It's been 200 years... huh?
"Merry Christmas!" The jubilation emanating from inside the houses, despite being muffled by the brick walls, still reached the vampire's ears. As blood dripped onto the snowy tiles from the wet sack she held, she looked out to the clock tower as it ticked to the midnight hour.
The moment its bell rang, she spread her bat-like wings and flew up into the cloudy sky. Looking down from above, the city looked as though it was twinkling like the stars.
Everyone was still awake; on this chilly day, and only this day of the year, the night is shared by both humans and her kind.
How nostalgic. she thought.
She flew to her destination; the clock tower, then landed on its roof, making a bit of snow slide off the tiles. The clouds cleared, making way for moonlight to fall, as she reached a tiny hole on the roof and slid through it. She gently hovered down alongside the snow, past the many gears and mechanisms that make the massive clock of the clock tower tick.
Eventually, her little sister, who sat below her, noticed her presence and looked up. Seeing her silhouetted by the moon peeking through the hole she slid through, her little sister smiled wide.
I'll never forget that face. She thought.
"Big sis Remilia!" her little sister cheered.
"I'm back, Flan." Remilia said with the tone of a noble, as she landed gracefully onto the creaky floorboards. "I brought a present for you." she said as she presented the wet sack to Flan.
"Thank you, big sis!" Flan said as she took it off of Remilia. The gears all around them spun in various speeds and directions as Flan untied the knot and opened the sack; revealing a bloody severed head inside. Immediately, Flan started eating it. The glowing crystals on her back swung around, and blood splattered onto the floor and her tattered clothes.
"Slow down, Flan. That's no way to eat for a noble."
"Ah! Sorry." Flan slowed down.
Remilia sat close to Flan, sharing each other's warmth. Illuminated by the meager light of the moon that managed to spill through the little hole above them, Remilia happily watched Flan eat to her heart's content. Though she would occasionally look around absentmindedly, too.
Flan eventually noticed that. "What's wrong, big sis?"
"Hm?"
"You've been looking around... is there something wrong with the tower? Is there someone sneaking around, watching us?"
"No..." Remilia's voice trailed off as she thought about how to explain it properly. Flan went back to eating, waiting for Remilia to find her words. Eventually, Remilia spoke, "Flan, you know Santa Claus, right?"
Flan looked up, then tilted her head. "San... who?"
"You don't know Santa Claus!?" Remilia sounded genuinely surprised.
Flan shook her head, then nibbled on the severed head again.
Remilia sighed. "This is why I always tell you... you need to go out more! Santa Claus is common knowledge! Yet you don't even know about him."
Well, I never knew about him either up until this point. Remilia thought.
"Sorry. I only know about stuff that you know about, big sis. And you never told me about this Santa Claus before." Flan apologized meekly, continuing to nibble on the head.
Remilia turned away. "W-well, I assumed you already knew about him. Yes... I thought it would be pointless to tell you about him because of that. That's why!" The desperation in Remilia's lie went unnoticed by Flan.
But Flan still asked the obvious question; "Then... why did you ask me about it now?"
Remilia froze.
Snow gently fell around them.
Remilia quickly tried to think of an excuse. "I-I uhh- I... well, it was just a primer for what I was about to tell you, you see. I-I wouldn't just jump into a conversation w-without first making my company comfortable with the topic… you see. I-It was simply a rhetorical question!"
"A-Anyway, the point is that you need to go out more. It's been 200 years since you became a shut-in, you're missing out on a lot of things!"
"But I don't want to..."
"But you need to. Look at me," Remilia stood and then spun around, before posing. "You could've been as wise and mature as me by now if only you went out more. You could've been this perfect image of a vampire."
Flan looked down at her hand, stained in scarlet from the bloody head she was just eating. "But... I'm scared! I keep telling you... I'm scared to go outside… I-If I do, I'll just b-break again..."
"And I keep telling you; it'll be fine. Your power won't randomly go wild anymore. Even if it does, I can always use my own powers to limit it."
"But-"
"No buts! There's so much happening out there. Before you know it, the world will be completely different from what you remember. For one, humans seem to fear and believe in the existence of witches less. You remember how big of a deal they were back in the day, right? Who knows what'll change in another 200 years? Just in the last 50, smoke and soot seem to have conquered many cities."
