> Turn to Byakuren.
> "Does that work? I figure it would be easiest for you two to get acquainted this way."
> "Great.
> Turn to Mamizou with a faux angry face while waggling a finger.
> "And no charging her for your help. You are to be on your best behavior whileyou're here."
> Turn back to Byakuren with a small smirk.
> "I hope you're prepared to deal with a second me."
> "All right. Have fun, you two. It's time for me to fulfill my end of the Tenshi bargain."
> "So am I. I know of no two people more capable."
> Retrieve and rewear our shoes, retrieve anything else we left lying around (maybe the umbrella?), exit the Temple, and head back to the Tavern.
> Is Yuli still there?
> Make our way over to Tenshi. WAve if anyone in her group, including her, looks our way.
>"If you are, yeah."
> "Okay, let's head out."
> Exit the tavern.
> Oh shoot, did we ever recover the non-Mamizou tiger umbrella from Mystia?
> Take flight and head toward Alice's house.
> Along the way, turn to Tenshi.
> "So have you decided who you want the doll to be?"
> "All right. Would you prefer I leave after dropping you off and explaining the situation to her, so you can decide without anyone around? I know you wanted to talk about this as little as possible."
> "All right, can do. I can head to the mountain myself. Though I regret not taking you with me there, too, since I wanted to see what you could do against the giant ox."
> "That's a rather understandable assessment. You know I live underground, though, so you'll probably have to remind me of the previous times the surface world needed Bhava-Agra to save it for me to really get it."
> "Sounds like more of a problem for you than for us, to be honest. Bhava-Agra didn't almost fall on me, after all."
> Nod.
> "I guess that would explain why you left the human village once it showed up."
> Put on a confused look.
> "But why would we have needed Iku when we already had you? Especially when I knew the whole time that I could jam it back in the sword on my own, or with Byakuren's help at most.."
> Chuckle a bit.
> "You should have more faith in me, Tenshi."
> Continue on to Alice's house.
> Knock on the door.
> Enter!
> Look over at Tenshi with a raised eyebrow, then look back at Alice.
> "Well, I wanted to go the great umbrella shuffle tonight, since I have yours and Mystia has one of mine, and I wanted to not have to think about it more than I had to. I'm also here, though, to inquire about the prospect of a custom-made doll."
> "All right. In that case, Tenshi has a request for a doll. Please consider her request as coverage for the remainder of the cost of the mahogany. You needn't worry about Mamizou futher, either, since she's decided to stay in Gensokyo."
> "Not as long as you might think. I don't know what the final decision will be, and I'll be leaving before it's made, but I do know there are a limited number of candidates."
> Mentally check the locations of Youkai Mountain, Marisa's house, the Hakurei Shrine, Turtle House, the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and the entrance to the Underground from our current location.
> Turn to Tenshi and extend a hand for a handshake.
> "Pleasure doing business."
> Nod.
> "I talked to Byakuren. The supplies will be ready."
> "Anyway, I'll take my leave. Thank you both for your help today."
> Assuming no objection from either, leave the house and head to Marisa's house. Fly if possible, walk if necessary.
> Might as well try.
> Swoop down and knock on the door.
> Oh well.
> Take flight again and head to Turtle House.
> What was the language spoken in Avalon again? The sword itself was Cornish.
> Swoop down and knock on the door.
> "Kind of. I'll try not to keep you long, since you look like you need to dry off. Have you two heard of a place called Avalon? Apparently it's in Europe?"
> "It's where that sword came from. And it's a place I somehow traveled to earlier today, presumably because I had the sword. I found my best friend from a long time ago there and brought her back here, but I'm rather curious as to how far away it is, given I'd never heard of it before but Gensokyo is somehow linked to it."
> "Well damn. That must have taken her forever to get there. Regardless, from the sound of things, Avalon's well-known and kinda important amongst Eastern magicians, so you two might want to ask about it some time. Patchouli seemed to know a good deal about it, as expected. I didn't gather much about it myself while I was there, something about a King Pendragon and some Knights of the Round Table or some such, but probably not anything that would be useful to tell a magician beyond maybe the fact that the humans there avoid supernatural creatures like the plague."
> "Not quite sure. Think the pieces of that sword ripped a hole in the side of reality. You're not getting there, though, unless you want to be trapped there with a ton of people that don't speak your language and will flip their lids the instant you fly or do anything magic. Yukari's closing the connection as we speak, and given how miffed she was that it was open in the first place, I doubt even her twin could convince her to keep it open."
> "Yeah, sorry about that. I actually would've liked to go back myself from time to time, but really, with their attitudes about magic and supernatural creatures, it's likely for the best that they can't get here."
> "Anyway, Renko, if your ice fairy buddy happens to remember about the deal we cut earlier today, let me know and I'll try to find some way to get her a consolation prize, since the jewels from earlier no longer exist."
> "That's about it from me. Swing by the human village tomorrow if you'd like to meet Gensokyo's newest tanuki. I'm sure she'll at least have some good tales of Avalon."
> Smirk.
> "Now get yourself dry before you catch a cold, Mary."
> Chuckle.
> "All right, you two, have a good night."
> "I actually wanted her here to meet you directly. But we can't always get what we want, so this'll have to do. Later."
> Assuming no objection, take flight and head toward the Hakurei Shrine.
> Swoop down to said porch and check out said activity!
> "Yo. Last I had heard, we thought she went to Makai under the presumption Shinki was responsible for the money problem. Marisa took off after her."
> Frown.
> "Are they really not back yet? The problems been solved, but now there's another problem that needs them to know about it."
> "I would, but I have more stuff to take care of. Tell 'em to swing by the Myouren Temple first thing tomorrow. The culprit's there, and their mind's kinda shattered."
> "Believe me, if there was another way this could have been handled, it would have been handled that way. But the problem was caused by the power of an incredibly strong will, so."
> Frown.
> "And I'll come out and admit that I'm the one personally responsible for the mindbreak, just so Reimu doesn't get any funny ideas about the Temple's activities and tries to wreck up the place herself or send you to do it like a few winters ago."
> "Thanks. Gotta get going myself, so I'll see you around."
> Assuming no objection, take flight and head for the tengu village on the mountain.
> Tall and dark-haired? Is this Aya?
> "Sure. Thanks."
> A personal escort, huh? Maybe the tengu aren't quite so terrible after all.
> "Got it."
> Follow the tengu up the mountain. Mentally assess her aesthetics along the way.
> Is she a cutie? Perhaps worth some 'consideration' some day when life isn't so hectic?
> "Thanks. Can I ask your name?"
> Offer hand for a handshake.
> "Problem or not, Koyomi, your work is appreciated."
> "I hope to not be long. Should I expect to show myself back down, or will someone wait for me?"
> "Excellent. I'll try not to keep you waiting longer than necessary."
> Head on into the Moriya Shrine.
> C'mon, you, it's just Sanae's place. Buck up.
> Head inside the shrine.
> Let them approach.
> Turn to Sanae with a grin.
> "Believe me, I've been through a hell of a lot worse since then, but I'm still standing."
>"Didn't do anything to me unless I was holding it."
>"Um, question: what the hell was that... thing you were in earlier?"
> "A secret kappa project, huh...wonder if that's where Nitori and Utsuho have been all this time."
> "Nifty."
> Give a small grin.
> "So what does it do, beyond fly really fast, make a ton of noise and almost kill people as it narrowly avoids flying right through them?"
> Keep grinning.
> "Yes, because pokey ol' me is the one coming out of nowhere."
> Wave our non-umbrella hand dismissively.
> "Don't worry about it, no harm was done. Just try to warn those of us not from the outside world the next time you want to trot out something that's far bigger and faster than the rest of us."
> "Oh, fine."
> Fold up our umbrella and toss it on the floor next to us, then turn back to Sanae with a smile and our arms open in front of us.
> "C'mere, you."
> This time? What did we do last time?
> Pout.
> "What! I am a pure and innocent woman who would never do such a thing! How can you be so cruel?"
> Oh yeah. Goddamn, we're amazing.
> Drop our hands and put on an offended frown.
> "The nerve! In all my years I have never been so...insulted! Fine! If this is how you're going to be, I'm going home!"
> Pick up our umbrella in a huff and make our way out the door while ranting.
> "Unbelievable. The total last of respect from kids these days."
> Too late! We're already out back onto the grounds.
> "Hmph!"
> Tilt our nose in the air and keep walking.
> Did we ever find out what SETI was?
> Stop walking.
