The Legend of Hieda II: Her Mother's Sword (Complete)

[Fightest]

Votes are in, almost too many to count, but I went the extra mile for you guys. The winning majority voted for shrine, but, magnanimous as I am, I'm going to implement the option that got only one vote in as well.

> "Something about your story strikes me as strange, Aichi," says Youki. "I have been at that shrine many times, and the spirit always manifested as a male form. And yet you're certain you heard a woman's voice?"


Fightest's note: It hadn't even occurred to me to make an April Fool's special. Shame, wasted opportunity.

[Kasu]

> Nod.
> "It was definitely female."

[Fightest]

> You ready yourself again, and set out.
> Before you left, Youki, strangely secretive, slipped you a note. "Do not let Youmu see it," he said, darkly.

> ...

> A few days pass on your journey. Youmu has been quiet for a long time, but now she breaks the silence as the day creeps close to evening.
> "This is preposterous," she says. She does not sound like herself, her tone filled with an unconcealed anger. "I never asked for this. I only accompanied you because of your sword, and now, in some comical twist of irony, your sword is all that is keeping me in Creation."
> She pauses, and lets the silence hang in the air.
> "This is your fault."
> You are not surprised by this. You remember Youki's note:
> Youmu now denies what has happened to her, and all the connotations thereof, the note said. As the shock wears off, the denial will turn to anger, and she will lash out at everyone around her - stay strong, and do not abandon her for petty slights. As anger becomes futile, she will try to bargain - she will be at her weakest then, ready to do anything to regain her self. When bargaining fails, she will retreat into a dark place in her mind. She will lose drive and conviction, and she will be furthest from humanity then. It is in this state - and it will only be a matter of time, then - that she will finally come to accept her fate.

When Youmu accepts her fate, her soul will be set free, and nothing will be able to bring her back again. Under no circumstance let Youmu come to terms with herself.

[Stuffman]

:ohdear:

So I guess for now we have to try to keep her angry? Let's at least try to direct it elsewhere.

> "It is NOT my fault. Whether it's your new master, that damned story, or the gods themselves, there are plenty of things to be angry at that aren't me, and we're going to make it clear to each and every one of them how you feel about it. Stay focused."

[Fightest]

> "Oh, hah, as if I get a choice in the matter," Youmu says. "You get to have your absurd vision quest, and I get dragged along like some trophy wife to fawn over you playing hero!"

[Stuffman]

> "Well, you WOULD make a good wife."

I'M SORRY I COULDN'T STOP MYSELF

[Fightest]

> You've certainly never heard a ghost splutter before. Do they even have the mouth parts to splutter over? Yet Youmu somehow manages.
> "What? You have some nerve, Aichi, don't you even start changing the subject on..."
> You can almost feel the heat draining from Youmu.
> "...On my blaming you for something beyond your control. Oh, Aichi, I am so sorry."

[Kasu]

> "Don't worry about it. It's understandable that you'd be upset with the current situation."

[Fightest]

> "Don't worry about it. It's understandable that you'd be upset with the current situation."

> "Understandable, perhaps, but also inexcusable. I have no right to abuse our friendship so. I will do my best to remain rational - we will overcome these trials yet."
> Youmu remains quiet for the rest of the journey.

> Youmu has regressed into denial.

> Soon enough, you reach the village and, beyond it, the grove with the shrine to the spirit. But it is different now: the lush, leafy trees and dense underbrush surrounding the shrine are now withered and bare, sharp thorns and claw-like branches now greet you.
> Ah, and there is that feeling again, the prickling on the back of your neck, every hair on your body standing on end, and the sense of something alien watching this location with curiosity, eager to see what happens next.
> And it is as if someone far away is speaking but you cannot hear the words, animated, hushed, light, foreboding, the vocal range of a practiced speaker narrating a story that has made this small grove and shrine its center stage.

[Stuffman]

> Keep hand on sword and approach.
> Do we feel comfortable using this thing yet? It probably feels like we could cut the sky in half if we're not careful.

[Fightest]

> Keep hand on sword and approach.
> Do we feel comfortable using this thing yet? It probably feels like we could cut the sky in half if we're not careful.

