Maribel Quest Followthrough - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm sorry Renko. Really, I am. And is that where this plan of yours started forming? After you figured that it was best to just stop trying to think too hard about things, and go with the flow?"

>"Yeah. I mean...that's a problem I can solve. And get a lot out of it."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And you've certainly done a pretty impressive job so far. I can't imagine anyone's seen the likes of this before. I frankly don't know how you managed to get the faeries all on the same page. It was enough for me to make sense of them, half the time."
>"Anyway, you want to go for a little walk? Maybe say hi to Utsuho? I'm sure she'd be happy to see your face, again. The faeries will be able to last a few minutes without you. Just tell them you're going on reconnaissance or something."

[Hello Purvis]

>"And you've certainly done a pretty impressive job so far. I can't imagine anyone's seen the likes of this before. I frankly don't know how you managed to get the faeries all on the same page. It was enough for me to make sense of them, half the time."
>"Anyway, you want to go for a little walk? Maybe say hi to Utsuho? I'm sure she'd be happy to see your face, again. The faeries will be able to last a few minutes without you. Just tell them you're going on reconnaissance or something."

>"Heh, thanks. And to be fair, I had Dai's help. Wouldn't have gotten nearly this far without her."
>"How far?" asks Renko. "I still have that meeting and stuff."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh yeah. How much time until that, anyway?"
>How long would it take us to get to the Palace of the Earth Spirits from here?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh yeah. How much time until that, anyway?"
>How long would it take us to get to the Palace of the Earth Spirits from here?

>"Not too long, now," says Renko.
>You estimate it would take you about twenty to thirty minutes to get there from here.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Don't know for sure? And were you supposed to meet her here, or somewhere else, anyway?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Don't know for sure? And were you supposed to meet her here, or somewhere else, anyway?"

>"Well, it's a general sort of time, not an exact one," says Renko. "Haven't seen much in the way of clocks around here, I don't think people worry about exact times much. And I'm going to go meet her."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I suppose you could always tag along with me until you feel that it's too late, if it really does take us that long. Gensokyo's a pretty small place, all things told."

[Kilgamayan]

> "Or you could leave a message with a fairy for your benefactor, letting her know where you've gone, and that you'll be back soon."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I suppose you could always tag along with me until you feel that it's too late, if it really does take us that long. Gensokyo's a pretty small place, all things told."

>"I guess I could go part of the way, at least," says Renko. "Give me a minute to set things up."
>She walks off before you can really reply, and disappears among the gathering of faeries.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Oh. Well. Okay then.
> 'Part of the way', huh? Glad to know Renko has her friends vs. mansion priorities straight.
> Sad face. Keep it on while waiting for her to come back.

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

> Can we sense if Renko's still a human or not? Satori did say it should come naturally to us...
> We should probably try to convince Renko to hold off the siege until tomorrow, if possible. We need to buy us some more time.

[Hello Purvis]

> Oh. Well. Okay then.
> 'Part of the way', huh? Glad to know Renko has her friends vs. mansion priorities straight.
> Sad face. Keep it on while waiting for her to come back.

>The faeries are starting to rouse, you notice, talking excitedly among themselves.
>She comes back after a couple minutes. "Okay," she says with a bit of a grin, "Dai's bought me some time. If it becomes really necessary, she can even do the meeting, but I'd rather not have it that way, our ally kinda doesn't want to have to deal with the faerie side of things more than she has to."

> Can we sense if Renko's still a human or not? Satori did say it should come naturally to us...
> We should probably try to convince Renko to hold off the siege until tomorrow, if possible. We need to buy us some more time.

>You think she's human, but you really don't have any innate sense for that. It would be kind of weird if she was a youkai and you didn't know it.
>This seems like a good idea.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Huh. Maybe we were wrong. Then again, she didn't notice sad face...
> Whatever. At least she's coming along.
> "Excellent. You all ready, then?"

[DracoOmega]

>Lead on towards the palace
>"Dai sounds like she's been a pretty staunch ally, there. And I guess it helps that she was already more or less the faeries boss. How'd you two end up hooking up?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Huh. Maybe we were wrong. Then again, she didn't notice sad face...
> Whatever. At least she's coming along.
> "Excellent. You all ready, then?"

