As night fell across the mansion, Meiling was called back from her position outside the gate, a pair of black and white tails following her along the ground.
"Hey, hey!" Koakuma waved her to the doors. Meiling walked up the path to her, past the flowerbeds, hedgerows and the stone fountain and benches that made up the mansion's front garden.
When the gatekeeper saw the steaming drink in the little devil's hands, her idling smile grew all the more enthusiastic. "Oh, for me?"
"No, it's for the dog." Koakuma joked, passing the cup to her. "Long night?"
Meiling took in the scent, the freshness of the green tea already perking her up. "Let's hope so. I'll take a boring night over an eventful one, especially tonight."
"I won't argue that! Miss Patchouli thinks there'll be trouble, though." Koakuma replied.
"Miss Patchouli always thinks there'll be trouble," Meiling pointed out, to Koakuma's amusement, "though she may be on to something."
"Who's your little friend?" Koakuma asked.
The gatekeeper turned to follow Koakuma's gaze. The black and white cat impatiently sauntered from side to side, its hazelnut-brown eyes staring up at Meiling as its twin tails waved behind it.
"Dunno. In the process of persuading it to leave." Meiling admitted.
"I see! Well-" Koakuma blinked when Meiling suddenly rounded on the cat fast enough to make it leap off the ground. It skittered away behind one of the stone benches as the tittering gatekeeper realised her tea had sloshed over the mug's rim and onto her wrist. "Once you're done terrorising the locals," Koakuma started up again, "Do you have a plan for how to deal with the Russian and his spectre?"
"Huh? Oh! She certainly got me last time, didn't she, the ghost?" Meiling said before slurping the drink, absent-mindedly shaking her tea coated hand.
"She suckered you, alright." Koakuma agreed, restraining a chuckle as Meiling threw her a confused look. "So then - what will you do?"
"I'll be on the lookout," Meiling replied, her easy-going smile returning, "As always."
Koakuma looked perturbed. "If you want, I could ask miss Patchouli to prepare something, to ward her off?"
Meiling's smile softened. "Ah, but if she can't attack me, she'll pass me by. If the enemy avoids me, what good am I?
How are you and miss Patchouli?" She added, ignoring the gentle rumble of the cat purring behind her.
Koakuma closed her eyes for a moment, realising she should answer. "It sucks."
"Sucks?" Meiling asked. The cat was yowling now.
"...It's unpleasant." Koakuma grated, not wanting to quantify.
"If you wish to get it off your chest, I'm here, you know." Meiling pointed out.
"No, it's normal. You know why I joined you guys to begin with, right? It's kind of meant to be unpleasant." Koakuma deflected.
Meiling gulped as she felt the suppressed, tensed-up emotion radiate off of Koakuma. "Well, I'm no expert-"
"No, forget I said anything." Koakuma cut her off.
Meiling's mouth became a thin line, clearly troubled. Koakuma forced a smile. "Look, it's gonna be fine." Against her better judgement, Meiling spoke up.
"Consider talking to her?"
It was Koakuma's turn to look guarded, the cat stopping its noise as though considerate of the moment. "Ah... is there anything else you'd like, anything I should ask miss Patchouli?"
Meiling shrugged her shoulders, discouraged. "No, I'm alright."
"Alright! Be seeing you." Koakuma said with false cheer as she quickly went back inside.
Meiling watched her go, letting an exasperated groan slip from her mouth as she turned to the cat - who ducked low and looked ready to spring away at a moment's notice. "You're mighty nervous, aren't you?"
Meiling pounced for it with one hand, but the cat rushed beneath the stone bench, pausing when it loped past the fountain, looking back to her. It seemed to want to play, or perhaps lead her somewhere.
"Now, no more games. You're not supposed to be here!" Meiling called as she gave chase.
"That may be so, but I should like to be present."
"Well, you can't. I said so, so there." Remilia said archly.
Mister Osbourne glanced down at her. "It was my idea to use this hall, when you wanted to change the meeting place at the last minute - or do you find this locale not to your liking? Served me and my fellows perfectly fine..." He murmured, glancing around the dark and empty veteran's hall.
"The hall is fine, I'm talking about your presence!" Remilia bit back.
"Oh, I'm not up to snuff?" Mister Osbourne asked.
"That's not what I meant," Remilia hissed, "I don't want to endanger you."
"Oh, now she thinks me unable to take care of myself. Have I told you about my days spent campaigning, my experiences in Africa? How I earned that medal you talked so lowly of on our second meeting?" Mister Osbourne pointed out, levelling his cane.
Remilia turned to glare up at him, her fingers swatting the cane aside. Mister Osbourne stared back down at her, a smile pulling at his mouth. "D'you know, it's rather fun winding you up?" He admitted.
An annoyed smile surfaced on her face. "You mock powers you do not understand, Englishman." She said, her warning rife with melodrama.
"Oh, I don't think that's true." He said smugly.
"Still! This isn't something we should make light of, mister Osbourne," Remilia managed, "We are not on good terms, they and I. For that reason, I'd rather you weren't here for it."
"Oh come now, how bad could it be?" Mister Osbourne blustered.
"I stabbed one of them in their midsection," Remilia said archly, "before they set their lions on me. So, pretty bad."
That stopped mister Osbourne in his tracks, unsure if he could believe that Remilia had put hands on one of the Barnes'.
"For that reason," Remilia explained, "I'd recommend you retire and await our return. They may still be smarting over it."
Mister Osbourne shrugged. "Whatever your concerns, I can't be seen neglecting my role as a host-"
"Jared, this isn't a dinner party, this is serious!" Remilia sighed.
