London, Day 4
She arrived at dawn, as she was instructed to. She walked indoors and was immediately shouted back out.
"But you invited me in, the first time we met!" Remilia protested as she wavered in the doorway.
"That means nothing today!" Mister Osbourne scolded her.
"You're one to speak of nothing, human," Remilia muttered under her breath as her tutor raged on, her temper barely assuaged by Sakuya's sad but supportive smile.
She made more mistakes. She was not supposed to remove her bonnet, as it was improper. Her aggressive sighing was the next target. Her exasperated swearing brought the tip of his cane up to slap her ear.
"Don't do that again," Remilia said quietly. Her eyes flitted between the wooden cane and mister Osbourne's hawkish face.
"Don't swear, or threaten, and I won't need to. We've only a few days left to make you fit for your responsibilities, countess," He replied.
Remilia flexed her fingers to either side of her.
"So we are to roleplay?" She asked coldly.
"Quite right," Mister Osbourne nodded, wrongfully thinking the tension dissipated, "you will be countess Scarlet, and I will be the neighbouring earl. I borrowed your labourers for work on my manor without your permission, and a workplace accident occurred which led to the death of one of my workers. I come to you for compensation. You will try to resolve the situation."
"Then where's your hat?" Remilia asked sharply.
"Pardon me?" Mister Osbourne asked.
"If you're making a formal visit to my abode," Remilia spread her arms wide to encompass mister Osbourne's shuttered and curtained study, "You should have your hat on! Am I not correct?"
Mister Osbourne's moustache twitched with his lip as he contemplated making a rebuttal.
Telling by his face, Remilia felt that this was going to be a long morning.
She should've said goodbye to her sister.
Flandre curled into a ball, the blankets held to her as she awoke. The candle light had gone out.
"Mei...? Koakuma?" She called out softly as her gaze pierced the darkness and swept over the closed door. She didn't need the candle light; she was a vampire, after all.
She just liked the glow. Where had the glow gone? Where was the warmth?
One of her hands escaped the blankets, slowing when she felt the cold, hard pebbles of dried wax on her sheets, the frame, the table.
Right. She'd grown angry last night. She'd burst the candle with one little squeeze.
Her head hurt. She whined piteously, pressing her head against the pillow as she tried not to let those thoughts return. Tried not to think. Thinking got her sad. Got her angry.
Her pale fingers fidgeted with the wax stuck to the sheets, peeling and pulling the wax from the linens.
"I hate her." She whispered, then chastised herself for being so mean. How would Remi like that if you said that to her face?
"No, I love her." She compensated, her lips snarling as soon as the words left her. Look at how she's treated you.
Around and around her thoughts went, a dismal sigh shuddering out of her as she tried to marshal her temper and assuage her guilt.
One little squeeze-
"No."
Flandre snarled out. That was bad. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't do that.
Would she?
Flandre's fingernails punctured the sheets she clung to with ease, shaking her head vigorously.
In the gloom, she saw the thin blue spine of her diary laying on the bedside table. She reached for it. She opened it slowly, looking for the latest entry. Big sister's promise.
She read it aloud.
"Big sis said she loves me. She said she was sorry, even after I ruined my room. She tells me that, when we move, I'll get to go outside, and everything will be okay."
Flandre brought the diary inside the covers, hugged the splayed contents to herself and hoped that it wasn't a lie.
"Double, double, toil and trouble..."
Patchouli's gaze lifted from the lime-green liquid that bubbled within the container to regard the herb-laden Koakuma approaching. "Can we forgo the rhyme?"
"Aww. Okay," Koakuma said glumly as she moved the bouquet of plants close, dumping them with a satisfied sigh on Voile's red carpet.
"Vetivert?" Patchouli asked.
Koakuma ran her thumb against the thin green blades. "Yessum."
"Wormwood?"
Koakuma's chocolate brown eyes looked over the silvery-green clump in the collection with a smile. "Yep! We have much of it."
"Mugwort?"
For a second, Koakuma searched around for the sawdust coloured mix of dried herbs and stems before she stopped. "Ah," She exclaimed, "Already in the brew, now you're just testing me!"
