(in which maribel is soft)
Maribel and I close in on the manor gates…
Ga~h! I can't believe last chapter was the sixty-ninth chapter and I missed it! You know what that means though, yo…
"Hmm…" Maribel held a hand over her eyes, looking up at the manor which stood tall before us. "This place looks pretty different. Victorian's kind of a stretch, when the village was… whatever it was."
Meiling's actually awake for our approach. One eyebrow raised, she looks over Maribel as we approach…
That fluffle stand is also still here. "the child is the key turok" It shares important knowledge with us.
Maribel looks over at it. "...The key to what?"
...After a delayed moment, the fluffle looks at her. "greetings turok"
"Don't even try talkin' with it, yo…" I advise her as we near the fluffle stand. "It's fluffy with a capital F."
"how may i assist you" It holds up its fins, staring at Maribel expectantly.
…
Maribel looks over at me expectantly, but I just stare back at her. After a moment of inaction, she responds to the fluffstuff. "Uhm… I don't know. How can you help me?"
Spreadin' its fins across the countertop, the fluffle lays out Maribel's purchasable armaments in just a second…
There are both plant hangers and gap ribbons here. I feel like that's cheating.
...Maribel looked over two ribbons that were more like yin-yang patches. "What's this stuff?"
The fluffle explains the items, without telling her what's actually going on. "seven hundred thousand yen; it applies a minor all-around debuff to all youkai who enter and leave gap portals constructed by it and marks them for death for ten seconds"
...Maribel blinks. "What?"
Sparin' her from further confusion, I elaborate a little bit. "It's a generic weapons shop."
She just furrows her brows at that. "But-... there aren't any weapons." Wahaha!
I nod. "Yeah. Fluffle shops suck. Some of the stuff they sell's magical though, so if you can get something cool for a low price, it'd probably go a long way."
...At that, she looked over the things again. Her eyes crossed another gap 'ribbon', which were two clover-shaped patches this time. "What're these, then?"
The dust devil gets dustier, dude… "thirty thousand yen; removes all negative status effects from those who enter and leave the gap"
...Maribel echoes the price. "Thirty thousand yen. Do I look like I brought credit?"
"yes" The fluffle nods.
Somewhat exasperated, but not undeterred, Maribel looked over the plant hangers…
There's some fancy stuff here, and I've never even seen some of it before. There is one hanger, however, that's really catching my eye right now. Like, rea~lly…!
It's a sand red plant hanger with a steel block and a wind grate attached to it. The only things it's missing are my fairy dust and harp string upgrades…
I point at that. "Where didja get that?"
The fluffle looks up at me. Then, it looks back at Maribel, ignoring me completely. Freakin'...!
Maribel notices this, and asks in my steed. "What's that… plant hanger?" She gestures to the familiar hanger…
"Swift Brand" The fluffle informs her of its name. It really is an unupgraded version of mine, even with the name. Holy shit! "allows the user to cast Gust and slightly boosts attack and magic attack"
"How much does it cost?" Maribel knows her economics!
"fifteen thousand yen" The fluffle provides.
"Oh, come on…" Propping her hands on her hips, Maribel expresses how fed up she is with the pricing. "It's a plant hanger. You can find more just… around."
The fluffle shakes its head, its smile obscured.
…
Maribel moves onto the next hanger. "What's… this?"
The hanger she was looking at was rather ornate, almost wooden-looking. Cylindrical, curved 'wood' bars stretched around a central dreamcatcher circle, with one long bar stretching out as the hanger's handle.
"Dreamcatcher" The fluffle gave it an apt name, "boosts the power of holy skills. provides fifty percent resistance to syphoning and cursing! may cast Talisman Seal with certain skills. casts Talisman Seal on impact. costs five thousand yen!"
"...At least the price is okay… if only by comparison." Maribel seemed placated by the price. "What about this other one?"
This other hanger looks pretty freakin' intimidating. It seems to be of black cast iron, but has a buncha ornate, white-rimmed circles embedded in it. The metal's also thick, and goes on for long stretches. The edges of the metal are also trimmed with white steel, but have curious ridges in them…
"Swordbreaker," the fluffle begins. Holy shit that name is badass for a plant hanger. "boosts the power of dark attacks! increases user's defense, magic defense, and evade somewhat when equipped. lowers target's physical attack on impact, and with certain skills. design makes it a hard counter to sword-wielding opponents!"
"Price." Maribel blurts.
"twenty-five thousand yen" The fluffle makes its price known!
...Why's Maribel getting offered awesome named shit right off the bat? All I got was freakin'... fire hanger, water hanger, and earth hanger!
...Checking her pockets, Maribel searches for cash. "Let's see… I've go~t…"
She pulls out some fundage. "Six thousand yen on me. Guess I'm getting Dreamcatcher, then."
"thank you friend" The fluffle is fluffy.
Setting the money down on the counter, she picked up her new plant hanger.
Hmm~... I rap my hand on the counter. "Whatcha got for me?" You better offer me Swordbreaker.
The fluffle clears the table of the stuff with a swipe of its fins, and places some familiar hangers on the table. That rainbow one, that horseman thing one… nothing new or interesting. Freakin'...!
"I am going to strangulate you." Fluffy frik.
"please no" It hides under the counter. Ho ho!
...Turning around, I see Maribel's lookin' at her new plant hanger, not entirely paying attention to us.
Facing the fluffle again, the gears in my head begin to turn, yo. Since it won't sell Swordbreaker to me… I could just, y'know, have Maribel buy it as my proxy. Ho ho!
"Yo, Maribel." I rouse her attention!
"Hmm?" She looks away from her hanger, focusing on me.
"Ask the fluffle to show its stuff." I request.
...Facing the fluffle, she cooperates! "Show me your stuff."
In a brisk moment, the fluffle replicates its motions from earlier, splaying Swordbreaker and Swift Brand Two across the table again, along with some gap ribbons.
Alright… leaning towards Maribel a bit, I half-whisper. "I want ya to use my money to buy Swordbreaker for me…"
...She nods. "Ah. Why?"
...I jerk my head back. "Wadda ya mean, 'why'?"
"It's a twenty-five thousand yen plant hanger." She half-whispers back at me. "You could probably buy a real sword for a fraction of the price…"
Freakin'- "O~r I could get a sword breaker for a multiple of the price of a sword…!"
Grinning, she shakes her head. "Alright, alright…"
Taking out the twenty-five thousand yen, I hand it over to Maribel.
...She places it on the counter. "I'll take Swordbreaker."
The fluffle blinks, before grabbing the money with its fins and scooping it off the counter.
Maribel lifts Swordbreaker up, and looks it over… "Wow. The metal's so smooth…" Ho ho!
...Actually, idea.
"You should try looking at what boundaries a fluffle has." I suggest.
...Pausing a moment, she seems caught off-guard by the suggestion. Then, she looks back down at Swordbreaker. "Living beings are complicated."
I snort. "It's a fluffle- s'made outta dust."
...She shrugs. "Fi~ne."
...Meandering around the counter, she holds her hand out towards the fluffle. "Hey, um, is it okay if I touch you?"
"hug" The fluffle makes a request.
Not entirely expecting the warm welcome, Maribel blinks at it. "...Okay."
Lifting the fluffle up, she gives it a quaint hug. Ho ho ho!
…
…
After a moment, she lets go of it-
"wa- so- faf- and- fr- hu- ha-..." The fluffle makes unintelligible noises as it stumbles back to its natural position behind the counter.
"Uh-uhm…" Maribel raises her arms, slightly frazzled. "Sorry, sorry!"
"wand effect holy impact on death percent resistance when equipped" She freakin' broke it! Wahaha!
Smilin' widely, I rap my knuckles on the counter. "Show me the goods, fluffy-son!"
Complying, the fluffle spreads its fin across the counter.
...Ooo~h. There's a buncha weird shit here, now. There's a big ass sword that looks way too big for me to hold, but it's glowing and tinted red.
Testing my theory, I try to pick it up- oh, yeah, no way. Thing's not moving!
"What is it?" I hastily demand knowledge!
"on charge effect by command casts magic" ...Dang. Not gettin' any answers outta the fluffbag. This means we'll never know what price any of this stuff is!
There's some kinda weapon here that vaguely resembles a bazooka, except it's big and green, with thorny spikes adorning the outside. Beside it rests a chrome gohei with chains tied to the tip instead of that paper Reimu usually has. On the far end of the counter is what looks like a star-shaped guitar, with three freakin' playable sets of strings.
I bet this stuff is all heinously expensive.
...Maribel backs away from the fluffle. "I… don't think I can return it to normal. There's just too much going on with its boundaries…"
Oh, well. It'll probably find a way to die on its own.
"...Huh."
Hi, Meiling.
Standing behind us, Meiling has her arms folded.
Maribel jumps a bit, surprised. "O-oh! Uh… hi."
…
Breaking her gaze from the confused fluffle, Meiling looks over at her. "Hey."
"Yo ho ho!" Time to set up the meet 'n' greet! "Maribel, this is my ol' buddy ol' pal, Meiling! Meiling, this is Maribel."
Meiling just gives me a dry stare. "Have we ever talked for more than five minutes?"
…
I grin. "I mean, we could."
"Sorry about… hurting him." Holding her hands up a little, Maribel shrinks back slightly, looking away. "I didn't mean to."
Meiling blinked. "...Who?"
...After a hesitant moment, Maribel pointed at the fluffle.
"Oh." Meiling rolled her eyes. "That's just a living dust bunny, from what I know. Don't let their cuddly exterior fool ya, they're kinda like bugs."
…
Still hesitant, Maribel furrows her brows. "But… it talked."
"Y'know what else talks?" I interject, raising a finger!
...The two girls turn to me.
...I had no direction to take this upon inserting myself into this conversation. Oh- wait- actually…!
"Fairies." Saved it, yo.
Folding her arms, Meiling smirked. "Hah. That's actually pretty on the mark."
