> Take a step or two toward his head, but parallel to how his body is laid on the ground.
> Keep the sword trained on him face. The point should be even closer to his face now.
> Raise voice some more.
> "What are you waiting for?! DO IT!"
> Cease your resisting! You will yield to us!
> Entity! I believe he is planning something new. I know not if he knows of your presence, but be on guard all the same.
> Raise voice to a proper shout, then!
> "YOU WILL OBEY ME!"
> He is going to try to take something of ours! Steel our mind and our will! He will not have anything of ours! He is nothing compared to us! He does not deserve to breathe the same air that we do! We are superior! We will cut down anything he throws at us!
> "Hah! Do not fool yourself into thinking you can influence me! I have felt your grip on me, and I have knocked it aside! I have seen the terror in your eyes! You are finished, merchant! You pathetic, hypocritical ideals can never hope to approach me! Try to take hold of me again and I will knock you aside so easily again! You will recognize and admit that I am everything and you are nothing!"
> Beat him back down! Will him back down! He says such insolent things! He dares threaten us! He and his hypocritical ideals are weak! He is weak! He has shown fear! It is demonstrably there, and his bravado is false! We have beaten him back before, and we will do it again! He will pay for his arrogance! Make him pay for his threats against us and our allies!
> Stomp on his stomach once, then bring our foot back to where it was before said stomp.
> "You dare threaten me, you worm? You are in no position to threaten me! You have nowhere near the power to threaten me! Anything you try will fail, because you are nothing compared to me! I hold your very life in my hands! You will surrender to me!"
> Entity! Assist me in breaking this insolent's will!
> Stomp on his stomach again, returning our foot to its proper place as before.
> Focus our will through the sword again. His will must be broken! Recall all this man has done to offend us! He had our property stolen and claimed it as his! He arrogantly tried to hide his theft behind semantics! He used our property to commit mass theft and throw Gensokyo into chaos! He mocked us and relished in our pain! He tried to force his mind upon ours multiple times! And now he conceitedly threatens ourselves and our allies once again! He must pay for ALL of his crimes! No amount of pain we could inflict on him will ever be enough for him to repay his debt to us! He must bow to us! He must surrender to us! He must pay!
> "You talk of taking?! You owe me everything of yours and them some! All your crimes against me have accumulated a debt so great you could not even begin hope to pay it with your life! Your life is mine! You WILL submit to me!"
> Not yet. More important is a proper demonstration on his part that his will and faith have been broken.
> ...Come to think of it, have we ever actually killed anyone?
> Through the sword, will him and his shattered sense of being to obey us. That he resisted our superiority for so long is an insult to our greatness.
> Lower our voice down from that shout. Give a normal but properly commanding tone.
> "You will obey me. You will surrender to me. You will tell me, out loud, that you have submitted to me. You will tell me this right now."
> Poke him with our foot a couple of times.
> An example? By killing an unarmed man with a broken mind and spirit? What example is to be made by this that was not already made by shattering his mind in the first place?
> How will killing him here make such an example, when there were no witnesses to his humiliation? Should we kill him here, people will only see that a well-armed and powerful youkai killed a man that, as far as they know, was unarmed. Any brainless thug equipped with a sword can kill an unarmed man. People would need to see the mindbreak for any effective example to be set.
> They will learn far more valuable a lesson if they see this man with his mind broken than just as a corpse.
> Would the Myouren approve of this? Killing a broken and defenseless man? There is no way any of them would agree to such an act, no matter how heinous the man's crimes. And our association with them would do tremendous damage to their name. Belief in them would drop like a stone should one of theirs perform such an act contrary to their teachings.
> Forget the air. Displeasure? What would Mamizou think of this? We haven't seen each other in forever and we only finally got each other back now! What would she think if she saw her best friend for the first time in ages and they has turned into someone that kills the defenseless?
> Then let's consider Byakuren instead. She has worked so hard over the years to bring about happiness through peace, happiness that both humans and youkai could share. Even when persecuted for it, she kept on going. Killing this defenseless man while associated with her could ruin her life's work! After all she has done for us, we would be spitting in the face of her ideals. Spitting in the face of all the blood, sweat, and tears she has used to build what she now has!
> What is it, air? Is there a problem? Do you have a problem with the fact that Byakuren would never consider murder of the defenseless any sort of success?
>Then you and I are different. Byakuren and Mamizou and the others may be beneath me, but they are still my friends, and I still value their opinions. I do not want to drive them away, and killing a defenseless man, no matter what his crimes, would do just that.
> That's a shame, because I reason based on facts and logic. Even ignoring that no one would fully comprehend the nature of my victory over the broken merchant here if I just killed him and showed off his corpse, Byakuren would never approve of it. Byakuren has given more of a damn about me than just about anyone else I've ever met, and even she would be displeased with killing a defenseless man. Especially after all she's done for me; providing me resources and helpful allies for my journey, getting me into the Magic Circle for access to their information, taking me to Patchouli for a countercurse while I was in incomprehensible pain, and basically giving her all to helping me whenever I needed her. She would be forever upset if I killed this man in his current state!
>No, not with them. Byakuren would never forgive me for such a thing, and what she thinks matters to me.
> His death will be a failure, not a success! My friends would be satisfied this result, not murder! Murder is not the way of Myouren! It is not my way!
> I can't abuse Byakuren like that! It isn't right for me to just expect her forgiveness! Byakuren's forgiveness must be earned by atoning for wrongs against her! It isn't right for her to only give and for us to only take! We aren't above her like that!
> Weak? The weak take the easy way out. The weak submit and do what they're told. I have never been that kind of person. I have always done what I thought best for me, regardless of how easy or hard it was. Regardless of what other people have told me to do. I spend centuries spitting in the face of undeserved authority, risking my well-being to stand for what I believe in. I have harassed an endless list of authority figures and their guards. This has never been the easy past. I stand before this man who has greatly wronged me and my friends, with every opportunity to kill him, and I see no reason to so it. Killing him is the easy way out! Killing him, that is the path of the weak! I am better than that! I am stronger than that!
> This task is finished. The plan was only ever to break his will. Killing him to stop him was only ever a last resort, and it is not necessary now that he is a broken husk. No one will hold false hopes of following in his footsteps, because no one else in Gensokyo wanted this to happen. The task is finished, and Byakuren will be pleased. That is all that matters.
> No! This goes against everything I've ever stood for! I spent my entire life working to shoving it in the face of people in positions of power that didn't deserve it! I refuse to become one of those people myself! I refuse to take an undeserved position of authority, to subjugate others that don't deserve to be subjugated! I only want to be Byakuren's friend, the friend of Nazrin, of Ichirin, of Mrasa, of Shou! Where we're all equals in the faith of Myouren! This is my way, my happiness! Not as a murderous tyrant!
> The entity can deal with it! I will not take action that will bring shame to the Myouren name! I will not take action that I know will make Byakuren unhappy, no matter how quickly she may get over it! Her unhappiness is not allowed! Completely out of the question! I am hers and she is mine and we will be happy together!
> Well, that's just too bad, isn't it?
> Stick the sword point-first into the ground away from Rinnosuke's body and let go.
> Look around. Does the surrounding area look any different?
> How does Rinnosuke look?
> Can we still see Kourindou from here? If so, is it within shouting distance?
> Is the human village still in sight?
> Raise our voice some.
> "Hey! Anyone out here right now?"
> Take out our trident.
> Gently swing the trident so it knocks the sword out of the ground and is simply lying on the ground, not stuck in anything.
> Put our trident away.
> Take the sheath from our side in both hands, and starting with the opening of the sheath at the pointed end of the blade, push the sheath toward the blade enough that a little bit of the blade enters the sheath.
> Once a little bit of the blade is in the sheath, tilt the back end of the sheath up a bit, forcing the sword up with it to match the angle, and slide the sheath the rest of the way down the sword.
> Can we still sense the entity?
> Brace ourselves. This is going to suck. Just remember: We are ourselves. The sword cast planted those thoughts in our mind.
> All right, swordface, you want some of this? Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!
> Grab the sword and pull it back out of the sheath.
>Well, that's just too bad. You go free if I want you to go free, remember? And guess what I really don't want right about now?
> Calm ourselves. Think of Byakuren. Remember the times we have shared. How she took us into her fold and offered us everything she had after we introduced ourselves to the Myouren group with that UFO prank. How she has made us feel good, and how we have made her feel good. The times we worked together, the times we laughed together. How she is an invaluably close friend, and really, the closest thing to a mother we've ever had.
> How wide is it?
> In which direction is it primarily coming?
> Is it coming at us parallel to the ground, or at an angle from above?
> Take flight and zip straight up into the air as fast as we can!
> Come on, Nue! Get the lead out! We need to conquer this to see all our friends again!
> Resume our flight upward! Get away from this sword's nonsense!
> Is it standing on the ground or in the sky?
> No. We are Nue Houjuu. We are the unknown terror of Heiankyou. We are not afraid of this, no matter how menacing it may seem. We ourselves instill fear in others, fear of the unknown. For us to be afraid of another unknown is preposterous. Buck up. We can handle this. We will handle this. Because we always do. We are the best. We are the best in the world. And we have a world without Rinnosuke's reality-warping insanity to return to. We have a world of friends to return to.
> This thing is on four legs and is so huge as to tower over us? We should be able to hide underneath its stomach and assault it from there. Keep this in mind at all times. It cannot reach underneath itself.
> Pick ourselves up off the ground and take a defensive standing position, if we haven't already.
> Have we happened to see Rinnosuke or our umbrella anywhere in this mess recently?
> Then we'll just have to keep it away from him.
> We are still actually holding the sword, aren't we?
> Start floating to our right.
> "I will not lose to you. Not to one that embodies oppression."
> Give a small smirk.
> "Besides, Byakuren still hasn't seen how truly amazing I am yet, and that's just not acceptable."
> Zip horizontally to our right!
> While we're flying, use our free non-sword hand to fire some amulets in the general direction from which the beast is coming.
> This thing can cut on a dime? Wonderful.