"I am indeed," Patchouli admitted as she took the herbs, breaking them in her hands before adding them to the kettle that stood within a chalked pentagram on the table. "And Remi's favourite?"
Koakuma wordlessly gathered up the herb in question. Its flowers were irregular, white and tinted with the gentlest lilac, its stems thick with hair. "It's your favourite too, miss Patchouli," She observed.
"Yes, for very different reasons," Patchouli said, turning the plant in her hand before she condemned it to the kettle, smiling smugly at the prospect.
Koakuma stood by, feeling a little awkward as Patchouli stared into the bubbling brew for what felt like minutes.
"Are you happy, Koakuma?" Patchouli asked.
"Hmm?" Koakuma managed.
"Are you happy, serving me?" Patchouli elaborated.
Koakuma opened her mouth, taken off guard. "O-Of course, miss Patchouli!"
"Why?" Patchouli continued.
"I- umm..." Koakuma floundered for a moment, not entirely sure she wished to say.
Patchouli took in a deep breath, her half-lidded eyes regarding her servant with interest. "I... appreciate you challenging me. The other day, in regards to the human."
"Really?" Koakuma asked, blinking at the thought.
"I may still punish you, for telling her about me, but yes. Without your input, your 'testing', let's say, I imagine I'd be less thorough in my work. So thank you." Patchouli finished awkwardly.
Silence lingered between them as they watched the kettle gurgle and foam.
"Oh," Patchouli exclaimed, raising a slip of paper marked with the hex's diagram, "not all of this is in Arabic! I need you to go to the London Library to determine which language these rogue words of power," Patchouli pointed to the offending characters, "belong to. If not the script, at least the family."
Koakuma blinked. "I'm to leave the magic library, Voile...? Why not Meiling? She's helped you before-"
"Yes, with Wu Xing, but I'm confident she knows not a jot about Araby's world of magic," Patchouli remarked as she glanced towards the dormant crystal ball, "and besides, she's apparently on an errand. Furthermore, she is a lazy gate guard. You are a researcher, and you are diligent when prodded hard enough. You are more suited."
"I-I haven't finished your poppet-"
"That's fine, whose have you done?" Patchouli asked.
"Ah- well, miss Remilia and miss Flandre's, naturally, I haven't started on Meiling's-"
"That will do. Leave mine unfinished and go, I wish to introduce a few tweaks of my own." Patchouli made to wave her off. Koakuma began to move.
"Though," Patchouli's index finger stood out, "Before you leave, could you go to Sakuya's room? Head, pillow, stray hairs. I'd like a look at them."
"Oho, for what reason?" Koakuma asked coyly.
Patchouli lifted the looking glass and attempted to spin the handle in her palm. It almost slipped her hand, the clumsiness eliciting a blush from her cheeks.
"Nothing perverse, little devil. Now, you are dismissed." Patchouli said sternly, brandishing the looking glass as though it were a sword.
"Alright, I'll be back soon!" Koakuma chirped, rushing for the doors of the magic library, her pairs of wings beating excitedly.
Pairs of wings.
"Wait-" Patchouli flinched as the doors slammed, "You need a glamour!"
The witch let another heavy sigh escape her before she made to chase after Koakuma.
In the Osbourne residence, retort followed insult, tempers frayed - and when it reached midday, Remilia snapped.
"Good graces, are you sure you're trying to be a countess?!" Mister Osbourne exclaimed, his mouth opening to continue, the look in Remilia's eyes choking the words.
His next swing with the cane had stopped.
"Yes," Remilia rumbled. The cane's length was in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, she tore off the offending tip and hurled it, the broken piece denting the wall's plaster before exploding against the brickwork. She rounded on the old man so quickly and so suddenly he flinched and almost fell over his chair.
"You stop that," Mister Osbourne managed, his fear barely under control.
Remilia's scowl deepened, her teeth in an open snarl. -I- stop it? You frail, fleeting thing, you should watch your tongue with me. I was nearly assassinated last night. My residents pressure me to attempt this charade. My parents abandoned me. I alone kept my sister safe when we both arose. I was not born to rank, I took it, with the strength in this arm! I should demand your power, not beg for it!
