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

[X] Go with Remilia.


You sway forward, wanting to go to your sister but still unsure if you should just leave Deis and the others. You take small, hesitant steps, then stumble forward as something shoves against the small of your back. You look back to see Deis wink and Sella nod minutely. Bolstered by their approval, you rush forward and throw yourself at Remilia. She catches you and hugs you, and then the world splits apart into dozens of images as she does the bat thing. Even with her sorcery allowing your mind to see from and use the dozens of bats that now constitute your body, you're still uncoordinated and can do little more than have them follow in her lead, a spiraling vortex of chittering forms flying through the library. Of course, several of your bats break off, following tangents of your thoughts, and you see Sakuya intercept Satsuki and begin leading her away from the others as they follow Patchouli and Koakuma. With your limited control of your bodies, however, the stragglers quickly turn back to follow the main group as it swarms through hidden places, flitting from room to room until it reaches the veranda. Your bodies reform, still holding one another and your sister's wings folded protectively around you. You eventually disentangle yourselves and sit down at a table. Remilia looks up at the night sky instead of speaking immediately, however.

"… I'm sorry, Remilia." She turns to look at you, surprised, and you look down at the table. "I got into a fight with a dragon in Skyrim, and I … guess I lost. I woke up in my room, but even though you said if I came back I'd have to go to Mid-Childa, I ran away again to have more fun." She chuckles and you look up, confused. She leans across the table to caress your face.

"Oh, Flandre, Flandre - my sweet little sister. It's fine. You don't think that Patchouli would have let you go unless I wanted you to, do you ?" You stare at her and feel your face redden. Remilia shakes her head and smiles. "I do try to be fair, and you really couldn't have known or suspected what the results of picking that particular enemy to fight to the death would have entailed. Not that that's going to get you off the hook this time, of course." You nod quickly.

"Yes … is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" She grimaces and looks out at the back lawn and the forest beyond before sighing.

"One of the things, I suppose. It's as good a place as any to start, at least." She straightens and looks at you; you imitate her posture almost reflexively. "Before you return to Mid-Childa, however, there is the matter of Verossa Acous. Don't worry; I've found him; I hired a group of vampires to search for him. He wasn't anywhere your rods were aligned to go, so don't worry about not having found him. I will leave in a few days to send him on to Mid-Childa; I don't expect to be long, and you will be going soon after him. Not that you can't come with me, of course, but what I'm waiting for is Patchouli to have finished with the immediate work on young Illyasviel, and I suspect you might want to be with her for a bit longer. The choice is yours, of course." You squeeze your fists and lean forward.

"Ilya will be alright?" Your sister nods.

"She will. Her Servant no longer needs so much of her strength, which by itself alleviates many of her problems. What Patchouli will work on is repairing the damage to her Magic Circuits and her Command Spells. Extending her lifespan - well, how she wishes to go about that will determine the ease with which it is accomplished, as well as whether or not we will restore her limbs. There are … hm, four options for that? Although, again, her decision." You sigh quietly, relieved that Ilya is going to be fine. Of course, you knew she would, but it's still a relief to hear confirmation. You look up to find your sister looking uncomfortable - embarrassed, even! - and you stiffen nervously.

"Remilia? Is something wrong?" She takes a quick breath and takes out a small folder, sets it on the table and slides it over to you. You stare at the title - Scarlet Duet - and flip it open. Inside are sheets of music, a harmony of piano and violin, and the music starts to play in your head. Another item drops beside the folder - two rectangles merged at one corner … a Spell Card. A double Spell Card? Is it really …?

"It's something I've been trying to work on for … well, a while now. I'm not sure how good it is, and the title can probably be improved -!" You aren't sure how you managed to throw yourself over the table without sending the music and the Spell Card flying everywhere, but you wrench Remilia along with you as you spin around the veranda. Eventually you stop, floating above the tables, and Remilia wipes the tears from your face. "… I'm glad you like it, Flan." You squeeze her again, and the two of you drift across the veranda to sit together on the railing.

"Is that really a double Spell Card?" Remilia nods as you lean into her.

"Yes. There aren't any rules against it, of course, and the individual parts can be used on their own if you want to test it." She pushes against you and tilts her head to just barely see you. "I understand you've made a Spell Card of your own?" You stick your tongue out.

"It's not impressive like this, though. It's a bomb-type for Laevateinn - Deis helped me make it. I even got to use it against Berserker!" She laughs softly and you lean against each other. "… Hey, Remilia? What is a friend to you?"

"Hmm. That …." She leans back and pulls you with her, wrapping her arms across your chest and resting her chin on your head. "I suppose it would be that a friend is someone I would want as part of my family. So friends are family that you choose. Why?"