> Zip straight upward, holding the sword as below us as we can manage without making flight too awkward with a very tight grip, tip pointed straight down and blade edge pointed toward the beast.
> Did it detach from the beast somehow?
> If we still have upward momentum from flight, conserve it and bank as tight an arc to the left as we can at our current top speed, where 'left' runs to our left and perpendicular to the horn's current path.
> If we stopped and no longer have flight momentum, then bolt left using the same orientation of 'left' as described above.
> Assuming we get out of the horn's way, chop at it vertically with the sword, as if we were trying to slice the tip off.
> Pull up like the first time. We'll probably hit the ground, but it is what it is. Best to reduce the impact.
> Pick ourselves up off the ground and shoot ourselves straight up into the air.
> Have we felt these negative emotions outside of when the beast was staring as us?
>No. It's causing this. We don't actually feel like that. It's trying to break our will.
>If it wants to push against our mind, then push back. It's not going to overcome us. Push it out!
> That's an interestingly defeatist attitude considering we haven't been hit yet. Doesn't seem much like us. We've had a couple close calls, but we've had countless close calls with the Yamato, and we're still hee while they're all dead.
> Well. How many know-it-alls have we run into since returning to Gensokyo with this sword? If we weren't capable of stopping this thing, at least one of them would have given us a proper warning, because if anyone in Gensokyo was likely to cause havoc because they could, it would be us. But the gap youkai was far more concerned with sealing up Avalon, Eirin's warning was pretty weak and only related to conversation while holding the sword, and Patchouli actively encouraged its use. That none of them said anything about this possibility implies that we can deal with it ourselves.
> It's probably going to jump. Do we happen to remember what's behind us? Don't bother looking back to check if we don't.
> Start flying forward and upward, firing off amulets in our wake aimed toward the beast. Hopefully we can hit it in the face.
> Is it now galloping parallel to the ground or up at us from below?
> Wonder what direction we'll get flung in this time. At least it isn't tearing up the ground anymore. And now we have extra dodging directions...
> Keep flying upward and forward, in a direction perpendicular to its current running path. Have the sword out at the ready, and be prepared to swing at a horn or a face or a back or whatever happens to pass close by us.
> At least we can abuse what we learned from Sanae's flying machine in regards to speedy objects and turning speeds!
> Time to switch direction. Let's head straight down.
> So it's now coming down at us from an angle?
> Keep heading downward, and now also head "forward" toward the beast, in the hopes that it will continue its loop in trying to follow us and end up galloping straight down.
> Presumably we're looking down. Is Rinnosuke immediately visible?
> Can we tell/do we know if the beast directly on our tail, a little bit 'above' our orientation, or a little bit 'below' our orientation?
> And we're still 'some distance' from the ground, enough that we'd have more than enough time to pull up at this speed without crashing into the ground?
> How quickly could we corkscrew 180 degrees?
> How quickly can we spin our body 180 degrees, so that we're still looking downward, but everything's been rotated?
> Have we yet seen the beast do the same thing? If so, how quickly did it do so?
> Could we do a 540 degree spin without making ourselves want to vomit?
> Gotta try something...here goes.
> Hit the jets and keep hurtling straight toward the ground, past the point where we feel we'd avoid a ground collision if we kept full speed while trying to pull up.
> A couple of seconds after we pass this point, do a 540 degree barrel roll (Editor's note: ugh, can't believe I just typed that) while slowing down substantially, enough to make a satisfactorily tight turn.
> Pray to Byakuren that we don't get ourselves gored before we manage to secure top horizontal speed again.
> Pull up to the point where we're flying parallel to the ground. As we gradually get closer and closer to that parallel flight path, put back on more and more speed. After the 540 spin, we should, theoretically, be flying away from Rinnosuke, since he would have been in the lower portion of our vision before we started pulling up.
> Once we hit the parallel-to-the-ground flight path, chance a glance back at the beast in the hopes that it couldn't pull off the same tight turn we did.
> ...What, was this thing afraid of what might have happened?
> It had to have spun away for a reason, though...
> Quickly glance around. Is there anything around resembling reasonable cover?
> Do we happen to know which house it is? Is that abouts where the outer world kids are?
> Man, what we wouldn't give to have Ran out here to help.
> Okay, this thing has to be beatable somehow. Think back to Kay's story of Edmund. Edmund conquered through shows of force more than actual force, and the first time someone wasn't intimidated by his tactics and kept going after him, his army collapsed like a house of cards. The guy himself even got killed by an idiot.
> ...Maybe that's the solution here? It didn't sound like Edmund's forces regularly went out into legitimate war. They used intimidation, scare tactics. If our mind under the sword's influence is any indication, Edmund was all about imposing will, making an example. We even wanted to kill a defenseless man with a broken mind. What would that have accomplished? There's no skill, no bravery, no effort needed for setting that kind of example. It wouldn't have been a demonstration of power. It would have been a demonstration of cruelty. Nothing but more scare tactics...
> And this thing, it looks and acts damn intimidating. It even has those eyes, the eyes that magnify our fears and despairs. Could it be the same way? Fueled purely by raw intimidation?
> When we've shot this thing, have we noticed if our amulets actually made contact and simply did no real damage, or did they maybe phase through the beast?
> That seems like it lends some more credence to the scare tactics idea. What if our shots are going through it because part of it isn't there? If it's trying to intimidate through false size? A sort of show-of-force, as it were? There's something affecting the grass where it steps, sure, but how hard would it really be to do pull off a trick like that through magic means?
> What's our big red buddy doing?
> That has to be it. This thing is all style, no substance. Nothing but intimidation. Nothing but mind games. Lesser kingdoms cowered in fear and got steamrolled. Pendragon and his army gave no fucks and came out on top handily. Percival bucked up and bagged himself a tyrant's head. We have to do the same. We have to be what we've always been. We are the terrorizer. Not the terrorized. We will do this. It's been done before, we can do it too.
> Come on, you. Edmund's reign ended only about a decade or so ago. What kind of chance does a terror of a few decades stand against a terror of over a millennium? Especially when the terror of over a millennium actually has friends watching over her?
> Hold the sword in a ready position by our side, and start heading straight for this beast.
> Let's just fly straight at it. Aim ourselves for approximately right between the eyes.
> Gotta watch those horns. Remember, though, they're stiff objects. This thing has to move its whole head around to aim properly with them.
> ...We could fit in between the two horns, couldn't we?
> No. No slip-ups. We didn't get to be who we are by thinking about or making mistakes. We're the best at what we do. We always have been. That's just more scare tactics on the beast's part.
> Hold the sword pointed out in front of us, with gripping hand at chest level and next to our body, and keep flying forward.
> Quick, dive down so it can pass over us!
> While we're diving, swing the sword in an arc above our head (presumably from right-to-left, given I'm guessing the sword has been in our right hand) in an attempt to slice the horn as it passes by.
> All right, that's one hit we've definitely scored on it, and it still hasn't hit us, despite another close call. We may just be too small and agile for it!
> Break our fall like the previous two times. When we land, start tracking the beast again.
> That's already a better attitude than the 'oh woe is mean I'm finished' bullshit we had going earlier. Keep it up, you got this!
> Does either horn appear to have been affected by the sword slash at all?
> How are we feeling from a physical standpoint? Tired or still plenty of fight left?
> Take flight and start charging at the beast again. This time, transfer the sword into our non-dominant hand, unsheath our trident with our remaining free hand, and hold it behind us in a ready-to-throw grip.
> Weird. Maybe it's intimidated now, by our lack of demonstrable intimidated...ness. That would gel with our current operating theories...
> How good an aim are we throwing our trident while flying toward the intended target? What about throwing strength?
> Adjust our grip on the trident so that it's more of a swinging grip than a throwing grip as best we can. Pull the trident in front of us if we need to.
> Keep on jetting for the beast, aiming ourselves once again right between the eyes.
> From which direction is it coming?
> Dive downward and forward (with a slight bit more downward than forward) while stabbing our trident upward and forward! Hopefully we can get it in the foot.
> From our perspective, did it try to clobber us with a left side hoof or a right side hoof?
> Dash to the left! As we're moving, swing an overhand slash with the sword at any hooves that come too close for comfort. Not our dominant hand, but it is what it is.
> Which side of us is the red thing on?
> Try pulling up!
> If we don't or can't pull up in time, when we hit the ground, try to roll ourselves to the right enough that we're on our back and can see upward.
> How close is it?
> Has it gone back to full speed?
> Whirl to face it, then speed back upward while watching where it goes.
> Is it coming in horizontally?
> Is it coming in straight from the right, or from the diagonal front right?
> Coming in from slightly above or slightly below?
> So it's slanting slightly downward and is currently following a diagonal path through our current position, meaning it would keep going behind our current position, meaning it would NOT suddenly appear in front of our current position.
> And this thing is presumably bucking its head each time it swings its horn, which means it can't do too much to control the horn's flight path once it starts swinging.
> Jet in forward toward the beast, angled a bit downward, hopefully toward the center of its face. Once we get in range of something sensitive, be it eye or nose, swing the pointed end of the trident at it! Aim for the inside of a nostril if the nose ends up being the closest thing.
> Take advantage of our current downward momentum to swoop down at a slightly sharper angle, putting a second hand on our trident in the process if there isn't one already, then swoop in at its right eye (from our perspective) with our trident pointed out in front of us to stab it in the eye.
> Quick! Swing the pointed end of the trident back toward the eye before we separate from being right in front of the beast's face!
> Keep flying forward! Go in after the eyes! Press the offensive! This is how Pendragon beat Edmund!
> Bank left. Take a stab at the side of the face as it comes down if it's in range, but our primary concern should be avoiding the horn on this side of its head. Only take that swing if we're not in immediate horn danger.
> How high off the ground are we?
> Does this thing appear to have a mouth where a mouth would normally be expected?
> As long as it's still backing up, let's keep pursuing. It wants to keep us the hell away from its eyes; sounds like a good enough vulnerable point to us! Aim our flight for them again.
> Then descend after it.
> "Is that all you got?!"
> Fire some amulets at its face. Aim for the eyes.
> Coming horizontally, from slightly above, or from slightly below?
