~Hakurei Shrine~ > Patchouli's Scarlet Library

And What Alice Found There

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Esifex:
Holy shit I just figured it out

Seriously, spoiler tagged for the actual purpose of spoiler tags
Minerva (Mi) Margatroid (ma)

CrowFish:
Well, we won't know for sure. Then again it's always Mima until proven not Mima so it might actually be possible.  :D

Yuuyiced Fairy:
Hm...  I'm actually a little more curious about little "Alice" there.  I can sense some subtle hints passed about there that I missed first reading.

Also I'm curious as if 1884 was chosen for a specific reason.*  I await the answers eagerly.

Edit: In addition to the obvious of course.

KimikoMuffin:
I think it's fairly obvious that she's going to be involved in putting up the Hakurei Border. That's about 120 years before PoFV takes place, isn't it ...?

Yayifications:
Minerva's descent from the steamship in full performance costume had captured the attention of a sizeable number of bystanders. In deference to not making more of a scene than was unavoidable, she had left off the hat.

The officer was the first to recover. "Madam, had I known you possessed such a magnificent bearing and regal dress, I would have been more persistent in requesting your presence at our dinners."

Minerva's smile was worthy of the stage. "Thank you, kind sir. Alas, my choice of dress today is the result of necessity rather than choice; due to certain conditions, I did not have anything more suitable to wear on hand."

To his credit, the officer kept his gaze steadily forward. "If I may escort you, madam? The footing around here may be treacherous. Please, I insist."

He was the perfect gentleman, patiently taking Minerva's pace, until they were both safely on the soil of Yokohama. Minerva returned his bow with a nod of thanks; curtseying was out of the question.

The businessman wore a wide grin of appreciation. "Theatre, eh? Wish I could see it. Are you performing anywhere around here?"

Minerva affected an expression of regret. "I'm afraid I have arrangements elsewhere. Your interest in the performing arts is noted and appreciated, however."

Thankfully, the French couple were nowhere to be seen. Minerva kept her smile through the rest of the polite pleasantries, before excusing herself and gliding slowly towards the closest secluded area, near some crates.

"You can come out now," she murmured.

The little girl had a few false starts, before she managed to make her way out of the large billowing skirts of Minerva's costume. She blinked in the sunlight, gawking at the scenery.

Minerva looked critically at the simple improvised dress the girl wore. "You'll need something more professional made," she said. "Or at least more material to work with. Still, I hardly think you'll attract too much attention." On a whim, she undid the ribbon at her neck, and removed her capelet, placing it around the girl's shoulders instead. "There. Now you look a little more presentable."

The first order of business was to find a hotel to stay in for a few days, while she reoriented herself. The stage costume was also not quite suited for this subtropical climate, and Minerva was looking forward to changing into something more practical at the nearest reputable-looking hotel. This was easy enough to achieve, although the conspiracy to keep Minerva in Japan gained a new wrinkle.

"We speak English, Dutch, and, uh, doitsu... German? German!" the clerk behind the reception counter said proudly, in thickly accented English. He was a fairly young man, clearly enthusiastic about his job, but old enough to have an air of competent experience. He had goggled at Minerva's costume for a moment, before falling back on cheerful professionalism. "May we have your name, please?"

"Minerva Margatroid, and ward." At the clerk's desperately blank look, Minerva appropriated a nearby pad of telegram notepaper, and printed out her name in neat block letters.

"Minerva Margatroid..." the clerk read slowly. "Ah! Miss Margatroid! We have been expecting you."

"Oh?"

"Yes, a Miss Violet Hearn has paid for your accommodations for... five days." The clerk consulted a memo written in Japanese. "With a provision for newspapers, meals, and telegraph services. We have a wide variety of amenities available for the discerning traveller! Please feel free to make use of our services." The clerk began to bow, but hesitated midway. "Ah... is this your first time in Yokohama, Miss Margatroid?"

Minerva kept a firm grip on the little girl's hand, to prevent her from wandering off in boredom. "It is."

"Then please take note of the, um... advisability of staying within the Kannai," the clerk said seriously. "It will not be good if you venture too far without an escort, especially for a woman."

"Kannai?"

"Yes, Kannai."

After she had settled into her room, Minerva returned to the hotel lobby to visit the money-changer, where she converted her remaining currency to the silver-backed yen. The bewildering array of different banknotes made Minerva suspect that she had been cheated outrageously, somehow, but there was no helping it; at least the coinage seemed sound. She left the little girl in the hotel room, with strict instructions to stay there until Minerva returned. The little girl seemed discontent with this arrangement, until Minerva unpacked a few of her puppets for the girl to play with.

