Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 3

[DracoOmega]

>"Do you remember why we were running towards the field? Or anything at all that we saw there?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Do you remember why we were running towards the field? Or anything at all that we saw there?"

>"Someone was yellin'." Rin says simply. "I... think I wanted t'go first, just in case, but you ran on ahead... An' I musta blacked out after that. The next thing I remember clear is wakin' up here the next day."

[DracoOmega]

>Nod slowly, then fall silent for another moment before continuing.
>"Rin, there was no gas leak that day."

[Oldmansour]

>Nod slowly, then fall silent for another moment before continuing.
>"Rin, there was no gas leak that day."

>Orin blinks twice. "There wasn't?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm afraid not; what happened to you and the others was something far more unsettling."
>Open our mouth to continue, then hesitate a little.
>"Orin, what I'm about to say will probably be hard to accept, and I would not be surprised if it leads you to wonder whether I really did hit my head harder than anyone realized. If our positions were reversed, I'm sure the same concern would occur to me. But I swear to you that all of this is real and true, and I can offer you proof."

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm afraid not; what happened to you and the others was something far more unsettling."
>Open our mouth to continue, then hesitate a little.
>"Orin, what I'm about to say will probably be hard to accept, and I would not be surprised if it leads you to wonder whether I really did hit my head harder than anyone realized. If our positions were reversed, I'm sure the same concern would occur to me. But I swear to you that all of this is real and true, and I can offer you proof."

>"That don't sound good."
>The kasha takes a pointed breath herself. "Mistress, do you remember what I said after you told me 'bout that dream you had?"

[DracoOmega]

>"That if I said it was what happened, it was what happened?"

[Oldmansour]

>"That if I said it was what happened, it was what happened?"

>She nods. "And I also said, 'what's our first move'." she adds with a swish of her tails. "I realize that, whatever you're about to say is real serious. But it don't matter how crazy it sounds. Unless you tell me something that I know ain't right, like, 'there's five moons in the sky' or somethin', then I wanna believe you."

[DracoOmega]

>"Thank you for your faith, Orin. And no, there is still only one moon in the sky, last I checked."
>Smile a little, before our thoughts turn back to darker things
>"But as for the events of the Wednesday... the truth of what happened is that you and the others were attacked by a malevolent creature called a youma. It... drained the energy from you somehow, and I guess some side-effect of this may have interfered with your memory of it even happening. Were it not for some stroke of serendipity, I think it very possible we might all have died there."

[Oldmansour]

>"Thank you for your faith, Orin. And no, there is still only one moon in the sky, last I checked."
>Smile a little, before our thoughts turn back to darker things
>"But as for the events of the Wednesday... the truth of what happened is that you and the others were attacked by a malevolent creature called a youma. It... drained the energy from you somehow, and I guess some side-effect of this may have interfered with your memory of it even happening. Were it not for some stroke of serendipity, I think it very possible we might all have died there."

>Rin's formal posture slouches visibly as she sits back heavier on her haunches. "A.. youma." she manages. "What the hell's a youma?" She then sits more upright. "Forget that, what happened to it? To you, to us?"

[DracoOmega]

>"In the midst of the youma's attack, I was visited by a being from outside our world and it... bestowed upon me a great power. Even now I do not fully understand the depth of it, but it was by this power that I purified the youma, set it free of the hate and loss that defined its existence so that it could be reborn whole. And with it defeated, its grip over you and the others was lifted."
>Shake our head
>"No matter what you say, I am sure this must be a little hard to swallow."

[Oldmansour]

>"In the midst of the youma's attack, I was visited by a being from outside our world and it... bestowed upon me a great power. Even now I do not fully understand the depth of it, but it was by this power that I purified the youma, set it free of the hate and loss that defined its existence so that it could be reborn whole. And with it defeated, its grip over you and the others was lifted."
>Shake our head
>"No matter what you say, I am sure this must be a little hard to swallow."