> Use our forward momentum to keep zipping toward the beast's head, while taking on a bit of a downward direction as well. Theoretically the horn will pass by behind and above us.
> Make our way toward the beast's eyes again, which are presumably on the way back toward centering its head if it's whipping its head to swing the horns.
> If we cannibalize our wings while they hurt, will the pain be transferred to our back or just kinda evaporate?
> Fly over it, then. Aim for above and just behind its head while firing danmaku at its face as we go.
> Is it trotting along on the ground at this point?
> Where, relative to our current viewpoint, did it stop?
> Quick, skim the ground around it with our eyes. It wouldn't have stopped for no reason.
> At what kind of speed?
> And we didn't happen to see the sword, did we?
> Take a quick glance at the ground behind us, to see if we can spot Rinnosuke, the sword, or the umbrella.
> Is Rinnosuke still on the ground, not moving?
> Turn back around and start flying after the beast. It can't be allowed in the human village.
> Does the beast have a tail?
> Add a bit of an upward slant to our flight path. We'll want the maximum reaction time should it rear up and try to kick us.
> When we've made it to above the beast's backside, descend again (while still headed forward), trying to get to the rear of its back.
> Level off our flight path and pick up speed ourselves.
> How far above the beast are we?
> Are we actually directly over it yet?
> Get a throwing grip on our trident. Maybe we can spear this thing in the ass.
> While maintaining our current speed, forcefully toss our trident to lance the beast in the ass.
> Damnit.
> Swoop down to the ground to retrieve our trident, being mindful of potential bucking kicks.
> Let's try something else...
> Resume pursuing the beast, but this time, fly lower to the ground, and come up on its right side. Don't come up directly behind its right leg, though, that's just asking to be kicked. Give it a couple of yards, at least.
> So if it's headed northward, and we're pulling up on its right, and it's drifting east, then it's drifting in front of us?
> ...Well, maybe we can just steer (no pun intended) it away from the human village, if it's going to ignore us.
> Keep trying to pull up on its right, curving our flight path as needed.
> Keep going, with a little bit of speeding up.
> Raise our voice some.
> "What, is that it? After all that? Rage and destruction and now you're going to run away like a coward?"
> Keep following it.
> "Come on now, there's no need to run away. I'm willing to drop all this if you are."
> "C'mon. Please?"
> Are we still feeling the massive amounts of fear and desperation we felt a few minutes ago with this thing now actively trying to avoid us?
> How far away are we from the part of the field where we became vaguely aware we no longer held the sword?
> Great. Gotta get back to it.
> Keep on getting the beast here to circle around. Eventually we'll be headed back the way we came!
> Wait, it stopped moving entirely?
> Are we anywhere particularly notable?
> "Maybe you want to get back inside the sword? How about that?"
> Grr.
> "Hey! I order you to stop right now!"
> As long as it's no longer turning, speed up and approach it from the side.
> Let's keep going in the hopes that we can actually get ahead of it.
> y u no irc
> While still moving forward, start drifting directly in front of its face, though don't drift our way across where its horns are pointing. Be wary of any sudden head swings or other movements that would signal a horn attack.
> Hold out a hand, off of the trident (so the trident is only being held in one hand now), toward the beast with an open palm out to signal 'stop'.
> Move along with it. If it slows down, slow down ourselves.
> Keep in front of it while sheathing the trident again.
> Take on a calmer tone of voice.
> "Hey, come on now. Let's stop."
> Where are we?
> "You ready to calm down now?"
> Put our hand down and wait a couple of seconds.
> If it doesn't seem to react, slowly start to float toward it.
> Take on a soothing tone.
> "Hey, hey, c'mon. It's all right."
> Keep on slowly floating toward it. Maybe we'll back it up all the way back to where the sword was. That would be nice.
> "Look. The sword is gone."
> Open up our hands with palms pointed upward.
> "See?"
> What is to the east from here?
> Are we a minute's flight away from the village?
> Fly over the beast, back toward the site of our first conflict.
> Once we have made our way entirely to the other side of the beast, check in on what it's doing.
> 'Close' is acceptable. There are sufficiently many skilled combatants in the village right now that it's hardly defenseless.
> Pick up our speed to the fastest we can manage and make our way all the way back to the fight site. Turn our head back to check in on the beast every so often.
> Would it still be headed to the human village at this rate? If not, what's north of its current position?
> Look around the battlefield for the sword.
> Go over and pick the sword back up.
> Makes sense. We weren't having ridiculous egotistical thoughts after the beast came out.
> Sheathe the sword, then go over to the umbrella, pick it up, and close it up.
> Take to the air again. What is the beast doing?
> Make our way after it again at a good clip.
> We can ache later. Gotta keep this thing out of the village.
> Keep going after it. When we start getting close, take a flight path that would put us close to it, but between it and the village.
> Watch it go for a couple of seconds, then turn and head toward the human village. Make for the Tavern specifically, but glance back every few seconds to make sure the beast doesn't change its mind.
> Make our way toward her.
> Stop.
> "What what?"
> Give ourselves a quick visual inspection.
> "You mean the giant red beast to the west? And I hope you do, because that at least tells me it's not a product of my imagination."
> Unsheathe the sword, then point back at the beast with the umbrella.
> "Anyway, that thing..."
> Raise the sword a bit (in a non-threatening manner).
> "...was in this thing. I would love to tell you it's some embodiment of evil, but right now it seems to want to avoid me more than anything else. Which I'm not going to complain about, given ten minutes ago it tried repeatedly to gore me, trample me, and scare me out of my sanity, and I'm pretty sure it broke something when it did manage to stomp on me once."
> Frown.
> "She ran away? Where did she go? I wanted her and her group here just in case while I or we figure out how to deal with this thing."
> Shake our head.
> "And here I went toe-to-toe with that thing while it beyond pissed at me specifically. I'm going to knock the heads of those two together something fierce when this is all over. Anyway, at least you're still here. Can I assume your teacher friend knows about this thing? And is Alice still around?"
> Put a hand to our forehead.
> "This day just keeps getting better. All right. I don't know how much time we have. This thing doesn't seem malevolent right now, but there's no guarantee it won't change moods, so let's make this quick. You get Keine, I'll get Byakuren, we both grab any other Buddhists or puppeteers we might wander by in our tasks, and then meet up at the pub with Mamizou where I can dump info and we can decide on an action plan. Sound reasonable?"
> Drop the hand.
> "Great. See you there."
> Fly on over to the Temple at a decent clip.
> Near is okay.
> Enter the Temple, place our shoes as appropriate, and make our way back to the room where Byakuren was sleeping.
> Move over to her and gently shake her while taking on a soft voice.
> "Byakuren, wake up."
> "We have a serious issue. Not a lot of time to explain. Please, come to the tavern with me. We'll meet Mokou and others there. You'll probably see the issue for yourself along the way."
> "The problem is outside the village. I'm hoping we can come up with the solution at the tavern. We should hurry."
> Head back down to the front room, put our shoes back on, and exit the Temple.
> "Yep, there you go."
> Start making our way toward the tavern.
> "Is everyone else down in the Clinic?"
> "Figured. Oh well, we'll make do. The quick version is that that thing over there came out of this sword here. For a while it hated my guts and tried to kill me in some really messy fashions. Now it's actively avoiding me and not really doing anything malevolent, which is why I've taken the opportunity to get some extra heads together here in the village."
> "Yeah. Obviously we need to figure out how to either get that thing back inside the sword or just kill it off completely. While it was inside the sword, it put really nasty thoughts in the wielder's head, mine included. It almost had me spill blood in the Temple. Thankfully, I still had enough of myself to take the conflict elsewhere."
> "I don't, sadly. I know someone who might, and they're at the tavern, but it's an extreme long shot. This sword actually comes from an entirely different continent. A place called Avalon. Maybe you've heard of it?"
> "Well, let's get in and see what we have to work with."
> Enter the tavern.
> Do we remember which celestial it is? We did get a couple of names yesterday...Was this Yuli, maybe?
> "That'd be ideal, yeah."
> Look over at the celestial.
> "Yuli, was it? Would you like to come with us?"
> Nod to Mokou, then turn back to Yuli.
> "If you have instructions to wait for Tenshi, then that's fine. We'll make do. Back in a bit."
> Exit the tavern, take flight, and begin pursuit of the beast.
> "Right. But if anyone needs any further details about Edmund, it might be easier to leave that to you."
> "Anyway, I'll start from the beginning, because there's varying degrees of backstory to all this and I've lost track of what I've told who at this point. I think we all know at this point that Rinnosuke took everyone's money and replaced it all with gems yesterday. He did this through some bizarre pseudofaith power; he's so out of his gourd on the subject of equality and economy that there are things he believes that normally aren't true but now are just because he believes them so hard. Consultation with Patchouli and a mountain goddess named Shizuha revealed that such a force can be counteracted with another faith, one that naturally cancels out the first one. Since Rinnosuke is obsessed with equality, I figured the natural counteracting faith would be a faith in inequality."
> Unsheath the sword and hold it in front of us in a non-threatening position.
> "Which leads me to this. I first discovered my two broken pieces of sword were not your average blade when they instilled a bizarre dream of megalomania in me last night. I was a rather harsh and demanding ruler of all the oni underground, even going so far as to make the Devas kneel. There were powers at work within this sword that guided me to a remote part of the forest here in Gensokyo, where I ended up accidentally ripping a hole in the side of reality or something and popping out on another continent entirely."
> Gesture toward Mamizou.
> "This strange place is the home of the sword. As sheer dumb luck would have it, it's also the home of my long-lost friend Mamizou here, which is why she's with us now. Anyway, this sword used to belong to a real shithead of a tyrant. Guy was named Edmund. He was known for his ruthlessness, his intimidation, his self-centeredness and his lust for greater power. The person that told the story of Edmund told me it was said that Edmund never prayed, for doing so would acknowledge a being higher than him. At this point, I realized that this was probably the faith I needed; I'd beat Rinnosuke and his equality over the head with my belief in my own inherent superiority. With the dream it had planted in my head and the other sensations I had been feeling from it, I figured it would have to be the medium for that belief to be bestowed upon me, so I had it fixed up there and came back here once that was done."
