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

[X] Stay with Remilia for now.


You cling to her and burrow into the chair. "I don't wanna go," you whine, and Remilia chuckles.

"I'll tell her we're busy, then," she says, and you grumble good-naturedly. After a few seconds your sister snuggles into you, and the two of you just lay together. "... You made a picture for Patchouli, too," she says suddenly. You wait for a second before nodding.

"I think she liked it, but she also seemed upset about something when she got it. I know you want us to get along better, but I think I'll try to stay out of her way for a bit." You shift and look Remilia in the eyes. "And no poking around to ask her, either! If she wants to talk to you, fine, but don't go to her asking about why she didn't like it." She gives you such an innocent expression.

"Why, Flandre! I would never breach anyone's confidentiality like -hehe!" She giggles and twists under you as you try to poke her, then hops to a couch. "Lava floor!" She grabs a square pillow and grins at you. You pout, then leap to the other couch and pick up the two rectangular pillows. Today, for sure …!

---

"Boop!" Remilia pokes your nose, wiggling the tip from side to side with her finger, and you sigh up at her from your spot on the floor. You didn't win … as usual … and you did have fun. But it seems like something is off with her, like something isn't right with her. You hope she isn't sick, and she tilts her head to the side at something you do. "Is something wrong?" You blink and don't reply immediately.

"Is something wrong?" Her expression fades, and after a moment she drops to the floor and curls next to you - no longer the Scarlet Devil. Only your sister. She curls up against you and rests her head on your shoulder.

"... No. Not wrong. Just …." She trails off and you nod before stretching a wing up to snag a blanket, then roll the two of you up in it, and Remilia uses her magic to keep it wrapped around you as you float back to the chair to look at the painting again. If nothing's wrong - if really nothing's wrong - you'll drop it, but you do want to know what it is that's bothering her. She should be able to tell you soon, at least …. Her thin arms cling tightly to you, even with the blanket keeping you together, and you worm an arm around her as well. The minutes pass, and you look down to see that she is, indeed, asleep against you. You smile and kiss the side of her head, then make sure you're both comfortable before falling asleep as well.

---

A gentle poke in the side wakes you up and you look at Remilia. She pouts back before nodding. "Time to get up, my dear sister. We can't leave the rest of the guests to Pache, after all." You nod back and the blanket falls away, freeing the two of you to stretch and get to your feet. Then Remilia grabs your arm and gives you a hopeful look; you grin and nod excitedly, and you wrap your arms around each other - and then you're two intermingled swarms of bats, flying through the now-open door and into the hallways of the mansion. Your path is indirect, meandering, and you laugh to yourself as the fairies you fly through squeal and flinch. But your wild flight doesn't last too long - as Remilia said, you do have obligations to your guests, and of course you don't want to miss Lulu. Down into the basement you fly, vast clouds of bats spreading out and chittering over the shelves, making their way toward the portals, and then you're down with everyone, swirling around and brushing against them. All too soon, it ends, and the magnificent kaleidoscope of images coalesces into your own two eyes as Remilia returns you to your normal form. On one side of the area stand the Mid-Childans, and on the other, Homura and Kyouko are saying their farewells to their friends. And then, Homura and Kyouko back away from Madoka, Sayaka, and Mami and walk to stand by Sakuya. Madoka wipes her eyes, but Mami looks at Ilya.

"Um, Flan? Before everyone has to go, we all made a present for you." She holds out a small red cube for you to take. It fits in your palm, and you look at Lulu - it must be a Device of some kind.

"None of us are as good as you are, I think," Mami begins, and you turn back to her, "but there isn't anything else we could give you." After a moment Madoka nods and steps forward.

"Um, the - Librarian-san suggested the songs - I mean, they're songs, and videos of us singing. Um, I … I hope you like them …." She trails off nervously, probably waiting for you to say something - or maybe just not sure how to continue. Maybe she forgot her lines? You smile and walk up to her. Giving her a friendly hug, you whisper in her ear.

"Do you want me to play them right now?" You let her go and, red-faced, she shakes her head. You grin. "Thank you, Madoka - and Mami, Sayaka, and everyone! I'll listen to them, but everyone wants to go home, right?"

"Yeah, kind of -ulp!" Sayaka turns bright red as Madoka spins around, but you just giggle - she obviously didn't mean to say that out loud, or at least not loud enough to actually be heard.