...Maribel tilted her head back and forth. "Fairies… I see."
I'm just gonna figure she knows about respawn syndrome already. She seems to have made some kinda connection she was comfortable with.
"So~..." Letting out a yawn, Meiling looked over us two. "...Anyone gonna bring it up?"
Reaching across the desk, I abruptly grab the fluffle from its post, and hold it up. "I have brought it up."
Meiling immediately deflates. Wahaha!
"I mean," she promptly surveys Maribel, looking her up and down, "this girl looks exactly like Yukari. Well, not exactly, but…"
"Can confirm," I butt in, "is not Yukari."
...Meiling gives me an expectant stare, her arms still folded.
"I saw Yukari and her in the same place at the same time." I give my easiest solution! "Therefore, not Yukari."
"Alright, then…" Leisurely, Meiling strolls back to her default position in front of the gate. As she does so, she takes a look back at Maribel. "Maribel, right?"
Maribel blinked, still a little tense. "Yes…?"
"You wanna get in?" Meiling gestured towards the gate with a jerk of her head.
...Delaying slightly, Maribel nodded.
...Meiling stopped before the gate. "We~ll. Yukari wouldn't just ask to go inside… and since you're following him," she gives me a glance, "you'd probably get in anyway, gaps or no gaps. Just avoid the regular residents, or you might get jumped just 'cause you look like Yukari."
I snort. "Yeah, what're they gonna do, yo? We got a sword breaker! I mean- I know none 'a ya use swords, but… sword breaker!"
…Meiling gives us a smile as she gives the gate a simple push, moving back to her spot next to it. "Yeah, yeah. If she's really not Yukari, then Mistress'll probably like to see her, just for fun."
"Thanks, yo." I begin to move through the gate. "I will take the entire mansion's treasury and give it to you within the next hour."
She gave me a grin. "If you actually did that somehow, you can have it."
Ho ho ho! Be glad my party member isn't really Yukari, yo!
With that, me and my not-gap-youkai-friend-who-could-still-use-gaps-somehow entered the mansion.
==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====
"O~h, wo~w…!" Maribel gaped at the interior. So many scarlets!
...I turn to her casually. "S'not really that grand, is it?"
"No, it's just…" Maribel looked around hastily, pacing about excitedly. "I've been here before."
Wait, what? "Freakin'- what, you visit it in your dreams?"
"Exactly!" She snaps her fingers! "...I should put away some of my stuff while I'm here." Her right arm was currently filled with three plant hangers and her suitcase.
We scurry over to a nearby decorative table so Maribel can manage her inventory…
She opens her suitcase! I am immediately greeted by papers written in Japanese when I look inside.
Maribel sighs when she looks over it. "...I've got a feeling I'm not gonna complete my homework any time soon."
...I look at her. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
She snorts. "Well, when I go home, it will be."
...You also imply you'll actually get out of here! Then again, she's Maribel, so she probably will. Be it by her gapmania, or Yukari's gapmania.
Looking uncertain, she runs her eyes across the stuff. "U~hm… what to take out, what to take out…"
Hmm. Idea. "...Take out the tiny LED Christmas light you got in there."
She lifts it out of the suitcase, and places it beside it.
"...Now try fitting the plant hanger in there." I grin.
She blinks twice. "...It's still full though."
"Trust me, yo." I pat my own shoulder! "I'm a trustworthy guy, yo, real trustworthy."
...She moves to insert the cast iron plant hanger, and after some shoving, it somehow fits.
"Eheh…" Somewhere between amused and distressed over how much she scrunched her homework doing that, she closed the suitcase. "I guess that's good enough, I can just carry the rest on me."
I nod, 'n' pick up Swordbreaker. "And I~'ll be takin' this, yo…" Ho ho ho. Boosts dark skills, huh? We all know I have a lot of those!
Wow, she's right, this thing feels real smooth. Wonder how long that'll last…
Shoving the LED into her pocket, Maribel lifted her suitcase with one arm, and Dreamcatcher with the other. "Okay… let's do some exploring."
That's what I like to hear, yo!
==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====
We stepped into the dining room after about ten seconds of freakin'... walking down the left hall, and taking one left turn.
There's not terribly many fairies here, but there are some faces…!
Komi's sitting at a chair along the midst of the big dining table, her goons Koi and Namori next ta her.
With her arms propped on the table, Komi looked like she had her thinkin' cap on!
"We should buy some strippers." Koi suggested, looking away from her afternoon cereal.
"...You know what? Okay." Komi consented. "Let's say we do that. Where the fuck will we find strippers?"
...Smirking, Koi looks over at me and Maribel. Aw, yeah yo!
...Maribel blinked. "I don't remember the maids being like this."
That makes me wonder. "How many maids didja meet here?"
...She turned to me after a moment. "Like, four."
Pfft.
Komi looks over at us, too, before grinning. "Ooh? Who's the slut?"
Maribel snorts incredulously. "Woah, there…! What'd I do to you?"
Suddenly, Komi stands up! Putting a hand to her chest, she gets all dominatrix-y. "You're in my territory, asswipe. Unless you plan to suck up to me, of course, then I'll think about letting you be."
...Maribel rose a brow. "What if… I don't?"
Komi floated up, and landed on the table! "...I'll simply make you suck up to me, and you're gonna like it."
Koi chips in from her seat. "Make her suck our clits!" Pffft…!
...Komi just gives her a freakin' glance, before focusing on Maribel again.
Backing up a little, Maribel grinned incredulously. "What'd I do to you…!?"
I think I'll give her some friendly fairy advice. "Drop your suitcase, and raise your plant hanger, yo! Yer gonna have to duke it out!"
"Why~?" Despite her question, Maribel follows my advice, holding Dreamcatcher with both hands as she backs up a bit more…
Bringing her fisticuffs up, Komi leaps off the table on our side of it. She grins at Maribel. "What, another plant hanger wielding bitch? That a gift for me?"
...Then, she looks over at me. "Also- you better not butt in to save her sorry ass, you know she deserves this. Koi, Namori, make sure he doesn't interrupt me."
Koi gives a thumbs up from the table, still eating her cereal. "Mmm!"
Namori looks up from her own cereal, sighing.
I watch Komi near Maribel. Oh boy, yo…!
Maribel holds Dreamcatcher defensively, still incredulous. "Why~...!?"
…
Komi promptly engages by walking towards her opponent and lunging, which Maribel just backpedaled away from.
"Can we not?" Maribel's still awkwardly grinning. "I'm sorry for, uh~, offending you?"
"Shut it!" Komi sprints towards her and tries a freakin' kick.
"Woah!" Maribel stumbles to the side, avoiding it without too much difficulty. "Geez…!"
...Stumbling from staggering herself, Komi awkwardly positions herself again.
Good fight.
...After a moment of strafing idly, Komi lunges towards Maribel again. Caught at an awkward interval, Maribel inadvertently blocks by just putting Dreamcatcher wherever she thought Komi'd punch… which wasn't very many places.
"Ghh…" Komi shakes her hands, because punching weapons usually isn't comfortable. What I wanna know is why she's not using danmaku, or anything…!
...Komi slowly inches towards Maribel, while the latter girl just kinda looked uncertain about what to do.
Freakin'... "Sometimes, you gotta fight!" I recommend from the sidelines! "Hit her in the gut, or the tits! Or the head!"
"Do I really…!?" Maribel doesn't seem like she wants to aggress the fairy maid.
"Yeah, yo!" I continue. "Just-"
Komi makes a sudden movement, and a freakin' good one, too. Sliding her leg outward, she sweeps it under Maribel, causing her to drop onto her side. "Aa-aah!" Freakin'... maybe she shoulda had Swordbreaker!
With a leap, Komi rolls Maribel onto her back, and straddles her waist. "Hahaha! You fucking stupid- ghh…" She struggles a little bit as Maribel shifts.
"Get off of me…!" Lashing out with Dreamcatcher, Maribel gives her a whack to her stomach.
"Guh…" Komi flinches-
Fwoom. A talisman generates where the hanger struck, similar to the ofuda Reimu sticks onto her foes. I assume Komi just got syphoned!
...Komi promptly grabs onto Dreamcatcher. "Give me-…!"
Yeah, syphoning doesn't do much when your opponent's physical. This… has pretty much devolved into a cat fight.
"No-no…!" Maribel tugs on her weapon, trying to retrieve it.
Komi reaches out, and grabs a handful of Maribel's chest.
"Eep!?" Maribel's eyes widen, and she tugs frantically- he~y, she gets the hanger free!
Komi's grinning widely. "Ooh? You like it when I do that…!?" Promptly, she starts to try and molest Maribel with both hands-
Thunk! Maribel jabs the hanger into the fairy's gut again.
"Fu~h…" Komi hugs herself-
Thunk! Maribel clonks her in the head.
"Hngh…" Komi relents, standing up and backing off. "Bitch…"
Maribel hastily gets onto her own feet, flustered and frantic. "Ge-geez, seriously, why…?"
Fwoom- fwoom. Two more talismans appear where Maribel hit the fairy, probably strengthening the syphon.
Like this, they strafe one another again…
…
Komi punches forward-
Clink! I'm not sure if she's trying to avoid hitting Dreamcatcher.
Maribel shows a rare moment of aggression, lunging forward and whacking Komi in the head again.
Thunk! "Ahn…!?" Komi stumbles back, surprised by the attack-
Whack! Maribel brought the hanger out in a broad swing, clobbering Komi in the cheek.
Spinning around, Komi fell onto her arms and knees. "Fu~ck…"
…
Setting Swordbreaker on the dining table, I clap! "You did it, yo! Your first fairy victory!"
...She just looks at me with a frustrated expression. "Why didn't you help me? That was kinda-..."
"I wanted ya to get some fightin' experience in." I inform her. "'Cause these friks are like, the easiest things you could probably end up fighting, and you wouldn't want to be caught dead without knowin' how to curbstomp at least two thirds of the fights you end up in."
