Maribel Quest Adjoining: A Z-Machine Adventure

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

I think the real problem is that we can't really help Renko without using our time magic, because we're kind of helpless on our own otherwise. It's not that Sakuya will flip out over us helping, it's that Sakuya will flip ten shits over us using time magic so openly.

It's a lose/lose situation both ways.

[Kilgamayan]

I don't think it's necessary to use time magic at all, actually. o_O

EDIT: It would be useless anyway, Sakuya's already demonstrated that she can follow us into timestops.

[ES-Anthy]

Just to throw my measly two cents into this as a bystandard, but isn't love in most cases something irrational and blind?

Overall just saying even if the SDM pretty much hates us or something, love isn't something to give up for such a thing.  But then my comment can be thrown into the dumpster since I'm just a crazy person :V

[Kilgamayan]

(For the record, Draco, in regards to the restrictive dialogue, I assumed you either forgot or tried and gave up. I certainly don't think you did anything with malicious intent.)

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

Ah, right. Sakuya can follow us into the timestop. So it's only really useful against patchy/remi, and that won't even work if sakuya is still there.
As for my decision, I'm unsure on what to do here. Both decisions can lead to severe consequences. (renko leaves us/we establish ourselves as infamous and untrustworthy liars)

Just do whatever you feel is right, regardless of what happens, bad stuff can happen either way.

[Kilgamayan]

Clarification on my position, since it appears I didn't talk about the details enough: I am not saying we go waltz over to the SDM right now and get involved. If Renko and her squad looks like they're on the verge of getting wiped out, however, I think we should interfere on her behalf.

[Kilgamayan]

Okay I'm tired of sitting around. Let's try this.

> Get closer to Alice. Close enough to conduct a proper conversation.
> "Hey."
> Keep observing the battle in the meantime.

[Hello Purvis]

>Begin to facepalm. Think better of it.

>You try very hard not to face palm.

> "They're using... candy to beat the fairies."
> Mentally curse Sakuya's genius.

>You mutter to yourself and curse Sakuya's genius. Of course someone who works with faeries as much as she does would know ways to deflect them.

>Look at the battle scene with interest. And keep an eye on Alice.
>Wonder how (EDIT: No, not why) they got all of that candy.

>Alice doesn't seem to be doing anything particularly sinister, aside from having one of her dolls keep a close eye on you.
>Either she had as part of the mansion's stock, she obtained it last night, or she made it just for this occasion.
> Renko drops toward the ground. For a moment, you have heart-wrenching fear that she's been taken out. Then she stops, a few feet above the ground, letting the beams pass over her. Most of the faeries seem to be able to avoid the attack, but its real effect is to scatter them, making it harder to pin down Sakuya.
>"Dai!" Renko shouts, though you can barely hear her, "Use the plan!"

> Get closer to Alice. Close enough to conduct a proper conversation.
> "Hey."
> Keep observing the battle in the meantime.

>You draw closer to Alice. As you do, you feel...an odd sort of emptiness in the air, and everything does deathly silent.
>You try to speak to Alice, and find that there is simply no sound.
>The battle has taken a curious turn. Even distracted as they are, the faeries going after the candy and shiny things notice that everything has gone deathly silent; some of them looking up at the battle raging overhead. Then, distracted and still fighting alike, maybe of the faeries begin to swarm toward Patchouli. There's no subtly to it, no formations, just an onrush of faeries coming at her and firing danmaku pretty much at random.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Huh. Thought it would come sooner than that. Oh well, I'll take it.

> Go up to Alice and tap her on the shoulder.
> Keep watching the battle until Alice is focused on us.

[Hello Purvis]

> Go up to Alice and tap her on the shoulder.
> Keep watching the battle until Alice is focused on us.

>You approach Alice. Her doll taps her on the shoulder, and she looks at you with narrowed eyes. She tries to speak, and has about as much success as you did.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Stop moving and make a gesture to communicate non-aggressive intent as best we can
>Ponder if we've found a new niche for sign language in Gensokyo

[Hello Purvis]

>Stop moving and make a gesture to communicate non-aggressive intent as best we can
>Ponder if we've found a new niche for sign language in Gensokyo

>What sort of gesture will you be making to communicate this?

