Gensokyo Dream (Chapter 8)

Grayfia Lucifuge isn't having a good day. 

Her husband spent most of this morning goofing off instead of doing his job, her son accidentally scraped his knee. 

She had to get up at one AM because Rias was about to give her chastity to some random pawn she picked up because she thought it'd break her engagement- it wouldn't it would just make the Gremory family look quite bad in the political landscape, having Rias practically scream to the house that this engagement is supposed to ally her family with that 'I would rather be with a reincarnated commoner than your son'-  

And that leads to this moment. Right here and now. 

It all started when Riser Phenex decided he just HAD to come see his fiancée, having whined to Rias father for ages to speed up their wedding. 

He no doubt was spying on Rias with his familiar and saw that she had reincarnated the boosted gear. 

Their rating game to decide the marriage would no doubt have resulted in a crippling loss if Rias' pawn had been given time to grow. Or so he thinks, at least. 

It is quite pathetic for Riser to do this. Instead of training or anything of the sort he simply makes Rias fight him early. When she's down a rook, a knight, and isn't permitted to use arguably her strongest piece, the Mutated Bishop. 

But, as a mere servant, she should not voice her opinions. Especially as the Lucifer's servant. 

Devils love to create political webs of backhanded compliments and complicated rules. 

She cannot act here because that would be seen as Sirzechs taking sides and playing favorites. 

Despite the fact her own son is part of the Gremory house. 

Perhaps she is being too harsh. Zeoticus and Venelana are far from the worst parents a devil could have. It's just the former... really wants grandchildren. 

It's not so much of a 'want' anymore and more of a 'need'. After all. Devil politics are utterly nightmarish. Some within the great king faction are throwing their weight around. It has been a few generations since the Gremory clan trait has made an appearance, the most well-known power that the Gremory family now wields... is from the Bael Clan. People have begun to idly wonder if... perhaps the Gremory family should be labeled as 'extinct' due to the disappearance of its clan trait. Much like the Bune or Andrealphus families. 

Regardless, that led to Riser showing up within Rias' territory to discuss their engagement.  

Of course, Riser is about as arrogant as a typical clan devil, so it is of no surprise that this doesn't go very well. 

She watches one of Riser's pawns clear the room. It's as if she is moving through molasses. 

Riser's peerage is... escalating... that could potentially be good for Rias. Though her own pawn is out of line as well, insulting the son of a pillar family like that. 

She watches as the brown haired boy dodges the first blow. Quite impressive as it appears he wasn't paying much attention to the attacking pawn. Perhaps Rias may have a chance to win after all... as slim as it might be. 

She should perhaps put a stop to this... 

However... if Rias' pawn gets injured... she should be able to easily push for this rating game to be held back even further. Giving her peerage more time to train that she desperately needs. 

She'll certainly step in before he is critically injured, but- What is that?! 

Her eyes quickly dart to the center of the room where she can sense a strange aura. 

It is quite impressive, all things considered. Ultimate class. Perhaps in the lower reaches of it. 

Ziiiiiiip 

The world unzips. A murky purple void filled with eyes rests within a tear in reality, the teeth of a zipper framing each side of the hole. 

The pawn of Riser- who seemingly hasn't even noticed the portal strikes Rias' pawn as his eyes stray to the rip in reality. 

He drops to the floor a moment later. 

An aura seems to permeate from the portal, it holds an unnatural weight. Almost contradictive in a way. How can something weaker than her have a presence like that? Her eyes narrow in caution, hand tensing to teleport away Rias and her peerage if the need arrives. 

She knows exactly what this is, though she's never felt one exactly like this before. The aura is unmistakable. 

Youkai. 

"Oh hey, I'm back from being kidnapped." A brown haired boy's top half pops out of the portal. 

'hah?' Grayfia blinks twice. 

"S-SUZUTSU?!" Rias' pawn shouts. 

'huh?' Grayfia's eyes stray to the boy on the floor. 

Does he... know this youkai? 

The youkai's eyes stray the room, sweeping over Riser, his peerage, Rias, her peerage, briefly pausing on Grayfia herself before moving to the two pawns towards the side of the room. 

His eyes narrow slightly, lips turning down into a frown. 

He blurs forwards towards the pair. 

Grayfia also moves, reaching out. 

She catches the youkai's arm, hand inches from the face of Riser's pawn, ice forms under her hand slightly crackling down his forearm. 

