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

[X] You've had fun, but you should probably get back to Amy's so she doesn't worry.
- [X] Tomorrow, explore some of the places marked on the map.
- [X] Ask Amy if she planned something for those before going.


"… Well, we should probably get back to Amy's so she doesn't worry," you say, and after a moment Satsuki nods. Of course, given where she comes from, Amy probably has some monitoring equipment that's watching you even now, but if Fate does decide to go back to Mid-Childa, she probably doesn't have anything with even a chance of stopping you. Of course, even Fate wouldn't be good for much beyond slowing you down if you really wanted to do something, but she could do at least that. … Maybe.

You throw the ice cream container in a garbage bin and start walking back to Amy's. Satsuki keep looking up at the moon. "It seems … different. Like something's missing." You look up at the moon before shrugging.

"Perhaps there's something in your moon that this moon lacks. Did the moon in Gensokyo feel strange to you, too?" She frowns and finally looks down from the sky.

"Mmm … maybe a little? Like something was different, but not … not missing. If that makes sense." You nod.

"Then this moon probably just isn't linked to anything. It's just a hunk of rock in space. The moons on Mid-Childa, too; they don't feel quite the same as the one at home." Satsuki cocks her head to the side for a moment before nodding, and you grin. "Well, we can ask my sister or Patchouli when we get back."

"Yeah." You lean into Satsuki again as you walk back, and this time she leans back against you. You look up and stick your tongue out, and she giggles. The lights are still on when you get back to Amy's, and you make sure to lock the door behind you. "We're back!" Satsuki looks a little sheepish when you glance at her, but it doesn't seem to affect her mood any. After following Satsuki's example and taking your shoes off, you meet Amy and Fate in the living room.

"Did you have a good time?" You nod, take off your mask, and plop onto the unoccupied couch.

"Yep! We got popcorn!" You wave the bag, showing off your prize, as Satsuki carefully makes her way around the couch to sit by your head.

"Yes. This is a nice neighborhood," she says, and Amy grins.

"Nanoha grew up here. Probably scared away all the troublemakers, especially once you and Vita came around, right Fate?" Fate blushes, embarrassed.

"I'll make sure to let her know you said that," she responds, and Amy freezes. "Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine. You've been keeping up on your exercises, right? Not slacking off just because you're not active duty, right?" You and Satsuki share confused looks, and you shrug.

"Um …." Fate smiles more naturally at Satsuki, and Amy relaxes - although she still looks a bit nervous. "I was looking at this map; is it alright if we start visiting some of these places tomorrow night?" Amy blinks, confused, then pales and scrambles toward you.

"Um, map? Marked? Um, may I see that, please?" You look up at her, confused, and a similarly-bewildered Satsuki holds the map out to Amy, whose face flushes and then pales again as she stares at the map. Fate seems confused as well, and then Amy bows deeply to Satsuki. "Um, I'm sorry! I started making this before I was really aware of your - um, of -" She turns a terrified expression to Fate, who smiles gently at Satsuki.

"I wasn't as clear about how you are unable to do anything during the day as I should have been, so some of the places she marked might not be accessible to you." Amy nods jerkily, still clutching the map tightly, but Satsuki simply nods and smiles back.

"It's alright. I can't read Mid-Childan yet, so I couldn't read your notes, but I guessed just from the locations that some of them would be closed by the time I wake up and can visit them. So don't worry about it." Amy sniffles and relaxes, nodding quickly as she works on getting herself back under control. "Um, I do want to do one thing, though. I'm from Misaki, and I was hoping to visit it while I'm here - if that's alright!" Amy nods, although Fate turns completely neutral.

"Flandre -"

"I know, I know. I'll keep her under control, and if something does happen, I'll call Amy right away." She nods slowly but keeps her eyes on you.

"That should be fine. Mm … I can get train tickets for - not tomorrow night, but the night after? Or three nights?" Satsuki looks down for a moment, thinking.

"Th-three nights, if that's alright." Amy smiles and nods before looking down at the map.

"Then I'll get it set up. Ah, there should be a packet in your room that has places you can go to, along with some detailed notes - in Japanese, this time!" She and Satsuki laugh before looking at you and Fate. "Er, is something wrong? You two are …."

"Flandre-sama? Is something wrong?" You shake your head and smile up at her.

"No, I'm just thinking. Wondering if Fate is going to follow everyone's advice and get some rest," she glowers at you, and Amy winces sympathetically, "and … wondering if there's a piano here?" Satsuki giggles, but Amy shakes her head.