Flan's eyes darted around as Remilia continued her rant. Then Flan spoke up as soon as a short pause finally allowed her the opportunity; "A-anyway... sister, I-I think I really want to know about Santa Claus. Can you tell me more about him? Is he like a... famous sneak? Like a serial trespasser or something... and that's why you were looking around earlier? To see if he's here?"
Remilia's eyes narrowed. "Why are you asking so suddenly?"
"Ah... um... I just wanted to know!" Flan was very visibly searching her head for an excuse. Remilia could easily tell that Flan was trying to steer the conversation away from the fact that she'd barely stepped outside of a building in centuries. It's only really when they needed to move that Flan got to smell the outside air.
Again... every time I try telling her to go out more often, she does this. Remilia thought, then sighed; giving up. I can't be bothered to have this argument again. "Fine. I'll tell you who this Santa Claus guy is. So listen up!"
Flan nodded, relieved that the topic had changed.
Remilia pried a steel pipe off of the gear mechanisms that surrounded them with complete and utter ease. It was apparently a key mechanism, since hundreds of gears immediately creaked loudly the moment she pulled it out. The noise went on for a short moment before finally dying down.
Remilia swung her newly acquired steel pipe, pointing it around like a teacher's pointer. "So! You know the north pole, right?"
Flan nodded. "It's a super cold place to the north, right?"
"Yep. In fact, it's the northernmost place there is. It's the rooftop of the world! I know because I've been there, actually." Remilia said proudly.
Remilia lied.
Still, Flan seemed very interested. "Really? What was it like?"
"It was super cold. It's so cold that nothing can live up there. There's no cities, no towns, no humans. It's just endless snow and the starry sky. And it's winter there all throughout the year!"
"Woah..."
"Yep. So that's the north pole." Remilia pointed her pointer to the east, mistakenly thinking it's north. "And Santa Claus lives there; in the north pole."
"He does!?"
Remilia nodded. "I've been there as well. He lives in a big workshop; that's his sort of base of operations. I met some of his elf servants; they told me all about it. I never met Santa Claus himself, though."
Remilia lied. Partially.
"Did they tell you why he lives there?" Flan asked.
"Huh? No. Why?"
"I... just don't understand it. You said the north pole was really cold, right? It sounds beautiful the way you described it, but I can't imagine living somewhere that's colder than here. Let alone a place where it's always cold."
"Actually, yeah. It's kind of dumb now that I think about it. Maybe... maybe he just really likes snow or something."
"Oh! That makes sense. Maybe he likes playing! It's always really fun whenever we get to play with snow~" Flan said cheerfully.
Remilia nodded. We would be able to play with snow right now if you just went outside. Remilia lampooned internally, hiding the thought behind a smile. Saying it out loud now would just bring the mood down. "Anyway, Santa Claus makes a bunch of gifts in that workshop with the help of his elf servants."
"Gifts?"
"Yeah. He makes gifts for good kids, and during Christmas eve, which is tonight, he travels all over the world on his flying sleigh to distribute the gifts."
"He trespasses into people's homes to give it to them. That's why I was looking around earlier. I was wondering when Santa Claus would get here. Usually he would go down a chimney, and this tower doesn't have a chimney or anything, but that hole on the roof I use to go in and out of here should suffice. So I thought he should be here any minute." Remilia said as she pointed to the hole above them. The moon had moved away, so all they saw were stars.
"I think he'll definitely come here tonight, even though this isn't our home and there's no chimney. Unlike me, you're a good kid, Flan. You've never hurt anyone, and you're always worried about accidentally hurting people. You definitely deserve a gift."
"You deserve a gift too, big sis!" Flan suddenly shouted, dropping the severed head she was eating. "You always hunt for me! You do everything for me! E-even though… even though I should be the one going outside and doing all those things myself!" Flan looked at the ground, tearing up a little, "All I do is sit here doing nothing. I'm completely useless. Yet I can't even be brave enough to go out and make it so that I'm not useless." Flan looked back up again, looking desperate to convince Remilia, "You're the good kid, big sis! It's me that's-"
Remilia suddenly hugged Flan, interrupting her. "I guess we're both good kids then." Remilia said softly "We both deserve presents. So I'm sure Santa Claus will come soon."
