Xan's a No show! He's now officially out of the game! His named will be removed from the player list since he has not been able to contact me. Sorry Xan, but you should inform me when you have to go and vanish.
This means it's offically my turn now! Also... INTERMISSION TIME!!! Once again, special thanks to Not a pirate for fixing up my script.
?Marisa, I recall an interview between you and the...religious head figures?? Yukari inquired with a flourish of her fan.?
?Yeah, I did,? Marisa yawned, ?well, not that I know what they talk about half the time.?
?I see,? Yukari furrowed her eyebrows in concern, ?It worries me somewhat. More than I would admit.?
Marisa turned her head sharply, ?What do you mean?? Yukari was usually never this bothered. Mildly concerned, perhaps, sometimes not even enough for her to even talk about. Whatever she was thinking, and had to confide in Marisa, it was definitely important.
?Reimu, you, and a few others resolved every incident by these people, yes, but even as they had settled down in Gensokyo, I cannot help but think. What else could they be scheming, now that their previous plans had been foiled?? Yukari closed her eyes in deep thought.
?You?re one to talk,? Marisa grinned, ?well, if they do anything me and ol? Reimu?ll beat em up as as always.?
?Well, as of now I can only tell you to be cautious. With every year come new visitors, individuals that widely differ. It will only be a matter of time...? Yukari trailed off, leaving an uncomfortable silence hanging above the two. At least she snapped her fan shut, and gave Marisa a wry smile, ?well, if you take the time to prepare, you?ll understand soon enough. It?s just Reimu that I am most worried about.?
?Well, if she doesn?t do her job someone else will,? Marisa shrugged, ?noone is just going to sit on their bottoms and wait for her to resolve the incident, especially not me.?
?I suppose,? Yukari nodded, ?Just remember Marisa, there is always something more to someone. Learn about them not just on the outside, but in the inside as well.?
?Heeeeh,? Marisa mused, ?I?ll think about it, I guess.?
The conversation ended there, and the two proceeded to walk back to where Suika was. Halfway
through, however, Yukari spoke up again, ?One more thing, was the hermit over there, by any chance, the same one you mentioned in the Symposium??
?Yeah, what about it?? Marisa raised an eyebrow.
?Be wary of her. We have no idea what she really wants, and the fact that she has no fear of youkai makes her seem suspicious. more so from what she has done, and tends to do.?
Marisa nodded, despite the lack of concern for what the hermit may do. She had more things to do than watching over a hermit, her magic studies being the priority. After all, if Seiga tried anything, It would be Reimu, Marisa, or some other person who would pounce on her in a second, as with any other potential troublemakers. So she gave little notice to the warning, only thinking of what Suika had been up while she was gone.
?It seems that quite a few events have unfolded when I was gone. Unusual ones, I might add,? Yukari mused, peering at the game with mild interest.
?Yeah,? Suika agreed, ?some of my clones even seem to have minds of their own.?
?Well, in a world where time flows differently, I suppose even personalities can form,? Yukari frowned, eyeing a note that had been left on a table in the fortress. Blurring the boundaries, she managed to retrieve the tattered note. What it read was so unexpected, so curious that she could not help but laugh, ??The Chaos Undivided?, is it? Your kind certainly have interesting personalities.? She gave another chuckle, before tossing the note into the air, letting it flutter to the ground.
Marisa gave what seemed like a look between amusing and off putting, ?Gensokyo will burn, that?s...interesting.?
?Interesting indeed,? Yukari nodded, ?perhaps even I do not understand fully how this creation of mine works.?
Seiga looked up, curious at the conversation the others were having, ?I see, so this map before us is a world. A world that was created by you.?
?Yeah!? Suika bobbed her head up and down, ?Yukari set it up to challenge me!?
?Ah,? Seiga nodded in unison, smiling as she did, ?how amusing indeed...?
Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Suika turned sharply around, to see Marisa with a curious expression.
?Well?? She demanded, ?managed to catch one yet??
