(…is watching you.)

This person…Who is it? What is it? Whoever it is, it’s probably just listened to every single thing you’ve told Cirno, or at least tried to. It’s a good thing you decided to cautiously whisper all your secrets to her; this mystery intruder might not have heard it, then. But in either case, you’re both aware of each other’s presence already, so…what now? Ignore it? Call it out? Attack it?

You never have time to decide what you would have done; Cirno gets to it first. Your lack of further questions made her look around, and her eyes have settled onto the blonde-haired interloper.

“M-master,” she stutters in surprise as she slides closer to you for assurance. “There’s a, a…Someone is watching us, sir; over there.”

Well that did it; cat’s out of the bag for real, now. Nothing left to do but go all the way, then. You stand up and brush the dust off your legs, then look back at the red-eyed mystery. “Well then, no reason for you to hide anymore. Come on out, whoever you are; I’m not going to hurt you.”

The face disappears behind the grey stone for a second or two, then the figure emerges fully into the hallway. At a first glance it looks like just a small child; male perhaps, though the hairstyle and young face are deceiving enough to look feminine from the right angle. He’s young, but looks older than Remilia does; maybe thirteen-ish or so. As far as stature goes he’s taller than Cirno by more than a few centimeters, but seems rather thin for his size. He’s wearing a fraying pair of red pants and a similarly frayed red vest with gold buttons over a silky white shirt that has just the faintest tinge of pink to it. A short, loose tie encircles his neck, colored marigold, which would give him the look of a young gentleman if it wasn’t for the tatty state of his clothes and casual stance, with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

However, as your eyes focus onto his presence and you look him over more thoroughly, you realize a number of oddities about him that make him much more than “just a small child.” He wears dirty socks, but no shoes. The straw-colored hair which comes down to below his ears has highlights of scarlet in it, mixed with a little bit of grey, putting the image in your head of ash being scattered over a dying fire. From glimpses of them as he breathes, his teeth are far too sharp and pointed to be natural, yet not quite sharp enough to be an animal. His eyes…The left eye is as red as a ruby, but the right eye is as green as an emerald, and neither one looks human. And the wings. Fanning out behind him are two leathery wings; like Remilia’s, and yet, unlike them. For one, they look larger and tougher, more realistic, like they could actually be used for flying without the aid of magic. But it’s just the way they curve, the subtle angles, the color of deep crimson that distinguishes them from Remilia’s elegant little black bat wings.

The boy, if boy he can be called, stands there, unsure of himself, or perhaps waiting for you to speak first. However, it is he who makes the first advance.

“Hello again, sir. I’m happy you came back.” That voice. You’ve heard it before. Only once, but there’s no forgetting it. This boy is the creature from Room 101!

“We’ve…We’ve met before?” you ask dumbly, still flabbergasted from the shock of seeing this boy standing before you, when not twelve hours ago he looked like a ravenous beast ready to die from weakness. How can, how can this be possible?!

“Well, yes, don’t you remember?” He smiles, but the effect is not as pleasing as you would have liked. “Probably not, though. I looked…different, then. But I’ve got proof.” He walks towards you, the wings making him look twice as large as he actually is. Taking something out of his pocket, he places it in your hand. “I kept it safe for you.”

You look down. As his clawed hand retracts, you see a golden flower resting in yours; the same flower Meiling left with you, the same one you gave to the creature in 101. There’s no doubt he’s the same. But still…how?

You say that last part out loud for him to hear. “…you’re the same. How?”

He looks down and tenses up. You can feel emotion radiating from him like a fire, but his voice is insanely cold. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Within another second he’s back to normal (whatever “normal” is for him), and he bows to you. “I don’t think I ever told you my name. I’m Adam, sir. Adam Scarlet.”

Scarlet. So, Remilia’s his “Big Sister”, then, and he’s the little brother, just like he said before. That still raises the question, though: why was he chained up like that, and why isn’t he now? A sister wouldn’t do something like that to her brother, right? Not unless…not unless she thought is was the best for him. Is he dangerous?

Adam looks over at Cirno, who is doing her best not to hide behind your taller form. “And what’s your name, little lady?”

“Cirno, sir.”

“Are you a friend of his, then?” he asks politely.

It takes a while for her to respond, and you think you know why, for the very reasons she states herself. “I’m…I’m his friend, Mr. Adam, sir, but I guess I’m also his servant, too.”

He steps back to a more comfortable distance. “Well, you’re lucky to have him,” he replies. “Both of you. People need friends, and friends need to keep their friends. Why, if it wasn’t for friends…We’d just be…we’d…only…” he trails off into some odd mumblings that only he can hear for a while. You don’t think it prudent to rouse him, so you wait until his attention returns back to you.

“Oh! Sorry!” he says, raising his head back to the realm of reality. “Dozed off for a sec’; I do that sometimes. Hey, since your here, how about we play a game together? It’s been so long since I’ve played a game with three people. Do you wanna?”

[ ] This Adam is a little too suspicious for you. Politely decline.
[ ] Sure, what’s the harm in a friendly game? Politely accept.
[ ] Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.
[ ] Agree, but only if you get to pick the game (specify the game; make sure it’s three-player!)
[ ] Ask Cirno what she thinks about this.

So many amazing comments to talk about during the last thread…I wish I could talk about them all. My poor brain is still reeling from the plethora of discussion of which I have never seen before in my tale. Keep up the thoroughly awesome work!

I am now finished with Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni’s third arc; only three more to go! Also, I can only assume that listening to the opening themes for both Season 1 and Season 2 of this psychological show on loop for the last day and a half is going to have an adverse effect on my brain if I continue. And yet…I can’t stop.

>>22727
>My heartstrings are plucked.
A harpist I am not, but I try to play an enchanting tune none the less.

>>22735
>[Large spoiler-tagged portion of text]
A most amusing idea, Clue. But no, parodying the game of Clue was never my intention, not even when an innocuous passerby mentioned, “Miss Scarlet in the Dining Room with the Candlestick.” I have slightly bigger fish to fry than that.

>>22765
>It'd do justice to the universe if all this intellectual rigor was rewarded.
WHERE IS JUSTICE?!?! Your intellectual rigor is aiding you in ways I cannot describe.
I feel that if you are really taking the effort to look deep into this story, then such effort should be rewarded. Sometimes directly (by revealing hidden things based on previous discussion points), but often just as an ambient bonus. By this I mean, I become more sympathetic to your cause, and thus make some things easier on you. For example, I might very well have never allowed the magic/danmaku ability to enter the story, but because I felt you were being rather intelligent about the Meiling situation, I wrote it in. In other cases, I might drop a hidden hint that you fail to pick up, but because of my sympathy towards your thorough analysis, I might drop another, more obvious hint later on, when I would not have done so.

☢ Warning! Warning! Nuclear spoiler detected! Enter at your own risk! ☢
And frankly, you have accumulated a ridiculous number of points with me this segment from all your comments, which when put together are more than three times the length of the segment itself (over 6,000 words). Keep this intellectual rigor up, and you’ll be on your way to the best ending in no time.

Also see the last portion of >>22769. He has the right idea.

>>22772
>I think it's important to remember the strong Kaiji influence here
I wouldn’t exactly say there is a strong Kaiji influence here, though it would be a lie to say it did not exist. Everything in moderation, etcetera etcetera.

>>22776
>If we screw up, we get a bad end. Simple as that. Go back one choice?
Unless I’m feeling particularly devious and deeming you in need of punishment, in which case I do not “BAD END” you, and you are instead forced to live with the consequences of your actions. But I’m not that sadistic. Usually.

>I believe UNOwen said that he was going to start adding interior monologue to his segments, and for the most part they are taken right out of discussions like these.
Affirmation.

>Unless I’m feeling particularly devious and deeming you in need of punishment, in which case I do not “BAD END” you, and you are instead forced to live with the consequences of your actions. But I’m not that sadistic. Usually.
Yes, but for something like getting kicked out of the mansion, it'd be pretty hard to have the mansion-focused story continue.

[ ] Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.

[X] Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.

POLITELY, of course. So long as it's asked properly, there should be nothing wrong with asking something like that before accepting, which I imagine we would do anyway. He probably needs a friend now, and as our interaction with him might very well have been what helped him apparently recover like he has, it could be harmful to whatever healing he has experienced if the one person who attempted to reach out to him sudden draws back from him suddenly.

Of course, there is the whole business of little Adam being chained and clearly out of his gourd the last time we saw him. All well and good if he's found a way to stabilize himself and extend his moments of clarity, but if he could get better in such a short period of time, there's a chance he could get worse again just as quickly.

I'd question how he was even able to get out of his restraints, but I'm guessing is he can pass through walls he should be able to do so with chains as well, and for whatever reason simply could not (or did not) because of his mental state. ...rather careless on the part of whoever was responsible for shutting him down there in the first place, don't you think? Granted, one generally doesn't expect someone as clearly out of it as he was when we last saw him suddenly improve to the point that they remember they can simply free themselves and then do so.

Unfortunately, this does mean that if he does go out of control again, only this time without chains and Room 101 to keep him contained, someone upstairs will have to be informed of it, and our little escapades down here in places we aren't supposed to be will revealed, most likely to someone who does not want us down there. Unless, of course, we think we can somehow coax Adam into going back into his room and staying there until his little episode blows over, but that might be hard to do while he's tearing our throat out and drinking the arterial spray like we were a drinking fountain.

Oh yes, and as if the chains and locked door weren't enough, those heterochromic eyes of his confirm he definitely wasn't with us in that other room. Of course, that still doesn't much answer whether it was the as-yet unseen Flandre, Remilia either playing a game or revealing she has a few more screws loose than she's let on, or someone else entirely. We've got an all-new Scarlet sibling, so clearly anything is possible.

>>22783
>I'd question how he was even able to get out of his restraints, but I'm guessing is he can pass through walls he should be able to do so with chains as well
Perhaps I may be interpreting your words wrong, but I'd rather err on the safe side of caution. Adam did not "pass through" the wall when you saw him first. He was around the corner of another hallway, looking into yours, and backed up a bit when he disappeared from your view. As far as his movement went, there was nothing suspect about it, otherwise I would have drawn it to your attention. I apologize if my words sounded vague; it sounded right in my head when I wrote it.

>>22784
AH. And here I was picturing a face literally sticking out of a wall. Well, that was mostly my fault for reading anything so soon after waking up.

Your way does make sense now that I look at it and am thinking little more clearly.

...not that it doesn't raise more questions now, of course.

[x] Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.

After rereading the posts in which we last saw Adam it looked like he was both insane (maybe a case of MPD, what with not remembering his name and then suddenly developing a lisp) and starved, judging both from the BAD END and his reaction to the protagonist bleeding in the next entry. But he seems okay now.

That makes me wonder, was he starved and chained up earlier as a means to restrain him because he was unstable, or is there another reason? Maybe he calmed down after our visit so he was fed and set free, in this case befriending him might help. Besides, he could provide a lot of information on the mansion and its mysteries. But then again, what guarrantee do we have that he won't suddenly snap?

In conclusion, I think we should try to be friendly but prudent around Adam.

[X] Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.

[X] Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.

This is the kid that killed us. I know that’s meta-knowledge, but it’s not unreasonable to show a bit of caution towards the previously chained to the wall freaky basement kid who suddenly wants to play.

Accepting outright would be foolishness in my opinion. We know precious little about Adam, his idea of a game could involve escaping the SDM, seeing who can get this highest body count, or something equally unpleasant for us. Declining outright could be dangerous though, best to find out what he wants to do first.

>Scarlet. So, Remilia’s his “Big Sister”, then, and he’s the little brother, just like he said before. That still raises the question, though: why was he chained up like that, and why isn’t he now? A sister wouldn’t do something like that to her brother, right? Not unless…not unless she thought is was the best for him. Is he dangerous?

If this the creature in room 101, then where is Flandre? And why does this boy looks older than Remilia when the creature in 101 referred to her as "Big Sister"?

I don't think this is the person in Room 101 at all, rather he took the flower from her (assuming it was Flandre) and got the story out of her, and is now using it to trick us. As to whether he's malevolent or not now remains to be seen.

Looking at our current inventory:
+A fountain pen. Discovered earlier in a pare of spare pants. Writes with a deep red ink.
+A page from your diary. You’ve sketched a map of the basement on this.

[x] Tell him you'll be happy to play a game with him, but first you need to give your servant her list of her duties for today.
[x] Quickly jot down a note on the reverse page taken from your diary: "Check room 101 while I go play with him. If is someone is in there, I am being tricked and may be in danger. I'll be in Wine Cellar A." Mark both Room 101 and Wine Cellar A on the map.
[x] Give it to Cirno and ask her to nod if she understands.
[x] Agree, but only if you get to pick the game (Hide and Go Seek. Unlocked rooms in the basement. 100 count. Cirno and you hide first.)
[x] Once he's closed his eyes and started counting, discreetly hand Cirno the key ring with the key that unlocks Room 101, and then rush yourself to Wine Cellar A.
[x] Keep your silver knife handy.

>>22792
Picture related?

I think what's troubling is the fact that, whatever it was that happened between the last time we visited 101 and now, Adam does NOT want to talk about it.

Working backwards, the only way he could be out here now is if either someone else let him out, or he somehow let himself out. But, as he clearly had no strength to break his bonds when we last saw him, even ignoring what happened in our Bad End, the only way he would have the strength to escape under his own power is if he was fed. Meaning, either someone else fed him, or he fed off of someone else...

Of course, it might not be as grim as all that, since it if anyone else could get into his room, they might also have the ability to get into that other wine cellar that was not at all suspicious in how it was locked up.

That would not quite explain his unwillingness to speak of it, as if it was something unpleasant for him, however. We should be cautious, but on don't think there's any call to regard him as any more dangerous than anyone else we've met in the house, so far. If he truly intended to harm us, or anyone else for that matter, he could easily have done so already.

>>If this the creature in room 101, then where is Flandre? And why does this boy looks older than Remilia when the creature in 101 referred to her as "Big Sister"?

Remember, Flandre may have been who we encountered in the other room, and even if that was not her, there IS that other door that we had not yet investigated. No telling who, or what, might be lurking behind that one.

As for Adam, I think there might be a perfectly good reason for why he would refer to Remilia as "Big Sister" even if he appears older. His eyes might be a clue.

>>His eyes…The left eye is as red as a ruby, but the right eye is as green as an emerald, and neither one looks human.

Remilia's, as well as whoever we met in that other room (assuming it was not Remi), eyes were both red, while only one of Adam's eyes is red. If we assume red eyes is a natural side effect of being a vampire, then Adam's one green eye is highly curious, don't you think? It might not mean much, but it could be indicative that his particular state of vampirism is different from Remilia's, perhaps incomplete or otherwise flawed in some way, and so whatever quirks that come with being a vampire might not work quite the same way with him. In this particular case, aging.

Remilia looks as young as she does, despite having lived for centuries, because as a vampire she does not naturally age. Perhaps, for some reason, Adam does not get the full benefit of that, and so he DOES age, albeit much slower than a human would. If that is the case, then it could be fully possible for Adam to be technically younger than Remilia, but appear older due to the fact that he has continued to slowly age while his sister has not.

Just a theory, of course, and nothing that would be known in-story without some research just yet, but still.

> Do you want to play a game?

[x] Tell him you'll be happy to play a game with him, but first you need to give your servant her list of her duties for today.
[x] Quickly jot down a note on the reverse page taken from your diary: "Check room 101 while I go play with him. If is someone is in there, I am being tricked and may be in danger. I'll be in Wine Cellar A." Mark both Room 101 and Wine Cellar A on the map.
[x] Give it to Cirno and ask her to nod if she understands.
[x] Agree, but only if you get to pick the game (Hide and Go Seek. Unlocked rooms in the basement. 100 count. Cirno and you hide first.)
[x] Once he's closed his eyes and started counting, discreetly hand Cirno the key ring with the key that unlocks Room 101, and then rush yourself to Wine Cellar A.
[x] Keep your silver knife handy.

>>22796

Or, it could simply be that he became a vampire at a later age. No one ever said that the entire Scarlet family had to turn at the same time. Or it could be a mix of the two

[x] Tell him you'll be happy to play a game with him, but first you need to give your servant her list of her duties for today.
[x] Quickly jot down a note on the reverse page taken from your diary: "Check room 101 while I go play with him. If is someone is in there, I am being tricked and may be in danger. I'll be in Wine Cellar A." Mark both Room 101 and Wine Cellar A on the map.
[x] Give it to Cirno and ask her to nod if she understands.
[x] Agree, but only if you get to pick the game (Hide and Go Seek. Unlocked rooms in the basement. 100 count. Cirno and you hide first.)
[x] Once he's closed his eyes and started counting, discreetly hand Cirno the key ring with the key that unlocks Room 101, and then rush yourself to Wine Cellar A.
[x] Keep your silver knife handy.

[x] Tell him you'll be happy to play a game with him, but first you need to give your servant her list of her duties for today.
[x] Quickly jot down a note on the reverse page taken from your diary: "Check room 101 while I go play with him. If is someone is in there, I am being tricked and may be in danger. I'll be in Wine Cellar A." Mark both Room 101 and Wine Cellar A on the map.
[x] Give it to Cirno and ask her to nod if she understands.
[x] Agree, but only if you get to pick the game (Hide and Go Seek. Unlocked rooms in the basement. 100 count. Cirno and you hide first.)
[x] Once he's closed his eyes and started counting, discreetly hand Cirno the key ring with the key that unlocks Room 101, and then rush yourself to Wine Cellar A.
[x] Keep your silver knife handy.