"Not here, sorry. Mm …."

"Suzuka or Arisa. I think both of them have one, actually." You glance at Fate and she smiles. "My friends - Nanoha and Hayate's and mine. But … if you're serious about my getting some rest, then I'm going to have to turn in. And Amy, you have two little children to worry about, so you shouldn't be staying up all night, either, especially since Alph isn't here to help out anymore." Amy smiles and nods, then pulls Fate up from her chair.

"Right, right. Alright, you two, Fate and I are going to turn in, so make yourselves at home. Karel and Liera are pretty heavy sleepers for their age, so unless you make a lot of noise they shouldn't wake up, but I'll introduce you to them tomorrow night." She waves cheerily and starts chivvying Fate out of the room, humming. "Come on, Fate!"

"Ah, Amy! I can take care of myself!" You shake your head as they withdraw; Satsuki gives you a worried look, and you smile back before floating up to give her a hug around the waist.

"Apart from the moon, it's comfortable here?" She looks around and nods hesitantly.

"It's … a bit bigger than what I'm used to. But everything else is normal. And walking outside, looking at the houses … that felt good." You nod and give her a little squeeze.

"Good. Then let's go upstairs and look at the map." She nods and you let her go. Once you're in your shared room, however, you wait at the door. She stops in the middle of the room, apparently aware that something is about to happen. "… Are you prepared for the worst, Satsuki?" She nods. "Really? Which would be worse? That they're there, and you won't be able to do anything … or that there is no Tohno family?" She stiffens and turns to look at you, suddenly ashen-faced.

"No … no Tohno-kun?" You nod.

"Maybe. Do you think this world has a powerful pair of vampires, Remilia and Flandre Scarlet? Do you think your world has a powerful mage, Nanoha Takamachi? Maybe. I don't know. But you need to think about it, to prepare yourself in case the people you want to see aren't there. And if he is there, then there's probably a Satsuki Yumizuka, and we'll have to be careful about her, too." She blinks and licks her lips … and then nods.

"I … I will. Thank you, Flandre-sama." You look at her, then nod back. She obviously hadn't considered either of those possibilities, but now … hopefully she will.

"That's all I need you to do. Think about what could happen." She nods again, and you smile. "Now, let's look at what Amy has cooked up for us, hm?" She nods, eager to focus on something else, and you find the packet on the table. Apart from the various events, Amy's notes tell you that sundown is around five in the evening


What do you do?

[ ] Visit the Aquarium. It closes at ten, so you'll have to go early.

[ ] Try that 'Karaoke' thing. It closes at two in the morning, but most of the competition will be between nine and midnight.
- [ ] The main room.
- [ ] Take a private room.

[ ] Go to the movies. Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, all on loop. Apparently it's some kind of promotion.


DM Note: Yeah, I'm not sure which would be crueler to Satsuki. Also, I'm still not sure which will be the case. I'll probably be reduced to flipping a coin. And don't expect any other Studio Ghibli films; those are the only ones I have (and that I've seen, for that matter).

[X] Visit the Aquarium. It closes at ten, so you'll have to go early.


"Is … is there anything you want to do, Flandre-sama?" You sigh, but instead of reprimanding her - she asked if there was something you wanted to do, not what you wanted to do, and that's a good enough difference for you - you simply shrug.

"I'll be fine with whatever you decide, Satsuki. I've never seen these movies - never even heard of them, in fact - and I've never been to an aquarium. And if this karaoke thing is new, I'm sure you know how I feel about singing! And if you want to go somewhere alone, and come back or meet me somewhere else later, that's fine, too." You cock your head before clearing your throat. "Except to Misaki. I will have to accompany you there, because it's farther away and there is the potential for an incident." She hunches her shoulders, looking grumpy, then relaxes and slumps.

"Because I might say something to Tohno-kun?" You shrug.

"Because you might be too focused on him to notice anyone else. How would you react if a local version of you saw you? Or, if someone else who knows you appears, having me around would make it easier to convince them that you're really just incredibly similar-looking." You rest your hand on her shoulder. "And if it's obvious that this world is too different from yours, I think it would be better if there were someone with you to make sure you get home safely." After a few moments, she nods and wipes her mostly-dry eyes.

"Yeah. You're right, Flandre-sama. I just … I wasn't thinking about any of that stuff."

"You'll learn, Satsuki. If you'd like, we can move away from behavior and knowledge lessons and start moving to more practically useful ones." She looks up, starting to think, and you cluck your tongue. "Later. Where do you want to go?" She giggles and looks down at the notes.

