Any further comment from either one of them was forestalled by Keine?s sudden reappearance. The were-hakutaku looked back and forth between the two, and noted Sara?s embarrassment.
?What?s wrong? ?wait, I know. You went and accused Patchouli Knowledge of being too nice to you and demanded to know why she was helping you, didn?t you?? she asked. Patchouli blinked.
Sara gaped for a moment, then glanced away sheepishly. ?Yes, ma?am. I?ll refrain from doing that again,? she said. She glanced up at the librarian.
Rather than keep a surprised or confused look on her face, putting Sara?s bluff at risk, she had caught on and smirked in amusement. When she made eye-contact with Sara, she raised one finger and tapped the side of her head.
I can take a hint, and I know how to be subtle. Remember, I?m older than I look. Feel free to come back tomorrow if you wish; I?ll be happy to teach you what I can. Patchouli?s radiant mind seemed to blaze through Sara?s thoughts when she made contact, and the young musician blinked in surprise.
?Well, come along. We can?t stay for too long ? Sakuya is allowed guests, but it?s not recommended to stay after sundown. Plus, I need to return to the village anyways.?
Sara turned on her heel and made a beeline for the doors to the Voile. Marisa and Sakuya were standing in front of it, chatting back and forth. Marisa looked over at Sara?s approach and waved. ?C?mon now, Sakuya said it wouldn?t be a good idea for you to hang around when the Scarlets wake up. I was thinking of staying to visit but I can?t use any spellcards right now, thanks to that Babble card. Let?s get you out of here, ze.?
Sara huffed. ?Keine just said we shouldn?t stay past sundown, too. Perhaps Sakuya would like to tell me??
Sakuya decided to let her nasty tone of voice pass unpunished. ?No, but if you?d like, I will tell you why it?s not a good idea.? A single eyebrow crept upwards.
Sara?s embarrassment bled away instantly. ?Oh? Please, do; I?m curious. Everyone just says ?go away? but they don?t say why.?
Marisa snickered. ?How much ya like your current state o? health, hon?? she asked.
Sara shrugged her injured shoulder, testing her range of motion. It was still a little restricted, and there was only occasionally a twinge of pain. ?Could be better, I guess, but it?s okay for now.?
?Well, if you don?t want it to get any worse, we should go.? Sakuya patted Sara?s back, prodding her towards the door.
As Keine caught up and joined the procession, Sara grunted in confusion. ?Wait, if it?s dangerous, then why do you stay here ? why did you want to visit, Marisa??
?We?ve made ourselves useful to the head of the mansion, ze. Sakuya has abilities that help her maintain the mansion, and I entertain the young mistress. I dunno whose job is more dangerous, though. Ha!? Marisa swept her hand through the air, and her broom jumped into her grip.
Sakuya leaned closer to Sara. ?The mistresses of the mansion ? they?re a pair of vampire sisters. Remilia is the older sister, and Flandre is the younger. Remilia has little patience for humans with no talents ? finds them to be a waste of time. If you can?t make yourself useful, your safety is not guaranteed.?
Marisa called over her shoulder. ?Flandre is the really dangerous one, though. Shorter temper than her sister, and the ability to absolutely destroy anything. You can?t just make yourself useful around her ? you have to be entertaining. It?s like the story, 1001 Arabian Nights, ze. If she gets bored?? Marisa drew her thumb across her neck in a quick slashing motion.
Sara blinked. ?What?s that mean? The thumb thing.?
If surprise had a sound, it would?ve echoed. ?Eh? Uh? it means, you know.? Unhelpfully, Marisa repeated the motion. Keine tapped the back of her head slightly. ?That doesn?t help her, dummy.
?To slash ones? neck, and make them bleed to death. It basically means, ?you?re dead.??
Sara looked back and forth between Keine and Marisa for a moment. ?OH! Oooooh. Okay, I get it now. Back on Kaetir, that doesn?t really do much ? there are people called Clerics who can heal such a wound before it kills, with very little effort. Instead, we do this.? She reached up behind her neck and flicked her forefinger and middle finger into the base of her skull. ?Fastest way to kill someone and keep them dead is to sever their spinal cord. The brain can?t communicate with the body, and the shock of sudden disconnection causes the muscles in the body to tear themselves apart. Even if you could repair the cord, the brain is in too much chaos to recover.?
