Keine Quest (Part 5): Broken History

[Hello Purvis]

>"Where does she live? Did you find anything else?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Where does she live? Did you find anything else?"

>"Oh, I just checked her address," Marisa says. "It's kinda near the university. Was there something else you wanted me to look for?"

[E-Nazrin]

>"Anything we can find out about her could be useful, I think, but I have no idea what sort of magic that device you have can work."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I suppose we could try to find more on the way there."

[DracoOmega]

>"Anything we can find out about her could be useful, I think, but I have no idea what sort of magic that device you have can work."

>Marisa laughs. "There's not a drop of magic in this thing. It's just a smartphone. I just looked up her number on the internet. It's, well... just think of it as a way to access this giant pile of information from anywhere in the world. So if you can think of something worth searching for, I might be able to find it."

>"I suppose we could try to find more on the way there."

>"Yeah, there's an idea," Marisa says, nodding. "Want to head out?"
>"I guess she's not going to do anything while we're-" Reimu pauses. "Uh, hello?" she says tentatively, looking past you.

[E-Nazrin]

>Oh dear.
>Turn.

[DracoOmega]

>Oh dear.
>Turn.

>This doesn't sound good...
>You turn around. There is a young brown-haired woman standing in the doorway, looking at you with a dumbstruck expression.
>"Oh, hi," Marisa says as she waves to her. "Are you a friend of Maribel's, too?"
>The woman turns to her, eyes widening. "W- who are you?" she says. "What are you doing here?!"

[Hello Purvis]

>Warm comforting smile time! The kind we use when a student breaks down into tears due to falling or some such.
>"We're friends. And you are...?"

[DracoOmega]

>Warm comforting smile time! The kind we use when a student breaks down into tears due to falling or some such.
>"We're friends. And you are...?"

>You put on your friendliest smile. The sentiment of tears looks especially apt now that you get a closer look at her face. Her eyes are red and puffy and she looks very weary. You're pretty sure she's already broken down into tears.
>"I-" she looks at you, then Ran. Her eyes widen even further. "You- you're not human, are you?"
>Reimu puts her head in her hands. "Oh boy..."

[E-Nazrin]

>"What makes you think that?"
>How close is she to the door?

[DracoOmega]

>"What makes you think that?"
>How close is she to the door?

>"...the tails," she says. Ran frowns.
>She is still standing in the doorway.

[E-Nazrin]

>"... I see."
>Is there any hint of magic about this girl?

Suggest: "I suppose we owe each other a few explanations, then."

[DracoOmega]

>"... I see."
>Is there any hint of magic about this girl?

>"Who are you people?" she says, her voice sounding on the edge of panic. "And what are you doing here?"
>Nothing obvious as far as you can tell

[Hello Purvis]

>Keep the smile on!
>"We're from elsewhere, and we have much to talk about you can see Ran's tails. Don't worry, we're not here to hurt your friend or do anything. We'll try to explain things to you, and you can try to explain things to us. Alright? Come inside, please."

[DracoOmega]

>Keep the smile on!
>"We're from elsewhere, and we have much to talk about you can see Ran's tails. Don't worry, we're not here to hurt your friend or do anything. We'll try to explain things to you, and you can try to explain things to us. Alright? Come inside, please."

>You attempt to remain as reassuring looking as possible.
>"....I'm not moving," the woman replies. "I'll listen if you have something to say."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I don't think you'd readily believe us, but I'll try to start from the beginning. That is Ran. As you can see, she isn't human. And that you can see her tails at all means you yourself must be quite special. As you probably established, she is not from here, or anywhere else you would know about. You probably think I am lying, am I right? All I can say is to look at those tails and understand she really isn't anything you would find out here. As for why we are her, we think your friend is involved in a rather dire incident. Do you understand, so far?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I don't think you'd readily believe us, but I'll try to start from the beginning. That is Ran. As you can see, she isn't human. And that you can see her tails at all means you yourself must be quite special. As you probably established, she is not from here, or anywhere else you would know about. You probably think I am lying, am I right? All I can say is to look at those tails and understand she really isn't anything you would find out here. As for why we are her, we think your friend is involved in a rather dire incident. Do you understand, so far?"

