The Incident at the Mansion

I wake up early. The sun is slowly rising, casting a warm glow over the room. Sanae is still asleep. Her soft breaths filling the silence. I carefully get up, so she does not awake. Deciding to practice the Obex spell, I go outside to the shrine's grounds. 

After practicing for about an hour, I mastered the spell. It really was surprisingly easy to learn. A yellow, transparent, magic shield is surrounding me now. I feel more than prepared now to face Patchouli again. Before I venture into the woods, confident that Patchouli will be happy about my arcane advances, I realize that I forgot the magic book and the cake. I rush inside our bedroom to grab the book. Once I am inside though Sanae greets me. She looks like she just woke up.

"Leaving without telling me? You are such a cold meanie~" Sanae's voice is soft and tinged in annoyance.

I tense up, not entirely sure how to act in this situation. "Oh, good morning! I am sorry I didn't think you would wake up that early."

Sanae smirks playfully. "I was just joking, silly. But please be quick." There is a subtle hint of disappointment in her eyes, she really isn't thrilled about me leaving again. 

"I will be back later today, don't worry." I give her a reassuring smile. 

"Thank you." she says, her voice still carrying a hint of longing. "And one more thing, could you get me a book from the library? Just any book about an adventurer or a simple fable." 

I nod, approving her request. "Yes, of course I will do that. I will be back as soon as I can. See you later Sanae!" I wave as I make my way to the cake we baked; it smells wonderful. 

As I leave, I can't help but feel guilty. Sanae's discontent when I leave her behind is a reminder of how much she values our time together. 

I make my way out of the shrine. The dense, ancient trees of the forest still loom overhead, their leaves glistening with morning dew. The forest is clearly unchanged from last time, though it's very wet from the rainfall that happened not too long ago. I can't help but think of my home. Listening to music or the comforting hum of my computer, not to forget my family and friends. The separation from Earth and Gensokyo leaves me with homesickness which I ought to suppress most of the time. 

As I tread forth, I daydream about a possibility to travel between Gensokyo and Earth. It would still the longing to meet my friends and my family. If I could travel between these worlds at will, I wouldn't need to abandon Aya, Sanae and Patchouli either. 

Lost in the thought, I suddenly find myself in front of the Mansion again. 

I approach the imposing metal gate. It's gatekeeper, Meiling resting as usual. Gently I nudge her to wake her up. 

She rubs her eyes and gets up. Meiling offers a drowsy but warm smile. "Oh, it's you! Good morning." The gatekeeper's cheerfulness is subdued by her visible and audible weariness. 

"Good morning, Meiling." I greet her. "Could you open the gate? I wanted to visit Patchouli again." 

Meiling nods and opens the gate. "Yes, of course." 

Before I step inside, I can't help but voice my concern. "Are you alright? You seem more tired than usual." 

With another yawn, the gatekeeper assures me, "Yes, I am fine don't worry. I'll just rest for a bit and then I'll guard properly." She closes the gate behind me. 

I make my way through the courtyard of the Mansion. There I see multiple fairies working hard to keep the mansion tidy. They kind of remind me of myself, when working on the garden at the shrine, though I am neither as efficient nor as elegant and accurate as them. Stepping inside the mansion, exquisite art from paintings to pottery greet me. Each one more interesting than the last. 

I weave through the now familiar long hallways, peering into various rooms, each one seeming to have a unique purpose. One open door captivates my attention though. I can't stop myself from stepping inside it. 

The room is abstract to me. It's filled with glass bottles, row after row, all of them looking alike and all of them having a mysterious red liquid inside them. I step closer, inspecting one of these bottles. The liquid doesn't seem to be anything I have drank before. 

My head pains me all of the sudden. I feel a sharp, piercing headache. Then everything goes black. All I can guess is that the maids punished my trespassing by knocking me out. 

Slowly, I regain my consciousness, but my head throbs painfully. It's as if it will explode at any second. My vision remains shrouded, I can't really make out anything, though I do hear voices nearby. One of them is clearly angry, while the other, closer to me, seems to be apologetic. They both sound familiar. I try my best to make out what's going on around me, but it is extremely difficult to concentrate on anything. All I can think of is rest, to escape this agony that's raging in my head. 

I finally succumb to my exhaustion, caused by the pain. I drift into a deep sleep, finally unbothered by my surroundings. 

Gradually, I awake. My head is still aching mercilessly. The room is unfamiliar, clean and orderly with a faint scent of old books hanging in the air. On the left of me, there's a table adorned with two books. One of them looks rather old, while the one above seems to be in perfect condition. Old paintings decorate the wall. They are painted in various art styles. 

To my right, there is the head maid. I sadly forgot her name though. She sits on a wooden stool, her expression serious. 

"I see you are finally awake. I am terribly sorry about what happened; I will punish the one who did it to you swiftly." She informs me, her voice laced with solemn resolve. 

My throat is dry, it feels like I have not drunk anything in weeks. I croak out, "Where am I? Do you have any water?" 

"Of course, here you go." The maid hastily provides me with a glass of water. As I drink, she tells me, "You are in lady Patchouli's bedroom. She allowed you to stay here, because of your terrible condition. The lady was so kind to heal you back with her magic. Shall I get her?" 

I nod in gratitude, and she rises from her seat, leaving the room. As I wait, I take in my surroundings. The room is dimly lit by candles, the solitary window is tightly shut and concealed by curtains. I gaze on a pair of round, big glasses resting atop the two books. I didn't know Patchouli needed glasses; I usually see her reading without them. There are so many things I can learn about her in this room, but I will not explore her room without Patchouli's consent, especially after she has been so kind to me. 

