Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 4, Part 2

[DracoOmega]

>I imagine it was, but you heard what she said about being indifferent to the deaths of innocent lives. Whatever the target of her own vengeance, it is something different. I might not have even guessed Patchouli's, had I not known her so well.

[Oldmansour]

>I imagine it was, but you heard what she said about being indifferent to the deaths of innocent lives. Whatever the target of her own vengeance, it is something different. I might not have even guessed Patchouli's, had I not known her so well.

>It definitely has something to do with her parents, they made that much clear before Sanae and Elis left. Lily and me tried to get some answers out of Sanae's parents, but they didn't want to talk to anybody. They took off, too.

>Patchouli has dropped down to the ground at this point, and has completely ignored the sprawled form of Anya, leaving her back exposed to the miko. Not that Anya's in much shape to do much about it anyway. Reisen, for her part, has turned over and is currently seated on the grass. "I did warn you." Patchy says to Reisen, in a tone of voice very much like she uses in a normal conversation.
>Reisen actually manages a rueful smile for her friend as she looks up at her. "Normally your experiments don't cover as much distance when they explode."
>The Avatar of Water actually chuckles quietly. "No, I suppose they didn't."

>I'll check on Anya. Lily informs you as she drops down towards the wounded miko.

[DracoOmega]

>Alright.

>I had questions for them myself, but we were in such a hurry that I didn't have time to address them. Do you know where they went?

>Let's give Patchouli and Reisen a moment. For a second there, that sounded almost... normal.

[Oldmansour]

>Alright.

>I had questions for them myself, but we were in such a hurry that I didn't have time to address them. Do you know where they went?

>Let's give Patchouli and Reisen a moment. For a second there, that sounded almost... normal.

>They didn't say. But Suwako's building that new Iron Rings here in town. Bet we can find at least one of 'em there.

>"What are you doing out here, Reisen?" the Avatar asks.
>"I was worried about you, Patchouli."
>"You don't need to worry about me anymore. I'm not the sick, frail girl I was before. I finally have everything I should have had all my life, everything they tried to keep from me."
>"The Knowledge family sorcery wasn't meant for this." Reisen retorts, some strength returning to her voice. "Even I know that. You're a scholar, Patchouli, that's what you wanted to be. Not an avenger. Not a conqueror."
>"Once, I would have been content with that." the mage argues, "But no more. I know what they did to me, what they wanted from me. They're the ones that turned their back on the Knowledge way, not me. They took the shortcut that created me, and now I have the power to make them sorry for it. And not just them." she adds, half-turning from Reisen and taking a few steps away from the walk. "There are many more like them out there, I know. All the years the sapient species have lived on this planet, and they still lend themselves to society that coddle the ones that take shortcuts, who step on other people's lives just to make their own a little bit better. Once, I would have been one of their victims, but no more! We Six will find them all, in every little hole they hide in, every fortress they think is safe. We are justice, we are vengeance, we are the hatred of everyone they've used, betrayed and sacrificed in the name of themselves."

>The rabbit by this time has pulled herself to her feet, and is staring at her friend with a mix of sorrow and horror. "I don't believe what I'm hearing. Do you hear yourself, Patchouli? How you've changed?"
>"I told you." the mage growls, turning back to her. "I am the Avatar of Water."
>"The Avatar of water isn't the woman I called friend." Reisen cries. "You've gone to some dark place I can't follow."
>"Oh yes you can." Patchouli replies eagerly, taking a step closer to Reisen. Who, you note, reflexively steps back from her. "Don't you see, you can help me, I, I can help you. You're as much a victim as I was, Reisen. You could join me." she says eagerly, maybe even more eagerly than you've heard her talk about her magic. "The Six of us will be stronger than the Champions. We can overthrow them. And we, you and me, the people who'd follow me, we can make the world the way WE want it to be."

>Reisen takes another half-step back from the Avatar, then stops, closing her eyes. Something passes over her face, and when she opens her red eyes again, you are surprised at the steel you see there. "You don't know everything about me, Avatar. You know about my slavery, but not the reason why I became a slave. You don't know what happened to me on the moon. What you just said? I once heard talk like that from a man on the moon, and that man committed a genocide, speaking the same thing. I couldn't stop him or the people that followed him because I didn't have any power. But I have power now, the power that Magical Lotus has given me. Now I can stop people like that. Patchouli, you were the first person I served that really cared about me, and I would have welcomed becoming your slave. But I won't let you become the kind of person that made me flee the moon. It's not too late." Reisen extends her hand to the visibly stricken Patchouli. "You're the last person in the world I ever wanted to fight, Patchouli. Please, don't force me to make you the first."
>The Avatar of Water stares at that hand for a long moment, then her lips quiver and twist into a snarl. "Magical Lotus... You, you came here with her?"
>"I did." Reisen answers but Patchy is already twisting her head around, scanning the area for you. "Patchouli, please-"
>"YOU!" The Avatar roars as she finally spies you, jabbing an accusing finger at you. "You turned her against me!"