> Turn our head around to the left, looking back at Sanae with a raised eyebrow and an unamused expression.
> How measurably close is Sanae to us?
> Do we know if we're physically stronger than her?
> Turn around, still looking unamused. Start walking toward Sanae.
> "You are, huh? For such offensive and hurtful comments?"
> Keep walking toward Sanae in an attempt to get right next to her.
> "And you won't question my intentions in the future?"
> Are we yet in range where we could rap our arms around her?
> "I offered you a hug and you questioned it! I may like to have some fun, but I'm not some kind of unfeeling monster!"
> Are her arms out? Or are they at her sides in a fashion where we could pin them to her sides in the process of wrapping our arms around her?
> Close whatever further distance we can so we wouldn't have to lean in.
> "Oh, please, that was like forever ago! And it was mostly your fault anyway, dragging me back here and thinking I was from another planet."
> Drop the umbrella while slightly moving the arm holding it away from our body, so it doesn't drop quite straight down. Wait just long enough that we wouldn't also grab the umbrella if we tried to hug her before speaking again.
> "Everything I do is something I have to do."
> As we finish speaking, as fast as we can, whip our arms around her, coming in at an angle that will pin her arms to her side! If we succeed in getting our arms around her, use them to pull her into our body for an embrace while grinning.
> Give a genuine laugh (not an evil one) while spinning in place. Lift Sanae slightly off the ground so we're spinning her through the air as opposed to dragging her feet across the ground.
> "Oh, you'd know if I'd been drinking."
> Grin wider.
> "But clearly you still haven't learned to not question me."
> Tighten the embrace, squeezing Sanae further into us.
> "An oni! That's a good idea! I should take my human prize back home underground!"
> Lift Sanae slightly off the ground again, gripping whatever we can to steady our hold.
> Turn around and start walking back toward the tengu village.
> Could we fly while carrying her?
> "I'm a legitimate business owner witha genius accountant friend! I can afford a lot more than you might think!"
> Can we alter our cranial structure so that we can open our mouth wider than norma,?
> What if we put Sanae down but didn't let her go? Could we do it then?
> "Hmm. Maybe you're right."
> Let her down and ease our squishing her into us slightly.
> "I have another idea. Mind holding still for a minute?"
> "Well, if you think I can't afford you, then I figure I should just eat you instead."
> "Rumia is also Rumia. Now hold still for a minute so I can do this properly."
> If she actually does hold still, work on developing snake jaws.
> How well can we talk with the altered jaws, anyway?
> Speak with the appropriate effort, then.
> "All right."
> Open our mouth wide, pointed in the direction of Sanae's head.
> Move our mouth in toward her head. If we need help, pullher toward us so her head goes toward our mouth.
> Is our mouth actually wide enough to fit her head?
> Well, if we're not entirely sure, then fun time is over. Maybe we can use this trick again later to help a fairy win hide-and-go-seek or something.
> Pull our head back, let Sanae go, and restore our jaw to normal.
> "It's true that I'm not much of a hugger. But today's been full of extreme highs and lows, both physically and emotionally, and I've come out of it with a renewed appreciation for those I care about. And you seemed to genuinely feel bad about the jet thing, so."
> "You've been told correctly, I imagine. Part of my day involved traveling all the way to the other side of the world, to find a country full of people that didn't understand me or speak a language I understood, people that also live in terror and hatred of supernatural creatures, and that was still one of the less stressful things that's happened to me today."
> "Yeah. Go on back inside."
> Pick up our umbrella and trot back inside ourselves.
> "Oh, okay."
> Join her at the porch.
> "You're originally from the outside, right? Apparently I went to a place called Europe. You ever heard of it? The Turtle House kids say it's all the way on the other side of the world."
> "I don't think so. If I did, it didn't come up. The area of Europe I was in was called Avalon, and one town I found myself in was called Arzas, I think. I learned of a region called Cornwall, too, though I never went there."
> "Really? It was daytime th entire time I was there. But it also wasn't raining, and I spent at least a couple of hours there and returned to find that almost no time had passed here, so who the hell knows what rules apply to this situation. If any."
> "They said they were from Avalon, and multiple magicians here have confirmed the existence of an Avalon. Suwako didn't seem to question it either."
> "Oh. Well, the guy there claimed that too. I didn't check any maps because I couldn't have read them anyway."
>"About all I can tell you about the place is that people like me aren't treated as kindly as we are here. Well, that, and that the place has a king named Pendragon."
>"It wasn't like that a thousand years ago, but I don't exactly know when it changed. When you're sealed away for a thousand years, you miss a few things."
> "But whatever, that's all done now. No one from here is getting there again thanks to the gap youkai, so there's no need for concern."
> "Anyway, I think I need to head home soon. But before I go, I need to ask; what do you and your goddesses think of Tenshi?"
> "I'm gauging interest in putting one over on her. I have an idea, but it would involve you folks."
> Grin.
> "It's a little relatively harmless fun that'll also hopefully discourage her from writing checks her ass can't cash."
> "She was in the human village when the thing inside that sword got loose, along with a bunch of others. I understand she ran away like a scalded dog. After I got it back in the sword, I found she had returned to the human village, talking about how it was good I dealt with the problem before she had to get involved. It was a conversation laced with braggadocio and her seeming to forget who the better of the two of us is. I tried baiting her into challenging the thing itself, including offering her a shot at the beast if she wanted it since I knew who had the sword and could conceivably let the thing loose again, but she did her best to avoid the prospect, eventually excusing herself by declaring that we in Gensokyo can't always depend on Bhava-Agra for help."
> "However, I know she has to come back this way when she wants to go home, and I'm guessing it's plausible that your goddesses would at least have some sort of ability to contact Bhava-Agra's head honcho as needed. So I'm thinking that maybe someone from here stops her on her way home with a borderline sob story about how she's needed to take this thing down for good, and that her higher-ups have green lighted it because if this thing isn't stopped from running roughshod on Gensokyo, Bhava-Agra will be its likely next target."
> "I'd be happy to lay it out again for her, if you think she'd be interested."
> "All right. You wanna come with, in case more details get hashed out? The subtleties are important, and you may end up playing a role."
> "All right."
> Inventory sans descriptions (unless it's easier to post the descriptions, in which case go for it)
> Heard northward, presumably toward said pond
> That's the second time today. We really need to get some goddess to teach us how to do that.
> "Actually, she's here for me. I'd like to find out if you'd be interested in putting one over on Tenshi when she comes back up the mountain to go home."
> Turn to Sanae.
> "Uh, are there any guidelines to the donation thing? Things I shouldn't throw in, and such?"
> "Got it."
> Pull out and toss in 10☼.
> "All right. Tenshi was in the human village when the primal got loose, along with a bunch of others. Apparently she fled the scene immediately. Mokou was almost convinced she wet herself in the process. After I got it back in the sword, I found Tenshi had returned to the human village, talking about how it was good I dealt with the problem before she had to get involved. Basically a whole bunch of grandstanding and such, and forgetting which of us is better at this sort of thing. I tried baiting her into challenging the thing itself, including offering her a shot at the beast if she wanted it since I knew you had the sword, but she did her best to avoid the prospect, eventually excusing herself by declaring that we in Gensokyo can't always depend on Bhava-Agra for help."
> "However, I know she has to come back this way when she wants to go home, and I'm guessing it's plausible that you would at least have some sort of ability to contact Bhava-Agra as needed in case of emergency. So I'm thinking that maybe someone from here stops her on her way home with a story about how she's needed to take this thing down for good, because if this thing isn't stopped from running roughshod on Gensokyo, Bhava-Agra will be its likely next target. And if she tries the line about how Bhava-Agra can't be solving Gensokyo's problems, maybe she should remember that this place can contact Bhava-Agra and ask herself why people that have the power to contact Bhava-Agra as such would be asking her to do this."
> "I wondered about inside help myself. You don't think it'd be doable just by heavily implying you've had a quick conversation with the Dragon?"
> "That could yield some interesting results if she comes back up with her students. They're less likely to bite, but I don't think she likes it too much when they disagree with her, and they may just keep their thoughts to themselves our of sheer curiosity for how she'd handle the situation."
> "Yeah, there's that too. On the whole, there's a decent change Tenshi is the only one that will need to be fooled, which skips the issue of directly lying to another celestial altogether."
>"And if we do need to have a celestial talk to her, well, I may very well be able to take care of that."
>"Um... I don't think so, actually, and I doubt I'll be able to change that in time. I guess we'll have to hope she buys it without one."