Suika scratched her chin awkwardly, ?well...no...?
?Heheh, really?? Marisa smirked, ?if you can?t catch a common thief, what can you do to stop me from zipping about and ?borrowing? stuff from you, huh??
Suika tapped her chin in thought, ?I could...smash you??
?Please don?t,? Marisa paled, ?look, I said catch a thief, not smash one to pieces, right??
Seeing Suika nod, she sighed a little and hopped up, ?well, it?s nice hanging out here, but I gotta go back and fulfill my end of the deal, before Alice drops by and clobbers me so, See ya!?
With that, she jumped on her broom and flew out of the shrine, leaving a trail of stars behind her, twinkling with the same enthusiasm that she had.
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?Gensokyo sure has quite an amount of newcomers, doesn?t it?? Remilia asked Reimu, eyebrows raised.. The two of them along with Sakuya were walking out of the shrine, despite the glaring sun.
?Yeah, not that it matters,? Reimu shrugged, ?if anyone wants to try anything I?ll just beat them down. It?s my job anyway.?
Remilia flinched a little. She hadn?t forgotten how good Reimu was at danmaku. Turning over to Sakuya she beckoned her to go to the table where Suika and the rest were. She obliged without another word, and followed Remilia.
?How?s the vampire doing?? Remilia questioned as she neared the table, eying the fortress with a hint of concern.
?Shes doing...fine, I guess,? Suika looked over to the vampire, still alone in its room, ?there?s a good bedroom for her now.?
?Oh? That I?m pleased,? Remilia gave a pleased smirk, ?but, do tell me why she seems to be over there under a support beam??
Suika averted her eyes, fiddling her gourd with sudden awkwardness, ?well, you know, I thought it she?d look good under it and all...?
?Some strange tastes you have there,? Remilia muttered, mild suspicion written on her expression, ?well I?m pleased enough by your performance. Perhaps I might have you serve the mansion some day.?
?Do I get to have some booze?? Suika piped up.
?...I?ll think about it. Sakuya, let us head back,? Remilia nodded over to her servant, who gracefully headed to her side. With a dainty little hop Remilia left the shrine with the maid, her bat wings fluttering.
?Well, that?s a few guests gone,? Reimu sighed as she watched the vampire go with steady steps. She was glad to see them gone, not just Remilia, but the others as well. She had enough trouble serving and talking to them, nevermind cleaning after them. Sure, a ruckus once in awhile was fine, but sometimes there was just too much of that, not to mention that most of those who visit her end up driving off potential worshippers. At the very least, Sakuya had helped her out on the serving and cleaning end. Reimu was just about to head back and take a nap, only to see the other three individuals who were still in her shrine without showing a single intention of leaving anytime soon.
?...and a few others remaining,? she muttered, not the least amused. But there was nothing to do about it, so she sat herself by the end of the steps and looked onto her visitors.
?So Suika, when will this challenge thing end?? Reimu inquired.
?15 more years to go!? Suika commented cheerfully.
Reimu?s jaw was about to drop right onto the stone floor, until Yukari hastily explained, ?Time flows differently in that world, so the challenge will likely end at, perhaps a day or so? Well, twenty years is merely the minimum i had set for Suika,? she finished with another one of her wry smiles.
?Is that so?? Reimu gave a sigh of undisguised relief, ?well just don?t break anything, and bring some snacks next time.?
In response, Yukari pulled open a gap and stuck her hand in. After a few moments of rumaging a bowl of rice crackers dropped by Reimu?s side, ?in case you get hungry,? Yukari offered a smile, which did nothing to alleviate the suspicion that Reimu made no attempts to hide. Regardless, she stood up with the bowl telling the three she would prepare tea. She would have walked off then, had she not caught the sight of yet another strange individual, another girl, her blue hair tied to two small pigtails with hair bobbles, and covered with a green cap bearing a symbol. A girl who, yet again, Reimu unmistakably knew.