> "Now, I ran into Eirin before finally making my way back to the village, where Rinnosuke was out unconscious after I beat him down in the basement of his own shop earlier. Eirin pointed out that there was a distinct characteristic to the power inside this sword, one that wasn't necessarily malicious, but was definitely devoid of kindness. I ended up going back to the Temple with it and pulling it out there after waking Rinnosuke back up. Let me tell you, Eirin was right on the nose. The thing...planted ideas in my head, tried to skew my thought processes. I got more and more annoyed with Rinnosuke for his insolence and arrogance, for not knowing his place. I knew I had to let the sword keep going, because I needed its superiority faith to take Rinnosuke's equality faith down. I also noticed a presence in the room, that was distinctly not happy with him. He ended up trying to goad me into attacking him, bringing violence to the Temple, and the sword was all set to grant his request, but I did manage to calm it down, and ended up leaving the Temple, though not before thinking about hurting Mr. Kirisame first, just for being too familiar with me despite not being a follower of Myouren."
> "Rinnosuke more or less followed me out of the Temple and we headed south, with me having to suppress desires to attack Tenshi for asking dumb questions. Eventually we left the village entirely and had our faith battle after a good deal of talking and taunting. He was stubborn and threatened me to the end, but all this threats did was anger me and the presence, which just furthered my corrupted resolve. Eventually I felt his will...shatter, as if it were a fragile crystal dropped on a marble floor. It was a very interesting sensation, if horrifying in retrospect. He's been lying, seemingly braindead, on the road south of the village near the edge of the forest. I was all set leave him there, but then the sword demanded I kill him, and that's where we started having true issues and I really started fighting back. After a truly frightening internal back-and-forth, eventually I told it to bugger off and stabbed it into the ground to let go of it, but all that did was make it really mad with me instead."
> Point the sword in the direction of the beast.
> "And then the air was red and attacking me, and suddenly that thing showed up. I'm reasonably positive it was the force inside the sword, because the sword felt like a normal sword ever since that thing appeared, and it appeared with the desire and intent to kill me as messily as it could. The eyes practically burned fear into my head. I've never felt anything like it. That thing managed to stomp on me with one of its hooves, so I'm fairly sure I'm not still all in one piece, but at least I'm going, and it has yet to gore me on one of those horns despite repeated attempts."
> "The most curious thing is its current behavior. I was all set to have a heart attack from the terror, but I had remembered that, in the story of Edmund, he conquered many lands through a show of force, but when one particular army had their backs against the wall as a result of Edmund's brilliant tactical maneuvering, they just kept on pressing the offensive, and Edmund's army completely collapsed despite having a major advantage. Between that and the sword wanting me to kill a broken and practically lifeless man to set some bizarre example, I realized that the sword's power, or the beast's power, I guess, appeared to be little more than intimidation tactics. So I stood up to it like that army did Edmund. I fought back as best I could. Didn't quite stab it in the eye like I wanted to, but I came damn close, and it was shortly after that near miss that its attitude changed completely. Now, instead of wanting me dead with the burning passion of a thousand suns, it seems to want to actively avoid me. I try to get near it and it speeds up. I get in front of it, and it stops, turns around, and tries to go back the other way. I think it's unsure of itself now that someone has directly stood up to it, and may simply want to be left alone, or at least kept away from me."
> "The problem is that I'm not sure what to do from here. We need to be rid of this thing SOMEHOW, but I've no idea how. Which is why I came back to the village instead of dealing with the zonked-out sack of merchant lying on the road, or trying to stab it in the eye again. I'm hoping someone may have an idea I might have overlooked, or, at the very least, maybe we can use numbers to confuse it by surrounding it and giving it nowhere to go to get away."
> The portal to Avalon wasn't in this direction, was it?
> Shake head.
> "No clue. The place where we crossed over is south of here, and I can't imagine it has any interest in the Sanzu River. I almost have to wonder if it's just wandering around like any normal ox would if it found itself in an open field."
> "The man from Avalon didn't get much into those kinds of details. He never even mentioned a giant red ox. Given it only showed up when I told it to piss off, I'd guess no one in Avalon ever actually saw it because I doubt Edmund ever summoned it if it didn't come up ay any point. He did say, though, that the language on the weapon was 'Cornish', which would probably match Edmund's home lands of Cornwall. He did also say Edmund was one of many potential suitors to the lands throne when the previous rule was fading out, and apparently started his preparation to have everyone else eliminated really early on. Don't know if he had the sword then or not, though. He might have had it made for himself, or he might have found it and had it later engraved."
> "You mean in how they tend to act, or how they tend to be dealt with?"
> Pause for a moment.
> "...You think maybe that's what this thing is? Edmund believed himself superior so hard that he manifested this thing?"
> "You think it made the sword, the beast, or both? Or do you not think it matters?"
> "Felt like a plain ol' sword ever since our big red buddy here showed up."
> "So I probably can't kill it by stabbing it in the eye. Or maybe even at all. But what could we do about it, then? Would it go away if everyone just started ignoring it?"
> "So we can beat it by being non-violent toward it?"
> "Yeah, that would corroborate with what it made me feel both before and after it left the sword. But even if it's going to run away from me, we obviously can't leave it alone to go find other people to intimidate."
> "I wonder if it could be sealed in the sword again."
> "That's a good question. When I was first in the Temple, it told me that it could come out to attack Rinnosuke, but only if I wanted it to be free. In retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't think I needed it then. It only came out on its own after its attitude toward me changed for the worse. Maybe it wouldn't have the guts to try it again, now that I've demonstrated to it that I won't take its crap."
> "Seems so. But I think it might be even more than that. It could have come out when Edmund was winning battles to help reinforce the examples he was setting, or it could have come out when he was losing battles to help turn the tide. It could have come out after the sword was reforged, just to be free again after who knows how long the sword had been broken. Or it could have come out to gore Rinnosuke in the Temple, just to give him what the beast felt he deserved. But it didn't. It only came out after I told it to bugger off and put the sword down. Any of those other instances, by themselves, they may have situational explanations. But to never come out in any of them? I wonder if it may have only been able to come out on its own because it was so angry with me, the one who was wielding the sword. I'd guess that was the first time someone had ever told it off. If it was put back in, maybe it wouldn't be able to come back out unless angry with its owner."
> "Wouldn't surprise me. But beyond getting back in the sword somehow and shattering the thing again, I have no clue what to do. I'm hardly an expert on oppressive European gods that take animal forms."
> "Haven't yet. I only just got it back. I dropped it at some point during our fight. I think it was when the beast stepped on me."
> Frown.
> "Is my back ripped up that badly?"
> Chance a look over our shoulder behind us, to see what damage we can see.
> Goddamnit.
> Turn back around.
> "That's going to be sore tomorrow morning."
> "Yeah, let's. Just remember, if this thing gets aggressive, stand up to it. It likes to take you out of the air by running past you really fast, or goring you or stomping on you if you're in range."
> "That would be ideal. But letting it run away is not going to accomplish anything, so I get the feeling we're going to need to surround it to do anything."
> Shrug.
> "Anyone here have any experience with defeating gods?"
> "Then it sounds like we're feeling this out as we go, unless Reimu is back from Makai yet."
> "Guess we get to be heroes, then."
> "Only one idea left, beyond surrounding it and boring it into submission. I tried talking to it to get it to calm down. I never really got any response out of it. In retrospect, though, and operating under the assumption that it is indeed a god byproduct of Princey's overactive imagination, that makes sense."
> Look to Mamizou specifically.
> "This thing may not understand Japanese."
> Turn to the hakutaku.
> "If you have any ideas of your own, I'd be glad to hear them."
> "Then I think it's worth a shot. Not like I have any better ideas beyond what's been discussed."
> Turn back to Mamizou with a grin.
> "Don't worry. If you really want to, you can hide behind me the whole time."
> What do we know of Yuuka?
> "Then we find another plan that does. I don't care if I have to lead the thing in circles while everyone else scours the countryside for a shrine maiden. I don't deal with gods regularly. It sounds like none of us do. So if anyone here actually wants a foolproof plan, they can run away now and find someone that can produce one, because it sure as shit ain't coming from this group."
> "Oh. That's easy. It'll turn away from me and we won't be in its path anymore."
> Has Mamizou always been this skiddish?
> How close to the beast are we?
> "All right. Unless someone has any new ideas, I feel personally ready to harass this thing some more."
> "I'd like available folks to play goalie, actually. When I get in front of this thing, it's going to try to get away from me. I want see what it does when it can't escape."
> "Here we go. Don't get gored."
> Pick up speed and head toward the beast's front.
> Maneuver our position to stay in front of it in its path.
> "Try to greet it, or something."
> Smile and wave at it.
> "Well, this is annoying. I can't understand that language anymore."
> "No, that's fine. I didn't need to know what you were saying, I suppose."
> Hold the sword out in front of us, pointed upward, while smiling and pointing at the sword with our non-sword hand.
> "C'mon, big guy, you wanna get back in? You wanna do anything at all? Or do you really wanna keep heading toward those flowing fields and get roasted by the youkai that lives there?"
> Look around at the others.
> Take on a more normal tone of voice.
> "Come on, man. You gotta react to something I say or do. Remember me? The one who told you to stuff it after we shattered that merchant's will?"
> Look over to Byakuren.
> "Ball's in your court."
> How speedy and agile are Byakuren's aerial skills?
> Frown and start flying in Byakuren's direction as well.
> Where is Byakuren horizontally relative to the beast? Above? Forehead level?
> Keep heading toward her, but don't speed up just yet.
> "Don't be afraid of it!"
> "If I can do it, you can do it! You're the strongest emotional rock I know!"
> Raise voice.
> "Watch out!"
> "Aim for the eyes!"
> Pursue the beast ourselves. Gotta stay close in case the unthinkable happens.
> Where are we relative to the beast?
> Can we see its eyes?
> Speed up and travel toward its head along its back.
> How close are we to pulling up over its head?
> Is it still whipping its head all over the place in goring efforts?