"It was something Agito and I talked about a little, back in Kyouko's church." Although you have to admit that you were really wrong about what being a friend means, and about Remilia and Patchouli's relationship. You used to know her so much better …. She holds you as the two of you look up at the stars and moon together, then you clap your hands as another errant thought strikes you. "Oh! Patchouli seemed to know a lot about that Grail War and everything, so maybe you do, too? Do you know who Caster was? I know who Assassin, Berserker, Saber, Rider, and Lancer were, but not Caster."

"Heh. And not Archer, either? I think I'll let Illyasviel decide if she wants to spoil that surprise; I'm pretty sure she figured it out. But, yes, Caster was Medea, Princess of Colchis." And certain things make much more sense with that confirmed - her reactions toward you touching her were guilt, and her relationship with Souichirou was probably her first real love. You twist your head back and stare suspiciously at your sister; how can she think Ilya knows who Archer was unless she was watching? "I didn't interfere at all; in fact, I didn't see anything as it happened. Patchouli was the only one keeping an eye on you." You nod and relax.


What do you do?

[ ] Keep talking to Remilia.
- About? Further Questions?

[ ] Maybe you should go see how Ilya and Deis are doing?

[ ] Play a game.
- [ ] Tag!
- [ ] See if you can beat her usual Spell Cards.

[ ] Other?

[X] Keep talking to Remilia. - [X] Does she know how the people left behind in Fuyuki are taking things? - [X] Who the Kaleidoscope? - [X] Is is possible to return to that world in the future? You promise your servant Satsuki she could return to that world in the future once she had grow and you had a debt to collect from Tohsaka afterall. - [X] Can a message be sent to Lutecia and Agito and invite them to come over and hang out for a few days in Gensokyo? You did promise them you would show them around Gensokyo after all.


"So do you know anything about what everyone's going to be doing and thinking now that I'm gone?" Remilia steeples her hands over your chest and taps her fingertips together contemplatively.

"Hmm … well, what I actually know about what happened is actually rather limited; Patchouli didn't want me in her hair when she was trying to work, so she cut me off from her scrying system. Let me try …." She splays her fingers and a red screen appears in front of you - but nothing else happens, and she sighs. "Ah, well. Without poking around in there or in Fuyuki itself, I'm limited to guesswork, but that's fine, right?" You nod and an image appears on the screen - Tohsaka. "Little Tohsaka will probably stay and try to keep control of the city. True, she could flee to the Clock Tower in London, but she probably won't; she has a Servant, and joining them would probably cause no small amount of difficulties regarding her keeping him, especially at anything resembling peak efficiency. Moreover, she has to worry about Emiya and her sister, and if she went to the Association she would only be able to bring one of them without any further support." The image splits to show both the Matou girl and Emiya. "Emiya is a handful if he doesn't have some cause to occupy himself with, but the rebuilding of the town and its environs will probably keep him busy until he settles down with one of them. Probably the Matou girl, although without the right circumstances he's probably still going to head down the wrong sort of path. But … who knows? Maybe he'll get some teaching and become something better?"

The image changes to show Japan, much of it colored red. It fractures into several different colors, however, as Remilia begins speaking. "With the extinction of the Tohno family, the half-breeds in Japan will split apart, following their own families instead of a single organization. Some of the Tohno branches have more power than others, but in different ways - material wealth, numbers, strength of bloodline - but without the loyalty to a family head to keep them in line, it's probably going to turn to bloodshed at some point. And who knows? Maybe Shiki will restore his family to serve as a control and keep the peace. It will undoubtedly disrupt any plans they have for dealing with the Association or the Church, however, so Tohsaka may even be able to keep her city." You frown and crane your head back again.

"Isn't Shiki a Tohno, though?" Remilia grins and shakes her head.

"Adopted. He's pure human, quite good stock - I've played with the thought of breeding him with Sakuya, but I'm not sure it would work out. But almost everyone of importance around him is descended from humans and ogres who bred together." She sighs and stares at the image, and you turn to watch it as well. "A shame you had to kill Kishima; even if we couldn't have gotten him to stay and help Meiling, he would have made a good peace offering to the Buddhists. They would have been the perfect match for each other. Hmm … let's see. The Church likely depends on whether or not Patchouli made sure to bring Seven here or if it got left behind." You inhale sharply; you'd forgotten about the Church weapon, and Deis probably did as well since she didn't say anything about it. "If it was left behind, they'll confiscate it and say some nasty things to the True Ancestor before leaving. If they can't find it they'll probably try to do some real investigations, come up empty, insult the True Ancestor, and leave in a huff. Speaking of - Arcueid will probably go back to stay with Shiki some more. She doesn't have any real rivals left, and she may well simply take Shiki with him when she returns to her castle. The Einzberns will almost certainly collapse; with the Grail destroyed and their greatest work vanished, they won't have anything to live for. Like youkai, they lack imagination, and without something to keep them going they will merely exist, in their own little Gensokyo of nothing, until their power finally fades and they are properly forgotten." You turn your head a little but don't fully look at her; this isn't the first time she's been less-than-complimentary about Gensokyo, but it is the first time she's really sounded irritated about it. Or maybe it's just the Einzberns that she's grumpy with, and you're overthinking things. She certainly isn't acting agitated, after all. Still, maybe it would be better to get her mind focused on your next question?