?Another one,? Reimu gave an unamused look before heading back into the shrine. Yukari or someone else can deal with Nitori and make her comfy. Reimu, on the other hand, was going to take a break; she was tired from cleaning the shrine and catering to her visitors.
?Hm, this device is picking up something, but I don?t see anything at all...? Nitori looked at her surroundings with a somewhat lost expression, sweeping what seemed to be a container of metal with a steel wire crudely attached to it. She continued wandering around, gradually approaching Yukari and the rest. Strangely enough, she noticed none of the three, only fixated at the ground and her surroundings. In fact, she might have continued to do so, had not Yukari gave a pleasant greeting to the kappa, ?good afternoon,? she said, giving a nod to the kappa.
It was then that Nitori finally looked up, and when she did, hastily jumped back in instinct, ?huh? Oh I?m so sorry I was just...? She paused, surveying her surroundings with renewed focus, ?eh? Isn?t this...?
?...the Hakurei Shrine, yes,? Yukari nodded again, ?you mean you didn?t know where you were??
?E-eh?? Nitori gave a flustered look, ?W-well, I just made this device you see, and it detects metal, so when I heard beeping from it I decided to search for some, and well,? she gave her surroundings one more sweeping look before asking in a timid voice, ?do you think there might be any here? I mean, that?s where my device told me to go...?
?There definitely are,? Yukari affirmed, gesturing to the table they were at, ?Nickel, copper, zinc, I assume you recognise some of these??
?Hmm?? Nitori took a look at where Yukari was pointing, her eyes lighting up as she identified every one of the metals listed, ?Yeah, I know these!?
She looked back at her device again, a somewhat crestfallen expression on her, ?Well, it works I guess, but if it can pick up such small deposits like these it?ll need some tweaking...?
?Why not have a seat and work here?? Yukari suggested.
?But I don?t have a...? Nitori clamped her mouth again when an entire workbench was pulled out of a gap and landed on the floor with a crash.
?What the heck was that?? Reimu?s disgruntled voice reverberated behind the sliding door.
?Oh, nothing,? Yukari cheerfully called back.
Nitori proceeded to poke the land with increasing curiosity, ?So, what is this strange map? It doesn?t look like anything I?ve seen.?
?Just a miniature world I?ve created for Suika,? Yukari smiled, ?A challenge to see if her smaller counterparts can survive, if you will.?
?Hmmm,? Nitori frowned, ?It?s strange isn?t it? Having an oni take this sort of challenge.?
?Perhaps,? Yukari shrugged, ?I do hope she can prove to be successful.?
Nitori gave another hum and continued scrutinising the fort. Her eyes darted from one mechanical building to another, her hands twitching as she did, ?That?s some really good engineering there.?
?Yeah, without them I wouldn't know what to do!? Suika nodded.
?But there has to be more you can do...? Nitori furrowed her eyebrows in thought. A moment of silence, before she finally snapped her fingers as an idea came to mind, ?I got it! How about a pump and plumbing system? I see magma and water below, you can definitely use these if you can manage to force it to the surface!?
?Oooh,? Suika widened her eyes. It hadn?t occurred to her then, but now that Nitori had suggested it, it definitely seemed like a brilliant idea.
?Oho?? Yukari mused, a look of amusement on her face, ?how very interesting indeed. Why don?t you give it a try, Suika??
Suika gave a cheery grin and nodded, ?sure!?
NEW CHALLENGE
Nitori's Challenge: Oni Engineering! Nitori wants to see what your kind is capable of in terms of building your fort using mechanical devices. This chalenge is open, but I'm looking for some interesting creativity. One of the core things that will be needed is a water pumping system and a magma pumping system. Afterwards, use the said systems to come up with creative devices, traps, farming, waterfalls, ect. The more creative you are , the more likely you will succeed at pleasing Nitori. I will be juding the outcoming results in the end of the period. You have till Spring 117 to create an interesting system!
As of today, my turn officially begins. I will have to Tuesday, 9 AM central time next week to complete my run! Stay turn for updates as they roll in!