"Um … let's got to the aquarium. We can look at reviews of the movies, and if they seem interesting we can just buy them and watch them later instead of going to the theater. And there's a Ferris wheel near the aquarium, too - probably, anyway." You cock your head and she smiles sadly. "I remember hearing about it when it was built - in my world. So it might not be there here." You nod, knowing that she's still thinking about the Tohno boy.

"So maybe we can see it when we finish with the aquarium?" She nods. "What's a Ferris wheel?" She blinks at you for several seconds.

"Er … um, it's an amusement park ride. It's a big wheel, with lots of cabins, and it spins around …." You snap your fingers and flip over a page of Amy's notes, then sketch a quick pleasure wheel.

"Like this?" She nods.

"Yes, only bigger, and they have motors instead of people or horses to make them turn." You nod, smiling. It won't be that interesting for you, but you can fly. For a ground-bound species like humans, pleasure wheels are usually the closest they can safely get.

"Then I'll let Amy know in the morning." Satsuki nods.

"And depending on when we leave and how we feel after it, maybe we can do something else, or we can just walk around or something." You nod and lean back, stretching. "But … Flandre-sama, you've never been to a zoo?" You scowl.

"I've been to a zoo, but only for land creatures and birds. One dedicated to water life is new; most of what I know about water animals is which ones taste good." She laughs quietly for a moment.

"Hey, Flandre-sama? On your - when you were - …." She fumbles around for a moment, and you watch your amusedly. "What kind of … not-normal creatures do you know about? That aren't from Japan, I mean." You grin widely and take out your drawing paper and some pencils.

---

Satsuki did end up asking Amy if she wanted to bring her children and visit the aquarium with the two of you, but they're young enough that she didn't think they would enjoy it quite so much yet, and they'd been to a land zoo earlier in the week and probably would want to pet everything that wasn't 'icky'. You do meet them before leaving, of course, although they spend more of their time trying to catch your crystals than being polite. Fortunately, neither of them have the coordination to actually make a good attempt without falling over, so it's not a problem.

You take a bus to an underground railway - a subway - and take that to get within walking distance of the aquarium itself, which is just off the ocean itself. Once you get to the park, Satsuki takes the lead, being perceived as the older and more mature of the two of you, which lets you grin and look around. There's actually quite a bit of open land, and you skip into the gift shop once, but nothing looks all that exciting. Satsuki takes your hand, smiling happily, and walks with you along the lawn area to the aquarium proper. Somewhat irritatingly, the comforting night is driven away by hordes of bright streetlights - one of the problems of technology, light everywhere, all the time. Once you enter the aquarium, though, it gets much more comfortable - apart from being surrounded by water immediately upon entering. Even if it's not running water, it's still initially disconcerting.

"So this section is mostly about the tuna, which are some of the world's only warm-blooded fish. That means they aren't as affected by temperatures, and they can move faster in a sprint than other fish," Satsuki says. You let her continue, even though she's just reading the placards on the walls; it lets her get used to being 'in charge' and it seems to make her more relaxed, having something to do. "Tuna is really popular here, especially for sashimi and sushi. There are several varieties here, but tuna aren't all there are. Like … over there is an eagle ray. They have seven rows of teeth in their jaws." She looks around for a few minutes, pointing out things that aren't tuna, but tuna seem to be the majority - at least, the majority of the fish that are willing to come near the edge of the tank. Despite their apparently predatory nature, they don't try to eat anything else in the tank. Apparently they keep them well-fed.

After that you follow the arrows and head outside to the shoreline exhibit, which is quite disappointing for having a specimen called a 'sea bat' that is actually a fish. There are also 'fan worms' that liven up the display with their multicolored heads - like someone went into a garden and splashed all kinds of paint everywhere. There are also silly-looking crabs, tiny little things, that scuttle away when you approach. It seems that somehow, they're sensitive to you, specifically. Something you can ask Patchouli about, maybe. After that you move to the penguin exhibit, muscular little flightless birds that waddle around and peer at you through the gloom. Apparently, one managed to escape from another zoo a while back and spent nearly three months in the bay before it was recaptured. A stunning example of human ingenuity and competence … but then, it was just one bird of no great importance.

