Author's Note: Once again, a pretty late update, but I guess it's "regular" for me to be updating in this manner. I apologize for this, I have been busy these past months with life and didn't really have much of free time to write anything. I hope that this long chapter (almost 4k words!) makes up for it. As for the story itself, I would like to note that this story will be getting much darker from this point on, there will be more deaths and more gruesome scenes than before, so if you're easily disturbed by them, then please skip this chapter and the story itself. They won't be written in much detail though, because this is still Teen rating, but depending on how it goes, I might have to put it into Mature rating. I would also like to give special thanks to Serene for helping me figure out one thing during the writing of this chapter. Once again, thank you for your time. Without further ado, please enjoy the chapter and let me know in reviews what you think about the switch of tone of the story.
Yukari and Reimu were jumping through the places using gaps in order to get to the mansion.
Like before, they had to use multiple of them in succession because the gap youkai didn't have the power anymore to travel huge distances using them.
They stopped near the entrance of the mansion.
Yukari raised her eyebrow.
-I don't see the reason why we wouldn't just warp straight into the mansion if we are already welcome there, but it's your call, Reimu.
She shrugged nonchalantly.
Compared to her, the shrine maiden actually didn't mind walking to places using her two legs and while she was welcome into the mansion, the gap youkai definitely wasn't, so Reimu preferred to do it by the rules this time.
She however didn't humor Yukari with the answer, she wasn't really in mood to do so.
They walked towards the gate, the gatekeeper standing there at alert as always.
Meiling soon noticed the pair and quickly saluted in the direction of shrine maiden.
-Welcome back, Miss Hakurei. Lady Flandre was awaiting your return.
She then looked at the other girl.
-Mind telling me who she is? Miss Sakuya mentioned that only you would be returning.
Reimu then quickly glanced at Yukari, she had a smug look on her face that was telling her, "told you that we could just warp straight into the mansion." She meant that the explanations were on the shrine maiden... What a pain.
-She's a friend. While she certainly wasn't planned to be coming here, Flandre should be "happy" to see her.
The gatekeeper slowly nodded.
She then eyed intently the girl again, something clicking in her at her appearance.
-Haven't we met before?
Yukari smiled.
-No, you're mistaken. This is our first time meeting. I'm Maribel Hearn, it's a pleasure to meet you.
She bowed.
The gatekeeper wasn't convinced at first, still looking weirdly at the girl, however after a while, she also smiled and bowed.
-I see. I must have been mistaken then. Hong Meiling, the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, please be on your best behavior while being here, otherwise we will be forced to kick you out.
Yukari's smile turned into a grin. She was finding this amusing.
-I will keep that in mind, Miss Meiling.
The gatekeeper nodded, being content with her answer.
She opened the gate and beckoned them towards the entrance.
-You're free to go inside, someone will come for you at the main hall to lead you to the Lady Flandre, so please wait there until then.
They both nodded and started walking towards the entrance.
Reimu frowned at the gap youkai when they were away from the gatekeeper.
-Is there any reason why you would keep your real identity from her? We will have to tell them who you are anyway.
Yukari was still grinning.
-There wasn't any. I just figured that I might as well amuse myself, since you wanted to walk towards the entrance instead of warping inside that much and I suppose that it was nice to actually see you talk, even if it was for a little while, instead of keeping to yourself all the time.
The shrine maiden was still frowning at the gap youkai.
But there was truth to what she was saying, she really should keep it together and stop wallowing in despair of her circumstances.
She will restore Gensokyo back to normal, even if it kills her in the process.
They entered the mansion and, just like the gatekeeper suggested, they waited for somebody to come for them.
After waiting for a few minutes, finally somebody arrived.
-Welcome back, Miss Reimu and Miss...?
It was Rumia wearing maid uniform.
Ah, so that's what Flandre meant by "finding her work."
The shrine maiden also noticed that the youkai was cleaned up, her blonde hair was silky and smooth now, and she was wearing a light make-up on her face, and of course she wasn't wearing tattered clothes anymore.
Yukari just chuckled at this sight.
-Maribel Hearn.
The youkai of darkness nodded.
-Miss Reimu, Miss Maribel. Lady Flandre is awaiting in dining room with others, please follow me.
They silently nodded and followed Rumia.
As they were walking through corridors of the mansion, the gap youkai whispered to Reimu.
-Ah, so our little vampire is now taking lesser youkai as slaves?
The shrine maiden rolled her eyes.
-No, she would most likely die if we haven't found her yesterday. Flandre most likely just put her up as maid, so she can "repay her gratitude."
Yukari smiled.
-In other words, slavery with extra steps?
