[ ] Well, if she insisted, I supposed that a little help might be all right. She did have time on her side, after all.

[X] Well, if she insisted, I supposed that a little help might be all right. She did have time on her side, after all.

[x] Well, if she insisted, I supposed that a little help might be all right. She did have time on her side, after all.

Does a fairy know who the Stones are? If she likes music, that's one way of getting her to overcome her technophobia.

[x] It was such a nice offer, but I really didn’t want to be a bother, and she sounded like she had her hands full already.

I love this story!

[x] Did Sakuya need help or something? Whatever it was, it sounded big. I wondered if Flandre might mind visiting the clocktower before we went to the kitchen…

[x] Did Sakuya need help or something? Whatever it was, it sounded big. I wondered if Flandre might mind visiting the clocktower before we went to the kitchen…

[x] Well, if she insisted, I supposed that a little help might be all right. She did have time on her side, after all.

4 for allowing Sakuya's help.
2 for see what Sakuya's up to.
1 for not allowing Sakuya's help.

No time to write tonight, guys and gals. Tomorrow night, I promise. Keep voting; this one might be close. Sage for not updating.

>>28697
And I do too! Thanks for reading!

Well, if she insisted, I supposed that a little help might be all right. She did have time on her side, after all. I had thought about exactly what her day must have been like a time or two, but it had always made my head hurt. Stopping time, starting it again, slowing it down or speeding it up…must have been an interesting life.

“Well, if-if you say so, Sakuya,” I stuttered back to her. “A few minutes, then?”

“Yes, yes, not more than five, I assure you. Please wait for me; I wouldn’t want Flandre to have to do any extra work without some more help.” With that, she hung up on me, and I couldn’t help keeping my ear to the phone for a few more seconds before doing the same. Flandre cocked her head at me.

“So then…what was that all supposed to mean?” she asked me as she began absentmindedly clipping her toenails on her bed. “Is she coming to put me in a straightjacket again? I’ve already told her I know how to get out of those. I’d say it’s a simple trick, except it’s not, otherwise everyone could do it! Magicians never reveal their secrets, after all. I wonder how many secrets Dr. Patchouli much have found out, then; she’s always studying something new!”

Grinding my teeth together in an attempt to distract myself from her ramblings, I corrected her misjudgment. “No, Miss Flandre, she’s just going to help us get your supplies, that’s all. She’s in the clocktower right now, and she said she’ll be at the kitchen in five minutes. She wants us to wait for her.”

Flandre bent over to her foot and began gnawing her big toe like a dog, spitting out a spare piece of nail onto the ground. I must say, I hadn’t ever seen anyone do something quite so…unrefined, at least not in my short time in the mansion. A symptom of insanity, perhaps? Or just a symptom of some part of life I as a fairy was missing out on? But I’ll leave such questions for some other, more serious time.

Flicking one of her crystals, she began thinking out loud to herself again. “Five minutes…five…and she’s in the clocktower…Okay, so that means she’s working on the moving parts, by herself…add a few for that, plus in case she misses the pass a few times…assume she forgets sometimes she promised someone else to do, then forgets she promised us anything…umm…yeah, so, she’s gonna take at least twenty more minutes; yeah, I’m not waiting that long. Come on; we can get started early. You got the list, right?”

I did indeed have the list in my pocket at the time, but I didn’t exactly trust her judgment. Five minutes turning into twenty? And this from my masterful superior with the power to stop time? I didn’t deny Flandre’s deductive powers—she certainly sounded like she knew things—but who was to say she wasn’t just deducing the wrong things, or at the wrong time?

“Well, yes, I’ve got it, but…Miss, I don’t think Sakuya would be that late. And wouldn’t it be rude to get there before she promised to meet us? It’s not that hard to wait just a couple of minutes, right?”

She slid off her bed and shook her head, starting to walk towards the door. “You’re a nice little girl, you know? But I’m pretty much sure I’ve known Sakuya for some more time than the time that you’ve known Sakuya. Pretty sure, at least. She’s all timey and punctual and minute-this and second-that. It’s funny to watch her run all around the house doing all of everything just because Remi wants her too; you should try it sometime! Oh, well, you can’t though, ‘cause you’re not her sister…Anyways! Yeah, but Sakuya, she’s just a human, you know? And it’s easy for her to forget things, ‘cause she’s too busy remembering all those other things she’s forgetting! But she’s a good girl; we all love her just the same. She knows I’ll do whatever I want anyways, since that’s what people with free will probably do most of the time. At least, I want to her know that. Not real sure if she knows it yet or not…meh, ‘nother thing I need to fix. But we don’t gotta wait for her; come on, I promise you won’t get in any trouble. You can just say it was my idea, since that’s the truth, and the truth sets you free, you know? Free just like getting out of jail, for free! Fifty dollars isn’t all that much, though. I hate the green properties…”

What was she talking about now? Real estate? I thought we were talking about Sakuya’s punctuality? I so wished that sooner or later I’d at least be able to follow Flandre’s topic segues, even if I still didn’t understand what she was saying. At least I did manage to gather that she thought not waiting for Sakuya was a good idea.

[ ] But, she had told me before that I was supposed to give her “perspective” on things. And my perspective was that I didn’t want her just ignoring Sakuya like that. I was supposed to be her maid; keep her under control.
[ ] Personally I thought the opposite; I was supposed to do what I was told, and frankly, I trusted Sakuya’s judgment more than Flandre’s. All I wanted to do was break my opinion to her gently and politely.
[ ] And, well…she sounded like she knew what was going on. And she had known Sakuya for longer than me. What was the harm in being a little early, anyways?
[ ] I just…I didn’t want to have to deal with an argument with Flandre right now. Not on the first day. Perhaps I could just, umm, change the subject a little to stall for time?

[x] And, well…she sounded like she knew what was going on. And she had known Sakuya for longer than me. What was the harm in being a little early, anyways?

[x] But, she had told me before that I was supposed to give her “perspective” on things. And my perspective was that I didn’t want her just ignoring Sakuya like that. I was supposed to be her maid; keep her under control.

Trying hard-

[x] But, she had told me before that I was supposed to give her “perspective” on things. And my perspective was that I didn’t want her just ignoring Sakuya like that. I was supposed to be her maid; keep her under control.

[x] And, well…she sounded like she knew what was going on. And she had known Sakuya for longer than me. What was the harm in being a little early, anyways?

[x] And, well…she sounded like she knew what was going on. And she had known Sakuya for longer than me. What was the harm in being a little early, anyways?

[x] And, well…she sounded like she knew what was going on. And she had known Sakuya for longer than me. What was the harm in being a little early, anyways?

[x] But, she had told me before that I was supposed to give her “perspective” on things. And my perspective was that I didn’t want her just ignoring Sakuya like that. I was supposed to be her maid; keep her under control.

[X] And, well…she sounded like she knew what was going on. And she had known Sakuya for longer than me. What was the harm in being a little early, anyways?

5 votes for trusting in Flandre.
3 votes for putting your foot down.

Flandre knows best~ Writing now...

>>28736

Hooray!

And, well…she sounded like she knew what was going on. And she had known Sakuya for longer than me. What was the harm in being a little early, anyways? Better that than being late, at the very least. I stood in front of Flandre and bowed.

“Very well, Miss Flandre; I’ll abide by your judgment. Shall we be going, then?”

“Go, collect two hundred—wait, what? Oh, we’re getting food now, then? Hooray, and stuff! I guess that means I win, though I really wish I knew what game we were playing.”

Wondering that myself, we ducked down and exited the room, Flandre reminding me to lock the door, just in case. Why anyone would want to willingly sneak into Flandre’s room was beyond me. We spiraled back up the stairs to the basement again, Flandre trailing behind so I could open the doors for her. I might not be a normal maid when in Flandre’s presence, or at least not a “normal” kind of normal, but at least I could do simple courteous tasks any good maid should probably know. As we walked up another flight of stairs to the kitchen on the first floor, I thought I spotted one or two of my cousins, but at the first glimpse of the infamous little sister they disappeared from view. I didn’t blame them; I was the same way just a few hours ago. But come to think of it…had I really changed that much in those few hours anyways?

Even though it took us only a minute or two to reach the kitchen, she managed to ask for the grocery list, check it for something, and hand it back not one but twice in that time. She might have said something along the way, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it might have been. You can’t really expect me to remember every single thing she says, now can you? I’m amazed I’ve even been able to remember this much.

In any case we finally reached the kitchen. And time just seemed to…freeze.

Not really, of course. I couldn’t feel any of Sakuya’s time magic anywhere near the kitchen, so at least I knew that much. But from the second Flandre and I stepped into that vast workspace, each and every fairy in the room simply stopped what they were doing or saying and stared at us. Or rather, at her. It wasn’t very comforting, let me tell you. I wondered if, perhaps in time, my kin would look at me the same way, as if Flandre’s “taint” would rub off on me visibly somehow. A silly thing to worry about, perhaps, but I was a rather silly person, after all.

Flandre stopped her muttering once she realized she was the only thing making any noise. Looking around the room whimsically, I could feel the tension in each any every person present so plainly I could almost see the metaphorical strings that one could “cut with a knife”. Silently handing the grocery list back to me for the third time, she started gliding around the room, one step at a time, her eyelids lowered.

The reactions from each fairy were different as Flandre approached them. A few scampered out of Flandre’s way, giver her as wide a berth as possible, which others just tried to make themselves look as small and insignificant as possible (I probably would have been one of those…). For the few that held their ground, Flandre stopped walking, started at them, and squinted, saying absolutely nothing. I followed behind her as best I could, but even I was rather put off by this change in her personality. What was she trying to do? Get us to respect her? Get us to fear her? Get us to not fear her? Whatever she was doing, I had a feeling she was doing it wrong.

Eventually she stopped next to one of the girls chopping a head of lettuce, a large chef’s knife still her hands, shaking. She looked at the fairy, the lettuce, and the knife in turn, stopping on her face. That girl…I would have given anything to not be that girl, and she was probably thinking the exact same thing. I wanted to do something; I wanted to tug on Flandre’s skirt and make her stop, or get between the two of them…but I, I was…too afraid. I didn’t want to see anyone get hurt, but…Well, I guess I didn’t want to see myself get hurt even more.

A little smirk came across her face, and she curled her hand into the shape of a gun, holding it too close to her body to see the direction she was aiming at. But what could she do with just her finger, anyways? Unless…

“Bang.”

And her head exploded. Just…just like that.

The lettuce head, I mean. You didn’t think Flandre would have killed one of the maids just like that, did you? But everyone in the room jumped regardless, and there were a few frightened squeaks from some of the fairies; I knew, because I was one of them. So she really could destroy things just by pointing at them. The three of us closest found ourselves covered in little green flakes as the lettuce flew outwards.

“There. Are you happy now?” Flandre asked as she took off her hat and shook the powdered vegetable off it. The girl could only stand there in shock. I couldn’t take it any more. It was…it was my job to stop those kinds of things from happening! And I’d already failed! What if…what if it really had been her head that Flandre pointed at?! I felt so ashamed…I had to make it up somehow. Mustering up my courage, I put a hand on Flandre shoulder.

“That…that wasn’t nice at all, Miss. You shouldn’t do that! People could get hurt!”

“Aww come on, look at them! They were asking for it! They were all just, just…standing there!”

“But that’s…that doesn’t mean anything! They were just doing their jobs!”

“No they weren’t, ‘cause they were looking at me! They all stopped, you saw them, right?”

I stuttered. She was right but…no, she wasn’t right was she? I didn’t really know; I was too confused from seeing that exploding lettuce to think much straighter than that. “Maybe…Maybe we should just get your food and leave, Miss Flandre.”

Thankfully, she consented without any more whining, and the two of us headed to the mansion’s master pantry, bigger by at least ten times from Flandre’s small room. So big…every room in the mansion always looked so big to me. Did Mistress Remilia really need all this space? I grabbed a space cart, and together we slowly worked our way down the list of food.

Well, it seemed that Flandre was right after all. In fact, I had the last can of mushrooms in my hand when Sakuya finally managed to show up in the doorway of the pantry, looking a little worn out despite how early it was in the day.

“Oh, you, you two started already, did you?” she asked, looking at the food cart.

“We also finished already,” Flandre added, squeezing a jar of pickles into the already stuffed upper basket. “See, I told her, I told this little fairy-type that you were gonna be late, ‘cause, well, like, you’re always late and stuff!”

Sakuya crossed her arms at the sister. “That’s not…entirely true, Flandre. And don’t go putting those negative ideas in her head now! Not everyone shares your rather unique views of life!”

“…Whatever.”

“Well, as I see you’re done here,” Sakuya continued, focusing on me now, “Would you ladies mind helping me with a little something? I seem to have come across a little snag in the clocktower, and I could use a few extra hands.”

[ ] I answered skeptically. “Well, umm…what sort of snag? Because we’ve kinda got a schedule for today; it won’t take long, will it?”
[ ] I answered helpfully. “Certainly, Sakuya. You sounded like you needed help on that, anyways.”
[ ] Turning to Flandre, I asked her, “Umm, Miss, what do you think? You’re the boss, after all.”
[ ] It hurt a little, but I decided to turn her down. “We’d like to, Sakuya, but we’ve got a schedule all written up and everything; we’ve got to stick to the plan, and I think we’re a little behind already.”

[X] I answered skeptically. “Well, umm…what sort of snag? Because we’ve kinda got a schedule for today; it won’t take long, will it?”

[X] I answered skeptically. “Well, umm…what sort of snag? Because we’ve kinda got a schedule for today; it won’t take long, will it?”

[X] I answered helpfully. “Certainly, Sakuya. You sounded like you needed help on that, anyways.”

[X] Turning to Flandre, I asked her, “Umm, Miss, what do you think? You’re the boss, after all.”

[X] Turning to Flandre, I asked her, “Umm, Miss, what do you think? You’re the boss, after all.”

[x] I answered helpfully. “Certainly, Sakuya. You sounded like you needed help on that, anyways.”

Sakuya is not perfect elegant meido in this story.
THE POSITION IS OPEN.

And soon, Sakuya-san, we will have your job.

[X] Turning to Flandre, I asked her, “Umm, Miss, what do you think? You’re the boss, after all.”

[x] Turning to Flandre, I asked her, “Umm, Miss, what do you think? You’re the boss, after all.”

We are Flandre's servant. It is always Flandre who makes the decisions. Even when we do make the decisions, it is really Flandre's decision-making power delegated to us as her agent.

[X] Turning to Flandre, I asked her, “Umm, Miss, what do you think? You’re the boss, after all.”

5 votes for asking Flandre what to do.
2 votes for helping out Sakuya.
2 votes for asking what kind of snag Sakuya has.

Flandre still knows best~

Memorial Day weekend vacation with the family, blah blah blah, I’ll be back with an update Sunday night.

>>28748
B-but she’s, she’s trying her very hardest~! She can only d-do so much!

>>28752

Yes, she's only human.

Fairies WILL dominate the mansion. One way or another.

Got into town later than I thought tonight, and dead tired to boot. Don't feel like updating tonight; I'll just get to it in the morning.

