Waking Up from the Dream - Welcome Home - Story Thread

[Marokuu]

8:00 AM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Hotel Room

Kristian was sitting at a desk in his hotel room, twirling a ten sided die in his fingers as his mind wandered all over the place. It really seemed like something out of some sort of detective novel didn't it? Or possibly the introduction to some sort of supernatural drama, he never was the best with genres.

An all-expenses paid trip to what could possibly be described as his favorite country had obviously been too good to pass up, despite his parent's initial worry and/or concerns about his ability to handle himself.

However, while the initial days had been quite pleasant, things had taken a turn for the stranger in the last few days with the Shrine resident apparently disappearing, some military-ish group showing up. Then the shrine website being wiped for some inexplicable reason and randomly popping back up basically in the form of an incessant message that wouldn't go away.

He casually tossed the die across the table and without checking the result he pulled a card from a deck located near the opposite end of where the die landed. Ace of spades, now if only he had believed in some sort of card fortune telling and that might have carried some sort of significance. He sighed heavily as he spun the card around in his hand before pulling up the laptop sitting in front of him and opening up a browser to check if anything had changed with the shrine web-page.

A minute later he closed it again after confirming that, indeed, there had been no change and he still had no idea what the whole 'Faith in yourself' thing meant. Faith in general felt like a really cheesy word without a lot of base in logic in his opinion.

"Maybe it's some kind of event put on by the convention arrangers." He muttered to himself, completely disregarding a possible connection to the militant types hanging around.

"Perhaps they've arranged some sort of drawing for the people attending, and it will happen at this tourist shop." He mused as a slight smirk crept onto his face.

"I mean, this is way too cheesy to actually mean something right?" "Pfft faith, such an abstract concept, and the people important to me are miles away." He stood up and started slowly making his way across the room which was currently unlit, apart from the dim light coming in through the shade covered windows.

"Whatever, I guess I'll just get some practice done before I check out that place. If it is something put on by the convention arrangers then reason dictates that it's scheduled properly before it right?" He stopped muttering to himself as he picked up an elongated case laying next to the bed, he was glad that the deconstructed bow-and-arrow-set it contained had not caused any problems during customs.

"I'll check that tourist shop after lunch I think" He thought as he headed out through the hotel lobby, covered his eyes against the morning sun and went to look for a place where someone might allow him to practice a bit of archery without any objections, the townsfolk had been helpful enough before.

Note: Kristian will be walking around aimlessly for about an hour before settling down and practicing archery at some location for a couple of hours before eventually heading off towards the tourist helper shop.

[CrowCakes]

1:30 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Town Square

"Is this the place?" Danao stood by a lamp post, glancing at the empty establishment. The shop was there, apparently, and it was as abandoned as he thought it was. Much like any other closed-down shop, the windows were blocked off from the inside with some worn-out material, and the glass was discolored and translucent. A focused stare into the panes registered nothing in his vision, although he thought he could make out the vague outline of a reception table inside. It seemed that this place was closed down in a rush. Even the door seemed to have no lock.

Warily, he looked behind. One hand was on his messenger bag. No one was on to him, and no one across the square was looking at him.

He smiled. "Good."

Pushing himself off the post, he walked straight to the door. Trying to push the door was not doing anything, so he grabbed the door handle and tugged at it. The door budged.

With one quick yank on the handle, he disappeared into the shop as quickly as he had entered.

OOC: Danao has entered the Tourist Helpers shop.

[GuardianTempest]

The weaving of the Threads of Fate has begun. The resulting cloth better be firm.

4:37 AM - Day 2 - Tokyo, Japan - Outside friend's house en route to Kamisuiwa

"Alright, Leo. Thanks for the help, your father's a good man."

A youthful teenager clad in a military-themed outfit finished packing his heavy baggage in the back of the car owned by Leo's father and seats in the front. He waves goodbye to his friend as he begins his trip to the province of Kamisuiwa. He then talks to himself mentally, or rather, with his 'original characters', mental entities he keeps around in his mind for company as well as his conscience to guide him with decisions.

"Ah, it's about time I reset my body clock back to waking up at a glorious 3:00 in the morning. Though I kinda procrastinated huh?

"Well, yes, just be sure to motivate yourself to sleep every 9-pm. Leo's such a good guy, even though he's twice as stoic as you."

"Also, go back to sleep, just a bit. The trip will take a while to get there and obviously the traffic's gonna be a killer, if there is any."

"Alright, I will."

He dozes off inside the vehicle, as time passes until he reaches his destination.


5:21 AM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa - Drop-off Station near the Town Central

"Hey, wake up. Wake up and smell the awesome."

"Um...uh...what?"

The youth wakes up and looks at his surrounding, exiting the car to pick up his large backpack and fortified trolley case. While he is taking a good look at the wonderful dawn approaching, he is questioned by the driver.

"Hey Neil, you kinda look a bit too young to be carrying all that weight around."

"It's okay, sir. I can handle myself. I guess I'll be back in weeks, being busy going around."

"Hm, with all these guys looking like serious soldiers, this is probably one of your 'military enthusiast conventions'."

"(Wait, what? Thought this was an anime convention!) Yeah, I hear this time they're talking about the modern Japanese defense force."

"Alright, I'll let you off now. Stay safe, kid."

Neil watches the car speed away, feeling the cool and refreshing breeze in the region. He's spent so much time in Metro Manila that pristine air like this feels 12 times better in his perspective. He notices something about him...something.

"That guy is seriously Laguna Loire. Carefree, lovable by all and possesses lot's of guns. He even has that long hair!" "I know, right?"

 Still, he realized he forgot to eat at Leo's home for breakfast, silly Neil. He spends several minutes looking for a place to eat, with a creative convenience store-slash-cafe sporting a clockwork/gear-motif in top priority. He read about it online, famous for its pragmatism and accepting atmosphere. Eventually he finds it and rests his already weary self in there along with getting a meal.


6:37 AM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa Town Central - Carl Clover's Convenience Cache and Creative Cafe

Neil is finished eating a delicious meal of the standard rice meal Filipinos take for granted. A plate of rice along with 'variants' and they're good to go. Beside him are his belongings, slightly bloated after a spending spree that wasted more than half of his funds on various merchandise(in which he stuffed into his bags). He thinks he can probably redeem himself for that. He puts on his backpack and brings his trolley case outside, where he starts looking for some path that leads to the forest for his hiking.

Later, he finds such a path but there seems to a stone walkway that progressively gets more and more...erm...dilapidated. It's probably the path to some old shrine that has been forgotten by the millennium that was deep in the forest, right? The Saniwa Shrine is obviously placed closer to the city...but that's just him. Anyways, he thought not only would it be an excellent campsite but he could probably find something to loot too. He decides to slack off there for a few hours or more...or until he gets sick of it which would happen quite fast.


9:48 AM - Day 2 - Forest near Kamisuiwa - Random Shrine Ruins

For some bizarre broken down establishment, it's quite roomy here though the two hours spent following the path to this point wasn't really worth it. No wonder it was torn down, people got tired of this madness just for their spiritual routine and demanded a closer one. Look at it, it's so hellishly deep in the jungle that it might as well start a village of its own instead of having to drag people this freakin' far.

"Ah! Venomous spider detected!" yelled Neil, frightened at a small spider he deems threatening. Immediately he throws a large stick broken from one of the wooden windows at it, killing it instantly.

"It's just a spider, going about to kill a few insects like that cockroach you've been desperately going genocidal over."

"What do I care? I'm not gonna risk anything!"

He spends a few more minutes, calmed, attempting to loot and salvage all he can find. So far all he found is a chest-high walking stick that seems to be carved from a thick branch, piles of rusted machine-junk and...is that a military uniform? Upon closer inspection it is, fresh, unscathed and still in its clear packaging. Analysis reveals it to be a Winter-Ops uniform originating from a Soviet-enthusiast's online store.

"Hmm, I wonder who's the poor sap who dropped this? I mean, this is a rare find right here!" Neil wondered, "I always wanted my own NBC package...that covers the feet too, but I guess this will do, finders-keepers!"

"Are you really sure you want that? Is it even the right size?" "Of course he's sure, look closely at the size tags, it's just his size! It is kinda loose in some parts...is it?"

He begins putting it in in his case when all of a sudden a large yet benevolent, stray dog passes by. He is immediately stricken with fear, having second and third thoughts about stealing this even though the dog obviously means no harm. It's just that he has a phobia for dogs, fearing that one may bite him eventually.

"Should I drop it or greed?" "Greed! Greed! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance so GREED!!"

He freezes for a moment hoping the dog would pass by into the next room, and sure enough it did. He lets out a quiet sigh of relief as he finishes packing in the object. At least now the largest bit of empty space in his trolley case is filled and he needs no more items as it's full now.

"You might want to go back now, at this point your arrival time will be lunch time, so get going."

He thinks of bringing the stick to but then it might not be allowed back in the cafe so he leaves it there and heads back. This will be one long walk back now that he's starting to feel tired. His walking speed is reduced now that he has to conserve enough energy to make it back there. Once that is out of the way, he's going to have a nourishing meal and slack off online.

Three-fourths of the way back to the town central, he decides to take a short break to drink some water. Just as he finished he was spotted by, what he perceives as, a friendly military personnel on patrol.

"Hey you, kid! What are you doing here!?"

"Um...hiking?"

"You shouldn't be allowed here."

"Why?"

"You're not supposed to know, it's forbidden but what I can tell you is that it's really, really bad if you continue wandering up there."

"Okay, so about this military convention...I thought it was the standard Otaku scene."

"Oh that? It's probably a mistake in the advertisement department, come along now."

"It's amazing you can talk in fluent English. (And I don't have to use my poorly-memorized 'Conversational Japanese for Drop-Outs'.)"

They have a casual conversation until he gets back in the town central, where the soldier returns to patrolling the mountains.


12:59 Noon - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa Town Central - Carl Clover's Convenience Cache and Creative Cafe

She was right, anticipating the possible travel time crossing the path longer than the infamous staircase in Baguio he makes it at around 12:30 in the noon. Lucky for him he didn't stick out like a sore thumb, vacationers are often seen bringing their baggage around. Only now did he realize he was fortunate that no one tried to steal from him, would really suck if someone did even if he were to track that bastard down and force him to look at shock sites. And only NOW did he notice the absurd density of people here. There's only him and like 7 more people in this cafe. The employees don't seem to mind though. He is done eating a quick yet heavy meal to optimize his browsing time. The table is cleaned for him so he can use the cafe's wireless interface and the nearby power outlet for his laptop.

He checks the website that advertised this opportunity to him. Wait, why is he going hiking when a convention is starting? Don't know, but he can simply maneuver his way around and get himself in time for the convention. Besides, it's in a rural location so it's probably small scale. He is startled at what he found, it was wiped dead and it is now infected, to his horror (but his face refuses to show it). However, the powerful anti-virus his hacker classmate illegitimately modified to be even more powerful and brutal, showed no alarm. Was it him going for a chat? No, he'd never use a site and he can simply open up a secret chat program he installed, it's probably something different. The only thing bugging him was that it refuses to close, but he can still access TvTropes for some time-killing.

He spots a person dart off immediately after finishing his own browsing session, did he see the same thing? He looked familiar, was he that famous costume-maker who helped him with designing his gloves? (That was before he got the claws installed, obviously.)

"Hm, what's his problem?" he thought, afterwards he continued browsing the internet for some amusement, checking updates and replying to a few comments. He posts an update saying that he'll be busy for a long while so he won't be flooded with comments when he gets back online.

And what about the official military presence? Why isn't he allowed to wander off before attending? Why are there even soldiers in the first place?

The rush of questions, from the recent events and his online life, are dizzying his mind. Nevertheless, he's going to procrastinate visiting the site, though it does seem like a good opportunity to play the hero. I mean, look at that message, it's basically begging for someone who can believe in himself. Though about the trip...hmmm...something's up. Then suddenly his brain experiences the equivalent of an Overflow Exception after which he (indirectly) reprimands himself.

"You're obviously thinking things too hard, the guy's probably someone who looks like him and he's probably late for a meeting. The website in particular is dead from a hacker attack and the 'Tourist Helpers' shop is obviously some criminal trap to do you in. The deviants in particular probably got the hapless innocents who worked so hard to bring you the all-expense paid trip, in which by the time you got it everything else they had in mind is off the table. The military is here on a crackdown operation, like the -good- police you see on local TV. As your conscience you're gonna have to stand this down!" she reprimanded, showing both concern and some other emotion.

"And you're overreacting. I say get going around 1:30 PM once you finish packing up your stuff and had your share of new tropes. It's just across the town center." she suggested, though when she meant 'across the town center', she probably meant 'across the town center stuffed in a little corner of isolation, they should pick a better location to help more tourists'.

"Great idea, but first there's this list of humans with 'awesome powers'. Can't believe the marathon man is included."

Neil slacks off for several minutes, the first tab in his browser constantly reminding him so he wouldn't spend too much time.

"Stay sharp, Neil." she advised.


OOC: Goof-balling, obviously. Will arrive in the shop several minutes after Danao has made his entrance.

[Jana]

11:30 AM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Virtual Gensokyo Hosting Laboratory

"My plan? First we need to figure out what we can and should do from here on out..." "Yeah, that sounds right. C'mon, Meira. Let's go find VIVIT and take a look around this place."

Jan listened just enough to hear what the others who had woken before him said before he turned to look at Patchouli and Koakuma. They seemed to have noticed him when he had approached, and he gave them a shy little wave. "I'm sorry for being so late, heh heh..." Giving himself pause with a little cough, Koakuma was the first to speak. "It's okay. I know how hard it is to get you out of bed in the morning sometimes."

Patchouli raised an eyebrow at the pair, then looked at Jan. "Oh? I had not heard about this before..." "It-It's because we usually get up before you, Miss Patchouli. Ahaha... Um, more importantly, do either of you know-" "Not a lot. We still don't know where we are, how long we have been here, nor for what reason."

Giving his mistress a curt nod, Jan turned back to the other people, as they spread out to find other teams or members or whatnot. "It is quite good to have you back, Jan." "Yeah! Good to see you up!" "Hahaha! Yes, it is indeed good to be back!"


11:35 AM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Virtual Gensokyo Hosting Laboratory

The trio had sat in place to chit-chat about various things and consider what had happened to them while others were gathering. Eventually, Patchouli looked up and pointed, prompting her two employees to follow with their eyes. "Our gate guards are here as well."

Jan had never had much reason to speak with the gate guards of the Scarlet Devil Mansion (indeed, he assumed neither Patchouli nor Koakuma did either), but he at least knew who they were. "If the two of them are here, then whatever happened probably had little to do with fighting or anything." Patchouli nodded and continued Jan's thought, "Yes, that ghost is here as well, and she is certainly more powerful than our gate guards." Jan cocked his head to one side, but didn't question any further as some other people continued to speak together.

 "Oh well, I guess we should all gather ourselves before acting. I suppose before we do that, we ought to at least take roll call..."  "Remember, we have about 48 hours." "Right, so we'll have to plan accordingly. Okay then. C'mon ghostie, let's go get everyone else and talk things over."

Jan hopped to his feet with some difficulty while Koakuma helped herself and Patchouli stand up, and the three walked on over. Jan gave a friendly wave, not really matching the library's suit-like uniform which he was wearing. "Heyo, we were listening in, so I think we about have the jist of it. Anything us bookish sorts can help with?"

[Kakyoin]

11:46 AM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Virtual Gensokyo Hosting Laboratory

After letting Yuyuko off of his back, Ken walked over alone to the mostly empty corner of the lab room. "Mayli?"
   The student was sitting on the ground, a hand to her chest. She seemed to be breathing evenly, but her breath was strained.
   "Hey, you okay?" He leaned down and looked at her, meeting a surprisingly flat gaze. It was as if she was completely oblivious to everything going on around her. He raised his voice at her. "Mayli!"
   "Ahh!" She jumped in surprise, but upon seeing his face, relaxed. "K-Ken...I, uh, hehe..."
   "You don't look so good." He sat down next to her and put an arm around her opposite shoulder, slightly pulling them together. "Er...Mayli...?"
   "U-Um...well, I...ehehe..."
   Ken sighed. "Mayli...c'mon, what's wrong? You're doing that little laugh. You always laugh like that when you're trying to hide something."
   She shook her head. "Just out of breath...maybe coming out of those--hah--machines is taking a toll on me still..."
   "Hmm..." He knew something was up. "Is that so..."
   Sighing herself, she looked at him worriedly. There was no use trying to hide it from him. "I, um...I feel kinda...tired..." Somehow, that feeling was going away slightly. Or was that just her imagination?
   "Huh...do you have a cold, or what is it?"
   Mayli looked away briefly and took a deep breath, then gazed at him again. "I-I'm not sure...my chest feels funny though. I don't think it's an illness, Ken, but it's a bit..."
   He squeezed her shoulder and pulled her a bit closer. "A bit...what?" He knew she secretly liked being taken care of, so he was trying to give her reassurance.
   She gasped, and a blush began appearing on her cheeks. "...hah..."
   "Mayli? Are you--sure you really aren't sick?" He glanced around, but there wasn't anyone besides himself who could really do any sort of healing. Not like he could treat the sick, anyway. "Please..."
   Looking surprised, she held her mouth open. When he had pulled her closer, the strange feeling had increased...it did not feel unpleasant, but suddenly it felt warmer. Now she wasn't out of breath, either. What was going on?
   He had noticed it too, and spoke up. "Uh...hold on. Let me try something real quick." He stood up and looked down at her. "Don't--I mean, stay sitting there, please." Not wanting to look down at her exposed chest, he quickly fixed his eyes on the wall above her head.
   She placed her hands over her chest. "What're you..."
   He slowly stepped away from her; first a single step, then two more steps back. "Feel any different?"
   "N-No, I don't think so..."
   "Then, maybe if I go further back, just a bit more..." He took another few steps back and heard her gasp. "Eh?"
   "Ah...hah~ K-Ken, I--"
   "Mayli!" He ran back over to her and kneeled next to her. "Um...how do you feel now?"
   "W-Well, suddenly I felt a bit out of breath, but...I think it's back to nor--eh?!" she was interrupted by a feeling of restoration and relaxation, and her shortness of breath was taken away as quickly as it had come to plague her.
   So that was it, he thought. But as far as he could remember, Mayli was never--she didn't have any special powers, so how was this possible?
   "What's happening to me?" she whispered in a voice only they could hear.
   "I think it's...you must have..." he breathed out and back in, incredulously. "You're using mana..."
   She opened her mouth in surprise. "Eh? M-Mana? ME?! But, I don't--I never--!"
   He groaned out of concern. "Ugh...well hold on, calm down...this is a bit unexpected, and yet..." This could be a problem, since the safe distance in which mana transfer would become stretched thin was very limited in more newly-established link contracts. He didn't recall Mayli ever using mana previously before RAI captured them and stuck them in the virtual Gensokyo world, but he also couldn't remember ever forming a mana contract with her...this stuff was getting more confusing than it should.
   "So...what does it mean? I, I have no special powers though..." she eeked out.
   He helped her to her feet. "Honestly, I have no idea. But, it seems like you should stay close to me from here on out, all right?"
   She put her hands on her cheeks. Ken's mana was keeping her body functioning properly...it felt exciting in a way she'd never felt before. Was this the next step in the fantasy adventure she had dreamed of one day going on, similar to the ones she had read about in her books back home? It sounded so dangerous, yet she wanted to know what else might happen...
   "Hey, Mayli! Earth to Mayli!" Having stepped a bit away, he leaned forward and waved a hand in front of her face. "Hey, are you in there? It's your move."
   "Oh, yes." She raised her right hand and ran her fingers through her medium-length, almond-brown hair. "Let's go, then. Ah, but wait..."
   He turned around. "What's up?"
   She let out an exasperated sigh and pointed across the room. "You might want to talk to Mokou soon, about what happened earlier..."
   "Er..." he paused at the thought of how awkward it would be. "Yeah, probably." He muttered to himself: "...man!"


