Iku Quest P?t: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"Would you let me go, were our positions reversed? Will you let Kogasa and Nitori go? They are far away from you, and pose no threat to you."

>She glares at you silently again.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Shall I take that as a no, then? If you will not make a gesture of your own good faith, what reason do I have to reciprocate? I am already showing a great deal of kindness towards you, given your actions, because I genuinely care about what happens to you and want to help. I understand that may be hard to believe. The only reason I keep you restrained is because you have given me every indication that you will harm more people if I let you go. Can you honestly swear that you would not? "
>"And why do you keep these pieces of the others, so long after they have left you alone?"

[Suwako Moriya]

I have an idea. Will be home soon, hopefully.

[Kilgamayan]

> How far are we from Renko and Maribel's house?
> How far are we from Nitori's house?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Shall I take that as a no, then? If you will not make a gesture of your own good faith, what reason do I have to reciprocate? I am already showing a great deal of kindness towards you, given your actions, because I genuinely care about what happens to you and want to help. I understand that may be hard to believe. The only reason I keep you restrained is because you have given me every indication that you will harm more people if I let you go. Can you honestly swear that you would not? "
>"And why do you keep these pieces of the others, so long after they have left you alone?"

>You feel she is trying to strangle you with her glare, or at least wishes that she could.

> How far are we from Renko and Maribel's house?
> How far are we from Nitori's house?

>Both are some distance away, but you think Nitori's home is a little closer.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"If I let you go right now, what would you do?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"If I let you go right now, what would you do?"

>"You already know too much," she spits, as though it were an imprecation against you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Have you stopped to consider why it should be harmful for others to know things about you?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Have you stopped to consider why it should be harmful for others to know things about you?"

>"Have you stopped to consider what an obvious liar you are?"

[DracoOmega]

>"And what am I lying about?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"And what am I lying about?"

>"You drag me from my forest and expose me to others, and then you claim you want to help!?" she shouts. "You could not be buried deeply enough!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I do want to help. But I don't want to help you go back to victimizing others. I want to help you find a way that you can co-exist with the others that share your forest, not to need to hide or harm anyone, anymore. Wouldn't it be best for you, as well, not to have to be ever-vigilant for others? To be safe, without feeling the need to fight for your safety every day? I understand why you might not believe me. Perhaps I would not, either, were our positions reversed. I would ask that you trust me, but I understand that trust must be earned. Perhaps in time you will grow to believe me. It is your right to make up your own mind, of course."
>"As for exposing you to others... these others would have found you soon enough. If you had silenced me back in that forest, Tenshi here would have been upon you before nightfall.
I apologize for taking you from your forest, but we were bringing you to one of your victims, so that you might be able to restore what you have taken from her."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I do want to help. But I don't want to help you go back to victimizing others. I want to help you find a way that you can co-exist with the others that share your forest, not to need to hide or harm anyone, anymore. Wouldn't it be best for you, as well, not to have to be ever-vigilant for others? To be safe, without feeling the need to fight for your safety every day? I understand why you might not believe me. Perhaps I would not, either, were our positions reversed. I would ask that you trust me, but I understand that trust must be earned. Perhaps in time you will grow to believe me. It is your right to make up your own mind, of course."
>"As for exposing you to others... these others would have found you soon enough. If you had silenced me back in that forest, Tenshi here would have been upon you before nightfall.
I apologize for taking you from your forest, but we were bringing you to one of your victims, so that you might be able to restore what you have taken from her."

>"No. You'll all disappear now," she says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"We are all going to disappear now? You are still confident that you can still make this happen as things are now?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"We are all going to disappear now? You are still confident that you can still make this happen as things are now?"

>"You think you can do anything about it?" She asks.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I defeated you once, when I was alone, and I am not the strongest among those involved. If I could win then, are you saying you think you can overpower both of us, now?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I defeated you once, when I was alone, and I am not the strongest among those involved. If I could win then, are you saying you think you can overpower both of us, now?"

