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

[X] Better safe than sorry; let Remilia detox Ilya.
- [X] Stay out here and watch danmaku.


You hug Ilya as you think things through, but despite your initial resentment toward your sister's interference, you can't actually think of a good reason to not let her continue. After all, she isn't trying to take away your friend; she's trying to make sure Ilya is your friend because she wants to be and not because you made her, however unintentionally. You raise your head from her neck and turn Ilya so she can look at you. "Ilya … I think you should let Remilia make sure you're alright." She gives you a look of betrayal.

"You – you don't want me to be your friend?" You hug her closely to prevent her getting hysterical.

"I do, Ilya, but I want to make sure you're okay and that I'm not doing something that could hurt you." She smiles and pats your shoulder reassuringly.

"I know you won't. And … and even if you are doing something accidentally, and even if it is affecting me, I don't care. I like the way I feel this way!" You give Ilya a sly grin as you lean back.

"Then you shouldn't have a problem with Remilia doing this, right? If you really like it this way afterward, then we can just do whatever it is that made it affect you!" Ilya tries to come up with a response, but ends up just pouting adorably. You giggle and nuzzle her cheek before looking at your sister. "That'll be fine, right?" Remilia scowls but sighs and nods.

"You … will be able to do that, yes. I'll even help if you want." You smile and give Ilya a triumphant look. "Then are you ready for me to get to work?" Ilya nods slowly, still a little unhappy.

"We can stay out here, right? So we can watch danmaku?" Remilia frowns and hesitates before nodding. You tilt your head curiously but she waves a hand, dismissing it.

"You will need to let her sit on her own, however, and maintain some distance – a couple feet should be enough. It wouldn't do to pour water into the well it's being taken from, after all." You nod unhappily and maneuver yourself around Ilya and set her back in the chair. Your sister's attention is elsewhere, however – she sniffs curiously and looks back toward the other guests. Nothing catches your attention, though. After a moment she shakes her head and takes a breath. "Go on, make yourselves comfortable." You push Ilya's chair back to her servants and take a seat on the grass next to her. Satsuki stands by you and you look back at Remilia.

"Do we need to do anything for Satsuki?" Remilia blinks – apparently you interrupted something – and stares for a moment before smiling and shaking her head.

"No, no, that won't be necessary; neither has she Illyasviel's vulnerability, nor the circumstances that make this intervention so needful. And before I forget another important thing, she will likely fall asleep before I finish, so if that happens you need not worry." You smile and look reassuringly at Satsuki and Ilya; your servant looks relieved, but Ilya still seems worried about something. You lean over and pat her knee and she smiles even as softly-glowing red sigils embed themselves in the ground around her. Remilia clears her throat and you scoot out of the quickly-forming circle.

"… Are they good at, um, danmaku?" Ilya gestures at the two duelists still trying to take each other down. "They've been at it for a while." You look up and shake your head after watching them for a few seconds.

"No, they're pretty bad. Good enough at dodging, but terrible at the danmaku itself. And I don't think either one has used a Spell Card." You chuckle. "Once you learn how to fly, you'll be better than they are." Ilya makes a startled sound, and you hear your sister try to stifle laughter. You shoot her a dark look, but whatever was funny about what you said seems to have genuinely amused her, rather than her laughing at Ilya or you. You turn back to the duel, then look down toward Patchouli. She isn't staring at you anymore, but you can see a few couples waiting behind her – two wolf youkai of some kind, two that look more human except for the extra eyes, and … Alice and Yuuka. That's interesting. A burst of light inside the dueling area draws your attention, and Patchouli sends a pair of glowing orbs up to the duelists and they float down to the ground and leave. The wolves take their place, although on closer inspection you're pretty sure one is a tengu, since she's wearing one of their funny little hats.