(Notes: It has been discovered that after being in the virtual Gensokyo simulation, Mayli has a mana link with Ken...somehow.)

[Yog-N'yggoth]

2:30 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Hotel Entrance

 Back here again. Ashley sighed and scratched his head in frustration. This was the fourth time he got lost somehow. He wasn't sure why, it should've been simple. Yet here he was, double checking the directions again. This probably looked weird to any of the onlookers, although it might've also familiar to see a foreigner having no idea where he was.

 Taking a detour to a noodle shop once didn't help. At least it was a interesting experience. None of that cheapness and unhealthiness of instant noodles he felt. Although that might been just him not eating much besides some airplane food and snacks he brought along.

 His stomach growled again. Well attempting to find the source of that strange message would give anyone a appitate. He retraced his steps, funny how it's much easier to find food than that.

3:35 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Town Square

 Aaand here it is

 Ashley finally found the correct destination. Maybe the hunger he had affected his sense of direction. And forgetting that people would probably know what he's intending when he shows the addresses leading up to this location. He passed near it a couple times, but he didn't take notice, for good reason.

 He stared at the building. It looked...well one of those places where you wake up in a bathtub with your kidney missing. It looked empty, it felt empty, and it had that old run-down look like most buildings. He looked around. No one else was here that he could see.

 He slowly made his way up to the door, his switchblade in his left hand. He was proficient in wielding with both of his hands now. If someone jumps me, I'm gonna go slashing away, he thought, as he opened the door and went it.

[Marokuu]

10:00 AM - Day 2 - Kamisuwa, Japan - Open Field

Complete silence. Kristian takes a deep breath as he pulls back slightly on the string and raises the bow in front of him.

"Focus, take your time."

He breathes out slowly as he pulls the string back fully and places his right hand next to his face. Nothing moves for a few seconds as he looks down the arrow and lines it up with the target.

"Slo~wly now"

*TWANG* The silence is finally broken as he lets go off the string, followed by the dampened thud of the arrow hitting the target.

"Outer blue ring, inner blue and inner black." Kristian sighs as he walks forward to pull out the arrows and mark down the score. "Abysmal score but the grouping could have been worse I guess."

As he returns to the firing line he looks at his watch. "Still too early for lunch, I can go for another hour or so I guess."

With that thought he places the arrows in his makeshift stand, puts one of them to the string and resumes his shooting.

2:00 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuwa, Japan - Cafe Near the Town Central

"God! Why are my timekeeping skills so terrible."

Kristian mentally chides himself as he finishes up the sandwich that had to stand in as his lunch for the day.

"Why am I feeling stressed anyways? It's not like I have an actual schedule to keep just yet." He scarfs down the last bit of the sandwich and glances at his wristwatch. "And I just spent like what? Three hours shooting. Not often that I get into that kind of flow." He stands up and checks his phone for the address that he was heading for before his stomach distracted him.

"I guess it's nearby at least." He mumbles while picking the case that had been placed under his chair while he ate, before heading off, walking through the town at a brisk pace.

When he rounds a corner and the closed down tourist shop comes into view he slows down while skepticism assails his mind. "Okay, this looks way dodgy."

A few years ago he would never have considered even going close to a store like this but during the last few years he'd been getting, in his own words, 'ballsier'.

He switches his case into his left hand before shaking his head and heading towards the entrance. "I feel so gullible right now."

He paused for a moment right in front of the door and switched the case back to his right hand before finally stepping in. "If I'm gonna have to swing this at someone I will slap myself for being tricked into this."

OOC: Welp, he's in the store now.

[Kakyoin]

12:04 PM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Virtual Gensokyo Hosting Laboratory

"..."

Mokou continued to stare at the wall, hands in pockets. To the casual onlooker, it wouldn't seem out of the ordinary.
   She clenched her fists tighter inside of her pockets. Frustration had taken her over, and while she knew it to be true there was little she felt she could do to quell it, to stop it from inflicting the heavy feeling she felt in her chest.
   Damn...I really fucked that up, she thought. Gritting her teeth, she reached a hand up and played with one of her suspender straps. It had happened before she could realize what was going on. She failed to remember what would happen if she tried to use a spell card in reality...she'd nearly sacrificed one friend in an attempt to recover another.
   "...hey." A voice called out to her from behind. Choosing to ignore it, she waited to hear if it was directed at herself. "Hey, Mokou."
   She responded without turning around. "...what?"
   "Come on, don't be like this."
   The fire mage looked at a higher point on the wall she was facing. "What do you want?"
   "You know it wasn't your fault for--"
   She cleared her throat haughtily. "...be quiet. I know it wasn't my fault."
   "And yet..."
   "What are you getting at?" She kicked her foot against the wall a few times. "Is that all you came here to say?"
   She heard a sigh before the voice continued. "What's wrong then, Mokou?"
   "..." She said nothing, only closing her eyes shut tightly.
   "Oh please, don't give me that. What's wrong, can't bring yourself to turn around, to look at others?"
   "Shut up! I told you alread--"
   "Is the great Fujiwara no Mokou hiding from her problems?"
   Her body began to quiver slightly. "That's enough of that...!"
   The voice seemed to calm down slightly. "Then I have a gift for you, to cheer you up."
   She opened her eyes. "What? You've got to be kidding me..."
   "Come on, turn around so I can give it to you."
   "Humph. What have I done to deserve any sort of present? If anything, I should be punished..."
   "That's what you think. Come now, can't you face Ken?"
   Mokou felt her eyes starting to water in hot frustration, at the mention of his name. Even if it was an accident, it could have been easily prevented if she had just kept her cool after escaping the pods. But even now, her best friend was stuck in that...that fake world. Stuck in that place without her...the more she thought about it, the more frustrated she felt. They had tried everything, but without someone around who knew how to free them, it was hopeless. That damned Nitori couldn't have picked a worse time to run off somewhere, she thought.
   "Well?" The voice spoke up in a condescending way. "Are you trying to be the hero, Fujiwara no Mokou? Trying to keep everything sealed up inside?"
   Mokou gasped slightly, then growled a reply. "Grrgh...N-No...it's not--"
   "Is that really the truth? You know what you need to do, just swallow that stupid pride of yours. What's wrong with apologizing?"
   "..."
   "There's no use crying over spilled milk now. Until we can figure something out, Keine's stuck inside the virtual reality. Would she want you to spend your moments of freedom by moping around?"
   That was it. She whirled around and yelled at her audience of one. "SHUT UP! I--"
   A hand came swinging towards her face.
   
*SLAP*

"Uwah?!" Staggering back more in surprise than pain, she gave a grunting cry of frustration.
   "There, now we're even. Got it?!" He had his hand still extended and his body still posed. "I've had enough of you bottling up your feelings..."
   "You--!" She felt an extreme yet hot sadness ripple through her body, as if the stinging warmth of the mark on her right cheek was seeping into her like a parasite. "W-Why did you...hah..."
   He grimaced and stepped closer. "You idiot..."
   She held back a sob, feeling a tear running down her cheek. It only served to boil her blood even further. Now he would assume that she was crying like a weakling...
   "I know you didn't mean to hurt me, you only wanted to protect Keine." He grabbed her right hand and pulled it away from her cheek, trying to touch the spot he had hit. "Here, let me--"
   She instinctively moved her hand back up before he could touch her. "Kuh..." her breathing began to even out again. "W-What are you..."
   "Don't want the evidence to go away, I see..."
   Swallowing, she realized that her back was against the wall. She lifted her head up as he moved her hand down away from the reddening spot. "I...s-stop, it's not--"
   "Shh, be quiet." He placed a hand on the raw spot on her cheek and, with a gasp and shudder, got his hand to illuminate with faint magic.
   Her other cheek had turned pink in embarrassment. "Nnnnh...stop wasting mana on me..." Still, the stinging feeling was going away thanks to his heal. Why did she always have to resist help so much?
   "It's not a waste, and you don't have a choice. I want you to feel better, so sit still for a few more seconds..."
   She closed her eyes and waited until he had removed his hand. Without feeling her cheek, she knew the effects of him having hit her had been mitigated to nothingness. Looking into his eyes, she could tell her blush hadn't.
   "Well?" He rubbed his hand on the side of his shirt.
   Mokou put her hands behind her back and moved away from the wall. "T-Thanks..."
   He almost broke his seriousness when he looked at her pouting face. "Sure, no problem. I don't think we need to talk any more about this now, do we?"
   She shook her head and mumbled back. "No, and...I'm sorry."
   "That's good enough for me. I'm sorry for hitting you, it just felt appropriate for some reason. Don't get get your pretty hair ribbons in a bunch because of something you didn't mean to do, especially when we already know what your intentions were."
   "W-Whatever. So..." She twirled a strand of her long hair while trying to figure out how to continue. "...um. How are you...feeling, then?"
   Ken sighed and smiled at her in resolve. "Like nothing happened...at least not now. Thank goodness you didn't follow through with that spell card of yours, or I might've been toast..."
   "Of course not! If you die, then I..." Mokou paused. "Wait a second...how'd we get a mana link, anyway? I was so worried about what had happened that I didn't really think about it..."
   He beamed at her suddenly. "D'awww, you were worried about me?"
   Her blush intensified. "Eh...d-don't...this isn't a good time to say something like that!"
   "Haha. But seriously, I'm not sure. I don't know what to believe anymore, but the truth is that you and I are linked, somehow. That means no fighting with Kaguya needlessly from here on out, got it?"
   Unamused, she frowned and rolled her eyes. "I'm not dumb, of course I know that." Realizing something, she stopped dead in her tracks. "Hold up...do you have a mana link with that bi--with Kaguya?"
   "I think we will find out sooner or later. For now we should try to figure out what to do."
   The two of them started walking back towards the center of the laboratory room.
   He walked up to a virtualization pod and put his hand on it indicatively. "Do we try to figure out how to free the others, or should we get outta here while we can?"
   Mokou stopped blowing her bangs up. "Beats me. We sure as hell can't open 'em with brute force..."
   "Yeah, and you're pretty strong. If you couldn't open it, what hope does everyone else have?" He glanced around, scanning the various workstations, monitors and walls for any oddities. "Maybe there's a way to release them from these prisons. Probably some machine here or elsewhere in this place..."
   "Well seriously, why don't we just try to smash these machines up somehow?" she asked offhandedly.
   "We don't know what will happen if they're suddenly taken offline, otherwise it would be worth a try." He turned back to her.
   She returned his stare. "What? Why are you..."
   "Be straight with me, Mokou. How'd you feel about what I just did to you...?"
   "Well duh, ain't it obvious? If you were in my shoes, I probably would have done the same, so...whatever, I guess."
   "Hmm, okay then. I guess we should go talk to the others about Diamond first."
   "Eh?! Hey, what? Wait, Diamond? Who's--"
   He reached out and took grabbed her hand, pulling her in the direction he began to walk.
   Hey, leggo!" she spluttered.
   He grinned sheepishly. "Oh c'mon, if we're mana partners then it shouldn't be a problem if we just do this, you know..."
   "HOLD IT! I never agreed to that! I want a second opinion!"
   "Oh c'mon, be mature about it. Besides...don't you want to make Kaguya jealous?"
   She relented almost immediately. "Er, I suppose...that might work, and...just for a little while! O-Only because I feel bad for what I did to you, so there!"
   He chuckled and only squeezed her hand harder. "Oh Mokou, you're so tsundere."
   She turned back to him in a huff. "What did you say?!"
   "Oh, nothing. Let's go!"


(Notes: None.)

[Nemo★Ma]

幻想再現(gensou saigen, Reanimated Phantasm) for Danao Madarang
Time: 1:30 PM, Day 2

Descend
As Danao stepped into the shop, the door closed behind him.
The store is obviously closed from the lack of lighting and the empty counters. It even says ?closed? on the LCD Sign beside the door.
However, upon closer inspection, Danao found a bell that?s residing on the counter, beside the cashier machine. Something tells him that something very big will happen if the silence would be disrupted from this empty space. But, thinking of the reason why he came there in the first place, he reached out his hand and pressed the bell anyway.
As he place his hand on the bell, a chime instantly echoes throughout the whole room. Did a regular bell produce this kind of sound? He could only wonder as the echoing died down, and a doorway at the other end of the shop slowly swung open.
No one came out to welcome him, but Danao felt compelled to go through this door. He walked his way across the room, passing various shelves, and walked through the doorway. He heard the door close behind him, just like the front door.
Inside, there were several rooms and a stairway leading to the 2nd floor of the shop. Danao swiftly opened the doors to the two rooms that were on his side. one is revealed to be a washroom, the other a bedroom of sorts. It was a typical design for the combination of a store and a home. That means that whoever this Amarillo is, he thought, she must be on the second floor.
Looking around, it seemed that the only other place to go was up the stairs. His curiosity growing, Danao let out a smirk and quickly climbed.

Submerge
Danao was slowly figuring out that something about the situation wasn?t right, but it was already too late. The sound of his footsteps told him that he was climbing up stone stairs, but...obviously hard stone stairs like these shouldn?t appear in a traditional Asian wooden house!
He looked down. They were indeed stone stairs. He looked back up to see what was beyond the stairs, and was greeted by...clouds? Was he just seeing things, or were those clouds in a sky? He looked back down the stairs, and he seemed to be shrouded in a cloudy environment. Maybe it was fog...but even that made little sense. Now he was even more curious.
Continuing upwards, he looked up again. To his surprise, he saw a shrine; a traditional Shinto shrine. He shook his head. A shrine appearing in a store-turned-home? That wasn?t possible, was it?
Suddenly sunlight shone through the clouds, and he suddenly realized something.
He wasn?t in Tourist Helpers anymore.
Was he going to be kidnapped? He pulled out his mobile phone, but it displays ?No Signal?.
Well, he thought, wondering about these things won?t get me any further. He once again started climbing until he eventually reached the shrine gates.
He turned back and, to his surprise, saw a huge mist gathering at the foot of the stairs he had just climbed up. It was as if the place was telling him that he could not return before his job here was done.
Danao set his sight on the shrine again. Beside the gate, a wooden sign told him that this was the ?Moriya Shrine?. He couldn?t remember having ever heard of that name before.

?Visitor.?
He is stunned by a voice in front of him. He looked around and saw a girl half his height. She seemed normal enough to talk to, so he spoke up. ?Err....where is this place??
?The Moriya Shrine of the Suwa Lakes,? the girl said.
?No, I?m supposed to be...?
?You should be in a shop called Tourist Helpers...? Another girl about the same height appeared, but unlike the other girl, this one?s got a pair of horns on her forehead - obviously not human, Danao thought.
?But you see, how can you prove that everything you see today is reality, or just a dream of someone else?" The first girl quipped.

Danao was lost in thought. ?Err, wait, I didn?t quite get that...?
?Visitor, that?s rude for not hearing someone?s self introduction! My name is Suwako Moriya, the god of this shrine. And that girl Suika over here is not a regular human either. However we are not real - We are fragments of your subconscious created by someone who is in urgent need of your power - but again, how can you prove that everything you experienced today is reality, or just another dream??
?Well, you have a point, but as someone who design and produce fashion items...? Danao paused before continuing. ?...every day I?m making people?s dreams of better appeal into reality.? He stopped. As a tailor, he could design things from his thought produce them with materials, but that had nothing to do with whether or not any of this was real.
?You missed the point here. We are not questioning your existence,? Suika replied. ?But rather, do you have faith in your dreams??
Danao thought for a while - Do I have faith...in my dreams? Yes, he started his career wanting to be popular - wasn?t that my dream? He wondered if that was justifying his existence until today.
He shook his head. Of course, he thought. The answer was right there. ?Yes.?
Both girl smiled. ?That?s the spirit, even though we already knew the answer - after all, we are from your subconscious - the two of us, this place, our talk just now - It?s basically a confirmation of your own inner power. However, another question...?