Flan hugged Remilia back tightly, and nodded. "Yeah!"
The gears continued turning, as the two vampires sat still, silently enjoying each other's embrace. The stars above slowly continued to move through the sky, and so the night grew deeper.
"Oh yeah!" Remilia remembered "I forgot to tell you: Santa Claus doesn't just give kids any random old gift. He gives them what they wish for the most."
Flan abruptly looked up as she was hit by a realization. Immediately she made eye contact with her sister and asked "What do you wish for?"
To her surprise, her big sister coincidentally asked the exact same thing at exactly the same time she did.
And the two of them laughed.
Flan's laughter died down first. "My wish... is to be with my big sister forever!"
Remilia's laughter recovered afterwards. "That's not... didn't I tell you? He makes gifts in his workshop! Those gifts are obviously material. I was asking you what physical gift you wish for. Besides..." Remilia's voice trailed off, and she turned away, too embarrassed to continue. But eventually, she was able to push the words out; "...besides, you know... there's no need for that wish to be fulfilled... because it's going to come true anyway."
Flan didn't respond. For a while, Remilia continued looking away; too embarrassed to look back at Flan, anticipating how she would respond. But even after many ticks of the gigantic clock, Flan hadn't replied with even a single word.. Eventually, Remilia gathered the courage to face Flan again, only to see Flan looking up at the ceiling, hand on her chin, thinking deeply.
It looks like Flan wasn't even listening.
Remilia's face grew beet red in embarrassment, which quickly turned into anger, but she then let those feelings deflate the moment she noticed it. Why is she always like this...? Even now, she always randomly goes off in her own little world. Remilia thought. She sighed, exasperated, watching as Flan continued to think.
She looked like she was struggling a little bit.
Remilia couldn't help but smile. Seeing Flan's cute struggling face buried away her remaining anger & embarrassment. "What are you thinking about?" Remilia asked as she patted Flan on the head.
"What material gift I want from Santa." Flan replied, as she continued brainstorming.
"You haven't come up with anything yet?" Remilia asked.
Flan shook her head.
Remilia smiled. "How about I go first, then. Maybe that'll help you come up with something!" she said as she stood up. As the light from the hole above them shone upon her like a limelight, she announced; "I wish for a BIIIG mansion!" she proclaimed, spreading her arms wide. "A mansion with one thousand rooms, painted in beautiful scarlet. We'll have it ALL for ourselves! Just the two of us. We will finally have our own house; and it'll be the best house ever, better than anybody else's!" Remilia hopped around, expressing the vastness of her wish. "Now. Your turn!" Remilia announced, offering her hand. Seeing her big sister's expression made Flan smile. She took her big sister's hand and stood up.
Lit by the moon, its light now passing through the glass of the gigantic clock, Flan awkwardly spread her arms wide; mimicking her big sister's act. "I-I want a big teddy bear! I want one that won't ever get destroyed, even when I accidentally use my powers on it!"
"That's a wonderful wish!" Remilia said. Maybe I should make it come true? she thought.
Flan turned to her big sister. "Yeah!"
The two vampires' jubilation rang between the creaking gears, as they waited for an old man to bring them gifts.
The night grew ever deeper. Even as everyone in the city finally fell asleep, the two sisters continued to stay awake.
And the stars continued to twinkle beyond the hole above.
And that night eventually passed, like any other.
And more nights passed like any other.
And the world continued to change.
And Santa never once came.
"Fufufu..." the maid chuckled quietly, as she carried a massive present nearly half of her size.
Moonlight shone through the glass windows of the mansion, making the hallway's scarlet color glow.
Remilia was looking out the window, embarrassed. Her face, too, was currently glowing scarlet.
"Fufufu..." The maid continued chuckling.
"Stop laughing, Sakuya." Remilia ordered.
"Yes Mistress." Sakuya said with a massive grin plastered across her face.
Eventually, they reached a stairwell leading down into darkness. For a moment, Sakuya disappeared. Then, in the blink of an eye, lamps on either side of the stairs flickered alight, and Sakuya reappeared.
