London, Day 3
Remilia sighed as she closed the sliding wall closet door before opening it again.
No, still the same drab clothes.
She slid the door closed, lowered her expectations, and opened it again, the wheels squeaking as they carried the door along the closet's frame.
She had scores of outfits of every shade for every occasion, she knew, but everytime she considered a garment she could find fault with it.
This one was too dressy.
This one was too sparse.
This one was too old.
And this one was too loud.
Besides, nothing leapt out at her and said this was the attire of the scarlet devil.
"Give me something…" She muttered to herself, her fingers skipping over the smooth velvet-leather riding garb she'd worn back in the day, the azure kimono that had seen use in the Sengoku, the felt hat and hunting clothes stolen from a khan of khans…
"Is there a problem, mistress?"
Remilia would look to the door, where Sakuya stood waiting.
In Barnes' choice of ankle-length maid's dress.
"Yeah, what're you doin' out of the clothes I picked?" Remilia mumbled.
"Whilst I prefer the dress you gave me, I fear mister Osbourne would not approve-" Sakuya started, her voice cut down by a wave of Remilia's hand.
"You're my chief maid. Go put on the attire deserving of that station," She murmured.
"…Yes, mistress," Sakuya deferred, "Before I go change, might I ask what had you talking to your wardrobe?"
"Was I?" Remilia whispered, throwing an exhausted look her way before nodding, "Uhh. Don't see any dresses I like."
Sakuya nodded deferentially, "If I may be so bold, mister Osbourne doesn't much care how his clients are dressed, so long as it is appropriate."
Remilia frowned. "I'm struggling to care, myself. Go and change, Sakuya."
Sakuya did as she was told, walking through the cold, lonely corridors of the mansion until she heard the nervous pacing of Koakuma, who hurried into sight.
"Oh! Is the mistress with you, Sakuya?"
Sakuya shook her head.
Koakuma looked her up and down, taking in the sight of Sakuya's maid outfit before making a decision.
"Would you come with me, please?" Koakuma squeaked, her chocolate-brown eyes pleading with Sakuya.
"Why did you bring the human here? I asked for Remi."
Sakuya slowed her gait as Koakuma rushed on over to Patchouli, who stood with her back to the entrance hall's railing. Beyond and below them she could hear a high-pitched squabbling.
"According to the chief maid, lady Remilia is getting ready for her day, and is therefore unavailable, a-and as you can see, miss Sakuya looks the part to quash this incident!"
Patchouli's exasperated gaze slid off of her pet demon to regard Sakuya. There was a pause.
"Yes, I suppose you're right. Come here, 'Sakuya'," Patchouli ordered.
Sakuya obeyed, filling the space that Patchouli allowed her.
Beneath her was a gathering of maids on the red carpet. They were young – most of them were younger, or at least smaller than her – and all of them had clear, transparent wings that grew from their backs.
Not one of them was happy to be there. Some looked tense and fidgeted, some frowned up at Sakuya, whilst some of the maids just stared sullenly at the floor or at the walls, disaffected.
"You're not Lady Scarlet!" One of the fairies declared, as though she was watching a pantomime.
Sakuya flinched, glancing Patchouli's way. She had hoped she might have been briefed as to what was going on before she was thrown into this.
"No," Sakuya's eyes returned to the speaker, "I am not."
"I-if you don't mind my asking, would you tell us who you are-" One of the maids started before two more fairies surrounded her, whispering in a huddle with her.
The original speaker – a maid wearing her black hair in a French bob and large, round spectacles – spoke more defiantly now, "Who are you, then?"
Sakuya inhaled through her nose, uncertain what name to give. "I am… Sakuya," she hesitated, "acting chief maid of Remilia Scarlet's household. She has business outside of the mansion today, so if-"
"Wrong! She'd be sleeping today!" One of the three fairies yelled. She was a girl with long, sandy-blonde hair that split into bangs.
"She left us long ago." the last of the three fairies – the shortest, wearing her brown hair layered to frame her round face, warbled miserably.
"I'm afraid we don't believe you!" The maid with the black bob insisted, "we thank you for your hospitality, b-but we would like to resign! We're through working for a mistress who doesn't show her face, or - or who isn't even real!"
This was new to Sakuya. Ordinarily, she'd be told what to do, and she would meekly obey.
But with Patchouli and Koakuma observing her and this fairy stating her rebellious intent, it was apparent that meekness would get her nowhere.
"Have you been working?" Sakuya asked.
"What? Yes! Of course we have!" Sandy hair blurted out, incredulous.