Ascend
Suddenly the sky turned dark and the sunlight withdrew. A huge cyclone from the mist beneath the stairway drifted up.
Danao heard a voice. ?There is no dream that won?t end...when that time comes, can you still keep your faith? Can you still be true to yourself??
The cyclone has reached the shrine entrance they were standing on, and in a spilt second the ground below them simply disappeared.
He gasped and reached out towards the two girls, hoping to save them. There was no way I?ll let down those who trust me!, he thought. However, they had disappeared along with the floor. Looking down, he braced for a falling sensation...
But it never happened. He found himself sitting on the floor of the inner quarters of Tourist Helpers - near the stairway, the same wooden stairway that he tried to climb earlier...it was still there. Along with the two girls he talked with, it seemed that the shrine grounds and the sudden cyclone were gone.
A figure appeared on the top of the stairway and quickly walked down to him. It was a girl with long hair tied in a simple-looking ponytail. She didn?t seem to be much older than the girls he had seen.

?So what had just happened?? Danao asked in confusion.
?Nothing, but it seems that you confirmed with yourself about your ideals. How does it feel, exposing your mind like that?? The girl smiled. ?The name is Amarillo Viridian, what?s yours??

?Eh...are you sure you haven?t read my mind and figured out my name?? Danao asked. Was she the one who had caused that just now?
?I cannot. I just enabled you to face your subconscious, I don?t know anything that happened just now inside there.? The girl pointed at her head, ?You keep your thoughts here nice and safe~?
?Oh.. I never know about that kind of power... Seems I cannot turn back now, can I??
?Nonono, you certainly can. I cannot force you to join us, you know - However, this is not your everyday life, it?s another kind of life where... your faith and trust are the most powerful weapons.?
?Heh...faith and trust. Seems like a fairy tale to me.? Danao smiled at this surprising turn of events. ?Tell me what I need to do, then.?
The girl looked down at her watch. ?33 hours later - That?s tomorrow at 10pm - if you make a decision, just wait for me here at the gate of this shop.?
?Certainly seems interesting.? Danao replied. ?Or....?
?Yeah, if you want to you can stay here, but don?t you already have somewhere to stay?? Amarillo nodded in understanding ?I won?t keep you here any longer, but good luck.?
She turned back and disappeared up the stairs.
Danao blinked. For a split second he though he had seen some transparent wings showing up on the girl?s back.
?Maybe this is just my imagination...a fairy tale, heh.? He thought this as he opened the door to the shop.


幻想再現(gensou saigen, Reanimated Phantasm) for Kristian Johansson
Time: 2:00 PM, Day 2

Descend
As Kristian approached the counter, he immediately noticed a bell that seemed so ordinary...and yet he had a strange desire to press it.
?So I guess you want me to press this, whoever you are...? He switched his case to the other hand, and pressed the bell ringer.
An echoing chime filled the empty room, and the doorway at the very end of the shop opened, as if inviting him.
?Now let?s see what?s beyond here.? Kristian thought and walked in the doorway.

Submerge
However, what he saw was so different than what he thought it would be. A dining room shouldn?t be in a shop, especially not a western-style dining room in an eastern-style shop. To his surprise, he thought he walked into a doorway, but the apparent exit of the room was right near him.
?Ah, so you are wondering how you ended up here?? A voice can be heard behind him, so he turned back.
Two girls he had never seen before were sitting around a small table, drinking what seems to be black tea.
He was surprised. ?Er...If I disturbed your tea time, sorry...? Kristian don?t know what else to say.

?But you didn?t - We are just imaginations created from your subconscious, anyway.? one of the girls stood up after responding. She had pink hair, which was interesting enough...but what was even more odd was some other eye staring at him from around her chest area. ?So, wanna talk about something? It?s not everyday that you can talk with your subconscious.?
The other girl prepared another cup of tea and pushed it over towards his direction on the table. ?Here, this is for you.?
?So what do you think about the message that leads you here??
?......
?.
..
.

Ascend

Before Kristian could answer, a silence suddenly fell over the room. All of a sudden, the entire room just dissolved, and instead he found himself near a familiar stairway. Then several other rooms appeared, seeming to be what was really beyond the doorway.

?Eh? Why didn?t the projection work?? A girl?s voice can be heard upstairs - ?don?t tell me it?s because of sis- oh whatever.? Then the voice?s owner - a girl with stylized clothes and a nice fedora on her head - hurried down from upstairs.

?What projection...? Oh, you mean the girls from earlier.? Kristian smiled, ?so you are the one that caused all that??

?Yes and no. I just used information from your subconscious - however it seems that you don?t need to have a word with your subconscious on things like that... Hence why it suddenly failed to work - You?re pretty set with your ideals.? The girl gave a puzzled look before continuing. ?Since I cannot read your mind, I?ll just ask you right now: Do you have faith....?

Recalling the question that was posted on the website, he interrupted her. ?Certainly I do, I will do whatever I can to trust them as they trust me.? This situation was growing stranger by the minute, he thought. But it was certainly intriguing...

She smiled again. ?Yeah, you are pretty much settled...the quiet type, I see. Now the next question: How does it feel, exposing your mind like that??

?But as you see, I didn?t expose any of it...I guess. By the way, my name is Kristian, nice to meet you, and you are....?

?Oh, me?! I?m Amarillo Viridian...well no, actually, I?m not, ahaha~? The girl giggled and pointed at her nametag, which was stuck on her shoulder for some reason. ?Name is Emily Vixen. Amarillo is currently busy and I?m just a normal cashier at this shop, ehehe. But nevertheless, I got your answer.? The girl turned back, ?Hmm...if you are determined, just come here again tomorrow sometime around 10 PM, okay?? With these words, the girl went back upstairs.

?That was...weird. Well, it?s time for me to go then...? Kristian thought, ?but projecting your thoughts into reality seems interesting though. Maybe I should come back here tomorrow.? He turned back and walked out through the doorway, trying to make heads or tails of what he had just seen.

For some reason that girl had looked similar to the girl he had seen earlier, the one with the weird eye...but maybe that was only his imagination.

[GuardianTempest]

1:36 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa Town Central - 7C's (Should know this by now)

After spending some time browsing various time-wasters and pondering about the 'Tourist Helpers Shop', Neil decides that he should be going now before the senseless procrastination sets in. He puts on his backpack and stands up, staggering for a bit. The weight of it is offsetting his balance for a few seconds from being relaxed for too long. After he stabilizes his footing, he packs up the rest of his precious (electronic) belongings and leaves.

"Okay, if I put my mind into it, I'll be there before 1:40 PM, right?" he thought, "Nothing in this quaint location will distract me from my destination!"

"You are seriously tempting The Fates there, partner." warned his conscience, now the fates will obviously screw with him and sure enough, it did. Oh well, poor boy, the quirky pet of The Fates.


1:45 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa Town Central - Tourist Helpers Shop (?)

A new feat of inconstancy has been achieved! Neil (and his two consciences) cannot believe it, they're around five minutes late. He tries to recall precisely what the hell happened on his way here, and this list is the result:

• Browsed some goods off Ada's Novelties, and bought a few primarily a set of puppets.
• Ate a couple of Takoyaki treats.
• Got frightened by some (innocent) douche talking his five dogs for a walk, all of them are on leashes.
• Distracted by a cute cat.
• Had a few words with a novice cosplayer.
• Forgot his objective for several seconds.
• And finally he hesitated on entering a 'short-cut' for a minute, then proceeded anyways.

"Dammit, Fates." "I told you so."

Putting that aside, he's finally here and hopes that no one's looking, though he probably looks like some militant on vacation from a distance. The place looks pretty old and abandoned, it makes him wonder about its contents. Anyways, he thinks about his method of entry and approaches the door but hesitates on entering normally. What if there really is some threat hiding inside? He also wonders about a few more things.

"Hmm, what if supposedly 'fictional' characters are in there? Like that daydream, or maybe a portal to a place I've seen in fiction...or maybe my future-self or maybe even a chance for reality to break."

"That's just silly, assume a plain old boring house with a terrorist or two there."

"Hey, barge in like a boss, it'll be HILARIOUS!!" suggested his other conscience. "Good idea, let's do this!"

Neil picks up his fortified trolley case and wields it like a battering ram with the bottom at the front, which is the hardest part of it. He's only done this a few times before with success, hope that the door won't open when he barges in like that time in high school. Now, like a large ham, he prepares himself for a one-sided battle with an old wooden door. Bracing himself, he counts down...

"Five! Four! Three! TWO!! ONE!! CHAAARRGGEE!!!!"

"Glorious! Machiavellian!! Freaking hell!!" "Please, Neil! Calm the heck down!! You're gonna-"

Just a few milliseconds before having contact, the door magically opens fully, letting Neil pass through like a bull through a skillful matador then closing even faster without even making a sound.

"CRAP!!"

"SHI-"

His head hits something, knocking him out. Surprisingly, this is the first time in his life he is knocked out with head trauma. Getting carried with his emotions quickly, that's Neil for you.


OOC: Alright GM(s), work your magic, though I am very picky.

[LordVant]

    12:30pm - Day 2 - Rai Graveyard Base
     
    Vant paced along the rows of pods, looking into each sealed one to see who was in it. He shook his head after passing by several of them before finally pausing at one. Looking in sadly, Kanako stepped up behind him quietly. "So she did stay behind..." Suwako lay peacefully within the chamber, no sign of coming out, or any discomfort for that matter. Right next to her pod, lay Sanae, laying just as peacefully. Kanako looked in sadly alongside Vant before Meiling layed a reassuring hand on their shoulders. Vant gently touched her hand before nodding and moving along, leaving Kanako to stare at her family for a moment longer.
     
    "There's nothing we can do except search for the real Gensokyo." Vant stated rather blandly before sitting down with his back against the wall. "There's no use worrying about them now. We simply have to defend this place."
     
    "But there has to be something more we can do!" Meiling shouted back. "Izayoi-san and Mistress Scarlet are still stuck in these things!" Her hands shook with rage as she morbidly thought of disembowling any RAI member she could get her hands on.
     
    "Enough! Think about it Hon, now that we're out here again, we have to maintain our mana links. As far as I can tell, as long as they're in those pods, they don't need that. They're safe until we can find a new place to live."
     
    "I...I know but...I just can't stand us to be the only ones...I know Sakuya and Remilia would want nothing more than to join in with us." Meiling shivered a bit, hugging her arms over herself.
     
    Vant sighs before getting up and holding her close, gently caressing her back as she buries her head in his chest. "I know...and we'll do everything we can to help them, but it won't do any of us good to worry ourselves about them." Vant pulls away from her before brushing hair out of her face~ "There are some who are working on solving this, and as it is, we don't know as much about the situation as is. For now, we simply must wait on their word and do everything in our power to aid them. Okay?"
     
    Meiling nods slowly before Komachi walks up behind them. "Quite a cute couple~" Meiling jumps at the sudden intrusion while Vant laughs at her. "He's right you know, I already saw Shiki-sama in a pod, which is fine by me."
     
    "Because you can slack off whenever you feel like it?" Vant retorted as Komachi laughed heartily~
     
    "Anyway...so..what will we do until Amarillo and Nitori come back?" Meiling started pacing back and forth along the cold floor, worriedly rubbing her hands together.
     
    "Isn't it obvious~?" Vant smirked at her before giving her a light smack on the rear.
     
    "YA! H-hey! This isn't the time for that!" Meiling blushed a deep red as Komachi giggled at the two, before Kanako walked in on the group and chuckled to herself.
     
    "I see you still haven't changed, Vant, even despite the situation." Kanako smiled a bit brighter at Vant as he smiled back.
     
    "No use worrying ourselves~" He stated simply before laying flat on the floor, arms behind his head, and resting.
     
     
    1:30pm - Day 2 - Floor of Rai Graveyard Base
     
    Vant rested easily before looking down at his chest. Meiling was laying her head on his left side, Kanako laying her head on his right, and Komachi laying her head on his belly, having taken up residence between his legs. "*sigh*....Ah well, not my problem~ At least it's warm~<3"
     
     
    (Notes: Current post until I crank out more since school is sucking up time.)

[Marokuu]

11:00 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuwa, Japan - Hotel Room

The room was completely dark, save for the dimmed screen of the computer that was currently resting on Kristian's stomach. Kristian himself was staring at the dark ceiling while violin music flowed through his earbuds straight into his mind. While the music helped him keep his mind following along a single track it did not help that track to lead anywhere helpful.

He kept staring at the roof as the few last notes echoed out in his mind and then sighed heavily. He still could not wrap his head around what had happened this afternoon. If only he had suddenly found himself laying on some floor or if there had been some sort of memory gap then he could at least have passed it off as a hallucination but no, everything was just too consistent.

He had entered the store at around 2:00 PM and left it a short while later. It was not the only explanation but for the moment he went with the theory that everything he had seen in there had actually happened.

But then what had really happened? He closed down the laptop and set it aside before taking the buds out of his ears and swinging himself upright into a cross-legged position. "Lesee now." He started talking out loud to give himself a thread to hold on to while sorting things for the umpteenth time.

"Walked into the store, nothing strange." He started rattling off the vents to himself. "Rang the bell, the door opened but nothing really odd." He scratched his head before continuing "Then went through the door, entered a... western-like dining room..." He rested his forehead against his hands, after that point things always just broke down.

"With two girls in it." He could never remember how one of them had looked but the other one he could remember clear as day. "The pink haired girl, read my mind?" She had correctly guessed that he had been wondering how he had ended up in the room at the time.

"But anyone could have guessed that right?" But the way that she had said it. It had been a statement not a guess.

He now stood up and started pacing back and forth next to the bed. "And then the talking, being a part of my subconscious?" After that everything had just disappeared, leaving him back in the store with...

"Amarillo- no, Emily." A strangely ordinary name in hindsight. "And she was talking about mind reading and subconsciousness as well."

In reality he had been mostly on autopilot by that point, having a room dissolve around him sort of had that effect on him. "And she told me to come back tomorrow."

He flopped back onto the bed and reached for the laptop again, hoping to clear his mind with more music.

--

His hand froze halfway as something suddenly clicked in his head, something that he had payed no mind during these hours of deliberating.

His laptop, the name of the model was...

"Satori"

He flung the cover open and placed it in his lap as he started pounding furiously at the keyboard. "Come on, log in." The seconds felt excruciatingly long now that he had an idea in his head. "Satori means enlightenment, it is the state that zen-budhists try to achieve." He pounded a couple of terms into his browser and tapped impatiently on the side of the monitor while waiting for the results to come up.

"BUT, it is also the name of a monster in Japanese mythology, a 'youkai'." His hands dropped away from the keyboard and came to rest on the bedsheet as the result that he was looking for came up.

"A youkai that can see what a person thinks... read minds."

He looked around the room before putting the computer back where it stood before he had his flash of inspiration.

"And what do I do with that info? It's not like youkai are usually depicted as cute little girls."

He threw his arms into the air in an exasperated gesture before pulling off his shirt and crawling in under the sheets of the bed. "I guess I will just have to go there tomorrow if I want answers." He mumbled as he closed his eyes. The last thing he saw before drifting off to sleep was the pink haired girl again.

"What were you doing in my subconscious... satori"

[CrowCakes]

5:23 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Hotel Cafe

With notebook and pen in hand, Danao inspected a quickly drawn sketch of a "troll face" on his notebook. He was lounging on a chair in the outdoor area of the hotel's cafe-cum-restaurant, trying to ignore the blisteringly dry air and the generally annoying dusk sunlight. Unfortunately, staying in the hotel room was equally as bad, with a humming air conditioner and the lack of a view to deal with.

The convention deal was definitely a ruse. He could not just ignore the event that took place earlier, though. There were too many possibilites in play, and the compromise was on his part. Whether it was a fairy tale or a drug, that girl had just played his mind against him.

It could have just been a hallucinogen; the girl did say he looked into his own subconscious, and the experience was practically a dream. There was no mistaking that he had seen something from his mind, but he could have just been drugged to sleep at the bottom of those stairs. A quick look at Wikipedia had also verified the potency of any drug poweful enough to knock him out. At the same time, it could have been magic that had done it. That could not be the case. If it was, then he would have been invited into something dangerous.

It was something dangerously real. Until he plunged in, he would not know for sure.

"Curiosity." Of all the things that bothered him, curiosity and moral were the most aggressive, gnawing away at his restraint. "They really know how to convince me." He shut his notebook. He could not go back on what he had admitted, and he was just dying to know what was behind this mess.

He was already trapped in it. The only way out was to go in.

10:58 AM - Day 3 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Hotel Lobby

True enough, no one was going to be picking him up and bringing him to the convention, like it said in the package. He was sitting on one of the posh chairs closest to the hotel's entrance, desparately waiting for any escort to the convention.

"I really, really hope none of this was just bait..." He whipped out his phone. Eleven o'clock. He would know if no one came in the next hour. 

Snapping the phone shut, he shoved it back in his bag. "I can't believe I got tricked," he grumbled silently. At the first sign of real danger, he was going to run like a bomb had gone off. He still had that train ticket with enough credit to get him to Tokyo.

OOC: Just waiting.

[Orphea.Russ]

4:58 PM, Day 2, Kamisuiwa, Japan - Train Station

Her body slumped forward slightly as the train came to a stop. Opening her eyes, she found herself on the train, apparently having fallen asleep reading... whatever book it was she was reading. She'd forgotten the title at this point. So she flipped it shut, picked her bag off the train floor and waited for most of the people to get off, before following after the crowd had thinned somewhat. She glanced around a bit, looking for her way out, searching for a bit before she actually found it; and here she cursed her unfamiliarity with train stations. Or maybe it was just the amnesia. She couldn't actually be sure. But she had places to be, and so without delaying further, made her way outside into the sunlight.

