[Fanfiction] An Eastern Scarlet Spring

[Cirlex]

My entry for the 2017 Summer Touhou Collaboration event on Tumblr. Quite a late entry and most likely a controversial entry, but I still really enjoyed writing this.

 

Summary

 

Tonight is the best night to see the cherry blossoms bloom in full effect. Being granted entry to Yuyuko's garden, Remilia invites Sakuya to come with her to enjoy the most beautiful night of the spring. Sakuya is deeply honored by the invitation and enjoys her night out with her mistress. However, Remilia is planning something else. Will this night truly be a night of joy and celebration?

 

 

[spoiler=Part 1]

[spoiler=Reading Music]

 

As the sun shining through the few windows within the great castle finally fell below the horizon, the moon rose to take its place, emanating a blue glow to cover all of Gensokyo. A windowless bedroom, fit for a princess is where the elegant Scarlet Devil slept in. Remilia rose from her coffin of rest and stretched out her arms, letting out a loud but lax yawn as she looked around her dark room. She hopped out of her coffin which was positioned upon a canopy bed and onto the floor. She looked around her room, letting her eyes meet a variety of her regal furniture and her good taste in decor. 

 

The vampiress walked over to her vanity and began to brush her hair, making sure it was in the style she always wore it in. Her light blue hair reached her shoulders, wavy yet out of place and messy due to just having risen from bed. It took her a good fifteen or twenty minutes to straighten it out to her liking, but at last, she was finished, or so she thought, her fingers could be lying after all. A shame that the mirror on the vanity was nothing more than aesthetic and served no use to her.

 

Remilia walked over to her closet, opening the door to fetch herself her usual pair of clothes and shoes she wore; a light pink dress with a red bow tied to both of her sleeves, and a much bigger bow of the same color tied to the back of the dress's waist, a light pink mob cap which was also accessorized with a bow, and a pair of silk frilled socks and ruby red shoes. She walked out of her closet, now fully dressed as she happily made her way to the door of her room, running her hand along the book spines of her old diaries put away on one of the shelves in her bookcase. 

 

Exiting the room dressed in her favorite outfit, the vampiress' eyes were first greeted with a smiling Sakuya, holding a hairbrush in her hand as she gently took away Remilia's mob cap. The little vampire sighed, crossing her arms, "How badly did I mess up this time?" 

 

The servant's smile grew wider, moving close to Remilia to begin to brush her hair to her liking, "You did a lot better than last time, mistress. No worries." She reassured, brushing Remilia's hair in soft but firm strokes like a good little maid. "We will never speak of this to the others." She muttered, looking down flustered. If Remilia had the ability to blush, she would be. Alas, one of the curses of vampirism is the lack of rosy red cheeks when embarrassment strikes! Once the vampire's servant finished brushing her hair, she put the hat back on the little vampire's hair. 

 

"Thank you, Sakuya..." she muttered, nodding as she walked past her and towards the stairs which led her to the ground floor. 

 

The princess of the Scarlet Devil Mansion sat down upon a sofa, most likely a French import back when the mansion looked upon the ages of the Renaissance. A fairy maid flew to Remilia and landed in front of her, putting down a tray with teacups, a tea kettle, and biscuits for Remilia's daily breakfast. The parlor room was filled with the scent of freshly baked biscuits like it always was every night. Sakuya came by to take the fairy's place a few seconds after, pouring Remilia a cup of tea, "We're running out of B-type. Would you like the usual amount in your tea, mistress?" The maidservant asked. 

 

"The usual amount will be fine, Sakuya," Remilia said, biting into a sweet biscuit. 

 

Sakuya nodded and took a minuscule tea kettle that was placed next to the regular-sized tea kettle. She brought it to the rim of Remilia's teacup and began to pour a crimson liquid into her drink until it was tainted a dark red. The maid took a spoon from the tray and began to stir, making sure to follow the ritual she went through each time to prepare her mistress's tea. 

 

One, two, three, stop! Four, five, six, stop! Seven, eight, nine, and stop!

 

Once the tea had been stirred with the proper amount of sugar and crimson, the maidservant gave the drink to her mistress. "Your drink, mistress." She said with a smile.

 

Remilia beamed happily and took the cup of tea from Sakuya, beginning to drink it as fast as she could get away with while still being ladylike. Halfway through her nightly breakfast, she looked up at Sakuya who was accompanying her. "You know...I do need someone to accompany me tonight to Hakugyokurou's gardens. Would you like to come with me, Sakuya?" She asked, tilting her head at her maid curiously.

 

The vampiress' little maid smiled joyfully, "I would love to accompany you, mistress! Is what I'm wearing fine...?" She asked, looking down at her French maid outfit inquisitively.

