Parsee Quest (Part 5)

[日巫子]

> Look at Sanae with a (fake) incredulous look. "Damn, Koga! You must really be wearing her out at night!"
> Wave goodbye, shoulder our satchel of goods, and fly to the Palace.

> Kogasa puffs up her cheeks in frustration.
> You wave goodbye to Sanae and Kogasa, shoulder your backpack, and head off towards the Palace.
> When you get there, you see that it's as normal as ever.

> _

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Go inside, find Satori.

[Sect]

> When we find Satori: "Hey, on my way out, but there's something you need to know..."
> Remember what Yuugi said about the terrorists.
> Try not to let ourselves think about what proceeded before and after that. blush

[日巫子]

> When we find Satori: "Hey, on my way out, but there's something you need to know..."
> Remember what Yuugi said about the terrorists.
> Try not to let ourselves think about what proceeded before and after that. blush

> Satori and Reimu are right where you left them.
> Satori looks up; her third eye rolls in its socket as it reads your mind.
> Her expression is a bit severe.  "You needn't be concerned; had we been in any mortal danger we would have experienced it by now..."
> Oops she's reading the rest of your mind.  Her expression softens up a bit.

> _

[Sect]

> Blush. "H-hey, watch where you're looking. Besides, I thought that you'd appreciate the warning..."
> As we're leaving: "And since you're so interested in seeing where I'm at with Yuugi, I better see progress with Reimu next time I drop by!"
> Vamoose. Into the reactor, up the vent, and to the forest.
> Have a spring in our... er, float? We're getting shit done, saving people, makin' friends, and we hit the next phase with Yuugi! Nothing's gonna go wrong!

[Hello Purvis]

>Go rendezvous with Ran.

[日巫子]

> Blush. "H-hey, watch where you're looking. Besides, I thought that you'd appreciate the warning..."
> As we're leaving: "And since you're so interested in seeing where I'm at with Yuugi, I better see progress with Reimu next time I drop by!"
> Vamoose. Into the reactor, up the vent, and to the forest.
> Have a spring in our... er, float? We're getting shit done, saving people, makin' friends, and we hit the next phase with Yuugi! Nothing's gonna go wrong!

> "I do appreciate the warning; calling them terrorists seems a little extreme, though..."
> Satori smirks as you leave, but doesn't say anything.
> You head out into the reactor, then up the vent.
> As you head into the forest, you reflect on how well everything is going.  There's no way--
> There's a huge rumble, and the ground shakes.  When you look into the sky, you see a purple aura flaring up around Kikuri.

>Go rendezvous with Ran.

> Crap, you need to go find Ran...you start off running towards Alice's house.

> _

[Sect]

> Andwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingAndwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingAndwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingAndwe'reflying-

[日巫子]

> Andwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingAndwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingAndwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingandwe'reflyingAndwe'reflying-

> You hear some more explosions as you fly, but you don't want to look up.
> When you reach Alice's house, Ran is standing in the front yard, snarling.  There's a note on the door, but you can't get yourself to pay attention to it.

> _

[Sect]

> "Ran! What's going on?"
> Toss our satchel at the doorstep. We can unpack later.

[日巫子]

> "Ran! What's going on?"
> Toss our satchel at the doorstep. We can unpack later.

> 'No idea.'  Her voice sounds strained.
> You throw your satchel at the doorstep.  Unpacking can wait.
> Almost as quickly as the explosions come, they stop.  Kikuri no longer gives the impression that she was doing anything a few moments ago.

> _

[Sect]

> "... I'm gonna check it out..."
> Fly just above the tree line, and look around.

[日巫子]

> "... I'm gonna check it out..."
> Fly just above the tree line, and look around.

> You fly above the tree line and look around.
> You can see a cloud of dust rising from beneath Kikuri.  A crater?

> _

[Sect]

> ... Damn it, Konngara.
> Remember where that crater is, and fly down to Ran. "Ran, a friend of mine was just shot down. Can you help me get to her?"