She hated the sun.

It was always so bright, and it hurt her eyes. Her pale skin always burned so easily; it was a wonder that her face wasn't always covered in sunburns. But she removed her hat from her bag, pulled it down on her head, and tried not to worry about the light again. Not that it would work. But she could try. So, she clicked on her headphones and just listened to whatever it was that came on while she tried to remember the place she was supposed to go. Thankfully, she didn't amnesia that part too.

5:34 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Town Square

After about forty minutes she finally made her way to the right place. Apparently, she ate fast, because the meal she bought not too long ago didn't slow her down much. She'd checked, double-checked, and triple-checked to be absolutely sure she was where she needed to be. Looking at the place, the line on the site flashed back through her mind.

'Do you have faith in yourself, and people important to you?'

... It gave her pause, and she actually thought about the question for a moment.
Did she have faith in herself? No, not really. She hardly knew who she was anymore, how was she supposed to have faith in herself like that?
Did she have faith in others important to her? She couldn't remember anyone that was important to her. So the answer to that one too was a no.
So, then, what -did- she have faith in? If anything at all? At this point she didn't know. She didn't care for the headache that trying to figure that one out would cause. And she really should have been working on getting inside, instead of standing there, looking at the building like an idiot.

... So she just clicked off her headphones, and stepped inside. And hoped for the best.
Hope for the best? That doesn't sound like a normal plan for the white bird.
... but then again, what else am I supposed to do?

(So yeah, that's my first post. And it took me all of, like... three hours to actually do? I'nno. It sucks. But I'm half-asleep still. And I need to wipe the image of Aiko in Renko cosplay from my mind despite how good it sounds. =x=)

[Nemo★Ma]

幻想再現(Reanimated Phantasm) for Ashley Fisher
Time: 3:35 PM, Day 2

Descend
As Ashley opens the door and makes it beside a counter, it?s obvious that no one is in the shop. However, before he had the thought of just turn around and walk away, a single bell on the counter drew his attention. It almost like an invisible power urges him to ring that bell.

?Okay, I got it.? Ashley reached out his hand.
As the bell chime echoes around the room, the door that?s located beyond all the shelves opened, as if welcoming him.

Though still questioning himself about what that?s supposed to be, Ashley make his way past the shelves and walked in the doorway.

As the doorway closes, Ashley only grab a glimpse of the stairs in front of him, before everything suddenly twists away. The seemingly stair becomes a judge?s chair, and the corridor he just come in expands into a huge hall, with torches decorating it.

?Now what did that mean?? As he thought, he heard a voice coming from that judge chair...

?Today we gather to pass judgement to Flandre Scarlet of Scarlet Devil?s Mansion.?

Submerge
Ashley looked around, and saw a girl sitting beside him, she looks like a little schoolgirl, but the crystal hanging on her back certainly states that she is not much human at all. As he looks at the empty audience seats, the judge speaks again, ?Ashley Fisher, isn?t it? You are chosen to be defend this girl in your subconscious court...?

The judge looks quite young for a judge too, but just before he can come up with something, the judge stood up :?You want to question my age? But you see, in a world where common sense is thin, age really don?t play anything with the jobs. Still, the girl you?re defending is there because she killed humans.?

?But that?s an accident!? The girl sitting beside him shouted.

?Accident or not, their bodies are still in the basement you live, that?s very much undenied fact.? said the judge, ?Rest assured that I am fully aware of what your ability may cause.?

?An ability?? Ashley is confused, ?You mean she has a superpower??

The judge nodded, ?Yes, she has this ability to break anything by her thoughts. The reason you?re here is to decide if she needs to be punished for such power in hand.?

How is something like that a crime? Ashley don?t know, ?If this is something she can control, then if she abuse it, it sure need to be punished, however,? he looks at the girl beside her again, ?It clearly seems that she don?t have full control on her powers.?

?Hmm, then can I entrust you with her power, hoping you can put it in control? Do you have faith in yourself??

Looking at the judge, Ashley give his answer.

Ascend
The courtroom suddenly vanishes as a girl running down from upstairs.
?So what?s that supposed to mean?? Ashley asked, for some reason he cannot set his mind to actually question that girl in front of him. It almost seems that she has this aura that can dispel any unpleasant feelings.
?Well, you just confronted with your subconscious, you see. since I?m not really that kind that digs in people?s thoughts, nor I could do that.... Let me just ask you this: What?s the feeling of getting your mind exposed??

?It?s....? Ashley searches for the words, ?a quite alarming experience. So you are...??

?Yeah, I?m Amarillo Viridian, if you are satisfied with your answer just now, meet us at.... ? she looked at her watch, ?tomorrow 10pm, in front of this building. I won?t blame you or anything if you didn?t show up though.?

She slowly turned around and disappeared into the darkness upstairs.

Seeing that he has nothing else to do there, Ashley leaves the Tourist Helpers shop with a lot of questions that can only hope to be explained if he digs deeper.

幻想再現(gensou saigen, Reanimated Phantasm) for Mao Xuezhen
Time: 4:00 PM, Day 2

Descend
Mao stares into the empty shop, it surely seems closed, however the bell on the counter has shown much recent use, as if a lot of people has used it for a specific reason.

To show they were here, and this bell is some sort of a key of what?ll happening soon.

Mao realized that he should probably hit that bell as well, but he didn?t expect the chimes of the bell that loud. As he is running towards the back of the shop, he saw one door that was once closed had swing open.

The only reasonable thing to do is to head in.

However, after he opens the door, a brick wall appears behind it.

Is it some kinds of joke?

Submerge
As Mao is thinking, a figure appears and phases though the brick wall he saw.
?Out of luck? Your destination is there but there is always something in the way.? Appearing before Mao?s eyes is a girl with a strange attire - not every girl put on dresses with the Kanji ?Misfortune? on it.

The girl noticed Mao?s stare, and nodded, ?And I?m the god of the misfortunes, comes from a land where common sense never applies directly - though the reason why I?m here is not because our worlds has crossed with mine - I am but a projection generated inside you as a test.?

?What test?? Mao asked, things definitely are not right there.
?A test that if you have faith on yourself, if you have what it takes, you can break this brick wall in front of you.?
Mao tried to punch the brick wall, however he knows that himself that it?s not that easy to break a wall down with bare hands. He must use something else.
?If I can make my feelings into reality, I could break this wall, isn?t that right?? he turned around, trying to ask the girl about that, but the girl has disappeared. There is no trace of anyone in the empty shop besides him and that brick wall that stood on his way.
?Ok, here goes.? Instead of punching the wall again, Mao placed his palm on it.
The brick wall melted to the ground, and disappeared entirely.
beyond the wall stands yet another girl, there?s a nametag tied on her sleeves that said ?Emily?.

Ascend
?Emily, is it?? Mao asked.
?Yes, you did very well in your test, what do you think about it?? The girl replied.
?That?s a test??
?Are there anything that?s not a test of some sorts in life?? With that cryptic question, the girl smiled, ?If you want to know more about it, try coming tomorrow at 10 pm, okay? You can stay here until then if you like.?

Mao decided that staying overnight at someone else?s shop may not be a good idea, so he politely refused the offer and leaves the shop.

Interlude
Day 2 4:10 PM, Tourist Helpers
Seeing that their new "customer" left, Koishi quickly run back to the upstair room, where Amarillo?s computer is still showing an image of the brick wall.
?So this thing failed to work and I tried to search something related to a waterfall.? She complained.
?Yeah, the Internet Connection just broke, so I had to do with the Sample Picture of a brick wall, sorry if the projection turns up weird.? said Lily White, who is currently operating that computer.
?Certainly that is very weird, I failed to project the other image and had to personally talk to him as his projection - How is she?? Koishi points to the bed beside them, where Amarillo and the rest of the fairies are sleeping.
?Well, as far we are okay, but she clearly needs more rest, I recorded all the sessions though since she will probably need to see it herself, by the way  even with experiences of your abilities gathered from Amarillo?s memory, I?m still amazed on how this turns out to be.?
?But this is too tiring, maybe I?ll rest for a while.? Koishi sit down on a sofa, ?Is the guy who knocked himself out still not wake up??
?Oh, yeah, he?s still out cold, hit his head quite hard, I?d say. Nitori is downstairs with him in the other bedroom. If something happened to him we?ll be in trouble.?
?Then 2 hours of rest for me would do.? Koishi closed her eyes, ?I?ll just sleep for now.?

[Kakyoin]

12:10 PM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Virtual Gensokyo Hosting Laboratory

Kaguya kept staring into the virtualization pod, as if lost in a trance. Of course looking at it wouldn't free her caretaker, but given what had happened earlier, what could she do? She felt powerless for the first time in years. Resting her hand on the see-through pod shield, she rubbed at it slowly and gently, wondering if Eirin was aware that she was on the other side. The pharmacist's eyes were closed and she seemed undisturbed...the exact opposite situation to her own.
   "What are you doing?"
   The Lunarian princess looked up. "Oh, Ken...Mokou...I, uh..." She took her hand away from Eirin's pod and started to play with her hair. "Well, I was thinking we--eh?" Was she just imagining things, or was Mokou actually holding hands with him?
   Mokou frowned coolly, trying to not draw attention to it. "What, you got something to say?"
   "Pfft...w-well, I...ehehe..." Kaguya covered her mouth with a sleeved hand to hide her sudden smirk. Mokou never held hands with anyone! This was a good opportunity to carefully weave in a scolding as well, she thought.
   Ken pulled Mokou's hand back as she tried to move away. "Well, what's wrong?"
   "You...Mokou, you're...actually holding hands with...gch...ahahaha~!" She couldn't help but break out in laughter.
   "Kaguya..." Ken began.
   "Ohohohoho~! So wait, lemme guess...you two kissed and made up?!" The princess' face broke out in a manner similar to that of a child who had just successfully told on another.
   Mokou closed her eyes, gripped his hand tighter and looked down at the ground.
   "So, how was it, dude? I bet she--"
   "Shut up, Kaguya." He stepped forward and raised his hand. He watched as she flinched in anticipation of being hit, yet it never came.
   "W-What? What did you just say?" She bit her lip and stared angrily at him. "And how dare you threaten to hit me! This isn't your business, it's between me and Mokou!"
   "Is it? I'm afraid it's not just your problem and hers now." He closed his eyes, tensed up and thought of Kaguya, feeling Mokou's hand shaking in his. Now was the time to test this. Any moment now, it should show. Besides, he had already done enough harm to an ally just recently, and even the fact that he had done that to Mokou had surprised him.
   Kaguya sneered victoriously. "What's wrong, Mokou? Have to hide behind your man? Got nothing to s--UGH! Ahaa~!"
   Mokou opened her mouth in surprise as Kaguya suddenly slumped to the ground. She fell as if she were a lifeless rag doll; judging by her wide-eyed expression, she knew something abnormal had happened.
   "W-What is this...? I-I...I can't...uhhhh~! I can't...get up..." she whined, trying to move her body.
   Ken opened his eyes and stared down at her, ignoring the attentive look he had seen Mokou give to him out of the corner of his eye. "Looks like we are connected, after all."
   Kaguya blushed hotly, feeling her body going numb. This felt like waking up after having slept on her arms in bed during the night, back at Eientei...but her entire body felt weakened and pitiful. "What's happening...?" She moved her head slightly upwards to look at them, and wondered why they weren't trying to help her. Did Ken not know that she had come to his aid when that fool of a fire mage had stupidly used a spell card earlier? Why wasn't he helping her?
   He collectedly adjusted his glasses. "Princess, it seems to be the case that you and I are linked. And you know what that means..."
   She whined several times, trying to get her hopelessly exhausted body up off the ground. "Y-You don't mean, you're...!" Her face blanched upon realizing her situation. "No, don't...please...help me...! I-I'm sorry...really, I--"
   "Are you REALLY sorry?" He relaxed and turned his thoughts to Kaguya, and felt the connection strengthen slightly.
   "Y-You can't do this...to me...argh..." she sobbed, still struggling to get up.
   A hand reached down to help her up. After staring at it for a moment, she looked up and saw that it belonged to him. He had released Mokou's hand and was now directly in front of her. Mokou herself still looked somewhat surprised.
   "...what? Why..." Her fear was replaced by doubt as she took his outstretched hand.
   He pulled her up and helped steady her as she staggered backwards slightly, her body now functioning normally once more. "Why do you think?"
   She was silent for several moments, so he took the opportunity to speak further.
   "I'll tell you, then. You're leashed to me, and so is Mokou. You know what that means, don't you?"
   The princess stole a glance at Mokou, who promptly looked away. "Well...I suppose so...I just gotta be careful with using my powers and all that, right?"
   "It's more than just that!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly as he spoke. "I don't know what Eirin lets you do, but you have no manners whatsoever! Get your act together, otherwise I'll limit how much mana my body gives to yours! You know how that feels now, don't you?" He looked at her shocked face before piling more on. "And apologize to Mokou, you have no idea how she felt about what she did to me!"
   He released his grip on her and walked away disgusted, muttering to himself. "What an ignorant, spoiled brat..."
   "Wait!"
   Ken turned back upon hearing Kaguya call him. "What, what is it now?"
   "I...I'm sorry. I..."
   He walked back over, looking more concerned than irritated now. "You what? You think this is a game, or something? Do you think you can just do whatever you want now? Listen, you need to respect the fact that in our world, you..." He paused to meet her gaze. "...that you don't get special treatment just because of who you are!"
   She stood there staring blankly for a moment, then spoke. "I didn't--I wasn't aware of...our situation."
   "And?"
   "A-And...kuh..." She gulped and turned to Mokou. "S...sor..."
   The fire mage stared blankly back at her bitter rival, not saying a word.
   "I'm...I...I-I'm sorry..." Kaguya wiped her slightly wet eyes. She felt so ashamed and even more powerless now. But if they really were linked to him as he had just demonstrated, then he was right: if she and Mokou were to fight, there would be terrible repercussions This wasn't Gensokyo where everything was easy and natural.
   "Well...all right, fine," Mokou replied. She felt more mature at the moment, so she might as well play it all the way out. "I'll set aside my feud with you for now, I guess."
   "...what choice do we have?" Kaguya responded rhetorically. "I don't want to be weak, anyway..." She still felt shaken up from her sudden exhaustion. Her life was now in the palm of his hand...it was a scary thought for her, being one who normally had little but Eirin to scold her.
   "Good. It's in everyone's interests for you two to not fight...especially your own." He grimaced. "Sorry I had to do that to you. I hope I don't have to do it again..."
   Kaguya shook her head. "No, I...understand. I just..." For the first time in who knows how long, she felt stupid and weak.
   "Hey." He stepped closer to her. "I know it's hard, but we're back in the real world, all right? This is best for everybody, and even if you aren't used to it yet...I mean, Mokou has to deal with it too, and everyone else as well, so just...be careful. This ain't Gensokyo anymore where you can throw your bullets left and right, and do whatever you please."
   Mokou had taken to just listening to them talk. She was pleased that Kaguya was being straightened out, and that was good enough for her for now. Looking over at the pod Kaguya had had her hand over, she did a double-take. "Wait...in there, that's..."
   "Oh..." Kaguya looked over. "Yeah, Eirin's stuck in there..."
   The fire mage straightened herself up and put one hand on her hip. "And Keine's still inside as well, we know that for certain..."
   Ken cleared his throat to get their attention. "Well, we won't get anywhere if we just stay here and watch them. I mean, I feel bad too, but...y'know, no sense in worrying over a problem that we might actually be able to solve ourselves somehow."
   He waited to see if they had anything to say. Looking back and forth between them, they seemed quiet and distant, and understandably so given what had just happened. He hoped Kaguya didn't think he was being mean on purpose to her, or something like that. "So uh...we need to go find Hatate and Yuyuko." He scratched his head. "Been meaning to do that, but I keep getting distracted..."


(Notes: Kaguya finds out the hard way that she has a mana link with Ken.)

[Yog-N'yggoth]

8:00 PM, Day 2, Kamisuiwa, Japan - Hotel Entrance

Ashley was back here again. This time, it was less of being lost, but just having a walk around town, just trying to figure out what just happened. He stared at the door. There were only couple people here, but after his previous appearances, have just taken to their own business instead of focusing on him. Since his walk, he had much to think things over.

 There was no denying it wasn't a hallucination. It felt too real to be one, a bit too memorable. There was mention of his subconscious, although it's not like he was a psychologist and could explain anything from that. But thinking about it, he might as well try to decipher what transpired in that store.

 He entered the store wondering about that persistent message. A couple of factors delayed this, but in the end he managed to actually find the place. Next after ringing that bell and entering the door that opened, the entire damn room just transformed into what he could guess was a courtroom. And then he met those two.

 There was that girl who was on a seat near him. The first thing he noticed about her was those...well, the only thing that comes to mind is "Christmas decoration gone wrong". Was her name mentioned? Something Scarlet of Scarlet Devil's Mansion? That sounded like a corny name for a place. She was being tried for some kind of power, breaking things by thought or whatever. It sounded like she couldn't control it well, not that he expected a child to handle that kind of thing (or anyone else, for that matter). He couldn't have punished her for that. It wasn't like what she did was intentional.

 Unlike you, who swung that pipe on purpose

 The other one he didn't catch her name. She looked young and a bit shorter than him, but what she said and emitted was something much more. He could've easily believed her even without her comment. She had that kind of presence about her. She dressed a bit odd to him, and her hair was longer on the right side.

 Funny how he can't recall that girl's first name, but he could recall the minor details of the Judge's looks.  Although both of their outfits seemed old-fashioned come to think about it.

And then there was that question. Making her his responsibility? He wasn't much of a babysitter come to think about it. He didn't know anything about powers and that "great responsibility" that always seem to come with it. Even if he had put thought in his answer, he knew it would've been the same no matter what.