Reimu frowned and bonked her lightly on the head.
The gap youkai just laughed heartily.
The shrine maiden wouldn't admit to that, but she also slightly smiled at the joke.
She was glad that Yukari was here with her, while her methods were questionable, there was no doubt that she was always trying her best to make sure that everyone in Gensokyo was living without worries.
Reimu could always count on her.
They soon arrived near the dining room.
Rumia knocked on the door and opened it, beckoning for the duo to enter.
They saw Flandre, Patchouli, Reisen and Sakuya sitting at the table, discussing something.
There were also some fairy maids dusting and cleaning the room.
The trio approached the group, and the youkai of darkness bowed.
-Lady Flandre, I bring to you, Miss Reimu and Miss Maribel.
They were confused by the mention of somebody called "Maribel", but as soon as they looked at the person in question, they understood who that was.
Rumia excused herself and left the room, most likely to take care of other tasks she had to do.
The blonde vampire stood up and started slowly moving towards Yukari, circling her like a shark would with their prey.
-Maribel, huh?
Flandre nodded towards the shrine maiden.
-Excellent job on finding her, Reimu. I will take care of "interrogating" her now.
The gap youkai crossed her hands.
-Interrogating? Please. How about you leave talking to somebody sensible, like for example your chief maid or the magician? I didn't come here to withhold any information.
Suddenly, the blonde vampire lunged at Yukari and picked her up by the throat.
-You shut your mouth. You will only talk when I will allow you to do so.
Everyone present was worried about how the situation was escalating.
Patchouli finally stood up and addressed Flandre.
-Flan, calm down.
The blonde vampire glanced at the magician, while still holding the gap youkai in the air.
-Calm down, Patchy? How I can be calm, when this bitch stomps into MY mansion, being rude as hell, not mentioning that she was playing a school girl for whole year and didn't care to even help us in restoring Gensokyo?
The magician was visibly nervous about what Flandre might do to Yukari.
-I understand that you're mad, Flan, but she's the key to restoring Gensokyo back to normal, we can't just kill her.
Sakuya jumped in to address the blonde vampire too.
-Mistress, please listen to Lady Patchouli. Yakumo and Reimu are our only chance to get Gensokyo back.
Flandre stared at them for a while, then sighed and released Yukari, walking away from her.
The gap youkai clutched her throat, visibly relieved that she can breathe freely again.
-Aggression problems much? I can see why your older sister kept you imprisoned for all these years in the basement.
The blonde vampire stopped in her tracks.
Everyone present held their breath, hoping that these words wouldn't anger any further the vampire.
Suddenly, Flandre turned around and charged at the gap youkai with her claws at ready.
Reimu wanted to scream at her to stop, but she was too fast, the shrine maiden only managed to close her eyes to not watch the gruesome scene that would unfold.
She heard something sharp going through flesh, she cringed internally at the sound.
Reimu finally opened her eyes, she was surprised at the sight.
Yukari's face and dress were covered in blood, however, it wasn't her blood.
The blood belonged to a fairy maid that was standing next to the gap youkai, half of her head missing.
She was holding a broom in her hand, most likely sweeping the floor, before she got attacked by surprise by the vampire.
The blonde vampire in question was also covered in blood and still had her hand impaled into the fairy maid, she was staring Yukari down.
-They are right, Yakumo. I can't kill you because you're too useful. However, mark my words, if you mention my imprisonment ever again, I won't hesitate to make your life eternal hell.
Yukari wanted to answer, however she was quickly cut off by the other fairy maids shrieking in horror at the sight of their fellow kin dead.
They quickly dropped everything and ran away from the room.
After it was silent again, the gap youkai finally answered the vampire.
-I suppose, I went out of line with that comment, for that I apologize, however, there was no need to kill that fairy, was it?
Flandre smiled.
-It was an effective message for you. Don't test my patience ever again.
She then retraced her hand from the fairy's body, making her finally fall to the ground, the contents of the head spilling on the floor.
The shrine maiden averted her gaze, it was too gruesome for her to look at.
-Sakuya, clean this mess up and prepare a bath for me, I'm all covered in blood.
The chief maid, which was frozen in place because of the events unfolding, finally nodded and walked towards the body.
She had a troubled look on her face, suggesting that she also didn't approve of this death.
Sakuya picked the body up and disappeared, most likely stopping time to dispose of the body without making a scene outside this room.
Patchouli was just like the chief maid, frozen in place, she had a pale look on her face, likely disturbed by the gruesome sight.
She grabbed her book and said.
-I'll excuse myself, I lost any willingness to discuss anything after this mess.
Flandre just waved her off.