[日巫子]

> ... Damn it, Konngara.
> Remember where that crater is, and fly down to Ran. "Ran, a friend of mine was just shot down. Can you help me get to her?"

> That idiot...
> You fly down to Ran and ask if she can get you to Konngara.
> 'You don't even need to ask!  Where is she?'

> _

[Hello Purvis]

>Give them directions!
>At least Konngara was polite enough to listen to us.

[Sect]

> Climb on.

[日巫子]

>Give them directions!
>At least Konngara was polite enough to listen to us.

> You give Ran directions.
> Konngara listened, at least.  Oh, man...

> Climb on.

> You climb on Ran, and the two of you sprint into the forest.
> After what feels like forever, you reach a small, smoldering crater somewhere in the Forest of Magic.  The trees here have been snapped and destroyed beyond repair.  It's cold, really cold.
> In the crater, you see Konngara slowly sit up and shake her head.

> _

[Sect]

> Shout: "Hey! Moron! Are you still alive?"
> Dismount off of Ran and slide down the crater to check on Konngara.

[Hello Purvis]

>"She not in the mood to chat or something?"
>Do her motions belie anything being broken?

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Looks like Operation Use-Konngara-as-a-Shield-to-Get-to-Hell's-Moon-Without-Being-Blasted, my first idea for how we'd eventually get to Kikuri, may have hit a snag. I'm not going to throw it out until we've confirmed what happened, but still, it's probably a good idea to work on another option.

*begins working on new plan of attack*

[日巫子]

> Shout: "Hey! Moron! Are you still alive?"
> Dismount off of Ran and slide down the crater to check on Konngara.

> Konngara looks up.  "I'm sitting up, aren't I?"
> You jump of Ran and slide down the crater to check on Konngara.
> The beads she was using to hold her hair in a ponytail have come out, her clothes are a bit torn and dirty, and there's a steady trickle of blood coming from her forehead.

>"She not in the mood to chat or something?"
>Do her motions belie anything being broken?

> "She was giving me the silent treatment, so I tried knocking on her shell like a goldfish bowl, and that's kind of how she reacted."
> Just really sore.  It's hard to tell with her.
> Konngara picks up her sword, which is laying nearby.  "Have you seen my hair tie?"  She does look a lot different with her hair down.

> _

[Hello Purvis]

>"Not yet. Um, kinda more worried about you breakable bits at the moment."
>Look around for it idly.

[日巫子]

>"Not yet. Um, kinda more worried about you breakable bits at the moment."
>Look around for it idly.

> Konngara rolls up one of her sleeves.  It's dotted with splotchy bruises.  She winces when she tries bending it.
> "Wow, 'least this wasn't my left arm."  She clenches and unclenches her fist experimentally.  "Definitely Kikuri's doing.  I used my right arm to knock on the shell."
> You look around for the hair tie.  It's just dirty in the crater, but it takes you a while before you actually find it.  Round red beads on a string, although the string has snapped and a few beads have spilled out.

> _

[Hello Purvis]

>Grab it.
>"So...what was she like? She didn't talk, you said, but did she at least look normal?"

[日巫子]

>Grab it.
>"So...what was she like? She didn't talk, you said, but did she at least look normal?"

> You grab the hair tie, but have to struggle to keep all the beads together.
> "Her eyes looked dull."  Konngara stands up and stretches her arms.

> _

[Hello Purvis]

>"Dull?"
>Hand her back the tie, trying to keep the beads from scattering.

[日巫子]

>"Dull?"
>Hand her back the tie, trying to keep the beads from scattering.

> "Yup.  No shine."
> You hand her back her hair tie, and she looks at it dismally.
> "Thanks...geez..."  She starts stringing the beads back on.

> _

[Hello Purvis]

>"Was her body language otherwise normal?"

[日巫子]

>"Was her body language otherwise normal?"

> "Yeah."
> "Any ideas on how to make her talk?"

> _