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

[Oldmansour]

>"I saw how you reacted when you saw it. You know that it is not right or natural or something that belongs inside you. And whatever it is, it is real."

>"What I don't know," the miko replies in a rather dark tone. "is how you managed to provoke a physical reaction in me. And since your little thought there reached my jack as well, I know you have at least some psychic ability." Her eyes narrow again. "That's what I thought I heard earlier, wasn't it? You've been in contact with someone, haven't you?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I... thought I also heard something, around when you asked the same question earlier, but it was very faint and difficult to make out. Beyond that, I have not tried to contact anyone; I don't even know that I can. I didn't know that what I just did then could reach you, merely hoped. And surely a sense of physical disquiet is only a natural reaction if one were to see that kind of malignancy lurking within oneself? I know I would feel likewise, in your shoes. I just want to help."

[Oldmansour]

>"I... thought I also heard something, around when you asked the same question earlier, but it was very faint and difficult to make out. Beyond that, I have not tried to contact anyone; I don't even know that I can. I didn't know that what I just did then could reach you, merely hoped. And surely a sense of physical disquiet is only a natural reaction if one were to see that kind of malignancy lurking within oneself? I know I would feel likewise, in your shoes. I just want to help."

>Satori still glares at you even as you make another plea, but then she seems to soften just a little. "I don't believe you, but... In that web... To still do these things..." She looks away from you for a moment, confusion playing over her face before she looks back at you. "Can you really be that strong?"

[DracoOmega]

>"For all those I love, and all the people of this world I have sworn to safeguard, I will be as strong as I need to be. So please... let me lend some of that strength to you."

[Oldmansour]

>"For all those I love, and all the people of this world I have sworn to safeguard, I will be as strong as I need to be. So please... let me lend some of that strength to you."

>The purple haired woman stands but does not look at you right away, her eyes on the stone floor beneath her. "That kind of faith... Isn't in me anymore." she sounds almost regretful, but when she raises her head, there is no more doubt or hesitation in her eyes. "That kind of trust is dead." she says flatly. "If you remember nothing else, girl, remember this: Sooner or later, everyone you don't control will betray you and leave you. And everyone puts themselves before someone else." She tries to smile, but before she speaks, you think you hear another voice, this one in your mind's ear. But there is so much psychic static playing over your brain that you can't even tell who it is or what they are saying. You do however hear Satori say, "But when Satori rules, when that time comes, I will remember your strength. I may even give you the chance to work with me again. After all," she says ominously, raising her hand, "It's always easier for me to control someone the second time."

>Her third eye starts to glow a dark purple, and you steel yourself against the assault you're sure is to come. For a moment, you thought you were getting through to her, but either due to the corruption in her soul or the bitterness of her spirit, Satori has rejected the aid you have offered her. And then something explodes.
>But it is not your mind, nor any technique employed by Satori, but the sound of a detonation from somewhere above you. From the left side of your vision there comes splinters of wood and shredded scraps of paper, and the green haired woman comes flying down from some height. Satori jerks forward and covers her head as the thunderous sound of a tiger's roar drowns out the sound of the blast, and a massive orange and black striped cat comes flying out of the darkness, landing atop the green-haired woman and driving her into the stone floor of the cave.
>As Satori recovers from the sudden violence of the scene, the Tiger glows and straightens into a bipedal form. It is Kiku, glowing with a powerful magical aura even your addled senses can see and sense, her face like the front of an oncoming storm. Despite the outrage in the gaze she levels at Satori, the first words out of her mouth are, "Are you all right?" It takes you a moment before you realize she is talking to you.

[DracoOmega]

>"No. This web. It muffles the mind."

[Oldmansour]

>"No. This web. It muffles the mind."

>"Not for long."
>"What are you DOING, Kiku?!" Satori roars, rounding on the other shrine maiden. "What is WRONG with you?"
>"You." the tiger youkai snarls between clenched fangs. "You have befouled this sacred place for years, stolen a position that did not belong to you, corrupted the minds of the Sisters and the people of this city, darkened what was supposed to have been a beacon of light and hope for an entire country." Kiku raises her fist. "That ends today. Starting with your latest victims."

>Kiku brings her fist back and slashes it in your direction, sending a wedge of red and grey energy out high enough to pass over your head. She is plainly aiming for the web, but her attack never reaches it. Satori's hands press together, a strand of beads clasped between them, and a grey light screen shimmers into view at the entrance of the alcove you hang in. The blade and shield meet and both shatter.

