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

[DracoOmega]

>Give her an encouraging smile
>"I'm sure you'll feel better after some time passes."

[Oldmansour]

>Give her an encouraging smile
>"I'm sure you'll feel better after some time passes."

>"Who...." she breaks off for a deep breath and a moment's pause, then finishes, "are you...?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm Byakuren Hijiri. And you are...?"

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm Byakuren Hijiri. And you are...?"

>After a long, rumbling breath, the woman replies, "Not myself..."
>"She means your name." Kamitsure prods gently, having seemingly recovered her composure.
>"Oh." The woman thinks again. For a number of long seconds, working her mouth in the process. "El.... Elis. Elis." she repeats, sounding more sure of it the second time. "Elis." she adds after another moment.

[DracoOmega]

>Does that name mean anything to us at all?

[Oldmansour]

>Does that name mean anything to us at all?

>There is an "Ellis" in your school, a first year student. Short, brown haired and human. This is clearly not her. Aya also once employed an "Elis", though that woman was a tengu.

[DracoOmega]

>So basically, this name doesn't help jog our memory about where we might recall her at all?
>"Pleased to meet you, Elis."

[Oldmansour]

>So basically, this name doesn't help jog our memory about where we might recall her at all?
>"Pleased to meet you, Elis."

>That is the case.
>"Whu's pleased?" she asks.

[DracoOmega]

>"I am, I guess."

[Oldmansour]

>"I am, I guess."

>"Pleasd tmeetcha, plesed." the woman slurs, before her head drops again.
>"Come along, dear, let's get you home." Kamitsure guides the woman, taking a firmer grip on her charge and trying to move her towards the parking lot. "Best to sleep these things off in your own home."
>The woman groans and manages to give you one more look, before allowing the miko to lead her in the desired direction.
>Lilian shakes her head as the pair walk past her. "You got this?" she asks her fellow miko.
>"It's not far." Kamitsure assures her. The woman she's carrying extends her arm over her head in a vague waving motion.

[DracoOmega]

>Smile and wave back to her
>"Be well, now."

[Hanzo K.]

>I hope they'll be alright. Though I do wonder why she seemed so familiar. The Elis I knew from working with Aya wasn't this person. I wonder what the odds are of finding two people with the same name are? Especially a somewhat rare-seeming one like that. Perhaps the one I know was using a false name? Who can say for sure?
>"And hopefully nothing bad happens along the way. One has to be cautious after dark, even in a city as nice as this one."

[Oldmansour]

>I hope they'll be alright. Though I do wonder why she seemed so familiar. The Elis I knew from working with Aya wasn't this person. I wonder what the odds are of finding two people with the same name are? Especially a somewhat rare-seeming one like that. Perhaps the one I know was using a false name? Who can say for sure?

>It's a mighty big city. Awful lot of people here. I wouldn't be surprised by more'n one Elis around. 'course, on the other hand, yer the only 'Byakuren' I know 'bout.
>Maybe ya might've seen her around town somewhere? Rin suggests.

>Smile and wave back to her
>"Be well, now."

>"And hopefully nothing bad happens along the way. One has to be cautious after dark, even in a city as nice as this one."

>"Good night to you as well." Kamitsure calls back over her shoulder. The woman merely mumbles something then belches again.
>"Sorry you had to see that." Lilian says to you, walking forwards on her bridge. "Having a drink here is fine, but we try not to let people get sick while they're here. Suika should have known better."

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh, you've nothing to apologize for. I simply hope that she is feeling better soon."

[Oldmansour]

>"Oh, you've nothing to apologize for. I simply hope that she is feeling better soon."

>"I hope she didn't make you feel uncomfortable. I knew Kamitsure had things in hand, but that Elis was looking at you real hard for a while."

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, she was a little... intent, yes. But her mind is hardly in a proper state at the moment either, so I don't wish to hold that against her. Truth be told, I find myself more curious what it was about me that kept drawing her attention like that. She claimed not to recognize me, for whatever that can be considered worth from her right now."

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, she was a little... intent, yes. But her mind is hardly in a proper state at the moment either, so I don't wish to hold that against her. Truth be told, I find myself more curious what it was about me that kept drawing her attention like that. She claimed not to recognize me, for whatever that can be considered worth from her right now."

>"Wasn't it obvious?" the reptilian youkai asks.

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, um... no?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, um... no?"

>Lilian grins again. "For starters, you're Byakuren Hijiri. You'd have a time trying to find someone here in Mayoiga who didn't know your face."
>"For seconds, you're a really pretty young lady. That's reason enough right there for someone to look more'n once your way."

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "That's true, but I've never really put much stock in popularity. What I find odd is how she seemed familiar. You would think I would remember running into someone with as individual a look as hers, but.."

[Oldmansour]

>Nod. "That's true, but I've never really put much stock in popularity. What I find odd is how she seemed familiar. You would think I would remember running into someone with as individual a look as hers, but.."

>Now the lizard looks curious. "So she looked familiar to you, and you looked familiar to her?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, 'looked familiar' may be overstating it, but something about her did seem to ring a very vague bell. I haven't been able to place her, though, and the name means nothing to me; possibly I am simply mistaken."

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, 'looked familiar' may be overstating it, but something about her did seem to ring a very vague bell. I haven't been able to place her, though, and the name means nothing to me; possibly I am simply mistaken."

>"Maybe she was someone close to you in a past life." Lilian suggests.

[DracoOmega]

>How much belief do we have in such things ourselves? Or, at the very least, with the idea that people might sometimes be able to tell this?

[Oldmansour]

>How much belief do we have in such things ourselves? Or, at the very least, with the idea that people might sometimes be able to tell this?

>You do believe in the cycle of rebirth, and that both the good, and the evil, one does in one life follows a person into the next. Evil must be atoned for, good must be rewarded.
>As for whether or not the relationships one has follow from one life to the next, you're not certain on. You don't know for sure that it happens, but you wouldn't call it impossible, either. You wouldn't be opposed to the idea, though. The thought that you and Marissa have enjoyed a friendship spanning lives is a somewhat satisfying one.

[DracoOmega]

>Hmmm... a pleasant idea, perhaps
>Does whatever vague sense of recognition we had with this woman seem distant enough that this explanation seems at all plausible to us in this case, or does it feel more concrete?

[Oldmansour]

>Hmmm... a pleasant idea, perhaps
>Does whatever vague sense of recognition we had with this woman seem distant enough that this explanation seems at all plausible to us in this case, or does it feel more concrete?

>Having never experienced a sensation of inter-life familiarity before, you don't think you'd know it even if this was the case. But as to whether or not this sense of recognition was related to the wheel of reincarnation, or if you saw her across a bar a few months ago, you're simply not sure. It could be either one, or something else entirely.

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmmm... well, that would certainly be different."

[Oldmansour]

>"Hmmm... well, that would certainly be different."

>"Stranger things have happened, lady, in my time." Lilian says with a fangy grin.

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh, I am sure that they have."
>And within the past few days, perhaps, for that matter