I lika this.

>[x] Tell him you'll be happy to play a game with him, but first you need to give your servant her list of her duties for today.
>[x] Quickly jot down a note on the reverse page taken from your diary: "Check room 101 while I go play with him. If is someone is in there, I am being tricked and may be in danger. I'll be in Wine Cellar A." Mark both Room 101 and Wine Cellar A on the map.
>[x] Give it to Cirno and ask her to nod if she understands.
>[x] Agree, but only if you get to pick the game (Hide and Go Seek. Unlocked rooms in the basement. 100 count. Cirno and you hide first.)
>[x] Once he's closed his eyes and started counting, discreetly hand Cirno the key ring with the key that unlocks Room 101, and then rush yourself to Wine Cellar A.
>[x] Keep your silver knife handy.

This seems overly complicated. Why not just go with Cirno to room 101 while he’s busy counting? This would have the added benefit of us being able to confirm it with our own eyes, and lowers the chances of Cirno and the thing in the room having an unpleasant encounter, if it’s still there that is. Plus, if Adam decides he prefers a more violent version of hide and seek he wouldn’t be able to attack you and Cirno separately.

>>This seems overly complicated. Why not just go with Cirno to room 101 while he’s busy counting? This would have the added benefit of us being able to confirm it with our own eyes, and lowers the chances of Cirno and the thing in the room having an unpleasant encounter, if it’s still there that is. Plus, if Adam decides he prefers a more violent version of hide and seek he wouldn’t be able to attack you and Cirno separately.

Better yet, why not pick a game that doesn't seem so likely to excite whatever predatory instincts an insane vampire might have?

I mean, really, have you guys thought about this?

You're in the basement, away from the notice of pretty much everybody else in the mansion, face-to-face with someone who just yesterday you saw locked, shackled, and clearly insane in a room they apparently ripped to shreds with their bare hands, with the only means of protection you have consisting of a knife, an empty pistol, some danmaku skills, and your faithful fairy maid.
And now that this boy wants to play a game with you, your plan is to SPLIT UP with the one being in this place to explicitly state a desire to protect you from harm, while playing a game with this boy (who previously warned you to stay away and that he can't be saved) that entails this person HUNTING for you.

Nevermind the chance of successfully hiding is probably rather poor. Remember our encounter in the other room? How they quickly they moved from standing in the doorway to being right behind us, and being able to easily find us in a pitch dark room?

Not that I don't think it's a good idea to further verify his identity, and possibly figure out how he seemingly calmed down and got free in such a relatively short amount of time. But must we do it in a way that bears the risk of leaving us alone with a potentially dangerous psychotic vampire hunting for us while our only staunch ally is elsewhere?

That's not even considering the possibility that he goes after Cirno first...

>>22812
>He used the flower we left him to somehow pick the locks
What.



>That's not even considering the possibility that he goes after Cirno first...
That would actually be the better outcome. She can't die, we can.

>your plan is to SPLIT UP with the one being in this place to explicitly state a desire to protect you from harm
In all honesty, this creature is almost certainly a vampire. She wouldn't stand a chance in hell. She wouldn't even be able to hold him off long enough for us to escape.

>Better yet, why not pick a game that doesn't seem so likely to excite whatever predatory instincts an insane vampire might have?
Although that is a good point.

>>22813
Wait, fuck. I was thinking of the star on her hat. I though that's what we left with him.

We would do well to start figuring out what Adam's power is, since:
1) He's a Touhoe, even if he's male, and all Touhoes have an obligatory special power, even if it's something not too special, like the poor Aki sisters.
and
2) He's a Scarlet, so it is not likely something weak. Not impossible, but not likely.

I think this is one of those situations where a write in is just unnecessary. Especially since this write in assumes way, way too much. It is destined for failure, but not only that, its likely to be just a waste of time. We have no reason to not believe that this is the same person from the room.

[x] Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.
[x] Ask Cirno what she thinks about this.

He's going to understand us being cautious, considering the circumstances in which we met. And I am really interested in seeing what Cirno has to say about this.

Owen: I really like how you've done Cirno here. It's normally disheartening seeing her reduced to a complete dumbass in nearly every single story. Sure, that's the meme, but I think she's a more interesting character than that.

So keep it up. Cirno-maid is moé.

[x] Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.

[x] Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.

>We have no reason to not believe that this is the same person from the room.
Yes we do. The person chained up that we saw earlier had obviously been in there for a long time or had their condition worsened in some other way. They were certainly in no condition to escape. Hell, s/he couldn't even remember his/her name at the time.

Thus,
1. This is not the same person we saw in the room. They likely stole the flower.
2. Adam was the person in the room and somehow managed to escape. I have no idea how, but in this event he is likely dangerous.
3. Whoever chained Adam up let him out. This is, however, extremely unlikely. The creature's condition suggested permanent imprisonment. It's possible that he was to released after just a lengthy imprisonment (either "when you behave" or after 3 weeks as an example), but it'd be one hell of a coincidence to encounter it on the very last day of it's imprisonment.

1. is definitely the most likely. 2. is somewhat plausible but means Adam is likely a threat. 3. just relies on "good" timing on our part so I don't think it's likely.
I can't think of any other explanations for Adam being here.

>>22826
And how, exactly, do you explain the fact that we recognize his voice as being exactly the same as the creature's?

We couldn't directly see the wings or his green eye because they were covered, so there is some room for doubt, but that they weren't definitely NOT present means there's just as much doubt that he's not the creature.

Besides that, there's the way that Adam
>>seems rather thin for his size.
Which could suggest he has not eaten properly for a while. And as you'll recall from our Bad End with the creature, they did become more able-bodied and composed after having a little drink.

As to what he might have had this time, well...he probably doesn't want to talk about it for a reason.

>And how, exactly, do you explain the fact that we recognize his voice as being exactly the same as the creature's?
Whoops. misread that. I can't, without just throwing some bullshit twins explanation out.

>Which could suggest he has not eaten properly for a while. And as you'll recall from our Bad End with the creature, they did become more able-bodied and composed after having a little drink.
Well yes, starving him would be a way to make his captivity seem longer. But it doesn't answer "How did he get a meal?"

>but that they weren't definitely NOT present means there's just as much doubt that he's not the creature.
My doubt comes from the sheer unlikelyhood of the creature from 101 either being let out or escaping. From his condition before the latter seems impossible. Because he was imprisoned in the first place the former seems extremely unlikely.

[Ask him what kind of game. Accept if it sounds harmless, decline if you have doubts.]

This “Adam” seems fine right now, but if he’s really the same person from last night, you’ve got serious doubts. Insane and violent one day, cool and kind the next? It almost sounds enough like Nathaniel to make your skin crawl. He’s a youkai, and Remilia’s brother to boot. Remilia idea of a “prize” was something extremely odd and compromising. What’s to say Adam’s idea of a “game” isn’t just as weird? You should at least ask him first.

“Well, umm, what kind of game would we be playing? Nothing too weird, I hope.”

He shakes his head vigorously. “No no no! No, weird games aren’t very fun at all, especially not with new people. How about something simple, like a card game. Do you know how to play Rummy?”

Rummy? You’ve never heard of a game called—oh wait. He must be talking about “Rum”, and he’s just saying it weird. You reply just to make sure, “Well, I know a game called ‘Rum’, is that what you mean?”

He laughs childishly. “Rum? What, are you some kind of tea-sipping English person or something?”

You are not amused. “Actually, yes, I am.”

Amazingly, he realizes his unintentional insult, and quickly apologizes. “Oh! I’m…Gee, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Can you forgive me?”

“Don’t worry about, I’m sure you meant well. Apology accepted.”

It’s at this point that Cirno finally manages to get a word or two in. “Umm, excuse me, Mr. Adam sir? I don’t think I know how to play this Rummy game.”

He looks at her quizzically and smirks. “No? Don’t worry about it, your master and I can teach you how, it’s not very hard to learn. Come on, we can play in my room!” Wait, his room? As cordial as he’s trying to be, you’re not going to relish playing cards inside the chaos that is Room 101. In fact, it’s going to be downright frightening. But you don’t want to unintentionally anger him, in case he snaps and turns back into the monster he was last night, so you’ve got no choice but to follow him down the basement hallways.

It’s extremely creepy following him down these stone passageways, as even when his wings are folded up behind him they block half of the already-poor light down here. He seems to be off in his own little world, humming a tune to himself and wiggling his fingers in the air like he’s playing a piano. You take the opportunity to try and get a quick word in with Cirno, and see just what she thinks about this.

“Cirno? What do you think about him?” you whisper discretely.

“Adam, sir?” she whispers back. “I don’t know. He seems nice ‘n all, but he looks scary to me. He doesn’t look normal.”

“How do you mean, not normal?”

“He doesn’t look the same as Remilia, master. His eyes and wings and hands are all wrong, sir. He looks like, umm, like one of those weird thingies...Ohh, I’m sorry, sir, I forgot the name.”

You place a hand on her shoulder, more for her comfort than yours. You’re so tired of never knowing who to doubt, who to believe, who to depend on. Has it really come so far that people like Cirno are the only people you can really trust in this word?

You approach the turn down to the old servant’s hallway and Room 101, but Adam passes it right by without a second look. If his room isn’t there then where...The question dies in infancy as you realize the path he’s taking, and the only door it could lead to: the mysterious giant bedroom. Sure enough, the door is open just a crack, and Adam silently opens it with care. You remember that door weighing a ton, and he treats it like it was nothing? He silently motions you inwards and puts a finger to his lips.

“Shhh. We have to be quiet, my big sister is still sleeping; she gets make if I wake her up early.”

So the room is Remilia’s then. Except, wait…If Remilia sleeps down here, they why did Sakuya tell Cirno the baasement is the only safe place to talk? This is beginning to make less and less sense every minute. You follow Adam through the darkness, talking care to walk slowly on the portions of floor that aren’t covered with thick carpet, and realize he’s leading you to the side bedroom you visited before. You grab a hold of Cirno’s hand, considering you at least know the layout of the room even in the dark; she doesn’t. After you lead the fairy into the adjoining bedroom, Adam shuts the door and flips another one of those strange switches, bathing the room in pale yellow light from those, whatever-you-call-ems, incontinent light balls.

Even with the lights on, Adam’s room doesn’t look much different than it did last night. It’s rather basic, not unlike your own room. You can see what looks like sheets of music scattered on a corner desk, but otherwise the room is quite tidy. Adam grabs the deck of cards you saw on the table earlier and sits down cross-legged on the floor, encouraging you and Cirno to do the same. He begins shuffling the deck and setting up the game, explaining the basic rules of Rum (or Rummy, you’re not sure which is right any more) to Cirno, with you occasionally assisting. Cirno looks fairly overwhelmed by all the new information, but she puts on a stalwart face and nods compliantly.

What follows is a rather interesting series of games. Despite Adam’s childish demeanor from before, and his unexplained insanity from last night, as soon as the game begins it’s like he becomes a different person. He’s very thoughtful and calm, giving Cirno friendly reminders when she makes a mistake, and is also incredibly skilled at the game, easily surpassing your modest talent. You keep expecting him to snap or break down or something weird like that, but he never does.

After four or five games of Rum(my?), Cirno politely asks if she can stop playing for a while and “rest her brain,” as she puts it. You stifle a laugh at her expense, and confirm with Adam if it’s okay.

“Go ahead Cirno,” he replies. “No sense playing a game if you’re not going to have fun, you know? Instead, how about we play a different game while Cirno cools off, hmm? Do you like chess?”

Chess. Now there’s a game you can get behind. You don’t claim to be a master, but you’ve been known to put an average player through his paces more than a few times. As Adam sets up the board, you notice the pieces seem to be hand-carved marble, and though there’s a lot of chips and dents in them, you can tell that whoever made the chessmen was a true master craftsman. Adam chooses the white side, which suits you just fine; you’ve always started chess as a more defensive player anyways.

Even after the first twenty moves or so, you just can’t tell his skill level one way or the other. Thrice now he’s left himself blatantly open for a piece of his to be taken without consequence, but at the same time you can see him preparing well-known complex strategies that only a truly skilled player should even attempt. “Schizophrenic” is about the only word you can come up with for his game, which makes him extremely difficult to predict, and thus difficult to defeat.

During one of his turns, he says something that takes you completely by surprise.

“I’m sorry.”

(Will you please…)

(…forgive me?)

“Sorry? For what?” you inquire.

He fingers one of the bishops he took from you absentmindedly. “I’m sorry for last night, for all of it. I was…I was acting very bad in front of you. I shouldn’t have gotten out of control like that.”

Is he talking about before he threw his tantrum, during , or after? You word your response carefully to avoid triggering any unwanted results. “Everyone makes mistakes, Adam. All we can do is learn from them, and try better next time, right?”

“Well, yeah, I know that, but…” His face is downcast, and he rubs his eyes like he’s about to cry. “I’m supposed to be better than that. Big Sis’ keeps telling me that I have to learn control over my feelings, otherwise I’m just an animal, a…a monster. Last night, she…she was punishing me for being disobedient, she does that sometimes. I want to make her proud of me, I really do, but…It’s so hard, it’s just so hard…”

If you knew Adam better, or at all, you’d be compelled to put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, or even hug him. But you still can’t shake the image he gave you last night. And furthermore, at the end, when he seemed most sane, what did he tell you? “Get away from me…before I try and hurt you.” Adam is dangerous, and even he knows it. He probably deserves compassion, but he also deserves his space. The only thing you can manage to say is probably the only thing you need to. “I forgive you, Adam.”

You barely hear the door creak open behind you as Adam looks over your shoulder. “Oh, morning Sis’!” His mood seems to have instantly taken a turn for the better, and there’s a pleased smile on his face. You turn around, expecting to see Remilia staring at you lividly, wondering why and how you got here.

But it is not Remilia’s face which greets your eyes.

Standing sleepily in the doorway is a girl you’ve never seen before. She’s the youngest-looking person you’ve seen thus far in the mansion—maybe only eight or nine—and about as tall as Remilia. She’s dressed in only a sleeveless pink nightdress which doesn’t even come up to her knees, showing off her smooth, pale skin and petit limbs. Her hair is shoulder-length and tangled from sleep, but it’s the same straw-blonde as Adam’s, and there’s a single long tail of hair extending down her back. In front of her she clutches a large stuffed dragon toy, as scarlet as her eyes. The dragon has seen better days: it’s ripped in several places and misshapen with overuse and age.

But those wings. If you were dropped into any fairy tale world you’ve read about in a book, you could live a score of lifetimes and still never see anything with wings like hers. They hardly look like wings at all, really. Two dark iron rods, formed and twisted into the semblance of a wing-like shape, seem to be grafted directly to her back, though you can’t see the union from here. If you look closely, you can see intricate carvings lining the “wings” up and down. However, it’s the crystals which enchant your eyes. Attached at regular intervals to the iron frames by an exquisite joint are seven large crystals, each one a different color: teal, green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, and blue, from top to bottom. Only an angel could have cut those crystals so elegantly, so symmetrically, so perfectly. It’s a shame all fourteen are marred by a spider-web of cracks and chips, tarnishing their otherwise-beautiful visage. The crystals sway and tinkle as the girl moves the wings slightly; it appears that they are a part of her, but they don’t bend at all. They can’t possibly be natural, not in the slightest; just what kind of creature is she?

All your expectations and assumptions fall from your hands and shatter like glass. Remilia isn’t Adam’s sister? This new girl is? But, his last name is Scarlet, too, so…This new girl is yet another Scarlet?! But why haven’t you seen her before? Is she “Big Sister”, or is Remilia? How can she be “Big Sister” if she’s obviously younger than him? Did she lock him up in Room 101? Why would two-thirds of the Scarlet family live in the basement? Are there even more missing Scarlets you don’t know about yet?

The mystery sister snuggles her face into the soft plush of her stuffed animal. “Morning, little brother. Who are these two? Did you make new friends?” Her voice is muffled by the dragon and from the yet-fading haze of sleep, but she sounds compassionate and, for lack of a better term, “cute”.

“I guess so. He’s the one I told you about, the one who visited me yesterday? I said I was sorry, and he forgave me, so now we’re playing a game together! He’s real smart, too. Oh, I forgot again,” Adam adds as he address you and the now-attentive fairy. “I want you to meet my big sister, Flandre.”

Flandre Scarlet. The name seems to roll off your tongue with a hidden elegance you can’t describe. As Flandre looks at you, the blue and green crystals on both wings begin to glow and crackle with energy, and her eyes focus on you with an unnatural greed. An unhealthy greed. An insane greed.

“Ooo, new toys, brother, new toys!” She drops her dragon on the ground and folds her hands together in excitement. “Can I play with them next, can I?! Please please?”

[ ] Say nothing. Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all
[ ] Resent the statement. “Hey, wait! I’m not a toy, I’m a person!”
[ ] Agree to Flandre’s request. “Sure, I’ll play with you, just let me finish this game first.”
[ ] Suggest a compromise. “Well, I’ll play, but can I choose the game?”
[ ] Suggest a different compromise. “Why don’t we all play a game together instead?”
[ ] Politely try to leave. “Actually, Cirno and I should probably be getting back upstairs now.”
[ ] My suggestions pale in comparison to yours. Prove it with a worthy write-in.