>"I'm stronger than you, Kiku." Satori declares, then smirks. "Not that I need to be." For a moment, the two women simply stare at each other, silent. Then Satori blinks, and her smug face dissolves into confusion. "You- Your mind-"
>"I am free of you, Satori." the tiger replies, pointedly cutting off the '-sama' usually appended to the name. "My mind is warded by great Byakko himself." A talisman slides out of her sleeve and into her hand. "And I am also stronger than you." The purple haired shrine maiden takes a frightened step backwards, her backside impacting the wood table. As Kiku raises her talisman, she speaks to you again, asking, "Has she hurt you?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Not deliberately. Kiku, there is a corruption within her she cannot even see. I need to try and heal her. But be careful!"
>Does the green-haired woman seem to have been knocked out by Kiku's attack? Can we even see her from this angle?

[Oldmansour]

>Does the green-haired woman seem to have been knocked out by Kiku's attack? Can we even see her from this angle?

>You can. They landed straight ahead of you, around twelve or so feet away. The green-haired woman hasn't moved since her rather dramatic arrival, but her head is turned from you, so you can't tell if she's out or merely biding her time.

>"Not deliberately. Kiku, there is a corruption within her she cannot even see. I need to try and heal her. But be careful!"

>"Be quiet!" Satori says as she points at you again. Agony assaults your mind as Satori blasts you with her psionic power.
>Kiku roars again and attacks once more, forming a trio of metallic spheres out of her glowing aura and sending them out at Satori. The purple haired miko pulls her hand back in and joins them in prayer again. A thick wall of iron rises out of the ground in front of her, but Kiku's attack quickly proves that this wall is not thick enough. Two of her orbs flatten upon impact with the wall and riddle the thing with cracks, allowing the third orb to punch through the shield like a cannonball. The sphere catches Satori in the stomach, throwing her back over the table to crash against the cave wall.
>Pressing one hand against her stomach, Satori raises her other hand and levitates the metal shards of her shattered wall off the ground. Kiku had started to take a step towards you, but has to stop to deal with the threat of the shrapnel now heading her way. Clenching a talisman between two fingers, Kiku waves her hand and the iron projectiles rust away in mid-flight, leaving trails of dust to float harmlessly past her. "For years you made me believe I wasn't as strong as you." she snarls at the wide-eyed Satori. "Made me doubt my powers, kept me from knowing just how strong I am." Kiku's fist clenches over her paper charm and her aura flares again, with an actual physical force strong enough to make your web waver. "Corruption or no, Satori, I am going to show you just how strong I really am."

>Satori glares at the tiger youkai, then turns her head not to you, but to White Rose. "Don't just stand there, defend me!"
>To your horror, Rin stirs from her attentive stance, raises her hand in Kiku's direction, and unleashes a cone of white flames at the tiger. "And don't hit my jack!" Satori commands, causing Rin to raise her arm up higher. Kiku holds her forearm up in front of her as she back off from the flames washing over her.

[DracoOmega]

>Try to reach out to Rin with our mind. See if there's anything there at the moment we can reach, given both of our states: Rin, no! Stop! Please!

[Oldmansour]

>Try to reach out to Rin with our mind. See if there's anything there at the moment we can reach, given both of our states: Rin, no! Stop! Please!

>Whether through the effect of the web on your own mind or through Satori's power, you sense nothing from Rin. You can't even be certain she heard you.

>For her part, Kiku takes a more direct approach, conjuring forth a large wedge of brass in front of her, sending White Rose's flames past her. Casting again, a flurry of yellow energy bolts fly from her brass shield. Satori manages to divert the shots heading her way, but White Rose takes them in the leg and torso, staggering but still standing.
>"You'll need to be stronger than that, Kiku." Satori says smugly as White Rose unleashes twin streams of flame at the tiger youkai. "She's under my control now, and it will take more than a physical shock to shake her loose." Her grin grows even smugger as Kiku's brass wedge melts away under Rin's assault. "How sad for you that this girl has fire powers. It doesn't matter how strong you think you are if she can melt anything to you can conjure.
>Kiku snarls again, calling forth more metallic orbs to float around her. She does not attack right away, though, instead she speaks in your mind, Can you reach Rose? just clearly enough to be understood through the interference.

