Keine Quest: The Broken and the Lost

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Knock, Just in case

> If no one answers enter the house

[DracoOmega]

> Knock, Just in case

>You knock, more out of a sense of ritual courtesy than anything else. There are no signs of habitation and you do not truly expect an answer. You expectations are met.

> If no one answers enter the house

>You open the door and head inside. Rumia follows after you.
>You are in a medium-sized entry room, that has been stripped bare of all contents far more thoroughly than your own house had been. There are several hallways leading to other rooms in the house.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Try to look for any thing that could help you figure out what happened

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Where would Akyuu normally be when we visit? Do we know where she might sleep?

[Hello Purvis]

>Call out: "Anyone in here?"

[DracoOmega]

> Where would Akyuu normally be when we visit? Do we know where she might sleep?

>She could usually be found in the study, which also contained much of the family's archives. She slept in a separate room, although you also know where this is.

>Call out: "Anyone in here?"

>You call out. Perhaps it's just some thread of hope you're desperately clinging to.
>"Who're you talking to?" Rumia asks. "No one's been here for thiiiiis long."
>You get no reply

> Try to look for any thing that could help you figure out what happened

>You begin working your way through the household. Each room in turn looks mostly the same. Dusty and empty. Whoever left this place must have taken great care to bring everything with them. In fact you find no objects at all until you reach Akyuu's room itself.
>This room is also mostly bare, but there is a small altar against one wall, flanked by two candles. A wall scroll hangs above it.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Go and read the scroll

[DracoOmega]

> Go and read the scroll

>You take a look at the scroll. You try to pretend for a moment that it doesn't say what it appears to say.
>The scroll contains a simple traditional funeral prayer. There is an additional message written at the bottom:

"Heida no Akyuu, 9th Child of Miare
With each cycle, the thread of life grows shorter, but never so short as this.
History awaits your brush again. May you be reborn in happier times."

>You're not sure you can process this right now.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Go sit down, clear your mind.

>After a while, contemplate what might have happened, if nothing comes up, think about going to Reimu's Place

[DracoOmega]

> Go sit down, clear your mind.

>You just kind of slump against the wall and slide to the floor. It's hard not to cry. It's only the hope that you might be able to fix this all somehow that keeps despair from overwhelming you.
>After a moment, Rumia walks over to you and quietly puts her arm around your shoulder. It's such an unexpected and incongruous gesture from her that you almost laugh. And then you DO cry.

>After a while, contemplate what might have happened, if nothing comes up, think about going to Reimu's Place

>After a couple moments, you dry your tears and ruffle Rumia's hair. She smiles at you, and wanders off, puttering back and forth the hallway with her arms spread wide.
>You're still not really sure what happened here. Despite Rumia's implication that everyone spontaneously vanished, clearly care was taken in removing all this stuff. Unless all their stuff just spontaneously vanished with them, while leaving a coincidentally appropriate few items behind. Why everyone left, and where they went is still an open question.
>Reimu is the usual go-to person for any incidents, and this certainly counts as one. Although what Rumia said about not having seen her in a while leaves you feeling uneasy.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hey, Rumia. Um, have you seen the Black White anywhere?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Hey, Rumia. Um, have you seen the Black White anywhere?"

>Rumia pokes her head back in the room when she hears the question. "Nope! Not since after all that misty stuff went away."

[Doll.S CUBE]

>Reimu is the usual go-to person for any incidents, and this certainly counts as one. Although what Rumia said about not having seen her in a while leaves you feeling uneasy.

> Go to the Shrine anyway, If she isn't there maybe there is a clue of what happened

>Rumia pokes her head back in the room when she hears the question. "Nope! Not since after all that misty stuff went away."

> Maybe something changed during the Scarlet Mist incident?

[Hello Purvis]

>"What misty stuff?"

[DracoOmega]

>"What misty stuff?"

>"You know? That red misty stuff? Made it all dark during the day? Rumia kinda liked it, actually...."

> Maybe something changed during the Scarlet Mist incident?

>You consider it. Nothing Rumia seems to strongly suggest this event unfolded differently, other than her lack of seeing Marisa afterwards, which could be for any number of reasons. At the very least, the mist appeared, and eventually disappeared.

> Go to the Shrine anyway, If she isn't there maybe there is a clue of what happened

>You figure that heading towards the shrine might still be the best course of action. You say a small prayer at the altar, and then exit Akyuu's house, and head towards the eastern village outskirts. The shrine is a far distance to the northeast of here.
>"Where're you going?" Rumia asks, after you start to reach the last of the houses on the outskirts.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "I'm trying to find a friend... or anyone else really. Come on Rumia, let's go."

[Doll.S CUBE]

> "I'm trying to find a friend... or anyone else really. Come on Rumia, let's go."

> If she thinks we're gonna see Reimu and freak out, calm her down, and say we'll protect her

> Head to the Shrine

[DracoOmega]

> "I'm trying to find a friend... or anyone else really. Come on Rumia, let's go."