Wordlessly, Remilia walked down the stairs as Sakuya followed. Their footfalls echoed as they went. Eventually they reached the bottom, and were greeted with a small, ornate-looking door.
Remilia stood confidently, and was about to knock on the door. But right before her fist made contact with the wood, she hesitated. The two of them stood in silence for a while, until Remilia finally turned and spoke;
"Sakuya." She said in a serious tone.
"What is it, mistress?"
"Are you REALLY sure I don't look silly? You've been staring at me funny this entire time."
"No, you don't look silly at all, mistress. In fact, I was admiring how you make your outfit more beautiful and elegant than it otherwise would be, simply by being worn by you."
"Really? Then why were you chuckling earlier? You weren't laughing at me, were you?"
Sakuya didn't respond. She simply continued smiling.
Remilia turned and started lightly hitting Sakuya; "Answer me!"
"No, mistress! I promise, I truly meant what I said!" Sakuya replied as she raised the massive present box she carried so that Remilia wouldn't accidentally damage it.
Remilia pouted. "Hmph!"
Then suddenly, a voice emanated from beyond the door. "Who's there?" it asked, sounding a little annoyed.
Remilia panicked for a moment. She cleared her throat, then with a fake voice, she spoke; "Hohoho! Consider yourself lucky! You see, your big sister has invited me, Santa Claus, to visit you personally! Aren't you lucky to have such a wonderful big sister?"
Remilia posed.
Silence followed. There was no response.
The longer the silence stayed, the more Remilia's patience slowly waned, until Remilia finally shouted; "Hey! Flandre Scarlet!", still using that same fake voice, but now with a hint of annoyance.
Sakuya suddenly appeared in front of Remilia, and knocked on the door. Immediately after, she quickly disappeared, as Remilia cleared her throat, and still with the same fake voice, spoke; "My, I have been curious ever since I heard about you, Flandre Scarlet! The cutest little sister, the goodest girl of Gensokyo? My, I was so excited, I had to cancel all of my plans, so I can spend the entire day with you! Meeting you is much more important than giving gifts to those silly human ki-"
The sound of the door unlocking interrupted her. Remilia recoiled for a moment, but quickly recovered her pose as the door creaked open.
But the door stopped, creating only a small gap, from which the little-r vampire peeked. As soon as they made eye contact, Remilia spoke;
"Oh my, a cute little sister indeed!"
"...pfft" Flan went.
Remilia went bright red, then immediately turned 180 degrees and shouted at Sakuya; "Hey! Y-you said I looked beautiful and elegant!"
Sakuya didn't respond. She just smiled.
Remilia started getting angry again, but just before she could shout, the door slammed shut, cutting her off.
Sakuya's smile disappeared.
Remilia sighed, letting go of her momentary anger. "Drop the present." she ordered in a serious tone.
Sakuya placed the massive box on the ground.
"Now go." Remilia waved her off. "Shoo!"
Sakuya bowed. "Yes Mistress" then disappeared.
Remilia then turned back to the door and knocked. "Flandre, open the door~" Remilia said in a pretentious tone.
There was no response. So she knocked again, and to her surprise, she was suddenly interrupted by Flandre shouting from behind the door; "Go away! I don't want to see you!"
Remilia was taken aback for a moment. "Flan? Why are you suddenly-"
"I hate you! You're a bad person and I don't want to meet a bad person. And I hate Santa too! He gave a bad person the gifts she wished for, so Santa Claus is stupid and bad too. I don't want to meet him either!"
Remilia completely dropped the act, and spoke normally; "But... I thought we're fine now. I genuinely apologized to you a few years ago didn't I?"
Only Remilia thought her apology was genuine.
Remilia continued; "Besides, you were smiling and snickering earlier and everything."
"T-that's just because I couldn't help it! I didn't expect to see you wearing that ridiculous outfit and acting ridiculous. I didn't want to laugh. I still hate you! But you looked so stupid I couldn't help it!"
Both embarrassed and angry, Remilia's face grew very red. "Shut up!" she blurted out. But then realized her mistake, and calmed herself. "N-no, I mean, Flan... I didn't mean that!"
