Continuation of
>>93037 When we last left Anonymous, he had stayed in Flandre's room for the night, and as a result apparently been bitten by Flandre in his sleep.
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Okay, okay, try to calm down, try to relax, try to think rationally...
Huh. For some bizarre reason, calming down happens a lot more easily than you'd have expected, considering you appear to have been bitten by a vampire in your sleep. You'd think having a pair of fangs driven into your neck would wake you up from pain, but... It's odd, aside from a mild stinging that lets you know the wounds are there, you don't feel any pain at all. You expected yourself to be more panicky than this, to be honest - who knows, maybe you've been turned into a vampire yourself, now? You're still alive after being fed on, after all... Or does it not work that way? Patchouli did say it's not as simple as transferring from a bite, but you weren't exactly concious to see what exactly Flandre did to you.
...Flandre...
She couldn't have meant any harm. She's not like that... it was probably an accident or something, right? Instincts or something? Considering the fact that you just have two neat little puncture wounds in your neck, as opposed to having your neck torn apart, you doubt it was a result of her 'instability' - whatever that's supposed to mean. Well, naturally you're still far from happy about being bitten in the first place, but you make a mental note not to be too harsh on the girl when you confront her about this.
Speaking of which, where is she?
Okay, okay... Priorities. Think rationally. You're currently almost naked - gotta fix that. Locating your clothes in the dark with the help of the candle, you get dressed and ponder the next course of action. You're in Flandre's room, the one room in the mansion you're most definitely not allowed to be in - gotta fix that. A dim light shines through a crack in the door; she must've left it open when she left. However, the crack is far too thin for you to fit through... shit. How the hell are you going to get out? The damn door weighs a ton, there's no way you could possibly-...
Or could you? You've been bitten, that's a fact; if you have indeed been turned into a vampire, you'd have increased strength, right? After all, Flandre was opening and closing heavy metal doors last night with hardly any effort at all; even the door of her room only required the use of one hand from her. If any of that has passed on to you, then you might be able to get the door open far enough to squeeze through; killing two birds with one stone, escaping from the room and confirming your metamorphosis. Well, only one way to find out... Grabbing the handle with both hands, you assemble all your might, and pull.
...
Nothing. Not even an inch. If only you were a bit more athletic... But since you haven't spontaneously become any stronger overnight, there's a chance you're still human. Comforting in a way, but this knowledge does nothing to help you get out of here. Damn it! If only there were another way... Or maybe there is? It's a long shot, but it's worth trying, unless you feel like remaining stuck in here. Taking a few steps back, you inhale deeply and close your eyes, trying to clear your head, as well as catch your breath from yanking on the door handle just now. Focus, focus... You open your eyes and slowly extend your arm forwards, compelling the door to open, beckoning it to swing in your direction. Nothing. You concentrate harder, sweat already starting to form on your forehead... However, strangely enough, the mental strain doesn't feel as heavy as what you're used to. Regardless, the door isn't...
The sound of metal scraping against metal echoes throughout the basement, as the door very slowly, very gradually swings open. And it didn't even explode! Granted, that would've gotten you out of Flandre's room as well, but would also have been much more noticeable. This is fine too; you wonder, though, does this inexplicable progress in the use of your mental powers have anything to do with your being bitten? Well, you can worry about that later, for now you need to keep your head on straight and do something. Do what? Well, you need to find Flandre and ask her just what the hell happened tonight; though, probably not in words as harsh as that. It'd only be fair to hear her side of the story first. Why are you not more freaked out about all this?
Passing by the incredibly thick door, you swear there's a new, particularly large dent in it; once you're out in the basement itself, a trail of sorts presents itself before you. On the floor you can see small spatters of dried blood, headed towards the basement exit; in the walls, however, are basketball-sized craters of pulverized brick, as if someone's been swinging a wrecking ball against the walls in a zig-zag pattern. You must've slept like a corpse to not have heard anything like that happening right outside the room, with the door open... Well, it's a trail in any case, so you'd best follow it if you hope to find the girl; you wonder, why did she leave the room without waking you? Did she feel guilty over what she had done? Or did she just need to go to the bathroom? Does she even know what she did, and how does she feel about it if she does? So many questions, so many questions...
The door that was in front of the stairs leading down into the basement is off its hinges, looking like it's been bent into a V-shape over someone's knee, as well as been liberally ravaged with a high-powered blowtorch. You'd better get the hell out of the immediate proximity before anyone spots you anywhere near the basement, damn it. Unfortunately, the trails - both that of the blood as well as the destruction - end here. You're left without a single clue on where Flandre could possibly be by now, and you've probably got a pair of very visible bite marks on your neck - why are you STILL not panicking as much as you should be!" In fact, you feel like you've been hit with a tranquilizer, your senses mildly dull in general; curiously enough, whatever it is still made it easier to move shit with your brain waves. A side effect from the bite? Who knows...
