Flandre's Quest (Touhou) World - (Madness Quest)

[X] Go back down to your room; your sister can take care of everything, it seems.
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[X] Find Remilia; you should tell her about Yukari's plan and your deal with Yuyuko.
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The heavy black coach, windows shrouded even in the early morning, drove off the road to Olmutz and toward the back lines of the army of the French emperor. It bore no heraldry on its doors, and despite its solid construction and obvious great weight, the night-black stallions had no difficulty pulling it through the wet grass. The six soldiers in dark green uniforms, all carrying Messer swords and short rifles, also rode black Hessian horses, and despite the seven hundred kilometer journey, still looked as fresh as if they were in the midst of a parade. They were an honor guard only, far less lethal under any circumstances than the ladies they escorted, but their presence was a mark of pride. That they, soldiers from all the Hessian territories, had been selected to ride with the rulers of their territories was an honor they would treasure until their deaths.

Upon reaching a particular location - nothing stood around it, and its view of the coming battlefield was merely adequate - the coach slowed to a halt and the soldiers dispersed to grant the occupants some measure of privacy as the coachman began caring for the horses, seemingly unaware of the dim red glow in their eyes. One of the coach's doors opened and two women stepped out into the brisk December air. Both were tall and slim, but one had long golden hair down to her waist while the other had silvery hair that reached only her elbows. The elder hugged her sister lightly before spinning away, an easy grin on her face.

"Soon. Soon, it will happen. Until then, shall we watch and see what we can, my dear Flandre?" The two girls played together, chasing each other and teasing the soldiers, but as the sun fully rose they retired to the top of the coach, where the driver had erected an awning to shade them from their nemesis. The silver-haired girl clucked her tongue and frowned in irritation as she leaned against her sister.

"Is something wrong, Remilia?" Flandre's voice was slightly worried, but an eager undertone was easily noticeable - she relished the idea of a fight. Remilia sighed and shook her head.

"Not wrong, as such - I simply didn't want to meet him. He's more capable than I thought, to notice us through this little spell. Or he doesn't have anything more to occupy himself than to look for signs of magic." She lightly tapped her sister's nose. "And, no, we can't just kill him. That would be rude, and the Ninth would raise a fuss to the Council." Flandre stuck out her tongue in disgust, her opinion of the Council's interference obvious. They sat together in peace for a few more minutes, until a lone rider cantered toward them. The French magician was allowed through the loose cordon of soldiers and unsteadily dismounted to frown up at the vampires sitting above him.

"And what are you doing here?" Remilia waggled a finger at him and switched to speaking French.

"Your pronunciation is an abomination unto itself, so don't try to rise above your station by speaking a language beyond your skills." The magician's face twisted in anger. "As for what we're doing here - why, we heard that there was to be a great battle here, so we've come to see the new French method of making war. I want to see if the little boy has managed to improve his skills, and my sister wants to see a lot people dying." Flandre giggled and pushed into her sister's side, a mischievous grin on her face. The magician glowered at them.

"If you hadn't stolen that book from me -" He was cut off by a bark of laughter.

"It would take you decades to decipher that tome, while she has already begun the path to becoming a true magician, little Francois. Do not continue to delude yourself; as I told you when I took it to give it back to its rightful owner, the talent for sorcery does not a magician make, and not all paths to eternity are open to all practitioners." She looked away as the sound of cannon fire interrupted her, then turned back to the magician. "Your people lost nearly all your heritors to the traditions of sorcery in your little Terror a few years ago, and you do have skill, but that path is hers, and to let a dog lie in her manger is something I am opposed to. You understand?" A reluctant, angry nod, the product of the difference in strength rather than agreement, answered her, and she smiled. "That's good, little Henri. Will you stay with us and watch the battle from here, or do you have services to perform for your emperor?" The magician sighed, momentarily defeated.

"I am no warrior, and Lord Napoleon believes in his own luck more than my advice. Besides, there are no other sorcerers for me to negate, so there is no harm in my keeping an eye on you, Lady Scarlet." He turned to frown at his horse and missed the irritated narrowing of Remilia's eyes. The expression lasted only an instant, however, and she looked to the servant that had accompanied them.

"Coachman, see to Louis's horse. The poor creatures likely hasn't seen decent care in years, so be gentle with her." The silent coachman bowed low and clucked at the mare, taking her from the Frenchman's hands.

"I may be an indifferent rider at best, Lady Scarlet, but that horse is one of the Imperial Guard, raised from birth to be a cavalryman's mount."

"Like I said - she hasn't seen decent care in years." The magician glared hatefully at her, and both sisters laughed at his impotent rage. "You humans have such a small view of the care of creatures. I include yourselves in that. But enough of your deficiencies - let was watch the machine that your Corsican has forged." She waved her hand dismissively and the air in front of the coach shimmered, granting them unobstructed views of the miles-long battlefield. The Hessians closed in as well, eager to witness their Lady's sorcery as much as the warfare of their enemies.

