[x] Leave Paris. Ideally, leave France. Really ideally, return home.
You inspect the wrappings on your hand. "That was actually pretty skilled of you, Flandre," you say. "How did you learn to dress wounds like that?" Behind you, the vampire sits on a crate.
After you escaped, the two of you found an abandoned building. As it turns out, Flandre had quite a bit of cash in her old clothes, presumably acquired from Remilia at some point. She used the money to buy some medical supplies, and under your careful guidance, cleaned your hand and bandaged it for you. She made it a bit tight, but as you lift your hand and flex it a bit, you don't mind. It'll hold, at least.
Either way, it's not like you can use it for combat. A few simple spellcasts perhaps, but for now you're going to have to use Hakurouken with your right hand instead. That said, you plan on avoiding combat as much as possible.
"Miss Sakuya taught me," Flandre says, crossing her legs. She leans back. "One day I was playing with Miss Meiling, and I... I accidentally hit Sis," she giggles. "She was so mad at me! I spilled her tea and everything. She, ah, was bleeding, I remember. I cut her up pretty bad. So, Miss Sakuya says that, if I take care of Sis's injury, she'd forgive me."
"Did she?"
"Honestly, I have no idea," Flandre shrugs. "After I fixed up her injury, Sis sent me back to the basement for a while..." she looks down. "You know, when I think about it, I think it was staged; Sis could have easily regenerated that. I think she wanted to get closer to me, at the time."
"I thought you and Remilia were close," you say, looking at your hand and trying to flex it again; you figured that by now your own regeneration from taking in Flandre's blood would have kicked in; perhaps you used up the latent power within it during your previous regeneration and the following fight - at least, assuming that's possible for magic in blood to run dry.
You look back at Flandre and make a conscious effort to not think about her blood. Ever since you rescued her, it's been on your mind constantly, and its taken everything you had, combined with the pain of attemping to move with cracked ribs, to stop from jumping her.
You shake your head. "Flandre, can you do me a favor and go... uh, over there?" you wave your hand toward the opposite end of the room. She complies without a word.
"You have my blood, right?" she asks. You nod; you realize you hadn't told her yet. "It's fine, I understand; I had a suspicion."
"Oh?"
"Your eyes are red," she tells you, sitting down on the floor against the wall. She curls her knees up. "Only the blood of a Scarlet can do that to someone. Most vampires keep the same color, or lose color entirely," she lays her chin on her knees and stares at you. "...Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," you say, standing up and walking up to a window. You look out onto the street; now that it's nighttime, there are less people about, but because of the possibility of increased vampire presence, you've decided to stick out the night in this building.
"Why are you doing this?"
"..." You look back at the vampiress and step away from the window. She suddenly looks uncertain. It's been a fairly common occurance today; Flandre's been going back and forth between talkative and quiet. You figure her mind is wrestling with itself in an attempt to make sense of everything that happens. "I don't follow, Flandre," you say slowly.
"I... well," she closes her eyes. "I think I can understand why you rescued me, but... why are you keeping me? Do you think I'd go back to Remilia? Or are you afraid I'm going to kill you, so you keep me close?"
"...neither," you answer.
"I would go back to Sis," Flandre tells you. "Actually, there's nothing really stopping me from leaving you here and going to her," she opens her eyes; they seem to glow in the darkness. "I'm loyal to her, you know" she's taken care of me all this time, and I've protected her from things that could kill her," she smirks. "Having the power to destroy anything is a pretty handy defensive mechanism."
"...and a good offensive one," you say. You slide down the wall and wince as you sit on the floor. You set Hakurouken down next to you.
"Yes... it is," Flandre nods. "And I did get... used... as a weapon sometimes. Usually when Sis's plans fall apart, she calls on me to just kill everyone. It's why she brought me along this time; it's worked before."
"Your past dealings?"
"Yes," Flandre confirms. She holds out her palm, then clenches her fist. "When Sis was finally done with the Camarilla some two-hundred years ago, we - no, I - carved a path through their numbers. This was before Patchy and Meiling came to the Mansion; back then, it was just us there. We didn't have maids yet," she chuckles. "On quiet days, we'd spend time cleaning the Mansion; well, Remilia would. She would lock me in the basement."