…
She tilts her head back and forth. "I guess…"
You guess, yo!? I'm not happy with that middleground uncertainty! "Freakin'- I carry a miniature flamethrower on me, yo. It doesn't even help that much!"
That seems to have gotten her attention! She looks curious, yo.
The kitchen door opens, and we look over to it.
Some generic, tan-haired fairy walks out, holding a bowl of cereal.
"Ooh…" Maribel starts walking towards the kitchen. "Yeah, I could do with some food right about now…"
I should probably eat something before I nearly die of starvation that I can't sense again. "Yeah, me too, probably."
...She gives me a raised brow! "Probably?"
Freakin', I dunno, yo! I give her an exaggerated shrug!
We proceed towards the kitchen door.
…
Koi watches us as we go. Moving across Komi's unoccupied seat, she elbows Namori. "That blonde's fucking cute."
Namori just idly watches us as we go, only paying attention 'cause of her friend.
==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====
We walk in on some kinda Mexican standoff…
That one freakin' maid- Yellow-chan- was standing with a metal dough beater, her eyes wide with fear.
Mapleweather was next to her, holding a big empty bottle by the neck like a sword…
On the floor before them, there was a spoon. They were guarding against the spoon.
…
Alright.
Maribel and I just kinda walked past them, and they ignored us. We proceed towards the fridge!
Opening it up, I look inside…
Ah, yeah. Food. Meat food. Plant food. Food food. I need me some Goldfish, or Cheez-Its. Or waffles and stuff, but I'm not sure where those are kept.
Maribel doesn't seem interested in the refrigerated real foods, either. "Hmm~…"
Pi~chun!
What the frik…
Turning around, I notice Yellow-chan somehow died horribly.
The spoon on the floor was now where she was, and it was slowly vibrating.
"N-no~!" Mapleweather yelled out in fear! "Yellow-chahaha~n! O~h, nooo~!"
…
Okay.
Ignoring the fridge and shuttin' it, I crouch down and open the freezer…
Aw, dude! Waffles! They're… not in a box, and they're all stored in curiously- almost specifically molded- pockets. I wonder… does Sakuya just make them and freeze them herself? That's kinda badass.
I lift out two waffles, and Maribel takes a few, too.
I look back over at Mapleweather-
Pi~chun!
The spoon shot straight through her-
Chink! It lodged in the wall.
Alright, what the fuck-
"Clank, clank, clank! Bam, bam, bam!" The stove opens and slams its door repeatedly! I forgot the thing was alive!
"A-aah!?" Maribel leaps back a bit, startled. "...Is-is the kitchen haunted!?"
"Yes." I reply without hesitation. "Very."
Cra~ck! The bottle Mapleweather was holding exploded into glass on the floor, 'cause she ain't around to hold it anymore.
In the next moment, Sakuya appeared!
She looked down at the glass mess. "...Not even thirty seconds."
"Clack, clack, clack!" This oven youkai's gonna get annoying fast…!
…
Clink! The spoon shot out of the wall like a bullet, but Sakuya was gone in the next moment.
Ti-tink…
The spoon lied on the floor menacingly.
…
Sakuya was before it again, except this time there were lit candles around it, and a magical circle under it. "There."
...I nod acceptingly. Nothin' wrong with anything I just saw. "Are the spoons rebelling?"
"Apparently." Sakuya turns to us, her expression dry.
Good.
"O-oh…" Maribel takes pause. "It's you!"
Sakuya blinks, stepping towards us. "...Aa~h. Welcome back."
Ooh? Welcome back? ...Does Maribel know Sakuya!?
I turn to her, my eyebrows raised!
"I'm actually pretty glad to see you." Smiling, Maribel steps up to Sakuya. "Things are pretty crazy around here."
Sakuya snorted knowingly. "Mmm…"
...She glanced between Maribel and me. "You do realize he's a bad influence?"
Maribel shrugged. "I'm a bad influence." ...You sure 'bout that? "I don't have anything else to do, either."
Accepting that answer, Sakuya steps past us, and steals the waffles from our hands. "I'll prepare those for you. They'll be done in just a moment."
...Nodding, Maribel begins to leave for the dining room. "Alright."
"Bam, bam, bam!" The stove says something. Freakin'... it'sa stove person! Aaah!
"No." Sakuya refutes the stove.
"What?" Maribel stops in the door, turning back to Sakuya.
Sakuya looks back at her. "Hmm?... Oh, sorry. I was talking to the stove."
...Maribel just turns and leaves. Wahaha!
Following her out into the dining room, we begin trying to find some seats…
Komi's up again, sitting with her friends. She looks pissed, but also injured, so I don't think she'll try to molestigate us again.
...After a moment, Maribel randomly picks a chair away from the fairies-
A finished plate of waffles is suddenly where she's about to sit.
"...Wow." She blinks. "...Uhm?"
I pull open my seat, and another plate of waffles is seemingly spawned for me. Ho ho!
Sakuya is now sitting across from us, taking a curiously semi-relaxed posture in her chair. "Do enjoy your stay. You're one of few guests who are least likely to cause property damage."
"...Thanks?" Maribel grins awkwardly as she sits down, looking over her waffles… "How'd you get these out here so fast?"
Sakuya flips out her watch, something I rarely actually see! "Time manipulation."
...At that, Maribel nods. "Wo~w. I think I remember that, too…"
"I would hope." Sakuya grinned.
…
As Maribel started her waffles, Sakuya stood. "I must be going for now. I've got errands to attend to."
"Alright." Maribel waved at her. "It was nice seeing you again!"
"Likewise."
A~nd presto! Sakuya's one with the wind, yo.
...In the pseudo-silence of the dining room, we peacefully consume our waffles. Buttered and everything, yo.
"You know her too, huh?" Maribel brings up my affiliation with the manor!
Swallowin' a waffle fragment, I respond. "Yeah, I'm in the know, yo. I vaguely know everyone here, and everyone vaguely knows me!"
...She goes back to quietly munching on her own waffles.
There is- oh. I was about to say there was no drinkage, but we were given glasses of water. Freakin' snuck up on me, yo.
…
"How'd you know Sakuya?" I question her after some moments of consumption…
"I was here before," Maribel restates, "in a dream, once. She gave me some cookies."
Huh. She never gave me cookies… although I never asked for them. I still dunno whether or not I even live here!
…
Once we finish the waffles, we get up and prepare to explore more of the mansion…
"Last time I was here, all I really saw was one sorta small hallway section." Maribel spoke of her experience here! "I saw a few fairy maids that Sakuya… 'killed'. She explained how they respawn and stuff."
I smile at that. "Yeah, that's a fun part. If you kill them in self-defense, no one cares! Not that that's exceedingly difficult, anyway…" Fairies have a far lower damage threshold than many things.
While we discuss and stuff, Koi begins to approach us from across the table. She drifts over it quietly, smirking…
Maribel has yet to notice 'cause she's still facing me. Oh- nevermind, she's turning around to head for the door.
Koi stops, now standing innocently like fifteen feet ahead. "Oh, he~y!"
Holding her hanger up protectively with one arm, Maribel examines the fairy. "You're not gonna attack me, right?"
...Koi looked away. "No~. Why would I?"
...Maribel just narrows her eyes slightly. "I've got this feeling." Ho ho!
"We're goin' to the library, yo." I decide. Takin' her on a full tour! I also wanna see what Koakuma's going to do to her, 'cause I'm a freakin' asshole.
"Can I come!?" Koi blurts out! "I- um, wanna read the books!"
Yeah- okay. I don't even think you can read.
"Sure." I'm also curious whether or not she's gonna jump Maribel for existing, so she can come anyway! "Let's go, yo."
==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====
The hallways are being oddly cooperative. I'm not sure whose fault that is!
Koi is surprisingly quiet as she follows behind us.
"These hallways are kinda… interesting." Maribel observes the scarlet hallways. "There's something weird about knowing you're just entirely surrounded by walls and rooms. I've been in too many buildings that had windows to the outside everywhere…"
"It's kinda cool, innit?" I ponder, too.
"I kno~w, right?" Koi suddenly chips in! "It's hot as fu~ck in the summer. Actually, it's pretty hot right now, y'know. Why don't we take our shirts off?"
…
Maribel just dryly turns to her. "What kind of thought process was that?"
"Do fairy maids actually strip in the summer?" I have a different question! I mean, if so… why wasn't I teleported into this fic two or three months ago!?
...Maribel gives me a dry stare, too. Ho ho!
Koi's expression towards me is also dry. "No. Well- sometimes. Not as much as I'd like."
Aw. Oh, well.
"Doesn't mean we can't do it now." Koi addresses Maribel again.
We're nearing the library double doors! With any luck, it won't be sealed into oblivion this time.
"We're not." Maribel declares. "Look- I don't know-"
"C'mo~n!" Koi's really pushin', now…! "What's the big deal!?"
"I-I don't want to just be naked!" Maribel's getting exasperated again!
I walk up to the library door, and reach out for it-
Ti~ng! Ah, shit…
I shake my hand, magical electricity or something crackling on it. This one's weird; it don't sting or anything, it just… is uncomfortable. Freakin' weird.
"Door's locked." I make the problem known. "By a barrier."
…
I turn to Maribel, who's just staring at Koi with her brows furrowed. Koi's smiling back at her, albeit lopsidedly…
"We're locked out by a magical barrier." I restate.
…
"Barrier." Hello~!? Anyone home!?
"O-oh?" Maribel hastily looks over at me. "Then, uhm… should we come back later?"
…
"We're probably not wanted, if the door's locked…" Maribel justifies a moment later, noticing my flat stare.
"Just freakin' experiment with the door, yo." I request. "She always locks this door."
...If she can't get it open, I'm just gonna mine through the wall and hope Patchy didn't plant mines inside of it. Mines to prevent mining!
"...Okay." Maribel seems fine with my explanation. Reaching her hand out, she puts it on the door's exterior-
The light of the barrier briefly flashes to life, but she rests her hand on it solidly.
