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

[X] Oh, fine, you'll let her dress you up.
- [X] … And if Ilya and Lulu see you, they're getting dressed up too!


You frown at Deis, then look at the screen showing Patchouli and Koakuma walking through the dark and dreary city. Well … she will, at least, enjoy it, and she seems to know how to tell when she's crossed a line. Your frown turns to a smile - a real smile, not a grin, and you bow slightly to your friend. "Very well, Deis. Let's play dress-up." She stares at you, shocked and perhaps not believing you, and stumbles forward to clasp your hands in her own.

"Really? You really mean it?" You nod as her smile grows - and then her smile turns fully wicked. Perhaps you have made a mistake, but - Deis stands up, releasing your hands, and spins, making several gestures as she walks away from you. The screen showing Patchouli and Koakuma shrinks and moves away, and several large wardrobes appear around her. She flings one open and pulls out …. "Here, put this on." You frown at the brown woolen cassock and oversized brown shoes, at the lantern and the large butcher's knife, then turn your incredulous eye on Deis, but she just pouts and holds them out. Sighing, you take the cassock and start to put it on.

"Considering how much you seem to have been planning this, this is an … odd thing to make me wear." It's not much her style, either, but she smiles beatifically as you straighten out the cassock, leaving the hood down.

"Oh, don't say planning. It's such a … soft and neutral term. We much prefer the term conspiring." You freeze for a moment - of course Koakuma was involved - then sigh and continue arranging the outfit. "Now, thrust gently with the knife, and say 'Doink!' when you do." You jingle the lantern menacingly, then slowly thrust the knife forward.

"Doink!" Deis maintains her composure for a moment, then bursts out laughing, and you scowl at her, hands on your hips.

"Oh! Oh, that was cute! … I'm sorry, Flan. That one wasn't my idea, I promise!" Of course, that's likely true of most of the outfits in the wardrobes - not that you doubt Deis's creativity, but the sheer number of actual physical costumes implies that someone has been very busy for quite a while. Deis keeps up her smile as she looks through the wardrobe for another outfit, and you start to remove the cassock. Deis spins back toward you as if just remembering something. "Oh, wait, no, keep it on! You have to pose, and spin, and be cute!" She scurries toward you and pulls you into the middle of the area before backing away and watching you expectantly. You compose yourself, then smile, pose, pirouette, and finally make another thrusting motion, complete with the utterly ridiculous sound effect. Deis claps happily and dives back into the wardrobe, coming out with an actually normal dress … that you don't immediately recognize as Ilya's. When you look up at Deis, the next outfit she's holding up is Lulu's, and you can't help but laugh.

---

You got through fifteen outfits over the next two hours, despite the two times Deis had to deal with Patchouli; the first lasted less than a minute, but the second involved a detailed communication between them, and Deis actually had to move the scrying image around until she saw some kind of gigantic spider youkai. After that, though, you continue posing in the extravagant black dress. It's really quite nice, although the lack of heels on such high shoes makes balancing irritating - at least the tengu have the decency to put their stilts in the middle of the foot instead of at the toes! Your current outfit, however, makes you eye Deis curiously.

"Really, what is this? Why am I wearing an anchor?" Deis shrugs, apparently at a loss as the … thing … in your arms waves its cannons triumphantly.

"You know, Flan, I didn't ask many questions. All I know is that apparently there's a similar outfit for your sister, and supposedly they make it really hard for you to go underwater. Like, you just skate across water like it's nearly solid, or something. You'd probably have to get Patchouli to explain things." You frown, wondering if it's worth bothering the magician about it … unless you keep this outfit. Hmm. You look down at the thing in your arms. It has cannons, and there are two cannons on your right shoulder …. Of course, the odds are very low that they'd actually be any better than anything you can do normally. As you turn back toward Deis, however, you see that she isn't looking at you, or at the wardrobe, and when you follow her gaze, Ilya and Lulu both wave down at you from atop a bookshelf. Then they jump down, although a ripple of magic indicates that Deis is slowing their fall, so you merely walk up to their landing spot and preen.

"Do you like it?" Lulu nods approvingly, but Ilya just shrugs.

"I liked the blue coat better. This one's not bad, but it's not as classy as the coat." You look down at what you're wearing. Ilya has a point; this one is rather cutesy, but it's not very elegant. You look over at Deis, but she's busy digging through a different wardrobe. Oh, well.

"So, did you two come to see what I was doing? Or were you looking for Patchouli?" Lulu giggles and hops forward to hug you.

"We saw what you were doing and wanted to see it up close!" Ilya's expression freezes into something close to despair and she looks away - toward her workroom, you think, although you'd have to get a better look at where you are in the library. You pull out of Lulu's hug, smile frozen in place, and turn toward Deis. She steps back from the wardrobe holding three long white dresses.

"Oh, look! Three school uniforms! Let's get you three changed, hm?" Ilya sighs as she walks up to the very nervous-looking Deis, but Lulu just looks confused as you start pulling her toward the sorceress.