-Fine, whatever.
The magician then left the room, still having a pale look on her face.
Reimu noted that when the vampire lost her cool, she was becoming her "old self." She lost her composed personality which came from her older sister and became impulsive and indifferent just like in the older days.
Reimu then looked at the one person that was remaining. Reisen.
She had a bewildered look on her face and was muttering something to herself.
Both Yukari and Flandre didn't really care to check on her, so Reimu walked over to her.
The shrine maiden put her hand on the moon rabbit's shoulder.
-What's wrong, Reisen?
The moon rabbit slowly looked at the shrine maiden.
She teared up and hugged her.
Reimu was surprised, but hugged her back.
-S-she's dead. T-there was a lot of b-blood.
Shrine maiden was confused, Reisen was from moon and supposedly served in army, so why she was so traumatized by death?
-I don't understand, you were a soldier, right? Death shouldn't be something unusual for you.
The moon rabbit shook her head, relaxing a bit in embrace of Reimu.
-I was, but I fled from the moon before I could see any combat. When I was younger and was returning from the school with my friends, one of them had an idea that we should sneak into the construction site and play around there, there was nobody there since it was day-off for builders. We played a tag there for a while and when I was about to catch my friend to tag her, a brick fell from the unfinished building that we were playing around and split her head open. She was dead on the spot and her blood was everywhere on me. You just don't forget that sight no matter what. And I joined the army, because every adult had to apply for mandatory military service for at least one year. At first, I wasn't worried because there was no war for centuries now, so I would just serve for this year and I would be free. But no, I wasn't so lucky. A war broke out when I was in the army for half a year. I was scared of fighting and seeing people die, so one night I fled to the earth.
The shrine maiden nodded, understanding her situation a bit more.
-You're liability.
Yukari finally said after listening to her story on the side.
-Huh?
The moon rabbit looked over to the gap youkai.
-You're liability.
She repeated herself.
-We will most likely be seeing a lot of deaths during our travels to save Gensokyo. What will you do then? Cower in fear and run away? We don't need someone like you.
Reimu frowned. There's no need to be harsh like that, but on the other hand, she was also right. The moon rabbit might not be much of use in combat.
-But, I can still be useful! I might not be good in direct combat, but I still can help in other ways!
Reisen countered.
Yukari crossed her hands.
-Even so, it's not up to me. The vampire here will decide what to do with you.
Flandre was idly sitting on the chair and playing around with her fingernails, she perked up at the mention of her.
-If she says that she still might be useful, then I'll believe her. Just make sure to don't break my trust in you. I don't want you to jeopardize any of our operations just because your trauma kicked up.
The moon rabbit nodded.
-Good, you can go back to your room and rest up. I believe Sakuya already shown to you, where it is.
Reisen once again nodded and left the room.
After a moment of silence, the blonde vampire spoke up again.
-Since we are alone, you might as well explain to me the situation, Yakumo.
Yukari looked at the vampire, uncrossing her hands.
-I suppose I might as well.
She walked over to the table and sat on one of the chairs, Reimu doing the same.
She explained everything that she told the shrine maiden before to the vampire.
Flandre nodded at the end of the story.
-I see. I got the gist of what we have to do now. There are however a few questions that I got.
The gap youkai wriggled around on the chair, making herself more comfortable.
-Ask them, then.
-Why don't you leave the matters to that secret god? I met her during that taotie incident. She didn't seem like a bad person.
Taotie incident? What taotie? She doesn't recall any of them starting an incident before. Was this some kind of incident that happened here but not in her world?
Yukari chuckled.
-Bad? No. But not necessarily good, either. I have known her for a long time now, and I know for sure that if you value freedom, then you don't want her to put her hands on Gensokyo.
Flandre nodded.
-I see. I guess I will have to trust you on that, Yakumo. You also mentioned that you know who that mysterious benefactor of ours is, why can't you just tell us the identity of them?
The gap youkai crossed her hands.
-I already explained that to Reimu here. I owe that person a debt for helping me in the past, so I will keep their identity a secret for the time being. You don't need to worry, because she is definitely not an enemy. Let me just give you a tip. Who without doubt considering our group should be here, but isn't?
Flandre tilted her head in confusion.
-There are a lot of people that should be here with us, Yakumo. That doesn't even cut the list of people in half.
Yukari smiled.
-Well, that's unfortunate, you won't be getting anything more from me.
The blonde vampire wanted to argue with that, but she dropped it.
-Last question. Do you know the location of that yin-yang orb?
The gap youkai dropped her smile.
-No, I don't. That's something that eludes even me, normally it should be back in Hakurei Shrine, however it was already raided by the GMF, I even checked myself, and it wasn't there.
