> "This is going to be so satisfying," said Gryphon, and they hefted their
> sledgehammers and advanced.

Sometimes percussive maintenance is the only way.

> Any road, the child is safe now.

Where does this variation on anyway come from? I've seen it only in a game before (over in FFXIV) and took it for something they'd invented for pseudo-medieval flavor, but clearly it has a more general source.

> If I have anything to say about it, she will never need fear a blackguard
> like Van Zandt again in her life.

Count Victor certainly made good on that in spades.

> "I told you both before," said Remilia with a delighted smirk.
> "In this house, I am the law."

This whole scene between these two was touching, but for some reason this line just gave me a flash of the Stallone version of Judge Dredd, which lead to the cursed mental image of Remilia doing a bad Stallone impression while wearing the Dredd helmet.

> "There! Sorry I didn't have it ready when I asked you, but since I didn't
> actually know I was going to ask you until I went and did it..." She shrugged
> with a sheepish smile.

Seems to be something of a running theme in the household really, well as much as it can be within the limits of the resident population.

> "I guess it's actually not legal in this era," said Meiling, her own smile a
> little sheepish. "I didn't think of that when I asked her."
> "Is that right, big sis?" Flandre asked.
> "I'm afraid it is," said Remilia. "Although I've already cast my vote for
> 'why let that stop you?'" she added with a slight smirk.

Well, there have been exceptions of late, but the household probably needs to rack up quite a few Neuroi kills before that becomes available to them.

> Flandre shrugged equably. "Mm, true. And if I can ever get out of the house
> for a night or two, I might meet somebody! Say, big bro, tell me more about
> your witches. Which one's the cutest?"

I'm sure there are many heated debates on this topic, but it's a matter of preferences really.

> "Flandre!"
> "What?"
> "Well, they're not my witches as such," Gryphon hedged, then mumbled as if
> to himself, "Hmm. Ursula's single... no, what am I saying? She's married to
> her work... maybe Wilma? Good gods, no, the rest of us would never survive.
> Hattori's too young..."
> "Don't play along with her—!" Remilia burst out, breaking up with laughter
> halfway through, and the whole company dissolved into giggles along with her.

Far too late, once this door was opened, this journey was inevitable, and entertaining.

> "I won't have you making a hash of things in front of Benjamin and his
> colleagues. It would dishonor our family name."

And Remilia shows that she is just as much their mother's daughter as their father's.

> "No, not really. I'm not sure I can explain it, but... I can't... I don't
> hear its voice, like I did when it was taking me over."

I wonder if Neuroi sound anything like Daleks? They certainly seem to have a similar MO.

> "These are spell cards," she explained. "They're how vampires of our line
> do magic. Each of these cards contains a combat spell, mostly cast at the
> time the cards were written. Frozen in time, almost but not quite fired."

Reminds me of a few types of D&D magic items, but it also, given how they are fueled mostly by the vampire's own magic, makes me think of them as a sort of mystic power extrusion die.

> Gryphon arched an eyebrow at her. "You know how to summon fire spirits?"
> "Dude. Dragon here," Meiling reminded him, flicking his forehead playfully.
> "Oh yeah."

Well, I suppose that answers the elemental affinity question for Meiling (even if she does still scream Earth Kingdom to me,) though I guess the crèmes brûlées scene also dropped a strong hint, since no torch was mentioned.

Also, I had not thought of an elementally aligned creature as the heat source, when I commented about it earlier I had pictured something like Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle, so this bit was a twist within a surprise.

> "Be careful, it's hot," Meiling cautioned her, voice low to avoid disturbing
> the creature. "I can take it because of my training, but you'll get burned
> if you—" Flandre brushed her fingers against the sleeping salamander's head;
> she drew a hissing breath through her teeth as her fingertips were scorched,
> but didn't snatch her hand away. "—touch it," Meiling finished a bit lamely.

Well, another example of Flandre's rather noteworthy pain tolerance. She's going to be quite the force to be reckoned with once she's in an actual fight.

> Remilia chuckled, shaking her head, and poured herself some bloodwine.
> "That girl..."

So I very much doubt that Remilia was drinking anything resembling the Klingon beverage by that name, but it makes me wonder how she'd react to something quite so... assertive as a beverage. It might just be alcoholic enough for a vampire to notice.

> Flandre sighed in frustration. "I overdid it with the spell cards," she
> admitted. "I know, I know, you warned me. I just got too into it. So now
> I'm tired and I'm going to bed early." Brandishing Gryphon's hand as if
> it were a weapon, she declared defiantly, "And I'm taking this with me!"
> Remilia raised her eyebrows. "What, just the hand? He probably wants to keep
> that, so you might consider taking the rest of him while you're at it," she
> observed, deadpan.

Well, he could, eventually, regenerate it, but that would take an inconveniently long time.

This whole sequence of banter was satisfying by the way, it's nice to see them all settling into being comfortable with each other, particularly the Scarlet sisters.

> "Sis thinks I'm trying to compete with her."
> "That's natural," Gryphon replied.
> "Sure, and it makes sense that she would, but that isn't it," said Flandre.
> Releasing him, she sat back so that she could make eye contact and went on,
> "I don't want to take anyone's place, hers or yours. I want my own place.
> I want to be as close to both of you as you are to each other.

Flandre doesn't set modest goals for herself, does she?

> Flandre shook her head. "No. I'm tired. But soon. Maybe tomorrow. I'll teach
> you what Sis taught me about spell cards, and you can teach me about the
> Force." She cracked her sly smile, the one that was a mirror copy of her
> sister's. "You show me yours and I'll show you mine."

The yard may not survive this. Might have to see if anyone can summon some nature spirits to do landscaping afterward.

	-={(Astynax)}=- "This Space For Rent."