[ ] Suggest a compromise. “Well, I’ll play, but can I choose the game?”

[ ] Agree to Flandre’s request. “Sure, I’ll play with you, just let me finish this game first.”
[ ]Invite her to watch. Might want to ask if she knows how to play chess so she can understand what's going on, though. Don't want to make her too bored.
[ ] For gods sake keep her away from the Meido. Do not let Flandre play a 2-player game with Cirno. 4 player should be fine. Cirno should be able to escape an invitation with the tired excuse, which Adam hopefully will attest to.
[ ] At some point, ask them who they are and their relationship to Remilia. Bring up that you are a guest of Remilia's. Former for answers, latter for protection, even though it should be obvious.

Ah, it's times like these that remind me about the horrifyingly large amount of danger we're in.

>In front of her she clutches a large stuffed dragon toy, as scarlet as her eyes.

SMAUG

>She drops her dragon on the ground and folds her hands together in excitement. “Can I play with them next, can I?! Please please?”

[x] Laugh lightly. "If you treat all your toys like that I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
[x] Introduce yourself as Remilia's guest and Cirno as your servant.
[x] You're going to play Chess with Adam, but maybe Cirno can play with Flandre while you do?

Letting her think you're merely Adam's "toys" sets a dangerous precedent. You need to imply that you're Remilia's instead if you're to have even a modicum of safety around her.

Cirno is in no real danger from Flandre, and will be able to describe the girl's temperament to you later. Let's get a handle on Adam's character before we decide to tackle Flandre herself.

[X] Laugh lightly. "If you treat all your toys like that I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
[X] Introduce yourself as Remilia's guest and Cirno as your servant.
[X] You're going to play Chess with Adam, but maybe Cirno can play with Flandre while you do?

[X] Laugh lightly. "If you treat all your toys like that I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
[X] Introduce yourself as Remilia's guest and Cirno as your servant.
[X] You're going to play Chess with Adam, but maybe Cirno can play with Flandre while you do?

>[X] Laugh lightly. "If you treat all your toys like that I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

I'm worried that this sounds a little too ...stuck up? I can't find the word but using this phrasing make me uneasy.

>>22831
[X] "Play? A capital idea! Let's start with 'Catch'!"
[X] Throw Cirno at Flandre

Hmm... too troll-vote.

[X] "Play? Have at you! The Strongest Maid and her master challenge you and Adam to a team danmaku duel!

Doubt we're at EX-Boss level yet, and no spell cards either.

[X] Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all
[X] Introduce yourself and your friend (and maid), Cirno
[X] "I'd be happy to play with you after this match, Flandre, but I hope you'll treat me better than Mr. Dragon there."

Do want to play with Flandre. Do not want vampire with ability to destroy (not just kill, destroy) anything playing with our meido yet. At a meta-knowledge level, if we fuck up and we get a BAD END. If Cirno dies and we live with despair. In character, we know how dangerous this is so we don't want Cirno getting too involved. But regardless of the danger, there is a potential to find some (gasp!) answers, or at least flesh out our already impressive list of questions.

I appreciate the sentiment about being seen as a "toy" and setting a dangerous precedent. But, we've already proven that we have the potential to change perceptions for the better (and sometimes worse); let's go with what works(?)

Side note: do need to figure out an in-character way of confirming whether fairies respawn or not. The fact that the scar from Sakuya wasn't gone leaves me curious about fairy regeneration.

>[X] Laugh lightly. "If you treat all your toys like that I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
Like, >>22841 says, we shouldn’t risk Flan interpreting this comment in the wrong way.

>[X] Introduce yourself as Remilia's guest and Cirno as your servant.
Brining Remilia into this could be very dangerous. She’s probably the one keeping them in the basement. Adam seems reasonable at the moment, but Flan might destroy us to get at Remilia if their relationship is as unhealthy as I think it is.

>[X] You're going to play Chess with Adam, but maybe Cirno can play with Flandre while you do?
God. No. This is Flandre here. This is the girl who breaks all her 'toys' and has the power to destroy anything. And don't give me that 'fairies are immortal' crap, Flan's abilities go way beyond that. Telling Cirno to go play with her on her own is a recipe for disaster.


[X] Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all
[X] Introduce yourself and your friend (and maid), Cirno
[X] (Assuming Adam says yes)"I'd be happy to play with you after this match, Flandre, but I hope you'll treat me better than Mr. Dragon there."

Looks like a decent plan. Adam should know Flandre’s intentions better than we do, and seems to like us at the moment, so I think we can trust him to give an answer that leads to our survival.

>Brining Remilia into this could be very dangerous. She’s probably the one keeping them in the basement. Adam seems reasonable at the moment, but Flan might destroy us to get at Remilia if their relationship is as unhealthy as I think it is.
This is purely meta knowledge (what isn't), but remember: Flandre loves her sister. It's pretty obvious; she has the power to destroy anything, so how could you possibly imprison her without her consent? If she hated her sister enough to kill us just at her mention, she would've broken free at least out of the basement a long time ago.

>And don't give me that 'fairies are immortal' crap, Flan's abilities go way beyond that.
There's no reason to believe that. The only canon use of her ability I can think of is the meteor she destroyed. Unless she is actually destroying the matter of the object and replacing it with a total void, I don't see why she couldn't just regenerate (the question is 'when?'. PMiSS says they respawn/regenerate IMMEDIATELY, but that is obviously an exageration because you can destroy them in game)
I think we should keep Cirno and Flandre from playing together to avoid exciting Flandre however. Cirno is almost certainly scared at this point and I think she'll liable to do something really stupid.

[X] Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all
[X] Introduce yourself and your friend (and maid), Cirno.

>>22841
>I'm worried that this sounds a little too ...stuck up? I can't find the word but using this phrasing make me uneasy.

Flandre hasn't even addressed you as a person. I don't think you're in any danger of looking haughty.

>>22844
It's pure speculation as to how Remilia will respond to our exposure to Flandre. I'd like to think that since the key she gave us opened the door to the basement, our encountering Flandre was entirely within the realm of possibility for her.

As for Flandre's abilities, PMiSS from the Touhou wiki:
>>Her method of destroying things so effortlessly involves pouring her power into the "eyes" of any material where its tension is the highest.
>>She can use her ability to cause these "eyes" to move into the palm of her hand.
>>In other words, by crushing the "eye" held within her hand(*2), she causes things to break.
"Material" is the sticking point and whether you constrain that to physical matter or extend it to metaphysical concepts (a la Yukari's omnitience through the control of all encompassing "gaps"). She can either destroy Cirno's physical form, which Cirno may (or may not, we don't know yet) be able to recover from. Or destroy Cirno, in which case there's nothing to recover. This discussion is outside the story, though; the nature of Flandre's power has always been the most interesting for me.

Anyway, what about Cirno's quote:
>>“He doesn’t look the same as Remilia, master. His eyes and wings and hands are all wrong, sir. He looks like, umm, like one of those weird thingies...Ohh, I’m sorry, sir, I forgot the name.”

A weird thingy? Unlike Remilia, you say? I get the feeling Adam isn't as vampiric as the sisters Scarlet. Perhaps a previous victim of the Scarlets that has since become a youkai? Possibly a bat? A human/vampire hybrid (mixed human and vampire blood = the heterochromic eyes)? Would explain the "Big Sister" deal: since the Scarlets are eternally young and Adam was "adopted" into the family, Flandre would technically be his older sister.

Also, hooray! I've been waiting for Flandre since the basement was first mentioned. This is a good day.

>>22842
>Side note: do need to figure out an in-character way of confirming whether fairies respawn or not. The fact that the scar from Sakuya wasn't gone leaves me curious about fairy regeneration.

It's not regeneration. Fairies just reincarnate instantly.

>Or destroy Cirno, in which case there's nothing to recover.
I haven't seen any mention that Flandre is able to destroy a concept, like Shiki. If all she is doing is making Cirno go boom, she'll just reincarnate.

>It's not regeneration. Fairies just reincarnate instantly.
The PMiSS article on Fairies says that it's both regeneration and reincarnation. It also says it's instantaneous, which is obviously NOT what happens in-game, which just throws more doubt onto Akyu's credibility.

>>22835
I giggled.

Rather than rely upon the dubious observations of Akyu, why not consider the words of someone with more authority in the matter?

From Cirno's scenario in PoFV:
>>That's right, you cause a little too much trouble.
>>At this rate, you might receive damage that cannot be healed naturally.
>>In other words, that means death. If you die, then we will most definitely judge you.
>>At that time, whether you will go to heaven or hell...
>>Well, we don't know that yet.

>>A small stream's flow, a bird's cry, an insect's song. Even mother nature will die at times. You must know that eternity does not exist in this natural world.

Setting that aside, though, does it really matter if Cirno is immortal or not? Either way, don't you think that getting "killed" or completely destroyed by Flandre won't hurt like HELL? Not being able to die would be even worse, really, since dying would at the very least mean an end to the excruciating agony someone might be experiencing.

That is also why giving Remilia any excuse at all to hurt Cirno would be a very, very, VERY BAD idea. The question isn't whether or not a fairy can die, but whether or not a fairy can be made to suffer and feel so much excruciating pain that it shatters their very psyche.

You're talking about a member of a family where chaining a mentally ill sibling to a wall in a locked room is apparently an acceptable form of discipline. Now just imagine what someone like that would be willing and able to do to someone they not only have no reason to care about, but flat-out despises?

Whether it be torture at the hands of Remilia, or obliteration at the claws of the Smaug, I think we owe it to our friend to do whatever we can to keep her from experiencing either one. Much like driving drunk, friends don't let friends get blown the fuck up by batshit insane vampire lolis.

>>22856
>friends don't let friends get blown the fuck up by batshit insane vampire lolis.
Word.

>>22856
>That is also why giving Remilia any excuse at all to hurt Cirno would be a very, very, VERY BAD idea. The question isn't whether or not a fairy can die, but whether or not a fairy can be made to suffer and feel so much excruciating pain that it shatters their very psyche.

What would get Remilia most upset with Cirno would be for you to die under her watch. Especially if this were to be during an activity that Remilia would suspect she played a facilitative role in bringing about (any kind of "playing"). We do know from whoever gave us the keys that Remilia was absolutely livid when Cirno nearly killed you in the garden, and that was before you displayed any interesting qualities. Cirno has the most to fear from Remilia here. Flandre or Adam might kill her, but they don't seem to be capable of the malice that would lead to her being chained up and tortured indefinitely.

Actually, come to think of it, Sakuya is the one who told Cirno that it was safe to talk downstairs for some reason, and she would certainly know if Flandre and Adam were active, and she really, really didn't seem to like Cirno when she was willing to threaten us earlier during the window scene. Importantly, Cirno lead you down here, so if something untoward were to happen to you, Remilia is going to look to Cirno first. After the show upstairs, it's going to seem to her like Sakuya had tried her damnedest to rehabilitate her, but after this she'll seem completely incorrigible. Now it goes without saying that we've been creating a lot of work for her, unlike the self-sufficient Nathaniel, and have caused her to be chastised by her mistress on a number of occasions; could this have been a ploy on her part to get rid of us and Cirno in one fell swoop?

>>22851
>it also says it's instantaneous, which is obviously NOT what happens in-game

Firstly, it doesn't stipulate where they're reincarnated. Secondly, you can't say that fairies die in-games just because they "pop"--so do bosses. More important is that danmaku is non-lethal, so there's no reason to assume anyone dies in-game.

I think I'll trust Akyu on something this basic.

>>22842
>The fact that the scar from Sakuya wasn't gone leaves me curious about fairy regeneration.

Sakuya's knives are almost certainly either magicked or they have the sufficient history; otherwise she wouldn't be able to hurt youkai.

>>22862
I'm pretty sure she says in PCB that they're just silver.

>>22859
If the machinations run that deep and operate at that level of complexity, we have no hope. Even if we navigate out of this situation (relatively) unscathed, another one is bound to be presented. I'd say "paranoid anon is paranoid," but anything is fair play right now.

This argument makes me wonder, though: how much of a threat towards Remilia is it if we were to declare our intention of leaving/escaping the mansion immediately? Not that we have much say in the matter (thank you Sakuya), but making it perfectly apparent that we are an unwilling inhabitant and will constantly endeavor to vacate the premises. She has expressed interest in our presence, empowered us (magically speaking), and intimated some genuine sentiment about desiring our presence while we search for what we want. Our voluntary disposition could be a bargaining point if she goes on the offensive against Cirno.

...

As much as I want to believe that Remilia wouldn't, my notion is that she would be pleased as punch with that development. With anon as a taciturn and hostile party, provoking us into action and inducing despair would be such a delectible new game for her I reckon. The very notion makes me wonder if I shouldn't add a few inches to my height.

Tangentially speaking, we picked the Wood sign, which included within its description something to the effect of "healing and growth." Is that just something that will manifest itself in danmaku (like the 'growing' of plant shaped bullets), or will we get actual healing spells? If we survive the present encounter, I think another trip to the library is in order.

I thought about deleting this about a dozen times, but I figured U. N. Owen would get a kick out of this, so I didn't. This is what you make people do. I hope you're happy.

Moving away from the Cirno and immortality issue, didn't anyone else notice something interesting about our introduction to Flandre? Mainly, the complete and utter lack of any sort of recognition on either side?

When we were reunited with Adam, at the very least we instantly recognized his voice, even if his appearance and manner had changed since we last saw him. Yet from Flandre? Nothing. No mention of her voice being at all familiar, nor any indication that she recognized ours. Plus, considering whoever it was we encountered in this room the last time clearly could SEE US in the darkness, there's not even any indication she recognizes us at all.

Add in the way the "Miss Scarlet" we ran into last time moved so quickly and, most importantly, SILENTLY through the room and around us, whereas Flandre's wing crystals were swinging and making tinkly noises just from slight movements, and I somehow doubt that she was the one who caught us there the last time. At the very least, we would have been wondering why this strange person with the freaky red eyes was circling around us while holding a wind chime.

Also, we never did check out that OTHER side door, did we? The one we did led to what we now know to be Adam's bedroom. What are the chances that the other door leads to a similar room? But then there's the matter of the bed up in the loft of the main room, isn't there? And it had visibly been used by someone.

I'm getting the feeling there's still at least one more member of the family we have yet to be properly introduced to.

On a separate but not unrelated note, if Adam was in 101 last time, and whoever was with us in this room was not Flandre...where WAS the little dragon while we were snooping around?

>On a separate but not unrelated note, if Adam was in 101 last time, and whoever was with us in this room was not Flandre...where WAS the little dragon while we were snooping around?

The upper loft was darkened if I remember correctly; maybe we mistook her for a cushion? Of course there's still that triple-reinforced holding chamber that we haven't looked at.

[X] Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all
[X] Introduce yourself and your friend (and maid), Cirno
[X] (Assuming Adam says yes)"I'd be happy to play with you after this match, Flandre, but I hope you'll treat me better than Mr. Dragon there."

All in all, seems prudent.

>>On a separate but not unrelated note, if Adam was in 101 last time, and whoever was with us in this room was not Flandre...where WAS the little dragon while we were snooping around?

Flandre + Adam + Dragon + ????? = A new take on Taboo, 「Four Of A Kind」?

Wake up people.

She made a GREEDY face, you know, like a kid?

No matter how much we try and ask her for her care, she won't do it. She'll simply lie to a chance at playing with a new toy, like a kid who throws a tantrum and quickly promises something simply to receive a reward without the work.

This Flandre will not be as kind as the one from Mystia's story...

It also appears that she is abusing Adam and thus, we probably shouldn't put any more pressure on him than is necessary. So asking him to answer is not a good idea because he'll either cave in or get bullied by Flandre until he caves in.

So the answer is...

[x] Tell Flandre that you're flattered that she wants to play with you, but that after playing with Adam that you and Cirno have to leave for the night.

[x] Smile and tell her that you'll ask Remilia for permission to play another day. As she is your host.

Kindly push her away but do not reject the proposal by submitting that you'll ask for permission from the one above you and her. That's one way to deal with children, by listening to them but not giving in.

Edit : On a side note though, not like she's your average kid so...yeah...

>>It also appears that she is abusing Adam and thus, we probably shouldn't put any more pressure on him than is necessary.

We don't know that for certain. All he said was that "Big Sis" was punishing him for being disobedient. Considering he has referred to both Remilia and Flandre as his "Big Sister" it could be either one. Or someone else entirely.
It's taken us two trips to just this one room to finally encounter Flandre, so there's no telling what or who else we may have not yet seen. Perhaps we should ask Adam or Flan about what's behind Door Number Three?

>>22871
Point well taken. In every CYOA we've skirted imminent doom on behalf of Flandre's powers of ultimate destruction so that may very well lead to over-confidence (correct me if I'm mistaken; I simply don't have it in me to follow all of the CYOAs on these boards).

However, ever since I got U. N. Owen's input on Flandre back in >>19638 I have been waiting for this very moment. I must know what it is about this little girl that makes her tick in this story.

No regrets.

[X] Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all
[X] Introduce yourself and your friend (and maid), Cirno
[X] (Assuming Adam says yes)"I'd be happy to play with you after this match, Flandre, but I hope you'll treat me better than Mr. Dragon there."

[X] Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all
[X] Introduce yourself and your friend (and maid), Cirno
[X] (Assuming Adam says yes)"I'd be happy to play with you after this match, Flandre, but I hope you'll treat me better than Mr. Dragon there."

