Chapter Text
Remilia hummed in contempt as she observed the night sky. Drinking her tea that Sakuya made for her. "You seem to be in a good mood today." Patchouli hums into her drink.
"And all those other times I'm not?" She asks. "Rarely, I must admit." Patchouli sassed. Remilia chuckled in response to her statement. She looked up at the sky to look at the hour of twilight upon them. The only time of day she could go out without worry and maybe build her resistance up
"How has Koakuma been doing?" Remilia asks. "She's doing well. Pretty soon she should be able to get into the groove of helping me in the library with organization and cataloging." Patchouli says.
"That's nice." Remilia smiles. Then she noticed the static. Both Patchouli and Remilia look up in confusion. The static in question was the mass of energy slowly forming and shifting right above the gardens.
Sakuya drew her knives out ready to defend her master. The static morphed and grew into a small drop. That then fell onto one of the ponds in the garden. From there the water reacted violently as something new shot out
From the pond came a man that was around the age of 16 to 19 bloodied and beaten. A gout of flame blowing through the portal. His hands bitten off and his face burnt. He wore what looked like some kind of fantasy armor.
"Oh my god!" Remilia gasped as he fell and tumbled onto the floor. Sakuya leaped and immediately locked time on his body to stop the bleeding as Patchouli flew over to cast healing magic. Remilia looked up at the portal to see it fade into mist. "Just what exactly happened?" She asks herself
Ethan woke up with a startle. He couldn't see a thing and when he looked around he felt bandages on his face. He sighed in relief. He felt bandages on his arms and nothing past the wrists. 'Shit.' He thought. He then gritted his teeth as he felt searing pain in his head
He then began to remember. 'That thing. It bit me before blowing a gout of flames at me. Then I blacked out after that.'
The door opened. "Ah. You're awake. You were pretty hurt when you fell into the garden. We were worried you were going to actually die for a second." Sakuya says. "It's fine." Ethan waves off
He stretches and sits up on the bed. "I appreciate your willingness to help a guy like me. Even though we've barely known each other." He thanks her
"Oh it's no problem." Sakuya asks.
"But I'd like to have my face unbandaged now. It is quite uncomfortable." He chuckles.
"Are you sure? You were burned pretty badly." Sakuya says. "I'd like to know." Ethan insists
"Alright. Let me get a mirror first." She says. Ethan smiled as he waited for her to get it.
When she did he felt her cut the bandages to undo them. They unraveled and fell onto his shoulders. When he opened his eyes, Sakuya had a hesitant look on her face. Ethan rolled his eyes
"Oh please. It can't be that bad." He waved off. "Are you sure?" She asks. "Just show me the Mirror." He says
She sighed and held it up for him to see. And it wasn't pretty. His face was tight and leathery. His sclera were pitch black. And there was a pronounced boundary between cooked and uncooked flesh. "Oh, this is nothing." He chuckled.
"Excuse me?" Sakuya asks.
"Oh it's nothing. Just watch." He chuckled. His hair began to move like they were tentacles and grew out and around his face. He focuses his hair to move and grab the cooked flesh. And he began to pull it off. Peeling it off much to Sakuya's horror. But then it turned to shock as it revealed a perfectly fine face underneath. With pinker skin than usual
"Oh, oh that is not right." Sakuya says. The flap of cooked skin was removed and Ethan smiled.
"Yeah this was just one of the things I could do as a way to quickly heal any damaged skin." He says
"Your eyes are still black though." Sakuya says. "Yeah, but that is part of something else. So no worries." Ethan shrugged
He looked into the mirror again and frowned. "Oh bloody hell. That's still here?" He asks.
"What is it?" Sakuya asks.
"These little scars on the sides of my mouth that go into my cheeks." Ethan points out
"I'm not sure what you're referring to. I cannot see any scarring." Sakuya says. Ethan frowned.
"I can. Clear as day." Ethan says as he reaches up to his face
On his cheeks connected to his mouth at the sides were two symmetrical crack-like scars that curved up. It gave the impression of a creepy smile.