Two purple eyes swing over to her. A sly smirk works its way over his lips as the rest of the room seem to catch up to what happened. "Oh? Come now. I wasn't going to hurt her... much."   

His fingers curl, a tiny portal opening up just in front of his finger, a second appearing just in front of the forehead of the girl he had been about to grab the face of. 

He thumps her... and it's as if he punches her right in the chest. She flies across the room, leg slamming into the couch and sending her spiraling into the wall as it slightly craters under the force she strikes it. 

He... limited his attack... 

The girl is certainly injured. Bones fractured, possibly even a concussion, but an ultimate class flicking a low class devil in the forehead could very easily snap their neck. 

He didn't want to kill her. 

Her eyes widen in horror as the youkai abruptly pulls back, his arm that had iced over cracking in her grip as he rips it off at just below the elbow. 

Then... in the next moment she is holding nothing as his arm is completely unharmed. His eyes seem to glint darkly as he stares into her eyes. 

"See?" He hums.  

"YOU BASTARD!" Riser snarls. "HOW DARE YOU!" 

"Silence." The white haired woman demands. 

She won't allow Riser to make this any worse. 

The room's temperature descends quickly as her demonic power rushes throughout her body, eager to be released into the world. 

Instantaneous regeneration. Portals. This unnerving pressure. 

He is weaker than her... considerably weaker, in fact, but why does she feel as if they were to come to blows... she might... lose? 

"What is your purpose here, Youkai?" 

"I live here." He deadpans. "I've lived here, I was born here, and I will continue to have a place here. As for why I am here today... I came to reunite with family... only to find some... gnats... harassing the person I was here to see."   

F-Family? 

What? 

Grayfia's eyes briefly dart down to Rias' pawn before returning to the boy. 

Humans... don't typically become youkai. And for those that extremely rarely do... none of them are like this. This power is no less than a nine-tailed fox. He is clearly an 'original' youkai. One birthed from another youkai. Did... this child's family adopt a youkai? That is... odd... 

He turns, willingly showing his back to the white haired woman. He doesn't see her as a threat she realizes. 

Arrogant... or perhaps a warning. 

He walks back to the portal, holding a hand out towards it. 

A small hand protrudes from the void causing the white-haired maid to stiffen. 

That- no... 

No no no this is bad. 

This is really bad. 

Suzutsu helps a petite blue haired girl with bat wings down from the portal, the hairs on the back of Grayfia's neck raise slightly as her predatory gaze strays across the room. 

Her eyes lock with Grayfia's and the vampire smiles. 

"Oh my, how interesting." The girl notes her eyes seem to narrow at the maid. "I've never met a devil before... I'm... frankly a little unimpressed."   

She wasn't aware that the vampires had anyone this strong. She is... perhaps twice- no... thrice as powerful as Grayfia herself is? 

She also seems to have that... weight... to her aura that the youkai has. 

This isn't a traditional vampire. It is something beyond that. 

She didn't even flinch entering this room despite not being invited, the sunlight from the window is washing over her without her body even smoking. In fact she barely seems to even notice it. 

Grayfia's gaze quickly flickers around the room. 

She... 

She's the only one who noticed. 

The others are just children. Not experienced enough to tell what sort of trouble they might be in... 

Her eyes stray to the two cat girls on Riser's peerage, their ears flat, faces etched with worry then to Koneko of Rias' who has stiffened, eyes wide with horror. 

Well... 

Most of them are inexperienced. 

She should nip this in the bud before Riser says anything to get himself killed. 

"You. Leave. Now." She demands, frowning at Riser. 

Thankfully he leaves without any backtalk. Potentially saving his life. 

Rias' pawn shakily gets to his feet. "S-Suzutsu?! Wha- you- where have you BEEN?! We were looking EVERYWHERE for you!" 

"It... wasn't really in my control." The youkai shakes his head slowly, a slightly saddened smile on his lips. "Like I said. Kidnapped." 

What even happened in this town?! 

'Suzutsu' turns, walking over to the couch with a destroyed arm, the pieces of fluff, leather and wood float up from the floor and reconstruct themselves. Its as if the couch wasn't even damaged in the first place. Grayfia can't even begin to understand what he just did. He used no magic as far as she can tell. "I suppose I should explain what I've been doing the past six months." 

"Oh... and I did promise to introduce someone." He takes a seat on the now repaired couch. The small vampire woman follows after him, eyes never leaving Grayfia's as they glow an eerie red, her smile grows slightly. It's... almost patronizing in a way. That she is silently taunting the maid of lucifer with something that only she knows.  