Sage for not wanting to get your hopes up.

Turning to Flandre, I asked her, “Umm, Miss, what do you think? You’re the boss, after all.”

She began counting…something, on her fingers, mouthing silent words to herself and making me feel more than a bit uncomfortable. She ended up stalling just long enough for Sakuya to start tapping an impatient foot onto the ground. Eventually Flandre sighed and buried her face in a palm.

“You’re sure that you can’t do it all by your own?”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I couldn’t, but—“

“And you’re sure that you can’t ask some other fairy-type-helper-maid-peoples instead of us, or more like just me?”

“Again, I suppose I could try that, but it wouldn’t—“

“And you’re sure Patchouli can’t help you better than I can?”

“I would think she’d know her way around the job, but I already asked her and—“

Flandre thrust her other palm outwards to silence whatever it was Sakuya was going to say. I must comment on how rude I thought Flandre was being, interrupting her like that and being so very curt. I suppose it was better than some alternatives I could think of (most of them based around the “Flandre rumors” us fairies told), but the reality is always more powerful than the imagined, no?

Flandre spread her fingers out and displayed them solidly before my superior. “Five minutes. Five. I’ve got a system, and you’re, you’re trying to screw it up. I don’t have million hours in the day; I gets twenty-four, and I’m try to use it with effective, effluent, exoteric efficiency. Yes I am aware that some of that is possibly wrong. Probably. Words don’t like me very much. Give me a watch. Five. Minutes.”

Sakuya put a knuckle to her chin pensively, and sighed. “Thank you, Flandre, but…only five minutes? I’ve been working on it all morning and I haven’t been able to do much.”

“Watch,” Flandre demanded, holding out her palm. I felt another jarring gust of that weird time magic, and Sakuya reached into her pocket for a small silver wristwatch, which Flandre strapped to her hand. “If I can’t fix it in five minutes, it’s too hard and I don’t want to. Go ask Patchy instead. If I actually get interested, then it probably doesn’t matter what I say now anyways, barring a small time estimation on your side, which I don’t really care about right now anyways. Clocks are pretty fun sometimes, I guess. Whole lots of moving parts and looks like some kind of old-style robot. Steampunk, right? That’s a fun word to say. Steampunk. Steampunk steampunk steampunk. Whatever, I’m wasting time, and I said I wouldn’t.”

Leaving our food cart there (should I have said something about that? I supposed we could always come back for it), Sakuya led us up to the fourth floor and into the base of the clocktower. I guess a good word for it was “big”. Everything was just so big in that room. For starters, I couldn’t even see the ceiling above me, though there were enough gears and weights and I didn’t know what else to block it out anyways. And the size of those gears! I still don’t quite know how a clock works, but I assume you need cogs of all shapes and sizes. Well, the littlest one I could find was still bigger than my head, and as for the biggest one…I’d rather not talk about it. In all honesty, I was afraid any one of the thousand parts of that machine was going to spring loose and crush me within seconds. The sounds of all that grinding and ticking and tocking in my ears wasn’t easing my heart much, either.

Huddling as close as I dared to Sakuya and Flandre for protection, the head maid showed us up several flights of wireframe stairs to a platform where Sakuya seemed to be working on…something complicated, I guessed. She showed the sight to Flandre.

“You broke the hammer for the bell, didn’t you?” the little sister asked.

“It broke, Miss Flandre. I did not break it.”

“Mhm, whatever you say, bell-breaker. I think right now I’m going to ask you something like, ‘And what do you want me to do about it you can’t do yourself,’ that sounds like a pretty good question to ask. Fairy-person, that sounds like a good question to ask, right?”

Barely following the conversation, I simply nodded, and hoped I didn’t nod for anything bad.

“The timing cogs for the hammer are also broken, Miss Flandre,” Sakuya explained. “I can’t fit the cogs in correctly unless the clock is moving, which means I can’t stop time to do it, which means I don’t have enough hands to fit the pieces in, nor the strength to lift them. And I actually need someone helping me who knows what they’re doing.”

Flandre’s eyes dulled sarcastically. “And so you’ll choose the supposedly insane walking time bomb of a mistress’s little sister rather than finding a few of the non-technophobic fairies to help you on this one? And you call me the one with no perspective…”

“You’re not insane, Flandre. We’ve told you that for ages.”

“Yeah, that’s what everyone keeps telling me. And I keep telling them they’re wrong. I also keep telling them that I know they’re lying to me just to try and make me feel better. I keep telling them it doesn’t work like that. Not really, no. I keep a list of the number of times I have an ‘accident’, you know. It’s a pretty long list. I think I showed it to you once. I think you stopped reading about a quarter of the way. On your own head be it if I break something, then. Lift me up there. Five minutes. The clock is ticking. I’d draw attention to that possible pun, but it seems I already did anyways, so I don’t actually have to. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, laugh if you will, laugh ‘cause I won’t…”

Another time-blink found the two women up high above me, the pile of clock parts now missing from the floor. I heard Sakuya yell down to me, “Little one! Just be patient for a while, and we’ll have this fixed in no time!”

“No we won’t!” I heard Flandre comment snidely. “No time is your time. Some time is everyone else’s time. You’re using my time, not yours. Don’t make me keep talking to you; you know I will…”

[ ] Well, she told me to wait, and wait I did. Dusting off a seat on the floor, I started biding my time.
[ ] It didn’t feel right, seeing those two work while I did nothing. Shouldn’t I have been helping them with something? I didn’t know much, but…well, six hands were better than four, right?
[ ] I’d never been in that room before, and it certainly interested me, in an odd sort of way. I felt like doing a little exploring. Just a little.

[x] It didn’t feel right, seeing those two work while I did nothing. Shouldn’t I have been helping them with something? I didn’t know much, but…well, six hands were better than four, right?

[X] It didn’t feel right, seeing those two work while I did nothing. Shouldn’t I have been helping them with something? I didn’t know much, but…well, six hands were better than four, right

>>“You broke the hammer for the bell, didn’t you?”
>>“It broke, Miss Flandre. I did not break it.”
>>“Mhm, whatever you say, bell-breaker."

>>“And so you’ll choose the supposedly insane walking time bomb of a mistress’s little sister rather than finding a few of the non-technophobic fairies to help you on this one? And you call me the one with no perspective…"

>>“Little one! Just be patient for a while, and we’ll have this fixed in no time!”
>>“No we won’t!”

I was already liking this Flandre for the rambling verbal tangents, but the snark and sarcasm just blew me straight into "love" territory.

[ ] I’d never been in that room before, and it certainly interested me, in an odd sort of way. I felt like doing a little exploring. Just a little.

[X] It didn’t feel right, seeing those two work while I did nothing. Shouldn’t I have been helping them with something? I didn’t know much, but…well, six hands were better than four, right

[ ] I’d never been in that room before, and it certainly interested me, in an odd sort of way. I felt like doing a little exploring. Just a little.

[X] It didn’t feel right, seeing those two work while I did nothing. Shouldn’t I have been helping them with something? I didn’t know much, but…well, six hands were better than four, right

[x] It didn’t feel right, seeing those two work while I did nothing. Shouldn’t I have been helping them with something? I didn’t know much, but…
[x] Oh, right! You can protect them from the Medusa Heads!

No petrifying, disembodied monsters will make it past you.

[x] It didn’t feel right, seeing those two work while I did nothing. Shouldn’t I have been helping them with something? I didn’t know much, but…

>>28837
Time stop always worked best for getting by those fuckers, anyway.

[X] It didn’t feel right, seeing those two work while I did nothing. Shouldn’t I have been helping them with something? I didn’t know much, but…well, six hands were better than four, right

6 votes for helping out.
2 votes for exploring.
1 vote for playing Castlevania.

Helpful fairy is helpful~ Writing now…

I think I’m going to try and push the story ahead a little quicker. I’ve been doing too many specific scenes, and while cute, we seem to be getting nowhere fast. I like Flandre as much as the next girl, but there’s so much more I want to get to in this story! If you have any comments about it, hey, I’ll listen to ‘em.

Oh, and here: You got a MANSION MAP! Image very much related.

>>28823
Sarcastic scarlet sister moe~

>>28854
Don't you dare stop writing cute scenes in favour of story. That's how MiG went wrong.

You know, It didn’t feel right, seeing those two work while I did nothing. Shouldn’t I have been helping them with something? I didn’t know much, but…well, six hands were better than four, right? At the very least I could hold a tool for them. I just wanted to help.

Trying to remain relatively inconspicuous, I fluttered upwards and watched the two women work, sitting on a nearby truss. Nothing they did really made any sense to me, handing pins and knobs back and forth between them and fitting gears onto mounted posts, but I felt like maybe if I watched I’d learn something useful. I didn’t in the end, but at least I tried.

“Hand me that wrench, would you Flandre?” Sakuya asked, her left handed keeping a spring of some kind tightly in place. “The eighteen millimeter, I think.”

“Bolts’re rusty, you know? Four minutes. You could probably add on a millimeter for that. Two, more likely. Three, not so much. Practical engineering hard at work for us, hardly working for us at all. Here’s your wrench, wench. Why do we even have a clocktower, anyways? Supposed to be all ominous and spooky? Bats in the belfry, that’d be a good double-meaning right there. Hey, how come I don’t live in the clocktower, then? It’d be funny! Come on Sakuya, laugh! Laugh for the little girl without a brain! I can see you trying to not smile over there! Three minutes. Here, fairy-type, hold this; Sakuya’s being slowpokey again.”

Plopping a box of tools into my not entirely expecting arms, Flandre clambered over to my silver-haired superior and began fiddling with the clock parts that seemed to do more harm than good, though once again I had no clue what was going on, and could only hover around them curiously. I wasn’t completely useless at least, and both Flandre and Sakuya kept exchanging tools out of my box, so for that I felt a little better about myself.

It wasn’t long before the repairs were complete and the three of us returned to the ground. Did it really only take five minutes? Well, Flandre wasn’t complaining by the end of it, so it must have. As I helped them hang the tools back up on the wall, Sakuya smiled at me.

“Thanks for your help, little one. I guess I really did need a few extra hands to hold things. You really didn’t have to though, you know that?”

I shrugged and focused on sorting the wrenches, feeling my cheeks turn a little pink. “It, it was nothing. Just…Just trying to help.”

“Well, thank you all the same. I can’t tell you how complicated it can get sometimes for me; even with time at your fingertips, there’s only so many things to can do with just your own two hands, you know?”

“Umm, well, no, no I don’t really know.”

Flandre tugged at my wrist forcibly. “Schedule! Foodstuffs! Stay on target! Shouting movie words with exclamation points! Khaaaaaan!”

Raising an eyebrow, Sakuya folded her arms across her chest and looked down at us. “Are you quite finished?”

Flandre bobbed her head and looked up with an innocent face even I knew was purposely overdone.

“Good. Now since you’re so intent on saving time, Little Miss, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll go ahead and put your groceries away for you if you’ll promise not to be too hard on Patchouli today. I just talked with her, and she’s a little…irritable. Seems one of her projects hasn’t been getting all the results she wanted; you know how she gets when her research hits a wall.”

“B-but, but, the system! You don’t know the system! And it’s…well, it’s the system!”

“I’m not stupid, Flan. The way you label everything, I’m sure I can figure it out. Don’t you forget now: no harassing Patchouli today, all right?”

“Yyyeeesss Mmiissss Saaakuyaaaa, I proomisssee I’llll be gooood,” Flandre whined, dragging out her words for added effect. Patting her on the head affectionately, which elicited yet another scowl from her, Sakuya vanished in a puff of time and space, leaving me once again alone to fend off the might of the girl before me.

“So, schedule-type-fairy,” she asked me, poking my chest for emphasis, “How’s our schedule-type? Move move move, busy busy busy! Time lady wasted all our time, so now we need to make more time! How we gonna do that, hmm? Hmm?!”

[ ] Well, we were right next to the library anyways; I figured Flandre should probably get her lessons done for the day while she still remembered how to act around Patchouli.
[ ] It must have been getting close to Flandre’s lunchtime by then, so I asked her if she wouldn’t mind taking a few minutes off to stop for a bite to eat.
[ ] What was next on the list, anyways? Cleaning her room? That sounded about right.
[ ] I recalled Flandre said she wanted to investigate the storage rooms in the basement. I thought it sounded pretty interesting myself.

[ ] Well, we were right next to the library anyways; I figured Flandre should probably get her lessons done for the day while she still remembered how to act around Patchouli.

[X] Well, we were right next to the library anyways; I figured Flandre should probably get her lessons done for the day while she still remembered how to act around Patchouli.

Efficiency in movement will help things go faster, yes?

>>Don't you dare stop writing cute scenes in favour of story.
I suppose I agree, on that. Wanting to get to the destination is all well and good, but not at the expense of the journey to it. Road trips are best when you take the time to enjoy the things to be seen and done between point A and B. How fun would a road trip with Flandre be? Well, fun and games until she wants to drive.

[ ] Well, we were right next to the library anyways; I figured Flandre should probably get her lessons done for the day while she still remembered how to act around Patchouli.

Patchypatch

>Khaaaaaan!
Flandre is like, this much more awesome now.

[X] Well, we were right next to the library anyways; I figured Flandre should probably get her lessons done for the day while she still remembered how to act around Patchouli.

[X] Well, we were right next to the library anyways; I figured Flandre should probably get her lessons done for the day while she still remembered how to act around Patchouli.

>>"I’ll go ahead and put your groceries away for you if you’ll promise not to be too hard on Patchouli today. I just talked with her, and she’s a little…irritable. Seems one of her projects hasn’t been getting all the results she wanted; you know how she gets when her research hits a wall.

I'll bet it's because her promising new fairy maid disappeared.

I know that made me angry...

[X] Well, we were right next to the library anyways; I figured Flandre should probably get her lessons done for the day while she still remembered how to act around Patchouli.

I believe I love the standard you are setting for Flandre.

She really makes this story shine.

[X] Well, we were right next to the library anyways; I figured Flandre should probably get her lessons done for the day while she still remembered how to act around Patchouli.

This is gold.

7 votes for going to school with Patchouli-sensei. Writing done.

Power was out at my house all afternoon, so I couldn’t post anything until just now. I guess you can have a double-update to make up for it.

I-It’s not like I like you or anything, I, I just didn’t have anything else to do all day!

>>28860
You’ve got a good point. I just don’t want you to get bored with the story, is all. But I guess as long as I keep writing, you’ll be happy, right?

>>28873
16th Night…We were supposed to write fairy stories together…I feel so alone…

;_;

>>28878
I’m just trying to do the best I can and not write boring characters no one cares about. I guess I didn’t know my Flandre was going to turn out to be so unique, though. Thank you so much.

Well, we were right next to the library anyways; I figured Flandre should probably get her lessons done for the day while she still remembered how to act around Patchouli. However messed up her head might have been, it was obvious her memory was hardly top-notch; I might have ventured a guess that even mine was better, and that would have been saying something.

