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

[X] After dinner make a decision about Loki:
- [X] Ask Remilia to stabilize the process.


Satsuki, Sella, and Leysritt come in to help the three of you change; Lulu tries to refuse Sella's help initially, but a few throat-clearings and looks gets the point across; you and Ilya both snuggle against her as you make your way to the dining room, and her blush doesn't fade entirely until you sit down.

"Does Reimu-chan live there alone?" You glance at Nanoha as you eat a bread roll lightly sprinkled with garlic. Such a wonderful taste ….

"Somewhat. She is the only human who lives there, but Suika spends a great deal of time there, Marisa visits frequently, and I'm given to understand that Yukari spends a lot of her rare waking hours there as well. There used to be more Hakureis at any given time, but …." Remilia shrugs. "Particularly once Gensokyo was formed, there was not as much need for many attendants to the shrine."

"You go there fairly often, too, Remi." Your sister scowls at the magician as Nanoha and Fate laugh quietly. You look over at the other magical girls - Madoka doesn't seem distressed, so Homura probably hasn't said anything … but Mami and Kyouko seem to be focused on avoiding each other's attention. Probably nothing you'll need to do about that … probably.

"Someone has to make sure Reimu has civilized company!" Patchouli laughs at Remilia's declaration.

"Hey, Flan? Um, can we watch the snow together again?" You set your tea down as Remilia draws the others into a discussion about Reimu - somewhat surprisingly, Vita actually likes the shrine maiden.

"… There's actually something I wanted to get started on after dinner, and I'm not sure how long it will take. You and Ilya can go to the parlor, of course, and Sakuya will make sure you have chocolate and snacks, but I don't know when I'll be able to get there." Lulu nods, and you wonder if she and Ilya don't get along as well as they seem to when you're around.

"Is it anything we can help with?" You shake your head and finish devouring the bread roll. Ilya's telepathic voice is so stiff … is it just because she isn't used to it?

"I don't think so, but I'm not sure what Remilia is actually going to do. I can try to get to you as quickly as I can, but -" A shock seems to go through Lulu, sitting to your left, and Ilya sighs quietly to herself, a smile on her face.

"Ah, you don't need to worry about us, Flan! Take as much time with your sister as you need." Ilya turns slightly, and gently kicks your leg - barely grazes it, really. Oh. On the one hand, it's nice that Lulu worries so much about you and Remilia. On the other … it's more than a little disconcerting that she does worry so much … and a little irritating, to be honest.

"So what should we expect from the Myouren Temple?" Remilia grimaces at Fate's question and sighs.

"The Temple is … it is home to a larger group of youkai, not just the head monk. It is also a Buddhist temple, not a Shinto shrine, and so its precepts are quite different - abstinence from meat and alcohol, for example, although only the head monk is truly disciplined in that matter. She - Byakuren Hijiri - also believes that humans and youkai can live peacefully together, and works to make that a fact. Naturally, we oppose each other." Naturally, the base of the table becomes full of concerned frowns.

"Eh … but, Remilia-chan? You seem to get along fine with us?" Remilia nods at Nanoha.

"I do, yes, and when my sister and I lived on Earth, those humans under our rule prospered and were protected against youkai. But what I recognize, and what that Hijiri wishes to abolish, is that youkai are fundamentally different from humans. Youkai are incarnations of the nightmares of humanity, its fears given form and intelligence. Some youkai are less dependent on humans than others, but most require fear in order to maintain their existence. This sealed world, this paradise of Gensokyo - even it is more suited to humans than to youkai. The youkai here are rarely monstrous, rarely terrifying. You saw the ogre mage Hidetsugu, saw how he changed from handsome to horrifying? That later form will not be seen in Gensokyo; youkai have been changed so that they will not be so disgusting to human sensibilities. Youkai here in Gensokyo have not the shapes of fear that would have had a thousand years ago. That Hijiri wishes to force the change further, such that youkai need not subsist on fear, and humans need not fear youkai. For many youkai, such a resolution is completely unacceptable." Fate shakes her head.

"It seems that we would get along well with her," she says, and Megane and Nanoha nod. Remilia's eyes narrow for a moment, then she sits back and sighs quietly before cocking her head and looking at Fate.