> Given it seems to be in control of its movements, how rapidly is it swinging its head? Is it taking time to aim strikes where the head is still for a few moments?
> Keep heading toward the top of its head, though not nearly far enough that we'd be hit by a swinging horn. Byakuren only has to hold out for a few more seconds...
> While moving toward the top of its head, flip our grip on the sword so we're holding it in stabbing mode rather than swinging/swordfighting mode.
> Once we get over the top of its head properly, stab down into the top of its head with the sword.
> Retreat! Back down the beast's back a bit!
> We still have the sword, right? Or did dislodging it from the beast's head also dislodge it form our grip?
> Brake our backwards momentum and beeline back in toward its face. Fly toward the eye on our right side. If we lost the sword earlier, unsheath the trident while doing this.
> Keep moving forward at the same clip, and angle ourselves a bit upward as well.
> After about a second and a half of upward movement, dive back down (while still moving forward). Hopefully we ultimately end up close to eye level: if/when an eye comes into ourrange, stab at it with the sword.
> Here's hoping it's danmaku fire.
> Press the offensive! Pursue its head wherever it jerked to, and swing the sword at its nose. Unless we find ourselves in range of an eye, in which case, stab at the eye again instead.
> Keep following and try stabbing the nose instead.
> Keep speeding upward, since our momentum is moving us in that direction anyway. As long as it's passing under us, it won't be able to come at us if we're too high.
> Look back down. Who's going where and doing what?
> Where did Mamizou vanish to?
> Fly over to Byakuren.
> "You okay?"
> "That's fine. I'm sorry for putting you in a spot like that. I didn't think it would go rapid-fire with its swings, it didn't do that to me earlier."
> Shake head.
> "Not a clue. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe we should just let it make its way to Yuuka's fields and let her deal with it."
> "Then maybe she'd help if asked politely. Can't imagine she escaped money concerns."
> "Feeling fine, aside from annoyed that I'm well and truly out of ideas."
> "Yeah, it still doesn't want anything to do with me. But that doesn't get it to go away entirely."
> "I basically asked it if it wanted to get back in the sword, or react appreciably to anything I was saying. I'm not sure it understands any language."
> "I tried ordering it around earlier and nothing happened. I can try again, I guess, but I don't have much confidence it will work."
> Put on a thoughtful face.
> "Maybe if I really yelled at it?"
> How far away is the beast?
> "Might as well give it a shot then, I guess. Let's go, but no one else needs to get closer than they feel comfortable getting."
> Speed back off toward the beast.
> Come up alongside its right.
> Alter our flight path to cut across over to its back, then fly up its back toward its head.
> Stop moving forward, turn around and drop down a bit so we're facing it properly.
> Hold the sword in front of us and take on a commanding tone.
> "Okay. You are going to get back in this sword. That is an order."
> Tosses it's head? Like just-being-an-animal toss, shaking-head-no toss, or trying-to-gore-us-again toss?
> As long as it doesn't actually try to gore us again.
> Raise voice a little bit and point the sword at the beast.
> "Hey! I told you to get your ass in the sword. Now do it!"
> Retreat! Bolt backward a little bit.
> Given their path, would they have hit us had we stayed still?
> Fly back in toward the beast and point the sword at it.
> "Knock it off! Get back in this sword!"
> Hey, this worked earlier. Try to send our force of will through the sword at the beast. This thing has caused us so much aggravation, messing with our head, trying to trick us into letting it out inside the Temple, trying to get us to kill a broken man, trying to gore us, trample us, and run us over, and then trying to gore Byakuren! And now it goes between ignoring us and trying to step on us some more? If it's going to act like a bully, it can be treated like a bully! It needs to sit the fuck down and listen to us! It needs to get back in the sword, so it can be dealt with as it deserves!
> Bank to the right while still maintaining our forward momentum. After a second and a half, bank back to the left.
> "I'm not going away until you get back in this sword!"
> Keep moving in. We are the dominant one here, not this cowardly product of someone's overactive imagination.
> "Get back in it!"
> If we get close enough to the beast's face, slash away at whatever part is closest.
> Stab at the haze. IF the sword passes through it again, keep it in there.
> "You getting back in the sword now?!"
> Then maybe this presence shouldn't try to plant nasty ideas in the minds of others, hmm?
>More distinct. Like what we felt of it before it left the sword?
> Look around. How are the other folks holding up?
> Look, pal, I only did to you what you wanted me to do earlier, and what Edmund did to countless people. Don't dish it out if you can't take it.
> But we can still feel the presence at least, right?
> "Yeah, beyond being confused as all hell. The thing's still here, and it's offended, but now I don't know how to interact with it. Not even sure where it is, if it's just in the air or in the sword or what."
> Sheathe the sword and take our hand off it.
> Blink.
> "Well. Uh. That did it, I think."
> "Huh. I guess that's it's, then. How oddly anticlimactic."
> Give a small grin and a thumbs-up in Mokou's direction.
> "I made a living off of 'nearly' after 'nearly'. I know how to avoid real disaster."
> "Just makes the story all the greater to tell. So do we want to find a shrine maiden that can do something about this sword?"
> "Eirin's at Kourindou, yeah. Patchouli's there too. They're arguing intellectual nonsense while occasionally devoting some effort into solving the problem of how to physically swap everyone's money back. It's kind of funny to watch, to be honest. Someone needs to head back that way anyway, Rinnosuke's kinda sorta not in the waking world right now and is just lying there on the road where anything can get at him."
> Nod.
> "Works."
> Turn to Byakuren.
> "What about you? You gonna head back to the village, or you gonna come with us?"
> "All right. We all set, then?"
> "We could all go back there now, really. I want to leave a message for Tenshi."
> "Let's go, then. I'm counting on all of you to carry me back into town as a hero if I collapse in mid-air."
> Fly back to the tavern.
> "Yeah, things'll be fine. When Tenshi gets back, can you tell her I'm looking for her? I'm heading to Kourindou. She'll know where that is. If I don't see her by the time my business there is done, I'll be headed back this way."
> "Great. Catch you later."
> Head back out of the tavern.
> "That'll be it for here, then."
> "He's on the way. Let's go."
> Take flight and head back down to the prior battlefield.
> "Yeah. As disturbing as being evil-me was, it was preferable to being him."
> Marisa, maybe? Though she's not exactly small...
> Let them approach.
> Oh. Huh. Wonder why she's here? Maybe the deity in the sword threw a bitch fit and it alerted the other gods in the area.
> "Oh hey, a guest has arrived."
> Wave to her as she approaches.
> "I think so. I'm not sure, I'm not exactly an expert on how gods work. But we're pretty sure it's back in the sword, however offended it may be right now. And back in the sword is a notable improvement over not back in the sword and trampling its way toward Yuuka's fields."
> "Avalon, in Europe or wherever. Got Yukari pretty peeved by getting there from here. She's closing the hole as we speak."
>"Yeah."
>"Anyways, I've actually been trying to talk to you and/or Kanako since all this started. What was used for the change was an energy quite similar to that of faith, and it was thought that an act of faith could undo what Rinnosuke here did. I think, though, that I managed to find another way to take care of that. I would like you to tell the tengu that they need to stop being douchebags, though."
>"Anyways, as it just so happens, I have a question for you: what exactly is that thing Sanae's been flying around in?"
> Give a small grin.
> "Just returning the favor from the first time she almost ran me over."
> "Anyway."
> Look down at the hilt of the sword.
> "What's to be done with this? I have no real attachment to it now that Happy the Salesman over there had his mind broken. Do you want it?"
> Shrug.
> "I dunno. I just want it in the hands of someone that knows how to deal with it better than me before it gives entire villages more collective heart attacks. Why isn't is long for this world, though?"
> "So what do we do with it? Just hide the sword somewhere until it vanishes?"
> "Sure thing."
> Unsling the sword.
> "Could I maybe have the sword back when you're done, though? I think it'd make a neat souvenir of all this."
> "Sounds good."
> Hand the sword over.
> "Thanks. You're saving the area a lot of undeserved terror."
> "So Eirin and Patchouli are hard at work arguing with each other in the Kourindou basement. I don't suppose you have any ideas for how to make the process of undoing the money/jewel exchange go faster so they can stop being distracted by the task at hand and get back to arguing?"
> Blink.
> Check our purse for gems.
> Look back at Suwako and blink again.
> "Remind me to never piss you off."
> "Oh, it did? Did shattering his will do it?"
> "Wow. Neat."
> Frown.
> "But that means I missed the reaction in the Kourindou basement when it happened. And I'm sure it was fantastic."
> Sigh.
> "One last middle finger from him in my direction, I guess."
> "I kinda raged at him through the sword with the beast primal thingy in it, and after enough mental pushing his will just sorta shattered."
> Grin.
> "Oh, you have no idea. It's a grand tale of an asshole and his unwarranted self-importance that comes to the most appropriate conclusion possible of getting killed by a justice-hearted moron with a giant axe."
> "Wouldn't surprise me."
> "So, uh, I should probably let you know, since you're from the mountain at all, and you mentioned pets earlier. It looks like Patchouli's assistant is going to keep a pet tengu that she has tied up on the floor of Kourindou. In case that matters to mountain business."
> Frown.
> "She can't, like, exchange her current tengu for another one, can she? Because she absolutely has her heart set on a pet tengu, but Hatate deserves a bit better than domestication. Could she get Aya instead, maybe?"
> "Fine, fine. Anything you'd like to know, as long as you're here? I've asked most of the question, and you're right, it is a bit of a trip."
> "It's mostly other idle curiosities at this point, I guess, but they're things you may know, so okay. I don't suppose you know how far along Yukari is in repairing that hole in the side of reality?"
> "Well, that's good. Hmm. I suppose you wouldn't know where Tenshi ran off to...What about Iku and her little ghost buddy? Are they still around?"
> "Know where she might be?"
> Nod.
> "All right."
> Turn to Mamizou.
> "Anything you want to know, about all this or just Gensokyo in general? There aren't very many that have the opportunity to develop a viewpoint like Suwako's."
> Nod.