> The sword is so sharp it could be cutting things you did not even know existed with every swing. You are very keenly aware of just how limited your senses are, and you can see far more than the average mortal. Fortunately your precision should allow you to keep collateral damage from using the sword to a minimum.
> You approach the grove. The feeling of charged tension never abates, but at some point you get used to it.
> When was it exactly that you knew you had entered the story? There was never a sudden transition, a line that you had passed, but you are definitely in the middle of it now, and the world shifts around you as if reflections in a pool of water and you clearly hear the voice of the speaker

> A grand ballroom, greater than any she had ever seen, all gold and jade and precious materials in an opulent display of wealth and power, and so many people here! Nobles and generals and scholars mingled, but all wore elaborate masks that none would lord over another. She came here searching, but she knew neither face nor voice. Would she find the one she is searching for? Or would the one searching for her find her first?

[Mr_Bob]

>Does she wear a mask as well? Whom is she searching for?

[Stuffman]

I don't think that's going to work :V

Actually, why the fuck not? Let's give it a try.

> Break fourth wall and ask the storyteller directly.

[Fightest]

> Break fourth wall and ask the storyteller directly.

>Does she wear a mask as well? Whom is she searching for?

> She wore a mask, too, for not following the rules of the ball would be extremely rude. She had doubts on her mind, certainly, for the spirit that talked to her back then was not the shrine's! Was she being deceived? Little did she know that she was being watched by the same deceiver right now! What a cunning scheme, the deceiver thought to herself, to lead this wicked child to her own downfall, all in the guise of some low-ranked shrine spirit. She would watch the child flounder about for a while longer, she thought, then

> and it is as if the story recoils at the presence of something just behind it and its storyteller and it is so clear to see, its regret, its envy, its pity and its disgust all wrapped up in a shell of thorns and blades all black and dripping with scorn but it is just passing by, and the story slides back into place as if nothing had

> then she would appear to the child as a helpful but mysterious ally, yes, and that would be the start of the child's ruin, for no mortal can bear the splendor of Heaven. Ah, what intrigue was about to happen here! Would the deceiver have her revenge? Or would our new hero brave this peril unscathed?

[Stuffman]

Well, since we know they're going to try to mislead us, maybe we can pretend to be a chump but double cross them at the right moment.

> Wait for our "ally" to appear. Attempt to look like a chump.

[Mr_Bob]

>She looks about, but is unable to find what she's looking for.  She then turns around, and before her is...

[Fightest]

> Wait for our "ally" to appear. Attempt to look like a chump.

>She looks about, but is unable to find what she's looking for.  She then turns around, and before her is...

> The girl was looking rattled enough, surely now would be the perfect opportunity to strike! Thus thought the cunning goddess as she approached the child, her face concealed beneath a beautiful mask of phoenix feather and jade and gold filigree. With a light touch she catches the child's attention and, speaking quietly, she muses that she has lost control, that the story, hardly high literature, is giving everything away before

> Your hair stands on end again as you feel that you are being watched, being scrutinized with intensity.

> ...speaking quietly, she invites the child to a private alcove that none may spy on them.

> Amidst everything, Youmu's voice rings clear in your mind, lightly laced with impatience.
> "Aichi, what is happening out there?"

[Stuffman]

Looks like we might want to be careful about how thick we lay on the meta. Stick with the plan for now, though.

> Follow the cunning goddess.
> Think to Youmu, "What do you mean, 'out there'? What are you able to see from your perspective?"

[Fightest]

> Follow the cunning goddess.
> Think to Youmu, "What do you mean, 'out there'? What are you able to see from your perspective?"

> The child, unaware of the peril she is stepping into, follows the masked figure into a secluded alcove, where a curtain separates them from the rest of the ball. Look at her, thinks the goddess, this pitiful thing, why, if she doesn't struggle it might even feel disappointing. Still, she proceeds to muse, what was decided must be d...

> "I... do not rightfully know, it is a torrent of colour and emotion, with human-like shapes appearing and disappearing many times over and I cannot make sense of any of this! Why is it that you see something else?"

> ...e goddess, having offered her invitation, waits for the child's response, her impatience hidden behind her mask.

[Stuffman]

Aw hell D:

Missing out on exposition sucks, but let's give Youmu a quick but full explanation. If we just tell her to shut up, she'll probably get angry and start ranting, and then we won't be able to hear anything when it matters.

> Keep walking towards her slowly, looking around uncertainly, as if this is all too much to take in. La la la, dumb peasant girl, mystified by the opulence of the gods!
> "It's the story. I'm at some sort of ball, like the banquet before. Some goddess is trying to get me to follow her, and there's a narrator saying it's a trap. I'm pretending to go along with it."

[Fightest]

> "It's the story. I'm at some sort of ball, like the banquet before. Some goddess is trying to get me to follow her, and there's a narrator saying it's a trap. I'm pretending to go along with it."