[X] Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all
[X] Introduce yourself and your friend (and maid), Cirno

Here's hoping we can trust our fate to a mentally unstable boy who was locked up just for disobeying his big sister. At least he doesn't seem inclined to intentionally harm us, but there's no telling what sort of influence Flan might have over him.

Also, this might be something, or it might be nothing, but I'm curious about this:

>>As Flandre looks at you, the blue and green crystals on both wings begin to glow and crackle with energy, and her eyes focus on you with an unnatural greed.

Now compare that to this:

>>Before you have time to even contemplate uttering a word, you see a small spark. There’s a small violet glow off to your right side, which crackles with miniature lightning inside an invisible sphere.

Flan starts getting greedy, and certain-colored crystals begin to glow and crackle with energy.
The mystery Scarlet spoke to us humbly and politely, and we see a crackling violet glow in the darkness.

Could there be a connection, I wonder? I wonder?

Not that I'm suggesting they're one in the same, mind you. The shapes are different enough that the glow and energy in one of Flan's crystals probably wouldn't be confused for a sphere. But there's probably something to this, and the fact that both cases deal with witnessing crackling energy of a particular color when someone seems to be in a particular mood or emotional state seems too similar for it to be just a coincidence. Unless, of course, it is.

[X] Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all
[X] Introduce yourself and your friend (and maid), Cirno
[X] (Assuming Adam says yes)"I'd be happy to play with you after this match, Flandre, but I hope you'll treat me better than Mr. Dragon there."

Good enough

[Let Adam answer Flandre; it’s his question after all]
[Introduce yourself and your friend (and maid), Cirno]
["I'd be happy to play with you after this match, Flandre, but I hope you'll treat me better than Mr. Dragon there."]

You don’t enjoy the prospect of being called a “toy” by anyone, but you hold your tongue for the moment. Adam thinks about the proposition for a few seconds as he looks as Flandre. Except, he doesn’t look at her face, he’s looking…somewhere else, you can’t tell exactly where.

“I dunno, Sis, you know how you always break new toys if you play with them too hard,” he advises contemplatively. “Besides, there’s two of them, see? What if we all play something together; we haven’t had enough people to play any of the fun games in forever!”

The green glowing subsides in her wings, followed shortly by the blue. Flandre picks up her little dragon and strokes it’s head affectionately. “Mmm, guess you’re right. You’re always so smart, Adam, I’m glad you’re my brother! So, what are the new toy’s names?”

Adam inclines his head towards you; guess it’s your job to introduce yourself and Cirno. Looking directly at Flandre is…difficult, to say the least. In appearance she looks just as innocent and pure as Cirno, but there’s something about her, something not right, that makes you want to turn your head away.

“Umm, well, this is Cirno over here, Miss Flandre, and I’m—“

“Kitty!”

Flandre is suddenly standing over your head and stroking your hair like you’re a cat. “I remember you, you’re the little kitty! Nice kitty, nice kitty…I always wanted a little kitty to play with. Meow…”

Flandre is now kneeling beside you and leaning her head on your shoulder as she continues to pet your hair, making little purring noises. Kitty…So this means that Flandre was the person you met last night. It’s beginning to fit together. You can remember the similarities in the two voices now, and her eyes, despite being much softer right now, are definitely the same eyes you saw last night. You don’t exactly know if being a “kitty” is better than being a “toy” though, and Adam’s mention of “breaking new toys” doesn’t sit well with you at all.

“Well, I’d be happy to play with you after this game, Flandre,” you say softly into her ear, “but I hope you’ll treat me better than Mr. Dragon there.”

Flandre scuttles back from you and holds the dragon up in front of your eyes. “Glish. That’s his name. He’s my little Glish, he’s my favoritest.” She violently jerks the toy away from you, sending a mote of stuffing flying from one of the rips. “Kitty doesn’t get to play with him; kitties gots claws.” She sets Glish next to Adam’s side. “But you’ll protect my Glishy for me while I get dressed, won’t you brother? Adam’s real good at guarding dragons, ‘cause he is one! That’s why I love him sooooo much!” She jumps up behind him and gives him a giant embrace, his large wings looking like a dark cloak around her as they snuggle together. Her yellow crystals pulse on and off like the heartbeat of a miniature electrical storm, the webs of lighting slightly crackling out of the gem.

As you watch the heartfelt brotherly/sisterly love, Flandre opens her eyes just a crack so you can see them. They’re not the same eyes as they were before; too deep, too vast, too old. You notice the pink section of her wings glow slightly as she hums a little song into Adam’s ears:

“Dragon’s blood, Scarlet blood,
Drink it up; taste so good.
Then we’ll always be together.
Stay with me, play forever.”

The tune is haunting in its childish simplicity, almost numbing your mind. “Dragon’s blood” …Adam is a dragon? Would a dragon be some kind of youkai, or is this something completely different? The wings make more sense now. “Scarlet blood” …It’s obviously more than just a color, it’s the family name. “Drink it up, taste so good” …The Scarlets are…Your skin grows cold at the thought, and you don’t even want to finish the statement in your head, even though you know you already have:

The Scarlets are vampires.

Cirno tugs at your shirt. “Master,” she whispers quickly, “Master, I remember now. The thingy from before, it’s a—“

“—Dragon.” You finish the statement with her. “Adam’s a dragon. You were right, Cirno; good call.”

Flandre jumps up and runs to the door, rapidly enough that her nightskirt fans out behind her slightly, and you have to quickly avert your eyes to avoid seeing things you shouldn’t be looking at. She turns around when she’s at the door, knocking her wings against the wall and sending all her crystals swaying. “You want me to get anything for you?” she asks.

“Umm, could you…could you bring the sword again? I want to have it next to me,” he asks.

“Mhm, no problem! I like it too! I’m so glad Big Sister gave it to us to play with!”

“And, uhh,” he blushes slightly and turns his head from her. “Could you…Could you let, umm, let me be me for a while?”

She frowns as one of her blue crystals sends off a momentary ping of light, followed by another ping from her purple one, but she’s back to her rosy disposition in no time. “I forgot again? We need to work on our communication skills, brother.” And with that, she skips out of the room and slams the door shut.

Adam rubs his face and looks at both you and Cirno together. His eyes are much more serious, though it’s difficult to take them that way with those differing colors. When he speaks, you notice that his lisp has returned.

“If you’re going to thay thomething, thay it fatht. Thhee won’t take long, and I don’t want you acting curiouth or thtupid in front of her.”

[ ] You’ll only have time for one question! Write it in and make it good.

========================================

Just a short segment before I run off to work. I will return in the afternoon with my commentary on your commentary.

[X] "Could you tell me what I shouldn't do with her around?"

Survival games~
Anyway, i don't think that Adam here is an eastern dragon, the ones depicted in Perfect memento. Instead i think he's a western dragon, or atleast half-dragon. I wonder how that happened... or works for that matter...

[x] "Which color means which mood?"

Nothing will be more important in predicting Flandre's behavior than this.

[X] "Could you tell me what I shouldn't do with her around?"

Something like that, I suppose. We seemed to have done alright with her last time, but if there's anything we should know about what to do or not do should she become more volatile would be very helpful.
If her crystals are in some way indicative of her current mood, we can probably puzzle out what they mean by mere observation. The green and blue popped on when she was looking at us like an insanely greedy child with a new toy, so those two are probably danger signs. Yellow might be good, or at least safe, since that came on when she was affectionately hugging Adam. The pink and purple are a little more ambiguous, though. The purple one was probably what we saw in the dark last time, and so might be a safe one, if only because she clearly wasn't in a mood to harm us at that time. Pink came up while she was singing that little song to Adam, so it might be a safe one, too.
The teal and orange crystals are still unknowns, though, but I'm sure at least one of them is probably a danger sign.

Combinations are probably something to be wary of, too, depending on which ones are lit. A couple warning lights together is clearly cause for concern, but a couple of the safer ones is probably nothing to worry about. When the safe and danger sings start going together, it's probably best to be very cautious. And if all of them are lit? Let's hope we don't find out.

Of course, I'm not so sure that Flandre is the one we have to worry about. She seems to like the little kitty, giving him lots of toys to play with, meow. As long as he acts like a good kitty should, she probably won't do anything too bad to him, meow.

Adam, on the other hand...
Well, his lisp returning probably isn't a good sign.

/r/ that one "No Light, it is I who am behind you!" pic.

>>22890
Not how I remembered it, but thank you very much.

[X] "Could you tell me what I shouldn't do with her around?"

[X] "Could you tell me what I shouldn't do with her around?"

I know i am greedy, but can we get another update tonight?

[X] "Could you tell me what I shouldn't do with her around?"

[X]"Why are you talking wierd?"

If Adam is a dragon, does that means he is one of the most powerful beings in Gensokyo?

>>22895

If he is, it's a good thing we made friends with him.

Within this thread: Flandre is a mood ring from the 60s.

>>22823
>Owen: I really like how you've done Cirno here. It's normally disheartening seeing her reduced to a complete dumbass in nearly every single story. Sure, that's the meme, but I think she's a more interesting character than that.
I too dislike the standard treatment that Cirno gets, as she has much more potential than many give her credit for. Her superiority complex combined with her incorrigibility and (possible) “immortality” creates a rather fun character to work with considering on top of all this she has the mind of a child as well. I haven’t even begun to have fun with “the manipulation of cold” yet, either. I am most glad you voters found a way to make her a more prominent part of the story.

>>22835
And you would do well to remember it.

>Random discussion about fairy “immortality” and Flandre’s destruction thereof
I’ll not reveal anything out-of-story yet. But best to err on the safe side of caution until you discover more; wouldn’t want to have your precious Cirno maid destroyed and out of this tale on a simple over-assumption, now would we?

>>22848
>Also, hooray! I've been waiting for Flandre since the basement was first mentioned. This is a good day.
‘Tis an even better day for me. I have been waiting for the right moment to introduce her for months now. If I fail at everything else within this story, I at least want to give Flandre the depth she deserves.

>>22856
>RemiliaVsSikieiki.jpg
I believe I told you to stop giving me dangerous ideas This picture is meaningless to me. It bears no meaning.

>>22874
>However, ever since I got U. N. Owen's input on Flandre back in >>19638 I have been waiting for this very moment. I must know what it is about this little girl that makes her tick in this story. No regrets.
Oh, there will be regrets…

>>22898
In that the colors mean nothing?

>>22893
It is possible, provided there is a consensus within the votes early enough for me to write before I go and watch an excellent movie with friends tonight.

I believe that is everything for now. Well, not exactly…

>>22864

WHY SO SERIOUS?

Let’s put a smile on that face!

>>22899
>I haven’t even begun to have fun with “the manipulation of cold” yet, either.

On a scale from zero to awesome, what is the potential for mayhem if Cirno were to somehow to get her mitts on a copy of "Thermodynamics for Dummies" from Patchouli's library?

>>22901
Hmm, personally I'd rank that really cool.

>>22902
Stop that.

>>22903

Hey man, chill

>>22903

Don't give him the cold shoulder.

["Could you tell me what I shouldn't do with her around?"]

Not much time, hmm…you’ve had so few opportunities to actually get your questions answered, it’s hard to actually choose what to ask. Should you ask about his imprisonment…his draconic properties…his vampiric properties? Not much time…would he know anything about stuff going on upstairs? Not much time…what is the most important thing you could learn from him?

You try to sort though the list of questions in your mind, but thoughts of Flandre Scarlet keep getting in the way. Younger than Remilia, older than Adam, but Adam looks older than both. The wings, the crystals…their glowing energy was like looking at the soul of a living being. Being Flandre’s kitty…just a joke, right? Vampires, vampires kill their victims by draining their blood dry. How have you even managed to live this long in a house of three of them?! Any second now Adam or Flandre could jump over and bite you; you wouldn’t be able to stop them if you tried. Mad. Adam’s mad, Flandre’s mad…you’re probably mad by now too.

“Flandre,” you find yourself saying subconsciously. “What am I supposed to do around her? What am I not supposed to do around her?”

Adam rubs his chin, thinking hard. He looks at the chess game rather than you as he answers. “Thhee’th jutht a little girl...but thhee’th inthane. I gueth I am, too. Exthept, I can control it when thhee letth me. Thhee can’t.” He almost touches his last remaining knight, but pulls his hand back quickly, looking around the rest of the board. “Thhee jutht wantth to play with people, that’th all. But thhee’th too thtrong. Thhee breakth everything thhee toucheth if thhee’th not careful, and it’th tho hard for her to be careful, it’th jutht tho hard…

“Never, ever thay yeth to her unleth you know exactly what thhee’th athking for. Never, ever thay no to her unleth thhee’th happy. Never, ever break a promith you make to her, no matter what! ‘Cauth if you’re too careleth, thhee’ll do thomething horrible to you, even if thhee thinkth it’th jutht a game. Thhee doethn’t know any better, thee? Thhee’th jutht a little girl with too much to think about, and not enough to think it with. Thhee’th tho alone…thhee doethn’t have anyone exthept me. Nobody underthtandth her: not Thakuya, not Pathouli, not even Remilia. Jutht me. Ohh, and check.”

You look down at the chessboard and realize that Adam has suddenly pinned you into a very poor position on the board. You’re too distracted to think about chess right now, though; it’s hard enough to decipher his lisp without also having to really comprehend his meanings.

“The blue crythtal,” he continues. “If the blue crythtal thtarth glowing, you gotta be careful. Thhee can go crathy real eathy when it’th blue. Tho don’t ever make her mad. Don’t ever do anything that would make her cry. If you thcrew up, I can try and thtop her, but thhee’th the one that controlth me; not the other way around. Oh, and one latht thing: you can trutht me when I’m like thith with my lithp, but if I’m not, you have to treat me like I’m ath dangerouth ath my thithter. I’m really me when I’m like thith, but when I’m not, I’m like her.”

You’re quickly reciting everything he’s telling you in whispers. “Never say yes or no unless you got the big picture, don’t break promises, never make her mad, never make her cry, blue crystal is bad. But Adam, what do you mean, ‘You are you’ when you’re like this? I don’t understand, how does Flandre ‘control’ you?”

He fingers his two long canines remorsefully; you can envision them sinking into your throat at any second. “It’th how I’m her brother. Thee, I’m not Flandre’th brother by birth, I’m her brother by b—“

The door bursts open again to a now fully-dressed Flandre. Adam quickly shakes his head at you fearfully and stops talking. She’s dressed in a matching red skirt and vest, with pink socks and a pink shirt underneath. All the hems of her clothes are lined with frilly ruffles, not unlike Remilia’s standard dress. A golden ribbon is tied around the collar of the shirt like a tie similar to Adam’s, but tied very poorly. On her head rests a silly little pink hat almost exactly like Remilia’s, and a long ponytail of hair juts out from the hat at a crazy angle. Looking back and forth between Flandre and Adam now, you could swear that if they stood side by side they’d look enough alike to be twins.

She’s carrying an object in either hand. The left holds the dragon-hilted sword you saw last night, which she rests on Adam’s lap. But the object in her right hand…if you had to take a wild guess, you’d say it looks like a wand of some kind, but like none you’ve ever seen. It’s a black metal rod, maybe a meter long, curved into an elegant S-shape. Both ends are tipped with a strange insignia that looks like an ornate spade from a playing card with holes in it. As you look at it, you can see the air shimmer and pulse around it, as if it’s radiating something. Heat? Light? Magic? Whatever it is, you don’t like the look of it. It almost looks like it’s breathing.

Flandre plops down onto the carpet next to your chess game and places the rod across her lap. She holds out her hands childishly, and Adam returns “Glish the dragon” to her possession. She begins to watch the chess game silently, resting her head on the dragon’s back. It’s disconcerting; triply so now. Living with an unknown, suspicious fear is one thing. But now you know that you’re in danger, you know that you’re afraid. You’re sitting in a room with two insane child vampires, one of which might as well be a cartload of dynamite with a short fuse from what you can gather, and the other one can’t be far behind. The overwhelming terror threatens to drown you whole. Any second now…Any second one of them’s going to snap. You’ll be lying on the floor without a neck, or without a face, or a dozen other things you don’t want to focus on. And Cirno…you’re the one who got her into this, and now she’s in as much danger as you are. You’ve got no idea just how strong Cirno really is, but if a mere human like Sakuya can overpower her, what hope does she have against not one but two vampires, joined at the hip by family ties?

You grit your teeth and try to concentrate on the chess match. You promised Flandre you’d play with her after this game, and you can’t break the promise, not to her if you value your life. Everything you do, every breath you take hinges on the pleasure and happiness of these two devil children. Should you try and draw the game out? Prolong the inevitable? But even as you contemplate such an option you realize how foolish it is. You’re in a bad spot in the game right now; to have any hope of prolonging it, you’ll have to match Adam skill for skill.

(Pawn…)

(…to C-6.)

“So, what’s your name?” Flandre asks Cirno curiously. Didn’t you just introduce her like five minutes ago?

“Uhh, I’m Cirno, Miss Flandre. It’s nice to meet you.” Cirno seems to be taking the revelation of vampires in your midst quite well, or at least better than you. If anything, she actually seems bored rather than scared.

Flandre nibbles on one of her fingernails subconsciously. You notice that there’s something wrong with her vampire teeth: one is long and sharp like Adam’s, but the other is chipped off to the size of a normal tooth. “Cirno? That’s a pretty name. It’s pretty like your wings. I have pretty wings, too. Hey, maybe we can be sisters!”

