Touhou Project: Lunar Sister 2

If there was one thing that Remilia Scarlet hated more than anything, it was rain. She had an excuse, though. Water was capable of killing her.

That was why, at 10:00 pm, the 508-year-old Vampire was still awake, frowning at the windows that had been covered by the drapes. Sakuya had done an excellent job completely obscuring the rain from her view, but that didn't mean that she couldn't still hear the thunder and lightning.

Recently, Remilia had adopted a habit of sleeping for a part of the day and part of the night, becoming active in the hours that she didn't sleep. She often slept from 6:00 pm to 2:00 am, adjusting the time depending on what went on. She didn't need much sleep, of course, but one never knew when shrine maidens or book-thieving witches would come into their house and prevent them from getting sleep.

Another clap of thunder boomed and lightning flashed through the windows as the storm went on, and Remilia actually whimpered. Just because she was 508-years-old, and wise beyond her years, didn't mean that she didn't still think like a ten-year-old. Her sister Flandre would be fine. Flandre, after all, lit things up and made things explode on a regular basis if given the chance.

Upon hearing some footsteps, Remilia turned towards the door, hearing a familiar voice humming. Her maid, Sakuya, was still awake, and from the sound of things, heading for bed. As she did, the lightning flashed again and the rainfall became heavier.

"Sakuya!"

"You called, mistress?" Sakuya said from right next to her, in a dark blue nightdress.

Remilia breathed in a bit heavily, brushing her light blue hair out of her eyes and smoothing her pink nightgown. She was no longer surprised when Sakuya manipulated time to respond to her calls in not even one second. When the thunder boomed, Remilia, to her own shock, actually leaped out of bed and threw her arms around Sakuya.

"..." Sakuya hid her surprise well, though there was a slight widening of the eyes as Remilia did this. Slowly, the maid wrapped her arms around her mistress's much smaller form, holding her gently and sitting back down on the bed. "Mistress, it will pass soon..."

Remilia, for her part, clung to Sakuya, burying her face in her chest. It didn't matter right now that Sakuya was Human and probably much younger than her, that Sakuya was her maidservant. She hated thunderstorms, and Sakuya was the one person she could trust with anything personal. Had Remilia even allowed herself to think of the concept, Sakuya would most likely be her one true friend -- barring Patchouli, of course.

How strange. To be trusting the one person that had come the closest to killing her.

---

Everything seemed to be set. She and Flandre had managed to escape from the Hunters that had been chasing them for several months now by falling into this... gap? She wasn't sure what it was, but whatever it had been, it had saved the now 108-year-old Vampire and her 103-year-old baby sister (who, technically, wasn't a baby anymore, but Flandre will always be Remilia's baby sister even if the other blew things up on a daily basis). Flandre was safe in the old mansion that she had found in this strange country. Though, with the large lake in the way to more land, she hadn't had much choice. Being a Vampire, she couldn't cross water.

It was now late at night, and with Flandre asleep in the basement of the mansion, the safest place in the mansion, Remilia felt like taking a walk. 100 years may have gone by, but it was still... lonely. She was still thinking about the fact that she would never see her parents again, that Flandre would probably always stay at the mental age of five, that the only reason she and Flandre were still alive was how that elderly gentleman (Vladimir, was his name) she had befriended had turned out to be a Vampire himself.

Remilia Scarlet picked at the sleeve of her now-pink dress, stained with the blood of her victims. Human blood was something she hadn't had a taste for at first, but it was necessary, and soon she had started enjoying it. Probably a good thing, as the drinking of human blood was necessary for survival...

Night walks were very pleasant, Remilia mused, looking up at the sky. Of course, she couldn't go anywhere unless it was night or she carried her parasol during the daytime. The weather needed to be clear, too. She didn't want to risk getting caught in the rain and suffering burns. Besides, it was impossible to get such a magnificient view of the full moon in the sun.

But still. She wished that she had someone to enjoy these walks with. Flandre was forever stuck at that mental age, never learning to appreciate beauty or have much patience. Someone older would be preferable, someone that wouldn't look away in disgust or terror upon learning what she was.

