(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 13)

[Hello Purvis]

>"Maybe so. But, I came because I need your help."

[DracoOmega]

>"Maybe so. But, I came because I need your help."

>"My help?" Her smile broadens and she lets out the very softest of chuckles - almost ethereal. Her gaze never wavers. "And whatever makes you think I would care to help you?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I ain't got much choice but to hope you would, really."

[DracoOmega]

>"I ain't got much choice but to hope you would, really."

>"Oh, you must be quite desperate to come all this way," she says, lightly stepping past you to approach one of the flower beds. It is a struggle to hold your ground as she gets closer. "Or very, very foolish."
>She reaches a hand out to a cluster of flowers which seem to rise just slightly to reach her palm. "The statice are lovely in this light." She turns her head back towards you; there is a cold mirth in those dark red eyes. "Don't you think?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh, you must be quite desperate to come all this way," she says, lightly stepping past you to approach one of the flower beds. It is a struggle to hold your ground as she gets closer. "Or very, very foolish."
>She reaches a hand out to a cluster of flowers which seem to rise just slightly to reach her palm. "The statice are lovely in this light." She turns her head back towards you; there is a cold mirth in those dark red eyes. "Don't you think?"

>Keep calm, keep calm. We've already won, either she helps or she tries to kill us and we take her to hell with us.
>"They do look nice. They have some kinda of symbolism?"

[DracoOmega]

>Keep calm, keep calm. We've already won, either she helps or she tries to kill us and we take her to hell with us.
>"They do look nice. They have some kinda of symbolism?"

>"That's a human conceit," she says curtly. "Flowers need no trite sentiments to give purpose to their beauty; their beauty is its own purpose."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Huh, makes sense. Is that true for other plants, too?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Huh, makes sense. Is that true for other plants, too?"

>"Of course. They existed long before humans could name them, and will sprout upon the ruins of their civilizations." She pauses, then leans in towards you with a unsettling smile and softly whispers "Yours as well."

[Hello Purvis]

>...Really? Really , lady? This is what you're doing?
>A little less timidly. "Not surprising. Just I was thinking how rare it is people give that kinda praise to weeds and stuff. Like those little ones with the leaves that get in people's lawns. Sheep sorrel, I think? I always thought it looked kinda nice."

[DracoOmega]

>...Really? Really , lady? This is what you're doing?
>A little less timidly. "Not surprising. Just I was thinking how rare it is people give that kinda praise to weeds and stuff. Like those little ones with the leaves that get in people's lawns. Sheep sorrel, I think? I always thought it looked kinda nice."

>The woman pauses at your words, and then a moment later lets out of a short peal of laughter; for a moment, it sounds almost genuine. "Oh, you are doing your best, aren't you? But I'm sure you didn't come here to discuss your appreciation for flowers." Her eyes harden again. "So what do you want? And I suggest you be quick about it."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Alright, I'll be quick. I need a bittercress flower, or I'm going to die from some obscure disease...within a couple days at most."

[DracoOmega]

>"Alright, I'll be quick. I need a bittercress flower, or I'm going to die from some obscure disease...within a couple days at most."

>"I suppose that would be a hard thing to come across right now, wouldn't it?" She smiles pleasantly at you, but says nothing further.

[Hello Purvis]

>"This is as close as I've gotten."
>Produce our botanical buddy and show her.

[DracoOmega]

>"This is as close as I've gotten."
>Produce our botanical buddy and show her.

>You produce your potted bittercress to show to the woman you can only assume must be Yuuka. She regards the whole process nonchalantly at first, though you could swear you saw a frown creep onto her face after looking at your plant. But a moment later it is gone without a trace.
>"It looks healthy," she says lightly. "I'm sure you can expect some lovely flowers in, oh... a few years' time." She makes no attempt to mask the gleam of icy mirth in her eyes.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Maybe sooner than that, have a look at the soil. Just...won't be soon enough for me."

[DracoOmega]

>"Maybe sooner than that, have a look at the soil. Just...won't be soon enough for me."

>"How very unfortunate for you." A widening grin tugs at the corners of her mouth.

[Hello Purvis]

>"So, I need your help. You're pretty much my only hope."

[DracoOmega]

>"So, I need your help. You're pretty much my only hope."

>How very unfortunate for you," she repeats. She is practically leering now, her smile like that of a thirsty predator. You feel very small and vulnerable beneath her gaze.

[Hello Purvis]

>Try not to waiver. If she acts, she's already dead from our blood.
>"Lemme ask you a thing, then. Have you heard of Earth Spiders?"