"You stop it, you-you-" Remilia struggled to leash her anger, all of her haughty, calculated insults throttled by her fury.
"Lady Remilia, step away from him," Sakuya warned her firmly as she stepped forward.
Remilia looked over at her maid, her mouth opening, her eyes blinking rapidly as control reasserted itself. "I-I didn't touch him. I would never-"
"Get out of my house. Please," Mister Osbourne begged.
That last word sounded different. That undercurrent of terror, Remilia had tasted it before. In the blood-red skies and on the churned mud of the battlefield, it was weakness. It was victory. It was such a sweet sound to hear being made by deathless vampires, fearless godlings and inscrutable youkai.
And yet this old man pleading to her left her feeling rotten.
"Fine. Fine, I'll-"
"Miss Scarlet!" Meiling crashed through the door, her red braids flicking out, her eyes wide.
"Oh, what?!" Remilia barked, her voice dripping with venom as she rounded on her servant who had come blundering in to make a fool of-
She saw the urgency in Meiling's aqua-blue eyes.
"...What is it, Meiling?" Remilia asked, more controlled now.
"Twenty?" Remilia repeated.
"Aye," Meiling sounded, her gaze sweeping this way and that over Trafalgar square. The fluted granite pillar that was Nelson's column stood more than fifty meters tall, its long shadow crossing the three girls as they waited before it. There were two clover shaped fountains that flanked the column, the water burbling as their streams met the clear blue contents of their basins.
The three girls had arrived to the meeting place in fifteen minutes.
In two, Meiling had sensed twenty threats.
"You're sure?" Remilia asked, leaning back against the sandstone plinth that supported Nelson's column, her gaze resting on one of the four bronze lion statues that sat surrounding them.
Meiling stood with her arms folded, scanning the crowds with her eyes. "Eight by the two four-leafed fountains, two here, three there. The rest surround the square, keeping eyes on us. I see six of them wearing the uniforms of the enforcers."
"Magistrates?" Remilia ventured.
"I guess so? Sakuya," Meiling's clear blue eyes appealed to Sakuya, "Magistrates, yes?"
"Oh- constables, policemen. They perform the same function, keeping the peace." Sakuya hurriedly said, quietly wondering how Meiling could know the exact number of agents. Was she so perceptive? She looked over the policemen that seemed to idle, pretended to talk amongst themselves, though upon second glance it was apparent they had eyes only for the Scarlet Devil residents.
"If I may ask, how-"
"Sight is not the only sense Meiling possesses." Remilia talked lightly beneath the shade of her parasol as though sharing an amusing anecdote. "Twenty," She tutted, "Borderline insulting. They would need more."
"Even in this sun?" Meiling asked, the tension evident in her voice.
"The sun would avail them not at all. If it comes to it, I will make a third fountain of their bones to match the other two." Remilia said airily, as though they were enjoying a picnic.
"It might leak, mistress." Sakuya said, clearly distracted.
"Hmm," Remilia sounded, the snort bubbling over into a laugh at the maid's blasé tone. "Well put." Remilia smiled at Sakuya.
"Mistress," Sakuya replied, feeling sick, knowing what would come.
Remilia mistook her terseness, speaking up. "I didn't hurt him, you know. Really, I didn't."
Sakuya turned. The vampire princess wore a plain black dress, the clothes she'd chosen for schooling.
"I believe you, mistress," Sakuya said.
Remilia nodded awkwardly. "And I'm sorry I upset him. Parasol, please?"
Sakuya gave her a half-hearted smile as she carefully offered her the umbrella. "Will you repeat this apology to mister Osbourne?"
"Dunno. Don't wanna," Remilia admitted, rolling the parasol's stick in her hand. She was tired of being wrong, of being meek and humble and low.
"Two are coming, mistress," Meiling whispered, her brow furrowing hard for a moment as her eyes spotted something her ability hadn't, "Three. Three..."
"Two, then three?" Remilia asked with a rising inflection. Meiling didn't normally make mistakes when it came to her senses or her gift.
"I see three, but I feel two, and one of those two… I can only feel them faintly," Meiling said as Remilia saw those three individuals walk clear of the mass of mundanes that surrounded the square.
