1x1 Under the Scarlet Moon

[Kaykay]

The maid raised an eyebrow as Nanaya continued speaking. She didn't exactly have any qualms with making small talk, she wasn't that petty, but his hunching and glancing came to her as a little strange. Even for a man who only wanted to kill. Or, perhaps, his seemingly single-minded desire for death was exactly what made his apparent interest in anything else strange.

"Hm, so you two don't share memories...Anyway, you would be correct. For tea it was, though we had a meal as well."

She made no effort to look his way, simply continuing to walk the halls with him. Whatever his personality, they were allies for now. He wasn't exactly on the level of being a proper guest in the deep blood red mansion, but he wasn't an intruder. Not until they caught up to White Len again, at least. Really, the only thing she wanted was to keep him away from the rest of the mansion's inhabitants. He didn't seem to have much urge to kill Sakuya herself, but how far that extended she had no wish to find out.

Sakuya let out a sigh. Having to continue to leave Remilia unattended when she had no idea how the Bounded Field was affecting her felt entirely wrong, but it couldn't be helped. At the very least, she was confident in the mistress of the mansion's prowess. Fate itself bowed to her whim after all. Something like this would only be a slight inconvenience to her. Probably.

"Ahh, if only you'd all shown up to play when my body wasn't so heavy..."

A voice familiar to Sakuya suddenly sounded out. When the duo turned another corner of the hallway, what appeared to be a young, blonde girl was surrounded by a number of the headless blue skeletons White Len had summoned before. The strange, wing-like appendages on the girl's back however gave off an inhuman vibe, yet on the other hand they looked so strange that they wouldn't be out of place as a children's toy that attached to one's back.

"You guys aren't humans, right? Humans usually have skin, and eyes, and all of that. Well, whatever you guys are, you aren't very interesting. You don't say anything back to me. I can already play by myself, you know."

She seemed to be having a one-sided conversation with the creatures, regardless of the lack of response. Her body was a bit hunched over, though whether that was due to the Bounded Field or just poor posture was hard to tell. As the skeletons continued closing in on her, she raised her right arm in front of her, turning her palm upwards.

"...And you guys still aren't saying anything. Okay. I'm bored now. Bye-bye."

At the same time, the girl closed her hand. The skeletons all simultaneously exploded, not a trace of them remaining. It was a truly incomprehensible sight. Without even touching them, the girl had blown away the sword-wielding skeletons. A supernatural feat impossible for any human. Which, of course, meant that this was no human.

"Flandre-sama? Are you quite alright?" Sakuya asked, though given the display they'd just witnessed the answer seemed rather obvious.

"Hn? Sakuya?" Made aware of the two's existence, Flandre glanced their way. "I'm totally not okay. It's like my body is made out of five bricks. Not fun at all."

She certainly weighed more than five bricks naturally, but the message was likely clear enough. Brushing off Sakuya's concern, the little sister vampire of the mansion then stared "Shiki's" way.

"Hey, more importantly, who's this? He smells and looks human. Did he come to play? Or is he food?"

Sakuya paused to think of how to answer the younger Scarlet.

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"If this situation as a whole is something that we can make a game out of, then I'm definitely here to play. I do hope we can all have fun together, one way or another," Nanaya answered coolly toward the unknown figure, though if Sakuya knew her, then she wouldn't be any sort of threat. Hopefully. Not that it really mattered to this persona anyway; he was a hedonist through and through who could and would find something fun out of any scenario he found himself in, and that included a good kill, or at least a good fight.

Well, either way, the more the merrier, though he imagined that Sakuya would prefer it to go one way over the other, as far as what "game" they'd play. A game where they worked together, or against each other.

Not that he particularly cared what the maid thought... Right? Though, he could hardly deny becoming somewhat "attached" or "fixated" to her existence in a way that he had never felt about any other existence before. It was a strange phenomenon. Not even Shiki Nanaya could hope to understand this feeling. Or... perhaps any feeling at all.

What a pain. He ought to kill that concept if he had the capacity to.

That's right. He would absolutely kill to be rid of this nuisance.

"As for who I am... I suppose you could identify me as an... old acquaintance of the dear maid here, but really, I'm just a wandering killer. And it looks as though there's plenty of skeletons and ghouls that need to be sent straight back to Hell," he continued, keeping his hands pocketed, "So? What of it? Care to join us in this little game, or will you hide out somewhere? You do look rather tired... Or is that simply vexation at these circumstances?"

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

The slightly younger vampire seemed to consider Nanaya for a moment as he responded. She tilted her head a little and gave him a curious gaze, an expression that somewhat fit her childish appearance. It wasn't as though she'd never seen another human before. Sakuya herself was a human after all, and a few others had popped into the mansion here and there throughout the years. But yokai around Gensokyo tended to be hard to tell apart from humans. Meiling, for example, was practically impossible to discern as a yokai.