Remilia was met with complete silence.
"Sorry." Remilia apologized, sounding defeated.
Flandre didn't respond.
Remilia sighed. She then sat down, leaned against the door, and looked up at the cold brick ceiling. It was just as ornate as the door, and it was just as old, too.
The lamp light emanating from both walls flickered.
"What do I even tell you at this point?" Remilia quietly mouthed her thoughts.
She closed her eyes, and in the darkness behind her eyelids appeared Flandre's form from 100 years ago. Then, her form from 200 years ago. Then from 300 years ago, and 400 years ago, and so on. All the way to Remilia's earliest memory of her.
And as she held them in her mind, she asked them, "What do I have to tell any of you? What do I have to tell you to get you to go out?"
Remilia opened her eyes again. There she sat completely still, wrapped in silence. Lost in thought, she continued staring at the ceiling for a long time, until finally letting out a defeated sigh.
This is impossible. she thought. I'm such an idiot. Getting swept up like that. From something as silly as a memory, too. That was long ago, I shouldn't have let it delude me this much.
Remilia stood up. This is silly. She thought, as she began walking away. The moment she passed by the present, however, she stopped, and only for what she believed to be a short moment. Should I pick this up now or should I get Sakuya to pick it up for me? Remilia wondered casually. But as she stared at the present, perhaps instigated by her knowledge of what's inside, a voice from a distant memory echoed in her mind;
"I want a big teddy bear! I want one that won't ever get destroyed, even when I accidentally use my powers on it!"
Hearing her little sister's cheerful voice, even if only from memory, forced a bittersweet smile to form on her face. Damn it! Why am I remembering that again? She cursed, as she wiped away her tears. She let out a sigh, exhaling away all her negative feelings, leaving room for a newfound determination to burn in brilliant scarlet.
She turned around, hands balled into fists, and walked back towards the ornate door. I don't know what I have to tell you to get you out of there. I don't know what I have to tell you to get you to let me in your world again. But there are a whole lot of things I want to tell you right now. She thought.
As she stared at the wooden door that separated her and her sister, Remilia cleared her throat one last time. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words didn't come out. Hesitation blocked her throat every time she would try to say something. Losing patience, she slapped herself, then tried again.
Finally, the words came out.
"Flan." Remilia said in an endlessly tender voice.
There was no response from the other side. Remilia wasn't even sure if Flandre heard her. But at this point, she doesn't care anymore. Now, she just wanted to speak.
So speak, Remilia did; "Do you remember when I taught you who Santa Claus is? It was around 200 years ago. I think it's exactly 200 years ago, in fact."
Only silence followed the pauses in her speech. Remilia continued on; "You know... when Sakuya came to me a few days ago, and reminded me of the fact that Christmas is coming soon, I didn't really think much of it. It's just another holiday of just another season; those just pass by in the blink of an eye for long-lived Youkai like us, so it's difficult to care about them. But I guess because it looked like it was going to snow for this year's Christmas, which is relatively uncommon especially to those as short-lived as humans, it prompted me, purely out of boredom, to look back at my memory to find every year I experienced a snowy Christmas."
Remilia placed her hand on the door. "The more I looked back, the more I remembered the way my life has changed; in ways that I forgot, affecting me in ways I took for granted. And I continued looking back, until I remembered that time when we were still going from hideout to hideout, trying to escape vampire hunters, scraping by with whatever we could find. Our hideout was that decrepit clock tower at that time. That was when I taught you who Santa Claus is."
Remilia paused, closing her eyes to bask in the memory, and placing herself in the shadow of those creaking gears once again. "Flan, do you remember the gifts we wished for back then? I still do. I remember it clearly. I wished for a big scarlet-colored mansion, just for the two of us, so that we would finally have our own home. That was 200 years ago." Remilia opened her eyes, then turned to the present. "Well, my wish came true. We have a big mansion now, and I got so much more than what I wished for; things I never even knew I wanted, but things I definitely would've wished for had I known about them. But there's also a lot of things I never thought I would lose that I definitely would've wished to keep, too."
