?" One day Remilia consulted Patchouli about this, being the expert of spells in an overall sense.

"I can think of two possibilities. One, she did indeed broke free of it using her willpower, which wasn't impossible, yet extremely hard to do so. As long as I know you, this had never occurred before to your previous servants."

Remilia stretched her waist and replied, "The spell I put is very powerful, it can even subdue other vampires."

"Then this brings us to the second possibility, perhaps time had something to do with it? Most spells had their effects waned after some time."

"It's only been three years since I last cast the spell on her. Aren't you being too hasty here?" Remilia grabbed a cracker and passed one to her fellow friend, treating herself with another by dunking it into her tea and munched it.

Catching the cracker with simple levitation magic and bit a small piece out of it, Patchouli resumed, "Why not? Don't forget Sakuya has the ability to stop time. It's true that only three years had passed in real time, but in her case, perhaps it's much longer."

Remilia paused for a moment to digest what Patchouli had said, she remembered all the time Sakuya managed to clean up the entire mansion everyday which shouldn't be possible normally. Most of the fairy maids were useless when it comes to cleaning, so most of the time Sakuya took the tasks and dealt with them herself.

Yet, Sakuya would always comply with any requests Remilia had with immediate effect, tending to them with great efficiency no matter how difficult and demanding there were. When serving her mistress, Sakuya would just stand idly besides her, waiting for new orders, and never seemed in a hurry.

With all of these in mind, it could only come to one conclusion, the time Sakuya had passed was multitudes more than imagined. Yet she could still maintain her youthful appearance.

"That, can be taken care using her ability as well. She could easily stop her face and body from aging." Patchouli pointed out.

Nevertheless, after weeks of inspection, Sakuya didn't appear to have any rebellious intent, still addressing the mistress with utmost loyalty, as well as fulfilling her duties just as usual.

She was not totally unchanged, however, she had become less stiff as before, and had become friendlier, more talkative and more casual. She would finally accept errands that involve her going to the Human Village, the only task she would hesitate to comply, and Patchouli also agreed that now would be a more ideal time for her to mix with other humans.

She was still hostile towards Reimu and Marisa, still remembering perfectly their confrontation. However, it was not to say that they would rip each other apart every time they met. It was easier for them to approach Sakuya the way she was now, and they did gradually warm up to each other.

Then, a fateful encounter brought Sakuya to meet again with her past.

It was during the Imperishable Night Incident, where Sakuya had met with a Lunarian, Eirin Yagokoro.

Their silvery hair color had an uncanny similarity to each other. Upon witnessing her ability to manipulate time, Eirin was more than convinced that she knew who Sakuya was truly is.

"I cannot believe it, after all these years, Mikoto actually made it to the Earth."

"What do you mean?"

Eirin began explaining everything to Sakuya, how she was actually a Lunarian, not a human. This explains her powers to manipulate time, something which only Lunarians were capable of, such as Kaguya Houraisan, the exiled Moon princess.

She was actually the daughter of Mikoto, one of the Lunarians who fled to the Earth after having some conflicts with the Moon, and she was supposed to be meeting Eirin, who had already been waiting in Gensokyo during that time. However, her ship changed course and it landed elsewhere, leading to the events where Remilia would be the one meeting her.

"How interesting, that you are alive and well, standing right in front of me." Eirin chuckled, her eyes slightly teary, knowing at least her good friend had left something before ending her life.

Sakuya was unable to swallow up everything Eirin was implying. Their battle resumed, and for its aftermath, the real moon was returned to Gensokyo, and the Moon Viewing Festival reconvened.

"What do you think of your true lineage, Sakuya?" Remilia asked after some time.

"It doesn't make any difference, milady. For I, Sakuya Izayoi, would still be loyal and serve you for eternity." Sakuya replied confidently as she curtsied and bowed to her mistress.

Remilia laughed, "Of course, why does it matter? Human or Lunarian, you are my servant. Excellent, Sakuya, excellent."

"Thank you, milady."

-END-