"Then I'll be serious," Mister Osbourne promised, "Allow me to be here, to speak to Sakuya. I should also like to see what my lessons have wrought.
Please, allow that." He said in the face of Remilia's reproachful scowl. There was no denying that he'd be able to convince Sakuya better than she could - he'd known her longer, after all - but to risk his life for that advantage... She contemplated telling him 'no', that he would wait at her home.
Then she recalled her interaction with the pauper, and Meiling's insistence they took the ointment he offered.
Let him be useful. That's what Meiling had quietly told her.
She relented, shaking her head in dismay. "I don't like it, but... fine. I feel I'd struggle to convince her if I were here alone." She said, staring at the back of the deserted veteran's hall, the gloomy space filled with a collection of round tables, the darkness beaten back by islands of candles the two of them had set.
"Are you nervous?" Mister Osbourne asked.
"No," Remilia murmured, her gaze sliding back to him as she grinned, "Not until you asked me that."
He wrinkled his nose and smiled back. "Don't be. You've the resources to make this work, and you've the charm as well." He said.
"I had a good teacher." She replied, inclining her head respectfully.
"Self-taught, were you?" Mister Osbourne quipped, teasing a giggle from the vampire. "Let's get some chairs out for the Barnes', shall we?"
It didn't take long for the Barnes' to arrive, the sound of footsteps on the floorboards replacing the scuff and scrape of chair legs dragging over wood. The first of them stalked into the barely lit hall with her long hair, her long nose, her long face displaying a smile meant to show her teeth rather than good feeling.
"We meet again." Jill Barnes said coolly.
"We meet again." Remilia Scarlet purred.
"I'm... a little disappointed, miss Scarlet. I thought the matter was quite done. You appeared satisfied with our meeting your terms." Jill pointed out, her black eyes scrutinising the vampire.
Remilia Scarlet took a moment, aware that mister Osbourne watched her now. She smiled apologetically. "I am sorry, do know that I'm grateful for the time you afford me - but you didn't meet my original terms. I want Sakuya along with Olivia and-"
"Oh, is this Remilia Scarlet? The Remilia Scarlet, countess of Wallachia?" A pale woman in a blue dress fussed as she entered the room, her sunken eyes locking onto Remilia as she offered the vampire her hand. "How do you do? My name is Morgen!"
Remilia took the proffered hand. "Countess Remilia Scarlet. I'm-"
"Heard about the commotion our girl caused, I am terribly sorry about that," Morgen said with a hollow smile, "Speaking of commotion, there was such caterwauling last night in your quarter of the city. You didn't torture some poor citizen? Or were you truly upset on account of our servant's actions?" She asked as she moved to part from Remilia.
Remilia's fingers kept her rooted there, her red-painted fingernails sinking into the blue sleeve and clasping the cool skin beneath. She only spoke when Morgen gave her a shocked, wide-eyed look, the vampire's smile turning sinister. "Last night I was getting to grips with some troublesome demons," Remilia said airily, her eyes flicking down to the wrist she throttled before staring into Morgen's expression, "Maybe I'm still in that process."
Morgen smiled with a little more sincerity. Mister Osbourne cleared his throat.
"Oh! Yes," Remilia pulled Morgen a little closer, directing her hand towards the tutor as he moved the woman past her shoulder, "this is mister Osbourne. He knows his way around this establishment, if you've questions, he has answers."
The tension ebbed slightly as mister Osbourne coldly but courteously welcomed Morgen. Remilia regarded the third presence that swept into the room, his stormcloak for a moment unfurling and filling the space with an unnatural darkness, revealing his double breasted jacket. His black and grey body loomed large above Remilia, his white, plastic face grinning beneath his top hat.
"Edwin." Remilia inclined her head slightly, careful to keep him in her line of sight.
"Mister Barnes." Edwin warned.
Remilia kept her smile civil. "Your pardon, mister Barnes. I have prepared a seating arrangement for you and yours." She gestured to the seats she'd unstacked from the hall's far wall, with two seats already at the table. Edwin moved past her as she stood silently, tuning out the luke-warm chatter, the creaking of the wooden floor, managing to hear the press and roll of heels in leather boots outside, the wet, muted footsteps on the cobbles telling her how many there were. "Will your subordinates outside be joining us?" She asked the three guests, feeling a rigidity affect her frame when she recognised that consciousness amongst the prowlers, the one she had bonded her mind to. She could feel that blend of guilt and longing, of hope and despair.
There was a distinct pause as Jill hesitated to give the order, Morgen inhaling and halting when she saw Edwin's stony expression. "Bring her in." Edwin barked.
It was the fourth person to enter the hall. Sakuya, clad in the black garb of an English maid, her grey eyes registering the vampire before looking elsewhere.
"Hey." Remilia said aloud.
The background attempts at conversation petered out. The servant girl didn't look up as her guards - men and women, dressed like their master in waistcoats, jackets and top hats - filed past, filling the room. One of them held a lantern with a dark, obsidian frame that glinted in the candlelight, the oil fire within a deep, maroon red.
"Look at me, Sakuya." Remilia said.
"Again, with that ridiculous name," Edwin scoffed, "Shouldn't we be getting on with this?"
Remilia stared at Sakuya for a few seconds longer, hoping she might indulge her.
She gave up. "Quite right, mister Barnes. "Let us begin!" Remilia declared forcefully, turning from Sakuya to seat herself at the table, her gleaming eyes watching the Barnes' now. "Let us talk of recompense."