> What's up with the weird hours lately? You feeling okay?
> "That depends. Would it be possible to resummon this thing without doing much collateral damage to the environment? Or maybe create an illusion that looks like it?"
> Shake head.
> "I wouldn't be able to properly pull off something that grandiose with the tools at my disposal. I might be able to get this shrine to look like the ox, but the illusion would probably get wrecked by even just a gentle breeze."
> "We need to conjure a giant red ox and neither of us are currently capable of it. I can't think of anyone that could pull something like that off, either for real or just as a trick, but I don't spend all that much time up here. You probably know the surface folks better than I do; do you know any that could quickly manufacture a giant red ox?"
> Frown.
> "And none of them actually saw the thing, so even if they could produce one, there's no guarantee it would pass the sight test."
> "Maybe we could pass off something else large and intimidating as the ox having changed appearances? Something we actually can conjure?"
> "I don't know. This is why I'm asking. My chimera is likely the extend of what I could effectively do, and even if she did fall for that, which I don't think she would, I can't pull it off to completion right now anyway. Not with the sprain I have going right now."
> Give a small smile.
> "I'm not thinking we need to be quite that drastic. But if we can't figure a way to generate a proper illusion to call her calling our bluff, then either we need to make sure she won't call our bluff, or we need to give her an opportunity to change her mind without her looking she looks bad in front of her students. She ran away from the ox once before in the presence of her students, she may well do it again."
> Put on a thinking face with a hand on our chin for a few moments, then use that same hand to snap our fingers.
> "Got it. When you're pitching the case to her, make sure you don't have the sword with you. Leave it hidden somewhere inside the shrine. If she actually calls the bluff, tell her you're going back inside to get it. At that point, anyone that's in on this should go back inside, leaving Tenshi and her students outside by themselves without supervision. There's no way she won't take that opportunity to run away back home, and the other celestials won't actually try to stop her, as much as they will probably know that she's running away in fear."
> "Positive. If she's somehow still here when you come back out with the sword, you can tell her the truth, admit that I planned and encouraged the whole thing, and send her down my way and I'll give her a bottle of whatever she wants free of charge."
> Grin and spread our arms.
> "If she's build up the cojones to call one of my bluffs, then kudos to her, and I'll deserve every last bit of it."
> "No, I think I'm all set. I trust the acting here will go smoothly."
> "Great. Oh!"
> Face Suwako properly, if we aren't already looking at her.
> "I will also say that a few people have asked about the prospect of Rinnosuke pulling this off again, but you didn't seem at all concerned earlier, so I figured I shouldn't be concerned either."
> Frown.
> "It would be nice if we didn't have to. Are you saying he can still do all the things he could do before?"
> "...All right, I suppose I'll have to live with that. All the same, here's hoping he forgets he threatened to take away everything of mine right before I broke his mind."
> "All right, that should be it from me, then. Have fun whenever Tenshi gets here. If I don't see her demanding a drink, I'll assume it went well."
> Nods.
> "Thanks. And thanks for everything today."
> Turn to Sanae.
> "Have fun with your new toy."
> Frown in mock anger.
> "Whaddaya mean, 'you'll try'? If you're gonna almost run me over in that thing, the least you can do to make it up to me is have the time of your life in it. None of this 'try' nonsense, you're gonna have fun in that thing or else."
> "Oh. Well, I'll try to put in a word to have her visit up here whenever possible. Least I could do."
> Grin.
> "Great things are what I do. You two have a good night."
> Assuming no objection from either Sanae or Suwako, make our way back to Koyomi.
> "Yep. Sorry for the wait."
> "Yeah, we had some things to talk about and some future plans to discuss. But I'm all set to head back down."
> Take flight and follow!
> "Wait, before you go. There's a few things I wanted to mention to you."
> "First, it should be noted that Shizuha, the goddess of leaves in the forest at the foot of the mountain, assisted in restoring everyone's money by offering very helpful advice on how to deal with the perpetrator. I had promised to spread her name in return for her help, so if you or anyone else in your village write up a report on the incident, please remember her assistance."
> "Thank you. Second, the next time you see Momizi, please tell her that I hope there are no hard feelings. I was under a lot of stress for our previous two conversations, and I imagine she probably was as well, so things were more heated than they probably should have been."
> "That's fine. And the third thing, since we're speaking of off-duty tengu, the next time you're off duty, you wanna spin by my place and grab a drink? On the house, of course."
> "I do, but I'll tell the oni to leave you alone. They collectively owe me a huge one after I got their money back. It won't be a problem to ask the Devas to rough up anyone that even thinks about giving you issues."
> "Well, I can't say anything about 'having a place ' in regards to collectives."
> Smirk and casually point at Koyomi.
> "But I can tell you that you specifically have a place in my place."
> Nod.
> "That's all I can ask, I suppose. Please do."
> "Beyond that, though, I won't keep you further. Have a good night yourself."
> Make our way down into the kappa village, searching for any large gatherings. If there is such a large group of people, fly over toward it. If not, make our way to Nitori's warehouse.
> Fly down to the door and knock on it.
> "Hey. Utsuho around, or did she go home?"
> Frown.
> "She and Parsee? No Yamame?"
> Raise our voice a little and look a bit over Nitori's head inside.
> "Oh good. I was wondering where you'd run off to. That answers that question, then."
> Drop our voice back to normal and look back at Nitori.
> "So who can I talk to around here to get a proper message spread around the village?"
> "Got some great advice from a forest goddess named Shizuha about fixing the money problem. She asked me to mention her name around the place in return for her help, so I'm trying to pay that favor back."
> "Hmm. The papers aren't a bad idea. Yeah, I think I'll do that next opportunity."
> Make a mental note to give Shizuha's name to Hatate once Hatate collects on our interview offer.
> "Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. Feel free to mention Shizuha's name to anyone if it comes up in conversation."
> Wave a hand dismissively.
>"It's fine. It's all been taken care of at this point, so don't worry about it."
> Call out over Nitori's head again.
> "See you back home, Yamame."
> Look back to Nitori.
> "Anyway, you have a good night yourself."
> Take flight and head back down the mountain toward the Hakurei Shrine, passing over it through the air.
> As we fly over it, take note of who's there.
> Ooh.
> Swoop down to meet them.
> Did she look that bad when we were through with her for the first time?
> Swoop down near Reimu with an eyebrow raised.
> Take a delicate look back at our wings.
> So she just plain forgot, then. Well, whatever.
> Turn back to the fairy.
> "I got stepped on by a giant red ox, little lady. It hurt like hell, but Reimu wanted her money back, and that ox was part of the deal, so it is what it is."
> "Sure, I can explain. You'll have to bear with me, though, since it'll probably seem outlandish."
> A shark? What on Earth...
> "Okay. The long and short of it is that things are largely fixed, but there's a long road of recovery ahead that you and Marisa will probably need to help. If you're not interested in the details, just zone out until I get to that part the end, or whatever."
> "So Rinnosuke swapped everyone's money. He wanted to use Gensokyo's economy and the shapeshifting power in my cards to alter ~*~the economy~*~ of reality or some crazy shit. Dude was completely out of his gourd, which Patchouli can explain in further depth. In order to beat his faith, I needed a stronger faith, which I found in a sword from a completely different continent from Asia. The specific place was called Avalon, which Marisa has probably studied, in the continent of Europe. Anyway, the entity in the sword kinda made me go loco with conceit and I kinda sorta shattered his will and made him a vegetable. Then the entity in the sword told me to kill him, but I managed to resist it long enough to get it really pissed at me and manifest itself as that giant ox, causing the human village to collectively shit itself in the process. They're fine now, though. I fought the ox, it stepped on me, I yelled at it until it went back in the sword. Suwako has it now, and she'll take care of it until the ox entity is gone."
>"Crazy as it sounds, he was the guy behind it all."
> "He pulled it off through faith in the idea of equality. He believed in it so strongly that it started messing with his head, at which point he started thinking he could do certain things by gathering power through transactions. And that deluded belief eventually manifested itself through sheer will and devotion, and he started actually doing what he thought was doing. Patchouli compared it to why your sealing talismans work."
> Grin.
> "And then Eirin compared to why magic at all works, which I imagine Patchouli wouldn't have been too happy to hear."
> Resume a normal exppression.
> "But where the founders of magic and shrine maiden faith succeeded, Rinnosuke seems to have failed, because here we are with our money."
>"To make a long story short, he went nutty and basically said 'Screw logic, I'm going to become a god of trade!'. Or something like that."
