> Curtsy.
> "Thank you."
> "Did he? Ah well, I imagine he can handle himself. Unless the running person I just passed was chasing after him?"
> "Then I imagine he will be fine. I appreciate your letting me know, though."
> "Ah, excellent. I am happy to help."
> Chuckle.
> "Of course."
> "Thank you. Have a wonderful day, then."
> Assuming Murasa does not try to keep us, leave the village and head back home, with the goal of speaking to Meiling.
> "Hello again."
> Smile as well.
> "It is good to be up again, after all the time travel nonsense I have been through."
> "As well as can be expected, given the circumstances. Has Miss Kamishirasawa returned?"
> "Miss Fujiwara and a contingent from Eientei."
> Look to the west.
> "Most likely. That is the correct number for the Eientei contingent, at least."
> "Indeed. In that case, before they arrive, I wanted to fill you in on a couple of other possible visitors you may see soon. First, if a white wolf tengu named Kazuha Mishima comes by, she is a guest of mine, and can be let in to see me. And since the thought may cross your mind when you see her, you have absolutely nothing to worry about."
> "To put it bluntly, she is very attractive. I am not interested, of course, but I cannot deny the truth."
> "Mistaken assumptions were made earlier."
> "That will not be a problem. It is not even worth bringing up if you see her, I think."
> "Anyway, the other potential visitor is Konpaku. When she shows up, have me summoned out here, and I will take care of the rest. There should be no need to engage her, but obviously defend yourself as needed."
> "I demanded satisfaction in exchange for amicably tolerating her presence should I run into her by chance in the future. No more, no less."
> "Not that I can think of right now."
> Grin a bit.
> "That's one way of putting it, yes."
> Have a look back at the oncoming entourage.
> "Ah, there we are. Hmm, do you know where Miss Kamishirasawa went? It might be good to have her on-hand for what is about to happen out here, just in case."
> "All right. I will return momentarily."
> Hurry inside and to the library.
> Head to Patchouli's usual area.
> "Lady Patchouli?"
> "Is Miss Kamishirasawa in here?"
> "Thank you."
> Fly directly to Keine.
> "Hello again. I thought you would like to know that the others are arriving."
> "Let us head back out front, then."
> Return to the front gate in a more normal manner.
> What is Remilia usually doing around this time?
> How do we usually refer to Kaguya?
> "My apologies for the wait, and thank you all for visiting."
> Where would be the best place to have a serious meeting with our five guests?
> "Indeed, and I thank Miss Kamishirasawa for that. Please, everyone, come with me."
> Lead the group of five inside. If it would be permissible to bring them to Remilia's studio just to quickly stop and add Remilia to our group before a proper meeting, head to said studio. If guests should not bother Remilia in her studio, however, then take them to the sitting room closest to the studio.
> Which is more polite and proper: invite guests to take their own seats, or instruct them where to sit?
> "This will do nicely. Please, have a seat."
> Have a seat as well.
> "Right. I will cut to the chase: I was, very recently, dragged forward through time nearly a thousand years, and this meeting is to make sure it does not happen again."
> Nod.
> "The first time around, an accident in our library injured her severely. I managed to catch it this time around, thankfully, since I had an idea of what to look for. There are also these, which I stumbled across by sheer dumb luck."
> Look over to Reisen.
> "I believe these will look very familiar to you in particular. Try not to get too close just yet if possible, though."
> Pull out the gems we raided from Haihan's vault.
> "Do not worry. I suspect these are the same ones you have now. They appear to be rather inert, as well."
> "Perhaps we can resolve this issue quickly. Do you happen to have yours with you?"
> Hold our inert gems out.
> "Then take these, if you like. Based on what I saw earlier in the Human Village, if these are indeed future versions of yours, they should sort of meld into one another once they get close to yours."
> "They will do precisely that. I do not know why it happens, but my guess is that time cannot tolerate the existence of multiple instances of the same thing at once. The same happened with the present and future versions of a mask worn by the jeweler's assistant in the Human Village."
> "Nor have I. It is nice to have something like that as evidence supporting a story that otherwise sounds outlandish to most people, though."
> "Right. So, this is going to be a bit segmented, but it is important to explain why everyone here is here."
> Gesture to Keine.
> "As I mentioned before, Miss Kamishirasawa was the victim of an accident in our library. A massive explosion ended up knocking some shelves on top of her. She survived the ordeal, but was never the same health-wise, and met a premature end after a battle with pneumonia."
> Look to Mokou.
