Iku Quest N?nt? - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "Anyway, I think I'll take a quick look around the island, to see if we can find Kogasa. If we do run into her, you'll have to let me know if the two of you can speak to each other. If we don't run into her, I'll have to signal to the poltergeist to let me out, so that we can try to find her again. This might abandon you to be on your own again for some time, but since you've promised to keep quiet, that shouldn't be a problem for much longer."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Anyway, I think I'll take a quick look around the island, to see if we can find Kogasa. If we do run into her, you'll have to let me know if the two of you can speak to each other. If we don't run into her, I'll have to signal to the poltergeist to let me out, so that we can try to find her again. This might abandon you to be on your own again for some time, but since you've promised to keep quiet, that shouldn't be a problem for much longer."

>"Got it," Nitori writes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Fly toward the houses in the distance. Make sure to keep somewhat low to the ground, so Nitori doesn't get too messed up.
> Keep our eyes peeled for any unusual dark blobs traveling along the ground.

[Hello Purvis]

> Fly toward the houses in the distance. Make sure to keep somewhat low to the ground, so Nitori doesn't get too messed up.
> Keep our eyes peeled for any unusual dark blobs traveling along the ground.

>You fly low toward the houses in the distance. Spaced rather widely apart, it's easy enough to search between them. You don't see any unusual blobs, until you draw close to the lake, upon which you are reasonably certain you see something dark moving along the ground.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is it moving toward us?
> "Get ready."
> Land and watch the moving dark. If it's just kind of meandering, or moving away from us, start walking toward it.

[Hello Purvis]

> Is it moving toward us?
> "Get ready."
> Land and watch the moving dark. If it's just kind of meandering, or moving away from us, start walking toward it.

>It is not moving toward you.
>You warn Nitori and land. The bit of darkness is rather hard to see from this angle, but it seems to just be meandering about.
>You approach it; after a moment, it zooms toward you! Glancing toward the ground, you see Kogasa's shadow is also at your feet.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Triple stacker shadow, must look pretty weird.
> "Hello again, Kogasa. Nitori, can you get her up to speed on what happened to you two, so only one person is talking instead of three? Give me a thumbs-down if you two cannot hear each other, or give me a thumbs-up once you've caught Kogasa up on recent events."
> Keep our arms still and wait for a signal.

[Hello Purvis]

> Triple stacker shadow, must look pretty weird.
> "Hello again, Kogasa. Nitori, can you get her up to speed on what happened to you two, so only one person is talking instead of three? Give me a thumbs-down if you two cannot hear each other, or give me a thumbs-up once you've caught Kogasa up on recent events."
> Keep our arms still and wait for a signal.

>It really does., especially since they are stretched out to match your own. You wonder if that's uncomfortable for them? The fact that they move apart once you stop moving suggests it's at least inconvenient.
>You watch them as they converse, Nitori quickly resorting to various gestures. After a moment, she looks at you and gives a thumbs up, then a thumbs down.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm not quite sure what you mean. You've caught her up, but you can't hear each other, either?"
>Kneel down to facilitate communication

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm not quite sure what you mean. You've caught her up, but you can't hear each other, either?"
>Kneel down to facilitate communication

>You kneel down. Both of the shadows do as well, falling in place on top of one another. Kogasa's gets up and seems rather annoyed, at least from how she tries to kick Nitori. You have no idea if she connected, Nitori doesn't seem to notice.
>"I can only kinda understand her," Nitori writes. "Not all the words are getting through, I think."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Ah, I see. You can see each other as more than shadows, though?"

>"Kogasa, can you understand me? If you can, try communicating with me like Nitori is. I'm afraid that I can't hear either of you."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ah, I see. You can see each other as more than shadows, though?"

>"Kogasa, can you understand me? If you can, try communicating with me like Nitori is. I'm afraid that I can't hear either of you."

>Nitori nods.
>Kogasa's shadow looks around, then tries to do the same thing as Nitori, "hey stop that"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"...stop what?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"...stop what?"