-That complicates the situation greatly. If we don't even have a clue where it could be, then we could be trying to comb the whole world trying to find it.
Suddenly, something started vibrating.
The blonde vampire reached into her pocket.
-That's my phone, but that's strange. Only Sakuya knows my number, and Patchy doesn't even use a phone.
She unlocked her phone and checked it out.
Flandre frowned.
-A message from unknown number, huh?
She opened the message and read through it.
-It appears that our mysterious benefactor strikes again. She sent me the location of that yin-yang orb, it appears to be kept in National Bank that's in the center of the city in a deposit box. She also sent me the layout of the bank and codes in order to get into the vault without raising an alarm.
Yukari chuckled.
-How shrewd of her.
The blonde vampire looked around suspiciously.
-Well, I don't like the idea that somebody here right now is eavesdropping on our conversation, but no matter what, I can't just sense anyone else being here.
-You might as well drop it. Like I said, she's not an enemy.
Flandre sighed.
-I suppose.
She then looked at the shrine maiden.
-I heard from Sakuya that you went to visit Marisa. How is she these days?
Reimu faced the vampire.
-She's doing alright, I suppose. She seems to be content with what she's doing at least.
Flandre nodded.
-That's good to hear. I was really worried about her when she came to me to ask for help. Remind me when Gensokyo returns back to normal to take care of that "Yuuka Kazami."
The gap youkai raised her eyebrow.
-That would be one hell of a fight to see, little vampire. You trying to defeat one of the most powerful youkai in Gensokyo.
The blonde vampire grinned, she had an evil glint in her eyes.
-Who said anything about fighting, Yakumo? I will make her "disappear", just like I do with everything else that angers me.
The choice of words that vampire used seemed to be also a message for the gap youkai as well.
Yukari shrugged, the shrine maiden not being sure if she understood that or not.
Suddenly, Sakuya appeared next to the blonde vampire.
She bowed.
-I have disposed of the body, my lady. I have also made sure that the fairies that witnessed the event wouldn't tell anybody about this.
Flandre glanced at the chief maid.
-I assume that you killed them, then?
She raised her eyebrow.
-Nay, my lady. I have bribed them to ensure their silence, fairies are quick to forget when you offer them something of great value.
The vampire looked disappointed.
-Ah, what a waste of resources. I would prefer for you to dispose of them too.
Sakuya looked baffled at the response of her mistress.
-My lady, I can understand your hatred of fairy maids, but please remember that we need as much manpower as possible.
-They are useless, Sakuya. The only person doing any real work here is you. As soon as you take your eyes off them, they laze around instead of doing any work.
The chief maid didn't reply to this, she knew that her lady was right about this.
-Your bath is also ready, mistress.
Flandre perked up at this.
-Ah, finally. I was tired of being covered in blood all this time.
She touched her bloodied face with one of her finger, then licked it.
-Fairy blood doesn't taste as good as human one.
The blonde vampire stood up.
-I guess that's it for the discussions for today. We are going to continue them with everyone tomorrow, for now you can go back to your rooms and rest up. We have already eaten dinner before you arrived, so I will send Sakuya to give your share at your rooms.
She looked at Yukari.
-That includes you too, Yakumo. I will feed you not because I like you, but because we need you for our plans.
The gap youkai grinned.
-How generous of you.
Flandre frowned.
-Don't get too used to it.
She was about to walk away when she suddenly recalled something.
-Oh right, you haven't been assigned your room yet. Sakuya will show it to you.
After this, she left the room.
Sakuya then addressed Yukari.
-Follow me to your room, Yakumo.
The gap youkai nodded and then faced Reimu.
-Well, I will be seeing you tomorrow then, Reimu. Good night.
The shrine maiden nodded.
-Night.
The chief maid and gap youkai then left the room.
When Reimu was completely alone in the dining room, she pinched the bridge of her nose.
It was a really eventful and messy day, and the days only would get worse, from what she heard.
Well, no use getting depressed about it. She should go back to her room to eat up and rest up for upcoming days.
She was still wondering about that mysterious person that was helping them.
Someone from our group that should be here, but isn't? Flandre was right, that there are a lot of people that would fit that bill.
At least the comforting thing was that she wasn't certainly our enemy from what Yukari is saying.
No use thinking about it if she can't figure out the answer.
Reimu then went back to her room.
Not soon after, Sakuya came with the dinner and left without saying much.
Most likely, she also was tired of this whole day and wanted to end it as soon as possible.
The shrine maiden ate the food, cleaned herself up in the bathroom, then went to sleep, finally ending this day.