> "Awesome, thanks. I may actually head up there later. I feel like I could rib Sanae a little bit about her flying machine."
> "Great. I think I'm all set, then. Thanks for your help with our big red buddy there. Hope he's nicer to you than he was to us."
> "That seems to be the going theme for him. More of a bully than an actual fighter."
> "Give him my regards when you deal with him."
> "I think I'm out of questions, then, if you have business to attend to."
> Nod.
> "Glad to be of service."
> Did Byakuren and Mokou disappear yet?
> Turn to Mamizou.
> "Let's go pop in on the folks in the shop."
> Take flight and head into the Forest of Magic, toward Kourindou.
> Head toward the store.
> When we get close, say "It's me!"
> Enter!
> Make our way to said back room.
> What the...
> Didn't Shizuha say something about being of leaves or some such?
> Head downstairs.
> Oh, right, the books.
> ...Wonder what happened to the book that made the pearl that we dropped in Patchouli's concoction. Or the one whose red spinet is in Avalon.
> Try to make our way inside the room to look for people. Someone might have been buried in there.
> Is there enough room for us to turn around on the spot without scraping our wings against piles of paper?
> "Holy shit."
> "All right, I'll see what I can do."
> Make our way through the rest of the tunnel gingerly. Don't want to catch the wings again.
> Give a low whistle.
> Turn all the way around on the spot. Keep an eye out for Patchouli. Float if we feel the paper start to give.
> Did Mamizou make it in?
> Complete the full turnaround, if we haven't already, then make our way to Eirin.
> Bend down so we're on one knee next to her head - ideally avoiding as much back-bending as we can - and begin clearing papers away from it.
> "Uh, I promise I had no idea things would work out like this."
> Surprising that no one noticed our back enough to say something. Maybe it isn't THAT bad after all?
> "Did it just happen all at once?"
> Frown.
> "Well, I guess that's a pretty stupid question, given I can't imagine you'd be caught like this if it trickled in."
> "Sure. What's your dominant hand, and are they to your sides or in front of you?"
> Maneuver ourselves a bit forward and to our left (her right), then resume digging through the paper.
> "Good thing Alice made it back here. We in the town didn't know where she vanished to."
> Raise an eyebrow in Eirin's direction, but keep silently digging.
> Lower our voice to the same volume.
> "Huh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense, from what I remember of being down here earlier."
> "Don't worry, it's fine. Sorry this isn't the view it was an hour ago, I know how much you liked it."
> "Where the hell did he get all this, anyway?"
> "If this is what he's been doing with stuff she's been giving him, I wonder what she'll have to say to him after he regains sentience."
> "Yeah."
> Gently jerk our head back in the direction of the doorframe.
> "You remember me taking off for south of town after I left you at the tavern? We had a little meeting of the minds in the field. He lost when his shattered. Pretty much a veggie right now. Would still be lying there on the ground if Byakuren didn't pick him up and take him somewhere."
> Stand up properly in an appropriately ginger fashion to avoid making our back madder than we have to.
> While standing up, give a small dismissive handwave.
> "He'll be fine. Suwako wasn't concerned, so I'm not concerned."
> "Given the circumstances, I would be very surprised if he did it again. And yeah, Suwako showed up after I put the giant red ox back down where it belonged. I don't envy what it has in store; I imagine what I did to it pales in comparison to what she's capable of doing to it should it act up."
> "Oh, Alice didn't tell you about the giant red ox? I assumed that was why she left the village."
> Look around at the scattered papers before returning focus to the group.
> "Mmm. I suppose with the circumstances...well, it is what it is. Anyway. There was a primal god of oppression in that sword. It helped me shatter Rinnosuke's will, but then it tried to get me to kill him, so I told it to bugger off. Didn't take too kindly to that and came out of the sword on its own. We had a couple of playful little tussles before I yelled at it to get back in the sword hard enough that it actually did. Suwako has it and the sword now, and she knows a hell of a lot more about it and its nature than I ever well, so that sounds like the best place for it."
> "Yeah, I think everything is all set."
> Look over at Petite.
> "Except for your apparent lack of a pet tengu, since I didn't see one upstairs. Sorry about that."
> "Looks like it, unless you hid her somewhere. Probably for the best, though. Suwako said there would be another incident if you tried to keep her."
> Do we still have Alice's umbrella?
> Who presently owns the second tiger umbrella, assuming Mystia possesses the first?
> "They sell umbrellas at Shou's, if you need another one."
> "A shame. Oh! Speaking of Shou's umbrellas, where did Mystia end up?"
> Frown.
> "She isn't now...huh."
> How far along is the Eirin-unearthing process?
> Look back toward the doorway.
> "...Do you lot mind if I investigate upstairs?"
> "All right."
> Turn back around and make our way to the doorframe tunnel.
> Head back upstairs.
> Once we've reached the top...
> "Mystia? You here?"
> Look around. Anything unusual?
> If not, head back out to the front room and look around for any signs of a recent scuffle.
> Head back downstairs to, but not through, the tunnel.
> Head through the tunnel. Careful of the back!
> "Looks like they're both gone. The rope and gag are just lying there on the ground. Wouldn't surprise me if they both left at the same time, given the litany of potential reasons why."
> "For these functional purposes, yeah. But I still want to go out and find her once we're done here."
> "Oh. Well. Yeah, I guess. As long as it doesn't take too long, since our Avalon clock is still ticking."
She was with Petite and Alice when the papers spawned. If she got buried by papers it's because she dug herself into them somehow.
> How would we go about slipping down the back of our dress? Preferably not just taking it off entirely.
> "Mamizou should probably stay."
> Look over at Mamizou.
> "Unless you feel like wandering around."
> "Oh. Yeah, that'll be fine. Let me know if you find anything interesting."
> Look around the swaths of papers. Anywhere that looks like it wouldn't be really uncomfortable to lie on?
> Head over to that hill and angle ourselves so we'd be facing the tunnel if we lay down on our stomach on it.
> Give people a chance to at least get in the tunnel, then lie down on our stomach and unbutton and slip down our dress as instructed earlier.
> "The giant ox I mentioned stepped on me pretty hard."
> Brace ourselves for impact.
> "Lovely. Stupid git getting mad at me for not wanting to be brainwashed. Hope it has fun with Suwako."
> "So what did and Patchouli disagree about regarding that sword? Because whatever you thought about it, I'd wager you were right. That was some disturbing stuff."
> "Oh boy. I bet that went over well with her."
> Chuckle a bit.
> "Yeah, I can see that."
> Redress ourselves and get up.
> "I suppose it's all perception in the end."
> "Then fuck 'em."
> Take the thing and drink it.
> Hand the bottle back over.
> "Jeez, I need to come topside more often if you got stuff like this here. Would make it easier to go roughhouse with the oni, at least."
> "Yeah, but you could make a killing with it."
> Frown.
> "Oh goddamnit, I'm turning into Mamizou."
> "Hey, hey, hey. I'm the joker here."
> "I don't think so. Give Tewi my regards, if you're going home."
> "Great."
> Gesture to the tunnel.
> "You fixed me up, so you get first outs."
> Let her pass all the way through. Keep an ear out for any unusual noise, as well as when she gets to the stairs.
> Take a look around while waiting.
> "Mystia? You in here? Try to make any kind of noise you can if you're buried."
> Do we remember where her house is? We were there this morning, after all.
> Make our way through the tunnel (mindful of the back), up the stairs, and back outside.
> Pull out Alice's umbrella.
> "Yeah. I feel a lot better, aside from the realization that you're turning me into a moneygrubber. Find anything good?"
> Shrug.
> "I'm not going to pretend to know what he's been thinking for the past...however long he's been alive, but especially these last two days. Not our concern now, though. Did you happen to meet Mystia earlier? I need to swing by her house, so I need to know if you'll be introduced or not."
> "Good. More new people is better. Mystia's a good'un, she's been a pretty big help throughout this whole process, and she can get into a quality skull-smashing attitude when angry enough. You wouldn't know it just from looking at her, though. Come on with me, I've wanted to see how she'd react to getting her money back ever since I ran into her yesterday."
> Assuming no objections from Mamizou, take flight a little bit off the ground (so as to avoid mud) and head toward Mystia's house.
> Hope it's Mystia and not her little helper that she mentioned earlier.
> Head into the stand.
> Shake head.
> "Don't worry about her, she wasn't the one that deserved to be bound and gagged anyway. I'm just checking in to make sure you're all right, since I was slightly worried she managed to do something to you on her way out when we couldn't find either of you. Anyway, since you saw all the papers in the basement and appear to be opening soon, I'm going to assume you've noticed the good news."
> Nod.
> "For the best. I'll be sure to conveniently forget you said that if I'm ever around Petite again."
> "If you're opening again soon, does that mean you're going to chase down your helper beforehand?"
>"An old friend, one I hadn't seen for a long time. I ran into her while I was out getting the sword fixed."
>Introduce them.
>"Nah, I don't really do that now. It kind of got the oni angry with me, and pissing off a city of oni is not an experience I care to repeat, thank you very much."
> Turn back to Mystia.
> "Anyway, don't sell yourself short. I might still be looking for Tewi if you hadn't been there last night."
> "All right, well, if you're fine and you think your helper buddy will return just fine, I'll leave you be to restart your business."
> Nod.
> "Same to you, whenever you're in the mood for some alcohol."
> "Shouldn't be a problem once you get to the city proper. Just watch out for Kisume. Lives near the entrance to the cave and likes mugging people."
> "All right, you take care of yourself. Good luck with the grand reopening."
> Assuming no objection from either present party, take flight, cresting the canopy as necessary (make sure the umbrella doesn't get wrecked!), and start heading toward Turtle House.
> "One last stop before we should go meet up with Byakuren again. Since Alice isn't around, it's the perfect time for your to meet the outer world kids."
> Frown.
> "Well, damn. Guess they aren't here."
> "Maybe. They're pretty hardy kids, though. Anyway, let's not waste time getting back to Byakuren."
> Assuming no objection, take flight and begin heading back to the temple.
> On the way there...
