Maribel Hearn Quest - ACT 1

[Neovereign]

>"Underground palace? Temple? This is a bit too much information to think about at once, please slow down. Wait, your sister is a satori, named Satori? D-did I catch that right?"

[Monarda]

>Boy, my other conciousness half is a little slow to catch up huh, better make her slow down to help it understand better.(Although it is better on doing socialization than me so it's even).
>Say to Kosuzu: "Well, she might be a motormouth, but you collect dangerous cursed-like books and i'm pretty sure they gave someone trouble at least a couple of times, remember that no one here is really normal, we're all equal in potential to qualities and defects, and don't take this as a stern lecture, you're a really nice person too."
>"Sorry, i had trouble assimilating all that info.So how did you make that pan come out of nowhere ? And about the buddhist temple, who lives there ?"
>Do we have a religion ourselves ? Christian ? Buddhism ? PESKY TAOISM ? Shinto ? Or are we atheists ? What about Renko ?

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Underground palace? Temple? This is a bit too much information to think about at once, please slow down. Wait, your sister is a satori, named Satori? D-did I catch that right?"

>"Yup, that's her name! Satori Komeiji!" Koishi replies, "I don't think our parents were good at naming things..."

>Boy, my other conciousness half is a little slow to catch up huh, better make her slow down to help it understand better.(Although it is better on doing socialization than me so it's even).

>You think it would be much easier to understand Koishi if you somehow get her to slow down...

>Say to Kosuzu: "Well, she might be a motormouth, but you collect dangerous cursed-like books and i'm pretty sure they gave someone trouble at least a couple of times, remember that no one here is really normal, we're all equal in potential to qualities and defects, and don't take this as a stern lecture, you're a really nice person too."

>Kosuzu frowns, "Okay, you have a point there..."

>"Sorry, i had trouble assimilating all that info.So how did you make that pan come out of nowhere ? And about the buddhist temple, who lives there ?"

>"Nowhere? I had this thing in my pocket, sillly!" Koishi grins, "Well, at the temple, there's Miss Hijiri, she's really nice. She tries to help me focus... It kinda works... But not all the time... There's also the water-ghost-captain-lady-person, some tiger-person, a cute-mouse-girl, veil-woman and her magic-cotton-candy-man, loud-mouth, and then there's the weirdo. The weirdo has funny wings. Sometimes I wish I had wings, wings are cool. But maybe they'd get in the way... How do you even control wings? Maybe I can ask Okuu how she controls them... How does the weirdo even fly with those wings anyway? I've never seen them flap or flutter..."

>Do we have a religion ourselves ? Christian ? Buddhism ? PESKY TAOISM ? Shinto ? Or are we atheists ? What about Renko ?

>While you and Renko aren't totally devoted to a religion, you are not complete atheists. You still believe in the existence of deities, as well as many supernatural things that can be perceived as acts of deities.
>_

[Monarda]

>"Magic Cotton Candy Man ? Is he really that or is he just a spirit of sorts ? And who is the weirdo ? What does she do ?  And can you still fly wihout wings ?"

[Neovereign]

^{_{//If there's already a post/reply that fits the situation well, I wouldn't normally post. (unless I'm adding something).}}
>"They sound like an interesting bunch... It would be neat to meet them all, wouldn't it Renko?"

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Magic Cotton Candy Man ? Is he really that or is he just a spirit of sorts ? And who is the weirdo ? What does she do ?  And can you still fly wihout wings ?"

>"I think he's some kind of cloud youkai, but he looks like cotton candy!" Koishi answers, "The weirdo? Well, she has these weird wings on her back... And she can change her shape, and transform other things... She's a good friend of that brown-haired tanuki... ...And of course I can! Flying is easy!" She floats into the air, moves over your head, and lands on the other side of you. "See?"

>"They sound like an interesting bunch... It would be neat to meet them all, wouldn't it Renko?"

>"Yeah... It sounds nice..." says Renko.
>_

[Monarda]

>Renko seems pretty down, i can't stop thinking about what did Koishi tell her.
>"Flying may be easy for you, but we can't really do that you know... That's why we're walking. Can't you use some kind of item or spell to carry us flying there ?"
>When Koishi told that thing to Renko, did it seem like it was to shock on purpose or just a innocent thing that turned out to be real bad ?

Also i found you on youtube, Mr. Nazgul.
Glad to see you also know Smooth.