[DracoOmega]

>"The very first words out of her mouth when I told her where you were going were to beg us to stop you. She asked to come with us. Freely. For your sake!"

[Oldmansour]

>"The very first words out of her mouth when I told her where you were going were to beg us to stop you. She asked to come with us. Freely. For your sake!"

>"Lies!" An ugly blue glow surrounds her outstretched hand. "She would never betray me! You did this!" And the Avatar puncuates her paranoid accusation with a large beam of water energy.

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly bank to the side to avoid it, though throw up a shield if we have to
>"She didn't betray you! Her loyalty is to the woman you were, and what she would have wanted - which is not this! Surely you can see that!"

[Oldmansour]

>Quickly bank to the side to avoid it, though throw up a shield if we have to
>"She didn't betray you! Her loyalty is to the woman you were, and what she would have wanted - which is not this! Surely you can see that!"

>Patchouli's attack, though respectively sized, is not as fast as some others you've had to dodge, so you sideslip down and to the right away from the beam, while Rin spins out to the left to get away from it.
>"I see. I see that you gave her that power to steal her from me." The blue glow around her hand turns a jet black. "But you will not take her from me!" From the blackness there grows a long double-bladed sword, the blade of which resembles solidified oily water. It is a vile looking thing, and you wouldn't be surprised if even touching the thing would be bad for you. Her face contorted with rage, Patchouli points her oily blade at you. "I don't care what explanations you have, I'll see you dead before you take her from me!"

[DracoOmega]

>"Do you think killing people will do anything but drive her further away? Did you not hear the words she just spoke?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Do you think killing people will do anything but drive her further away? Did you not hear the words she just spoke?"

>The Avatar's only reply is a furious roar as she swings her sword down, sending a crescent-shaped burst of vile-looking power your way.

[DracoOmega]

>Let's get the heck out of the way of that one. Can't let it scrape us.
>I'm sorry Reisen, but I don't think we can hold our fire any longer or she will end up killing someone.

[Oldmansour]

>Let's get the heck out of the way of that one. Can't let it scrape us.
>I'm sorry Reisen, but I don't think we can hold our fire any longer or she will end up killing someone.

>Just give me a minute. Reisen says grimly as you turn your attention to that incoming blade, which is a faster projectile than her energy beam. You kick your disc into action again, heading up and to the right, but even your hurried evasive maneuver results in a very near miss as that evil-smelling blade passes beneath you. The projectiles from that sword seem to carry Patchouli's anger within them, an expression of the black rage that has seized her heart and soul made manifest by that vile sword.
>Not to be denied, Patchouli swings her sword again and again and again, sending three more of those evil blade-shots flying at you through the air. Straightaway, you hope that Rin has your back, because you can't see how you can dodge the three of them, and you're not in a hurry to see what they'll do your Sapphire Lotus. But aid does not come from Rin but from Reisen, who you hear intone, "Glider: East Wind." A frigid, damp wind blows across the manor yard, forcing the oily cutters to your right, leaving you an opening to your left, which you take advantage of, evading and rising above the three evil attacks.
>Patchouli rounds on the rabbit, who stands unfazed in the face of her friends anger. "I told you. I won't let you do this, Patchouli."
>"You won't stop me!"
>"Yes I will.  Lunar Spectrum Shift: Saber." Magical Poppy changes her form again, this time revealing a form that, while still flattering on her, is much more hardcore than the last two.  Her light purple skirt has armor plates over her hips, and her lower legs are protected by silvery steel greaves. Her chest, arms and shoulders are protected by gleaming white plate mail, a silvery full moon emblazoned over the breast piece, waxing and waning quarter moons on the back of her hands. Her collar now sports a dark blue stone, and a circlet of silver and gold encircles her head. Two small violet colored wings extend from the buttons on her ears. She looks like a proper knight. And the grim look on her face completes the image.
>If she gets the best of me, then take steps. The armor clad rabbit says into your mind. But if I can, I will stop her.

