Keine Quest (Part 5): Broken History

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'd been pondering if it were both of them together in some way or not."

[DracoOmega]

>"I'd been pondering if it were both of them together in some way or not."

>"What? They they got lost between here and there, perhaps?" Ran frowns. "Maribel at least has a physical body we can find... I wonder where Gengetsu's is."
>"She is not in Gensokyo," Mugetsu says. "I am sure I could feel her if she were."

[E-Nazrin]

>Suppress smile at the thought of Mugetsu running in terror from the cars of the outside world if brought to see if Gengetsu is in the same place.
>"Do you know where she might be, then? Inside someone's dreams? And how would we reach her, in that case?"

[DracoOmega]

>Suppress smile at the thought of Mugetsu running in terror from the cars of the outside world if brought to see if Gengetsu is in the same place.
>"Do you know where she might be, then? Inside someone's dreams? And how would we reach her, in that case?"

>Oh dear... given as disconcerting as you found them, you wonder if Mugetsu would just find a bush to hide in and refuse to move from it, or fly madly off into the distance. That... might be problematic.
>"I don't know where she is," Mugetsu says. "That's why I was waiting. If she were in someone's dream, I could enter them and speak to her. But I don't know why she would be away for so long."

[E-Nazrin]

>"Have you ever had difficulty finding her before?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Have you ever had difficulty finding her before?"

>Mugetsu shakes her head. "Not like this."

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Oh... Well, I have an idea, and you may not like it..."
> "Ran, since we have been Outside once already, if we went back, would we wind up in the same places, or would our resulting location still be as random? What if someone else went in place of you or me?"

[E-Nazrin]

>"Though I really, really would prefer some other way to see if Gengetsu's in Maribel's dreams or not..."
>"The thing is, if Gengetsu can manipulate the contents of dreams, and Maribel's 'dream' was basically of Gensokyo....."

[DracoOmega]

> "Oh... Well, I have an idea, and you may not like it..."
> "Ran, since we have been Outside once already, if we went back, would we wind up in the same places, or would our resulting location still be as random? What if someone else went in place of you or me?"

>"Oh boy, here we go..." Mokou says
>"I couldn't guarantee that we'd exit from the same location, no," Ran says. "The contours between here and there may favor those exit points, but as you saw first-hand the path is... far from smooth. But it is certainly possible for any of us to travel through it. Are you think of bringing Mugetsu to meet Maribel?"
>Mugetsu frowns meekly. "...bringing me where?"

>"Though I really, really would prefer some other way to see if Gengetsu's in Maribel's dreams or not..."
>"The thing is, if Gengetsu can manipulate the contents of dreams, and Maribel's 'dream' was basically of Gensokyo....."

>Ran glances at Mugetsu. "Yes, I can see... certain logistical problems with bringing Mugetsu there. But there may be other ways."
>"...I'm not sure I like the implications of that," Ran says. "Are you suggesting all this could be her doing, somehow?"
>"I hope you're not suggesting we're all in some sorta dream, too, are you?" Mokou says.

[Hello Purvis]

>"That would be stupid, Gensokyo was a part of the outside world until the barrier came up. And, I suppose I'm being hasty about Maribel. But I do wonder if all her dreams take place here?"

[DracoOmega]

>"That would be stupid, Gensokyo was a part of the outside world until the barrier came up. And, I suppose I'm being hasty about Maribel. But I do wonder if all her dreams take place here?"

>"I wouldn't know about all of them," Ran says, "but Renko did mention that it happens often. Or at least Maribel believed it did. She certainly did not appear anywhere near the Scarlet Devil Mansion on this occasion."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod. "I wonder if her mind just falls short of the dream world, then?"
>Glance to Mugetsu. "Actually, perhaps you can tell me a bit about the dream world?"

