Let Your Fists Do The Talking! Akyu Quest Continued!

[Fightest]

>Try smearing a bit on the afflicted areas.
>"Please forgive me, this is a rather new experience. Um, are you hurt as well?"

> You rub the healing goop on your... head. It feels tingley, like rubbing your face in a bowlful of mint leaves, but the pain is indeed subsiding.
> Twirling a lock of her wondrous hair idly, Koishi mutters that her pride has certainly taken a dent. Then, with a comically overblown sigh of resignation, she smiles - after all, she did promise to do whatever Akyu wanted if she proved a capable opponent.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Do you know how to get to Marisa's home? As I said before, one of your sister's pets is there. Events around the tournament have caused her to take damage to her mind. She has lost some memories."

[Mr_Bob]

>"Thank you for the lovely match, Koishi (and for returning our Parser); I just don't feel everything should be solved with fists if we can both talk about it."
>"On that note, you mentioned the Moriya Shrinemaiden, what do know about the happenings on the Mountain?"

[Fightest]

>"Do you know how to get to Marisa's home? As I said before, one of your sister's pets is there. Events around the tournament have caused her to take damage to her mind. She has lost some memories."

> Koishi scratches her head, wondering how to best put her statement. She could hardly tell Akyu that she felt highly uncomfortable in the confines of the Forest of Magic - that would be almost embarassing. Perhaps if she said that she would prefer that Akyu tell her the whole story once they're both there, so that she wouldn't make any mistakes? She presents this little white lie to Akyu with a remarkably straight face.

>"Thank you for the lovely match, Koishi (and for returning our Parser); I just don't feel everything should be solved with fists if we can both talk about it."
>"On that note, you mentioned the Moriya Shrinemaiden, what do know about the happenings on the Mountain?"

> With a wry smile, Koishi tells Akyu of her exploits in confounding the Sanae girl as the latter went about her spontaneous crusade to subdue every single Youkai on the mountain. Despite seeming to have a double dose of divine power behind her, the girl is a poor thinker, and an even poorer tactician, which gave Koishi the upper hand.
> Koishi does not mention the fact that she got quickly bored with the girl's dull mind and left soon afterwards, and that she now has no idea where the Sanae girl is - that'd merely detract from the tale.

[Mr_Bob]

>Team up with Koishi until we're done in the Mountain?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I suppose I could accompany you, but I do have some other things here I need to look into. In fact, you might even be quite helpful in those regards. You have been travelling around the mountain, have you not? What has been happening lately?"

[Fightest]

>"Well, I suppose I could accompany you, but I do have some other things here I need to look into. In fact, you might even be quite helpful in those regards. You have been travelling around the mountain, have you not? What has been happening lately?"

> Koishi looks at Akyu askance, her hair fluttering in the wind. What an unclear question to ask somebody! She's already told her everything she considered important, so what else could this girl possibly need?

[Mr_Bob]

>"Koishi, would you like to travel with me?"

[Fightest]

>"Koishi, would you like to travel with me?"

> Koishi agrees nonchalantly, as if she does not care much one way or the other. She most certainly does not give away that she is actually quite excited to have a traveling companion for the first time in many years.

[Mr_Bob]

>Oward, together!

[Fightest]

> You proceed up the mountain path, accompanied by an odd tickling sensation somewhere at the base of your cerebellum.
> The path plateaus out soon, and you find yourself on a flat expanse of rocky ground, worn smooth by thousands of little streams running here and there, no doubt merging further down the mountain into the gushing river that you saw below.
> The mountain continues upwards off to your right.
> Ahead of you are the Moriya shrine buildings.

[Hello Purvis]

>Recall the various reasons we came here. It's been a bit. Get Flandre properly exempted, find Koishi...
>Did Mokou say she met the celestial guarding the elixir at the top of the mountain?

[Fightest]

>Recall the various reasons we came here. It's been a bit. Get Flandre properly exempted, find Koishi...
>Did Mokou say she met the celestial guarding the elixir at the top of the mountain?

> Both are correct, with the addition that Satori has asked for immunity for Utsuho as well.
> Yes she did. Not literally at the top of the mountain, but in Heaven, which is geographically above the mountain.

[Hello Purvis]

>Examine the shrine for activities.
>Recall what we've heard about Yasaka-sama lately.

[Mr_Bob]

>Keep the awarness high

[Fightest]

>Examine the shrine for activities.
>Recall what we've heard about Yasaka-sama lately.