Their duel is much faster-paced and violent, each duelist launching bursts of bullets in an attempt to bracket her opponent and drive her into a corner, but they're both excellent fliers and clever enough with firing patterns to keep from being trapped. After two minutes without either one gaining any kind of advantage, the tengu pulls something out of her belt – a Spell Card. The wolf laughs and claps her hands as the tengu's card goes into effect, sending undulating spirals at her opponent. The wolf dodges them expertly, however – even going into a spiral a couple times to show off! – and doesn't even bother shooting back. At first you think that's a mistake, as the tengu's Spell Card gets faster and more violent, but when it ends without having touched the wolf, the tengu reluctantly concedes the match. Ilya starts humming quietly; you look at her worriedly, but she doesn't seem concerned. Then you notice a low whistling that her humming is following, and you carefully look back to see that it's coming from Remilia. It's actually really catchy, and you make a note to yourself to ask her where it came from.

The two strange youkai seem to have decided to give up their place in line, as Yuuka and Alice step up to Patchouli. You can't hear what they're saying, but Yuuka is carrying what looks like a set of clothes … maybe she wants Alice to fix them?

"Alice is going to win, right?" You glance at Ilya and shrug.

"I don't know. Yuuka's really strong, which doesn't really mean anything where danmaku is concerned, but she's also really old and experienced. I'm not sure I'd bet against her most of the time. But I don't really know how either of them does danmaku, except that Alice probably uses her dolls." Ilya frowns and stares at the two combatants. Alice, at least, looks nervous, so she probably doesn't like her chances, either. The barrier field glows more brightly and extends upward as they enter. Patchouli evidently thinks they need more room, but it also draws a lot of attention, and a good number of people wander over as the magician and flower youkai take up their positions.

Alice starts the fight, summoning a horde of dolls to fill the air with danmaku. Yuuka rests her parasol on her shoulder and lazily drifts to the side; you can't even call it a dodge. She responds with a barrage of flowers and pushes closer to her opponent. Alice flies backward to keep the distance open between them. You start to keep talking to Ilya, but she's humming again. You look back at your sister, but she isn't even paying attention to the duel or to you. She's busy staring at the ground, fingers blurring in complicated gestures; no one seems to have noticed her, though. A flash signals the first Spell Card, and Alice's dolls all change appearance, glowing pale white. Yuuka isn't disturbed by the dolls that teleport around, however, and seems to have no trouble avoiding the bullets regardless of where they come from. She does fire on Alice, although the Spell Card collapses on its own rather than being broken. Once it's down, Yuuka dashes back, moving exceptionally quickly, and levels her parasol at Alice – pointing straight up from your perspective, of course. You aren't the only one to gasp as a brilliant rainbow vortex surges upward. It's really quite beautiful, and if Alice seems to have dodged the attack itself, many of her dolls didn't.

The duel continues in that pattern for a long time – much longer than most danmaku duels – but neither duelist seems to have won when Patchouli sends up her lights to end the duel. You aren't sure how many people can see it, but you can tell that Alice has to hold her clothes up with her magic threads … and it seems that Yuuka is offering the clothes she brought to Alice. You giggle at the expression on Alice's face, and Ilya blinks drowsily at you before frowning. "What's going on?"

"It doesn't look like either of them won, but Alice's clothes are starting to fall off, and Yuuka just happens to have some clothes on hand. Even if the duel itself is a draw, I think Alice lost." Ilya pouts, a somewhat strange image with the red light illuminating her from below. You shake your head and look over at Patchouli; her own expression is unreadable, but Alice looks absolutely horrified and humiliated as she takes the clothes from Yuuka. The flower youkai half-bows and walks away, an easy smile on her face. She glances at you once, for just a moment, but keeps going and walks out away to the exit.

The next duel – the many-eyed human-like youkai – isn't nearly as interesting or exciting, but you do see Alice again and have to stifle your laughter … not entirely successfully. Ilya also seems to be amused by the image of Alice in a maid's uniform, however, so it's not too bad. Her obvious embarrassment, possibly because most people don't seem to be looking at her, is what really sells it, however. Where is Aya when you need a picture taken?