Minerva's next purchases were a guidebook to the local area, written specifically for the international community in Japan, as well as a pocket dictionary.

The mysterious Kannai turned out to be the unofficial name of the foreign settlement area of Yokohama, surrounded by a system of canals and waterways that Minerva whimsically interpreted as a moat for a besieged castle. Samurai were not allowed into the area, and foreigners were usually not allowed outside, in order to prevent any further unfortunate misunderstandings that might result in messy deaths and retaliatory naval bombardments. Kannai was, literally, inside the barrier, keeping the foreigners in, and the rest of Japan out.

It was in a thoughtful mood that Minerva returned to her hotel room, laden with the results from her shopping trip into the city. The little girl was seated on the floor, playing with the puppets with far more dexterity and skill than Minerva had ever possessed, making little murmurs of delight as she acted out scenes from the fantasy story in her mind.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" Minerva said cheerfully, as she dumped the armload onto her bed. The girl glanced up at Minerva's arrival, before focusing her interest back on the puppets. "Do come here, when you have a moment."

With obvious reluctance, the girl abandoned the puppets to stand dutifully in front of Minerva. In deference to the girl's impatient fidgeting, Minerva made her measurements as quickly as she could, jotting down notes as she read off the measuring tape. The girl scampered back to the puppets after she was done, to resume the interrupted performance.

The first dress was finished by that evening, since Minerva had the advantage of being able to alter one of her existing blouses for the base white top, adding a skirt and suspenders in blue. A bow at the neck, and a ribbon in her hair, and the little girl looked as perfect an English child as could be. This, Minerva decided, could do for now; a spare set of the same was next, and the more complex designs could be completed at leisure. A pinafore, possibly, or a longer blue dress with a white capelet, as an assistant during Minerva's shows. A hint of red in the ribbon... her shoes would have to be changed often, of course, since she was a growing girl...

A noise of frustration, as the strings of the puppets were tangled up. Minerva hurried over to the girl's side to help. "It's all right, child. These things happen, no matter how careful you are. There's a better way to do it, but..."

But what? If Minerva was going to take care of the girl, shouldn't she start her instruction as soon as she was able?

"Leave that be for now, dear. I have something to show you." It was nothing more than a parlour trick, in Minerva's opinion, but it helped her with her concentration and control. The little doll, worn with age but lovingly kept with care, danced a simple waltz across the bed, as the child's eyes widened in astonishment. "There are still strings controlling the doll, but you can't see them. They're magic strings, and they won't get tangled. It's just one of the things magic can do, if you spend the time to learn. Would you like to?"

Wordlessly, the child nodded.

Minerva released control of the doll, which flopped lifelessly onto the bed. She put her hands on the girl's shoulders, looking her in the eye. "Now, I want you to promise me something, if you want me to teach you. First of all, I want you to do exactly as I tell you. No arguments, no disobedience, and especially no experimenting on your own. The road to magic is not a quick or easy one, and with your talent, the temptations will be that much stronger. I need you to trust me to know what's best, even if you don't agree. Is that clear?"

The girl's face grew solemn, as she considered this. Minerva was fairly certain that most eight-year olds would not have the emotional maturity to fully grasp the implications behind the terms of apprenticeship, which made the girl's thoughfulness both heartening and peculiar. Another mystery to add to the growing pool.

After a long moment, the girl nodded firmly.

"Good. The next lesson... can wait until tomorrow." Minerva watched the girl carefully, and was faintly amused to see the girl try to suppress her clear disappointment. Time would tell whether the girl would be able to keep that promise in mind, but it was a good start. "For now, shall we have some supper?"

-----

On the fourth day, they had a visitor.

Minerva had spent her time divided between teaching the girl the basics of magical theory, continuing her work on her book, and trying to arrange train tickets to Tokyo, in that order of success. The girl had picked up certain aspects gratifyingly swiftly, particularly those involving actual practical uses of arcanology. Pure theory, however, visibly bored her, and while Minerva had been able to coax the girl to recite her lessons aloud, these quickly became exercises in frustration for both teacher and student.

Someone had taught the girl how to read and write in English before, as well as simple arithmetic. Other languages included a rudimentary level of French, German, one of the non-Mandarin Chinese dialects, and Latin; Minerva suspected the first two to be a clue to her past, while the Chinese could have been picked up when the girl was in Shanghai. She seemed to have a hint of something Continental in her speech, although by now it had been corrupted by Minerva's essential Englishness. History and geography were completely unfamiliar to the girl, and Minerva abandoned them for much later, after she had explored the depths of the girl's ignorance. Geometry came naturally, and provided the bulk of their non-magical lessons.