>Keep the awarness high

> There is a rippling in the air ahead of you, like the air above a fire, that becomes more intense as you come closer. It subsides when you move away. As the rippling grows more intense, things become different - the streams crisscrossing the rocks underneath your feet now flow upwards into the air, then fall back down in a perpetual rainfall all around you, yet never so much as a drop lands on you. The rocks start to move and change shape beneath your feet, cracking and reforming to ensure that every step you take lands on a smooth, solid surface, never on a crack or a bump.
> It looks like you're being expected.
> The Goddess of the Wind and the Rain is an old goddess, despite her looks, having been around since times immemorial. As such, she has many generations' worth of experience and knowledge, which, it is rumoured, she is not afraid to use to set up long-reaching schemes and gambits in her constant effort to amass power. It has been theorised that her coming to Gensokyo has actually limited her power beyond her expectation, due to the strange rules that this realm has to follow. She does not tolerate ignorance, is quick to judge, and enjoys flattery. Her favourite colour is purple.

[Hello Purvis]

>Well, that is kind. If we are being expected, it would be terribly rude to turn away.
>Head toward the shrine. Try not to get soaked.
>"I apologize in advance if this gets unpleasant, Koishi."


Personal vow: Not gonna snap at Kanako this time ;_;

[Fightest]

>Well, that is kind. If we are being expected, it would be terribly rude to turn away.
>Head toward the shrine. Try not to get soaked.
>"I apologize in advance if this gets unpleasant, Koishi."


Personal vow: Not gonna snap at Kanako this time ;_;

> Koishi dances along through the grass, kicking up leaves, enjoying the sunlight filtering through the tree canopy above. She is not worried about the two Goddesses in the shrine, but is quite curious to see what they are like - she has never had much reason to go in this direction, and welcomes the opportunity for new experiences.

> The mountainside starts to warp entirely, and where before the shrine buildings seemed to be perched precariously on untreated rock, now they stand in the middle of a magnificent rock garden, outlined and accentuated by streams expertly channeled to emphasise the feng shui of the area.

> Koishi sits down to examine a particularly interesting flowe...
> ...
> The folia...
> ...
> Koishi frowns. It seems to her that the Goddesses were particularly insistent on their view on things.

> The rock garden guides you towards the central shrine building, its doors open. Inside is a spacious ceremony room, impeccably clean, dimly lit within by candles lit along the walls and at the altar on the far end. The perpetual rainstorm outside makes everything otherwise quite dark.

[Hello Purvis]

>Be sure to remove shoes first, then walk inside.

[Fightest]

>Be sure to remove shoes first, then walk inside.

> The far end of the room suddenly seems to extend far out of view. The walls to your sides do the same, and the doorway behind you, despite yours having just stepped through it, seems miles away. It is as if the whole room has been forced to expand to house its inhabitants.
> As if out of cracks between moments, two women step out into the infinitely vast ceremony room. One is tall and imposing, her stare heavy with the weight of countless centuries. Dressed in luxurious reds and purples, she radiates a presence that the ceremony room is just barely large enough to contain. She hovers a few inches above the ground as she moves. She sits down mid-air cross-legged, resting her chin on her right hand. This is the enshrined goddess, you are certain.
> The other woman - barely out of her childhood, dressed in colourful whites and purples, adorned with decorations of frogs at play - you do not recognise. She walks on the ground with light steps, yet each one resonates through the room as if they were the footsteps of a mountain. Her eyes have the same age to them, but there is no sense of heaviness as she examines you. She casually lies down on the floor, propping up her head on her hand to look at you.
> The little one winks at you.

[Hello Purvis]

>Approach to a respectful distance, and kneel. In fact, kowtow. Might as well give respect where it is due.
>Wait to be spoken to.

[Fightest]

>Approach to a respectful distance, and kneel. In fact, kowtow. Might as well give respect where it is due.
>Wait to be spoken to.

> "Oh, but the people of this land yet know how to show respect," says the goddess, her voice deep and silky.
> "You had judged too quickly yet again, oh great and mighty Kanako," says the child to the goddess, her tone mirthful, "am I not supposed to be the one with lordship over the earth? Yet you repeatedly impinge upon my domain with your rock-headedness."
> "What a boon it is that I have you to keep me honest," says the goddess to the child, her voice laced with sarcasm.
> "Akyu of the Hieda clan," the goddess says to you, "I've been watching you since your first step upon my mountain..."
> The child coughs derisively.
> "...wondering what your business was right up until you showed up on my shrine's doorstep."
> The cough again.
> "What is it then that you want that you require my very presence for?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Sit up, but maintain a respectful kneel.
>"I have questions, Yasaka-sama, which I feel need to be answered. First, I would wish to know what happened in the oni city, yesterday. One matching your description was seen there, and I suspect you are aware of the events that followed there."