"Ease it down. Ease it..." Koakuma bent her knees as her fairy helpers lowered the rock onto and into the framework that stood in the center of the library. With a thunk, the red stone landed definitively within the display's golden bars, the conical bottom suspended above the carpet. "No caught fingers? No-one's dead? Yeahhh, good work, everyone!" She declared, the fairy maids joining in with shouts of jubilation. One of them let out a triumphant roar, overwhelmed by the heavy load that they'd carried from Patchouli's vault to here.
"Shut up!" Patchouli snapped from her desk.
Koakuma looked embarrassed as the fairies jumped and shirked. "Sorry, boss, we were just-"
"I don't care. Return to your duties." Patchouli commanded, her fingertips at her temple as she sat back in her chair. The fairies trooped out, crestfallen.
Koakuma approached the witch, tilting her chin curiously. "Can I get you some tea?" She ventured.
"You can... you can..." Patchouli seemed to swallow some vitriolic sentiment before she forced a laugh from her lips, "You can get me a doctor, Koakuma. It's taxing..."
Koakuma finished her words, "To keep track of all the moving parts?"
Patchouli let her head fall against the chair's headrest with a thud. "Gods, yes. The mansion's uprooting is ready. All the magical countermeasures I know are in place, the walls are reinforced, the maids allegedly know what to do should the invaders reach the entrance hall. But the crystal ball won't allow me to look into the Chateau and a few other properties, and I just know they've done something, or have something in reserve. You told Meiling about the Noonwraith, does she need anything?"
Koakuma inclined her head and kept herself terse, "No, she appreciates the information. She's been made aware of what to expect, though she did not tell me her planned response." As her head lifted, she saw the poppets of the residents, sitting in a neat little line. But for the deep and invasive way the fabric bent and indented the neck on Sakuya's doll, it was a charming presentation.
"You finished your poppet?" Koakuma asked, glancing at the purple haired doll. Its disinterested and guarded expression had a striking resemblence to her master.
"Mmm." Patchouli managed, her fingers pressing against her forehead.
"And you've designed mine to look the most appealing?"
"Mmm," Patchouli repeated the sound half-heartedly, "Though I do wonder if it's necessary. You put yourself in the not-djinn's sights last time, with the way you spoke to him."
"...That is true!" The pitch of Koakuma's voice climbed for a moment, wondering if Patchouli might decide to talk about the situation between them unprompted.
"No, it's best not to underestimate him," Patchouli's words left Koakuma relieved and frustrated all at once, "We can't pull our punches, especially when they've hidden parts of the city. The houses directly in front of ours, their Chateau, their forgeworks, a scattering of other buildings... We should have sent scouts out."
"Scouts? Who?" Koakuma asked.
Patchouli's hand flopped onto her lap as she contemplated her answer. Remilia was too busy, she herself was too sickly, Meiling was too obvious, and Koakuma...
Once more, an awkward silence fell between the two of them as Koakuma seemed to sense her hesitation.
Patchouli made herself shrug. "No point in mulling over might-have-beens-"
"I'm ready to do my part, y'know." Koakuma's words made Patchouli stop. The little devil fidgeted beneath the witch's purple-eyed gaze.
"It would be excruciating, you realise?" Patchouli pointed out.
"I know. Better me than you though, right?" Koakuma said.
Patchouli's eyelids drifted low. "How very noble of you." She said in a withering tone.
Koakuma didn't laugh this time. She didn't slope her shoulders and play it off and act the rogue. "I was careful enough to eat what you gave me, I'm suitable for what you've got planned. If you die, you can't summon me back. Besides, you let me go to the museum, I can handle doing a little sneaking around! That's my niche! That's-"
"I trust you with information gathering outside of dire conditions. I'm not going to entrust you with a task that puts you beyond my reach."
It stung to hear that, but Koakuma nodded in understanding. "Fair, but- what might be coming... I'm okay to bear the brunt, you understand? Hell, maybe you'll find it freeing to see me get my comeuppance for-"
Patchouli's face darkened. "How about you just do as I ask you, Koakuma? Or do you enjoy making me second-guess myself, the decisions I've made?"
Koakuma's chocolate-brown eyes tried to read Patchouli's, tearing away from her when she found no purchase. "As you wish, master. I'll continue to make preparations around the library."
"Good, do that." Patchouli stated coldly, watching Koakuma go before she pushed the books across her desk to make way for the crystal ball.
Money was the first thing that was discussed, but it didn't take long for Remilia to realise it had little purchasing power with the Barnes, or for her to share this discovery with mister Osbourne during an intermission.
"So what will you do? Have you identified what they want?" Mister Osbourne asked, his brow knitted.
Remilia felt her fangs dig into her bottom lip as she stared up at her tutor. "Morgen, I know not. Jill wants this over and done with. Edwin wants to hurt me. Only way he can do that is to take something personal from me." She murmured, her chin lowering as she contemplated the options.
Her frown deepened when she felt a surge of inadequacy seep in from the linkage between her mind and Sakuya's. Her gaze left the reclining Edwin and Jill who craned over him, who tried to engage him in discussing the matter at hand. Her red eyes settled on the hurt expression of the servant girl, Morgen's face apologetic as she talked down to her.
"Let's be realistic, dear - she can't value you that much if she's throwing money at the problem." Remilia's ears perked up as her blood began to course.
"I think if she cared for you, she might've acted a little sooner, and more strongly. This is a show for her teacher, nothing more." Remilia turned away from a bemused mister Osbourne, her face darkening as she stormed across the hall.
"Honestly, with how uncomfortable she must feel, being lumbered with your mental detritus, she'd employ you out of pity. You're not so selfish as to want that, are you?"
That did it.
Remilia stepped in and stomped into the back of Morgen's knee. The water spirit cried out in alarm, her knee thudding onto the wooden floorboards.
