Keine Quest - Harvest

[Marokuu]

>"I am also interested in the history of the underground city in general, the oni did not seem to know a lot about it from before they themselves arrived."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"Well, there was that Pillar in the city that caught my interest. I've deduced that the text on it is Latin. Unfortunately, I don't have my books with me, so I couldn't translate a portion that started glowing."

Satori stares at you for a moment, her third eye staring at you as well. She sighs. "That is very odd. I do not recognize Latin myself, but from what I could glean, it seems to be... hm. I may have a book that could help you, but I am not sure. There are many books in Chireiden. Even I have not yet had the time to read them all."

>We still have that rubbing, yes?

Why yes, you do. You take out the rubbing, and Satori nods in recognition. "This will certainly make it much easier.

>"I am also interested in the history of the underground city in general, the oni did not seem to know a lot about it from before they themselves arrived."

Satori smiled, leaning forward slightly. "So I noticed. From what I've read, this city was constructed by the earth spiders long ago as a haven for subterranean youkai and earth spirits, and to guard the entrance to the Hell of Blazing Fires. The city was ruled by a very popular subterranean youkai who lived here, once. Somehow, however, she started what would be best described as a civil war... the fallout of that war caused much of the city to become abandoned, and by the end of it, most of the youkai had left. What few youkai remained threw this selfish youkai out of the city and magically forbade her from ever entering it again. It's said that she now spends all her time on a bridge to the city, and that she's never been quite sane since." A smile. "I believe you've met her already?"

She's interrupted from speaking further by the dashing in of a certain kasha, who's carrying in her cart a rather large box marked "BBtea" and next to it, a bucket of clear crystal water and a cloth. "I'm back!" she almost yells, taking the cold water and setting to getting Kogasa a bit colder. Satori gives a relieved smile at the sight of her pet.

(EDIT: I know this isn't really canon, but it's a nice story, okay?)

[Marokuu]

>Take the box. "Thank you kindly, I'll make sure this gets to Akyuu."

>Briefly check on Kogasa to see how she's doing.

>"So earth spiders constructed the city? I can't say I expected that but I guess they weren't very well liked on the surface back then either."

>Reflect on what books we have at home that we think might help with translating the text, maybe they have the same books down here?

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Take the box. "Thank you kindly, I'll make sure this gets to Akyuu."

You take the box with a nod from Satori.

>Briefly check on Kogasa to see how she's doing.

Stepping over to see how Kogasa's doing, you see that she's sweating quite a bit less than before. Rin gives you a playful look. "Still can't trust me, Keine? I've done this before, ya know. This umbrella girl's not the first to fall into Hell."

>"So earth spiders constructed the city? I can't say I expected that but I guess they weren't very well liked on the surface back then either."

Satori nods. "At least, that's what the book says. I can't imagine earth spiders would ever be welcome on the surface, to be honest. Too many people are creeped out by spiders."

>Reflect on what books we have at home that we think might help with translating the text, maybe they have the same books down here?

As you think about the translation books you keep at home, Satori rises from her chair. "Something like that, hm? I may have something for you." She moves around, checking the library in the room before pulling out a dusty book. It's not quite the same as yours, but from the title, it would definitely work. "Might this help you?" Satori asks.

[capt. h]

> "Lets find out."

> Begin translating.

[IdiotsOpposite]

> "Lets find out."

> Begin translating.

The book is actually very helpful. You were really only missing one word, since you know that "Mima" is not a word in Latin. All that requires is to find out what "vocamvs" means, and a quick glance through the book reveals that it is the word "summon", in first person plural, though. All together, this gives you the short sentence "Mima, we summon thee". Not that you know who Mima is, though. Akyu certainly doesn't mention her. If she's something that can be summoned, a magician might know more... a quick glance at Satori, who shakes her head, tells you that she doesn't know either. Sometimes reading minds can be useful.

Meanwhile, Rin has come over, curious, and is reading over your shoulder. "Whoa... now those are some weird symbols," is all you hear her say.

[Hanzo K.]

>"Hmm....This is a mystery."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"Hmm....This is a mystery."

Satori smiles. "A black pillar with glowing words in the middle of a city, with the only known original inhabitant driven insane by her own peers, used to summon... something... yes, I suppose it would qualify as a mystery. Unfortunately, in all the books I've read, there is no mention of a Mima. Nor anything about this pillar, actually. The Oni christen it the Great Deva Pillar and call it a place for serious fights, but they know as much about it as I do, or maybe less. Whatever is going on with it, though, I can keep an eye on it. I doubt anything will happen to it soon."