In a way, it's not a bad thing that the other duels you watch aren't as high-level as the one between Alice and Yuuka. It's true that they lack the excitement and sheer visual spectacle of that duel, but it also means you can see the patterns more easily, and some of them are quite pretty, designed more to appeal to a viewer than to be difficult to beat. Of course, given that these are still duels, those Spell Cards tend to not last very long, as there's only so much dodging most Spell Cards allow. Ilya seems relaxed as well, so much so that even if Remilia hadn't warned you, you wouldn't have been overly worried when she simply falls asleep while humming softly to herself.

Eventually, however, there are no more duels to be had. You stand up and stretch; most people have long since left. Remilia is still whistling softly as Patchouli stalks up to you. She cuts you off with a sharp look before you can say anything. Your teeth clack noisily and you glare at her, but she simply walks past you to Remilia.

"Remi." One dull red eye opens and her head shakes minutely.

"Not yet. Less than an hour." Her fingers make cracking noises when she whispers back, and when she goes back to whistling you see them healing from some kind of damage from the speed she had to use to make up for not speaking.

"Then let me take over. It won't make any difference at this point." Another tiny headshake, and Patchouli scowls irritatedly.


What do you do?

[ ] Let Remilia finish with Ilya.
- [ ] Talk to Patchouli in the meantime.

[ ] Ask Remilia to let Patchouli take over for the end.
- [ ] Take her up to her room to get some rest.
- [ ] See if you can get some information about where Verossa is.

[ ] Other?

[X] Ask Remilia to let Patchouli take over for the end.
- [X] Take her up to her room to get some rest.


"Remilia, I think you should let Patchouli take over," you say quietly. Patchouli's head twitches, presumably in surprise at your support. She ought to know better. "You're tired, and you've done a lot recently. This is magic, right? So Patchouli shouldn't have any trouble with it …." Remilia's open eye flicks toward you, then sweeps across her field of view. She sags as if sighing, but her whistling doesn't stop; instead, after a moment she straightens and opens her other eye and stares at Patchouli. Her whistling intensifies, becoming higher-pitched and faster. Patchouli, for her part, begins muttering very quickly under her breath as she tries to catch the spell from your sister. You immediately start wondering if you've made a terrible mistake - if the magician's asthma acts up then the spell is probably going to go wrong, and that could be … very bad. Probably, anyway. But what's done is done, and Patchouli begins swaying, not in exhaustion or sickness, but in some manner that seems to aid her in managing the spell. Ilya twitches and stiffens, then relaxes again - if anything, she seems more relaxed now than when Remilia was working.

"Et tu, Flandre?" She chuckles weakly at your annoyed glare, but you still start to catch her when she takes an incredibly unsteady step. "And even Leysritt. My, my … hehe!" You glance at the quiet servant as Remilia starts giggling, but nothing seems to indicate that she did or said anything. You do step up to your sister's side, then, and hold her shoulders.

"I think you should get some rest." She gives you an annoyed pout, but you just shake your head and look at Sella. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to take her up to her room and make sure she doesn't do anything foolish." She bows respectfully.

"Of course, Lady Flandre. Lady Remilia, thank you for all you've done." Leysritt bows as well, and Remilia looks away, embarrassed, and waves her hand.

"It's fine, it's fine." You pat her shoulder gently and start pushing her toward the front door. She doesn't resist, but Satsuki starts to stand up, looking at you questioningly. You shake your head quickly and nod at Ilya. She seems a little disappointed at first, but smiles and nods. You're glad she understands. Remilia waits until you're out of earshot before slowing a little, pushing back against your gentle guidance, and scowls sideways at you. "I'm fine, Flandre; I don't need you to escort me." For a moment you almost believe her, but then she slips on something lying in the grass - a discarded piece of cloth - and staggers against you.

