Chapter Ten

11:00 P.M.

It was an ordinary, chrome-finished thermos. Other than the oddity of a factory-made thermos having found its way into Gensokyo, there was absolutely nothing remarkable about it. Yet, Marisa couldn't take her eyes away from the empty thermos in front of her. Something about it seemed a little off, and it was making her uncomfortable. Why?

Aware of the shuffle of feet around her, Marisa looked around. Rinnosuke's gas lamp illuminated the clutter around her, twisting the piles' shapes into eerie shadows on the wall. Her eyes drifted to various pillows and blankets, and she finally found the source of the shuffling: Rinnosuke, who, unsure of what to do, had gathered them and was attempting to organize them. His attempts were halfhearted, as his attention lied elsewhere. Any of these things should have held her interest more than a thermos, but once again, her eyes laid to rest on the unremarkable container.

Marisa inspected the thermos from every angle, fumbling it unsteadily in her newly-clawed hands. What could possibly be drawing her to it? Her hands quivered too much to keep the thermos steady as she turned it around. Dissatisfied with her wobbly inspection, she gazed around the room again. Her eyes followed the splatters of blood on the floor leading up to Sakuya, and she laid her eyes on the maid. Marisa couldn't help but notice the pain in her movement, the sort of grimace that she thought would only come out once no one was watching. Marisa stared for a while. If Sakuya noticed the staring, she gave no indication, remaining silent as she continued treating her wound. The makeshift bandage she used to wrap her wound was crude, but it would do its job until they arrived at their destination. Marisa caught herself licking her lips, and promptly froze.

"What am I doing?!" thought Marisa wildly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but it did nothing to make her newfound desires go away. She wanted to believe those feelings she experienced only moments ago weren't really hers. She told herself they weren't, they couldn't have been, but deep inside, she knew the truth. And she couldn't just sit there and let them fester. "Well, I've gotta do something." Twelve hours earlier, she would have never dreamed of such a scenario. The entire situation felt so unreal. Her tongue brushed the tip of a fang, and she became self-aware of the strange fullness in her mouth. The canines manifested as one of her earliest symptoms, but only now was she receptive enough to feel the change internally. It seemed everything about her was sharp and vicious, yet another reminder of her new reality. Finally, her newfound visceral side won the battle. Marisa picked up the thermos again and tilted her head back, evaluating if it was really empty. "I really shouldn't be doing this..." she warned herself halfheartedly, as no voice of reason could deter her from her course of action. She waited, and a small trickle dribbled into her mouth. Eyes closed, she rolled the drop of blood around, letting the flavor spread. Any shame she felt moments ago melted away. "Well, it's no use feeling bad about it, I guess. What's done is done, after all…"

A gust of wind shook the house, causing Marisa to open her eyes. The lamp's light flickered, and in the brief moment of darkness, she saw it. Marisa muffled a shriek and smacked the thermos to the ground. Two red, disembodied orbs were staring back at her; her tormentors were her very own inhuman eyes.

In her moment of horror-struck clarity, Marisa knew she needed to take action, and fast. For now, the only reasonable thing to do was to get as far away from Sakuya, that temptation, as possible—at least until her urge for blood died down. If it ever did.

"It's time for us to go. Thank you for allowing us to stay for such a long time." said Sakuya as she finished wrapping up her makeshift bandages.

"Sakuya, you aren't seriously intending to travel with those wounds, are you?" Rinnosuke asked. "Are you sure you don't want to stay longer?"

"We cannot delay this any longer." For a few fleeting moments, emotions danced across Rinnosuke's face - surprise, protest, reluctance. Finally, he shook his head and sighed.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing you're heading to Eientei, then." he said. "Best of luck."

"Thank you. Time to go, Mari—" Sakuya paused, scanning the little shop. Marisa was nowhere to be seen. Small creases formed upon Sakuya's brow as she saw the handle of a broom heading out the door. "Where does she think she's going?" Thunder rumbled from across the lake. A storm was coming.

Remilia covered her mouth and yawned loudly. She and Patchouli had taken turns watching Flandre ever since the incident that afternoon. Now that it was her turn again, Remilia had little to do other than watch Patchouli's conjured storm brewing outside. Her eyes lazily trailed the streaks of water rolling down the window's glass. The storm served as a temporary buffer in case Flandre got out of hand, much like sunlight normally would during the daytime. Even the smallest of measures she could take to try and regain control of the situation could prove invaluable in the long run. As Remilia was fond of quoting, 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.' Speaking of cures...

"You may arrive any moment now, you two…" she whined to no one in particular. "Really now, what could be taking them so long? Evening, I could understand, but nightfall… I wonder if I should send someone to investigate. Although, the only staff I could afford to spare at the moment is Meiling… Come to think of it, she should still be out there. I ought to send her in..." she mused, tracing the cover of the book she had brought to read, but finished an hour ago. Something flickered out of the corner of her eye. Remilia whipped around, only to find… everything was as it had been all evening. Not a speck of dust was out of place. "Augh! And now my eyes are playing tricks on me." Remilia yawned again, then looked again at the immobile form of her little sister. Flandre had barely moved an inch since she had been brought to the table that afternoon, her wings glowing the same dull glow since the moment she arrived. "Oh, Flan, how you worry me, too…" Electricity spells weren't Remilia's area of expertise, but she could tell the emergency electrification spell she had used on Flandre in the tower was one of Patchouli's more… potent spells. It was designed to put down a target reliably, with little regard for the welfare of said target afterward. Still, Flandre had at least earned her fate. More worrying was the fate of Flandre's newest unwilling victim.

"Though, it could be worse. You could have botched the process and simply killed her. Or worse, turned her into a ghoul. All things considered, I suppose this was the best possible outcome. For once this incident catches Yukari's eye..." Remilia's face slowly curled into an unladylike scowl, as she was reminded of the little chat with Yukari that was inevitably coming. Technically, this could be construed as a breech in the contract established between the two of them when the Scarlets had moved to Gensokyo. The act of providing food for the mansion was certainly an inconvenience to Yukari. Whether she would seize the opportunity to throw them out or not was hard to say. Yukari was difficult to figure out. However, even if she didn't plan to cast them away, Yukari would have no small pleasure in watching Remilia jump through hoops to defend herself.

"That damn gap hag… are we all just playthings to her, I wonder?" she grumbled, answering her own question. The residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion most likely provided enough entertainment for Yukari to allow them evade punishment once more. Still, Remilia needed to prepare her position, and every bit of leverage would count.

Remilia pouted toward the window, hoping the incident would resolve itself by morning, and the events of this afternoon could be swept under the rug of time. Unfortunately, she knew that by their very nature, the events of today would have very permanent ramifications for everyone involved.

"Eirin, I hope you know what you're doing. For all our sakes."

AN: Well, that took long enough! Truth is, I've been sitting on this manuscript for a while, but couldn't work up the guts to publish it. Anyone have tips for getting over that? At this rate Eastern Starlight Romance is going to be finished before this is…

But I digress. Thank you for reading! My readers mean a lot to me, and I want you guys to know it! Please, if you find any errors, don't be afraid to point them out.

P.S. Happy Halloween!