Maribel Quest Continuation: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Laugh
> "Well, okay, works for me. She can't say I didn't ask you not to."

>You laugh. But are you laughing because it is funny, or because she's not targeted you?
>Kogasa nods. "I'll tell her if she asks."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> The former. It's amusing honesty, if nothing else.

[Hello Purvis]

> The former. It's amusing honesty, if nothing else.

>You have an laugh at the expense of you lover, then. And those can be the best laughs.
>"I need to go water my trees," says Kogasa. "See you later...Wait a minute! Who are you, anyways?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm Maribel. And it was nice to meet you!"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm Maribel. And it was nice to meet you!"

>"I'm Kogasa Tatara!" says the teal-haired youkai. She grins. "I'll see you again."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Grin back.
> "I look forward to it! As long as you don't give me a heart attack."

[Hello Purvis]

> Grin back.
> "I look forward to it! As long as you don't give me a heart attack."

>"I'll do my best," she says, as she pushes off the branch and falls to the ground, starting for her house.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Check off Hidden Side Quest: Get a Hug from Kogasa as complete
> Head back toward our future home.

[Hello Purvis]

> Check off Hidden Side Quest: Get a Hug from Kogasa as complete
> Head back toward our future home.

>You got a Karakasa Hug, and no one can take that away from you. Except Keine.
>You make your way back toward the house. You see Reimu leaving; Plum Flower sitting on her shoulder and snuggling against her hair.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>"How'd it go?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"How'd it go?"

>"It's exorcised," says Reimu, trying and failing to tug her hair out Plum Flower's grasp with head motions. "Shouldn't have too many problems if you clean it out soon. If you don't, there's a good chance other ghosts will move in."

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>Wonder if there was a lightshow from the exorcism.
>"Alright, that sounds fair. I guess I should take it that means those ghosts weren't necessarily whoever got killed there in the first place?"
>... did we ask her to leave one for the Nitori capture, or did we goof that up due to miscommunication/poor memory?

[Hello Purvis]

>Wonder if there was a lightshow from the exorcism.
>"Alright, that sounds fair. I guess I should take it that means those ghosts weren't necessarily whoever got killed there in the first place?"
>... did we ask her to leave one for the Nitori capture, or did we goof that up due to miscommunication/poor memory?

>You don't know. It's certainly possible.
>"I couldn't tell you," says Reimu. "But if they attacked you, they were probably really mad. Which suggests they were those people."
>You blasted them all beforehand.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>Eh... we'll figure out something.
>"It's... probably good that they're at rest now, then."
>Wonder how this whole afterlife thing works now that there's actual evidence for the process.
>"Out of curiosity, about how long do you think it would take for ghosts to wander back there? And would they be as, uh, hostile?"

>inventory

Mental checklist - Yuuka flowers, tabloid and clothing check, uh... what else was there?

[Hello Purvis]

>Eh... we'll figure out something.
>"It's... probably good that they're at rest now, then."
>Wonder how this whole afterlife thing works now that there's actual evidence for the process.
>"Out of curiosity, about how long do you think it would take for ghosts to wander back there? And would they be as, uh, hostile?"

>inventory

>You think you have a lead, maybe.
>She nods, nearly dislodging Plum Flower from her shoulder.
>You aren't sure, but you are pretty certain Komachi is part of the process.
>"Hm, maybe a few days?" says Reimu. "A few weeks if you're lucky."
>Your Inventory Contains
>Mop Hat
>Red Robe
>White Hakama
>Branch
>Floating Stone
>Ingredient List
>Ring of Rhythm
>Striped Mushroom Potion of Enhancement
>Starlight Incantation Slip.
>Purple Messenger Bag
>Blue Silk Flower
>92☼
>Bottle of Irritated Bull Sake
>Emerald Necklace
>Star Armlet
>Purple Dress
>Wound Sign: Pain Flow Endlessly. (Captured)
>Kakashi Spirit News
>Frilly Dark Dress (Worn as Clothing)
>Oil of  Vibration
>Black Cube
>Green Yo-yo
>Bolt of Silk
>Ghost-Catching Jar

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Didn't we trade the bottle of sake?
>Also, where's the figurine we got from Mari?

