Let Your Fists Do The Talking! Akyu Quest Continued!

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Head towards the palace but keep an eye out for danger, there could be a Oni who is recovered enough for a fight with someone, most likely us.

> Do we know anything about the crazy cat lady?

[Fightest]

> Head towards the palace but keep an eye out for danger, there could be a Oni who is recovered enough for a fight with someone, most likely us.

> Do we know anything about the crazy cat lady?

> You pass through the centre of town. Damp wind blows down the empty streets. Here and there you see unconscious bodies lying about, most in the midst of some wreckage or other. Nobody accosts you as you pass through town and approach the Palace of Earth Spirits.
> It is a magnificent construction, almost organic in its design. Rock has been masterfully sculpted with smooth, flowing lines, with never a sharp edge or a straight line for the eye to follow. Large areas have been carved out for stained-glass windows, although you cannot enjoy the colours from here, it must look quite magnificent from the inside.
> You've been told that the satori youkai that resides inside is a bit of a shut-in and, indeed, you know very little about her. She has never been the subject of conversations.

[Kasu]

> Continue to what looks the most like a front entrance.
> Knock.

[Mr_Bob]

>Flip on goggles for IR detection, watching for traps and the like.

[Fightest]

> Continue to what looks the most like a front entrance.
> Knock.

>Flip on goggles for IR detection, watching for traps and the like.

> The front entrance of the Palace of Earth Spirits is a tall archway, beautifully-patterned and engraved, looming ominously over you in the darkness that envelops this part of the vast cavern. Dark, wooden doors block your path. They look weathered and strengthened by age to be as tough as any steel.
> Your knock elicits no response. The door, however, creaks open slightly. A faint sliver of light shines through the crack between the doors.
> The IR yields no response - everything is an even, vaguely-purple hue.

[Hello Purvis]

>Peek inside.

[Fightest]

>Peek inside.

> The inside of the Palace is built like a vast cathedral. The ceiling hangs far above you, cut from the living rock in much the same organic way as the facade, and held up by vast columns. It is unnaturally empty - the whole floor space is unoccupied.
> Hundreds and hundreds of dancing lights - small spirits, you figure - noiselessly flit this way and that, sporadically lighting up the naturally dark cavernous space inside. Despite the darkness outside, the stained-glass windows all around the Palace are lit up by an eerie light, casting bright, multicoloured patterns on the polished stone floor.
> You can just hear some noises coming from the back of the Palace.

(For those curious, the architecture for this place is a combination of Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican for the interior and Gaudi's Unfinished Cathedral for the exterior. Look 'em up, they're quite something.)

[Hello Purvis]

>Walk inside. Try to figure out what those noises are.

[Fightest]

>Walk inside. Try to figure out what those noises are.

> The flitting spirits' light throws shadows everywhere completely at random. The effect is quite disorienting.
> You walk inside.
> Your footsteps echo in only the way they could when in a vast chamber such as this.
> Near a pillar, where there was once light, there is shadow for a brief moment, then the shadow pulls away, leaving a black silhouette of a nekomata in its wake. Its careful footsteps do not echo much in the same way that yours do.
> It's stalking towards you.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Um, hello. I apologize for inviting myself in, but no one answered the door, and in such a large place, I felt maybe it was because no one heard me."

[Fightest]

>"Um, hello. I apologize for inviting myself in, but no one answered the door, and in such a large place, I felt maybe it was because no one heard me."

> The nekomata turns its back towards you, then seems to start standing up on its hind feet. A shadow sweeps over it and, when it has passed, its shape has changed to a distinctly humanoid one.
> The girl turns around to face you. Her red hair and patterned black-and-green dress seem unusually vivid in the sporadic light.
> "We choose not to hear others," she says in a soft, gentle voice, "the sound of silence is a far grander spectacle. No doubt you seek Okuu. Come, but tread softly - we are poor, and have only our dreams."
> She glides away, her feet barely touching the ground, towards the back of the chamber.

[Hello Purvis]

>Follow her.
>"I do. It seems she's rather popular these days. If I may, have any others come for her lately?"

[IBakaChan]

> Inspect the girl further. Does she have any visible weapons or other threatning objects?
> Check her with the googles. (You know, where it shows wether they are harmful/aggresive or not)

[Fightest]

> Inspect the girl further. Does she have any visible weapons or other threatning objects?
> Check her with the googles. (You know, where it shows wether they are harmful/aggresive or not)

> Red-furred cat ears pop up through her hair, and her two black tails move and twirl ceaselessly. She is neither carrying nor wearing any weapons.
> The goggles have a bit of trouble identifying her outline due to the ears and tails, but quickly settle on one that does not include either of the unusual features. The readout says Adult Female, Friendly, Unknown, Automatic IFF calibration in progress.