[Neovereign]

_{^{//Waits for Smooth to do another Touhou acapella. (Preferably something involving that cat again.)*}}
>This is Gensokyo, the place we've been trying to learn about for a while now. Not to mention Renko did almost get shot, just to have some stranger risk their life to save hers. She might just be having trouble dealing with things. Though, that doesn't explain why whatever Koishi said could've made her stagger...
>"I think there was a white haired person in this forest. We should probably watch out for her."
>Examine Renko

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Renko seems pretty down, i can't stop thinking about what did Koishi tell her.

>This is Gensokyo, the place we've been trying to learn about for a while now. Not to mention Renko did almost get shot, just to have some stranger risk their life to save hers. She might just be having trouble dealing with things. Though, that doesn't explain why whatever Koishi said could've made her stagger...

>Just what did that girl say to her?!

>"Flying may be easy for you, but we can't really do that you know... That's why we're walking. Can't you use some kind of item or spell to carry us flying there ?"

>"Nope! That would be silly!" she replies.

>When Koishi told that thing to Renko, did it seem like it was to shock on purpose or just a innocent thing that turned out to be real bad ?

>You honestly can't tell, but if you were to guess, it seemed purposeful...

>"I think there was a white haired person in this forest. We should probably watch out for her."

>"Oh, you mean Miss Fujiwara?" Kosuzu asks, "We shouldn't worry about her. I don't know much about her, but I heard that she likes to help humans lost in the forest..."

>Examine Renko

>Renko has short, brown hair, and is wearing her typical attire: A white suit with a brown skirt, and a black hat with a white bow. She is carrying her own satchel.
>She still seems quite uneasy... Something seems to be on her mind.
>_

[Neovereign]

>We should talk with Renko alone later, like when we get to Eientei. She might be more willing to talk to us in private.
>"I've been meaning to ask, do either of you know of a powerful youkai with long blonde hair?"

[Monarda]

>How do we have knowledge that such youukai exists ? I don't recall we ever seeing who Reimu went to talk with about the donation box...
>Also make mental note about getting something to donate to Miss Reimu, she deserves it. :3

[Neovereign]

//They were mentioned in Reply #51, we asked more in Reply #73, then Reimu gave more details in are Reply #90.

[Monarda]

//They were mentioned in Reply #51, we asked more in Reply #73, then Reimu gave more details in are Reply #90.

Thank you, pessimistically optimist Miniking Part of Maribel.
>"She also has purple-colored eyes if i'm not mistaken, does it ring any bells ?"

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>We should talk with Renko alone later, like when we get to Eientei. She might be more willing to talk to us in private.

>You make a mental note to speak with Renko in private later.

>How do we have knowledge that such youukai exists ? I don't recall we ever seeing who Reimu went to talk with about the donation box...

>Reimu told you a bit about her.

>Also make mental note about getting something to donate to Miss Reimu, she deserves it. :3

>You also make a note to donate to the Hakurei Shrine later, but then you remember you don't have any money on you...

>"I've been meaning to ask, do either of you know of a powerful youkai with long blonde hair?"

>"She also has purple-colored eyes if i'm not mistaken, does it ring any bells ?"

>"No, I don't think so..." says Kosuzu.
>"Depends." Koishi replies, "I've seen lots of youkai with blonde hair, and lots of youkai with long hair. I've also seen lots of people with purple eyes."
>_

[Neovereign]

>Darn, this girl just acts like a child when it comes to questions like this. It looks like we might have to wait until we meet them ourselves.
>"Have you seen anyone who fits all 3 of those descriptions?"

[Monarda]

>Calm down, Mini-me (Ba tum tss), for all we know, this girl's cheery image might hide a inner feeling of loneliness, let's not judge her too harshly now, just keep an eye for something valuable that she says, maybe she knows who it is and is trying to avoid the question ?
>If someone is interested in our power, then maybe it's because it's related to theirs.
>"And that also has a power that lets her observe people out of Gensokyo or visit the outside world, sky-related powers or controlling borders or barriers or anything related to that ? After all she took interest in our powers and there must be a reason." Disregard, use the later post one.