[DracoOmega]

>To Kiku: I'm trying! Nothing yet!
>To Rin: Please Rin, you have to stop. Listen to me! I know you don't want to do this. Remember who you are!

>Assuming that this does not seem to provoke any other reaction from Rin and Kiku has not freed us from this web, let's try to focus and send the same physic image at Satori that we broadcast the first time, but this time aim it right at her. If it produced a momentary physical revulsion the first time, maybe there's a slight chance it could serve as a distraction this time?

[Oldmansour]

>To Kiku: I'm trying! Nothing yet!
>To Rin: Please Rin, you have to stop. Listen to me! I know you don't want to do this. Remember who you are!

>Assuming that this does not seem to provoke any other reaction from Rin and Kiku has not freed us from this web, let's try to focus and send the same physic image at Satori that we broadcast the first time, but this time aim it right at her. If it produced a momentary physical revulsion the first time, maybe there's a slight chance it could serve as a distraction this time?

>Rin's only response is to toss a fireball at Kiku. The tiger thrusts her hands forward, glowing talisman gripped in her fingers, and conjures a gust of wind, blowing the fireball past her to explode against the cavern wall. I'll get you out of there. Kiku assures you as she diverts her wind towards Satori and White Rose. The miko uses her magic to conjure a wind of her own to counter Kiku's, while White Rose sends pulses of flame from her outstretched palms. "Even without my jack, I'm still untouchable." Satori gloats as Kiku has to break off her attack to evade White Rose's shots.
>With her attention diverted away from you, you send out another mental pulse, this time heedless of the consequences. It has no visible effect on Rin, who continues to pour fire after the nimbly evasive Kiku, but Satori visibly flinches from the image you force into her mind. She lowers her talisman as she turns to look at you, missing Kiku shaping one of the orbs around her into a metal buzzsaw.
>"I'm getting sick of you." the miko grounds out. "I've been kind so far, but if you keep interfering, you'll see what happens when my patience runs out."

>Stopping to threaten you, Satori does not see Kiku stop running from Rin's attack. Satori does not see Kiku form another of her orbs into a saucer-shaped shield to deflect Rin's fire away from her. Satori does not see Kiku take advantage of the distraction you have provided to throw her metal blade in your direction, not directly at you of course, but over your head and to your right.
>What Satori does see is the metal blade cut through the web's connection to the roof of the cave. Without those lines, the web no longer has the strength to support your weight. Satori has enough time to yell one single "No!" before the rest of the web's lines snap one after the other, leaving you standing on the ground. The remaining webbing stuck to you fades away, evidently not as persistant as a true spider's web. Its dissolution leaves you whole once more. The fog and static clouding your mind evaporates, leaving no pain, no confusion, no false fatigue, no mental weaknesses. Just plenty of willpower.

[DracoOmega]

>Then let's use it!
>Do we sense any shielding around the corruption within Satori, like we did around some of the dark seeds within youma? Presumably we can sense it better now, at any rate?
>Assuming we have no specific reason to think this would be ineffective yet, aim at the splinter in Satori's third eye with the Violet Lotus we've been saving just for this.

[Oldmansour]

>Then let's use it!
>Do we sense any shielding around the corruption within Satori, like we did around some of the dark seeds within youma? Presumably we can sense it better now, at any rate?
>Assuming we have no specific reason to think this would be ineffective yet, aim at the splinter in Satori's third eye with the Violet Lotus we've been saving just for this.

>You can't see the thorns in her body still, that seems to have come as a consequence of direct contact with her. But you do have a clearer view of the splinter in her mind's eye, and as vile as the thing is, it doesn't seem to have the same sort of protective power covering it that the youma's cores do. It does have an aura of power around it, but as far as you can tell, it's neither strong nor thick enough to ward off your power.
>Eager to settle this matter once and for all, you produce your scepter and ready your power, but before you can draw a bead on the shard of darkness, Satori utters another 'No." and hits you with another one of her psionic blasts, disrupting your concentration and your aim while setting your brain on fire.

[DracoOmega]

>No, no, no! We have to do this. We must do this! For Rin, and Kiku, and even Satori herself. No matter the pain, no matter the storm in our mind, find the tranquil center within it and fire!

[Hello Purvis]

>Pain is merely an aspect of Samsara and the lowest form of suffering. Focus, and realize it is but an ephemeral thing.