> "This then led to you doing...something. Everyone I talked to that knew anything either did not know very much, or refused to talk about it. To most of Gensokyo, you simply vanished, never to be seen again; to a select few who knew more than that, you were likely permanently sealed away in Higan. Perhaps this was the end result of a failed pursuit of Miss Kamishirasawa's soul? I can only speculate."
> Look to Reisen.
> "You passed away at some point as well. Presumably from natural causes, but I am hardly an expert. The Yama confirmed your passing indirectly and without realizing she was doing so, which is the only information I have."
> "My apologies if I seem cold or uncaring."
> Nod.
> "Very well. At some unknown point after this..."
> Look to Eirin.
> "...You, Miss Yagokoro, returned to the moon. I do not know why, only that you did."
> "It would seem Eientei was abandoned, or something similar, as well. I do not know if it was before or after you returned to the moon, but it was long enough ago, relative to when I appeared, that no one had seen it in ages, and the only rabbit youkai I met anywhere had not heard of it."
> Look to Kaguya.
> "Which left you, Lady Houraisan, all alone."
> Nod.
> "I would like to apologize in advance, by the way, if this becomes more personal than you were expecting."
> "Anyway, I don't know how long you had been on your own when I showed up, but I get the feeling that it was for a long time, and that you were not expecting Miss Yagokoro to return again. In addition, you had come to learn that the people of the moon had begun changing, which was supposed to be impossible."
> Shrug.
> "That is what your future self told me, Lady Houraisan."
> "She was clearly convinced it was true, at least. She said that it meant everything she did to come here was ultimately meaningless. So, between that..."
> Gesture around the room.
> "...and losing everyone important to her, she decided to freeze everything for eternity. Using her abilities..."
> Pull out our watch.
> "...and this."
> "She summoned my watch to the future somehow. Whatever she did dragged m along with it, which was apparently not expected, and was capable of being dispelled by Sage Yakumo."
> "It took me some time, but I did eventually find her, as a guest of a kingdom in a new, far-off region of Gensokyo. It would seem that, whatever she did to summon my watch, the kingdom had found it first and stored it in their treasure vault, along with a number of other valuables, including those gems. We took advantage of a number of battles to sneak our way over to the vault and she retrieved my watch, using it to freeze everything except for myself, at which point she told me what she was doing and why she was doing it. A battle ensued, and...I cannot lie, I would not have been able to stop her before I would have been frozen in time as well. It was only because I presented the opportunity to return to this time and prevent at least some of the misfortune that had befallen her that she let me go."
> "It had been a long couple of days, and I was not entirely combat-equipped. To say nothing of the low time limit...Regardless, that is why I have asked all of you here, so I can hold up my end of the deal, and hopefully prevent you from needing to pull my watch or myself through time again."
> "Avoiding what drove her to that state in the first place, I suppose. In your particular case, Miss Fujiwara, I guess it would be as simple as not getting yourself sealed away by Higan, or anywhere else. With all due respect, of course."
> Shrug.
> "You asked, I answered."
> "Well, with Miss Kamishirasawa avoiding the accident in the library, hopefully you will not be prompted to try it in the first place anyway."
> "That will probably help, at the very least."
> "Indeed, and I thank Miss Kamishirasawa for that. Please, everyone, come with me."/// Now,or at least before the gathering has ended, could be a good opportunity to try and invite Remi over and let her join in,keep her up to speed and even contribute in some way. She was not adverse at all and even if refused because busy about"putteringing in her studio",it would be nice and proper in at least better preparing them (Sakuya and Remi ,mainly) to be filled in for those useful ,a few more somand a few less so,matters related AND unrelated to this gathering. There is also a "sort-of Alliance between SDM and Eientei without making and enemy out of Mokou" , which began in a previous A-Z Quest ,but it is best to first get clarifications and pephaps even references about that .
> Lead the group of five inside. If it would be permissible to bring them to Remilia's studio just to quickly stop and add Remilia to our group before a proper meeting, head to said studio. If guests should not bother Remilia in her studio, however, then take them to the sitting room closest to the studio.
> "Of course."
>Wait a bit if anyone intervenes ( = Purvis' response :3 )..
> If not or when that is resolved : recall and reckon if Mistress Remilia expressed at least some willingness or interest to join in on this meeting and,or to possibly interact with such guests that have been considered yours.
> (OOC . Ref. and pointers are kindly appreciated too .OOC) Recall and reckon the happenings and existence,alongside theirhistory and details, of a "sort-of Alliance between ours and the Eientei Mansion and group without gaining troubles with Mokou Fujiwara".