The fairy scratches her head. “I, mmm, I don’t think it works like that.”

Flandre tilts her head quizzically. “It doesn’t? How come?”

You can tell Cirno’s trying her hardest to answer, but the question seems to be just a little too difficult for the poor girl. “Well, don’t…umm, don’t you have to, like, get borned together or something? I’m not sure, I don’t have any sisters or brothers.”

“Adam wasn’t borned with me, though, and he’s still my bestest brother! Aren’tchya, Adam?”

Adam gives a distracted, “Mhm,” but he’s busily looking at the sword right now, holding it up to light and feeling the blade. You make a desperate retreat out of check, and return the game to his side of the field.

“So, uhh, Miss Flandre?” you ask carefully, trying to just make small talk with her and get a feel for conversation with an insane vampire. “Umm, where did you, get that sword? It looks really nice.”

“Oh, that?” she replies happily. “Big Sis’ gave it to me as a present! She said she just found it lying around with a bunch of other stuff and said I could play with it! All the other stuff was really boring, but this looks so pretty. It’s even got a little dragon on it, see?” She pokes at the ornate crossguard of the sword, and you nod compliantly.

Adam realizes it’s his turn, makes a quick move to put you back in check, then asks you a question. “Hey, mithter? Do you know what thith ‘Equitath’ word meanth? I can’t figure it out.” He shows you the engraving on the sword’s scabbard which you saw last night.

“Oh, is that how you pronounce it? Ehh-kwi-tahs? I was wondering that myself. Uhh, sorry, but I don’t have a clue what it means either; I’d like to know too.” You shrug your shoulders and make another half-hearted attempt to bring the game back into your favor. There is relative silence in the room, until Flandre says something more.

“Equitas. It’s Latin. It means equity, equality, fairness, or justice.”

You turn to head to her in confusion. Wait, did she just say that? You just catch the light in her green crystals go out as you look at her. She…she couldn’t have said that, could she? How could an insane eight-year-old possibly know Latin? And furthermore, fairness? Equality? Justice? It’s certainly an odd thing to put onto a sword. Granted, you suppose crusaders and heroes in the distant past wielded a sword to administer justice and peace to war-torn lands, so it makes a little bit of sense.

“Wait, what did you say, Miss Flandre?” you ask quickly, making sure you heard her correctly.

“Huh? What?” She looks at you strangely with unfocused eyes. “What did I say? I didn’t say anything, did I? You’re funny, little kitty, you know that?”

It she playing with you again? Does she really not remember what she just said five seconds ago? You were right here, you hear her say it! Gah, you’re going to going as insane as she’s supposed to be before long if this keeps up!

“Checkmate!” Adam exclaims, slapping one of your pitiful pawns off the board with his knight. You study the board carefully. Can’t go left, can’t go back, castle takes the king if you take the knight…He’s right: checkmate.

“Yaaaay! Yay for Little Brother! Adam wins!” Flandre is pushing the front legs of her dragon together in imitation of applause, which you cannot deny is pretty cute. Adam extends his hand outwards in a gesture of a match well-played. You grasp it and shake twice, but almost wish you hadn’t. His skin isn’t even remotely close to human. It feels slick and tough, almost scaly. The outside of his hand is deathly cold, but his palm is as hot as a blast furnace, and his claws threaten to tear your skin with just an accidental brush.

“Yay! Now we all get to play a game together! Fun fun! I vote freeze tag! Not it!” Flandre shoots her hand up into the air as if doing so signifies that her vote is cast. The teal crystal on the top of her left wing begins to crackle with energy; well, at least it’s not blue.

“Nuh uh, come on Thith!” Adam counters. “I wanna play thomething you can only play with lotth of people, we haven’t got to do that in forever! How aboouuut…Rithk? Yeah, we haven’t played that one in forever!

You discuss the choice with Cirno. “Well, what do you say, Cirno? Anything you want to play?”

She thinks for a while, then smiles. “Well, freeze tag sounds kind of fun, I could be really good at freezin’ people!”

[ ] Vote with Flandre (and maybe Cirno) for freeze tag
[ ] Vote with Adam for “Rithk”
[ ] Think of something else, and vote for that (write-in your option)
[ ] Think of something else (write-in what), and convince Cirno to vote with you
[ ] Something unexpected? Write-ins are always on the table.

========================================

>>22901
I doubt she’d be able to understand it, even if it was “for dummies.” I assume that what she would really need is a teacher, someone who can explain things to her at her level, and who knows exactly how to get though to her. I doubt if any such person exists in Gensokyo.

But if such a person did manage to find and teach her, I would expect her average level to be at approximately five G-Laganns on the “Universal Scale of Awesome”. She might entertain hopes of getting as high as two AG-Laganns, but since the scale is both logarithmic and exponential, she has a lot of ground to cover. Anything higher than one SGG-Lagann would just be silly.

>>22902
>>22903
>>22917
>>22918
Making fun of people is not an ice solution to this problem. We can be civil about thissnow, can’t we?

[X] Vote with Adam for “Rithk”

...If our character wasn't like he is, i'd be voting for tag or hide-and-seek, mansion wide. Just to raise some hell.

But i think we need to give Adam a bit of trust, freeze tag MIGHT be a game where people have to stop ("Freeze") when they're caught, or it might be literally freezing people. We don't know, and we just were warned not to agree to anything we don't EXACTLY know it is.

[x] Vote with Flandre (and maybe Cirno) for freeze tag

[X] Vote with Adam for “Rithk”

>>22923
>“Equitas. It’s Latin. It means equity, equality, fairness, or justice.”
>justice

Hmm...

[X] Vote with Adam for “Rithk”

>>22928
Lead nathaniel to flandre or vice versa? Sounds like an interesting way to get rid of him...

As a sidenote, one of flandres vampire teeth is chipped, and she looks very similar to adam, who seems to be only half insane.
Combined with the way he looks (only one eye is red), the way he's trying to tell us that he's not related to flandre by birth but something else starting with B (blood), i'd wager that flandre bit adam but apparently was unsuccessful in fully transforming him.
We could probably find the missing tooth in adams neck or something, if we tried.

[X] Vote with Adam for “Rithk”

[X] Vote with Adam for “Rithk”

We're already sitting on a powder keg, here. Introducing any game with "freeze" in the name with Cirno here is like dumping on a couple gallons of gasoline and nitroglycerin on top of it, to boot.

Also, again, let's avoid games that encourage psychotic vampires to chase after someone like they were prey. There's no way that could possibly end well.

>You’ve got no idea just how strong Cirno really is, but if a mere human like Sakuya can overpower her, what hope does she have against not one but two vampires, joined at the hip by family ties?

But Cirno is the strongest so yeah!

[x] Instruct Cirno that "freeze" tag usually does not involve literally freezing people.
[x] Vote with Adam for "Rithk".

>>But if such a person did manage to find and teach her, I would expect her average level to be at approximately five G-Laganns on the “Universal Scale of Awesome”. She might entertain hopes of getting as high as two AG-Laganns, but since the scale is both logarithmic and exponential, she has a lot of ground to cover. Anything higher than one SGG-Lagann would just be silly.

Underestimating the 9, eh? Wish I could find the copypasta, but way back someone was entertaining the theory that Cirno's "manipulation of cold" was actually a byproduct of her real ability since she doesn't have the mental capacity to do much more. Her real ability was something along the lines of "manipulation of matter," "control of thermodynamics" or something equally hax. There's a CYOA/doujin waiting to be written where all of the power players in Gensokyo have moved on and the "young" characters have developed and taken over.

>>22923
[X] Offer to read her some story from books.

>>22948
But don't you remember? She said that's not a thing for little kitties to do, but for little girls.

Are you a little girl, Anon? Do you want to be a little girl?

Wait, don't answer that.

>>22928
>justice
>Hmm…
You’re only halfway there. I shall give you your due, but you’ll have to earn the last half yourself.

========================================

[Vote with Adam for “Rithk”]

“Never, ever say yes to her unless you know exactly what she’s asking for.” Adam’s words are still fresh in your mind, and you’re not about to forget them yet. Sure, “freeze tag” sounds innocent enough to a normal child, but to Flandre? There’s no telling how she’s interpreting the meaning of freeze tag, and you’ll be taking no chances with her if you value your life.

You whisper back to Cirno. “Umm, I don’t think freeze tag means you actually freeze people, Cirno. I think it’s just a word.”

Her face turns down a little. “Aww, really? But I thought…well, all right. I’ll just pick whatever you pick then, master sir.” Back to maid-mode, hmm? For a while there it sounded like she was slipping, but you’re surprised she endured as long as she did around these two.

“What did you say again, Adam?” you ask. “Rithk, no wait, Risk? Sounds interesting. I’ll give it a shot. Exactly what is it?”

“Oh, it’th a board game. It’th pretty fun. You’ve got a map of the world, and you have to take over countrieth and thtuff. It’th kind of random thinth you roll dithe a lot, but thtrategy-withe it’th not too different from cheth.”

You nod in approval. Just a board game…good, nothing to get worried about, just a fun little board game. Hopefully it won’t be too difficult for Cirno to play; she didn’t seem very keen on watching the chess match before.

Flandre looks depressed for a moment or two, but picks up in no time. “Okay then, brother wins, we’ll play Risk! I call the red army!”

“Hey! No fair, you’re always red!” Adam whines back. “Well, okay, then I’m yellow!”

“Ooo! Blue, blue, I want blue!” You look at Cirno, who once again has given up being a maid in favor of having fun with others more at her age level. Well, at least she’s having a good time. What a joy it would be to be as naïve as a child right about now, to not know the horrible impending doom that surrounds you. You follow Flandre and Adam out into her room, and sit on the ground next to the low table with Cirno as Adam rummages through the corner dressers, looking for something. One eye of yours if still fixed to Flandre’s wings, cautious of any blue light appearing, while the other is still casting wary glances at her metal wand.

It doesn’t take long for Adam to come by the three of you with a large box, and begins setting up “R.I.S.K.,” as the label on the box says. You let out a relieved sigh as you realize the board is more or less just a common map of Earth itself, rather than some odd map of Genoskyo or something like that. Europe, Asia, the Americas, everything is right where it should be. Adam dishes out little boxes to each of you; you choose “Green”, whatever than means. Inside the box are dozens of little painted wooden pieces; circles, squares, and hexagons. He starts dealing out cards to everyone, but Flandre stops him.

“Do we hafta play with the cards, Adam?” Flandre pleads hopefully. “Using the cards is so stupid!”

Adam rolls his eyes, but agrees and picks the cards back up, putting them back in the box. “Normally we’d choothe where we thtart by dealing out cardth, thee? But thinth thisthter doethn’t like them, we’ll just take turns inthtead. Here, I better ethplain the ruleth…”

Adam and Flandre each take turns sharing the basic rules of the game, each interrupting each other at least three times in the process. You place your armies (circles are one army, squares are five, and hexes are ten) on the countries you control, and on your turn you roll dice against you opponent to try and take over their countries. There’s bonuses for controlling an entire continent, and you always get reinforcements at the beginning of your turn. Supposedly you’d get a whole bunch of bunch of extra armies somehow if you were using “the cards”, but Flandre insisted otherwise.

As you take turns setting up your armies, you can see right away that it’ll be an interesting game. Cirno, in classic “strongest” form, foregoes all strategy in favor of putting all her armies on a single country: Iceland. Flandre seems fairly intent on capturing all of Europe, putting very few armies anywhere else. This is impeded by Cirno’s gargantuan force off the mainland, and Adam’s strategic armies positioned to come in from Africa. You plan to keep a home base in Australia (a very easily defensible location which can give the continent bonus without much effort), and intend to eventually join them with your secondary force in North America.

It shouldn’t be possible. You’re sitting at a table with two vampires and a childish fairy, all of them capable of destroying your body without batting an eye, and yet you’re…having fun? All the looming fear you originally felt after hearing Adam’s explanation seems to have been forgotten around this simple child’s game. Flandre squeals with delight every time she takes another country (especially one in Europe), Cirno is having as much fun just rolling dice as she is laughing at anyone’s attempt to take her precious icy-land (doesn’t she realize the point of the game is to take over the entire world?), and meanwhile, on the other side of the world, you and Adam are having a vicious back-and-forth for control of the Americas. Adam saw through your Australia plan from turn 1, but even that knowledge wasn’t enough to break through your defenses there, so he switched tactics and pushed everything he had through South America, which then met up with your own occupation of the United States. You chuckle at the thought: after over a hundred years, those silly Yanks finally get back under British rule. Serves them right.

(Suddenly…)

(…it all makes sense!)

And then suddenly, from out of nowhere, as you’re casually rolling the dice to defend Siam for the tenth time, it hits you. Phrases alone that meant nothing, but together…mean everything. All it would have taken before was just a single remembered word, and you would have understood then what you understood now…

“Where is justice?”

“Justice lies hidden within these walls…”

“…you will walk up to me! You will place Justice in my hands!”

“Equitas. It’s Latin. It means equity, equality, fairness, or justice.”

…Justice.

That sword. That sword is Justice. Nathaniel wasn’t being philosophical when he said what he said. Justice wasn’t a concept…it was a name! And you’re staring at it right this very second.

But what does it mean? How did he know that this sword even exists? It was locked in a room even the mansion key wouldn’t open, and he stated before that he doesn’t even have one of those, right? And why does he want it? “You will place Justice in my hands! And only then…will you truly understand.” Understand what? Understand that you’re in a house full of crazy vampires? Does that mean that he knows, too? Is all this just one big setup to get you to realize the danger you’re in?

You continue playing R.I.S.K., but your mind is definitely elsewhere. “Place Justice in my hands…” Does he expect you to get the sword to him somehow? What’s so important about this sword, anyways? It just looks like a normal blade to you; sure, the dragon is unique, but it’s nothing mind-blowing. Adam takes the United States of America from you as you’re pushed back into Canada. Could this “Equitas” be magical or something like that? You attack Cirno’s now-struggling forces in Iceland for laughs as Flandre continues her European conquest. How could you possibly hope to wrest such an item from the hands of an insane and possessive child? Adam cuts off your ties between America and Russia; the noose begins to tighten. Could you just ask to borrow it for a day, or even a few hours? You send in fresh supplies from Australia and retake the Asian coast once again. Maybe you could trade something of yours for it, or offer something up as collateral? Cirno is down to only nine armies on Iceland from her once invincible force of forty-two. Who’s to say Nathaniel won’t just slice your head off as soon as the sword gets to him? Six armies…now five, now three. Why should you believe anything that madman says; he could be as sick as Flandre for all you know!

“YES!! Yes, yes, yes yyyyeeess!!!”

Flandre finally did it. After who knows how many turns, she finally managed to take control of all of Europe and knock Cirno out of the game at the same time. Cirno looks positively devastated.

“Bu…but…the Strongest! My Icyland!

“Yay, Eeyour-Up is all mine! I win!” It seems that both Adam and you are waiting for Flandre to calm down enough to remind her that taking Europe isn’t the end of the game, but she’s too ecstatic to listen to anyone right now. She alternates between pointing a triumphant finger at Cirno and the board.

“You thought you were all, ‘Eye’m not giving you Eyeceland,’ but then I was like, ‘No, I’m gonna win, you go boom!’ And then it was all easy, like kyu!”

There’s no explanation for the following five seconds. One instant Flandre’s pointing at the board, and you notice her teal crystals twinkling a little. The next, wooden pieces are flying through the air, and you find yourself covered in paper shavings and ash, as is everyone else. The R.I.S.K. board has simply ceased to exist. And if this little piece of insanity wasn’t nearly enough, your time-spectacles are starting to chill up again.

[ ] Put the spectacles on quickly
[ ] Put the spectacles on carefully; turn around and try to avoid being seen
[ ] Leave the spectacles alone for now
[ ] It’s too much! It’s too much! Aaaaggh!

And furthermore:
[ ] Don’t worry about the sword right now
[ ] Ask Flandre if you can trade something for the Equitas (specify offer)
[ ] Ask Flandre if you can borrow the Equitas for a while; you’ll bring it back tomorrow, promise!
[ ] Ask Flandre if you can temporarily borrow the Equitas for a while; offer up some collateral (specify offer)
[ ] Ask Flandre if she wouldn’t mind showing the Equitas to someone for you.
[ ] Quickly! Create a distraction and sneak the sword into your coat while everyone is confused!

========================================

>>22947
>Underestimating the 9, eh?
WHO THE HECK DO YOU THINK CIRNO IS?! But do you not understand? No matter what you do, trying to rank Cirno on the Universal Scale of Awesome will always end in a paradoxical underestimation and overestimation at the same time. “Awesome” is a very difficult thing to quantify.

>Cirno's "manipulation of cold" was actually a byproduct of her real ability since she doesn't have the mental capacity to do much more. Her real ability was something along the lines of "manipulation of matter," "control of thermodynamics" or something equally hax.
In my eyes, “manipulation of cold” is plenty “hax” in it’s own right. Cirno simply has yet to be taken care of by someone with enough imagination to go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb.

>There's a CYOA/doujin waiting to be written where all of the power players in Gensokyo have moved on and the "young" characters have developed and taken over.
This is a concept I could possibly get behind. However, one step at a time. I must first endeavor to finish writing in this scarlet-stained memoir.