>Maybe she did notice it and didn't comment?
>"Yeah, lead the way."

>Lead on towards the palace
>"Dai sounds like she's been a pretty staunch ally, there. And I guess it helps that she was already more or less the faeries boss. How'd you two end up hooking up?"

>You take to the air, and she follows along, keeping by your side.
>"Yeah, Dai's the best, you don't even know," says Renko. "Back when I was afraid you didn't make it, and was all worried that I was alone here, she kept me from flipping out. And the faeries that found me, Ficus Blossom and Sudden Shower, introduced me to her not long after I woke up. She even goes to the school up in the village, so she's smarter than the average faerie, too. Part of why I'm confident in the plan."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Interesting. I wouldn't mind talking to her sometime. I've already been to the school, actually, and spent a little bit of time talking with the teacher there."
>"Where'd you get that dress, anyway?"

[Kilgamayan]

> She goes to the school? I bet Keine would love to hear about one of her students orchestrating this plan.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Interesting. I wouldn't mind talking to her sometime. I've already been to the school, actually, and spent a little bit of time talking with the teacher there."
>"Where'd you get that dress, anyway?"

>"The faeries made it for me last night," says Renko. "I kinda needed a change of clothes really badly, and mentioned it, and off Sullen Plummet's squad went. I wrote 'em off as deserters, when they came back with it two hours later. Isn't it great?"

> She goes to the school? I bet Keine would love to hear about one of her students orchestrating this plan.

>You can only imagine Keine's response...actually, you can't. You've never seen a one room schoolhouse in action, and have no idea how she keeps people's attention.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"It's certainly... colorful. No idea where they got it? Or do faeries actually have enough infrastructure to make clothes like that themselves?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"It's certainly... colorful. No idea where they got it? Or do faeries actually have enough infrastructure to make clothes like that themselves?"

>"I know, it's great!  And, it's hard to tell about how they got it," says Renko. "You wouldn't know by looking at it? But there's faerie houses hidden all over the place in this forest. And a few that aren't even a little hidden. I'm not sure how much they make themselves, how much they salvage, and how much they steal. So it could go either way."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I saw one or two of their houses. Talked to Lemon Drop by hers earlier when I was exploring the place."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I saw one or two of their houses. Talked to Lemon Drop by hers earlier when I was exploring the place."

>"Don't know Lemon Drop," says Renko. "Though I think I've heard the name once or twice. But really, you try to remember a few hundred names in this amount of time."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh, I hear you. I can probably only remember her's because I've only heard one or two others today."
>"Hey, have you picked up any tricks here other than flying and danmaku, anyway?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh, I hear you. I can probably only remember her's because I've only heard one or two others today."
>"Hey, have you picked up any tricks here other than flying and danmaku, anyway?"

>"Not really," says Renko. "I've been told I might be able to do something with Star-related Magic, but there's been no time to do anything with it. Really, there's been no time. But I'm pretty confident in my danmaku; I can take down most faeries pretty well, though some of them are absolute beasts. You wouldn't think someone so little could conjure up dozens of bullets like that."
>She sighs. "God, I'm glad you made it."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"What do you mean?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"What do you mean?"

>"Did I say something weird? I said I'm glad you made it. I was afraid I ended up leaving you behind forever."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh, sorry, I think I misheard you. I'm glad I found you, too, Renko. And you... really never wanted to go back home, even for a moment?"

[Kilgamayan]

> "Oh, right, sorry. Lost in thought. You aren't the only one that's been busy today."
> "Yes, I'm glad you made it too. I'd been looking everywhere for you for most of the day, even while running around doing other things. Even had a raging moral dilemma regarding what to do with myself depending on how I found you. Lots of people had their input on that one."

EDIT: Never mind, I guess, previous post completely kills where this one was going.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh, sorry, I think I misheard you. I'm glad I found you, too, Renko. And you... really never wanted to go back home, even for a moment?"

>"Not really," she says. "First I was too amazed. Then, there's really no reason for it, is there? The whole thing's built on a sham."

>_