"What're you, my herald?!" Remilia hissed, her foot grinding down into Morgen's leg.
"What- no, I'm just-" Morgen turned, but shut down when Remilia snarled in her face.
"I know what you're doing, you scheming little harpy. You think you know my mind? You think you can speak for me?! Huh?!" Remilia all but shouted in her face.
She realised then that everyone was looking at her. Morgen appealed to Edwin with her eyes. It was Jill who spoke up, "Put your hands on one of us again, and we will assume the peace is at an end."
Remilia shoved Morgen down and away, ignoring the impulse to bite down, to draw silver and blood. "Remove this liar from my presence, then. She denigrates and brings nothing but ill-feeling to this-"
"Done," Edwin cut in, catching Morgen's attention before nodding to the door, "Go on, get out."
Morgen looked on, disquieted with the speed at which she was dismissed. Remilia stepped off of the back of her knee, allowing her to rise. She glared down at Remilia as she passed, but the vampire's attention was on the servant girl.
She never saw the meaningful look Edwin shot the water spirit, nor the shock of understanding on Morgen's face melt into a malignant smile.
Ignorant of all that, Remilia beamed at the maid. "Forgive my fluster. May I speak with you, for the duration?"
The servant girl mutely nodded. Remilia scanned the room. Edwin and Jill watched her, along with their human helpers, whilst mister Osbourne scowled at her - though she felt a rush of confidence as he nodded a subtle 'well done' her way. She guided the maid to a candlelit corner, hoping for distance and privacy.
"Once this is done, I will offer you a choice, Sakuya. You will be released from service, or you will become the chief maid of my household." Remilia told her.
The servant girl shook her head. "I don't want to."
Remilia frowned, her eyes half-lidded. "You're not fooling anyone."
That made the maid look up. "I've led people to their death."
Remilia thought to playfully quip 'so have I', before she saw how the maid's eyes brimmed with tears. "Joyfully, of your own volition? You weren't threatened or cajoled in any way?"
The servant girl lowered her head, though the thoughts that passed through her head told Remilia all she needed to. Fleeting images of mister Osbourne, shocked and shaken as shadowy figures produced guns and knives. "They were going to hurt him, weren't they?"
The maid blinked tears out of her eyes. "Y-yes..."
Remilia breathed out. "All the more reason to take you from this place, then."
"I don't," The servant girl managed, "deserve this..."
"You didn't deserve to be chained here. To do his bidding." Remilia's eyes slid to indicate Edwin before returning to the maid who still couldn't meet her eye. She tried to distract from the serious moment.
"Lookit, new dress! Just happened to find it on my bed." Remilia cooed, smoothing her hands down her skirt.
A breathless chuckle broke over the servant girl's wobbling bottom lip. "I'm glad it pleases you."
"Oh, don't be," Remilia chirped with mock-seriousness, "You've only gone and demonstrated a talent that I mean to exploit, you realise? I've a walk-in closet of dresses that need sorting and enhancing, that'll take you weeks if not months to do."
The maid said nothing.
"I won't assume you'll be able to finish improving my wardrobe all in one go, so I suppose I can be lenient with your work schedule. Perhaps three hours a night, with breaks pencilled in." Remilia decided, affecting a look of annoyance as she clicked her fingers. "Damn, we'll have to account for the other residents - Meiling's been wanting someone to spar with, and talk someone's ear off about renovating the garden, which is strangely enough an initiative Patchouli's in support of. I suspect there's a herbacious motivation to her request - Speaking of Patchouli, your tea has gone down a storm-"
"Stop..." The servant girl appealed.
But Remilia ran on. "-And has expressed an interest in trying other blends you might know of - oh, and Flandre, she's been positively clamouring for more chats with you. I'm borderline offended that she wishes to speak with you and not her noble sister."
"Don't do this." The maid pleaded, the cruel and cutting self-depracation within her mind growing. Her shoulders shook as she raised her chin. "I don't deserve this..."
Remilia tried to ignore the servant girl's inner voice. "T'is a cruel fate, to be pulled in all directions - and here was me hoping I'd get to monopolise your time," She sighed, "But we shall make do, won't we, Sakuya?"
"Please..." The maid begged, the negative emotions climbing into a dull roar.
Remilia shut her eyes, the conflict in the servant girl's head starting to interfere with her own. "Please what?"
The static abated, the self-defeating mantras and mental anguish abating for a moment. "Huh?" The maid asked.
Remilia forced her face to relax as she opened her eyes to stare her down. "I'd hear you say it. What it is you want."
The servant girl looked on at her, stunned. "Y-you know, you can- you can read my mind-"
"I can, but I can't drag you to where you want to go. I need to know beyond any doubt that you want this. If that's the case, I will fight to make it happen, believe you me. So show some willing," Remilia smiled softly, "and show me you know what you want."
Shamefaced, the servant girl bowed her head. Remilia exhaled through her nose. "Think on it, but do so quickly. Your-"
"Miss Remilia, if you're quite done?" Jill called out.
Remilia squeezed the servant girl's shoulder before she returned to the table, making way for mister Osbourne. Even as he approached, he could see his girl begin to fuss, hurriedly wiping her eyes.
"Hello, you." He said gently.
"Hey." The servant girl mumbled.
A warm smile spread across his lined face, glancing Remilia's way as the latter slid into her chair at the table, pointing her winning smile Jill's way. "Remilia thinks the world of you, y'know."
"Uhuh." Came the response. He looked back to her. She wasn't his blood, but she might as well have been. "She wants you at her side. I feel you want that too."