The mental images she was conjuring in the others, though wildly inaccurate, were alarming. Marisa made a mental note not to turn her back to the musician.
?Aren?t you a musician?? Sakuya asked.
Sara chuckled. ?On Kaetir, you do not stay a virgin for long if you are a pretty girl with a pretty voice. Not unless you can defend yourself, or have someone else to defend you.?
Keine never noticed her draw it out, but suddenly a dagger was balancing on Sara?s fingertip. She recognized it as one of her own cutlery daggers from her house ? not the one from the musician?s harp.
?That?s what Acied is for. I give him music, he protects me.?
Marisa stopped for a second. ?Hang on? what?s ?virgin? mean?? she asked.
The other three girls instantly burst out in laughter at the question. With tears of mirth in her eyes, Sakuya started to prod the group out through the mansion. ?Ah, Marisa. Never before have you given so much entertainment in just a few hours.?
?Perhaps Marisa should visit the village more often,? Keine suggested when they finally left the front of the mansion. Sakuya nodded, still smiling. ?Perhaps. Before you go, however ? Meiling!? she called out.
The door-guard from before came bounding over the wall, and strode to the group. ?Yes, Miss Sakuya??
?Keine and Sara are to be treated as guests. If they come to the mansion, notify me.?
Marisa sighed. ?And not me??
Meiling and Sakuya both pinned her with a glare. In unison, with Marisa, they said, ?Not until you return Patchouli?s books.?
?Right, right. I get it. But, y?know, she?s gonna be living for a long time more than me ? she can come and get her books when I die, ya know.?
Meiling stared her down. ?Not if you succeed, of course.? Marisa froze for an instant.
?Well then in that case I suppose I?ll have a change of heart and return them myself, ze.?
Keine took Sara?s hand. ?Best if we step aside and let them work this out on their own. No reason we should get involved.?
Rather than asking questions about something that obviously made Keine uncomfortable, she instead asked about Meiling. ?So, why is she here? I?m sure she?s not a Cleric from Kaetir, but she?s dressed like one.?
?Hong Meiling is the gate guard of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It?s more of an obligatory post than a necessary one; Remilia felt that such a regal mansion requires a guard, even if everyone who?s halfway a threat can fly in Gensokyo. Ergo, Meiling is less the guard of the gate than the guard of the entire mansion. She tracks down anyone who gets within the grounds and tests them; if they?re too easy to defeat, she repels them and ejects them from the mansion. If they?re stronger ? like Marisa, here ? she lets them pass so as to help Remilia keep from dulling her skills. As of lately, though, Marisa seems to just be harassing Patchouli instead of visiting Remilia. From what I gather, though, she DOES seem to visit the Scarlets still ? just not as much as she does the Voile.?
A few paces away, Meiling seemed to have had enough of Marisa?s backtalk, and settled into a combat stance.
?Oh?? asked Marisa. Meiling lashed out with a swift punch, which Marisa barely dodged by tilting her head aside.
Keine muttered under her breath. ?Dammit. I get it now ? she provoked Meiling, and now she?s going to let Meiling hit her hard enough to dispel Tower of Babel.?
Sara grinned. ?That?s fine ? I?ve learned enough today, and it?s not like I can?t just talk directly into your mind.?
?About that ? a few of the villagers have raised concerns about your telepathy.? Sara?s bright mood dimmed.
?Oh, no. What?s wrong?? she asked.
?They?re afraid you?re going to control them.?
Sara blinked in surprise. ?Wait, control them? I can?t do that. All I can do is pick up on thoughts and intentions. Control is based in the subconscious mind, the part of the brain that determines what they need. The most I could possibly do is make someone seriously consider wanting something, and even then, it?d have to be something they already want. On top of that, too ? they?d know a long time coming that it was I doing it, because my mental broadcast sounds like I do verbally.?
?That makes no sense ? the last part, sounding like you,? Keine said.
?Body is a plaything of the mind. How I perceive myself is how I am, mentally. Is fairly hard to comprehend/understand, but ibeyn cuorsal etenent zebyi.?