>Follow her.
>"I do. It seems she's rather popular these days. If I may, have any others come for her lately?"

> She glides at walking pace towards the back of the Palace, occasionally reaching up and plucking one of the spirit-lights out of the air, then gently lowering them in front of her to about waist-level, where they disappear after briefly illuminating the outline of what looks like a wheelbarrow.
> The girl pauses for a few seconds, then resumes her glide.
> "Yes. The goddess and the phantom."
> She stops in front of an inconspicuous half-open door in a dark corner of the Palace main chamber and gestures for you to enter. You can hear a rhythmic thunking sound coming from inside, like a knife hitting a chopping board.

[IBakaChan]

> "Did they tell you what their business down here were?"
> Step closer to the door, be sure to quickly look inside before entering. The readout said friendly, but you never know.

[Fightest]

> "Did they tell you what their business down here were?"
> Step closer to the door, be sure to quickly look inside before entering. The readout said friendly, but you never know.

> "No," she says, a hint of sarcasm creeping into her voice, "We are but mortals, never privy to the workings of the divine will. And the phantom strikes me not as one to share anything."
> A warm glow from a lit fireplace suffuses the small room beyond the door. The walls are hewn roughly from living rock, but there is an air of coziness in the small area that triples as a bedroom, kitchen and living room. A pink-haired girl in a soft-pink dress and a white apron stands in front of a small wooden counter, carefully and methodically chopping a head of lettuce.
> The red-haired girl whispers, "Think of small things. There is no room in here for grand designs."
> She gestures to a pair of small, wooden chairs with red cushions, then sits herself down on one.

[Hello Purvis]

>Follow her in.
>Small things?

[Fightest]

>Follow her in.
>Small things?

> Yes.
> Small things.
> Good.

[Hello Purvis]

>...What in the world?
>Frown.

[Fightest]

>...What in the world?
>Frown.

> Stay calm.
> Hungry?
> Soon.
> The girl with cat ears nods approvingly at you, then gestures to the pink-haired girl, who is now cutting up a slice of beef.
>  "Satori," she whispers.
> Pointing to herself, she whispers, "Rin."
> Orin.
> Giggle.

[Hello Purvis]

>More frowning.
>Gesture toward self.
>"Akyu."

[Fightest]

>More frowning.
>Gesture toward self.
>"Akyu."

> The pink-haired girl stops chopping, then, her back still to you, slowly raises her left hand up to shoulder height, as if doing so requires a lot of concentration, until you can see it clearly.
> She waves her left hand.
> Wave.
> See?

[Hello Purvis]

>Confusions!
>We do see.
>Well, at least visually.
>Return the gesture. Though not as stiffly.

[Mr_Bob]

>"Would it be rude to invite oneself to a meal?"
>"Would you like help preparing?"

[Fightest]

>Confusions!
>We do see.
>Well, at least visually.
>Return the gesture. Though not as stiffly.

> Many confused.
> Giggle.
> Smile.

>"Would it be rude to invite oneself to a meal?"
>"Would you like help preparing?"

> Satori clutches her head as you speak, as if in pain.
> Wince. Pain.
> She points at the ingredients and the stove. Rin nods.
> Follow. Outside.
> Satori, making as few movements as possible, starts to float towards the door that leads back into the cavernous Palace chamber. She's doesn't even look like she's flying - more like floating in water and letting the current take her.

[Hello Purvis]

>Follow.
>Wonder if something is wrong.

[Fightest]

>Follow.
>Wonder if something is wrong.

> Echoes.
> You follow her out of the small room and into the cavernous main chamber. Here, her movements seem more expressive, more vivid. She gently spins in the air, sometimes turning upside down, her dress rippling as if in water.
> Subjects, objects, intentions and suggestions, subtext and overtext, all ring and echo, clamoring for attention and importance.
> My home is too small for such ambitious designs - only here can they take up the space they so desire.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm afraid I don't quite understand, but I'm sorry if I said too much. It just sort of slipped...You seem much better now, at least."

[Fightest]

>"I'm afraid I don't quite understand, but I'm sorry if I said too much. It just sort of slipped...You seem much better now, at least."

> "Better" is a subjective term that in the context that you use is reserved for illness and health and do not apply to my case - I choose the cramped, confined space for its soothing silence.
> She floats around you, getting a better look.
> Strife is not a stranger to you today, and strangers not strange to me, but perhaps you would be the first to listen to my plea - would you release Utsuho from the prison of her purpose?

[Hello Purvis]

>"What would this imprisoning purpose be?"