"… I don't think I should trust your ability to fly any more than your ability to walk, Remilia. You need someone to make sure you don't curl up in a nice, dark corner, and Sakuya would just obey you if you told her to go away, so it's either me or Patchouli. And since she's busy, I get to do it!" You slip closer to her and swing her up in your arms, cradling her close to you. She starts to stiffen, then thinks better of it and carefully brings her wing up and around you to make a sort of blanket for herself before going mostly limp and leaning against you, face slightly red.

"Fine, you can carry me. But you're not going to parade me through the entry hall, past all the servants and Sakuya!" You giggle and float into the air, then fly up toward your sister's suite. "… Hey, Flandre? Do you remember old Götz?" You blink and look down at her, racking your brain to try and remember someone based on a single name.

"You mean Ironhand?" She nods, smiling in fond recollection.

"Yeah. Remember how he never believed that we were devils? He wanted me to make a real iron hand for him, to prove it. And if I could put an easily-reloaded concealed firearm in it, he'd swear fealty to me!" You grin as you remember the old mercenary.

"But you couldn't, not then, so he just offered us his sons to marry when we were 'old enough.'" Remilia laughs at the idea and you land on a balcony. "What brought him up?" Her good mood fades and she shakes her head.

"Nothing, really. I just read something a while back that made me think of him." She doesn't say anything else about it, however, and you carry her into the strangely austere sitting room. Despite the high quality and lavish decoration of much of the furniture, it still gives the impression of being plain. It's not even a magical effect, you don't think - it's just presentation, color choice, and placement. You take her into her bedroom and set her on a chair, then help her take off the power-stained dress to put on something more comfortable to sleep in. She sleepily allows you to dress her in a nightgown, and doesn't fight as you carry her to her coffin. She gives you kiss on the cheek as you set her inside, and you lean forward to kiss her forehead. As you start to lean back, however, her hands latch onto your wrists and pull you into the coffin. "I've caught you~" She giggles and her wings snap forward to embrace you; you struggle, but her grip is much too strong for you to break free without hurting her.

"Remilia. Sella's expecting me, and I have to make sure Satsuki sees Sakuya and Meiling."

"Sleep, sleep. Snore, snore." You snort at the feeble attempt at deception, but combined with her unexpected strength … did she deceive you into thinking she was more tired than she really is, just to get you here? You aren't sure what to think about that - she could have just asked, after all ….


What do you do?

[ ] Just stay there until she falls asleep, then go back to Ilya and see how things are going.

[ ] You might as well go to sleep if she's not going to let you go.

[ ] Stay and talk, since you're here and she's not letting you go.
- [ ] About Ilya and how things are going with her.
- [ ] About Verossa and her plans for tomorrow.

[ ] Break her grip and go back to Ilya.

[ ] Other?

[X] You might as well go to sleep if she's not going to let you go.


You sigh and let yourself sag onto your sister. You can't really move around much with her holding your hands in front of you, after all. "Fine, fine," you mutter, and your wings relax as well. Remilia makes a curious noise, but you simply make yourself as comfortable as you can while lying on your hands. Her wings close more tightly around you, hugging you snugly, and the coffin lid closes with a thud. Her hands release your wrists, and as you fall asleep you feel them reach around your head ….

---

"She's being brattier than usual, isn't she?" You blink, then frown as you wake up across the table from Headless. "You do have things you could be doing, after all." You sigh and shrug, then pick up the teacup that's in front of you and take a drink.

"Maybe. She could just be worried that I'll pester Ilya and undo everything she just did. Or maybe she just wants to spend more time with me and couldn't figure out a way to ask me without making it seem like she didn't want me to get along with Ilya." You set the teacup down and sigh, leaning forward onto the table. "I just wish she'd asked, or just said something." Headless snorts.

"And don't forget that little drug she had Sakuya give you," she says, but you wave that away.

"That doesn't bother me as much; we all know that when I get excited or upset, I overreact. If Yuyuko had acted the way Remilia thought she would, I would definitely have needed that drink. Besides, we don't know what she told Sakuya to do or how to go about getting me to drink it, so maybe Sakuya did something on her own initiative." Headless shakes her head and grins wryly.