…
Ti~ng! The barrier lit up an opaque, reflective texture. It's like a mirror, but if you tossed a bottle of bubble mix onto it. Ho ho.
…
Slowly, the squares that made up the barrier begin to break down and separate, dissolving in the air…
Then, Koi came up behind Maribel, wrapped her arms around her sides, and grabbed onto her breasts.
"Eeeah!?" Maribel jumped a foot!
"Holy shit!" Koi leapt back, also startled!
Krii~ng!
The barrier shattered, and the particles all expanded and shot off in different directions-
Crack-shink-crack-crack.
…
Triangles of barrier magic now sat embedded in the ceiling, the floor, and some adjacent walls. Some even just sat on the floor, loose.
...Should I pick one up? I don't think so. I wouldn't pick up glass, so I guess I wouldn't pick up magic glass.
Maribel whirls around on her heels, blushing and glaring. "Wh-what was that!?"
Koi puts her arms up, grinning widely. "I-I couldn't help it! You're fucking cute!"
...At that, Maribel just huffs. "Bu- wh-... fine. Don't go grabbing me and stuff. Next time you do that, you're getting a whack to the face."
Koi rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah."
Like that ever stopped Koi before…!
Once Maribel was satisfied with the state of things, she carefully stepped past the barrier shards, swung the double door open, and stepped into the Voile…
"Wo-woah…" All it took was about twenty feet of walking, and the grandiose space and amount of shelves captivated her. "Woa~h. This-... is the mansion even big enough to hold this?"
I shake my head. "No."
...She turns to me questioningly.
I grin. "They're freakin' cheaters!"
Smiling to herself, Maribel continues into the many shelves. Me and Koi follow behind her…
…
"Have you read any of the books here?" Maribel asks me, moving to a shelf nearby…
"Not really- and, uh, some are boobytrapped." I inform her, before she sorts through the books and thrusts us into a random encounter of doom.
...She turns to me dryly. "Really?"
I nod. "Yeah. Freakin'll bite yer face off."
...She blinks. "Oh. That's what you meant…"
Wat.
Koi giggles behind us. "Hehehe~. Boobie trapped."
...Son of a bitch. I even felt like this'd happen, too.
"I thought your mind was less in the gutter than mine!" Freakin'...!
She power walks ahead, moving further into the shelves. "I blame the stupid fairies! They keep grabbing me!"
"Not my fault!" Koi denies all responsibility, holding up an arm for no reason.
"Alright, yo, alright…" I'll take Merry's excuse for now, yo.
…
…
...We've been walking for awhile!
"So many shelves…" Maribel expresses disdain after a while. "I thought there'd be like, clearings and stuff…"
"Oh, there are." I admit. "I think I remember where the good one is!"
"...Take us there." Maribel stops leading, falling behind a little to let me lead. Woo.
"Ye, ye." Wahaha!
It doesn't take too long, but wherever Maribel took us was freakin'... pretty far off the beaten path, so it took me longer than normal to find Patchy's preferred clearing.
...In the midst of the library, a certain magi watched me and my hooligan squad approach.
Patchy actually looks up at us, and perks up a bit."Oh, there you are." Wait, what? "I was looking for a guinea pig." ...Oh, shieut!
"Wh-what?" Maribel is caught off guard by the statement.
"I feel like testing obscure statuses on you three." Patchy puts it bluntly. "I accidentally decommissioned Koakuma by testing the morale status on her earlier."
"I-I just came to visit." Maribel tries to put a hand up, only to find that she's got one preoccupied by a suitcase, and the other with a plant hanger. "Are you, like, a mage?"
…
Looking my gap-friend up and down, Patchy sighs. "Brad, who is this?"
"A friend." She's cuddly, dude.
...Seemingly calming down, Patchy looks back into the tome on her desk. "Hmm. Her resemblance to a certain youkai makes me less than eager to bother."
Man, Yukari really cleared the way for Maribel, yo.
"...Well, sorry." Maribel gives a half-assed apology. "I just wanted to look at this library. It's so big…"
...Uncertain of Maribel, still, Patchy doesn't respond much.
"For serious, though, she's not Yukari." I speak up! "Not quite, anyway."
"Not quite." Patchy monotones, not looking up from her tome. "Charming. Just as Utsuho not quite being the sun god Amaterasu cleanses her of her destructive potential."
Son. I know she's a girl, but son.
...Maribel just shakes her head. "Fine. I know when I'm not welcomed. Let's go, Brad."
"Sure thing." I follow Maribel as she storms off into the shelves. "Uh- see ya, Patchy! Happy studying and things!"
...Koi gives her a wave. "Tell your slut I said hi!"
With that, we became one with the bookshelves, yo. By that, I mean got hopelessly lost again.
"Can we just stop and read one of the books?" Maribel complains. "I don't care if they explode in my face or something. It's so bo~ring to just walk around the shelves…"
"Yeah." I consent. "Might as well, yo. Nothing lived, nothing learned!"
Setting down her suitcase, and reaching into the shelves, Maribel pulls out a thick, unlabeled tome, and opens it to a random page.
…
"I don't even know what language this is." Maribel deadpans, staring into the book drolly.
I look over her shoulder. "...Maybe it's like, indu-swahili."
She closes the book. "Are… they all like this?"
I grin. "Yeah, pretty much-"
"Not all~ of them…"
Hehe~y! The flying obscenity has arrived!
Maribel takes one look at her- "Oh, god- she's a succubus…" Wahaha!
Koakuma pouts, but smirks again once she runs her eyes up and down Maribel's form… "Ye~s, I am a succubus. And you a~re…?"
...Maribel frowns at her. "Maribel."
"Charmed." Koakuma holds out a hand for her to shake…
I step forward, and shove Swordbreaker into said hand! "Hey yo, how ya doin', why ya doin', what ya doin', who ya doin'!?"
...Koakuma blinks at me. Even so, she shook the hanger up and down like it was a hand. Wahaha! "You stupid son of a bitch. If my band played you during the festival, you would've been having sex with those bitches in front of the whole village."
…
Maribel's jaw was slack.
I turn to her, grinning. "Ain't she a saint?"
"Bu-but, anyway…" Koakuma holds up her hands, realizing she ruined her already abysmal chance to seduce Maribel. "Let's talk about you! Your- uhm, nice breasts."
Koi claps her hands. "Damn right! Soft as fuck!"
…
Maribel holds up her plant hanger in resistance! "Why does everyone want to rape me!?"
...They're not even that big! I mean, they ain't small either, but freakin'... I think the fairies and Koakuma just really want somebody new to molest.
Koakuma frowns. "Hey- hey. Hey… hey."
We stare at her.
"It's not rape if you like it." Koakuma winks.
Koi whistles in agreement. "I can get behind that!"
...Maribel turns to me. "Brad, help."
Oof. Put on the spot, I tilt my head. "Well, it's not like-"
Koakuma advances towards Maribel, her gaze hungry. "Come o~n."
Maribel starts swinging at the air as Koakuma gets closer to her! "Brad, help!"
"Yo, yo, yo!" Holding up Swordbreaker aggressively, I start to get in the way. "Calm your hormones, friend."
Scowling at me, Koakuma takes an aggressive stance herself. "Oh, fuck off… at least let me fuck her!"
"Son." I still dunno whether or not I wanna fight Koakuma! "We don't gotta do battle!"
Koakuma glares at me, frustrated by my attempted negotiation.
...Koi begins to distance herself from both parties, standing at the side. I dunno 'bout her…
Suddenly, Koakuma lunges forward-
"Here!" She grabs onto Swordbreaker!
"Yo-yo!" The frik's she doin'-
Tugging on it, she actually jerks it so hard that I'm thrown to her side. Scrambling to keep from falling onto my stomach from the momentum, I end up behind her.
Whack! She kicks me in the back as I pass her, sending me onto my stomach anyway.
"Oof…" Holy shit. I got ganked, son.
Thunk! Koakuma ends up getting whacked in the side by Maribel.
Fwoom. A talisman generated where she struck, sealing Koakuma's spells, if she intends to cast at all.
...A slow-moving orange orb drifts towards us, from Koi's position. Freakin'...
Koakuma repeats her last trick, grabbing onto Maribel's Dreamcatcher, and tugging on it to pull her close. From there, she wraps an arm around her. "You're not getting away…!"
"He-hey!" Maribel jabs her in the gut with Dreamcatcher!
Fwoom. Another talisman attaches itself to Koakuma, this time where Maribel poked her.
Gettin' back up, I charge at Koakuma! "Let my fluffy-capped friend go, yo!"
With her other arm, Koakuma grabbed onto Maribel's chin, forcing her to look into her eyes. Koakuma blinked at Maribel.
"...What the hell?" Koakuma blinked at her again. "Why isn't it working?"
I hit the succubus in the back with Swordbreaker! Thunk!
"Motherfucker!" She begins trying to hobble away by pushing Maribel, but the girl resists by jabbing her in the gut again. "Gnh…!"
The danmaku orb Koi sent at us earlier explodes into a random spread of smaller, orange orbs. Ow.
Koakuma flinches from them, since they strike her too. She's inadvertently shielding Maribel by having her in a half-hug…
Maribel finally breaks free with another jab to the gut, backing up from Koakuma.
Fwoom. Three layers of syphoning, yo. Oof. The first talisman falls off of Koakuma's side, though, so something tells me her syphons don't last awhile…
Turning to me, Koakuma reels her arm back!
"Yo!" I attempt to guard by holding Swordbreaker in the way…
Instead of giving a powerful overhead like I was expecting, Koakuma fluidly crouches and sends an upward-tilted strike at my chest.
"Woah…" I stumble back, before landing on my butt. "Freaking…!" I don't feel like she hit as hard as she should've, for some reason.