Yes

 There was nothing else. Of course he believed in himself. He believed that he could've achieved something beyond his life with his listless father. He believed he could've lived after suffering so many wounds from that incident. He believed he could change himself for the better afterwards. 

 Although it apparently didn't matter, since they disappeared right after. And in their place, was yet another young (or maybe not, considering the Judge) girl.

If this turns out to be a crazy dream, you really have to see a counselor for that

After some brief talk with her, she told him to come visit tomorrow night. Then he went out of the store without a word.

That part was really anticlimactic.

And afterwards all he did was having thoughts about this. And getting something to eat. He didn't think anything the hotel had was nutritious and/or tasty. He came for answers, and all he got was more questions.  Why couldn't anything be so simple and not becoming more complex each time you check?

Still, that was something alright. Ash had nothing left to do this day, so he strolled on in and went for his room to sleep. For once, he actually felt tired and almost wanting for some shuteye from all of this.

(Notes: Those two lines with strikes in them are just thoughts that he doesn't really WANT to think of, if that makes sense.)

[Amraphenson]

5:00 PM, Day 2, Kamisuiwa, Japan - Hotel Room

Seriously. What the hell? That was...all sorts of strange. Curse goddess...a land where common sense doesn't apply. A strange girl named Emily. A stranger girl with misfortune woven into her skirt...literally.

Pretty. She was really pretty. That...didn't really matter.

A 'test' to see if you have 'faith' in 'yourself'.  He did...did he?

Whenever he went up against something that bothered him, he just distracted himself with art. Before, he just punched it in the face. He had always believed in his ability to distract himself with art...or in his skills being enough to power through. Did he have faith in 'himself'? What did that mean? Belief in himself not to buckle under pressure? To withstand trauma? Or to confront his past?

Fingers clench into a fist. There wasn't anything to confront about his past. His past was confrontation, and how to learn to come on top of it.

And what really bothered him was how fuzzy the whole recollection was...he remembered general details, but nothing in specific. Everything was just...strange. Weird.

"汰麻烦...,"₁ he mutters.

10 PM the next day, huh?

He sets up a canvas, and pulls out his greens and reds. He'd see how much he remembered about that girl.

_{1) Too troublesome...}

[GuardianTempest]

Error: Minimal Bearings || Status: End of KO Phase - Initiating Alarm Cycle

As Neil regains his first hits of consciousness, he ponders on his situation and evaluates himself accompanied by his 'consciences' to comfort him, feeling shame and regret for his impulses. The price is paid though, now he must proceed.
   Well, that was painful. How long have I been out? So this is what unconsciousness feels like, or rather, the end of it since I would probably be too blank to notice it. I should be waking up soon, but where? Would I be lying on the floor of an abandoned house? Or in a truck, an operating table or maybe even in a hallucination. Perhaps...this is a daydream realized? I do not know, but for all I care the folks back say: (Not Accurate)

"Ang taong mauuntog ay matututong yumuko."^*

It's probably night time, a bit late like 7pm or so. How long have I been 'blighted'? I can't believe I got carried away, and only now did I notice...I was too carefree to know my foolishness. Dammit, I'm such a blatant fool. For all the while I've been enjoying myself too much. Ugh...if only...

"It's alright, it's for the better, the moral reset is crucial at particular intervals. I'm sure the fates will repay you with a morale boost. Keep a few things in mind..."

Okay.

"You must feel better about yourself, knowing you are a broken man (being mended halfway though) and you have to show your tolerance. Weakness is acceptable, it happens. Do not overwork yourself over these trivial matters. Also, cut down on the regret and resentment, it's not good for you.

Yeah...thanks for the self-counseling, though I could use a therapist. I must remind myself again, checklist: I am a balanced person, my emotions are my strength and weakness, counsel is my aid. I am a daydreamer, a proud one who brings the best of his mind to being and it is my ambition, I live to strive a-

Wait, I can't feel anything yet and everything is a Stygian void where I can't see a thing, only the mental essence. Damn, I could end up in a lucid dream or something. Perhaps if I force even my legs to move even just a bit and groan, after all I should be waking up soon. Yet the relaxation...so good...but...I just have to open my eyes...

"Sorry, motor skills aren't ready yet. Perhaps a few more minutes but the sensitivities are almost there, once you're good to go you can probably panic almost instantly."

Dammit, fine, guess I'll have to do something. But when they're ready, prepare for sudden movement, I'm planning on scrambling to the nearest escape route. In the meantime, what are my plans...time to daydream...

"Wait, since when did we become professional diagnostics?"
The bit of comedy makes him smile as he lays there, resting in (mental/emotional) comfort. Eventually he will be waking up in a matter of minutes but for now he dreams up a concept for a romance-comedy miniseries about an anthropomorphized bird wyvern.


^*"The person who will [bump his head] will learn to bend."
OOC: I expect to wake up around 6:20 PM or later. Anyway, I hope I can get away with this, my life's too swamped for consistency. Also, about the self-counseling thing, I do that IRL at times.

[Kakyoin]

12:59 PM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Empty Room

"This place is cool, but it's kinda creepy."
"Yeah, I agree. Especially since it's surprisingly empty..."
"Uh-huh. We should probably slow down a bit and wait for the others, just in case."

Hatate glanced around the corner of the open doorway in front of them, then turned back to Ken, the only other person in the room. "You're right, it really does seem empty except for us. It's as if RAI has completely abandoned this place."
   "Maybe they have, maybe they haven't." He walked over to the nearby wall and leaned against it, folding his arms casually. "We've seen a few unconscious RAI researchers though. I don't think we have to worry about them so much, but the lack of any soldiers here is quite disturbing."
   She walked closer to him. "Are you sure? Well in any case, seems like we'll be fine for a while."
   "I'd like to think so." He uncrossed his arms and looked at her. "I wonder who knocked all these researchers out..."
   "I think I overheard some of our friends say that Yukari and Jeremy got free, so..."
   "Hmm, that would explain it." He looked back at the entrance to the room they had come through. "I wonder where the others are."
   "Maybe they're still looking in that control room we passed through." She sighed and moved closer. "How do you feel now?"
   "Me?" He raised an eyebrow. "I'm fine...why're you aski--oh, I get it." She was likely being cautious after what had previously happened. "As long as you don't use a spell card or whatever, I'll be okay...thanks though."
   "Ah...but--"
   "You don't have to walk or anything like that. Flying isn't a big deal." He frowned. "If it WAS a problem, we'd be in some serious trouble..."
   "Hehe, okay then." She immediately took to the air. "So, um."
   He leaned forward. "What? What's up?"
   "Ah, nevermind." She seemed to look over him, lost in thought.
   "C'mon, Hata. You can tell me, right?"
   Hata, a nickname she hadn't been called before. She kind of liked it, she thought. Yet still she said nothing.
   "Hey, what're you looking at?" He turned around and looked up at the wall, but saw nothing extraordinary.
   She shook her head and exited the daze. "Oh...sorry, I was just wondering about Aya and Momiji. I hope they're okay."
   "Everyone still stuck in those...pod things, they seem to be fine. I'm just not sure about getting them out safely. I do hope Keine and Reisa and the rest are okay though..."
   "Oh, about that." She flipped her phone open and searched through her picture gallery. "There's something you should know, so lemme just--"
   Hearing a noise, he glanced over and saw Mayli walking into the room. "Oh, there you are."
   Mayli waved and walked over purposefully. "We did a bit more looking around, but that room with all the switches, monitors and stuff seems inoperable right now."
   "Really?" That surprised him. The entire lab seemed fine except for that one room, which was the most complex, technologically-possessed room they had come across so far. "I figured we shouldn't mess with any of the machinery and computers here just yet, anyway, so maybe that's for the best."
   "Maybe it is, but let's continue to check this place out. Ken, was it a good idea to split up?"
   "Dearie, we'll be fine." Yuyuko floated into the room, smiling as usual. "Shall we continue?"
   He stared at her lovely countenance. "Hey ghostie. You know what the rivals are up to?"
   "Oh...they're still in that room, but I think we should just keep going. We can't make heads or tails of this fancy technology, after all..."
   "Maybe Nitori can do something about it," Mayli offhandedly mentioned.
   "That's what we should do after this, then." He walked towards the other opening and turned back around to face them. "So, Amarillo went back to Tourist Helpers, huh? Once we all regroup, I want to go to see what she's up to. We only have so much time, and she could be vital to solving this."
   "That," Yuyuko added, "and Nitori is with her. We'll be knocking out two ghosts with one turkey leg! Heehee~"
   He facepalmed. "That's...not really how it goes...oh well. Yeah, that is what we should do. But I think we ought to go ourselves. We're a large enough group, and I'd be a bit uncomfortable leaving everyone else trapped in those pods without someone to defend them."
   "Ken, we can worry about that later. We have a few days to figure out what to do, right?" Mayli turned around and walked backwards while running a hand through the back of her hair.
   Yuyuko thought for a moment. "Yes. Let's keep going. I want to free Youmu as soon as possible, but we have to be careful and patient."
   He caught Mayli by the shoulders as she walked directly into him. "Careful there, haha."
   "Oh! Sorry..." She had been busy looking at Yuyuko as she was talking and had inadvertently changed her walking angle.
   "It's cool. We're all still not 100 percent. Let's keep going." He looked over at the tengu. "Hey, Hata. Are you coming, or planning on spending your time daydreaming?"
   Hatate was looking up at the wall in a different direction. "Oh, sorry. Yeah, let's keep going. Mokou and Kaguya can catch up soon enough." She turned away from the video camera in the top corner between the walls and the ceiling and followed them. The room was left empty.

The camera whirred and clicked softly, and its light blinked momentarily.


(Notes: Teams who recently woke up from being in the virtual Gensokyo are now free to roam. The RAI base is otherwise devoid of RAI members, aside from several unconscious RAI researchers that present little threat if they were to wake up. Teams may go anywhere in the RAI laboratory or any places outside of the laboratory that are relatively nearby, or do whatever else they please as long as one or two teams return to watch over the Touhous still trapped inside the virtualization pods at some time in the evening of Day 2. Currently, Ken's team is checking out part of the lab for any other RAI presence. His team will return to the virtualization room within the next few hours after the timestamp on this post, and will leave shortly after to check on Amarillo.)

[Marokuu]

11:00 AM - Day 3 - Kamisuwa, Japan - Hotel Restaurant

It was hard to figure out if the meal Kristian was having should be called lunch or breakfast. His writswatch would say that it was lunchtime but his recently awoken internal clock wanted to call it breakfast. If it was to be called breakfast however it consisted of enough food to put your average Englishman to shame.

The young man focused intently as he ate the food in an attempt to keep his mind of the general weirdness that he had seemingly gotten himself involved in yesterday. Eating however could only take so long and soon enough he found himself sitting at an empty table accompanied by nothing except for his thoughts.

"Helvete." Indulging in a bit of profanity he leans backwards and places his hands behind his head. "I'm going to have to go there this evening or this won't leave me any peace of mind." The deductive work he had done last night and its results were still fresh in his head but he tried to push it towards the back, still not sure what to make of it.

He sighed heavily before standing up and walking out through the lobby once again shielding his eyes from the near-midday sun. "How am I going to waste time until then? The convention was obviously just a ruse, a con one might say." He chuckled at his own wordplay before walking off down a random road. "Or maybe... I've been conned is more correct?"

He put in his earbuds while walking, attempting to occupy himself with random wordplay in his mind and a shock-jock podcast in his ears.

1:00 PM - Day 3 - Kamisuwa, Japan - Town Streets

During his wanderings a feeling of discomfort formed in Kristian's stomach and refused to go away. "What's with all the bloody soldiers?" Indeed, part of his discomfort was related to the increase in military presence, it felt like he could spot one of them at every street corner.

The other cause of his discomfort was of course the impending visit to the tourist shop. He always felt nervous when he had something of significance scheduled but this was different. This somehow felt more real than anything he'd done before, yet at the same time it felt more imaginary than anything that had ever happened to him.

"Why does time pass so slowly when there's no need for it?" He wondered aloud before rapidly stepping aside to avoid a group of soldiers making their way down the street with no regard for people in their way.

"Arsel." He mumbled. The discomfort mixed with the increasingly oppressive feel of the town was starting to make him feel irritable.

9:30 PM - Day 3 - Kamisuwa, Japan - Within sight of the tourist shop

"Dangit, still early." Kristian had been aimlessly wandering about in the town for most of the afternoon, only staying in one place when his stomach made its presence known about four hours ago, prompting him to stop by a caf? for a "lunch" sandwich. He had found himself straying towards the tourist shop several times during the day and each time he had abruptly turned around in fear of showing up early.

"I'll... just wait over here now." His vocal thoughts had shrunk down to slightly more than a whisper, his earbud were hanging across his neck as opposed to being in his ears and the knot in his stomach was about as tight as it could possibly be. "Yes, waiting. No need to move around any more."

With that he crossed his arms and leaned back against a wall diagonally across from the store, now rapidly tapping his chest in an attempt to calm his nerves.

Note: Kristian won't enter the shop until right before 10:00 PM, if anyone wants to strike up conversation just go ahead.

[Amraphenson]

Noon - Day 3 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Xuezheng's Room
"Ha...ha...ha...," he breathes out, exhausted. Mentally and physically. "D-done..."

A blurry, abstract image. More abstract than anything he's really done before, but at the same time there was a certain sharpness to it. A little distorted, as if viewed through a fog, but the colors were stark in contrast to each other. "I've never used so much red and green before in such a small area."

He lets out another breath and leans back on the bed, taking a swig from what must have been the seventh bottle of water. Since last afternoon, he'd stopped only for food, drink, sleep, and the bathroom. His hands are covered in a pastiche of color, almost like some kind of christmas body paint. His lips curl into a smile as he looks at the marks, then that smile disappears as he catches the sight of his tattoo.

For some reason, he can't help but stare at it. The curls, curling from the back of his hand up his arm, then across his shoulder, flank, and chest, then just enough up his neck to peak past most of his shirts.

It was...how long ago? He didn't quite remember exactly. But, after a bit of reminiscing, it brought a smile to his face. Then it brought a bit of a flush to his face as he recalled the audience present then; it was a sort of group tattooing event. Xuezheng blushed a little more and shook his head in amusement, remembering all the wolf whistles and exclamations of appreciation when he took off his shirt. His father's exercise routine was good for something, even if he was vastly out of practice even then.

He stares out the window, eyes narrowing after a moment's examination. 'More and more are appearing...,' he notes, watching the militants patrol outside. 'There's too many for this to be ordinary...too many really to be ordinary before, but this is just ridiculous. Why are they here? Could it be...?'

His eyes narrow further, to the point they're very nearly closed. "What's going on...?"

9:35 PM - Kamisuiwa - Within sight of the tourist shop

Hands in his pockets, Xuezheng walks along the streetside. He'd spent the afternoon relaxing and thinking, more of the latter than the former, and finally decided to head off some time ago. His eyes aren't really focused on anything, but he can't help but notice another person silhouetted by a street light, waiting across from the tourist shop. Seeing that no one else was around, he gave this person a wave. "Ah, hello? Are you here for...that...too?" He knew he wasn't the only one that had been put on this trip, and though he had noticed other foreigners before he had never called out to them. Perhaps...perhaps he wasn't the only one that had been subjected to that...

Note: Feel free to take over Xuezheng for dialogue, Marokuu. Along with anyone else that stops by at this time.

[CrowCakes]

12:18 PM - Day 3 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Restaurant (outside the hotel)

Had the increase of soldiers not occurred, Danao would have dined on his lunch al fresco. The outside seemed colder than the air conditioner blaring in the restaurant. The sight of guns, which he normally ignored, now broke his sense of security. He had never seen so many in one town.

Danao budged, spooning a mouthful of beef noodles into his mouth. To make an hour's worth of story short, the tailor had given up waiting for any transport and grumbled about it as he made his way out of the hotel and into a restaurant beside it. Fifteen minutes in, he was waiting for his meal to arrive.

That was when he first saw the increased military presence. He had seen the soldiers early in his stay in Kamisuiwa. He made no thought about it. But when more streamed in, it seemed to him that they were in search of some dangerous criminal, and at any moment, they would put the town on lock down. It was keeping him jittery as he contemplated whether or not to go back to Tourist Helpers or just abandon the whole thing. He had only his imagination to blame for the apprehension he had in staying any longer.

In fact, it was itching to do something. Ideas littered all over his imagination were waiting to be focused on, connected in a coherent manner, and come to life. It told him that he was getting distracted.

Three minutes later, his mind tossed that aside to concentrate on the food. He had one more order of peach-flavored iced tea coming; maybe that would calm him some more.

9:45 PM - Day 3 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Near Tourist Helpers

Danao had planned to leave for the abandoned shop by this exact time, but boredom caused him to leave earlier. The streetlights remained on, along with paper lanterns hanging on canopies of closed stores and silent buildings. There were still a few other people walking outside, but it was mostly the military personnel that remained.

"They won't see me, they won't see me, they won't see me, they won't..."

As the Tourist Helpers shop came into view, it turned out that two people had already been waiting there. Thankfully, they were not dressed in military attire. There must have been more who bought into the convention deal. At this time, he had no energy to talk, so he strolled nonchalantly up to a lamppost right beside him and stayed by it.

He brought out his phone. "Nine forty-five," he grumbled, "I should have walked slower."

OOC: Danao doesn't want to talk, and as such, he will not respond to anyone who will try to talk to him.

EDIT: Cleaned up some time stamp errors. orz

[Marokuu]

9:35 PM - Day 3 - Kamisuwa, Japan - Within sight of the tourist shop

Kristian's body tensed up as Xhuezheng approached. He had not expected other people to show up. After all, he did not see anyone else when he was visiting the shop the first time.

"Th-that thing?" His eyes shifted around before focusing on the person in front of him again. "You mean, like somethi- you've se- I've- wait." He holds out his hand to stop any responses from Xhuezheng. "Okay, calm down, this might be good. It's a confirmation that you aren't crazy."