"... Do you not have forbidden practices that you despise? Rules that, for the sake of humanity, should not be broken? Should humans not seek lost power in order to undo the mistakes of the past? The nightmares of humanity - what is forbidden and impossible. The domains of youkai are the domains of the nightmares of humanity. If you believe that humans should live in peace with their nightmares, then you believe that humans are not forbidden. If you believe that one should not seek to undo the past for a happier future, then you believe there should be a chasm between humans and youkai - a chasm that can be bridged, in places and for a time, but never filled." Fate's expression changes during Remilia's speech - confusion, anger, fear, shock - and both Vita and Nanoha look at your sister irritatedly. After a short period of silence, Remilia suddenly looks away, then gets out of her chair and leaves the room.

The rest of the meal is conducted in silence.

---

"Come in, Flandre," Remilia calls in response to your knock. You open the door and slip inside. Remilia is sitting in a chair, staring unhappily at a wall. "I'm sorry for disrupting dinner." You shake your head.

"It's good for them to realize that we aren't like them - and since I've been trying to fit in so they aren't always upset, they probably don't realize just how different we actually are." You lean over the arm of the chair and hug your sister. She pats your head fondly.

"Still, I shouldn't be letting myself be goaded into such a display during dinner." She smiles at you and you slide back over the arm of the chair. "So, what did you come here for? Surely your friends want to spend some time with you." You nod, but -

"Something for my other friend." Remilia pauses, then cocks her head and looks at you. You nod. "Could you please stabilize Loki's transformation? I want Giltless to be able to use it - and Headless, too, if that can be managed - but I don't want Loki to be damaged by the change." Remilia smiles and nods.

"You have the Device with you? Good, then we can get started." She bounces out of the chair and toward a workroom. "As I said, it will still be a few weeks before the transformation is complete, and I or Patchouli will need to check on it once or twice a week to make sure nothing's gone wrong." You nod and look around as you walk into the odd room. It's spherical, with the door opening onto a floating platform near the middle - and once Remilia closes the door, it vanishes. She smiles and gestures for you to stand on the altar in the middle of the platform. "This place does exist, and if we needed to we could blast or smash our way out. But it's a very good place for some kinds of magic, and we can't be interfered with from outside. Now, can you make sure that Loki is out and on, but without activating its Barrier Jacket?" You nod; it's not something you need to do very often, but Juliet did make sure you knew how to do it. Remilia simply stands on the platform for a moment - then she closes her eyes and starts to chant a single word.

"Eibe." Over and over, as she repeats the word, a pillar grows in the air near her, a solid shaft of an unfamiliar kind of wood. Eventually she nods to herself and stops, changing to a different word. "Bronze." Another pillar, made of bronze this time, grows behind you, and as it grows it reaches out to the wooden pillar, which extends a polished limb to meet it. Remilia stops chanting when the two pillars are fully merged, then walks to the edge of the platform to examine the bridge between the pillars. Satisfied, she returns to where she started and begins chanting again. "Eisen," she chants, and an iron pillar grows in mid-air, extending limbs toward both the pillar of wood and the pillar of bronze, and they to it. Again, Remilia checks the connections, all three of them - but then she moves to the other side of the platform. "Eitr." A fourth pillar, a smoky liquid constrained and unmoving, rises opposite the bronze pillar - but no limbs connect it to the others. "Feuer." A pillar of flame sprouts in response to her chant, and a burning limb reaches toward a liquid spear, passing through the wood and bronze bridges seamlessly. Once the pillar is fully grown, Remilia checks the connections - wood to bronze, bronze to iron, iron to wood, liquid to fire, liquid to wood, and fire to bronze. Satisfied, she chants a sixth - and final - word. "Stein." A great monolith, almost honey-colored, grows to complete the second triangle, and only after checking each connection, new and old, does Remilia relax and smile at you. "There. Now I can start the hard part." You smile hesitantly back - she must be joking, considering how much effort the pillars took to erect and how little effort Lulu had working with Loki back in Skyrim, but you can't, after all, be entirely sure.

