> "Well you've got a point there..."
> If the play is about to start, purchase the wine if we haven't already and head for the play.
>There is definitely a good deal of noise coming from the makeshift auditorium, it will be very soon. You decide to move out; Reimu follows closely behind you.
>The noisy makeshift auditorium is packed with more people than you can easily estimate. Eirin seems to have anticipated this, as she makes her way toward the middle of the crowd, and nods to two rabbits, who immediately give up their seats and head for the stage. Yorihime has a seat in the center by Kaguya. Patchouli has simply disappeared into the crowd; Reimu quickly follows suit. You and Eirin make yourselves comfortable, and Eirin takes your arm into hers. You quickly become uncomfortably aware of that a number of rabbits in the audience are stealing glances your way, as well as Yorihime giving a rather alarmed look in your direction. There is a subtle but definite shift in the nature of the babble around you.
>The stage itself is a simple thing, some lengths of wood placed on top of some old barrels and saw horses, and secured in place with clamps. There is a thick bamboo frame for holding the curtain, which is mostly closed. Though the curtain's gap, you can see some scaffolding has been set up.
>You wait, trying and failing not to blush furiously at the attention you and Eirin are drawing and the rumors that are no doubt forming. But you persevere. People are going to find out anyways. And, when you can put all the outside attention out of your mind, it certainly feels very nice to have Eirin snuggling against you. It also doesn't feel half bad to simply take a load off your feet and your mind after all the stuff that's happened today. Soon enough, rabbits begin to file along the edges of the room, covering the lanterns to dim the light. A rabbit, dressed in a bathrobe, comes onto the stage, cups her hands to her mouth and shouts, "HEY SHUT UP!"
>When the room falls silent, the rabbit says, "Tonight's story is a tale Lord Daikoku and the Hawk Goddess, long ago in a land no one remembers. The Hawk Goddess had successfully defeated and enslaved Lord Daikoku's people. They were not allowed to hold Lord Daikoku's feasts, and they were the property of the Hawk Goddess's people. While the Hawk Goddess's people were kind in their own ways, Lord Daikoku's followers were still just slaves. Then came a great sage, Mo Tzu, who spoke with the Hawk Goddess's Empress of the Wind; a living goddess herself..." With that, the rabbit bows and hops off the stage as the curtains open as the audience applauds.
>One of the players sits on a large chair borrowed from one of the drawing rooms, dressed in an elaborate kimono that you are certain belongs to the Princess. A headdress hides her ears, a clear signal that she isn't supposed to be rabbit. Before her is another player, ears clearly on display, in another borrowed kimono. Above them, on the scaffolding, you see a player wearing a fake beak over her face standing over the Empress, and a rabbit in 'armor' that seems to have been made from some tea trays standing over the rabbit below.
>"Mo Tzu," says the Empress, "you come before my divine throne today. Lucky for you I'm in a good mood! Now out with it, I have a chariot race at five."
>"I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse," says Mo Tzu, adjusting the upper parts of her robe. "Let my people go."
>"Wait," says the Hawk Beaked player in the scaffolding, looking the the armored rabbit. The players below freeze in place. "That's it? No offerings, no concessions? Not even a me-damned please?"
>"Yep," says armored rabbit, crossing her armors with a very satisfied grin on her face.
>The beaked player throws her hands up in the air. "Daikoku, you suck! You don't know the first thing about this, do you!?"
>The armored player, Daikoku, just grins wider, "You don't wanna tangle."
>"You forgot the part where I won, right?" says the beaked player, the Hawk Goddess. "Because I did. That's why your people got enslaved."
>"Maybe last time," says Daikoku, glancing toward audience with a knowing look.
>Then the two deities on the scaffolding freeze in place, and the two below begin to move again. The Empress rests her face against a hand. "No," she says
>"Well, that's that," says Mo Tzu, shrugging. Then she looks off the left side of the stage. "Can't say a thing against a clear answer like that. Oh, hey. You know, that's really nice river you got out there."
>"Pride of the Empire," says the Empress.
>Mo Tsu folds her hands demurely, at odds with her grin. "Sure would be a shame if something...happened to it,"
>The Empress' relaxed pose goes visibly rigid. "What." Mo Tzu chuckles, then puts her fingers to her mouth and gives a shrill whistle. Lord Diakoku begins to move in the rafters, picking up a bucket placed discretely next to her, and pouring it out onto the stage. Red liquid falls out and splashes all over the stage. The Empress just stares at it, while Mo Tzu cackles. "...Did you just turn my river into wine?"
>"It was Lord Daikoku," says Mo Tzu between snickers. "He'll fuck you up, then finish off with your mom."
>"My mom's dead, jerk," replies the Empress. "Besides, I have like eight wizards that can do that. Just they have the good manners not to."
>The two mortal players freeze as the deities move again. "Did you just booze up my river?" asks the Hawk Goddess.
