Sword Quest VI - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Miko: So Byakuren's actions came after the spirits started gathering, then?

>Miko: No, your resurrection wasn't as simple as just waking up from a long nap. There was a long process of regathering yourself and adapting to the learning and changes that you had experienced during that time. You don't know how long it lasted, precisely, but it was some length of time.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

4/20 SHIP IT MIKOMYON FOREVER

> Miko: Put on a passive face. "My place in Gensokyo has been made clear to me. I see no reason to stick my neck out for a land that would rather I lose the battle to defend it."
> Youmu: "...What on Earth are you talking about?"
> Miko: "Simply put, Gensokyo does not desire my presence."
> Youmu: "What? Who told you th...oh, wait, never mind. Well, um, what about the Scarlet Devil Mansion? Or the swordswoman oni? Or, well, I bet there are plenty of humans in the village that like you, and Eientei probably would enjoy your company as well."
> Miko: "...That may be, but that still excludes the majority of Gensokyo's 'heroes'."
> Youmu: "Well, um...what about me?"
> Miko: Look slightly taken aback, but say nothing.
> Youmu: "...Look, I will not lie to you, only hearing about how you have supposedly dismissed Seiga after she attacked my home is...rather coincidental. But you have been patient with me and helped me out on multiple occasions today. And I am very grateful for that. But I really need you for what I am about to face."
> Miko: "...Very well. I...am sorry for suddenly leaving you to deal with this danger yourself."
> Youmu: "Think nothing of it. Now...can we return to the Shrine briefly, before heading off?"
> Miko: Look back at the Shrine. Is any activity visible?

[Hello Purvis]

4/20 SHIP IT MIKOMYON FOREVER

> Miko: Put on a passive face. "My place in Gensokyo has been made clear to me. I see no reason to stick my neck out for a land that would rather I lose the battle to defend it."
> Youmu: "...What on Earth are you talking about?"
> Miko: "Simply put, Gensokyo does not desire my presence."
> Youmu: "What? Who told you th...oh, wait, never mind. Well, um, what about the Scarlet Devil Mansion? Or the swordswoman oni? Or, well, I bet there are plenty of humans in the village that like you, and Eientei probably would enjoy your company as well."
> Miko: "...That may be, but that still excludes the majority of Gensokyo's 'heroes'."
> Youmu: "Well, um...what about me?"
> Miko: Look slightly taken aback, but say nothing.
> Youmu: "...Look, I will not lie to you, only hearing about how you have supposedly dismissed Seiga after she attacked my home is...rather coincidental. But you have been patient with me and helped me out on multiple occasions today. And I am very grateful for that. But I really need you for what I am about to face."
> Miko: "...Very well. I...am sorry for suddenly leaving you to deal with this danger yourself."
> Youmu: "Think nothing of it. Now...can we return to the Shrine briefly, before heading off?"
> Miko: Look back at the Shrine. Is any activity visible?

>Miko: It's a bit hard to tell from a distance. You see someone lingering in the yard, though.

>_

[UncertainJakutten]

So...um...do you have a plan for making up with Reimu, Kilga? Or do you intend to in the first place?

[Kilgamayan]

> Miko: Frown. "...If I must. I am not sure I am much in the mood to deal with Reimu again so quickly, however."
> Youmu: "Yeah, what happened, anyway?"
> Miko: "Among other things not worth the energy to discuss, she seems to disagree about my level of aggression and malice when I first properly made my presence known."
> Youmu: What was our impression when we first met Miko?
> Youmu: Are we aware of any Buddhist attempts to prevent Miko's appearance?

[Hello Purvis]

> Miko: Frown. "...If I must. I am not sure I am much in the mood to deal with Reimu again so quickly, however."
> Youmu: "Yeah, what happened, anyway?"
> Miko: "Among other things not worth the energy to discuss, she seems to disagree about my level of aggression and malice when I first properly made my presence known."
> Youmu: What was our impression when we first met Miko?
> Youmu: Are we aware of any Buddhist attempts to prevent Miko's appearance?

>Youmu: Your first impression is that she was kind of weird, and seemed to make a lot of assumptions about you. Things were kind of charged by that point, though. And a lot of people in Gensokyo are kind of weird, to be honest. With regards to the Buddhists, you don't know of any attempts. But clearly they don't get along; you remember Nue was particularly wary then, and that doesn't seem to have changed.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Youmu: "Well...to be honest, you were kind of intimidating. And Reimu does deal with threats for a living."
> Miko: Frown. "It was most assuredly not my intention to come off as hostile."
> Youmu: "I understand. But sometimes, intent is less important than perception."
> Miko: "...Perhaps so."
> Youmu: "...Come on, let's head back."
> Miko: "...Very well."
> Both: Return to the Shrine.