Even still. Nanaya somehow didn't entirely feel like a human. Something was off. But the little vampire couldn't tell what.

Not that she really cared to think about it any further.

"Haha, I like you! I like to play the danmaku game, though you don't really look like you know how to play...luckily it's just like you said! All these skeletons have come to play too. I like your style. Let's play kill some ghouletons!"

Though as Flandre was reminded of the inhibitions she was experiencing, she suddenly groaned.

"Don't remind me. It feels like I'm walking outside at noon. So annoying.You two don't look tired at all though. Why's that, I wonder..."

"Unfortunately, the reason for that is not something I can replicate, Flandre-sama," Sakuya spoke up. "It is outside my powers to lighten to load on your back. However, if we capture a tricky young woman with silver hair, we should be able to recover from this."

"Huh? What's my sister got to do with this?"

"...Think less blue, and more silver, please."

"Same difference, same difference. So it's not my sister then...guess we'll just make whoever we're looking for go 'boom' too then!"

"We appreciate your assistance."

It seemed that as soon as Sakuya wasn't looking for anyone, one just appeared right before their eyes. Just her luck. She let out a brief sigh while idly twirling one of her braids. On the bright side the aid of a vampire was certainly nothing to scoff at. Furthermore, Nanaya seemed fairly content to play along on their side for now anyway. There wasn't anything...no, there wasn't as much to worry about from him at the moment. Nanaya and Tohno were certainly different, but they were still both "Shiki" after all.

Flandre suddenly took the lead, apparently eager to start their "game," Sakuya spoke to Nanaya in a lowered voice.

"A mistress of the mansion and a vampire she may be, but do help me look out for her. Or, perhaps, is 'help me dispose of any hostile that tries to approach her' a more fitting way to phrase my request?" ​

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

As Nanaya followed behind Flandre alongside Sakuya, listening in to the maid's request, the raven-haired killer let out an amused breath. "Hooh? To ask a killer to preserve life... What a predicament you'd put me in. But indeed, when you put it like that, I suppose I'd be willing to oblige," he spoke, smoothly running a hand through his short hair as he continued moving alongside them.

As they continued on walking in silence, fortunately not coming across any enemies, at least not just yet, "Shiki" looked over at Sakuya again after a few moments, pocketing his hands nonchalantly. "Ne, by the way, what do you hope to accomplish when you do manage to reach my other half? Are you hoping that you'll get rid of me by waking him up? The more I think on it, the more I think it'd be a shame to disappear, even if being awake is a pain. I always thought we'd be able to be... good friends if only you'd give me the chance."

"Besides... Your little missy there seems to like me well enough; maybe you've been looking at me the wrong way, hmm? And either way, it would be quite troublesome for two of us to be running around, unless you're really that eager for the two of us to run amok for you," he continued, almost as though he were suddenly attempting to make a case for leaving Tohno as he was now.

"It's quite cruel when you think on it. Usually, I fancy myself the ferryman across the River Styx, and yet here we are; it feels as though you are the one marching me to my doom. And yet... I can see why we... that is, he likes you so much."

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"What I'm hoping to accomplish? Well...I suppose you aren't exactly off the mark," Sakuya admitted, having not put all that much thought into the exact result of all this. It seemed natural to try to piece the separated souls back together, but what if that wasn't their opinion on the matter? "I do intend on waking up your other half, though I can't say I put much thought into the consequences."

Nanaya disappearing and the status quo being restored. That was the result the maid had imagined. With Nanaya describing being awake as "a pain," she hadn't found a reason to think twice about it. Perhaps she'd been mistaken. A small sigh escaped her whilst she otherwise continued as she was.

"Flandre-sama's views aside, it's true I'm a little apprehensive after our first meeting. But you wouldn't blame me for that, would you?" Sakuya said with a slight smirk. "Though, I'm not so apprehensive so as to lead you to death without purpose. I wouldn't say I could exactly call you dead when you two are in one body. After all, you can still surface from inside him. Am I wrong?"

This time, she looked over at Nanaya at his last comment.

"Heeh...is that so?"

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"Hurm, who can really say for sure?" Nanaya spoke in response to Sakuya's inquiry on whether or not he could simply wake up within the "real" Shiki that the maid was accustomed to. However, it was a bit different. Rather than a nonchalant, almost apathetic manner, Nanaya's response came more as though... he were curious of the answer as well, as though it eluded him, his smirk disappearing, and almost awkwardly replaced by a bored expression. Awkward in the sense that it was easy for one to look upon his face and believe that he was hiding something. A sense of... uncertainty that he was bothered by.

"I've awakened so many times in just the past year alone... Exposed to this bothersome experience called life for long enough... It alters your perception of things when you're truly living, out there with others. It makes me wonder... Are he and I two sides of the same coin? Or are we two coins in the same vessel? My, my... Dear old dad really might have accidentally played god if so..." He said, murmuring the last part to himself in a barely audible fashion.

