The Scarlet Devil Mansion

Another day, another duel. Flandre Scarlet was once again facing off against her elder sister, and as usual, they were closely matched. It had taken a few hundred years, but they had finally learned some restraint: no longer did their servants need to spend most of the day repairing the mansion before the next duel. Flandre usually won these little bouts, but only barely, and it seemed tonight might be different.

Then Flandre, backed into a corner, had to use her trump card to escape.

"Five of a kind!" She declared, and Remilia's heart sank. She'd only ever defeated this attack a few times. Still, she seemed confident she had found a weakness in it, and was beginning to learn how to exploit it. It seemed Flandre's attention and personality was split five ways as well. They had earlier decided that defeating one copy was enough for Remilia to defeat the attack, so all she needed to do was find the weakest one and defeat that. Remilia still had trouble identifying it, but at least now she had a strategy.

Unfortunately, that strategy failed once again today.

"Looks like I get breakfast in bed tomorrow evening, too." Flandre said once all of her selves had coalesced back into her complete self. "Tell Sakuya I really like those muffins she made the other day."

"Enjoy it while you can, sis. I'll beat that attack soon, just you watch." Remilia said, then went off to let Sakuya know the outcome of the duel, and then went to bed.

Flandre went to bed as well, though she found herself unable to sleep easily. Remilia wasn't the only one to notice the flaw in Flandre's trump card. She wondered at first how to improve it, and after considering it for a while, began to view it from another angle.

What if she didn't completely merge afterward? There was clearly a weak version of herself somewhere within. What if she simply kicked it out? Then she'd be a vampire without weaknesses, and be completely unbeatable. She fell asleep while going over the details in her head.

When Flandre awoke, her thought had crystallized into a course of action. She realized that if the weak self were destroyed from exposure to sun, she might also be destroyed. Rather than take that risk, she decided she'd ask Patchouli for a charm.

One quick fight later, Flandre stood over a defeated, resigned Patchouli.

"You want me to make a charm to block the sun? Well, of course I can... it sounds like you want to go outside, hm? You should probably talk it over with Remilia. If she says it's alright, I'll go ahead and work on it for you."

At their early morning bout, Flandre once again narrowly defeated Remilia. Remilia reluctantly agreed to talk about the amulet with Patchouli, upset that she hadn't thought of it first.

A week passed, and Remilia won two of the seven battles, an unusually high number. Flandre's pride was beginning to be at stake, but Patchouli finally pulled through. Flandre, meanwhile, had been practicing her Five of a Kind, until she felt confident that she would be able to separate out her weaknesses into a single copy.

When the light blocking charm, powered by the phases of the moon, was delivered, Flandre used a bit of magic herself to ensure that it could never be removed by the one who wore it: She couldn't have her weakness getting Flandre killed, now could she? No, it would have to be a permanent accessory. After all, foolishness is a weakness as well. Flandre thought it best to add a disguise as well, for much the same reason, so she had made a simple dress for the copy to wear. Of course, Flandre knew that this copy, full of weaknesses, could be used against her if ever the connection to her was discovered. So she put all of her knowledge of it into it as well, while keeping knowledge of Flandre witheld from it. It would be given her knowledge of how to survive... yes, it would steal Flandre's craving for human blood, that its instincts would keep it alive. For Flandre herself would have little need of such with her newfound power. It would be perfectly weak and perfectly independent.

Finally the day came. Flandre focused her steady mind and did what she had done hundreds of times before. Five Flandres split off, the original gone. Then, for the first time, four of the little vampires assaulted the fifth, holding it in place and securing the protective amulet on it. The weak, light-vulnerable, heat sensitive, idiotic copy full of weakness couldn't do a thing to stop it, or the changing of her clothes into the disguise.

The four Flandres snuck out of the mansion and released the fifth outside before closing and relocking the door. Flandre had taken great care to ensure that none witnessed this. After all, then they might undo her splendid plan. The four snuck back to her room... now was the moment of truth.

She ended the effect, and began rejoining into a single Flandre, less the weaknesses... and it worked. She smiled happily. Now she just had to test her new power on someone else. Unable to restrain her curiosity, she tested some of her other techniques, and sure enough, they were far more powerful than previously, leaving heavy scorch marks where previously they hadn't even marred the paint. Satisfied, she waited for the duel before bed, occasionally launching a new assault on the poor basement walls, to grow more accustomed to her power.

Remilia had noticed the five of a kind becoming more distinct this past week... it was now trivial for her to pick out the weak one. It's so much easier to find something when you know what to look for, she reasoned. Confident she would win tonight, she went to Flandre's room.

When Remilia stepped downstairs, she was a little unnerved by the condition of the walls. It was like back before they had started restraining themselves... back when they had fought more with brawn than brain, badly damaged... Sakuya wouldn't be pleased. When Remilia saw Flandre, she could feel something was... off. Remilia started the duel as normal, and they went at it.