A slight rustling of leaves was all that warned her before a something silver and sharp shot past her, slicing the sleeve of her left arm and striking against a tree. "...!" Remilia whirled around, instantly on guard. "Who's there?!"

"So we meet, Vampire," the voice of a young woman. And suddenly, the knife was gone, and Remilia was facing what appeared to be a Human female, who appeared to be about twenty-years-old or so. She was wearing a blue and green dress, with a silver design on it. She had equally silvery-white hair, with two braids hanging down near the front of her face, and grey eyes. Three gleaming knives were held in her right hand.

"Who are you?" Remilia demanded, holding a defensive position.

"I am Matoki Yagokoro, the demon hunter. And your name, Vampire?"

"Remilia Scarlet."

"Remilia Scarlet, in the name of my younger sister, I will stop your dark deeds."

Remilia still wasn't sure how she had managed to escape with her life, but she could only suppose that it had been fate.

---

The relatively young Vampire clutched her arm that had been stabbed with a silver knife that had luckily missed her heart, her black wings fluttering weakly. She had been surprised at the intensity and skill of this hunter; none of the others had come so close to even injuring her, let alone nearly killing her... even with the skills that Vladimir had taught her, it had taken nearly everything she had had to stay alive.

Even now, she was not feeling very well... If she was feeling this way then the Hunter must be feeling a lot worse...

Remilia crawled over to the unconscious silver-haired woman, Matoki, and checked her over. She was covered in scratches and bruises. For a few long moments, the young Vampire sat there, wondering what to do. Matoki was definitely no Youkai or Beast, which meant that she had to be Human. Yet Remilia did not have that urge to drink her blood. Sure, she could easily take this woman out while the other was unconscious... but...

Battling Matoki had been invigorating; she hadn't had a workout like this in years. It would be a shame to let such a powerful opponent die like this. She would wait. She would let Matoki heal, and then the two would fight again, perhaps to the death this time.

She also had to admit that she felt sorry for her. Matoki had mentioned that she had a younger sister. For a few minutes, Remilia closed her eyes and saw Flandre. What if this Human had a sister just like Flandre, a sister that respected and loved her older sister? She imagined the younger sister, her mind using Flandre as the substitute, wondering why her sister suddenly stopped visiting her-

"Ugh..." The Vampire was jerked out of her thoughts as the woman groaned and opened her eyes, looking rather puzzled. She sat up, one hand on her head in confusion, and looked straight at Remilia. "Wh-what happened...?"

"You don't remember?"

"N-No... I don't remember anything... Who are you?"

For some reason, Remilia felt compelled to answer her with the truth, even though she could have sworn she had answered the question earlier. "I'm Remilia Scarlet, a Vampire..."

Matoki didn't attempt to run away upon hearing this, or even start throwing knives at her again with her time-manipulation abilities. "O-Oh... Er... Wh-who am I? Oww..."

The blue-haired Vampire paused, before placing her hand on the other's forehead head. "You don't remember?" She was so warm...

"No, I"m sorry... Do you know me...?" Matoki sat up, wincing again, but she took Remilia's hand and held it.

Remilia hesitated. Part of her wanted to tell the truth. That she was Matoki Yagokoro, a demon hunter, and that ten minutes ago, the two of them had been trying to kill each other. And yet...

She was lonely.

It came as a shock to her, but she was lonely. Nobody lived in the house except for her and her sister, and Flandre was slightly insane from everything that had happened that even Remilia was afraid to allow her sister to go anywhere outside of the basement. Even if Remilia went out, most other creatures, even Youkai, avoided her due to what she was. Vampires were renowned for being some of the most powerful predators in Gensokyo. As a result, very few wished to associate with her, much less become familial.

And here was someone, that didn't seem phased by the idea that Remilia was a Vampire. Most likely, she didn't even understand that she was supposed to fight or flee upon seeing one. Remilia had longed to meet a person that saw her as a person and not a mere Vampire.

