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

[X] Follow the path to Marisa's house.


You float up until you're at Archer's level. "Hey, Tohsaka is still with Marisa, right?" He frowns at you.

"Yes, Rin is still working with her."

"Has her collection improved?" Archer winces at Remilia's question, and you're not alone in looking quizzically at her.

"Milady?" Remilia waves her hand dismissively.

"I went to see if she had anything worth buying. An awful mess, I cannot imagine what anyone with any organizational sense would do if they were forced to live there." Archer shakes his head. You drop back to the ground.

"Did you get anything? From Marisa?" Remilia smiles and shakes her head.

"No, I did not. She does not sell much of her collection - it seems it is difficult for her to part even with useless trinkets - and what she can make is not worth the purchase." She sighs. "I suppose we shall be going to see her now?" You grin and look at the others hopefully.

"Marisa is human, right? It would be interesting to see what mages here are like." Vita looks at Fate for a moment, then turns back to you.

"Marisa was the one who shot you with the giant laser, right? Yeah, let's go see her!" She turns toward the paths - and trips. You blink, more than a little surprised, and Lulu and Agito hurry forward to help her up. Ilya starts walking down the brambly path.

"Come on, Tribbler! Let's go see Rin." Vita fumes, but Nanoha pats her shoulder until she heaves a sigh, and the rest of you follow Ilya.

"Is that normal? The leaves, I mean?" Remilia blinks and looks around, then raises an eyebrow at Fate's question.

"Yes. As summer turns to autumn and progresses toward winter, the leaves of the trees turn from green to a fiery collection of reds, golds, and oranges. And then, after a short time as autumn leaves, they fall to the ground. Do you not have seasons in Mid-Childa, or are you simply only familiar with the so-called evergreen trees?" Fate blushes and, amusingly enough, pouts as Nanoha fails to hold back a quiet laugh.

"What Fate-chan was asking about was the sudden change. All the trees went from being completely green to being completely autumn-colored. It's like the season stopped at a border." Remilia nods.

"Oh, that. The goddess who colors the leaves is small, weak, and unimportant, and she paints the leaves with her magic almost individually. And I believe she lives on Youkai Mountain, so her work progresses unevenly. I am sure she has a name … Sakuya, do you recall it?" Megane frowns and shakes her head.

"You have a goddess who's in charge of making sure leaves change color? It's a natural process, though -!" Berserker appears next to Ilya, who adopts a defensive posture, and that is enough for Vita and Zest to move to cover their dependents - but even as their Barrier Jackets finish materializing, Ilya relaxes and frowns. Remilia coughs and Ilya, startled, turns to face everyone, a light blush spreading across her face.

"Uh, um, sorry. It's just - Archer just came tearing past, so I thought -" Ilya flinches at the sound of an explosion, and everyone looks down the path to Marisa's house. Nanoha and Fate both transform and leap into the air, and Remilia sighs as they fly toward the sound with Vita just behind them.

"Sakuya, make sure they do nothing stupid." Sakuya bows and vanishes, and Megane frowns at your sister. Remilia just waves her hand dismissively and resumes walking, however. "Rin, Archer, and Marisa are all unharmed. I suppose a majority wishes to see what happened immediately, however?" Megane, Zest, Agito, and even Kyouko all nod, and she sighs. After a moment, she produces a sheet of paper, quickly writes something on it with magic, and folds it before holding it up. A few seconds pass - and the air above her hand zips open and a hand reaches through, grabbing the note and taking it elsewhere. What happened that would get Yukari involved?

"Uh, so what's going on?" You glance at Kyouko just as numerous hands reach forward to grab your sister - and Ilya, and Berserker, and everyone else. And then you're standing in front of Marisa's house. Most of it, anyway - the right side has a rather large chunk taken out of the roof and walls.