From there, Koakuma just leaps at me. Holy-
Grappling me, she presses my face to her chest. Her shirt has no cleavage- ironically- so this is more awkward than anything…
Well, I say that, but it smells nice- oh shit succubi have pheromones- hold breath…! Ho~ldin' my breath!
"Well…?" She's probably smirking, but I can't see it.
Thunk! Maribel struck her in the back, I think, causing her to flinch.
"Aaa~h!" Maribel suddenly yells out, and I see the bright flash of more of Koi's danmaku flaring out. She musta bombed us again!
This battle's become one big clusterfuck! Aaa~h!
Ba-bam! Koakuma is suddenly blindsided by two silver tomes, breaking her hold on me. "Huah…!?"
Stumbling back onto my feet, I run at Koakuma with Swordbreaker, 'cause she probably won't expect me to go for more, yo!
I manage to graze her arm as she doubles back, looking up at the tomes…
One of the tomes moved to push me away by floating into my torso. He~y…
I hit the tome. Not a lot happens…!
"Why can't I cast shit!?" Koakuma is just now feeling the full effect of being syphoned! I see another talisman fall off of her, but she's still got one stuck to her…
I once again hit the tome that's gently pushing me away. I don't think my physical attacks are doing much to it…
Maribel just follows my lead and attacks it with Dreamcatcher…
Fwoom. There's now a talisman stuck to it!
Thud. It fell to the floor. Apparently its levitation was a self-cast spell, or something.
Koakuma's clawing at the tome that's separated her from us, but it's not taking much damage. These books must have high defense…!
Patchouli floats in from above, holding her book from before. "Really, now…"
Ow- ouch! Koi made another orange orb explode next to us. Fuck…
"Aah!" Maribel was surprised by it again. "Wh-what are these things!? They hurt…"
...Patchouli simply spares her a glance, before lowering herself to meet with us. Her eyes ran over the silver-covered tome that Maribel sealed. "...Syphoning. Where did you obtain such a weapon?"
...Maribel blinks. "Are… you talking to me?"
Patchy's naturally cynical stare gets drier.
"...I, um, bought it." Maribel admits. "From the plush people. The-... the fluffles, right."
"Of course." Patchy shakes her head. "In any case, I was able to watch that fight."
I grin. "Yo ho ho! How'd I do, yo?"
"...In truth?" Looking at me with a raised brow, Patchy folded her arms. "It was… entertaining."
...You don't seem very entertained, gonna be honest…
Koakuma skulked towards us…
Patchy turns in the air to look at her. "You probably should have tried hypnosis from the beginning of the fight."
"I just wanted to play with her boobs." Koakuma looks discouraged. "Why's it so easy with the fairies, but so hard to actually do to a fucking…"
"The fairies let you." Patchy monotones. "In any case, I've been looking for you. We're going to resume testing of obscure statuses."
Koakuma huffed. "Fi~ne. I better get the ability to use one of the better ones, though…"
With that, Patchy hovered off, and the silver tome that was still active drifted off into the aether somewhere.
...Shaking her head- the final talisman drifting off of her side- Koakuma drifted off to follow the mage. "How does she even know…?"
…
Maribel sighed. "...For some reason, I've always wanted to meet a succubus. Now… not so much."
Honh. "Yeah, same here. I mean- it'd be fine if it weren't for the whole 'eating your soul' thing."
...Taking a glance at Maribel, I see that she's got a vain- albeit flushed- expression on her face.
"What's with the blush, yo?" I decide to question her!
"...She was pretty hot." Maribel admits, fidgeting her arms. "Yo-you're blushing, too, you know?"
I am? ...Oh, I am, I feel it, now. Stupid pheromones. "Oh. So I am! Oh well."
She snorts.
…
Where the frik did Koi go? She musta slinked off a little after Patchy showed up...
==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====
After dungeon crawling our way out of the huge library and wandering aimlessly through the manor's halls, we come upon Remilia's door.
"America, huh…?" Maribel's idly scanning the scarlet walls and random furniture as we skip Remilia's door entirely. Wahaha!
"Yeah, fun time." I summarize our discussion about America. "...I can't imagine going to school in Japan, though, where there's like, freakin' discipline." Compared to American high school, Japan's standards are pretty high when it comes to all that academic crap!
...Maribel casually shrugs. "Well, I don't really have much else to compare it to, so to me it's not all that bad."
Yeah, I can see that. Freakin'... education sucks, yo. Well, 'education'.
...After going down the hallway past Remilia's room, we end up passing Remilia's room again. Yeah, it's just going to be a Flintstones background until we decide to go inside…!
"Wait-..." Maribel suddenly has a realization. "If you're from America… did you learn Japanese? You speak very fluently."
...I turn to her. "How do you speak Japanese from a century ago, son?"
Maribel doesn't follow. "...Everyone here speaks modern?"
I shake my finger at her. "This place- Gensokyo- has some mumbo jumbo stretchin' shit goin' on, yo. I don't even speak a lick 'a Japanese." I don't even know how my mannerisms like 'yo' and other such hooliganry translate over the border of language.
"...Huh." Maribel doesn't seem sure what to make of that!
...Aw, frik. I wanted to go off on a long rant about hating school, but now we're on the topic of world language! May or may not be for the best!
We do another cycle around Remilia's door. Eventually Maribel's going to notice how many huge double doors we've passed…
"Video games!" I bring up our next topic!
"...Smooth." Maribel gives me a dry glance, before examining the hall idly again. "They're fun."
...Good conversation!
"What games do you play?" Maribel pushes things along.
Aw, shit, I'm never prepared for questions like that, despite initiating these conversations. "Ah, hmm…" The main thing is… what games are worth mentioning, and what games are best left unsaid? Aaah!
Well, it's Maribel, and I'm in freakin' Gensokyo, so I'll just rattle off some titles I like randomly. "...Monster Girl Quest. Duke Nukem 3D. Turok Two. Senran Kagura."
...She gives me a skeptical stare! "That's pretty… varied." Wahaha! "Also, 'war god entertainment'?"
...Wat.
"You just said it, too." She reads my incredulous face. "Don't give me that look."
"War god entertainment." I repeat. "...Senran Kagura?"
...She blinks. "Yes. War god entertainment. That was the fourth thing you listed."
...Border of language is wei~rd, yo!
"I did not know the title translated to that." I admit! "All I ever knew it as was Japanese mumbo jumbo that sounded cool!"
She grins. "I suppose that's how the west views a lot of Japanese-titled works…?"
"Yeah, pretty much!" Ho ho ho! "...It's not that different over in Japan, though, is it?" I've seen stuff about how some people in Japan just like, wear t-shirts with random English on them without really knowing what the text means.
"Yeah." Maribel agrees. "Grass is always greener, huh?"
…
"How many huge double doors did we pass?" Maribel stops at Remilia's door this time. "There can't be that many major rooms."
Time to go all in, son! "...Did Monster Girl Quest ring any bells?"
Maribel replies pretty quickly! "Wh- no. Look, too many big doors. Why're there so many big doors?" Ah, so she did notice...
"Well…" I turn to her gingerly. "They're big."
...She just turns to me, grinning, before moving to the door before us. Little did she know, they are all the same door!
With a tug, she begins to pull the the left of the double doors open…
Creaa~k…
Remilia has still left the annoying squeaking noise in. Good.
As the door opened, I was able to see Remilia's tea table, along with Remi a~nd… Eiki Shiki? This is a unique set of faces!
Following behind Maribel, I give them a wave. "Hello, friends!"
...Eiki and Remilia don't bother to look over at us, their eyes locked with one another's as they calmly sipped their tea.
Eiki lowered her teacup from her mouth. "I don't believe indiscriminate slaughter was part of the agreement. If you wish, we can have Yakumo here to iron out the deal anew. Further-"
"I told you!" Remilia barked back. "It was not by my hand! Besides…" She smirked at the judge. "You've not even received the souls."
...Eiki frowned. "And how would you know?"
"It's only been a few days." Remilia waved her hand leisurely. "Your oarswoman doesn't work that fast, I know."
...After giving her a skeptical stare, Eiki commented. "You guessed, didn't you?"
"Correctly." Remilia grinned. "Though I know not the real reason."
"...Fair enough." Eiki sighed. "However, this raises another issue about the importance of honesty in dealing and conversation."
...Remilia's grin slowly droops.
"Hehe~y!" I think now is a good time to interrupt their serious business! "I brought Yakumo!" I gesture to Maribel.
Both girls immediately whip their heads to face me.
Maribel blinks. "He-hey…"
…
"That-..." Remilia's not sure what to say about mini-Yukari.
...Eiki examines the both of us. "I think a lesson in honesty would do you two good, as well." O~h boy.
Moving up to the tea table, I take a seat. Since Remi and Eiki are sitting across from one another, Maribel and me gotta sit across from each other, too. Not a big table…
Maribel takes her seat next…
"Why have you brought a midget version of Yakumo?" Remilia questions me idly.
"She's friendly." I give good reasons.
Eiki comments, too. "...She may simply look like her."
"She may simply look like a lot of things, the hag." Remilia smirks, and sips from her tea. "...Well, then." She addresses Maribel properly. "What is your name?"
...Maribel smiles. "Maribel."
"How old are you?" Remilia follows up casually.
"Twenty." Maribel supplies promptly. Woa~h, she's… older than me. Huh. I didn't necessarily suspect that!
...Remilia tilts her head back and forth. "Mmm… what are you on the outside?"
Maribel blinks back. "What do you mean?"
"Profession." Remilia clarifies. How did she know Merry was from outside? She's even got the mob cap!
"Well, I'm currently studying under a relative psychology major…" Maribel answers. "So I don't have a job yet."
…
Eiki looks amused. "She certainly doesn't sound like Yakumo."
"Give her time…" Remilia waves it off, before taking another sip of her tea.
Maribel places her suitcase and plant hanger on the table. That's not a bad idea, actually…! I place Swordbreaker on the table so I don't have to hold it, too.
Remilia just glances at the plant hangers, but doesn't comment, yet.