[Oldmansour]

>No, no, no! We have to do this. We must do this! For Rin, and Kiku, and even Satori herself. No matter the pain, no matter the storm in our mind, find the tranquil center within it and fire!

>Pain is merely an aspect of Samsara and the lowest form of suffering. Focus, and realize it is but an ephemeral thing.

>The last time this pain assaulted your mind, you had also the psychic venom of that spider coursing through your veins. At the time, you felt that, had you been facing only the one or the other, you might have been able to overcome it, but not both at the same time. Now, however, you are not battling forces. Your veins are free of venom, and the spider that bit you is nowhere to be seen. Only Satori's attack presses on you now. And while you do not have Satori's powers, you have your will. And it is indomitable. Despite the agony in your mind, you raise your head, will your vision clear, and focus your will, and your aim, upon the ugly black spot in Satori's third eye. Her other two eyes widen as you, seemingly impossibly to her, push past her attack. She cries "Impossible!" as you raise your scepter. She takes a step back, but it is too late for her.
>Violet light cascades out from your scepter, a stronger attack than normal courtesy of your treatment at Satori's hands and your need to heal both her and Rin. You see your light wind through her body as it strikes her third eye.

>And then the splinter pulses with a force far, far stronger than anything it had done thus far, Satori's third eye goes black, and a shockwave of black energy repulses your violet light and presses you backwards, almost taking you off your feet. The sensation was revolting. That energy made your skin feel like it was drying, shriveling, your spirit weakening. It felt like... death.
>Satori, rather than attacking again, falls to her knees after the burst of power. "That... That's not..." The lines connecting her third eye to her body swell and pulse, her face contorts sickly, and the shrine maiden vomits. But the expellant that lands on the floor is the darkest of black, reeking like an open grave. "What is... happening...?" she mutters, vomiting again.

>And then White Rose sends a blast of flame at you, following Satori's orders and defending her.

[DracoOmega]

>If there is room to sidestep the flame blast, do so. Otherwise raise a shield to deflect it.
>Does the corruption within Satori seem to have actually grown stronger in response to our Violet Lotus, or was that the darkness more or less protesting itself being forcibly expelled from Satori?
>Try to reach out to Rin with our mind again, now unclouded by Satori's power: Rin, please stop! I know you do not want this! I know how great Satori's power is, but your will can still rise above it! I believe in you! Please!

[Oldmansour]

>If there is room to sidestep the flame blast, do so. Otherwise raise a shield to deflect it.
>Does the corruption within Satori seem to have actually grown stronger in response to our Violet Lotus, or was that the darkness more or less protesting itself being forcibly expelled from Satori?

>The burst of flame is coming in fairly high, so you should be able to simply duck under it with no ill effects. So you do, and the fire passes over your head harmlessly. It seems that Satori may have some control over White Rose, she doesn't have access to her full range of powers.
>Definitely the latter. In fact, Satori seems utterly baffled by what's going on, as she looks up at you. "What have... What-EAGGHH!" the shrine maiden screams as a viscous stream of black material comes pouring from her mouth, resembling and smelling something like rotten pus. Looking at it makes your eyes ache, like they did when you saw the thorny vines in Satori's body. The disgusting torrent rockets up and bursts through the roof of the cavern, hauling Satori up through the hole with it.

>Try to reach out to Rin with our mind again, now unclouded by Satori's power: Rin, please stop! I know you do not want this! I know how great Satori's power is, but your will can still rise above it! I believe in you! Please!

>With Satori gone, you turn your attention to Orin once more. The kasha doesn't exactly respond to you directly, but she does... stop. She tilts her head back slightly, looking up at the cave roof. At the same time, the green haired woman sits up, also looking up at the rocky ceiling.
>Kiku, however, claps her hands against her temples and screams in pain, falling to one knee.

[DracoOmega]

>"What's wrong?!"
>Let's look up through that hole in the ceiling ourselves. What in the world is going on here?

[Oldmansour]

>"What's wrong?!"
>Let's look up through that hole in the ceiling ourselves. What in the world is going on here?

>"I can feel that... thing...." Kiku says through gritted teeth as you look up through Satori's exit hole. You see the night sky far overhead, through what appears to be a hole in another roof, this one made of wood and paper. You believe it to be the roof of the Tiger shrine, but you don't get too long a look at before something falls across the top of the hole in the cave. A chunk of wood or possibly dark stone, but whatever it is cuts off your sight of the scenery above almost completely.
>Kiku continues as she pulls herself back together, "It's reaching out through Satori, into the minds she touched." She looks at you then, and there is real fear on her face. "Lotus, that thing... It feels like death."