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath "Though you certainly aren't acting like it, man."

"I'm sorry, my nerves have been getting more and more on edge during the last few hours." He tiredly drags his hands down his face before continuing. "So. You've been into that shop as well I guess?"

Kristian waits only for a nod before resuming his questions. "So what did you see? Some really out of place location? And did you meet a girl as well? Not Emily, she seemed real enough, but from your subconscious. And did the room just disolve around you without warning as well?" He picked up speed as he spoke. It was completely out of character for him but right now he just wanted to get information from someone in the same situation as him to see if it would make any sense.

Before he's able to continue after catching a breath he is halted by Mao holding up his hands in front of him. "Hold on, let me answer before you ask me even more questions."

Kristian drags his fingers through his hair before blowing out air through puffed up cheeks. "Okay, sorry. I'm on edge and I don't handle unexpected happenings very well." He extends his hand. "I'm Kristian by the way." Xuezheng takes his hand and shakes it lightly "Xuezheng, pleased to meet you."

"Okay cool, so... now that I've calmed down, you tell me your story. I assume you got a pop-up on your computer that lead you here  right? That's what happened to me."

[Amraphenson]

9:37 PM - Day 3 - Kamisuwa, Japan - Within sight of the tourist shop
Xuezheng takes off his hat and dusts it off; something to do with his hands more than anything else. "Well, to begin with, I entered the store and rang the bell. This girl in red mentioned something about luck...she was a goddess of misfortune, I think? And then there was this wall I tried to punch down...bad idea to be honest." He accentuates that statement with a nervous rub of his knuckles. "Didn't budge. After I just touched it though...disappeared. Then Emily pops up from behind it. She tells me to come back right about now, and here I am."

"There was that popup, yes. I was drawn to the shrine and got a decent picture of it...got a decent picture of that girl I met too. Not Emily. I'll show you later. Helped me remember."

He shakes his head and replaces the hat. "I didn't see any strange places, except for a disappearing brick wall. Other than that...I can't recall much. I do have ideas though. You notice the military, right?"

Kristian nods. "You think they're...?" The question is left hanging, but Xuezheng nods all the same.

"Possibly? I don't know what to think. It's all very confusing..." He clenches his fist. "I don't like it one bit, but I can't help but be intrigued. You think things might get ugly?"

"I think it might. I have a bad feeling about all this. Military. Us called to a convention that hasn't gone down yet. Internet message? The military presence...which gets higher after we have that 'experience'. You see someone who calls herself a goddess, I saw someone similar...read my mind. A Satori, I think. Yours...a curse god? I think I've heard something like that..."

Xuezheng blinks. "Put it like that, and it sounds like some kind of conspiracy."

The two men sigh, eyes closed and brows furrowed. Before Kristian can start up again, the artist pipes up. "Let's leave it til at that then, alright? I think there isn't a point in us worrying about it too much. In any case, I'm finding it too complicated. Feel free to continue...if it comes down to it, I'm only going to be good for punching things."

Kristian smiles at the frank statement. "Right. Good to know there's someone to be a distraction while I run." The shorter man blinks, then winces at his statement. 'Hope that didn't offend him...'

To his surprise, Xuezheng laughs. "Indeed." Black humor was something the artist could associate with. "Anyways, where are you from?"

OOC: Xuezheng and Kristian will just be having small talk until 10pm, unless stated otherwise.

[Kakyoin]

??:?? PM - Unknown Location

Ken rubbed his eyes and groaned. For some reason he felt extremely exhausted; his limbs were as cold as a frozen-over winter's night. After blinking several times, he sat up and looked around. Suddenly he jerked backwards as his eyes detected movement in front of him.

Mokou was crawling towards him.

"Wha--Mokou, wait...what are you doing?!" He eeked out as he scooted backwards on the ground. Not being very successful at doing so, he looked behind him only to see nothing for miles around.
   "Hey man, relax," she said calmly as she continued to crawl on all fours, a smile on her face.
   "Hold on...what's going on?" He took note of her vastly revealing attire and looked away. A camisole and a short skirt? Was it actually possible that this was happening? Mokou wouldn't do something like this...yet he felt that he had experienced something similar rather recently.
   Before he could do anything else, she had already reached him. "You look a little cold, darling. Shall I warm us up?"
   He instinctively nodded before he could realize what he was doing.
   "Good, good." She took his hands in hers. "Just don't tell Keine anything, okay?"
   "...uh." He jerked slightly as his hands suddenly warmed up. He felt that numbing feeling he normally felt when something very hot cleansed the cold feeling from his hands, only it reverberated throughout his body. His stiff limbs came warmly back to life. "T-Thanks..."
   "Of course not, anything for you...darling." She lifted a strap of her loose-fitting top back up onto her shoulder with her right hand, then resumed clutching his.
   He was more puzzled than anything. "Mokou, what's going on? Why are you dressed like that?"
   She suddenly wore a sharp grin on her face. "Because what I'm about to do will make you forget that were-hakutaku for good~"
   "What?! Wait!" He struggled to move, but as soon as a circle of tall fire roared up around them, he knew he couldn't escape.
   "Don't fight it, darling." Still grinning devilishly, she starting sliding her straps down her shoulders.
   "M-Mokou? Wait a minute!" he gurgled, as his body was now falling in weakness to the sudden heat surge around them. Gulping, he could feel beads of sweat forming on his exposed arms and legs. "Y-You've got it all wrong! Keine's not--"
   She pressed a finger to his lips, which calmed him slightly. "Hush...now that I've got you, it's time to...what's that oh-so-fitting phrase?" She licked her lips delicately and started doing away with her skirt. "Oh yes...it's time to make history together..."
   His face blanched as sweat continued to drip down his face. "Hold on, stop! I don't--"



3:06 PM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Virtual Gensokyo Laboratory Room

"...guh!"

Ken's vision suddenly faded, replaced by bright lights. Groaning, he realized he was looking up...he was face-up, looking up and slightly to the left at the ends of many, many rows of lights on the ceiling.

"Hey, silly. You finally woke up, huh?"

"...huh? Oh..." He looked to the right and saw Mayli's face. "What happened..."
   "You fell asleep next to me, dude." She frowned momentarily. "And then you somehow managed to start falling down in your sleep, so I had to do something about it."
   He blinked a few more times. "Ah, hehe. So that was a dream, huh..."
   "A dream?" She seemed interested now. "About what?"
   "About...well, it involved Mokou, I think..." He was forgetting his dream already. Not much could be done about it now, he thought.
   "Mokou, huh?" She looked from side to side. "Well whatever. You looked dead tired after all that searching, more tired than I remember you ever getting. No wonder you conked out."
   "Yeah...maybe my body is still adjusting to this mana thing." He contemplated sitting up, but she was a very comfortable resting spot. "Not to be a bother, but can I stay like this for a bit longer?"
   She giggled. "Just for a little. We gotta get going if we want to see Amarillo soon, right?"
   Amarillo. He had nearly forgotten about that. Man, was he out of it...
   "Ken?"
   He stopped rubbing his eyes and looked back up at her. "Wha?"
   "Ah...well, I'm glad you feel better."
   "Mmm...yeah, thanks. I bet this whole mana thing is still kinda strange to you."
   She took a deep breath and let it out. "It was a bit scary at first, realizing that I had to be close to you or else I would feel--you know. But I'm also really curious now..."
   "I bet you are, even I have no clue why that happened. Before we got captured by RAI, I don't think we had a mana link..." He suddenly remembered something else from before the capture, but he decided to put it off until later.
   "Yeah. It's a bit frightening but it sounds really cool, too!" she said excitedly, beaming at the thought of something that she could only wish for in a fantasy or science fiction novel happening to them.
   "Ha, someone sounds excited." He yawned and stretched as much as he could in proximity to her, then rolled over and started getting to his feet. "Say, where are my glasses?"
   She pointed to the pad of paper on the ground next to her. His glasses were folded and sat on top of it.
   "Oh, well thank you. I appreciate it..." Crawling over to fetch them, he noticed a drawing on the pad of paper and additionally a pencil, presumably items she had picked up from around the lab workstations. The drawing was of two people holding hands and walking.
   She turned to face him on the ground. "Do you like it? I sketched it up in about fifteen minutes, maybe."
   He took his glasses off of the pad of paper and affixed them to his face, reexamining her work of art. "It looks really good, definitely better than something I could ever hope to draw in my life, haha. Very nicely shaded too. Who are these two characters though?"
   "Oh...well, they...I gave them names, you see." She pointed as she introduced them. "This one is Enka, and the other girl is Yilma."
   He looked a bit confused for a moment, then pushed his glasses back up a bit. "Enka and Yilma? I see...doesn't make much sense to me, but I'm glad you could find something to do while waiting for me to come to."
   "Er...yeah." She decided to change the subject before he could catch on to anything. "So, there's something else that's been bugging me about being back in reality now..."
   Based on the look on her face and the direction she turned to, he surmised that she was thinking the same thing he was. "Is it about someone who seems to be...missing?"
   "Missing..." She put a finger to her lip and quickly pulled it away, choosing to bite it instead. "I guess that's the right word for it. Where's your other friend, that hermit lady?"
   Hermit. The word seemed to trigger something in his brain, as it got him thinking about his past. "Yeah...I'm wondering the same thing myself."
   Kasen, the hermit. How had he forgotten about her until recently? The two of them had become friends before RAI captured them. She was quite detached, and not surprisingly drew his curiosity since she stayed to herself for the most part. Even when the other teams in the group were occupied, she was either busy reciting sutras, meditating or seemingly judging them all from afar. Eventually after talking to her enough times, she started to stay close to him...perhaps the two of them, being relatively detached from the other at the time, somehow hit it off well enough.
   And yet now he was left wondering where she was. In fact, he had formed a mana bond with Kasen at first, due to the apparent need for her to survive in reality...and only her. Now, suddenly he was sharing mana with Mokou, Kaguya, Hatate and even Yuyuko. Mayli, his long-time friend who had grown up in the same town he did, was now also dependent on him for mana. That made so little sense, he thought. Why would Mayli, a normal human with no ties to Gensokyo--the REAL Gensokyo--at all...why would they wake up from the virtual world and suddenly she was dependent? Was the virtualization pod somehow responsible for this?
   He shook his head. No, that couldn't be...RAI was quite technologically advanced, but they couldn't have invented machines and software so complicated that it could manipulate such a thing as mana...could they?
   Setting his thoughts back on Kasen, he wondered where she was and why she wasn't awake. He suddenly panicked. What if Kasen was in deep trouble on her own? Did she wander off? Pausing to take a few breaths, he calmed himself down. Kasen was too smart to let that happen to her...but even so, he had to confirm her whereabouts. Not only hers, but also Reisa's...where did Reisa disappear to?
   Yuyuko was a subject of his confusion as well. he remembered encountering Yuyuko in the virtual Gensokyo right before they managed to break out of it. Their escape was a miracle itself...but he didn't remember having any sort of ties with Yuyuko at all, both before RAI captured them and during their time spent in the virtual world. Somehow he seemed close enough to Yuyuko as the situation had deemed it, though...and they even shared a mana link.
   Wait...as the situation deemed it? What an odd way to phrase such an anomaly. How was that at all feasible in the first place? There was no simple answer he could think of to explain it. It was as if he was given a mana bond with the ghost princess without question, even though he was never close to her to begin with...yet she felt close to him, enough to be--
   He closed his eyes and shook his head. There were too many questions, and he would lose time trying to figure out the answers unless he did something about it.
   Looking around, he realized that Mayli had gone back to sketching. It eased his mind watching her draw. He appreciated her presence greatly at that time, and now she was stuck in a bond with him. The situation gnawed on him a little, but her enthusiasm and interest in it softened it somewhat.
   He noted that she seemed buried in her work, and that he should probably just let her be for a bit. He had to go check to see if Kasen was in this very room still, trapped in that wretched fake world...stuck in one of those pods just like his other friends had been.
   "Bags," he muttered to himself. "Nothing is ever easy..."



3:15 PM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Virtual Gensokyo Laboratory Room

Kaguya and Mokou sat near each other against the wall.

Mokou sighed lightly and looked over at Kaguya. Aside from her rival, Ken, the tengu and the ghost, no one else aside from the others, who were trapped in virtual reality still, was nearby at the time. Kaguya seemed lost in thought. She herself wasn't too sure what to do at this time, but visiting Amarillo and finding Nitori seemed like a good plan. The wait was killing her though. They had decided to wait until another team showed up to watch over everyone still stuck in the virtualization pods, but she was being impatient. Being unable to rescue Keine was weighing heavily on her as well.

"Hey, Mokou."

She turned to face Kaguya, who had addressed her. "...what is it?"
   "I was thinking..."
   Mokou scoffed after the pause. "Yes, that was fairly obvious."
   "Ah...quiet! Listen, what is this whole situation to you?"
   "Huh?" Kaguya wanted to know how she felt about something? What was the world coming to? Then again, this wasn't the world she was used to, and neither were the other Gensokyo natives. "Well, if you really want to know..."
   Kaguya reached a hand up to brush her perfect bangs. "Yes, I do want to know. My rival should be sharp to keep me strong."
   Mokou rolled her eyes. "Whatever that means. I guess I'm kinda...conflicted about this."
   "Conflicted? How so?"
   "So much...what's the word...I don't know, a lot of stuff is happening all at once. It's all confusing..." After watching her rival play with her hair, she absentmindedly had started to twirl a lock of her own, entwining it in the fingers of her left hand. "But I know what we gotta do."
   "Yeah. Rescue Eirin and the others, right?"
   "Hmph. That and get to the bottom of this RAI scheme..." Mokou blew a puff of air out of her mouth, lifting her bangs slightly. "I don't quite get what they're after...I mean, you saw it too, right? It was like our home, that place in the pods...it was just like Gensokyo."
   Kaguya paused and thought momentarily on that subject. Why had RAI done such a thing to them after their capture? Where they attempting some sort of experiment? She could think of quite a few worse things that they could have done, but recreating Gensokyo...
   "Wait a minute," she started. "How'd they even know what Gensokyo looked like?"
   Mokou shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe they--no, they couldn't have lived in Gensokyo beforehand, and plus it's...our home is gone. Nothing remains of it..."
   "Indeed," the princess added. "But I really wanna free Eirin and Reisen and Tewi, and all my other friends."
   Mokou folded her arms beneath her breasts. "Of course, as I wish to help get Keine out of there. Too bad none of us knows what all these computers do...not even you, the NEET Princess."
   "...excuse me?" Kaguya scowled. "Listen, you dirty, homeless little--"
   "Oh please, you're so gullible." Mokou's expression deadened. "You know as well as I do that no one here aside from maybe Nitori, or Yukari...or maybe even that shopkeeper...nobody else here seemed to understand how the computers in this room work."
   Kaguya relaxed and decided not to strike back. "Well duh. Why did you have to say that about me, then? Huh?"
   "Force of habit."
   The princess sighed and put a hand to her face. "Whatever...listen, you and I need to not fight right now, okay? Just know that if we ever get free of this stupid mana thing, I'll beat the pulp outta you."
   "Yeah yeah, whatever. You're just afraid of being weakened again." Upon seeing Kaguya stiffen, she smirked. "Besides, you know I would kick your ass to the end of this room and back, a few times over."
   "Hey!" Kaguya growled. "Don't get ahead of yourself, bitch..."
   Mokou stood up and started walking away. "Okay, whatever you say...I'm going to do something more productive than sit around and argue with you." She figured she would check up on Keine, even though there wasn?t much else she could do for her at the time.
   Kaguya thought to herself. Maybe she should see if Eirin and the others had changed for better or for worse, or at least pray for them. Still, she had to wonder if being trapped in the virtual reality was as bad as everyone was making it out to be...



3:44 PM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Virtual Gensokyo Laboratory Room

*click* *click*

"Hatata~"

The tengu hummed to herself as she continued to take pictures of one of the virtualization pods, from every conceivable angle. While it was true that a problem was upon them, an immediate solution did not seem apparent. So she had taken to getting as much photographic evidence of the situation as possible. After all, there was no way that RAI would be able to get away with what they had done to them, especially if these pictures were leaked. The only question was, who would believe them? Not only that, but who would be able to shut them down?

*beep*

"Wuh?" Looking down in dismay, she saw that her phone had died. "Noooo!" Cursing, she slipped it into her pocket. Somehow she would have to charge it later on, but at least she got all the pictures she needed.

"Something wrong, Hata?"
   She turned around and saw Ken nearby, approaching her. "Oh, well my phone just died. Ran out of battery power, uuuuuu..."
   "Mmm...that's unfortunate."
   "Yeah...oh well. Whatcha up to, man? I mean, I see you finally woke up, ehehe."
   He looked over towards the next row of pods. "Well, there's something that I need to investigate, unless you've already seen it. Any idea if that hermit--if Kasen is still trapped in one of these?"
   "Eh? Her?" Hatate cocked her head. "I didn't look for anyone in particular, dunno. Here, I'll see if I can help you find her." Before he could respond, she flew off towards the other side of the room, at the start of the last row he would have searched.
   "Heh...that'd be nice." He continued walking down the rest of the line he had been examining. Pausing to calm himself, he put a hand on the last pod in the line and looked down.
   Kasen's face stared back at him, her closed-eyed sleeping pose visible from behind the pod's front shield.
   He flinched in surprise and took a step back. "My goodness...so she is still here. That's a relief."

"She is, but she isn't. And yet I am..."

