At the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the level of activity has dropped significantly, with the fairy maid's going back to their old lazy habits of slacking off on work. The maids would only go back to work if they were chided by one of the mansion's senior staff. Despite the maids laziness the mansion still remained neat and tidy as always. The mansion's halls were empty, and it was in a state of silence, aside from the sound of footsteps resonating within the halls. The source of the noise was the head maid of the mansion, Sakuya Izayoi, walking quickly yet gracefully through the halls with a plate that held a bowl of steaming oatmeal on it balanced on the palm of her hand.
Sakuya made it to her destination in no time, literally, thanks to her time manipulation abilities, which helped her greatly in her line of work. Sakuya stood within the mansion's dark basement, standing right before the metal door that led to Flande's room. She gently knocked on the door with her open hand.
"Young mistress, are you awake? I have brought your breakfast." Sakuya called, but received no response. "Young mistress, if you're awake please respond." Sakuya still received no answer. "Must be asleep…" Sakuya thought to herself aloud as she took out a small key and used it to open the door.
The door opens with a loud creak; Sakuya entered the young vampire's room, taking in the sight of all the odd decorations covering the room, from the lights covering the ceiling to the childish drawing depicting a grassy hillside covering the wall. All of this Sakuya saw, but not the room's sole occupant.
"Young mistress, I have no time for games, please show yourself and eat your breakfast." And once again, Sakuya received no response.
Sakuya's eyes then drifted to Flandre's bed, which was in poor condition, and noticed a piece of paper sitting on its covers. Sakuya gently set the oatmeal down on the bed and picked up the note and read the words that were sloppily written on it slowly.
"...The mistress won't be pleased by this news…So much for a calm morning." Sakuya muttered to herself as she finished reading the note.
Back at Marisa's house, Meiling was groggily waking up from her slumber, as she slowly opened her eyes Meiling noticed something was different from the night before. Meiling realized what had changed once she rolled onto her side and was met with the sight of Marisa lying next to her, snoring loudly.
"Marisa, what do you you're doing?" Meiling asked in a loud whisper as she started to attempt to shake her awake.
"Mmmmm…Quiet down ya dang kids…Get off mah dang horse…" Marisa mumbled in her sleep in response.
"Marisa, wake up!" Meiling said in an even louder whisper, this time right in her ear.
"Huh, what's goin on, what time is it!" Marisa asked, now wide awake and fully alert.
"Why're you sleeping on the floor next to me you weirdo?" Meiling asked, ignoring Marisa's questions.
"Eh? Oh yeah…Well ya see China, little Flan over there kept tryin to hug me, swore she almost hugged me to death! The kid's gotta heck of hug there, I tell ya what!" Marisa said as she looked to a still peacefully resting Flandre. "So I tried pushing her on her side so she doesn't hug me to death, but then her wings there start poking me in my sides. So after that I called it quits on sleeping in the same bed as her and decided to crash with you." Marisa explains.
"Oh, sorry about that…She's always restless in her sleep and from what I've seen she always tries hugging something tightly in her sleep." Meiling apologized. "I think it might have to do with some bad dreams or something…"
"Eh, don't sweat it, ze." Marisa said as she jumped off the ground and scooped up her signature hat and started dusting it off. "So…When're you two gonna head on out for Eientei? It's a bit of a long ways from here."
"As soon as Flandre wakes up, I'd hate to overstay our welcome." Meiling answers as she begins to do some stretches.
"Ah don't worry about China girl, sure sleepin with Flandre ain't a barrel of monkeys, but I do like hangin out with ya two y'know." Marisa says as she throws on her hat, now dusted clean.
"Well that means a lot Marisa, but I'd like to put as much distance between us and the Scarlet Devil Mansion as possible. It'd be a shame to be caught on our first day after going through so much trouble." Meiling explains.
"Oh right, right, best to leave soon, fangs'll probably sick her crazy maid on yer asses, ze."
"I wouldn't doubt it." Meiling said with a sigh.
Meiling and Marisa's conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud yawn. The two looked towards the direction it came from and found that Flandre was now awake.
"Mmmmm…Good morning…" Flandre said as she rubbed her eyes.
"Mornin Flan!" Marisa greeted cheerfully.
"Good morning Flandre, are you ready to go?" Meiling asked in a motherly tone.
"Mmmmm, I guess…Let's go see some moon people." Flandre responded sleepily as she crawled out of Marisa's bed.
"Well it's been fun Marisa, thanks for having us." Meiling thanked respectfully.
"Feh, it was nothin, that's what friends are for, ze."Marisa said with a grin. "Good luck ya two, ya might need it."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Meiling replied dismissively. "We need all the luck we can get and whatnot, I know."
"Bye Mary, We'll tell you all about me and China's adventures once we get back." Flandre said as she gave Marisa a hug.
"Lookin forward to it kid, take care of yourself." Marisa replied as she returned the hug.
Sakuya paced outside of Remilia's room nervously, a feeling that felt foreign to the normally calm and collected maid. She tried to collect her now chaotic thoughts as she contemplated how she would break the news to Remilia that her younger sister was now missing. Which was quite difficult as Sakuya's nerves of steel were now gone and all that was left was the feeling of fear, after all her mistress wasn't known for taking bad news well. Sakuya finally strengthened her weakened nerves enough to knock on the door.
"This had better be good, Sakuya, I dislike having my rest being interrupted…" Remilia grouchily called from her room.