Shrinking back a little from her finger-prodding, I suggested, “Time, umm…well, walking around the mansion wastes a lot of time, doesn’t it? And we’re right here next to the library anyways, so, I guess—“

“Hey yeah, Patchy!” she interrupted, her spirits rising. She congratulated me for my idea with a hearty pat on the back, and then asked me if I was okay as I peeled myself off the ground, wheezing for breath. After a confusing apology from her, we walked side by side towards Patchouli’s laboratories on the first floor, where Flandre said she’d probably be. True to Flandre’s habits, she talked all the way there, spinning my mind in circles once again. I wondered…if I just ignored her and tuned out her words, would it make the hurting in my head stop? I was always trying in vain to understand her, but did I really have too? I made a note to think about asker her once I was more comfortable around her. Probably sometime in the next year if I worked really hard.

“Patchouli Knowledge…That’s a good name, know that? You know, sometimes she gives me chocolates n’ stuff if I’m a good student? ‘Cept then I get my fingerprints all over everything. She doesn’t like that. She’s kinda boring sometimes too. Boring old schoolteacher, like in an old-stylish book, except she’s not old. Well she is, but then she got better. I promised I’d make her be funner if she made me be smarter. Dunno who’s getting the shorter end of that stick yet, though. How can there be a short end of the stick, anyways? I mean, it’s just two ends, right? I should ask Patchouli these kind of things though, not you so much. You just get confusuled and shake your head, kinda like right now. Yeah, I know I talk too much. See, all you gotta do is just tug my sleeve and look at me all indignant-like and say, ‘Hey, Flandre? Shut up.” And that’ll make it all better. Go on, try it!”

Did she…She didn’t just ask me to tell her “Shut up”, did she? What kind of…And why would anyone, sane or insane, ever tell you to insult them? I shook my head meekly. Saying no was defying her—defying my charge—but this was just, just a joke, right? Yes, it…it had to be. She wouldn’t make me do something so rude and discourteous, would she?

“M-Miss, please, that’s very, umm…very unkind. I wouldn’t ever want to tell you something like that.”

“Something like what?”

“Well, something like…l-like, umm…” It was a trap! And I had fallen for it! Oh how stupid I was, so stupid for falling for something so simple.

“Go on, go on little fairy girly. What don’t you want to do again?”

“I don’t want to…to, to insult you, Miss!”

“You won’t, I promise. I’m a tough lady, I can take it! Sticks and stones can break things, you know that? It’s just two words, it’s easy!”

“Please, Miss Flandre…I, I don’t w-want to—“

She grinned at me. “Look, look. First you say ‘shut’, like shutting a door. Say it with me, now: shhhuuuuutt.”

My cheeks felt like red coals, and my face had to be on fire by then. I turned away, or tried to, but Flandre turned my head back around to look at her. So embarrassed… “S-s-stop it, miss. Please, p-please stop—“

“Then, then you say ‘up’, like the sky or the ceiling. Uuuuuupp. Shhhuuuut. Uuuuupp. Shut up. Shut up, Flandre! Shut up! Just, just why don’t you just shut up?!”

“I don’t…I can’t say…”

“Hey, no, you shut up!”

Suddenly, Flandre had somehow worked herself up into a frenzy at the statement, and started outright shouting…shouting at me. I thought…I thought that she was just joking about the whole “Shut up” thing, but now…this, this wasn’t funny anymore. I was afraid. Afraid of her, of what she might do…And this time I had a reason to be.

“What, what is this, you’re still talking? Still acting all scared and mumbling about things people don’t care about? You’re making that little girl over there scared! How rude is that?! But she won’t listen to you unless you just push her out of the way and give her some lip! Just sit down and shut up, Flandre! No one cares about what you’re saying! Not now, not ever, you hear?! What, do you, do you think they actually want to know about your opinion on, what, chocolate covered brownies?! But…it’s so, it’s just so…redundant! You’re…Look, you’re covering chocolate…with chocolate! It’s a waste! No, don’t you start again! Shut it up, shut it up now! This conversation, it’s over, OVER, do you here me Flandre?! Not another word out of you! Not! Don’t, ahhahhah, don’t start! Shut! Shut up! I mean it!”

Flandre had given up on actually talking to me directly and was shouting towards a blank area in front of her, thrusting her finger violently at thin air. I cowered against the wall, terrified, one eye shut tight while the other squinted through the cracks in my fingers. So small, not there, don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me, I’m sorry…She looked, she looked…ahh, what is the word? Not mad, not enraged, not even really insane is the right word. Frustrated, maybe? Extremely, extremely frustrated. By the time she had finally calmed down and walked back to me, which felt like an age, I thought I could see tears drying on her cheeks. What…what had just happened with her?

“S-s-sorry, please, I-I’m sorry, don’t hurt me, didn’t mean t-to…” I pleaded with her, shivering uncontrollably.

She started to hold out a hand to me, or at least it looked like that at first, but she ended up wrapping it around her shoulder instead. “H-hey, little girl? Are, are you not un-okay?”

“S-scared…pleasedonthurtme…”

“Did…I just did what I think I just did, didn’t I? I did it again? No, no, don’t, look, don’t cry, please. I’m sorry, so-sorry-sorry, I try not to be like that, I really do! I…I forgot, is all. I’m, okay now.”

With Flandre that close to me, I curled into as small a ball as I possibly could. I knew it wouldn’t help—I knew she could still see me—but you just don’t think very straight when you’re afraid. I was pitiful, a mockery of the humanlike form my spirit resided in. Shivering, crying, whimpering like the child I was…why, why did I ever agree to watch over Flandre in the first place?

I remember someone picking my little body up and carrying me like a kitten, patting my head consolingly and whispering something to me I forgot. Was it Flandre? It must have been. All I know is that when I finally had the courage to open my eyes again, I was in a very different room than before.

A laboratory? No, no, an office. A very messy office. Books and rolled-up charts were strewn on top of tables and desks everywhere, and filing cabinets overflowed with manila folders. I’d never been in this room before; where were we? Flandre stood next to me, looking towards something I couldn’t see, though I heard a lot of squeaking. Struggling to get to my feet, I looked towards the source of the noise.

Oh, Patchouli Knowledge. So Flandre and I were right where we needed to be. The librarian hovered a foot or two off the ground, still dressed in her lilac night-clothes this late in the day. In front of her was one of those…they are like chalkboards, but use ink. Whiteboards, yes? The whiteboard was covered with hastily-scrawled notes, and more were being added to it as Patchouli traced her finger through the air, commanding three markers to dance across the wall for her. She whispered to herself hurriedly, coughing intermittently as she poured over…a summoning spell? I saw the familiar five-point pentacle displayed proudly in red ink, and words in a language I felt I should understand, but didn’t. Whatever it was, it was taking up so much of her attention she didn’t even acknowledge out presence.

“Uhh, umm, excuse me to pardon you, Dr. Knowledge?” Flandre addressed the librarian politely, folding her hands in front of her.

Patchouli glanced over her shoulder at us, a pair of tinted glasses shading her weak eyes. With her frazzled violet hair (how did a human manage to acquire violet hair that looked perfectly natural, anyways?) and weary sleepless face, she looked much older than I remembered her being. Then again, I could never really tell how old that woman was; she had an odd face like that. Must be some side-effect from being born in the late 19th century.

“Ohh, time for your lesson already, Lady Flandre?” Patchouli asked, almost dejectedly. “Yes, you would come today, of all days.”

“Trouble with your morally ambiguous secret experiment then, Dr. FrankenKnowledge?”

Patchouli’s frustrated growl turned into a sputtering cough as she turned back to her writing. Her answer was unfocused and impersonal. “Your studies in Shelly were several years ago; satirizing them at this time, and at my expense, shall gain you no points, as today’s topic is, as it has been for the last week, Tolkien. Trouble…? You cannot comprehend my frustration…Now, this incantation here, the Latin variant was unresponsive, and yet…”

The woman’s voice lowered once again into incomprehensible mutterings that I felt Flandre herself couldn’t understand, let alone me. She tugged at her ponytail for the fun of it (not much fun in my opinion), and bent over to whisper in my ear.

“She’s not in a very good mood today, is she? I don’t think today’s lesson gonna be much fun. And I liked reading about Tollers, too…”

[ ] “I…I agree, Miss Flandre. M-Maybe we should just go back to your room…leave her alone for today.”
[ ] I offered up my idea of a compromise to her. “Couldn’t…I mean, why don’t you ask her if she feels like teaching today? W-would that be all right?”
[ ] While I agreed with her, a school lesson was a school lesson. It probably wouldn’t do to skip out on Miss Knowledge just because of her mood. (choose a sub-option from below)
--( ) “Don’t, d-don’t worry, Miss Flandre. I’ll stay here and help you…if, if I can, that is.”
--( ) But it felt so unproductive just sitting on a lesson I knew nothing about. It felt like a good idea to ask the librarian if I could do anything for her while Flandre was studying.
--( ) And with Flandre safe in Patchouli’s hands, that left me open to fix up something nice for her lunch; something that might impress her a little.
--( ) And with Flandre safe in Patchouli’s hands, that left me open to finally relax a bit on my own and just clear up my head a little.

>>28891

[x] "Why not just browse library then? Have there ever been things you've wanted to know about but haven't had the time to find out about?"

[x] While I agreed with her, a school lesson was a school lesson. It probably wouldn’t do to skip out on Miss Knowledge just because of her mood.

(x) “Don’t, d-don’t worry, Miss Flandre. I’ll stay here and help you…if, if I can, that is.”

[ ] I offered up my idea of a compromise to her. “Couldn’t…I mean, why don’t you ask her if she feels like teaching today? W-would that be all right?”

[X] I offered up my idea of a compromise to her. “Couldn’t…I mean, why don’t you ask her if she feels like teaching today? W-would that be all right?”

[X] While I agreed with her, a school lesson was a school lesson. It probably wouldn’t do to skip out on Miss Knowledge just because of her mood. (choose a sub-option from below)
--(X) “Don’t, d-don’t worry, Miss Flandre. I’ll stay here and help you…if, if I can, that is.”

Mystia's too lazy to come over here and vote himself, so he told me to vote for him to break the tie. Don't ask me how his writing is going; he never gives me an answer I can believe.

[X] While I agreed with her, a school lesson was a school lesson. It probably wouldn’t do to skip out on Miss Knowledge just because of her mood.
--(X) “Don’t, d-don’t worry, Miss Flandre. I’ll stay here and help you…if, if I can, that is.”

>lots of Flandre in this story
>Tolkien
I see what you're doing, here.

Also, Flandre sounds a lot like me if I just spoke every thought that wandered through my head.

That does happen when I'm drunk, though.

>“Trouble with your morally ambiguous secret experiment then, Dr. FrankenKnowledge?”
I fucking loved this bit, too.

It's nice to see that Flandre is more than just another amusing spacy/crazy/chatty Osaka-esque girl; she's got snark and sting to go with it if she wants.

3 votes for staying with Flandre.
2 votes for making a compromise.
1 vote for perusing the library.

Thanks for the tiebreaker, Owen…uhh, I mean Mystia. Writing now.

>>28937
> I see what you're doing, here.
Good, because I don—oh wait…thaaaaat.

And I think Flandre sounds a lot like anyone if they just spoke every thought that wandered through their head.

>>28938
We’ve had enough spacy/crazy/chatty Flandres to last us a lifetime. It’s time for a change.

>>28952
>>And I think Flandre sounds a lot like anyone if they just spoke every thought that wandered through their head.

Nope. You're just insane.

>>28954

;_;

While I agreed with her, a school lesson was a school lesson. It probably wouldn’t do to skip out on Miss Knowledge just because of her mood.

“Don’t, d-don’t worry, Miss Flandre. I’ll stay here and help you…if, if I can, that is.”

Flandre rubbed my hair playfully but said nothing more, clearing off a small spot on a nearby table and somehow procuring a pencil and paper from the mess. I floated around behind her, trying to decide how best to “help” her other than just sticking around and being a comforting presence. She labeled the paper “LoTR Notes 5”, and tapped her pencil on the table, waiting for her professor to begin. And waiting…waiting for a good three minutes before she got tired of waiting and spoke up. Patchouli, still focused on her magical calculations, was busy ignoring her.

“Doctor? Doctor Patchy-Patch, I’m here. I’m waiting, waiting right here, right for you. You’re s’possed to teach me things. It’s classtime, time for class. Are you even listening to me? I could say anything right now and get away with it. But I’m not going to because that wouldn’t be nice, and I’m a nice girl who does nice things. DOCTOR KNOWLEDGE, YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THIS UNIVERSITY, AND TO THE NAME OF SCIENCE!”

Patchouli’s three floating markers trailed off into useless squiggles for a second or two, then flopped to the ground, lifeless. The librarian stopped mumbling to herself instantly and froze; even her slight meandering in the air came to a halt. Out of instinct I dropped back down to the ground, always afraid that any sudden change in temperament meant bad things. I saw her fist clench for a moment, and her eventual response was very stressed, enhanced since she refused to turn around.

“You can’t…possibly…I lost…ahem. Miss Flandre, I will forgive you for that. As I often am told to do. However, in the future, do not use such low methods to gain my attention. Are we quite clear?”

Flandre folded her arms and stuffed them against her chest defiantly, forcing me to duck as her wings swiveled erratically near my head. “Hmph. Not my fault. I’m insane; I don’t know no better. You do.”

I saw Patchouli’s hand move to push her glasses back up her nose, and she sighed. “If you intend to use such a petty and childish excuse around me, then I shall treat you like a child. And I do not tutor children. I tutor men and women. Do you come to me today as a woman, or as a child?”

No response. From either of them, though I thought I saw Flandre’s cheek puff out a little. Was she annoyed? And at what? For once, I could keep up with their words, but now I didn’t understand the meanings of the words. I supposed it was a given, considering how smart I knew Miss Knowledge was, but still…I wanted to know what was going on…I wanted to help more…

Flandre pushed the pencil and paper over to me and straightened up in her chair. “Miss fairy, I’d appreciate it if you would take notes for me. I’m afraid I don’t do well multitasking during lessons.” I could tell she was trying to be serious for Patchouli’s sake, and tried to do the same myself.

“Yes, Miss Flandre. I apologize, but I’ve never taken ‘notes’ in a lesson before. What would you like me to do?”

“Oh, mmm, please just write down anything that sounds important. Anything that Dr. Knowledge writes on the board, as well.”

“I will do my best, my Lady.”

The formalities out of the way, I found a spare stool and sat it next to Flandre, then waited for Dr. Patchouli to address the “class”. It took her another minute or so to finally finish up whatever summoning nonsense she was working on, at which point she pulled down another whiteboard from the wall and began to teach, a copy of a book called The Fellowship of The Ring in her hand. The name definitely sounded familiar, but I hadn’t read the book.

“As we have finished our discussion of The Hobbit for the moment, I would like to turn our attention to Tolkien’s most famous work, The Lord of The Rings. Many literary scholars have argued that it is the most influential book series of the twentieth century; I will keep my own opinions to myself.”

“They shouldn’t say that,” Flandre interrupted. “How can you say any one book is the most important book? Or book series, for that matter? I wouldn’t think Low-terr would influence, say, mystery novels much. Or romance novels, either.” Did I hear her right? Low-terr? What was that supposed to mean?