One of them was a strikingly handsome young woman, her face long and her black dress cut short.
One of them was the hunched over Russian, coiling tails of smoke escaping off of the cigarette posted between his pale lips.
And one of them was a tall, broad man in Victorian finery, sporting a loveless smile on his plastic face.
Sakuya swallowed when her eyes met those of Edwin Barnes.
"Miss Scarlet, hello!" The woman in the black dress declared, taking the lead as she strode towards them.
"Look after Sakuya - What-ho!" Remilia whispered to Meiling before moving to engage the woman as mister Osbourne had taught her, gathering her skirts to curtsy.
The woman seemed to approve, a smile touching her long face. "How do you do? Edwin, my brother, has-"
"How do I do? Why, I find myself at a disadvantage," Remilia Scarlet said archly.
There was a pause. The newcomer had expected to lead the conversation. She was not offended, however; if anything, her smile only intensified. "Jill Barnes, do forgive me. It seems we've mangled this greeting," She said, extending her hand, "Edwin, my brother, tells me you've been enjoying our fair city?"
Remilia reached out and took the hand, her lips beginning to part when her nose picked it up. The scent of sweat, a heavy musk. Warm fur.
Remilia forced the panic down and made herself smile. "Very much so, though exciting challenges seem to dog my every step."
Jill tilted her long face at the word choice. "My brother, you wished to catch up with your maid?"
Edwin Barnes finally broke eye contact with Sakuya to regard the pair. "I would like that, yes."
"Would you allow that, miss Scarlet, whilst you and I discuss... remedial procedures, say?" Jill asked, making to divert towards one of the fountains.
"By all means," Remilia said, following her.
For a moment, Sakuya dithered, standing in place, her master and torturer just ahead, his russian servant at his side.
She couldn't do it. She couldn't go and pretend to like it. She couldn't bear to willingly go to the hurt, the fear, the withering of her soul.
She started to shake. She swore master Barnes' smile burned all the brighter for it.
"I'm with you, y'know."
She glanced over. Meiling was there, smiling back at her.
Sakuya looked back. Her master was not smiling at all. Had she only imagined it?
With Meiling accompanying her, Sakuya crossed the sun-baked flagstones.
"So, to what do I owe this unusual summons?" Remilia asked as she followed Jill Barnes to the fountain's edge.
"Before we address that, I feel you are owed, if anything, an apology." Jill declared.
Remilia Scarlet frowned, but said nothing as Jill faced her.
"You were attacked the other day-"
"Yesterday," Remilia corrected her.
Jill's smile softened. "Yesterday," She accepted, "by one of the... contractors the Chateau Obscura regularly uses. The order was not sanctioned by myself or Edwin, and we are conducting an inquiry to determine who issued it.
We are sorry to have put you in such dire circumstances, miss Scarlet. Truly."
"It was an inconvenience, but never a threat," Remilia replied, "though I'm sure you can supply compensation, as a gesture of goodwill."
"Of course, of course," Jill soothed, producing an envelope. "I was thinking this might provide you with the assurance that we intend you no harm."
Remilia didn't take the envelope. She looked at it as though perplexed, before looking back up into Jill's face.
The taller, older entity's eyes narrowed as her smile widened, the envelope bouncing in her hand. "I am sure you will find it's a most generous sum-"
"Money?" Remilia asked.
Jill held her gaze. "Yes. As I've said, I am willing-"
"I have enough money," Remilia replied, "Now, are you going to get to the meat of why we're here? It's been a bad day."
Jill's smile did not budge as the rest of her straightened. "I was keen to meet you and hear your intentions in regards to your visit to our city of London."
"Ahh. Scared I'm going to play tit for tat?" Remilia grinned.
"Scared? No, I'm sure you're a reasonable individual whose head rules their heart," Jill chanced. "So - if you don't mind my asking - how long do you plan to stay in London?"
Remilia watched her before throwing out a shrug. "As long as I feel like."
Jill felt her patience ebb. "Then, may I ask what your business is?"
"No, you may not."