"I see. Well the peeling flesh aside. You are clearly in good health. If it's of no trouble I would like to bring you to my Master so we can properly deal with your situation. She would also be able to answer any questions likely buzzing through your head." Sakuya explains
"If it'll help then lead the way." Ethan says. He let his hair shrink in length. Sakuya hummed before turning forwards to continue leading him
Ethan hummed before stopping to look at one of the fairy maids. Who waved as she flew by. He waved back with his arm but it was clear he was astonished.
"First time seeing a fairy?" Sakuya asks. "Yeah." He hummed
Sakuya chuckled before opening the door. "We're here." Sakuya says. Remilia looks up from her book and smiles.
"Ah Sakuya. I take it the boy has awoken?" She asks
"Yes Miss Remilia. I've brought him over in fact seeing as he can talk and move around like he wasn't injured." Sakuya says
"Really? But wasn't his face severely burned?" Remilia asks
"Well yeah but I was fine." Ethan waved off. "You peeling off your burnt face was not what I would consider fine. In fact it was quite horrifying." Sakuya says
"Oh please. I lived. And look. My face, despite the scars, is now baby skin smooth. And it's finally gaining its color." He says. And true to his word his face was beginning to regain color. Almost matching his pale skin.
"I'm sorry, you, peeled your face off?" Remilia asks. "Heh, yeah. After killing a giant snake I can now Molt off my skin in a sense. I could also the grow scales and then…" Ethan frowned
"Are you alright?" Remilia asks
"I can't seem to recall anything else. I feel like I'm missing something but I don't know what." He says
"I see." Remilia hummed. "But regardless, I cannot thank you enough for your willingness to help a total stranger like me." Ethan bowed
"So you have my gratitude." He finishes. Remilia smiled.
"My, how polite. I'm glad that you think of me as such." She bows back. Pulling her dress up as she did.
"Well. Then let's get to business. I'm sure you have tons of questions to ask me and the others. I myself have a few as well." Remilia says.
"Of course. But first. Do you have any opposable hands I can borrow?" Ethan asks, holding up his arms
Two translucent black with blue outlined constructs of hands formed over Ethan's stumps. "As these can only go so far." He chuckled. His eyes glowing as his hair gained some similar traits to his eyes as well.
Ethan hummed as he looked at the caps placed onto his stumps. They were made of metal and after tightening a few screws into the bones, they would not get off. Since his bones stuck out his arms, they provided a good foothold
"Alright. This should help with the new hands." He hummed.
The same translucent ghost-like hands formed and he used them to grab a wooden hand. The ghost hands sank and phased into them as the hands were firmly attached to the caps on his arms. He gave a quick test drive with some hand motions before smiling
Ethan smiled. He repeated the process with his right arm and connected the wooden hand to his arm. He then grabbed a pair of white gloves and put them over his hands. "Alright." He hummed.
The door knocked and Sakuya spoke from behind. "Ethan? Are you in need of any help?" She asks. "Nah. I'm good. Just testing my new hands out. Miss Patchouli really went all out with these." Ethan says
"Well then please hurry up with that. The day has just started and as a new butler to the Scarlet Devil Mansion we're expected to be timely with our morning preparations." Sakuya says
"I know. It's just gonna take awhile to get used to using these." Ethan says as he begins dressing himself in his new work outfit. As Sakuya said he is now a butler working for Remilia. For he has no place to go now nor does he wanna go back to his previous place. And so he figured that working here would do him good in the long run
For his outfit he wore a crop top black jacket coat over a gray vest with a blue tie and white button up. A pair of dress pants and shoes finish the look. He finished adjusting his tie before frowning as he saw that sinister cracked smile again. Before shaking it off as he exits his room and turns to Sakuya.
"So? What do you think?" He asks. "You look good. But the amount of time you took was not acceptable." Sakuya says
"Awe come on. I just got these hands. So cut me some slack okay?" Ethan says.