> If she thinks we're gonna see Reimu and freak out, calm her down, and say we'll protect her

> Head to the Shrine

>You tell her your intentions to look for people, and she follows along, although she seems a bit more reluctant than before.
>You continue to head in the direction of the shrine.
>After a little while, Rumia stops. "You're heading for the red white's, aren't you? I don't want to go there. She's a meanie."
>You try to reassure her that you'll protect her, but she shakes her head. She doesn't really seem scared, but she's clearly not interested in heading that way.
>"Rumia doesn't wanna."

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Keep trying to convince her and if she still doesn't want to go ask her if she would wait at the Human Village for her(me?)

[DracoOmega]

> Keep trying to convince her and if she still doesn't want to go ask her if she would wait at the Human Village for her(me?)

>You continue trying to convince her, but it seems her mind's made up. "One pooky box isn't enough to make Rumia want to go to scary places. Not sure if anything enough to make Rumia want to go to red white's...."
>"Oh, Rumia'll probably still be here, anyway," she says, when you ask her to wait in the village for you to return. "Rumia likes it here."
>You wave goodbye and turn to leave. Rumia stops and looks at you before trotting back towards the village. "Good luck being not sad!"

>You continue east until the village recedes into the distance. The terrain here is full of shallow hills, dotted with scraggly patches of trees. You can see the Forest of Magic stretching off to the north and east in the distance. A small path continues eastward towards the shrine, eventually cutting through the easternmost edge of the Forest.

[Hello Purvis]

>Shrineward!

[DracoOmega]

>Shrineward!

>You continue along the path that leads to the shrine. After a while, the path curves northeast and you cut into the edge of the forest.
>The path is fairly narrow here, and the trees shelter over much of it. This is one of (several) reasons that the shrine never got much traffic. While the effect would probably be described as scenic and even cozy elsewhere, the threat of feral youkai leaping out from the trees was more than enough to keep most people away from here. Reimu probably never even stopped to consider that. No lower level youkai could lay a finger on her.
>The path meanders a little, and the trees start to thin out. You're getting near the exit of the forest, and nearing the shrine.
>Suddenly, your foot catches on something and you trip, narrowly avoiding smashing your face in the dirt. Oww....

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Get up and check what we tripped on

[DracoOmega]

> Get up and check what we tripped on

>You pull yourself up again, and take a look at the ground. That's odd....
>There appears to be a crack in the ground; a long split like the kind you might see through dry caked mud, although the ground here is made of soil not at all conducive to such a thing.
It's probably about an inch wide, at this point. It's difficult to tell how deep it is, due to how narrow it is, and the poor lighting under the trees here. The crack seems to extend into the distance ahead of you, although you lose sight of it around a bend in the trees. It appears to grow wider as it goes, though. Looking behind you, you see that it extends for a fair distance behind you, as well, although it is narrower, there. It was probably too dark for you to notice it. It's a wonder you didn't trip over it sooner.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh dear."
>Stand up, dust self off, keep going forward. Mind the fissure.

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh dear."
>Stand up, dust self off, keep going forward. Mind the fissure.

>You stand up, and continue forward, keeping an eye on the fissure so that you don't fall a second time. Eventually, the path veers away from it and fissure continues on into the trees. It's probably nearly a foot wide, at this point.
>You continue along a couple more twists in the path, and emerge from the trees a couple minutes later. Normally, the shrine would be just a couple minutes past here. You might even be able to see it, if you peer into the distance. However, the landscape is different than you remember....
>The fissure emerges from the trees some distance to your left, heading in the general direction of the shrine, and widening massively. Secondary fissures splinter off from the main one at irregular intervals, twisting spider-like in all directions. The crevice absolutely dominates the landscape. The central portion has to be dozens of meters wide by this point, and it looks like it is still widening, although you can't see it all that well from here.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Damn it, Tenshi."
>It's probably not her, but it helps to cover ones bases with shrine destruction.
>Fly onward, a little bit above the ground. See what a wreck the shrine has likely become.

[DracoOmega]

>"Damn it, Tenshi."
>It's probably not her, but it helps to cover ones bases with shrine destruction.

>You vent frustration at the usual suspect for all earthquake-related mischief. Whether she has anything to do with this or not, it's nice to momentarily have someone to blame.

>Fly onward, a little bit above the ground. See what a wreck the shrine has likely become.

>You take to the air and head towards the shrine, or more likely what's left of it.
>From what you can see, the fissure is quite deep. You can't make out the bottom of it in this light. You think you may be able to catch a hint of motion, or... something odd in the depths. It's very slight and momentary, but you see it in several places.
>Moving further on, you see that the entire area where the shrine should be is shallowed by the fissure. No one would ever know that something human had been here. If there's any ruins left, you can't see them from this height. The fissure carries on for a a little distance past the shrine, branching into several paths before thinning out again perhaps 200 meters further on.

[Hello Purvis]

>Do we get any especial bad feelings from it, aside from there being a huge fissure where one of the big important parts of Gensokyo should be?
>If not, take a closer but cautious, look at that motion.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Ready a spell card just in case