>As if in answer to her words, Rin looks back down, and a black ink washes down across her eyes. In a hollow tone, she and the green-haired woman intone simultaneously, "Death comes for all." And with that, White Rose raises her hand and unleashes another blast of fire at you, this one at least twice as large and intense as her previous bursts. Meanwhile, the other woman disgorges a caustic looking green cloud at Kiku.

[DracoOmega]

>"I feel the same way. But we must stop it - somehow."
>Attempt to dodge or deflect Rin's flame blast in a similar manner to before, then this time follow up with a Violet Lotus and pray that it can break the hold this being has over her without doing her any harm.

[Oldmansour]

>"I feel the same way. But we must stop it - somehow."
>Attempt to dodge or deflect Rin's flame blast in a similar manner to before, then this time follow up with a Violet Lotus and pray that it can break the hold this being has over her without doing her any harm.

>This blast is too wide and too tall to duck or get around in the somewhat confined alcove you're still in, so you brandish your scepter once more and erect a blue light barrier before you. Ordinarily it would take a full on Sapphire Lotus to block White's Rose flames, but as this isn't actually one of her attacks as it were, you hope the simpler barrier will suffice, as you suspect you'll need whatever power you have to deal with that thing that burst out of Satori.
>The gout of fire taxes your shield to its limit, but it holds out against White Rose's flames. As the cloud of fire dissipates, you drop your shield and unleash your Violet light upon quite possibly the target you least thought you'd ever be bringing your power to bear on. Even though it is with your purifying light, the idea of shooting at Rin is extremely disconcerting. As your light strikes White Rose, a surge of anger takes you. Rin accepted your power to help you, to protect you, that's all she wanted, and this dark force, whatever it is, has not only forced her to attack you, it's forced you to return fire on her. In this moment, you feel an enmity towards that creature that none of the demons ever provoked.

>When your Violet light fades, White Rose sways a bit as the black film drains from her eyes. She blinks in confusion, then rubs her forehead slightly. She mutters in Eire, "What happened....?" before shaking her head and looking at you. "Mistress?"

[DracoOmega]

>Tentative smile of relief
>"Oh, thank the heavens. Are you... alright?"

[Oldmansour]

>Tentative smile of relief
>"Oh, thank the heavens. Are you... alright?"

>Relief washes the anger from you.
>"My head feels funny." she replies, massaging her temple. "Where are-"
>She doesn't get the chance to finish her question, however, before a tremendous sound fills the cavern. A glance in Kiku's direction shows that, where the green-haired woman was sitting there now extends a quartet of tall metal panels extending from floor to roof, forming a boxy cage around the woman.

[DracoOmega]

>Is this box solid or are there places we can see into the cage? If the latter, what is the woman inside currently doing?
>Does Kiku seem alright?

[Oldmansour]

>Is this box solid or are there places we can see into the cage? If the latter, what is the woman inside currently doing?
>Does Kiku seem alright?

>It is solid, gapless.
>She seems her usual fierce self, though there are shards of what appears to be copper around her feet, and there are bits of the rock around her smoking.

[DracoOmega]

>To Kiku: "Do you think that will hold her? If I could break the darkness's hold on Rose, I can probably also do it for her, though I don't know how she will react to us when free of it."

[Oldmansour]

>To Kiku: "Do you think that will hold her? If I could break the darkness's hold on Rose, I can probably also do it for her, though I don't know how she will react to us when free of it."

>"Not for long." says Kiku as she lowers her arms. "Not if she's a pit fighter like Satori said. Wait a second... That thing reached out for Satori's..." She looks up, fear on her face once more as she turns and heads for the stairs, "Oh Gods, Lily. Deal with her!" she roars as she transforms back to her tiger form and takes the stairs four at a time.
>"Lily? What's she-" But White Rose doesn't have a chance to finish her question before something strikes Kiku's cage, hard enough to bend the metal outward. The piece of metal on the western side of the cage falls outward like a tree falling, hitting the ground with a tremendous crash as the green haired woman emerges, taller than she was before, her fists and arms twice as muscular as they were a moment ago, plainly magically enhanced.