[E-Nazrin]

Written up for about five replies ago --

>To Mugetsu, "The world outside Gensokyo, apparently eleven years in the future, where we found the real body of the waking dream that Gengetsu encountered. Presumably. Another ally, Patchouli, attuned this lodestone to the energy causing all these rifts and fissures. Ran figured out a... rather uncomfortable way to travel to that place and time, and when we explored, the lodestone led us straight to Maribel as she slept."
>To Mokou, "We already appear to be in an alternate timeline. I don't think it's much more implausible, unfortunately. Or it might be that Maribel dreams 'into' other real locations, or other real times, which... well, makes the other side of the explanation more alarming."
>"And it strikes me as a possibility, Ran. I don't know how or why, but given the connection between Gengetsu's powers and what she was looking for, the implications of finding a waking dreamer might have been greater than anticipated... especially if there's some other unknown power of Maribel's that threw things further into chaos. I doubt her resemblance to Yukari is a coincidence..."
>"Though it sounds like you might have an idea how to check whether Gengetsu is in Maribel's dreams?"

EDIT: Also, Yukari's dreams.

[DracoOmega]

>Nod. "I wonder if her mind just falls short of the dream world, then?"
>Glance to Mugetsu. "Actually, perhaps you can tell me a bit about the dream world?"

>Ran frowns. "I'm not sure what you mean."
>"There isn't a singular dream world," Mugetsu responds. "Every dream is a new creation made from a person's mind. Normally, they do not touch each other. But Gengetsu and I can slip inside these. Can sometimes move from one to the next without touching the waking world. You could think of the realm where we normally live as a pocket of perpetual dream. It is not ours. We cannot dream as you do. Perhaps it is a dream of Gensokyo itself?"

>To Mugetsu, "The world outside Gensokyo, apparently eleven years in the future, where we found the real body of the waking dream that Gengetsu encountered. Presumably. Another ally, Patchouli, attuned this lodestone to the energy causing all these rifts and fissures. Ran figured out a... rather uncomfortable way to travel to that place and time, and when we explored, the lodestone led us straight to Maribel as she slept."
>To Mokou, "We already appear to be in an alternate timeline. I don't think it's much more implausible, unfortunately. Or it might be that Maribel dreams 'into' other real locations, or other real times, which... well, makes the other side of the explanation more alarming."
>"And it strikes me as a possibility, Ran. I don't know how or why, but given the connection between Gengetsu's powers and what she was looking for, the implications of finding a waking dreamer might have been greater than anticipated... especially if there's some other unknown power of Maribel's that threw things further into chaos. I doubt her resemblance to Yukari is a coincidence..."
>"Though it sounds like you might have an idea how to check whether Gengetsu is in Maribel's dreams?"

>"Oh," Mugetsu says. "I'd like to see her. ...but I don't think I'd like to travel there that way."
>Mokou grimaces. "It's one thing to think your past is different from someone else's. It's another to think you're a figment of someone else's imagination. No offense, but I'm hoping this is just a stupid idea. But, uh... what're you think would be more alarming than being part of a dream of someone you've never met?"
>"No, I don't like to dismiss the resemblance, either. But Yukari herself is certainly not capable of this dream projection." She pauses and frowns. "But why would Gengetsu wish to attack you through this connection."
>"She wouldn't," Mugetsu says. "It isn't her. She wouldn't do that."
>Ran shakes her head "Not directly. Magic that touches on dream and sleep is outside of what I'm capable of. But there are those who are not themselves beings of dream, yet have used at least a little. As Reimu mentioned, Yuka's former realm lies across a border between waking and sleep. What role she had in its creation, I don't know. But she may have a better understanding of its principles than I do."

[E-Nazrin]

>"Y'know that reminds me of the time I had to fix history after ending up Yuuka's lover when Kaguya achieved enlightenment before the full moon incident"
>To Mokou, "Being the plaything of someone who can shape reality as their dreams."
>"As Mugetsu says, I'm somewhat inclined to believe that it might not have been an intentional attack, and more lashing out in fear or confusion - I believe I 'felt' those from whatever attacked me, through what seemed like its attempts at communication. But figuring out some more about it is unlikely to hurt..."

[DracoOmega]

>"Y'know that reminds me of the time I had to fix history after ending up Yuuka's lover when Kaguya achieved enlightenment before the full moon incident"
>To Mokou, "Being the plaything of someone who can shape reality as their dreams."
>"As Mugetsu says, I'm somewhat inclined to believe that it might not have been an intentional attack, and more lashing out in fear or confusion - I believe I 'felt' those from whatever attacked me, through what seemed like its attempts at communication. But figuring out some more about it is unlikely to hurt..."