But the silver-haired woman was still looking at her as Remilia finally opened her mouth, and answered the question, sealing fate with four words.

"Sakuya. You're Sakuya Izayoi."

---

Sakuya had adapted quickly to life in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, as Remilia had taken to calling the building. With her time manipulation abilities, all of the chores were completed within seconds, leaving the fairies hired to do nothing but eat, sleep, and wash their own uniforms. Over time, Remilia hired a Youkai named Meiling Hong to be the gatekeeper, and befriended a Natural Magician named Patchouli. As good a friend Patchouli was, she could not do any rigorous activity due to her anemia and book-loving skills.

As the years passed, Remilia lost track of time. She tried to place a scarlet mist all over Gensokyo so that she could head outside during the daytime, but was stopped by the Shrine Maiden, Reimu. And according to both Patchouli and Sakuya, while she had been away at Reimu's shrine, Flandre broke free from the basement, only to play with and actually not kill a witch named Marisa. In fact, the two seemed to develop a bit of a friendship with each other...

One year, when spring failed to come, Remilia was worried about what the long winter would do for their food supply, so Sakuya went out, leaving only a note as to where she was going, and accompanied Reimu and Marisa to discover what the cause was. When spring came, and Sakuya returned to the mention, Remilia did scold her for leaving so suddenly, but then, when Sakuya was not watching, sobbed with relief that the other came back safely.

Finally, it was this one incident that really made Remilia think. The night when Sakuya pushed her time-manipulation powers, with help from the Youkai Yukari, the half-ghost Youmu, and the puppeteer Alice, to freeze the night due to the unnatural moon in the sky.

---

"Defeating Tewi, Resien, and Eirin, and coming so far..." Kaguya seemed to smile. "It would be unfair if you weren't hurt a bit. At least Eirin will now be able to distract those four that had been chasing me... all I have to do now is defeat you four."

Remilia seemed very smug, her wings barely moving as she hovered beside Sakuya, the moon in full view. "Too bad that I'm invincible on the night of the full moon."

"Really? I didn't know that..." Sakuya glanced at the Vampire, before her eyes fixated on the moon. "Is that the full moon, mistress...?"

"I said it because I knew," Remilia said, not taking her eyes off of Kaguya. There was no telling what the other would pull, even in a spellcard battle. "And yes, Sakuya, it is."

"The true power of the moon has been revived in this moment," the Lunar Princess said. "The pure moon throws its pale illumination upon the pure earth... The light is a memory of an ancient time, forgotten by even the moon races."

Marisa seemed to close her eyes for a few seconds, taking her hands off of her broomstick and trying to absorb a few moon rays, watching the true moon as she opened her eyes. "Whoa, so these are full-moon beams... I can't see them, but I sure can feel them."

With an amused smile, Kaguya watched the four of them. "This is the true full moon. I wonder when this moon vanished from the Earth, and lost the power to drive the Humans insane...?"

Alice seemed to pale at those words, one of her Dolls suddenly stopping its hovering motion around her and simply floating listlessly. "This moon... it would cause ordinary people to go insane in a matter of minutes... no, seconds!" Out of the group of four, the Youkai Magician puppeteer seemed to be the one with the most knowledge about Gensokyo, having been born and brought up there, and she flew in front of Marisa, blocking her view of the moon. "Marisa, are you okay?!"

"Bwah?" Marisa seemed to blink at the sudden appearance of Alice in her vision. "Eh, yeah, doesn't matter if I stare at it, I was already insane to begin with." Remilia coughed. Anyone that Flandre liked that constantly came back to play with her was definitely insane from this Vampire's point of view.

But then another, more important thought wedged itself in her mind. According to Kaguya, and her own knowledge from Vladimir, while Vampires, Youkai, and even Beasts (or, as a matter of fact, just about any species) could watch the true full moon without any adverse effects. That is, any species, except Humans, who would go insane within seconds of watching-

Had Remilia's heart still been beating, it would have stopped. As it was, she began to hyperventilate.