Immediately, Remilia was caught off guard by Flandre's sudden and brutal assault, losing an arm instantly; a first since they had started their "play-fighting.". She was brutally hit again almost immediately, Flandre giving her no time to recover. Remilia's blood began to boil, excited at this old sort of fight. Part of her wanted to go at it all out with Flandre like they had so long ago.

But she had more restraint than to lose control from mere dismemberment, and, realizing she had lost in record time, admitted defeat. But Flandre would hear nothing of surrender:

"A vampire? Surrender? We? The lords of the Night? What a pointless title. Why settle for being masters for only half the day?! Perhaps I need to remind you what being a vampire means?!"

Flandre used one of the nonlethal finishing moves she had used hundreds of times before. Remilia, having since regenerated her arm, was confused. She thought they were fighting without so much restraint tonight... then Flandre's attack cut Remilia in half along the waist. Confused and shocked by the misuse of what was normally merely a subduing attack, and its use at all, she turned into bats and tried to regain her metaphorical footing. Flandre relentlessly started destroying them en masse. Remilia suddenly felt a fear she hadn't for a long time, and she didn't like it.

She feared she would be destroyed.

Remilia reformed from the mere 10 bats that were left from the several hundred original ones, before Flandre could destroy them as well. The relentless, brutal assault kept Remilia on her heels for a good half hour or so, during which she was brutally torn apart and nearly destroyed five or six times. Unwilling to concede, and indeed, quite sure now that her sister wasn't in the mood to listen to a surrender, Remilia eventually recovered from the shock and initial onslaught, and regained her state of mind and her vampiric pride.

And Remilia realized a few things. Her sister was demonstrating no remorse, no restraint... and no control. Her attacks were powerful (Indeed, much of the mansion had collapsed into the basement by now), but they were unfocused and poorly aimed. Remilia started making a comeback, using grace and elegance to weave through the terrifying walls of destruction Flandre wove with magic, slipping past Flandre's easily read attacks, and repeatedly hit her.

But Flandre never even really flinched. Remilia hit harder and harder as the fight went on, invigorated by the scope of this battle, but still, Flandre hardly reacted at all. Then, much to Remilia's surprise, Flandre started a set of motions... Remilia knew, even without hearing the declaration...

"Five of a kind." She muttered under her breath. Flandre must have tired of this game, and pulled out her trump card in a display of dominance.

And once again, Remilia was caught off guard and shocked. For instead of facing five of her younger sister, before her flew only four. Confused, Remilia started looking for the weak one, but Flandre gave her no time, immediately beginning an assault that rent Remilia asunder. It was everything she could do to protect her head from the assault, and she turned into bat form frequently. Without her vampiric regeneration, she'd have been dead twenty times over each minute. As it was, even her supernatural constitution was beginning to feel the strain, and her mind was reeling from the pain. The assault continued like this for an hour.

Through it all, Remilia couldn't identify the weak one. Where was it? Had Flandre realized a way to hide it? It should have appeared when the other four did, though. Remilia's train of thought was once again cut short as she lost yet another limb. She became desperate. She didn't want to die, but it sure seemed that her sister had destruction on her mind. And after Flandre destroyed Remilia, what then? Would she continue on to Sakuya and Patchouli? Would Meiling fall as well? If Remilia couldn't stop Flandre, none of them would even have a chance, especially caught off guard as they would be. She would simply have to win, then.

Easier said than done, of course, when outnumbered four against one. Flandre's four selves showed no signs of slowing their assault. Remilia knew she'd need to use a few tricks of her own. By this point, the fight had moved outside the mansion, which now had a rather large portion of it badly damaged. Remilia didn't notice, but Mei-Ling saw the fight and had immediately rushed inside.

Remilia thrust out her hands and invoked a spell to rapidly spew mist forth. The four Flandres were disoriented by the blinding mist, allowing Remilia to pick them off. She struck quickly and precisely... if even one of the Flandres spotted her, she knew she'd lose her advantage. Remilia flitted about the cloud of scarlet mist, and managed to defeat three of the copies over the course of a quarter hour, causing them all to merge back into one. She wasn't even sure if that had weakened Flandre at all, but at least she wasn't outnumbered anymore.

Flandre, upon escaping the cloud, redoubled her efforts and Remilia was once again forced into a defensive fight, trying desperately to keep her head intact. Even against just one Flandre (now seething with a fury and hatred Remilia had never seen), she was clearly outmatched, fatigued from the hundreds if not thousands of regenerations and transformations she had performed in the past several hours. If she hadn't started this fight at midnight, so much earlier than usual, they'd both probably be dead from the sun. As it was, sunrise remained a very real threat... only a few hours remained before dawn, and Flandre showed no sign of caring, nor any signs of fatigue.