>"She did what!?" Mokou cries. "Oh of all the-" she trails off incoherently.
>"Yeah, but if this is her dream," Mokou says, "wouldn't that leave us the same thing?"
>"No," Ran agrees, "more information on any facet of this situation may help shed light on it as a whole."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Which is why we can discard that theory, Mokou. We know that Gensokyo used to be part of the outside, and many of us predate her."
>Look around at the slivers. How do they compare from the ones last night?

[DracoOmega]

>"Which is why we can discard that theory, Mokou. We know that Gensokyo used to be part of the outside, and many of us predate her."
>Look around at the slivers. How do they compare from the ones last night?

>"Better be," Mokou says.
>They seem to be a little smaller and less active than they were then, but still more active than at any other fissure you've seen.

[Hello Purvis]

>Try to get a closer look at one.

[DracoOmega]

>Try to get a closer look at one.

>You take a closer look at one that flashes near you. Through it, you can see twists of space and energy that remind you a little of what you could see when you traveled along the passage to Kyoto ...when you could perceive anything sane there at all, that is. They may be more fractured looking. Nothing reaches out to grab you. You aren't entirely certain if that's a good or bad thing at the moment.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ran, do you think those fissures lead...anywhere?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Ran, do you think those fissures lead...anywhere?"

>"As best as I can tell," she says, "they're fragments of the original path this land was ripped out along. The brute force with which it was done left space a bit torn here. You can think of them as very, very small versions of the path we traveled along, twisting around it. Their size here is indicative of how fresh the damage is. At the other sites, space has been essentially 'healing' for years, now."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So, if we pushed, say, a coin through there, it would end up somewhere in Kyoto?"

[DracoOmega]

>"So, if we pushed, say, a coin through there, it would end up somewhere in Kyoto?"

>"It... might," Ran says, frowning. "But the path I opened is more firmly anchored to the median of all the paths through this. Without that, the coin might just as easily end up further away, or nowhere at all. Think of it as punching a hole through glass. Fractures spread out from the point of impact. By looking at them, you may be able to trace where the original impact was, but the fractures aren't in the same location themselves. These slivers here are a crude approximation of that, with space being the medium that was broken in this case."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Given what summoned that thing was pushing something through without trying to go all the way though, perhaps something put into one of those fissures would reach them? Or it? Or whatever the right pronoun is?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Given what summoned that thing was pushing something through without trying to go all the way though, perhaps something put into one of those fissures would reach them? Or it? Or whatever the right pronoun is?"

>"Feel free to try it, if you wish," Ran says. "I doubt it would cause harm in any event."
>"And if you and Rumia took out one of them," Mokou says. "I can't imagine it'd last too long with all of us here. You hoping Mugetsu can identify it, if one pops out?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Quite so, Mokou."
>Produce a one yen coin, wait for an opportunity, and shove it into a fissure. Worse comes to worst, at least we'll get to boast we've littered between the dimensions.

[DracoOmega]

>"Quite so, Mokou."
>Produce a one yen coin, wait for an opportunity, and shove it into a fissure. Worse comes to worst, at least we'll get to boast we've littered between the dimensions.

>Mokou takes a deep breath and stretches. "Well, let's see what this thing looks like in person."
>You take out a one yen coin and wait for a sliver to appear within arm's reach. This takes a little time and a few failed attempts, but you eventually manage to reach one before it closes. Being considerably shorter than the crystalline lattice you used the first time, you can only penetrate a couple millimeters without putting your fingers inside as well. You get no immediate reaction that you can tell.

[Hello Purvis]

>Push it most of the way through, and just hold onto the edge.
>Does it feel stuck at all, or just like we were holding it in thin air?

[DracoOmega]

>Push it most of the way through, and just hold onto the edge.
>Does it feel stuck at all, or just like we were holding it in thin air?

>You push as much through as you possibly can without getting part of your hand inside. This really isn't a great deal more, however.
>It feels similar to open air.