Keine blinked, then looked over at Marisa. Sure enough, she was sprawled out on the ground, Meiling?s fist outstretched over her.
?I missed that last part, Sara ? Marisa lost the Tower of Babel effect. One second?
?Sakuya ? we?re going now. I?ll see you in the village sometime later, okay??
The maid nodded, and then promptly vanished, leaving Marisa and Meiling to work out their differences.
Keine turned and guided Sara away from the Mansion, and out the gate. ?We?ll discuss this more, later. Until then, don?t worry about the villagers ? I reckon you?ll be more interested in coming to the library than wandering the streets, so they won?t see you enough to fear you. I?ll speak with them while you?re gone tomorrow and explain what I?ve learned about you.?
Sara nodded. Of course. Let?s go see if Acied went crazy while we were gone, he?s not the type to sit on his hands.
Sure enough, Acied was in the seat she?d left him in that morning, but rather than looking like he had spent the day moping about, mourning the loss of the harp, he seemed? tan.
?Ah. Hallo, Keine, Sara. Howa was yoor day?? he said, grinning slightly and waving lazily at them.
Keine stopped short. The English was broken, but more than he?d been able to string together in the past few days. ?Pretty good, actually. How was yours?? she replied.
?Spent day in the feeldz agayn, got work done.?
Sara clapped enthusiastically for a moment, then jumped into Acied?s lap and hugged him. ?Nettir ban dyeloo, Acied. Ataiell hii yatta!? She shuffled herself down onto the cushion next to Acied, sharing the chair with him, and they began to talk back and forth in their own language. Bits and pieces of it made sense to Keine, but not enough to comprehend their entire conversation. From what she could make out, though, she knew they were just exchanging notes on their day. When Sara produced one of the Gifts of Language spellcards, both of their faces lit up.
They?d be fine where they were, she knew. Time to go check in with the rest of the village elders.
The next day found Acied in a much brighter mood. When Sara had told him that he would easily be able to use spellcards, at the least, he wasn?t so worried about not being able to use the danmaku magic. He?d still be able to use some kind of magic, even if it wasn?t his own ? and he?d never stopped to think about how much he was addicted to magic, how he feared to be rendered mundane.
Barely able to sleep the night before because of the exciting news Sara brought with her, he woke early and prepared Keine?s tea for her before she woke up.
When Keine shuffled into the kitchen, still half-asleep, and found him sitting there with a pair of steaming mugs in front of him, she didn?t acknowledge that anything was out of the ordinary until she sat down and took a long draw from her mug and suddenly realized that she wasn?t the one who?d steeped it.
?Oh. Good mornin?, Acied.? She was mumbling, and knew it was bad manners, but she was too sleepy to care.
Acied grinned and nodded, then tried his luck at speaking English again. ?Today, not in feeldz. Going mit Sara, to Voile, okay? Tell Gregory, please-und-thank-you??
Gregory was the man who organized the farmhands. Keine nodded. ?Sure thing. I?ll let him know you?re taking the day for yourself.?
She assumed ? correctly ? that he was teaching himself English by immersion, so she wasn?t afraid to dump a lot of words on him that he might not know yet. Also, she was too sleepy to care.
They finished their tea in silence, Acied grinning slightly the entire time. Sara woke up halfway through their mugs, and shuffled her way out to the kitchen as well. Acied rose and prepared another mug for her, and while he was busy, Keine wandered back to her room to dress herself properly. Let the two of them share their enthusiasm and excitement with each other ? she was too sleepy to care.
Keine was not a morning person.
Sara was playing with the spellcard on the table when Keine left for her morning duties, leaving Acied to clean the kitchen. He went about this task with equal enthusiasm as he did when they were discussing the magic found in Gensokyo, which they did while he worked.
Sara only devoted half her attention to the conversation they were having ? most of it was just a repeat from what they?d said last night; the excitement was having a slightly stupefying effect on Acied.
She was worried. If she was honest with herself, she knew it was because she was so deeply in love with Acied, but she was afraid that with the spellcards, he wouldn?t need her anymore. Never had they actually confessed their love for each other, but the devotion and risks they shared for each other spoke volumes. She?d always assumed it to just be an unstated truth, something that could be so blatantly obvious.