>Orin seems a bit lost, more than anything else. "I'm not sure i'm following you here. You think you could run that by me again, a bit slower?"

[Hanzo K.]

>"To be more concise, I was granted the power to protect."

[DracoOmega]

>Nod
>"Of course."
>"When we met the youma, it was in the process of draining Kyouko. It had encircled her in a golden hoop that served as both restraint and a medium through which it could absorb her life force. We tried to make it desist - you especially - but physical force had little effect on it. It was strong.  Very strong. You tried to protect me, Orin - buy time for me to escape, once things seemed hopeless. You were... very brave. But it caught you as well, and I might also have succumbed to it if a third party had not arrived at that moment. It offered me power... the power to save you and Kyouko and Lily, and more innocent people yet to come. Given the grim circumstances, how could I have done anything but accept?"

[Oldmansour]

>"To be more concise, I was granted the power to protect."

>Nod
>"Of course."
>"When we met the youma, it was in the process of draining Kyouko. It had encircled her in a golden hoop that served as both restraint and a medium through which it could absorb her life force. We tried to make it desist - you especially - but physical force had little effect on it. It was strong.  Very strong. You tried to protect me, Orin - buy time for me to escape, once things seemed hopeless. You were... very brave. But it caught you as well, and I might also have succumbed to it if a third party had not arrived at that moment. It offered me power... the power to save you and Kyouko and Lily, and more innocent people yet to come. Given the grim circumstances, how could I have done anything but accept?"

>"What kinda 'third party', a magic man or some...." Orin trails off, her eyes widening. "Wait a second. Wait a second, that was real? That really was you?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Do you remember something?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Do you remember something?"

>"I saw... Well, I thought I was dreamin', or hallucinating, but, now..."

[DracoOmega]

>"Go on, please. What is it?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Go on, please. What is it?"

>Rin exhales slowly through her nostrils, settling her thoughts. "I thought I saw your face. It was.. different, though, like there was some kinda light around you. I didn't feel right, I knew something was wrong. But you said 'Everything's fine.' And I knew it was." She gapes. "But after I woke up, I thought I dreamed it."

[Hanzo K.]

>Smile warmly, in that kind and caring way we're known for. "That was no dream."

[Oldmansour]

>Smile warmly, in that kind and caring way we're known for. "That was no dream."

>"So..." she looks at your curiously. "You're a... superhero?"

[DracoOmega]

>Chuckle a little
>"I... suppose that might be one way of looking at it, though I would hardly claim such a grandiose title for myself. But I was given this power so that I could protect those I care about, and protect them I shall."

[Oldmansour]

>Chuckle a little
>"I... suppose that might be one way of looking at it, though I would hardly claim such a grandiose title for myself. But I was given this power so that I could protect those I care about, and protect them I shall."

>A sharp breath, akin to a laugh, passes Rin's lips, and she shakes her head while smiling slightly. "No wonder you'd been bushed the past... couple of days... Oh, hell, there's more of these things, aren't there? These youma things."

[Hanzo K.]

>"For now, there aren't any that have caused me to take note. Well, there are the ones who created them, but currently only one's at large. I recently sealed away one of the two, so their powerbase has already been effectively cut in half for now, until the others come to this side of the world that is. Someday things will be back to normal, and they might well change their tune as well."

[DracoOmega]

>"For now, there aren't any that have caused me to take note. Well, there are the ones who created them, but currently only one's at large. I recently sealed away one of the two, so their powerbase has already been effectively cut in half. Someday things will be back to normal, and they might well change their tune as well."

I'm pretty sure she means 'more than just the one that attacked her', for which the answer is definitely 'yes', as opposed to 'no, not really', so I think this is rather misleading.
>So instead....