...You know very well who would know. Patchouli Knowledge, your mentor and benefactor. The problem, now, would be getting up to the second floor of the mansion and into the library, without being deteced by who knows how many maids would possibly be awake and busily tending to whatever duties they may have in the hallways this early on a Sunday along the way. Peering left and right, you don't notice any signs of life in the immediate area, tiptoeing in the general direction of where you believe the closest staircase leading up would have to be. Once again, the mansion seems a little... different, from how you remember it, though your gut feeling is getting better and better at anticipating where stuff ought to be.
You duck behind a conveniently placed grandfather clock as a maid passes by from behind a corner, dusting the floor with gusto. So vigorously, in fact, that she's probably just kicking more dust up into the air than she is managing to clean away; you try your hardest not to sneeze until she's far enough and out of sight. Phew, that was a close one... Stealth isn't exactly your forté, especially in a mansion like this with excessively huge, wide open hallways leading into larger, wider hallways. You make your way up the stairs without being spotted, avoiding maids while traversing what's starting to feel like a damn maze, ducking into a bathroom to wash the dried blood off your neck along the way. You're like Pac-Man, being chased by ghosts from all sides while trying not to bump into them yourself - getting caught like this could spell your certain doom. Remilia would probably kill you for disobeying her and witnessing Flandre's room; Sakuya would probably kill you for disobeying her mistress and causing Flandre to break things. Flandre herself could be anywhere. Patchouli really is the only one who could possibly help you right now.
There, the library! You patiently wait for another maid to pass by, before making a sprint for the doors, swinging them open and slamming them shut behind yourself, panting tiredly. What a rush! The noise of the doors being slammed with such force echoes through the library for a good minute, as you take a moment to regain your bearings and try to remember where in the labyrinth of bookcases Patchouli's private little nest was, again. As you try to recall the path, walking partially aimlessly and partially through muscle memory, you think back on the abrupt interruption to your training yesterday; or, well, earlier today, to be technical, but you meant before you went to sleep. Reimu crashing through a window and calling Sakuya out like that... Just what was that about, really? You'll have to ask either one of them about it sometime, assuming you live through the day without losing your head, and remain on speaking terms with the head maid of the household. In any case, you seem to have located Patchouli's desk, still a black stain on it from where you set fire to it yesterday.
Patchouli herself looks about how you feel; dull and frustrated. You take notice of a bunch of bookcases in the distance toppled over on top of each other like dominoes - whatever happened here last night couldn't possibly have been a calm little chat. Way to state the obvious there. Someone, or something, appears to be slowly pushing the bookcases back upright, though you can't see who from this distance; Patchouli's bat-wing-eared library assistant? Regardless of these irrelevant distractions, you head straight for her desk; she notices you approaching, lifting her head (which was almost slumped low enough to actually be resting on the desk) and fixing you with a suspicious glare.
"Jin? Have you come for more training again already? I had assumed we would resume a little later in the day... Or was there something else?"
"You could say that... Er... Hypothetically speaking, what possible complications or side effects could come out of being bitten by a vampire?"
"Why do you-... Oh. I see." She notices your neck; not that it's particularly difficult to notice these wounds, regardless of how clean they seemed to be. Hovering out of her seat and next to you, she examines the bite more closely.
"Remilia?"
"Flandre."
"...oh. I see." Not the most encouraging answer you could've hoped for.
"That would be... most unusual."
"What? Am I going to be alright? Am I going to turn into a vampire? Am I going to die? Am I..."
"You are perfectly fine; in a worst case scenario, you might suffer from a mild case of tetanus. I have something for that, if you would like."
"I would, but... Why do you have something like that lying around?"
"Just in case something like this happens." Not pressing the question further, you allow her to produce a syringe and administer an UNGODLY PAINFUL shot.
"That should prevent any complications."
"T-thanks... Um... So, I'm still human?"
"One hundred per cent."
"And being bitten isn't going to affect me in any negative way?"
"No. Though, you may feel oddly relaxed for some time after being bitten. Vampire bites inject the victim with a chemical that stimulates endorphin production, while also preventing blood coagulation for a short duration."
"I did feel strangely good, despite being horrified over the concept of being fed on..."
"Yes, well. Some... deviants... would even go as far as to describe the feeling of a vampire's bite as 'sensual'. I would consider that to be a highly subjective view." She speaks as if she has experience in such a thing; though, being a person who appreciates knowledge and research into things, living alongside a vampire for years, one would assume she's been bitten at least once, herself... You guess so, at least. It hardly seems like something you could casually ask about.
"You were saying something was unusual, though..."