Now she was having doubts. Every incident that she could think back on, she could always see his protectiveness over her as him guarding his assets; she was his music, what he needed to use his magic. Without her, he?d be unable to use his magic ? until he got someone else to play music for him. Even now, he could sing to himself (tone-deaf as he was) and be able to shape-shift, but only into humanoid forms ? so even without her, he would still be okay. She just made everything easier for him. Did he just keep her around out of convenience? Was she just a tool with a heartbeat?
?Oh, I?m gonna love this. I?ve got to find out how to make these spellcards. Ah, this place is awesome. No conditions for magic, just a card.?
She felt a massive weight settle into her stomach. He didn?t want to have to hear music for his magic anymore.
?Maybe we can conjure things ? make a magical harp to replace the broken one. Maybe even a set of wings for you to be able to fly around on your own, instead of needing me to carry you.?
The weight started rolling around. How was she supposed to interpret that last one? Was he tired of being her riding mount? Did he want her to fly alongside him while singing for him? At least, he was interested in getting her a new harp ? but he needed the harp more than her. Before they?d met, she only played music as a hobby.
?And to think! Now you can use magic, too ? we could fight, side by side. If we can learn this danmaku stuff, we could help Keine protect the village. Pay her back, you know??
She blinked; she hadn?t thought of that. And, paying Keine back at the same time ? win, win.
?Maybe I can actually learn to fly on my own ? wouldn?t need to be carried, or use a set of wings. Oh! I watched Patchouli make the spellcards. It looked kinda hard, but maybe it was because she was making a bunch of them at once. I dunno if we can make our own, but maybe she?ll make some for us. I don?t really know thaaaaaat much about them.? She drew the word out to cover her discomfort; she was talking rapidly ? dead giveaway that she was nervous and thinking too much.
Acied didn?t notice. He flipped the mugs they?d been using over to let them dry out, then turned around and leaned against the table they were using. ?Well, as you can probably guess, I?ve been ready and rearin? to go for a while. I?ll give you a hand getting everything together if you want,? he said. Sara drew back in surprise.
?No! Pervert,? she said.
Acied looked wounded, but didn?t say anything.
Oops, she thought to herself. She shook her head and blinked her eyes back into focus, then waved her hand to dismiss the accusation. ?Never mind. Hah. I?ll be ready in a minute. Get some stuff together to protect us on the way ? there?s a good distance to go, and there isn?t much of a path. Animals like to wander.?
Acied wandered off to head outside and look for something to cover themselves with. Sara meandered in the small guest room they were being allowed to use, fidgeting slightly.
By the Gods, she was getting herself worked up by thinking too much. She needed to just up and ask him, instead of worry about it.
She changed out of her pajamas and into a simple sundress that Keine had dug up for her. Well, then ? she?d put herself in the right situation then, and blindside Acied. Catch him off guard; find out what he really thought. She didn?t want to dig through his mind to find out. Not only was it an invasion of his privacy, but also she was afraid of what she?d find, and on top of all that ? he?d know what she was doing. Kaetin Magi could always tell when someone was toying around in their mind, unless it was a powerful and talented telepath, which she wasn?t.
She found him outside, spinning a wooden staff around his wrist. He wasn?t the most graceful with it, but he was able to keep it moving consistently. When he heard her, he stopped and dropped one end into the ground. He looked over his shoulder at her, grinning. ?Guess this?ll work.
?Aw, you know? the pajamas were pretty cute. This place ? Gensokyo or whatever ? seems to have a very strange dress code. Did you see some of the people wandering around the village??
Sara blanched. Dammit, nothing was going right. Oh, well ? persistence would win out in the end. She?d make sure of it.
* * *
The trip was almost entirely uneventful. The most exciting part about it was when Acied kept twirling the staff, tripped, and cracked himself in the head with the whirling staff.
Otherwise, nothing else happened ? the staff was unneeded, apparently.
When they arrived at the Mansion, Hong Meiling was standing in front of the gate, going through some qi gong stretches. When she spotted them, she finished a wide stretch of her arms, then straightened out with a long exhale.
?Ni hao. E shiu yon de keno, Patchouli ui Sakuya?? she asked. Acied blinked.