The voice he heard caused him to turn around. It was Yuyuko, looking slightly unhappy. "Oh jeez...you're really good at sneaking up on people, you know that? Even if that isn't your intent..."
   "I guess so." She looked down into Kasen's virtualization pod, then back up at him. "Listen, Ken. I...I know what's going on here...I know what you're trying to figure out."
   He started tapping his foot. "Well, isn't that convenient. So tell me, what is it then? Why are you here right now, free to move around and bound to me, while she is stuck inside that...virtual reality?"
   "You remember not too long ago, when you encountered me inside that place, right? I was looking for a way to escape to this world we are in right now..."
   "Yeah, I do." He put a hand on his hip and stopped his foot-tapping. "So, you really do know what's going on, huh?"
   "Yes...at least, I think so." She signaled for him to follow her. "Come, let's talk a bit in private. I don't want this to spread too quickly..."
   "Sure, I guess. Let's go over to that desk," he said as he pointed towards the location he had in mind.
   She nodded in agreement. "Yes..."
   He watched as she walked ahead of him, trying hard not to admire her awe-inspiring presence. She truly was a princess at first glance, he thought. And yet even a princess of death was near-powerless in their situation...
   She turned around and sat on the table, while he took up residence in the nearby chair and spoke up first. "So, let's get this started, shall we? What's going on?"
   "Okay, so...we all tried to escape the virtual Gensokyo after Amarillo showed us that it was a fake place, right?"
   "Yeah, sounds about right."
   "And then I encountered you and that other one, Mayli, and then Nue showed up..."
   "Yes..."
   She opened her eyes wider and continued. "So then, after we escaped...well I think we all experienced a bizarre phenomenon before we woke up here."
   "Yeah, I don't know quite what it was, but I heard voices, and thoughts of certain people flashed through my mind." He nodded and twisted his mouth a bit while pausing to consider the experience once more. "I think I thought of you during that moment..." He stared back at her. "Wait...what? Why would that--I mean, I think I remembered you, and Mokou and Kaguya...and Hatate..."
   "Not Mayli either?"
   He shook his head. "No, I don't think so..."
   Yuyuko put a hand to her cheek. "That means...you didn't..."
   "Hmm?"
   "Ken, it means...what happened to me really is true..."
   "What? What do you mean, what happened to you?"
   She moved forward and hung her feet off the edge of the table. "Right before we escaped to reality, I got this weird feeling..."
   "Oh yeah, I remember you were a bit out of it." He looked down, entranced for a moment by her swinging legs. "I had to grab you to get you out with us..." His face reddened slightly. "Er...sorry if I grabbed you brusquely..."
   "No, that was fine. That's not the problem anyway. What happened then, if I remember correctly...I suddenly recalled being your friend a while back."
   He looked at her in disbelief. "What? That's..."
   That was impossible, he thought. He had never been her friend previously. Not that that was a problem, but it went against everything he could recall. He only made friends with Kasen and Mayli prior to being captured by RAI and apparently put into the virtual Gensokyo.
   "That's why I was confused, and you had to grab me. It was as if I spontaneously became aware of it, somehow...I don't..." She shifted away from him a bit. "I don't know what it means, or why it happened...but, here I am instead..."
   "That's not...but, how is that..." He was stymied. Was it a mana bond transfer? That was nonsensical, and yet here was proof that, at the very least, mana bonds could be spontaneously formed and taken away...just what was RAI up to? Did they cause it somehow? If so, they were in greater trouble than he thought. Something had to be done, but they still had to worry about the others who were still trapped. Some RAI reinforcements were on the way. They had to do something fast.
   He turned to see Yuyuko looking away from him, now holding a fan in her left hand. It was unlike her to be worried, based on what he had seen of her so far. "Hey..."
   "It's not fair, I know..." she whispered. "I don't know what happened...but, I think something is messed up...Kasen should be here instead of me." She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she suspected that if their memories going into the virtual space were affected, then perhaps something happened going out as well. But the mana bond she now shared with him was indeed real. She could feel it somehow, as odd as that sounded to her. "And all this time, my poor Youmu is trapped in there too..."
   "Well, don't worry too much about it," he stated firmly. "There is little sense in crying over spilled milk, so to speak. And you've been helpful so far, so don't--it's not a problem, it's just something that...well, it just happened. That's it. Whatever it was that happened, it had to have happened for a reason."
   Still sitting on the table, she turned around and smiled at him. "Really?"
   "All we can do now, is deal with whatever fate throws at us."
   Folding her fan back up, she slid off the table and stood up, smoothing her dress in the process. "Then it's okay if I stay with you, even though I shouldn't even be here in the first place?"
   He wrinkled his nose in disapproval. "Of course you can, what else are you supposed to do? Shut yourself back in one of these accursed things and trap yourself back in that virtual territory?"
   "Hmm...that's a good point. As much as I'd like to give Youmu company, I don't think it's that simple."
   "Yeah. This is interesting, at the least." She did bring up a valid point though, he thought. What determined these mana bonds, exactly? He had willingly made one with Kasen, and yet here he was with others who now depended on him for their lives...
   "Then let's get going to track down Amarillo and her team," the ghost replied as she stretched her arms up in the air.
   Having already turned around to round up the others, he turned back to look at her. "My thoughts exactly."


Notes:

• It is revealed that Kasen Ibara was one of Ken's comrades in the past, before they were captured by RAI and put into the fake Gensokyo. Contrary to how they believe mana links were reestablished, Kasen has been somehow replaced by Yuyuko for unknown reasons upon re-entrance to reality.
  
  
• Ken's team will depart for Tourist Helpers at approximately 4:00pm, Day 2.
  
  
• Yes, the first section of this post was a dream.

[Yog-N'yggoth]

12:00 AM, Day 2, Kamisuiwa, Japan - Ashley's Hotel Room

Ashley moved, a look of irritation on his face. One of those night. He attempted to close his eyes, but the more he tried, the more it made his eyes water. Eventually he stopped attempting and just stayed in bed, staring at his hands. His eyesight moved slowly around the room. He wasn't lost like how some people awoke. He was in a hotel room attempting to sleep, waiting for 10 PM so he could find out who were those three girls were.

...


Yes, that was exactly what he was planning to do. He stood on the edge of the bed, doing a couple of stretches. He took a look at the clock on the nearby desk. Only a couple of hours. He had been awake with much shorter sleep so it wasn't too much of a hassle. He stood up and continued his awakening. Still too early to do anything outside he thought. After washing his face in the bathroom, he pulled a book from his travel bag. It wasn't anything informative; The book was just some cheap airport leasure reading. Although he didn't actually start it. He just took a peak at both its front and back covers and got it on a whim. With knife in his right hand, and the book in his left, he began until he felt it was a good time to leave.

12:35 PM - Day 2 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Resaurant

 Lots of soldiers. That was his impression after leaving a couple ago. Like with most law enforcement he generally just ignored them, but the number grew exponentially from yesterday. 'This place just keeps more suspicious by the day' he thought, drinking some water. A military presence, and that strange message. No connection between them would be more of a surprise.

 Still, they didn't seem to bother him, so he at the very least, acted similarly as well. Not like he could ask what their objective was anyway. He ate his food, just a simple bowl of noodles. Water and noodle, sure was using much of his money. Although looking at anything else just made his wallet tighten.

 There wasn't anything to do besides walking around and doing some window shopping anyway. He could go back to his room, but he already finished the book around the time he went out so there wasn't anything to do there either.

 Ash sighed. He needed a active hobby or something. Maybe he could try learning some card tricks at some point. After finishing his meal, he went  around the town again.

9:50 PM - Day 3 - Kamisuiwa, Japan - Near the tourist shop

 Shuffling some newly bought cards, he placed them in his left pocket. The night was still young, though the soldiers dulled the mood somewhat. With the townspeople not out, the soldiers stood out even more.

 He paused as he drew closer to his destination. There were others already here.. It wasn't like the first time had a specific time to enter the shop. unlike now. And it wasn't like they had a military look to them either. In fact, it seemed that some of the faces seemed familiar. From the hotel?

"I swear, if you all came for a convention too, I'll eat my non-existant hat". he said, coming to a conclusion. He took to leaning on a nearby wall, a bit farther away from the others.

[LordVant]

    Inside Vant's Dream
     
            Komachi slowly sat up, gazing about her surroundings. She was lying in a familiar flower field that seemed to stretch onward for miles. "Where am I? Isn't...isn't this where I first met Vant?" She rubs her eyes a bit before slowly standing and walking off in a random direction; no clear, visible structures were in sight, leaving the shinigami bewildered at the unusual size of the field. "Okay, I'm certain this place wasn't so large." Komachi had to stop for a moment and think, closing her eyes and trying to focus, her mind kept going blank for some odd reason. When she opened her eyes again, an extravagant mansion lay before her and the entire field of flowers had disappeared and been replaced with a small pond under a full moon. Just beyond the edge of the pond, the world seemed to simply drop off. Komachi spun in circles trying to find a trace of the field she was in only a moment ago. She sighed heavily, "Nothing makes much sense anymore..." she lumbered slowly over to the large double doors of the mansion before grabbing hold of the ornate gold handle and pulling hard. "Maybe I can find a nice bed and meal in here~ NNnn! Freakin' heavy door!" Straining, Komachi slowly drags the door open and is greeted by the sight of a very large, warm ballroom. Massive silver chandeliers hung above the smooth marble floor. Mahogany pillars lined the sides of the hall, each accented by the presence of a maid or butler carrying a silver platter and wearing pristine attire. In the center of all the luxury, a multitude of men and women danced whimsically to music that seemed to emanate from the air itself. The various colors and fabrics twirled about amid the banter and giggling of the guests. Komachi was awed by the spectacle before looking down in shock, realizing she was suddenly wearing a beautiful bluish china dress as she is grabbed suddenly and pulled into the waltz. "Ah, hey! Lemme go! Who are yo-...?"
     
            Vant smiled brightly at Komachi, taking her hand in his and leading the dance~ "So glad you could finally join. What took you so long?" He quickly spins her around, letting her see that every guest was now watching them and whispering amongst themselves before she could answer Vant. She started to blush a bit, enjoying the attention and Vant's touch as they continued to dance to the music~
     
           When the waltz ended, the guests applauded the two before the next song began. Vant did not continue, however, and instead lead Komachi down a hallway and into a lavish room occupied by Meiling, wearing a sultry china dress and lingerie (kinda NSFW), and Kanako, wearing her own elegant china dress. Meiling was sitting cross-legged in a plush, leather chair, drinking red wine and reading a book from the small library on the wall above the fireplace. Kanako lay on a couch with her shoes kicked off, wiggling her toes in the heat of the fire. Komachi perked up when she saw another large sofa, empty, and jumped onto it, snuggling with the pillows and sighing contentedly~
     
           "Are you seriously going to try and sleep while we're already sleeping?" Meiling rolled her eyes at the shinigami before getting picked up by Vant and set in his lap. "If you think you'll get more rest, you're sadly mistaken." She shakes her head before relaxing against Vant, who whispers in her ear, "I love the way you look in that dress~<3". He smiles at her before she jabs him in the side with her elbow. "You seemed more than entranced by her".
     
           "A-ah...you were watching huh?" Vant scratches at his chin and looks away innocently before Meiling "Hmph!"s and settles against him, going back to her book as Kanako laughs at them both. "You two are way too fun to watch~"
     
           She giggles again before going back to her thoughts as Komachi perks up. "So...uh...where are we anyway?"
     
          "You're inside my dream" Vant replied merrily~ "It's just what happens with those that are linked. Do you not remember from before we were trapped in those pods?" Komachi shrugged before laying her head on the pillow and dozing off...somehow.
     
          "Amazing that she can manage to do that no matter the situation. Nonetheless, what are we going to do about our situation? We have more enemies coming in at most two days, and there are those that still remain in that fake world. We'd really need to find more people that we can trust, because we can't manage that much mana between our few people. Breaking them out right now would be a bad idea without some kind of way to keep them alive. Otherwise there's not point to figuring out how to free them." Kanako stretched a bit before slumping back in the couch, scratching at her head and trying to think.
     
          "Well...the RAI forces made a fake Gensokyo and we somehow survived in it. So perhaps there is some technology here that can support the life of the others outside the pods?" Vant blew his hair out of his face before sighing. "For now, let's just relax while we can, better to leave the complicated things to those of higher intelligence. Like the doctor from the moon or the kappa girl."
     
    (End of dream caused by mana links. Will wake up around 3:30pm and begin searching for tech and logs in the computers on how stuff works :V)

[Kakyoin]

5:48 PM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Research Room near Base Entrance

"Are you sure this is what we should do?"
   "Yes, of course. Even if it means leaving the others behind for now, we need to reach Tourist Helpers."
   "But Hatate--"
   "Ungh. She's fine, I'll take care of her for now..."

Ken looked down at Hatate's loosely shut eyes and sighed. Moments before they were going to take off to Tourist Helpers, she had suddenly collapsed. Fortunately, it didn't seem too problematic: he could still feel her spirit strongly. Perhaps this whole trip back to reality was being rough on everyone, he thought. Still, it had delayed them almost two hours and she still hadn't woken up. Regardless, he knew they had to get to Amarillo and track down Nitori, enlisting their aid for rescuing their friends still stuck in the virtual Gensokyo. To him, it seemed like the only safe way to get them out anyway...to that end, he had taken it upon himself to carry the unconscious tengu until she woke up, whenever that would happen.
   He readjusted his grip on her limp body and looked up. "Well, it looks like we're close to getting out of this place now. I don't know about you all, but I'm getting a little sick of this place already anyway."
   "Yeah, I wanna get back outside for once," Mokou replied casually. "I mean, don't get me wrong--this place is cool-looking, but given what happened here..."
   Kaguya looked over at Mokou and added her own thoughts. "This place has been troublesome, yes, but what bothers me more is the fact that RAI left this place virtually undefended. It confuses me."
   Mokou gave a deadpan stare back at her. "...really, Kaguya? You had to go there, didn't you..."
   "Wha?" The Lunarian's face dissolved into confusion.
   Mayli rolled her eyes. "I think it's a bit soon for puns..." She hastened to catch up to Ken, leaving the two on-hold rivals to bicker lightly over the chance wordplay. "Ken, you're really sure this is okay? I mean, we only left a few notes behind in that room..."
   "I doubt there will be problems...besides, with any luck we can get Amarillo or at least Nitori to come back with us." He looked down at Hatate again. She was deceptively light, likely due to her birdlike nature. He looked back up and over to Mayli. "Although, this is assuming a smooth rode ahead. I'll be damned if they don't have some sort of obstacle prepared for us somehow..."
   "Hmm...yes, I unfortunately must agree," said Yuyuko, who was floating slowly on his other side. "Shall I scout ahead?"
   He shook his head. "Wait until we're out of here, yeah?"
   "Hehehe. Okie~"
   Mayli's brow wrinkled. "I still don't get it...why is Yuyuko here with us?" She wasn't too happy with Kasen's surprising departure from their trio of friendship, if it could be called that. This Yuyuko seemed nice enough, but where did she come from? She could still not yet comprehend it.
   "Me?" The ghost perked up. "Well...if you really want to know what happened, or at least what I think happened, I'll tell you...just not now, okay?"
   "Yeah, let's worry about the road ahead," he chimed in. Sneaking a peek over at his old friend, he couldn't help but remember her distinct fear of malevolent youkai. Given what had happened to her once and nearly twice...she had almost become youkai food. Thank goodness for Sanae's help, otherwise she might not be here walking next to him. But even that he had to question, since both of those times she had been attacked by youkai in the virtual Gensokyo. Still, Yuyuko certainly didn't look scary, so he wondered why Mayli was pondering it so much. Maybe she was being just as curious as he was.
   His head was starting to hurt. It was time to do less thinking and more walking. He spotted the entrance up ahead. "Well it looks like we're finally getting out of this place for a while."
   "Bleh...I hope this adventure doesn't have us walking everywhere all the time," Mayli griped.
   Yuyuko giggled. "Is it that bad?"
   She shot the ghost a glare. "Easy for you to say, you can just float everywhere!"
   "Ah...well maybe I shouldn't, but I am not quite built for walking as much as you are." The ghost landed daintily and started walking normally.



6:00 PM - Day 2 - RAI Graveyard Base ? Outside Base Entrance

Mokou stretched and yawned. "Finally out of that prison...feels good, don't it?"
   Having taken her slippers off, Kaguya felt the coolness of the grass blades between her feet. "It does, and it certainly feels real enough."
   The fiery immortal walked over to where the others were resting. "Oi, lemme carry Hatate for a while after we get goin' again."
   Ken raised eyebrow and smiled slightly. "You wanna do that? I don't mind, sure."
   She returned the smile, but it quickly became a grimace. "Yeah...and I mean, I still owe you for what happened earlier, so..."
   "Oh please, don't worry too much more about that. Lesson learned, right?"
   Mokou looked away to hide her embarrassment. "Y-You don't have to tell me that..."
   "Yeah, don't worry Mokou." Mayli sat back up and looked around. "It is strange though...there isn't anyone I can see anywhere. It's almost as if they really had abandoned this place, and yet..."
   "And yet," Yuyuko continued for her, "RAI still kept us here. They have to be on to something."
   Mokou jammed her hands in her pockets. "Well we ain't gonna figure it out just lazing around. Let's get going soon. We are short on time, after all."
   "Yeah," Ken added. "Let's break after a few more minutes. Stay sharp, everyone."



(Notes: Hatate collapsed, likely due to fluctuating mana. Ken's team is en route to Kamisuiwa and will reach the town at approximately 7:45pm on Day 2.)

[Nemo★Ma]

Day 2 , 4:30PM Tourist Helpers Second Floor

As Koishi falls asleep, the fairies has nothing to do.
With her disabled, even if someone come in, they will not be able to pry the answers Amarillo wanted out from them.
However, as Lily White is thinking of how to repairing the wireless router (which is very, very hard for her to figure out), her eyes spotted a very familiar person, standing outside of the door of the shop.
"Yukari?!"