>The R.I.S.K. board has simply ceased to exist.

It is no more! It has ceased to be!

[ ] Put the spectacles on carefully; turn around and try to avoid being seen
[ ] Don’t worry about the sword right now

[x] Leave the spectacles alone for now
[x] Don’t worry about the sword right now

Right now I think we have more to worry about from Flan than Sakuya. Also, this might be making a bit of a logical leap, but someone owned these broken spectacles before we got them, and we’re currently in the presence of the most unstable, very likely to commit violence, members of the mansion. If Flan recognizes the glasses from someone she ‘broke’ it could be very detrimental to put them on in her presence. Given her eccentric state of mind(KITTY!) she might even jump to the conclusion that we are that person.

As for the sword, I can’t think of a good a reason to further risk the lives of Cirno and ourself in attempting to attain it for Nathaniel. Honestly, if he wants the sword I think that’s all the more reason to make sure he doesn’t get it. God only knows what that nutcase would do with it.

[X] Put the spectacles on carefully; turn around and try to avoid being seen.
[X] Don’t worry about the sword right now.
I don't think helping Nathaniel get the Equitas without knowing what it does and why he wants it is a good idea. We should try to investigate his reasons later.

Okay, so that's how Flandre works. Awesome.
Shit.

>>22957
[X] Put the spectacles on quickly: play it off like you got hit by a bit of table and are checking your face
[X] Make sure Cirno is alright
[X] Don’t worry about the sword right now

I think we can act post haste on the spectacles since everyone is probably still slightly gobsmacked by the random exploding board game.
I'm tempted by "Ask Flandre if she wouldn’t mind showing the Equitas to someone for you." I think extracting the sword from Flandre and Adam is going to prove problematic, so the best would be to bring Nathaniel to it. But, by doing so, we're creating an infered promise to bring a new "toy" back to Flandre. If it becomes evident that Equitas + Nathaniel = bad idea, I don't want to be breaking any promises.
Seriously, Nathaniel is reasonable 90% of the time, but loses it over this sword? Hrm... I'm falling back on patience and discretion for this choice. I need just a little more information before I'm convinced it's worth it retrieving "justice" for him.

>>22899
>>And you would do well to remember it.

[X] Leave the spectacles alone for now
[X] Don’t worry about the sword right now

Whatever Sakuya is doing at the moment is of minor importance compared to our current situation. Perhaps she's coming to check on us, or perhaps she's just doing some dusting.
Remilia might not be happy about us putting ourselves in such a risky situation, but she surely won't begrudge her siblings for wanting a little company. Well, I would hope.

As for the sword, we shouldn't just hand it over to that nutjob without knowing a little more about why he wants it, or at least something about the sword itself and what makes it so special.

I'm still wondering what he meant when he said this:
>>"...if you break any of my things I swear to God that you’ll die for it."

What things of his would we be in any position to break, and for that matter just what things does he consider to be "his"?

[z] Put the spectacles on carefully; turn around and try to avoid being seen.
[z] Don’t worry about the sword right now.

[X] Put the spectacles on quickly: play it off like you got hit by a bit of table and are checking your face.
[X] Make sure Cirno, Adam and Flandre are alright.
[X] Keep the sword in mind. If nothing else, it possesses the power to turn Nathaniel into a raving lunatic. It probably ought to be kept out of his hands for now.

I guess I'll go with this.

[X] Put the spectacles on quickly: play it off like you got hit by a bit of table and are checking your face.
[X] Make sure Cirno, Adam and Flandre are alright.
[X] Keep the sword in mind. If nothing else, it possesses the power to turn Nathaniel into a raving lunatic. It probably ought to be kept out of his hands for now.

I don't think putting on the spectacles has any use. It let's use see sakuya's power; this could either be interpreted as letting us see a character's power, or protecting us against it partially (since we aren't completely frozen in time when we used it on Sakuya). Flandre really doesn't have much to see, and I'm sure it won't provide any amount of defense. Why risk exciting her, even if only "HEY THOSE GLASSES ARE COOL! LEMME SEE!"

>>22979
Translation where

[X] Put the spectacles on quickly: play it off like you got hit by a bit of table and are checking your face.
[X] Make sure Cirno, Adam and Flandre are alright.
[X] Keep the sword in mind; yadda yadda...

>>I think we can act post haste on the spectacles since everyone is probably still slightly gobsmacked by the random exploding board game.

Cirno, perhaps, but I don't see why anybody else would be. Adam is probably quite used to things suddenly exploding considering who he rooms with, and Flandre is almost certainly used to things blowing up considering she's the one making them blow up.

>>22973
They chilled, indicating that Sakuya is using her powers. Most likely, she has some kind of magical alarm set or some way of sensing Flandre using her powers, and has come down to investigate.

As for why we should watch her? Refer to the discussions in the last thread. Sakuya is a very important character at this time, and we should jump at the opportunity to learn anything more about her that we can.

>>22989
oh, I had assumed they were reacting to Flandre, not to Sakuya.

>>22980

Seconded.

[x] Leave the spectacles alone for now
[x] Ask Flandre if she wouldn’t mind showing the Equitas to someone for you.

The irony is irresistible. We get rid of the Flandre problem by introducing her to a new "toy" to play with, and Nathaniel gets what's coming to him, for better or worse. Though I'm betting Mr. Nathaniel will survive his initial encounter with Flandre and possibly go on to become good friends with Adam, eventually she will break something of his or otherwise reveal her "destroyer" nature (which as "creator" he finds anathema) resulting in him wigging out.

Best of all, this solves our problems in a very passive (Moon-like) manner; we serve simply as a facilitator.

Regrettably, I must abscond from writing for a momentary amount of time, so that I might better deal with classwork which my professors seem so intent on piling upon me before my very much needed Thanksgiving break. I do not expect to be writing again until Wednesday night, and even then I might not have something ready for you until Thursday morning.

This is not an excuse to stop voting or discussing, however; I see no consensus within the votes at this time.

>>22998
Good luck there, return to us soon.

[X] Put the spectacles on quickly: play it off like you got hit by a bit of table and are checking your face.
[X] Make sure Cirno, Adam and Flandre are alright.
[X] Keep the sword in mind, but not right now.

>>22956
>>justice
>>Hmm…
>You’re only halfway there. I shall give you your due, but you’ll have to earn the last half yourself.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Suddenly, I'm wondering if we shouldn't have translated Nathaniel's Latin words to Ran BEFORE just now. Either way, did/can somebody get on that?

And maybe a line by line checking over of Nathaniel's rant on Justice, too. Might be something more there, as well.

>>23001
Blast, I've been too lazy in this matter, and I apologize. At this immediate moment I have a partial translation, and shall post the fully finished translation soon (read: tonight). I also abstain my vote until this translation is finished, as of yet being that I do not see a clearly superior choice here.

>>23008
I've got two iffy translations ready to go. You want me to post after you?

>>23009
Sure, here goes mine.

----------------------------------------------------------------
1.
“Malum Fortuna mos nunc attero totus,” he says under his breath.

(error: attero - I destroy. atterit - he/she/it(fortune) destroys.)
(error: if 'will' is intended to make the verb attero in future case, instead it should use the future addition,

'bi'. thus, I will destroy - ?attoribit?)

Lit: bad fortune habit I destroy whole
Lit Int: I will destroy the fortune(fortune's?) whole evil.

Fix: Fortune will now destroy the whole evil.
OR by treating (what would be) mala fortuna (or mala fortunae) as the direct object,
Fix Int:I will now destroy the whole of Fortune's(fate's?) evil.

(if so, error: Fortuna and malum are in the nominative (subject/adj./n.) case, not the genitive (possessives)

case. Fortuna should be Fortunae, and mala should be malae.)
----------------------------------------------------------------
2.
She looks at him strangely, but seems to understand what he is saying. She replies with equal strangeness.

“Fortuna vox est pallens foedus ut alius.”

(error: pallens...alius lacks a linking verb to connect it to fortune.)
(error: the sentence lacks a direct object, unless it is law.)
Lit: fortune voice/word is pale/wan/paleyellow/palegreen law/alliance sothat/that other.
Lit Int: Fortune's word is pale so that the other law (?)

(if law is the direct object, then 'ut' might not work. replacing as 'as'.)

Fix: Fortune's word is pale as the other law.
----------------------------------------------------------------
3.
It takes him a while to respond, and he shakes his head sadly. “Haud. Fortuna attero totus per satis vicis.”

(error: 2 disconnected direct objects (Fortuna, Vicis); One theoretically lacks a subject and a verb. Otherwise,

there is a lack of et, 'and'.)
(error: attero - I destroy. atterit - he/she/it(fortune) destroys.)

Lit: 'Not at all.' Fortune 'I destroy' whole very/excessively enough/sufficiently through event/occasion.
Lit Int: Not at all. I destroy the whole fortune very sufficiently through the event.

(extension: very sufficiently -> thoroughly)
(treating fortune as the subject)

Fix: Not at all. Fortune thoroughly destroys the whole event.
(dysfunctional; omits 'through'. Lit Int may be the more proper translation.)

----------------------------------------------------------------
4.
They are both extremely serious now. Ran looks straight into his eyes, and seems to ask a question. “Quis

succurro operor vos postulo?”

(error: question lacks the 'ne' ending to the first word of the sentence, which makes it into a question. Without

this addition (or Nonne, effectively the same thing), it is a statement.)
(not necessarily relevant information about nonne: it is the asking of a question, expecting a particular answer.

Id est: "you'll work, won't you?" the suffix 'ne' alone makes the sentence a question without strings attached, I

think.)
(operor is unclear; it is either a passive verb meaning along the lines of 'to work', or the noun for work or

help, opera.)

Lit: who 'runs up under'/helps ?v/n?(to work/labor)/(work/help) you 'I ask/demand/need'
(1st treats succurro as a noun (which is not its structure, technically), the second as a verb.)
Lit Int: Who helps your demand for work? / who helps your demands in labor?

(if who does not seem to fit, then perhaps 'what' will, for the beginning of the sentence. if this is so, then

'Quis" should be Quid(ne). Even still, I cannot find a form of this sentence that forms a logical transition to the next one. Either Lit Int can be interpereted as a potential translation.)

----------------------------------------------------------------
5.
Another pause, longer than the first. Nathaniel closes his eyes and says, “Tantum mancipium mos solvo mancipium.

Commodo, Ego precor vos. Vigilo, tamen operor non factum.”

(error: solvo - I free. requires an ending of t to properly be the action of the slave in the sentance.)

Lit: only slave will 'I free' slave. 'I adapt/serve',I beseech/pray you. To be awake, however not 'to work' deed.
Lit Int: Only a slave will free a slave. Serve, I beseech you. To be awake, however, is not a working deed.
(error: if both commodo and precor were meant as verbs, they lack 'et' (and) to link them together with the

subject "I" (nathaniel).)

Alternative translation to Lit Int: Only a slave will free a slave. I serve and beseech you. To be awake,

however, the deed does not work.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Please do not take these translations as truly concrete or professional, as I am no master of the Latin Language but rather a student. It is my hope, however, that these may help grant us some understanding of Nathaniel.
P.S. I mean no offense, good sir Owen, but these sentences were a tad broken, and thus this translation is limited in that it has translated a translation of the meaning behind Nathaniel's statement, but not necessarily the meanings themselves. I.E, I offer this: In the case that any more Latin does come up in the story, I gladly offer what skill I do have in making sure that the sentences are constructed properly; please do contact me if so. All in all, though, you have made a good attempt at Latin (better than I would have, before I started learning).

>>23011
Wow. Yeah, mine suck compared to that. You are one busy damn beaver, Dune. I don't think I'll bother with what I have.

I did notice you mentioned something important but skipped over it every time afterward.
>Fix Int:I will now destroy the whole of Fortune's(fate's?) evil.
If you use the translator Owen almost certainly used, then "Fate" is translated into "Fortuna." However, as you noted, "Fate" is a specific term that carries a very definite implication and/or second meaning in this story.
The short of it: "Fate" should probably replace all instances of "Fortune."

Also, Dune: Next time, could you use separate spoiler blocks? Having the whole thing flicker on and off when you scroll is maddening.

Otherwise, damned good work.

Very well. While it’s quite entertaining to watch you all debate and discuss over my story, I won’t have you debating over whether or not this translation or that is correct. I can see Dunefag spent a lot of time translating this, and even put in the grammatical errors and alternative translations for good measure. He deserves to be rewarded for his hard work. Thus, I shall give to you the actual phrases I wished to convey:

Nathaniel motions Ran over to him, and she cranes her head over the table as he whispers something strange into her ear.
“Fate’s evil will soon destroy all,” he says under his breath.
She looks at him strangely, but seems to understand what he is saying. She replies with equal strangeness. “Fate is weak when many are strong.”
It takes him a while to respond, and he shakes his head sadly. “No. Fate destroys all with enough time”
They are both extremely serious now. Ran looks straight into his eyes, and seems to ask a question. “What help do you need?”
Another pause, longer than the first. Nathaniel closes his eyes and says, “Only the slave will free the slave. Please, I beg of you. Watch, but do not yet act.”

And yes, Dunefag, I knew these sentences would be broken before I even wrote them; I used a simple online translator to create them. While it can give word-for-word translations, I knew that syntax and other sentence structure would be horrible, not to mention there words that the translator didn’t ever want to translate, forcing me to shift the sentences around even more. I’m surprised at how close you got despite that, but it’s proof that one should never put complete faith in an unknown machine and expect a desirable result.

If I ever have the urge to write in Latin again, I will surely come to you first. Thank you very much for your offer.

You are now free to debate the hidden meanings of this conversation at your own leisure.

>>23015
Well, I'd say the first slave is likely us, and the second is either Adam or Flandre.

Or something.

I have no idea.

>>23017
Nathaniel has no way to get into the basement.
The existence of Flandre and Adam are a secret (although since we were able to run into Adam with just the master key, I suppose not much of one).
Flandre isn't making any attempt to hide the sword. If he knew about her, he'd probably also know about the sword.
Plus, we even offered to open some doors for him using the master key. If he knew where it was and simply couldn't get there, he would've taken us up on that offer.

There's no way he knows about those two. He might be one of the slaves. It's also possible that there's only way slave, and he is simply mentioning 'the slave' twice.

>>23018
Somehow we're going to have to find out more about that sword and how it came to be here. There's clearly more to it than Remilia just finding it "lying around" and for Nathaniel to know about it but not where it currently is in the mansion, he probably had some connection to it from BEFORE it and he wound up at the SDM.

As for Adam and Flan, I'm not sure if their being in the basement is meant to keep them a secret, or just to keep them in a place where any damage they could cause would be kept to a minimum. They clearly have free reign over the basement itself, with any locks down there seemingly meant to keep others out rather than keeping the siblings IN. The same goes for the entrance to the basement itself, if that instance of finding the door unlocked and slightly ajar was any indication. Of course, there were those footsteps following us after we passed up investigating it further to consider, too.

I'm thinking that at least Flandre is free to come and go from the basement as she pleases, with perhaps some limitation in that she's not supposed to do so openly and/or in front of guests, but really all that would mean is she just has to keep herself out of their sight. Judging by the way she had apparently been watching us the first time we visited and looted her room (and quite possibly had been doing so even before then) she's clearly very good at doing just that.

Still, the fact she comes out of the basement at all means there's a chance, however slight, that someone will find out about her. Even if he doesn't know the specifics, someone as smart as Nathaniel could probably figure out that there are more people living in the mansion than he has personally seen, residing behind one of the numerous locked doors he cannot open.

As for someone who CAN open some of those doors, clearly if nothing is stopping the siblings from roaming the basement, and nothing is stopping someone from entering the basement, it would not be at all impossible to run into one of them in the process. We saw just how easy that could be when we found Adam again, even if he didn't fully reveal himself until we clearly had spotted him.

If her siblings are not meant to be encountered by any guests at all, I doubt Remilia would hand anyone a key that basically increases the odds of such an encounter ever happening, and so perhaps their being kept out of sight isn't so much a matter of secrecy, but a matter of trust. Whether it's trust in her siblings to not kill the guest, or the guest to not get himself killed (or do something else) I do not know, but I think the key is certainly relevant. You don't give someone a means of poking around your home, unlocking doors and seeing things that others cannot, unless you trust them for some reason. Which brings us back to the matter of the sword, and Nathaniel.

Isn't it a strange coincidence that the sword Remilia just happened to "find" is the same one Nathaniel wants, or that she would deposit it in one of the places that Nathaniel CANNOT access, and in the possession of two beings who could easily destroy pretty much anything? Consider some of the other things that we found with that sword, such as the box with the bottle and note from Eirin, the dynamite, and so on.

In placing that sword in Flan and Adam's care, was Remilia really regarding it as a toy to be played with by children? Or is it something more than that, something more like a treasure to be protected. Guarded.

I seem to recall there being something that was well-known for guarding things, especially treasure. What ever could it be, I wonder? I wonder?