We?re looking for Patchouli, yes. Is Sakuya around, too? Sara broadcast.
?Sakuya sleeps at odd intervals. Right now, she?s asleep ? understand, she can stop time, and she does this to clean the mansion. She stays awake for several hours in the span of a second for us. In the meantime I?m going to escort you to the Voile.?
Sara pondered that. She almost forgot to translate to Acied, until he prodded her.
That?s right. He needs her to translate everything ? at least, until he gets a hold of the Gift of Language spellcards.
Sara wanted to cry.
She did an excellent job hiding it, though. Rather than cringing, wandering the library, or outright sobbing, she just watched Patchouli and Acied.
It was almost as though they had both forgotten she?d existed. All the books, the floating magic items, Koakuma, and most importantly, Patchouli herself, fascinated Acied.
The librarian was giving him the same level of attention. She floated slightly off the ground, and drifted around Acied, inspecting him up and down.
Sara got the impression that she was appraising him in the same manner a butcher did a cow ? or, more worrisome, a royal noble inspecting a suitor.
Koakuma did the honors of using a Gift of Language card, allowing Patchouli to use spellcards during the lessons.
?I want to see your magic. Let me prepare a lens, first, though,? she said.
Acied turned from a floating book to address her. ?Well, first though, I need some music. For that, I rely on Sara here.?
Sara perked up, and reached for her harp. Of course, she found nothing. Her mood dimmed immediately, wondering if perhaps Patchouli was musically talented. Everything seemed to be going wrong for her now, as though Acied?s sour mood from the loss of the harp had finally caught up with her.
Patchouli glanced over at Sara. ?You can play an instrument??
Sara nodded. ?That was originally why we came here yesterday, remember? To see if we could find anything about repairing a harp.?
Patchouli gestured at her podium, and a blank spellcard floated up off it. Sara picked up a thought from Acied ? It?s like she?s a telekinetic.
Great, one more thing Patchouli had that Sara didn?t. Her mood sank even more, and she suddenly found it hard to keep it from showing. Not that anyone was looking directly at her, anyways.
Patchouli grasped the card when it floated close enough to her, and a quill came floating through the air in its wake. She scratched something onto the spellcard quickly, and then turned to Sara.
?Here. I?m going to teach you how to make a spellcard, now.? She held the card and quill out to the young musician.
Sara wiped the almost-scowl off her face immediately, and stared at the card for a moment before taking it. ?Ah. Uh. Thank you? What do I do??
?Etch whatever you think of as a symbol for music onto the card. Think of your harp, think of the music, and think of what you feel as you play music. The card needs to tap into your soul to be formed for you, not just by you. Sure, people other than who made them can use the spellcards ? Refined Mental Arts is proof of that, and you using Marisa?s Master Spark card. But the person who makes the card will always be best able to use its full potential. For that, you should make each card on your own. It?ll become easier later on.?
Sara paused for a moment and thought. Back on Kaetir, she?d taught herself music ? she always had an ear for it, and when she picked up musicians playing music through her telepathy, she always loved the way their minds felt and sounded. There was just something pleasing about it, and she wanted it for herself. She went to her guardians and asked for an instrument, but was never able to get one. Instead, she ran away when she turned eleven and essentially squired herself to a noble?s musician. After a year and a half of indentured servitude, she was able to get an old, discarded harp and taught herself how to play. Half a year after that, she played for her master to show her talent. When he realized he?d gotten such a find from an orphaned young girl, he immediately arranged to have her formally taught and began to pay her when she played with him.
Unfortunately, the noble he played for wasn?t as noble as his title would?ve led you to believe. If her teacher hadn?t of had as sharp an ear as she did, Sara probably wouldn?t?ve lived past her fifteenth birthday. After being banished from the church they played at, her master returned back to his home continent and couldn?t afford to bring her with him. Instead, he arranged to have her informally adopted by Acied?s parents.
Music had always guided her life ? she was inspired by it, she loved to listen to it, and she loved to play it. There was the one rough point in her life where it nearly cost her her virginity, her sanity, and her life. Other than that near miss, music was nothing but a source of happiness for her.