[Neovereign]

//Let's not imply so far yet. That's thinking like ourselves. We should be thinking like Merry, and consider what she knows and doesn't know yet. So far, we've only met Reimu, a few fairies, Kosuzu, Koishi, Mamizou (though not really), Reisen, Tewi, and we've seen that Kokoro person Koishi mentioned performing. We've seen a maid in a mansion and the white haired girl (who Kosuzu claims is "Miss Fujiwara") from dreams before as well.
>Also, Yuk- The youkai could probably be interested in Renko, like almost everyone we've met in Gensokyo so far has been, or in us both as outsiders with abilities, since Reimu did say that not many humans have powers.

[the old guy]

>Make a mental note to ask someone about the availability of Guns in Gensokyo.

[Monarda]

Okay maybe i could have formulated that better, let me try again. Sorry for them slipups.

>"And her power could be related to us in some way, but that's just a shot in the dark, know anyone ?'

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Darn, this girl just acts like a child when it comes to questions like this. It looks like we might have to wait until we meet them ourselves.

>You don't think you're going to get any answers out of her...

>"Have you seen anyone who fits all 3 of those descriptions?"

>"I don't know, do you expect me to remember every person I've seen?" Koishi's head cocks to the side like a confused puppy.

>Calm down, Mini-me (Ba tum tss), for all we know, this girl's cheery image might hide a inner feeling of loneliness, let's not judge her too harshly now, just keep an eye for something valuable that she says, maybe she knows who it is and is trying to avoid the question ?

>You decide to listen to her a bit more closely from now on, in case she's hiding something...

>If someone is interested in our power, then maybe it's because it's related to theirs.

>That is a huge shot in the dark, but it's a theory...

>Also, Yuk- The youkai could probably be interested in Renko, like almost everyone we've met in Gensokyo so far has been, or in us both as outsiders with abilities, since Reimu did say that not many humans have powers.

>You formulate a couple more theories. It could be either of those, to be honest. But only time will tell.

>Make a mental note to ask someone about the availability of Guns in Gensokyo.

>You think it would be a good idea to asks someone on how available guns are in Gensokyo.

>"And her power could be related to us in some way, but that's just a shot in the dark, know anyone ?'

>"Nope... Doesn't ring a bell..." Koishi continues
>_

[Neovereign]

>"R-Renko, I'm... Y-you need to... I-I'm sorry, never mind."
>This is starting to get upsetting. Renko isn't herself and Koishi seems to have made things worse for her. Not only that, but it doesn't seem like we can do anything to comfort our friend right now.
>Make sure we're on the path and start going quicker. The sooner we get to Mamizou, the sooner we can find out why Renko's acting like this and help her.

[Monarda]

>Agreed, we shall walk toward Eientei swiftly while taking looks to see if we're being followed/watched.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"R-Renko, I'm... Y-you need to... I-I'm sorry, never mind."

>"N-No, don't be sorry... W-What is it, Merry?" Renko looks at you curiously.

>This is starting to get upsetting. Renko isn't herself and Koishi seems to have made things worse for her. Not only that, but it doesn't seem like we can do anything to comfort our friend right now.

>You hate seeing Renko like this, if only there was something you could do...

>Make sure we're on the path and start going quicker. The sooner we get to Mamizou, the sooner we can find out why Renko's acting like this and help her.

>Agreed, we shall walk toward Eientei swiftly while taking looks to see if we're being followed/watched.

>You enter the bamboo forest, staying on the path. Eventually the road forks, a charred, broken sign is lying face-down at the middle of the fork.
>"Uh oh..." Kosuzu remarks.
>"Why 'Uh oh?' " asks Koishi, "Eientei's that way!" she points down the right side of the fork for several seconds before switching directions, "Wait, maybe it was that way? Oh wait! Maybe both ways lead to it...! Man, remembering the way is hard without having Orin with me... Maybe I can remember the way I took when I first went there if it was snowing out...? Hmm..."
>_

[Neovereign]

>"You're...You're not acting like yourself Renko. I don't know if it's because of what happened at the village or something else, but we're friends, and I want to be there for you if you have anything on your mind. If you don't feel comfortable sharing it though, that's okay. I just don't like seeing you like this. That's why I think we should take a break soon. Maybe stay at Eientei if they let us or Reimu's shrine for a while."
>Examine the remains of the sign.

[Monarda]

>Would a break mean stay on a place and relax for while or go back to the outside world ? We're kinda too involved in this already to just go back, and least let's get the issues with Mamizou and Reimu done.
>Also examine both trails, are there any details on them or on the trees nearby ?