She eventually sits next to the youkai as he gestures to her. "This is Remilia Scarlet. Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the one known as the 'Scarlet Devil' or just simply 'THE Vampire' and, well, she's also my Fiancee." 

"Fucking WHAT?!?!" Rias' pawn booms. 

The small vampire smiles a hand over her lips. "It is a pleasure to meet all of you. It has been so long since I've met such a... colorful cast of characters." 

"You're a youkai." Rias sputters. 

"Yes." Suzutsu nods once. 

"HOW?!" The redhead demands. "That- you shouldn't- this shouldn't be possible!" 

"Well. It all started a looooong six months ago."  

[Split] 

"And that, is how I became a youkai, the reason I was kidnapped, and, well, the reason I couldn't come back." 

"Y-You just became a youkai?!" Rias sputters. "That- That isn't possible!" 

"Says who?" I huff. "Also. I suppose I should also get this out of the way. Issei, did you willing join her? Like, she didn't emotionally manipulate you or use any magic on you, right?" 

"Wh-h-huh?!" He seems slightly offended. 

"Like, she didn't distract you with her boobs while you just nodded along dumbly, right?" 

"Wh- I would have LIKED for her to have done that... but no. I... I actually thought it through." 

"Good. Good." I nod slowly. "Buuuut if you ever want to be human again, just let me know. Even I, a relatively weak boundary youkai could probably revert the change in an instant." 

"U-Uh... I'd rather you... didn't?" Issei mutters. "But back to your story, you're telling me you got kidnapped... by some blonde woman- 

"Said blonde woman could erase an entire pantheon in an afternoon." I interject but he continues. 

"To be some sort of... male prostitute? While mom, dad, and I were worried sick?!" 

"..." 

"Not the exact words I'd use but-" 

He clears the distance in a second and punches me in the face, turning my head to the side. 

"Yeah, probably deserved that." I agree. 

He drags me to my feet and then... hugs me, letting out a small whisper. "I'm so glad you're okay." 

"Yeah. I'm glad you found some people to rely on." I pat his back. 

"I'm STILL not forgiving you for living my deepest fantasies. You bastard." He grumbles. 

"I didn't ask for this." I sigh. 

"THAT MAKES IT EVEN WORSE!" He shouts. "it- it- it's like a man dying of thirst in a desert watching another man drown! It's unnatural! It's cruel! It's genuinely AGONIZING." 

He eventually returns to his seat, crossing his arms and looking away with a pout. 

"To be fair, Issei, I really didn't know how to come back here until like... a week ago." 

"And you didn't?!" He growls. 

"This fool felt like he didn't deserve it. That you'd all be safer if he were to keep his distance." Remilia huffs, looking quite proud of herself. "You likely wouldn't have seen him for a lot longer had I not forced him to come here. He has spoken quite a lot about you, Hyoudou Issei, he never forgot you." 

"How... are mom and dad doing?" I ask cautiously. 

"I asked Rias to... use a little mental magic to make them think you just went to some boarding school while we figured everything out." Issei slumps slightly, hands running through his hair, he closes his eyes for a long moment. "I guess that's lucky now... seeing as you're still alive." 

"..." 

An awkward silence falls upon the room. 

I mean. 

So much has changed. 

We can't really just go back to how things were, can we? 

"So..." Issei mutters, eyes looking between me and the blue haired vampiress beside me. "How did you two meet?"  

"It was a fated meeting! Two star crossed lovers who didn't know that they were soulmates merely waiting for a once in a lifetime encounter. I set the stage, seeking-" 

"She tried to plunge all of Gensokyo into eternal night." I cut in, causing the girl to let out numerous sputters.

"Wh- No! Not eternal night! My fog would have allowed SOME light through!" 

"Buuuut not enough for the plants." I shrug. 

"Hm. Correct." She grumbles, turning away from me, pouting that I clipped her dramatics so ruthlessly. "My manor has such a lovely garden. Meiling my groundskeeper works so hard on it so it just seemed like such a waste." 

"So... you're loaded?" Issei blinks. 

"I have made quite a few... wise business decisions in the past." Remilia preens. "I am one of the most wealthy residents in all of gensokyo. Of course, money matter little in Gensokyo, nor do I think that wealth from a few hundred years ago holds any true relevance in today's market." 

"I mean, it depends." I point out. "Some coins would no doubt be collectors items in they're in good condition. They might even be worth more than they were originally." 