Jill felt a flicker in her eye, a twitch. "Can we enjoy your assurance that there will be a peace?"
"Not if this treatment continues!" Remilia laughed harshly. "You send your dog after me and ruin my clothes. You deign to summon me - a countess and daughter of the Impaler of Wallachia - when you should be the one calling on me. You surround me with your footmen - yes, I can see them, all of them, miserable little creatures - and proceed to quiz me about my business. You demand answers, when I am owed everything AND an apology!
So no. Not unless you can agree to my terms, little pup."
There was a restrained snarl from the woman. Jill's canines grew at the slur, restraining the impulse to bury her growl in Remilia's throat. "You are in a poor position to bargain, countess Scarlet, daughter to no-one of nowhere," Jill enjoyed Remilia's widening eyes as she went on, "My brother and I enjoy contacts within the state, the church and the constabulary. The 'dog' sent to dispatch you never did so on my orders, but rest assured that isn't the only urban legend at my beck and call. We are the lords and ladies of London. We do not recruit monsters, we fashion them from the dreamt up terrors of weak men, and you, you blood-drinking brat, you are..."
"What, exactly?" Remilia asked, all smiles again. "What do you know of me, an outsider that lurks outside your little gang of losers? Do you think it's prudent to piss me off? You think I'm not going to lash out and break stuff?
I'm sorry, who is in a poor position to bargain?"
"A vampire that wields silver?"
The servant girl stared down at her shoes. She'd learnt by now it was costly to look directly at her master without invitation. "Yes."
"My dear sister won't care much for that... bold of her to wield the blade herself. What else is she capable of?" Edwin spoke half to himself, his voice always going hard and cold when directing the maid.
She didn't want to help him, but she felt her words tumble from her lips all the same. "She can throw a spear with great accuracy. She can manifest one seemingly from nowhere, as well."
She heard him hum. "A spear? How primitive."
The servant girl went on, continuing to stare at her black shoes. "The act of summoning the weapon takes its toll on her. Weakens her. She regains her strength by-"
"Drinking blood, of course," Edwin Barnes finished her sentence, his voice airy. The servant girl nodded, hating herself for this.
Then she felt his cold fingers perch beneath her chin, lifting it with an inexorable force. She swallowed, her eyes taking in the sight of her master. His top hat, his hawkish face, his shadowed eyes and his cruel smile.
"Did you feed her?" Edwin asked.
The servant girl didn't know what to say to such a loaded question. It didn't matter that they were in a public place. He'd hurt her and no-one would notice - or rather, no-one would care to intervene. The people knew that to cross the Barnes' was to disappear.
"I did," She said at last.
Edwin started to chuckle menacingly. The servant girl felt his fingers secure themselves on her lower jaw as she spoke up. "It was to gain her trust. Nothing more. I swear it-"
Edwin began to imitate her. "'I swear, I swear, I'm loyal, I swear!', where have I heard that before? When you went to the police, say? When you sent one of my guests home without my blessing?"
She felt his fingers close on her throat. Her silver eyes looked beyond Edwin's shoulder, seeing Remilia and Jill staring one another down. One of them, if only one of them would see this and stop this…
"Betrayal after betrayal," Edwin went on, "And even now you struggle to look me in the eye. Eternally weak, eternally meek. Tell me of the others, my sweet. Of the dragon, the witch and her familiar."
"T-the dragon," The servant girl managed, "She talks of chinese martial arts and life force, the witch and her familiar I've seen little of. They read books, draw circles in the library-"
Edwin's strong fingers seemed to relent as he leant in. "That's better. Pitiable, but better.
Is there anyone else?"
Flandre. Remilia's sister.
The servant girl's eyes widened. Edwin cooed in recognition. "There is..." He surmised.
"There isn't-" As the words left the servant girl's mouth, Edwin held her to him. It was like being in a vice. There was no warmth, no softness in the embrace. His supernatural strength kept her close, and the cool of the void washed over her in waves.
"Tell me who they are," He grated, "Or I'll be paying that dear old human of yours a visit."
Jared. The mere suggestion left the servant girl feeling as though she had a nest of snakes in her belly. She felt physically sick. Edwin stared pitilessly down at her. She felt compelled to tell him. To tell him about Flandre. To protect Jared.