"Always with the excuses for dear old sister, hm?" She chuckles as you glower and waves. "I know, I know. And you would make excuses for me if she ever asked about me, too, so it's not just her. It's just … she does what she wants." You laugh at that, and laugh even harder at the irritated look Headless gives you.

"Well, of course! She is a vampire, after all." Headless opens her mouth to retort, then just exhales and scowls at you. You giggle, then sober up. "… Do you think she's figured out anything more about you? It's been a long time since the last time we had a real talk. And I'm not sure she really knows about Giltless, either." Headless leans forward and lays her head on her arms.

"I don't know. Not sure how much I care, anymore." You frown at your friend.

"Are you still tired?" She shrugs, then sits up and shakes her head.

"No more so than usual, I guess. But I suppose when you finally do tell them about Giltless, they're going to want to examine her, and then they'll probably want to see if anything's changed with me." She gives you a look. "And, no, I'm certain that my little tired spell wasn't because of Giltless, so don't bother suggesting it." You smile and spread your arms innocently.

"Would I do such a thing, Headless?" She gives you a look and you giggle and shrug. "Maybe I would. Where is she, anyway?"

"Reading, I think. Or sleeping. She's … really curious, and I've been able to answer most of her questions, but I …." She sighs and shakes her head. "I kind of wish, almost, that Remilia and Patchouli could give her a body, too, so she can be her own person instead of … well, like me." You watch your friend for a moment, then slip out of your chair and float around the table to give her a hug. You probably won't be able to get Remilia to do anything before you go to Mid-Childa, but when you come back you can see if she can do something. After a few seconds Headless pats your arm. "Are you planning on going with your sister to catch that Verossa? It might be your last chance at having some fun before we have to go back to that boring place where they don't like to kill people." You chuckle.

"At least they can back up their request to not use lethal force. Sure, I can still fight them, but they're not saying that just because they can't kill people. As for the trip …." You shrug. "If I stay, I can spend some more time with Ilya, but like you said, going might be fun. But she did say that she didn't expect to be more than an hour or so - although that doesn't really support either choice, it just means that getting Verossa and returning should be short." Headless nods.

"Unless it takes several days, of course." You make a face and Headless laughs quietly. "… Anyway, thanks for talking. I think I'll take a nap, myself." You give her another hug and she heads down to her suite, leaving you to wonder why she thought you wouldn't have stayed to talk. It's not like you were doing anything too important. Shrugging, you dismiss the thought and pull back to yourself and real sleep.

---

"… Really? That's what you want me to do?" You wake up suddenly, although strangely, you can't move - you can't even open your eyes! But that's Aya's voice ….

"I think it's something you should at least consider. See if you think it has a chance, at least." Aya laughs at your sister's response, and you really wish you knew what they were talking about. "Anyway, I'd wanted you to wait until I contacted you, because I'm not sure how things are going to go just yet."

"This has something to do with wherever Flandre disappeared to, doesn't it?" A small hand brushes your cheek - your sister's hand - and someone leaves a gentle kiss on your forehead. "Aw. You should have let me get a picture!"

"And have that hanging over my head the next time you want some kind of inside information? No way." Aya laughs.

"I wouldn't do something like that, Remilia." You do hear her camera, then - a picture of you?

"Yes, you would, and you know it. You wouldn't try to put me into a position where you could leverage it against me, but you're an information-gathering tengu; if you wouldn't do that, you wouldn't have the position you do." You hear her yawn. "Anyway, let's leave my sister to her sleep. It's too early to do anything, anyway." You stew grumpily for a few minutes - and now you can move. You sit up and push the coffin's lid up, but no one is present to meet your glowering stare. It's probably well into the morning, now, if Aya's here.


What do you do?

[ ] Go back to sleep.

[ ] Follow Remilia and Aya.
- [ ] Sneak.
- [ ] Openly.

[ ] Get some breakfast.

[ ] Head back to your room and change, then go find Ilya.

[ ] Other?