"Regardless, after I quit my efforts to blot out the sun like it should truly be- far too bright and annoying- well... I had accomplished my goals somewhat... I had hoped that someone would have come to stop me. Someone to stave off the melancholy and boredom I had felt for a long time." 

"Of course, I had my maid track him down, invite him to tea, we found ourselves... compatible... he convinced me to repair my connection with my sister as he wished for his own family and, well, I suppose the rest is history." The girl smiles. 

"Thank you... thank you for bringing this dumbass back." Issei bows his head.  

"Oh, think nothing of it, boy. After he forced me to reunite with my sister after five hundred years, I..." Her eyes stray to me, gaze softening. "I didn't want him to make the same mistakes I had..." 

"So... wait... you have a sister?" 

"I do." Remilia nods. 

"Is she single?" 

"No." The girl shakes her head. 

"DAMN IT!" The boy curses. 

"You probably dodged a bullet, Issei, the girl doesn't know her own strength sometimes and unlike me... you can't regenerate." I note. "Do you know how many times Flandre has tried to get me to come see something only to accidentally break my wrist." 

"Or when she wants to show affection and breaks every single one of my ribs." Remilia nods in agreement. "She would probably like to be here to meet Suzutsu's family as well, but she is slightly too destructive. Thus, she is back home watching this new... television that has been invented recently. She is quite fond of the animated cartoons." 

"We should probably grab her something before we go back." I look to the girl beside me. 

"Ah. Yes." Remilia's fist come to her hand. "We should. I would never hear the end of it if we didn't get her some sort of treat after being gone most of today." 

"So... you just... got mauled by some shadow youkai in your dreams... repeatedly... fist-fought her, then locked eyes with some extremely powerful youkai woman and suddenly... you're a youkai?" Rias rubs her temples. "That makes- like- no sense!" 

"Mhm... I actually have that darkness youkai right here!" I reach into gap. 

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I pull out the screaming upper half of Rumia, I am holding her by the top of her head. she had been playing with her friends just now, not expecting a firm hand to grab the top of her head and pull her through a portal. clearly she remembers the beating I gave her.

I shove her back through the portal and close it. 

"So. Who was that blonde dude." I ask. "And all the weird harem cosplayer girls... I mean, really. I'm fairly certain the one with a grey ponytail was wearing Princess Leia's slave outfit from Return of the Jedi." 

"I actually have a better question." Remilia cuts in. 

"Oh?" I ask, looking to the girl. 

[Split] 

Grayfia really doesn't know how to feel with this entire situation... 

An entire dimension of extraordinarily powerful youkai? That seems a little far-fetched, frankly.  

But then again, she probably would have heard of this vampire girl had she lived in this plane of existence. 

"I actually have a better question." The vampire she is trying to get a read on suddenly speaks. 

"Oh?" 

The vampire, Remilia, turns to glare at Grayfia herself. "What is the deal with your servant? We have been speaking for over thirty minutes yet she has not once offered any refreshments." 

Grayfia flinches back slightly. 

Rias pales, Akeno sputters, Koneko is still frozen, seemingly trying not to move or draw the attention of either of these two. 

That is the first time someone had been so utterly... disrespectful... to her. 

But she is right in a manner of speaking. 

"I doubt that the woman is their servant. She's too powerful." The youkai speaks up. "Besides, the maid outfit could be some sort of fetishistic thing instead." 

"People fetishize maids?" The vampire blinks. 

"Uh... yeah?" Suzutsu replies. 

"I see." The blue haired girl mutters, pondering that knowledge for a moment, cupping her chin. 

She eventually looks back to Grayfia herself. "Whore maid. What is your purpose here?" 

Pfft- The portal youkai snickers as the queen of Lucifer's eyebrow twitches. "Y-You know she could have just been like... I don't know... the maid of someone important that Rias here doesn't have the authority to order around." 

"This is Grayfia Lucifuge, the queen of one of the four leaders of our race." Rias weakly begins. "She was here to act as a... mediator for the conflict between Riser Phenex and I over our engagement." 

"Oh. I see. Hm." The vampire girl "Very well. That was my blunder. Allow me resolve this." 

She turns to her companion. "Suzutsu, could you please grab Sakuya for me?" 

"Really?" The youkai huffs, waving his hands around slightly. "'Sure. I'll fix it. Suzutsu do this thing for me.'."  

The vampire girl pouts as the youkai reaches up- 

ZIIIIP 

The world unravels once more. Suzutsu leaning through the rip in reality. 

