Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 3, Part 6 [COMPLETED]

[Oldmansour]

>Can we sense anything with our mystic senses that might give us a clue to our location? We know what the ambient magic of the shrine feels like. Does it seem we might still be on the grounds somewhere? Can we sense it in the distance?

>"I think I would prefer to be somewhere else entirely, if we are to be completely frank. But in the meantime, I suppose this will have to do."

>Your mystic senses appear to be blunted beyond a few feet, and blurry even within that. But you can tell at least that you're not within the aura of power you sensed from within the temple.

>"And eloquent, too. Even more unusual. Ordinarily, anyone bitten by my jack can't even talk for some time after awakening."

[DracoOmega]

>"You sound as though you have a fair bit of comparative experience."

[Oldmansour]

>"You sound as though you have a fair bit of comparative experience."

>"I've had my jack for almost thirty years. Situations develop in that length of time."
>You may not have much luck scanning much at range, but you are sensing something from Satori herself. Not the kind of power you felt before in Kiku's mind, but something else. Something far darker.

[DracoOmega]

>Do we think that is power she herself is using actively, or something that has attached itself to her - in a manner maybe slightly similar to a dark seed?

>"You never answered my question; why have you done all this?"

[Oldmansour]

>Do we think that is power she herself is using actively, or something that has attached itself to her - in a manner maybe slightly similar to a dark seed?

>"You never answered my question; why have you done all this?"

>Without bringing more of what power you have available to bear, it's hard to tell. It could be both. But you don't need any power to see something out of place that you didn't see before. The third eye that hangs suspended from her body has a jet black sliver of some kind of material stuck in it. That splinter seems to be the source of the dark feeling.

>"It wasn't my first choice." the miko answers, folding her arms across her rather diminutive chest. "But when you mentioned my name, I could hardly let you go. I had to know what you knew about me."

[DracoOmega]

>"What was your first choice, if I may ask?"

[Oldmansour]

>"What was your first choice, if I may ask?"

>"No." she replies simply. "Now it's your turn to answer my questions. Starting with just how much you know about me."

[DracoOmega]

>"I know you have done some great unkindnesses to those who look up to you. I do not know why."

[Oldmansour]

>"I know you have done some great unkindnesses to those who look up to you. I do not know why."

>"Oh come now, there's more to it than that."

[DracoOmega]

>"Is what I said untrue? I do not know why you have gone to such lengths to deceive those who respect and admire you. I had hoped in coming here, I might be able to understand the reasons for it."

[Oldmansour]

>"Is what I said untrue? I do not know why you have gone to such lengths to deceive those who respect and admire you. I had hoped in coming here, I might be able to understand the reasons for it."

>The small woman merely looks on expectantly, like she waits to hear you say more on the matter.

[DracoOmega]

>"The Metal Tiger Himself said that there was a shadow over His house. I would have liked no more than to be able to count you as ally against the invasion which threatens our world. Why would you treat others such that even the very divinity which you serve feels the need to protect others from you?"

[Oldmansour]

>"The Metal Tiger Himself said that there was a shadow over His house. I would have liked no more than to be able to count you as ally against the invasion which threatens our world. Why would you treat others such that even the very divinity which you serve feels the need to protect others from you?"

>Satori's eyes narrow angrily. "Are you sure you don't want to try a different lie? It is unwise to make those kind of claims about that God around me. In point of fact, it's one of the few things that still makes me genuinely angry."

[DracoOmega]

>"It is no lie, whether that angers you or not - I would not invoke His name so spuriously."

[Oldmansour]

>"It is no lie, whether that angers you or not - I would not invoke His name so spuriously."