"It must have been awful."
"It's all I knew... and it's all I still know," she lowers her hand and grabs her hat, pulling it off and setting it on the dusty floor. "I'm not... loyal to her because she treated me kindly, you know. She's... she's my family. I love her, Youmu. I'd do anything for her. I
have done anything for her," she sighs. "I've let her keep me in the basement out of love," she shakes her head. "But... that doesn't answer my question. Why are you keeping me?"
"I..." you pause. "I guess... I guess I want to keep you safe. After what I... what we... experienced, I just don't want to see you hurt again. I mean, even if you didn't have Myon within you, I'd still want to protect you. Besides, we both want to go home, right?"
Flandre giggles, and you smile; it's the first time she's laughed today. "Yeah... think we'll make it?"
"I think so," you nod. "The way I see it, getting out of this place is our best bet. I'd like to contact Miss Yakumo, but I don't think the Outside has enough spiritual power for me to outright contact her; last time I tried, I managed to get ahold of Miss Byakuren-"
You both hear the sound. A little scuffle outside the door. The two of you stand up and walk to either side of the door; you silently draw the silver dagger while you motion for Flandre to hide; you don't want to put her in a fight situation yet, not in her mental state. She gets behind a cardboard box.
The door opens slowly, its hinges creaking at the movement. A hooded figure walks in, holding in front of them a strange object. Slowly, they turn to face you.
You act before they can, shoulder rushing them to the ground and raising your dagger high. The smaller person rolls and stands up, ripping their hood off.
"Wait, don't!" she shouts. "Miss Konpaku, it's me!"
You take note of the mouse ears, gray hair, and what you now can tell are dowsing rods. "...Nazrin?"
"Yeah,
Nazrin," replies the mouse, putting away her signature equipment. "Jeez, do you really jump everyone you come across?"
"Sorry, but things have been hectic here," you apologize. "How did you find me? I thought you couldn't find people with your powers."
"We didn't do that," you hear a voice behind you and turn around to see Reisen walking in with a similar hooded jacket. "Instead, we used the rods to find your swords. Almost ran into Remilia doing that."
"Literally," Nazrin chuckles. "She keeps half of your Roukanken with her at all times. We overheard her calling it a trophy-"
"Gods, what happened to you?!" Reisen finally takes note of your slumped posture and wounded hand. She touches your hand gingerly and lifts it up. "You've been in one hell of a fight! And why are your eyes red?"
"It's a... long story," you answer. You walk by the mouse and rabbit and behind the box. Flandre sits there, looking bored. You take her hand and pull her up.
The reaction is instantaneous: Nazrin leaps behind Reisen while she pulls out two pistols, pointing them at the vampire. You quickly put yourself between them. "Wait, wait!" you shout. "She's with me!"
Reisen raises and eyebrow. "Youmu... seriously? Do you know WHAT she is? WHO she is?!"
"Yes, yes, I do!" You shout. "And I'll die to protect her."
"Besides, you can't kill me," Flandre says, looking Reisen in the eye. She pulls up her shirt to show the magic circle. "If you do, you'll kill Youmu," the other two girls look at each other uncertainly.
"What sort of magic is that?" Nazrin asks as Reisen holsters her weapons.
"It's magic of a vampiric nature," you explain. "The vampires here sealed away her power, presumably using Myon as its source of energy," you sigh. "Okay, sit down, I'll explain everything to you..."
-=-=-=-=-
Girls are explaining... "And that's how we ended up here," you finish. "Flandre and I are looking for a way home. We were hoping Miss Yakumo could let us back in," Flandre is clinging to you, but you pay it no mind; she's been quiet this entire time.
"...man, that's some heavy stuff," Nazrin says after a while. "I'm... I'm sorry, Flandre. I don't know what else to say..."
"..." Flandre looks down. She squeezes your arm; you place a gentle hand on her own.