Orin continues to read over your shoulder, utterly fascinated by the strange symbols apparently.

[Hanzo K.]

>"I shall see if I can't ask any of the Surface Magicians. One of them might know something."
>"..It's Latin, an Ancient Language from many ages ago. Likely before any of us were even in diapers, to put it simply."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"I shall see if I can't ask any of the Surface Magicians. One of them might know something."

Satori nods. "That might be best. I am uncomfortable with an object of such potential power in the middle of my city. I'm sure you'd feel the same if said pillar were located in the Village."

>"..It's Latin, an Ancient Language from many ages ago. Likely before any of us were even in diapers, to put it simply."

"Whoa..." Orin says before grabbing the book and spinning away. "I wanna borrow this!" She would probably make it out of the door if not interrupted and knocked down by a loud explosion, which causes her to lose her balance and crash right into the doorframe. Satori sighs at watching her pet.

"I'd almost forgotten about the two of them. It seems like their battle is heating up. Would you like to watch? This palace contains a viewing station through which one can see the Blazing Hell without being in danger of the intense heat."

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "I just hope that cat of yours doesn't do anything stupid. But then again, she does keep sneaking into the village to steal bodies, so we can't exactly be hoping she has a sudden turn of common sense."
>"But at any rate, I do wonder how Mokou is doing."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Nod. "I just hope that cat of yours doesn't do anything stupid. But then again, she does keep sneaking into the village to steal bodies, so we can't exactly be hoping she has a sudden turn of common sense."

Orin sticks her tongue out at you. "I'm just doin' my job! We need corpses to keep things nice and hot!"

Satori simply sighs.

>"But at any rate, I do wonder how Mokou is doing."

"Well why don't we find out then? Orin, you come too. And leave the book here."

Orin sighs, but accompanies you and Satori down a couple of flights of stairs. You arrive in a small room with a large window, through which you can see the Hell of Blazing Fires. Right now, Okuu's standing over Mokou in shock. Mokou looks... kind of dead. At least, the large hole where her heart should be would indicate as such. Satori chuckles.

"Poor Okuu... she thinks she's killed Mokou."

[Hanzo K.]

>Chuckle a bit. "She's in for quite the shock in...Oh, about a minute I'd say."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Chuckle a bit. "She's in for quite the shock in...Oh, about a minute I'd say."

Satori nods alongside you. "Indeed."

Okuu turns around and... begins sulking? You wonder just what happened between the two of them before they started battling. It doesn't take long for Mokou to wake up, though, and heedless of the hole in her shirt... shouts? You really can't tell with the soundproof window, but right as Okuu turns around she gets hit with a concentrated blast of danmaku and flies away. The next reaction is rather hilarious, as you see Okuu begin to shout, waving her arms (and control rod) for emphasis. You're not sure what they're saying, but you think you get the message. Satori looks over at you and smiles.

"Yes, Okuu's rather mad about the sudden attack. Telling Mokou that she should fight fair. Just wait now, she's about to pull out a spellcard. Have you ever seen the power of solar energy before?"

[Hanzo K.]

>Shake our head. "No, so this should be quite 'illuminating'."
>Pause. "...I can't believe I just made a pun."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Shake our head. "No, so this should be quite 'illuminating'."
>Pause. "...I can't believe I just made a pun."

Satori chuckles. "Neither can I, to be honest. You don't seem the type."

Utsuho pulls out a spellcard, and Satori takes one of her hands and covers her third eye with it. "You may wish to cover your eyes as well, at least until you get used to it. This next card is incredibly bright." Utsuho says a few words that Satori echos, to help you comprehend: "Atomic Fire: Nuclear Fusion!"

The first thing you notice is the, well... suns. Everywhere. She must be making one sun a second and throwing them at Mokou. From her other arm, her control rod arm, she fires dense waves of small danmaku, but you find them hard to see, to be honest, from all the suns everywhere. You'd imagine Mokou's having a hard time as well, as she's got a look of intense concentration as she dodges the massive suns. Eventually she jumps over one only to find herself face to face with an entire wave of small blue danmaku. Getting pelted with that wave doesn't help her concentration, and it's all she can do to seal her arms in front of herself to try to defend herself from an approaching sun. But if you know Mokou, she'll have a counterattack.

[Raikaria]

> This looks like it could give Mokou's trump card a run for it's money... at least in terms of sheer amount of heat.

[IdiotsOpposite]

> This looks like it could give Mokou's trump card a run for it's money... at least in terms of sheer amount of heat.

