This is just a filler arc
.Intermission, Part one. -----
It was a dark and stormy afternoon. Rain came down from the heavens in a torrential fashion, and the wind lashed at all who dared venture outside on this dark day. And indeed, there was a somber mood to the day, and all who suddenly found they could not bear being alone in their damp houses drove themselves out through the weather, and though they were soaked through to the bone, they struggled through the howling wind and biting rain, to find their way to a friend's house so as to not spend the night alone.
Sensing this, the woman in red drew her brown traveling cloak firmly over her shoulders and reached out to touch her younger companion.
Even though the younger woman was also being tossed to and fro by the storm, and her blonde hair was escaping from her hood and whipping her in the eyes, she still turned and smiled at her friend.
?Don't worry,? she said, shouting to be heard over the screaming wind. ?I'll be right here with you.?
The woman in red smiled.
?Hey, look, ze!? The shorter, blonde woman exclaimed, turning foward. ?Do you see anything??
It was difficult to see, through the wind and the rain. All she could see was rain and darkness. All she could hear was thunder rumbling in the hills-- not even her own heartbeat. And all she could feel was cold, wet, and exhaustion.
Still, she pulled her loosening hood back over her head and wiped her face clean of water and hair. She raised her hand over her face to keep the rain out of her eyes and stared at where her friend was pointing--
?Chiyuri! I think we've made it!?
?There, do you see it?!? Chiyuri replied, sounding excited for the first time in hours. ?We've made it, Yumemi, we've made it, ze!?
?Excellent!? Yumemi laughed and offered her hand to Chiyuri, who was starting to lag behind her. ?Come on, I'll pull you up.?
And so the two travelers climbed up the rocky path to their destination. Now that it was closer, Yumemi could see it more clearly. It was a magnificent castle, situated in the forbidding hills of Northern Makai, and Yumemi and Chiyuri's destination.
?Why are we going here again, ze?? Chiyuri asked when they were both but a few meters from reaching the top of the rocky path.
Yumemi considered her options and decided it would be best to tell the flat-out truth. ?I have no idea. I have come here not to sate my curiousity but following some strange compulsion that has made me come here.?
Chiyuri stared upwards at Yumemi for a few moments.
Yumemi turned and looked down at her.
?Is there something wrong with that??
?Not really, no,? Chiyuri said, breaking out into a smile. ?A strange compulsion is a good enough reason to do anythin', anyway, ze.?
?Heh,? Yumemi said, pulling her younger friend up and over the last rock, her brown cape fluttering out behind her. They ran right up to the doors, grateful for the short canopy jutting out over the door that covered them from most of the driving rain. Chiyuri took off her hood; Yumemi hesitated and then did the same.
Now the professor and her assistant turned and looked at the forbidding black doors of Tsukuyomi Castle, studded with black nails and worn down by time and weather. Yumemi noted, though, that despite their worn look, they did not bear the rust characteristic of ancient, rotting homes-- meaning that this castle, a relic of a past time, was not uninhabited.
?Hey, Yumemi... is it just me, or is there no knocker, ze??
Yumemi frowned, then reached up and ran her hands all over the burnished black steel. ?You're right,? she said quietly. ?There's no bell, no knocker, nothing.?
?No windows to break in through, either,? Chiyuri observed, flipping her hood back on for a few moments to peer around and look for anything, a window, a hole in the wall, even an arrow slit through which they might call for someone to open the door.
?We're guests, Chiyuri. We don't break into a person's home the first time around, anyway,? Yumemi chastised, her voice trailing off as she stared up at the forbidding doors. Somehow she doubted that knocking would have much of an effect, but neither would her voice carry through.
Yumemi stood there for a long while, waiting. Slowly she began to sink into a mild daze, for the howl of the wind had long since become mere background noise to her. Fears and doubts rose up from the pit of her stomach and tickled her heart, freezing it where they touched. Why had she come here? Following a compulsion? She was all too willing to be honest about it, because as a law she could not lie; when called upon to prove her theory of magic power, back then, she had taken the unthinkable step of making her way to Gensokyo to prove it right, that she had not been lying. And she was not lying to herself now. Why was she here? Why had she not needed a map or a guide over the hills of northern Makai? Why had it felt as if her heart was literally pulling her along, tugging it forwards into the darkness? Why had she come here, of all places? What was waiting for her here? And why did she feel as if something dangerous, if not outright sinister, was about to happen...?
As Yumemi was lost in thought, a noise out of the ordinary startled her out of it. Footsteps. From within the castle. Approaching the door. She looked down, and from saw the small gap between the floor and the bottom of the door that someone was approaching with a light. The sound of swiftly undone chains and enormous bolts being pushed back, and then the sound of a key being turned, and the hinges creaking--
And then the door swung open into the castle, revealing the person who had opened the door.