"Suddenly... I want to kill Remilia," Reisen says. "No offense, Flandre, but if she means to turn against us, then the only way to stop it is with these," she reaches to her side and lays down a magazine of silver bullets. "I brought a load of these just in case; there's more hidden in a dumpster behind this building, along with the rest of my gear."
You hold up a hand. "First thing's first," you start. "I've got to get healed, and we need to get that magic seal off of Flandre. There are simply too many vampires here for us to take head on in our state."
"Who said anything about head on?" Nazrin asks. "Sneak in, take her out, and go."
"It's not that easy; trust me, if rescuing Flandre is any indication, that's no good."
"Well... unfortunately, neither is returning to Gensokyo," Reisen admits. "At least, not the fast way."
"How so?" You ask.
"Well... after Miss Byakuren helped us escape through the border to come after you, the three of us - at the time Hatate was going to help - learned from an escaping youkai that the Yakumos have locked down Gensokyo; nothing comes in or out through gaps anymore. We can't even send missives to our masters," she shakes her head. "There are still some ways in, but we'd have to be careful if we're going that far."
"So we'll have to walk it, or fly there," you say. "Well, Flandre can't fly, so we'd have to carry her... what about Miss Hatate?"
Reisen and Nazrin exchange glances. "She... didn't make it."
"What?" Your eyes widen. "The tengu..."
"We had to stop by China and drop some things off for the other team," Nazrin explains. "While we were there, we helped them undergo an operation to shut down a..." she looks at Reisen.
"A solar power plant," Reisen says. "It gathers energy from the sun to power the electronics Outside. Anyway, we wanted to investigate Miss Sakuya about Remilia, but she doesn't seem to know; or at least, if she does, she's very good at hiding it. Anyway, during the mission, Hatate was scouting for us and..." she looks down.
"A sniper rifle caught her between the eyes," she finally says. "Despite moving so fast... only a vampire could have done it. She was dead before she hit the ground. Before we could get there, a group of Ghouls took her body away. We never caught them," she blinks away some tears. "Hatate was... so excited about being chosen to go with us. She wanted to take a lot of pictures for Aya and the tengu, show them what it was like out here... and she found out."
You look down. You never really expected anyone to die out here, you realize. Not even yourself, really. Flandre lets go of you and looks up to Nazrin and Reisen.
"If they took her, she wasn't dead," she says simply.
"But... but I saw it!" Reisen exclaims. "Her brains were still hitting the ground when they took her body away!" Flandre shakes her head.
"Her brain might have been dead, but her body wasn't," she explains. "There's... a place. It's in Germany; an old Roman building. The Camarilla use it to practice some of their blood magic there on live subjects. They take people there, heal them, and use them for spellcasting, and for food."
"And you're sure that they'd take her there?" Reisen asks. Flandre shrugs.
"When Remilia and I were doing research in the library, we found that the place was still active. It's got a lot of security and, well, I doubt the vampires have ever encountered a tengu before. It would be the perfect place to keep one, assuming she survived the trip there."
The four of you exchange glances. "I think it's too dangerou," Nazrin finally says. "If we're heading back to Gensokyo, then we need to go straight there. Every day we delay is a day Remilia gains more power. She may be insane enough to lead her forces to Gensokyo."
"And we'll need all the help we can get," Reisen counters. "I say we go to the facility. What's it called now?"
"Berlin Sanitorium," Flandre responds. "But... I don't think we can do it. Not with the way we are."
Every turns to you. "Youmu, what do you think?" Reisen asks. "We'll do what you think is best."
"Huh?!" You stare at the others with confusion. "Why am I the leader all of a sudden?! Nazrin is a commander, after all!"
"Only to mice, dear," Nazrin leans back on her palms. "But even I have to admit that out of all of us, you're the smartest one here," Reisen nods her agreement.
You furrow your brow and think. "Our first order of action is to get out of here. We can't stay in this city; its too risky. Even with all four of us, we don't yet stand a chance. I need a new sword, and that's just the start; I also need healing."