Above your head, an image of Loki appears and expands, becoming a mass of lines delineating boxes rather than any proper diagram of its interior. Most of the interior is colored blue, but a small section is red and black, and from that area black spines pierce blue areas. Remilia clucks to herself, and begins making careful gestures. Slowly, the black areas fade, replaced by blue in some cases, healing areas far from the red section, and covered by red in others, keeping those adjacent strongholds under threat. Finally, the central red area is fortified, its exterior smoothed so there aren't any salients or spurs. And then … the image of Loki fades away, and the pillars spin into nothingness, and Remilia sways tiredly. You leap down and hug her, making sure she doesn't fall, and when a door appears you open it and help your sister through. "Shall we go to bed?" Her head lolls from side to side in what could be a clumsy shake of the head, and her wings stiffen and slide forward, forming a second set of legs so she won't fall if you let go. Her tongue darts in and out of her mouth, wetting her lips. She could be hungry ….


What do you do?

[ ] Take Remilia out to the balcony and look out at Gensokyo for a while.
- [ ] Have your clones look for some blood in her room.
- [ ] Call Sakuya to get some blood.

[ ] Put Remilia to bed.
- [ ] Snuggle with her.
- [ ] See if Lulu and Ilya are still awake.

[ ] Other?

[X] Take Remilia out to the balcony and look out at Gensokyo for a while.
- [X] Call Sakuya to get some blood.
- [X] Ask her what the three colors represented. You guess red was your own blood-derived power and blue regular magic?


"Alright, let's get somewhere comfortable and call for Sakuya, okay?" Remilia nods - at least, it's probably a nod. Her eyelids droop and she leans against you as her wings lose some of their stiffness. You tumble her into your arms, grinning at her undignified squawk, and make sure the door to the workroom is closed before carrying your sister out onto the balcony. She leans into you - a rare feeling, this. You gently set yourself into a wide chair and position Remilia a bit more comfortably as her wings expand. You hesitate before reaching for the small silver bell; if she's letting her wings return to their natural size, she must be truly exhausted. You only pause for a brief moment before ringing the bell, however - Remilia slows down when she's tired, but unless she's actually asleep, she never stops.

"Milady?" Sakuya, of course, appears right where she should be, and you look over at her.

"Something to drink for us, and some extra blood for Remilia." She grumbles at your side, and Sakuya bows before vanishing. You pat your sister's arm and lean her against your shoulder. "Let's look out for a while, shall we? Just the two of us." Remilia subsides and relaxes, and you look out over the balcony. The snow isn't falling too heavily, at least not right now, and even though it's dark, you are vampires -

"Milady," Sakuya says as she returns, and a tray appears in front of the chair. Snacks and tea, and two cups full of blood. You take one of the cups and hold it up for Remilia. You frown worriedly - rather than swallowing it like a human, she makes small lunges and scoops the blood back into her mouth with her upper lip, spilling some of the blood over her dress. Once the cup is half gone, however, she reaches up with her free hand and steadies it, then tilts her head back and pours the remainder down her throat. She rests for a full minute before reaching for the next cup and pouring it into her mouth as well, swallowing almost convulsively. Once it's gone, however, she sighs and leans back.

"… Thank you, Sakuya. That will be all for now." The chief maid bows.

"Shall I tell Miss Patchouli anything?" Remilia scowls before sighing and shaking her head.

"No, no, don't say anything. Nothing unexpected happened." Sakuya bows again and vanishes. You look wonderingly at your sister for a moment, then pour two cups of tea and set one of the small plates of treats between the two of you, balanced on your legs. Then you go back to looking over the balcony. The snow isn't falling too heavily, and it is dark, but you are vampires, so there's little to obscure the second-best view in all of Gensokyo. The only better place to look out across this fantasy wonderland is the top of Youkai Mountain. But here, you can look out and see the lake, and the mountain, and the forests of Gensokyo. The village is just visible, and you could even see the Hakurei Shrine if there weren't foothills in the way. More than once, Remilia has threatened to blast a straight line through so she can watch over the shrine more directly, and you're never entirely sure just how much she's joking ….

"That was an amazing ritual, Remilia." Her wings twitch, but when you look at her from the corner of your eye you see her smiling.