[DracoOmega]

>Try not to waiver. If she acts, she's already dead from our blood.
>"Lemme ask you a thing, then. Have you heard of Earth Spiders?"

>You try not to waver, but this is harder than you'd like to admit at the moment. You hope too much of it isn't leaking through.
>"Perhaps," she says indifferently, without changing her expression.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Then hear me out. I need this because an earth spider cursed me some weird disease that apparently ravaged things some time ago. That sound familiar?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Then hear me out. I need this because an earth spider cursed me some weird disease that apparently ravaged things some time ago. That sound familiar?"

>"Not especially."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, it was a big deal some time ago. Centuries ago, if not more. Earth spiders were a huge problem, there was a war, they got driven underground. I managed to come across what's apparently the last surviving one."

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, it was a big deal some time ago. Centuries ago, if not more. Earth spiders were a huge problem, there was a war, they got driven underground. I managed to come across what's apparently the last surviving one."

>"I suggest you reach your point swiftly," she says, looking slightly irritated.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Right, right. So this earth spider, she's been terrorizing a local village, just doing whatever she pleases. So they call me, and I go to deal with it. Now, she has a thing with other spider, they follow and obey her, she claims to love them. I can sympathize, I'm the same way with mice. And I bet you're about the same way with your flowers. Except, she's cheerfully sending them out to die against me. And I tell him this, all she's going to do is get more and more of them killed. If not by me, then by others. She didn't even have a clue she was like a day away from major city. And the idiot convinces herself she can take care of it on her own. Well, I fight her to a standstill, but she diseased me. Now, I get out, alright, and I make sure the word is spread. But it's not enough to beat her, you see. Because she still thinks she won against me."
>"That's why I need your help, and why I need to survive. So I can waltz back in and rub it in her stupid damn face just how utterly she failed to on every level, and show her she did nothign except sacrifice the people she claimed to care about for her damn stupid ego."

[DracoOmega]

>"Right, right. So this earth spider, she's been terrorizing a local village, just doing whatever she pleases. So they call me, and I go to deal with it. Now, she has a thing with other spider, they follow and obey her, she claims to love them. I can sympathize, I'm the same way with mice. And I bet you're about the same way with your flowers. Except, she's cheerfully sending them out to die against me. And I tell him this, all she's going to do is get more and more of them killed. If not by me, then by others. She didn't even have a clue she was like a day away from major city. And the idiot convinces herself she can take care of it on her own. Well, I fight her to a standstill, but she diseased me. Now, I get out, alright, and I make sure the word is spread. But it's not enough to beat her, you see. Because she still thinks she won against me."
>"That's why I need your help, and why I need to survive. So I can waltz back in and rub it in her stupid damn face just how utterly she failed to on every level, and show her she did nothign except sacrifice the people she claimed to care about for her damn stupid ego."

>You start to expound upon the mission that that brought you to Easthaven, and your battle with Yamame. Yuuka's interest seems strained from the outset, and the impatience in her mien grows swiftly as you continue. A moment later, you hear a rustling in the plants behind you and before you full realize what is happening, a vine has whipped out from the foliage and coiled tightly around your throat, cutting off your words with a strangled gasp. Yuuka's smile returns.
>"Not swiftly enough."

[Hello Purvis]

>Welp.
>Draw knife, and quickly cut our arm. Make it shallow and bloody, and preferably over an infected area. If the arm seems suitable, got for the leg, preferably somewhere without too many nerve endings.

[Oldmansour]

I don't know what you're trying to do, Purvis, but pulling a weapon on Yuuka is a bad idea, especially given the current circumstances. She could have that vine snap our neck in a second, not to mention all the other things we both know she's capable of.
So, let me try something else first before we get desperate.

>Instead of mutilating ourselves:
>Choke out, "You're right. I'm sorry."

[Hello Purvis]

>Not yet.

We're pretty much past negotiations at this point. And we're not pulling it on her, we're using it on ourself because it's the only leverage we got. She has established she has no fucks to give about our condition, she has no fucks to give about our situation, we are nothing to her. Any kind of sucking up is not going to work, she's clearly too smart for it and too capricious. What we have left is to let her know just how badly she has messed up, that her garden is contaminated and that she's going to die with us, much more quickly than we ever did.

If you wanna do some think where she rips open a nice bleedy wound instead of cutting it, go ahead. But we're out of options unless you have something I haven't thought of. It's time to pour on the terror of the unseen.

[Oldmansour]

Let me see if I get this straight. You want to scare Yuuka Kazami, of all Touhous, into submission?