"There are still four more, but they are flying. If you relax the barrier, they should be here momentarily." You turn away to see Yukari and Ran standing together, and beyond them are Marisa, Tohsaka, and Archer. The Servant has his bow out and drawn, and is aiming at Yukari. Ran half-bows to Remilia, and a few seconds later Nanoha and the others fly over, seemingly perplexed by your appearance. Sakuya, however, drops down and produces a parasol, although she keeps it closed. "Thank you. Now, in the interest of not having to figure out whether I need to fight against you to defend Marisa's guests, would you mind explaining what happened?" Yukari half-turns to face you and Remilia, and Ran turns to face Archer. Marisa looks quite angry, and her hand is holding her mini-hakkero, but Tohsaka looks confused and worried … and a little worse for the wear. Did she get hit by the explosion?

"These two have directly threatened Gensokyo," Yukari begins, and Marisa leaps to her feet.

"That's a lie! We didn't do anything dangerous!" Remilia presses her face into one hand and squeezes around her eyes, and Yukari produces a strange sword. Its hilt is nothing but a flat cylinder, and the 'blade' is rounded, without an edge. Remilia looks up and shakes her head, then walks up to take the strange weapon from Yukari.

"The Jewel Sword? Did you really make it?" Ilya sounds more curious than anything else, and Berserker is gone. Marisa helps Tohsaka to her feet, but the younger mage seems a bit unsteady - and then Lulu and Megane walk toward her.

"In a sense, yes, they did make Zelretch's tool. It is, however, flawed. Is this the first one you made?" Marisa shakes her head, and Archer finally lowers his bow as Megane crosses in front of him. With that advantage removed, he simply wills the bow away and turns to help his Master.

"No, it's the fifth. But the others didn't work." Remilia snorts derisively.

"I suspect they do work. And Yukari is correct - you nearly did do significant damage to Gensokyo with this one." She keeps looking down at it for a few seconds before looking up at Yukari. "Do you want to deal with it, see it destroyed, or do you trust me to dispose of it safely?" Yukari stares at her for a long moment, then dips her head.

"… I will trust you to dispose of it without further harm to Gensokyo, Remilia Scarlet." Then she turns and walks into a gap, while hands pull her familiar into another. Nanoha, Fate, and Vita dismiss their Barrier Jackets, and after a few seconds of relatively awkward silence, Marisa walks over to pick up her hat, brushing it off as Sakuya opens the parasol for Remilia and looks questioningly at you.

"Man, I forgot how bad she could be when she gets angry. Gonna have to update my grimoire." She shoves her hat down onto her head before bouncing back to Tohsaka. "So how is she?" Megane sighs and stands up.

"I'm fine, just - ooh, everything aches. What hit me?" Archer gingerly picks her up.

"Ran. That fox youkai." Tohsaka shakes her head, then groans in pain.

"Ooh! No - I mean … what did she hit me with? First … first they showed up, and then -" She carefully presses against the side of her head and stares at something. Marisa frowns worriedly.

"Uh, she hit you. She might have used some kind of attack magic that I missed, but it looked like she just knocked you over." She shakes her head and waves everyone toward her home. "Anyway, everyone, come on in. Don't wanna be a bad hostess or anything, and I guess I've got the space now, anyway." She picks up her broomstick and hurries to the door, holding it open for everyone.

Archer sets Tohsaka down on a long chair instead of taking her to a bed, but from the look on his face it seems that it's not his decision. "Ugh. Remilia. You said -" Remilia waves her off and looks around, although you notice that she hasn't put the sword away, instead keeping a tight grip on it. Marisa's house is quite clean, and she chuckles when your sister looks at her.

"Hehe. Guess a Servant is a servant, too, huh?" Remilia shakes her head before turning back to Tohsaka.

"The Second Magic does not work here as it does in your world, Rin Tohsaka. Do not argue with me, girl, or otherwise test my patience at the moment. The only reason I have not struck you for your stupidity is because I may find it too enjoyable to stop." Color slowly drains from Tohsaka's face, and Marisa steps between Archer and your sister before either can get too worked up.

"So, uh, what did happen? I mean, did it start eating the Barrier, or something?" Remilia sighs and looks at the crystalline weapon.

