Keine Quest (Part 3): Broken History

[Hello Purvis]

>Trace back along its history, see if we can find anything odd in its past.
>Can we compare it to the bit of forest where we fought the gap thing from here?

[DracoOmega]

>Trace back along its history, see if we can find anything odd in its past.

>You can feel the point at which this change was brought into being, shortly before the Spring Snow incident. And you can vaguely sense its origin elsewhere, not in history, as such, but beyond it. However, in this timeline, nothing appears to have happened here after the shrine's initial disappearance.

>Can we compare it to the bit of forest where we fought the gap thing from here?

>You haven't examined that place as a Hakutaku to compare it with, but it definitely seems reminiscent. You strongly suspect a similar phenomenon is behind both.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Not as much here as I had hoped..."
>To the missing forest. Don't actually fly over it, but get close.
>Assuming we arrive in one piece: "This is where we were attacked by that...thing, Mokou. Be cautious."
>Assuming nothing happens, examine it.

[DracoOmega]

>"Not as much here as I had hoped..."

>"Too bad," Mokou replies.

>To the missing forest. Don't actually fly over it, but get close.
>Assuming we arrive in one piece: "This is where we were attacked by that...thing, Mokou. Be cautious."
>Assuming nothing happens, examine it.

>You fly towards the place where you fought the shadow creature, passing north of the village and the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The giant chasm isn't hard to spot from a distance.
>"Got it," she replies. You can see her keeping a watchful eye on her surroundings.
>Fortunately, you don't see any immediate signs of the creature. The remnants of energy seem to have dispersed somewhat from the last time you were here, although they are still much stronger than at the other fissure.

[Hello Purvis]

>Read the history of the night, and the few days preceding it.

[DracoOmega]

>Read the history of the night, and the few days preceding it.

>You try to read the history of what has happened here. Being a patch of forest in the middle of nowhere, that turns out to not be a great deal. Until the magical explosion and your battle, nothing at all seems to have happened. You don't even think anyone was here. Look at the explosion itself, you do get a similar sense to the fissure at the Hakurei Shrine. It occurred earlier this evening, and yet it did not. Oddly, the point of origin for this feels very similar to the previous one, despite it occurring many years later.

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we use these two event points, the Shrine vanishing and this place vanishing, to try and triangulate the point of origin?

[DracoOmega]

>Can we use these two event points, the Shrine vanishing and this place vanishing, to try and triangulate the point of origin?

>Unfortunately, no. They feel every so slightly outside your grasp of history; almost like they have not yet fully come into being. You are fairly certain the point is the same, or nearly the same, however.

[Hello Purvis]

>Would outside our grasp of history and events that have not yet happened in linear time be synonyms?

[DracoOmega]

>Would outside our grasp of history and events that have not yet happened in linear time be synonyms?

>They certainly could be. You don't know for sure if it's the only explanation. You've never really encountered something like this before.

[Hello Purvis]

>Reach further back into this area's history. See if anything of note regarding this place has happened.

[DracoOmega]

>Reach further back into this area's history. See if anything of note regarding this place has happened.

>You find nothing noteworthy in this area's history.

[Hello Purvis]

>Ponder what makes this area so special that no one has ever been here and literally nothing has happened.

[DracoOmega]

>Ponder what makes this area so special that no one has ever been here and literally nothing has happened.

>Well, it's not so much that literally nothing has ever happened here, but nothing which catches you attention. Animals dwelling in a place, or people passing by it leave only faint marks on history. The sense you get from this patch of forest is not much difference than you would expect to find for any other arbitrary track of uninhabited wilderness. You cannot detect any event of any significance having taken place here.

[Hello Purvis]

>People passing through would be pretty significant, given there seems to be nothing else of interest here. Perhaps they were up to something? Or simply had something about them. Analyze that.

[DracoOmega]

>People passing through would be pretty significant, given there seems to be nothing else of interest here. Perhaps they were up to something? Or simply had something about them. Analyze that.

>You can't tell very much about things that haven't left a distinct mark on history, unfortunately. You think it was probably mostly faeries. You can't tell much more than that.

[Hello Purvis]

>Make a mental note to badger the faeries.
>"Practically nothing here, despite all evidence to the contrary. I have...one more ace to play, I think."
>Back to where we originally woke up.

[DracoOmega]

>Make a mental note to badger the faeries.

>You consider badgering some faeries, but wonder if that would actually give you more a headache than them.

>"Practically nothing here, despite all evidence to the contrary. I have...one more ace to play, I think."
>Back to where we originally woke up.

>"Huh." Mokou says. "And if that doesn't work, what then?"
>You fly back towards the spot where this all began, and arrive at the outskirts of the forested area without incident.

[Hello Purvis]

>Head inside. And assuming something doesn't jump us, read its history.

[DracoOmega]

>Head inside. And assuming something doesn't jump us, read its history.

>You head into the trees, with Mokou and Rumia following you. As you get further inside, you start to feel tranquil and lethargic. It's really rather peaceful... Your eyes feel heavy.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Stay awake darn it.

> If we can't, have either Mokou or Rumia slap us.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Stop!"
>"Do either of you feel this?"

[DracoOmega]

> Stay awake darn it.
> If we can't, have either Mokou or Rumia slap us.

>You try to force yourself to stay awake. It... feels a little different than last time. Lighter, gentler, harder to resist. More lulling....

>"Stop!"
>"Do either of you feel this?"

>You call out for everyone to stop.
>"Feel what?" Mokou asks. Rumia just looks around and frowns.

[Kasu]

> "Its getting really hard to stay awake..."
> Slap ourself.

[Hello Purvis]

>Back out.

[DracoOmega]

> "Its getting really hard to stay awake..."
> Slap ourself.

>You yawn and slap yourself. You're not sure you're accomplishing much.
>"Well, you've been going all night..." Mokou says, looking at you oddly.

>Back out.

>You turn and try to leave the forest. You start to stumble after a couple of steps.
>"Hey, you ok?!" Mokou calls out.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Keep me awake...I don't care how..."
>Stumble onward.

[DracoOmega]

>"Keep me awake...I don't care how..."
>Stumble onward.

>"Uh, I..." Mokou looks around. "What?"
>You take a few more steps. It's hard to keep moving in a straight line. You can only barely see through half-closed eyes. Sleep feels like a wonderfully soft cushion on which to fall. Maybe you should just let yourself rest....

[Hello Purvis]

>"Damnit...not again..."
>"Rumia...shoot it."
>Try to lean against a tree.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Wonder what the possibility that sleeping would make you switch worlds with the other Keine.