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"You're...You're not acting like yourself Renko. I don't know if it's because of what happened at the village or something else, but we're friends, and I want to be there for you if you have anything on your mind. If you don't feel comfortable sharing it though, that's okay. I just don't like seeing you like this. That's why I think we should take a break soon. Maybe stay at Eientei if they let us or Reimu's shrine for a while."

>"Merry... Don't worry about me... I-I'm fine..." Renko smiles slightly, "Though a break does sound nice..."

>Would a break mean stay on a place and relax for while or go back to the outside world ? We're kinda too involved in this already to just go back, and least let's get the issues with Mamizou and Reimu done.

>Why would you want to take a break back in the outside world? This is the place of your dreams! Besides, you don't think you've recovered enough to be able to open a tear that large again.

>Examine the remains of the sign.

>You pick up the charred sign. You can barely make out the word "Eientei" written on it, below that, you think there was an arrow pointing in the right direction, but it's too charred to decipher which way it was originally pointing.

>Also examine both trails, are there any details on them or on the trees nearby ?

>One trail looks slightly more overgrown than the other, the nearby bamboo trees are snapped, damaged, and burned. It looks too haphazard and isolated to have been caused naturally. There might have been some kind of scuffle here...
>_

[Monarda]

>Is the overgrown trail the burned one ?
>The less grown trail would be the one that makes sense, since the most used trails are the ones with less vegetation, but the other trail is also a choice because it seems to be the burned one, and that might be a sign.... Ugh so complicated.....
>Is isn't night time correct ? If it were we could use Renko's power for help.
>Miniking-Maribel, i need your thoughts and ideas, my good friend. :3
>"So anyone has any ideas to help us ?"

[Neovereign]

>"I can't just not worry about you Renko. I'd feel terrible if something happened to you here in Gensokyo. _{Or anywhere in general...}"
>It'd be our fault since we brought her here. Not to mention she is our friend, and our only one at that.
>Though now would be a great time for Renko's power, it's probably not nighttime, and we haven't confirmed if it works in Gensokyo yet.
>Reisen and Twei passed through here earlier. So we should think about what might've happened.
Edit: >We should probably gather more information before we pick a path, so yeah, having Koishi check out the area higher up will help. Also check around for any nearby barriers, in case that's a possibility.

[Monarda]

>Even if Reisen and Tewi passed by this place, they were flying, so they couldn't really leave a trail.
>Koishi can fly, so can we send her above the bamboo to see if there's any points of interest for us ?

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Is the overgrown trail the burned one ?

>There are scorch marks all over the area. Not just on the overgrown trail.

>The less grown trail would be the one that makes sense, since the most used trails are the ones with less vegetation, but the other trail is also a choice because it seems to be the burned one, and that might be a sign.... Ugh so complicated.....

>Why are there never any simple solutions in life...

>"So anyone has any ideas to help us ?"

>"Well, my gut tells me to go right." says Kosuzu, "Though, I heard the path less traveled is usually more interesting..."
>"Nope!" Koishi declares, "Maybe we can go to Youkai Mountain and get my friend Sanae? She's been here before! She even led me there the first time I visited! Though that was about ten years ago... I think? Give or take a year? And it was snowing out... And cold... Wait. Maybe that's a bad idea... Maybe she forgot? Plus Youkai Mountain is sooo far from here..."

>"I can't just not worry about you Renko. I'd feel terrible if something happened to you here in Gensokyo. _{Or anywhere in general...}"

>Renko's eyes widen for a brief moment before she chuckles, "Well, it's good to know you care about me that much..."

>It'd be our fault since we brought her here. Not to mention she is our friend, and our only one at that.

>Could you live with yourself if you let something bad happen to her?

>Is isn't night time correct ? If it were we could use Renko's power for help.

>Though now would be a great time for Renko's power, it's probably not nighttime, and we haven't confirmed if it works in Gensokyo yet.

>It is unfortunately not nighttime, furthermore, you aren't even sure if her powers would work here...

>Even if Reisen and Tewi passed by this place, they were flying, so they couldn't really leave a trail.

>Whoever left this here was likely someone else.

>Koishi can fly, so can we send her above the bamboo to see if there's any points of interest for us ?

Edit: >We should probably gather more information before we pick a path, so yeah, having Koishi check out the area higher up will help. Also check around for any nearby barriers, in case that's a possibility.

>You could ask Koishi to help, though there's no guarantee she'll cooperate...
>You see no barriers nearby.
>_