The professor smiled at her student. “Perhaps I’ve rubbed off on you more than I thought. You make a valid point: no one book is all-encompassing, just as no one power is all-encompassing. However, you cannot ignore the influence it has had on the populace, and it is this which I shall attempt to address in later lessons. Now, what was Tokien’s purpose when writing The Hobbit?”

Flandre thought for a while before replying, “Umm, to tell a fairy tale, for his kids, right?”

“Correct. His purpose in The Lord of The Rings is similar: he wanted to tell a fairy tale for adults.”

“Oohh, hmm…that’s, well I guess that makes sense. Except, it doesn’t at the same time.”

“Many critics of the books have said the same. Can you tell me why?”

As the little sister pondered over her paradox, I worked on writing down what Patchouli said was the “purpose” of the book; it sounded pretty important to me. Working the pencil over the paper, I grimaced at my so-called achievement. My letters were lopsided and extremely shaky; I was surprised I could even read them at all. Sakuya really hadn’t spent much time teaching us fairies to read, and even less to write. We picked up what we could from the more experienced of our kin, but it was a grueling process all the same, and many (myself included) would have rather spent their free time doing more exciting things. I erased my pitiful attempt and tried again as Flandre answered the good librarian.

“It doesn’t make sense because, well…adults are adults, and kids and kids. Kids like fairy tales, you know? Adults, not so much, no. They don’t like to believe in fantasy; they like science and explanations and facts and things. Dragons and wizards aren’t real, so why read a book about fake things? Well, at least humans don’t think they’re real, heh. They don’t know what they’re missing. Poor humans.”

I thought I could see Patchouli grimace when Flandre said the words “science” and “humans” like she did. I don’t really know what the science bit was all about, but I could see why she’d be upset about the human bit. Patchouli was human herself, after all. Or, well…I suppose I shouldn’t generalize like that. She isn’t human like you are, not quite. Obviously a normal human couldn’t live for a hundred years and look as young as she did. But no, I could always feel something around her, something different. As if she wasn’t completely “there”, like, ohh…I don’t know how to explain it. I want to say a part of her felt like it was just made of pure magic, but that’s not right, even if it might be close. I’m sorry; I want to tell you the truth, but I’m no magician like Miss Patchouli, I don’t know what these kind of things are or how they work.

“Ooh! Dr. Patchouli?!” Flandre added, interrupting the woman’s not-yet-voiced response. “I’ve been wondering. Where did all the dragons go? I mean, they used to be around, right? What happened to them?”

She massaged her temple and stifled a cough. “Mhmm-mhm, excuse me. Dragons are not on today’s lesson plan, Miss Flandre. As a related fact, Professor Tolkien did not live long enough to give his readers such detailed facts about his world, and so any I gave would be short.”

“No, no, not Tolkien dragons. I meant real dragons. Like ones I could walk up to and play with, or the ones knights tried to kill long long ago. They existed once, didn’t they?”

“Miss Flandre,” Patchouli answered sternly, not without a tone of annoyance in her voice. “I am very busy. My research is far behind my planned schedule. And you yourself were the one who asked to study Tolkien this month. If you are going to waste my time with these unplanned tangents—“

“Fine, sorry, my fault, go, talk, teach, whatever, shutting up now,” my charge muttered, visibly disappointed but apparently knowing what was good for her. I guess she did have a little self-control every now and again. Perhaps it was because of the way Patchouli acted? I wondered if maybe I should take notes on her rather than the lesson.

“Thank you. Now continuing onwards, Tolkien began his planning for these books…”

+ + + + + + + + + +

It continued in that fashion for almost five hours, with the countless back-and-forths those two had. It made me wonder if Flandre even left the room any wiser than before. She certainly left the room with Patchouli in a worse mood than she was when she entered, which for some reason I felt responsible for. After all, I was Flandre’s aid; I was supposed to keep her in check. And yet, Patchouli still grew more and more curt as the lesson drew on, Flandre refusing to drop the most insignificant arguments until the librarian satisfied her each and every question. Truthfully, I think I got too distracted by my note-taking (or attempts thereof) to be of much help to Flandre’s demeanor. But, but…it wasn’t fair, I couldn’t do everything! How was I supposed to focus on both Flandre and that dizzying piece of paper for five hours? I could barely even focus on one of them, let alone both! How I wished I could have grown up faster that day…I felt so useless, being tugged around by Flandre all day. At least on a normal day I didn’t have to worry about my broom or rag confusing me with questions or spontaneously exploding with energy.

Unfortunately, Flandre found herself in an equally sour mood once we came back to her room and she took a look at the now-restocked pantry.

“Aaagh! No, no no! I told her! She didn’t listen, and I told her!” Flandre yanked on her ponytail furiously, her eyes full of fire.

“What’s wrong, Miss?” I asked quickly.

”The system!” she shirked, pointing to the shelves. “She ruined my system! I told her, I told her I didn’t want her to touch it, but ohh, she said! She said she could do it! Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

“C-Can, can I, uhh, I mean, is there any-anything I can do?”

She glared at me, her mouth a wrinkled pout at the audacity of my suggestion. “You? What, now?! No! You don’t understand! The system! No one understands! I have it all laid out, it works! And you, any of you touch it, and, a-a-and…Grrrraah! Just, out! Get out! Get the heck away from my system!”

[ ] Fear. That fear came back again. But…I wasn’t supposed to be afraid. I didn’t want to be afraid. It was a test. A hard test. And I wanted to pass it. I wanted to stand firm.
[ ] “B-but, Miss, please, I-I just, I just want to help.”
[ ] “Miss Flandre, your t-temper…try to control your temper. You’re, you’re s-scaring me.”
[ ] I didn’t need another warning. Wasting no time, I ran out of her reach and retreated back to… (choose a retreating distance below)
--( ) …the kitchen.
--( ) …the bedroom.
--( ) …the stairwell, locking the door behind me.
--( ) …the stairwell, leaving the door open behind me.
--( ) …my room, shivering on top of my bed.

[X] “Miss Flandre, your t-temper…try to control your temper. You’re, you’re s-scaring me.”

[X] Fear. That fear came back again. But…I wasn’t supposed to be afraid. I didn’t want to be afraid. It was a test. A hard test. And I wanted to pass it. I wanted to stand firm.

[X] “Miss Flandre, your t-temper…try to control your temper. You’re, you’re s-scaring me.”

[x] “Miss Flandre, your t-temper…try to control your temper. You’re, you’re s-scaring me.”

[X] Fear. That fear came back again. But…I wasn’t supposed to be afraid. I didn’t want to be afraid. It was a test. A hard test. And I wanted to pass it. I wanted to stand firm.

>>28968
[X] I didn’t need another warning. Wasting no time, I ran out of her reach and retreated back to…
--(X) …the bedroom.
--(X) I knew she was angry, but I didn't want to leave her. Not yet, at least. I started to clean up the room, like she had mentioned before.

Specific write-in can be ignored, but the intent is there. Cleaning is also fairly straight-forward, and I don't think this nasty little 'system' applies to putting socks in the sock drawer.

[X] I didn’t need another warning. Wasting no time, I ran out of her reach and retreated back to…
--(X) …the bedroom.
--(X) I knew she was angry, but I didn't want to leave her. Not yet, at least. I started to clean up the room, like she had mentioned before.

[X] I didn’t need another warning. Wasting no time, I ran out of her reach and retreated back to…
--(X) …the bedroom.
--(X) I knew she was angry, but I didn't want to leave her. Not yet, at least. I started to clean up the room, like she had mentioned before.

...I'm continuing to find myself relating to Flandre a lot more, the good and the bad alike.

Keep writing, this is cheaper than a shrink.

[X] Tell the little lady that:
"Mistress Flandre I will be waiting outside."
Then bow and go outside, after closing the door behind you, call for me. Tell me the situation. Yeah I will be angry that you couldn't solve a little problem like this, but oh well, I will bake a cake..

[x] Imitate Flandre to Surprise her and suggest a more reasonable thing to do and break the tantrum before something bad happens. (Attempt to turn the situation around by presenting herself with her own folly).

(Basically a better version of option 3.)

I.e. you say, for example, something along the lines of;
"Ah, I see you're a bit angry. Are you all right miss Flandre? You know, you've probably made a nice and neat organized system for your own pantry, so that you know where things are and what to do by just looking at it. And maybe someone that disturbs the system is a bit bad. A system is gone when its disturbed, kind of like taking a thesaurus and shuffling all the words around, that makes it a useless thesaurus. Kind of hard to imagine how you would do that with a thesaurus though. Anyway, perhaps that kind of person that ruins a system deserves being scolded for that. But only blaming people won't solve the cause of your frustration, merely your frustration itself. I mean, you won't be angry anymore, but you get angry again the next time. Something bad could happen if you get angry often, you know. You could break stuff and then feel sorry 'cause you can't repair it again. Unless you do it all yourself if someone else puts the stuff in your pantry again they're going to probably do it wrong again. Why don't we go to Sakuya and show her what she did wrong? She will do it right the next time then, you know. Maybe you could even write down how the system works, like a book or a paper. You would make something nice, maybe even other people will use your system, and then they would understand. I could do it right if I had to do it next time too like that!"

Motivation; Well, anon fairy's been with Flan the whole day, so she probably knows how flan talks. It's a tactic that works really well against children if used sparingly. The sudden shock of our weird behaviour makes her realize we're imitating her. And when she realizes that she will probably already have heard all the words, and the trap will have worked. It's a way of getting her attention while she's throwing her tantrum to tell her something.

Potential issues: 1: This whole garble of a writein should be said fast by anon-fairy. It could go wrong when she interrupts anon. Chances of that are rather slim as she's probably too surprised. 2: Well, the fairy's kind of afraid of Flandre, so... this might not fall within the boundaries of reasonable writeins.

>>29018

I like the sentiment, but our protagonist really is hobbled in the language and comprehension department. I wouldn't trust her to put more than a single sentence together at her current state before she's cowed by the angry vampire into silence.

[X] The Mistress told me there's nothing I can do for her, and to leave her, so I bowed and responded as meekly as possible, "By your leave then, Mistress Flandre," making no effort to hide me tears. Walking briskly out of the room, I retreated back to…
--(X) …the stairwell. Latching the door behind me, but not locking it.
--(X) I knew she was angry, and that my exit might agitate her further, but I didn't want to leave her. I stood by the door, listening, steeling myself for the clamor and cries of directionless rage and anguish that I expected to come from the behind the door. Only when she tires herself out, would it be time to reenter and comfort her.

She'll be ashamed for what she'll have done, having destroyed her possessions but Flandre's true wretchedness extends from loneliness. It is only after letting her do all she can to show us how terrible and unlovable she is, that we can affirm with any veracity that we will not abandon her in spite of it.

Leaving to the stairwell is necessary here, since if you retreat to the bedroom, it would be impossible for you to avoid Flandre when leaving and therefore not necessarily a true case of wanting to stay near her, but rather being trapped near her. We must allow for the possibility of abandonment to stay in her head.

Indeed we want her to believe that she's frightened us off for good, so she can really vent completely. The damage she'll cause is nominal in consideration of the gains you'll be making in pulling this off. You, of your own free will, not under order of her or Sakuya or Flandre, and under the real threat of death and dismemberment, came back to her, and that you don't see her as a terrible, insane monster.

You close the door but not lock it, because you don't want to let her think that she's been caged, lumping you in with Sakuya and Remilia and Patchouli as her jailers and therefore deserving of her scorn. And it she does go out to look for you, she'll certainly be surprised to see you haven't run away, but were merely waiting on her.

3 votes for controlling temper.
3 votes for going to the bedroom and cleaning.
2 votes for standing firm.
1 vote for calling for Sakuya
1 vote for illustrating absurdity by being absurd.
1 vote for going to the stairwell and letting her vent.

Been stuck at a tie for a while, but since >>29025 is kind of similar to the >>28990 write-in, I’ll say that wins, just so I can start writing. Writing now…

>>29010
Umm…thank, you? I’m flattered that you think my writing is that good, but psychological? Maybe you just need to take it easy.

>>29025
Ooo, this is pretty nice! Nice job thinking it up; very smart and in-character. Too bad it was a little too late; I would have liked to write it properly, instead of just putting it in with the >>28990 vote.

[x] “Miss Flandre, your t-temper…try to control your temper. You’re, you’re s-scaring me.”

We need to stop her when she gets like this, or we'll never get anywhere.

I didn’t need another warning. Wasting no time, I ran out of her reach and retreated back to the bedroom. I knew she was angry—at least she sounded angry—but I, I didn’t want to leave her. Not yet. I couldn’t just abandon her because I was scared, right? I was trying to be braver. She just…needed some space. Needed to be alone for a little while. People get mad sometimes, and when they do they just won’t listen to anyone. You just have to let them cool down by themselves, yes? Flandre was no exception; she probably needed that treatment more than a normal person would, even.

I just sat down on the carpet for a while, listening to her shout and babble to herself about “the system” and “inefficiency” from through the shut door, accompanied by loud bangs that I hoped were just her slamming cans of food on the shelves a little too hard. Eyes darting around the room, I saw how cluttered Flandre’s living space had become, and then remembered that she had wanted her room cleaned. She wouldn’t…she wouldn’t get mad at me if I just tidied up a bit, would she? I mean, keeping a room straight wasn’t like shelving food. There was the clothes hamper, and there were all the dirty clothes on the floor; there was the wastebasket, and there were all the random crumpled papers and plastic wrappers. Taking a nervous breath, I stood back up and started doing one of the few things I knew how to do: be a maid.

Over the course of my tidying I kept hearing the pantry door slam open and shut as Flandre continued to do…something, reorganizing I assumed. Every time her voice escalated I feared the worst. That she would burst through the door and see me just trying to help…That she would still be furious from Sakuya’s “help”…That she would be furious at my “help”…That she would…she would…

But it never came. She growled and cried like an animal in a cage, but that kitchen door never opened up. Even when she began “talking” to me or Sakuya or Remilia, she never actually opened the door to go try and find them in the flesh. As I moved from tidying to dusting, her vocalizations grew quieter and slower, until I couldn’t hear her at all.

It must have been over an hour we remained separated, and eventually I ran out of things to do around the room. I dared not intrude on her yet, even after she had been silent for so long. Or…was it that I dared not intrude on her at all? Noisy or silent, a venomous snake can still kill a man, yes? I argued with myself, over and over, about what I should do…about what I shouldn’t do…

Flandre’s been quiet an awful long time…for her, at least.

It is all right to go in there? I mean, will talking to her break “the system”?

But what if she’s crying? What if she needs someone to talk to?

Except…is Flandre the kind of girl who relies on others to calm herself down…or just relies on herself? Ohh, why does all this have to happen to me on the first day?

I want…I want to help her. Somehow. I want to show her that I’m not afraid.

But…why? I am afraid. Why lie to myself? I’m just a scared little fairy, after all. I’m no good for anything…

And even thought I am, I…I still attacked that girl, last night…I protected Mistress Remilia. And she…she was happy. She was happy I did something fairies usually don’t do. She…she talked to me! She smiled at me!