> "This might be getting a little ahead of myself, since the Temple is the most important place to visit and you need a proper introduction to Byakuren, but...what do you think of this place? Giant red oxen aside, of course."
> "I can imagine it so. At this point, though, I'm pretty used to the mingling, so maybe it just doesn't register as much with me as it would have long ago. It's certainly preferable to how things used to be, though."
> "Sorry about it being rushed, by the way. Circumstances didn't allow for a proper tour, unfortunately. I'm glad for what little we got, at least."
> "Anyway, hopefully we'll have the time to hit up the underground after we're done at the Temple, since you still haven't visited the tavern yet. Would be a shame if your decision was forced before you got a chance to see the house."
> Continue on to the human village.
> That's a marked improvement over earlier!
> Land outside the village and proceed into the streets on foot.
> "Oh, right. Before we head to the Temple..."
> Head back into the tavern.
> Walk over to Mokou with a grin. Try to sneak a peek at Iku's booth buddy on our way by.
> Once we get to the counter...
> "All this is a real pleasant sound, isn't it?"
> Have we ever dined here before?
> "Hmm. Not sure, actually."
> Turn to Mamizou.
> "What about you? You want something?"
> What do we normally get?
> "Well, there's more to do in here than I anticipated, so you won't be wasting that much time, if any at all."
> "Of course. But that doesn't tell me what you want."
> Do they?
> If we don't know, ask Mokou.
> "Great. And some rice with vegetables for me, then."
> Pull out 11☼ and place it on the counter.
> Are there any open booths near Iku or Tenshi?
>Let's go sit by Iku.
> Make our way over toward Iku's booth. Give either of the booth's occupants a wave if they look in our direction.
> "Hey there, long time no see. You holding up okay these days?"
> "Oh, right."
> Look over a Mamizou while casually gesturing at Iku.
> "This is Iku. She's one of the important figures in Bhava-Agra, way up in the sky, and is one hell of a dancer. Put on a show for my place last fall. She's also currently refusing to speak, in repentance for sins, I think."
> Look back at Iku with a slight frown.
> "Which I'm pretty sure I'm at least partially responsible for, given some mini-adventures the two of us had with some tengu around the same time."
> Frown.
> "You sure? Because if it was anything before that, I'm pretty sure you should be chalking it up to massive stress, given the situation. If missing money was enough to get me off my duff and travel to another continent, I can't imagine I wouldn't go out of my gourd if I had to go through what you did."
> "Well, all right, if you say so. Or don't say so. Or whatever. You know what I mean."
> Cross our arms.
> "But you should still keep in mind that there are plenty of people around that most likely deserve to have their mouths stapled shut for a while. I know I can certainly think of a few. The world needs more voices attached to people like you, not less. So hurry up and do whatever you need to do to repent as fast as you can so the world can get you back as soon as possible."
> "Anyway, you have impeccable timing, showing up here now when all the commotion is over. I don't suppose you saw the giant red ox?"
> Smirk.
> "Oh, yes, believe me. I'm quite aware that Tenshi saw it."
> "Oh, Tenshi dragged you here? Or did you drag her here after running into her earlier?"
> "Huh. So that's where she went. Looks like she's missing a few of her band, though."
> How is Little Miss Shy doing?
> "You know what happened to the rest of 'em?"
> Inventory
> Oh, we'll need to return that wood to Alice at some point. Make a mental note.
> "Anyway, mind if I check in on Tenshi for a moment? That thing freaked out pretty much everyone."
> "Great."
> Make our way over to Tenshi. Wave if she or another celestial spots us.
> "Hey, no one but me was taking that thing down after it stepped on me."
> "Thanks. Would you believe that thing came out of the sword I had earlier? Seems like it had been there for a while."
> "Maybe. It was a god, though, so it might have been able to do something about the space issue."
> Nod.
> "It was. A god of oppression, made from a really strong belief in self-superiority held by some jackass some years ago. It actually gets in your head, messes with your thoughts, manipulates you into being megalomaniacal and unafraid to spill blood to get to the top."
> Frown.
> "It actually tried to make me want to attack you earlier, outside this place."
> "Hm. You know, you might have something of a chance against that god later. I may have stuck it back in the sword, but it's certainly far from dead. Who knows if it'll get out again or not? Gensokyo could use someone like you to take it out of commission for good."
> "I'll keep that in mind once we're done at the temple. I know where the sword is right now, and I can get you there without a problem. It'd save Gensokyo from further horror, and it'd be a good lesson for your students, too."
> "Sounds like all the more reason to have them watch and learn, then! There's only so many things you can tell a person about melee combat, after all. Some things just need to be seen in action before they'll really sink in."
> "Definitely do. I'm sure you'll come through for us. Anyway, uh..."
> Discretely eye over toward Iku, then look back to Tenshi and lower our voice. Get closer if we need to, so we can be sufficiently quiet that Iku won't hear us.
> "Did you have a chance to get a thing you were looking for?"
> "Hmm. Have you tried getting something for her little buddy? Maybe another mask, or something, since she seems to like those. Iku seems like the type that's happiest when her friends are happy."
>"She does."
> "The point is that you're giving to Iku through giving to Shuuei. Or if you don't want to do that, maybe you could work with her to find something for Iku from the both of you."
> Smirk.
> "Are you doing this to make Iku happy, or just so she'll like you more?"
> Give a low chuckle.
> "Well, whatever. But whatever you think of that ghost, there's no denying she's more important to Iku than Iku herself is."
> Drop the smirk and put on a neutral expression.
> "For what it's worth, I imagine the same could be said of you. If the two of you teamed up, there's no telling what kind of reaction you might get."
> Give another low chuckle.
> "Can't disagree with you there. But it's what makes her happy, so more power to her. Might as well indulge it."
> "Listen. Trust me on this. Byakuren's largely the same way. She doesn't really care all that much about herself in comparison to her friends. She's happy and grateful when you give her stuff or do nice things for her, but nothing makes her happier than to see her friends happy. They're more important to her than anything else. Those kinds of sentiments are how she got where she is. I don't know Iku nearly as well as Byakuren, but I'm willing to be she wouldn't be where she is without those same kinds of sentiments. If you really want to make her happy, make those she cares about happy."
> "Hmm. Tell you what. Would you like to ask Byakuren for advice, maybe? She might know what would be good."
> "She has no problem keeping a secret. And with all due respect, you've been at this for at least a day and a half, and you have nothing to show for it."
> "Look, I'm not gonna stand here and sprinkle pretty words on you that don't amount to anything just because I think you might want to hear them. This is the bare bones situation as I see it right now. I'm trying to help you make the best-informed decision possible. If you want to do this on your own, then that's fine. Tell me now and I'll stop wasting both our times."
> "Then we'll start from the beginning. Do you at least have any specific ideas of your own?"
>"Well, she's not exactly big on material value, so you should look for something that she would find pleasing in some other manner. Has she ever worn any sort of jewelry or anything like that? Because if so, you can use that as a reference."
> "Yeah, understandable. And it would probably be even better if it was reflective of either you or her in some fashion."
> "Hmm. What about a custom-made doll from Alice?"
> "I have Alice on a bit of a tab right now. I could probably lower any price of hers for you."
> "Of course, if I just handed that tav over to you and sent you on your way, there's then the issue of whether or not you'd really want to give something that's really mostly coming from me. So then there's the next important question - how much 'from you' do you want this to be? Is it really okay if I pay for it, or do you think it would be better if it came as a result of your hard work?"
> "Well, which do you think would make Iku happier? Giving her something you yourself were given, or giving her something you earned on your own merits?"
> "All right. And are you willing to put in the work to earn that Alice tab from me?"
> Grin and wink.
> "C'mon, Tenshi. You know you can trust me."
> "How good are you with carpentry?"
> "Fantastic. That makes up the majority of what I was going to ask you. The Prismriver Manor roof has a hole in it because a large rock crashed through it. The Myouren Temple is currently slated to fix it, but if you could take care of it for them, that would be splendid."
> "Great. The other thing is a personal curiosity. You're clearly not Shuuei's biggest fan, but I've never really known her to do anything but be really shy. What gives?"
> Raise an eyebrow.
> "Really? Wow. I didn't think she had it in her. And she even went after Iku verbally? That's...wow."
> "Huh. It's always the ones you least suspect, I guess. Anyway, does all this sound workable to you? You fix that roof hole, I foot the bill for Alice?"
> "Done. Show up at the temple tomorrow, and even if I'm not there someone will be that'll know what needs to be done. I'll be telling them it's a business transaction between the two of us, because it is, so there won't be any questions about why you're doing this."
> "I can swing by Alice's after I'm done at the Temple and just tell her. You can come if you want, it it's not required. Though now you need to make the most important decision - who do you want the doll to be?"
> "You should have a little bit of time for that one. I'm not sure how long we'll be at the Temple, though I'd like it to not be an in-and-out affair. You gonna wait for us here, or you gonna come with?"
> Is the booth next to Iku still unoccupied?
> Nod to Tenshi, then turn to Mokou and point to said unoccupied booth.
> "We'll be heading over there. Perfect timing, really. I think I'm done here for the time being."
> Head over to said table and have a seat on the side that better faces the door.
> Grin.
> "The universe is full of many grand mysteries we mortals weren't meant to comprehend."
> Jerk a thumb to point behind us "through" the booth. Our hand shouldn't be so high as to be seen by those in said booth.
> "I'd wager there's some outside influence at play, though."
> Take a crack at the food.
> "It looked like they didn't have a whole lot of silk, either."
> "And what was up with those houses? There wasn't any paper anywhere."
> "Wow. What a strange place."
> Is Tenshi in earshot? Lower voice if so.
> "She'll probably never admit this while I'm around, but she looks up to me."
> Grab the water glass.
> "And who am I to disappoint my admiring public?"
> Take a drink.
> Smirk.
> "Hey, don't hate, appreciate. Some of us are just that damn good."
> "A celestial, thank you very much. You think she'd still be a celestial if she didn't have some redeeming qualities? Ones besides knowing who the best is, I mean."
> "It just means she has a good eye for mischief. Besides, having everyone admire you is preferable to having everyone but one person admire you."