"Milady, I'm sorry to disturb you but we have an urgent problem on our hands. May I enter so we may discuss this privately?" Sakuya asked calmly, trying to hide her feelings of fear.
"Very well Sakuya, this problem had better be worth my notice." Remilia said, granting Sakuya entry.
Sakuya entered the room silently, closing the door quietly behind her. In the center of the room was a queen sized bed, it laid against the wall of the room. Sitting up under the white covers of the bed was a grouchy looking Remilia, wearing a white night gown. Sakuya gave her a small bow of respect to her employer and began to speak. "Milady, I don't know how to tell you this…but it would seem the young mistress has left the basement and is no longer on the mansion's grounds."
"What?" Remilia shouted in anger.
Sakuya took a deep breath and continued. "And to make matters worse, Meiling is currently on vacation and is no longer at the mansion and we have no way of contacting her or knowing where she is. This will make retrieving the young mistress even more difficult without Meiling to coerce her into returning to the mansion."
"Meiling you damned fool…" Remilia growled.
"Milady?" Sakuya asked, puzzled.
"Flandre's escape and Meiling going on vacation at the same time is no coincidence, that idiot gatekeeper helped her escape!" Remilia roared in fury.
"Are you certain mistress? I know the two have some sort of bond but…"
"I'm very certain, that imbecile asked about releasing Flandre from the basement not too long ago." Remilia said as her crimson colored eyes shifted slowly to the window. "Oh Sakuya, I do believe we have an eavesdropping crow in our presence…"
"Shall I take care of her for you mistress?" Sakuya asks as she took out a pair of knives.
"No, bring her to me; I would like to have some words with our little rat." Remilia replied.
"Very well, it shall be done mistress." Sakuya said as she took out a golden pocket watch from her dress pocket and clicked it open. Sakuya disappeared as soon as the watch clicked open, a few moments passed and Sakuya suddenly reappeared with her pocket watch now closed. She gripped a black haired girl by her shoulder, and held a knife to her throat in the other.
The black haired girl's eyes were wide in surprise, but quickly went back to its normal size and grew a cocky grin on her face. Her hair was semi-long, she wore a white blouse, and a red tokin hat on her head. She had a camera hanging around her neck and gripped a notepad and pen in her hands.
"Well, well, well…look who we have here…if it isn't the reporter of the Bunbunmaru newspaper, Aya Shameimaru herself…" Remilia purred as she jumped out of her bed and began to pace in front of Aya. "What are you doing here, little crow?"
"Nothing much, just getting my front page story! So Miss Scarlet how does the news of your dear little sister running away from home make you feel? Furious, depressed, betrayed, overjoyed? Come on gimme the scoop!" Aya asked as she started jotting down notes on her notepad quickly.
"Mind your manners crow." Sakuya said in a threatening tone as she moved her knife closer to Aya, so that it now touched the skin of Aya's neck.
"Ayayayayayaya! Watch it with the knife!" Aya exclaimed.
"It's fine Sakuya, no need to butcher the pest now." Remilia said. "Now I would usually just break your pretty little nose and let Sakuya do as she wishes with you, but today is your lucky day Aya…" Remilia said as she stopped pacing and stood before Aya.
"Eh it is? So I can print this story, yeah?" Aya asked in bewilderment.
"Oh yes it is Aya, and yes you may print your story in fact I'll even let you interview me for information for your little article for that garbage you call a newspaper. In exchange you will put an advertisement in your newspaper for me." Remilia said.
"Ayayayayayaya! This is fantastic! So what's your advertisement Miss Scarlet?" Aya asked excitedly as her mind flooded with thoughts of her newspapers success after she prints this exciting story.
"Wow, I've never seen so many people in one place before!" Flandre exclaimed in awe as she and Meiling entered the village.
"Yeah, it's a bit overwhelming at first, but you'll get used to get to it in time." Meiling replied with a warm smile, amused by her small friend's awe filled expression.
"Do you think we could look around Meiling? Please, with lots of sugar on top?" Flandre pleaded.
"Oh alright since you asked nicely." Meiling said happily as she ruffled Flandre's hair.
"Yes! Thank you China!" Flandre shouted gleefully as she hugged the tall gatekeeper tightly.
"You're welcome Flandre, but we can't stay too long if we want to make it to Eientei before sunset." Meiling said as she glanced around the town. "While we're at we should look for a map…" Meiling added as Flandre slid her hand into Meiling's and started walking with her hand in hand through town like mother and child.
The two went past many stores and food stands, with Flandre pointing excitedly at all the sights in the village excitedly. Meiling laughed at Flandre's over excitement of all the things she saw. Afterwards once Flandre had calmed down a bit, the two decided to stop at a small food stand to rest and have lunch before departing for Eientei, as Flandre needed to rest from exposure to sunlight, as it made her feel slightly weak when she was in contact of it for too long, otherwise it had no effect on her strangely enough for a vampire.
"Hmmmm, we'll have two bowls of ramen please." Meiling said as dropped a few coins on the counter, making a small clinking noise as they fell on the counter's surface.
"Two bowls ramen comin right up lass." The stand keeper replied in a gruff but jolly tone as he started preparing food for his two newest customers.
"What's ramen China?" Flandre asked curiously as Meiling hefted her up onto one of the stand's stools.
"It's kind of like soup, just give it a try and I'm sure you'll like it." Meiling replied.
"Oh…Alright." Flandre replied as she stared down at the counter.
