Magical Lotus - Episode 1 (Complete)

[Oldmansour]

>Consider pointing out that if they are as she described, they would sabotage themselves attempting to organize before much could be done to be a real external threat. Decide to leave it aside.

>You contemplate telling 'Marisa' about a potential self-defeating flaw in her/your enemies' goals, but decide against it, given her apparant haste.

>"And that is?"

>She releases her grip on your shoulders, beats her wings a couple times, and floats backwards from you, spreading her arms wide. She seems almost faintly silhouetted by the white light around her.
>"What is this light?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Frown.
>"I think...only you can answer that, right now."

[Oldmansour]

>Frown.
>"I think...only you can answer that, right now."

>"Close your eyes, my child. Close your eyes and listen. No, don't listen to me, listen. You must understand."

[DracoOmega]

>Close our eyes
>Listen

[Oldmansour]

>Close our eyes
>Listen

>You do as you are told, and listen, even though you are not certain what you're supposed to be listening to. Your wings make a small sound as they flap to keep you aloft, yet your companions do not, you note. There is an ominious noise from the south, which you don't particularly care to identify. You can still hear the creppy-ass music from Edgewalkers below, but those appear to be the only sounds you can hear. At least with your ears. And you wonder, now, why you exaclty, she told you to 'listen' in order to identify the light.
>But when this thought crosses your mind, a stray memory sparks. You recall a night, nearly 7 years ago, when your family went on vacation to the coast. You had gone for a walk along the beach, to see the stars and the moon, to listen to the waves, the sounds you'd never hear in the city. You stopped on a rocky outlook to meditate, and it was there that your brother found you. You had your eyes closed at the time, but your face was pointed directly at the full moon, and it's cool light seemed to speak to you. In that place, you had an insight there, a sense of the world beyong the physical, and, as you told Myoren, you were 'Listening with more than my ears.' You don't think he really understood. You were not completely certain you did either, but it was a special thing you had, if fleeting.
>You're not certain how you know, but you know 'Marisa' is nodding. As if to say 'that's the way. go with it."

[DracoOmega]

>Listen with more than our ears. Try to recapture that feeling we had then.

[Oldmansour]

>Listen with more than our ears. Try to recapture that feeling we had then.

>You let your mind drift back, to try and recall the sensations you had on that night. To help you do so, you turn your face in the direction of the 'sun in the sky, following its warmth. It is a different kind of warmth tham your own yellow sun, you think. This pale white star is simehow closer, somehow more intimate, than a distant sphere of burning gas, throwing its heat out into the cosmos. The light of this star seems to embrace you, like a warm blanket on a cold night.
>No.... No, more than that. The light feels like... Like when your mother came to your room and comforted you, when you had a nightmare. When your father built you your first bicycle, how he skinned his knuckles in the doing, and you bandaged them with your little hands. Like when you saw your brother for the first time, after he was born, how he was so small, but he held your finger so tightly. Like your first day of school, how it was sad and scary, but you knew your family was waiting for you once you got home. Like when you and Myoren used to go chasing butterflies, even when you knew your mother would scold him for being out so long, and you for getting so dirty. Like the first day you met Marissa, how she seemed so brash, but you knew right away that she was a special person. Like the first day you moved into Moonside, and meeting Letty and Minoriko, and how they seemed to make you feel at home right away, which meant so much after your family moved away. Like the first night Rin stayed with you, and how happy she was at being 'free'.
>You can hear the voice of 'Marisa' coming though the light, asking you softly, once again, "What is this light?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Everything."

[DracoOmega]

>"Is it... love?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Everything."

>"Perhaps to some."

>"Is it... love?"

>When you utter that word, the music below stops as abrubtly as it began. The ominious sound to the south seems to pull farther back, and you swear you can 'Marissa' smiling.
>"Yes. We stand in the light of love. And more, this is the love within your heart." She pauses before continuing. "A great darkness is coming, my child. The blackest rage and hatred of the forsaken peoples will be coming, seeking to plunge your world into utter darkness. They will seek to consume the hearts of your people, turning beauty into filth, compassion into disgust, and love and friendship into greed and envy. Strength of the heart might ward them off, for a time, but it is the light of love, the pure light of the heart, that is the truest strength, that can truly defeat them. And your heart, Byakuren Hijiri, is the greatest of all peoples. Hold fast to the love within your heart, for it can pull the lost from the dakrness. Do not fear, for you've enough love to hold the world by your heart. In fact, you may have to. As long as you can hold onto that light, and bring that love to those lost in the darkness, then your world shall have hope. ... And so shall I."
>She says that like she really means 'Goodbye', but you do not have time to ask before you seem to find yourself falling out of the sky.

[DracoOmega]

>Are our eyes still closed?
>If so, open them

[Hello Purvis]

>Try to catch ourself with those wings.
>Should that not work, plummet.

