Hatate Quest Kaksi

[Hello Purvis]

>"But yeah, I guess that's true."
>Let's gather up the gang and head toward the Hakurei Shrine.

[Oldmansour]

>"I don't think this is the future though. Remember what Alice said about the Cobalt Keep?"

>"It is possible." Celes replies shortly.

>"But yeah, I guess that's true."
>Let's gather up the gang and head toward the Hakurei Shrine.

>"One more question, if I may?" Celes asks Alice. The puppeteer nods. "You mentioned one notably dangerous area, but are there any more places to watch out for?"
>"Hmm. Probably not, not above ground, anyway. The Underground is still a bit wild, but the Oni keep them down there. And Makai, of course, but that's not the sort of place one goes accidentally."
>"What of the garden of Yuuka?"
>Alice smiles mysteriously. "Not as dangerous as it used to be."
>"I see. Well." Celes gives Alice a polite bow. "We thank you for your time, and for your information."
>"You're welcome." Alice answers, and the three of you then depart, heading for Reimu's pad.

>"So if you don't think this is the future, where do you suppose we are?" Momiji asks as you travel.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Good question. I'm thinking maybe it's all fake, but there's really no good way to test it. And too much of a chance I'm wrong, anyways."

[Oldmansour]

>"Good question. I'm thinking maybe it's all fake, but there's really no good way to test it. And too much of a chance I'm wrong, anyways."

>"Mmm. We need more information before we can be sure."
>"We should also consider what we say to people here." she adds thoughtfully. "Since it seems that at least you and I have counterparts in this world, I don't know if Reimu will react any better than Alice did if we tell her we might be out of our time."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm sure it will be fine, as long as we make sure she knows we're not intending to cause trouble."

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm sure it will be fine, as long as we make sure she knows we're not intending to cause trouble."

>"That reminds me." Momiji glances back at Celes. "If this is some kind of illusionary world, can it really threaten us?" The steward, however, doesn't seem to notice Momiji's question. She seems distant, distracted. "Celes?"
>"Mm?" Celes mutters as she looks up. "I'm sorry. Did you say something?"
>"I was asking if this place presents any real danger to us, if in fact it's some kind of illusion."
>Celes considers that. "That's hard to say. At least from the people we meet. But until we have evidence otherwise, I suggest we treat things as though they could threaten us, like we would in our world. That is why I asked Alice about Yuuka, specifically."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, we'd want to test that really carefully. And I don't even want to think about testing it until we can ask Marisa about that book."

[Oldmansour]

>"Yeah, we'd want to test that really carefully. And I don't even want to think about testing it until we can ask Marisa about that book."

>"Agreed." Momiji says with a nod. Celes, however, merely mutters something under her breath, but not so quietly that your keen tengu ears can't make out the word, 'Unless'.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Unless?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Unless?"

>"Uh-" Celes blinks in surprise. "How did..." With a rueful chuckle, she says, "Right. You tengu can pick voices out of the air."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah. So, unless what?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Yeah. So, unless what?"

>The dismayed looking steward replies, "'Unless', we truly were pulled inside that book, rather than simply displaced in space, or time. If we were, then Marisa might not be able to help us." She hesitates before adding, "I don't know if anyone can."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I suppose the question would be, could we do something about it ourselves?"
>"And if we're in the book, does that mean others might be stuck in here, too?"

[O4rfish]

>Wonder if it's possible that Marisa and Alice are trapped in the book as well.

[Oldmansour]

>"I suppose the question would be, could we do something about it ourselves?"

>"I don't know. In some cases...." Celes shakes her head sadly. "I don't know."
>"Clearly you've seen this before." Momiji says. "Have you ever known anyone trapped inside one of that person's traps to escape on their own."
>Celes is slow in answering, "No. Sometimes, people have been able to exert a small amount of control over their environment, but even this is very rare. Escape... I've never known anyone who was able to escape on their own."