Remilia walked over to the present. She closed her eyes, and imagined Flandre standing in front of her. "You're right, Flan. I'm a bad girl, and I didn't deserve to get all the gifts I was given. Out of the two of us, you're the good girl, Flan. You're the one that deserved to get your gift. Yet you never got what you wished for. You never got that big indestructible teddy bear. I guess… that's what I realized a few days ago, when I started looking back to 200 years ago."
Remilia picked up the present. "So I'll make sure Santa gives you your gift tonight. I promise. This night will not pass by like any other. This night will be different." she proclaimed.
She looked back at the ornate wooden door one last time. Tonight, I'll be there. Even if you won't allow me through that door… no matter how much you shut yourself in there… regardless of how closed off your world is. Because that is our fate. Remilia declared in her mind, before walking away.
"M-mistress...?" Sakuya followed Remilia as she briskly walked through the scarlet hallway, still wearing her Santa outfit, all while carrying a massive present nearly as big as her.
Remilia didn't respond. She remained quiet.
"M-mistress... t-there's always a next year, you know? Just because Flandre-sama didn't accept the gift tonight, that doesn't mean she won't ever accept it!"
Remilia still didn't respond.
The worried expression stayed in Sakuya's face. "In fact, this might be a miracle in disguise! Since we only started looking for an indestructibility spell when you started reminiscing a few days ago, we couldn't find one before Chrstmas. W-which is fine by the way! You only remembered it when you started reminiscing, so it wasn't your fault or anything! But now, we have an entire year to find such an elusive spell. So that next year, when you give Flandre-sama that teddy bear, it'll truly be indestructible!"
Remilia opened the door to a large empty room, with walls ornately decorated in scarlet, and wordlessly continued forward.
"A-also! Flandre-sama doesn't hate you, mistress! She's just... a little hesitant is all. I'm sure once she learns about the amount of effort that you put in to get that big teddy bear for her, she'll definitely-"
Remilia abruptly stopped. The unexpected halt stopped Sakuya, too. There, standing in the middle of the empty room, silhouetted by the moonlight emanating through the large windows, Remilia suddenly turned, then called; "Sakuya!"
Startled, Sakuya disappeared for a moment, before quickly reappearing again, now in a bow.
"What is it, mistress?" she asked calmly.
"This room has never been used before, yes?"
"That's right, mistress. This is one of the many rooms in the mansion that do not currently have a use."
"Well rejoice, Sakuya. This room will finally be used tonight."
Sakuya tilted her head. "Mistress, may I ask what this room will be used for? And why this room in particular?"
Remilia looked down at the floor, holding her Santa hat up with one hand and the massive present with her other, and then grinned. You've been cleaning this mansion for so long, yet you still haven't figured out why? Remilia thought.
Sakuya, still confused, was about to speak again. But Remilia spoke before she was able to.
"Sakuya."
"What is it, mistress?"
Remilia's piercing gaze froze Sakuya in place. "Give me your blood."
Without a moment's hesitation, Sakuya bowed. "Yes, mistress." Without a lick of fear, she walked towards the moonlit vampire and then offered her arm.
Remilia immediately bit into it. As her fangs dug deep into her flesh, Sakuya bit her lip, trying to bear the pain as best she could. The two of them stood there for a while, illuminated by the moon, until eventually Remilia finished feeding.
"Sakuya. Move away."
Sakuya bowed. "Yes, mistress." before disappearing, then reappearing past the doorway.
Remilia closed her eyes, emptying her mind, focusing solely on the power flowing through her veins. As she stood in that void, memories from 200 years ago appeared before her again.
Then, fully powered up, Remilia opened her eyes again and smiled. It doesn't matter if there's no chimney. As long as it allowed Santa Claus to trespass, a hole should suffice!
Remilia formed Gungnir, the spear of fate, then pointed it directly to the ground.
Its scarlet light illuminated the room.
Sakuya's eyes widened in surprise, and it was only then that she finally realized why they went to this room. She bowed, then said "I shall get Patchouli-sama to repair the floor later, mistress." before disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Then Remilia shouted in her fake voice; "HO HO HO HO! Flandre Scarlet, cute little sister of Remilia Scarlet, Santa Claus has come to give you the gift you're fated to acquire!"