"Sakuya!" She nearly cried in panic, upon noticing that her maid was still staring at the moon as she had been several minutes ago. "Watch out! Do not gaze at the moon!"

The exiled Lunarian princess laughed. "Yes, this true full moon will drive mad any Human who looks directly at it. I'm afraid your friend will go insane if she hasn't, already."

Sakuya looked puzzled, however. She finally tore her eyes away from the moon, glancing back at Remilia. "I seem fine, though...?"

The Vampire's breaths slowed, calming upon realizing that the other was still perfectly fine. She gave a weak, but victorious grin to Kaguya. "...Sakuya would be okay. She's very well-disciplined, and very intelligent." Remilia paused. "But, even without Sakuya, I'm still invincible. I don't need her powers now." That statement was more to hide that she had been truly concerned for the other's well-being than any cruelty.

"What was that term the Outsiders use? Oh yeah. Burned!" Marisa muttered from beside them. Alice clocked her on the head.

"How cruel, mistress..." Sakuya didn't seem too amused, but did not complain further outside of shooting a glare at Marisa. "I would help you in any situation. Please rely on me..."

Kaguya now seemed to stare at Sakuya for a few long moments. "The moon gave many powers to beings of the earth. Many of them, such as magic, were originally the moon's power. Your friend, on the other hand... she has a different type of magic, yet is clearly dependent on the moon. Isn't that so, Ms. Vampire?"

"So Sakuya's not quite a perfect little Human," Alice said. "So what? Some of the best ones are not."

"Hey!" Marisa protested. "I'm Human!"

"Of course I know that, but you're not even close to being a perfect one."

"Why you...!"

"That was a compliment, Marisa."

"It sure didn't sound like one!"

"Your friend, Ms. Vampire... her magic seems to be more similar to mine and Eirin's, than anything else," Kaguya mused, completely ignoring Alice and Marisa arguing. "Interesting."

"Hmph." Remilia crossed her arms, appearing unamused by what was being said, but even then, she saw Sakuya turn her head to look at the moon again, a flicker of something passing through her eyes as she gazed at it...

---

Remilia was jerked out of her memories as another clap of thunder rang across the sky. "...Sakuya?"

"Yes mistress?" Sakuya glanced down, unaware of the thoughts that had been crossing the Vampire's head.

"..." Remilia seemed very embarrassed at first, before speaking up. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Is that an order, mistress?" the maidservant asked softly.

The young vampire hesitated. "No. That was a request."

"I'll stay with you tonight."

At those words, Remilia seemed to smile with relief, pulling out of Sakuya's embrace and dropping down on the bed. Sakuya crawled in next to her, settling down comfortably in the bed. The young Vampire scooted over, burying her face against the temporal manipulator once again. The other was always so warm. Sakuya, for her part, held Remilia close to her, stroking her hair in an attempt to soothe her.

She's like mother... The thought popped up, unbidden. Remilia had not seen her mother since she had been ten years old, the same age she had been when she became a Vampire. Though she had aged in years, her physical and mental age had, for the most part, remained the same.

The thought of Sakuya being her mother was ridiculous. Obviously, Remilia was older than her. Her current age was about 508 years if she remembered correctly. No Human could live that long. Their lifespan was maybe about fifty years, maybe seventy years if they were particularly healthy.

Wait.

Hadn't she met Sakuya, then Matoki, about 400 years ago?

Remilia's eyes flew open, staring at Sakuya. Sakuya's light-gray fell around her, her eyes closed and her breathing even and steady. No. She had to be Human. Sakuya must have... she must have used her time manipulation powers to slow or stop time around her body... However, those Lunarians seemed to recognize her, that princess Kaguya Houraisan, and that other girl, Eirin Yagokoro...

...Eirin Yagokoro?

"I am Matoki Yagokoro, the demon hunter. And your name, Vampire?"

"Remilia Scarlet, in the name of my younger sister, I will stop your dark deeds."

It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. Could Sakuya actually...

Remilia closed her eyes, not dislodging herself from the other's grip. It was time to pay Eirin a visit.