>Shrug. "Well, he didn't actually say that per se, but he was pretty close to doing that once his scheme went as he intended it."
>Grin. "Sadly for him, it didn't go exactly as planned."
>"Yeah, he ain't all crazed up on faith now anymore though, I kinda broke the poor guy."
>Grin. "I almost feel sorry for him, but that's what happens when you try causing an incident eh? You get your hat handed to you on a plate."
>"Well, he doesn't have a hat, but you get the idea."
>Glance over at the fairy and sigh amusedly, then laugh a bit. "That's right kiddo. Couldn't even purple. Not that orangeing would've saved 'im either. Come to think of it, maybe if he'd tried Violet, he could've had a shot."
>Glance over at Reimu with a grinning look that says 'Just go with it, fairies will be fairies after all.'
>Let's just let out a good laugh, we need it after everything we've been through.
> "Actually, I have an idea."
> Only the upper blade wing is sprained, right? Morph the tendril wings so they match the shape and color of the blade wings.
> Give a toothy grin.
> "There we go. All better!"
> "He was faithful to the idea of equality in exchange. He believed currency to be ugly as a concept and the natural paradox of exchange to be beautiful. Apparently, this was enough for him to gain power through delusion."
>"To sum it up, being crazy became power in his case."
> "Oh, that. Well, he claimed that every transaction of goods generated a 'spark', a byproduct of the natural inequality of exchange. He said he could harvest these sparks and more or less do whatever with them. Accordingly to Patchouli, such a concept of sparks is normally a total load, but he believed it so hard he actually started doing it somehow."
> Frown.
> "Because I was never really able to fully wrap my head around it. I guess it was a combination of the equality in that both sides agreed to the deal, and inequality in that one thing was worth more to the person that got it than the other was worth to the other person."
> Shrug.
> "Maybe. I don't really know for sure. Faithy matters were never my strong suit. I've made a history out of getting away from your kind's threats, not studying them."
> "He's currently at the Temple, over in the village. And this is where you, Marisa, and whoever else is available comes in."
> Sigh.
> "Byakuren says we'll need to rehabilitate him. And that the process could take a while. And that he may not be cooperative throughout. The Temple will do what it can, partly because it's what the Temple does and partly because, for all that this never would have happened had he never gone off his nut in the first place, his current condition is a direct result of my actions. But we can only do so much. We'll need people that are close to him or have known him for a long time. Their efforts will go a long way in getting back in the world of the not-braindead."
> "That's good. Hopefully she'll still be willing to kick in that level of closeness even if she may have to work alongside the potions shop owner in the village."
> "Maybe they can work times where they never have to see each other. But we can work that out later."
> Pull out the Disguised Apron.
> "Anyway, if you're going to relay this info to her later, would you mind returning this to her as well? I haven't been able to get back to her place to drop it off, and it sounds like now is not the time."
> "Her place. It was part of an alternate, less mindbreaky plan to stop Rinnosuke, but he never afforded me the opportunity to try it, and now we don't need it anymore."
> Frown.
> "You make it sound so barbaric. Any thug can bust a door down. There's a true art to a quality pick job. Besides, I never intended on not returning it."
> Snicker a bit ourselves, then look toward the fairy.
> "Hey, little lady, you like this capelet?"
> Smile and nod toward the fairy.
> Recall the seed inhabiting the apron.
> Smirk at Reimu.
> "We even now?"
> Give another laugh.
> "Don't worry. Maybe you can frighten her out of it with this thing."
> Lay the apron next to Reimu so it's out of the rain.
> "Anyway, someone's been scared and someone else has been annoyed, so my job here is done. Imma head back to the human village, unless you want to know anything more."
>Restore our wings while we say that.
> "Okay. You two have a good night, then, and enjoy your money."
> Assuming no objection from either of them, take flight and head back to the Temple in the human village, restoring our wings to normal along the way.
> Another one? Hmm.
> Pop on down and see what's up.
> Oh boy, more of this. Eh, whatever.
> Float on over to Byakuren's side, in case we're needed again.
> Wait for them to thin out, then.
> Nod.
> "Should have mentioned this earlier, but if you could spread Shizuha's name, that would be good. She's a forest goddess that gave me some great advice on the mountain."
> "Hmm. That's about all I think is necessary, really, that Shizuha, a goddess of the forest on the mountain, provided useful advice on how to combat the core problem, and that ultimately it was her advice that enabled me to undo what had been done and return everyone's money."
> Grin.
> "Lots of fun. Plenty of things I imagine you're happier for having missed out on. But it was productive, too. Reimu knows what's up now, and my end of the Tenshi transaction is fulfilled."
> "Yeah. She looked roughed up. Guess Shinki didn't go down easy. Marisa's back too, but Reimu thinks she's passed out from exhaustion in her own house."
> "Is Mamizou still inside? Hopefully she was less trouble than me, I have a reputation to maintain."
> "Great."
> Give a smile.
> "She's not charging by the minute, I hope."
> Nod.
> "Good. Well, I don't like leaving you here alone, but I think I need to take Mamizou home, since she hasn't seen Former Hell yet. Anything I should relay to the folks underground in terms of when they should come back up, since you're running low on messengers?"
> "All right."
> Smile, then float over to Byakuren and give her a hug as best our size differences will allow.
> "We did well."
> Grin.
> "Don't give me that. This doesn't happen without you and you know it."
> Release the hug if we haven't already.
> Hold our hands up in front of us.
> "Go for it."
> "That's good to know. It does raise the question of how Kourindou is going to protect its goods, though."
> "I suppose that's the best way to handle things. And now that Mamizou's here, I can probably help out topside more, once she's trained enough that she can be left alone in the tavern."
> Smirk.
> "She hasn't yet. But she will, if she wants a roof to sleep under."
> Wave a hand dismissively.
> "We pushed each other's buttons for years upon years. I'm sure it won't be a problem. If nothing else, it's an immediate job with immediate money."
> "I don't think so, actually. And I don't know if the hole is closed yet or not."
> "All right. Where in there did you say he was being kept?'
> "Okay. Be right back."
> Head inside, remove shoes as appropriate, and make our way to said southern storeroom.
> "Hey there, sunshine. Find anything good?"
> "Trust me, he's not that much better when he's talking. Anyway, Byakuren was wondering if you wanted to try going back to Avalon really quickly to retrieve some of your stuff. Neither of us knows how much longer the hole will remain open."
> How do we compare agewise to Mamizou?
> How do we compare agewise to each of the Temple crew?
> "You ready to take off now, then?"
> "Let's go, then."
> Make our way back to our shoes, put them back on, and return to Byakuren.
> Make our way over to the conversation.
> Has she mentioned Suwako taking the sword away with the behemoth inside?
> Good enough.
> Get in Byakuren's line of vision if we aren't already and give a quick wave.
> Take flight and head back to the area of the forest where the hole to Avalon was. Use the Scarlet Devil Mansion and the heretic house and landmarks to guide us.
> Along the way, turn to Mamizou.
> "And now you've met the main reason I've gone soft."
> We could see the trapezoid of them from the sky, right? We can use that as a backup plan if needed.
> "Yeah. Hopefully you didn't charge her too high for your temporary merchant-sitting job."
> "That likely won't be a problem. I'll tell you right now, though, I spend most of my time underground, so I at the very least don't get to see her as often as possible."
> "Embarrassments? You mean like the time I stared a giant red ox of oppression right in the eye and told it to sod off while an entire village of humans and youkai alike was shitting itself in fear?"
> "Whaddaya mean, 'again'? I don't hide in laundry. You sure you're not thinking of you?"
> Wave a hand dismissively.
> "The law ain't a problem here anyway. Sanae likes me too much. Reimu knows she can come get some any time she wants some, but she never dredges up enough care to want some so it's a moot point."
> "If you want to swindle the oni, be my guest. I hope you enjoyed what my back looked like earlier, because you'd get to experience it for yourself."
> "Whatever. Anyway, the law enforcement here isn't working for a select group of pompous buffoons in undeservedly high positions of power, so there's a lot less motivation to go on havoc sprees."
> Are there one or two figures at the gate?
> "I think that place might've given Gensokyo trouble once and Reimu whacked 'em good. I've never seen them be a problem. The head of house's little sister is a sweet kid, too. She has the only wings in Gensokyo that come close to mine in terms of greatness."
> "She's really impressionable. You'd love her."
> "Kids are only ever pompous buffoons in ways that don't actually matter. And this one isn't that anyway. The wings help, too."