>The woman nods slowly, although the expression on her face suggests she's not entirely convinced she isn't just hallucinating.

[Hello Purvis]

>Sigh.
>"Ran, I know it's a rather rude to ask this, but would you let her feel them to convince herself they're real. That this woman can see them at all means she's important."

[DracoOmega]

>Sigh.
>"Ran, I know it's a rather rude to ask this, but would you let her feel them to convince herself they're real. That this woman can see them at all means she's important."

>"Under the circumstances," Ran says, "I don't feel it's inappropriate." She moves towards the woman, who takes a tentative step backwards, but does not retreat any further.
>"W- what are you talking about?" she says. "Why wouldn't I see them? ...how'd you even get in here?"
>"I'm not going to hurt you," Ran says in a gentle voice, turning around so that her back is facing the woman. "Feel free to touch them, if you want to."
>The woman hesitates, then takes a step forward and timidly reaches out for a tail. Then she grasps it a little tighter, feeling the flesh and muscle beneath the fur.
>"Can... you move them?" she asks. In response, Ran swishes her tails about, including the one the woman is holding. She yelps and lets go of it.

[E-Nazrin]

>Envy Renko.

[Hello Purvis]

>"We're not from this world, you see? Well, Marisa and Reimu have lived here for some time, but they too are not from here. You want to know why we are here, so I will try to tell you. Something terrible has happened in our own world, something that I am afraid your friend may be at the epicenter of. We are here to investigate that. And, really, your timing is quite fortunate. Can you tell us what happened to her?"

[DracoOmega]

>Envy Renko.

>Those tails always look so soft. How come YOU never get to do that....

>"We're not from this world, you see? Well, Marisa and Reimu have lived here for some time, but they too are not from here. You want to know why we are here, so I will try to tell you. Something terrible has happened in our own world, something that I am afraid your friend may be at the epicenter of. We are here to investigate that. And, really, your timing is quite fortunate. Can you tell us what happened to her?"

>"An... epicenter? What does that even mean...?" The woman pauses. "This is unreal," she says, shaking her head. "I don't think I can deal with this right now." She looks like she might be about to start crying again.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Come in, sit down. It's a whole lot to take in, I know. Just have a seat, and we'll talk when you're ready. I'm hoping there may be something we can do for her."

[DracoOmega]

>"Come in, sit down. It's a whole lot to take in, I know. Just have a seat, and we'll talk when you're ready. I'm hoping there may be something we can do for her."

>The woman nods tentatively and steps into the room, grabbing a chair from the side of the room and sitting down on it. You see her brush a tear out of her eye. She takes a deep, shaky breath.
>"The- the doctors can't find anything wrong with her," she says, unsteadily. "She just won't wake up."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod.
>"Did something happen to her, that you know of?"

[DracoOmega]

>Nod.
>"Did something happen to her, that you know of?"

>"She just took a nap," the woman says. "And she never woke up. I- I thought she was just really tired when she slept all the way into the next morning, but... she still wouldn't wake when I called her, wouldn't wake when I shook her, wouldn't wake when I-" She starts to choke up.

[E-Nazrin]

>"Molested her?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Sit beside her. Hold her hand.
>When she's ready to speak again. "Did she do anything unusual before that? Anything at all?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Molested her?"

>"You're a horrible insensitive monster!" she yells and bursts into tears.

>Sit beside her. Hold her hand.
>When she's ready to speak again. "Did she do anything unusual before that? Anything at all?"

>You pull up a chair beside her and hold her hand. She makes little effort to protest this, and simply sits there limply, breathing raggedly for a while while she tries to calm herself.
>"No," she says, choking back a sob. "Nothing at all. She just went to take a nap. It doesn't make sense; the doctors say she's fine."

[E-Nazrin]

>"I'm right, aren't I?"