Remilia Quest Dh?

[Hanzo K.]

>"...Sakuya. This is the only time your judgement has ever been flawed. Cease this foolishness now....."
>Look away with an expression of anger, turmoil, and regret. "...Before I have to make you."

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>"Unfortunately, there are other considerations. Most notably, after how upset I was at the thought that someone might have taken you, I don't want to do the same and take someone away from another. Or allow one of mine to do so."
>"It's also worth considering that I desire cordial relations with the Cobalt Countess and her people. If you consume Pride, you will greatly sour that relationship."

[Oldmansour]

>"Unfortunately, there are other considerations. Most notably, after how upset I was at the thought that someone might have taken you, I don't want to do the same and take someone away from another. Or allow one of mine to do so."
>"It's also worth considering that I desire cordial relations with the Cobalt Countess and her people. If you consume Pride, you will greatly sour that relationship."

>Sakuya smiles at your words. "Your heart has always been grander than others have accredited you. It has been my pride to see that shine, and I am proud to see it now."
>"That is indeed a note worth considering." Sakuya admits. "However, I believe it will pass. They may be upset for a time, but it will not endure. In fact, I believe there are many in this Keep who would thank me. You see, the spirit of Pride is not well liked among its peers. I know that there is more than one that would be quite happy to see it gone. This favor I do for them may even aid the relationship between yourself and they."

>"...Sakuya. This is the only time your judgement has ever been flawed. Cease this foolishness now....."
>Look away with an expression of anger, turmoil, and regret. "...Before I have to make you."

>Sakuya smiles, a knowing, tolerant smile. "Ojou-sama, I'm very sorry, but you can't. No one in this world knows my power better than you do. Under normal circumstances, I am nearly your equal in might. Now that I have Pride's power under my command, I am stronger than you. I am stronger than anyone in Gensokyo. And I shall become even more powerful once Pride has been completely subsumed. And I shall do this for you." she finishes with a fluid bow. "I desire nothing more than to be the pinnacle of perfection. I demand nothing less from myself, and you, as the perfect master, deserve no less."
>"And, ojou-sama..." She rises, and her eyes bore into yours. "Once I consume Pride, its agelessness will be mine. Which means that I will never leave you."

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>The others are still here, right?
>"Well, let us ask them."
>Turn to face them.
>"What would your feelings be were Sakuya to fully consume Pride?"

[Oldmansour]

>The others are still here, right?
>"Well, let us ask them."
>Turn to face them.
>"What would your feelings be were Sakuya to fully consume Pride?"

>They are, and have been observing.
>Celes appears troubled. "Your servant does actually have a point to consider, from my perspective as Steward. Of the Seven Sins, Pride and Wrath have always been the most disruptive." She spares a glance at Tsumiko. "That isn't to say you haven't done your job as their Keeper, but you know better than anyone what those two are like. Lust knows her boundaries and when and where to have her fun. Pride and Wrath do not."
>Tsumiko seems troubled by her colleagues words, and pulls her hood up slowly. The gesture makes her seem vulnerable, somehow. "Being free of any of the Sins is something I've..." she trails off, then walks a few steps away from you, contemplating.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Turn back to Sakuya.
>"Personally, I have no objections to you keeping Pride. And as for the other concerns, well, it seems as though this may be less complicated than I thought. Let's let Tsumiko consider the idea."

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Drain the parser dry if he doesn't update soon.
>Has anything Sakuya has said or done during this conversation been out-of-character for her?

[Sagus]

> "Ah, but, Sakuya..." Look her in the eyes. "You were always so very adamant about keeping your mortality. I'm hurt that you'd rather achieve agelessness this way instead of letting me turn you!" Wait for her reaction, and laugh a bit if she takes it seriously.
> Remember Yakumo's role in the story. "Oh, I do wonder what Yukari will say about this. She was the one that sealed these folk in the first place."
> Shrug, then smirk. "Not that the old hag's opinion matters, of course. We'll certainly best her if we need to!"

> Let's play along for now. Words are not working on her, and trying to violently remove Pride from her could do real damage to Sakuya, seeing how close the spirit is to fusing with her. As hateful as it is to depend on that hag, maybe Yukari will be able to separate them with no drawbacks. Let's just try and distract her to slow the absortion process down...

[Hanzo K.]

>"Personally, I have no objections to you keeping Pride. And as for the other concerns, well, it seems as though this may be less complicated than I thought. Let's let Tsumiko consider the idea."

>BELAY!
We're gonna make sure she's her usual self dammit.

> Shrug, then smirk. "Not that the old hag's opinion matters, of course. We'll certainly best her if we need to!"

>Also Belay.

>Did Sakuya say anything about that vial of prepared blood when she gave it to us? Like say, specifying the individual source?

[Sagus]

(I still think we should cater to her pride, maybe that'll make Pride stronger and harder to be absorved. If not, it could at least avoid a unnecessary confrontation with her)

[Hanzo K.]