When Sakuya honed in on his other comment, the killer pursed his lips briefly. "Ara, did I accidentally spill a secret of his? Or rather, of ours? He's rather fond of you, you know. Perhaps it is a coincidence that every time I've manifested, you happened to be around, but truly, I suppose you could say that yours is an existence... both of us find intriguing. Perhaps you can ask him more about it next time you see him."

"If there's a next time," he said with a mischievous wink.

As the two, along with Flandre, continued to walk together, making their way into a larger corridor, their trek seemed unthreatening initially, before suddenly more and more identical skeleton troops from earlier rose from the ground, a small army filling the hall to the brim as they materialized.

HISS!

Clicking his tongue lightly upon realizing that his trusty knife rested in the possession of Tohno, Shiki Nanaya opted to use his hands instead. After all, as long as he could trace the lines of death from his Mystic Eyes, be it with a pen, a knife, or even his fingers, he could still fight.

"If you had more to say, might we continue this exchange as we fight? Nothing like chatting along while doing a day's work," he said with a cocky grin, eager for the opportunity to kill, even if the enemies didn't seem to be truly "alive."

"If there's this many coming out of nowhere to greet us, maybe there's something at the end of the hall that the dear White Len doesn't want us to reach... like my vessel, the boy's body."

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"Coincidence, is it...?" Sakuya wondered aloud for only a moment before yet another round of the strange blue skeleton soldiers cropped up. With a sigh, she drew a number of knives from under her uniform as she prepared to dispatch the skeletons once again. "In any case, I suppose some light conversation while we deal with this infestation might make it slightly less dreary. And if we're going to fight together...would you prefer a knife?"

She offered a single knife to the other Shiki.

"This many guards certainly does signify something at least. That 'next time' might be sooner than we thought, hm?"

While Sakuya prepared to fight, Flandre raised one of her small arms as a wide, childish grin appeared on her face. "Hey, Sakuya and...whatever your name was. Wanna count how many of them we each get? Whoever's got the most at the end wins! Ready? Go!"

The blonde vampire brought down her arm. A purple magical symbol suddenly formed behind her small body, accompanied by a sudden hail of similarly colored magical bullets. However, despite her target supposedly being to down as many skeletons as possible, her shots were far from accurate. It was a simple curtain fire, as though she intended to play danmaku with the undead troops.

"Stop your hissing, and come play with me!"

Unfortunately, Nanaya and Sakuya were in the room as well. One could perhaps be led to believe this was a "strategy" to win her own game, but such a scheme hardly seemed possible for the childish vampire. She simply aimed to play. Danmaku was just the way she'd learned to do so. Yet, despite the danger it posed to her two companions, it was certainly an effective method of attack against a small army of relatively fragile creatures.

"Oh my, please try not to break us as well, Flandre-sama."

Taking out her stopwatch, two fields of slowed time were created by the maid. One centered around herself, the other around Nanaya. While she couldn't do much about Flandre's danmaku, with the field slowing her shots it would at least be a little easier to maneuver for both of them.

"Though to tackle what you said before, intriguing, was it?" Sakuya spoke idly, even as she weaved around Flandre's reckless volleys, at the same time attacking with her own projectiles. Her thrown knives seemed to suddenly and impossibly change directions as they flew, impaling the skeletons from directions that shouldn't have been able to come from the maid. "Compared to yourselves, I'm hardly so interesting, am I? Forgive me for being blunt, but even you don't seem to understand your own existence. Am I right?"

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"A girl after my own heart," Nanaya said with a sly grin, gratefully taking the knife offered to him and holding it in a reverse grip, reminiscent of how Tohno would throughout his misadventures. Before he could move though, he had to let Flandre make the first move as she seemed to dash off in front of the two of them, haphazardly unleashing her power upon the hordes of enemies before them.

Once Sakuya used her stopwatch and created the fields of slowed time, Nanaya moved with Sakuya, slicing apart and dismembering each and every hostile that came his way without mercy, wild swings and slashes guiding his arm as he pushed through the enemies like cannon fodder, grin bordering on psychopathic hardly leaving his features until Sakuya began to speak, as though her voice seemed to calm his bloodlust just a tad, but not by too much.

"Oh, don't be so down on yourself like that, ye of little faith! I don't know about dear Tohno -- perhaps you can ask him if you see him again, as I said -- what draws him to you, but I'm a far more direct person, or so I'd think," he said, talking over the sounds of bones coming apart and crashing into the floor, "If you put your mind to it, you'd make a truly wonderful killer, you know? If you'd just strip away all of those inhibitions and do as I do, we really could be kindred spirits."

Whoosh!