What would Jared think of that? To expose a girl to danger for his sake?
"Tick, tock..." Edwin hissed.
"Maids, maids!" The servant girl stammered. "Fairies, no more than forty!"
Edwin's smile froze over. "No, there's more. If you lie to me, bitch, I'll-"
"My ears burn! Was there talk of Chinese martial arts?!" Hong Meiling exclaimed with forceful cheer.
Sakuya felt her fear turn second-hand as the master redirected his attention. His neck twisted unnaturally hard to look upon the Chinese gatekeeper and her heedless smile.
"It is rude for the help to address their betters unbidden." Edwin casually.
There was a pause. Edwin lowered his chin to regard the servant girl once more.
"Apologies! I'm aware of the custom, I just-" Meiling managed awkwardly, "I was told to look after Sakuya, so-"
"Sakuya? What nonsense thing is that? Can you eat it?" Edwin laughed a hollow laugh.
"I wouldn't!" Meiling said as though mortified, her eyes going to Sakuya's with a reassuring smile, "Truly, I wouldn't, I promise you-"
"Don't talk to her." Edwin snarled, all feigned humour falling away.
Meiling haltingly obeyed, regarding Edwin once more. "I... Hmm. How to say this... Mistreat your servants all you'd like, but I'm charged with the duty of defending miss Scarlet's household. I do not wish to hurt you, so please, if you would oblige me..."
For a moment, nothing happened. Both torturer and tormented were stunned before this impossible request made by this foreign girl who seemingly failed to understand or care for privacy, propriety or self-preservation.
Edwin leaned forward by an inch, his coat opening seemingly by itself to reveal a wooden handle, fitted with something dark that blended with his coat. "She's not yours. Back down, or be put down."
Sakuya appealed to Meiling with her eyes, shaking her head slightly, slowly. Don't do it. Please. Please...
"...I see." Meiling raised her hands, her chin lowering. For a moment, the servant girl despaired - she couldn't blame Meiling for heeding her wishes and stepping down, but with Edwin's cruelty now awoken, he'd turn his wrath on her once more-
Sakuya's train of thought halted as she saw Meiling narrow her stance, raising her hands as though she meant to use them, her awkward and foolish smile replaced with a tempered scowl.
She meant to confront him.
"I'll ask you again, sir. Would you kindly step away from my mistress' maid?" Meiling asked firmly.
In the servant girl's periphery, she could see Sergei making to step in with pocketed hands. Edwin let out a twisted chuckle that vibrated against her back. "If I refuse?"
"Then… on my mistress' orders, you will be moved," Meiling stated.
Sakuya felt her heart throb. She couldn't describe what she felt. Fear was still there, but it was less complete, challenged by something fiercer.
She dared not to move as Edwin shuddered against her shoulder. She felt a lump against the small of her back as he retrieved something before his arm draped itself around her neck.
The pocket watch was in his hand, his thumb poised on the pusher as though it was a detonator.
"No..." Sakuya couldn't help but breathe the word. Don't do it. Don't hurt her.
Edwin didn't hear her, addressing the gatekeeper, "Are you ready to die for her?" Edwin asked.
Sakuya felt Meiling's eyes on her. She opened her mouth but no warning left her. The Chinese girl redirected her gaze to meet that of the nobleman's cruel and shadowed eyes.
"If I have to," Meiling said, her voice like stone.
Edwin's grip tightened on the maid's throat and side. Sakuya yelped as she saw his thumb lower the pusher on the watch. She clenched her teeth, the corners of her vision darkening, her head swimming as she fought the compulsion.
"Meiling, Sakuya, we're leaving!" Remilia's words shattered the moment, her gait slowing when she saw the confrontation, seeing the maid held like a puppet against her master.
Before she could say anything, Jill spoke up. "Brother..."
Edwin reluctantly let his grip slacken. The servant girl crumpled towards the ground, saved only by Meiling rushing to catch her-
And with Sakuya in her arms, Meiling backed too late as a sliver of darkness leapt from Edwin's hand and opened a ragged red smile in her cheek.