The next major exhibit features creatures from the ocean around Tokyo, particularly, as well as two of the nearer small island chains. Partially amphibious 'mudskipper' fish; 'gobies' with fan-like fins; tiny and short-lived squids; 'wrasses' with extendible jaws and hermaphroditic nature; and apparently extremely rare 'pygmy angelfish' - orange and blue and purple and yellow, and apparently worth hundreds of thousands of yen. Some of them seem more like youkai than 'natural' animals, and you can't help but wonder if some varieties of youkai were influenced by observations of these normal creatures. Something else to think about, and maybe ask your sister.

Perhaps the most amusing display, however, is the spider crab - even if it's only for Satsuki's reaction. While average specimens apparently have a leg-span of only a meter or so, the largest one in the tank is nearly four and a half meters from claw to claw, and backs away nervously as you tap the glass when it approaches. Unfortunately, an aquarium employee stops you and scolds you for tapping on the glass; apparently, it's rude. Once he turns away, however, you stick your tongue out at him and wave good-bye to the giant crab as you let Satsuki drag you past the closed seabird exhibit and into the restaurant.

"It's hard to believe we've been here for an hour already," she says as she sips at a soda. You shrug and chomp on the fried potato sticks.

"It's 'cause we're having fun," you say, and she blinks at you before smiling.

"Yeah. Except for that spider crab!" She shivers and you pout.

"Aw! Spidey was amazing! We should break him out and take him home with us." She shakes her head, horrified, and you giggle and clap your hands. "Alright, we won't break him out and take him home with us." Your own expression turns melancholic and Satsuki gives you a worried look.

"Flandre-sama? Is something wrong?"

"… Do you think Ilya is watching right now?" She blinks, confused and you gesture around you. "All this is sort of new to me - like I said, I've been to zoos before. But all this would be completely new to Ilya, I think. She only left her castle to come to Fuyuki, so she never had the chance to do things like this. So … on the one hand, I kind of want her to be watching right now, so she can see all these things, but on the other, I want her to be not watching, so we can take her to a real aquarium so she can see all these things for the first time in person, and focus on what she wants to instead of just following along with what we're looking at." Satsuki looks down at her drink for a moment before you shake your head violently and smack your cheeks. She stares at you. "No! I'm sorry, Satsuki. This is your vacation, so I shouldn't be bringing my own worries into it. Forget I said anything!" It looks like she's going to argue for a moment, but she bows her head in the face of your glower.

"Alright, Flandre-sama. I'll forget about it." You nod solemnly and finish your fries. "Ready to go?" Satsuki is smiling, so she's either gotten better at acting, or she really did manage to purge her thoughts. You nod and follow her upstairs. You're above the entrance, now, looking at the tuna tank, but more interesting is the shark tank, with the curiously-shaped hammerhead sharks taking the prime spot. A nearby dry exhibit holds two preserved 'goblin sharks' - odd-looking creatures with sword-like snouts and extensible jaws like the wrasses. Apparently both had been taken to the aquarium at separate times while alive, and both died within a few days of arrival from unknown causes.

After that you head back down to the first floor to view the 'seas of the world' - fish of the Atlantic, Indian, and polar Oceans, and of the Caribbean and deep seas. The queen angelfish, blue and yellow and quite stunning; the bluespine unicornfish, which does not resemble a unicorn at all; the rock beauty, blue-black and yellow; sea cucumbers, which make you wonder whether or not the kappa would like them; and other generally tame-looking fish. Satsuki frowns; apparently, the deep seas are supposed to have lots of strange and amazing creatures, and she'd rather hoped to see some of them, but it doesn't look like there are any here.

Once through, you make your way to the elevator to see the third floor, to the glass-domed Sky Plaza, and look out at the ocean - dark to human eyes, especially with the lights of the city behind you, but easily visible to you and Satsuki. After a few minutes you turn around and look out at the city sprawling before you, lit with bright lights everywhere, eliminating the true darkness that should have fallen by now and leaving you with nothing but a dusky gloom.

"There's the Ferris wheel," Satsuki says, voice subdued. "Somehow … I don't know if I feel like getting on it, anymore. Looking out at the city like this, it seems so … different. Not like I don't fit in anymore, but that … where I fit is somewhere else, and …." She trails off, shaking her head, and you rub her back. It's good that she isn't feeling completely lost, that she doesn't feel like she doesn't fit in. That she doesn't know where she fits in is frustrating, but she is still young, new, and a little confused. She has plenty of time to figure out what she wants to do and how she wants to do it.


What do you do?

[ ] Take Satsuki shopping.

[ ] Head back to Amy's.
- [ ] Walk; it'll take you longer, but that's not a bad thing.

[ ] See if a karaoke place is nearby.
- [ ] Main room.
- [ ] Private room.