[DracoOmega]

>We're a team, Reisen. We stand together. And I couldn't conscience letting a friend face danger without facing it with her.

[Oldmansour]

>We're a team, Reisen. We stand together. And I couldn't conscience letting a friend face danger without facing it with her.

>Byakuren. I have to do this. Get the shrine maiden inside, keep the Knowledges safe. But I have to do this.

[DracoOmega]

>Lead and I will follow, but I won't let you stand alone. Each of us is stronger together than any of us are apart.

[Oldmansour]

>Lead and I will follow, but I won't let you stand alone. Each of us is stronger together than any of us are apart.

>But- Rin, will you explain this to her? Reisen says, extending her voice to include the kasha.
>Who replies to her with a shake of the head. Forget it, Reisen. I don't think she'd leave you to fight her any sooner'd she leave me.

[DracoOmega]

>I respect your reasons, Reisen, and I have faith in you, but our fellowship is the very reason we can prevail. The power Patchouli possesses now is greater than any of us, but not greater than all of us - and so long as we draw breath, she will never face us alone.

[Oldmansour]

>I respect your reasons, Reisen, and I have faith in you, but our fellowship is the very reason we can prevail. The power Patchouli possesses now is greater than any of us, but not greater than all of us - and so long as we draw breath, she will never face us alone.

>The armored rabbit sighs shortly into your mind, but she doesn't put up any further arguement.

>"You're not stronger than me, Reisen." Patchoul says with a wave of her sword. "I don't know what they did to turn you against me, but you can't stop me. None of you can."
>With unblinking determination, Reisen raises her right hand over her head. "Saber Blade!" A shaft of rainbow-colored light emerges from her outstretched hand, and solidifes into a long metal sword, thinner than Patchouli's blade and nearly equal in length. When the sword fully coalesces, Reisen points the tip at her friend. "I WILL try."
>With a defiant yell, Reisen leaps forward, her height and speed belying the plate mail that covers her body. It is not with much time to spare that Avatar of Water raises her own sword in response, using a two-handed grip to block Poppy's overhead swing. The two magical blades give off sparks of power when they meet, and the sound is not just that of metal on metal, put of power on power. The die is cast now. That it should come to this...

>Anya's hurt. Lily reports. She'll be okay, but I need to get her inside, where it's safe.

[DracoOmega]

>Then do so, but hurry.
>Swing around behind Patchouli's field of vision and fire an Orange Lotus at her

[Oldmansour]

>Then do so, but hurry.
>Swing around behind Patchouli's field of vision and fire an Orange Lotus at her

>On it!

>With a roar of her own, Patchouli pushes Reisen's sword back, but only marginally. Despite her superior power, the Water Avatar appears to yield some physical strength to Magical Poppy's Saber form. The result of this is Reisen pushing the Avatar back and forcing her sword down. Patchy has to leap back away from Reisen, but the rabbit does not relent, charging forward again, this time leading with an upward diagonal slash, which Patchouli parries with more ease this time. Another pair of strikes from the rabbit are also blocked, and you see clearly that while Poppy's Saber form is stronger than the Avatar, it is not automatically more skilled than her opponent.
>But she is plenty skilled enough to keep Patchouli's attention occupied, certainly long enough for you to place yourself behind her peripheral vision, and invoke your Orange Light. A single sphere of orange light bursts from the tip of your scepter, and strikes Patchouli just above her right thigh.
>Unlike the centaur youma you struck with Orange light before, Patchouli visibly reacts to the impact of your spell. She launches a vicious thrust forward at Reisen, forcing the rabbit to back away from her, then uses the momentum to spin towards you, calling out "Dark Water Blades!" as she does so. One after another, she conjures up four oily sawblades and sends them streaking through the air at you and Rin.

[DracoOmega]

>The previous projectiles did not track us, right? They were simply fast?
>Can we see any openings between these that look easier to duck through than others?
>Do we think our Violet Lotus might be able to purify whatever unpleasantness is in the attacks themselves, leaving them safer to block (or even mostly harmless?)

[Oldmansour]

>The previous projectiles did not track us, right? They were simply fast?
>Can we see any openings between these that look easier to duck through than others?
>Do we think our Violet Lotus might be able to purify whatever unpleasantness is in the attacks themselves, leaving them safer to block (or even mostly harmless?)