[Oldmansour]

>Are our eyes still closed?
>If so, open them

>Your eyes are, indeed, still closed, but you open them now. You are, indeed, falling, and your companion has undergone a bit of a change. Instead of two black wings, she now sports six feathered wings, each one is colored solidly with the colors that your own feathers are tipped with: Black, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Turquoise. From the south, you can see the source of that ominious noise: a violently chruning black cloud stretching across the horizon. It seems an slimy darkness, spreading across the sky like an oil slick, seeming somehow to suck the very light from the ground beneath it.
>The light of the sun seems to grow somehow in responce to this incursion into its sky, getting brighter and brighter. You can see almost a visible wave of light in the sky, rolling forward like a carpet of day to meet the blackness coming. And floating, rising to stand between those two unimaginable forces, is your companion, smiling gently as she raises her hand, and waves goodbye.

[/quote]

>Try to catch ourself with those wings.
>Should that not work, plummet.

>You stretch out your wings to try and stabilize your fall, only to watch them dissolve away into twinkling sparks of light. You imagine you must look like something of a shooting star yourself as you plummet. But you do not plummetas far as you expected before impacting something. But that something is neither the ground, nor the roof of Edgewalkers, but something soft, yet firm. You suspect it to be a body, and sure enough, there are arms encircling your body. These arms, however, appear to be a solid grey shadow, surrounded by a hazy light grey aura, as if it were fog made solid. An androgynous voice seems to whisper into your ear, you are never alone....

[DracoOmega]

>Turn our head towards that voice and look

[Oldmansour]

>Turn our head towards that voice and look

>You turn your head to see your benefactor, but your head seems to move in slow motion. Seconds seem to strech into minutes, as the air around you brightens and brightens. The warmth of the light seems to have changed in the presence of the darkness. It seems harsher now, outright hot, and getting hotter by the second. It's actually getting hard to keep your eyes open, and when you finally get a look at the figure's face, the light is so bright, you can make out nothing at all about the face, you're almost blinded. Finally, the pain in your eyes becomes too much, and you snap them shut to try and relieve the pain. In the instant before you do, however, so quick you nearly miss it, you think you see a smile upon the figure's face. Then a sound like tidal wave washes over you, eradicating your awareness of anything and everything.
>Later (years later?) when you finally open your eyes, you think you're still in that place, for all you can see is white. But it seems a different kind of white, almost more like a.... bedsheet?

[DracoOmega]

>If it's really a bedsheet, try moving it aside enough to see
>How do we feel?

[Oldmansour]

>How do we feel?

>Like you've been riding a rollercoaster for about eight hours. You wouldn't want to try running any marathons any time soon, but that headache you had has receeded nicely. It's down to a dull ache in the back of your head. Strangely, however, your eyes seem to hurt slightly, as though you'd been staring at the sun.

>If it's really a bedsheet, try moving it aside enough to see

>You paw at the cloth material over your eyes before shiting it enough to see beyond. Even the subdued light here makes your eyes ache slightly, and you blink and squint. You appear to be looking at a wall, of some sort, when, from behind you, a quiet, accented voice says, "Ah, ya back with us?" You'd recognize Rin's voice anywhere, and her subdued tone doesn't quite mask the concern in her voice.

[DracoOmega]

>"Uh... maybe a little?"
>Try to look around

[Oldmansour]

>Try to look around

>You glance around the room. You appear to be in the school infirmary. Based on the orangy light suffusing the room, you would guess it to be around sundown. Rolling over, you see Rin sitting next to your bed, a little smile on her face.

>"Uh... maybe a little?"

>"Musta been some dream you were havin'. Ain't never seen ya toss and turn s'much."

[DracoOmega]

>"It was that. How long have you been waiting here?"

[Oldmansour]

>"It was that. How long have you been waiting here?"

>"Ehhh..... half hour, give'r take."
>She adds quickly, "And before you get worried, I know I'm still s'posed to be at work. But the shop weren't that busy all day, so boss Koa lemme go early."

[DracoOmega]

>Smile a little
>"I hope I didn't cause you too much worry."

[Oldmansour]

>Smile a little
>"I hope I didn't cause you too much worry."

>Rin reaches out and places her hand over yours. "I'm just glad things weren't worse, that's what matters. 'sides, 's actually the first time I've had someone to worry over. Bit of a weird feelin', ain't it.
How's your head? That was one heluva bad fall you took."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Just a dull ache."
>First time she's had to worry over someone?

[Oldmansour]

>First time she's had to worry over someone?

>Rin hasn't spoken a great deal about her past, but you're insightful enough to know that she hasn't had an easy life. She's one of those youkai that 'emerged' rather than was born. She was a cat that ascended to the level of youkai a handful of years ago, and lived in the wilderness one of the southern islands of Yamato, until being caught by Konngara and her family. That was the only life she knew until you won her from Konngara. It's entirely possible you were the first one who ever really gave a damn about her in her life. By the same token, it's quite possible you're the first person she's ever felt close to at all.

>"Just a dull ache."

>"That's a step right. Ah, almost forgot. Doc wanted me to do this for her." She sticks her left hand up, with her index and pinky finger extended. "How many fingers I got up?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Two."

[Oldmansour]

>"Two."

>"Bang on." she chirps. Lowering her hand, she continues, "Wanna talk about it?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"What have you been told?"

[Oldmansour]

>"What have you been told?"

>"Doctor Reizushi brought me up to speed once I got here. She had to head out not long after that. But she couldn't tell me what I really wanted ta know, and that's why you had that fall."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I...she told you about the hallucination, yes?"