With a swift spin, the raven-haired killer raised his leg into the air and cleanly kicked the head off one of the skeletons, hardly breaking a sweat as he continued moving forward, getting ever so closer to the end of the pathway until he stopped at the doors, skidding to a halt as he looked back at the trail of destruction in his and the others' wake.

"As for my own existence... Well, you've certainly got me there. But then, do humans ever understand themselves either? Perhaps another thing that's interested me about the act of living is what it truly means, but if I did fully understood, I'd be the wisest man alive, wouldn't I? And yet, here we are, hoping to restore the normalcy of banal, ordinary life through extraordinary methods and people. Even though you hold all those extraordinary capabilities, and surrounded by just as extraordinary people, wouldn't you say that your own is a life you'd personally hold as ordinary?"

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"Oh? Is that why your side finds me so intriguing?" Sakuya said as her time fields disappeared along with the skeleton soldiers, the three of them having torn through the small horde effortlessly. The knives that had been strewn throughout the room suddenly disappeared in an instant, the maid using her ability to clean up after herself quickly, and she let out a sigh. "I admit it's a simple task for me to kill, but I can't say I would enjoy doing it as indiscriminately as you. It would be a little inelegant of me, I think."

Flandre, in the meantime, looked over the carnage with wide eyes, her fingers pointing to each scattered bone as she attempted to count the number of remains.

"Eh...How many did I kill again? How many did Sakuya get? How many did Mister Blue get? Hm..."

The silver-haired maid glanced at the young vampire as Nanaya continued to speak. Trying to restore normalcy while surrounded by the abnormal, huh? This blonde vampire was certainly a good example. She was a vampire, obviously, but even among vampires she was extraordinary. Wings that resembled crystals more so than that of a bat's, and an ability so dangerous her own sister kept her relegated to their mansion.

She was something extraordinary amongst the extraordinary, and yet another part of Sakuya's so-called normal life. No sane person would ever call her life of serving the vampires normal, but certainly it was as he'd said. She would call it her own brand of ordinary. And in a way, that wasn't inaccurate.

The power to control time and space. Vampires. Magicians.

All of these were within the mansion, and throughout Gensokyo there were a countless number of Youkai and other oddities. Yet what did she spend most of her time doing? Cooking, cleaning, preparing tea. It was a strangely human life, despite her being the only actual human resident of the whole mansion, sprinkled in only with the occasional odd job or incident.

"Perhaps that is the contradiction I'm chasing," she sighed, redirecting her gaze back at Nanaya. "I never did speak with humans much until recently, even if my life resembled theirs, in a way. Do I imitate them on purpose? I always figured myself a bit more independent than that, though. Maybe I don't understand my own existence as well as I figured I did. Perhaps Milady is still messing with my fate. But, I'll keep my 'inhibitions' for now, and try to take back an ordinary life with my extraordinary hands."

She turned to open the doors, the only one of the trio who didn't quite feel like looking at their carnage.

"Hm, perhaps that is what you two find so intriguing. Or it's just my potential to kill. One or the other, right?" the chief maid said with a wry smile. "You won Flandre-sama, with a score of fifty to our mere ten each. Now, let us proceed."

Her scores were completely made up, but the younger vampire seemed more than happy to go along with them as she grinned widely, her crystal-like wings stretching out.

"I win, I win~"

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"Inelegant? Well, such things like elegance and beauty are in the eye of the beholder, aren't they?" Nanaya responded to Sakuya's prospect that such a habit of indiscriminate murder would be unfitting of her, "If you ask me, such a practice, I believe, could only serve to bring out the most beautiful, darkest parts of you buried within, if such a sinful core exists underneath. But... Well, you didn't ask, did you?"

Who could say if Shiki Tohno held such darkness within him that was fundamental to his existence, or if the manifestation of such darkness, Shiki Nanaya, existed on his own accord? If a human held capacity for both ends of morality, what was this general existence of "Shiki" called when missing one half of who he was, if Tohno was a blessed existence, and Nanaya was a cursed one. Beyond good and evil, and somewhere between yin and yang. Could he be called human?

Would it be sufficient to just describe his existence to be adequately and uniquely "him?"

"Trying so hard to restore a sense of a normal life with extraordinary hands, trying to imitate this humanity that you could grow beyond..." Nanaya repeated, before making a soft breath, somewhere between a chuckle and a sneer, "To think that must be the part he relates to the most and loves most of all... He's quite the romantic, that boy."

Perhaps just as the maid did, the raven-haired young man had lost count (assuming he was even really counting to begin with) of how many enemies he had taken down, and simply shrugged in a noncommittal manner as Flandre celebrated her small victory. With the hall cleared out, the bones crumbling into ash shortly after hitting the ground, Nanaya wasted little time in proceeding forward, pushing the doors open and revealing what lay beyond, only to find...

View attachment 2478

...

A peaceful day. A blue sky. A bright sun.