"W-what about you?" The girl asked. Mister Osbourne laughed softly.
"Girl, what about me? You've your own life to live, haven't you? I think you've done enough worrying on my account, hey?" He asked.
She looked at him with wide, pained eyes, the look alone putting a chill down his spine. "There's," She huffed, a shake in her hands now, "There's something you should know..."
"Dear?" Mister Osbourne's hands took hers, "I'm ready to hear it when this business is done - though, might you do me a favour? I've left something at the house, something you were good enough to write for me.
I don't want us to leave this city without it."
"Yes." Sakuya murmured.
"Go on." He said quietly back, letting her hurry out the front door, apprehensive about what his girl had been about to tell him.
Jill watched the exchange with narrowed eyes, feeling a flash of anger as Remilia clicked her fingers.
"Eyes front," Remilia piped up, "And ears open. Hear my new offer."
"They will not win."
Yukari Yakumo let the lightest frown touch her brow as she heard her shikigami's report. "Show your working?" She asked.
Ran Yakumo straightened from the deep bow, her arms still folded as she turned to follow her mistress over the woven straw floors of the house. "Though my calculations are affected by the privacy wards of both households, I can confirm that the balance of power is skewed in favour of the Chateau Obscura. With this third faction's intrusion," They walked together onto out onto the porch as Ran went on, "There is not a hope for the Scarlet Devil Mansion. If they were aware of the threat, they might have been able to adequately prepare themselves. I have Chen on site, with Zenki and Goki crossing the Channel now. With your permission, I would have them render assistance."
Yukari sat herself down on the covered walkway, her legs dangling over the edge as she raised a hand, her fingertips taking ahold of the opening gap, opening it further to observe the koi pond from where she sat.
Ran stood at attention, her concern visible. "Mistress Yukari?"
Yukari met her question with a subtle smile. "This is an ideal oppurtunity to see how Remilia Scarlet performs under pressure, Ran. Your orders - and that of your subordinates - remain as they were. Observe, nothing more. If she doesn't have the mettle, then we shan't intervene.
Fetch Yuyuko and myself some blankets."
"She has the ability to stop time. Your offer should reflect that."
Remilia's eyes narrowed. "She's a human. Their lives are short, which affects the price."
Jill smiled smugly. "Makes you wonder why you're bothering with this charade at all."
The vampire managed to keep her disdain from her face. "She has displayed qualities that I appreciate."
"Oh? I didn't know you liked her that much."
Remilia scowled then. "Don't get the wrong idea. I want a friend and an employee, and she was kind to me. I don't want her for anything more."
Edwin quietly studied Remilia as Jill leant back in her chair with a creak of wood, smiling wolfishly. "So, what will you give us? The sum of money you suggested is a good start, but..." She shrugged.
The figure she had suggested was all of the wealth of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Remilia was careful not to let the frustration appear on her face, her gaze travelling over Jill's visage. She could refer to the conversation they had yesterday, about Sakuya's value, to try and knock down the price...
She discarded the thought. It made good business sense, but it went against Jared's words and her own gut. What could she give them besides money?
Remilia decided then what she would give. "In exchange for mister Osbourne, Olivia and Sakuya, I'll give you my house."
"What?" Jill asked.
"What?" Mister Osbourne echoed.
Sakuya's mouth opened and Edwin's grin shrank.
Somewhere on the east side of London, a magician called her mistress and friend something extraordinarily unladylike.
"My librarian will want to keep her collection of books, and my sister, her toys.
But I'd give you the mansion. The grounds. The walls. A veritable fortress, a second stronghold for you to firm your empire with." Remilia explained.
"I would like a moment to confer with miss Remilia." Mister Osbourne began to move forward, but a gesture from Jill gave him pause.
"That's more like it, Remilia. I think-" Jill began.
"Your spear," Edwin spoke up at last, his surly gaze meeting his sister's, "I want her spear, as well."
Remilia looked on, her own mouth opening. "That- isn't on offer. The mansion is enough, considering." She said hotly.
"If I don't get your spear and your mansion, then the deal is off." Edwin told her, fishing a silver chain from his breast pocket, dragging a weight up from the dark envelope.
The pocket watch sprang open, his eyes regarding the minute-hand. Two more jumps to midnight. He turned to the lackey holding the lantern.
"Give me the lantern, would you? There's a good chap."
The servant girl ran down Avalon lane, her skirts gathered in her hands, her heart thundering away. It had been a suffocating atmosphere in that room, standing behind her employees and before her adoptive father and-
At the memory, her grip on space and time grew tenuous. Window frames flexed and victorian stone distorted as she thought about her, the understanding, the thing that she offered her. She didn't deserve it. She didn't dare to hope that she deserved it.
She went into the house from the backdoor, turning on the lights and going up to mister Osbourne's study. She found his lessons and her work quickly enough-
She paused, seeing a sheet tucked unevenly between the pages. She carefully opened the book, removing it when she realised it wasn't attached, unfolding it-
Time slowed for the anxious servant girl as Flandre's picture unfurled in front of her.
It was an unrefined - but enthusiastically drawn - picture of six girls, all of them smiling. She recognised Remilia by the light-blue scribble that covered her head. She saw the green beret and red hair of the gatekeeper, the one who had stood up for her. She saw Patchouli with a look on her face and a brown book under her arm, and the impish grin of Koakuma. One of the girls - Flan, in a red dress with yellow-crayon hair - was standing behind them all, impossibly tall, her stick arms impossibly stretched to hug around the lot of them.
She saw herself squeezed in between Meiling and Remilia, her hair done in grey-graphite, her tears dark-blue above her crescent of a smiling mouth.
