Maribel Quest More - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, because no one else was there at the time, and I never told you. Those seem like pretty good reasons to me."

>She shrugs. "I guess someone did, because I know! And it's still very rude!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I'm sorry I offended you. Is there anything I can do for you?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I'm sorry I offended you. Is there anything I can do for you?"

>"Well, okay, I forgive you," she says, smiling again. "I just wanted to say I can't wait for you to join us. I'm sure Tokiko is thrilled, too!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"As a youkai, you mean?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"As a youkai, you mean?"

>"Mmhm!" says Mystia.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I admit I'm still a bit nervous, myself."
>Are we still walking forward, following that phantom?
>If not, continue to move, if Mystia falls in beside us

[Hello Purvis]

>"I admit I'm still a bit nervous, myself."
>Are we still walking forward, following that phantom?
>If not, continue to move, if Mystia falls in beside us

>"I'm sure it will be fine." She giggles. "You better come and visit me first when it's done, so I can ooh and aah over you!"
>You have been moving foward, yes. Mystia has been flying alongside you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I rather hope I don't look too different when all is said and done, to be honest."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I rather hope I don't look too different when all is said and done, to be honest."

>"I'm sure you'll be fine," says Mystia, smiling. "And if it's too bad, we can use cosmetics!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm... not sure cosmetics can shrink a person. Or, rather, I'm sure that they can't."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm... not sure cosmetics can shrink a person. Or, rather, I'm sure that they can't."

>"I am sure there are spells for that," says Mystia.
>Looking at her, she seems...odd, now. You can't put your finger on why. Is she less...brightly colored?

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Not so sure of that myself... Of course, I'm hardly in a position to know what things magic can and cannot do. Except remove enchantments, evidently."
>Does she seem to be changing color, or was she always less brightly colored, and we just never noticed?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Not so sure of that myself... Of course, I'm hardly in a position to know what things magic can and cannot do. Except remove enchantments, evidently."
>Does she seem to be changing color, or was she always less brightly colored, and we just never noticed?

>"I sure it'll all work out," says Mystia.
>As you watch, her colors are becoming more hazy and indistinct.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmmm... what's happening to you?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hmmm... what's happening to you?"

>"Nothing, why?" she asks.
>You can see the mist on the other side through her now.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, you're... kinda fading away at the moment. I mean, look at yourself."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, you're... kinda fading away at the moment. I mean, look at yourself."

>She looks down at her hands. "No I'm not," she says.
>You can easily see through her now. You suspect you could read a book through her with only a little difficulty.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmmm.... nevermind."
>Continue onward

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hmmm.... nevermind."
>Continue onward

>"Oh well," she says, as she fades away entirely. "Tell Renko I said hello!"
>You notice the mist lightening up.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I will!"
>Return to the garden we left from

[Hello Purvis]

>"I will!"
>Return to the garden we left from

>You flight after your now much easier to see companion, and it shouldn't be long until you leave the mis-
>Oh god you're falling!

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly regain our flight!
>Can we see the ground? Or anything else around us for that matter?

[Hello Purvis]

>Quickly regain our flight!
>Can we see the ground? Or anything else around us for that matter?

>You quickly reestablish your flight! Good thing you got so used to doing it; you would have been in real trouble had this happened sometime in the morning.
>You can see the ground; it is a dozen or so yards beneath you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Land on the sweet, sweet solid ground
>Catch breath
>Ponder what in the world just happened

[Hello Purvis]

>Land on the sweet, sweet solid ground
>Catch breath
>Ponder what in the world just happened

>You land on the ground, finding yourself in a dense and verdantly green forest. In terms of lushness, no other forest you have seen can compare. It looks almost unreal, how deep and intense the colors are. You almost wonder if it will give you eye strain.
>You catch your breath. Even if you caught yourself with ease, you still had a terrible shock.
>You think...that you forgot to fly. Or rather, you just stopped doing it within the mist after awhile.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>How could we forget to fly?
>Head back to the building complex

[Hello Purvis]

>How could we forget to fly?
>Head back to the building complex

>You think that you stopped focusing on it while in the mist after a time. Perhaps it was after you encountered the Young Mistress, as Meiling called her, and just didn't focus on it hard enough to maintain it once you left the mist.
>You take off again, heading for the palace, as several phantoms  start to emerge from the forest to look at you.
>The rest of the trip back is uneventful. Your guide leads you around the complex, then lands near the front courtyard, at the foot of the stairs. You find Youmu sweeping there. "All went well?" she asks.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I retrieved what I set out to obtain, in any event. But... I had several unsettling encounters in the mist. I was wondering if you might be able to help me understand what they were."
>"At the place where I found the essence, something that looked like a person came and spoke with me. She looked just like the young mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, although she claimed not to know them. She... said it was her task to bring on the end of all things when the time was right. That she was simply waiting for her attachments to this world to be gone, before she could act. ...do you have any idea what she was?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I retrieved what I set out to obtain, in any event. But... I had several unsettling encounters in the mist. I was wondering if you might be able to help me understand what they were."
>"At the place where I found the essence, something that looked like a person came and spoke with me. She looked just like the young mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, although she claimed not to know them. She... said it was her task to bring on the end of all things when the time was right. That she was simply waiting for her attachments to this world to be gone, before she could act. ...do you have any idea what she was?"

>She nods.
>"Looks like the young mistress..." says Youmu. "Hmmm. I presume, then, you didn't know the nature of the edge of Hakugyokurou? In short, it is a place where the the fabric of the universe isn't quite woven. One's mind can have a profound effect there, and one's own memories can take a kind of life of their own. If that was not your memory, then I imagine it belonged to your guide. So, she was really nothing."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Really? She didn't really exist? I doubt she could have come from my memories, since I don't know almost anything about her, but now that you mention it I... almost thought my guide was cowering behind me there, although I admit that I might be reaching."
>"I suppose that also explains the second encounter. It was with Mystia, who I actually do know a little, or at least someone who looked like her. She was offended when I doubted that she was really Mystia, despite her knowing things from my own memories that it would be nearly impossible for her to know."