Wind Priestess Quest - The Third Gathers: Backstroke of the West.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Look over to Mima and Kogasa.

>You look at Mima and Kogasa.
>Kogasa smiles at you.
>"What?" Mima asks.
>_

[Neovereign]

>"We're almost at Misty Lake..."
>Float on over to the Ice Castle thing.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"We're almost at Misty Lake..."

>"I can see that..." Mima replies.

>Float on over to the Ice Castle thing.

>You float over to the icy structure.
>Immediately a fairy you recognize as Daiyousei comes out of the castle entrance.
>"H-H-HALT!" she yells at you.
>_

[Neovereign]

>Stop. "Oh hello, it's you again."

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Stop. "Oh hello, it's you again."

>"H-H-Hi th-there...!" Daiyousei replies.
>You feel a jolt of pain as someone pinches your arm.
>_

[WodofGar]

>"Ow! What the hell was that for!"
>Inspect the assailant.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Ow! What the hell was that for!"
>Inspect the assailant.

>You look over and see that the person who pinched you is Kogasa.
>"S-Sorry! But you said to make sure you didn't get sidetracked again..." she explains.
>_

[Neovereign]

>"But we're already at Misty Lake so it doesn't count, right? No, you're right, we can still get sidetracked like this. Sorry."
>"Sorry, but we've got to go. Stay warm, um, Daiyousei?"
>Check Misty Lake itself.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"But we're already at Misty Lake so it doesn't count, right? No, you're right, we can still get sidetracked like this. Sorry."

>"It's fine..." Kogasa replies.

>"Sorry, but we've got to go. Stay warm, um, Daiyousei?"
>Check Misty Lake itself.

>"N-No w-w-wait! D-Don't go! Y-you n-n-need to h-halt!" Daiyousei shouts as you turn to leave.
>As you fly away, Daiyousei fires a slow, rather pathetic-looking, single warning shot of danmaku across your flight path.
>_

[Neovereign]

>Continue onwards.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Continue onwards.

>You dodge the pathetic danmaku and continue. Only for seconds later to have what appears to be a rain of icicles fall down in front of you. If you weaved a bit, you could dodge through all of it unscathed.
>"Hey! STUPID! When someone tells you to halt, you halt!" a voice that you recognize as Cirno's exclaims, "It's not nice if you ignore them!"
>_

[WodofGar]

>"_{^{God damnit}} Okay what do you want! We're busy."

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

_{//Not really relevant, but I was listening to the Undertale ost while writing this, and Temmie village came on when I was typing the fourth line. It made me chuckle a bit...}

>"_{^{God damnit}} Okay what do you want! We're busy."

>You look at the top of the ice fortress to see Cirno standing there.
>"This is my territory!" Cirno shouts, "If you want to pass through it, you'll have to pay a... a... uh... Daiyousei, what's that word again..."
>"I th-think it w-w-was 'tax' or s-s-s-something..." Daiyousei yells back to the best of her ability.
>"Yeah! You're gonna have to pay a fax to fly through my territory! Or you'll have to face the wrath of Madame-Empress-President-Queen-Strongest... the First... Cirno!"
>"TAX I s-s-said t-tax!"
>"No. Eye'm pretty sure you said fax..."
>"If M-Mystia and W-W-Wriggle were h-here th-they'd ag-gree it was t-t-tax..."
>"Well, they aren't here, are they? Noooo they thought it would be much better to stay inside rather than come and play with their friends today... Do they know how more harder it is to manage an ice castle with just two people?! And Eye don't even know where Rumia is. Ugh! It's so boring without those three!" Cirno pauses, "Uh... What was Eye doing again...?"
>"I-I d-don't kn-know..."

>You might have a chance to slip away unnoticed while they're confused...
>_

[Neovereign]

>"You were asking us to play with you because your friends weren't here. We don't have time to now, but if you ask us again later, we should."

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"You were asking us to play with you because your friends weren't here. We don't have time to now, but if you ask us again later, we should."

>"Eye was?" Cirno looks puzzled.
>"No w-w-wait I r-remember!" Daiyousei exclaims, "Y-You wanted th-them t-to pay the t-t-tax!"
>"Oh yeah! That!" Cirno hops off the top of the ice fortress and floats next to Daiyousei, "If you don't pay the fax right now, Eye'll have no choice but to uh... turn you into my.... frozen... lawn... ornament... thingies..."

>You've missed your chance to escape unnoticed.

>"^{_{Should I do something...?}}" Mima whispers.
>_

[WodofGar]

>_{^{"Go ahead, they're fairies. The blue one is infamously annoying."}}

[Neovereign]

>^{"No, that ice fairy is Cirno. I think I warned you not to provoke her because she's pretty strong and stubborn for a fairy. Then again, she's kind of an idiot, but you still don't know the spell-card rules. Even Cirno follows them, somewhat. That 'Sunny' fairy would be really helpful right now. You know what, go ahead. Just fight Cirno though, not the other one. Scare her off or something."}
//Ninja'd. Re-working...