Remilia, after tenaciously surviving for another hour, was growing very concerned. Already, the morning twilight had begun. If this didn't end soon, there would be no winner today, nor ever again. She looked at Flandre, who had stopped the assault for a while. Perhaps she realized they would need to get indoors soon?

"What's that fear I see on your face? You're worried about sunrise, aren't you? In fact, I bet you're thinking we'll both die, and we should get indoors, aren't you?" Flandre laughed.

"Yes... please, Flandre, this has gone too far... much longer and there won't even be an indoors to hide from the sun in."

"Hide?! Too long have we hidden from the sun. I have defeated it... but I don't think I'll let it steal my victory. No, I've earned this. I, Flandre Scarlet, The mightiest vampire, who overcame her weakness... I alone shall do what I please!"

Remilia couldn't believe how far gone Flandre was. Her sister had gone completely insane. Flandre, a mad grin on her face, was drawing power, weaving mighty spell which bloomed into a wide field. A green barrier engulfed her and began to grow and grow... and Remilia saw it destroy what it touched; tree limbs, severed by the barrier, fell to the ground before being engulfed with the rest of the tree. And it kept growing, showing no signs of stopping. It was a raw display of tremendous force.

Remilia, though, was too exhausted now to feel the fear that had plagued her earlier. Her vampiric pride had reawakened, and she wove a spell herself, unwilling to submit to such a juvenile, reckless attack, destructive though it may be. A spear appeared in her hand, and, in a moment of clarity, she conjured up her remaining strength to hurl it towards the center of the barrier. The hole it made was too small to even be seen, but true to its name, Gungnir landed true and struck Flandre Scarlet down. The barrier dissipated, and Flandre landed unceremoniously on the ground, unconscious.

Remilia surveyed her surroundings. The mansion was mostly a pile of rubble... the library in the basement might have survived... some things down in storage, perhaps... but to call it a mansion now would be delusional. She saw Mei-ling, Sakuya and Patchouli hurrying out, the latter two still in their pajamas.

"Mistress! What happened? What's going on! You two have to get inside." Sakuya cried out. Once they approached, Remilia replied with what little strength she could muster.

"Yes, we'll go inside now... but there's no way anyone will discount the rumors now."

"What do you mean?" Inquired Patchouli. Mei-Ling explained.

"There have been rumors that monsters lived up here spreading around. The city has been growing closer and closer to the mansion... If anyone was awake, there's no way they could have missed that. And it's nearly dawn, so there are likely dozens if not hundreds of witnesses."

Remilia gave a tired not in agreement. "We have to leave. Patchouli, find some way to get us out of here. I doubt any of the others are alive after that, so just transport we five. If it's our fate to be caught and destroyed here, then we'll change our fate."

"What... happened to Flandre? This wasn't one of your normal bouts."

"I think she just rediscovered that a royal flush only loses to a five of a kind." And with that, Remilia finally lost consciousness, her wounds acquired over the course of six hours finally overcoming her.

Though a mere two days passed, when the nearby city had marshaled a militia to deal without he monsters in the mansion up on the hill, when they arrived, there was nothing. No rubble... no foundation... nothing. When they later brought in some specialists, they too found nothing. It was as though the mansion had never existed at all.

And in a realm far removed, where the language was different, and fantastic things still lived openly, a mansion thought to have been destroyed appeared in full repair. Along with a magician, a rare chinese youkai, a time-stopping maid, a pair of vampires, one graceful and elegant, the other mad, unstable, and incomplete...

And a little ball of weaknesses in a plain black dress, with an odd charm in her blond hair she just couldn't figure out how to get off, hiding in a ball of darkness that blocks even her own sight. Full of restraint, common sense, and concern for her friends, but full, also, of foolishness, weakness and a human-hunting instinct.

Knowing that she could control darkness (And misattributing this power to herself), she decided to use a name that was all about darkness. She may have misspelled it, and confused light for dark... but, well... they say ignorance is bliss.

And Rumia's happy with who she is.

Author's note:

And so ends this tale of one who couldn't live with weakness, not realizing that one's weaknesses are as much a part of what makes them who they are as their strengths. In giving up things she considered weaknesses, she lost her self. She thought herself whole, but with her mind and body so divided, this delusion was but one of many manifestations of her broken psyche.

Enough of that:

So, I tried to write up an origin story for the SDM. Why they came to Gensokyo, why Flandre is stronger than Remilia, but kept on a tight leash. And, amused by the idea of Rumia being Flandre in disguise someone somewhere in the fandom thought up, wrote what you see above. Flandre's psychoses seemed natural with her deliberately making herself incomplete. I hope you enjoyed it... I certainly enjoyed writing it. Ah, what must have been going through Mei-Ling's mind.

Reading this, I'm still not sure I know how to write a proper fight scene. Detailing every swing or shot or whatever might make visualization easier, but it seems too detailed to me. I guess that's why I'm not a fighter.