>"And if we're in the book, does that mean others might be stuck in here, too?"

>Wonder if it's possible that Marisa and Alice are trapped in the book as well.

>Celes nods at this. "At the vest least, Marisa and Greed are here as well. Greed was in that house, he would have seen that book, and have been caught as we were. Marisa as well."
>"We were told that Alice had visited Marisa's house within the last month." Momiji adds.
>"Then it's very possible she was trapped as well. But, as to whether or not that was the real Alice we saw back there, or another version of her, that I don't know. If you both have doppelgangers in this place, Alice may as well."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. Okay, Celes. That book, where was it supposed to be, before Marisa stole it?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. Okay, Celes. That book, where was it supposed to be, before Marisa stole it?"

>"I assume it was in the library. We've tried for centuries to find every trap he left behind, but we know we haven't found every one yet."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So. If we checked the keep library here..."

[Oldmansour]

>"So. If we checked the keep library here..."

>"There is a chance we could find that book there. If this version of the Keep is similar to ours."

[Hello Purvis]

>"It's worth a shot, if nothing else comes up."

[Oldmansour]

>"It's worth a shot, if nothing else comes up."

>"Not without learning more about that place first." Momiji asserts. "If Alice thought that place was the most dangerous place in Gensokyo- this Gensokyo at least- we should know more about it before going anywhere near it. Celes, do you suppose this version of the Keep could be under the rule of its previous owner, the one you've mentioned."
>"No, I don't believe so."
>"You sound pretty sure."
>"I am. If he was the one reigning over the Keep, then either the residents of Gensokyo would have come together to destroy him or drive him out, or all of Gensokyo would cower under his shadow. We would have known by now."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh yeah, of course. But we could get help if needs be. Like, perhaps, that one of the most powerful of tengu that Alice mentioned?"
>Grin.

[Oldmansour]

>"Oh yeah, of course. But we could get help if needs be. Like, perhaps, that one of the most powerful of tengu that Alice mentioned?"
>Grin.

>Momiji chuckles a touch nervously as your flight path takes you out of the forest of magic, into the open air. "I've been thinking about that myself. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about this... other Momiji. And this revolution Alice mentioned."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah. I don't think I'm going to be happy until I can bury this other me in danmaku. And I bet she'd agree. And yeah, I am curious about that revolution too. Because...it's kind of weird to see that yamabushi there, learning from an outsider..."

[Oldmansour]

>"Yeah. I don't think I'm going to be happy until I can bury this other me in danmaku. And I bet she'd agree. And yeah, I am curious about that revolution too. Because...it's kind of weird to see that yamabushi there, learning from an outsider..."

>"Very. But you know...." The white wolf glances back behind her, a curious look upon her face. "I can't say I didn't like the sight of it."
>"Is such a sight truly that bizarre to you both?" Celes asks.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Very. You got to understand, we don't look to outside people for inspiration. We never needed to, nor do we want to. We've made our own way since the beginning. Some do take it far enough they'd rather shut out everyone else altogether, but not very many tengu would actually want to go and learn from others like that. It's just not how we are, what we need, we provide for ourselves, you see?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Very. You got to understand, we don't look to outside people for inspiration. We never needed to, nor do we want to. We've made our own way since the beginning. Some do take it far enough they'd rather shut out everyone else altogether, but not very many tengu would actually want to go and learn from others like that. It's just not how we are, what we need, we provide for ourselves, you see?"

>"I believe I understand. But, is that a belief all tengu share, or a code enforced by the rulers of your people?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Both, really. Unless there's a whole lot of tengu who have really lost their way and hide it, I guess."

[Oldmansour]

>"Both, really. Unless there's a whole lot of tengu who have really lost their way and hide it, I guess."

>"Then this 'revolution' Alice spoke of, would have involved some fairly substantial social changes, to account for seeing a Yamabushi in such an environment."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Quite. I'm gonna want to ask myself about that, too."