[Hello Purvis]

> Youmu: "Well...to be honest, you were kind of intimidating. And Reimu does deal with threats for a living."
> Miko: Frown. "It was most assuredly not my intention to come off as hostile."
> Youmu: "I understand. But sometimes, intent is less important than perception."
> Miko: "...Perhaps so."
> Youmu: "...Come on, let's head back."
> Miko: "...Very well."
> Both: Return to the Shrine.

>You both return to the Shrine.
>"Welcome back," Reimu says, speaking as though nothing had happened.
>Kotohime nods, "That was faster than I expected."
>Miko: The one you saw before was a woman with red hair. Something feels off about her, but you can't put your finger on what, precisely.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Miko: Does she appear to be dead, or maybe a youkai?

[Hello Purvis]

> Miko: Does she appear to be dead, or maybe a youkai?

>Miko: No, she's alive, you think. Definitely not a youkai. You think you would need further study to get to the bottom of it. Her desires, what you can hear of them, see odd as well.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Miko: Look nowhere in particular. "Yes. I, ah...may have been a little hasty earlier. Perhaps my true concerns are best left for a less charged time."
> Youmu: Look to Miko, then to Reimu, staring meaningfully right into her eyes with a carefully neutral expression.

[Hello Purvis]

> Miko: Look nowhere in particular. "Yes. I, ah...may have been a little hasty earlier. Perhaps my true concerns are best left for a less charged time."
> Youmu: Look to Miko, then to Reimu, staring meaningfully right into her eyes with a carefully neutral expression.

>Reimu waves a hand. "Don't worry about it, then. You just said the important part. Anyways, I'm sorry I wound you up."
>"That must have been a very quiet fight," Kotohime says, glancing toward Youmu.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Youmu: "Regardless, are we ready to proceed?"
> Miko: "Wait. There is one other thing."
> Miko: Could we store our cloak in our bag? Or is the clock too big?

[Hello Purvis]

> Youmu: "Regardless, are we ready to proceed?"
> Miko: "Wait. There is one other thing."
> Miko: Could we store our cloak in our bag? Or is the clock too big?

>"Ready when you are," says Kotohime.
>Miko: It would take a little folding, but it should fit nicely.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Miko: "Pardon me a moment."
> Miko: Remove our cloak, fold it up as necessary, and store it in our bag.

[Hello Purvis]

> Miko: "Pardon me a moment."
> Miko: Remove our cloak, fold it up as necessary, and store it in our bag.

>"Meant to say: nice cape," Reimu says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Miko: "Ah, thank you." Smile. "It is a gift from my companions. As much as I would love to continue wearing it, given where we are going, it would not do to put such an expression of love and faithfulness in harm's way."

[Hello Purvis]

> Miko: "Ah, thank you." Smile. "It is a gift from my companions. As much as I would love to continue wearing it, given where we are going, it would not do to put such an expression of love and faithfulness in harm's way."

>Reimu nods. "Makes sense."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Miko: "Ah, I nearly forgot! As you are still here in relative calm, may I trust that your gohei was not stolen?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Miko: "Ah, I nearly forgot! As you are still here in relative calm, may I trust that your gohei was not stolen?"

>"Yeah, I found it," she says. "Kinda forgot about that thing, really."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Miko: Nod. "Very good. At least only the two weapons are missing, then."
> Youmu: "I think it is time we were off. Farewell, Reimu. I hope to have good news next we meet."
> Miko: "Yes, farewell. And...apologies for my poor and unbecoming attitude."

[Hello Purvis]

> Miko: Nod. "Very good. At least only the two weapons are missing, then."
> Youmu: "I think it is time we were off. Farewell, Reimu. I hope to have good news next we meet."
> Miko: "Yes, farewell. And...apologies for my poor and unbecoming attitude."

>"Nothing particular special about that gohei anyways,  other than it's mine and I like it," says Reimu. "And don't worry about anything, it's water under the bridge."
>"There's been more burglaries?" says Kotohime.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Youmu: Look to Kotohime. "Don't worry about it. Let's go."
> Both: Take flight and head toward the Garden of the Sun.
> Along the way...
> Youmu: "Okay, just to be absolutely clear, let us not accuse Yuuka of anything until we can see that Seiga is there and is working with her. In the event that she is innocent, accusing her of something will only make her mad, and get us in trouble."
> Miko: Nod. "This is sound."