As Lily White stepped downstairs, ("Can't you just pretend that as of now there's no one inside?" - shouted her sister) she heard a knock on the door.

so she opened the door, and saw Yukari and Jeremy standing right in front of her.
"You see, I'm right, Amarillo Viridian is sleeping here- You don't need to look in every hotel......" said Jeremy, it seems they are having a little discussion about Amarillo's whereabouts just now.

"You are looking for her?" Lily is confused by their motives, why would Yukari looking for Amarillo, at this time?
"Firstly, we want to apologize about our doubts...earlier today." Yukari said, "though I really don't want to apologize to a human..."
"Then, we need some information, about the guy who make us into this state." Jeremy nodded.

"This state?"
"You see, our memories before the fake gensokyo part ends at a Base Raid, neither of us remembered what happened while we overrun their first line of defense."
"and when something like this happened, my guess is that we are captured right at the point where we thought we have won this." Yukari added.

"Weird, indeed." Lily White tries to remember what happened at the Graveyard Base, however, her memory is hazed as well--
"That's why we are looking for Amarillo Viridian," Yukari walked in the shop, "can we not talk such matters right outside? I still see some soldiers here and there, by the way, how did you guys arrived there and not managed to set off these alarming soldiers?"

"Huh, us? We flew across the town, of course." Lily White flapped her wings.
"Yeah, quite "fairy"-tale like, let's see tomorrow's newspaper headlines: "Flocks of People with Wings spotted flying in the sky of Kamisuiwa!" " Jeremy chuckled.
"Actually, we got this sorted out." Lily White points to a picture on the far side of the counter, "Right after we get here, Amarillo mailed that picture to the newspaper office, and saying that an UFO sighting occured, she also said people these days never believes in such stuff and then-"
"OK, I see you got this covered, then." Jeremy cut out her words, "Now, to the real thing - What exactly has happened in that raid?"

"The Raid-" Just as Lily White is trying to come up with something.

"We... Suffered a complete tactical defeat."

A girl with full pajamas appeared on the stairs.

"Amarillo! Are you absolutely sure you're all right?" Lily White rushed towards her.
"How do I put it.... You looks more paler from last time we saw you in Real-Life." Jeremy looks at her attire, "Also, I really think you should get some more sleep."
"Well, I'm...err... mostly fine, plus, if I went back to sleep again, you won't hear any of my memories of HOW we lose." Amarillo smiled.
"She's right.... though the "mostly fine" part rises questions, are you awake or are you sleepwalking." As she's speaking, Yukari throw her fans at Amarillo.
"Hah, I said", As Amarillo catch the fan and precisely pass it back to Yukari, "My status is stable enough to sort this out."

She walks down ("I'm not old enough to be helped on walking downstairs, but thanks anyways.") and sits before them.
"So you want to know what had happened in the raid? Actually I don't know much but here's what I know... I made it into the base, then..."

37 Days ago

How is that happening?
I'm thinking while running in the basement corridor.
We encountered heavier resistance than we predicted while charging into this HQ of RAI called Graveyard. And we are separated from others, now running in a basement corridor somewhere in this base like crazy.
The only light source is from the wings of my partners, and the reflection of the gold shimmering from Jason's huge sword.
And there is another guy on our team.
"Heh, get locked into a tight situation?" said Alex, now running past me.
"I cannot say that yet." I replied.
"I heard explosions nearby, is others safe?"  It's Lily White's Voice.
My most trusted partner these days after where we come from suddenly collapsed due to the shock from explosion, but got herself up quick.
"Don't worry, if there is something on the way, my sword will strike them down!" Said Jason.
Jason is somebody you can trust too, though you really can't see much of it only from his appearance.
"And don't think martial arts can't compare with their wacky techno and bullets!" As Alex is saying such things, we run into a dead-end.
These guys are so full of themselves, heh. I thought.
Can't blame them , one of them only talks with his sword, the other, only talks with his fist.
And the fist talker ?talked? to the hidden switch, with a loud Ka-boom, a hidden doorway appeared.
There is a label on the doorway that said "To Emergency Headquarters".
"Alex, if you keep doing that, we will be detected." The other fairies catch up behind us. The one who is making such comment is no other than Lily Black.
It's not a simple clothes swap though, she processes great potential as a fairy. However now it's not time to think about that.
Because another figure emerged from the doorway.
"Fancy meeting all of you guys here, heroes team." these words come from this GI wearing man who emerged from the doorway. "Even though Yuka is fighting in the outer area, I don't need her to knock you weaklings all down."
With a gust of wind, Jason's blade has started to move, but it was stopped in midair by the brute man's bare hands.
"Boy, you got strength, however the justice should be in the one who has more strength. Using a large chunk of metal to reflect on your strength is appearently not a good ... idea." Said the man as he pushed the blade out of his way.
 
Jason's blade weights a lot, I heard that it's even heavier than himself. However this man's brute force is able to stop his blades? I sensed something bad.
"However, picking on boys and girls that looks half your age, is not a good idea either, Yagi."
In a instant, the brute is knocked down on the floor, with Alex stands and looking at him with a smirk.
"It's been not that long after I met you last time, however you are starting to picking up the weak? huh? Where is your pride went? Or you sell them to the one who is sitting there, likely watching you dying out there?"
"I'm Not--" Before Jason can say something, I give him a stare telling him to just wait and see what will happen in this situation.
If we picking a fight here, it's a 3+5 on one fight, however, If we are fighting with this guy right now and exhaust ourselves here, it's a sure result that we won't survive past whoever was beyond this doorway.
Alex may be realized it too.
"Say, don't tell me your boss just asked you to, you know, earning him some more time?" he tried to close in for another attack. However the Yagi guy suddenly brunces up from the ground and regained his posture.
"And you are acting like my boss now, isn't it?" with a flash of light, something ejected from his pocket. But Jason stopped that thing by throwing a poker card at the time the weapon is fired.
He picked his card up, and show us what is on it.
It' s a needle, and from its color, I will not be surprised if there are literally a thousand kinds of poison spiked on it.
"YOU COWARD!" with these roar, Alex charged forward, and delivered a flurry of attacks. these attacks are easily blocked by Yagi though.
"And Are you sure that you are fighting for Justice, and we aren?t?" After being knocked down by a surprise attack from Alex, Yagi stood up and reached for his pocket again.
Now it's my chance to close in, I drew my Light-spear and thrust him firmly on his knees. However Yagi didn't show any signs of pain, even though his legs should be fully paralyzed now.
"Amarillo, bring all the fairies and just advance!" Alex shouts out behind me. "I'll cleanse this failure of our dojo today, for good!"
"Is that really OK?" Asked Jason, "Alex seems that he needs more help right now."
I turn to Lily Black :"Do you trust Alex? and do you trust me, who will protect you once if Alex is gone?"
The answer is a short "Yes."
 
Then it's settled.
I grab Jason's hands and swiftly run past a trying to stand-up Yagi. Yagi tried to stop me, however before he done so he eats another of Alex's attacks at full power. The fairies follows closely behind us.
"Coward! Now you will be facing ME!" That's the voice I last heard after running in the doorway.
*
A light can be seen in the end of the corridor that's leading the doorway. We charge toward it.

At the end of the doorway, we see something that?s completely unexpected. I?m excepting a mini army of bodyguards, however there is only one people there, his back facing us.
?Welcome, heroes. Or should I refer you as Fairies?? He didn?t turn back yet, however his tone is that of a prepared, or at least, one that displayed utter confidence.
?You are NOT excepting that I arrived here, you are NOT excepting we prepared, or ACTUALLY prepared for what you are doing, and you are NOT aware that you will not advance. Also you FAILED to notice that you cannot deny the cause, when the reason is set.? He slowly turn back and facing us. while still having this smirk on his face.
?Oh well, you don?t think that we are only a team of this size, do you?? Jason lean on his sword and coughed.
?Just as I said right a moment ago, you are still NOT aware that you will NOT advance no matter what. Perhaps you need some evidence?? He tried to speck into something that?s installed on his table, however there is no reply.
?Huh, they are fighting harder that what I thought. Well this can?t helped, I?ll focusing on finishing you guys, right HERE!? Even though he said that loudly, there is no any sign of him reaching for any weapons.
Actually, there is nothing that can be use as a weapon in this room, sans a few chairs and the sole desk that he is facing just now. I don?t think he will haul that desk onto us, which means this guy has further stuff in check.
And my guesses are not wrong.
?Amarillo Viridian, isn?t it? You really don?t remember who I am, didn?t you?? He suddenly started.
Hm? I met him before? ?Sorry, I don?t deal with people like you.? I smiled.
?Oh you did, You extracted so much information from me there that time, don?t you remember?? This guy is pointing at his head now, as of showing me some treasure.
?Don?t tell me you are-? Lily Black slowly said.
?Yes, exactly, Miss. I?m the one that tried to scout on you some day before, and I was put to sleep by this fair lady here, and she get everything she could get from me.?The guy nodded his head as he is pleased by what he just said, ?Now may I introduce myself formally again, I?m the 3rd Special Ops Officer of this base, my codename, which is as perfect as me, is DIAMOND.?
?Keh, some meaningless names.?Replied Jason as he holds another card in his hand. ?At least going for something that is easy to get while still sells a lot! How about Copper??
?HOW DARE YOU!? As Diamond is clearly angered from what Jason has said, he still have no intentions of grabbing a weapon, or something that?s like it. He just closed his eye for a moment, and just stare at the roof afterwards.
?Huh, so you are just bluffing, I don?t care if Amarillo extracted information from you, Even if she wiped your mind clean, as long as your group are trying bad things on us--? Jason charged towards him and delivered a blow.
But he never made it there.
A huge explosion occurs instead. After the smoke has cleared up, Jason has disappeared into thin air, and Diamond is still standing as nothing has ever happened, however there is a switch box appearing in his hands now.
?As I said the third time, you guys never WOULD advance from here.? Diamond flipped open the switch box and showed it to us.
?I don?t care if my men succeeds or not, or Yagi defeats Alex or otherwise, with a flip of this button, the entire base will go BOOM, and I, WILL SURVIVE.?
Somehow I?m both sickened by that speech and alerted by that, what did he mean, by ?he will survive??
However I don?t need to ask that question, it seems that this guy has a mouth too big.
?You see, for anything to happen, there should be a cause, then there will be a result that is caused by the cause, right?? He closed the switch box, and casually said as like doing a lecture.
?However, what if the result is decided in the beginning?? He put down the switch box, and took out a coin from his pocket.
?Hmm. Just what are you showing me anyways.? I said, looking at the coin in his hands.
?Just see, I DECLARE that as long as I am flipping the coin, it will land on TAILS. ALWAYS.? with that being said, he throws the coin in the air, and caught it.
?See, TAILS.?
Then he took out more coins, just how did he get so many coins anyways?
Then he flipped them at the same time, and he have no intention of catching them, so they all fall to floor.
all coins lands on TAILS.
?That is my ability, just as you can extract your memories like they were yours, I can broke the connection of Cause and Result, by declare the result first, and cause will fix itself. Basically, Cause Breaker, the ability to control one?s luck as it?s mine.? he picked up the button again. ?Now, I will ensure that your allies won?t advance.? He opened the box and flipped a button.

A loud explosion can be heard from afar.
?This is the self-detonate system this base has - with that, this base will be no longer exist..?
And I?m already fed up with his sayings, I have no luck but that.....
Oh well, there is no time for more lecturing.

?Lily Black, for this once, I?m borrowing your power. Please.?
?.......?
?I know that Alex?s presence is gone - But we will finish this once for all first.?
?I?m OK, do whatever you want.?

Diamond?s speech is cut off by a lightning right at his face.
However it missed, and I know the reason why, it only means what he said is true.
?It?s useless, your attacks simply won?t hit.? his smirk is still there.
?Then we better try again.? As Lily Black?s voice echoed, another lightning passes right by his face.
?IT?s USELESS!!? he laughes while still standing in the original position.
?Again.?
?Again.?
?Again.?
Three beams of light shoot out from my hand, and they all bend before Diamond?s very eyes.
?And This is for Alex!?
Blinding lightening filled this room, and we finally heard a groan, however, I smelled something wrong.
?Oops.... like.... your attacks finally hit me.....? from the dusts comes Diamond?s voice.
?However... This.. also... released.... the backup .. Sleeping Gas.?he let out a chuckle, ?seems Luck, is still at my side, now it?s only a matter of.... tim--? and everything went black and silent , the endless silent.

However, I still have a trump card in play.
?Lily Black, Can you hear me??
?Yes.. So we fall into his trap??
?Nah, just a pile of cheap "carbon" tricks, however what I?m gonna do now, is important.?
?If it?s that important, why don?t tell my sister??
?Because we are all falling sleep now.?
?......?
?And I understand Alex?s loss, but please...?
?No, I?m fine, please continue...?
?OK. here it is.. Amarillo Viridian from the future, if you are listening this from Lily Black without knowing she has knowledge of that, we have big trouble......?

?Heh, don?t forget that no matter how you deal with my memory, the bonds will not be shattered, and there will always be a chance that I can get you back, Diamond!!?

Day 2, 4:50PM
An embarrassing silence falls in the room.
"So what happened to Alex?" Jeremy asked, breaking the silence.
"Well, you didn't see such a guy in Virtual Gensokyo, right?"
"Yeah, Lily Black are with you at all times." Jeremy stopped, "so he....."
"I cannot say without evidence. However one thing we must know, is that this Diamond guy is a formidable foe. I don't quite get his ability though."
"Perhaps I have an idea." Yukari said, then muttered something to Jeremy.
"Hmm....."Jeremy nodded, "Thanks for the information, I think we may just have this chance to get him, you rest here while we do whatever we can, and we swear we'll get this guy by tomorrow evening."
"He...Hey!" As Amarillo tried to catch up with them, she suddenly falls to the floor. As she see what tripped her, she saw Yukari's fan.
"Yup, you are indeed sleepwalking, keep the fan and have a good rest." Yukari's laugh can be heard outside the door.

As Lily White is going to run out-
"....Don't pursuit, their mind is set, I cannot stop them." Amarillo slowly stands up, and walks between the shelves, looking for something.
"You still remember what that guy looks like, right?" Amarillo walks out with a box in her hand.
 ?Yes, but why??
"I need you to take this, and follows them, if they do something stupid and face Diamond straight, you open this box."
"Hmm?" Lily White looks at the box.
"It's a [Flash Light], for a [Camera]. It's bad for your eyes if you look directly in it, however, if they really engaged Diamond, I need you to flash this thing and temporary blind Diamond, it maybe seems like a childish prank, but it may give them a few seconds to escape."

"But what if they went out too far?" Lily White asked.
"Good question, let me go with you."
After a flash of light, the merged Lily Viridian looks at her own attire.
"Surely I can't go out with this."
She run across the shop, told Nitori what she's going to do, seeing the visitor is still out cold. (so he won't see her changing), and reached to the wardrobes, picked a bright Yellow T-shirt and Jackets, then a pair of jeans.
After a while of changing, she looks not much different from a Grade 8 Student on a holiday, with the box in her hand, she run out of the shop.

Day 2, Sunset, somewhere in Hanamitori Town , a neighbor Town of Kamisuiwa
 "So it's that guy?" Jeremy looks at the bald-headed young man in the middle of a lot of tired soldiers.
Yukari nodded. "But what's with that hairstyle?"
"I'd say Amarillo give him a hair cut on that day, heh." Jeremy laughed. "Now?"
Yukari takes out two more fans, "Yes, now. He can't alter our luck since he haven't met us."

With the horrified shouts of the soldiers, the duo launched out with their weapons, and instantly bring down a few soldiers.
..........
......
...
.
When Lily Viridian arrives, however, it's too late.
"shoot, they have already engaged in 1-on-1 combat!"
As she watched Diamond using one of his fallen soldiers to miraculously dodge jeremy's attacks. She know there's no hope.
So she took out the Flash Light, let it charge up, and aims at the bald-headed young man.
However, the light from the device didn't seem to shine on him, it almost like Diamond become one with the shadows, and didn't seems to be affected with the blinding light at all.
"We messed up, let's try to bring them back." the girl said to herself.
However, as she tried to move, a bullet flies towards them, she quickly leap into the air and dodged the bullets.
".....Can't help it, retreat,"
"Looks like you guys also brought a flying companion, but YOU WILL FALL HERE." Diamond reloads his bullet, and points his pistol at Yukari.
"You think your bullet will pierce the boundary-" As Diamond fires the bullet, Yukari quickly acted.
However, instead of piercing the boundary shield Yukari created, the bullet simply falls to the ground, and releasing a purple gas.
"Crap, that's the sleeping gas...."
"Hmm, seems I used the wrong bullet, or should I said, the right one?"
Diamond let out a high-pinched laugh, then shouted, "ASSEMBLE!!"

four soldiers quickly stood up and queued up in front of him.
"Out of 22, only 4 make it? They are quite something." Diamond said, "No matter, you two guys, bring them to The Garden. You two, follow me, we got a train to catch."
"But isn't you just said we'll secretly return so we shouldn't use a train to get unwanted attention?"
"Plan changed. Now they had escaped, we need to get back as soon as possible."
"Yes sir."

6:10 PM,Day 2, Tourist Helpers, Front Door

Another failure.
And it's very likely Jeremy and Yukari got captured again.

Also, their reckless actions has alarmed Diamond of their existence.
Time to act up.
As Amarillo is explaining the current situation to the fairies, a plan is forming in her mind.
Whatever it takes. don't let Diamond fight any of them head-on, because that ensures his victory.
The only way to prevent it from happen, is.....

then Nitori barged in.
"It seems our visitor is awake!"

(OOC: Jeremy and Yukari got a send off, one of the Bad Guys is revealed. Together with the existence of the 2nd base of RAI's. If you are a newcomer, you don't need to know who Alex is, if otherwise, this post officially connects Season 1 with Season 2. Neil and Amar's Reanimated Phantasm comes right up, after this timestamp.)