"No, it did not. It breached this dimensions, reached another, and drew energy from that place. It simply also brought something else. It is currently locked within the sword, stuck in a non-physical state, but another successful activation could release it, or allow it to break free. And should that happen, it will likely destroy half of Gensokyo before enough power to destroy it can be brought to bear." She sighs again. "Of course, it could kill us all, too. I will not rule that out." Nanoha and Fate look at each other, but you don't see the worry or nervousness you'd expected. Lulu looks worried, and Vita and Megane and Agito, but not Nanoha and Fate. Ilya doesn't look worried, either, but she has her expressionless mask up, so she probably is worried.


What do you do?

[ ] Offer to destroy it. After all, you are the one who asked for Tohsaka to come here and introduced her to Marisa, so you're at least a little to blame.

[ ] Tell Remilia to go deal with it now so she isn't bothered by it. You can keep everyone together until she gets back.

[ ] Other?

[X] Tell Remilia to go deal with it now so she isn't bothered by it. You can keep everyone together until she gets back.


You nod to yourself and clear your throat. "Remilia, you should go deal with it now." She looks at you, looking slightly guilty, and you smile. "If it's a big problem, you should get started now so you aren't worried by it. I'll keep everyone together, and we can wait for you to finish and come back." She smiles before looking down at the Jewel Sword once more, then shakes her head.

"No, Flandre. Don't wait for me - it could take several hours to make the preparations to destroy this thing safely. I hope it does not, but … Sakuya, you remember how to get to the plumbers' graveyard, correct?" Sakuya frowns at Remilia.

"Milady, I could assist you -" A simple shake of the head is enough to cut her off, although Remilia does float up to trace one hand along the maid's cheek.

"No, Sakuya. This is too much for you, and the displacement of time would not help. I will consult Patchouli, and we will come to a determination as to whether we need to involve Yuuka and Mima. You can be of use here, guiding Flandre and our guests." You grin and wave.

"Oh, don't mind us. If we get lost, I'll just burn the forest down!" Marisa makes a strangled squawk, and you're pretty sure that Megane, at least, can't tell that you're joking, but Remilia smiles and Sakuya huffs happily before going to one knee before your sister.

"Of course, Milady. I shall assist Lady Flandre with anything." Remilia smiles and floats down, and you lunge forward to squeeze your arms around her. She leans into your hug for a moment before patting your hands, and you release her to walk toward the door. She opens it wide, waits for a moment, then steps out and flies away. As the door closes, you wonder just what is inside the Jewel Sword that so terrifies your sister. Unfortunately, you don't have a lot of time to think about it right now - you have duties to perform. You release your breath and turn toward Lulu and Megane.

"Is she alright?" Tohsaka frowns, irritated about being talked about as though she isn't present, but Megane and Lulu share a look before answering you.

"… Maybe. She seems alright, but based on her reactions and what Marisa said happened, she almost certainly suffered a head injury, and it can be quite difficult to determine just how bad those are." You nod a thanks to Megane and look at Marisa. Tohsaka doesn't look as worried as she could at the suggestion, but Marisa looks quite bothered. Then her face lights up and she snaps her fingers before dashing toward the stairs and heading up to the second level. Megane looks back at Tohsaka, but the younger mage raises a weak smile and very gently shakes her head.

"I … I'll probably be okay. I did get most of a protective effect up before she hit me, and I know some charms to accelerate healing -" A victorious shout interrupts her, and Marisa thumps back to the stairs and hops down, nearly stumbling and falling down the lower half before catching her balance. She rushes back to Tohsaka's side and holds up a relatively small book triumphantly.

"Hah! Didn't think I still had it, but I guess I remembered it from when you helped clean everything up. If there's something wrong, we'll be able to fix it! This 'trepanation' thing fixes all kinds of brain problems." No one else recognizes the term, but you clear your throat and motion for Marisa to pass you the book before she gets too excited, and after flipping through a few pages, you have to fight down the urge to giggle.

"Marisa, where did you get this?" She shrugs.

"Borrowed it from Patchouli." You shake your head; of course she got it from the library - where else would she get it? As you and Sakuya look at each other, Marisa darts away and grabs the maid's arm. "Hey, hey! No starting anything!" Tohsaka frowns at you.

"What is trepanation?" You smile fondly at her.