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Wave both of our hands side-to-side, palms forward, in front of our chest a few times.

[Hello Purvis]

> Wave both of our hands side-to-side, palms forward, in front of our chest a few times.

>Alice frowns and shrugs, while you feel that prodding sensation again.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Hold up, I'm writing my idea~

[Kilgamayan]

> Hold up wrist with bracelet on it and point to the bracelet with our other hand for a second.
> Flex for a second.
> Point to ourselves.
> Put both hands back in front of us, point them at each other, and move them like we were controlling sock puppets, as if the hands were talking to each other. Look back and forth at the "speaking" hand as necessary.
> Once this is done, point at Alice for a second.
> Flex again, point at ourselves again, point at Alice again and then point at ourselves again while putting a finger to our temple to indicate thinking. Do all these things in fairly rapid succession.
> Put on a slightly sad face.
> Clasp our hands together in front of our chest and bow toward Alice for a few seconds.
> When we come back up from the bow, mouth "I'm sorry" and pray she can read lips to a degree.

[Kilgamayan]

> Hold up wrist with bracelet on it and point to the bracelet with our other hand for a second.
> Flex for a second.
> Point to ourselves.
> Put both hands back in front of us, point them at each other, and move them like we were controlling sock puppets, as if the hands were talking to each other. Look back and forth at the "speaking" hand as necessary.
> Once this is done, point at Alice for a second.
> Flex again, point at ourselves again, point at Alice again and then point at ourselves again while putting a finger to our temple to indicate thinking. Do all these things in fairly rapid succession.
> Put on a slightly sad face.
> Clasp our hands together in front of our chest and bow toward Alice for a few seconds.
> When we come back up from the bow, mouth "I'm sorry" and pray she can read lips to a degree.

> Don't do this just yet.

Rewritan, rewritan~

[Kilgamayan]

> Hold up wrist with bracelet on it and point to the bracelet with our other hand for a second.
> Flex for a second.
> Point to ourselves.
> Put both hands back in front of us, point them at each other, and move them like we were controlling sock puppets, as if the hands were talking to each other. Look back and forth at the "speaking" hand as necessary.
> Once this is done, point at Alice for a second.
> Put up a hand toward Alice, palm facing out, as if we were a traffic cop signaling for cars to stop.
> Flex again, point at the Forest of Magic in the general direction of Marisa's house, draw a line through the air and bring our hand to rest so our still-extended finger is pointing at the ground, and then shake our head while waving our hands in front of us like in our very first gesture. Do all this in rapid succession. Give this a couple of seconds.
> Put a hand up in front of us and point at the sky, as we might normally do to indicated that we're not finished talking.
> Flex again, point at ourselves again, make the 'talking hands' motion again, point at Alice again and then point at ourselves again while putting a finger to our temple to indicate thinking. Tap our chest a few times with the pointing finger for emphasis. Do all these things in fairly rapid succession.
> Put on a remorseful face.
> Clasp our hands together in front of our chest and bow toward Alice for a few seconds.
> When we come back up from the bow, mouth "I'm sorry" and pray she can read lips to a degree.

[Blitzer]

An edit would have sufficed.

[Kilgamayan]

I have edited posts in the past while Purvis was in the middle of responding to them, and editing a post doesn't bring up the WARNING THERE'S A NEW POST notice when someone is trying to post.

For maximum assurance that you get in exactly what you want, it's easier to scratch your existing post and write a new one.

[Hello Purvis]

> Hold up wrist with bracelet on it and point to the bracelet with our other hand for a second.
> Flex for a second.
> Point to ourselves.
> Put both hands back in front of us, point them at each other, and move them like we were controlling sock puppets, as if the hands were talking to each other. Look back and forth at the "speaking" hand as necessary.
> Once this is done, point at Alice for a second.
> Put up a hand toward Alice, palm facing out, as if we were a traffic cop signaling for cars to stop.
> Flex again, point at the Forest of Magic in the general direction of Marisa's house, draw a line through the air and bring our hand to rest so our still-extended finger is pointing at the ground, and then shake our head while waving our hands in front of us like in our very first gesture. Do all this in rapid succession. Give this a couple of seconds.
> Put a hand up in front of us and point at the sky, as we might normally do to indicated that we're not finished talking.
> Flex again, point at ourselves again, make the 'talking hands' motion again, point at Alice again and then point at ourselves again while putting a finger to our temple to indicate thinking. Tap our chest a few times with the pointing finger for emphasis. Do all these things in fairly rapid succession.
> Put on a remorseful face.
> Clasp our hands together in front of our chest and bow toward Alice for a few seconds.
> When we come back up from the bow, mouth "I'm sorry" and pray she can read lips to a degree.