"Ah. Yes. You see, Flandre does not know -how- a vampire feeds off humans; her attempts have all ended with the human in question being reduced to a fine mist. She is fed with a... special diet, of sorts, so she does not have to drink blood. It is strange, though, that she would... Hm. Tell me, what did you do to provoke such a response out of her?" There's that suspicious glare again.
"Nothing! I was asleep!"
"Asleep? She snuck into your room during the night, then?"
"...not exactly."
"...oh. I see. Young people..."
"It's not like that! Damn it, could you please take this seriously?" She almost looks apologetic, coughing into her fist before she resumes speaking.
"Did you see anything... odd, in her room?"
"You mean aside from the heavy doors and shackles?"
"Yes, aside from those." Oh.
"Well... No, nothing that I could think of. The closet was bound with chains, so I didn't get a look at whatever was inside."
"I see. This is most likely for the best. However, I understand Remilia explicitly forbade you from going into the basement. Why did you ignore this?"
"...Flan asked me to spend the night with her." Patchouli narrows her eyes at you.
"I suppose this is none of my business; while supervising Flandre is among my duties, the fact that you are still standing before me in one piece suggests you did not inadvertently trigger another of her 'episodes'. This is good; we might just be able to resolve this incident without tragedy. Where is Flandre, right now?"
"I have no idea. I was hoping you'd be able to help me find her."
A tired sigh. "I suppose we should start looking, then. You should probably think of a way to cover that neck of yours; should a maid accidentally tip off Remilia to your nightly escapades or your being bitten, I dare not say what she might do."
"Why are you still on my side on this, anyway..? You've been nothing but supportive, I don't know what I've done to deserve it."
"This is true, you have done nothing." Ouch...
"However, I do not always approve of Remilia's reactions to these situations. If Flandre is currently stable, but went into hiding before you woke up this morning, it would be best to locate her and inform her that everything is alright. I will assign Koakuma to search the mansion as well - she is my eyes and ears outside of the library - and inform you if I manage to find Flandre, and then we can think on how to hide this from Remilia; oh, and do take this with you, just in case." She hands you a small card of sorts, with your name on it alongside some strange writing you can't read. Well, not really your name - it says 'Jin'. Figures.
"What's this?"
"I like to call it a 'Library Card'. Tearing it in half will immediately transport you back here, to the library, from anywhere within Gensokyo." Her face shifts into a harsh frown, all of a sudden. "They are quite expensive and time-consuming to create, despite their seemingly small and simple appearance... I would appreciate it if you did not get into a situation where you would end up having to use it any time soon, but..."
"...Thanks. I appreciate it." You pocket the card for safe keeping. You've already experienced teleportation once, it's no big deal... aside from being terribly disorienting.
"So, I'll, uh, keep looking, then." She nods, motioning for you to be off with one hand, while her other reaches for some sort of trinket on a shelf near her; you can't figure out what it is or what she's doing with it, but you figure it has something to do with that assistant of hers. Before you can get far, you hear her voice, just barely, faintly reaching your ears: "Be careful."
Careful, huh... Easy for her to say, being able to fly and teleport and whatnot. You're not exactly a ninja or anything, sneaking about like this is hardly easy for you; it's a good thing the maids are barely aware of their surroundings. Hm, where to look, where to look... You really ought to do something about covering up your neck, too. For the moment, you settle for hiking up the collar of your shirt, despite it looking rather silly and doing a flimsy job of concealing the bite. After wandering about for a while, cautiously checking random rooms, you find yourself back near the basement. Hm, there was a door leading in a direction away from the dungeon-like part of the basement, wasn't there... It couldn't hurt to check it out, as long as you don't get caught snooping about down there, and you've had nothing but luck on your side so far.
It looks like... a wine cellar? Well, hardly out of place in an extravagant mansion such as this, though the sheer amount and variety of wines is simply staggering. You don't exactly have time to be examining the labels, though; for the sake of being thorough, you check around for Flandre's presence, or any sign of her passing through - suddenly, you hear noises from behind a corner. Sounds of glass, liquid being poured, and... humming? It's not Flandre's tune, yet is somehow familiar...
It's Sakuya. Hey, she's okay! Though, you can detect tiny little cuts and bruises here and there on her legs and arms; as she turns her head to the side for a moment - luckily not noticing you - you take notice that part of one of her twin braids is, er, missing. What the hell happened between her and Reimu last night, anyway? In any case, she appears to be occupied with carefully, gradually pouring wine out of a bottle and into another, more stylized glass vessel.
[] "I-Incredible! Decantering from such a height..." [] Remember that this is a sneaking mission, Jin. Get out of there before she spots you.
[] What have you got to lose? Go ask her for help with finding Flandre. And maybe with not getting Remilia royally pissed off at you.