"Here ya go ladies, two bowls ramen." The stand keeper said as he slid each of them a bowl.
"Thanks mister." Flandre mumbled shyly as she took the bowl.
"Hahahaha, no problem little lassy." The stand keeper said in a booming laughter. "Your mother here obviously taught ya yer manners."
Meiling nearly spat out the food that was in her mouth from the comment. "M-Mother! No, no, no I'm not her mom!" Meiling exclaimed with rosy red cheeks.
"Oh, sorry miss! You two just got that whole mother-daughter feel ya know? Sorry bout that miss." The food stand keeper apologized hastily.
"It's alright, no harm done. Sometimes it does feel like she's my daughter actually." Meiling said with a laugh.
"Mmmmm, this is good." Flandre said, seemingly oblivious to what had been going on around her.
"Glad yer enjoyin it miss." The food stand keeper said kindly.
Both Flandre and Meiling slurped up their bowls of ramen quickly, satisfying their hunger.
"Ahhh…That sure did hit the spot…" Meiling said in relief. "Thanks for the meal sir."
"Ha, no problem miss. Anythin else this old mule can do for ya two fine ladies?"
"Yes actually, my friend and I here are exploring Gensokyo you see, so it would be great to have a map. Do you know where we could find one?"
"A map eh? Hold on a sec." The food stand keeper said as he shuffled around under the counter, looking for something. "Will this do missy?" The stand keeper asked as he reemerged from under the counter, holding out a yellowed map of Gensokyo to Meiling.
"Yeah, that's perfect! How much will you take for it?" Meiling asked as she opened her wallet.
"It's on the house, you two're the first customers I've had in a while, and such pretty ones too! So please take it, it's the least this old man can do for the two of you fine ladies." The stand keeper said in a sweet but rough voice as he handed Meiling the aged map.
"Wow thank you so much sir!" Meiling thanked gratefully. "Thank the nice man now Flandre."
"Thanks for the map mister." Flandre said quietly.
"Gahahahaha, no problem little lass." The gatekeeper said in a jolly voice.
"Thank you for your generosity sir, good luck with your business." Meiling said to the stand keeper as she helped Flandre back onto the ground.
"No problem miss, good luck on your trip and be careful! Gensokyo can be a dangerous place y'know!" The stand keeper said to his now departing customers, as they headed out to their next destination, The Bamboo Forest of the Lost, and from there Eientei.
Their journey to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was a short one, the forest was fairly close to the human village, making it a quick trip, even on foot. Like the name suggested, the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was a large forest made of bamboo stalks, it has many twisting and curving paths within it, making traversing the forest difficult. Only a select few know the forest's layout, making them ideal choices for guides.
"Well here we are The Bamboo forest of the Lost!" Meiling announced to no one in particular.
"Hey look, a sign China." Flandre said as she pointed to an old and withered looking sign.
"So there is, let's see what it says then, shall we?" Meiling said as she approached the old sign, looking like it could collapse any second. "Enter at ye own risk travelers, for those who enter shall meet their ends, and ye souls shall be lost for all eternity. Ye have a good day now." Meiling read aloud nervously.
"Huh…Well let's go China." Flandre said as she headed towards the forest, unfazed by the sign's warning.
"Say what!" Meiling cried in shock. "Shouldn't we reconsider this! I dunno about you, but having our souls lost for all eternity doesn't sound pleasant at all!"
"Yeah, but that'll only happen if we get lost silly." Flandre replies.
"It's called the Bamboo Forest of the Lost for a reason you know Flandre."
"So? If big sis and Saky made it, so can we!" Flandre replied stubbornly.
"But what if we're not so lucky?" Meiling asked.
"Don't worry so much Meiling…It's just a forest you chicken, we can always fly out if we get lost."
"Oh…Uh…Good point!" Meiling replied as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "And I'm no chicken!"
"Then let's go see some moon people!" Flandre shouted cheerfully as she pointed her Levaetein towards the forest's ominous looking entrance.
"Right, next stop Eientei!" Meiling said enthusiastically as she chased after her friend into the imposing Bamboo Forest of the Lost.
The forest seemed almost completely untouched by man, the many twisting dirt paths in the large forest being the only thing looking to be manmade. The rest of the forest remained undisturbed, with birds chirping and oddly enough, rabbits frolicking within the peculiar forest.
"Huh this isn't too bad! We might make it to Eientei soon if we're lucky!" Meiling said confidently.
"That's what I was trying to tell you at the entrance silly." Flandre said with a cute pout.
"Right, sorry for doubting you Flan." Meiling said with a laugh. "Well looks like there's a fork in the road here…" Meiling said as the two sure enough, came across a fork in the road. The pathways unfortunately unmarked, making it impossible to tell which way was the right direction to Eientei.
"Hmmmm…Which way to go…" Meiling mumbled to herself.
"That way China." Flandre said as she pointed to the path going left.
"I don't think picking by random is a good idea Flandre…" Meiling said skeptically.
"Oh…Well then are we supposed to do?" Flandre asked as she looked to her friend for an answer.
"Uh…Never mind." Meiling said sheepishly. "Left it is!" She shouted as the two walked down the rugged path.
As the two continued on through the forest, it seemed to get shadier and shadier as the two progressed along the path. This was due to the forest's bamboo shoots getting taller and taller, providing a great amount of shade from the sun. The two kept going and going, yet did not reach any signs of getting closer to Eientei.