> 'I hope she appears again outside at some point while we're up here. She's worth meeting at least once. Just don't try to go inside without permission while she's around."
> "I may try sneaking in at some point, just to see what happens. Not much appeal to it beyond the sense of accomplishment, though."
> "Well, unlike days of yore, I'm not a hard woman to find. I could go into hiding if I really needed to, but it'd be a rather large inconvenience, and I could hold them off in a fight, but that would also be a rather large inconvenience."
> "There's a possibility Byakuren or one of the others would notice, depending on what I lifted. Even if they didn't, if that place let word out that stuff was gone, even if they didn't know who did it, I'd be near the top of the list of people that would get asked about it. Something similar happened a few winters ago where shenanigans were afoot, and in that case I legitimately wasn't responsible for it. For all that I expect I'd have no problem pulling it off as it happened, it wouldn't be worth the aggravation down the line."
> "Yeah, I'll admit I thought about it after the fact, and it's probably for the best that there isn't permanent easy access from here to there or vice versa."
> "Also, I should warn you now that even if the hole is still open, I won't be able to go back to Arzas with you. Doc fixed me up pretty good, but my upper blade wing is sprained, so it's stuck where it is. Me showing up there would only cause consternation, and I imagine it'd be easier for you to finish your business without that distraction."
> "I could probably linger on the forest path with the town in sight."
> "I'll at least see you to the door, in case something unfortunate happens. I think most of my day's business is actually taken care of, though I could always go back underground and check on the folks there."
> "Then someone will need to make sure neither of us gets stuck there."
> "A peaceful delay would be nice. But I'll take the gap youkai on if need be."
> "I imagine that if things come to that, you'll be too busy tying up loose ends. But you don't need to worry about me, I can handle myself."
> Smirk.
> "Of course not. If I actually decide to take her on, I can't saddle myself with any liabilities."
> Could we comfortably give directions from this area of the forest to the entrance to the underground?
> Is the trip from the entrance to the oni village more or less a straight shot, or are there branching pathways along the way?
> "Just try not to dawdle too much."
> Do we have any spare futons?
> "If I'm not around here by the time you're done, should I pick you up at the temple? Or do you expect to stay the night there?"
> "It shouldn't be a problem. But come on now, of course my place is open to you. I have a spare futon lying around somewhere."
> Point at her tail.
> "And hell, if it comes to it, my bed is big enough for all three of us."
> "I'll pull it out when I get home, just in case."
> Continue on toward our destination in the forest.
> Descend into the trees.
> Look around for Yukari.
> Does the lack of fairy activity strike us as unusual?
> "No clue. The job doesn't look finished yet, but I can't imagine she'd leave this hole unattended."
> Nod.
> "Yeah, I think you should be good to go back. I'll spend a few minutes here to she if she comes back, or if someone else wanders by. If nothing happens, I'll take care of some stuff underground before meeting you back at the temple."
> How dark is it?
> "Good. Let's get moving, then. And if it doesn't take too much time, say bye to the water sprite for me."
> Watch Mamizou leave.
> Once she's out of sight, spend about five minutes in the area, looking around, watching and waiting for anything unusual. Muse on our day if we get bored.
> And Avalon is still visible?
> Frown and call out into the wilderness.
> "You're really not going to show yourself?"
> "Oh, well, all right. If you like, once you're done here, get in touch with Suwako to get up-to-date on the rest of today's events. I suspect you'll want to know."
> Just have to hope for the best.
> Take flight, crest the canopy, and head back to the entrance to the underground.
> Enter and begin making our way back toward the oni village. Keep an eye out for Kisume and Yamame, just to generically check if they're around.
> Call up to the ceiling.
> "Oy. How are things looking down in the village?"
> "Well, things are fixed now, so it's probably better than it was."
> "Your call. Also, if you happen to see a tallish black-haired tengu come this way in the next couple of days, go easy on her, eh?"
> Was Koyomi's hair long or short?
> "Right."
> Continue on to the village, making our way to the clinic.
> Unzan anywhere around?
> How harried do they appear to be?
> Make our way over to them. Wave if one looks up and sees us.
> Get up close to Ichirin such that we'll be able to communicate with hushed voices.
> Keep a low voice.
> "Evening. Hopefully this will start to slow, now that things have been fixed."
> "Yeah. It's a good tale, but this is hardly the time. I'd probably be in one of these beds myself right now if not for the moon doc."
> "So am I. How are you lot holding up?"
> How trained are we for this sort of work?
> "Well, I have a little bit of pseudo-good news on the 'tired' front. We made a deal yesterday with the musical ghosts that involved us repairing the hole in their roof, but the labor on that has been farmed off elsewhere as a part of a different deal, so you're all off the hook for that."
> "Yeah. There was another part to that original deal, and that part's still on, but that only affects one person."
> "Yeah. But that can wait until tomorrow morning, I think. No need to add any stress to anyone right now."
> "It's actually not something I'll need. It's a very specific favor owed to a specific poltergeist for a specific reason."
> Glance over at Shou as stealthily as possible.. Is she looking in this general direction?
> Turn back to Ichirin and lower our voice a little more.
> "You remember the trumpet player? The one that played the sitar at Shou's that one time? She wants an apology for the trauma."
> "Mental trauma from playing that thing. She nearly retched just from hearing the word 'Buddhist'."
> "Dead serious. To be honest, it was actually kind of amusing, the way she basically started kicking and screaming. Or it would have been amusing if someone else was responsible. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Temple during negotiations."
> "Probably not. Still thinking it's better to wait until morning, though."
> "Anyway, any of you heard word of where Yuugi and/or K are wandering about? I have a small bit of business with them."
> We know where K's place is. What about Yuugi's?
> "All right. I think I might know where K would be, at least, so I'll get out of your collective hair and go look for them."
> Leave the clinic area and head toward K's place on foot.
> Would it be wise to not mention the nose, or would it not really matter?
> "Is K available? I figured she might want a report on what happened topside, since the problem started and was fixed up there."
> "I guess that'll work. I have a small favor to ask of her too, if that can get passed along as well."
> "There's a lot of details that no one here likely cares about, so I'll spare those. K can ask me later if she wants 'em. The bottom line is that there's a guy topside that hates the concept of money, and he used a faith power to exchange all of Gensokyo's money for jewelry, gathering all the money to him. He was preparing to permanently destroy it, but I shattered his mind before he could, and that unmade what he did."
> "Right. A tengu guard may be coming down here in the next several days. Tall, with longish black hair and a bit of a thin face. Name is Koyomi. She's my guest, and I don't want people even thinking about giving her any trouble."
> "She's just going to my place. She ain't gonna be botherin' anyone."
> "Ain't complainin', just makin' sure. Better safe than sorry."
> "Shouldn't be an issue. Anyway, that's all I got. Give K my regards."
> "I can tell you if she wants, but he's basically braindead right now. I can't imagine the record's gonna get much straighter than that."
> Frown.
> "Rules here are whatever they are, and that's fine, but this guy is shacked up in my friends' temple right now, and if anyone thinks they're going topside and bringin' violence to that temple, there's gonna be a problem. At the very least, wait until he's left there."
> Narrow our eyes.
> "It'll be more than just their problem, I promise you."
> "Then let's consider that my real favor request, as the one that got K her money back. Leave him alone as long as he's in the temple. I have no problem turning a blind eye to giving him what he's got coming to him if he's anywhere else. But if someone from down here thinks they can start something in that temple, it'll be their problem before they even get there. I don't care if it's you or K or Yuugi or anyone else."
> "I'll be happy to tell her myself tomorrow morning."
> "Anyway, the guy responsible is the owner of the antique shop in the forest. Total non-combatant, so if K's intent on breaking something it shouldn't be hard."
> "Anything else you need?"
> "Got it. I'll see K tomorrow morning, then."
> Assuming no objections to leaving, hoof it back to our place.
> Enter!
> Take a quick look around to take visual stock of the place, then, barring an obvious disaster or emergency, commence a search for the spare futon.
> That should be good enough to get Mamizou to make a mess on the floor.
> Come to think of it, did the two of us ever bed together?
> Return some of our cash on-hand to the pile so we have 100 left over on our person.
> Find and grab the futon and bring it upstairs to our room.
> We should be all set here, then.
> Leave the tavern and make our way in the general direction that we think Yuugi's place is.
> Head up to the front door and knock on it.
> Must not be here. Eh, whatever.
> Take flight and head to the Earth Spirit Palace gates.
> Wave back.
> "You come up here often?"