>"Yep," says Diakoku, wearing the customary smirk.
>"I like that river," the Hawk Goddess says. "What'd it ever do to you, huh? There's fish in there! And hippos!"
>Daikoku gives a magnificently exaggerated shrug. "I warned you. Got a nice deal on that from this oni. You don't wanna tangle."
>The Hawk Goddess stamps her foot. "I'm telling Izanagi!"
>"You do that," says Daikoku. "Go cry."
>The focus shifts back to the mortals below. Mo Tzu places around the stage. "So, you got sorcerers, huh? Well sucks to your sorcerers. Let's see 'em do this!" She then does a little dance shuffle. Up on the scaffolding, Lord Daikoku picks up a bag and empties it with a flourish, sending slips of paper flying everywhere and out into the audience. One of them lands in your lap. Picking it up, you see it simply says 'Frog' on it. The players stay silent as the slips of paper settle, while people off stage begin to make croaking noises. Finally, the Empress says, "There are frogs everywhere." There is a lone cheer from the audience.
>Mo Tzu nods. "Yep!"
>"There are frogs absolutely everywhere!" the Empress says again, waving her arms. "Who's going to clean this up!? Do you have any idea how loud it's going to get?! There's a fucking frog in my wine!" She brandishes a chalice beside her chair.
>"Be a shame if something else happened," says Mo Tzu, folding her arms behind her head.
>The Empress throws her chalice to the ground; someone in the audience shouts angrily. "Fine! Fine! Go! Get out here! What is wrong with you?!"
>"See, that wasn't so hard," says Mo Tzu, walking up patting the Empress on the cheek. "We thank you for your courteous and speedy response."
>The focus shifts upwards, while Mo Tzu exits the stage. "Where'd you get those frogs," says the Hawk Goddess, leaning forward and giving Daikoku a look.
>"I got friends," says Daikoku as he idly examines his nails.
>The focus shifts downwards again. The Empress shifts in her seat and makes annoyed grumbling noises. Another player in simpler robes and carrying some papers enters the stage. "Empress," she says, "About letting Lord Daikoku's people go free?"
>"Yeah, what?" says the Empress.
>"Well, um," the player says, "It's just, uh..." She hands a paper to the Empress. "We're now slightly bankrupt."
>The Empress looks at the paper, then wads it up and throws it to the ground with vigor. "For fuck's sake! Fine! Don't free the damn stupid things!"
>Mo Tzu sidles back onstage. "I can't help but overhear that you are rescinding our business agreement. This is very troubling..."
>The same series of events plays out again, as Lord Daikoku plagues the Hawk God's empire with lice and flies, then steals all of their livestock. The Empress grows more desperate, citing economic reasons why the request cannot be granted. More disasters follow; outbreaks of boils (a rain of paper slips that read, 'You now have boils. Congratulations!'), scarlet weather issues, then an invasion of cicadas that next cease droning. Then Lord Daikoku covers the empire in darkness; upon which the rabbits block out all of the lamps in the room. Finally, the last straw comes, when Lord Daikoku declares "I'll give you an economic problem!" and runs off with all of the Empire's firstborn daughters. Finally, the Empress lets Lord Daikoku's people go free. She quickly changes her mind, and sends the army out after them. This leads to a climatic chase where rabbits flood the stage, running about two and fro hitting each other with sticks, as the Empress and Mo Tzu toss confetti 'danmaku' at each other.
>The crowd as a whole seems to enjoy it. In particular, you quickly learn to recognize Suwako's bellylaughs. Yorihime looks slightly scandalized by all the praise for a deity the Lunarians had a role in sealing away; which you suspect the rabbits intended. It ends to much applause and cheering, which quickly ceases when it is announced that the feast is ready.
>The rest of the night becomes a riotous but pleasant blur. The food, simply put, is delicious. Youmu and Sayuka, despite whatever emnity they may have from events in over the fall, have done an excellent job with the preparations. The oni have brought more than enough drink to keep everyone happy. While the Prismrivers have not shown up, a couple of oni and a few rabbits are able to provide adequate music.
>Things progress well from there. You are pleased to see that despite their issues, both Remilia and Yuyuko behave themselves; though Remilia periodically smirks at Yuyuko's back and gives you a wink at one point. While you have Eirin at your side when seated at the table, you find Yamame at your other side. She is all too happy to carry on about everything little thing on her mind, much of it being about all the people here. You hardly get a word in edgewise. You nearly trip over Nue while getting seconds, who is walking around with a lovely pair of rabbit ears and significantly shorter than normal. You have to admit that she would have blended in well if she had bothered to change out of her typical clothes. Alice and Hina, you note, seem to be talking about the play, the exposition items, and the feast in general between themselves. Finding Yuyuko, you hand her the bottle of Mare Nectaris Plum Wine, bringing a shriek of delight to the ghost princess' lips. And the whole time, Kanako is positively beaming.