"Well, I think we're lost." Meiling said bluntly as she looked at her map.
"I'm sorry Meiling…I got us lost…" Flandre responded sadly.
"Hey, hey, hey, it isn't your fault Flandre; I didn't have any better ideas y'know. Don't worry, we'll find our way through!" Meiling said reassuringly, giving her a thumbs up for good measure. Meiling's act of reassurance was quickly interrupted by an irritating smell entering her nose. "Ugh, it smells like smoke around here…" Meiling muttered to herself. "Wait smoke! That means there must be someone nearby and…"
"They might be able to show us where the moon people are!" Flandre said excitedly, finishing Meiling's sentence.
"Well let's go, before we lose em!" Meiling said as she took Flandre by the arm and followed the scent to its source. The two soon enough traced the scent to a small clearing in the forest. The source of the smoky stench was revealed to be a small fire; it was being fueled by a small pile of bamboo shoots. Sitting by the fire on a small log was a white haired woman; she shifted the bamboo stalks around in the fire using a stick with a look of boredom on her face. The woman's snow white hair was amazingly long; it looked like it reached all the way down to her ankles. She wore a large red and white bow on the top of her head, along with a few other smaller ribbons tied in her long mane of hair. For clothing she wore a long sleeved shirt that was a very light brown color, and long baggy dark red pants that had paper charms attached to them. Her long baggy pants were held up by a pair of red suspenders, making her pants look like a pair of overalls.
The suspender wearing woman looked up from the fire with her red colored eyes now focused on the pair of Flandre and Meiling in her presence. "Well…You two definitely aren't Keine." The suspender wearing woman stated plainly.
"Um hello! Sorry to disturb you mam, but would you happen to know where Eientei is? My friend and I are a little lost." Meiling asked the long haired stranger.
The woman just stared at the two, seemingly studying them, memorizing their every feature with a blank expression on her face. The three stood in silence, the woman just kept staring expressionlessly, as Meiling stared back with pleading eyes, and Flandre stared in wonderment at the woman.
"Hi my name is Flandre, what's yours?" Flandre asked, breaking the silence.
Meiling gave Flandre a puzzled look, while the strange woman gave her a look of mild interest. The woman waited a few seconds before finally responding, "Mokou, Fujiwara no Mokou." She stated, holding a hand out to Flandre.
Flandre gripped Mokou's hand with a smile and said, "It's nice to meet you Mokou, let's be friends."
Mokou gave Flandre a confused look, as if the notion of being friends was foreign to her before replying, "Sure kid, I'd like that."
Meiling just continued to observe the two interact in silence, smiling to herself as she watched Flandre make a new friend before joining the conversation. "So Miss Mokou-"
"Just Mokou will do." Mokou interrupted.
"Sorry, Mokou then, do you know of a way to Eientei?" Meiling asked. "Flandre and I are a bit lost."
Mokou paused and took a deep breath of air before answering, "Yeah, I know how to get there… But I'm kinda waiting for a friend, and we agreed to meet here you see."
"Friend?" Flandre asked curiously.
Mokou nodded in response, "My closest and most trusted friend. Once she finds her way here I'll show you the way to Eientei."
"Oh thank you so much Mokou! Sorry to take time away from your friend!" Meiling said, bowing to Mokou in thanks.
"Don't mention it; I got all the time in the world anyways." Mokou replied simply. "Well…My friend's probably going to be a while; she's probably doing some paper work or head-butting some kid for playing hooky or something…So you two may as well take a seat." Mokou said as she gestured to a log opposite to the one she sat on. Flandre and Meiling did as she suggested and joined her by the fire.
"Hey Mokou?" Flandre asked, trying to start a conversation
"Yeah kid?" Mokou replied, returning to poking the fire with her stick.
"What's your friend like?" Flandre asked curiously, kicking her legs back and forth slowly.
"Well…She's a pretty nice person, she likes kids and….She's the only person who's ever treated me like a normal human being." Mokou said with her gaze focused on the fire.
"Why?"
"Y'know, I never really thought of it kid. Maybe it's because she accepts others for who and what they are, maybe it's because she knows what it's like to be different…I really don't know. But I'm thankful for every day I see her, she makes my life…well worth living I guess." Mokou answered. "So what about you and your friend here kid? You and…?"
"Oh, right I never introduced myself! I'm Meiling; it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Right…So mind telling me the story behind your friendship kid?
"Well me and China became friends a long time ago…" Flandre began. "I never got to go outside and make friends before cuz big sis doesn't like me leaving the house…" Flandre said sadly. "But then China got a job from my big sis and China brought me food and talked to me and played with me…" Flandre said happily.
"Heh yeah…Being a maid wasn't a fun job, but that's the part that made it worthwhile." Meiling added.
"Huh that was nice of her." Mokou said as she gave a friendly look to Meiling.
"Yeah…But then big sis put her on guard duty so I didn't get to see her as much anymore…" Flandre said sadly.
"Sounds rough, but it looks like that problems solved now, since you're together now and all."
"Well kinda…Meiling snook me out of the mansion without telling big sis about it. So now we're exploring Gensokyo together." Flandre explained.
"Huh, you two must be pretty close for her to stick her neck out for ya." Mokou said with a smile.
"Making some new friends are we now Mokou?" A woman in a blue dress asked as she entered the clearing and joined in the conversation.
