Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 3, Part 2

[DracoOmega]

>"I, um... well..."
>We're not flushing a little, are we? Perhaps we're just reading unnecessary things into that....

[Oldmansour]

>"I, um... well..."
>We're not flushing a little, are we? Perhaps we're just reading unnecessary things into that....

>As you ponder that, Rin tilts her head to the side and asks, "Are you blushin', Mistress?"

[DracoOmega]

>"...am I?"

[Oldmansour]

>"...am I?"

>Rin looks a touch closer. "A little."

[DracoOmega]

>"Ah. Well."
>We can work on that, right?

[Oldmansour]

>"Ah. Well."
>We can work on that, right?

>"Somethin' wrong?" Rin asks, then her mouth elongates into a grin. "Ahh, I get it now. Now I sees what you were thinkin' about."
>Your self control is considerable. Shouldn't take much to bring your truculent blood to flow where it should instead of brightening your cheeks. Although Rin's grin isn't helping much.

[DracoOmega]

>"Well. I suppose now I have even more cause to feel sheepish."
>But perhaps we can manage a little chuckle at ourselves anyway

[Hello Purvis]

>How frequently do we get these things, anyways?

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Apologies, Kiku. I am ready now to hear what you've found out.

[Oldmansour]

>How frequently do we get these things, anyways?

>Not all that frequently, actually. Although you are very popular, and have dropped far more than your fair share of jaws in your time, it isn't often that someone is bold enough to drop you their number. You've certainly received a massive number of love letters, and fan letters as well, but having someone hand one to you in person has only happened about half a dozen times or so. Ayumi the kappa is a fair bit bolder than most of your admirers, it seems.

>"Well. I suppose now I have even more cause to feel sheepish."
>But perhaps we can manage a little chuckle at ourselves anyway

>You certainly can, and do so.
>And Rin joins you in your chuckle, though hers is a bit louder than yours. "Somethin' ta keep in mind, anyway, after we're done. Priioorities, right?"

>Apologies, Kiku. I am ready now to hear what you've found out.

>A tome in our temple here tells of a cursed Yatagarasu, named the Hell Raven. It is the only Sun Crow, as far as I know, that has more than two eyes, and the only one that ever fell from the heavens into darkness.

[DracoOmega]

>"Yes. Priorities."
>Smile a little

>Fell into darkness? Howso?

[Oldmansour]

>"Yes. Priorities."
>Smile a little

>Fell into darkness? Howso?

>"She's braver'n most of your fans, give her credit for that." Rin speaks, echoing your own thought on the ample-chested kappa's boldness.

>Are you familiar with the tale of the time when Amaterasu Omikami concealed herself from the world?

[DracoOmega]

>Are we?

[Oldmansour]

>Are we?

>Amaterasu.... Yes, actually. According to Shinto myth, Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, locked herself in a cave after she grew disgusted by the behavior of the other gods, particularly her brother Susano'o. The patron goddess of shrine maidens, Uzume, organized a divine party in front of the cave, and performed a dance so wild and bawdy that the gathered divinities roared with laughter. Amaterasu's curiosity got the better of her, and she came out of hiding.
>Though what that story has to do with a Yatagarasu, that, you don't know.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>I've heard the tales.

[Oldmansour]

>I've heard the tales.

>What isn't commonly known is the effect Amaterasu's absence caused among the lesser divinities associated with the sun. The Yatagarasu were virtually lost with Amaterasu removed from the world. One of them, in despair and desperation, dove down into Yomi itself.
>Yomi, you know, is the Shinto afterlife for the cursed or damned, akin to the western Hell, or Hades, or the norse Nifleheim.
>The book doesn't say why this Yatagarasu chose to enter Yomi. Perhaps to appeal to Izanami herself for aid. Regardless, the evil spirits and devils of Yomi assaulted the divine bird, tainting it with their dark essences, filling it with damned power. They thrust a third eye into the Yatagarasu's breastbone and seared it there with evil flames, sewing it with the flesh of the unhallowed dead. It is said that this eye was as a cursed mirror, and all that it would show the now Hell Raven was the twisted abomination it had become, and the vile realm of shadows that was now its home.

[Hello Purvis]

>What became of it?

[Oldmansour]

>What became of it?

>After it emerged from Yomi, the Hell Raven flew towards Takamagahara (the heavenly home of the kami) but its hideous countenance and repulsive corruption caused the kami to reject it, and cast it back down to earth. It is said that the Hell Raven shed one tear of pure water from its left eye when it saw the face of Amaterasu, and one tear of blood from its right eye when it was repulsed from the heavens. It's cursed third eye burned with vile hate, and the kami recoiled from it in fear, but it shed no tears.
>When the hero god Susano'o slew the Yamato-no-Orochi, he discovered the body of the Hell Raven within one of the beast's stomachs. How the Orochi came to consume the Hell Raven after it's rejection from the heavens, I don't know. This book doesn't say.

[Hello Purvis]

>Is that all that's written?

[Oldmansour]

>Is that all that's written?

>In this book, yes. I don't know if any record exists of what happened to the Hell Raven while it was on earth and before it was eaten by the Orochi. Though I believe that there is a story about what Susano'o did with the body of the Hell Raven in another book. Give me a few minutes, I can check.

[Hello Purvis]

>Please do so, I don't think it's going to hurt to have more information.
>"I suppose so, but I'm not sure if that bravery is to be commended or not..."

[DracoOmega]

>"I suppose so, but I'm not sure if that bravery is to be commended or not..."

>Don't say this, instead:
>"It is good to have confidence in oneself, so long as one has temperence as well."

[Oldmansour]

>Please do so, I don't think it's going to hurt to have more information.
>"I suppose so, but I'm not sure if that bravery is to be commended or not..."

>Don't say this, instead:
>"It is good to have confidence in oneself, so long as one has temperence as well."

>I agree.
>After a brief debate about your phrasing, your choice of words makes Rin blinks once. "Tem'prance is that word for... balance, right?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I suppose you could put it that way, yes. In a sense, arrogance or recklessness could be the result of confidence without this balance."

[Oldmansour]

>"I suppose you could put it that way, yes. In a sense, arrogance or recklessness could be the result of confidence without this balance."

>Her expression tells you that you may have lost her slightly. "So, it's good to be brave, but not TOO brave, or it makes you stupid and pompous?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Well.... I fear that may be oversimplifying, but... perhaps, yes. Though I certainly don't mean to imply that Ayumi is either of these things."

[Oldmansour]

>"Well.... I fear that may be oversimplifying, but... perhaps, yes. Though I certainly don't mean to imply that Ayumi is either of these things."

>The kasha nods. "Onea those 'general wisdoms', right?"

[DracoOmega]

>Have a quiet chuckle at ourselves
>"Yes, perhaps I may slip into philosophy a little quickly sometimes."

[Oldmansour]

>Have a quiet chuckle at ourselves
>"Yes, perhaps I may slip into philosophy a little quickly sometimes."

>"Yer smart is all." Rin says with a smile.

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, thank you. Though I think this is more the result of long time spent thinking about such things."
>Carry on for a few more steps
>"Do you think someday, if you were to find yourself in a position similar to Ayumi's there, you might feel bold enough to do likewise?"