> Redirect our flight path toward Utsuho.
> "I can imagine. Probably not that great today, though."
> Gesture next to her.
> "Mind if I?"
> "Thanks."
> Take a seat next to Utsuho, propping ourselves up on our arms to our sides and slightly behind us.
> Take a moment to look out over the city.
> "Yeah. Sanae says the same about you."
> Smirk.
> "Yeah. I'd love to tease you about how your 'busy' almost got me killed. But my 'busy' almost got me killed, too, so I don't really have a leg to stand on."
> "Don't worry about it. I gave Sanae the shock of her life by grabbing onto that thing mid-flight, so I'd say we're even."
> Chuckle.
> "Good. That'll teach her to joyride around Gensokyo in an unknown flying death machine."
> "So where the hell did the idea for that thing come from, anyway?"
> "You mean that outside world dream? You couldn't have built something like one of those really tall buildings? Something that wouldn't fly around and trample people?"
> "I could tell. Sounds like she can't start it up without you, though."
> "As long as you're aware. I did tell her I'd ask you to get up there to help out more often, though. She seemed thrilled by the idea, so I couldn't not do it."
> "It'll be whatever it is. I have to admit I'm a little surprised you got involved, though. I didn't think you cared that much about the mountainfolk."
> Do we know of any history there?
> "Really? Aren't they the reason you're where you are now?"
> Frown and gesture up and down up and down the length of her body.
> "Are you saying you didn't want all that?"
> "Well, if you don't want it, I'll take it."
> "With all due respect, I imagine that the me of now could probably hold my own against the you of before all that."
> You know, that's kind of weird, Parsee being that angry about the Moriya Shrine. Did she ever care all that much about surface dwellers before she got with Utsuho?
> ...Speaking of, Parsee and Utsuho were kinda sudden, weren't they?
> Come to think of it, it happened right after the dream, didn't it?
> "Maybe. I think I could give it a decent shot, though."
> "Thinking on something, though...it was *that* dream that inspired the machine, right?"
> "Yeah. I guess that would explain Sanae's crazy enthusiasm for it, since she probably knew what it was from her time in the outside world."
> Turn back to looking out toward the city.
> "S'kinda weird, though. I didn't think Parsee was the type to hate the mountain folks, especially not with as much vitriol as you described. She never seemed to give any sort of a damn about anyone topside. And suddenly she wants to burn the Moriya Shrine down repeatedly?"
> "And what are you forced to do on their behalf that would get her that riled up? I didn't take you as the type that could be forced to do anything by anyone, aside from maybe Satori."
> Nod.
> "All right. So the relationship that sprang out of nowhere, as far as the rest of us were concerned, resulted in a severe mentality shift out of nowhere from Parsee, centered around an event that happened some time before the two of you got together, an event that resulted in you doing things she thinks you shouldn't have had to do even though they're things you wanted to do and likely didn't actually have to do given what you could most likely do to anyone that tried to make you do something you didn't want to do."
> "I don't mean that. I'm sure she does. I mean going from not caring about surface dwellers to wishing repeated death on a handful of them for something that happened a couple of years before she got with you."
> Frown.
> "You'd think she'd at least consult with you first and find out that everything was actually ultimately okay before she goes off and gets that like that."
> "Ah. I think I see what you're getting at now. So how would life be different if this whole machine thing never happened?"
> "I suppose that's true."
> "Though, in thinking about it, there's still some small curiosity. Originally I had asked about that bad blood you mentioned earlier possibly coming from you getting what you got from them, and you said Parsee had wanted to burn down the shrine in retribution, presumably for them doing this to you. Now it seems you're implying that she doesn't actually care about that because you told her it was fine, and that she's instead that extremely upset with them over the idea of making the machine as a peace offering."
> Look over at Utsuho with a passive expression.
> "I'm just trying to make sense of it in a way I can understand. Those folks on the mountain are folks I consider friends. If I started telling you about how Rin had wronged me in the past and my story had a few aspects to it that seemed incongruous to you, wouldn't you be curious to get to the bottom of it?"
> "If that's the case, then it's because the stuff you've said about her is the stuff that seemed incongruous to me."
> Look back to the city.
> "It's entirely possible it is. I obviously don't know everything about everything. I guess it's just a bunch of weird things mixed together. Like the only reason I though to keep asking in the first place, before I was even aware that there was stuff between you and them, was because the two of you popping up out of nowhere coincided with that dream, the one where the jet idea came from. It's a strange coincidence, if nothing else."
> "Yeah, I get that."
>"Sure don't find many people like that anymore, do you?"
> "Anyway, I hope she's happy now that her money was back. You should have heard her screech when I first told her to check yesterday."
>"Yeah, that's all squared away and stuff. Had to break that antique dealer's mind to do it though. Guy went cuckoo with faith power, and tried to make the world trade-based instead of cash-based."
> "Yep."
> Snicker.
> "That's been everyone's reaction so far."
> "Is him being responsible really so much more surprising than me being the one that fixed things? I really have lost my touch."
> "Anyway, yeah, it was him. Always the ones you least suspect, I guess."
> "Flayed the shit out of his mind. He's currently busy being a mental veggie on the floor of a storeroom in the Myouren Temple."
>"He'll be fixed properly in time, Byakuren's got a way with this stuff. I've already made it a point to the Oni I've told that nobody's to mess with him until he's fixed."
> "The Scarlet Devil Mansion already knows, since Patchouli was an important roleplayer in everything. But it's not like I've told absolutely everyone I've run across."
> "I'm not too concerned about people finding out anyway. I know that if someone set out to alter my world and they were stopped by someone else, I'd sure as hell want to know who was responsible, even if only I know how to treat them in the future."
> Do we know what Utusho does for a living?
> "I can see what you're getting at, though. Most of the way through this whole process I started thinking about the social ramifications of what had happened and what needed to happen before everything was fixed. Braindead or not, I don't envy what this guy has to look forward to, just because he fought for what he believed in and lost. I would even consider feeling sorry for him if he didn't need to jack my cards to pull off what he tried to pull off."
> "But in thinking about the potential solutions to all of this, at least one of which was to just reshape his mind to believe in other things and not being sure I could bring myself to be that drastic, I realized even though I believe in the sanctity of will not letting anyone tell you how to think and how to behave, if your personal beliefs get to the point where they're causing mass disruptions for other people, then you need to be stopped."
> Look over at Utsuho.
> "Doesn't make dwelling on the social ramifications suck any less, though. I can't help looking back on this and thinking I could have done a better job at it for everyone's sake, even his. It's not the most pleasant feeling. I hope you don't ever have to go through it."
> "Huh. I'd only ever kinda sorta vaguely heard she existed at all. Didn't know she existed enough to feel that way about anyone here. May I ask why, or is that family matters?"
> "Consider it forgotten."
> Turn back to the city.
> "It's a unique situation in his case. To be honest, people finding out about him is probably the best way to ensure he never tries anything again. He got his faithish power from the trades he made. If no one wants anything to do with him, he's completely declawed. Given some of the things he was demonstrably capable of, and some of the things he threatened me with, I'd rather not deal with the hassle of him coming after me."
> "It's not an easy call to make, I admit."
> Nod.
> "I think...if Gensokyo can take an unrepentant thieving trickster and a genocidal psycho, sit them on a roof together overlooking a city, and have them wax poetic about love and social philosophy, I think a lot of things will be alright."
> "Because you waved."
> "After dropping by here a couple of times in the past two days for information gathering and a little bit of advice, I figured it would be a nice thing to check in on the place one more time and let the residents know how things turned out."
> "Nah, it's fine. This has been nice compared to the absolute craziness this day has been so far."
> "Thanks for the offer, but my place is fine. There's a dent in the door but it's otherwise still going strong."
> "Nah. If I lost my home I'd live in the Temple."
> Look over at Utsuho with a smirk.
> "Unless you want me to stay here with you."
> Give a pouty face.
> "So you don't want me to stay with you? Oh, you break this poor maiden's heart."
> Chuckle a bit.
> "Don't worry, I'm just messing with you. I don't think Parsee would like the idea that much anyway."
> "I'm not sure we're referencing quite the same connotations of 'staying with you'."
> Look back toward the city.
> "Though if we're thinking in my terms, it would be easier for you to 'stay with me', since I know my bed is plenty big enough."
> "I don't righly know."
> "Sounds like as good a reason to stop and head back up topside as any."
> "Oh, do you happen to know where she is right now? I've only been able to report to K so far."
> "I guess I can pass over the area and try some surveillance."