The door opens, Patchouli greeting me. "Hello. I see you already made yourself comfortable in my bed." She approaches me, her expression calm and collected. 

Grateful for her help, I reply, "Thank you so much for healing me." I try to sit up on the bed, in order to make myself more presentable in her presence, though it is hard to do so, as there is a harsh pain plaguing my legs. 

Patchouli is visibly annoyed by the incident the fairies caused. "This entire incident wouldn't have happened if these idiotic fairies had any brains. They must have seen you before, just knocking you out and hanging you on a pillar is just unacceptable!" She is audibly angered by the action of the maids. "But enough of that. Are you feeling well?" 

I am taken aback by her question. I didn't expect that amount of kindness of her. I expected to denounce me too, but she didn't. "Just a small headache and my limbs hurt a little, I am not too bad." What I said is not truthful at all. Pain courses through my body, and my head feels like it's on the verge of splitting open. 

"It seems that my spell works better than I thought. If that's so, try getting up, I want to see how much you improved since last time." She stares at me, knowing that there's no way I am that well already.

I try rise from the bed, but I can't, my legs remain uncooperative. I grit my teeth against the surge of pain. "Fuck! What did they do to me?" groaning in pain, my frustration clear. 

Patchouli frowns. "Don't lie to me. I hate that. The fairies first knocked you out, then tied you to a pillar. And lastly..." She stops, now gazing at the lower half of my body. "Could you roll up your trousers?"

I hesitate for a moment but comply. I am met with a shocking sight. My legs are a a tapestry of deep, painful bruises, mottling my skin in various shades of blue and purple. 

Patchouli looks at them with sorrow. "This is why I got so mad at them. Don't worry though, no bones are broken. It will take a day or two, until you can walk again." 

I am left stunned by the revelation. "What now?" I ask, a sense of helplessness showering my thoughts. 

"Just hold your feet still. Sanae should be informed already. She'll be here at any second." Patchouli reassures me. 

She leans in closer, her previous stoic expression changes into a serious one. "Firstly, you will touch not a single thing in my room. If I see a single item out of place, I'll make the fairies' actions seem like a child's play," she warns. Her authoritative tone is unexpectedly cute. "Lastly, since you are my... student I will gift you this artifact to save you time and energy." I nod, grateful of her extensive care. 

With a sense of curiosity, I accept the strange, dimly glowing hexagon. It has an inscription in Latin that reads 'Travel to anywhere you desire'. "It's a Teleporter." She explains. "I have the other on the library table. Press the button and you'll be able to teleport right to me." As Patchouli walks towards the door, ready to leave I remember something important to me. "Wait! I baked a cake for you. Have you seen it?" 

"Oh? It was for me? Sakuya must have it. I will talk to her. Get well." With that, she exits the room, leaving me alone. 

I recline on the bed, closing my eyes as the pain continues to haunt my head and body. All I desire is rest.

About half an hour later, the door opens again. My eyes open, as Sanae enters, pushing a wheelchair. She walks to kneel in front of the bed, her eyes filled with concern as she asks, "Are you alright? How bad are you hurt?" 

I feel bad, as I am reminded of my weaknesses of being so frail and stupid. "I am fine," I reply, the frustration is clearly hear-able in my voice. "Just a headache, and I can't move my legs." 

Sanae shows me her cute smile again, as she attempts to put my mind at ease. "Sakuya told me about it. It'll all be fine, trust me. Just relax, and you'll be fit again!" 

"I am sorry, I shouldn't have snooped around." I hate myself for being so reckless, I really have no one to blame but me. 

"Let's get you on the wheelchair, I will shove you home. "Carefully, Sanae helps me into the Wheelchair. I try not to but can't stop myself to whimper in pain as she moves my body. Despite her soothing words I still can't get my mind of my failure today. I was supposed to learn more about magic, move to more advanced spells and most importantly, tell Patchouli about the portal I saw. Now though, I am in a wheelchair needing Sanae to help me once again without me being able to repay her kindness. 

Sanae's voice breaks through my thoughts, her warm smile on her soft looking lips telling me, "Now, let's get you home." 

She pushes the wheelchair, guiding me toward the gate, I still feel the frustration because of my uselessness. At the gate, Meiling waves, and tells me, "Get well soon!" her words are comforting. 

As Sanae gently wheels me through the woods, she hums. Her humming soothes my persistent headache. I utter a quiet, "I am sorry." 

 Sanae is quickly reassuring me. "Please don't be harsh on yourself. See the positive sides. You may be bound to the bed for now, but I don't have much work to do in the next few days, so we can spend time together!" Her words are uplifting, offering me happiness after this tragic incident. 

She resumes her humming until we arrive back at the shrine. Sanae carefully pushes the wheelchair into our bedroom, her voice calm and gentle. "Alright, it'll hurt one more time." She helps in getting onto the bed, and I bite my tongue to suppress the groans of pain. 

"Thank you." I whisper sincerely, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over me, as I finally lie in our soft and comfortable bed. "I am sorry, but I need some rest now." 

Sanae's warm smile remains unwavering as she watches me close my eyes. "That's fine. I'll speak to you once you are well rested." 

I express my gratitude one final time. "Thank you, Sanae. You are too good of a friend." I gradually drift into a peaceful slumber.