The new landscape in which the three found themselves in took the form of an idyllic day in front of a large building, and yet, it was immediately clear that there was something off right down to the very air of the area. All of it was a fabrication. An illusion... or would it be more accurate to call it a grand delusion? From the chill of the wind that seemed to twinge just a bit too hard for comfort, to the complete lack of heat or any otherwise presence that the image of the sun in the sky generated (thus, Flandere was not rendered even more uncomfortable than she already was), to the "people" walking about.

Yes, that was another thing. In this new place -- no doubt a school between the building and each person wearing uniforms, the males notably wearing blue and white uniforms identical to what Shiki wore -- a great number of "people" flooded the area, "boys" and "girls" walking about as though they were normal high school students, conversing and laughing amongst each other, paying the three no mind, strangely enough.

Letting out a mystified whistle, Nanaya put his hands on his hips.

"This... It's just like I'm back home," he breathed, "Guess that minx White Len decided to help herself to recreating my world, even if it meant encroaching on the fabric of your own reality. Perhaps I ought to show you a tour of this... recreation of my world while we're here, hmm?"

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

Caught off guard by the sudden change in scenery, Sakuya simply stared at the building before them. It was certainly different from the kind of architecture that she was familiar with. It appeared nothing like the shacks in the human village, the shrines, nor the lavishly large mansion she took care of in Gensokyo. Of course, it was just an illusion, she sort of doubted they had actually left the mansion so suddenly, but even still it was a completely foreign sight. Even compared to taking a rocket to the moon.

It was rather strange to Sakuya that no attention was given to Flandre at the very least, and it wasn't like the maid herself exactly fit in either. Even Nanaya whose appearance and outfit blended in with the rest had, presumably, appeared out of nowhere in the middle of wherever this was, yet not one of them caught any attention. It was hard to tell whether they simply appeared invisible to these illusory boys and girls or had illusions of their own constructed here.

"Huh? Where are we?" Flandre spoke up first as Sakuya considered their new surroundings, rapidly turning her head from side to side as she took in the new landscape. "Outside? Did we go outside? It still feels a little heavy though... Hey, hey, do you know where we are?" The blonde vampire asked as she walked up to and attempted to tug on one of the students' sleeve.

Sakuya then looked up towards the "sun" in the sky. Powerful vampires like Remilia and Flandre certainly could survive exposure to sunlight, but it consumed a great deal of energy and vanished the parts of their bodies that the sunlight touched. At the very least, Flandre's reaction seemed to confirm they were both still in the mansion and trapped in some sort of delusion.

Without any way to break free of this delusion, however, there wasn't any real clear course of action to take. No way to resolve this through sheer force.

"I will have to fine her for infringing on milady's property, but I suppose that will have to wait until we actually find our elusive invader," she sighed. This was quite the detour, but if one couldn't find the main road sometimes there was no other choice. Besides, illusion or not, seeing what appeared to be an accurate manifestation of the Shikis' world was far from the worst detour possible. Relaxing, physically at least, she crossed her hands low and nodded. "I suppose that would not be unwarranted. I'll leave the lead to you, then. Come, Flandre-sama, let us not waste time speaking to our delusions."

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"Fine her? Yes, I suppose overwriting the very space the property takes up is quite an expensive endeavor. But you're right, let us make haste. If we waste any more time, who knows? Perhaps she might dare to overwrite even more space," Nanaya commented.

However, before he could get a move on, against Sakuya's urging, the student whom Flandre approached stopped to address her, smiling and patting the smaller girl on the head. That was when everything about the "students" felt off. Everything about them felt nondescript, for a lack of a better word. They held very little presence as living beings -- if they were even such -- and even their faces that looked... empty. Not in the sense that they looked emotionless or expressionless, but just as though it felt like there was nothing there, nothing behind the gentle smile the student patting Flandre held, nor the laughs of those passing by.

"Ehh, are you lost, little girl?" He asked, before looking up, straight at Nanaya and Sakuya, "Oh, Tohno-kun, Izayoi-san!" The student proceeded to exclaim, recognizing them as though they were acquaintances. Walking over to approach them, Nanaya instinctively moved to grab his knife, but found himself hesitating for whatever reason to actually draw it; he couldn't feel any hostile intent from him. In fact, he couldn't feel anything. Just as the sun and the environment, the people just felt empty. Fake. An imitation.

Sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, like a programmed response, the student looked toward Sakuya. "Heeh, that's a really cute maid outfit, Izayoi-san! I guess you're already preparing for the culture festival, huh? Though, you're a bit early for that look."

"I suppose at least one of us girls ought to live up the maid cafe idea that you boys just had to suggest," an unfamiliar feminine voice said as a female student appeared to the side, standing right next to the male student, before she bowed to the two of them, "Good morning, you two. Ready for class? Miss Noel gave so much homework, I couldn't even finish it all!"

"I--" Nanaya began to utter, but it seemed that even he was somewhat dazed at the display before him.