"I wanted to make sure everything went right, so I may have gone a little overboard. Especially if I wasn't going to draw from the mansion's pool." That explains some of it, of course, but she still shouldn't have been that weakened … not unless she hasn't been taking care of herself properly. Her capacity isn't that low. Or … is she perhaps acting for the sake of someone spying? She did say that the workroom couldn't be interfered with, but it's possible that she wasn't precluding spying … or she knows she's being watched right now, and wants to make herself seem less threatening to whoever is watching.

"What did the colors mean? The red and blue and black? Was red for my power, based on blood, and blue for normal magic?" Remilia laughs and shakes her head.

"Don't let Patchouli hear you say something like that! 'Normal magic', heh! She'd have you back at your lessons so fast that Aya would have to give up her title of 'Fastest in Gensokyo'." You giggle, glad that your sister is back to normal. "Other than that - you aren't quite wrong. The blue sections represented the original conditions of Loki, how it was intended to function. The black, of course, represented the Grail-based alteration, and the red represents the areas of altered functions." You nod in understanding.

"It really hasn't progressed much, has it?" Remilia shakes her head.

"It hasn't, but as I said - Juliet is quite good at what she does, and Loki is exceptionally stubborn." You look out at the lake, smiling at the winking lights that indicate someone having a danmaku fight.

"Hmm … so before, it was a civil war started by a third party, but now that Remilia Scarlet has arrived, the original instigator isn't needed, and she's negotiating a peace beneficial to both sides? That's it, right?" She laughs and rubs your hair through your hat.

"Something like that, yes. It's -" Her expression suddenly shifts to irritation, and someone gently raps on the door to the suite. She stifles her fury, however, and you both look over the back of the chair as the person knocks again. "Come in," Remilia growls, and after several moments Patchouli shuffles into view. Almost shockingly, she isn't carrying one of her many grimoires with her.

"Sakuya seemed to think that something was wrong, so I decided to check on you," she says by way of explanation.

"I told her not to say anything," Remilia begins, but the magician shakes her head.

"She didn't. It's simply that whenever she thinks you need checking on, she finds some reason to help my familiar with something. She then contacts me, and I decide whether or not to do anything. We do worry about you, Remilia, even if you say you're fine." Her eyes move to meet yours. "However, if the two of you would rather be alone, I will of course return to my books." Remilia looks away, and you have some trouble blaming her - the magician is her friend, after all. But it looks like the decision is yours.


What do you do?

[ ] Let her stay.
- [ ] After all, Remilia did say that Patchouli could check on Loki's progress, so she might as well learn about it now.
- [ ] Ask about Illyasviel and Deis and how they're progressing.
- [ ] Tell them about Homura.

[ ] Ask her to leave; this is alone-time for you and Remilia.
- [ ] Just watch Genoskyo at night.
- [ ] Let Remilia know about Homura.

[ ] Other?

[X] Let her stay.
- [X] After all, Remilia did say that Patchouli could check on Loki's progress, so she might as well learn about it now.


If people start making you make decisions, you might turn responsible on them. Reliable, even … you barely suppress a snort. Still, if they're leaving it to you - you nod and turn your attention back to the magician. And she did come all this way out of concern for your sister, after all; even though it was unnecessary, you do appreciate her caring enough to actually come up. "I don't mind if you stay. Take a seat." You gesture at the other chairs - you aren't sure which one she uses when she comes up, so better to include them all. She seems a little surprised, but smiles and bows politely before walking over and slipping into a thick-cushioned chair.

"Thank you, Flandre." She leans back into the chair, sighing softly as she looks out over Gensokyo. Actually, before she gets comfortable, now is probably as good a time as any.

"Did Remilia tell you about Loki?" Your sister stiffens beside you, and Patchouli frowns at you. You show the magician your Device and toss it to her. Of course, she catches it with magic before holding it in her hands. "Something about the Grail changing it, you said?" Remilia nods.

"It appears that it's being altered as the result of an informal wish being granted," she says, and Patchouli nods before looking over at your sister.

"And you're hurrying it along, aren't you? Only … I didn't notice any draws on the mansion's pool." Remilia sniffs indignantly, and Patchouli studies Loki more intently. "Hmm … what did you use to replace water?"