In contrast, all attempts at booking passage to Tokyo were met with bureaucratic incomprehension, and probably a fair amount of linguistic incomprehension as well. Minerva was confident in her Japanese by now, which made the puzzled stares of officials even more infuriating. She had to make a conscious effort not to let her annoyance spill over into her lessons, and the girl bore the occasional lapse with admirable stoicism.

The concierge's message arrived in the middle of a difficult lesson on Latin. Minerva suspected the grammar to be something they would have to work on for a very long time, but due to many mystical tomes being written in that language after the influence of the Church, knowledge of Archaic and Classical Latin was indispensible. With ill-disguised relief, Minerva received the message informing her that a certain Japanese lady was waiting for her at the lobby. Judging from the concierge's reaction, this Japanese lady must be from a noble house, or whatever the local equivalent was.

As Minerva prepared to leave, however, the girl clutched at her skirt, looking questioningly at her.

"Oh, very well," Minerva decided. "It's not as if we're making much progress here."

The woman in the lobby was barely out of her teens, but held herself with a bearing that made her seem far older. She wore a light pink kimono with blue and purple butterfly patterns, and held a bamboo umbrella in one hand. A floral hair accessory decorated her black hair, trimmed in a bob cut, and complementing her pale, almost doll-like complexion.

She rose as Minerva approached, and bowed deeply. The sight of the little girl prompted a noticeable double-take.

"Good afternoon," Minerva said politely in Japanese. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

The visitor looked curiously at Minerva. "Where did you learn your Japanese?" she asked, in near-flawless English. Her voice was soft, but had a quality that would have made it clearly audible in any circumstance. This was a lady who was used to having her orders obeyed, and thus had no need to raise her voice.

"I've taught myself," Minerva said, taken aback by the visitor's forwardness. From what she knew of Japanese culture, this was uncommonly bold.

"I see. You sound like a textbook." The visitor smiled quickly, presumably to cover up her lapse in manners; Minerva was not entirely certain this contrition was genuine. "I am Hieda no Aya, of the Hieda family. We have been... informed of your arrival, Miss Margatroid."

Minerva could sense the pattern as easily as anyone else. "By a certain Violet Hearn?"

Aya blinked in puzzlement. Had that been a faulty guess? "No, I was told by... well, it does not matter, but I certainly suspect the involvement of youkai." The word was unfamiliar to Minerva, and Aya must have caught the confusion on her face. "The term 'youkai' is like your English... demon, or spirit, or monster. And yet not always evil, or associated with theological... never mind. It would take too much time to explain here."

Monsters, Minerva remembered. Saving humans from monsters... "And? What brings you here, Miss... Hieda? Or is it Miss Aya?"

"Just Aya is fine," Aya said. Minerva tried not to imagine an implied "for you stupid and ill-mannered foreigners". "I came as soon as I heard you had arrived in Japan. Luckily, I was on business in Tokyo, and it did not take me long. If it would be all right, I would like to offer myself as a guide and escort to our destination. I understand you have been encountering difficulties in securing transportation outside Yokohama?"

Whoever this Hieda no Aya was, her information network was extensive. "I assume you will be able to assist me in that regard?"

"Undoubtedly. You must understand that foreign elements are treated with... suspicion, here in Japan. No, Miss Margatroid, I said you must understand, and what you have come across so far is nothing compared to what you have yet to see. Hopefully my presence, and the name of my family, will be able to bypass most of that." Aya shook her head. "We are not going to Tokyo. It is not necessary at this stage, as we can travel directly to our destination."

Minerva made a noncommittal grunt. "How long will that take?"

"Two to three days by rail, depending on our luck. From there, another three days in a carriage." Aya looked askance at the little girl hiding behind Minerva's skirt. "I confess I did not expect a child to be present."

Minerva moved protectively to shield the girl. "She won't be any trouble, I assure you. And I'm afraid that if I am to go, she is to accompany me. That is not a negotiable condition, Miss Aya. She is my ward."

Aya inclined her head. "Very well. We shall begin our departure at dawn tomorrow, Miss Margatroid. I will return then. The porters will handle any luggage, for you and your... ward."

"We'll be expecting you." A thought struck Minerva. "One more thing, if I may. Where exactly is this place that is overrun by monsters... by youkai?"

Aya started to give a name, but reconsidered. "The official name given by the government will not be of much help, I'm afraid; this era has not yet settled, politically. It is a valley, surrounded by mountains and forests, haunted by myths and illusions. The locals call it Gensokyo."

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