"In almost every room I have been in, I have found dust, cobwebs and ash. In every room, there has been neglect. I ask again; have you been working?" Sakuya said coolly.
The fairies looked around at each other as uncertainty set in.
"W-we've done our best, without Lady Scarlet's instruction however-"
"Lady Scarlet is to blame? That's…" Sakuya opened her silver eyes wider, "the sentiment you'd like to share with upper management?"
"N-no, it's not that-"
"What are your names?" Sakuya asked.
Before the fairy maids devolved into their anxious mutterings, Sakuya raised her hand.
"As your appointed superior, I feel obliged to learn your names," She said soothingly.
That eased them, though the fairies looked nervously to one another, some clearly preferring to remain silent than speak and risk reprisal.
"I'm Megane," The black-haired fairy with the spectacles stuttered, "a-and despite the circumstances it's nice to-"
"I'm Sandee," The sandy-haired fairy interrupted, warily looking up at Sakuya.
"I'm Penny," The girl in the brown bob said quietly.
"Megane, take a third of the fairies and set to cleaning the windows of the mansion. You will need to apply soapy water first, cloth second. Use ladders to- ah. If I may ask, those wings of yours, do they work?"
"Y-yes, mistress." Megane demonstrated, her wings flitting to take her a few inches from the ground.
"Excellent, then there's no need for the ladders. Sandee, I will need the clothes for the entire household washed, dried and ironed. Do you know where everything you need is?"
"Nope!" Sandee declared.
"Well, neither do I. Luckily, Remilia will be out today so you have the morning and the afternoon to find and implement your tools. Penny, the dust – can you and ten other fairies set to dusting and cleaning the surfaces? The family room, the study and the entrance halls are a priority."
"After which," Patchouli suddenly spoke, "Remilia will tour the house and inspect your work."
There was a gasp and excited chatter down below as Sakuya glanced over at Patchouli. "Will she?" Sakuya asked.
Patchouli nodded slowly. "Between us, I feel we can convince her, especially now that she is in this… transient stage."
"Thank you, miss Patchouli. Your support means a great deal," Sakuya said.
Patchouli smiled unpleasantly. "Oh, don't thank me yet. You are, after all, dealing with fairies."
Once Sakuya was out the door and shielding Remilia from the smog-softened sun over London's streets, the maid allowed herself a sigh of relief. The fairy workforce had been a nightmare to organise from start to finish. Sakuya had been fairly sure one of the fairies had been sleeping whilst receiving her instructions.
Roughly a quarter of them had asked after Remilia. Some had hoped that she was well, others were nervous to perform to their lady's standard – and some had fearfully asked if there was a risk that they might bump into her during their work day.
That in turn made Sakuya wonder what kind of person Remilia had been before coming to the city.
"Sakuya," Remilia asked as they approached Osbourne's place, "Why was I to let her win?"
"Hmm? Oh, miss Flandre, last night?" Sakuya caught herself.
"Yes, exactly right," Remilia noted with a lazy smile, "I'd hear the 'why'."
"Mmm. Whilst it is important for us to overcome challenges, a sibling needs to have fun, and to have self-confidence. If all they can do is lose at the game, they'll stop playing," Sakuya decided, recalling the lessons she'd heard whilst sitting in on mister Osbourne's other clients.
"If I'd lost any of my 'challenges' to my enemies in Transylvania, it would've been the end of me," Remilia pointed out. Sakuya wasn't sure if it was the early hour or her suggestion of humility that did it, but there was less venom in Remilia's voice when she said that.
"Is Flandre an enemy?" Sakuya asked.
She heard a small sigh from her mistress as they waited for a horse carriage to pass before they'd cross the road.
"Of course not. She's my little sister," Remilia admitted softly, her voice barely heard over the clip-clop of hooves and the rattling thud of wheels crossing cobbles.
"That puts you in an ideal position to help her grow, for you to be fair with one another," Sakuya suggested.
"It's not as simple as that," Remilia spoke as though from experience, glancing over at her servant. Sakuya had followed her orders and put on her knee length dress with its red-trimmed collar, the apron, the headdress and the green ribbon.
"Well," Remilia conceded with a grin, "I'll think on your words, 'chief maid'."
Sakuya tried not to smile too enthusiastically. She tried to maintain a distance from this domineering girl and her wild assertions.
"So long as it pleases you, 'mistress'." Sakuya's words left her before she could stop herself.
