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

[X] I could try eating it?


You snap your fingers as a thought strikes you. "I could try eating it!" Ilya blinks at you, puzzled, and you clap your hands. "The Grail, I mean - well, not the Grail itself, but the energy inside it! If that's where this Angra Mainyu is, then I can eat him and that'll fix the problem!" Ilya stares at you for a moment before shaking her head and looking away.

"… Can you really do that?" You nod energetically.

"Yup! Well - I'll need to find some way to get at the energy, and then I'll have to keep drinking it in, so it might take a while … if we can get the Lesser Grail to bring out another shadow-thing, that should work. As long as the connection isn't severed, I can just keep draining it through the shadow-thing! And then, especially with Deis's help, we can probably draw out most of the energy I took in, but clean and useful." Ilya stares at the floor long enough that you start to worry, but she finally turns back to you, a concerned expression on her face.

"Flan, I don't think that will work, and I don't think it's a safe idea even if it would work. But before that … are you ever affected by the blood you've consumed? Do different sources of energy have any different effects for you?" It's your turn to blink, but it's only a few seconds of thought before you nod your head.

"Yeah, different things can make me act a little differently if I'm not careful. But I'll be careful, and it'll be fine!"

"Unless it's better at this than you think. Flan, you … you have a tendency towards overconfidence - not without reason, but several times in the short time I've known you, you've nearly been killed because you thought you could handle the situation you found yourself in. Against Lancer, the Golden Archer, against Berserker …." You pout as Ilya falls silent and looks down at her lap. "And if Angra Mainyu can send itself through with enough energy to fight you, or even affect you mentally … maybe you can fight off any influence it has. But if you can't, then it would be up to us to stop you." You sigh unhappily.

"I was just trying to think of a way to help, Ilya." She nods.

"I know. I'm grateful, Flan, I really am. It's just … it's something too dangerous. You know that what you consume can affect you, and from what everyone's been saying about the Shadow, it's a conglomeration of negative emotions - and you willingly considered just eating it, without even thinking about what it could do to you." She shakes her head a little and wipes her eyes, and you gently push her down so she's leaning against the chair instead of sitting upright.

"It's okay, Ilya. I understand. So how would you go about destroying it?" Ilya gives you a lingering, miserable look before scrunching her eyes shut and taking a deep breath.

"If you can't do the same thing to it that you did to the Archer and Saber? See if Deis can collapse the cavern. See if your flaming sword can damage the magic circle, or if Deis can do anything to break it. Physical explosives, like dynamite." You blink and shrug.

"Huh. As for my 'trick' … I'm not sure if I can, but I definitely shouldn't, because the explosion gets bigger if the target has more magic energy. It would probably be very noticeable." Ilya frowns, head tilted.

"So it's not just making your clones explode. Hm." You grin and shake your head. Ilya shakes her head, smiling lightly, then stares at nothing in particular for a while. "Flan, you won't do anything major without telling me, right?" Now it's your turn to stare at her.

"You don't trust me." Ilya slumps at the condemnation in your voice and you see tears start to form in her eyes as she shakes her head.

"I do, Flan, but …." You wrestle your growing anger under control. She's still a human, subject to human fears and weaknesses, and she's still adapting to her injury. You smile and rub the top of her head.

"Alright, Ilya. I won't do anything major here without letting you know." She leans forward, almost falling, and clutches you tightly. "There, there. Maybe you should get some rest?"

"Will you stay with me?" A reasonable request, especially without knowing what happened to the Lesser Grail - and how trustworthy Archer is. Although ….

"I was thinking about going to see Emiya. Rider was keeping an eye on him, but then she took off, so if he was awake he's probably very confused. I could call him again, but if he isn't home that won't amount to anything."

"Deis said she might be able to cast spells through a scrying arrangement," Sella says. You'd almost forgotten she was there. "I believe she is still familiarizing herself with ours, but she may be able to do something." An option, and one that might be worth trying. Or you could get Archer to go make sure Emiya is still okay ….


What do you do?

[ ] Call the Emiya residence.
- [ ] Then go to sleep.

[ ] See if Deis can find Emiya and communicate with him.
- [ ] Then talk to Deis about the situation.
- [ ] Then go to sleep.

[ ] Get Archer to go talk to him.
- [ ] Then go to sleep.

[ ] Other?

[X] Call the Emiya residence.
- [X] Then go to sleep.


"Well, let's just call him," you say, and Ilya nods. "If he answers, that's good; if he doesn't, either he's home but can't come to the phone, or he's gone somewhere … but in the latter case, he can't really get into any trouble. Sound good?" Ilya nods again but still doesn't let go, so you carefully ease your way back until you're floating clear of the chair and can adjust your grip on her.

"I shall inform Deis of the situation," Sella says, bowing. Deis might already know, actually - if she's playing around with Ilya's scrying system, she might be watching you right now. Ilya waves at Sella and leans against you as the servant departs.

"I'm sorry for getting upset earlier," you say. "Patchouli always thought I don't plan and think things through, and it irritates her." Ilya starts to respond but slumps and shakes her head. After the third hesitation you giggle and pat her head. "Don't worry, Ilya. You didn't do anything wrong." She relaxes, curling against you, and you start humming.