Nothing happens for a long moment, then he leans out, slightly widening the rip. 

Suddenly there's a lot more in the room than there was before. Numerous tea cups sit on the table, all filled to the brim with tea, numerous confectionaries sit on large silver plates. Macarons, an entire multi-tiered cake, cupcakes, chocolates, some form of sugary gumdrop-like sweets. 

Grayfia freezes, eyes darting around the room. 

That was- instantaniously. 

She didn't-  

That wasn't teleportation. She senses no magic at all. 

Wait. 

There is a certain magic that weighs heavily on the room. 

One she's quite familiar with, as another devil house has similar powers. 

Time. 

Temporal magic. 

How long was time stopped? 

Minutes? 

No... the cakes look fresh, the tea is hot. 

Hours. 

Time had been stopped for hours. 

A chill goes down Grayfia's spine. 

She had seen similar from Rias' bishop, he stops time in a small area. 

But it wears off faster depending on the difference of power in between the target and caster. 

They shouldn't have had hours. If the person who used this is comparable to the vampire it should have lasted at most thirty minutes. 

"Here you are, my lady." A new voice speaks slowly, Grayfia's eyes dart to a new figure in the room, a white haired woman wearing a maid outfit. She looks eerily similar to Grayfia herself. 

She is currently pouring a cup of tea for the blue haired girl. 

Wait... 

That's blood. 

"Thank you, Sakuya." Remilia nods slowly, taking a sip of her tea. 

"I live to serve you, my lady." The maid replies as she's suddenly just... gone once more. 

Suzutsu glances to the portal. "Ah. She went back through." 

He zips it up. 

How... does he know that? Can he- 

"You know, it's kind of comical watching her sit everything up." The teen huffs. "Also horrifying. Being locked in your body unable to move." 

The stopped time doesn't affect him as much. 

"Anyways, like... you have a Fiancé that you don't want to marry... and your parents aren't taking 'no' for an answer?" He seems a little skeptical. "Wow. Devils are really old fashioned. This is like... arranged marriage 'we all live in castles and believe in incest is strengthening the bloodline' type shit. 

"Well... to be fair, Devils do follow a nobility system." Rias weakly points out. "So, that's... exactly what it is." 

"How do you even get out of that?" The teen asks. "Want me to kill him? It'd be pretty easy." 

"Well..." Rias looks like she is considering it. 

"Do not kill the son of the Phenex family." Grayfia quickly interjects with a frown. 

"I was joking, jeez." The youkai sighs. "What a hardass. Sakuya's the better white haired maid." 

"True." The Vampire nods as she takes another drink of tea. "Sakuya is the perfect maid. I doubt this one even knows how to clean an entire mansion in under a second." 

"But, really. There's other things I can do to make that blonde dude a non-issue. Want me to turn him human? Give him erectile dysfunction? Turn him into a girl?" 

"YOU CAN GENDERBEND PEOPLE?!" The wielder of the boosted gear shouts. 

"..." 

"You can swap people's genders?" The vampire blinks owlishly, looking over to the teen. 

"Remi... I can do anything. That's what being a boundary youkai is about. It's like being a genie but with none of the boring 'forced to do what people ask for' thing." 

"For example." 

He looks to his supposed brother and snaps his fingers. 

Said brother grows large, breasts his body changes into a more hourglass-like figure. 

"BUAH?!" The pawn shouts.  

"There. Now you can grope all the boobies you want, Issei." 

Disappointment fills Grayfia's body as it takes all of about five seconds for the pawn to roughly grope him- herself, letting out goofy 'yipee' giggles. 

"I swear. Issei you're a special kind of stupid." 'Suzutsu' sighs shaking his head. "If I got randomly gender bent my first course of action would probably be finding the nearest sharp object to stab them and then myself." 

He snaps his fingers again, causing the pawn to return to being a boy. 

He seems mildly disappointed... then he realizes what happened. 

"Suzu! You bastard! You took away my dick!" He roars. 

"I gave it back." The youkai shrugs with an eyeroll. "No harm done." 

He crosses his arms and pouts. 

"To annul the marriage, we have to fight him in a Rating Game... which is kind of like... a duel but with some chess rules." Rias weakly begins. 

"Oh. I see." The youkai nods, hand on his chin. 

"Well, you are fated to win that." The vampire notes. "I suppose that is the least I could do after we dropped by unannounced." 

What... does she mean by that? 

"Thank... you?" Rias weakly mutters. 

"Think nothing of it, child." The vampire smiles slightly.