I-I…I…want to be smiled at more…

Steeling myself for whatever would happen next, I tiptoed to the kitchen door and cracked it open, ever so slowly. No Flandre in the kitchen; I wormed my way inside, floating off the ground so I didn’t make a sound. Nervously I peaked around the corner of the doorframe to the gloomy, unlit pantry.

There was my little Flandre.

She sat hunched over, on top of an empty milk crate, her wings hardly even visible with how low to the ground they were. More than one can of food was open and smashed on the ground, and I could see her dress was splattered with similar stains. Her hat was clutched in one hand, while the other dangled limply at her side. I could here her breathing erratically, halfway between normal gasps for breath and dry sobs. With her head hung low like that, she couldn’t see me, and I didn’t think she even knew I was there.

For you to…I just…my words, they’re not enough. If you could have truly seen what I saw that night…that silence…


Choose one of [these], and then choose one of (these).

[ ] I couldn’t break that silence. Nothing I could have said would have helped, and any words I could think of just seemed stupid.
[ ] I couldn’t bear that silence. I had to say something…anything. (Write-in something heartwarming if you want)

( ) I just waited there…waited until she was ready for me.
( ) I inched closer to her, ever so slowly, until I was right by her side.
( ) Moving to her side, I waited for just a moment, then reached out to hold her hand.
( ) She needed someone…someone to be close to her. Putting fear and consequences aside, I went up to her and embraced her like the friend I wanted to be.

[x] I couldn’t break that silence. Nothing I could have said would have helped, and any words I could think of just seemed stupid.
(x) She needed someone…someone to be close to her. Putting fear and consequences aside, I went up to her and embraced her like the friend I wanted to be.

Actions speak louder than words.

[X] I couldn’t break that silence. Nothing I could have said would have helped, and any words I could think of just seemed stupid.

(X) She needed someone…someone to be close to her. Putting fear and consequences aside, I went up to her and embraced her like the friend I wanted to be.

[x] I couldn’t break that silence. Nothing I could have said would have helped, and any words I could think of just seemed stupid.
(x) She needed someone…someone to be close to her. Putting fear and consequences aside, I went up to her and embraced her like the friend I wanted to be.

Being a fairy has to have some advantages. If she kills us by accident, then she'll be mortified at herself, but we'll simply reincarnate and be able to give her a proper hug.

[x] I couldn’t break that silence. Nothing I could have said would have helped, and any words I could think of just seemed stupid.
(x) She needed someone…someone to be close to her. Putting fear and consequences aside, I went up to her and embraced her like the friend I wanted to be.

[z] I couldn’t break that silence. Nothing I could have said would have helped, and any words I could think of just seemed stupid.
(e) She needed someone…someone to be close to her. Putting fear and consequences aside, I went up to her and embraced her like the friend I wanted to be.

;_;

[x] I couldn’t break that silence. Nothing I could have said would have helped, and any words I could think of just seemed stupid.
(x) She needed someone…someone to be close to her. Putting fear and consequences aside, I went up to her and embraced her like the friend I wanted to be.

[X] I couldn’t break that silence. Nothing I could have said would have helped, and any words I could think of just seemed stupid.
(X) She needed someone…someone to be close to her. Putting fear and consequences aside, I went up to her and embraced her like the friend I wanted to be.

7 votes for hug Flandre time~

D'aww choice is d'aww. Writing now...

>>29068
That's the idea. Well, minus the whole "mortify Flandre" part. That's not a good idea at all.

I couldn’t break that silence. Nothing I could have said would have helped, and any words I could think of just seemed stupid. But she needed someone…someone to be close to her. Putting fear and consequences aside, I went up to her and embraced her like the friend I wanted to be. Not like the friend I was…no, no, I was…too scared. Too scared to be Flandre’s friend just then. I didn’t know how. Fairies, we…it’s difficult for us to have true friends like you humans do, even amongst ourselves. Oh, we’re very friendly, kind to every creature, and don’t ever really discriminate. Everyone deserves to be loved, yes? But that’s the problem, I suppose: when you love everyone, you end up really loving, well…no one.

I could feel the bunched-up muscles in Flandre’s back and shoulders as I hugged her, my fear of destruction and desire for compassion wreaking havoc on my psyche. She didn’t respond for the longest time, aside from an excited breath when my arms first wrapped around her. I wanted her to know that I was there, that she wasn’t alone, that I didn’t care if she blew be into a million pieces, or tore me limb from limb. Right then, I didn’t even care if she never spoke to me again. I just wanted her to be happy. I just wanted her to smile more…Everyone should be allowed to smile more.

Slowly Flandre started to lean against me, and her head rested down in the nook of my shoulder, whimpering in the faintest of whispers. Truthfully, I thought it was a little pathetic at the time, at least for someone like Flandre. The being stronger even than Remilia herself…a soul as mad as a hatter…crying in my arms like the child she appeared to be. Gently I stroked her disheveled hair, combing out the tangles she had created in her rage. It was...peaceful. Surprisingly peaceful, for the first time that day.

“D-Don’t…y-y-you sh-shouldn’t, shouldn’t b-be this cl…this cl, close to me,” she cried. “N-not, I’m not-t, not stab-b-ble.”

“Shh, shh, it’s, it’s okay, Miss Flandre,” I cooed as soothingly as I could. “You don’t have to talk right now.”

She shook her head half-heartedly against me chest, wiping her tears on my apron. “Not, no, n-not when I’m like, like…this. Y-you have to, t-to st-stay away. I don’t know what…what I-I’ll do.”

“I don’t…I don’t care. I want…don’t want you to be alone. Don’t want you to, to be afraid. You’re not…Not alone.”

She moved her hands from my waist to my chest, grasping at my clothes and trying to pull me closer to her while at the same time trying to push me away. Even throughout all the jerky and chaotic movements I could tell…This wasn’t a Flandre out of control. There was no strength in her grip. The Flandre whose single finger spun me around like a top…the Flandre who lifted a cast iron cog like it was made of cotton…The Flandre sitting next to me wasn’t that Flandre. She was…she was like me. She was confused. Afraid of the little vampire in the basement. Wishing she could understand life better, understand the people around her better. She just wanted a little something more than just…this.

Her hands started shaking, and she pulled them away looking at her palms in a kind of spacey terror.

“I…I used…it. Not, n-not…I didn’t just smash the, the cans with my hands-s-s. I…I saw them. Saw their eyes. Looked at me, and I, I looked back. Don’t want to, never want to…those eyes, why can I see them…? Why do I have…this? I don’t…never should have…never w-wanted any of-f this-s-s.”

Eyes…seeing…”it”…More of the odd things I couldn’t understand about her. Riddles within metaphors and more riddles. I wanted to know…but I didn’t. I wasn’t ready, I knew that. Perhaps I never would be. And I knew that too. I knew that, maybe, I’d never be able to find out what made Flandre “Flandre”. But it didn’t matter. Even if you never find what you search for…is the search in vain? I don’t think it is. Of course, such complex thoughts didn’t enter my head at the time; I’m much wiser now than I was back then, after all. But it was something similar.

I asked her quietly, “Are you all right, Miss? Do you want to tell me if there’s anything I can do?”

She sniffled and rubbed her eyes. “N-no, no, I…I’m getting better now. Chaos…I lose my brain in chaos sometimes. It’s not…happy, in chaos. But I’m…I’m not chaos. I’m me. And so…me can win over chaos. Most times, it just takes time. And I’m, I’m getting better at it, I think.”

She stood up and brushed some crumbles of food off her skirt, matting down her hair and replacing her hat. “Th, thank you, you know. I don’t…I don’t need friends. But sometimes…sometimes I need friends. Thanks for being a friends.”

“Oh, n-no, don’t, it’s, uhhmm, it’s nothing,” I replied, cheeks reddening. “I just…It’s my job, watching you, I guess.”

She gave me a little quirky smirk and shook her head, pointing at my heart. “You. You’re you. Your job said watch. Your job said clean. But you…you said it’s okay. You said hug Flan. You said don’t be afraid.” She leaned over and placed her hand on my chest. “Jobs can’t be a friend. People…people can be a friend. And…lot of the fairy-types…?” she whispered to me. “They’re…just jobs. They’re not people. They don’t want to be a people to me. They don’t want to be a friend.”

It was my turn to smile, then. Not a very good smile. Just kind of a surprised, nervous little half kind of smile. But she…was she calling me a, a friend? At the very least, she said I was the kind of person that could be a friend to her. And no matter what my mind tried to make sense of, that was good enough for me.

“Th…thank you, Miss Flandre.”

She nodded, biting her lower lip while consciously trying to hide her vampire fangs. We stayed there for a minute or two more in the silence before Flandre felt ready to return to the familiarity of her bedroom, plopping herself down on her bed without a second thought. It wasn’t too long before she was back to her old, listless rambling, though there was certainly a lot less energy in it now.

“Watching you…watch you now, watch watch watch. I like to watch watches sometimes. Tick tick tick, so funny, cute and cuddly watches. Sakuya’s got a funny watch. I think her watch can watch itself, you know? Like how usually it’s time that watches the watch, but this time it’s the watch that watches time? I bet she’s got a lot of time to watch watches. But what she watches when she watches time…that’d be a good thing to watch her answer some time. Hmm…that reminds me, you know? It’s getting about time to watch. Watch what? Watch Time! But not like time time; like Time-Warner time! I wonder what we should watch this time…let’s ask the person-type-fairy-time!”

She turned her head to me, or more like refocused her eyes in my direction; her head was already turned the right way. “Hey, Ms. Fairy-Type-Time-Person? It’s like time to watch something we like! Like a movielike, you know? Movies in the theatre? Silver screen? Platinum projector? I told you I get to pick tonight, but I can’t feel a pick tonight, so you pick tonight for my pick instead. What’s the flick you pick, chick?”

It took me quite a while to sort through this request of hers, even after ignoring most of the stuff before it. Finally I came up with, “Umm, wait, so…You want me to pick your movie? Oh, no, n-no, Miss, I couldn’t…It’s your special night, after all.”

She pushed a hand at me, swiveling her wrist like some kind of aristocrat (I guess she was one, really). “Don’t you talk back to me, girly-girl. I’ve had lot of special nights; special gets boring sometimes. Really now, there’s gotta be something you’ve got a tickled fancy for!”

[ ] Pick a relatively popular film released in theaters before 1996. Anything goes, but try to make it at least a little plausible for a fairy to think of.
[ ] “No, really, I, I can’t. Please, it’d make me happy just watching something you like.”
[ ] “Wh-what if, umm…how about we let Mistre…umm, I mean, your sister choose? I’m sure she’d like that.”
[ ] “Does Miss Patchouli ever get to choose movies? I wonder what kind of film she’d like…”
[ ] “I, umm…can I just give my vote to Sakuya instead? I guess I want to kinda thank her for being a nice person to all of us.”

Protip: A favorite movie choice can say a lot about a person!

[X] Pick a relatively popular film released in theaters before 1996. Anything goes, but try to make it at least a little plausible for a fairy to think of.
[X] Princess Bride
[x]The Final Sacrifice

[x] Reservoir Dogs

She's a Tarantino buff.

[X] Pick a relatively popular film released in theaters before 1996. Anything goes, but try to make it at least a little plausible for a fairy to think of.
[X] Reservoir Dogs

[X] Pick a relatively popular film released in theaters before 1996. Anything goes, but try to make it at least a little plausible for a fairy to think of.

[X] Hook

[X] Pick a relatively popular film released in theaters before 1996. Anything goes, but try to make it at least a little plausible for a fairy to think of.

[X] Fernglly

[X] Pick a relatively popular film released in theaters before 1996. Anything goes, but try to make it at least a little plausible for a fairy to think of.
[X] Reservoir Dogs

>>try to make it at least a little plausible for a fairy to think of.
>>Reservoir Dogs
If she has trouble following Flandre's ramblings, would she really fare any better with any Tarantino movie?
The poor girl would probably be hopelessly lost before they finished talking about Madonna.

And I said,
[X] "What about Breakfast At Tiffanny's?"
She said, "I, think I,
remember the film,
and, as I recall, I think,
we both kinda liked it."
And I said, "Well, that's
one thing we got."

>[-] Reservoir Dogs
what
no
that doesn't make any sense
I am un-voting this

[x] The Princess Bride

I don't know anyone who could hate this movie.

You know, Flandre route has always seemed creepy, what with the whole pedo vibe.

Not so much anymore; maybe that's because it's a fairy maid, not a guy.

[x] The Princess Bride

>>29107
Oho. Then why doesn't Remilia route seem creepy?

>>29114
Because Remilia usually acts her age, not her apparent age.

[X] The Princess Bride

4 votes for The Princess Bride.
3 2 votes for Reservoir Dogs.
1 vote for Hook.
1 vote for Fern Gully.
1 vote for Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

A fairy picking a fairy tale movie? Inconceivable! But, as you wish~ Writing now.

>Reservoir Dogs
I would have actually allowed this if it won; it’s not as stupid as it sounds. Well, you missed out on a chance to make the fairy a little more badass. Maybe next time~

>Fern Gully
Well, that’s…overt.

>The Final Sacrifice
>…the evil Satoris…
FFFFFFFFFF!

>>29107
>Flandre route
Oh no, no, no please. Please, don’t think like that. Just because the story started with Flandre doesn’t mean it’s all about just her. Each character has a role to play in this, and each one has a story I’d like to tell. After all, Friday is just one day of the week; plenty of things for a hard-working fairy to do on the other six.

The real reason Flandre came first is because I didn’t realize April 12, 1996 was a Friday until after I posted the first update.

Can you spot the hidden reference?

I racked my little brain as hard as I could. I movie…a movie I fancied? There were so many I could think of; I had watched a lot of films over the years, and they all seemed to get muddled up the more I watched, and the more I thought about them. But then again, it wasn’t just about me this time…At least half of the mansion’s residents would be watching, watching a move I picked. And…well, I’m a little ashamed to say it now, but there were some movies I had seen that just didn’t seem very…”proper”, to pick for a mansion movie night. I felt so nervous, like everyone’s eyes were on me, forcing me to not choose this or that for any myriad of reasons. I shrunk back a bit under Flandre’s pressing suggestion, sweat dampening my brow as I thought thought thought for an answer to such a simple question.

And then…it came to me. A movie, long ago. It might have been the first I had even seen inside the mansion…the first I had ever seen in my life. Then again, it might not have, but still, it seemed special. It seemed…right.

“Well, I, I do have this one movie. Umm, wasn’t it called the, umm, Prince’s Bride, I think? It had a nice lady and a hero with a sword, and uhh…my name is, Inigo Montoya?”

Flandre practically beamed at me. “The Princess Bride?! Incontheivable! Oh yeah, that’s one-a my favorites too! It should be one of everyone’s favorites! Ooo, ooo! There’s something I forgot to tell you! I, am not left-handed!” She fell over onto the bed, laughing and clutching her sides. I admit, I couldn’t help smiling myself. It took me a while, but I started to remember all the little things I liked about that movie. All those little jokes.