"Do you really think Shirou will be alright if he's gone out?" You nod and swoop gently from one side of the hall to the other.

"Yep. I mean, there are only two threats that have the ability and possible desire to harm him right now. The Grail can't get at him because he's nowhere near it, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't know where it is. Even if he went to the temple, the monks are there. Of course, the worm-mage can get at him, but he probably won't try to kill him unless he wants the Less- what's funny?" Ilya shakes her head slowly.

"I don't really blame you for not recognizing him, but Makiri - Zouken - shouldn't be a problem anymore. Sakura must have managed to free herself from him somehow." She sounds almost sad … but if she has memories from someone who was close to him, she might pity him.

"Well then, the only thing that really can and would try to attack him, the Grail, is still locked up, and unless he goes there, he should be fine. And since he doesn't know where it is, he can't go there!" You turn to enter the study with the telephone, then set Ilya on the table by the phone, sitting next to her so she can lean on your for support. You dial Emiya's number and wait for him to pick up. Eventually - almost long enough for you to give up - he does.

"Ahh … hello? This is the Emiya residence." He sounds a little dazed; did Rider knock him out, maybe?

"Hello, Emiya! It's me, Flan!"

"Oh! Then Rider - is Sakura alright?" You grin.

"Hmm, oh, actually -" You put your hand over the phone and look at Ilya. "Do you want to talk to him?" She hesitantly reaches for the phone and you help her hold it to her ear.

"Hello, Shirou. Yes, that's right!" She smiles happily. "No, she should be fine. Rin's taking care of her. Hehe. Well, you could come here. Eh? My home, of course." Her smile turns into a mischievous grin and she giggles again. "It's here, where it has been for decades. You don't know where it is? Hmm … and you don't have any way to get here by yourself, anyway. I guess you'll just have to wait!" She flinches away from the phone and scowls. "Well now I'm definitely not telling you how to get here! Hmph. … Well, I'll be sure to have someone contact you when we know something definite. Okay. Bye-bye, Shirou." She hands the phone back to you and gives a ragged sigh of relief, sagging against you. You rub the top of her head, sticking your tongue out when she scowls at you. She shakes her head. "He's fine. Worried about Sakura, but he said he'd stay home and be good." You tilt your head, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"And did he say anything about how you're doing?" Ilya looks at you, confused, and you sigh exasperatedly. "I told him you were hurt! Doesn't he have any manners?" Ilya shakes her head and leans against you.

"It's okay, Flan; Sakura is someone he's known for years and cares about. He's barely met me and most of that time I've been his enemy. He probably doesn't even remember you telling him about me." She looks unhappy, rather than accepting, and you stare at her pointedly. She meets your gaze and doesn't back down, so you huff irritatedly.

"Fine." You pull her closer, hugging her. "But you have to actually believe that, or I won't accept it. And then I'll make him apologize for hurting you!"

"Alright, Flan. … Thank you." You squeeze her gently and help her sit up, smiling happily.

"Ready to go to bed, Ilya? I'll stay with you, if you want me to." She nods and you carry her back to her room. You get her changed and make sure she's comfortable before snuggling up against her. "Good night, Ilya."

"Good night, Flan."

---

A gentle hand wakes you up and you turn your head to see Sella standing behind you. "Lady Flandre, it is time for you and Lady Illyasviel to wake up." You fake a yawn and pretend to consider going back to sleep, and giggle at her expression.

"Don't frown, Sella - you'll get wrinkles!" You giggle again when she blushes, and Ilya tries to turn over. You hold her shoulders and lean close, whispering in her ear. "Ilya. Ilya!" She starts waking up and you position your face right over hers. Her eyes open and she focuses on you - and her eyes go wide as she tries to figure out what you're doing there. You kiss her forehead and hop back, and when she sees Sella she starts to blush. You laugh openly and Ilya looks away in a huff.

"Lady Flandre, I must see to Lady Illyasviel's wounds." Your laughter dies and you follow Sella's instructions, carrying her to the bathing room so Sella can examine her. When Sella is satisfied and Ilya is clean and dressed you carry her down to the dining room. You're mildly surprised to see both Satsuki and Leysritt there already. But the presence of the Lesser Grail, looking as she did when you first saw her - hair no longer white, and wearing her own clothes instead of being wrapped in shadow - is enough to make you halt. Tohsaka pats her arm.

"It's alright, Flandre; she's back to normal now. I guess whatever you did last night really did work, it just took some time to clear up." Her sister stares at Ilya's missing limbs before realizing what she's doing and blushing and looking down at her lap. "Come on, Flandre, sit down so we can all eat." You warily set Ilya in her chair and sit down beside her as Sella moves to sit by Leysritt. Archer moves along behind his Master and takes the lids from the trays that cover the table, revealing a variety of foods - rice, noodles, fried dumplings, salads with unfamiliar vegetables, and a few other dishes. Tohsaka smiles as Ilya and Satsuki stare at the array of food; you wonder how many trips Archer had to make to get all this.


What do you do?

[ ] Ask Matou about Angra Mainyu.

[ ] Discuss destroying the Grail.

[ ] Polite chat.

[ ] Other?