>"jerking me around like that", Kogasa writes. "its really annoying"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that's not something I have any control over. It seems to just be a property of this place, and the fact that I'm the only person here with a physical body. ...which probably doesn't make a lot of sense to you at the moment, either, but I will explain. In any case, regardless of what either of us wants, you're stuck to me. You move when I move, and I'm afraid I have no way to change that. I apologize."
>"I suppose you don't have any idea what happened to you, after that poltergeist attacked you in the forest?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that's not something I have any control over. It seems to just be a property of this place, and the fact that I'm the only person here with a physical body. ...which probably doesn't make a lot of sense to you at the moment, either, but I will explain. In any case, regardless of what either of us wants, you're stuck to me. You move when I move, and I'm afraid I have no way to change that. I apologize."
>"I suppose you don't have any idea what happened to you, after that poltergeist attacked you in the forest?"

>"well at least your sorry", she writes. "and no what polterguyst"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"The girl with the white hair and fancy blue coat?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"The girl with the white hair and fancy blue coat?"

>"oh her!!" Kogasa writes. "um what happened"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, from what I've gathered, I assume you tried to surprise her, and then she attacked you and you ended up in here, correct?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, from what I've gathered, I assume you tried to surprise her, and then she attacked you and you ended up in here, correct?"

>"somthing like that", Kogasa writes with a nod.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"What she did is steal your shadow. Pulled it away from your body and took it inside her. Your... shadowless body is still out there, in the physical world, but your consciousness is here. Though you may be able to recall tiny glimpses of things you've seen back there. I've been doing everything in my power to bring you back, and Renko and Maribel have been taking care of you, back in Gensokyo, after I found you where the poltergeist left you."

[Hello Purvis]

>"What she did is steal your shadow. Pulled it away from your body and took it inside her. Your... shadowless body is still out there, in the physical world, but your consciousness is here. Though you may be able to recall tiny glimpses of things you've seen back there. I've been doing everything in my power to bring you back, and Renko and Maribel have been taking care of you, back in Gensokyo, after I found you where the poltergeist left you."

>"oh", Kogasa writes. "thats nice of maribel so what now"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I've been talking with the person who did this to you, and trying to convince her to let you go. I think I may be able to get her to agree, but you're going to have to promise her something before she's willing: that you will never tell another person about her, after you get back. Can you do that?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I've been talking with the person who did this to you, and trying to convince her to let you go. I think I may be able to get her to agree, but you're going to have to promise her something before she's willing: that you will never tell another person about her, after you get back. Can you do that?"

>"but how am i supposed to tell people what happened??"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Maribel, Renko, and the others already know what happened. As for anyone who doesn't already know of her... I'm afraid you may simply not be able to tell them what happened at all. I'm sorry, and I would not ask this lightly, but I do not think she will release you unless I can promise her that you will tell no one. She is an extremely private person, and doesn't want people to know about her."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Maribel, Renko, and the others already know what happened. As for anyone who doesn't already know of her... I'm afraid you may simply not be able to tell them what happened at all. I'm sorry, and I would not ask this lightly, but I do not think she will release you unless I can promise her that you will tell no one. She is an extremely private person, and doesn't want people to know about her."

"what if i do it anyway," Kogasa writes.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Then you risk getting yourself and others captured by her again, and I may not be able to free you again. Nor may I ever be able to get her to restore my home. She is trusting my word that you will not tell others about her, and her trust has been extremely hard-earned. I have put my own shadow at her mercy as a pledge that what I say is truthful. If I tell her that you promise not to tell, and you do it anyway, it will damage what I've built with her. There are still other shadows she holds, like those of all the islands in the sky. If she thinks that she let someone go, and then they told others about her, she may never be willing to let anyone go again. I cannot stress the importance of this enough."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Then you risk getting yourself and others captured by her again, and I may not be able to free you again. Nor may I ever be able to get her to restore my home. She is trusting my word that you will not tell others about her, and her trust has been extremely hard-earned. I have put my own shadow at her mercy as a pledge that what I say is truthful. If I tell her that you promise not to tell, and you do it anyway, it will damage what I've built with her. There are still other shadows she holds, like those of all the islands in the sky. If she thinks that she let someone go, and then they told others about her, she may never be willing to let anyone go again. I cannot stress the importance of this enough."

>"who cares what she thinks", Kogasa writes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You should care, because you'll be stuck here alone forever if you don't do what she wants. You'll never have anyone else to surprise, ever again."

[Hello Purvis]

> "You should care, because you'll be stuck here alone forever if you don't do what she wants. You'll never have anyone else to surprise, ever again."

"i just have to get out", she writes. "who cares what some dum polterguyst thinks after that???"