"Mmhmm!" Remilia hummed, a chuckle bubbling through the noise. Sakuya tried not to smile at the sound.
As they began to walk, Sakuya looked over Remilia's choice of attire. The small girl had trapped her azure hair in a bonnet, her dress and skirts were coloured a brilliant turquoise, the black sleeves and hem trimmed in royal blue.
"Dressing to impress, I assume?" Sakuya asked as the traffic on the road finally dissipated.
"Ugh. I don't know," Remilia admitted as she made her crossing beneath the shade that Sakuya provided, "I've got too many dresses to choose them, and few of them fit me."
Sakuya nodded. "I think you chose well. If you'd like-"
"Yes?" Remilia prompted her.
Sakuya faltered. "If it would please you, I could perhaps find you something that might reflect your style, maybe?"
Sakuya almost bumped into Remilia as the smaller girl stopped ahead of her. Remilia smiled up at her, and for a moment looked as though she might hug the maid.
"Very well then! I'm counting on you, Sakuya. Now, be ready to fight my corner," Remilia said as she knocked on the door of mister Osbourne's place. Sakuya smiled sadly.
On the side of the road they'd left, a coat, a hat and a scarf cloaked a great dismal mass of flesh and wet hair that slouched in an overlooking alleyway. The monstrous thing's bloated lips pulled apart as its swollen eyes watched its quarry settle in for the afternoon.
"What the hell is she doing here?!" Remilia shouted.
Olivia De Vere turned in her seat, her eyebrows rising as she recognised the speaker. She moved to rise.
"Miss Scarlet, you will lower your voice in this place!" Mister Osbourne said sternly from the front of his study.
Olivia De Vere said nothing. Her hair was blonde and curly, her eyes were as blue as the ocean, and her fair features were stricken by the confrontation.
Remilia stalked towards her. It didn't matter that Olivia was taller, she made room for the undead princess.
"Remember me? The 'clueless country bumpkin' from the other night?" Remilia snarled up at her, "Or do you rely on your friends to jog your memory whilst they guard your flanks, you empty-headed little-"
"Miss Scarlet, sit down this instant!" Mister Osbourne started forward to part them.
That tore Remilia's gaze from Olivia to appeal to mister Osbourne, pointing a finger at her.
"She disrespected me! She mocked me in front of her friends! This low, mean-"
"Be that as it may," Mister Osbourne cut her off, "you conduct yourself appropriately. Go outside and compose yourself, then return."
Remilia threw one last disgusted glance at Olivia before wheeling on her heels and storming out, resisting every urge to slam the door or mutilate the walls with her nails. She quietly gnashed and snarled and threatened outside the study, with only Sakuya there to listen.
"I'm not doing this. We should go home. I hate this, and her, that impudent, impudent little twerp-"
"Mistress Remilia, I thought this is what you wanted, to learn how to speak properly to people?"
Remilia ground her teeth, her grimace turning into a mean smile. "I see what you're doing, and it's not working. I don't need this grief! I'm a princess, and she, some whelp of some middle class family! Whatever she's learning, I have no use for!
Besides, you think her a monster as much as I do! Why're you defending her?!"
Sakuya raised her hands in surrender. She was glad to be spared the wrinkled nose and the scornful glare that Remilia had pointed at Olivia. The vampire's furrowed brow and her bared teeth still put the maid on edge, however.
"Now, as to why you should follow this through," Sakuya started, "I think I have a good reason-"
The vampire sighed caustically. "This should be good," Remilia grumbled. Sakuya resumed.
"You are a princess, as you said. You'll be expected to speak to royalty, clergy, people from all walks of life. Is that correct?"
Remilia shrugged. "You are, I suppose," She said hotly.
Sakuya nodded. "Now, etiquette is a fundamental skill, no matter who you're dealing with. If you disrespect someone, doors close."
Remilia flinched. "Doors can be smashed apart. A way can be forced," She said, sullen now.
Sakuya frowned. "Would that approach have worked with your little sister? Or the tutor?" She snapped.
Remilia's eyes widened.
Sakuya pressed on before Remilia could rally. "When you dismissed Flandre in her room, she went into hysterics. You refused to meet her on her level and gave her no recourse, no way of finding common ground with you, so she lashed out."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Remilia grated out, "and I don't like the way you're talking to me."
"Please bear with me mistress," Sakuya continued, raising a hand before Remilia could sally forth, "that moment contrasted with how you handled her in the study. You were interested in her day. You smiled at her."
That gave Remilia pause, bringing the image of her smiling little sister to mind. "I smiled like a loon," Remilia murmured, her embarrassment colouring her cheeks.