The blue garbed woman had silver colored hair with light blue highlights. She wore a red box shaped house that resembled some sort of building that looked quite odd for a choice of head wear. Her dress had short white sleeves and she also wore a red ribbon around her collar.
"Oh hey Keine." Mokou greeted as she got up from her seat. "And yeah, you could say that."
"Hello I'm-"
"Hong Meiling, gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and Flandre Scarlet, younger sister to Remilia Scarlet and the "Dirty Little Secret" of the Scarlet Devil Mansion." Keine stated with a smile. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, I'm Keine Kamishirasawa."
"Y-Yeah…How'd you know?" Meiling asked in surprise.
"Oh, I have the ability to read history you see. So I can see you're names and titles under the right circumstances if I concentrate hard enough." Keine explained.
"Wow, that's amazing! Isn't it Flandre? …Flandre?"
Flandre didn't respond to Meiling's calls, she simply stared at the ground, as if in a trance. Completely unresponsive to any attempts to get her attention.
"Flandre? Are you feeling alright?" Meiling asked, with worry in her voice.
"D…D-Dirty…?" Flandre said quietly.
"Flandre?" Meiling asked again, her concern growing.
"B…B-Big sis…th-thinks I'm dirty…?" Flandre stuttered, looking to be on the verge of tears.
"Hey kid, are you okay?" Mokou asked, sounding to share Meiling's concern.
Was it something I said?" Keine asked Mokou in a whisper, looking at Flandre with concerned eyes.
"Probably." Mokou answered bluntly. "Hey, we'll leave and give you two some privacy." Mokou said as she grabbed Keine by the shoulder and guided her towards the clearing's edge. "We'll wait at the edge of the clearing here for you two, okay? Let's go Keine."
Mokou and Keine left, leaving Flandre and Meiling alone in privacy. Meiling waited to be sure they had left before speaking. "Flandre, what's the matter?" Meiling said as she crouched down to her eye level and wiped a few of the tears trickling down the vampire's face. "You can tell me, it's alright."
"Th-That lady the f-funny hat...s…said th-that I was a d-dirty secret…" Flandre sniffed, tears flowing from her eyes. "D-Does big sister th-think I'm…d-dirty…? I-Is that why I have to live in the b-basement? B-Because sister th-think I'm d-dirty? B-Because she's…Ashamed o-of me…?"
"What! Flandre…I'm not sure why Miss Remilia would ever call you that, but I'm certain she isn't ashamed of you, she loves you dearly, you're her little sister after all." Meiling said soothingly as she wiped more of the tears from Flandre's eyes. "Now shall we rejoin Mokou and Keine now?"
"Y-Yeah…Th-thank you Meiling…" Flandre answered with a weak smile.
"Everything alright now kid?" Mokou asks as Flandre and Meiling rejoin both Keine and herself.
"Y-Yeah…S-sorry for making you wait…" Flandre apologized.
"It's alright little one; I'm the one who should be apologizing." Keine said as she crouched down to Flandre's height. "I shouldn't have referred to you by that title, I'm truly sorry."
"I-It's okay Miss funny hat…" Flandre says as she gives Keine a hug. Keine grows a puzzled luck on her face from the nickname she received, but then returned the embrace.
"Well…This is all touchy feely and all but Keine said your Remilia Scarlet's sister and gatekeeper, that true?" Mokou asks.
"Yeah that's right, why?" Meiling replies.
"That psychopath and her freaky maid tried killing me once; they kept going on about a "Trial of Guts" or something like that…" Mokou explained. "I just recognized the name is all."
"Hahahaha…Sorry about that…The mistress can be a little…You know…" Meiling said sheepishly.
"Eh, it's no skin off my nose. Besides you're not the one who did it, so don't apologize." Mokou shrugged off.
"Ahem…Mokou, sorry to interrupt but didn't you say you were going to guide these two to Eientei?" Keine asks.
"Oh right let's going." Mokou replies. "Follow me." Mokou order as she walks away from the clearing and into the bamboo forest. As the group traversed the maze like bamboo forest, Meiling and Flandre realized that Mokou reeked of smoke and ash. Causing the two to wonder if it was the fire or her scent they followed earlier. The four walked in silence, with only animals being heard throughout the forest.
"Hey Mokou?" Flandre asks, breaking the silence in the group once again.
"Yeah?" Mokou asks with her gaze still locked on the trail.
"How do you know how to get to Eientei?"
"I live here, so I had to learn how to get around here without getting lost, so I did."
"Oh…Why do you live here?"
"Eh, I don't fit in with regular folks, so I live here…Where I can avoid them…It being close to Eientei's just an added bonus I guess."
"Oh…Why don't you fit in then?"
"Flandre you shouldn't bother Mokou with personal questions." Meiling interrupted.
"Nah, it's alright. I like this kid." Mokou says to Meiling. "To answer your question kid, I don't fit in because I'm not human, and I'm not a youkai, so wherever I go I'm an outcast. People are usually afraid of me before they even get to know me…"
"Oh…I don't think you're scary." Flandre says with a smile. "I think you're nice."
Mokou gives Flandre a puzzled look, as if taken aback by being called nice, until she finally responds, "Thanks kid, I think you're pretty nice too." with a small smile making its way on her face.
As Mokou and Flandre conversed and began to get to know one another, another conversation began within the group.
"That's sweet isn't it?" Keine asks. "How well those too get along."
"Yeah, it really is. I'm glad Flandre is making friends, she never really got the chance to make any before." Meiling replies cheerfully.