"Hehe! Don't worry. Home is home, after all, familiar and known. Should we see each other again?" She looks at you, definitely worried, but then she smiles and nods. Madoka smiles, too, and looks at Homura as Mami wipes her eyes. "A last round for good-byes, I think -" Madoka runs past you and wraps her arms around both Homura and Kyouko - and the red-head looks past you at Mami and nods. A portal flares into life, showing Mami's room - and two more, next to it, showing different rooms. The three girls push the easel-mounted paintings to the portals - wheels have been cleverly mounted to them, making them easier to move - and turn to wave and bow. As you and the others wave, they turn back and return to their own world. You look back, at Homura and Kyouko, but they're already gone, and Sakuya, too. That's good. They'll need to rest. You look at Lulu. "Do you think I should listen to a song?" She taps her lips and looks at Ilya, and you grin at the adorable mischief on their faces as they nod at each other.

"You should listen to Fate's second song," she says, and the Enforcer shakes her head desperately. Nanoha smiles, though.

"Come on, Fate-chan! It was a good song." Fate looks horrified and continues shaking her head as you tap the top of the Device. A screen appears in the air and you tap it to get into the menu showing only Fate's songs. You stare at the second title for a moment as she shakes her head pleadingly - and then you tap it and listen to her sing. She buries her head in her hands as the video plays, and you shake your head when it finally ends. You should only use this power for selfish ends, and you probably will. Lulu rushes forward to hug you, and Ilya walks over to join the hug.

"I have my mirrors. I'll contact you tomorrow to make sure everything's synchronized properly." Ilya nods.

"Don't forget the piano," you remind her.

"Yeah. It's going in Mama's place … thank you, Flan. Thank you, Ilya." She pulls back a little and starts wiping her eyes. "Do … do you guys want to come to Mid-Childa, just for a little bit?" Ilya hesitates, then looks at you. From the corner of your eye, you see Remilia shrug carefully, leaving it up to you. You wouldn't mind, but maybe you should make sure she has to associate with humans ….


What do you do?

[ ] Go to Mid-Childa for a little bit.

[ ] Stay at the mansion.


DM Note:

[X] Go to Mid-Childa for a little bit.


You smile and nuzzle Lulu. "Ilya, do you want to go?" She bobs her head happily and Lulu wraps her arms around the two of you again. Fate sighs and droops, and Nanoha pats Vita's head reassuringly, but Megane and Agito look pleased. A portal flares into life, larger than normal, and you see Nove and Wendi sit up excitedly in the entry hall. Cinque is, again, nowhere to be seen, and Lulu's shoulders sag - maybe whatever she had got bad enough for her to be transferred to a proper medical facility?

"Do not stay too long, Flandre," Remilia reminds you, and you nod quickly, noting that Sakuya, at least, is back by your sister's side. "We will keep the portal dormant; all you or Illyasviel will need to do is walk near it to wake it up so you can return."

"We'll be back soon," you say, smiling, and your sister nods calmly. You squeeze Ilya and Lulu gently, then the three of you disentangle yourselves and get ready to follow the others through the portal. Ilya holds tightly to your arm as you advance toward it - and then you're on the other side, and Nove and Wendi swivel their heads in confusion. Lulu, too, stiffens fearfully.
"Mam-!" Your head twitches to the side at Lulu's aborted cry, and her expression collapses into relief for a few seconds before she draws herself up and marches toward Nove and Wendi, who both hold their hands up pleadingly. You look back at the portal and scowl briefly; whether it was Remilia or Patchouli who did this, they could have at least warned Lulu about it. Agito flits forward as well, and like Lulu leans forward intimidatingly with her fists clenched on her hips. Ilya leans against you, resting slightly, and you look at her worriedly, but she smiles weakly and raises a finger to her lips. Lulu doesn't actually lecture the two combat cyborgs, merely staring at them sternly for a few seconds until the far door bursts open and Alph hurtles through the room to tackle Fate to the floor. You sweep Ilya into your arms and float up, just in case they go rolling or something else decides to come flying into the room, but that worry seems misplaced as Lindy and Chrono walk calmly in and Alph helps Fate back to her feet. "Ah, Flan, Ilya!" You drift to the floor as Lulu remembers you exist and pulls the two girls with her, and while Lindy looks at the two of you curiously, Chrono seems more concerned about your presence. "Ilya, these are Nove and Wendi." Nove looks at the two of you suspiciously, but Wendi is more friendly, waving and smiling. "Nove, Wendi, this is Illyasviel von Einzbern, a friend of mine and Flan's."