>Drawing from all our experiences,bonds and initiative, what would be a proper and convincing enough approach,maybe arrangements,for the Mistress with this kind of group or a small part off it under this uncommon conditions?
> "I would offer more information if I had it, Lady Houraisan."
> "For what it is worth, I got the distinct feeling that you did not really want to do what you were doing, but that you felt driven to it by lack of other reasonable alternatives. That would certainly explain why you were willing to depend on me doing this instead of simply letting what you were doing finish."
> "Well, truth be told, I imagine I will be long gone before any of this becomes truly relevant. This was more for all your sakes than mine, as nice as it would be to not have to worry about getting pulling into the future again."
>"Or destroy the entire world."
Dude what don't be rude
> Hold up on saying that.
> Instead: "That is all anyone can ask of any of you, I think. Unpleasant potential futures have been laid out; it is up to you all how you wish to avoid them, if you even do."
> "Indeed. I cannot think of anything more to say to you all as a group. There is, however, one last thing I should tell Lady Houraisan in private."
> "Certainly. She is where she always is, though she is currently inspecting her reagents, so I do not know how talkative she will be."
> Wait a few moments, watching the exit to the room impassively, then turn to Kaguya.
> "There is...one other thing that may require resolution. I did not want to discuss this in front of other people, because that is your decision to make, not mine."
> "I noticed your two companions today spent a nontrivial amount of time holding hands. Based on how your future self spoke and behaved, whatever they have with each other, it seems likely to have been a contributing factor to your loneliness."
> "I did not pursue any details, since it was not my place. But it did seem to have some sort of influence."
> "Very well. My apologies for dumping all of this on all of you."
> Stand up as well.
> "I do not think there is anything to say, at present."
> "Don't worry, I understand."
> Look over to Mokou.
> "May I help you with something, Miss Fujiwara?"
> "You as well."
> Wait to see what Mokou does from here.
> Look just the slighted bit surprised, for a moment.
> Take on an equally low volume.
> "I did not realize you had such things planned."
> "Truth be told, I had not thought about it all that much."
> Glance back at where Kaguya disappeared off to, then look back at Mokou.
> "It is interesting you would plan such a thing, though. One of the first things the future Lady Houraisan asked of me is whether or not I knew where you were."
> Nod.
> "I understand. I apologize for blowing this secret of yours."
> "Of course."
> "...Probably not only because of you. But the way she asked about you, and how irritated she got when I told her I did not know, certainly suggested she would have kept going on if you were around."
> Curtsy.
> "Thank you very much, Miss Fujiwara."
> "Absolutely. Have a pleasant day."
> Watch to see if she disappears (instead of sticking around). If she does, wait a few seconds, then give a quiet exhale of relief.
> Get back to work, and our proper sense of normalcy.
Okay, let's see, here...
> Why did we get dropped near the Avalonian sector? Was there an in-universe explanation or was that just a gameplay mechanic choice?
> What benefits did we actually get from Reimu's blessing, and how long did it last?
> Was it actually possible to defeat Kaguya, given her apparent strategy of 'dodge until time runs out'?
> What would have happened if we ran out of step-out-of-time juice and Kaguya let go of the watch?
> Was Remilia in Kosa the first time around?
> Was it possible to get to Kosa to see Remilia?
> Was it possible to bring any living things back from the future to the present?
> Was it possible to find the monster of Funsei Mountain? If so, how close did we get to it in our misadventures there?
> What became of the next editions of the Bunbunmaru and the Kakashi?
> Did Kazuha ever drop by?
>Did someone's descendant get named Yukari and I forgot (because oh goodness such a long quest!) or is Yukari actually still around after we changed the future?
For us who hardly follow along the grand scheme of things, or don't at all, how viable, and welcome, would it be to participate?
And alongside that, how does that change compared to how far the quest has gone on?
> If anything significant was done while we were in control (be it along what she was doing or off to the side) before Sakuya lept forward in time, would it have caused anything of note in the future?
> The newspaper question was mostly about what the next printed editions of both looked like, if Sakuya even saw either of them.
>Right right.> What was the deal with (Future)Koakuma/Petite and her situation ? Did it change because of (Future)Patchouli in Makai?In addition,why was she not being able or unwilling to go past a certain point in Makai?
>Neither really told much of the information that you shared. Largely because both issues were devoted to undermining their rivals. It turns out that Scarlet Devil Mansion Doesn't Explode isn't very newsworthy. Bunbunmaru did run something to the tune of "Local woman has visions of future", but it didn't say very much. Possibly to make for space for "Crazed Crow Tengu Undermines The Press"
>NOW A QUESTION FOR YALLS: Any guesses at what any of the youkai you encountered in the future might be? Alternately, feel free to ask about them. I've not make this many unique characters in a long time.