> "A narrator? Heavens above, Aichi, are you mocking me?"

> What a battle of wits! The child would not let the goddess trick her, but also not let the goddess know that she had seen through her ruse. Which of these two would finally outwit the other? Frustrated with this charade, the goddess takes off her mask and, clearly annoyed, admits that the proverbial cat has been let out of the bag by this thrice-damned story that should have been stopped in its tracks over fifty years ago but for the laziness of fools and cowa

> You can feel something coming as the story screeches to a halt.

[Kasu]

> "I know it sounds crazy, but when exactly have the last couple of days been normal?"
> Get ready to draw our sword on a moment's notice.

[Mr_Bob]

>Inventory

[Fightest]

>Inventory

Of all things.

> You currently possess and own your travel clothes, along with a change in a small pack slung around your back. You have enough provisions to last you a few days. You possess your Jian, which you also own. Whilst you own the wondrous sword Gathering-Clouds-Of-Heaven, it is Youmu who possesses it. You have a strange certainty that this is somehow meaningful, but have no idea how.

> "I know it sounds crazy, but when exactly have the last couple of days been normal?"
> Get ready to draw our sword on a moment's notice.

> "Ah, something has changed. Something comes, Aichi."
> The story pulls away from you, and you finally see what it is that Youmu spoke of. Surrounding you on all sides, with you at the centre of a spherical bubble, is a roiling, evershifting mass of every colour and texture, and shapes appear and disappear as the colours shift, never staying still long enough to become meaningful. A voice echoes inside your bubble, coming from without, and it is not like any speech you have ever heard, but more of a truth being sent directly into your head.

> No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! The audacity! The shamelessness! Interrupting such a story and running? Whose responsibility is this? Koishi was absolutely determined to catch the criminal and bring them to justice, but deep down she knew that the culprit was already long gone. Tossing back her flowing hair, she turned her keen eye to the scene of the crime, and her flawless senses revealed before her a witness! Who would this girl be, Koishi wondered. She stalked forward like an elegant hunting animal to investigate.

[Stuffman]

> "What."

[Mr_Bob]

Of all things.

Sorry, just wanted to make sure we still had the Jian.

>Draw the Jian.

[Fightest]

Sorry, just wanted to make sure we still had the Jian.

> And, of course, you still possess and own three Spell-Cards.

>Draw the Jian.

> "What."

> She was clearly a warrior, thought Koishi, the sort who faces all her problems with the tip of a sword. Best be wary with her, lest she become unruly and threaten the story. Koishi wondered for a while how to best approach, and decided on a truly genius course of action, that which truly fitted her supreme intellect - she would narrate in a weaker, less beautiful, not nearly as elegant and generally worse in every way version of herself! Koishi congratulated herself on her idea, what a good storyteller she was!

> A shape emerged from the Wyldspace that quickly coalesced into a homely-looking girl, dressed in simple clothes, her only defining trait being her soft-purple hair. She could be considered beautiful compared to the average person, but there was just something about her that prevented her from achieving the transcendental beauty that some others might possess. Her name was Satori and, her being a bit of a coward, she stayed well back from the girl with the sword and, making sure she looked as presentable as possible, called out to her.

[Mr_Bob]

>"Youmu, are you hearing this?  There's a fool named Koishi trying to pass herself off, but she's literally spilling her own beans while attempting to deceive."

I'm down for attacking the target presented.

[Stuffman]

I'm down for attacking the target presented.

Nah, not yet.

> "Look, Koishi, I don't care about your damn story. Stop trying to get me wrapped up in it, or I'll cut through it and then I'll cut through you."
> Look at Satori.
> "And who's this?"

[Fightest]

>"Youmu, are you hearing this?  There's a fool named Koishi trying to pass herself off, but she's literally spilling her own beans while attempting to deceive."

> "And what do you want me to do about it? You are the one with a body, you solve the problems that, I would add, you once again got us into in the first place!"

> "Look, Koishi, I don't care about your damn story. Stop trying to get me wrapped up in it, or I'll cut through it and then I'll cut through you."
> Look at Satori.
> "And who's this?"

> Koishi's patience was wearing thin with the girl's absolute refusal to join in the story, but she was nothing if not the better individual, calm and full of grace. With a nudge from her, Satori made a placating gesture and assured the rowdy girl that she is who she is, a simple individual called Satori, and that she was merely investigating the god who was once here but is no longer.