"Well, since introductions are settled…" Eiki clears her throat, and places her teacup on the table, letting go of it. "I'd like to inform you all about the merits of honesty, and trust in one another."
Setting down her own teacup, Remilia rests her head on her arms.
Maribel just looks like she doesn't know what to expect.
I rub my hands together. Ho ho ho…!
Eiki actually looks over at Maribel. "Even if you're of a clear conscience, it would be good to listen."
...I think that just confused Maribel even more.
"Whenever one utilizes deception in order to get what they want- be it a white lie or a scheme- there are moral properties being taken into question. Generally, many seem to be of the belief that lying is an acceptable means to an end for a whole variety of circumstances. This may promote a belief of lying in general being okay to be used as a tool."
...Okay. What, you sayin'-
"The Ministry of Right and Wrong places lying under the jurisdiction of poor actions. Though it as a sin pales in comparison to more heinous acts- murder, torture, so forth- it still is a permanent mark on one's soul. This is not to say that lying should not be taken under any circumstance, however. This brings me back to the 'means to an end' philosophy…
"Under the Ministry's logistics, a lie may only be recommended if the action would result in a greater good. This greater good, though I do not define it here, can be observed in section two-point-five A of the Ministry's Consumer Guidelines. To this end, means to an end is only of benefit when it is of genuine value, and not of value only to one's self.
"With all of that said, one should still avoid lying under any circumstance, as the mere action is of penalty to the soul, and can add up if an individual is not careful. Weight of the lie does alter the severity, however. It is of general good conduct overall to not lie, and keeping a clean record may even impress some in the Ministry."
...Eiki finally stops. She never even took a sip of tea during all of that, she just kept talking.
Remilia is now face-down on the tea table.
Eiki smiles, looking across us. "...Now, will the three of you promise to withhold your deceit?"
I blink. "I'd be lying if I said I would…!"
...Eiki slightly slouches because of my admission.
Maribel speaks up. "Uhm…"
This earns Eiki's attention.
"When you say… that people shouldn't lie," she brings a hand to her chin, "what about lies that occur subconsciously? Or those that are the fault of memory?"
...Eiki actually looks surprised she got a question. "That is a good question. The answer is, lies not born of intent only gain positive and negative weight from the result of them, and the gravity of the ignorance that accents them."
Shifting in her chair to face Eiki better, Maribel continues. "But- that implies you can quantify ignorance and impact. I'm… pretty sure that's not possible."
Eiki smiles at that. "In most cases, you would be right. This is not the case for the Ministry, however."
...Maribel gives her a skeptical grin, not following.
"Do you know what I am?" Eiki latches onto her teacup, and brings it up for a sip…
Maribel almost says something, but stops herself. For a moment, she looks away, before settling for indecision. "No~t… really?"
"I am a Yamaxanadu." Eiki informs her of her Yabadabadoo status. "I judge the souls of the dead."
Maribel raises her eyebrows, nodding. "...Oh."
Remilia springs up from the table, and leans back in her chair hard enough to push it a little. "Haa~h…"
…
"I wish you were more engaged." Eiki verbally jabs the inattentive vampire. "Or should I repeat myself?" Oh, sweet lord no.
"Oh, no no no." Remilia suddenly sits up, waving her hands. "Yeah, yeah, lying's bad, don't lie, it's evil. Great. Will never lie again."
...Eiki sighed, slouching. "You lied just now."
"Does sarcasm count as lying?" Remilia smirks, grabbing her teacup again.
Eiki's brow twitches. "...Depending."
"A lot of things depend." Remilia wiggles back and forth a little, suddenly energized for some reason. "Take your lectures, for example. Their effectiveness depends on how much the listener cares."
Oof. Remilia's pokin' and proddin', yo…!
"...Perhaps I should speak of kindness, next." Eiki vainly ponders aloud. "You seem to lack in heart."
"Good." Remilia sits her teacup back down on the floral tea table. "If it was beating, then I'd be worried."
Jesus, this tea break's like a rollercoaster!
...Things fall silent. It seems Eiki's finally had enough, for now.
"Can I get some tea?" Maribel requests.
"Certainly." Remilia snaps her fingers. "Sakuya~."
Sakuya exists next to her! "Yes, Mistress?" Her presence causes Maribel to double take.
"Tea for our guests, if you would." Remilia gives a quaint nod, not facing her.
In the next instance, there is tea before Maribel, and a, uh… a tome before me. Wat.
I point down at the tome. "Good tea."
Sakuya bows next to Remilia. "Anything else?"
"That will be all." Remilia smiles. "Good work as usual."
With that, Sakuya vaporizes. Ho ho!
…
I hold up the tome. "What the frik is this?"
The cover has some words, but they're in some WebDings shit. Freakin'...!
"Allow me." Eiki offers. "I'm required to be versed in a wealth of languages."
Including WebDings, huh? I hand the tome over to Eiki.
Within a moment, she gives me my answer just from the cover. "This is book on making juices. It references a world I'm pretty sure I can't pronounce." She slides the tome back over to me.
...Well, I guess that's close enough to tea. I'll just rip out the pages and dissolve them with my saliva.
I flip the book open to a random page-...
There's no text on these two pages, just a lot of black and red marks. Flipping to another page, I find it has actual text, but it's just more illegible runes and stuff.
...Closing the book, I shove it in my bag. That's going to the flea market!
"Plant hangers." Remilia notices Swordbreaker and Dreamcatcher.
"Yeah, yo." I grin. "Building my small armory of plant hangers."
"...I see." Remilia just stares at the hangers some more. "Her, as well?"
"Mmm." Maribel agrees. "It's actually pretty useful, for what it is. It'd be more useful if it were a sword, though." Honh.
…
I look over at Eiki, who had finished the last of her tea. "Please don't blow up the roof again, yo. I still haven't lived that down…!"
Eiki cringes! "...I did not and will not plan such."
Remilia snorted. "Maybe that's why it happened."
Almost immediately, Eiki stood up. "Well, with that, I believe I must continue my general survey of Gensokyo for this month. I appreciate you letting me stop by, miss Scarlet."
"My pleasure." Remilia gives her a shooing wave. "Take care, now."
"Our conversation about your… ethic will be held another day." Moving out of her seat- and pushing it back in- Eiki begins to turn and move for the door-
-only for the door to open before she even gets there. Ha-chan walks in! "Hi, Brad-ku~n!"
"Yo~!" I wave at her! "Where the frik'd you come from?"
"I brought friends!" Ha-chan moves out of the doorway to let her friends i- what the fuck.
Three of the robbers from Fred's house walk in, looking pissed. How in the hell did she get them over here!?
One guy with a doofy hat slips out his dagger and points it at me, completely ignoring the yamaxanadu in the way. "She wasn't lyin'! There he is, boys!"
Eiki just stands still, taken aback at the sudden development.
Remilia doesn't seem to react yet!
The guy begins running for the tea table. He stops briefly to freakin' skirt around Eiki politely for some reason, before resuming his dash.
I stand up, getting Swordbreaker ready! "Son, ya don't wanna do this! I know hanger-fu!"
The two other robbers march into the room, one with a bow and the other with like, combat gloves.
The guy with the dagger starts to round the table, and I start backing up…!
However, Eiki is suddenly between me and him. "Halt."
The guy just tries to scoot around her again, but she moves in the way without actually moving any part of her body. Just freakin' slides around…!
"Hey, what the hell…" He glares at her. "You know who you're messin' with?"
"Yes." Eiki asserts! "A human who doesn't know his limits."
...He seems a little taken aback by that statement.
The archer and the gloved guy move up to take his side. Ho ho!
Maribel seems to have evacuated from her seat, and moved somewhere between where I'm standing and where Remilia's calmly sitting.
...The archer begins to back up a bit, while the other two stabby-punchy guys just strafe backwards slowly.
"...You must be the youkais who own this mansion, huh?" Dagger guy smirks, keeping a ready posture as he backs up.
I expect Remilia to speak up, but she doesn't.
Eiki steps forward. "That is none of your concern. What should be concerning you three right now is what exactly you plan to be doing here."
The gloved guy slams his fists together! "Yeah. Get outta the way."
...Nope. Eiki is not intimidated!
The guy walks up to Eiki, and stands in her face. She stares back.
…
Thunk!
The archer's arrow hit the floor, near no one in particular. "Shit…" Good job. Did you hold it ready and like, down? Was he plannin' a sneak attack?
Gloved guy goes to shove Eiki.
She doesn't budge at all…!
Undeterred, he tries again, with more force. It's about as effective as the first time.
...His expression flares, and he reels his arm back, before bringing it forward-
Bam!
Eiki's Rod of Remorse blocks it. "Sin of assault, five hundred strikes, fifty pounds." Aw, shieut, yo…!
A pillar of light briefly envelops her, light traveling from the floor into her weapon. Then, she swings it forward-
Bam!
The burly gloved dude is thrown across the room, sliding on his back from the downward strike. "Guah…!?"
The dagger guy's expression flares, too! "You~ shmuck!" ...He doesn't approach, though.
Thunk!
...Eiki looks down at the wooden arrow lodged in her clothing. She takes a hand off of the Rod of Remorse- which she was holding like a broadsword- to remove it.
"Hmm. This would be a good time to demonstrate what tools the Ministry has available." Eiki gives them both a hint and a veiled threat!
The gloved guy's getting back up, and moving towards her again. Does he really think this is still possible…? "Grrh…"
Dagger guy reaches into a pocket on his coat, and takes out a potion. "Bruce!" Tossing it into the air, it appears again as a drop of liquid over the burly bum named Bruce.
It splashes over Bruce, healing him! "Mmh." Bruce was mister combat gloves, by the way.
Eiki's clothes seem to be blown by a mysterious wind, and she glows slightly for a moment.
Fwa-Fwash! Two large, diamond-shaped icicles generate along her sides, and after they initialize, a complex magical circle is drawn in the center of each. Smaller icicles begin orbiting them after they initialize as well!