"I'm also glad for Miss Scarlet; she seems like such a sweet girl." Keine says with a smile. "I'm surprised Mokou is opening up to her so much though, she's usually so shy around others…Perhaps it's because she feels like little Flandre is an outcast like herself…"
"Well I hope that'll change after this trip." Meiling says hopefully.
"Trip?" Keine asks, confused.
"Oh, me and Flandre are exploring Gensokyo you see, she never got the chance to love life and see the world like everyone else you see." Meiling explains.
"Does this mean Miss Remilia has let little Flandre out of the basement then?" Keine asked.
"No sadly…" Meiling replies sadly, "This trip was planned without her consent, if you wouldn't mind, could you keep this a secret?"
"Oh, of course." Keine replies happily. "It was a nice thing you did for the little Scarlet, I wouldn't dream of doing anything to hinder the two of you."
"You have my thanks Miss Kamishirasawa." Meiling thanked Keine gratefully.
"No need to thank me." Keine replied humbly. "If you two ever drop by the village, be sure to stop by the school house sometime, I'd love it if you visit. I'm usually only visited by Mokou and students with late homework assignments." Keine says with a laugh.
"Oh so you're a teacher then?"
"Yes, yes I am." Keine answers. "I'm a bit of a historian as well, which is why I have a good amount of knowledge on the areas in Gensokyo and the people who reside here."
"I see, that explains quite a bit. Say have you ever studied the history of China? There's a rich history there…"
"Alright…So let me get this straight here…Your older sister ordered you to live in her mansion's basement? For four hundred and ninety five years?" Mokou asks back at the other conversation.
"Yeah…" Flandre confirmed. "But it's only cuz she loves me…"
"Your sister shows her love in a weird way then kid." Mokou says. "I think I like her even less than I did before now."
"Please don't hate big sis, she's a great person, one of the greatest I know!"
"I don't hate her kid, there's only one person in this world that I hate…But at least you're out and about now right?"
"Yeah, thanks to China." Flandre says happily. "I just hope big sis won't be mad that I left…"
"Don't worry about that now kid, just worry about the here and now." Mokou replies.
"If you say so…"
"Well looks like we're here." Mokou announced to the group. "Just keep going forward and you should reach Eientei."
"Thank you so much for the help Mokou, without your help we'd still be lost." Meiling said with a bow.
"Er…Yeah…well it wasn't too much trouble…" Mokou said, looking slightly uncomfortable from Meiling's thanks.
"Thanks for the help Moky!" Flandre said cheerfully. "It was nice meeting you and Miss Kam-Kami…sheer…Miss Funny Hat!"
"No problem kid…Wait what? Moky…?" Mokou replied with a puzzled look.
"It was a pleasure meeting the two of you as well, may the winds of fortune blow at your backs!" Keine said as she waved the two goodbye.
"I hope we meet again!" Meiling shouted back to the two as they left.
"Well, weren't those two nice?" Keine asked Mokou happily once the pair of Flandre and Meiling was out of sight.
"Hmmmm, yeah." Mokou replied simply.
"I'm really glad you're making new friends Mokou." Keine said in a cheerful tone.
"Wh-What? Who are you my mom?" Mokou said as her face turned as red as her pants. "Let's just go already…alright?" Mokou said as she shoved her hands in her pockets and stormed off.
Keine just chuckled at her friend's immature response and followed after her. "Whatever you say Mokou, whatever you say…"
Eientei was a strange place, not only was it deep in the desolate Bamboo Forest of the Lost, but it also had many white fluffy rabbits frolicking about the courtyard in a carefree manner. Eientei itself was a large eastern style mansion, it looked to be thriving with activity as short childlike in appearance people with rabbit ears poking out of their heads were busy doing various tasks around the mansion.
"Wow! Look at all the fluffy bunny rabbits China!" Flandre exclaimed happily. "They're so cute and fluffy!"
"Haha, yeah they are. But we shouldn't disturb them; we wouldn't want to upset their owners." Meiling replied.
"Awwwww…" Flandre groaned in disappointment.
"Don't worry, if we find the owners we can ask if you can pet their rabbits, alright?"
"Oh, okay…"
"Good girl." Meiling said as she ruffled Flandre's hair. "Now…Where are the owners…?" Meiling asked herself as she slowly walked towards the mansion. "Maybe they're insi-yah!" Meiling exclaims as she trips and falls face first on the ground.
"China, are you okay!" Flandre asked worriedly.
"Urgh…Y-Yeah…Just tripped on something…" Meiling said as she got up and brushed herself off, noticing a rope on the ground, one end tied to a tree and the other end leading towards a bush. "What the heck is this rope doing out here…?" Meiling asked as she gazed towards the bush in suspicion.
Suddenly a youthful looking girl suddenly hopped out of the bush snickering in delight with a huge grin stretched across her face. "Wahahahaha! Walk much doofus!" The young girl said smugly as she laughed at Meiling.
The girl had wavy shoulder length black hair and like all the others walking around Eientei, she had a pair of white rabbit ears poking out from her head. Her eyes were a dark red color, and she wore a frilly pink nightgown like dress and a necklace with a carrot on it around her neck.
"Hey that wasn't nice meanie! Apologize to Meiling right now!" Flandre yelled at the perpetrator.