Remilia threw the spear to the ground. Immediately, the shockwave rocked the entire scarlet devil mansion and filled the empty room with dust.
Meanwhile, in the room directly below, the spear emerged from the ceiling and dug into the floor. Shocked, Flandre immediately prepared for battle. But the moment she saw Gungnir, her eyes widened, and she looked up. It was then that she saw a big wrapped present box descending from the hole, silhouetted by the moonlight spilling through. Flandre was utterly bewildered, until she saw Remilia's wings behind the box, and finally regained enough composure to figure out that, of course, Remilia is the one descending and she was simply holding a really big present.
"Big sis...?"
Remilia landed gracefully on the floor. "Ho ho ho~! Big sis? Oh, I'm not your big sis, I am Santa Claus!" Remilia said in her silly voice.
"I told you to go away!" Flandre shouted.
Stone crackled above them.
"I-I shall go away soon, for I have other good children to attend to. However, I must attend to the bestest girl first!"
"Go away!"
Remilia forced herself to continue anyway. "And the bestest girl's sister asked me to deliver this present to you in her stead!" Remilia tore off the wrapping, revealing the teddy bear inside.
Flandre went silent.
With the teddy bear blocking her view, Remilia had no idea how Flan was reacting. She was scared because of that. What if she hates me? What if she's angry? Among many other thoughts assaulted her. But she was also too scared to peek out of the teddy bear, so she continued to hide behind it for now, and just focus on talking; "Y-your sister got this for you… b-because she was really concerned. S-she told me… she wanted to know how you've been… so she asked me to ask you that."
Flandre didn't respond.
"I-If you've been eating well... if y-you've been sleeping well..."
"..."
"What have you been thinking about all this time... here in your room. She wanted to know."
Bits of dust, made visible by the ray of moonlight falling from above, wafted through the air around Remilia, appearing like snow. "S-she told me how… a few days ago, she remembered a time from 200 years ago, and how y-you we're all she c-could… t-think about after that."
Growing red in embarrassment, Remilia buried herself onto the teddy bear's fur. "She told me... how you two were always together back then. Even though you were a shut-in, s-she was a-always... with you… s-so... you know... she f-felt like she always k-knew... what you were thinking and f-feeling. So… s-she thought she a-always knew what to do… to… you know… m-make you happy. But now she doesn't. She f-feels like she doesn't know you anymore." Remilia's voice trailed off.
For long moments, as the chilly air descended from above, Remilia was quiet. But then she suddenly realized something and then immediately spoke quickly; "I-It wasn't your fault though! Your big sister told me that it was her fault!" Remilia hugged the big teddy bear. "When you locked yourself in here for good, your big sister gave up. Your big sister convinced herself that you didn't matter anymore, because she got tired of worrying about you and trying to convince you to stop being a shut-in. Instead of trying to understand you or talk to you, she abandoned you. And every time she would interact with you, she would always do it for the sake of herself. She's been very selfish."
Remilia looked up at the moon peeking through the hole she made. "Your big sister realized it when she looked back at her memories with you. She realized she should have always been there with you, especially when she knew very well that she was all that you have. S-so, she wanted to make up for that. She wanted to have a chance to make up for all that lost time. So for starters, s-she thought about maybe giving you that teddy bear you always wanted. S-so she asked me, Santa! She used her extensive connections to get in contact with me!" the awkwardness in Remilia's voice faded, "When she told me that I haven't given you your gift yet, I was surprised. Indeed, she was right that you're the good girl, not her! So to fix my mistake, I came here to finally give you the gift you deser-"
Flandre suddenly grabbed the teddy bear from the other side and took it off of Remilia's hands. Taken by complete surprise, Remilia didn't know what to say.
Her little sister stroked the teddy bear's soft fur. Then, she started squishing it. Then, she hugged it tight.
What is she doing? Remilia was even more confused. Feeling like she has to do something, she forced herself to start talking again. "Ah- uh… erm… s-so, u-unfortunately… w-well, we couldn't make a teddy bear that's indestructible for your powers in time. However, your sister insisted that you should at least be given something similar for now, so I went ahead and-"
"Stop..." Flandre spoke, her voice muffled from being buried in the teddy bear. She then picked the teddy bear up and put it to the side, revealing herself to her big sister. Her face was full of tears. "I already heard you say everything earlier!"