"A friend of yours? That's great, Miss Lu!" Lulu blushes as Wendi claps happily. "Ah, I- Illyasviel? I'm glad you managed to make friends with Miss Lu. And don't mind Nove, she's just embarrassed." Wendi winks conspiratorially as Nove's face turns as red as her hair.

"I am not embarrassed!" Wendi hops back as Nove stamps her foot angrily, giggling at her sister's aggressive behavior. Ilya looks at you, and you look up the stairs to where Cinque and Megane presumably are. Now, does Cinque remember you wanting her for a model …?

"You two are being noisy," Lindy calls out, and Nove and Wendi both jerk upright and spin to face her. Fate's mother walks towards you, looking over Ilya carefully, and the little mage returns the favor, first examining Lindy and then giving Chrono a quick look-over before returning her attention to the older admiral. "… Would you care for something to drink?" Lindy smiles cheerily at Ilya, who smiles politely back.

"Thank you, but I'm alright for now. Lulu, did you want to show us somewhere first?" Ilya turns to look at Lulu, whose face shows a quite amusing combination of dawning horror, numbed confusion, and a pinch of absolute terror. Lindy's initial expression is one of shock and confusion, mirrored by Fate and Chrono, but then she chuckles quietly and shakes her head. You silently float up and pat her head - in full view of Lulu - then drop down and reach around to bop Ilya's nose.

"Ilya, don't tease Lulu so much, okay?" She looks at you and her expression collapses into one of conciliation before she reaches out to hug Lulu. You glance at Lindy. "Honey?" The admiral nods.

"Of course!" And Lulu perks right back up before frowning at everyone suspiciously. "And Megane is …?"

"With Cinque, Admiral Harlaown," Zest replies smoothly, and Ilya's head twitches around to stare at Lindy, who winks back.

"That's good. Alright, everyone, let's find a place to sit down, shall we?" Ilya elbows you in the side as you walk toward the cafeteria.

"You could have said something," she whispers, and you stick your tongue out at her.

"Well, Flan didn't know she would be here," Lulu says in response. "Ah, but this is the Riot Force 6 building. Flan knows the layout better than I do, but there are some things we can do here, if you're feeling up to them." She looks at Ilya in concern, and Ilya scowls and shakes her head.

"It was just the shock of reestablishing Berserker. It must have something to do with the portals, specifically, since normal teleportation doesn't cause it. I'll ask Patchouli about it, but it really isn't anything to worry about - certainly nothing like trying to support him without the Grail! I just wasn't expecting anything like it to happen." Lulu sighs, relieved, and hugs Ilya, and you join in, lifting them both and floating along when you threaten to overbalance them. You hear Nanoha laugh happily, and both Fate and Chrono are quite red-faced about something, while Lindy just looks amused.

"Nanoha is telling them about Fate's painting," Agito says, flying over and positioning herself over Lulu's shoulder. "Um, Lu, is your mother …?" Lulu nods.

"She said she's talking with Cinque, and that she'll tell me if anything happens." You look over and see Nove making big cross-marks with her arms and holding a finger to her lips. Ilya nods and looks at you.

"Cinque is like Nove and Wendi, only she looks a bit like you. Not as cute, though." Agito snorts as she tries to stop from giggling. She's spared from having her cheeks pinched by your arrival at the cafeteria, which is set up similarly to Fate's party, but with additional signs welcoming everyone back. In addition to the normal residents of the building, though, you see Hayate and the rest of her family - and Vita tackles Hayate hard enough to knock her into Signum and almost over Zafira - as well as Fate's kids, the Nakajimas, and that other girl who worked with Nanoha and Fate. Did you ever even learn her name? You must have heard it in passing at some point …. You wave at everyone who sees you, and most wave back, but you have possibly complicated things.

As if you've never done that before!


What do you do?

[ ] Get something to drink, then show Ilya around with Lulu.
- [ ] Sneak a clone to Cinque's room to see what the fuss is with her.

[ ] Stay in the cafeteria and point out people to Ilya.

[ ] Other?


DM Note: Some awful combination of misanthropy, too much heat, tiredness, and Shinki being over half a billion points in debt to mobster/loan shark Akyuu is doing strange things.