Hatate Quest Kolme

[Oldmansour]

>"Bring up the standard of life? How?"

>"Up TO, I said." Reimu corrects you. "The Gensokyo you come from, it has its own Great Hakurei Barrier, right?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Yeah?"

>"And you know how it works?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Sorta. It keeps us separate from the outside world, but some things can get through, like animals."

[Oldmansour]

>"Sorta. It keeps us separate from the outside world, but some things can get through, like animals."

>"That's part of it. There's a lot more to it, though." Reimu sighs, resting her head in her hand. "Believe me, keeping track of it all is a pain."
>"I ain't about to claim I understand it all myself, but I can tell ya this." Marisa takes over. "When the barrier was built, Yukari and all those other wise-asses she had working with her built it as a way for youkai to survive, a place they could coexist with humans without running the risk of just fading away. But part of the barrier was conflict."
>Reimu nods. "The Barrier was build with the basic premise that humans and youkai would always conflict with each other. Humans fear and exterminate youkai, youkai despise and eat humans. We'd live in the same place, but never really coexist."

>Celes, finishing her tea, asks, "And, this has somehow changed?"
>"You got it, sister." Marisa says. "You got youkai going to school with humans, humans now live all over youkai mountain, the tengu have open borders, the oni even make human-strength booze now. There's really no seperation between human and youkai anymore."
>"Except for the most ignorant humans, and the most feral youkai, there's just no racial conflict anymore. And even those are rarer than ever."
>As Reimu takes a bite out of another rice biscuit, Marisa carries on, "If Gensokyo's a house, its one whose upper levels didn't mesh with the foundation. So Ran's decided to fix that."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Huh, I think I understand. But what's that supposed to do, as far as we're concerned?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Huh, I think I understand. But what's that supposed to do, as far as we're concerned?"

>"Keep Gensokyo from collapsing in on itself." Reimu replies.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Okay, that's pretty important."

[Oldmansour]

>"Okay, that's pretty important."

>"And why it'll take a while to set up. Now, don't get the wrong idea, the place isn't about to fall apart any day now, or anything. Ran's thinking long term here."
>"She's one smart cookie." Marisa adds with a nod. "In any world, I'd bet."

[Hello Purvis]

>"At least I can't disagree about our Ran."

[Oldmansour]

>"At least I can't disagree about our Ran."

>"Is there more than one Ran here?" Momiji asks.
>"Actually, yes." Marisa answers. "But we just think of them as one Ran."
>"You do? Why?"
>"Because they're basically the same person. Act the same, wear the same clothes, do the same things. Heck, for all I know, Yukari made one and forgot to unmake her."
>"And this never struck you as odd?"
>"Never thought about it before. It was, there was one Ran, then there was two." Marisa tips her hat down as she lowers her head in thought. "I guess it IS kinda weird, now that you mention."

[Hello Purvis]

>"When did the other Ran show up? And do they get along?"

[Oldmansour]

>"When did the other Ran show up? And do they get along?"

>"I... I don't remember." Marisa mutters.
>"A few years ago now." Reimu answers in her place. "And they get along now, at any rate. If they ever didn't, she never told me."

[Hello Purvis]

>"And none of you didn't think to ask why there's two of her now? Doesn't that sound like an incident?"
>"And has this happened to anyone else? There's not 37 Mystias running around, is there?"

[Oldmansour]

>"And none of you didn't think to ask why there's two of her now? Doesn't that sound like an incident?"
>"And has this happened to anyone else? There's not 37 Mystias running around, is there?"

>"Naw, Ran's okay." Remi replies casually. "Two of her's meant less work for me." Marisa, however, seems faintly troubled.
>Reimu chuckles. "There's a thought. We'd be the most musical Gensokyo ever. But no, there's only one of her, one of me, Marisa, Kosuza, Yuugi.... It's just Ran, you and Momiji here."
>"Aya." Marisa mutters. "Aya. There used to be two Ayas for a while."
>"Used to?" Celes asks.
>"One of them disappeared a long time ago. I don't know where, or why."

[Hello Purvis]

>"What? Tell me everything you remember!"

[Oldmansour]

>"What? Tell me everything you remember!"