>Correct. But these these projectiles are more solid than the last, more like actual sawblades covered in oil rather than energy projections.
>The gaps between the sawblades are not large. You might be able to weave your way between them, but there wouldn't be much margin for error. The four of them are coming in at around chest height, however. If their flight path remains consistant, you should be able to duck under them if you hit the deck.
>The oil on these blades is more like real oil, the kind that comes in barrels, rather than the inky vileness that her blade is made up of. It wouldn't do you any favors if you touched it or let it cut you, but it doesn't give you the same impression of danger that the blasts from her sword did. By the same token, it should be less metaphysically harmful to block them with your Sapphire Lotus, or shoot them down with either your Scarlet or Violet Lotus.

[DracoOmega]

>Dive downward, and fire a Scarlet Lotus upward at the blades, to try and knock them off-course, if we anticipate that our margin for avoidance will be close
>Shield ourselves if all that fails, of course

[Oldmansour]

>Dive downward, and fire a Scarlet Lotus upward at the blades, to try and knock them off-course, if we anticipate that our margin for avoidance will be close
>Shield ourselves if all that fails, of course

>Rather than test the limits of your agility, you take the expedient path of hitting the deck, and while you are ready to employ your Scarlet light to defend yourself if need be, this proves to be unnecessary, as the saw blades will miss you provided you stay down here.
>But as the saws pass over your prone body, Patchy sneers and turns her outstretched palm upwards sharply, her hand surrounded by a blue glow. With a sinking feeling, you try to roll away, but it is too late. A geyser of ice-cold water erupts from the ground beneath you, hurtling you into the sky and buffeting you not just the force of the impact, but with numbing cold as well.

>"White Retainer's Fire!" you hear Rin yell from beneath you as she sends a torrent flame at Patchouli. The Avatar though merely lowers her hand and unleashes a stream of water that meets Rin's attack in the air, resulting in a cloud of hot steam but no damage to either person. The damage comes a moment later. Distracted by White Rose's attack, the Avatar fails to notice Poppy point her sword at her, and unleash a beam of prismatic light. The beam strikes Patchy square in her back and plays out over her upper torso like rainbow-colored electricity, staggering her and ending her geyser spell, leaving you not only damaged, but falling back to the earth.

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly catch ourselves from falling, then try to turn and fire a Vermillion Lotus at Patchouli while she's likewise distracted
>And heck, maybe that can even warm us up, too

[Oldmansour]

>Quickly catch ourselves from falling, then try to turn and fire a Vermillion Lotus at Patchouli while she's likewise distracted
>And heck, maybe that can even warm us up, too

>Pulling yourself back together after taking the impact of several dozen gallons of water to the gut, you cast another blue colored flying disc beneath you to land on. As you do this, Patchouli spins and slashes her sword, cutting through Reisen's beam and ending her attack. Hoping to take advantage of her divided attention, you raise your scepter again and unleash your Vermillion Light upon the Avatar, while Rin, nearly at the same time, fires another blast of white flame at the enemy. Sparing a quick glance at you over her shoulder, the Water Avatar clenches her fist, and an opaque glove of water appears to encircle her. Patches of the water boil where yours and Rin's attack strike it, but the dome holds.
>And yes, it actually does help to take some of the chill out of you. Compared to Ice's cold, it wasn't nearly as bad.

[DracoOmega]

>Let's aim for the same spot.
>Fire another Vermillion Lotus at the dome, and try to keep it steady. Maybe we can boil right through it, if we focus the beam narrowly enough.

[Oldmansour]

>Let's aim for the same spot.
>Fire another Vermillion Lotus at the dome, and try to keep it steady. Maybe we can boil right through it, if we focus the beam narrowly enough.

>Understood.
>Aiming for the point of the dome halfway between you and Rin, the two of you unleash your fire spells upon Patchouli's defenses once more. From within the dome, you sense Patchouli pouring her own power into the shield to keep your tandem attack out, and while this may keep her safe, it has to be more draining for her than it is for you two. At least you hope so.
>And then you hear Lily winging her way up behind you and to your right. "Those jerks wouldn't let us in!" she declares as she approaches.

[DracoOmega]

>"Where's Anya?"
>Can we tell if the power reinforcement is applied just to this specific spot we're aiming at, or the shield in general?

[Oldmansour]

>"Where's Anya?"
>Can we tell if the power reinforcement is applied just to this specific spot we're aiming at, or the shield in general?

>"I had to leave her by the door." Lily informs you as she pulls up next you, for once looking properly upset. "Hoping those meanines might loosen up."
>"They're probably scared." Rin calls over the sound of her flames. "Can ya blame 'em?"
>The specific spot. Since no one else is shooting at the shield, Patchouli can concentrate her efforts on the one spot.