> Keep poking at that dish.
> "I'll grant that there is a tiny bit more to the sword story. I think you'll find it amusing. It's not fit for anything outside of private consumption, though."
> Drink some more water.
> "I'll let you know on our way to the Temple."
> Is it customary to tip? If so, how much?
> "You about ready to head out? I want to leave one last message, and then I'll be set to leave, and you could probably take what you have left to the Temple."
> "Finish up as you need to. This won't take long."
> Get out of the booth and head back over to Iku's booth again. Position ourselves in a way that'll block Shuuei from being seen from outside the booth, but look at Iku.
> "Hey. Can I bother you for one more moment?"
> "If I can ask the favor, I'd like to know when you've rejoined the land of the noisy. Now I know both you and Tenshi have your own responsibilities up in Bhava-Agra, and it would be hard for us to keep reliable direct tabs on each other."
> Give a small smirk.
> "But I do have friends here in the village, and I'm not a stranger to the place myself. So if you just happen to know anyone that's in the village a lot and could keep my friends or myself updated on your situation, I'd appreciate it."
> "Ah, that's true, she is down here sometimes, isn't she? That would work. Or really anyone that you know that happens to work in the village."
> Shrug with a grin.
> "Not gonna name any specific names. Just whoever's available, y' know."
> "I'll be looking forward to hearing the good news. Take care of yourself."
> Wave back, then head back to our booth with Mamizou.
> "You ready?"
> "Great. Let's head on out. It's about time you got to meet Byakuren properly."
> Give a wave to Mokou, then leave the tavern, opening our umbrella as we step outside.
> Walk toward the Myouren Temple.
> "So about the sword, when Tenshi stopped me in the street. It basically made me want to kill her for being too stupid."
> How many people does it seem to be?
> "It wasn't even insolence. She asked me where I was going and talked about how the sword was really weird, and the thought crossed my mind that she was basically too dumb to be allowed to live."
> Do they look familiar at all?
> "Anyway, that's all over and done. I think at this point I'd be happiest not thinking about who I was while I held that thing."
> Wonder what's up? Maybe people saw her carry Rinnosuke in.
> Let's get closer and listen in.
> Ooh, she might need our help with this.
> Float up above the crowd and wave in her direction.
> "Yeah, I can talk for a bit. How much has been said so far? I only just caught that last stuff."
> Beckon Mamizou to follow us, then float over the crowd to hover by Byakuren's right shoulder.
> "All right."
> Turn to face the crowd. Raise our voice's volume a little to properly address the crowd as needed.
> "Yeah. We're not going to see our big red buddy again. It was a 'primal', a primitive deity. It has been forced back into a sword of foreign make, a sword from which it came in the first place. That sword is currently in possession of one of the goddesses in the shrine at the top of the mountain. Dealing with primals is apparently one of her specialties, and she has the fullest confidence in herself of making sure it doesn't cause any more problems in the short time it has left in this world."
> Frown.
> "I would feel sorry for it if it didn't stomp on me while I fought it earlier. But as things stand, I guess the old adage is true; what goes around comes around. If that ox tries anything funny with the mountain goddess, it's going to be in for a world of displeasure."
> "As for the money issue, the culprit has been taken care of. There's no real nice or delicate way to put this, so I'll just come out with it. The culprit had their will broken on a core level. I tell you this because I did it myself. It's a sensation similar to a crystalline shatter, one I hope no one currently gathered here ever experiences on either end. Me calling the sensation "strange" is extremely charitable, and I'm just the one that gave it. Regardless, the spell that had exchanged everyone's money for those gems was forged in and founded on this person's mind and force of will. It dissolved the instant that will was shattered, something confirmed by the same mountain goddess as before. As far as I know, that person is currently little more than an invalid, and while I'm hoping we can find a way to fix that, it means that the threat to Gensokyo's economy has been eliminated."
> Casually hold up our non-umbrella hand with our palm facing outward toward the crowd.
> "And before anyone asks or gets worried, no, I'm not going to do it again. I can't do it again, to anyone. It was a one-shot deal, and is no longer in my ability."
> "The culprit in question is the only one in Gensokyo capable of the feat, due to the nature of the 'magic' involved, and with their will broken they're not pulling it off again, among other reasons. The librarian of the vampire manor explained to me the general nature of what happened, which I'll try to reproduce as best I can. Basically, this person gained the power to do this through extreme faith in a certain concept coupled with sheer insanity. They spent the vast majority of their life operating under the influence of this faith, and probably most, if not all, of that same time suffering from being out of their gourd. They believe they had found and been able to tap into a certain power of the universe they thought no one else had yet discovered, and building up this power over many years is part of what allowed them to pull off what they did. It is worth noting, though, that they needed some other rather important materials, and the one who previously supplied the culprit with said materials has been made aware of the situation. It is extremely likely they will not deal with the culprit again due to lack of trust, and the materials they supplied were rather unique, so it is extremely unlikely the culprit will get their hands on more of said materials."
> "It is also worth pointing out that the money exchange was a means rather than an end for the culprit, and they required more special materials in addition to Gensokyo's economy to execute their greater plan."
> Scowl while visibly gritting our teeth.
> "This...person had my spellcards stolen in a roundabout scheme to acquire them for themselves. They needed my power to see their plan to completeness. Even ignoring the other reasons that prevent this incident from happening again, it is extremely unlikely to the point of absurdity that they will try the money exchange again if they can't see their plan all the way through to the end."
> Take a visibly tighter grip on the umbrella.
> "And this person will stay the everloving hell away from me for the rest of their lives and pray to as many deities as they can that I someday forget they exist, because if they try to get a hold of my power for their twisted nonsense ever again, I will make them wish I was so merciful as to only break their will a second time."
> Look over at Byakuren.
> "Anything else I should cover? Preferably something that doesn't make my blood boil just from thinking about it."
> Nod.
> "Yeah, I'd like that. See you when you're all set here."
> Turn back to the crowd and flash them a thumbs-up and a small smile.
> "Thanks for bearing with me, folks. You all deserve credit as a group, too; other places around Gensokyo were going completely out of their minds over everything, but you folks did well to maintain your composure."
> Beckon to Mamizou again and head on into the Temple.
> Remove our own shoes and place them where appropriate.
> "Yeah, this place is pretty nice. Byakuren had a good eye, setting up shop here."
> Do we know anything about any relationships between tanukis and kitsunes?
> Raise an eyebrow with a small smirk.
> "Does that mean what it seems to suggest?"
> How measurably close are we to Mamizou?
> Unsheath the trident and gently toss it on the floor to the side.
> "Then we just have to make sure what's about to happen is never made public."
> Put our purse down on the floor next to us.
> "Come on now. When have I ever done that?"
> Leap right at Mamizou and tackle her with a hug!
> Give a good laugh of happiness. After two full days of near-endless aggravation, something finally went well and truly right for us.
> "Oh, but I missed you so! And now you're all mine again!"
> Squeeze back.
> "Hah! As if anything could ever get either of us for good. You know damn well we'll be cheating death itself when the time comes."
> "Of course, of course. Regardless, it doesn't stand a chance against us."
> Pout.
> "Do I have to?"
> Give one last snuggle, then let go.
> "That we will. Like I said, no one finds out it happened."
> Retrieve our purse and trident and put them back where they belong.
> Is Byakuren still talking?
> "Joke's on you, then. I was going to celebrate your return with alcohol regardless."
> "Hey, don't push your luck. I have a business to run, after all."
> "No, not at all."
> Get out of the entranceway so Byakuren can get inside.
> Do they feel any differently from normal?
> If not, say so.
> "I'll ask Hina to take a look. She volunteered to, well, take the curse off my hands once this was all over."
> "Anyway, endless aggravation and excruciating pain aside, this wasn't all bad. Got to meet some new people, got a change to demonstrate how great I really am for the entirety of Gensokyo, and even managed to find someone I thought was gone for good."
> Gesture toward Mamizou.
> "The tanuki here that you worked with earlier is Mamizou Futatsuiwa. I found her in Avalon. She and I go back a really long time. Between my getting sealed for a while and her leaving Japan entirely, neither of us were really sure we'd see each other again. Funny how things like this work out."
> Turn to Mamizou.
> "In case you haven't figured it out by now. Byakuren here is the main reason you would have thought I had gone soft before I got stepped on by the giant ox and came back to yell it into submission."
> Smirk.
> "Unless you'd still like to think I've gone soft, in which case I can ask Suwako if we can borrow the sword for a little while longer."
> Turn back to Byakuren.
> "So what do we do with him now? The people that were still at the shop have vacated the area, since his basement is basically flooded in loose papers and no money. As far as I can tell, we're all done with operations there. But that doesn't fix his current condition."
> "Think Ichiro and Mr. Kirisame can help with that? The latter especially."
> "Right. I was thinking helping restoring him as a person, since I expect that will be harder and take more people."
> "Do we know anyone else that might help? Maybe those that live in the forest?"
> "I can keep an eye out for her, I guess. I'm going back in the direction of Alice's house, and I may also head up the mountain before I head home."
> Shrug.
> "Guess it's to be expected."
> "Should we contact our friends Underground to tell them how things worked out? I'm sure they've already seen for themselves that money has returned, but since the influx of injured oni is likely to slow, they might want to know when they can come home."
> "Do you want it done before I had planned to go back home?"
> "All right. I should also say that they no longer need to fix the Prismriver roof. I've cut a business deal with Tenshi, where she's going to take care of it. We still need to supply her with the materials, though. Would it be possible to have those ready here for tomorrow? I can finance the supplies like I volunteered before, we just need them here."
> "Great. I think that's all the immediately important things."
> "So, if I can ask, where are Rinnosuke and Mr. Kirisame?"
> "So he doesn't know about his former apprentice's current condition yet. I guess that can wait until tomorrow."
> Turn to Mamizou.
> "Is there anything you'd like to know about this place or the people that live here but aren't present right now? With most everything here taken care of, I imagine traveling with Tenshi to Alice's place is the next thing to do, and I know you're not a huge fan of her."
>Hear the sword...it tells us to shank them all!