"Awh, so cute!" Murmurs from more female students came as more appeared out of nowhere, approaching Flandre and looking down to her, until it seemed as though they were practically encircling her, "Where'd she come from? Her look definitely sticks out. Oi, Izayoi-san, is she one of your relatives or so? You two look a bit like cousins. Especially with that maid outfit on. Are you into cosplay now all of a sudden?"

More and more students appeared as the three migrants became the center of attention, a great number of them lined up horizontally as though in an unnatural single-file line, with them all focusing their attention on Nanaya, Sakuya, and Flandre, each voice threatening to cancel the other out the more others talked, some rather indistinctly.

Keeping close to Sakuya, as though wary that the commotion might separate them if they weren't careful, the boy clicked his tongue. "All this attention... I certainly don't miss this, at least."

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"I haven't been outside much, so I am pretty lost here..." Flandre replied to the student. His apparent emptiness was lost on the vampire, who seemed unable to tell the difference as long as they more or less looked the part. "Since I'm out of the mansion though, did all of you guys come to play with me?"

Sakuya on the other hand was caught off guard by the students suddenly noticing them. "U-um," she stuttered, taking a small step backwards. How was she to respond to them? Culture festival? Maid cafe? ...Well, admittedly she could understand the confusion, illusions or not. But for White Len to go so far as to have the students know and react to them like this was unsettling. They looked right, but they just felt off. It was as if they weren't even there. Though if recognizing something was an illusion was enough to find their way out of it, they'd have been out of this place upon entering it.

Taking a deep breath, the maid regathered herself. She silently smiled and nodded to the first female student who addressed them. While the crowd began to form around the three of them, Sakuya pulled Flandre back closer to herself and Nanaya.

"Ah, yes, she's...visiting. This is my cousin, Flandre-sa...Flandre," Sakuya improvised. With the help of the students' own suggestion, it seemed easy enough to play along at first. But more and more students appeared. More and more empty illusions assailed them as their voices mixed into indistinct noise. It quickly became clear that playing along and answering all of them would prove to be impossible. How exactly could three people hold a conversation with all of the student body?

With a grimace, she kept close to Nanaya as well, not wanting the three real people, so to speak, to get separated here. "Miss this? This isn't usual, is it?"

Sakuya wasn't particularly familiar with schools, but she couldn't imagine anyone functioning with this kind of pressure. Not Tohno, and of course not Nanaya.

"So, what's the proper way to get out of this ridiculous crowd in your world? ...Is there a way out?"

"Eeeh, can't we play with them a little?"

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"I meant more, human interaction in general. Whether it's being suffocated by these illusions, having to listen to those squabbling fools at that other-worldly base, or even way back when I'd first met you and the other naive, do-good buffoons. Of course, even back then, I knew there was something different about you, but I suppose I've already said my piece on that, eh?" Nanaya responded to Sakuya's initial inquiry, instinctively feeling the need to back up as more and more students began to surround them, not just in front of them, but even at all sides, as the raven-haired killer found himself inadvertently backing into even more students speaking indistinctly to the three. All of them sporting faceless faces, false memories of familiarity, and the like.

"Dear Shiki... He's far too reserved to attract this kind of crowd. Quite a miracle he even has as many friends as he does, though perhaps I shouldn't talk," he continued, trying to keep his cool even as the "students" continued to surround and practically suffocate them. As Sakuya spoke again, along with Flandre, the boy clicked his tongue, "I don't think the way we should be looking for is out, but rather through... After all, if a door led us in, then perhaps another door will lead us somewhere else."

Eyeing the front door of the school building, or at least trying his best to over the "students," Nanaya let out a soft chuckle, drawing his knife, glancing at Flandre briefly. "I know a game we can play. How about a race? See who gets to that building over there first. Ready?" He spoke, before suddenly raising his knife to stab one of the "students" through the chest, only for them to immediately disappear into ash, like a vampire in a movie exposed to sunlight.

From there, he attempted to slice through each student like an adventurer slashing down leaves and plants with a machete through the Amazon, but the students only continued pestering the three, with very little reaction to the boy's methods, except for their overbearing greetings turning to scattered inquiries of "Hey, where are you going?" or "Off to class then? Wait for me!" around, among others, even going far enough as to grab him (and subsequently, the two girls) by the shoulders, as though to hold them back and down.

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"I suppose I can understand that," Sakuya replied, though she was beginning to question why she felt like she understood him to an extent. He certainly appeared insane, with his unhealthy obsession with killing and all. Yet the more she spoke with him, the more reasonable he seemed. It wasn't like she ever prided herself on being a particularly human-friendly person, but even so. It felt strange for them to reach a sort of understanding.

"You certainly have adapted to Flandre-sama's games, at least," Sakuya sighed, but a somewhat tired expression soon gave way to a small smile. "But that may be for the best. If you hadn't had any ideas, I might have suggested something similar myself."