>As for Adam and Flan, I'm not sure if their being in the basement is meant to keep them a secret, or just to keep them in a place where any damage they could cause would be kept to a minimum. They clearly have free reign over the basement itself, with any locks down there seemingly meant to keep others out rather than keeping the siblings IN. The same goes for the entrance to the basement itself, if that instance of finding the door unlocked and slightly ajar was any indication. Of course, there were those footsteps following us after we passed up investigating it further to consider, too.
I'd just assume that if they weren't meant to be a secret, Remilia would have mentioned their existence, or even brought them (or just flandre, if only because Adam's existence isn't part of our metaknowledge) up for a dinner to introduce them/show them off. Flandre is certainly down in the basement of her own will; you really just cannot imprison someone like her. On that note,
>Still, the fact she comes out of the basement at all means there's a chance, however slight, that someone will find out about her.
Just because she CAN come out doesn't mean she chooses to. She doesn't seem to have any problem with spending her life in the basement (This seems familiar somehow...), and so I highly doubt she has seen Nathaniel at all, or even any other past guest.

>If her siblings are not meant to be encountered by any guests at all, I doubt Remilia would hand anyone a key that basically increases the odds of such an encounter ever happening, and so perhaps their being kept out of sight isn't so much a matter of secrecy, but a matter of trust.
Yes, their 'captivity' is strange. But even if it's a matter of trust... but I can't even see how we earned it, especially since Nathaniel didn't and probably behaved just as well as we did. Unless she is keen on Nathaniel's scheme, but,

>Isn't it a strange coincidence that the sword Remilia just happened to "find" is the same one Nathaniel wants, or that she would deposit it in one of the places that Nathaniel CANNOT access, and in the possession of two beings who could easily destroy pretty much anything?
No... not really. It's just stupid to put something into a locked vault that a certain person supposedly cannot open, pretend you know nothing about it, and then leave that person alone to attempt to open it. That's not how you keep things safe. If Remilia does know what Nathaniel is up to, then she is just playing with him and not actually trying to keep the sword out of his hands (except in that just handing it to him wouldn't be fun). If she is just toying with him then us receiving the master key could be seen as a way to annoy him.

>>I'd just assume that if they weren't meant to be a secret, Remilia would have mentioned their existence, or even brought them (or just flandre, if only because Adam's existence isn't part of our metaknowledge) up for a dinner to introduce them/show them off.

If Remilia were somehow completely oblivious to how dangerously psychotic and destructive her siblings can be, sure, she would probably do something like that. You did see the part where Flan just casually (and perhaps unintentionally) blew up the Risk board, right? Now imagine something like that happening at dinner, and the sort of impression that might make on your guests.

As for why she wouldn't at least mention the fact that she has a couple of super-powerful insane siblings living in the basement, aside from the fact that it likely makes for poor dinner conversation, she might have simply not wanted to risk unnerving her guests, and assume the position that she need not trouble them with such information unless absolutely necessary, or at least until they're ready to know.

Along those lines, has she ever made any mention of her being a vampire, or drinking human blood? It's not like it's a secret that she's not human, and we have basically figured it out on our own after meeting Flan and Adam.

Unless your objective is to cause someone to shit themselves, I would think the notion that their lives are in grave danger just by being there is something you would want to introduce to them GRADUALLY. Ease them into it so when they finally realize the reality of their situation, they are more likely to be able to cope with it rather than immediately going into a terror-stricken state of panic. If you're going to be living in a house with beings who you're in danger of dying just by being in the same room as them, you had better get used to the idea.

>>It's just stupid to put something into a locked vault that a certain person supposedly cannot open, pretend you know nothing about it, and then leave that person alone to attempt to open it. That's not how you keep things safe. If Remilia does know what Nathaniel is up to, then she is just playing with him and not actually trying to keep the sword out of his hands (except in that just handing it to him wouldn't be fun). If she is just toying with him then us receiving the master key could be seen as a way to annoy him.

But the only one she claimed ignorance about the sword to was Flandre, and aside from possibly wanting to spare her sister the messy details of how the sword came into her possession, if the whole point of giving it to her is to protect it then there should be no reason for Flan to be told anything more about it.

As for the wisdom or stupidity of such a plan, you're forgetting that the person wanting to get whatever is in the vault doesn't even know where the vault IS, let alone any idea of how to get into it, and even if he did he would still have to deal with the small matter of the two beings living in it that can kill virtually anything in a heartbeat if they wanted.

Flan may have let us go with the things we took from her room, but it could be that she had some particular reason for doing so. I doubt she would be so generous to someone who broke in and tried to take the one thing that her dear little brother seems to adore so much.

Then again, that could be somewhat why Nathaniel is relying upon US to do the work for him.

As for Remilia, her reasons for giving us a key and not giving one to Nathaniel might not be known to us, but there's surely more to it than just her acting on a whim. She probably is aware that Nathaniel is up to something, and is there for more than just trying to fix his watch, but perhaps she does not know much beyond that. If that's the case, then her actions might not be intended to toy with him (well, not entirely, anyway) but to get him to give away what his true intentions are.

Ehh, I've lost all the discussion from the last thread and now I'm avoiding the ones here. I can see there are one or two things I should not, or want not to know. Yet.

But fuck, with so big posts I kinda want to read them.

>As for the wisdom or stupidity of such a plan, you're forgetting that the person wanting to get whatever is in the vault doesn't even know where the vault IS, let alone any idea of how to get into it, and even if he did he would still have to deal with the small matter of the two beings living in it that can kill virtually anything in a heartbeat if they wanted.
Yes, but he knows that it's there somewhere. If Remilia for whatever reason wanted to make absolutely sure that Nathaniel does not get the sword, then she certainly would not let him be a guest in her house. She's either oblivious to his real intentions or is just toying with him.

>If Remilia were somehow completely oblivious to how dangerously psychotic and destructive her siblings can be, sure, she would probably do something like that. You did see the part where Flan just casually (and perhaps unintentionally) blew up the Risk board, right? Now imagine something like that happening at dinner, and the sort of impression that might make on your guests.
ok, I'll admit, that was dumb.

>>If Remilia for whatever reason wanted to make absolutely sure that Nathaniel does not get the sword, then she certainly would not let him be a guest in her house.

Why not? You know what they say about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, right? If you know someone is up to something, and there's even the slightest chance it could spell trouble for you, the best position you could put them in is one that gives you the greatest ability to keep tabs on them. This is especially prudent if Ran, and by extension Yukari, are now a part of the equation.

Perhaps I'm giving her too much credit, but I can't help but think that there is little she does without having some purpose behind it. Be it playing a card game, giving them the key to the mansion, or even something as innocuous as leaving the room to check up on her maid, giving Ran and Nathaniel the opportunity to have the little exchange might have more behind it. After all, if you want to see how someone acts when you can't see them, just make them think you CAN'T see them.

[Put the spectacles on quickly: play it off like you got hit by a bit of table and are checking your face.]
[Make sure Cirno, Adam and Flandre are alright.]
[Keep the sword in mind. If nothing else, it possesses the power to turn Nathaniel into a raving lunatic. It probably ought to be kept out of his hands for now.]

This is madness. The board…what happened to the board? Armies from all across the world are flying through the air like ragdolls, peppering you in the face. Ash and paper, ash and paper; what was once the board is now nothing but a mist of powder on the clothes of the people sitting in this room. Did, no, was Flandre the one who destroyed it, just by pointing at it?! “Thhee breakth everything thhee toucheth if thhee’th not careful, and it’th tho hard for her to be careful…” Adam wasn’t joking, then. You knew that Flandre was a force to be reckoned with, a “cartload of dynamite” as it were, but now? Now she might as well be an entire warehouse full of dynamite, and what’s worse is that no one can tell how long the fuse is at all, or if it’s even lit. How could such power rest in the hands of someone like this? What kind of world gives a child with a broken mind such abilities of destruction?

But you can’t completely lose your mind, not now; the spectacles must mean Sakuya is coming soon, and you don’t have much time. Using the flying R.I.S.K. pieces as a distraction, you cover your face with your hand and fall backwards, while at the same time slipping the spectacles out of your pocket. Blast it; not a good enough angle, you’ll have to shift just a little bit—

“Ooo! What are those? They look cool! Lemme see, lemme see!”

You suddenly feel a hand come out of nowhere are forcibly pluck the glasses from your face. As you get up to see, Flandre has already shoved the spectacles onto her eyes. No, no, no! Panic washes through your body like being hit by the full force of a tidal wave. If you wait any longer, she’ll see through them! She’ll know what they do! You have to get them back!

“Could I please have my glasses back, Flandre?” you ask, trying to sound much more calm than you really are.

She waves a hand at you, pushing you away. “Yeah, yeah, just a sec, I just wanna play with ‘em for a minute! These are weird; they’re all broken and blurry and stuff.”

You try again, desperately clinging to hope. “It’s not nice to take things without asking for them, Flandre. Could I please have my glasses back?”

“Just a sec! I’m not gonna break them or anything, I just wanna—“

She stops in mid-sentence. The room becomes dead silent, and the glasses slowly fall from her face, landing softly in her lap. Her eyes are vacant and unfocused, registering nothing. Adam is holding on to Cirno carefully, preventing her from talking or moving right now. All fourteen pieces of the crystal rainbow on Flandre’s back begin to flicker uncontrollably, like the scattering of raindrops on a dark pond. She doesn’t move, doesn’t talk, doesn’t even breathe.

“Where did you get these?”

Her voice…it’s different. It’s just like the time last night, right before you left. There’s no more childish innocence or insane ramblings anymore; this is the voice of someone who has lived for time beyond counting, of someone who has learned the knowledge of ages. She would almost sound like Patchouli if her pitch wasn’t still the sweet notes of a little girl, despite the depth of her words. You look at her, awestruck. Her eyes look into yours. But not just simply look into them, they look. You can’t lie to these eyes, no matter how hard you try.

“I found them, just lying about in my room. I’ve no idea where they came from,” you answer simply, unable to look away. The wings…they’ve chosen a color, now, but more than one. Every single crystal save the blue ones are glowing as bright as a flame.

“You know what they do?”

“I...” you pause before continuing. “I’m still not certain. They sometimes let you look into a world, a world where time has stopped, and only one person can move. But, I still don’t know why, or how.”

Adam cautiously approaches his sister. “Fl-Flandre? Are you all right? What’s got into you?”

She looks at him tenderly, placing an arm on his shoulder. “I’m fine, Adam. For now, I’m fine. And I’m sorry. For all the terrible things I’ve done to you…I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

She turns her attention now to Cirno. “Little one,” she says softly, “Never forget your dreams. Never let go of your hopes to be the strongest one of all. One day, someone will come for you, and make all your dreams come true; I promise. But until that day…Patience.”

Even Cirno nods her head in quiet acknowledgement, and you think you can see a tear fall from her eye. Flandre turns back to you, and you can see the light in her wings start to fade. “Man, poor man, my time is short; listen well. Already your head is at the chopping block. Resist your fate, resist with every fiber of your soul. Never…uhhnn, n-never give in to temptation-nnn.” She slumps forward, falling into your chest suddenly. You hold her as cautiously as possible, praying that this isn’t some illusion, and that you’re not already damned to destruction at her hands for touching her. She wrenches your head down into her eyes, the wisdom quickly evaporating from them. You can feel her shiver as she musters the strength to utter two more words.

“…T-trus-st hi-im…”

Trust him. You nod solemnly, still unsure as to what she’s saying. There’s only two “hims” she could be talking about: Adam and Nathaniel. But which one did she mean? Adam would be the obvious choice; she can see that you’re wary around him, and she would know better than anyone if he’s trustworthy. But, Nathaniel…if there’s one person you would want to know who to trust beyond a shadow of a doubt, it would be him. But she couldn’t possibly know all that you’ve been thinking about him. She couldn’t possibly mean him…could she?

(Perfect and elegant…)

(…mood-breaker.)

“Having fun?”

Oh for the love of—why now? Sakuya is standing inside the door to the bedroom, holding a tray of food and other items, watching your every move. How much did she hear? How much did she see?

Flandre jumps up from your embrace and begins to entertain herself with picking up the game pieces that are now scattered across the floor like debris, all crystals back to their unlit state. Sakuya walks into the room and looks at both you and Cirno. “Out, please, it’s time for these two’s dinner. You can play again tomorrow.” There’s no sound in her voice that says you did anything wrong, or anything right for that matter. She’s not being cold, but she’s definitely being firm, and you decide it’s best not to push your luck for now, not in a compromising position like this. Cirno tries to brush the ash off her now-filthy uniform, and follows you outside. Sakuya calmly shuts the door (you can see her struggling with the weight; at least she doesn’t have superhuman strength to match her speed) and you hear a heavy click as the lock slides into place, leaving the two of you to fend for yourselves

Questions and answers…Answers and questions. Flandre…who is she? The things she just told you…they were her, but you can feel in your soul that she wasn’t as insane as before when she said them, perhaps not even insane at all. Can you actually take any of it to heart? “For all the terrible things I’ve done to you…” Does that mean just chaining him up in a dark room, or is there more to that statement? “Already your head is at the chopping block. Resist your fate, resist with every fiber of your soul.” Flandre thinks you’re in danger, you think you’re in danger, and there’ve been little hints all over the place that keep confirming that. But where is the danger coming from? Or perhaps, who is causing it? And how can you possibly resist what you can’t see?

[ ] Write-in only

========================================

>>23022
Do not feel included to read them. I assure you the only thing it will do is make you question everything you think you know about the story. I am the writer, and even I’m questioning myself! Whenever you have doubts, simply ignore everything except the words within the story itself. Treat it as a real book, if you will.

>>23024
>Perhaps I'm giving her too much credit, but I can't help but think that there is little she does without having some purpose behind it.
I seem to recall a picture being drawn of Remilia looking at the viewer with folded hands, uttering, “Just as planned.” This may or may not be relevant at the current time.

>>23024
If Nathaniel is her only concern, why not just kill him? Or if not that, what could he do to get to the basement if he is denied access to the mansion? I doubt he can fly or do danmaku with the maids, given that he isn't a native. I can't imagine him being able to get the sword without being allowed to practically go on top of it.

If Yukari is her concern, then Flandre won't be able to stop her anyways.

>>If Nathaniel is her only concern, why not just kill him? Or if not that, what could he do to get to the basement if he is denied access to the mansion? I doubt he can fly or do danmaku with the maids, given that he isn't a native. I can't imagine him being able to get the sword without being allowed to practically go on top of it.

I don't think it's that Nathaniel himself is a threat, but whatever his reason for being there is. He didn't get through the border and all the way here without help, after all. Killing him would be a certain way to stop whatever he was doing, but it would reveal nothing about the WHY behind it. Would you kill a spy without first establishing what he was spying on, and for whom?

But then, that's really not for us to worry about, is it? Not when we still have to figure out what our own role in all of this is supposed to be.

Ideally, if you figure out a spy, you don't want to kill him. You either turn him to your side or deliberately control the information/disinformation he gets to trip up the ones employing him. Killing him outright reveals that you figured him out, and they can reverse-engineer how you did it afterwards and insert a new agent that you'll have to figure out all over again.

>>23028
>>23029
Unless, of course, he's working on his own, for his own motives.

I think this discussion is getting more than a little ahead of itself.

Well, there goes one of the most useful items we had, and all we get in exchange for it is some cryptic babble from an insane girl.

At first glance it seems painfully obvious Flandre was referring to Nathaniel with the ‘trust him’ thing, especially considering how discussion outside the story has indicated that plenty of us don't trust him and this may be intended to be a hint of sorts. However it seems so obvious that I think this could just be a red herring meant to throw us off. We know Flan has never met Nathaniel, but that doesn’t really matter much since she seemed to be acting near-omnipotent during her little speech. What I think does matter is that she was talking to Adam just a few moments before she told us 'trust him'. Hopefully she would have been a bit more specific if she was referring to someone else.

All in all, she was exceptionally vague, and I don’t think we should place any more trust in Adam or Nathaniel based on her ranting. It seems like we can trust Adam while he’s got the lisp, but not beyond that. Nathaniel remains the same mostly untrustworthy, knife wielding, tongue speaking, absurdly intelligent watch repairman.

I’m coming up mostly blank on what we should do next. In the short term I suppose we should get out of the basement before Sakuya gets done feeding Adam and Flan. The Library is the only half-decent destination I can think of. We might be able to learn a little more about magic, find a book on lock picking, or try to translate some of that Latin, assuming we actually remember any of it.

[x]Get out of the basement, head for the library.
[x]Ask Cirno what she thinks about all this on the way.

[x]Get out of the basement, head for the library.
[x]Ask Cirno what she thinks about all this on the way.

[x]Get out of the basement, head for the library.
[x]Ask Cirno what she thinks about all this on the way.

>>23031

So... after all that, your advice is to ignore one of the biggest hints we've gotten so far?

If we ignore what she said for fear that its a red herring, then we are we even bothering following clues which are even more vague?

I really think all of you are getting way ahead of yourselves. No one ever said anything about Flan even once during the story. To assume that she has or hasn't had interactions with anyone is reckless, and to base entire plans of actions on that fact? Pure idiocy.

I will gladly take advice given honestly and directly to baseless assumption any day.

- - -

For now, I believe our plan of action should be to storm over to Nathaniel, tell him we found justice, kick him in the balls, and demand answers. You may omit one of these steps if desired, but its about time we get some answers.

>>23034
Agreed; all of this intriguing means nothing unless we can get some answers, with a direct method being the type most clearly capable of doing so.
Additionally, it is just my style and preference at times to end things quickly (in this case, our ignorance about Nathaniel).
[X]Get out of the basement, head for the library.
[X]Ask Cirno what she thinks about all this on the way.
This still seems the best option, since Patchouli is likely who has the best idea of where Nathaniel may be. Stopping at our room prior might be beneficial, however...