>Alice watches this display, glancing back to the battle every now and again, with a frown and raised eyebrows, haking her head from time to time or shurgging.
>Then you bow toward her and mouth "I'm sorry." She seems to sigh, then nods.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>How does the battle seem to be progressing?

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod back in Alice's direction with a small smile.
> Check back in on the battle.

[Hello Purvis]

>How does the battle seem to be progressing?

> Nod back in Alice's direction with a small smile.
> Check back in on the battle.

>Alice seems to have lost interest in you, returning her attention to the battle.
>The number of faeries has been visibly reduced from the last time you looked. You can barely see Patchouli; she is being mobbed and doesn't seem to be doing well at all. There's some faeries trying to take on Sakuya, Renko and Cirno in particular, but they are not having much luck holding her off form striking at the main force with impunity.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Estimate on total remaining force
>What condition does Sakuya appear to be in?
>How does Renko seem to be doing, for that matter

[Kilgamayan]

> Ponder whether or not beating defeated in combat by getting smothered by fairies will overtake MuQ as the most embarrassing thing in Patchouli's life.
> Wait shit we're not supposed to know about that.
> OH GOD DIVIDE BY ZERO TIME PARADOX

[Hello Purvis]

>Estimate on total remaining force
>What condition does Sakuya appear to be in?
>How does Renko seem to be doing, for that matter

>Easily half of her forces are gone by this point, perhaps more than that. Sakuya is striking them without too much trouble now, and their ranks have broken totally. You think Patchouli is doing what she can, but being mobbed as she is, there isn't a lot she can do.
>Sakuya has definitely taken some damage. Renko seems to be right; it doesn't mean much to be able to stop time if you're still caged in by fire. Still, she seems to have some fight left in her.
>Renko's dress is torn in a few places; she has definitely taken her share of harm. But she doesn't seem as bad off as Sakuya.
>As you watch, Patchouli drops from the air quickly, and lands on her hands and knees.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Hope that half her forces will be enough, if Patchouli's out of the fight and Sakuya's taken a beating already
>Hope that a sun-afflicted vampire will be less dangerous than Sakuya's proved to be
>Keep watching

[Kilgamayan]

> Marvel at Sakuya's apparently ability to take down a sizeable swarm of fairies by herself despite being injured.
> Will Renko on to victory as hard was we can. Aim good feeling vibes in her direction.

[Hello Purvis]

>Hope that half her forces will be enough, if Patchouli's out of the fight and Sakuya's taken a beating already
>Hope that a sun-afflicted vampire will be less dangerous than Sakuya's proved to be
>Keep watching

>You hope for the best and keep watching.
>Without sound, the bulk of the faeries do not have a way to really know what to do next. Some start to flee; while others just watch what's going on, trying trying to put together what they should do. The fallen objects seem to have been mostly forgotten, though a few scattered faeries dive down for them. The majority of the forces, though, see Sakuya and start to fire on her. However, lacking both the numbers and the coordination from before, the attacks are nearly as concentrated or as dense. You also realize you can't see Cirno anymore; Sakuya must have dealt with her. You feel the prodding sensation again, as Sakuya moves from one side of the gathered forces to the other, leaving knives in her wake to rain down upon them.
>To her credit, Renko finds Sakuya quickly. You notice she's making motions with one hand, while firing, and apparently shouting. Other faeries are gathering near her.

> Marvel at Sakuya's apparently ability to take down a sizeable swarm of fairies by herself despite being injured.
> Will Renko on to victory as hard was we can. Aim good feeling vibes in her direction.

>Sakuya really does seem to be a dangerous opponent
>You send as much good will as you can toward Renko! She can do this, you know she can. She's already halfway there!
>"What?" comes a distance-sounding voice. Looking over, it seems that Alice is shouting at you at the top of her lungs. You can barely hear it.

>_