Sakuya's fingers lifted to her eyes to remove a buildup of tears.
She didn't need to think on it.
"Dear brother, let's not-" Jill began, but it was her turn to be quietened as Edwin raised his hand for silence.
Remilia frowned as she stared across the table at Edwin, the thought of relinquishing 'her spear' distressing her. It wasn't just some spear. It was the Gungnir. Carved from the wood of the waning world tree, bestowed upon her by an ailing god. She had liked it for its balance, its beauty and its fluidity, but it was important to others for bigger reasons, reasons she'd been too busy to contemplate.
She didn't want to give such a treasure away.
"Then," Remilia forced the words out, "I shall yield my spear as well."
The words did not bring a joyous expression to Edwin. He looked more distracted than pleased.
"Excuse me," Mister Osbourne asked, "Mister Barnes, why do you hold that lantern, there? I can hold it, if you'd-"
"I'm fine, thank you." Edwin said, "Remilia, would you be so kind as to tell me about the mansion? You've highlighted it's value to me, but what of you? Do you not like it?"
The question was besides the point, Remilia realised. His voice was affected, giddy. Such a tone put a frown on her face, the sight of a grinning man holding a pocket-watch and a lamp aloft might have been peculiar. Funny, even.
"It's been in my family for generations. I... I found my family, with that house. It's a part of my history, and so much more than a home away from home.
Why are you stalling, mister Barnes?"
Ten seconds. "Morgen," Edwin shouted past Remilia, "Now's about time, I think."
"What're you doing?" Jill wailed, realisation dawning at her brother's actions. Her outrage left Remilia uncertain, her eyes looking from sibling to sibling. Edwin Barnes leant in against the lantern, its obsidian framework glittering, the fire within turning as dark as mud.
There was a pop, a fizzle, and the hall's windows suddenly lit in a baleful green glow that illuminated Edwin's rictus-grin.
"Kill them all." Edwin wished in a whisper.
Remilia's eyes widened. She kicked her chair away. Gungnir blazed to life as she flung it forward in an underarm throw.
"The fairy maids couldn't find Olivia at her estate." Koakuma reported quietly.
Patchouli brushed her fingers over the crystal ball. "Show me Olivia de Vere."
The shadows parted to reveal a ball of solid darkness that told her she was in a warded place.
She swallowed. "She's within the Chateau, or their territories."
And not at the meeting. They have no intention of releasing Olivia into their custody.
In her periphery, the row of poppets began to catch fire. Remilia's burst into flames, as did Flandre's. The red hair on Meiling's doll was lost to the fire, whilst Patchouli's own began to smoulder weakly. The only poppets unaffected were Sakuya's and Koakuma's. Sakuya hadn't been targetted, naturally, but Koakuma-
Koakuma's blood-curdling scream turned Patchouli's head. She saw Koakuma stagger against a shelf, her entire body wrapped in flames. Library lamps exploded or guttered out as her gaze lingered on Koakuma. She knew she had to let it run its course, let it build.
She cursed herself as she banished Koakuma and spared her the pain, the flames eating at the dissipating black smoke. Patchouli could smell sulphur now and feel a wind blow through the still air of the library. She sensed the magical pulses of her violated privacy wards and sundered boundaries as her skin turned to gooseflesh. She reached for her trump card, the gleaming red rock in its cradle, the stone that could change the world-
The scorched, fire-blackened djinn roared down at her in a choking cyclone of burning ash, Patchouli's sealing circles and hexes clinging to his body like luminescent nets.
His sword powered down between the columns of dust and embers, that sulphurous stench giving way to the coppery scent of burning blood.
Outside, Meiling felt the air change as the cat pursued her, its claws swiping at the back of her leg.
She peered around the corner of a hedgerow, hearing the pop and seeing the flare drift downwards, casting an algae-green light across the houses and the street. She saw the humans battering shutters away and breaking glass, clearing the window ledges of framework and window panes.
Two fluted metal barrels clacked onto the ledges, wiggling like the snout of some great beast seeking its prey before they locked on her. She frowned at first, not knowing what she was staring at.
Then she felt the energy of the men in both buildings, a nervous, fearful anger, not from the prospect of facing her, but from the assured act of mutilating her.
From this distance, they were going to kill her - and they were utterly confident that they would succeed, huddled behind weapons that had forged an empire on the blood of thousands.
The cat shrieked, reminding Meiling where she was.
The two maxim machine guns started to fire, their stentorian, rhythmic report silencing Meiling's thoughts.
Gungnir obliterated Jill's shoulder as the werewolf's warding strike tore down Remilia's sleeve.
Candle lights flickered as the two protagonists backed from the table, the thump of Jill's severed arm slapping onto the floorboards punctuating the moment. The vampire glanced down her own arm at the bloody tatters of flesh and ruined silk, forcing a smile for Jill's benefit as she recited her prophecy. "'The angels of hell'..."
"Shut up!" Jill's scream was on the edge of panic as she charged forward, her remaining claw slicing for Remilia's face. The vampire leaned out of the way of the swipe, coming back-
And going straight into Jill's other claw, the finger nails slicing down Remilia's nose and cheek as her own silver blade sliced up Jill's arm.
Remilia stepped back, blinking fast as she regarded the shoulder she had struck with Gungnir, expected to see torn meat, rent tissue and ruined fabric. Instead she saw a skinless limb almost fully grown there, the meat of it coloured an underdeveloped glossy pink that began to grow thick with hair. She regenerated quickly. Quicker than Remilia did.
She wasn't an ordinary werewolf.
Jill's staggered back, clutching the cut the silver had made in her old arm. "Kill her!" She shrieked.