"You were kind. Miss Flandre didn't act out, she didn't cry, or storm out of the room because you were kind to her."
"And you think I should be as kind to Olivia De Vere?" Remilia asked woodenly.
"I think… you should be forthright with her, so long as you can remain civil. Be cross with her if you must, but be polite," Sakuya decided.
Remilia realised she'd been holding onto her breath. She forced herself to exhale.
"Besides, there's every chance she might know something you don't," Sakuya remarked.
Remilia laughed breathlessly at that sentiment. "A human, knowing something I don't?!"
Sakuya decided not to point out the irony of Remilia's mission as they both re-entered mister Osbourne's makeshift classroom.
It was a disappointing day.
Remilia felt wrongfooted, spending most of her time and energy ensuring she made no mistakes and gave no inch to Olivia.
It was enough to leave mister Osbourne exasperated during Remilia's evaluation, condemning her lack of attention.
It was Sakuya who came to Remilia's defence in the end, informing mister Osbourne of the 'breakthroughs' Remilia had made with her sister. The details Sakuya provided elicited a curious hum from the teacher.
"Oh? Has your relationship with your sister not been particularly healthy?" The older gentleman asked.
"No, sir," Remilia said.
"How so?" Mister Osbourne asked as Sakuya hovered to one side.
"I've been… overprotective of her," Remilia decided, "and dismissive of her wishes." She half expected mister Osbourne to scoff or scold her for such treatment, or perhaps ask for more.
"Hnn. Well," Mister Osbourne's thumb and forefinger massaged his temple, "Being aware of the problem is the first step, isn't that right?"
"…Yes, I'd say that's true." Remilia said evenly. She'd honestly expected more damning, sniping comments.
Mister Osbourne searched Remilia's eyes for a long time. Remilia could tell he wanted to ask more questions.
Instead, he chose to apologise.
"Sakuya informed me that you and Olivia's first meeting was an unpleasant one. I am sorry for not informing you about her inclusion in our lessons. Know that I am doing it as a favour to someone of some importance to me."
Remilia frowned ever so slightly, her eyes flitting from Sakuya back to the tutor before she spoke. "I do not like it, but I understand. So long as she keeps her tongue free of my name, there shan't be a problem."
Mister Osbourne's features began to furrow, but he decided not to pass comment on it. "Well. For completing your first lesson…"
He produced a small wooden button.
"Take this home.
As long as," He'd lift the button beyond Remilia's grasping fingers, "you can tell me what you learnt today."
Remilia's lip curled up in a sneer. "I've learnt that Olivia De Vere will be sleeping with one eye open, if she knows what's good for her."
Even as she was shown the door, even as mister Osbourne's disappointed mutterings sounded in her ears, Remilia felt a caustic satisfaction rush through her chest.
She paused in the doorway, her eyes sliding up the door frame to the small box.
Her eyes began to sting.
"May I ask what this is?" Remilia asked as she glanced back at mister Osbourne.
The question took him aback, briefly forgetting his annoyance. "A mezuzah."
"What's in it?" Remilia asked as she forced herself to stride past it to reach the shade of Sakuya's umbrella.
"A scroll, called the klaf. To remind me God watches over this household." He stated.
"I see," Remilia sounded, understanding her discomfort, "Thank you for telling me this – and for the lesson. And I'm sorry for the way I acted. It was unbecoming, wasn't it?"
He grunted, his mouth a thin line beneath his grey moustache. Remilia turned to go.
"Miss Scarlet."
Remilia turned back in time for mister Osbourne to lift her wrist with a hand, his other hand pressing the button into her palm.
"I appreciate the effort, alright?" He said sternly, his tone just a little softer.
Sakuya wished him a good evening before the two girls walked homeward.
"So, how did I do?" Remilia sighed as they cut through the network of alleyways that came between Avalon Lane and the mansion.
"You did well. Your mistakes were obvious, but you impressed him with your recovery," Sakuya told her with a smile.
"And you as well?" Remilia asked.
"I thought that went without saying, mistress." Sakuya said warmly.
Remilia made a flustered reply before they hastened on through the alleyways.
For five minutes, they walked through alleyways that had taken twenty seconds to traverse coming the other way.
"Sakuya?"
"Yes, mistress?" There was a tenseness in the maid's voice.
"These alleyways aren't supposed to last this long, are they?" Remilia asked.
The both of them slowed to a halt, standing on a manhole cover in a shadowy row between two sunlit backroads that ran behind the houses.