[Hello Purvis]

> Youmu: Look to Kotohime. "Don't worry about it. Let's go."
> Both: Take flight and head toward the Garden of the Sun.
> Along the way...
> Youmu: "Okay, just to be absolutely clear, let us not accuse Yuuka of anything until we can see that Seiga is there and is working with her. In the event that she is innocent, accusing her of something will only make her mad, and get us in trouble."
> Miko: Nod. "This is sound."

>"Got it," says Kotohime. "No calling the perp a perp."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Youmu: "Just to be safe, of course. We are not even completely sure yet that she is guilty."
> Miko: "By the, Miss, I do not believe we have been properly introduced. I am Toyosatomimi no Miko, a simple Taoist hermit."

[Hello Purvis]

> Youmu: "Just to be safe, of course. We are not even completely sure yet that she is guilty."
> Miko: "By the, Miss, I do not believe we have been properly introduced. I am Toyosatomimi no Miko, a simple Taoist hermit."

>Kotohime nods. "I'm Kotohime, I enforce the law."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Youmu: Could we use our ghost half to possess someone? Or is that 'talent' full-ghost-only?
> Miko: Would simple conversation qualify as 'further study'? Or would we need more focused methods than that?
> Miko: "I see. So your job is similar to that of Reimu and Marisa, then?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Youmu: Could we use our ghost half to possess someone? Or is that 'talent' full-ghost-only?
> Miko: Would simple conversation qualify as 'further study'? Or would we need more focused methods than that?
> Miko: "I see. So your job is similar to that of Reimu and Marisa, then?"

>Youmu: That is not something you can do, to your knowledge.
>Miko: It might not hurt, but you think that whatever seems off about her might require you to either examine her as you did the Saigyou Ayakashi, or at least hear her desires.
>"Sort of," she says. "They resolve incidents, while I handle the law. While incidents are against the law, not all infractions of the law are incidents. So I tend to focus on the latter since that makes more sense."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Miko: "I suppose that explains why you were not present for my first appearance in this land, as they were."
> Miko: Remove our earmuffs and see what desires Kotohime has to offer.
> Youmu: Raise an eyebrow at Miko, but say nothing.
> Miko: Look Youmu in the eyes, then flit our gaze in the direction of Kotohime for a brief moment (and without turning our head) before looking back at Youmu.

[Hello Purvis]

> Miko: "I suppose that explains why you were not present for my first appearance in this land, as they were."
> Miko: Remove our earmuffs and see what desires Kotohime has to offer.
> Youmu: Raise an eyebrow at Miko, but say nothing.
> Miko: Look Youmu in the eyes, then flit our gaze in the direction of Kotohime for a brief moment (and without turning our head) before looking back at Youmu.

>Kotohime nods. "I...was really late to the party on that one. You're the ghost gathering person, right? I was looking in the village for you!"
>Miko: There is something very unusual about this woman's desires. They seem to be...scrambled, for a lack of a better word? Or perhaps jumbled? They give you the feeling a building half demolished, then an entirely different structure being built from the remaining foundation. Something must have happened to cause that. You also immediately note she has an utter fascination with death, you'd almost want to call it a...hobby or a passion? She's not suicidal or homicidal as far as you can tell, just she has a really strange obsession with it. From this, you can tell she's also extremely fascinated in Youmu, and that seems to be present in her other desires as well; it seems she's grown rather attracted to the half-ghost and is quite nervous about that. She also seems to have a strong passion for enforcing the law, but this seems to...half remembered? Or rather, whatever seems to have warped her desires seems to have had an effect on her passion for order; in comparison her fascination with death seems kind of new? She has a strong passion for collecting things, which would be rather pedestrian if not for her obsession with death and the dead. There's other oddities as well, desires that seem to have once been there but simply are not anymore.  Her mind must be extremely muddled in some respects, you suspect her memory is very poor. She seems to be...markedly relaxed and not prone to hatred or anger. You aren't certain what she is, she's definitely neither human nor youkai, and you doubt she is a god or celestial; she's too...impure.
>Miko: Youmu is the same as always. She lacks two desires and it makes her difficult to really read. If Kotohime is a book suffering from water damage, Youmu is a book with many missing pages.

>_