"Eitr," Remilia replies, grinning, and you look back and forth at them as Patchouli stares at Remilia for a moment before laughing heartily - well, as heartily as the asthmatic magician can manage, anyway.

"Eitr!? Hah! You - you -!" She breaks off as a coughing fit overtakes her, then spends a few moments recovering her breath, but her smile only broadens and she shakes her head when she sees you watching her curiously. "I'm sorry, Flandre. The ritual Remilia used - it involved six pillars linked together, correct?" You weigh your options and shrug.

"Two triangles, with the links passing through each other," you correct, and Patchouli nods.

"Of course, swapping the circle for a hexagram - you aren't making a shield or barrier, just stabilizing a change. Still, changing water to an archetypal poison!" Remilia finally chuckles.

"Well, I am a devil. I could hardly use the original without modifications anyway." Patchouli nods and Loki floats through the air to you. You take it with a nod and put it away.

"The original basis for the ritual Remilia used involved six materials that were, if not good in and of themselves, at least rendered antithetical to those things of the darker persuasions. Mountain ash, bronze, sanctified iron, water - flooding snowmelt water, if I recall the events correctly - fire, and … a kind of chalk flint, I believe, that had been used in the construction of a church. And your sister swapped water for a primeval poison, the rowan for …?" You glance at Remilia, who simply smiles smugly. You stick your tongue out at her and she laughs.

"She said 'Eibe,' but I didn't recognize the kind of wood, so I'm not sure what she made the swap with. The stone was brownish-yellow, almost like honey." Patchouli frowns thoughtfully, glancing at Remilia, but after a few seconds she shakes her head and sits back up.

"I doubt she would have used anything too excessive. In any case, the original use was, as I said, for use in driving off inimical magical entities. We adapted it for other purposes, but using it requires … rather a large amount of energy. And for some reason, Remilia decided to use her own reserves for this ritual, rather than the mansion's pool which exists for things like this." Remilia, of course, appears completely unapologetic and unperturbed.

"And, you'll note, I did complete the ritual without any problems. Loki will need to be watched over for a few weeks, to make sure the changes to its system do progress properly - I hope you don't mind checking in if something happens to keep me busy?" The magician bows as much as she can without getting up.

"Of course, Remi." You curl up, drawing your legs onto the chair and pressing into your sister. Her wing squirms up between you, then back so it can flare and settle over you like a blanket. Patchouli leans back in her chair and waves - the snow drifts to the side, affording the three of you a view unhindered by the falling flakes. The danmaku fight over the lake seems to have ended, at least for now. Still, it's not like watching a quiet night is a bad thing, and the moon is visible, waning from full. You snuggle against Remilia, resting your head on her shoulder, and the three of you simply watch the night in silence.

---

Eventually, however, Patchouli flexes her thin fingers and stands up. Dawn is still a few hours away, but time doesn't matter for magicians, and you don't exactly need the sleep right now, either. The snow has stopped falling, leaving the grounds of the mansion coated in white, creating hills of three meters in a few places while leaving pathways clear. Patchouli looks out over Gensokyo, shakes her head, and bows to you and Remilia. "Well, I should get back to the library. There are still things I have on a timetable, and I really can't put them off much longer. I suppose I will see you at dinner?" Remilia snorts and waves her away.

"Fine, fine, skip breakfast and lunch. We'll see you tonight, then." You nod and wave goodbye, and Patchouli bows before walking to the balcony. She brushes the snow off the rail, then nods again before carefully climbing over it, only starting to fly once over it. Of course, she'll probably teleport to the library once she's farther down, away from Remilia's room. Remilia leans her head against yours and sighs; you snake your arm around her waist and pull her more tightly against you. At least for a few more hours, it's just the two of you.


What do you do?

[ ] Skip to the Myouren Temple visit.

[ ] Mami and Kyouko seemed tense last night … maybe you should check on them.

[ ] You've been neglecting Deis a bit in favor of your snugglier companions. See how she likes the mansion so far.

[ ] Other?


DM Note: Skipping to the Myouren Temple means Flan will spend the day snuggling with her friends, playing around, and generally 'hanging out'. Picking another activity will fast-forward to afternoonish (unless the activity in question needs to be done in the morning).