The humans swept in from the shadows, forge-wrought shanks of silver in hand.
Remilia killed them first and killed them fast.
She tossed her knife into one man's chest before cratering the face of another with her fist. She picked up one of the ugly shanks before she swayed out of the way of a thrust, her riposte bursting the heart of her opponent. She turned on the enemy behind her-
Her eyes widened when a narrow blade emerged through the chest of Barne's underling. As he collapsed, she saw mister Osbourne viciously twist the blade of his canesword free, his face a determined snarl. He was covering her. Good.
She rounded on Edwin, knowing this was the time to snatch the king from the board. She leapt the table, her claws raking for him.
He pulled Jill into Remilia's path.
They crashed together in a tangle of limbs. Jill gurgled in pain and shock as Remilia took out her throat. The vampire righted herself as Jill convulsed beneath her. Remilia's hateful eyes locked on Edwin.
Something glittered above him. She looked up in time to see the descending stars. She leapt back, throwing the hunk of silver as she cleared Jill's writhing body. The floorboards she'd been standing on exploded beneath the massive, bony fists, the impact shocking candle sticks off of surfaces to roll across the floor. The shank she'd slung was embedded in the thing's lizard head.
Dust streamed after its hands as it raised them, its maw opening in a silent scream of pain. She could scarcely see the beast beneath the field of blood-tainted sigils that were tattooed - no, inlaid, silvered into its stretched skin. Christian iconography, depictions of saints, entire litanies of protection assailed her in a haze of shadowy light.
It pounced for her.
Gungnir roared to life, swiping the beast aside in a scarlet arc. Chairs and tables were crushed beneath its thrashing form. She moved to lunge after it-
But she couldn't. Its sigils burnt and blinded her. It didn't matter that the thing was no Christian, nor did it matter that the thing fought out of fear of punishment rather than for faith, peace, a noble cause. The beast had been broken, remade and reforged to counter her.
It was enough to halt Remilia's advance.
"Patchouli! Remove this creature!" She shouted, not knowing that no-one could hear her. The thing cringed, silently screaming at her as it bunched up, preparing to lunge.
Remilia almost fell forward as something punched her from behind. She looked down at the silver arrow-head jutting out from her hip.
She could hear Morgen's smug cackle behind her. The beast that answered to the name 'Dreadshanks' seized her distraction, its skeletal fist smashed the vampire across the room. She fell onto her front, the cabinet behind her following her down and crushing her body to the floor. Gungnir sputtered and shrieked in one hand as the other tried to push the cabinet off of her.
"Ahh, you're the bitch's father, are you?"
The words made Remilia look up, seeing Edwin Barnes and the man who stood to forestall the Ripper's approach.
"You will not call her that again." Mister Osbourne snarled, his canesword reflecting the candlelight.
"Don't!" Remilia cried out, fear gripping her. She watched, helpless, as mister Osbourne stepped in, his sword making a practiced sweep-
With a mechanical, definitive click, Edwin Barnes flickered from where he stood to inside the tutor's guard, his knife driving a gasp from the old man as it thrusted home.
"No!" Remilia screeched, her hand taking the cabinet by a shelf and throwing it over her, grief and rage giving her strength. Her spear howled with her as she stepped into the nauseating, burning field of counterfeit faith and drove Dreadshanks off. Another arrow struck her, the burning pain seizing her. She ducked the next, but Jill was whole again and on top of her now, snarling and slashing at her. Remilia grappled her, smashing her own head into Jill's wolfish snout. Before she could ram Gungnir into the stunned werewolf's throat, the sigil-beast drove into her, breaking her bones.
The monsters did not fight well together, nor were they concerned for each other's safety. But they were each accomplished predators, taking their oppurtunities where they came with the enraged and beleaguered vampire.
They tore one of her arms away. Gungnir guttered out. All she could do was roar in impotence as Dreadshanks grabbed what was left of her, her remaining claw scything and slashing for eyes and throats, the monster's grey light sapping her strength-
"Jared!" Remilia screamed as her teacher collapsed to his knees, her tears running freely as Dreadshanks drove her into the floorboards, arresting her.
Remilia felt the fight briefly leave her as the tutor swayed, his lips working to form a sentence, a word, something, his eyes failing to meet Remilia's before he collapsed.
Edwin Barnes neatly stepped over him and the pool of blood that expanded from the tutor's stomach. She could see how Edwin's lip curled, the disdainful half-second glance he spared Mister Osbourne.
She began to breathe harder, her fangs bared as fresh anger brought what little blood ran in her veins to a boil.
Over his shoulder, she saw the servant girl standing there with a black book clutched to her chest, having watched her father fall and her world fall apart.
She was slack-jawed and wide eyed, conquered by the pain. The cruel voices in her head had grown into a cacophony of despair.
Remilia took in a phlegmy, tear-choked breath. She instilled every note of urgency she could muster, remembering every warrior's cry she'd made from the nightmarish battlefields of Wallachia to now, every iota of authority that mister Osbourne had instilled into her darkened soul. "SAKUYAAAAAA!"
The servant girl turned as though in a dream, her silver eyes on Remilia.
"GET
PATCHY!"
As Remilia finished, Dreadshanks sledgehammered a blow into the back of the vampire's head that sent her brow into the splintering wood. It left her ears ringing. She tried to lift her chin. She saw that Sakuya was gone. She saw Jill point at the vacated doorway, and the traumatised humans on the Barnes' payroll rushed out. She saw Edwin Barnes standing tall over her, smiling cruelly.
Remilia was still snarling through her tears as she reached out with her hand. Edwin and Morgen saw a defeated vampire, mindless with grief, grasping for their enemy.