> Stand up.
> "Sounds like a good idea."
> "Of course. See you around. We should do this more often."
> Take flight and head toward the western part of the city, waving to Utsuho as we leave.
> Fly over the western part of the city, looking for Yuugi or trouble.
> Swoop on down. Try to land not right in the middle of the fight.
> Cross our arms and watch some more. Be prepared to dodge any bodies flying our way.
> Nod.
> "Good show."
> "I can report what happened with the money, if'n you're interested. Where it went, how it came back, y'know, that sorta stuff. Told K's doorguard already, figured it's only fair you get it too."
> Follow.
> "There's a guy topside off his nut, hates the concept of money. He used some sorta faith power to exchange everyone's money for some jewelery he made. Brought all of Gensokyo's money to himself, not just down here. Humans, tengu, kappa, all them sorts. Even the ghost place got hit. He tried to permanently destroy everyone's money, but I shattered his mind before he could. Looks like the mindbreak undid his spell so everyone's money came back."
> "That's the kicker. Right now he's in a sacred place. No violence there. Them's the topside rules. Outside it he's fair game, but he ain't outside it."
> Frown.
> "He's in the temple of the clinic folks. My friends. The place that did the most in getting your money back. It'd be a funny way to show gratitude, ruining the spirituality of their home."
> "The dude's braindead. They're not gonna leave out in the forest to rot."
> "Ain't got a problem giving 'em what for as long as he's off temple grounds. Might have t'watch out for the red-white and the black-white too, though. They're pretty close to him, 'specially the latter."
>"Also, it may be a while before the temple's done with him; his mind basically needs to be completely rebuilt."
> "You make him your business, they'll make you their business. Just givin' you advance warning."
> Smirk.
> "He ain't thinkin' much of anything right about now."
> "It's an interestin' idea. I wonder if a guy can get his brains beat so hard he goes all the way back 'round to the other side and is sane again."
>"Just wait until he's out of the temple before you try it."
> "'Sall I can ask. Anyway, it's the junk shopkeep from the forest, if you happen to know 'im."
> "Not much to say. He's a total non-fighter. Should be easy pickin's for the likes of you."
> Nod.
> "Real shame."
> "Don't think you. Do you?"
> "No prob. Keep on keepin' on."
> Assuming no objection from Yuugi, take flight and head back out toward the entrance to topside.
> Head back to the Temple in the village.
> Wave back as we land and make our way the rest of the way toward her.
> Frown.
> "She was going to come back here after she was done in Avalon and had returned. Is she not back yet?"
> "Oh. All right, then. I guess it's felt like longer than that."
> "I probably will. It's been a long day and I could use a chance to not have to run around for a while."
> Frown.
> "I should say, though, that I reported what happened underground, because I knew the Devas would want to know. And, uh, they kinda want to beat the tar out of him. Like, come up here to this village, enter the Temple, find his storeroom and beat the tar out of him."
> "Yeah, since they asked. They don't know who he is, though. 'Junk shopkeep in the forest' didn't mean anything to them."
> "Yuugi at least said she'd give us the opportunity to move him out of the Temple before things went down, though that kind of misses the grander point."
> "Actually, I do wonder how many people would still call for blood if they saw his current condition."
> "I imagine not many. It's one thing to be angry at an unknown force capable of stealing all your money from right under your nose. It's another to look at a faith-broken invalid and declare you want to hurt him some more, especially in the presence of his friends and the local peacekeepers. I think the public perception of him is likely to soften if they see what's become of him."
> "Well, at the very least, we should probably get Reimu and Marisa here tomorrow morning. I bet Marisa won't take threats against him sitting down."
> Frown.
> "I'm sorry about this. It isn't at all what I intended."
> "Should I leave a note with Reimu, so that she and Marisa know to get here first thing tomorrow morning?"
> "I think you could handle a Deva by yourself if it came down to it. But I doubt it would send a message we want to send."
> "Don't say that. We'll get through this just fine. I have faith in us."
> "So who's still awake and could be helpful in making sure he doesn't get mauled?"
> "I meant in the entire town. Or did you as well?"
> "Sounds like it really is just us, then. ...Maybe Mamizou and I should spend the night here."
> "K won't. But I don't know what Yuugi's gonna do. Which means that I don't know if I'll beat her here, or if Reimu and Marisa will beat her here."
> "Yeah, she still had collection rounds to make. Hmm...actually, she'll probably drop off soon after that, her days' been pretty long. Maybe I can get away with staying at home after all."
> "Ideally, there won't be any conflict. But the most important thing right now is that no shame or other black mark is brought on this Temple. Other stuff can be sacrificed in the interest of making sure this place remains pure."
> "I figured that fell under the umbrella of keeping the Temple pure, since beating up someone inside the Temple is hardly different from chucking him outside the Temple and beating him up on the streets."
> "Has there been any change in his condition?"
> "Which means he'll probably remember everything that happened earlier. Great."
> "I think I'd rather him forget it and it not ever come back."
> "I guess so."
> "Yeah, that makes sense."
> "Of course. Gonna be a bit weird for me, though. This isn't the sort of thing I normally do."
> "Really? Even though I'm responsible for this?"
> "Well...all right. But I'll still be here until the Deva situation is resolved, at least."
> "All right. I'm still gonna head over to Reimu's, but I'll spend the time thinking about if I should stay here or go home tonight."
> "All right. I'll be back soon."
> Nod.
> Take flight and head back to the Hakurei Shrine.
> "Worse. He's still as unresponsive as ever, and now the Devas know about him. They're gonna mess him up something fierce, even given his condition."
>"I tried to talk them out of it, but not happening. Yuugi did agree to wait until he's out of the Temple, but once she realizes how long that's going to be, I'm not sure she won't change her mind."
> "Yes, I did."
> "Mystia knows he did it because she helped me investigate, but it looks like she's happier to just get on with her life. I haven't told Remilia, but Patchouli knows he did it, so I don't know what will happen there. I haven't told the other two. I'm also not sure any of them actually know where he is right now, though for Patchouli at least she could probably guess."
> Frown.
> "I would have thought Gensokyo's residents were better than to thank the people that got their money back by defiling the sanctity of their home in order to beat up a cripple."
> "The goal was to heal him, not to hide him."
> "I'm not much worried about the tengu. Nor Mystia, since we have it in pretty good wiith each other right now."
> "Out of curiosity, ignoring the sanctity of the temple since I'm pretty sure you don't care about that, what will you do if someone with ill intentions actually does manage to get their hands on him?"
> Give a small smirk.
> "I was thinking he's worth guarding because he's so close to your best friend, but I guess that works too. Nothing should happen before tomorrow morning, if that helps, since K's already done for the day and I can't imagine Yuugi's far behind."
> Give a wider grin.
> "That all depends. You trust my cooking?"
> "We'll what can be arranged, then. I think there's a decent amount of food supplies in the kitchen."
> "Great, and thanks. You gonna tell Marisa, too?"
> "Please do, yeah. Nothing against you, of course, just thinking strength in numbers. Makes it easier to tell her what happened, too."
> "Yeah, I figured."
> That warning about Reimu and Marisa in Ichiro's place - how do we think they'd react if they saw it?
> "Of course. I'm not expecting guarantees."
> "Anyway, this makes feel better about the state of the Temple going forward. Hopefully we don't ever need to get fancy and the prospect of beating up a vegetable in front of peers will dissuade anyone that comes by looking for revenge."
> Shrug.
> "It'll be whatever it is. See you tomorrow."
> Assuming no objection from anyone present, take flight and head back to the Temple.
> Enter the Temple.
> Remove our shoes as well.
> Are there any noticeable sounds?
> Head to the storeroom where Rinnosuke was kept.
> "Hey. We'll have at least one, most likely two breakfast guests tomorrow."
> "The former. Though Reimu did warn me about certain other groups of people that, if they know who's responsible, may go around looking for him even if they don't know precisely where he is."
> "We'll deal as the time comes. Didn't sound like anything that couldn't be handled."
> "Reimudid list a few specific people that we should be wary of. She thinks Mystia might try to get some measure of vengeance, but I think we can talk her out of it. The tengu will probably send someone. She thinks it'll be Aya. who we can work with. All we need to do is convince her he didn't actually trespass on their land and they should be mostly satisfied. The Yama might be an issue if she finds out, but the ferrywoman didn't even know anything happened in the first place until I told her, so I don't think that'll be a problem. Yuuka will be an issue if she finds out who and where the culprit is, but I know I haven't told her either of those things. The biggest problem outside of the oni will be Remilia, who's probably gonna drop a few threats amidst a bunch of posturing, or something. Reimu has some ideas on how to appease here, so hopefully she'll be here if Remilia does show up."