It was a young blue-haired girl in a maid uniform, holding out an enormous umbrella to cover them in her right hand and in her left hand a lamp with various candlesticks on it, lighting up the entire scene with a flickering, wavering light. Still, the young woman looked pleasant enough, and greeted the two tired travelers with a smile.
?Welcome to Tsukuyomi Castle, visitors. Enter freely and of your own will!?
-----
Yumemi and Chiyuri stared for a moment, and then--
?Why did you just steal that line from Dracula, ze?? Chiyuri asked bluntly.
Yumemi groaned and hit her face with her hand. ?Uh, sorry, Chiyuri here needs more discipline--?
For her part, the blue-haired young woman looked delighted. ?You-- you actually got that reference!?
?Yeah, I did read some classical literature from time to time,? Chiyuri admitted, sheepish. ?I only read Dracula 'cause I managed to get a copy of it in my native, ze.?
?I read it because I wanna become better at scaring people~? the blue-haired girl said, laughing. ?Well, anyway, please come in!?
?Thank you,? Yumemi said, walking in through the door past the girl and stepping over the threshold, at which point she was suddenly yanked in by the girl and sent almost sprawling onto the carpet floor, coat and all.
?He-- what was THAT for?!? Yumemi demanded.
?Uh... the book said that as soon as my human visitor walked in that I had to move impulsively towards them and take their hand.?
?Take their hand meant to give them a handshake!? Yumemi retorted, standing up and angrily brushing herself off. ?Look, just-- let the Dracula alone for a while, okay??
?But... I want to surprise you!? the young girl said, closing the door behind a very amused Chiyuri.
?I don't need surprising!? Yumemi protested, waving her hands after handing her coat to her assistant to hang up on the coat rack.
?Well, if you insist,? the girl said, looking thoroughly dejected.
?...? Yumemi winced and looked at Chiyuri, mouthing ?what do I do?? Chiyuri shrugged and made various hand motions to mean ?I don't know!?
On a whim, Yumemi decided to put her hand on the girl's head. Maid uniform and freakish oversized purple umbrella or not, she was still a little girl, and she had hurt her feelings. She ruffled the girl's hair a bit.
?Hey, I'm sorry, okay?? Yumemi whispered in the girl's ear, kneeling down to see at eye-level with her. ?I didn't mean it that way. Sure you can surprise me, it's just that... right now I'm tired, okay? Maybe later.?
?Okay!? the girl said, raising her head. She looked up from beneath her turquoise blue hair, her different-coloured eyes bright. She hadn't been crying at all.
?Hey,? Yumemi said, ruffling the girl's hair again. ?You little sneak, you weren't crying at all!?
The girl giggled and tried to wriggle out of her grasp.
?Ahem,? Chiyuri coughed. ?Yumemi.?
?Ahaha... yes?? Yumemi turned. ?Jealous, Chiyuri??
?Of course not, ze,? Chiyuri scowled, her tone betraying her true feelings. ?Hmph. Anyway. Look.? She pointed up at the coat rack, where she had hung their coats. So two coats there were brown and sopping wet, but--
?... there are seriously a ton of coats,? Yumemi realized. The coat rack covered half the stone wall, but even then, almost all of the hooks were filled up. Some of these coats were normal. There was a red jacket, a few worn traveling cloaks, one outrageously designed bright purple coat with what looked like mink on the ruffled collar, and other coats ranging in weirdness and colour. There was one that looked shimmering and bright, another one that was patterned with sunflowers and clocks, one with moons and constellations, and next to it, a black leather bomber jacket with a huge phoenix emblazoned on the back. And a simple small red jacket for a young woman, but with two odd slits in the back. And a blue-and-pink coat with huge sleeves that looked reminiscent of butterfly wings, and--
?I don't live here, so I can't do much else than answer the door,? the girl was saying to Chiyuri. ?I came with my master Yuka Kazami, and she put me to work as a maid for her friends who own this mansion.?
?Who owns this mansion?? Yumemi asked abruptly, turning from the mystifying selection of coats. ?I would like to meet her.?
?That's my next task,? the girl said, giving a slight curtsy. ?Are you presentable??
Chiyuri turned to Yumemi and reached up, straightening Yumemi's bow tie and then walking behind her and pulling on her cape to straighten it out. ?You're good. How about me??
?You look good in that sailor fuku,? Yumemi smirked, pulling on Chiyuri's bandanna and straightening out her collar.
?Ze,? Chiyuri frowned. ?If only my shorts hadn't gotten shrunk in the laundry, ze.?
?'s fine,? Yumemi reassured her. ?You look cute in a skirt.?
?If you insist, ze.? It was clear that Chiyuri didn't agree.
?I think you two look fine,? the girl said, a charming grin on her face. ?Well, shall we??
?Sure,? Yumemi replied, and the two women followed after their young guide.
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