"You'd best kill me," She gurgled, "Kill me, or I'll kill you. I'll kill you!" She promised in a raspy roar.
She heard a creak and a snap, seeing Jill pull a splintered leg from its chair. With a grunt, she drove Remilia's silver blade through the top, fashioning a stake. "I'll oblige her. Turn her over." Jill murmured as she tossed the knife away. The monster obeyed, turning the broken girl over, his fingers pushing on her collarbone to pin her down.
Jill raised the stake in two hands, a fearful light in her eyes as she met Remilia's gaze.
"I want her alive, for now." Edwin said.
Jill ignored him, beginning to swing down before she was shoved aside by Edwin's gloved hand.
"Christ, Edwin! She'll kill us! We mustn't take chances!" Jill shouted at him.
"I promised her to another. Take her and the corpse to the house." Edwin replied, hunkering low over Remilia. "Does the name 'Ruxandra' ring a bell, my dear?"
Remilia's mouth opened, feeling her stomach clench.
Her reaction was apparent, she realised, as Edwin chuckled. "Thought it might. Soon as you told me your name, back at the circus, I set to asking questions, getting in touch with your dear family... You're in a lot of trouble, young lady! Was it you or the other one that was betrothed?" He asked, leering all the while.
"Brother, please, do away with her. Present her head to this Ruxandra, if you'd like!" Jill pleaded, but he wasn't listening.
"We won't be killing you, my dear. Not yet. I'll be leaving you in the care of my sister whilst I go to collect yours. Oh, there it is! Realisation! Gods, is it delicious to see that look on you," Edwin cackled, leaning lower, "I have my doubts you'll see another dawn, 'Countess Remilia Scarlet of Wallachia'."
Remilia tried to move, despite the monstrous knuckles that drove her back into the floor, despite the sickening, infecting aura that came off of the sigil beast. She tried to meet Edwin's eye. "Know this," She promised, "You will rue the day you touch-"
His shoe lashed out and caught her on her nose. She felt pain bloom across her face. "Show some goddamn respect! I am the lord of London! I am emperor, and you, you upstart, common-blood bitch, you dared to cut me! You dare to disrespect! You-"
Remilia's fist clutched around the wan, wavering scarlet thread in front of her, hearing the wailing in Sakuya's head grow distant as the radiating waves of fraudulent faith drove her into unconsciousness.
The servant girl staggered back through the front door of mister Osbourne's residence, gasping for air. It had to be a nightmare. Not real.
"Jared?" She called through the darkened house. She expected to see him round the corner in a nightgown, wielding a lantern and a scowl on his face.
He wasn't dead! He couldn't be dead...
"Jared?!" She howled, begging to be heard, to be answered, for that mean old man to crush her to him and be told that it was just a bad dream, that everything would be alright.
The only sound that resounded through the house was the book thudding onto the floor. Tears flowed freely. He was gone. It felt unreal, and at the same time the pain in her chest was overwhelming, the sheer weight of it pulling her down. Her knees crashed onto the floorboards, her fingers flying into her hair, as though her own hands might be enough to keep her mind from crumbling apart. Jared Osbourne was dead, and Remilia would follow him.
You failed him. You're failing her. You led them all to slaughter.
She gasped as she fell to all fours, her forehead pressing on the floorboards. Liar. She struck her own head with her hand, to silence them. Liar. Craven. Murderer.
"Shut up!" She croaked. The perfectly still classroom began to stutter and twitch, as though space and time writhed in sympathy.
Coward. Weakling. Murderer.
She shuddered as the storm in her head grew into a wall of noise. She could hear the house groan, the bones of the place in torment.
Murderer. Murderer. Murderer.
She started to scream, her fingernails gouging at her brow as the world around her buckled and shuddered, the sound of fracturing glass deafening.
Get Patchy.
She flinched, hearing that small but stern voice in her head speak up. "Guh..." She murmured, her palm pushing the sweat from her forehead.
Get Patchy.
The voice repeated itself. She swallowed thickly, pushing herself back up to her knees. She forced herself to stand, the effort almost sending her back to the floor again.
She swayed, the book on the floor forgotten as she walked through the makeshift classroom and towards the cabinet. The voices in her head hadn't abated, the anxiety and the despair clawing at her, but she in turn held onto the vampire's two little words as she regarded the immaculate medal that sat in the display.
She felt that Remilia was still alive. It was impossible to know, but she felt it, she could hear her command, unceasing, unyielding, unrelenting.
She could not go to the police, they were in the pocket of the Barnes'. Even if she confessed to her part, she would face the sentence alone, be admitted to an asylum or worse still, released back into Edwin's custody. Nothing would change. Another might take her place.
She could not run away. The djinn had collared her, and even if she could withstand the pain of defying the compulsion, they would find her again.
In the cabinet's glass, she caught her own reflection and how it failed to mirror her. Sweat did not bead the brow of the girl in the glass. Gone was the weight of grief, the fixture of terror. Even the hardened, ugly lines of anger were gone.
Her expression was well mannered but without warmth, her smile a cool and calculated thing that almost hid the murderous tension behind the mask. Her silver eyes had turned a brilliant red, communicating a serene fury that was barely held in check by the tranquil veneer she presented.
The voices in her head struggled to be heard now when she realised how useless they were. Things would only worsen if she listened to them and did nothing.
So she would lash out. She would destroy these devils that had killed her father, that now strove to kill Remilia. She would obey her last command.
She would reach Patchouli.
Sakuya yanked the cabinet's drawers open and armed herself before she set to ripping her long skirts.