"Patchouli mentioned something about a 'Kaleidoscope' after we came back. Is that a person we need to worry about, or something else?" She gestures quickly and the screen forms the image of an old man - the same old man who was in Ilya's workshop after you left.

"Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. One of the few 'Magicians' of that world as well as one of its more potent vampires, although he is much reduced in power now. At his height … picture a cross between Yukari and Yuuka." Your eyes widen at the idea, and at the second image that forms next to the first, of a younger man, tall and proud and powerful. Sort of like how the First would be, if he wasn't kind of short and fat and have a big nose. Remilia laughs, almost bitter. "Of course, that was a long time ago, and he's long since past his prime. His Jewel Sword is still deadly, of course, but direct combat isn't something he's suited to nowadays. You see, 'Magician' in that world is a title conferred to wielders of what is called 'True Magic.' The Einzberns sought to restore their True Magic through the Grail, but Zelretch's True Magic is referred to as Kaleidoscope. He mainly - at least, so far as Pache and I have been able to tell - uses it to observe different parallel universes, and he was rather fond of Arcueid. I'm not surprised that he tried something once you left." You suck in your breath sharply but Remilia wraps her arms around you and nuzzles you gently. "No need to worry, Flan. His magic is limited, and he doesn't have the advantages Pache and I have created over the years. He can't do much, and anything he tries to keep us out we can go through or around." You relax; at least Satsuki will be able to get back home if she still wants to when she's finally ready. Of course, she may not be able to stay there, not and stay alive. And you'll be able to collect from Tohsaka … eventually. Probably. Your eyes narrow as a related thought strikes you.

"So can you get back to Skyrim? I left some things unfinished there." But your sister grumbles unhappily.

"Not in a worthwhile manner. And more important, the god that's blocking us can reach out and attack here. Maybe - maybe - not in enough force to beat us, but certainly with enough power to make Yukari and half the other youkai sit up and do something." You scowl, but your sister isn't usually wrong. But there isn't really anything you can do about that, and most of what you saw wasn't that interesting.

"… What about Mid-Childa? Could I send a message to Lutecia and Agito? If I have a few days to spare before I have to go back, then they could come here and I could show them around a bit and introduce them to Ilya!"

"Well, it's certainly possible." You slump against Remilia; you don't even need her to finish talking to know she isn't going to agree to it. "However, I don't think it would be worth the disruption to everyone's schedules to pop in and take them away only to return them a short while later. Especially without having first returned young Acous. And while it may be a good idea to introduce your friends to each other, I think it would be rather unfair to Ilya if you were showing someone else the sights to see while she was forced to wait for Pache to fix her up, don't you? Besides, you wouldn't invite Lutecia without inviting her mother as well, would you?" Your sister giggles at your whining moan. "I'm sure you can find some way to pass the time, if you don't want to spend it with your family, or your friends who are already here." You curl up a bit at the mild rebuke, but Remilia pats your head to show you she meant no harm. And it's not like she's wrong; sure, you could introduce Lulu and Ilya … but you would have to work around any schedule Patchouli has for her, and when you aren't with Ilya you would be leaving her alone to play with someone else, and that wouldn't be fair to her. After all, unless Patchouli won't let her do anything, you could still do things with her. Remilia pulls you closer and hugs you even more tightly; you reach back to pat her head as she nuzzles you, and her wings close protectively. You're finally home … even if you aren't going to stay very long before taking another trip.


What do you do?

[ ] Just stay there with Remilia until she lets you go … or the sun comes up. Whichever comes first.

[ ] Keep talking.
- [ ] What about those vampires that found Acous? Are they interesting? Can I meet them?

[ ] On that note, you should go see how Ilya and Deis are doing. They are your guests, after all.

[ ] Play a game.
- [ ] Tag.
- [ ] See if you can beat her usual Spell Cards.

[ ] Other?