Eventually Flandre came to herself and sat back up, brushing me away with her hand. “Go on, go on, call Sakuya and tell her the movie for tonight! She’s got to get it all ready, after all! My sister’s really elegant; she can’t stand to use ol’ VHS tapes. Nope, only the actual film reels from the theaters for her. After that, we’d better get ready too! Of course you must look your best for an evening at the ‘they-ah-tah’.” She said that last bit with a certain…air, is the right word, yes? It reminded me a little of her sister, but extremely overdone. On purpose, I reckoned. But jokingly or no, there was a playful little twinkle in her eye just the same. Just what did she have in store for me that night…?

+ + + + + + + + + +

Nothing that bad, as it turned out. Just a little…well, foolish, or at least I thought so. After Sakuya and I had gotten off the phone, Flandre had practically ripped my clothes off me and told me to wear something nicer, something fit for “an evening of elegance”. I didn’t have anything “nicer” of course—none of us fairies had anything but spare uniforms—so she started to force her own clothes on me instead. And I do mean force, by the way. By the time we were done, I felt like she was flat-out molesting me to get those frilly gowns over my head, and they never seemed to end. Looking back on that day I suppose I did actually enjoy playing dress-up with Flandre, but…well, I’m sitting here peacefully right now, not being groped by a little-too playful vampire. Perspectives can change over the years, I suppose.

And so I found myself in the reserved upper balcony of the mansion’s theatre, standing in the twinkling light of Flandre’s wings, dressed in the most lacy pink “thing” I had even seen before in my life, with a giant bow to match, even. Why Flandre would even have such a dress is beyond me, let alone why she thought it looked good on me, or anyone for that matter. At least we were more or less the same size, though is was still a little long for me; I had to keep hoisting it up whenever I walked to avoid tripping.

Personally, I would have rather been wearing the costume she had picked out; it might have been more odd, but at least it didn’t look as confining. A form-fitting red top with no back to accommodate her wings, blue detached sleeves and matching tight pants…Okay, I guess it was a little more than odd; outright crazy, as a mater of fact. How could she possibly think such a getup looked “elegant” in the slightest? If anything it looked provocative, showing off plenty of shoulder and back. And…the way it just sort of “clung” to her torso without any straps or anything made me wonder if it might have been better suited for…well, for a woman with breasts, if I may be so blunt.

Whatever her tastes, there we were, watching the meandering fairies down below file into the theatre, unaware that high above them a secret crowd attended the same movies they did. It was just us two up there for the moment; Sakuya had come in earlier, but she was busy fiddling with the projector, and Remilia had yet to make an appearance, if she was going to make one at all. Flandre was busy talking to herself, quoting movie lines that felt halfway familiar less than half of the time, and downright incomprehensible for the rest. Then again, a girl who lives for five hundred years must have seen so many theatre productions that even for a non-fairy they’d all muddle together in the end.

Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder, or at least I felt the face-covered-lace brush against my neck. Turning around with a start I saw Sakuya standing next to me, smiling contentedly.

“Nice dress,” she commented, stifling a giggle.

“Oh, th-thnak you, Sakuya. Flandre, she…she picked it out for me. It’s a little too big for me, I think.”

“Mmm, I see. And The Princess Bride? It’s been years since I’ve seen that one. A fine choice, miss.”

I shuffled my feet together. “It’s nothing really. Just, just something that popped into my head.”

She leaned over a bit and lowered her voice, though I was pretty sure Flandre could still hear her. “Would you mind if I talked to you for a moment outside? I think you might want to hear it.”

“Oh, umm, well…will it take very long?”

“I suppose it might. But don’t worry; the show won’t start without you. I am the camera operator, after all.” Again, she smiled at me.

I did wonder what she wanted to talk about. There was a lot, of course, it being my first day with Flandre and all. Did she want to discuss how I was doing? Was she…oh dear, that incident in the pantry…was she angry with me? If she was about to lecture me, I didn’t know if I wanted to hear it before the movie. Not if I still had to be around Flandre for a few hours more that night.

[ ] “I’d…I’d really rather not, Miss. It might distract me, and it’s been a long day. I’d really just like to watch my movie, please.”
[ ] “Hmm…well, uhh, I don’t know…can’t you just, say it right here? I mean, I’m not in trouble or anything, am I?
[ ] “All right then. Flandre, I’ll just be a few minutes with Sakuya, all right? Will you be fine until then?”

[X] “Hmm… well, uhh, I don’t know…can’t you just, say it right here? I mean, I’m not in trouble or anything, am I?

[X] “Hmm…well, uhh, I don’t know…can’t you just, say it right here? I mean, I’m not in trouble or anything, am I?

>>29121
>Oh no, no, no please. Please, don’t think like that.
Too late for that. Far, far, too late.
>After Sakuya and I had gotten off the phone, Flandre had practically ripped my clothes off me
Even Flandre wants this to be a Flandre route.

[X] “Hmm… well, uhh, I don’t know…can’t you just, say it right here? I mean, I’m not in trouble or anything, am I?

[X] “All right then. Flandre, I’ll just be a few minutes with Sakuya, all right? Will you be fine until then?”

>form-fitting red top with no back
>blue detached sleeves
>tight pants
>sort of “clung” to her torso

Miss Aensland, I presume?

>Oh no, no, no please. Please, don’t think like that. Just because the story started with Flandre doesn’t mean it’s all about just her.

You've either shot yourself in the foot for giving us the best characterization first or /sdm/ is about to implode from the sheer density of awesome.

[X] “All right then. Flandre, I’ll just be a few minutes with Sakuya, all right?”

That last bit sounds patronizing.
Maybe that was the intent.

[X] “All right then. Flandre, I’ll just be a few minutes with Sakuya, all right?”

>>29144
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF--

...wait, hold on. I could see some people making that connectionin short order, but Owen?

...ITT: ASSM's writer has a well-hidden-until-now succubus fetish.

[X] “All right then. Flandre, I’ll just be a few minutes with Sakuya, all right?”

[X] “All right then. Flandre, I’ll just be a few minutes with Sakuya, all right?”

>>29147

Heh, I like Owen even more now.

>>29147

Or, I've been playing the Universal Fighting System TCG for the last six months, of which Lilith Aensland is a playable character in, and which I have had to deal with in matches with my friends numerous enough times to where I am well-aware of the character's existence and what the character looks like. Also, an entire paragraph was given to Flandre's description, with decent enough detail, and it was pointed out that her dress was "a little more than odd". Considering Princess Tepes made us aware of a "hidden reference" at the start of the segment, and more-than-average attention was given to the costume, it's not difficult to put together the pieces.

I will not deny that I find Lilith Aensland interesting as a character; her origin story is certainly more original than most. At the very least, she avoids the predictable mass of fans who mindlessly bury themselves in her sister Morrigan's cleavage, fans I find rather foolish and don't want to be a part of. But to say I have a fetish for succubi for guessing Lilith's costume after the update was active for almost 18 hours (not exactly short order, by the way) is something I must and shall refute. I'm as susceptible to the female body as any man, but not to fetish status.

I'm sorry if I sound too antagonistic over what might just be a joke, but I take these things seriously.

In before "Take it easy."

4 votes for talking outside, sans that last part.
3 votes for answering here.
1 votes for talking outside.

Not calling the vote yet cause I'm too tired to write tonight. Please wait warmly until tomorrow~

[X] “All right then. Flandre, I’ll just be a few minutes with Sakuya, all right?”

[X] “Hmm… well, uhh, I don’t know…can’t you just, say it right here? I mean, I’m not in trouble or anything, am I?

[x] “All right then. Flandre, I’ll just be a few minutes with Sakuya, all right? (Will you be fine until then?)"

>But to say I have a fetish for succubi for guessing Lilith's costume after the update was active for almost 18 hours (not exactly short order, by the way) is something I must and shall refute. I'm as susceptible to the female body as any man, but not to fetish status.

It's ok Owen, there is nothing wrong with having a fetish or two. You don't need it to hide it, you are amng friends here: we like you the way you are, and we will never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you, never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

So yeah, you can be honest with us Owen.

5.5 votes for talking outside, sans that last part.
4 votes for answering here.
1.5 votes for talking outside.

Sorry, Flandre, but the "adults" need to talk alone for a little while. Writing now...

>>29147
>>29151
>>29153
>>29165
That's enough drama now, people. Anon, leave Owen alone. Owen, take it easy. Why so serious~?

Even when Owen doesn't think, he still seems quite serious about it.

>>29166
>Sorry, Flandre, but the "adults" need to talk alone for a little while. Writing now...

Hooray!

>>Sorry, Flandre, but the "adults" need to talk alone for a little while. Writing now...

Patronizing Flandre? I hope this doesn't get reflected in the actual update. It might not end well.

Also:
>>29165
>>we will never gonna give you up

You're doing it wrong.

>>29173
Don't worry, protagonist fairy is too nervous to patronize.

Anyways, had the update written, but realized it just didn't sound like the characters should act, so I'm fixing it up. Sage for not updating.

>>29166

But I wasn't picking on him, I was just trying to play with him a bit.

“All right then. Flandre, I’ll just be a few minutes with Sakuya, all right?”

She didn’t respond. I tapped her lightly on the shoulder. “Flandre? I’m just going to step outside for a bit with Sakuya. Is that okay?”

She gave me a thumbs-up and returned to her movie quoting. At least that girl knew how to entertain herself. It was hard to remember she was near four hundred years old and hardly needed a babysitter, but I was certainly glad that underneath her odd exterior still lay a woman of experience. Smiling slightly, I followed Sakuya down the concealed stair and out a side door to the empty hallway, fluttering rather than walking (I had tried that going up those stairs. Tripped three times on that silly dress.). Waiting for Sakuya to finish doing whatever it was she did on that electronic notepad of hers, I fiddled with the lace around my sleeves. So big, so “poofy”…I told you before fairies don’t exactly relish clothing, even if we can tolerate it for professionalism’s sake. But that thing? I was dying in that thing. I honestly felt like I was going to suffocate in it, though I suppose it was just a side effect from be being nervous around Sakuya.

“So, little miss,” my advisor began, putting the device away. “How has your day been so far?”

“Oh, umm…I guess, pretty good, compared to what I thought it would be like.” So she was going to talk about things like that. Please, please don’t bring up the incident in the pantry…I don’t want to have to think about that…

“Thought it would be like?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’ve been listening to all those rumors around the mansion? Pah, hardly a mote of truth in them.”

I shuffled my feet and looked away. “But, Miss, it’s…I don’t, really know any better. Miss Flandre’s so secret, so, mmm, mysterious. And I guess I’ve always been a little curious about things I don’t understand. I just wanted to know what she was all about. I guess, after today, I know they’re mostly wrong, but nobody really knows that until they do what I’ve done, do they?”

“No, no, I’d gather not. And there really aren’t that many fairies who attend to Flandre, after all. You’d think her attendants would try and stop all those rumors, though. If I may ask, are you going to try to after today?”

“Try to stop the bad rumors? Oh, well, I guess…I guess I can try, Sakuya. But I’m just one person after all, and, well, I forget things a lot, so I really won’t be much help.” I wanted to say that I’d give it my all, but as I had told Sakuya, I forgot things. Likely I wouldn’t be able to stop any rumors unless the subject of Flandre came up in passing with another fairy, which would hopefully jog my memory. Who can say what we will do when the time comes to prove ourselves, though? I certainly can’t.

She nodded, looking over at some old portrait on the wall. A nice picture of a forest glade, with so many different creature hiding in the trees. “Well, as long as you try your hardest. That’s all we can ever do, is try.” She sighed and continued to look at the picture. Was something on her mind? I thought it rude to ask what it could be. She was a mysterious woman, after all. Ever present in the mansion—hardly a day went by when I didn’t see her in passing—but try to pin specific things down about her and you realize just how little you actually know.

She finally continued, shaking her head out of her distraction. “Well, anyways, I wanted to ask you if Flandre’s been…decent, I guess is the word. You may not know it, and I don’t think even she does herself, but she’s quite the show-off, especially when it comes to meeting new people. Always likes to prove to people how odd she is; I don’t really understand it myself. She’s hardly the uncontrollable maniac she might appear to those who really get to know her.”

I continued to nod without really understanding what she was saying, but I thought I had an idea. That time in the library with Patchouli; Flandre had gone from weird to normal without a second thought when the librarian pressed her. Still eccentric, of course, but more…manageable, I thought. It made me wonder if I might be able to talk to her like that one day, but no. Patchouli would have taken decades to gain that kind of understanding. I had barely twelve hours.

Organizing my scattered thoughts once again, I answered her. “Decent? Well, umm, I uhh guess? I mean, there was a little something after we were in the clocktower where she…umm, she wanted me to tell her to ‘shut up’. She got kind of weird when I said I didn’t want to. Started talking to people that weren’t there, I think.”

I could see Sakuya’s eyes grow a little more concerned, and her notepad was back out in seconds. “People that weren’t there…exactly who do you think she was talking to? Me, Remilia, perhaps some imaginary friend?”

“Umm, n-no, I don’t…I think, Miss, I think she was talking to herself. Except, she thought herself was right next to her.”

“Mmm…herself…” A small frown appeared on her face, but it was gone before I could look twice. “Yes, she does that. Best to be careful when she does that. And, oh…Don’t talk to her when she’s like that. On a good day she’ll just ignore you. On a bad day, she might start accusing you of things you didn’t do. Or worse. Just, remember to be careful. As always, obviously. Is there anything else I should know about?”

I was going to say no, but then remembered…remembered the pantry. I didn’t want to have to remember it again, but if Sakuya knowing could help things out…

“Umm…yes. Before we came here, when she saw how you set up her pantry, she…she got really angry. Said you ruined her system. She wouldn’t let me help, and told me to get out. She was all shouting and stomping around for over an hour. I tried to make her feel better after…after she got tired. I think it helped a little; I mean, she’s better now, but that might just be her. Oh, and…she said something, something about “seeing their eyes” and using “it”. I don’t know what it means, though. I’m sorry.”

The frown returned, and this time it stayed. She sighed and looked down at the floor. “Ahh, Flan, why do you do this to me? After this many years you’d think I’ve have gotten her system down pat. Shows how little we really know about her.” She sighed again and shook her head before looking back at me, rather serious. “I’m sorry you had to see that side of her, little one; and on your first day too. I’m to blame for that. I hope you’ll forgive me for failing you.”

She gave a deep bow to me…to me? My head advisor was apologizing to me? If anything I should have been apologizing to her for not being a better steward of Flandre. Whatever mistakes Sakuya made, they must have paled in comparison to the number I had made over my years there.

“Oh no, no no no, don’t do that Miss Sakuya, please. It’s not your fault; everyone makes mistakes. I bet even Remilia doesn’t know how to handle Flandre sometimes. You don’t n-need to apologize to me.”

She got back up and brushed a braid from her face. “Even so, I am…supposed to make less mistakes than most. It is my job to do so. But don’t worry; I shouldn’t lay my troubles on you. I’m sure you’ve got enough already.”

No doubts there, though I didn’t tell her that out loud; merely gave her a weak smile.