 

"Of course, Sakuya." The little vampire said, finishing her tea and her fourth biscuit. She stood up from the sofa and began to walk to the doors of the mansion, "Let us get going then." 

 

Remilia and her servant thus left the mansion and were assisted through the gates by their gatekeeper, Hong Meiling. Whence the gates to the mansion closed behind them, the two were alone, calmly making their way to Hakugyokurou, having been invited by the ghost herself to enjoy her sakura trees. 

 

[spoiler=Part 2]

[spoiler=Reading Music]

A long journey later, the mistress and her maidservant arrived at Hakugyokurou, greeted by a blue-robed, pink-haired, peppy ghost. "Welcome, welcome! I'm so glad to have you two visiting my gardens!" Yuyuko said, floating over to stop in front of Remilia and the silver-haired maid to bow to them. 

 

Remilia picked up the sides of her dress and lowered herself curtsy, Sakuya following suit to greet the garden's owner. "A pleasure for you to have us. I am very grateful for you to let us enjoy tonight in your gardens" said Remilia.

 

"And a pleasure to have your presence grace my gardens." The ghost smiled. "If you two have any need of anything, don't hesitate to tell me. I'll be inside." 

 

Sakuya curtsied again, "Thank you once more. We'll treat your garden with the utmost respect."

 

Yuyuko floated away, back inside her abode while Remilia and Sakuya began their walk through Yuyuko's gardens. The Sakura trees were in full bloom, planted in perfect rows on both sides of the path that ran through Hakugyokurou; beautiful petals of white and pink varied from tree to tree, offering a beautiful scenery. Remilia took Sakuya's hand and happily walked her through the garden, pointing out that the cherry blossoms that fell from the trees made the garden look even more gorgeous. The little vampire was having the time of her life, catching petals from the falling trees and making sure she had at least one from each tree that produced falling petals. 

 

"It's just so gorgeous, Sakuya!" exclaimed Remilia, an eager and childish look on her face. Sakuya smiled warmly at Remilia and crouched down to meet her height. "What have we here?" She asked, holding Remilia's hands to examine the petals she had collected. "Just some petals I've been collecting, I wonder if Yuyuko will let me keep them..." she responded thoughtfully.

 

Sakuya nodded, still smiling at Remilia as she began to pick at petals that had tangled themselves in Remilia's hair. "You're going to have to brush your hair again if I have to keep digging through your hairs for petals, mistress." She laughed slightly. 

 

Remilia nodded and eventually dropped the petals she had been collecting to the ground. She took a step away from her maidservant and began to gently prune her hair until it was free of pink and white. She looked up at the sky and closed her eyes, letting out a small puff of breath as she put her hand on her chest. "A beautiful night it is tonight. Gensokyo may be the embodiment of beauty, but this night is special. This night is the epitome of beauty which has graced you and me, Sakuya." 

 

She opened her eyes and offered her hand to Sakuya, "Care to dance to celebrate this night together, Sakuya?" She requested, a small smile on her face. 

 

Sakuya's smile couldn't have gotten bigger as she lowered herself into a curtsy before her mistress, "I would be honored, ojou-sama." The maid took her mistress' hand and let her other hand wrap around her mistress' waist. Remilia did the same and soon began to waltz with her servant, enjoying the moonlight shining down upon them. The cherry blossoms that rained down around them created a beautiful scene of master and servant dancing together, enjoying the night and enjoying each other's company. Occasionally, the maid would raise her arm up and allow Remillia to twirl elegantly before returning to the normal pace of the dance.

 

A petal must have taken thirty seconds to reach the ground, and at least sixty petals have fallen until the couple's dance ended. Remilia lets go of Sakuya's hand and waist and curtsied before her maidservant, "Thank you for the dance, Sakuya. I enjoyed it greatly." 

 

"A-ah no. It was my honor, mistress." She curtsied back. "Mistress...if I may. It's been an honor to serve you for all these years, and I am pleased to be in your service for endless more. I enjoy our relationship with each other and only wish to make you happy since you are my mistress. You are a great friend and a great master. I only wish I am doing my best to please you." Sakuya said, a huge smile on her face, complimented with ruby red cheeks which contrasted against her white and light blue outfit. 

 

Remilia looked up at Sakuya and smirked at her, showing off one of her fangs. Her smile seemed to show unusual slyness for the compliment, yet Sakuya sensed no maliciousness from her mistress.

 

"Let us get going, Sakuya. I'm starting to long for home." She said, her smirk receding to an innocent smile. 

 

Sakuya nodded and let her mistress take her hand, letting her mistress lead them back home.