>Her face melts into a grin. "I already have. Goodbye."
>The world around you suddenly grows darker and blurrier. You hear Tenshi cry out in surprise.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly, take flight and dash outside the range of the giant shadow the poltergeist was casting, by whatever route is the fastest and shortest from our current position. If we can't really see where it is at the moment, go by our memory of it. And if we can't move straight, compel ourselves to, dammit!

[Hello Purvis]

>Quickly, take flight and dash outside the range of the giant shadow the poltergeist was casting, by whatever route is the fastest and shortest from our current position. If we can't really see where it is at the moment, go by our memory of it. And if we can't move straight, compel ourselves to, dammit!

>You run as fast as you can. Nothing really prevents you from doing this. Unfortunately, the shadow also covers a sizeable region, and the world grows darker and blurrier rather quickly. For a moment, you can't see anything. Then...everything is different.
>You are dashing through a pale field of flowers. The sky is a sort of washed out purple hue; the vista makes you feel that you are back in Bhava-Agra.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>She... really did it, didn't she?
>No, this is just a minor setback. We will make certain of that.
>Survey our surroundings. Are there any signs of people, structures, strangely familiar sights, or anything else that catches our eye?

[Hello Purvis]

>She... really did it, didn't she?
>No, this is just a minor setback. We will make certain of that.
>Survey our surroundings. Are there any signs of people, structures, strangely familiar sights, or anything else that catches our eye?

>You boggle at the edge of panic for a moment, but find your resolve. This is only a bump in the road.
>Looking around, you see you are on a smallish island, about thirty or so meters across, covered with various flowers. There isn't really color here, but neither are things really dark. You can't quite put your finger on how to describe it, but nothing here has color, yet they all have the hint of having their proper color in some pale and unsatisfactory way. It is a little disconcerting.
>You can see a couple other islands in the distance. One looks like it might be home to that village were Tenshi's sister was resting.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>The colors... they're all shadows of themselves, aren't they?
>Fly off towards where we think that village may be

[Hello Purvis]

>The colors... they're all shadows of themselves, aren't they?
>Fly off towards where we think that village may be

>That may well be the case. You can certainly look at the grass and tell it is supposed to be green, even if it's not actually green.
>You take to the air, and are pleased to find that flight still works here. You set course for the wooded isle, not quite certain what direction you are going in. As you leave the flowered isle, you look down and see there is nothing below you, neither clouds nor any hint of Gensokyo, just more of the not-quite-purple sky.
>You find your suspicions were correct as you approach the island; it is heavily forested, with a few ponds here and there. Remember what you've learned before, you approach the largest pond, and look around to find the village snug under the forest canopy.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Head towards it and look around
>Are there any signs of other people?
>If not, pick a door and knock on it

[Hello Purvis]

>Head towards it and look around
>Are there any signs of other people?
>If not, pick a door and knock on it

>You head into the village. The houses are rather simple affairs, none having anything more ostentatiousness than a window box. A few peach trees can be seen here or there. There is a small gazebo in the middle of the village, set in an artificial pond and connected by to the land by several bridges. As far as you can see, there are no signs of any people.
>You pick a door and knock on it. There is no answer.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Try opening it
>If it does not appear to be locked, first call out "Hello?", and if we receive no response, step inside and have a look around

[Hello Purvis]

>Try opening it
>If it does not appear to be locked, first call out "Hello?", and if we receive no response, step inside and have a look around

>You test the door, and find it is not locked. This isn't unusual for Bhava-Agra.
>As you start to walk in, you think you see some motion on the ground, toward your left.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Look towards said motion

[Hello Purvis]

>Look towards said motion

>You look over, and see some dark thing racing toward the ground at you! Before you can react, it stops at your feet.
>Looking down, you see a shadow that isn't yours. The clothing is wrong; the dress too short and the hat completely wrong. As well, it has two ponytails. You think it's built wrong, but that's really hard to tell with a shadow.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Could it be Nitori's shadow?