Kroo~m, kroo~m. Two large, sandstone monoliths erupt from the manor floor. They're inscribed with illegible runes, but it feels weird to look at them for some reason…
Fwoo-Fwoo-Fwash! The icicles around one of the floating ice diamonds orbit faster, and the diamond itself glows white.
Suddenly, a miniature snow storm envelops the archer.
Fwash! He's frozen solid by it instantly…!
The icicles around the other ice diamond position themselves in front of the diamond base...
Fwoash! They create a cyan, magical barrier composed of many smaller squares. The squares all divide to cover the monoliths, the other ice diamond, and Eiki.
Woa-woa-woa-woash. A series of cross-shaped magical circles bloomed out of one of the monoliths. Seconds later, all of Eiki's stuff and Eiki herself were protected by transparent shields of light.
Woa-woash. The other monolith like, flickered. Its entire form was pure white for a moment as it almost ceased to exist for a moment, or something-
Foa-foa-thwash! Series of eruptions of blue plasma erupted on the crook's side of the battle, instantly immersing them in blue electricity. Bruce and dagger guy fell to the floor, locked up by the electricity.
Kra~ck! The archer was blown out of the ice by the electricity, seemingly knocked out cold. Or dead. I don't think Eiki would murder, though.
...With that, Eiki has successfully blown away the crooks with a disproportionate amount of power!
...Remilia gave a golf clap.
Ha-chan slowly skirts her away around the edge of the room…
Foa-woah. The other monolith flickers, and Ha-chan is struck by a series of scattered thunderbolts.
Thwa-thwa-thwash! "Ah-aahn…" She drops to her knees, overwhelmed by the sensation. "Wa- wo~w…"
She flops over with a very pleased look on her face. Aww.
…
"Well, now this seems rather disproportionate…" Eiki looked over the powerful mooks she summoned…
The monoliths promptly retracted back into the floor, shattered wood and shredded carpet moving to cover up their exit. The icicles just up and vaporized, or something.
"You owe me for that carpet." Remilia spoke up from her seat.
Eiki gave an offhand reply as she moved to leave. "Sorry. You may bill the Ministry; the direct retribution towards criminals is covered. I'll send you their contact information."
...Remilia nodded, satisfied. "Very well. Be brisk, yes?"
As Eiki moved to leave, she stopped before the criminals…
Cli-cli-click!
Three white and blue rings generated in the air, one for each guy. They hovered above the men, though if they were standing they'd probably be floating at each man's midsection.
A line generated between each ring, connecting them all together. One final line stretched to Eiki, and went into her torso.
She began walking, and the three stunlocked and/or unconscious men were smoothly pulled along behind her, without any hands-on interaction needed. That's pretty handy…!
…
Once she was out of the room, Remilia exhaled, still relaxing in her seat. "Fi~nally. That yama's always such a bore."
"I have no idea what's going on." Maribel admitted, meandering towards the tea table again... "It's pretty cool looking, though."
...Grinning, Remilia stood up with vigor. "So! Maribel, yes?"
Maribel stopped, looking over Remilia. "...Yeah?"
"I am Remilia Scarlet, the mistress of this manor." Remilia's features adopted a devilish grin. "If you are not Yakumo… why, exactly, have you come here at such a time?"
...Maribel gestures to me. "He was giving me a tour."
I wave. "Hi, name's Paul Solomon from Solomon 'n' Sons."
...Remilia's features become slightly more stale. "Oh. So he has." Honh. "Well… since you're here, you may as well entertain me."
Maribel moved around the table to reclaim Dreamcatcher. "...In what way?"
"Those stupid plant hangers of yours." Remilia began walking towards the center of the room, her arms folded. "Show me something new and interesting."
Ho ho! "We got you, yo."
Holding up Swordbreaker, I advance towards her!
Maribel blinked at my actions, watching silently…
Once I got to Remilia, I raised my hanger, and bonked her in the head.
Thunk!
"Wh-what…?" Maribel was surprised by the violence!
Remilia didn't react, like, at all. "...That was probably the weakest you've ever hit me."
Yeah, a dark elemental hanger is probably not all that effective on vampires. My already pathetic damage was probably freakin' halved or worse…!
I gesture for Maribel to come help. "Give her a good whack, yo!"
...She looks uncertain, but Remilia's fortitude seems to have convinced her to humor my request.
Hesitantly raising Dreamcatcher, she approaches Remilia, and whacks her in the head with a motion similar to mine.
Thunk!
Fwoom. A talisman seal generates on Remilia's mob cap.
"...That was four times as powerful as his, about." Remilia tilted her head back and forth, still unaffected. "What is this seal…?"
Is floating a spell? "Try to fly, yo." I grin at her…
...Remilia jumps about two feet, before landing loudly. "What…!?" She looks at her hands. "...It disables flying?"
"Try to summon Gungnir." Syphoning is a fun status.
Remilia raises her hand, but nothing happens. "...Seriously? Divine Spear, Spear the Gungnir!"
...Nothing happens when she announces her spell card.
Her eyes widen, and she starts to get angry. "What… did that do!?"
The seal promptly drifted off of her head, and her body instantly began crackling with scarlet energy. "Hmm…!?"
"I think it syphons ya." I provide what I know of the status effect. "It's a holy status that makes ya unable to use spells!"
"Why is that bound to a plant hanger!?" Remilia demands! Then, she points at Maribel. "Where did you obtain that?"
"...Flu-fluffles." Maribel backs up a little…!
...Remilia's gaze falls. "Of course."
She floats into the air, folding her arms again.
Shi~ng! A reflective, scarlet barrier generates over the door out of the throne room. Uh…?
I gesture to the door. "Why didja, uh…?"
"Duel." Remilia requests bluntly.
...Wat.
...Maribel doesn't know what to do with that request, either, so she settles for looking like she has no idea what to do.
"You heard me." Remilia smirks at us, 'sitting' in the air. "You shall demonstrate your weapons to me by using them on one another."
Hmm~. If Maribel syphons me, I'd be limited to whacking stuff.
"Do-..." Maribel looks at her unsurely. "Do we have to?"
"Yes." Remilia responds. "Or you will not leave here."
...Maribel looks at me, still unsure.
I give her a thumbs up! "It's cool, yo. I'm burly."
Maribel snorted. "You don't look like it…" Son. You're not wrong, but oof.
Stashing Swordbreaker, I pull out Tundra Bloomer halfway just to buff myself. Filling it with mana, I feel myself get pumped up…!
"Alright…" Slipping it away, I consider my options. What would be the most unobtrusive way to debuff Maribel into oblivion?
...I take Swordbreaker back out. It supposedly lowers attack on impact, but I don't exactly know what that means. Since I don't have any spells with it, getting syphoned into oblivion shouldn't matter.
…
"Any day now." Remilia urges us to stop staring at each other.
Maribel reluctantly moves towards me with Dreamcatcher held ready. "Sorry about this…"
I step towards her casually. "Hug."
...She blinks. "What?"
"Gimme a hug, yo." I spread my arms!
...She glances at Remilia, who doesn't seem to provide any feedback. "Oh-... okay?"
Stepping towards me, she lets me embrace her, but doesn't necessarily embrace back.
Like this, I pat her on the back firmly with Swordbreaker a bunch!
"Uh-uhm…" She furrows her brows, confused even further. "Okay."
"This is a nice hug, yo." I nod enthusiastically! "You're freakin' cuddly."
...I receive no reply.
The firm patting continues until Maribel decides to jab me in the gut with Dreamcatcher.
However, I hardly even feel it! I let go anyway, though.
Fwoom. A talisman seal generates on my stomach. I've been syphoned! I don't feel any different, though.
"...Don't say things like that." Maribel gives me a neutral look. "It's even creepier coming from you." Aaa~h!
Remilia stifles a giggle. Freakin'...!
...Reaching up, I try to tug the talisman from myself. It doesn't budge at all. Didn't think that would work!
"Give me a good whack!" I request an attack! "You see, my strength has increased tenfold from the power of snuggles!" ...Reality is, I think those firm pats of Swordbreaker debuffed her attack down to nothing!
At the mention of snuggling, Maribel marches towards me, takes a moment to consider a place to hit, and decides to whack me in the arm.
Thunk! I moved a little, but it didn't do much. Is this how every tanky touhou I hit feels? Yo~...
Fwoom. I was sealed summore, another talisman forming on my arm.
"...I'm not that weak?" Maribel looks mystified. "Or… are you actually strong?"
I shake my head. "Not really. I-"
"He debuffed your ability to physically attack, by about half." Remilia interrupted me. "Furthermore, his own defense and physical attack has been increased by about three tenths."
"...Yeah." I nod. She even gave numbers! "What she said!"
"...Huh." Maribel looks intrigued. "Just like an RPG?"
"Ye." With that, I stash Swordbreaker, not needing it for now, even if it gave a slight defense up passively or something. "...That's about it for my new stuff." I'm lying, but most of my new things are more utilitarian than actually offensive.
"She has more hangers, does she not?" Remilia begins to drift back down…
Maribel takes a moment to reply. "...I have a regular iron one. That's about it."
"...How droll." Remilia stretches an arm to her side-
Fwi~sh! The barrier over the door lifts.
"You two bore me." Remilia began drifting towards the door. "Do as you may- just don't break anything."
Ho ho!
With that, Remilia left us alone in the throne room.
…
We are silent. Oh no.
I begin marching towards Remi's throne. I wonder if there's any cool stuff around it?
"You know…" Maribel slowly followed me as I moved across the room. "I was with a friend, when I came here."
Buddy ol' pal Renko, was it? I know that much!
Nearing the throne, I crouch. The underside is solid, so there can't be anything under it.
"Where would we look to find her?" Maribel asked me. "I can't go back without her, and I want to make sure she's fine here."