“But as for ‘seeing their eyes’,” she continued, “That is one rumor that is true enough about her. Don’t ask me why or how—even Miss Patchouli can’t figure it out—but if Flandre focuses on something hard enough, anything at all, she can find the weakest point of it, the ‘eye’, and destroy it by flooding the eye with her excess power. And if she’s told you about her wings by know, I’m sure you understand she has quite a lot of excess. Oh, she’s learned to control it, don’t worry. However, always best to remember that it exists.”

So that was the truth within the rumor I had feared. The ability to destroy anything…it made me shudder. And to think, one of those cans of beans could have just as easily been me down there.

“Anyways, I’d like to ask you just one more thing. Just as a curiosity, I suppose. What do you want out of life? If you had one wish, any wish in the world, what would you wish for?”


[ ] I thought, and I thought, but I just couldn’t think of anything. Anything in the world? Life’s wish? That was way too far over my head.
[ ] “Umm, I guess…I just want to be braver, is all.”
[ ] “Umm, I guess…I just want to be happy, is all.”
[ ] “Umm, I guess…I just want to be helpful, is all.”
[ ] “Umm, I guess…I just want to be important, is all.”

Protip: A write-in might be a good idea right now!

[x] “Umm, I guess…I just want evrybody to be happy, is all.”

Sky's the limit!

>>29189
>She nodded, looking over at some old portrait on the wall. A nice picture of a forest glade, with so many different creature hiding in the trees.
...Anyone else think of the cover of Where the Wild Things Live?

>>29190
>“Anyways, I’d like to ask you just one more thing. Just as a curiosity, I suppose. What do you want out of life? If you had one wish, any wish in the world, what would you wish for?”
How much do you want to bet that Remilia had Sakuya ask the fairy that? It's quite likely our hazard pay/bonus for taking care of someone as dangerous as Flandre.

Once she has our answer, she'll be using her fate-alteration powers to slowly nudge us down that path, whatever it may be.

So, as Princess Tepes suggests: a good write-in would be a really good idea for this.

[x]"I just want what everybody wants... to be loved."

At least that's what it feels like to me, the fairy is just seeking for approval, maybe it's OOC to state it with such clarity, maybe someone can put it more into character?

[X] Something came to mind as I thought about my wish. Be careful what you wish for.
[X] For what could I wish for that I couldn't accomplish myself? I helped protect the mistress, became recognized for it and am becoming friends with Flandre.
[X] "Miss Sakuya, I... I wish to be able to understand things better. Not just things, people too."

Bravery? The fairy defended her mistress and agreed to become Flandre's personal maid.
Importance, helpfulness? The fairy has accomplished these things too.
Happiness? That comes with time and understanding, and can only be accomplished on one's own.

Perhaps my write in wish is not the best, but you get the idea.
Feel free to come up with something better.
Though through understanding, empathy can be born?

[X] Something came to mind as I thought about my wish. Be careful what you wish for.
[X] For what could I wish for that I couldn't accomplish myself? I helped protect the mistress, became recognized for it and am becoming friends with Flandre.
[X] "Miss Sakuya, I... I wish to be able to understand things better. Not just things, people too."

i agree, dont know if its the conditioning of playing with rpg masters that twisted every wish we attempted but.. it's good nonetheless

[X] Something came to mind as I thought about my wish. Be careful what you wish for.
[X] For what could I wish for that I couldn't accomplish myself? I helped protect the mistress, became recognized for it and am becoming friends with Flandre.
[X] "Miss Sakuya, I... I wish to be able to understand things better. Not just things, people too."

[X] Something came to mind as I thought about my wish. Be careful what you wish for.
[X] For what could I wish for that I couldn't accomplish myself? I helped protect the mistress, became recognized for it and am becoming friends with Flandre.
[X] "Miss Sakuya, I... I wish to be able to understand things better. Not just things, people too."

>>29190
[X] Something came to mind as I thought about my wish. Be careful what you wish for.
[X] For what could I wish for that I couldn't accomplish myself? I helped protect the mistress, became recognized for it and am becoming friends with Flandre.
[X] "Miss Sakuya, I... I wish to be able to understand things better. Not just things, people too."

>>29195
Pretty boss write-in you got there. Very much in keeping with the little hints of maturity that storyteller fairy has displayed on occasion.

[X] Something came to mind as I thought about my wish. Be careful what you wish for.
[X] For what could I wish for that I couldn't accomplish myself? I helped protect the mistress, became recognized for it and am becoming friends with Flandre.
[X] "Miss Sakuya, I... I wish to be able to understand things better. Not just things, people too."

[X] Something came to mind as I thought about my wish. Be careful what you wish for.
[X] For what could I wish for that I couldn't accomplish myself? I helped protect the mistress, became recognized for it and am becoming friends with Flandre.
[X] "Miss Sakuya, I... I wish to be able to understand things better. Not just things, people too."

Apotheosis

[X] Something came to mind as I thought about my wish. Be careful what you wish for.
[X] For what could I wish for that I couldn't accomplish myself? I helped protect the mistress, became recognized for it and am becoming friends with Flandre.
[X] "Miss Sakuya, I... I wish to be able to understand things better. Not just things, people too."

8 votes for understanding better.
1 vote for everybody's happiness.
1 vote for love.

Way to go, Random Insight Man! Writing now...

What would…I wish for? I’d never really thought about my future in that way before. Most of the time I was happy enough enjoying the present to let the future work itself out in its own time. But after seeing that there was a little more to life than just working for Remilia and playing in my free time, I suppose I really had started to think about the future a little more. After all, I had always kept saying I wanted to be braver; no reason to wish that unless you’re thinking about what bravery with do for you on down the road.

But something came to mind as I thought about Sakuya’s words: be careful what you wish for. A wish was something special, something important. After all, she said I only got one wish. You shouldn’t waste something like that, no? And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a lot of my “wishes” were coming true without me even trying. For what could I wish for that I couldn't accomplish myself?

Bravery? I had already defended my mistress and agreed to become Flandre's personal maid. And I did that all by myself.

Importance? All the special people in the mansion had started to see me as more than just another little fairy. And I did that all by myself.

Happiness? That only comes with time and understanding. And I could do that all by myself.

"Miss Sakuya, I...I would wish that I could understand things better. Not just things, I guess; people too."

That seemed to take her by surprise; I could see her eyebrows make a little unsure wiggle. She looked like she was thinking hard about what I said before she asked me, “Really? Can I ask…why understanding?”

“Well, Miss,” I said, trying to explain as best I could, “I’m, I’m just a fairy after all, living in this new big world. I’m not used to all these rules and machines and emotions like you are. It’s all so much for me. B-but…lately, I’ve…I mean, I’m looking at things differently. I’m seeing things that I don’t know, but I want to. And people…you and Miss Patchouli and Mistress Remilia and Misstress Flandre, you’re all so kind to us fairies, and we…we never really realize it, I guess. Or at least I never have until just a while ago. I just…I want to be able to grow up a little more. After seeing all the things you get to do…I want to do them too. D-does that make any sense to you?”

She smiled warmly a put a hand on my poofy shoulder. “Quite. And I think you’re doing a good job growing up by yourself all ready. It’s taken a lot of courage to do the things you’ve done, you know? You should be proud of yourself, little one. Now then, Miss Remilia mentioned that she wants to spend the evening together with her sister, so after the film is over, you may consider yourself relieved of duty for the night.”

I bowed to her. “Thank you, Sakuya. It’s been an honor serving the mansion. But, umm…what about Flandre’s dress? Where should I return it to?”

She thought about that one for a while, and then smirked. “You know what? Keep it. If Flandre let you wear it, she must think you look good in it. And I do too. I remember that she never really likes the lacy dresses anyways.”

“But, uhh…Are you sure? I mean, the last time, you thought she wouldn’t get mad, and she…did. I don’t want her to get mad again; it’s scary. And I don’t really like it either, Sakuya.”

“Well then we’ll just tell her Sister Remilia thinks she looks good in it too, won’t we?”

I jumped and scurried to the wall at the sudden presence of the Mistress Remilia in our conversation. She grinned as us both and tossed her silvery-lilac hair backwards, looking quite pretty in a simple skirt and vest that matched her locks.

“My Lady!” Sakuya announced, herself a little surprised. “I didn’t think you were coming!”

“Does a sister need to announce that she wants to watch a movie with family?” she responded indignantly. “I think not. Besides, Sakuya, it’s The Princess Bride. Who doesn’t like The Princess Bride?”

The Mistress walked over to me and brushed a few strands of hair out of my face, making me even more nervous than before.

“Getting along with Flan okay, are you?”

“Y-Yes, Mistress Remilia.”

“Has she blown you up yet?”

“N-N-No, Mistress Remilia.”

“Would you like to go see the movie with us now?”

“C-Certainly, Misstress Remilia. Here, let me, let me get the door for you.”

Together we ascended back up to the theatre balcony, and Sakuya disappeared into the projection booth. As Remilia and I sat down on opposite sides of Flandre, the elder sister pouted as she looked at the youngers’ attire.

“Flan! Why didn’t you tell me you were going to dress up? We could have gone as sisters~”

Flandre pointed to her sister’s chest and lowered her eyelids. “But you’re flat right now. See, that wouldn’t work at all. Whoever heard of a flat Morrigan? That’s like, blasphemy, or something! A flat Morrigan equals Lilith, you know? We can’t both be Lilith, that’d just be stupid. And you’re not stupid, are you Remi? Not stupid like me, at least. Maybe you’re just stupid like you~”

“Keep making that face and it’ll stay that way, Sis’.”

The two made playful banter back and forth all throughout the opening credits and most of the first scene with the grandfather and his grandson. They moved too fast for me to catch any of the little nuances between them, but it felt good seeing the relationship they had with each other. Laughing silently back and forth, nudging each other in the side…One day I hoped I might be able to do that with someone. It looked so happy, having someone that you cared about and that cared back at you.

That mood carried throughout the entire movie for the most part. Flandre’s mouth hardly ever stopped moving, though she managed to keep the volume down to where it didn’t really distract me much. I was really quite amazed at how many parts of the movie she could quote word for word, especially the parts with Vizzini in them. More amazing was the fact that Remilia only ever told Flandre to hush up once during the whole feature, and she actually obeyed…for about five minutes.

I wish I could remember more about that night, but as often happens from time to time, my memory fails me. The credits rolled, I excused myself politely after thanking them all for a most enjoyable day, and before I knew it I was once again alone, receiving several odd stares from the crowd of fairies that were exiting the theatre. I wasn’t Flandre personal maid anymore; just me. It felt good and bad at the same time, I guess. As much as the day had stressed me to my limits, it felt…it felt like I had really done something that day, something important, something that not just anyone could have done. And…I really hoped that I’d be able to do that kind of thing more often from then on. April 11, 1996 might have been the day that changed my life. But if so, then April 12, 1996 was the day I changed my life for myself.


Chapter Complete.


A Note To The Readers: Thanks for sticking with me so far, I really appreciate all your votes! Now, this CYOA isn’t going to be a day-by-day adventure like most usually are; our fairy has a long way to go, and she’s not exactly the quickest learner. Because of this, I might skip a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months in the story to better relate the progress she’s making. I’m going to try and make it seem as natural as possible, but if something sounds like I’m skipping too much, please let me know.

The next day in the story will be the Monday after, April 15.

>>29210
This has been a very pleasant story so far; easy to read and easier to enjoy. Very much looking forward to the next chapter.

Wow.
I was only sort of confident in my write in. But it gets the popular vote and the author makes my reasoning the fairy's as well?
I wasn't expecting that.

I now wait until the next update.

[Random Insight Man has flown away.]

>>Flandre pointed to her sister’s chest and lowered her eyelids. “But you’re flat right now. See, that wouldn’t work at all. Whoever heard of a flat Morrigan? That’s like, blasphemy, or something! A flat Morrigan equals Lilith, you know?"

Every time I think I couldn't possibly like this Flandre any more than I already do, and she has to go and say something else that shows me just how completely and utterly wrong I am.

>>29212
Your idea was a good one, and I commend you for that.

I have a request to make of you, however:
>[Random Insight Man has flown away.]
Never fucking ever do that again, please.
For one, it's generally frowned upon and smacks horribly of Gaia and other such emote/action/smiley-filled hellholes.
Second-- and most damningly --it made me think of that tremendous faggot mugenjohncel, who in addition to being a bad artist with an even worst taste in fetishes, is a absurdly flaming weaboo, and a tremendous moron to boot.

But you seem like a smart guy, so please, for the sake of all that is good and holy:
Don't do that.
Please?

>We can’t both be Lilith, that’d just be stupid. And you’re not stupid, are you Remi? Not stupid like me, at least. Maybe you’re just stupid like you~

Maybe she's just player 2?

>Now, this CYOA isn’t going to be a day-by-day adventure like most usually are; our fairy has a long way to go, and she’s not exactly the quickest learner. Because of this, I might skip a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months in the story to better relate the progress she’s making.

This makes sense and would be expected, given that the story is written as if it were a memoir.

>But you’re flat right now
>right now

Huh? Is Remilia ever not flat?

>>29216

Fine, fine.
Wont happen again.

Though I don't know what Gaia Online is, and that was a reference to Soul Nomad and the World Eaters rather than a random emote.

>>29220
Fair enough. Can't know until something is said, though.

Ringing! Bells and clangs in my ears, right next to my head! It hurt! Make it stop, please make it stop! I knew the sound, however, and lashed my hand outwards to slap the offending alarm clock in the head. Even in my horrible grogginess I didn’t recall setting that alarm to go off at…what time was it again? I had not a clue. Whatever time is was, the weekend had ended far too soon for me.

As I dragged my hand off the brass bells, I felt the touch of crumpled paper on my palm. Now that I knew for sure hadn’t been there when I had gone to bed. My curiosity piqued, I slid off the bed onto the floor below.

“Mmmnngh?” moaned one of my bunkmates, invisible in the darkness. “What’s happening, cousin? Are they making you get up so early again?

“Shh, shh, go back to sleep, cousin,” I answered her, motioning with my hand before realizing is didn’t do a lick of good in that pitch black air. “Someone just left a note on my pillow in the night. I’m going outside to see what it says.”

I could hear the other girl rustling in her sheets. “Why must they trouble us with that bell alarm, cousin? Can’t you give it back?”

“I don’t think Sakuya would let me. She says it’s important. I’m sorry for being such a bother.”

I slipped out into the dim hallway. Chilly, as usual, and my skin was full of little bumps within seconds. Goosebumps, you call them, yes? I’ve always wondered why they’re called that, myself. Do geese get colder than normal animals? I’m sure it’s some other adage people have forgotten. But no matter. I squinted and held the note up to my eyes:

This is Sakyua. I set your alarm for seven o’ clock. Please meet me in the first-floor kitchen at eight. Your daily schedule today is going to be a little different that usual. Don’t’ worry; I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

What was this? Another unorthodox meeting with the Head Maid? I wondered if this was about Flandre again. Sakuya hadn’t spoken a word about my new job all weekend, and truthfully I had started to forget that I even was a personal maid to the little sister. But changing my daily schedule…now that was something odd. Every day Sakuya posted all of us fairies’ jobs on the giant board in our downstairs common room, sorted by room number, and it was up to us to decide who had to do what between the three of us. We’d always been glad that for such a big mansion, there was such a simple work system. You do what the list tells you to do, and once you’re done, you’re free to play the rest of the day. But what did this mean for me, then? To be doing something different…it made me afraid.