And what did you mean by 'Yuuka flowers, tabloid and clothing check'?
Otherwise, I believe we were on our way to the SDM at the moment

[Hello Purvis]

>Didn't we trade the bottle of sake?
>Also, where's the figurine we got from Mari?

>Database errors. They are there.

[Kilgamayan]

> Indicate Plum Flower.
> "How did she do?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Indicate Plum Flower.
> "How did she do?"

>Plum Flower is too preoccupied to notice you motioning toward her.
>"Well, she stayed still until I was done, which was nice. Then she came for me like an arrow, squealing about how great I was. Then she latched onto my hair."

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>celebrate free 27☼ quantum-retained from the donation box
>"Well, you can't deny her enthusiasm, if nothing else."

Basically I want to ask about whether it'd be sane to visit Yuuka again to get some flowers for the Hakurei Shrine. (She DID invite us to come back sometime, if I recall correctly.) This can also be used as a segue into asking why Yukari's apparently looking for us, or at least wants to be informed about people looking like her.

Also, open door + more footprints = someone else was in this house while we were out. Probably.

Someone else cover Plum I dunno how to deal with her herself even if I have an idea for how to sell the idea to Reimu.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, you can't deny her enthusiasm, if nothing else."

>"Unfortunately."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Plum Flower probably isn't going to pay attention to anything you say unless you insult her, so you might as well just skip that step and go to selling her to Reimu.

[E-Nazrin]

Thinking about it some more, there IS a part of it that should go to Plum. Here's the gist of it -

To Reimu: "Yeah, she's annoying, but fairies either lose interest soon enough or end up startlingly loyal - if you humor her for a bit, you'll at least have a seamstress for a little while, and maybe a pet fairy to help out around the shrine if she picks up some proper restraint. Not sure how you'd teach her that, though..."

To Plum: "I know you love her, but it can be a little alarming when someone starts declaring things like that when you first meet them - these things take time if you want to do it right. Becoming Reimu's friend first might help you more, and I think it'd make her more comfortable with you. Can you try that?"

Too lazy/braindead to try and push that through but

[DracoOmega]

Actually, I'd thought the additional footprints and open door were from us when we ran out of the place. Certainly, I didn't think we took time to close the door after ourselves. As for Yukari, I doubt you're going to find out anything useful about her motivations by asking someone else, and I don't think it even takes anything unusual to be curious to meet someone who looks just like you.

Personally, I also feel that we've probably nudged both Reimu and Plum Flower as much as we can reasonably expect. Reimu seemed open to thinking about the sewing idea, and Plum Flower's a least a little calmer than she was. At this point, it's probably just going to come down to giving them some time and seeing how it goes. But if you want to say something, be my guest.

[Kilgamayan]

It's kind of amusing how Maribel has clearly learned absolutely nothing from the Yuugi/Parsee/Utsuho situation.

[E-Nazrin]

..... yeah, I might be being too pushy/controlling/whatever.

>Wry smile.
>"Well, hopefully that won't get in the way of her sewing, right, Plum?"

[Hello Purvis]

>You offer a wry smile. Reimu sighs.
>"Huh?" says Plum Flower. "Oh, I can sew! I'll sew anything in the world for Reimu! Everything in the world!"

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>"How about a muzzle?"
>"Just focus on the stuff she asks for, alright?"
>"... actually, speaking of clothing, I should probably return these."
>take out the miko suit
>"After that close call with Ran and seeing the contents of the tengu paper, I don't think these are going to help me avoid Yukari's notice anymore."
>Show her the paper if she asks.

[Hello Purvis]

>"How about a muzzle?"
>"Just focus on the stuff she asks for, alright?"
>"... actually, speaking of clothing, I should probably return these."
>take out the miko suit
>"After that close call with Ran and seeing the contents of the tengu paper, I don't think these are going to help me avoid Yukari's notice anymore."
>Show her the paper if she asks.

>"How about a chastity belt?"
>Plum Flower nods enthusiastically, mussing up Reimu's hair a bit.
>You start to return the clothes, but Reimu shakes her head. "Keep 'em. At least until you have a few changes of clothes to your name. And yeah...you did kind of get noticed. Oh well, nothing to be done about that, I guess."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "All right. And thank you for everything, especially...well. At the very least, if my friend is to be believed, it'll be worth it, and I believe her."