They watched the bloody and frequent combats around Tellnitz and Sokolnitz - French, Austrians, and Russians, all fighting over a couple of tiny villages and the stream nearby. Soon, however, Remilia shifted the primary view to the center where, masked by fog, French infantry were advancing to the heights in the middle of the battlefield, eager to split the allied army and win the day. Bloody and savage fighting erupted as the sun tore open the mist and the French swarmed forward. To the north, too, the French were on the offensive, cavalry driving against their Russian counterparts, but it was the center that held the main spectacle. The pride of Russia, the Imperial Guard, charged the seemingly-victorious French, driving them back - even capturing a magnificent French standard. As the cavalry drove into his countrymen, the magician jerked upright, eyes wide in surprise and fright.

"What? But - how? I didn't …." Remilia snorted disdainfully as the magician finally sensed the supernatural forces across the battlefield.

"Have they no shame? I realize that Russians do many things differently, but surely they understand that to interfere so brazenly in the affairs of mortals is not how things are conducted here!" Remilia snarled and stood, floating down to the ground. None but her sister noticed the small bat she left behind on the coach, and Flandre grinned and lifted it to her shoulder, hidden under her long tresses. Her hands wove a delicate tapestry around her and an image of a powerful woman appeared in front of her. "Alert your leader, Russian. This interference will not be tolerated in Europe." The woman smiled mockingly.

"I am the leader of what you would call the 'supernatural' component of our army, little vampire. We will assist our Tsar, and you can stand aside, or you can burn in the sun." The view of her dissolved, replaced by several ranks of sorcerous entities, both human and inhuman, all working together to empower their distraught troops. Remilia sighed and shook her head as her image of the battlefield showed the Imperial Guard of France advancing to face their opposite numbers.

"Well. If she wants to fight Europe, the blood of Europe will fight her." The image of the Russian Empire's magicians vanished, replaced by a cartographer's map of the battlefield. She muttered quickly and quietly to herself, and symbols began appearing on the map, encompassing the whole of the area. The French magician stared at her, horrified at the vastness of her spell.

"You … what are you doing? You aren't going to fight them, are you? In broad daylight, by yourself?" The vampire paused in her incantation and turned to give him a look, then turned back and continued casting.

"This is to be a battle between men, hag. Here, in this land of Austria, your land cannot help you. Cease your interference, or I will crush you." The temperature around them rose, just a little, and Remilia scoffed. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, then spread them wide, and the air around her blazed with scarlet energy. The French magician cowered - not from the obvious display, but from the onrushing power as the vampire's spell activated and drew the life's-blood energy from thousands of dead and wounded soldiers to her. Invigorated, she launched an assault on the Russian sorcerers, stifling their morale-boosting magic and forcing them to defend themselves. Unable to draw upon the land's power the way they did in their home, and with their Austrian allies terrified by the revelation that the Scarlet Devil stood in opposition to them, their sorcerous efforts collapsed. The Russian Guard was torn apart by the combined effort of the French cavalry, infantry, and horse artillery, and several of the magicians died, collapsing from the exertion of defending themselves against the vampire's onslaught. Most simply wrapped themselves in layered defenses designed to blunt and turn aside magical attacks, giving up any hope of striking back in order to save their lives. The few entities capable of mustering enough power to fight Remilia - a giant, several avian creatures, and the leading witch - fought back for several minutes, but when a gleaming red spear, launched from across the battlefield, skewered the giant's eye, they too abandoned offensive measures and wrapped themselves in protective enchantments, leaving their mortal allies to stand alone against the French. With the threats neutralized, Remilia relaxed her magics and stretched. Flandre threw herself at her sister and wrapped her arms around her waist, then lifted her up and spun around.

"You … you could kill them all! You could wipe out the whole of the Austro-Russian alliance right now! Why? Why don't you?" The sisters turned disgusted eyes on the pleading French magician.

"Why should I? What would that bring to Hesse, except the wrath of the Russian spirits and the casting-out of myself from the Council? Let men run their own affairs; we interfere only as we need to." She turned to the soldiers that followed her and switched back to their native tongue. "Men of Hesse. What follows this day may be unpalatable to some of you, but that is the politics of Man at work. The foundation of your home is set, and the rooms of your domains form the framework of the dwelling-place of for all the children of Hesse. There will be changes in the years and decades to come; two centuries will not see the completion of the entirety of Hesse, but the roads that lead to it are well-marked. Now, let us return to the land that welcomes us. Speak with your kin and comrades of what you have seen and heard today, that surprise does not sneak about our home." The soldiers saluted and mounted their horses, and the vampire sisters entered their coach. The coachman led French mare back to the magician and bowed his head, his oddly-jointed neck making the gesture seem more mockery than politeness. Then he climbed back up to his position and directed the coach back toward the road, to begin the long journey back home.