>Nod
>"I'm afraid so. And to make matters worse, the youma are only tools of the greater threat at work here. They are only living in a very crude sense of the word, I think - parts of thought and negative emotion, but not enough to truly be sentient. But their masters...."
>"Rin, there are... demons that have come to our world. Demons that were long ago cast out, but have forced their way back in somehow. They are powerful and dangerous and intelligent in a way that the youma are not. I do not understand all of their motives yet, but at the very least, they seek to bring across more of their kind and their kind has thus-far shown no remorse about threatening the lives of many innocents. The energy their youma steal from us is what they need to overpower the barrier that protects this world and I shudder to think of what might happen should they succeed in gathering enough of it."

[Hanzo K.]

I was taking into consideration the possibility of other Youma being in existence at the current time. It's just that for now, we don't know of any.

[Oldmansour]

>"For now, there aren't any that have caused me to take note. Well, there are the ones who created them, but currently only one's at large. I recently sealed away one of the two, so their powerbase has already been effectively cut in half for now, until the others come to this side of the world that is. Someday things will be back to normal, and they might well change their tune as well."

>So instead....

>Nod
>"I'm afraid so. And to make matters worse, the youma are only tools of the greater threat at work here. They are only living in a very crude sense of the word, I think - parts of thought and negative emotion, but not enough to truly be sentient. But their masters...."
>"Rin, there are... demons that have come to our world. Demons that were long ago cast out, but have forced their way back in somehow. They are powerful and dangerous and intelligent in a way that the youma are not. I do not understand all of their motives yet, but at the very least, they seek to bring across more of their kind and their kind has thus-far shown no remorse about threatening the lives of many innocents. The energy their youma steal from us is what they need to overpower the barrier that protects this world and I shudder to think of what might happen should they succeed in gathering enough of it."

>Rin's ears flatten against her head. "Demons. Like, 'from hell', 'steal souls', 'eat babies' Demons? And you've been fighting them? Alone?"

[DracoOmega]

I was taking into consideration the possibility of other Youma being in existence at the current time. It's just that for now, we don't know of any.

I just got the impression she was asking about events since the first battle, rather than just the present situation. That certainly bears outlining as well, once we come to it.

>"I don't know that they're from a place that we would think of as hell, but they do live in a separate world that is kept apart from ours by a powerful barrier. And when I have seen them, they have fed off the life and the fear of good and honest people. I feel there may be more to this situation than meets the eye, but I am still very new to all this myself, and much of what I have seen has not been good."
>Smile a little
>"But no, thankfully I have not been fully alone in this. I have encountered others that my power resonated with, and the greatest threats that we have faced, we did so together; I would not have been able to prevail without their aid."

[Oldmansour]

>"I don't know that they're from a place that we would think of as hell, but they do live in a separate world that is kept apart from ours by a powerful barrier. And when I have seen them, they have fed off the life and the fear of good and honest people. I feel there may be more to this situation than meets the eye, but I am still very new to all this myself, and much of what I have seen has not been good."
>Smile a little
>"But no, thankfully I have not been fully alone in this. I have encountered others that my power resonated with, and the greatest threats that we have faced, we did so together; I would not have been able to prevail without their aid."

>Orin comes to her feet in a rapid motion. "Count me in." she says in a very strong voice.
>With another surge of energy from your ring, a shaft of green and purple light emerges from the gemstone. A white and blue ring emerges from yours, studded with three gemstones, a dark green emerald in the center, a dull ruby on the left, a pale amethyst on the right. The emerald has thin streaks of red on the top facet, the ruby has purple striping, and the amethyst has very light green stripes.
>This one feels different from the last two, somehow. Like there's more power contained in that band than there was in Kiku's or Lily's. Emerging from the light that birthed it, the ring floats gently forward towards the kasha.
>Orin stares at the circle of power. "Does this mean you'll take my help?" she asks, quietly. "I can protect you like you protected me?"

[Hanzo K.]

>Smile warmly. "Just don't take too many risks with it. Even with this power, we aren't invincible."