[Fightest]

>Sit up, but maintain a respectful kneel.
>"I have questions, Yasaka-sama, which I feel need to be answered. First, I would wish to know what happened in the oni city, yesterday. One matching your description was seen there, and I suspect you are aware of the events that followed there."

> The goddess grins. There is no humour in her eyes.
> "And here I had thought I would have had to play more games. Come out." She says the last sentence to nowhere in particular.
> The space to the side of the goddess parts into a wicked smile. The air shifts and tears to form a vaguely humanoid silhouette.
> "I was wonderin' where I saw that ugly face of yours, kid," the silhouette says. "Play on higher ground, we do here, can't expect to keep track of all the worms crawlin' around..."
> The goddess waves the silhouette quiet.
> "Oh, I am well-aware of the events at the solar furnace. I am equally-aware that you are to be blamed for the destruction of a lot of hard work."
> You can see the anger in the goddess' eyes, and the quiet air in the ceremony room starts to violently shift.
> "You wouldn't even believe," says the child.
> "And now we are back at square one," she says, the winds picking up force. "Be satisfied, hero. You've damned us to suffer this wretched tournament and to the mercy of the fools up in Heaven!"
> Winds whip around the room to match the goddess' fury, but they stop quickly when the child gives the goddess a swift kick from her lying position.
> "But no, I am magnanimous and merciful. I will hear your excuses and explanations. I might even consider them."

Personal vow: Not gonna snap at Kanako this time ;_;

:V Not doing this deliberately, mind you.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I would hear and consider yours as well. The harm you done, I hope, would be obvious to one of your wisdom. But the reasons are not clear to me at all."
>Remain kneeling. Could we potentially do a Meiling's Tower from this position if needs be?

[Mr_Bob]

Personal vow: Not going to snap at Kanako this time.

You don't mind if I feel the need to layeth-the smackdown, right?

>"You mean to say you meant good by doing harm?  If the ends truly justified the means, then would not the means justify the ends?  I will not have such a selfish sacrificing of another, even if it is a means to end the tournament.  However, this does not make us enemies.  We have a common goal, perhaps we could work together."

[Fightest]

>"I would hear and consider yours as well. The harm you done, I hope, would be obvious to one of your wisdom. But the reasons are not clear to me at all."
>Remain kneeling. Could we potentially do a Meiling's Tower from this position if needs be?

> "It will be a sorry day indeed when a god has to explain her motives to a mortal. Suffice it to say that a little hellcrow is easily sacrificed for the good of many."
> Absolutely.

>"You mean to say you meant good by doing harm?  If the ends truly justified the means, then would not the means justify the ends?  I will not have such a selfish sacrificing of another, even if it is a means to end the tournament.

> The silhouette laughs sarcastically. "That's the stupidest pile of garbage I've ever seen spew from someone's mouth!"
> "Empty rhetoric," says the goddess, "if nobody takes responsibility, then responsibility chooses its champion by itself. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if responsibility went unchecked."

However, this does not make us enemies.  We have a common goal, perhaps we could work together."

> "Told you so," says the child. "Rookie of the Tournament and all."
> "And what can you contribute, you little runt?" says the silhouette.
> The goddess waves the both of them quiet.
> "The Informant has a valid point. What can you possibly offer me?"

[Mr_Bob]

>"I strongly disagree with the underhanded methods undertaken by your phantom champion.  I nominate myself to undertake the responsibilty of ending the tournament by fair means; by which I mean to overthrow your current race horse."

Too much?

[Fightest]

>"I strongly disagree with the underhanded methods undertaken by your phantom champion.  I nominate myself to undertake the responsibilty of ending the tournament by fair means; by which I mean to overthrow your current race horse."

Too much?

> Just enough!
> "Oh, that is rich!" says the silhouette. "Little girl versus millennia-old force of goddamn nature. Nobody will see the result coming."
> The silhouette's distorted laugh echoes throughout the ceremony room.
> "I can just imagine that crow broad's newspaper headline: Dumbass Kid Messes With A Genuine Bonafide Force Of Nature. Results As You Would Goddamn Predict. Oh, hey, no offense." The last sentence is aimed at the goddess.
> The goddess rolls her eyes.
> "You want at me, then? Well, come at me! Here, I'll give you the first hit, free of charge, that's how goddamn generous I am!"
> The silhouette appears to spread its arms.

[Hello Purvis]

So, how shall we approach this, Bobert? My theory is we try to enrage her into doing something stupid, and revealing more of her hand. Surprise seems to be the biggest advantage she has here. At the same time, maybe you have a better plan?

ASSUMING BOB GOES WITH IT
>Look at the phantom for the first time.
>"Who was talking to, or about you?"