"You couldn't have gotten us lost, Sakuya?" Remilia murmured.
"Certainly not, mistress. I know this part of the city like the back of my hand." Sakuya replied.
"K-kill the girl…" A third voice rumbled.
An obese wretch in a coat, hat and scarf swayed into view. He smelled like death, his blue lips tripping over the words he spoke.
Remilia's pupils dilated.
"Behind me, Sakuya," She breathed.
"Claim the maid!" The corpse completed its host's mantra. It gurgled as it fell forward, splashing open as the beast of Hackney Marsh sprang forward, the coat and scarf flapping around its great, hairy form.
Remilia got Sakuya behind her before the great fist grasped Remilia's middle. In a staccato of dull and muffled pops, her ribs gave in before the massive fingers.
All the thing had done was close its hand around her.
Without a word, Remilia collapsed.
"No!" Sakuya screamed as Remilia fell from the beast's opening hand, the pitch of her voice rising as a blurring dark thing flew past her face.
It was a crow- no, a bat.
Several of them.
They flooded past Sakuya and into the darkness of the alleyway, fleeing past the black mountain of hair. It was in the shape of a dog with the face and hands and teeth of a man, its yellowed gravestone molars grinning down at her. It opened its bloody fist, reaching for her.
"M-Maid…"
The beast stopped, feeling something catch and strain at his throat.
It turned and saw the regathering Remilia Scarlet, her long knife pinning the scarf around its neck to the grill beneath them as the bats moulded with her body to become bone, blood, flesh and garment.
It saw her devilish smile.
"Is that all you got for me?" Remilia growled.
The beast snarled, rounding on her with a fist.
Remilia turned the blade to lever the grill out of the ground, flicking the metal grid into the beast's face. It recoiled, its fist swinging short. It lumbered forward to chase down the child-
Remilia's knife points hammered into both wrist and forearm, eliciting a pained roar as it swung at her by instinct. Remilia weaved beneath the blow, giggling as she ripped her blades free.
Shouldn't hurt, the beast decided. Those few that had defended themselves against it hadn't had the determination to hurt it. There had been no strength of will, no 'meaning' behind their tiny fists.
But the beast could not stand before the silver blades and the vicious devil that wielded them, the devil that lithely stepped in and out of danger, cutting as she went. It backed before it rushed down on Remilia in an attempt to smother her. Remilia mistakenly stabbed upwards and was bowled over and down through the open sewer grate.
"Remilia!" Sakuya screamed, rushing to the edge to peer into the splashing darkness. She looked about for something to ease the descent, for someone to help her-
She saw one of Remilia's discarded knives on the cobbles.
The thing that had rushed her hadn't expected the fall.
Remilia flinched as she felt the presence of running water beneath one of her shoes. The smell made her retch as she coughed up marsh water. The coughs brought on spasms - her ribs were cracked and out of place, and the resetting was excruciating.
She forced herself to her feet, seeing her assailant regather in the foetid sewer channel.
Her gaze made the thing freeze.
"Yes, I can see you clearly down here." She said with relish.
"W-what are you…?" The beast of Hackney Marsh growled out.
Remilia thought fast. She was fighting a no-account swamp thing on its home turf, with a river of running sewage water bisecting this cramped tunnel. She hadn't fed for a while, and she'd had to channel a lot of her energy into fixing her ribcage, so her strength was limited.
She needed to be in its head.
"Who do you think I am?" Remilia asked, tossing her remaining knife from one hand to the other.
The beast inched closer. From nowhere, Remilia remembered the newspaper Sakuya had bought her, the interest it had stirred in an urban legend.
"'I shan't quit ripping 'til I do get buckled'..." Remilia recited, backing it up with a mad grin.
That gave the beast pause.
"Ripper…" It gurgled.
She had to attack now.
She launched herself forward.
The beast swept low with a mallet-like fist, breaking the sewer wall in a blast of soil and crumbling bricks.
The beat of her wings had taken her above the swing. The beast reared back to strike at her, only to catch her claws at eye height.
The beast shrieked in pain, blinded. It felt Remilia reach its back, her knife stabbing into him again and again and again. In a frenzied panic it groped for her. It could hear her malicious cackling.
Its massive fingers closed on her wrist. It pulled her over its head and slammed her down into the channel of filth.
Into the running water.
She couldn't transform. She couldn't right herself. She couldn't even move, one hand above the waves floundering and spasming for a handhold as the creature held her underwater. She could only hold her breath beneath the running water.