>The lack of Prismrivers soon resolves itself as they, and a dozen more oni, march through the front door, still dancing and playing. Kaguya discretely orders the less hardy artifacts on display to be moved into side rooms as things grow more hectic. Dancing breaks out in the courtyard and the halls leading to it. There are a few near incidents. Those three faeries that you met after taking the back way out of Scarlet Devil Mansion seem to have found their way here, and are caught trying to run off with windless music box on display. Eirin decides to let them off with a lecture. At one point, a tough-looking oni with black hair tries to kidnap Sanae "for old time's sake", leading to a brief exchange of danmaku.
>
The festivities continue far into the night, as the skies clear and the auroras continue to shine. You have an excellent time, enjoying the food, the music, and a little bit of drink with Eirin's blessings; though not enough to really impair yourself. You and Eirin even dance a little bit, though you find that Eirin is not nearly so good a dancer as Iku was. You imagine that you both look a little silly, but with drunken oni and faeries around you blend right in. Eventually, though, the day simply takes its toll upon you. Eirin sees you off to bed, and you practically fall asleep before you hit the pillows.
>You wake up to find yourself in Eirin's chambers. For a short time, you wrack your memories, horrified that something might have happened last night. Or rather, that quite a lot of things happened and you've completely forgotten them. Eirin brings you breakfast, and despite this warning sign that the world has turned upside down, she assures you that nothing happened. Afterwards the two of you make up for lost time, and while you don't necessary cover quite a lot of things, you cover enough to leave the you both satisfied with the morning. The rest of the day is spent cleaning up after the play and the festivities, and chasing out the faeries who've not quite left yet. Yorihime leaves to do the inspections that they promised, you suspect it to avoid being part of the clean-up. Rise is not so lucky.
>There is some distressing news later that day when Patchouli sends you word that significant portions of the Construct are missing. You go to investigate, fearing the worst, and find the Construct collapsed into a pile of vaguely person-shaped mechanical components. You find a good portion of it is missing. Looking around, you quickly find that faeries trading the parts among themselves as a sort of barter good, cycling out much too far for you to be able to do much about. In the end, it is decided this is probably the best thing that could be done with the remains anyways; it will make it that much harder to bring them together.
>It has been said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Within a couple days of your return, Eirin insists that your education will require her to have access to you at all times, and you are moved out of your room and into hers, which is more than spacious enough to accommodate the two of you. Tewi immediately seizes your old room. Coincidentally, you also find yourself being Tewi's victim much less often. Your lessons with Eirin take a much different tone, less formal now, and less strict. You find that you're not actually covering as much material as before, but Eirin brushes away this concern by pointing out there's no rush. You decide there is something to be said for a more relaxed pace. Eientei quickly adjusts to your and Eiren's newly discovered relationship; but for a couple days where you are subjected to an combination of surreptitious giggles and various words of bawdy congratulation
>Unfortunately the mystery of the Base Six Pair of Pants eludes you still. It may well take a lifetime to figure it out to your satisfaction. The wolf continues to hang around the Eientei. The events of the feast did a lot help adapt the beast to being around people, and there doesn't seem to be too much trouble with the rabbits; who quickly take to sneaking him out little treats when they think you're not looking. You quickly get used to Yorihime and the moon rabbits staying around Eientei; they fuse into daily life quite easily. When Yorihime has confirmed she could find no traces of any items connected to beings beyond the veil and the moon is full again, they return home and you find yourself missing them quite a lot.
>The gems remain with you, and you slowly grow accustomed to their precise and their influence. It is still strange to think of yourself being able to match either the Princess or Eirin. Still, you've proven yourself able enough without them when you matched the Construct in a battle of wills for them. You teach yourself how to better use them, with less collateral difficulties and better integration into your own style. Many of Eirin's lessons now revolve around moral aspects, and how to properly judge situations and to make good inductions.
>A month passes, and you are surprised to find Yorihime at Eientei's doorstep again. She seeks you out, and presents you with a small box. You open it, consumed by curiosity, and find a small silvery medal inside. You immediately recognize as the Platinum Mark of Eminence, the highest honor that the Capital has to give. She explains, while you listen speechlessly, it was decided your quick actions prevented several potential catastrophes and served the cause of purity. It was ruled as well that Patchouli, though her crime cannot be denied, would be exempted from punishment provided she does not try to do it again. But primarily, the jurists were impressed with your actions and your ability to handle the situation. Finally, she says, she's proud of you. Later, Eirin is all too happy to echo those sentiments.
Life is good.>You have gotten a Happy End!
>
>Credits:
>Original Inspiration: TranceHime
>Cover Art: Af
>Ending Art: Slaves
>Programming, Music, Typos, Database Errors: Purvis Hobotech
>Great Player: You!
>See you next quest!