Even his solution to their situation was one she would get behind. Simply brute force forward and remove the illusory interference as necessary. Though she liked to say she would do so with elegance, if one were to boil her incident resolving methods down to their basics she simply fought against youkai and humans in a straightforward manner. Whether one looked like a brute or an elegant maid while doing so were just styles of that simple method.

Still, if it was such small things that separated them, then she would continue holding onto them. Constantly freezing and unfreezing time, the maid waded through the massive mob of students as she appeared to teleport to the eyes of others. When the wall of students became too big to simply walk past even with the stopping of time, she didn't hesitate to cut them apart to create a path. With movements literally imperceptible to the human eye, the maid practically danced through the forest of illusory high school students.

"A race? That sounds like fun! Let's go on three, okay? One, two...hey, wait up!"

Left behind while trying to do a countdown, Flandre simply closed both of her fists, obliterating the students that were holding her at that moment. As opposed to Shiki who cut down his opponents and Sakuya who combined her supernatural maneuverability with that same strategy, the blonde vampire simply made a run in a straight line as fast as she could once she'd destroyed those holding her. She simply mowed over any of the illusory students that got in her way through sheer strength and speed, like a car ramming into insects. Taking simple to the extreme tended to work out with the physical abilities of a vampire.

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"Life is a game after all, so why not enjoy it like one while you can?" Nanaya responded to Sakuya, easily returning her smile, as though he were also able to sense that they were gradually coming to some sort of strange understanding. Birds of a feather flocked together and opposites attract, or something like that.

With that, he continued trudging forward, cutting down every illusion in his way in the process, each "student" disappearing into mist like they were never there with every slash and stab. Eventually, the three of them would manage to reach the front door of the school building in question (with Remilia managing to reach it first). With a resigned sigh, while keeping his easy-going smile, Nanaya looked back at the crowd following them all like a mindless crowd of zombies. "Well, looks like you win, Flandre. I just wasn't fast enough. Good job," he said with a lightly playful edge, before kicking the doors open.

Behind the doors in question, an interesting sight awaited them. An unnatural blend of two scenes, like two photographs smudged together to create one disjointed image. Half of the narrow hall in front of them looked akin to that of a school's, with white tiles on the floor, bulletin boards on the walls. However, as the hall went on, the tiles suddenly stopped and the walls changed, and from thereon, the hall looked just like the mansion's hall instead. Clicking his tongue, Nanaya braved forward, finding the situation intriguing.

"Hmm, so the little kitty's trying her best to overwrite this mansion with her own reality, but it looks like it's quite a ways to go," he continued, pocketing his hands and hopping forward, quickly forgetting about the leisurely crowd of students following them slowly from behind. "But is that such a bad thing? It'd be quite the trade if we let things remain like this. I -- or at least, my dear other half -- get a taste of your world, and you get a glimpse of mine, eh, Sakuya?"

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"Haha! I win again!"

Flandre hopped about for a little while like the small child she appeared to be, pumping her fists in the air for winning a game she hadn't thought up herself. Sakuya gave the young vampire her own congratulations as well, though that seemed to neither boost nor abate Flandre's enthusiasm. Leaving her to her own devices for now, the maid looked into the doors that had been kicked open.

"Sharing experiences is one thing, but I do at least think things have their own place," Sakuya replied with a contemplative expression. "At the very least, Patchouli-san wouldn't be too happy if half the library's books went to your side, and the garden would certainly look strange if it was half school. Not to mention if something like the tea cups being taken while the tea pot remained happened, that'd be rather inconvenient."

Not seeming particularly worried about the almost zombie-like students trudging after them, she began to walk into the hall calmly, hands clasped.

"But at the very least, we can't allow our uninvited guest to completely overwrite our mansion. I would prefer to experience each world properly, rather than in such a half-baked sloppy manner."

"There's still so many humans back there, should we try to race back to where we started? I'll definitely still win though. Oh, but maybe this time I won't my left arm! That'll make it more fair ri- hey, wait up!"

Flandre rushed back to the two knife users with pattering steps.

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"Hmm. Intruders have no place in other worlds, eh? Even if they're just concepts..." Nanaya said, his tone strangely more absent-minded than usual, even if just slightly. Of course, there was little opportunity to dwell on that as the three of them continued walking down the warped hall, leaving the school halls behind and returning to what could be considered the mansion, making their way down the corridor before bumping into yet another long door in their path.

Opening with massive doors with his outstretched arms, revealing a large room with plenty of open space now, it seemed as though they finally reached the end of the line, as the sight waiting for them was that of Shiki Tohno's unconscious body, floating and suspended a few feet in the air, a purple glow visible from his head. Below, White Len stood, her hands glowing the corresponding color, smiling as though politely greeting the three before her.