"You could always drink more of Flandre's blood," Reisen suggests.
"Out of the question," you wave your hand. "It's hard enough trying to not think about it. Don't tempt me."
"I... I wouldn't mind," Flandre says quietly. You stare down at Flandre, shocked, and immediately break that train of thought.
"
Anyway, we've got to get out of here," you push. "Other than flight, is there any way of transportation we can use?"
"Well..." Reisen thinks. "There is one..."
"You said you wouldn't do that again!" Nazrin shouts.
"Do what?" You ask.
"Hijack a car," Reisen answers sheepishly. "The tech level of the Outside is much lower than the Moon's, but there are enough similarities that I'm able to hotwire a car and make it go. We can do that for a while, but fuel costs..."
"I've got money," Flandre pulls a stack of Euros out of her pocket. "We can go for a while, at least in Europe."
"Well, then its settled for now," you decide. "Let's get out of here; we'll figure out the case with Hatate as we go. How far until Germany?"
"About nine hundred kilometers flying to Berlin," Reisen responds. "Its the route we took to here from Germany, anyway."
"I don't want to risk flying," you tell her. Reisen nods.
"Then by car it is," Nazrin says for everyone. "Even if Reisen has to play criminal."
"They'll get over it," Reisen says, standing up. "Wait here, I'll be back in five minutes."
-=-=-
Reisen's gone for three minutes. By then the three of you have gathered outside the abandoned building. Nazrin hefts a huge black duffel bag with a pair of bunny ears as its emblem. "It smells like garbage," she says, rubbing her nose. You take an unconscious step away from the mouse.
Reisen pulls up in a blue four-door car. Rolling her window down, she smiles at the three of you. "Like it? It's fast," she says. "Good thing I can figure out how to drive it, huh?"
"You wrecked the last one," Nazrin points out, opening the trunk and hefting the bag inside. She unzips it. "Pretty spectacularly, I might add."
"That was an accident, thank you very much," Reisen shouts at her. Nazrin pulls out three pistols and hands one to you and one to Flandre, their black metal shining against the streetlights. You snap the holster together around your waist while Flandre does the same.
"For protection," Nazrin quips, checking the ammo in hers before sliding the magazine back into place and turning the safety on. She shuts the trunk and gets in the seat next to Reisen. "Come on, you two."
"I've... never ridden in one of those things," you remark. "Is it safe?"
"Perfectly safe," Reisen pats her steering wheel. Flandre slides into the backseat, opening the door for you. "Come on, get in!" Uncertainly, you get in the car. Flandre slides up next to you and grabs your arm. "It's a long way to Germany," Reisen tells you as she pulls off the curb. "Ten, twelve hours. We'll probably have to take a break at some point."
You nod, looking at Flandre's uncertain face. She closes her eyes and leans on you. "Youmu..." she begins. "Don't leave me. Please?"
"I won't. Promise," you assure the vampiress. You feel one of her wings drape over you; the other is curled up in the left side seat. In the front, Nazrin and Reisen smirk.
"Gotten close, eh?"
"It's not like that," you say. "Seriously. It's not... I don't think I can explain it in a way you could understand Miss Nazrin."
The mouse shrugs. "Whatever you say, Youmu," she puts her hands behind her head and stretches. "Reisen, please don't wreck. I'm going to sleep."
The Lunar Rabbit sighs. "You know, if this weren't a life and death situation, it'd be kinda fun," she says. "A bunch of girls, traveling Europe? Yeah," she sighs again. "Man, I hope we can end this quickly..."
-=-=-
At some point, you and Flandre fall asleep as well. This time, it's a dreamless sleep.
Upon waking up, you...
[ ] Decide to stop for Hatate.
[ ] Continue towards Gensokyo.
[ ] Write-in
Flandre route is open. If you pursue, expect some angst and drama, no sex, but a reward at the end.
Reisen route is open. Technically, it's been open this entire time but only now can you do something about it.
Nazrin route isn't open yet. >>51634 Maybe. But who said everyone in Avalon is against Gensokyo?