"Brother, cease!" Jill shouted, pushing him back as she raised a hand instinctively to fend off Remilia.
The vampire countess was already past her outstretched arm, shoving Edwin back. The vampire shoved him clear off of the ground.
"Leave Meiling alone!" Remilia's scream was almost petulant, her face fixed with a snarl, her next lunge arrested by Meiling's other scrambling arm. Jill seemed to relax. The cheek of Remilia's servant gushed with blood, but at least this was salvageable. That was what she thought before she saw what was clutched in Remilia's tiny fist.
It was a knife handle, its silver blade coated with blood.
She looked back at Edwin. His fingers probed his chest and the dark stain that spread across his shirt.
"Countess Scarlet, remember where you are," Jill demanded, her eyes on Remilia. The vampire held the knife aloft, the point dripping with the dark matter that ran through Edwin's veins. Sergei stepped in front of the grimacing Edwin, his hands still pocketed. Their various agents drew in to circle them, pistols, blades and billy clubs drawn. Few of the civilians stopped to stare. They fled for their lives.
At their departure, all of Trafalgar Square grew still.
"You're as light as a child, mister Barnes," Remilia huffed, the blood blackened blade shaking in her hand.
"Apologise to her," Jill whispered over her shoulder to her brother, who had drawn himself to his full height, his smile warped and forced. "Your face..." Jill hurried.
"Don't bother with words," Remilia shouted, "I'm adding to my terms. Not only will you surrender Sakuya to me, not only will you leave mister Osbourne alone, but you will abandon your pursuit of Olivia."
"Olivia De Vere?" Jill asked, incredulous, "But you cannot stand her-"
"Oh, don't worry, I hate you both way more," Remilia shivered as she spat that word at them.
"And if we find these terms unacceptable?" Edwin asked aloud. Judging by the way he held himself, only his pride was wounded.
"Don't-" Jill started, but Remilia responded.
"If you say no, I'll curse you." Remilia's anger only intensified as Edwin Barnes laughed in her face. She could not change his fate.
Perhaps he knew that.
Remilia's red eyes locked on a new target. Her silver knife clinked on the ground as she rushed forward beneath Meiling's snatching hand.
"I've got a fortune to tell you, miss werewolf!" Remilia hissed into Jill's face as she grasped her cheeks. Jill was pulled down to the vampire's level, her face caged by the cold bar of the parasol and the icy hands of the vampire princess.
"Kill her!" Edwin roared. The russian hurried to obey. Their servants moved in.
"NO!" Jill wailed, raising a hand. Their thugs hesitated, their weapons bristling as Sakuya clung to Meiling, who stood her ground even as her cheek poured blood down her green dress.
"Tonight, Jill Barnes, you will hear the angels weep, to have me at your doorstep.
Tomorrow night there will be a clatter of thunder, as God demands you prostrate yourself before me.
On the third night, you will hear nothing, as all the world holds its breath to see what you will do.
On the final night, if my blood is spilt - sluggish though it is - hell will empty. The ground will shake and the sky will be slit open. London will be harrowed by the knights of the nightless castle, and you will plead for clemency even as the angels of hell tear you asunder.
Did your dog-brain get all that?"
"Yes. yes, I understand!" Jill snarled, trying to keep Remilia placated whilst waving down her soldiers.
"Rise, then," Remilia said through gritted teeth as she thrusted Jill away from her, whisking up her silver as she backed. "And know I expect an answer soon."
"I'm fine, really," Meiling murmured to the maid, her eyes on the encircling foe as Sakuya held a handkerchief to the wound in her face.
"Let us go," Remilia said, brandishing the knife she'd used on Barnes, "Or you'll know why I took the name 'Scarlet'."
Edwin Barnes leant forward. "Oh, I think we are well past that, princess-"
"Clear the way, let her be!" Jill shouted over him.
Remilia gave Edwin an ugly smile. "She has more sense than you, it seems." She watched as the elder looked to the younger, and the vampire's wicked grin widened at the division within their ranks.
She heard the shuffle and scuff of men and women parting behind them, holding the knife like a ward as she and her servants retreated, with Sakuya tending to Meiling as they backed.