> What was the deal with (Future)Koakuma/Petite and her situation ? Did it change because of (Future)Patchouli in Makai?In addition,why was she not being able or unwilling to go past a certain point in Makai?
> Was it possible to have meaningful interactions with Amaya,present or future(s)?
>About the Future Youkai,I do not know exactly.I could stand to be corrected...I have some general feeling they might be general , or sometimes even specific to certain Touhous and certain previous Quests, references and examples of how "Outsiders"Youkai/Youkai-related settled in (Future) Gensokyo and mingled with its "descendants" .
>If possible,I would like to ask about " The Warlord" and "Coyote".Thank you.
>How much of future Gensokyo did you plan out that we didn't end up visiting?
>Was it always intended for two trips to the future, or would you have had more if we hadn't found Kaguya soon enough?
>Apex was connected to places other than Gensokyo right? Would you have allowed to us to visit one of those places through apex?
> Man, now I'm sad we missed the underground for, like, the only time ever. How would Yamame and Kisume have looked in the future compared to the present?
>Had you planned for such concerted attempts to alter the course of history? E.g the letters and so on?
> Would Kisume have been any taller?
> Relatedly, would she have still lived in her bucket?
> Where was future Kasen, if anywhere?
> Was it possible in any way to contact and/or get some sort of sign from Byakuren?
Kisume with a mess of kids while looking exactly the same? chrishansen.jpg
> Was the dead woman (Sakuya's previous self) intended to have meaningful in-game application, perhaps as the solution to a puzzle or extra incentive for someone to trust us? Or was it there strictly for flavor?
>Who whipped Yuyuko's poor child? I hope they die a horrible death for hurting that child!
>"What do ya mean?" she says. "I'm older than dirt, I have plans for everything. What'd you think I'd be doing?"
>_
Indeed that is what you effectively pictured and communicated,always blended-in and at least with some subtlety, I meant while replying and wondering on"Outside(Gensokyo/Touhou Universe) Youkai(Supernatural) " : " Coyote" , " The Wumpus " and any other that anyone with better perceptiveness and insight than I. :) Renewed Hooray and Grand Thanks to :P yalls :Questing,Read,Fun,Interest ,Inspiration,Anything Peachy... " Indeed let us and many more dive in anew,as we are now on the " Q&A :D Mini-Quest Wagon ", on the "A-Z Machine Adventures/Purvisverse Eastern Project ( Touhou ) Oriental Express " :)
> About changes and points of interest regarding fairly notable " Undergrounders " , who were not already insighfully and thankfully explained for , on their own and/or related to " Surfacers" ?
> About Mokou's full-firing and half-back-firing plans , Keine herself, Higan's ...hospitality... and detainment and judgement?
> Keine's,and maybe Akyuu with the Miare Children's,legacies related and unrelated to " Hakatuku's Mansion "?
> Ramifications and grounds for the distrust and rust between mainly the Hakatuku and secondarly Sage (Ran) Yakumo ? Could Sakuya be even more of a gap-shortener directly or indirectly ?
> So Lunarians and the Moon had been possibly changing , though not dramatically as Future Kaguya despaired ? Was Eirin a Major Actor and/or Office ? Who are and were " The Pillars of Change " on Luna , Luna-Linked ?
> Unicity Time for " Sir Kay(based off,but not the one from Nue's Quest and of Arthurian Lore ) Knight of the future " , " King Wart " , " The Wumpus monster "
> Anything notable,potentially notable,generic or specific going-ons in SDM,SDM-Relatable in any manner generic in this Head Maid's long-day absence with off-duty ?Especially , but not bound to , Remilia,Flandre or even Amaya.
>What were all the starting locations in which Sakuya could had been transported to future!Gensokyo and what would have been the arrival destinations ?
Thanks :) for your continued patience and efforts.
Was it a sword fight or a danmaku duel?
Hmmmmmmm...
>Fire In The Library!
>Waking Up In The Future
>Meeting Flandre After Centuries Long Gone
>The Rainbow Serpent
>Yuyuko's "Daughter"
>Theme of Sir Kay
>Battle Against The Warlord's Soldier (I think her name was Jizo or something? Sorry for the poor memory.)
>The Wrath Of The Wumpus
>Flight To The Warlord's Castle!
>Battle Against Kaguya
>Kaguya Sees The Truth
>Uneasy Reuniting With Patchy
>At Meiling's Grave
>Flandre DESTROYS The General's Army
>Home Sweet Home? (The first visit back)
>Home Sweet Home! (The second visit back)
How nice.