What a stupid way to die. She thought as she prayed she wouldn't open her mouth when the beast brought its other hand round and caved in her sternum.
What an ugly way to die.
Sakuya dropped down into the tunnel and onto the beast, ramming the knife down into the thing's neck.
The beast grunted, releasing the vampire and lashing round suddenly enough to throw Sakuya off. Still blinded, it snorted and sniffed, its massive gravestone teeth opening as its tongue tasted the walls and the walkways for her passage.
As she recovered, Sakuya saw Remilia's hand clutching the stone walkway above the running sewage water. She went to her, thinking to pull her out quietly.
"Get me clear!" Remilia screamed as she broke the surface of the water.
The beast twitched to face the noise, its fist swinging down on them.
Sakuya froze, and all of time froze with her.
She blinked. The monster stood over her, as still as a statue. The foetid waters were still, droplets of filth frozen in the air, with Remilia silently breaking the waves, her panicked expression trapped on her face.
That moment passed quickly as it all began to warp and shift. Her slender grip on time was already slackening.
She dragged Remilia out of the way of the monstrous fist just as time resumed, sending a splash of sewage up.
Sakuya gasped as she helped the scrabbling Remilia onto the stone walkway. The thing grunted in confusion.
Sakuya thought she heard Remilia screech in fear, only to hear it deepen into a burning roar. She had assumed Remilia's reaction had been one of terror.
That was not the case.
Remilia had been made to eat metaphorical shit for three days with beings she could snuff out with a thought, and now, to have nearly died to this third-rate monster in such embarrassing circumstances…
No more knives. No chains. That simply would not do.
A pulsating scarlet light shone in her hand, one that crackled and burnt, the shaft of it lengthening into a spear. The light lit up the tunnel, illuminating her unfurling, leathery wings.
"DIE!" She shouted.
She cast the fabled Gungnir.
The beast of Hackney Marsh's chest deformed, gave and blew apart before the spear of Odin, the rest of the monster's body breaking and splashing the tunnel walls with gore, hair, rancid flesh and sewage waste.
For a few seconds, neither of the girls said anything.
Then Remilia gave out another startling scream that turned Sakuya around.
"This smell, all of it on me…!" Remilia growled, a snarl of disgust plain on her dirty face.
She stopped when she saw that Sakuya was looking past her, to her back. Her small black wings hung from her shoulders.
The beat of her wings had broken the glamour that Patchouli had woven.
"Well, I can't be seen like this, can I?!" Remilia snapped, burying her anger beneath a forced and shaky laugh. "You can get from place to place unnoticed, can't you?" The vampire asked.
"W-well, yes-"
Remilia cut her off, "Then please, please get me home. Please. I don't care how, just please..."
Hesitantly, Sakuya obeyed. With the marsh beast dispatched, the space it had trapped them in normalised, turning from a never-ending alleyway into just another ordinary road between houses.
In the end, the inspection of the Scarlet Devil Mansion was delayed in favour of several baths and a short stay within the mansion's spa.
As Remilia lay on the settee in her bathrobe with her small black wings splayed to either side, her giddy chuckle startled her maid.
"Ah… I can't seem to move."
Sakuya approached her. "Mistress?"
"I may have forgotten to break my fast… I don't know how many nights ago!" Remilia declared, her head thudding softly back against the settee's head.
"How could you manage that, mistress?" Sakuya asked.
"It's been very busy round here," Remilia retorted, "Anyway, be a dear and get Patchy, she knows what's to be done."
"And what is to be done?" Sakuya continued.
"Mmm. Oh, Meiling and Patchy between them will be able to secure me a measure of sustenance. Admittedly, it'll likely leave a resident of this city light-headed, scared and screaming about blood-draining women and vampires, but who will believe them in this day and age?
Sakuya?" Remilia would ask.
Sakuya answered her with a pained grunt. Remilia's head would loll to one side to see Sakuya wielding a silver knife. The silver knife Remilia had lost her grip on, cleaned and polished.
Despite her light-headed state, Remilia's eyes widened.
Then she saw the red glaze in Sakuya's palm and the cup that it ran into.
Remilia laughed in relief.
"Were you afraid there, mistress vampire?" Sakuya asked, bringing the stained cup close.
"Spare me, Sakuya, I feel faint," Remilia protested, "It's the silver."
"Will this be enough?" Sakuya asked doubtfully as she offered the cup, now half-full with her blood.
"Of course. I'm only little." Remilia's tone was playful as she took the vessel in both hands.