"F-flan!?" Remilia was surprised, and seeing her little sister's crying face started to make her tear up, too. She immediately stood, and was about to ask what's wrong, but then Flandre ran up to her and hugged her tightly, making her fall.
Flandre started sobbing. Remilia started panicking and tearing up. "W-w-what's wrong!? Did I say something bad!? Umm… I-I'm sorry!" Remilia hugged her little sister back.
Flandre was crying so much, she started shaking. "N-noo…" Flandre attempted to say something, but was swept up by such powerful emotions, she was unable to form any other words. "...noo… n-nooo…" Flandre's voice quaked, and her hug tightened every time she tried to say something..
"Shhh…" Remilia tried her best to help her little sister. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry." she said, apologizing for whatever it is that caused Flandre to start crying. But the more she apologized, the more she started sobbing. Because every time she would say that word, she would remember more and more things she had always wanted to apologize about.
Illuminated by the meager light of the moon that managed to spill through the little hole above them, the two vampires continued to hug and cry upon each other's shoulders.
Flandre was first to start recovering; finally able to say what she wanted to. "N-no big sis… I'm… I'm not crying because you did anything bad… you don't need to apologize," Flandre sniffled, "It's because… the teddy bear is the best present ever! Thank you so much, big sis!"
Remilia was slowly regaining herself too, but hearing Flandre's words threatened to make her start crying again. She took slow, deep breaths to calm herself down, and then wiped away her tears. "Youre welcome~!" Remilia managed to reply.
The two sniffling vampires finally let go of one another, and then looked at each other eye-to-eye for the first time in a long time. "Big sis… you're not a bad girl. You're a good girl, too! Don't say stuff like 'I don't deserve the gift I was given' anymore, okay?"
Remilia's mouth hung for a moment. Then, she gathered her resolve to give an answer "Okay."
"Promise?"
"Promise." Remilia said resolutely.
Flandre smiled brightly, and seeing her little sister smile made Remilia unable to help but smile atoo. The two of them stood back up. Then Flandre ran over to her teddy bear and started playing with it; abruptly going off into her own little world like always. Her big sister did not follow, and instead awkwardly stood there, just watching. Soon, Flandre looked back to her sister, and noticed a hesitant look on her face. "What's wrong?" Flandre asked.
"Huh? N-nothing!" Remilia replied, turning away. Then as her face turned scarlet, she seemed to have said something, but was too quiet for her little sister to hear it.
Flandre ran back up to Remilia. "What is it, big sis?" she asked.
Remilia, taken aback, sighed. She turned even redder as she prepared herself, and then spoke a little more loudly, still in her fake Santa voice; "S-so… your sister told me… t-that you also w-wished for you and h-her to be t-together forever… right? W-well, s-she told me to p-pass a m-message to you." Remilia turned away, then continued, "S-she said 'H-hey Flan… I-I don't play anymore… because I-I'm an adult now! B-but… but… s-since you l-like playing… I-I thought I s-should play w-with you once in a while… s-so we can s-spend more time t-together. But I'm only doing this for your wish! L-like I said, I-I'm not a kid anymore!' T-that's what your big sister said… s-so, would you play t-together with her… Flan?"
Flandre smiled wide, then suddenly grabbed her big sister's arm, surprising her. "Yes!"
Seeing Flandre's smile once again made Remilia unable to help but smile, too. Flandre pulled Remilia out of the pillar of moonlight, laughing happily.
"Oh!" Flandre seemed to have a realization. "We should say that!"
"Say what?"
"You know, what the humans say!" Flandre grinned. Remilia stared at Flandre, confused. But only moments later, her eyes widened. Flandre giggled as she watched her big sister come to the realization.
Then Remilia started giggling too; matching that of her little sister, before the two of them shouted together:
"Merry Christmas!"
The two vampires' jubilation could still be heard despite being muffled by the ornate door.
The sound of the clock tower's bell echoed from above, as it ticked to the midnight hour.
The End~
(The next day, Patchouli forced Remilia to fix her own mess herself.)