"Pro~bably the human village." I guess. If she wound up in somewhere like Heaven or Old Hell, then freakin'... good game, yo. Not gonna find her for another twenty million chapters!
Let's see~... behind Remilia's throne, there i~s…
A fluffle, picking up and dropping some kinda dark stone repeatedly. "honh honh honh honh"
"Dude." I speak to it. "You're sniffable."
...It looks up at me, and holds up the dark stone. "look look what i found"
...Maribel peered behind the throne from the other side, gazing down at the fluffle.
I reach down and try to take the dark stone, but the fluffle tugs it away and shields it with its tubby body. "no friend i love it"
Aggressively, I shoot my hand in and take the stone. The fluffle latches to my hand, and starts trying to gnaw on my kimono's sleeve with its shell nose.
"huhuhuhuhuhu" The fluffle makes demented noises…!
I bring my arm to my face, and start nudging the fluffle off with my own nose. Ho ho, ho ho…!
"What are you doing…?" Maribel's expression becomes vain.
After a moment of nuzzling the fluffle, I am successful in getting it off my arm! "friend no" It falls to the floor, and starts scurrying around…
...I look over the dark stone I've obtained. One side of it has a deep, red gash that slightly glows. The rest is just rock.
Shoving it into my bag, I look over at Maribel. "That was fluffy."
She snorts, progressing towards the door. "I'm sure it was."
...I move to catch up with her! "We headin' to the village now?"
"Yeah." Maribel asserts. "I wanna see if my friend's there."
Picking up in pace, we leave Remilia's room.
==== FREAKIN GENSOKYO ====
END OF CHAPTER 56
PROTAGONIST: Brad, the Fluffle Slayer, Fairy Slayer, Accidental Human Slayer, Ph. D in Plant Hangers, Scarlet Liberator, Village Liberator, Eientei Crucible, Sinker of the Flufftanic, Assembler of the Legendary Air Ride Machine, Sky Climber, Amateur Espionage Practitioner, Illegal Fairy Harborer, Conscientious Party Member, Holder of Too Many Titles.
PRIMARY WEAPON: Tundra Bloomer - A earth-elemental plant hanger made from sturdy rock; has a flower curved around the hilt. Able to be used as a jack hammer for demolition purposes. Strikes can be empowered with magical energy. With the addition of an enchanted shaft, it is able to be used as a warhammer and grant the ability to self-cast attack buffs to the wielder. Allows casting of Gaia Seed. Casts Tundra, a weak spike of ice!
INVENTORY:
[Bag of Holding] - A small bag that always seems to be conveniently unaffected by whatever weird crap happens to me. Never enlarges, almost always gives me what I need if I remember it's there. Infinite inventory space. I would like to know where it actually puts all my stuff though...
Youkai Inconveniencer - A holy plant hanger, which works as a flail 'cause of the cross necklaces attached to it! May cast Flash, an attack that blinds; works best on darkness elementals and youkai. Acts as a flashlight via candles. Converted to a flail with cross necklaces! Can cast Shine.
Fairy Harp - A sand-red, cast iron plant hanger. It was used to hold a generic potted plant before being utilized as a weapon of mass skull-cracking destruction. With the addition of a wind-grate, it can cast Gust. By the addition of a steel block, its attack and magic attack increased slightly. Sparkles in the light due to fairy dust, able to reduce the accuracy of weak, biological enemies by irritating their senses with the dust. Can play beautiful, flat-tone musi~c!
Flame Salvo - A red and crimson plant hanger comprised of mysterious gems and metals. Boosts the power of fire skills. Ignites stuff on impact. Never again do I need a lighter or the ability to somehow rub two sticks together really hard to make a campfire! Has a flamethrower nozzle, allowing the user to cast Flamethrower Plus! Allows the user to cast Fume.
Vortex Hanger - Wind elemental plant hanger currently attached to the Yin-Yang flail as a crafting material. Granted a limited hover per swing when wielded, but that ability is what allows the flail-o-copter to fly now.
Deep Blue - A blue and silver plant hanger comprised of mysterious fantastical metals. Can produce limitless fresh water. Boosts the power of water skills. Allows wielder to cast Geyser. The addition of a valve served to allow control of its water flow. I wonder if you could use this in place of a sink...
Yin-yang flail-o-copter - A flail with a standard, maximized Hakurei Yin-yang orb in the sling of it. Unable to have its powers fully activated, as only Reimu can truly harness the power of Yin-yang orbs. Minor affinities from the base orb transfer over, though! Crafted from a Hakurei Yin-Yang orb, a rope of panties, and two bra cups. Ropes were used to attach the Vortex Hanger to the yin-yang orb, allowing the flail to be used as a flying device, although it's a bit straining on the arms.
Sharper Than Darkness - A dark, runed plant hanger constructed from the shards of a dead man's sword. Dark effects promote a glass-cannon style; physical attack increased, physical defense lowered. User bleeds out faster. Can cast Revenge, an attack that increases in power the lower the user's health is. A scythe edge from a mysterious ghoul was added to let it cut!
Bee-Sheventeen-Bawmber - A mechanical plant hanger enchanted to make big booms on contact. Explosions are mostly knockback based, but I think it could gib particularly weak-willed people… magic is weird. With the addition of a barrel, it can shoot singular, yellow danmaku bullets.
Million Bucks - A basic green cast-iron plant hanger, from the aged cellar of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It's a gift from Flandre Scarlet! Has an obsolete map of the cellar's maze, etched by Flandre herself. Shoddily enchanted to give a speed boost when the wielder is lower on health. Lowers defense slightly. With added electric and holy charms, the hanger is slightly electric and holy elemental. Is able to fluidly chain attacks for stringing together longer aerial and ground combos. Allows the user to fluidly transition from combo to jumping. Allows forced aerial combo support. Grants the user the ability to air slide. Increased jump height when running. Gives motion sickness with avid use!
Market Gardener - Critical hits during blast jumps! Otherwise, it's just a normal, old plant hanger. Named after a very similar shovel…!
NERF dart blaster - Nerf guns are cool and all, but don't try defending yourself with one. Please. Unless you're surrounded by fairies who don't know the difference- but y'know- that opportunity's a freakin' million to one.
NERF longsword - 'CAUTION: Do not jab at people or animals'… you know what that means! Maybe one day this will actually come in handy...
Kaguya Houraisan Disguise - Wear to become a NEET! Tons of pockets! Seventy-five percent time resistance on equip. Voice, face, and height specifications not included!
Monk Robes - Wear to become a Buddhist! Actually pretty comfy…!
Butterfly Dream Pills - Makes you dream of being a beautiful butterfly!... now, if only there was a pill for lucid or wet dreams, and then I'd consider Yagokoro the doctor to end all doctors!
Remilia Scarlet Disguise - Wearing this as a tall manchild's probably not doing anyone with eyes any favors. Has resistances of sorts, but I'm not in a big fat hurry to find out what they are…
Toasty Yuki-onna Kimono - Best winter clothing twenty fifteen. Fifty percent ice and freezing resistance, but negative fifty percent fire and burning resistance!
Forty thousand, two hundred Yen - ...Yeah, just in a bag. It's about time I documented how much freakin' money I have!
Seven Health Potions - They give you youkai-like regen for like, thirty seconds! No chuggin' these babies to indefinitely survive the cold reaches of outer space. Unless the regen outdoes the asphyxiation, but I think I'd rather die by that point…
Four Mana Potions - Restores an average amount of mana, I think. More than enough for someone like me!
Five Panaceas - Cures all status effects. I dunno if it works on debuffs, though...
WebDings Book about Foreign Juices - Wahaha! This better fetch a price on the market!
Dark Stone - I dunno what it is, but it looks cool. Probably something I can slap to one of my dark weapons!
PARTY:
London, the Multipurpose Combat Doll - What it lacks in brains it makes up for with a suit of armor and some OP utilitarian spells! Can cast basic fire, lightning, and ice attacks, both the magical and physical variety. Has lance, can shoot danmaku. Variety of attack commands now, including intelligent tracking, trailing, patrolling, and defending. Has mana pool for the stronk commands, though, so those should be used sparingly. I really have to remember to use her, at some point!
PRIMARY WEAPON: Shanghai Lance - Burly lance with jabbing ability. Mostly useful as a blunt object, it seems, and intimidation factor. London really likes it, apparently. London shouldn't have sentience, but I can't help but notice the awkward way which it just pauses before it swings this lance.
Maribel Hearn, the University Student
WEAPON: Dreamcatcher - A holy hanger. May cast Talisman Seal on impact. Casts Talisman Seal with certain skills. Boosts the power of holy skills. Grants fifty percent resistance to syphoning and cursing.
INVENTORY:
Little White LED - A lil lightbulb that blinks…! Currently held in her pocket, 'cause it's tiny.
[Suitcase] - Holds her stuff. Gives five inventory spaces!
Things, Probably Paperwork - She's got all sorts of cool things, yo. None of them help in a survival situation, though…!
Cast-Iron Plant Hanger - A sturdy plant hanger made of solid metal.
[one space remaining]
ACTUAL AUTHOR'S NOTE:
ho ho
showing maribel around the place! also got some NEW EQUIPS and an UPGRADE yo
koi and koakuma are cuddly
debuffs and statuses are fun, and syphon is a PRETTY POWERFUL status in gensokyo
interestingly syphon and silence are pretty much the same status except one is holy and the other is moon
maribel is not quite as INSANE as i am which makes for INTERESTING DYNAMICS
aah
anyway this chapter was pretty fun to write; yet another showing of the SDM cast, got the three friks in, so forth… and molested maribel a bunch!
i dont got a lot else to say about this chapter 'cause it was pretty straight forward . w .
oh yeah, eiki and her freakin' ANCIENT MONOLITHS that can cast POWERFUL ELECTRIC ATTACKS and give friends shields of light that halve incoming damage
every three attacks they charge up and shoot master sparks / hyper beams, too, which DISPEL and deal ELECTRIC DAMAGE
as always, see you all next time!