>The shrine maiden actually seems to puff up like an angry cat as you reassert the truth of the matter. The next words that you hear are not from her, though, but from another woman to your left, accented and harsh but still female, "Shulda lemme kill'er."
>Satori visally collects herself, then looks to her right. "And if you had, then how would I have learned what she knows of me?" The miko narrows her eyes again, the black splinter in her third eye pulses, and the woman screams. "And you will not second guess me."
>"Yes.... Mistress...!" comes the answer around the pained sounds.
>This seems to satisfy Satori and she relaxes, the other woman panting in relief. Leaving Satori to return her attention to you. "Now, then. How exactly did you come by this knowledge of me? And I do intreat you to be honest with me."

[DracoOmega]

>What does this other woman look like?

>"I am already being honest. The Metal Tiger's warning was the first reason I had to suspect you of duplicity. Do you not think I would offer a more pleasing lie under the circumstances, if this were one? How foolish do you believe me to be?"

[Oldmansour]

>"I am already being honest. The Metal Tiger's warning was the first reason I had to suspect you of duplicity. Do you not think I would offer a more pleasing lie under the circumstances, if this were one? How foolish do you believe me to be?"

>"Foolish enough to walk right into my home." Satori counters. "If you thought me some kind of villain, you should have come after me far more prepared than you were."

>What does this other woman look like?

>Hazarding a careful glance to your left, so as not to tangle your head up even more with the web, you see a deeply tanned woman with gently pointed ears and short, messy green hair kneeling on the ground.
>Your attention, though, is drawn to the woman you see standing at attention a couple feet away from her before you can note more in the way of details about her. It is White Rose.

[DracoOmega]

>Standing at attention? Unrestrained in any way we can see? Conscious? Injured?

[Oldmansour]

>Standing at attention? Unrestrained in any way we can see? Conscious? Injured?

>Yes. Yes. Yes. No.

[DracoOmega]

>Is she looking at us? Does she seem to recognize us? Can we get any sense of her emotional state from her expression and bearing?

[Oldmansour]

>Is she looking at us? Does she seem to recognize us? Can we get any sense of her emotional state from her expression and bearing?

>She's looking vaguely in your direction, but her expression is utterly blank, practically lifeless. You can sense no more from her than you can the kneeling woman. This could be the effect of the power muffling your mind and powers, but some part of you tells you otherwise.

>"Something catch your eye?" Satori asks lightly, a slight, cryptic smile on her face.

[DracoOmega]

>"I had not realized you had brought so much company with you."
>As horrifying as this is, try not to let the distress show on our face if we can help it. We'll get you out of this Orin. Somehow. Please forgive us....

[Oldmansour]

>"I had not realized you had brought so much company with you."
>As horrifying as this is, try not to let the distress show on our face if we can help it. We'll get you out of this Orin. Somehow. Please forgive us....

>Ordinarily, keeping a good poker face is not something you have a great deal of difficulty with. Heck, you can even keep your composure around Koakuma, and that's no easy task. But seeing Rin in that state.... Keeping a perfectly straight face is simply beyond you.

>"Whereas you apparantly didn't bring enough." Satori replies, her smile straying towards smug. "But I will confess, your choice in allies has presented me with an extremely unusual situation. As have you yourself, I should add."

[DracoOmega]

>"And what is that?"

[Oldmansour]

>"And what is that?"

>Satori pauses for a moment before replying, "Since you came here expecting to find me up to no good, for want of a better term, you obviously know what I can do."

[DracoOmega]

>"That does not mean I know what you will do."

[Oldmansour]

>"That does not mean I know what you will do."

>"Or what I am capable of?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I have seen some of your handiwork in the minds of others - memories hidden or rewritten, conditioned responses, some of it very thorough and old."

[Oldmansour]

>"I have seen some of your handiwork in the minds of others - memories hidden or rewritten, conditioned responses, some of it very thorough and old."

>Satori nods. "Good, now we're being honest. But just what sort of psychic are you? I've never met a mind quite like yours before. Well, except for your companion over there."

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm not a psychic at all - certainly not in the sense that you are. But the changes you have wrought in others are like a grey veil across their heart - something foreign and out of place."