>On one hand ,was any line of questing , investigaton or the like unpursued or just left hanging that could have better serve the "healing" of timelines, even if "humble " enough not to grant any additional/extension of the journeys?
>On the other hand ,any points,leads which are better off unbothered for " charity's sake"?
>About the only thing thing you could have done more, that I can think of, would be to have done more to speak with Youmu. But there's a good reason this didn't happen, so it's not really a Thing. That aside, you might have been able to ask Aya about that missing time. She would have had something. This wouldn't changed much, but it would add context to other things. What were those pictures? Eh, ask me later.
>Poor handling with Yuuka might had lead to things getting worse. (You didn't visit her in second loop, she would have been taller and more impressive yet there). That aside, Shuuei was the only real time bomb, and even that one you you defused by advising Ichiro to be more pro-active about her condition. Had she not been taken to the buddhists for help, her suicide would have become suicide by shrine maiden and a notable incident. And if you were of the mindset, there were all sorts of potential hornets nests you could have kicked by lying and/or being manipulative. The results of that, I'd have to figure out after you did it.
>Oooh,if then it is alright to ask....What were those pictures by Aya ?
>Any(more or less noteworthy) "communities"/groups/organizations "missed or that should had been better explored?
>The black woman working as Hatate's secretary was Madam Koi Koi, a nigerian woman of legend who was a teacher that chased her son into the wild after he stole her shoe as a prank, and vanished. According to legend, she wanders the jungles looking for her lost son. Had you looked around the desk for any reason, you would have seen she has one shoe. She's there because Hatate has a lot of information sources to help in her search.I tried looking her up, and I couldn't find anything about her losing her son in the jungle, what source did you get that interesting tidbit from?
>Ask me later~> An Insight about Shinmyonmaru and,maybe,Sejia on the one(present)+three (future)timelines please?
>The big one was the Kobito village. You could have found your watch there, and made some little friends.
>Anyways, while I'm here, lemme see what other things I can remember.
>The messenger in Apex, the one that gave you Kanako's message and permission to use the jet, was one of the Pond Snail Sisters; from a story of two sisters who were so lazy and carefree they ended up turning to pond snails. Eventually they were saved by two hardworking brothers with prayers to Ebisumaru ( think?). This one just sort of ended up a lazy friendly youkai, and under Kanako's employment.
>The people you passed by in Apex that looked like humans but had something off were Inuit shadow people, who were humans that lived in the other world.
>The neighborhood that Nue's teahouse was in a Pueblo Native American area. Her business switched from a pub because selling liquor to Native Americans felt like poor taste.
>The wide-shouldered youkai at the Apex Myouren Temple garden was a nurikabe. I expect one of those to show up in Touhou proper one of these days.
>The black woman working as Hatate's secretary was Madam Koi Koi, a nigerian woman of legend who was a teacher that chased her son into the wild after he stole her shoe as a prank, and vanished. According to legend, she wanders the jungles looking for her lost son. Had you looked around the desk for any reason, you would have seen she has one shoe. She's there because Hatate has a lot of information sources to help in her search.
>The red-handed youkai at the Hong Dojo was an akateko. (http://yokai.com/akateko/) She was very protective of children for a reason.
>Yanna Case, the big foreign woman at the Dojo (and also sometimes hero according to history) is a Tractor Tsukomugami. Some of those are 100 years old now~
>Irastume was a cow youkai. In particular, she is from a story where a rogue snuck under shrine and impersonated the voice of the shrine god and commanded a local noble to give him her beautiful daughter for marriage. The noble complied, but as the daughter was being carried by litter to the wedding sight, a passing samurai freed her and put a cow in the litter. The rogue believed that the cow was the woman, under some curse, and married it. That cow would eventually become a youkai due to the rogue's strange loyalty. The Warlord is a descendant of that samurai; whom Iratsume felt an obligation toward after the rogue passed away. Had you managed to befriend her, she would have happily told all this.
>The priest of the Hakurei Shrine in Haihan was Azuki Arai (http://yokai.com/azukiarai/) . The ritual she was performing with the buddha statue comes from an actual legend, wherein they put salt on the statue's lips to make it thirsty so that it would bring rain. As the years went on, they had to find saltier and saltier things to make it thirsty.
>The baker with the arms at Apex, where you met Seiga, was one of the Hekatonkheires from Greek Myth. Amusingly, she was planned well before Hecatia was a thing.
>There are others, I can't immediately remember them. Feel free to ask.