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>_{^{"Go ahead, they're fairies. The blue one is infamously annoying."}}

>^{"No, that ice fairy is Cirno. I think I warned you not to provoke her because she's pretty strong and stubborn for a fairy. Then again, she's kind of an idiot, but you still don't know the spell-card rules. Even Cirno follows them, somewhat. That 'Sunny' fairy would be really helpful right now. You know what, go ahead. Just fight Cirno though, not the other one. Scare her off or something."}

>"With pleasure." Mima smirks, before aiming her staff at the fairies.
>"Wait!" Kogasa exclaims, pushing Mima's staff down, "I have an idea!"
>_

[Neovereign]

>"Sure, what is it Kogasa?"

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Sure, what is it Kogasa?"

>"Just watch." Kogasa smiles, "Hey! You two, I have a question for you!"
>"What?" Cirno shouts back.
>"This is a question I heard someone ask some people yesterday, and it's been bugging me for a while, so I wonder if either of you could answer it."
>"Get to the point already!"
>"What gets wetter..." Kogasa pauses, "...as it dries?"
>"Uh... Uuuuuuuuhhhh... That's... and easy one! Uh... It's... no... It's not that... Um.... Maybe.... no... Daiyousei?"
>"Uh..." Daiyousei looks confused, "...w-w-waterproof c-c-clothing?"
>"No... That can't be it..."
>"_{^{Quick, let's get out of here while they're distracted!}}" Kogasa whispers, before taking to the air.
>_

_{//I'm not sorry.}

[Neovereign]

^{// :colbert: huh...outdone at callbacks by my own quote... Seriously, why did I not think of using that again? It was the perfect time and characters and everything. I am so, legitimately disappointed in myself. You punk, you're a genius.}
>Take flight as well.
>Kiss Kogasa on the cheek. ^{"Were you holding back all the times before? Because I'm convinced that you're already fantastic at surprising."}

[WodofGar]

>"Because I am thoroughly impressed, nice situational usage of a stupid riddle."

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Take flight as well.

>You escape the confused fairies and continue on your previous course.

>Kiss Kogasa on the cheek. ^{"Were you holding back all the times before? Because I'm convinced that you're already fantastic at surprising."}

>"No... Not really... I was doing my best..." Kogasa answers.

>"Because I am thoroughly impressed, nice situational usage of a stupid riddle."

>"Thanks." Kogasa smiles.

>The three of you can now see the gaping hole in the ice that was formed in yesterday's explosion. It won't be long now until you reach the mansion.
>The snow is starting to get heavier, too. But it's still not really bad yet.

>"So... How long ago did Misty Lake become Empty Crater?" Mima asks.
>_

[Neovereign]

>"Just yesterday. Some explosion caused it. There's what looks like a hatch to someplace at the bottom, but we couldn't get it open back then. Since Reimu's bringing Suika, she should be able tto do so."
>Try and spot Wakasagihime. She said her house was close enough to the explosion to worry her.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Just yesterday. Some explosion caused it. There's what looks like a hatch to someplace at the bottom, but we couldn't get it open back then. Since Reimu's bringing Suika, she should be able tto do so."

>"So, what do you think is behind the hatch?" Mima asks.

>Try and spot Wakasagihime. She said her house was close enough to the explosion to worry her.

>You doubt you'd be able to spot her from here. If she's in what's left of the lake, then you would probably have to physically fly into the chasm in order to spot her.
>_

[WodofGar]

>"I've got a friend who can help with water-related matters, let me try to find her."
>Fly down the chasm, in search of WakaFlocka-Hime the mermaid.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"I've got a friend who can help with water-related matters, let me try to find her."

>"Alright. I guess we'll just wait here then..." Mima replies.

>Fly down the chasm, in search of WakaFlocka-Hime the mermaid.

>You fly into the ice chasm.
>Nothing seems to have changed much since yesterday, aside from what appears to be a fresh coating of ice over the previously exposed water at the bottom. It's also dimly lit down here, too. You doubt you'd be able to contact Waggzy Wakasagihime here.
>_

[Neovereign]

>Fly back up.
>"I couldn't find her. Though, I don't really know where she would be besides the lake. Anyways, let's head to the mansion and wait for Reimu and Suika."
>Head to the SDM.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Fly back up.

>You fly back to Mima and Kogasa.

>"I couldn't find her. Though, I don't really know where she would be besides the lake. Anyways, let's head to the mansion and wait for Reimu and Suika."
>Head to the SDM.

>The three of you continue until you finally reach the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
>You land at the gate. Immediately, you see Meiling, dressed in heavy winter gear. She appears to be fast asleep.
>"Who the hell would sleep out here in this kind of weather?!" Mima remarks.
>_

[Neovereign]

>"That's just Meiling. She's supposed to guard the gate, but she's not that good at it."
>Sneak past Meiling and into the Mansion.