>"It was.... I don't remember how long ago it was. It's funny, I remember now, I had one of those dreams, but Aya was in it. Then I saw another Aya a couple days later outside the Scarlet Devil Manor."
>"How do you know it wasn't the Aya of this world?" Celes asks.
>"She told me. That she'd already met the other Aya, I mean. Didn't talk long, she was busy."
>"Looking for another story, no doubt." Momiji remarks.
>Marisa shakes her head. "No. She had this funny look in her eye, like.... Like someone who'd got something they'd always wanted but didn't believe it yet. She said that she was 'enjoying the world. For the first time.' Said she was free. I didn't know what she meant, she never told me. Anyway, for a little while, there were two of them flying around, and then one day, one of 'em was just gone. I don't know where she went. I don't know if anyone knows, except maybe the Aya that's still here."

[Hello Purvis]

>"And you never asked the Aya still here about it?"

[Oldmansour]

>"And you never asked the Aya still here about it?"

>"I.... just never thought about it."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So, how many times is it now that you've not thought about or outright forgot something really out of the normal? That we've found with just this conversation? And, do either of you know if this other Aya met with the other Ran?"

[Oldmansour]

>"So, how many times is it now that you've not thought about or outright forgot something really out of the normal? That we've found with just this conversation? And, do either of you know if this other Aya met with the other Ran?"

>"Not sure." Reimu replies. "But, I'd guess so. One Aya's as curious as the other, after all."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod.
>"So this is a thing that's happened several times now. I'm not sure if that's bad or encouraging... Either way, seems like the it was best of us to report an incident."

[Oldmansour]

>Nod.
>"So this is a thing that's happened several times now. I'm not sure if that's bad or encouraging... Either way, seems like the it was best of us to report an incident."

>"If this is some kind of incident, it's one that takes its sweet time."
>"We were kinda due for one." Marisa says to her. "It's been about a year since Tenshi mixed it up with the kids."
>"Yeah, maybe."

[Hello Purvis]

>Look to Momiji and Celes.
>"So, what do you two think? Seems like finding Aya or Ran is our best bet. But, I kinda think we should also find ourselves and, well, let them know we're kinda stepping on their turf."

[Oldmansour]

>Look to Momiji and Celes.
>"So, what do you two think? Seems like finding Aya or Ran is our best bet. But, I kinda think we should also find ourselves and, well, let them know we're kinda stepping on their turf."

>"Whether this is our world or not, I'd like to visit the tengu." Momiji answers. "Something dramatic happened to them here, something which I've always thought was impossible. I want to know how."
>"I agree with you, Hatate." Celes says once the tengu is done. "About finding Ran and Aya. However, there is one more thing I would like to ask our hosts first, before we leave."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Sure thing, Celes."

[Oldmansour]

>"Sure thing, Celes."

>The steward nods and turns back to Reimu and Marisa. "I'd like to ask you about two people you've mentioned previously. When we came in, Reimu, you mentioned a 'psycho Sakuya', I believe were your precise words, and a barber in the human village."
>"What about them?" the shrine maiden asks.
>"Well for starters, we passed Sakuya on the way in, and she didn't seem particularly psychotic."
>"That's the real Sakuya. She's got some lunatic twin running around." Reimu makes a sour face. "I don't know where she came from or why she's here, but that one's more trouble than Seija, Nue and Tenshi put together. You don't want anything to do with her, believe me." The red-white sweeps her finger between you and your group. "Do yourselves a big favor and keep your distance from that one."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So there is another twin after all. Okay, and what makes this one such a psycho?"

[Oldmansour]

>"So there is another twin after all. Okay, and what makes this one such a psycho?"

>"First off, I don't think she's like the rest of you lot. She looks different from the real Sakuya for one, and she's got different powers. As for how psycho?" Reimu snorts out a humorless laugh. "She's the only person in Gensokyo who's been the Cobalt Keep more than once. That psycho enough?"
>"Really." says Celes. "Would you happen to know-"
>"If you're gonna ask where to find her, don't bother." Reimu interrupts. "I don't know, and if I did, I wouldn't tell you."
>"She's kind of a pariah." Marisa adds. "People here think the Keep's 'tainted' her, somehow. Like she carries some of that evil with her."
>"And spreads it all around Gensokyo." Reimu adds fiercely. "If I ever find her, I think I'll send her to the back side of the moon."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So what's she done that's so bad? Does she go around knifing people? And how are her powers different?"