 

[spoiler=Part 3]

[spoiler=Reading Music]

 

Once they arrived, Remilia and Sakuya were welcomed back by Meiling whom swiftly opened the gates for them. "Have a pleasant night, mistress? What about you, Sakuya?" The red haired gatekeeper asked. The two responded whilst going through the gates of the mansion, "It was a beautiful night tonight." Remilia said. "Indeed it was!" chimed in Sakuya.

 

Sakuya opened the doors of the mansion for Remilia, letting her mistress enter first. Once she was inside, Sakuya quickly followed and closed the door behind them. "Tea, mistress? Would you prefer A or O-type? We're all out of B-type." A fairy maid asked, having been waiting for Remilia the past ten minutes. 

 

"O is fine, thank you." Remilia smiled before sitting herself on the sofa, requesting a book from another fairy who happened to be flying by. 

 

Now that the two were home safe and sound, Sakuya had to get back to cleaning and polishing the house's furniture. The next few hours of Sakuya's time was spent cleaning the kitchen and polishing the furniture in the living room without disturbing Remilia. The maidservant's mistress seemed to occasionally look over at Sakuya smugly, although the maid always returned a happy smile to her mistress. Once Sakuya had finished, she only had one more task before being able to take a small rest before continuing. It was already four in the morning once Sakuya began to clean and polish her mistress' room. 

 

The maid happily straightened out and made everything perfect for her mistress, even cleaning up the mirror on the vanity which she found to be the most ironic piece of furniture inside the room. As the maid cleaned, it took her a while to realize one of Remilia's diaries dropped on the floor. She frowned and went to pick it up. Upon holding it in her hand, Sakuya felt this strange urge to suddenly turn it over and read it, it's as if Fate itself commanded her to do so. 

 

What seemed to be against her own will, Sakuya turned the diary over and began to read her mistress' diary, something she cursed herself 

 

'It's only been a week and she's made such splendid progress making the mansion look more fitting for one such as me. Ah my sweet little diary, this lap dog of mine was the perfect one to choose to use my powers on. She has proved to be the most useful! A shame she'd never realize that her sudden feeling of respect and loyalty had been all because of an alteration from her original Fate.

 

~Remilia'

 

Sakuya winced at the pages of the diary she read, nearly dropping it. This only encouraged the poor little maidservant to continue reading. Every page seemed to show more aggression towards her and a multitude of different words to say Fate or Destiny. Dog, animal, petty, tool, lucky to be alive. There were just too many words to count which Remilia used to describe her little servant, who was on her knees by the time she had finished reading another few pages. 

 

Further reading only led Sakuya to fully understand how Remilia had been molding her into the perfect and eternally loyal maid. She was meant to be someone else in Gensokyo, or perhaps the Outside World. She could have become a mistress herself or pursued greater ambitions. By the time Sakuya finished reading, Remilia's diary had been dropped to the floor, with tears falling next to it. Everything that had ever been done, all of her choices, all her loyalty and caregiving love to Remilia had all been dictated. Her life was not her own. She was merely what Remilia called her as, Sakuya.

 

To have lived a dictated life of slavery hidden with the facade of personal choice and freedom was the one thing that could harm Sakuya. Not danmaku, not blades, not a fatal stab to the heart. This life of servitude was an indentured one, and one that was unrightfully so, one that had been both her will and against her will. A silver straight edged knife materialized in Sakuya's right hand. She struggled to lift herself up from the ground but managed to finally do so with trembling knees. Her eyes were bloodshot and her beautiful silver hair had been turned into that of what a witch would call a bad hair day.

 

"You! My life! My life!" Sakuya shouted, tears running down her cheeks as she picked up the diary and threw it at the vanity window. Glass shards flew into the air and scattered all over the floor. The sound of a door being kicked open was heard by Remilia on the ground floor, a small chuckle coming from her. The maid jumped the height from the second to the first floor, landing perfectly despite her legs which had been trembling only moments before. She pointed her knife straight at Remilia.

 

"What did you do to me!?" Sakuya demanded and answer, clenching the hilt of her knife tightly which made her knuckles turn white. 

 

Remilia looked up at Sakuya as she finished her tea, unamused by the fact she would need to have her mirror and door repaired. She placed the teacup down and planted her elbow on the armrest of the sofa, using her arm as a place to rest her head on. "Do you know what Fate is, Sakuya? Fate is the collection of predetermined outcomes in your life, and each of those predetermined outcomes is presented to you in a variety of seemingly free 'choices'. Your choice at the time of our first meeting was the inability to slay me, death, hoping for mercy, or servitude. I do not know what your original choice was, but even slaves who claim are loyal to their master will always find the moment to stab them in the back when the time was right. But you see, Sakuya, I am an anomaly amongst Destiny for I control it. I have no Destiny, no Fate. I am free to choose my path in life as I am to choose others'. All I did? I was merely protecting my life and yours by taking away your freedom. A fair choice, I believe." 