"No." She says as she begins leading him through the mansion
"So cold." He muttered. He sighed as he followed her then began listening as she explained the rules of the mansion.
"As a Butler and servant to Miss Remilia you are expected to keep up an image we all have around here. So be diligent. Be quick. And most importantly be polite. It can go a long way." She says
"Right." He nodded. "Now unfortunately, while we do have the fairy maids to help with cleaning the majority of the mansion, they tend to want to goof off or aren't as thorough as we'd hope." Sakuya adds
"So the fairies don't really do that well of a job?" He asks
"Yes unfortunately. But it's slowly getting better." Sakuya says before stopping. "Sakuya?" Ethan asks. She looked at the distant hall before them with a serious glance before explaining.
"Flandre-sama is approaching, she's Remilia-sama's sister and the second owner of this mansion. I advise you to be on your best behavior. She's known for losing control most of the time and if you managed to make her angry she could very easily kill you." She explains.
"Oh shit." He mutters
He looks where Sakuya is looking and sees a little girl with two wings flying in the air. Her wings had multiple differently colored crystals hanging off them and in her arms was a Teddy bear that looked to be restitched multiple times by now. She noticed the two of them and flew over.
"Sakuya!" She smiles. 'Cute.' He thought.
"Flandre-sama. Aren't you supposed to stay in the basement?" Sakuya asks. Stern but a little concern leaking through.
"But it's boring there! There's no one to talk to and it's too cramped there!" She complained
"All I have is me and my toys...." She then finished with a hint of sadness
'Guess it's only natural, being stuck in a confined space for God knows how long isn't good for anyone.' Ethan thought. Flandre then turned to Ethan
"Who are you mister? Are you my food?" She asks
Ethan frowned. "No? I'm not your food. I'm here to work for your sister as a butler. Sakuya was just showing me around the mansion to help me get the lay of the land so to speak." Ethan says with a light motion of his hand towards Sakuya
"Oh. What's your name Mister?" Flandre asks
"It's Ethan. Ethan Sanchez. Glad to meet you Miss Flandre." Ethan says. Holding his hand out. Flandre takes it and shakes it.
"I'm glad to meet you too, Mister Sanchez." Flandre smiles.
"Just Ethan please. Mister Sanchez makes me sound old." Ethan chuckled. When she released his hand he noticed it now had a few cracks. 'Dayum.
"Okay. Bye Ethan!" She says flying off. Ethan waves her off and Sakuya hums.
"That was impressive. You handled that very well." Sakuya compliments. Ethan chuckles
"Guess I'm just good with kids?" He asks. Sakuya snorts. "What?" Ethan asks
"Sorry. It's just that while Flandre acts like a kid she isn't actually a kid in age." Sakuya says
"What do you mean? Is she like really short and just rolls with it?" Ethan asks. "Kinda?" She hums
"Oh come on. She can't be any older than twenty then. Right?" Ethan asks. Sakuya chortles. And then leans to whisper how old Flandre is
"SHE'S HOW OLD!?" He yells in shock
......
"And that marks the end of our tour. Your training will start tomorrow, early morning until noon, you'll only have one break during it and day-offs are on the weekends." Sakuya explain
"Alright. I can deal with that." Ethan hums
"You're free to explore the mansion a bit more on your own or rest. As you must be tired, no?" She offers
"Not really, no. I think I'll explore some more." Ethan says.
"Very well. If you need me just look for me. I'll know when you'll be searching for me. Otherwise. Enjoy your day." Sakuya bows
"I will. Thanks for the tour." Ethan waves off
"You're welcome." Sakuya says before leaving to do her own duties. Ethan hummed before looking around.
'Now, where should i start?' He thought. Before remembering
"The library should be a good place to start, if any." He hummed. He heads off and enters the library. After learning that magic was much different to how it worked back where he was from, he hoped some books had been written on the subject that he could read and research about. Instead he found Patchouli and Koakuma
"Oh. Hello Ethan. What brings you here?" Koakuma asks.