Sakuya sat herself down on the settee alongside Remilia, a towel held against the wound she'd dug into her hand as the undead princess stared down into the cup.
"There are cleaner ways to drain blood, y'know," Remilia piped up, "Less painful."
"I know," Sakuya said softly, her silver eyes meeting Remilia's.
Remilia held her tongue. Mister Osbourne had taught her about white lies and dark, malicious truths, and Patchouli's caution about pushing the maid too far was still fresh in her mind.
She drank from the cup, audibly relishing it. She lowered the container that seemed so large in her small hands, sighing with relief.
"You're curious why I'd carry silver with me," Remilia said as she stared into the cup.
"Let's… talk about anything else," Sakuya replied.
"You'll have to return to them with something," Remilia remarked.
The servant girl said nothing.
"Silver," Remilia continued, "is pure. That purity makes it strong against my kind - and let me tell you, my kind are a rowdy bunch. It's also reliably effective against most demons, so it's good to keep them handy. We've an entire armoury of them, nevermind the cutlery..."
The servant girl lowered her head, her expression clearly troubled.
"The goal, the reason I am here," Remilia started anew, "is to learn some manners. When I tried to secure passage to our destination… I spoke poorly to its caretaker. She was a self-righteous bitch," She paused to enjoy Sakuya's brittle laugh, "but I could have been… better, I suppose. Kind, even."
Sakuya said nothing, so Remilia filled the silence.
"My nosey witch friend - who had been corresponding with the caretaker's pet fox - told me about this place, this scrap of wasteland worth nothing to anyone but the humans and demons that wage war across it. This land of fantasy."
Remilia made a point to glance over Sakuya's features. The servant girl was listening.
"It lies beyond a multicoloured wall of barriers and between great, apple-red pillars. It's just mountains for now, but they've plans for forests of every kind, of clear blue waterfalls and streams, of great sloped castles and houses from the east- oh, about the mountains! One stands above the others, Youkai Mountain, a veritable den of demons!"
Sakuya smiled uncertainly before she spoke, "Veritable?"
"Mighty!" Remilia corrected herself.
"And you'd… rule over this Youkai Mountain?"
"Me? No, let them have their molehill - at least, for the time being," Remilia smiled wickedly, "No, I've my eye on a great lake, where cold mists gather and where the lesser demons frolick. That will be our base of operations, where we keep our sphere of influence, yes…"
"Do you mean to wage war against this land?" Sakuya asked innocently.
"What, 'war' war?" Remilia asked. She remembered the sulphuric, horror laden countryside she'd rescued her sister from.
"No, just... games and stuff," Remilia said quietly.
Within a heartbeat, her enthusiasm had reignited.
"Our arrival will be talked about for several generations, I have seen it! You and I together, Sakuya, we will show man and demon alike why they should fear the night!"
The servant girl opened her mouth to object.
"Is that so?" She said instead, feeling her tears well up as she broke eye-contact.
"It is inevitable, Sakuya. Patchy's a big pile of lazybones and Meiling is to watch the door. I need someone at my side who has grace, charm - and they have to be someone courageous enough to fight for me, right?" Remilia asked.
"Oh, I'm not brave." Sakuya admitted.
"Says the human girl who literally leapt onto my monstrous assailant!" Remilia gasped before her voice turned sweetly sincere, "Well, no matter. You will learn to master your fear sufficiently. You will hold my umbrella, pour my tea, lend me your counsel and help me forge a path in this brave new world."
Sakuya unconsciously shook her head at the impossibility, her motion freezing when her gaze drifted back to Remilia - who simply stared back.
"I know how to pour tea," The servant girl managed.
Remilia smiled broadly at that. "You see? It's a start!"
In the magic library, a wavering ball of flame hung above Patchouli Knowledge like a miniature sun. Everywhere around the library, clusters of candles and lamps glowed softly. Patchouli's desk was flooded with books, with the magician herself abandoning her work as she felt a familiar presence approach.
"Is that you, Remi?" She glanced up from her book. She saw a tired Remilia being accompanied by a gaggle of worrisome fairies that preened and fawned over the scarlet devil.
"T'is. Have you had a productive day?" Remilia asked wearily as she raised her chin to indicate the dimming fireball.
"Practising fire magic." Patchouli explained.
"Not your favourite." Remilia noted.
"Not my favourite." Patchouli agreed. Water magic benefited from an appreciation for stillness, versatility and conservation, and so she favoured that element the most. Whilst the other elements could be reconciled, fire was all energy, ferocity, passion.