"Why should I? Ain't my fault the doofus can't walk right, and Tewi Inaba doesn't apologize to idiots." The girl named Tewi said with a snicker. "Besides why would I listen to a weirdo like you? Those wings are the weirdest things I've ever seen in Gensokyo! And that's sayin something!"
"They aren't weird! They're pretty! You, you…Bully!" Flandre yelled.
"Feh! You're definition of pretty is as weird as yer wings weirdo." Tewi replied smugly.
"Flandre, this brat isn't worth our attention, just ignore her." Meiling said as she put a hand on Flandre's shoulder.
"Alright Meiling…" Flandre said, taking her friend's advice.
"That's right! Go listen to mommy doofus and run away weirdo!" Tewi yelled at the two as they walked away. "Psh, their reactions weren't as funny as Reisen's, but those idiots were still good for a laugh. Heh, stupid freak…" Tewi said to herself as she hopped away, off to cause more trouble.
"Hmph, well wasn't that a nice welcoming party…" Meiling grumbled to herself. "Now to find the one's running this joint."
"Why don't we ask that bunny girl?" Flandre suggested.
"Feh, I'd prefer to never see that brat again…Even if it means not being able to find the head honcho here." Meiling replied.
"No not that meanie, that bunny girl over there." Flandre said as she pointed over to a light purple haired girl with rabbit ears coming out of her head. She appeared to be struggling with some boxes she's carrying. "Excuse me! Miss Bunny-rabbit!" Flandre yelled to the purple haired rabbit girl.
"Huh?" The rabbit girl said as she tilted her head to see who was calling her, but this action caused her to lose her balance as she fell over, causing all the contents of the box to spill out. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" The rabbit girl cried in distress. "Why must my luck be so rotten! What did I do to deserve this! Why! Why! WHY!" The rabbit girl yelled to no one in general as she quickly started to put the boxes contents back in the box.
"I'm sorry Miss Bunny-rabbit; let me help you fix it!" Flandre said as she crouched down by the rabbit girl and helped her pick up her things.
"Oh it's alright…I'm used to it…" The rabbit girl said as she continued to repack the box of its contents.
This rabbit girl was significantly different from Tewi and the others. For one she stood quite tall, reaching Meiling's height, even without her ears counted in the measurement and her eyes were also as red as Flandre's. She wore a black business suit and a purple short skirt, giving her the feel of someone who takes her work seriously, a stark contrast to the prankster they encountered earlier. She also had a womanly figure, something not seen in the others at the mansion.
"Thank you for your help little one." The purple haired rabbit girl thanked as she struggled to lift the box.
"Here, let me help you with that." Meiling said as she took the box from the struggling rabbit girl.
"Th-Thank you." The girl stuttered as she panted a bit.
"No problem! Where do you want them, Miss…?"
"Reisen Udonge Inaba." The girl introduced herself as. "Over by that shed would be fine…"
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Reisen." Meiling said cheerfully as she strolled over to the shed Reisen indicated her to.
"Hey Miss Bunny-rabbit." Flandre said as she tugged lightly at Reisen's skirt.
"Y-Yes little one?" Reisen asked timidly.
"Do you know where the moon people are? I really wanna meet them!" Flandre asks.
"Do you mean master Kaguya and Eirin?" Reisen asked. "Those two are the only lunarians here besides myself, they're basically the ones in charge here…"
"Yeah, if they're really from the moon! Can we visit them? Pretty please?" Flandre asked excitedly.
"Well…Master Kaguya is currently taking a nap and asked not to be disturbed…But I suppose it'd be alright for you to visit master Eirin…" Reisen answers.
"Yay! Thank you so much Miss bunny rabbit!" Flandre exclaims happily. "China, China! Miss Bunny-rabbit says we can visit a moon person!"
"Oh that's great, wouldn't want to go through all this trouble for nothing now would we?" Meiling replied as she rejoined the two from her quick errand.
"Well it's the least I can do for your help…Miss?"
"Hong Meiling, you can just call me Meiling, and my excited little friend here is Flandre Scarlet. Thank you for your help Miss Reisen."
"It's no problem…Scarlet…That name sounds familiar…" Reisen mumbles to herself. "Follow me; Miss Eirin should be inside doing some paper work…" Reisen said to the two as she guided them into the large mansion that is Eientei.
Eientei's interior was like its exterior, eastern styled. The rooms and walls were plain and empty aside from a few landscape paintings and furniture here and there. It was the complete opposite to the European styled mansion Flandre and Meiling called home, with its decorated halls and its bustling maids within the mansion. Reisen soon enough led the two to a door that led to Eirin's office.
Reisen tapped lightly on the door, "Master Eirin, there are two guests who would like to see you…" Reisen said in a polite manner.
An exasperated sigh could be heard from the room. "Send them in." An agitated voice could be heard saying from the other side of the door.
"Doctor Yagokoro will see you now, right this way please." Reisen says as she opens the door and motions for the two to enter.
Inside the room, there was a desk, one of the first things they've seen that wasn't eastern styled decor in the mansion. There were also several shelves sitting behind the desk, they looked like they were filled with medical supplies and books on medical research. Sitting behind the desk was a silver haired woman, she appeared to be in her early twenties, and like Reisen she had a womanly figure not seen in others around the mansion. The back of hair long white hair was tied into one large braid, and she wore a medic's cap that was red on one half and blue on the other. Her dress followed the same color scheme, alternating between red and blue. Her dress also seemed to have depictions of constellations stitched into it. Her expression was neutral if not a cold one; the two surmised that this was Reisen's master, Eirin.