With her spirits uplifted now as she really put thought to what she loved about music, she took the quill to the spellcard and etched one of the few things about music that she knew how to write ? an eighth note. It was a bit squiggly, but otherwise unmistakable for a symbol of music.
Patchouli stepped back and pointed a single finger at the card in her hands. A small ball of light formed a centimeter in front of her fingertip, which then burst towards the card.
Sara didn?t have time to be surprised; once she had reacted, the work was already done. Rather than being a plain rectangular bit of parchment with a glyph on the back and an eighth note on the front, it suddenly became a stiff card with a stylized border surrounding the note.
In her surprise, she almost dropped it, but kept hold of it by sheer luck. She brought her other hand up and clutched it defensively, studying it in her hands.
My first spellcard! she thought. Acied echoed the thought aloud; ?Your first card. Congratulations!?
Patchouli strode over. ?This time I gave you the necessary burst of magic to imbue into it ? otherwise, the rest was done by you. It seems simple, but you can easily botch the process. Acied here will be completely unable to make a spellcard without outside help ? men find it nearly impossible to craft or create spellcards.?
Sara and Acied exchanged glances at this new bit of info. Acied simply shrugged, and Sara relaxed inwardly. He wouldn?t hold it against her ? that was good.
?I suppose I could just get you to help me, then,? he said. Sara beamed.
Then, she stopped and considered his statement. Abruptly it felt like reality shattered around her.
Acied had said that to Patchouli.
?First I will want to study your shape-shifting before I will even consider that. Sara, if you would please play something for him?? Patchouli said.
It was a moment before she came back to an unshattered reality and realized she was being asked to perform. ?Ah, but ? I just have this card, not an instrument.?
The librarian nodded towards the card. ?Precisely. Try using the card.?
She looked down at it, and noticed runes had appeared under the picture of the eighth note ? which, she also noted, had changed into a proper eighth note, instead of the one she scribbled. ?Ah??
Koakuma pointed over her shoulder. ?It says ?Troubadour?s Blessing?,? she said.
Her sudden appearance, her finger creeping into Sara?s field of vision, and her accent all combined to nearly scare Sara out of her skin.
?Waugh!? She flailed wildly, and her elbow clipped Koakuma in the face. With a yelp, she fluttered away into the air, floating though not flapping her wings. ?Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry!? she said, clutching her nose.
Sara realized she?d just hit her in the face, and looked up at her. ?Ohmygod! I?m sorry!?
It took them each apologizing to each other another three times before they realized they were even. In the meantime, Acied grinned widely at Sara?s confusion, and walked over to her.
?Calm down, hon. Everyone makes mistakes, yeah?? he said as he ruffled her hair.
Sara literally felt herself on the verge of tears now. Nothing was going right for her ? sure, she?d made a spellcard, but she couldn?t even read the damn thing. And when someone told her what it said, she punched them in the face!
She fell against Acied and grabbed him into a hug.
?Whoa. Oooookay. What?s this for?? he asked, patting her back lightly.
She mumbled into his tunic. ?Nuff?n.? She broke free of him and shook her head. ?Thank you, Koakuma. I didn?t mean to hit you.
?Well, I suppose I should go ahead and use this, then??
She stepped further away from Acied and brandished the card like she?d seen Marisa do.
?Troubadour?s Blessing!? The card burst apart in a flash of light, and suddenly three motes of light dropped into existence around Sara and hovered at shoulder-height.
?Those are familiars. Whatever you think you may need them to do, you should be able to command them to do. Touch one.? Patchouli gestured at the one directly in front of Sara.
She reached out and brushed her fingers against it. There was no resistance, but she felt warmth. Oh, this is neat.
She felt like she should close her hand, so she did. Rather than clenching into a fist, though, she found herself gripping something. The light from the familiar faded, and in its place she saw that she was now holding a harp.
Surprised by this as well, she really did open her hand and jump back. Strangely, though, the harp remained floating in midair.
Recollecting herself, she reached out again and plucked at the strings. The harp remained stationary, giving her the resistance she needed to play it. It sounded perfect, already in tune. Indeed, there were no tuning pegs.
Intrigued, she stepped up to it properly and began to play it earnestly.
Oh, by the Gods, how she missed music already.