The very thought of marshalling such a vibrant element tired Patchouli out.
"How's your day been? Productive?" Patchouli asked, her purple eyes lingering on her old friend.
"I'll tell you when it ends," Remilia said before she allowed herself to be led further into the library by the bustling fairies that eagerly awaited her review. Patchouli watched her go, her mood souring.
In the end, Remi left the library without saying goodnight to Patchouli. Instead, it was Sakuya that came to bid her goodnight.
"Your newfound workforce have been busy little bees, head maid," Patchouli said, not bothering to lift her gaze from her pages.
"I am happy to hear that," Sakuya said in a voice that suggested otherwise. As she approached Patchouli's desk, the magician sniffed at a warming aroma.
"Tea?" Patchouli asked sharply, as though shocked.
"Yes,"
"Poisoned?" Patchouli asked, looking up at Sakuya's reddened eyes.
Sakuya smiled sadly as the teacup clinked on the table top. "If my tea killed you, I am sure my head would roll soon after."
"Compliments of Lady Remilia?" Patchouli asked as she brought the teacup close.
"Actually, I thought you might like it," Sakuya said.
"It smells… interesting." Patchouli noted.
"Ginger tea." Sakuya admitted.
"Ah, so you do mean to slay me," Patchouli surmised, her deadpan expression giving away nothing.
"No mistress, far from it - Koakuma and I were chatting last night. Ginger tea can calm the airways, for your asthma," Sakuya told her.
"How thoughtful," Patchouli said evenly, making a mental note to punish Koakuma later.
"May I ask-"
Patchouli scowled as she looked up from her book. "What?"
"May I ask why you hate me, miss Patchouli?" Sakuya asked.
"Do you care?" Patchouli sighed, her eyes sliding back to her leather bound grimoire.
"I do. Hate me as much as you'd like, so long as I understand the reason," Sakuya replied.
That got Patchouli's attention. She looked at Sakuya directly, slowly laying her book on the desk before closing it.
"I don't much care about the resurgence in disappearances that this city's papers have been raging about, if that's what you're worried about.
I can't say the same for Lady Remilia." Patchouli warned.
"Yes," Sakuya managed, haltingly, "for that reason… you will explain to her? Once our association has reached its conclusion?"
"Maybe." Patchouli said, her purple-eyed gaze boring into Sakuya's head.
Sakuya nodded her thanks before making to leave.
"I don't hate you," Patchouli piped up, "But I do dislike you for being so weak as to accept your fate as a tool in Barnes' enterprise. And to leave me to talk to Remilia, to pick up the pieces. Thanks a lot for that, and thanks for the tea.
Now get out."
Sakuya obediently and silently left. Patchouli cracked open the grimoire, only to be interrupted again.
"That was a little unfair, don't you think?" Koakuma asked from above her.
"Ohhh, it's the gossipping devil, blathering about my weaknesses," Patchouli pointed out.
Koakuma landed, clearly stung by Patchouli's remark. "I'm sorry... but, but we established that she's been weakened because of a wish, compelled to do Barnes' bidding and prohibited from spilling his secrets thanks to the Djinn! This isn't a lack of strength, this is stress that's beyond-"
Patchouli banished Koakuma with a snap of her fingers and turned her page. As Koakuma's form puffed into drifting tendrils of black smoke, she contemplated the little devil's point and whether it was worthy of rebuttal.
She took a sip of the ginger tea, a sigh from the heart billowing out of her as she summoned Koakuma back.
In a puff of black smoke, Koakuma gathered above her and pitifully whined, "Miss Patchouli, how I hate it when you do that!"
"Why are you sticking up for the human?" Patchouli asked.
"Why aren't you? Why, I thought you'd be more understanding, considering-" Koakuma stopped as soon as Patchouli's frown deepened.
Patchouli stared her down for a long while before she broke her silence. "Your punishment for divulging information about me will be delayed, little devil. Go and proof the bookshelves and set these hexes in the following locations."
Koakuma diligently obeyed, fluttering away into the depths of the library.
Patchouli tried to continue writing before she sat back and wafted the gingery scent of her tea towards her. A few seconds passed as she experimentally cleared her throat and took in a few deep breaths.
Grudgingly, her free hand went forward, pushing the books atop the pile away to allow 'From Araby to Qin: A Reference On Eastern Magicks' and 'A White Witch's Guide to Counterspelling' to resurface.
She took a slurp of her tea before she set the cup down, brought the two books close and began her work.