"Drilling a hole through your skull for one reason or another." She blinks, apparently not taking you seriously for a moment, then her eyes widen and she and Archer both look at Marisa. "Oh, don't blame her - do it right, and once you recovered no one'd know anything happened. And there are a few reasons for performing one, but I don't think you have a shattered skull, so there's no need to pick pieces of bone out of your brain." She starts to look pale, and Archer glares at you.

"Why does Patchouli have a book like that? And why would she let someone borrow it?" You shrug at Fate and put the book safely away to give back to Patchouli.

"Why shouldn't she? She collects books, and she knows whether they're any good. And she doesn't let people borrow books. Marisa just breaks into the mansion to steal books. She usually tries to get just grimoires, but if the fairy maids or Sakuya are after her, she sometimes just grabs whatever's nearby and fights her way out." Everyone turns to look at the magician, and she just shrugs shamelessly.

"I'm borrowing them. She's going to outlive me, after all, so she can just get her books back after I die. She doesn't even use them, so it's good for the books I take, anyway." Most everyone keeps staring at Marisa, but Tohsaka turns an incredulous look on you.

"And … and you just let this happen? Doesn't that mage have any respect for herself?!" You nod as Archer presses gently down on Tohsaka's shoulder.

"It's fine, really. All the good stuff is impossible for her to get to, even if she knew where it's kept -"

"Whaa~?! That's not right! That's cheating!"

"And her constant breaking-in does serve a useful purpose. Humans and youkai are enemies, remember. So Marisa being able to regularly break into the mansion and escape with books 'proves' that she's better than even powerful youkai like my sister and Patchouli, so people aren't as worried about bad things happening." Marisa nods proudly, arms crossed. "And most people are too stupid to even consider wondering if we're letting her because it keeps most people calm. Just like they don't ever wonder about whether or not we try to get those books back." Of course, now that Marisa has apparently organized her library a bit, maybe it would be a good time for Patchouli to organize a raid …. Marisa's proud expression falls flat and she stares listlessly at you. After a few seconds of silence, she sighs and shakes her head.

"Well, why don't you tell me why you're here, then? Or is it just 'cause of that sword?" You shake your head and hop onto Kyouko's lap, much to Ilya and Lulu's jealousy and the magical girl's own minor discomfort.

"Ilya and I wanted to see how Tohsaka is doing, and Fate, Nanoha, and Vita wanted to see what human magicians are like, and Remilia said you had a magic shop of some kind, so it seemed like a good stop to make, since Alice is a magician and not a human magician." Her face lights up as you mention the shop.

"Oh, customers! I hardly ever get those. What can I do for you?" Ilya steals a march on Lulu and slinks over to hop into Kyouko's lap, too, snuggling against you.

"Hey! What am I, a cushion?" You grin and lean back to plant a quick kiss on the redhead's cheek.

"Yes! A comfy, snuggly cushion!" As her face starts to match her hair, you motion for Lulu to come over, and - much to Ilya's chagrin - pull her onto your own lap. Tohsaka stares at you, mouth hanging open, and Archer doesn't look like he knows what to do, either. Fate coughs and nods to Marisa.

"Er, what is it that you do? As a - magician, I mean?" Marisa nods, smiling congenially.

"Oh, anything you need. From fireworks to youkai extermination to fortune-telling. If it's something I can do, I'll do it!" Fate stares at her.

"Youkai extermination?" Megane looks back at you and you nod, peeking out from behind Lulu.

"Yep! She's pretty good, too. Not as good as Reimu, of course, but much easier to get along with." Marisa nods, her pride only slightly deflated by the comparison to Reimu.

"It's not easy being a professional hero, but if I don't get the job done, the customer doesn't have to pay, so I always do my best." Vita quietly slips away and walks outside. You giggle and lean into Ilya, pulling Lulu with you, and Kyouko puts her arms up to make sure no one falls.


What do you do?

[ ] Keep talking with Tohsaka and Marisa.
- [ ] See if Marisa's 'collection' has anything interesting.

[ ] Let Tohsaka get some rest and go back into the Forest of Magic.
- [ ] Ask Marisa if she knows any other interesting places in the forest.
- [ ] Keep following the path.

[ ] Other?