"Well after learning that Magic works differently here I got curious about it and wanted to know more about it." Ethan explains.
"Oh then if you wanna know all about it then I can help you with that." Patchouli offers. "Really?" Ethan asks.
"Yeah. Miss Patchouli-sama is of the Magician species and has over hundreds of years of experience under her belt. So it's safe to say she knows a lot of things about magic." Koakuma says. "Oh. Really?" Ethan asks
"Indeed. In fact I can help you figure out the elements you're very effective with as well." Patchouli offers. "Elements?" Ethan asks as he sits across from her
"While not something used a lot it's good to know about regardless. I can manipulate earth, metal, fire, water, wind, light, wood, sun, and moon. But that's unique to me as well. Normally everyone can manipulate light for spell card battles. But there's a few more elements that someone can manipulate as well. Alongside a unique ability that as the name implies is unique to them." Patchouli explains
"Is it possible to figure that out as well?" Ethan asks.
"Not really. You gotta figure that out for yourself. But I can measure your Magical potential and elements." Patchouli says as a book floats into her hands
"Alright." Ethan says. Patchouli then grabbed a book from her side, opened it and started to cast a spell of some sort. The book flutters open wildly, a bright light coming out of it while Patchouli closes her eyes and starts chanting. Eventually everything calms down, as the light starts to dissipate the book stops fluttering at the same time but is still open afterwards. Opening her eyes Patchouli stopped her chanting, however it didn't take long for her them to open wide
"What is it?" Ethan asks. "Yeah Miss Patchouli. What is it?" Koakuma insists. "I..." Patchouli was at a loss for words, "How do I put this?" She hums. "In a way I could understand?" Ethan guessed
"Well.." Patchouli trailed off as she scratched her cheek. "With proper training and guidance, your magic will eventually surpass even mine" She finally revealed. Koakuma gasped and Ethan barely reacted.
"I'm guessing that's something else?" He asked
"Of course!" Koakuma interjects.
"Patchouli-sama is one of the most powerful magicians in all of Gensokyo, so knowing that you might surpass her one day is naturally bound to surprise us." She explains
"Is that so?" Ethan hummed.
"What happens now then?" He asked Patchouli
"I'm gonna train you obviously." Patchouli said excitedly. "R-really?" Ethan asks
Patchouli coughed into her fist as she regained her composure, and began to tell Ethan the schedule.
"What about my elements?" Ethan eventually asks
"Ah that. Like everyone else you can manipulate light. But you can also manipulate ice, metal, and fire." She lists off
"Wow. I'm getting kinda excited now, not gonna lie." Ethan says
"What about the magic you used before? You said that it was wildly different to how magic is used here." Koakuma asks. Ethan hummed
"Well, you saw how I could empower my hair with some kind of aura or force it out of my arms to make the ghost hands?" He asks.
"Yeah. And you mentioned that you could make scales grow on you as well." Koakuma adds.
"Right. What I didn't mention is that this Aura isn't magic. It's my Meta ability." Ethan says.
"Otherwise most of the magic I know is learned about, inherited to a relic I can use, inherited from any monster I've killed, or sometimes even crafted with my own hands." Ethan explains.
"I didn't see any relics on you when you fell through the portal." Patchouli comments
"And what is a Meta Ability?" Koakuma asks
"Think of it like something you're born with. And I've had my meta ability since I was a kid. I call it Spirit Manipulation. As it reminds me of the spirits of the dead in a sense I guess." Ethan says as the Aura flows out of his hands
"It lets me empower my attacks for a bigger impact or boost my everything. I can even manipulate things my spirit has covered and encapsulated like my hair. I could also make it grow out whenever I wanted to." He says
"What about the Magic then? How did your Meta Ability deal with that?" Patchouli asks.
"Well I can't exactly show them here because they could be pretty destructive." Ethan says
"Well let's head outside then. We tend to have friendly little spars every once in a while so this is a perfect way to show them off." Koakuma suggested
"Are you sure?" Ethan asks.