[ ] Tired…too tired to think about all that right now. I just wanted to go back to sleep. Just for a little while longer. I had a whole hour before eight, anyways.
[ ] Well, if it was going to be a different day, I felt I needed to be ready for it. A good bath, a prim uniform, and a positive attitude. One hour would be enough for all that, yes?
[ ] I felt like a walk that morning. A nice walk out on the front lawn to clear my head. At that hour, I figured I might even have the whole yard to myself.
[ ] As Sakuya’s “useful” alarm clock had me awake already, I decided to just get dressed and go to the kitchen early. I felt like fixing myself some breakfast, anyways.

[ ] As Sakuya’s “useful” alarm clock had me awake already, I decided to just get dressed and go to the kitchen early. I felt like fixing myself some breakfast, anyways.

[X] As Sakuya’s “useful” alarm clock had me awake already, I decided to just get dressed and go to the kitchen early. I felt like fixing myself some breakfast, anyways.

[X] As Sakuya’s “useful” alarm clock had me awake already, I decided to just get dressed and go to the kitchen early. I felt like fixing myself some breakfast, anyways.

[x] Well, if it was going to be a different day, I felt I needed to be ready for it. A good bath, a prim uniform, and a positive attitude. One hour would be enough for all that, yes?

[X] As Sakuya's "usefull" alarm clock had already woke me up, I decided to get dressed and go to the kitchen early. I felt like fixing myself breakfast anyways.

[x] I felt like a walk that morning. A nice walk out on the front lawn to clear my head. At that hour, I figured I might even have the whole yard to myself.

[X] As Sakuya’s “useful” alarm clock had me awake already, I decided to just get dressed and go to the kitchen early. I felt like fixing myself some breakfast, anyways.

[x] Well, if it was going to be a different day, I felt I needed to be ready for it. A good bath, a prim uniform, and a positive attitude. One hour would be enough for all that, yes?

[X] As Sakuya’s “useful” alarm clock had me awake already, I decided to just get dressed and go to the kitchen early. I felt like fixing myself some breakfast, anyways.

>I felt I needed to be ready for it. A good bath, a prim uniform, and a positive attitude. One hour would be enough for all that, yes?

Not until I've had my coffee.

[x] As Sakuya’s “useful” alarm clock had me awake already, I decided to just get dressed and go to the kitchen early. I felt like fixing myself some breakfast, anyways.

[ze] I felt like a walk that morning. A nice walk out on the front lawn to clear my head. At that hour, I figured I might even have the whole yard to myself.

Meiling~

>>29241
>Meiling~

It's not meant to be. There are house staff, and there are grounds staff, and the two shall never overlap.

[x] Well, if it was going to be a different day, I felt I needed to be ready for it. A good bath, a prim uniform, and a positive attitude. One hour would be enough for all that, yes?

7 votes for the kitchen.
3 votes for the bath.
2 votes for a walk.

Fairy needs her on-nom-nom~. Writing now...

>>29242
What Scarlet Devil Mansion are you working at? Fairies can't just work inside all their life, they'll...shrivel up, or something! Don't worry dear >>29241, Meiling's time will come~

As Sakuya’s “useful” alarm clock had me awake already, I decided to just get dressed and go to the kitchen early. I felt like fixing myself some breakfast, anyways. Tiptoeing back into the room, I apologized once again to my cousins, grabbed a set of clothes, and hurried back outside, dressing myself as I walked along the way. Another fairy passing me by gave me a rather inquisitive stare, but I suspect it was just from the oddity of trying to dress myself while half-walking, half floating through the air. It’s not as hard as you might think, really…so long as you don’t mind looking like a fool. And I guess I’m okay with that.

The kitchen, like the bathroom of Friday’s early morning before it, was pretty quiet save for a pair of fairies who looked like they were mixing up some pancake batter in a giant pot. I gave them a sleepy nod, and they gave me an equally sleepy one back. Must have drawn the short straw, those two. Wistfully I wandered through the rows of pots and bowls, seeing if any utensil might spark my interest as far as food went. I ended up grabbing a teapot, a small copper cookpot, and a set of diningware for good measure, still completely unsure of what I was making for myself. Setting them next to one of the many stoves in the room, I wondered what I could make for myself without too much trouble. I was a fair cook, I suppose, but fair still only gives you so many options when you just want something simple, and just for one person.

Oatmeal and sage tea with an orange on the side was the best I came up with, so that was what I made. I tried adding some nice flavors to the oatmeal while it bubbled in the pot, cinnamon and brown sugar mostly, simple things like that. It wasn’t much, but then again, neither was I.

Serving out my humble meal to a tray, I rolled up my sleeves and scrubbed out my dishes; Sakuya had always told us to clean up after ourselves, and I wanted to be a good little fairy if Sakuya was suddenly going to start treating me differently. What was going to happen that day, anyways? Was I going to clean something important, perhaps? Any number of possibilities ran through my head as I picked out a little side table in the back and sampled my breakfast. Too much cinnamon, but at least I liked cinnamon well enough.

I heard a sudden rush of water not far from me, and turned around, my spoon still stuffed in my mouth. What a surprise when I saw Sakuya there already, filling a pot with water from the faucet! Not really a surprise, I suppose; I felt the time magic receding from the room even as I turned to look. But before I could even get the spoon out of my mouth, she had disappeared again, leaving the water running like that.

Curious, I picked up my oatmeal and fluttered over to the area where she was working. She definitely had something in mind—lots of food and confusing utensils were already set up next to the stove and sink—but she had just left them there. Maybe she had something else to do, but…wouldn’t the pot overflow? As I reached out my hand for the hot water knob Sakuya reappeared with a bowl of chopped vegetables in her arms. So close to me...I jumped away from her to give her some room, blushing.

“Oh, good morning!” Sakuya exclaimed, smiling as she scooped the vegetables into the pot. “Didn’t expect you up so early. You got my note?”

“Mhm,” I answered, cleaning off the oatmeal spoon in my mouth. “I guess I’m a little early, Miss Sakuya, but I was—“

I heard a beeping from that PDA of hers, and she was gone in a flash yet again.

“—hun, gry.”

It took her two whole minutes to come back to me the next time, and by that point I had no choice but to shut off the water before it did overflow.

“You got my note, then?” she repeated once she returned from her errand.

“Umm, yes, Sakuya. Didn’t I just say that?”

“Did you? Terribly sorry, I had to take the Mistresses’ laundry out of the dryer. Always trying to do a hundred things at once; that’s what I get for efficiency.”

“Mm, not to be a bother or anything, Miss, but…can’t you just, I guess, stop time and do all that really quick?”

She sighed and closed her eyes, a clam but not exactly cheerful smile on her face. “Sadly, no, little one. Even an infinity of time is no good when you have to rely on electricity to get things done. Or, in a meal’s case,” she pointed to the pot of veggies, “running water.”

I scratched my head. “Huh? That doesn’t work without time? But how come? I mean, electricity…it’s just there, right?”

Her faced sported a real smile then, and she patted my head. “If only technology was so magical, little one. I’m sure humans would have long surpassed even our grand mansion’s secrets if that were true. No, if I want to use their devices, I’ll have to respect their rules.”

“But then…why use them? You could just wash clothes by hand and get it all done in no time at all!”

“No time for you,” she quipped, poking me on the nose with her long finger. “But it’s a lot of extra work for me. I’m only human, after all; a young lady like me needs a break every once in a while. Ahh, bugger, not again.”

Her PDA set off it’s alarm yet again, and she excused herself to go deal with this new emergency. I must say, it’s more than a little off-putting to have a conversation with a person who’s literally only there half the time. And what’s all this about “young girl”, anyways? If I had heard the older fairies correctly, Sakuya had been in the mansion before Patchouli was even born, and she hadn’t aged a day from their perspective. I suppose with control over time itself, looking forever young isn’t a problem at all, but still…I wondered what kind of past my head maid must have had as a true young lady. Everyone was young once, no?

It took a number of disappearances before any meaningful progress was made with our conversation. Sakuya moved from time-stopping to how my weekend went (too short), and how I felt my chores were going (not at good as I wanted them to be), before settling on a topic that definitely got my attention.

“A…promotion?!” I gasped.

“Well, a ‘test’ promotion, perhaps,” Sakuya said, stirring the now-hearty pot of vegetable soup. “Remilia and I—Flandre too—we gave it the weekend to think it over, and the Mistress wants to see if you might be able to handle some more…well, complex chores. You’ve shown us that you want to learn more, and after your day with Flandre, you’ve shown that you’ve got what it takes to try, too. I’m sorry that I don’t train you fairies very well—even I only have so much time in the day, you know—but I don’t want to have you biting off more than you can chew all at once, not until you’re ready. I personally think you are…what about you?”

“Me?” I was really taken aback by the idea. Promoted? Being…more important? Doing more important things? I know that it was a part of what I’d been wishing for a while, but to have it offered to me, just like that…I was a little reluctant. “Umm, well…what, wh-what would I have to do?”

She shrugged. “Oh, I suppose that’s really up to you. What Remilia had in mind is sort of what you could call an apprenticeship. You’d keep close to one of the head residents for most of the day: me, Miss Knowledge, or Miss Meiling. We’d teach you the basics of what we do around the mansion, and of course you’d help us out and learn at the same time. Knowing our Lady, she won’t be satisfied until you know how to do every job in the mansion inside and out, but let’s just start with one for today, okay? Is that too hard to understand?”

[ ] “Y-Yes, Miss Sakuya. A little too much.” It sounded so weak, but I didn’t want to have all that pressure on me. Not yet, anyways. I just wanted to sort of…ease into it, I guess.
[ ] “No, I think I get it, Sakuya. But, umm…I want to try my very best. Can I, I mean, is it all right if I ‘apprenticeship’ under everybody? Maybe see which one I like best?”
[ ] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…” (choose a sub-option from below)
--( ) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”
--( ) “Could I, be Miss Knowledge’s apprentice for today?”
--( ) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”
--( ) “I was wondering. Could I, be Flandre’s maid on another day, too?”

[x] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…” (choose a sub-option from below)
--(x) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

I like this Sakuya.

[x] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…” --( ) --(x)“Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

Must do Meiling route at least once.

[x] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…” (choose a sub-option from below)
--(x) “Could I be your apprentice for today?”

>Can I, I mean, is it all right if I ‘apprenticeship’ under everybody? Maybe see which one I like best?”
Wait. Isn't she going to be doing a job shadow with every mansion resident anyway?
Or is the difference between the current circumstances and the option which I quoted that the latter is doing it all on one day?

>--( ) “I was wondering. Could I, be Flandre’s maid on another day, too?”
...I thought this was the case already, too.

>>29246
[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

While I'm quite curious about Meiling, I really enjoy this Sakuya more than any before (except for maybe Sakuya's Sakuya... yeah). I can also see a lot of moments not unlike the overflowing pot occuring. I think there's a lesson there for both Sakuya and the fairy about how different people are more adept at different things.

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

The way I see it, working under Sakuya would mean having to keep UP with Sakuya, physically and mentally. Considering just how much work she has to do at different times, it might be a little too taxing to jump right in with her.

Patchy, on the other hand, would certainly be less physically demanding (aside from having to retrieve books, most likely) but could potentially be tough for a fairy to keep up with mentally. Working with her will probably train your mind, but not so much your body.

And then, there's Meiling, who probably won't be too hard for a fairy to keep up with mentally, but could be taxing to work with physically. Well, in the event that an intruder needs to be driven away, at least. Where Patchy would help train and strengthen your mind, the gate guard will probably help train and strengthen your body.

Work on one, then the other, and save for last the one where you need to combine the two.

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

>>29250
>Can I, I mean, is it all right if I ‘apprenticeship’ under everybody? Maybe see which one I like best?”
>Wait. Isn't she going to be doing a job shadow with every mansion resident anyway? Or is the difference between the current circumstances and the option which I quoted that the latter is doing it all on one day
Yup. The quoted vote means that you'll split your day between all three, as opposed to an entire day with one. And (unless you Anons really don't want to shadow one of the characters) yes she'll be serving under all three of them in the end. But the order of who she shadows could change the story slightly.

>--( ) “I was wondering. Could I, be Flandre’s maid on another day, too?”
>...I thought this was the case already, too.
Nope. Flan's already got maids for the other six days of the week. If you want to try and switch out with one of them, you've got to ask for it.

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

>>29255
>yes she'll be serving under all three of them in the end.
Delicious visions.

[x] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

[x] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…” (choose a sub-option from below)
--(x) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

[x] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(x) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

[x] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…” (choose a sub-option from below)
--(X) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

[x] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

Why isn't Saguya voting for herself? Work must be horrible over at his place.

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…” (choose a sub-option from below)
--(X) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

The perfect maid teaching a fairy, that would be the perfect fairy.

[x] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

>>29266
Or the perfect maid isn't that perfect anymore after those lessons. But that'd be fine. She should take it easy more often.

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…” (choose a sub-option from below)
--(X) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

A good place to start, I think. She does the most around the house (chore-wise), and, as a maid, we have a good idea of what her duties entail-- though we may be ignorant of just how much she has to in a day.
If we're going to get to try everything, we'd best start with the known first. You can't rush true understanding.

[B] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(B) “Could I, be Miss Meiling’s apprentice for today?”

I'm wondering about the amount of votespam in this thread

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

Wow, lots of votes! By my count:

10 votes for training with Meiling.
9 votes for training with Sakuya.

>>29271
Maybe. I've been getting seven to ten votes for a few weeks now, and here we are up at nineteen! I think I'll have to go with Meiling on this one, since she was the first to hit five votes, and is winning anyways.

Unfortunately...I don't have anything planned yet for Meiling in this story, and I'd hate to give you a boring character since you're enjoying Flandre and Sakuya so much already. I'm going to have to take a little break for a few days to think up of a nice Meiling for you...and to map out the mansion grounds. Please wait warmly~

>>29274
Make that 20.
See
>>29273

>I'm going to have to take a little break for a few days

Goddamn China-fags.

>>29276

Like Sakuya-fags are much better.

>>29277

Let's compare tripfags, shall we?

Hong Meiling tripfag: Known for posting uncommon touhou pr0ns on /at/.

Sakuya tripfag: Known for broken English, general faggotry, and a seldom-updated story on /sdm/.

You be the judge.

>>29278
What does STF have to do with sakuya-fags? He didn't even post here, so just go back to bed quietly.

>>29279

Nothing, actually. I was joking around.
Why so serious?

Are all Sakuya-fags this defensive?

>>29280

Yes, yes we are!

Why?

>>29288

Tsundere with tsundere fanbase?

[X] I shook my head. “I’m good, Miss. And…”
--(X) “Could I, be your apprentice for today?”

Because I haven't voted yet. Even in futility there is hope.