"Eh? Eh?! Flan, Ilya, what …?" You smile at her.

"Come on, Lulu! It's fu~un!" Ilya laughs and comes back to help you pull Lulu over to Deis.

---

You don't question why Deis and Koakuma have such a large collection of outfits for Ilya and Lulu as well as for you, although you do appreciate it. You do wonder how much you should punish Koakuma for her audacity - although considering that, from what Ilya and Lulu said about Deis sending this through the mansion, Remilia has to know about this, so any punishment you desire that's too extreme will likely be toned down by her, and any that you don't mete out will likely be executed by her or Sakuya, so you're probably safe not doing anything. And you do have to admit that the outfits for Ilya and Lulu are just as cute as your own ….

Ilya has a nice white-and-black one-piece dress, and a black suit that somehow fits her quite nicely, and a copy of Rin's outfit; Lulu has a sturdy outfit that looks quite like Zest's, a cute blue uniform, and a very curious devilish outfit, complete with pitchfork, horns, and illusory tail. And, of course, both have their own maid and miko outfits. Perhaps the most curious thing, however, is that Deis has that curious brown robe outfit sized for Berserker, and she and Ilya are able to get it on him. Of course, he can't make the 'Doink!' sound by himself; Ilya does it for him, and all three of you giggle hysterically at the interplay of sight and sound. Ilya pouts at you, then harrumphs quite aristocratically, nearly sending you into another fit of laughter, and Deis turns back to the wardrobes. Before she has time to pick something out, however, the air in the middle of the area tears open, splattering foul-smelling but oddly attractive blood across the floor as Patchouli and Koakuma ripple into being. Patchouli sags into a sitting position, but Koakuma looks around, waving at the air in front of her as if trying to drive away a bad smell. Her eyes widen when she sees you, but you simply cock your head curiously. Lulu squeaks and skips away from the blood; you catch her in your arms and carry her up to Berserker's other shoulder, across from Ilya. You stick your tongue out at Patchouli as she frowns at you.

"You smell bad," you tell her - and for some reason, Koakuma sighs in relief and collapses, falling into the blood. Patchouli chuckles and shakes her head before taking several deep breaths.

"Yes, we do. And once I've got my breath back, we're going to take a very cleansing bath. Deis, I'm afraid I'm going to need your - were you recording this?" Deis actually squirms.

"Ye~esss?" You giggle at the drawn-out confirmation, and Patchouli unthinkingly claps her bloody hands over her face - and then realizes what she just did and vanishes with a very rushed gesture. Deis and Koakuma both wince, and Koakuma teleports away as well. Deis sighs and shrugs. "I guess dress-up time is over." Lulu sighs, seemingly almost relieved, but Ilya just shrugs and nods.

"So, what do we do now?" You look around the library; dinner is still a couple hours away ….


What do you do?

[ ] Skip to Myouren Temple visit.

[ ] Actually, you don't need Deis to keep playing dress-up ….

[ ] Go walking through the forest in the back.

[ ] Other?

[X] Actually, you don't need Deis to keep playing dress-up ….


As you look around, your eyes settle on the wardrobes. "Hmm … I think we should keep playing dress-up, actually." Lulu looks up, frowning.

"Um, but won't we be getting in their way?" Deis starts to nod in agreement - but then your clones slip out and lift the wardrobes, and Ilya giggles merrily.

"Or, you could just carry off the magical wardrobes," Deis says, shrugging. You grin and swoop down to pat her head.

"Don't worry, if there's anything really cute, I'll save it to show you later." She gives you a look and you giggle before following your clones to your suite. You keep them moving slowly so Ilya and Lulu don't have to worry about holding onto Berserker. "Actually … we can do this in my room and have some privacy, or we can find somewhere upstairs -" Lulu waves her hands excitedly.

"No, no, down here is good!" You peer at her, head cocked, then smile.

"Ah, I'm sure you can keep the ones you like, so you can surprise Megane!" A surge of scarlet rushes up Lulu's face, and Ilya laughs. Too bad you won't have much time to play around with the outfits … oh, well. Maybe another time …. Your clones lead you into an empty gallery; perhaps you'll put some artwork in here? Maybe tapestries or sculptures. It's currently not too big or small, so it works perfectly for what the three of you are doing - five, you correct yourself, as Sella and Leysritt walk in as Berserker vanishes. "Well, let's see what's inside!" You bound to the middle wardrobe and throw open the doors. If it works like your wardrobe, then - two outfits appear in your hands, and you give them to Ilya and Lulu before retrieving one for yourself. Sella moves to help Lulu as Leysritt helps Ilya; one of your clones helps you, just to complete the image, as the others withdraw outfits.

"Aw, Flan, you're so cute!" You stick your tongue out at Ilya - you look like a large yellow rat with a lightning-bolt-shaped tail - and when she squeezes your cheeks you wrap your arms around her and squeeze. Her outfit is a simple, cute blue dress with a white apron, a headband, and black shoes.