"Of course." Patchouli saya
Ethan thought about it. "Alright. Sure. This should be fun." He smiles
"Alright then. Let's head out and see what you can do." Koakuma smiled
Ethan nodded and followed her out. Patchouli followed behind as well as two books floated beside her. Another book in her arms just under her chest. When Ethan was out and a good distance away from the mansion. Koakuma floated just a small distance away from him
"Alright. Just try and attack me. I'm pretty strong too so don't worry about harming me." Koakuma says
"Okay then. Just don't complain when this beats your ass." Ethan smirked as he stretched his arms. Patchouli sat down on the grass with a blanket under her as Ethan readied himself
"For my first spell I'll be doing a very basic attack." Ethan says. He moves his arm out and closes his eyes. Inches from his hand a dark teal pearl formed in the air that grew in size till it was just as big as his hand. All in the span of a second as well. It burst out from his hand and rocketed towards Koakuma. Who flew to the side to dodge it
"Woah! That's pretty fast." She says. "Right? I inherited this spell from a skeleton mage I defeated alongside a few others." Ethan says as he casts the spell again. His hair flows out and turns pitch black and gains a blue afterglow as he adds his meta ability to the mix
He formed another pearl from his hand which grew in size as black flames covered it. "Woah. You can add elements to it?" Koakuma asks. "Sorta." He says
He pitched it like a fastball and the fiery pearl flew at Koakuma. She dodged but it then exploded behind her. "Kyah!" She yelled as she barely avoided the attack
She glared at Ethan who chuckled.
"How about you attack then?" He goaded. Koakuma formed a danmaku in her hands and fired. They hit their mark
But Koakuma then watched in shock as a translucent golden shield cracked and fell apart in front of Ethan.
"Another spell I inherited." He smirked
As Ethan and Koakuma demonstrated their magic to each other Remilia arrived with Sakuya holding an umbrella over her
"Hello Remilia. What brings you out here?" Patchouli asks.
"I heard magic being used and wished to investigate. So is Ethan using spells from his previous world?" Remilia asks
"Yeah. He's also adding in a completely different ability as well and mixing it with his spells." Patchouli says
"I see. Well he certainly has some unique magic." Remilia hummed
"Indeed. Already his Meta Ability has shown to add more power and new secondary abilities to his spells." Patchouli says. Writing in a blank book and sketching out basic drawings of Ethan's spells
Ethan meanwhile was panting as he felt his mana drained.
"Damn. Nearly out of mana." He says. He smirked as he let the pearl crumble into dust.
"Alright, here's a spell that I got from a group of phantom knights!" He casts
Immediately ten swords flew out from him in a growing circle. Koakuma yiped as they flew towards her. There was a sword, an ax, and a Pickaxe. But then Ethan collapsed as each weapon turned to dust and flew away in the wind
"Welp. I'm pooped." He says
"Holy crap! That was so scary! But also so cool!" Koakuma says.
"I take it you won't be able to cast any more spells now?" Patchouli asks
"Just one more. This was something I always had after I found myself in that world." Ethan smiled. He reached back and from out of nowhere he pulled out a large Pickaxe. It was fitted with greekish designs and was largely gray in color. The shaft even looked like it was made of stone.
"It's just a simple inventory. Definitely helped with traveling a lot." He says as he puts the Pickaxe back
"I see. Well, I certainly had fun getting to see such magic in action. I can't wait to begin training you." Patchouli smiled.
"Oh you've decided to train him?" Remilia asks
"Indeed. His magic potential could surpass even me. So I'll be training him how to use magic like us and to learn more about how his magic works." Patchouli says
"Very well. I'd love to see what'll happen in the future." Remilia smiled.
"Wow. Glad to see I'm so important." Ethan chuckled. Koakuma chuckled as she sat beside him
"Better hope you're ready then." She says. "I know." Ethan says. He then frowned as he felt like he was forgetting something. 'Just what is it that i'm forgetting though?' He thought. Before eventually sighing and letting his head rest on the grass. 'I'll figure it out eventually.' He hummed