> "Complex sense of honor, huh? Sounds workable."
> Gesture at Rinnosuke's body.
> "Well, what honor is there in kicking this while it's down? Where's the challenge? Where's the necessary effort? I'm sure her sister would be so proud to hear that she went out one night and punched out a defenseless man that wasn't even aware she existed."
> "We'll see what happens when step-up time comes."
> "Yeah. I'm staying here. I don't want you to have to deal with anything that might happen by yourself."
> Chuckle.
> "One less thing to worry about, I guess."
> Keep an eye on Rinnosuke to see if he reacts appreciably.
> "We'll see if Mamizou stays here too. She probably won't want anything to do with an oni on the offensive, but it's not like she has too many better options, since the alternative is me leaving her in the tavern by herself for the night."
> "Yeah. Humans in a society with a large rift between humanity and the supernatural, but humans all the same. She probably won't admit it, but she's thrilled to see the kind of harmony Gensokyo has going in that regard."
> "Thank you. We appreciate it."
> "All right. I think I'll spend some time watching for Mamizou to return, actually."
> "Right, I understand. On the chance I've gone to bed before we speak again and someone comes by while I'm asleep, wake me up so I can help deal with them."
> How are we at massages?
> "Of course. How are you feeling, by the way?"
> Nod.
> "I don't expect anything else to hold you up from that. I'm sure Mamizou and I can bumble our way around here if we need to find something."
> "I had figured. Any room in particular?"
> "Okay, I'll take care of that in a moment. Anything else you'd like me to take care of while I'm here?"
> "All right. Uh, we do have breakfast supplies, right? Because I don't think Reimu was kidding."
> "Great."
> Move over to Byakuren and place a hand wherever is appropriate for comforting (such as a shoulder if one is within reasonable reach).
> "You make sure you get a good amount of rest, all right? You've done more today than you give yourself credit for. There are plenty more ways to drain one's energy than just physically."
> "They'll be back soon. Ichirin said it's been slowing down."
> "Well, the heretics in the forest have a poltergeist that likes to bang kitchenware together at all hours of the night. I'm sure we could rent her for an evening, if you like."
> "They probably prefer it that way."
> "All right. If we don't speak again tonight, get well-rested, and thanks again for everything."
> Smile and give Byakuren's shoulder a small squeeze, then leave the storeroom and make for the guest bedroom opposite ours.
> Do we know where either of those things are kept?
> Got some unpleasant times ahead of us in the coming few days...still, people won't have the cojones to beat up a defenseless braindead half-human in a house of peace, especially not with Reimu and Marisa around. Besides, why should anyone that spent this disaster shutting down all contact with the rest of Gensokyo or beating up their constituents have any right to decide what gets to happen to him? They didn't go out and fix shit, the Temple did. We did. Like hell we're gonna let anyone that sat on their ass and twiddled their thumbs for 36 hours tell us how to handle this situation. If they wanted jurisdiction over him, maybe they should have done something about it. Step up or step aside, as the saying goes.
> Gather a futon and a couple of candles and bring them to the room, laid out as proper.
> Once this is done, return to the front room, put our shoes back on, head back outside and wait for Mamizou at the Temple entrance.
Phew. Well done on maintaining this as well as you did in the face of what was probably the highest level of negative attitude flares from the playerbase in any of your games to date.
I meant to go to bed an hour ago so my own brief thoughts on the game will have to wait until tomorrow. However, I will at least dump my list of prepared questions.
> I remember you saying you expected us to open the game spending more time playing tricks and whatnot. What sort of shenanigans did you specifically expect us to get into?
> Was Ichiro's pick of our cards from Tewi really just a conscious decision and an unfortunate coincidence, or was he under Rinnosuke influence to further obscure the spell card trail by making them pass through multiple sets of hands?
> You mentioned soon after the release of Ten Desires that there were two characters placed and that one would be really hard to miss while the other we'd need to go out of our way and hunt around a bit to find. Presumably Mamizou was the former. Who was the latter?
> Could we have gotten down proper with Mystia?
> Would Shuuei have actually gone with us if Mystia wasn't already committed to the party? If so, how would she have behaved while sneaking around the shop?
> What was the actual time countdown on letting Rinnosuke go about his business before shit was fucked for good?
> Would his plan have actually worked, given it was fueled by stolen money and stolen spellcard energy (however much he would have liked to argue either of those assessments)?
> Was there any actual way to argue Rinnosuke down or otherwise stop him without bothering with the sword?
> What would have happened if we went the path of giving stuff up to get through the barriers?
> What was the intended solution to Brythonic communication during the welding process before Ten Desires dropped Mamizou in your lap?
> What was the alternate planned course of Avalonian events, where the Seelie blacksmith would have had to get involved?
> If we had killed Rinnosuke, would he have stayed dead? If so, what would the consequences have been, aside from massive disapproval from the Temple?
> Why did Red Bull break our wings? Red Bull is supposed to give you wings! :C
> Where was Koishi the whole time? After every other Extra boss ended up playing some sort of role I figured you'd throw her in somehow.
And...
> With no update on the matter, can we assume Iku is still mute?
>Had you read The Last Unicorn before coming up with the Red Bull?
>Was it possible to get into Byakuren's pants?
>What role did you have in mind for Kyouko?
Good game, good game. I'm not even that upset anymore that Kilga dominates the game, it's just an interesting thing to read, he can do better than the likes of me.
>When Marisa read an excerpt from The Inferno, was that merely coincidence, or did it have some signifigance?
>Where'd you get the idea to bring Arthurian myth into your universe here?
>Was your king Arthur 'Arthur', or 'Arturia'?
> Would those extra trades to get through have overloaded him, or what?
> What would said unforeseen consequences have been had he succeeded?
> Did Shou ever actually apologize to Merlin?
> Is Iku still mute, as far as Nue is aware?
> Does Utsuho even remember her encounter with Nue on Gensokyo Isle?
> Where does Murasa get off severing ties with us for killing one person in a fit of clouded judgment when she killed so many under similar circumstances? >:|
> So Tenshi called Suwako's bluff? Good on her. Hopefully she at least appreciated the setup for what it was, even if it was targeted at her.
> Did Tenshi's opinion of Nue drop as a result of all this, given it was pretty damn obvious we were trying to embarrass her in front of her students?
> Did Utsuho at least sort of regret mugging Nue while the two were talking?
> Did Nue maintain any of the various side contacts she made? Visting Flandre again, or the heretics, or joining Utsuho on the roof for philosophy time?
> Would Rinnosuke have actually tried funny stuff with our shapeshifting if we went that direction? Presumably he wouldn't have the extended knowledge of what's a good idea and what's a bad idea that Nue got through experience.
> How would things have returned to normal if he pulled it off? Would Gensokyo itself eventually hit a restart button of its own, would he have undone his own work once he saw the destruction it caused, or would he have been killed by the pressure of maintaining it in the face of apocalyptic force?
>BGM: Breaking Rinnosuke
>BGM: VS Red Bull
>BGM: Sparring with Sir Kay
>BGM: Finding Mamizou
>BGM: Sword Reforged
>BGM: Encounter with the jet.
>BGM: Match against Tenshi's students.
> Did you expect promiscuity? It seemed like you were kinda nudging in that direction with the brief discussion about the size of Nue's bed, but I had a hard time bringing myself to turn her into a whore.
> Where was Kyouko? I wanted to look for her but there seemed to be zero hints as to her whereabouts and there was just too much else to do to spend time stumping blindly around Gensokyo for a single person Nue didn't actually have a legitimate reason to be looking for regardless of what I wanted as a player.
> What became of the gem used to buy the mahogany?
> Is this it for Koyomi, or could we see her again, even if only in passing? Or is Koyomi Quest coming down the pipe soon?
I think this will probably be it for these sorts of questions, barring interesting answers, but no guarantees. Ideally, my next post (which would be several hours down the line) should be my personal assessment of the game, where I plan to cover the game itself, Rinnosuke, Mystia, and maybe a couple of other things. I certainly wouldn't mind the parser's assessment of the game in the meantime, though.
> Would Rinnosuke have gone for the trade of Marisa's clothing, and if he did, would it have broken what he was doing? If he would never have gone for it or if it didn't deter him, was there any way into tricking him into doing something self-destructive like that?