Keine Quest (Part 6): Broken History (Complete)

[DracoOmega]

>This time, perhaps cover is not necessary?
>Does she feel threatening?
>If not, call out, "Hello, there. Are you alright?"

>It's possible.
>She appears to simply be walking towards the river. You sense no obvious hostility.
>You call out to her.
>"Who's there?" she replies, stopping and looking in your direction.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hi, I'm Keine. What's your name?"
>How does she react to seeing us?

[DracoOmega]

>"Hi, I'm Keine. What's your name?"
>How does she react to seeing us?

>"I'm Maribel," she says, with a hint of trepidation in her voice. "Do you live here?"
>There's still plenty of trees in the way. You can't get a good look at her face, and she likely can't get a good look at yours, either.

[Hello Purvis]

>Approach!
>"Sort of. The answer is a little complicated. But let's say I have a fair idea what things are like. Are you lost?"

[DracoOmega]

>Approach!
>"Sort of. The answer is a little complicated. But let's say I have a fair idea what things are like. Are you lost?"

>You move towards her. She seem to back up a little, but not too much.
>"I'm just exploring," she says. "To be lost, you have to be looking to get somewhere specific, don't you?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, do you know where you came from?"
>Hey. It's dark right? So we can see stars, yes? Do the stars look right for Gensokyo?

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, do you know where you came from?"
>Hey. It's dark right? So we can see stars, yes? Do the stars look right for Gensokyo?

>"I'm from far away," she says.
>It is indeed dark, and the sky is clear. You take a look at the stars. They appear to be broadly similar to the ones you're used to, but not quite the same.

[Hello Purvis]

>"With all the tall buildings and fast metal things that people ride in?"

[DracoOmega]

>"With all the tall buildings and fast metal things that people ride in?"

>She pauses. "You... know of it?"

[Hello Purvis]

>She pauses. "You... know of it?"

>"A bit. I've been there. It's a terribly long story."

[DracoOmega]

>"A bit. I've been there. It's a terribly long story."

>"You have? Really?" There's a note of wonderment in her voice. "I'd like to hear it if you don't-"
>She is cut off by a sudden wailing noise, coming from the woods to her left. It is a tortured and unnatural sound, barely human. You see a flash of movement in that direction.

[Hello Purvis]

>Wince.
>Glare in that direction.
>"Stay close to me, Maribel."

[DracoOmega]

>Wince.
>Glare in that direction.
>"Stay close to me, Maribel."

>You wince, and glare towards the movement. You can't make out its form very well through the trees, but it seems more shadowed than could be attributed to the night itself. It is also moving very, very quickly, seeming to surge and flow around the tree trunks. You think you have only a handful of seconds before it will be upon her.
>Maribel takes a few steps backward. "W- what is it?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Behind me!"
>Move to make this so.
>Danmaku it right in the face if it continues to charge at her.

[DracoOmega]

>"Behind me!"
>Move to make this so.
>Danmaku it right in the face if it continues to charge at her.

>You call out to Maribel and quickly dash to interpose yourself between her and the creature. It is shadowy, with little definition, its form seeming to swell and undulate as it moves.
>It continues to surge forward, almost on top of you now. You decide that it's closed far enough, and unleash a bust of danmaku at it. Parts of it flicker slightly as the bullets make contact, but this seems to do nothing to deter its momentum. Almost immediately after you fire, the form rushes past you, swelling and flowing around you like a shroud of the darkest night. You feel a deep chill. Maribel cries out.

[Hello Purvis]

>Turn around, grab Maribel, use sound to guide us if needs be, and hold onto her tightly.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Turn around, grab Maribel, use sound to guide us if needs be, and hold onto her tightly.

>You turn around to grab Maribel, and then suddenly realize that you're falling! Maribel's voice quickly grows distant and disappears.

[Hello Purvis]

>Oh hell no. Fly back up there.

[DracoOmega]

>Oh hell no. Fly back up there.

>With a cry of defiance, you catch yourself and ascend. Although you get the definite sense that you're flying, you're not sure you're actually getting anywhere. In fact, you quickly realize that it's difficult to tell what way is up in all this featureless blackness. You thought you were flying in the direction that you'd fallen, but now you're no longer sure. Where are you, anyway?

[E-Nazrin]

>Arcane profanity.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Gengetsu we don't have time for this!"

[DracoOmega]

>Arcane profanity.

>You need little encouragement to let loose some archaic invective on the darkness. Why must something always happen!?

>"Gengetsu we don't have time for this!"

>You shout out, but receive no reply. In fact, you can barely hear the sound of your own voice here, as if everything were muffled in wool.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I swear to the heavens, if we ever get you put back together, I'm going to give you a reason to be afraid of the waking world!"
>Look around for something. Anything.

[DracoOmega]

>"I swear to the heavens, if we ever get you put back together, I'm going to give you a reason to be afraid of the waking world!"
>Look around for something. Anything.

>You let Gengetsu know just how thin your patience has been worn. There is still no response.
>You continue to look around for even a hint of... anything. You don't think you'd ever imagined there could be a place of so much nothing. No sound, no motion, no sense of place at all, really. You think you could lose yourself if you stayed here too long...
>Suddenly, you feel something grab onto your leg!

[Hello Purvis]

>Resist urge to blast it immediately.
>Grit teeth.
>Look down.

[DracoOmega]

>Resist urge to blast it immediately.
>Grit teeth.
>Look down.

>You reign in your first instinct, grit your teeth and look down. You don't see anything. Or rather you see nothing, where something should be. The part of your leg that you can feel being gripped is nothing but featureless blackness, like the rest of this space. If it were not for you still being able to feel it, you would think it missing entirely. Your ankle and foot look disturbing detached from the rest of your body.
>More blackness, like wavering tendrils, reaches up and clamps onto your other leg. You feel it pulling on you.

[Hello Purvis]

>"You have three seconds to give some sign you're sentient. Then I'm going to shoot you. Start."
>If it does not provide such evidence, give it the danmaku.

[DracoOmega]

>"You have three seconds to give some sign you're sentient. Then I'm going to shoot you. Start."
>If it does not provide such evidence, give it the danmaku.

>You threaten the shadow and wait a moment for it to respond. It continues to creep up your legs, its grip slowly tightening on you. One second. Two seconds. You gather and focus power inside you.
>Suddenly it pulls on you forcefully, and with a great splash you break the surface of the water and plummet. You barely have an instant to process the sudden change in scenery when you start to cough violently. Oh god, you just breathed in water and then expelled half the air in your lungs and nearly breathed in more water again. The creature still has a firm grip on your legs.

[Hello Purvis]

>Are we still underwater?

[DracoOmega]

>Are we still underwater?

>Yes. You don't think you're very deep, although you can feel the creature continuing to pull you downward.