Ooooor it'll make her hasten, which nobody but GYMO seems to want.
The way I see it, if it does come to a fight, that'll force her to split her focus two ways. Absorbing Pride, and fighting us.
And if we can somehow knock her out, or get some of her blood, we can have Pride removed by either having Tsumiko pull Pride free, or use her blood to force an alteration to her fate that says she'll release Pride.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

I'd rather she keep Pride (and yes, I've taken possible mental alterations into account; I was thinking of taking a trip underground to see Satori), but it doesn't look like you guys will accept that.

Nobody else ever wants the fun optons.

[Hanzo K.]

Damn right I won't accept it. It might sound fun on paper man, but what you deem fun can often be different from what others find 'fun'.
Also, it's damn OOC to just sit and let Sakuya throw away her mortality like that. I won't let you let her do that.
That might fly in some other quest or what have you, but not with me.

[Sagus]

It's just that, what if Sakuya actually IS stronger than Remilia now? I we get knocked out, who knows what'll happen. It might just be the boost she needs to finish eating Pride up.

I wouldn't mind terribly having Sakuya actually suceed in absorbing Pride; it could lead to an interesting route. She succeeds at it, changes drastically, and we would have to team up with the Countess's group to find a way to fix the situation.

[Hanzo K.]

No. No. Just No. Nonononononono. I am against that. Very, very against that.
Interesting perhaps, but no. I'll take it to PMs.

[Sagus]

Eh, well. I'm just not seeing we solving this with words or violence against Sakuya. Unless Pride is actually far weaker than it seems and Sakuya's talk was all empty boosting caused by a much increased pride in herself.

> *wait warmly for Sourfang to continue story*

[Hanzo K.]

There's other means. If that blood in the vial is from who I suspect...Then we've had the key to resolving this all along.
After all, you aren't often given a completely useless item, outside of clothing in Z-Machines, but even those end up important too. And given how the description listed it as "Specially-Prepared by Sakuya", I have a hunch that what's in there isn't just the blood of some average joe. But rather, a means of 'nudging' certain 'threads' in the correct direction.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

I was more thinking along the lines of determining what changes this is even having to Sakuya, and if her mind is unaffected (which the visit to Satori would tell us), just let her do it (and if the blood is indeed Sakuya's, we could influence her fate to help her mind remain unchanged).

As for the other two options, I'd prefer Hanzo's over yours, Sagus.

[Hanzo K.]

I still do NOT want her absorbing Pride. There's an old saying. "You can't improve upon perfection".
So I won't permit her going through with it. What's I've been getting at with what I've said to her is that she does not need to change.
Absorbing Pride can't be changed by a simple "Oh hey, let's just remove the mental effects with Satori's help!" It doesn't work that way.

[SirChaotick]

I was more thinking along the lines of determining what changes this is even having to Sakuya, and if her mind is unaffected (which the visit to Satori would tell us), just let her do it (and if the blood is indeed Sakuya's, we could influence her fate to help her mind remain unchanged).

I do not see the problem with this. If her mind  IS unaffected, then what would it matter? I shall back GYMO and say it's fine for Sakuya to absorb Pride if possible without severe complications.

[Hanzo K.]

You too man?

No. no. If she does this man, she loses what we saw in her. That proud, HUMAN spirit.

[SirChaotick]

Eh... er...

I'm not seeing it. What would be special about a human spirit? Is it in fact established that she'll lose it? That's why we need to investigate.
If there are no ill effects at all, then it won't cause harm in any way, now would it? We can always decide to deny it when we know more.

[Hanzo K.]

It would also cause problems in keeping cordial relations with the Cobalt House.
Imagine it this way.

Noble A: "Oh hey, Noble B. How's things? I brought my Chief X along today."
Noble B: "...The one who ate one of my servants..Yes.."

[SirChaotick]

Which is exactly why we are going to listen to Tsumiko and the Countess to see what it means to them. Only then can we discard the possibility and not a moment sooner. Makes no sense to discount because of causes that might not even exist.

[Hanzo K.]

It still doesn't sit right with me. For reasons I've detailed in that PM I sent you.
Hell, I've sent just about everyone something of the like.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

At the very least, let's see what Tsumiko's opinion of the whole thing is. If she says 'no', the rest doesn't really matter anyways.

>Give Tsumiko time to consider the idea, and wait to hear what she says.

EDIT: You know, we may not even need Satori to know if there's an effect on Sakuya's mind. Reading Sakuya's fate may tell us what we want to know.

[Hanzo K.]

Regardless of what she says though, I'm not about to roll over and let Sakuya absorb Pride.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

It may simply come down to a vote.

[Hanzo K.]

Well, here's my vote.
NO.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

We'll let Tsumiko voice her opinion of the idea, then vote (so update please, Sour. I think this issue is at a halt until you do).