Definitely. After a long moment of waiting, you see Mokou burst out of the sun, flying straight toward Utsuho. Most of her clothes are on fire and she seems to have suffered third-degree burns, but Fujiwara no Mokou just doesn't care. Utsuho and Satori both look shocked at the concept of someone just taking the attack as Mokou flies into point blank range before pulling out a spellcard you know well: "Honest Man's Death". The amount of bullets that appear are just too much to take at point-blank range, not to mention the laser that essentially gets crammed into Utsuho's midsection. She flies down to the ground, hitting it with a loud thud. You hear Satori gasp out, "That level of pain tolerance... what has she gone through!?"

[Hanzo K.]

>"She's immortal. All of that pain is something she's had centuries to get used to."

[capt. h]

>"She's immortal. All of that pain is something she's had centuries to get used to."

> "That and I don't think she minds fire. She tends to use a lot of it."

> Be surprised that Mokou can be burned at all.

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"She's immortal. All of that pain is something she's had centuries to get used to."

> "That and I don't think she minds fire. She tends to use a lot of it."

Satori sighs. "I see... Okuu's going to take a while to recover from that. If you don't mind, I'm going to take this moment to end their little game."

> Be surprised that Mokou can be burned at all.

You are surprised that Mokou can still be burned. But you do keep in mind that solar fire is probably far hotter than normal.

[capt. h]

What do we normally do when Mokou burns her clothes this badly? Do we need to find her a new shirt?

[IdiotsOpposite]

What do we normally do when Mokou burns her clothes this badly? Do we need to find her a new shirt?

Usually you have to buy her a shirt, since she can't really afford to get one herself. You keep a small stock of white shirts in your cabinet back at the village for her, but that's sort of far away right now.

(EDIT) Satori senses your distress, and frowns. "One of my shirts wouldn't really fit her, but if you're in need, she could borrow something from Orin. They should be at least close to the same size..."

[capt. h]

> Sigh. "Yeah, I probably do."

> Imagine Mokou in Orin's dress.

> We should offer to pay for the shirt.

[IdiotsOpposite]

> Sigh. "Yeah, I probably do."

> Imagine Mokou in Orin's dress.

You imagine Mokou in Orin's dress. (sorry, no picture) You think it would actually look quite good on her... well, if you can convince Mokou to wear a dress in public. That's not easy.

> We should offer to pay for the shirt.

Before you can even say a word, Satori shakes her head. "You are a guest, Keine-san. I can handle giving up an outfit for free." She gestures to Rin, who dashes off toward the Blazing Hell to interrupt the fight.

[capt. h]

> Continue. Let Satori end the game.

[IdiotsOpposite]

> Continue. Let Satori end the game.

As Orin goes out into the Blazing Hell, you can see both Utsuho and Mokou look very disappointed. She leads them both up through a series of passages, and you lose sight of them for a few minutes. Eventually, you see the two hell pets and your favorite immortal coming down a narrow hallway toward you. Mokou's nearly topless, and grinning.

"Yo Keine, let's take this girl with us! She's nothing but awesome!"

[capt. h]

> "I really wish you'd be more modest sometimes."

> Consider whether Satori would even want Utsuho to see the surface, and the pros and cons of bringing the girl. We do owe Satori a favor, if she would consider that a favor.

[IdiotsOpposite]

> "I really wish you'd be more modest sometimes."

Mokou gives you a blank look. "Why? We're all girls here, aren't we?"

> Consider whether Satori would even want Utsuho to see the surface, and the pros and cons of bringing the girl. We do owe Satori a favor, if she would consider that a favor.

Pros:
- Utsuho would finally get to see the surface and learn about what she wanted to burn in the incident
- Mokou would get a perfect traveling companion
- She's really strong

Cons:
- She's also easily tricked and distracted
- Reimu might kill you for bringing a nuclear hell raven aboveground
- You already have to worry about Kogasa

Satori sighs, reading your mind as usual. "I certainly wouldn't mind the alone time. And it would be nice for the girl to see the surface... she doesn't get out much, as I'm sure you can tell. However, it would probably take quite a bit of preparation to get a substitute to maintain the reactor while she's gone... Okuu, how is the reactor doing, by the way?"

Okuu grins and salutes with her control rod. It looks quite comical. "99% stability, Satori-sama! And well-fueled too."

Satori smiles. "Oh, and I don't know if you can handle Okuu. Consider the children you teach, but given near-unlimited power."

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Oh, we know how to handle rowdy kids. Even if she's powerful, it wouldn't help her against the patented 'Keine Special'.