"Ah, you've caught up already. So persistent, are we? You really are quite eager to set things back to the way they once were, aren't you, Cinderella-san?" She said to Sakuya, seeming to hardly even acknowledge Flandre, "I would have liked more time to finish what I started, but I can see now that if thorns continue prickling at me, all I can do is dispose of the entire rose, even if it is quite beautiful. Perhaps that is the innate tragedy of life, fairy tale or not."

"You see, this boy's mind has so much. So much despair, sadness, melancholy to feed off of... The anger and killing intent inside him was so strong, I didn't even realize him to be its own entity. He is just so full of little surprises, isn't he? You wouldn't really want to keep those surprises just to yourself so selfishly, would you?"

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

Sakuya gave Nanaya a glance as he almost seemed to speak to himself. She'd found he considered at least some things other than solely the pleasure of murder after journeying with him for the last little while, but there wasn't much time to ponder that. As they passed through the doors, Sakuya scanned the room. They'd found what they were looking for. Now the maid just had to make sure White Len didn't disappear on them again.

"You do have a point. After all, you've been quite the thorn in my side as well," Sakuya answered, holding a polite smile. "That may be the reason I'm so insistent on having things work as they should, don't you think?"

Flandre meanwhile didn't seem particularly bothered while being ignored. She just tilted her head and looked at White Len curiously, like a dog beginning to notice a cat. She reached out her hand as if considering "crushing" the strange invader like she'd done to the faux familiar's creations, but then stopped short. Perhaps it was because she spoke a lot, a lot more life-like compared to those creations. A contemplative look crossed the young vampire's face.

"And really, you're like a bratty younger sister who wants to play with her older sister's toys," the maid continued, ignoring Flandre as well as she pulled out and idly held a knife. "I'm not trying to keep him to myself, he's just chosen to wander with me for now. Really, I'm not too insistent on keeping much. I'm not all that greedy. Would it be too much to ask for our mansion to be untouched and for no one to attack our guests? ...Well, perhaps asking that question to a self-proclaimed collection of malevolence is meaningless, though."

"Sakuyaaa," Flandre tugged on Sakuya's half apron, "I'm not trying to play with any of onee-sama's toys though."

"It would appear we have a misunderstanding, Flandre-sama..."

@Ver​

 

[Ver]

"Humph. Is that truly what you believe? How dull. Either way, I tire of these constant verbal spars. Still, do pardon the intrusion upon your world. A side effect of exploring Prince Charming-san's mind, seeing and projecting his memories into this reality. The process is not so facile, but even so, over time, with enough work, it could have become an ideal home for the knight, and perhaps even the dragon within," White Len said, tilting her head and looking Nanaya's way, the raven-haired boy remaining silent as he stood behind Sakuya.

"Tis a shame I could not look into your own mind. Perhaps if you took his place, you'd be less of a thorn, and more inclined to remain within your perfect little world, whether living as some sort of schoolgirl or a housewife. To sleep forever and struggle no more, to forget and relinquish your body to me. But unfortunately, such a fairy tale like that would be far too convenient. I will simply have to salvage what I must then."

"Do be delicate, dragon-san."

Suddenly, without warning, Nanaya's arm wrapped around Sakuya's neck and pulled her back, the killer stepping back from Flandre and holding his knife close to the maid's face, before leaning forward. "I would have preferred it didn't come to this... and believe me, it's quite a first. To not wish for a matter to end in death. You see, the more I awakened to this tawdry existence called life, the more I... dare say, enjoyed it. Especially with you by my side, even if not quite willingly," he chuckled softly, maintaining his grasp, "However, even if it is a life that has to go on without you, if I were to live and be allowed to continue killing just as my own witch would, I suppose that is an acceptable existence. Of course, without you by my side, it would be... incomplete, but that is what most other humans feel, hmm? I stand by what I said, you would have made a dazzlingly beautiful murderer."

"Even so, to be rejected to my very core by you... It fills me with a bittersweet feeling, and I do mean bitter and sweet. To reject such illusions faced in the past hour, to reject the path of a killer... Well, that's just a double strike against me. And yet, this despair I feel... is intoxicating. No wonder humans enjoy sadness so much, it's quite addicting! Even my dear other half! I wonder what intense despair would taste sweeter, killing you, or being killed by you. Having another taste of devilish murder, or the sensation of driving you to kill me, even if my existence... is the way it is."

"Oi, oi, don't get carried away, dragon-san. It would be troublesome to me in every way if you would lose to her," White Len piped up, before turning her attention to Flandre, lifting the edges of her skirt briefly, like she did upon first introducing herself to Sakuya way back when, "Apologies for the late introduction. I am the intruder in your lovely estate. Why don't we let Cinderella-san and Dragon-san work their differences out together? In the meantime, I believe we ought to become acquainted. Wouldn't you agree?"

@Kaykay​