 

Remilia smirked evilly at Sakuya, showing off her fangs at her. "The choice of life and power at the cost of your freedom of choice, individuality, and death. I merely made this choice for you since I saw use in you, and you've rarely failed to deliver. You'll still never be more than my lap dog though, Sakuya." She said, rubbing her tongue against the tip of one of her fangs.

 

"And why would you do such a thing!? You truly are a monster just like the others said back then...that was the reason I hunted you down! You dared to play me tonight, a night I thought to be an intimate friendship between us!" She screamed, baring her teeth at her mistress. What a disobedient dog.

 

"As I just said, I found use in you. As for tonight? You've just grown too close to me. I can't afford any slave of mine growing to be anything more than a servant of mine. Servants stay in their place, Sakuya, and you haven't been staying in yours." 

 

"And this is how you put me in my place? By destroying my love and caring for you!? You were my mistress and I did everything to make you happy! I thought we were friends! A word I rarely used in my life!"

 

Remilia only chuckled again, which was enough trigger Sakuya. "It's time for me to finally finish what I originally came to you for. To slay you for the very monster you are!" Sakuya shouted, bringing up her pocket watch of time. She stopped her watch and appeared before Remilia a moment later, attempting to stab at her mistress' neck. Remilia disappeared in a blur of speed, having anticipated, or rather planned the attack from Sakuya. She reappeared in what seemed to be a half second next to Sakuya, powerfully sending a kick to her closest leg to sweep her off her feet. 

 

Sakuya was not in the mental or emotional state to fight as she found herself swept off her feet and falling forward. As Sakuya fell, Remilia continued with the momentum of her sweep kick, lifting up her dress slightly to allow her mobility. She brought her leg up and then sent it down at Sakuya, slamming her foot down onto her lap dog's head in brutal finesse shortly after Sakuya's face made contact with the floor. If it wasn't for a vampire's strength, the axe kick and the sweep would not have harmed nor moved Sakuya. 

 

The poor little maid lied on the floor knocked out cold as the final phase of Remilia's plan came into effect.

 

[spoiler=Part 4]

[spoiler=Reading Music]

 

Two hours later, a worried looking Remilia gawked at a stirring Sakuya. "You're finally awake! Thank goodness you're alright!" Remilia exclaimed. "Oh, if only everyone else had been here earlier! One of the fairy maids found you out cold in the garden last night. You were working too hard again!" 

 

"E-eh? Where am I?" Sakuya asked, sitting up slowly as she rubbed the crown of her head. 

 

"The mansion, silly. You know, where you've always worked." Remilia said, a smug look on her face. 

 

"The...mansion? I don't recall anything...I recall nothing at all." Sakuya responded, looking around in confusion. 

 

"Oh...dear..." gasped Remilia in an exaggerated manner. "I can't believe it..." 

 

"Believe what, miss. Miss?" Sakuya asked, still rubbing her head quite furiously. Remilia took a deep breath before responding, "I'm your mistress, Sakuya. You...I think you're undergoing a serious case of amnesia..." 

 

"Amnesia...Sakuya...is my name?" she asked, looking up at Remilia. The little vampire nodded. "Your name is Sakuya. Izayoi Sakuya. You were a maid here at the mansion." Remilia said, beginning to help Sakuya out of bed. 

 

Sakuya nodded thankfully and took Remilia's hand, slowly standing up. "Mansion? I lived in a mansion in servitude to you?" 

 

"Indeed! You were so eager to start your first day here when you first applied to work for me! You were great friends with Meiling and Patchy. You also started tending more to Flandre in the recent years!" Remilia beamed, walking Sakuya out of her room to let her behold the mansion from the second floor. 

 

"A...mansion. I worked here for you...I lived here! In a mansion!" She said, a small smile coming to her head. "I can't believe that, miss..." She looked down at her mistress, not recalling her name.

 

"Remilia! Remilia Scarlet!" 

 

"Mistress Remilia then...I...are you sure I worked here? It's a gorgeous mansion, I can't imagine myself living here..." 

 

Remilia giggled and smiled, looking up at Sakuya. "Silly Sakuya! This isn't just any mansion. It's my castle! My great big castle!" 

 

"A castle?" Sakuya tilted her head at Remilia in confusion.

 

"Yes, a castle! Don't you know? We have always lived in this castle!"

 

 

My apologies in advance for anything that is lacking formatting or spacing issues. I copied this directly off my Wattpad as I didn't want to link it here (don't want to shamelessly advertise or anything). Feel free to leave any feedback and enjoy!