Maribel Quest Followthrough - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> Smirk and raise eyebrows.
> "I'll tell you what's up, you little hideaway. You made me chase all over this place looking for you today. For all that, YOU...owe me a damn good dance."
> Bust some moves with Renko.

[Hello Purvis]

> Smirk and raise eyebrows.
> "I'll tell you what's up, you little hideaway. You made me chase all over this place looking for you today. For all that, YOU...owe me a damn good dance."
> Bust some moves with Renko.

>She grins. "You're on, woman." Renko grabs your hand and leads you a bit further into the crowd. You then proceed to make utter fools of yourselves. You'd like to think you're a passable dancer, but no one can really be expected to do much with this much when the tempo keeps changing, other musicians cut in at random, and sometimes the style of the song itself changes. You do your best to keep up, but it's a fool's errand. Renko, on the other hand, doesn't seem to even bother to try to follow the music beyond taking it as a basic suggestion. When she has the lead, which is something of a constant tug of war between the two of you, she seems to just do whatever pops into her head. At first it's kind of funny, but as time passes, it grows a little odd. Renko's usually the more reserved of the two of you when it comes to things like this. She has her times when she cuts loose, of course, but this is just a bit much.  If nothing else, the faeries seem content to give the two of you room, if only if due to the fact that if either of you collided with a faerie, you're going to win.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Assuming we have enough breath: "Hey, Renko. What've you been up to these past couple days, anyway? Tell me what you've seen."

[Hello Purvis]

>You have some breath left, and take things more slowly.
>"Not a whole lot, yet," says Renko. "I've not been able to get away too much. Mostly the forest and the lake, the mansion from a distance. What about you, huh? Sounds like you've been all over."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, I've been to the mansion, and the underground, and Youkai Mountain, and the human village, the Higan river, the Hakurei shrine, and I'm sure I'm missing a few things. I've been asking all over for you, actually. No one had seen even a hint of you."
>And what do you mean, 'not been able to get away'? Been too busy with the faeries?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, I've been to the mansion, and the underground, and Youkai Mountain, and the human village, the Higan river, the Hakurei shrine, and I'm sure I'm missing a few things. I've been asking all over for you, actually. No one had seen even a hint of you."
>And what do you mean, 'not been able to get away'? Been too busy with the faeries?"

>"Oh wow, you've been busy!" says Renko. "And yeah, with the faeries and with trying to work things out. It's been a full couple days, I'll tell you!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"So, have any success working things out?"
>"What the first thing you remember about arriving here, anyway?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"So, have any success working things out?"
>"What the first thing you remember about arriving here, anyway?"

>"Sort of," she says. "Turns out, you were pretty much completely right."
>"Oh, the first thing? Well...I woke up in a bush, with a couple of concerned faeries hovering over me. Surprised I didn't black right back out again."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And the faeries just took you in, did they? They're.... a bit inscrutable, from what I've seen. I've had a bunch of them shooting at me already today."
>"And how come you didn't end up exploring around a little more, if you've been here a couple of days? I only woke up here this morning."

[Kilgamayan]

> "Wait, right about what?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"And the faeries just took you in, did they? They're.... a bit inscrutable, from what I've seen. I've had a bunch of them shooting at me already today."
>"And how come you didn't end up exploring around a little more, if you've been here a couple of days? I only woke up here this morning."

>"Oh, there's not bad at all," says Renko. "People just treat them like that because they're different."
>"Well, at first it was because I was kind of busy freaking out, you know?" She shakes her head. "Took a while to really calm down. Then I started working on meeting some people, figuring things out, and then in got drawn into things, I guess."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I wouldn't say they're bad, as such. But one kinda feels a little nervous approaching some of them sometimes if you've already been attacked for no sensible reason."
>"Who've you ended up meeting, then, anyway? Other than the faeries?"

[Kilgamayan]

> "Wait, completely right? About what?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I wouldn't say they're bad, as such. But one kinda feels a little nervous approaching some of them sometimes if you've already been attacked for no sensible reason."
>"Who've you ended up meeting, then, anyway? Other than the faeries?"

>"You probably just did something wrong. But don't worry, there's no hard feelings over it, even if you win.
>"Well, there's one youkai I met, but she kind of wants me to keep it on the lowdown..."

> "Wait, completely right? About what?"

>"Heh, I was wondering if you were gonna notice that or not," she says, grinning. "Pretty much everything, Maribel. I worried way too much about the logical, objective things. And turns out, they didn't even work anyways. It doesn't make sense, and I messed up trying to make it make sense." She shakes her head. "Wonder if we could have found this all out sooner if I didn't."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"That's... quite a change of heart. Although I suppose waking up and seeing all this could give you a bit of a different perspective on things."
>"And I don't suppose I can make a guess about that youkai? Was it Koishi?"