"Anyone who follows us dies badly!" Remilia shouted, only turning and running when Meiling and Sakuya were in full flight. No-one stirred until the three girls disappeared down a street.
"Get on after her. Sergei, go," Edwin Barnes ordered.
"Da," The russian said simply, pointing out a pair of their vagabonds and urging them to follow him.
"We mustn't antagonise her further, my brother-" Jill started.
"SHE DOESN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS, YOU HEAR ME?! HER, OR HER SMILING GATE-GUARD BITCH!" Edwin bellowed down at her.
It was a stung, otherworldly howl that Jill could only shrink away from.
Their human cut-throats took his outburst as their cue to leave, fleeing their employer and pursuing his quarry.
Behind her, the great Landseer lion statues awoke at his summons. Joints and jaws cracked as they stretched and yawned, sitting obediently for their orders.
Jill stood by, mortified, as her brother was swept up by his damaged ego.
"Hunt them down! Spare the maid and kill the rest!" Edwin seethed, "Feasts be damned, I'll be satisfied with her ripped open body!"
The four lions dismounted their plinths. Their wanderings became loping strides as they obeyed their master and moved to run down the Scarlet Devil.
As soon as the trio of girls were around the corner, Remilia chuckled darkly.
Edwin's distant and frustrated roar coaxed more giggles out of her as she matched pace with Meiling and Sakuya.
"Call me a brat... hah!" She cried out, a sadistic smile pulling at the corner of her mouth as they ducked into a spare alleyway. She watched as Meiling spread out her fingertips, centering herself even as Sakuya doted on her torn cheek.
"Did you see how I handled that? They should think twice now before tangling with us," Remilia said, the parasol's body resting on her shoulder.
"I suppose they will," Sakuya said shakily without looking her way, "It's a wonder why you're learning under mister Osbourne at all."
Remilia's back straightened at the gentle criticism.
"Mistresh." Meiling rasped through her rent cheek, quiet and urgent.
"Meiling?" Remilia asked.
"We can't outrun them." Meiling managed.
Remilia's chin lifted. "But they are mere humans. Can they outfight us?"
The answer to Remilia's question came from behind them, in the form of a long, deep, heavy growl. Its presence blocked what little sun spilt into the alleyway. They turned.
Meiling was the tallest of them at five and a half feet, and the top of her head barely met the beast's breast. The Landseer Lion futilely shook its unmoving metal mane, its teeth bared as it stepped forward, its broad frame scraping and tearing bricks off of the alley's walls.
"Sakuya, you know this city?" Remilia asked quietly.
"I do." Sakuya whispered.
"So we outfox them. Meiling! Sakuya is unsteady on her feet." Remilia pointed out, keeping her eyes on the statue.
Sakuya yelped as her legs were swept out from under her and she was brought in against Meiling's body in a bridal carry. Sakuya felt herself flush as Meiling held her in close and high.
Flakes of rusted bronze scraped and shook off of the statue's teeth as it roared a challenge.
"Go, now!" Remilia shouted.
"Direct me, miss Shakuya!" Meiling started to run.
"Left!" Sakuya shouted, knowing the way.
Meiling obeyed at the T-junction with Sakuya held in her arms. Remilia rushed around the corner to follow them.
The lion simply blasted through the wall in a shower of brickdust and debris, crushing paving stones as it turned onto Remilia's path.
"Ill-fated!" Remilia barked as she turned and crashed her hands together, a forest of red chains bursting up and rushing to anchor themselves wall to wall. The lion aimed for her throat, its teeth and paws arrested by the taut chains that crossed its path.
Remilia didn't stick around to watch its progress as it pulled and bit through linkage and metal, hurrying after her servants.
"Where to now?!" Meiling shouted.
"At the crossroads, take the next left!" Sakuya shouted.
"Nope!" There was edging panic in Meiling's voice.
"Left!" Sakuya insisted, not knowing why Meiling protested. The gatekeeper dithered in the crossroads.
A second later, Sakuya understood.
The second Lion of Landseer reared up from the left alley before descending in a blur of claws to dash them both across the pavement.