"And you look like you're trying to look like Alice, so stay away from Patchouli when you're wearing that." She snorts and the two of you turn to look at Lulu; once Sella gets her to stand up straight, you clap your hands and smile.

"I look silly …."

"You look beautiful, Lulu," Ilya says, making Lulu blush and lower her head. You nod - the black dress doesn't look too dark, and the red roses complement the veil and formal gloves very well.

"It's just 'cause your other outfits didn't show off your appearance very well. Should we stay away from the formal stuff for now?" She nods and you give her a hug before your clones send in the next set of outfits.

Lulu's looks like a school uniform, a red plaid skirt with matching vest and jacket over a white shirt. After putting it on, she relaxes a great deal, even letting Sella put braids in the front of her hair like Sakuya. Ilya's is a simple red tunic with an ankle-length cloak and a big floppy hat, and she tries arguing with Leysritt about the eyepatch, but the maid quickly forces her to wear it. And your outfit reminds you of the workers in the various hospitals you've been in: a small white cap with a red cross on it, white buttoned-up dress, it even has a little clipboard and a fake pen that goes in your pocket! Of course, you do test the pen, just in case it isn't fake, but it doesn't even open. Ilya immediately feigns illness in an attempt to get you to help her; naturally, explain that her problem is that she has too much blood, and she needs to find a vampire to bite her. For a moment, the four of them aren't sure you're joking, which you take as a compliment toward your acting capabilities.

The next set of outfits are all combat-related. Ilya's is vaguely reminiscent of Saber's outfit, only white and black, with a much shorter skirt, and without the breastplate. Lulu's is a black suit made of a thicker, almost armor-quality material rather than more normal cloth, and equipped with two pistols and a short, one-handed katana. And your outfit is black and grey, trousers with shirt and cloak, a short rapier, and fifteen darts, wires, and knives secreted about your person. Interestingly, they actually are very well-concealed, aren't too distracting once you get used to moving with them, and yet are extremely easily-retrieved. Even if you were merely human, you suspect you wouldn't have any difficulty reaching the various pointy things … of course, you being you, they're all pretty useless. Maybe if you got it tailored for Ilya?

Once you're out of the assassin - or extremely paranoid individual - get-up, your clone provides you with a mostly-adorable uniform: black skirt, coat, and hat, gold braiding, white gloves, epaulettes that fit comfortably, and even some medals! About the only thing that doesn't fit is the little flag that's initially stuck in the cap - several red and white stripes. Something about it doesn't seem right, so you remove it and preen. Lulu's, on the other hand, is a simple white dress with some gold trim, a red waist-cord, and black stockings and hair-ribbon. She seems quite pleased with it, actually. Ilya, for once, actually seems embarrassed, however. Not so much by her dress - short, light red, with long sleeves - but by the accessory. You, of course, squeal delightedly at the impaled blue teddy bear, and Ilya and Lulu both pet its head gently. That is the situation when Satsuki walks in to inform you that dinner is ready.

"Uh, um … F-Flandre-sama …?" You look up and hop over to land in front of her.

"Yes?" You lean closer and closer as she stares at you until she shakes herself and backs up, blushing.

"U-um, dinner is ready Flandre-sama!" The words come out in a rush, tripping over themselves to escape her mouth, and you watch her for a moment before standing up straight and grinning with your tongue out.

"Okay!" You clap your hands, frowning at the muffling effect of the gloves, and turn around. "Ah, I know! Let's wear these to dinner!" You hear a high-pitched whine from behind you, and both Ilya and Lulu start turning red, but Sella and Leysritt nod approvingly.

"I agree with Lady Flandre, Lady Illyasviel. The three of you are very charming in these clothes." Ilya and Lulu both continue blushing, but after giving them a very pitiful pout, they nod. You clap your hands and leap toward them, pulling them in for a group hug while being careful to avoid the bear's spikes.

And Remilia actually looks surprised when you get up to the dining room. Speechless, even! Although when she and Patchouli look at Koakuma, the expression on the familiar's face indicates that she knows she's going to be bottom-rung librarian for a little bit. Hm, were you not supposed to wear these outfits? Megane, Nanoha, and Fate all seem quite pleased by Lulu's dress, and she smiles happily when even Zest indicates his approval. Vita, of course, scowls at your outfit - at least until you stick your tongue out at her, at which point she sits up straight and refuses to look at your corner of the table. Mami and Kyouko seem to have made up, too … although Homura is curiously absent. Although, since her chair isn't there ….

"Homura-chan isn't feeling well right now, so she's sleeping. She should be fine in the morning, though." You glance at your sister after Madoka explains the situation, and she nods slightly. Well, that's good - you'd hate to lose a new servant before she even formally starts! Relieved, you turn to dinner.


What do you do?

[ ] Skip to the Myouren Temple visit.

[ ] Other?


DM Note: Apologies for the dearth of options. I don't like driving for five hours in one day, and not even Admiral Flan, Vampire Ilya, and Knight of the Round Table Lulu can make my brain work right now.