[Kilgamayan]

> "Hey, don't sell yourself short. We probably wouldn't even be here if you hadn't wanted to videotape that ghost cat, you know."

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "So, learned anything magical yet Renko? Cause I have. :3"
> Make sure we actually try for the kiity smile when we say the above.

[Hello Purvis]

>"That's... quite a change of heart. Although I suppose waking up and seeing all this could give you a bit of a different perspective on things."
>"And I don't suppose I can make a guess about that youkai? Was it Koishi?"

>"Yeah, kinda," she shrugs, "but can't deny the proof."
>"No, never heard of her," says Renko, shaking her head. "But really, even if you guess, I probably shouldn't tell you."

> "Hey, don't sell yourself short. We probably wouldn't even be here if you hadn't wanted to videotape that ghost cat, you know."

>"That was just luck, though. It wasn't even good science. Just, we got lucky and did the right thing at the right time."

> "So, learned anything magical yet Renko? Cause I have. :3"
> Make sure we actually try for the kiity smile when we say the above.

>You change the subject a bit, giving her your best cat grin. "Oh I bet you think you're such hot shit with it, too," she says. "Well as it turns out, I have, So nyeh!" She sticks her tongue out, then grins, "And they tell me I'm pretty good at it. Did you figure out how to fly?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, I can fly. Actually played aerial tag with some faeries over the lake earlier today. Isn't it amazing? What else can do you do? And who taught you, anyway?"

[Kilgamayan]

> Check status of dance party

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "I'm not bragging you goof, I just had to ask."
> "It starts with a Cat Ghost, then we end up here, and it turns out that some people are practicly Gods! As is, I don't even know if I want to go back home."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, I can fly. Actually played aerial tag with some faeries over the lake earlier today. Isn't it amazing? What else can do you do? And who taught you, anyway?"

>"My friend showed me," she says. "And isn't it? Man, I spent too much of yesterday doing that."

> Check status of dance party

>It's still going pretty strongly. The faeries are giving the two of you room, most of the time anyways.

> "I'm not bragging you goof, I just had to ask."
> "It starts with a Cat Ghost, then we end up here, and it turns out that some people are practicly Gods! As is, I don't even know if I want to go back home."

>"Yeah, that's what that grin said," she replies, giving you a playful poke on the nose.
>"Oh yeah...that cat ghost!" she says. "I was wondering what you were on about it. And yeah, I've got no plans to go back. Not much point in it."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"No interest at all? I'm... a little surprised at you. I mean, I don't know that I really want to leave, myself, yet. But, it sounds like you've already totally made up your mind."
>Given what we would have expected of Renko, would it have been normal for her to be less enthusiastic about staying here than us?

>"You want to go for a little walk around after this? Let me show you a few of the places I've been?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"No interest at all? I'm... a little surprised at you. I mean, I don't know that I really want to leave, myself, yet. But, it sounds like you've already totally made up your mind."
>Given what we would have expected of Renko, would it have been normal for her to be less enthusiastic about staying here than us?

>"You want to go for a little walk around after this? Let me show you a few of the places I've been?"

>"The whole thing outside's built on faulty premises," she says with a shrug. "I mean...here, we're pretty much disproved gravity, of all things. I guess there's some stuff, but I won't miss it too bad."
>It does seem a bit weird, really. You would have expected her to at least want to report her findings. She was all about putting that video on the internet, for instance.
>"Maybe a little one," says Renko. "But not too long. I need to keep this mess together, you know?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Keep this mess together?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Keep this mess together?"

>She nods. "It's not easy keeping this many faeries together for long. They get distracted, you see, then lose interest. But Dai and I, we've done pretty good, don't you think?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"You helped bring them all together? How? And also, why?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"You helped bring them all together? How? And also, why?"

>"Sure did," says Renko. "And, there's a trick to it. You have to keep them riled up just the right way. hold their interest. Keep them wanting to follow you. As for why, well, I suppose I can show you that."
>She starts working her way through the party, heading for a southern part of the field.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Follow her

[Hello Purvis]

>Follow her

>You follow her, working your way through the party. The faeries seem inclined to give Renko space, which makes the going fairly easy.
>Soon you reach the southern part of the field. There is a hill here, partially shrouded in trees. There are a few faeries here, dancing in the air, but nothing like the crowds before. Near the top, you can see a teepee, made from shafts of bamboo and what seems to be an appropriated comforter. "That's where I've been sleeping," says Renko. "It's pretty neat, really. Like camping."
>At the top of the ridge, you find you have a good view of the side of Scarlet Devil Manor, about a mile distant. Renko gestures toward it. "That's why."

>_