"Hmmmm, and odd pair of visitors you've brought me today Udonge." Eirin stated plainly. "You may return to your duties now, I'll be speaking to our…guests privately." She said, putting emphasis on the word "guests."
"Um…A-Alright master…It was nice meeting you two." Reisen said quietly as she exited the room.
"So…What can I do for the two of you today? Soothe any searing pains? An organ transplant maybe? Or perhaps just an annual checkup?" Eirin asked professionally as she drummed her fingers against her desk.
"Huh? No, we're not for any of that icky stuff! We're here to visit the moon people!" Flandre says cheerfully.
"Well your meeting with one right now. What business do you have with me? Speak." Eirin asked coldly, her eyes fixed on Flandre's wings, as if pondering if they were artificial or not.
"Oh um…Well someone I know told me a story about moon people living here…So I wanted to meet them myself…" Flandre answered timidly.
"Well now you have, so unless you're here on official business, get out of my office, now." Eirin said without a hint of emotion behind her words.
"Hey! We went through a lot to get here, all we wanted to do was see the lunarians here and learn about them, there's no need to be so rude! It's not like we're disrupting your business here!" Meiling shouted angrily.
"I beg to differ. You two are wasting my valuable time with your petty little visit, which is disrupting me from doing my work. Want to learn about lunarians little girl? Read a book. Now both of you get out of my office, I won't waste anymore of my time entertaining you." Eirin ordered coldly.
"…Very well, let's go Flandre." Meiling said to her companion.
"Okay Meiling…" Flandre replies as she follows her to the door. "Sorry for bothering you Miss moon lady…" Flandre said before she closed the door behind her.
The two left Eirin to her work alone, but it was swiftly interrupted by yet another visitor. A black haired girl looking to be in early twenties like Eirin entered the room without bothering to knock on the door, her black her was a mess, making it look like she had just gotten out of bed. She wore a pink robe with long pink sleeves with a line of small white bows going across the chest area of the robe, she also wore a long skirt with the robe, and it went down all the way to her feet.
"Ah, good morning Eirin!" The black haired woman greeted cheerfully.
"Good afternoon, Princess Kaguya." Eirin replied with her attention still focused on her work.
"So how are the bills looking, any improvements?" Kaguya asked as she stretched her arms.
"No unfortunately…Your outside world toys depleted nearly all of our savings…and business has been slow as of late. Our coffers are almost empty Princess."
"Well that wasn't the response I was looking for…"
"I'm sorry Princess, but there's little we can do about the situation…Really Princess, I thought I told you specifically NOT to waste all our money on that outside world junk."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…Let's not worry about the details here let's focus on paying these debts off shall we?" Kaguya said dismissively with the wave of her hand.
"Right…Easier said than done. Unless a large sum of money jumps into our laps soon, we're going bankrupt." Eirin said unenthusiastically.
"Mail call!" a voice shouted from outside the mansion, interrupting the two.
"I got it." Kaguya said as she went to go retrieve the mansion's mail. She quickly returned, reading a newspaper intently.
"Oh Eirin…I believe I just found our solution!" Kaguya said cheerfully.
"Oh please, do enlighten me." Eirin said in a tone screaming of disinterest.
"Right here it says there's a bounty being held by Remilia Scarlet! She's loaded with dough Eirin! If we catch her bounty, we'll definitely get more than enough to pay off our debts!" Kaguya said in excitement.
"How much does this bounty pay?" Eirin asked with her interest now piqued.
"Let's see here…One thousand yen!" Kaguya cries in shock.
"That's much more than we need…I could buy quite a bit of new equipment for my experiments with what's left over…Now what's our quarry?"
"Hmmmm…Looks like some red headed lady in green with a goofy hat named Hong Meiling, and a blonde in red with some freaky ass wings named Flandre Scarlet…Looks like Remilia's holding a bounty on a relative, talk about issues huh?"
"That sounds vaguely familiar…" Eirin mumbled. "Is there a picture we can look at? Pictures say a thousand words after all…"
"Yeah, here take a look." Kaguya said as she handed Eirin the newspaper.
"What the…Those two came here less than ten minutes ago." Eirin said, slightly surprised. "How well the table has been set for us, those two will most likely be in the bamboo forest right now, ripe for the picking…It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel." Eirin said as a grin grew on her face.
"Say what! Then let's go get them already before someone else nabs them! I want that money!" Kaguya shouted impatiently.
"Yes…Let's hunt down our prey before someone else tries to steal our bounty." Eirin said as she grabbed her bow and arrows sitting at the foot of her desk and exited the room along with Kaguya. The two's minds flooded with merry thoughts of what they would do with the money once they hunt down their quarry and turned them over to Remilia.
Author's Note: Hoo nelly, I took quite a bit of time on this chapter...This chapter is actually longer than all the others combined. Yikes. Well sorry for the wait, I spent quite a bit of time making sure everything was written to my liking, I more than once erased a paragraph because it just didn't feel right to me. Anyways, I really love how this chapter came out, it introduces two of my favorite characters in the series, Mokou and Keine. Oh and the Eientei cast and Aya too. I know Keine's ability isn't to read history, but instead consume and hide it, but I thought it made sense, plus it was the best way to lead into that scene in my opinion...So Keine gets a minor power boost. Well I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to the next chapter, which is actually close to being finished...And I gotta shut up now, see ya next time.