[x]Get out of the basement, head for the library.
[x]Ask Cirno what she thinks about all this on the way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Eya3_IqOQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Fortuna

It won't stop playing in my head!! Owen... what do you have in store for us?

>>23036
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekGi-ccTOXQ

[x]Get out of the basement, head for the library.
[x]Ask Cirno what she thinks about all this on the way.
I agree it's about time we confronted Nathaniel about his actual reason for being in the mansion. The library would be the best place to start looking for him.

[X]Get out of the basement, head for the library.
[X]Ask Cirno what she thinks about all this on the way.

>>We know Flan has never met Nathaniel,

Do we, now?
Of course, whether or not Flandre has personally met Nathaniel (or anyone else, for that matter) is more or less irrelevant. You don't really have to MEET anyone in order to know about them or what they're doing. You merely have to watch and listen, and if Remilia has some means of doing that in the rest of the mansion, it could very well be that Flan has something similar, or perhaps she's just really good at sneaking and hiding.

Shame Flan can't stay in Bernkastel-mode for long. She seems quite pleasant when she doesn't have her "You go BOOM" button on a hair-trigger, and might be nice to hang around with every now and then. Plus, she might have been able to go into something a little more specific other than the typical "cryptic warning" that could easily screw you over if you misinterpret it. Well, at least the "resist temptation" part isn't so ambiguous. Of course, since we already resisted the temptation to play bed-top sports with the lovely scantily-clad gate guard, one has to wonder just what there is that actually COULD tempt us.

[x] Talk with Cirno while still in the basement
[x] Check what is the current time
[x] Visit the Library

If we are going to ask Cirno about the things that just happened, it would be best to keep it in the basement. At this point, it seems that Sakuya is at least concerned on our...survival rate. We should probably tell something along the lines of: if anything were to happen to us such as go missing for a long time or die, we would like her to watch our stuff or hide them.
If something does happen to us, the diary would explain what might have happened to us.
Getting Cirno's opinion on who she thinks Flandre was talking about trusting is not a bad idea. We learn how Cirno feels about the two other males in the mansion, and we get a clue as to who we might be more willing to trust. At this point we know this about both of them:

Adam- has shown and told us he is of a more stable mind while he has his lipsth, and he took our words to heart about controlling himself and being gently with the flower. He is possibly the closest to Flandre right now.
Nathaniel-is smart yet eccentric, is obsessed with justice which we can now assume is the sword we found. He is just as moody as Flandre seems to be,going from jovial to serious, to angry and so forth. At the very least, we feel we need to watch ourselves around him even more now, it makes sense why he would be mad that we got a master key and why he said that we will bring justice to him. Just like Flandre, it is in our best interest to listen to him when his mood changes. We did not tell Flandre anything about Nathaniel. We probably should ask her if she knows him next time. For an intelligent person, he seems to see the world in a pretty fixed manner with users, creators, and destroyers. If we get the chance, we might wanna ask Ran what she thinks of him since they seemed to have had an extremely serious conversation a while back.

If we are going to be doing anything, we should probably keep track of time. Being a guest we could probably assume that we will be served Supper later on tonight. Sakuya or Cirno would probably tell us when it would be if that is the case. We do need to know though how much time we can waste.

We could do so many things in the library. Find out about the coin we have, learn more about almost everything too. We now know how to harness our magic, we could do more with it if we learn more. As both Sakuya and Patchouli said, magic is focus. We could probably even ask Cirno about magic if we really wanted to.

[Get out of the basement, head for the library.]
[Ask Cirno what she thinks about all this on the way.]
[Check the current time]

There’s no sense staying down here any longer; Sakuya has made it fairly clear that you should “play” somewhere else in the mansion for the time being, and with the two little vampires currently indisposed (you don’t even want to thick about what their “dinner” is), there’s really not much else you can do down here. Well, except talk to Cirno “safely”, that is, and you might as well get some things off your chest.

“Come on Cirno, let’s walk around down here for a while,” you suggest. “I want to talk about some things with you.”

She nods. “Yes sir, I think that would be a smart thing.”

You take a short moment to wipe the ash of the exploding game board off of Cirno’s face with your shirt sleeve, and she does the same for you with a cloth procured from her apron. Your clothes are both still filthy, but it’ll have to do for now. The two of you begin strolling the basement corridors side by side, asking questions of each other back and forth.

“So,” you begin, “what do you make of all that in there?”

“You mean with Adam and Flandre, sir? Well, I mean, it’s all so jumbled to me, master. Could you be a little more specific, please?”

“Fair enough. Let’s start small. Umm, did you have fun playing the games?”

“I didn’t like that Rummy game very much, sir, but I suppose Risk was okay…until I lost.”

You smile, looking at her like a little sister who needs to be shown the way. “Well, you weren’t exactly playing the right way, you know? In that game, you’re supposed to expand out and take over everything, not just sit in one place. But I admit, you put up a darn good fight there, Cirno.”

She blushes. “T-Thank you, sir.”

You wait for a few seconds before talking a bigger question. “So…let’s talk about Mr. Adam, first. Do you think he insane?”

“Umm…” She looks confused, as if she doesn’t understand the question. “I forget. Exactly what does ‘in-saying’ mean again? I forgot, master.”

“No, no, ‘insane’. It means that, well, that your brain is a little broken. Insane people can’t think as well as normal people, and the things they do think about can be meaningless sometimes. Some insane people are dangerous to be around, too.”

“Well, then, yes, I guess Mr. Adam is insane then, sir. Expect, wait, no, maybe he’s not? ‘Cause you told me how he was all scary and mad last night, sir, like an insane person, but just now he didn’t seem so bad. He just sounded like a normal boy to me.”

Sounds exactly like what you’ve been thinking. Insane…and yet not insane. “Mmm, what about Miss Flandre?”

“She’s, well…” Cirno looks up at you and almost grabs your coat for security, but she holds back, trying to remain strong. “She’s scary, master. She’s too hyper and full of energy. I mean, that’s good and all, I’m like that all the time outside! But, but she doesn’t act normal at all. She doesn’t stay focused, and she’s not, what’s that word again, ‘subtle’ I think? I’m pretty sure she’s insane, master.”

Now for the big question. You stop walking and look at Cirno closely. “Should we trust them?”

As expected, she doesn’t answer right away, and when she finally does, all she ends up saying is, “I don’t know. That’s too hard a question for me, sir. But, I guess…I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try, right? I mean, Adam’s normal most of the time, and Flandre…well, she told me to never let go of my dreams. She, she promised me that I’d find someone! Someone who really cares!”

“What if she was just being insane? What if she didn’t know what she was saying?”

“I…I don’t think she was. She sounded like Miss Letty and Daiyousei do when they’re really taking care of me. They’re older than me, but they still want what’s best for me. Even if I don’t like Flandre, I-I want to believe her.”

You nod quietly and brush some of the paper shavings off of Cirno’s hair. Trust is a hard thing to decide, especially when seemingly no one here can be taken at face value. You continue walking.

“You remember that sword Adam had, Cirno?” you ask casually.

“The Ekwee-toss one, sir? Yeah.”

“I think that...” You find it more difficult than first expected to say these words aloud. “I think that that’s the thing Nathaniel has been looking for all along.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“Well, Flandre said that ‘equitas’ means ‘justice’ in Latin, right?”

“What’s Latin, master?”

You shake your head hopelessly. “It’s a different language, Cirno, a very old one. Anyways, Nathaniel was telling me that I was supposed to find justice and put it in his hands, or something like that. And since the sword’s name means ‘justice’, I think that he wants me to get that sword to him.”

She nods. “Mhm, okay. So, why don’t you, then?”

Ahh, if only, if only…You wish that you could be just like Cirno for a change. Self confident, trusting, never worrying about schemes or ulterior motives. The best you can do is make sure your worries don’t be become hers as well. Or at least not to the point yours are at right now.

“It’s not that simple,” you answer sadly. “First off, the sword is Flandre’s right now, or maybe Adam’s. They both really seem to like it, too. I can’t just take it from them; a child won’t give away their favorite toy to a stranger, would they? And even if I did get the sword, I…I still don’t trust Nathaniel. I don’t know what he wants, or what he’ll do when he gets whatever it is he’s after. I’m not just going to give him some mysterious sword because he asked me to!”

“…But Ms. Flandre told you to trust him.”

You stop. Coming from her, it sounds so…

“No. She told me to trust ‘him.’ She could have been talking about Adam too, you know. I don’t think she even knows who Nathaniel is.”

Cirno looks down and shrugs. “I guess you’re right, master. My way would be stupid.”

You put a hand on her shoulder and comfort her. “Don’t worry about it. Come on; let’s go visit Miss Patchouli in the library ‘for a spell’, heh heh.”

She looks back at you, confused and oblivious. “Why are you laughing, master? Did you make a joke?”

She didn’t…? Well, that’s Cirno for you. “Never mind, let’s just go.”

(You are now imagining…)

(…A “Circle-9” symbol zooming in and out to signify a scene change.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The familiar smell of old wood and older paper fills your lungs as you once again enter the gigantic library of the mansion. The odd sound of faintly grinding wood meets your ears again, like furniture being shoved across the floor, except much heavier, and with a metallic ring to is as well. You check your watch out of curiosity. 4:15 already? That game of R.I.S.K. must have taken longer than you thought.

You start wandering through the shelves, trying to remember the way you went last time to get to the central hub area where you last found Patchouli. However, there’s no Sakuya here to guide you, and even though there aren’t than many intersections to take, the ones you do find are all at weird angles that soon have you wandering around in confusion.

“Master, are we lost?” Cirno ask you.

You try and sound confident and chuckle a little. “Lost? No, I’ve been here before, the way is right…no, maybe it’s…umm, yes, Cirno, we are lost.”

“Ohh, hmm, that’s too bad. Do you need help, then?”

Wait, that wasn’t Cirno, who’s there? Behind you you find that the red-haired “Koakuma” from before is standing in the aisles not far from you. She’s taller than the maids, but still a little shorter than average for a woman. And yes, she’s definitely more of a woman that a girl; her face is young, but not that young, and her full chest solidifies her maturity. The oddest thing, though, is that she has a small pair of black bat wings not on her back, but sprouting from the sides of her head, each a little smaller than a dinner plate.

“I said, do you need help?” Her voice is sweet like honey, but lacks the elegant refinement that someone like Remilia has. “Hmm, I can show you the way if you need me to.”

“Well, that’s…I mean, I don’t want to be a bother, miss,” you reply, finding it a little difficult to speak. “I’m sure you have work to do and all that; it must be a big job to take care of a huge library like this.”

She tilts her head, draping her bold red hair over one of her eyes in a very cute manner. “It’s not that hard, really. And it has it’s, hmm, little joys. But please, it’s no trouble; I can help you find your way in no time.”

[ ] Accept her help; you’ll never find anything in here without a guide
[ ] Politely decline, but stay here and talk with her for a while (specify discussion points)
[ ] Politely decline; you’re fine just wandering around
[ ] Can’t Cirno just fly you both over the library shelves to the center?
[ ] You could always write a write in…

[X] Accept her help; you’ll never find anything in here without a guide. While enroute ask about Koakuma and her tasks, then ask about her relationship with Patchouli. Finally ask about what she thinks about Nathaniel.

Help offered, no trouble to offerer, help is in fact needed. Accept.

But lets get the most of it by engaging in discussion along the way.

[X] Accept her help; you’ll never find anything in here without a guide. While enroute ask about Koakuma and her tasks, then ask about her relationship with Patchouli. Finally ask about what she thinks about Nathaniel.

Seems an obvious choice.

>>23045
[X] Accept her help; you’ll never find anything in here without a guide (go to Patchouli, maybe ask more about magic outside of danmaku)
[X] While walking, talk with her for a while
-What kind of books does this library have?
-Does Mr. Nathaniel work down here?

Don't wanna make our real reason down here too obvious; talking to Patchouli is a good pretext for looking for Nathaniel.

Slowpoke discussion time, started writing before update:

First Cirno tells us that Nathaniel doesn't sound so bad and is just as confused as us, and then Flandre tells us to "trust him." Considering we've already placed a measure of trust in Adam, or have at least appeared to trust Adam (deferring to him to answer for us, playing his chosen game, and not holding back when asking what to do [and not do] around Flandre), I think the only "him" left to trust is Nathaniel. And yes, I place great weight in Flandre's words. Every single crystal was lit except the blue one was lit during this lucid moment? The one color we were told equals impending danger? This is me trusting Adam again, but I think this is significant. Certainly don't think we should wander up and say "Oh hey I found your justice. You should've just called it weird looking sword though." Maybe alude to the encounter in the bathroom; hopefully it won't set him off. If it does, goddamnit why must you make this so hard on us? At least we have one of Sakuya's throwing knives, but getting into a knife fight isn't my definition of a good time. If he doesn't flip out, well, I don't know. It may very well be the first time we've intenionally resolved a major mystery. I don't know how that feels.

Those glasses, though... damn. Saw through Sakuya's THE WORLD and unlocked Flandre's sanity? I'm sure this is some kind of logical fallacy, but I think those glasses have some kind of negation/perception/clarification hax. What could a complete pair do? Great things, I do reckon.

Temptation, eh? Wise words, but man, there is temptation at every corner. Sure, there was Meiling, but that's so straight-forward. What about being enabled magically? How far could that take us, what powers could be attained? Having the blessing of the Scarlet Devil to do whatever we wish in her halls as well? On top of that, we have all of the mysterious tools that have been granted us that unlock the secrets of the mansion!

Temptation at every damn corner.

[X] Accept her help; you’ll never find anything in here without a guide (go to Patchouli, maybe ask more about magic outside of danmaku)
[X] While walking, talk with her for a while
-What kind of books does this library have?
-Does Mr. Nathaniel work down here?

>Those glasses, though... damn. Saw through Sakuya's THE WORLD and unlocked Flandre's sanity? I'm sure this is some kind of logical fallacy, but I think those glasses have some kind of negation/perception/clarification hax. What could a complete pair do? Great things, I do reckon.

I think the best theory is that the glasses simply reminded her of their previous owner, whom she likely played some role in the demise of (accounting for why they broke in the first place), and momentarily snapped her out of her vampire Alzheimer's. That's why she was so concerned over why where we got them.

>>23053
>(accounting for why they broke in the first place)
I'd think they'd be in worse shape if she broke them. Aren't they only bent in one frame and have a broken glass?

I think she was just able to recognize/identify/sense the power in the glasses; she didn't recognize them until AFTER she put them on. She knows latin, so she definitely has an adult's knowledge, even if it's in a child's mind. If she has seen those exact glasses before, I assume they were fully intact at the time.


> “It’s not that hard, really. And it has it’s, hmm, little joys. But please, it’s no trouble; I can help you find your way in no time.”
She's going to molest us and Cirno.
[x] Accept her help; you’ll never find anything in here without a guide

>>23056
>I'd think they'd be in worse shape if she broke them.

I think the implication is not that she broke the glasses, but rather the person wearing them. The wooden game pieces survived the destruction of the risk board, so perhaps the glasses would survive the destruction of their owner.

What happened to the glasses, anyway? Last we saw of them was:
>The room becomes dead silent, and the glasses slowly fall from her face, landing softly in her lap.

>>23066
I think we left them in the room when Sakuya rushed us out.

>>23067
Well, if it's any consolation, we know we can trust at least Adam to take care of things we leave with him. Maybe he'll hold on to them until we visit him again.

[X] Accept her help; you’ll never find anything in here without a guide (go to Patchouli, maybe ask more about magic outside of danmaku)
[X] While walking, talk with her for a while
-What kind of books does this library have?
-Does Mr. Nathaniel work down here?

[quote]Temptation, eh? Wise words, but man, there is temptation at every corner.[/quote]

That is true, but I think it would help everybody if we agree on what exactly temptation is. Personally,I believe temptation is any enticement that turns you away from your morals or what wisdom would dictate would be true. Morals are a personal issue in itself but usually adhere to common codes. As for wisdom, it's a bit more subjective. A curious child could be easily tempted to stick a fork into an electrical outlet. Common sense dictates that it would be very detrimental to his health.

>>23071
>[quote][/quote]
You don't have a lot of common sense, do you? Do you see anyone ELSE using block quotes?

>A curious child could be easily tempted to stick a fork into an electrical outlet. Common sense dictates that it would be very detrimental to his health.
How would a child know that? Seriously.

>[quote][/quote]
You don't have a lot of common sense, do you? Do you see anyone ELSE using block quotes?

>A curious child could be easily tempted to stick a fork into an electrical outlet. Common sense dictates that it would be very detrimental to his health.
How would a child know that? Seriously.

I don't actually know how to edit text, any help would be useful. As for the child thing, I actually forgot details there. I meant a curious child being tempted to do that after being told ,by someone they should probably be listening to, something along the lines of staying away from the outlets. What I meant by wisdom was using the knowledge passed on by an authority figure, like parents. In general, for there to be temptation there must be a resisting force no matter how big or small.

>>23075
>I don't actually know how to edit text
You can't.

>any help would be useful.
Do what everyone else is doing.

...how IS everyone else making spoiler and quote flags?

>>23078
Spoilers I'll tell because this site doesn't have an FAQ. [.spoiler] and [./spoiler]. [.s], [.b], [.i], and [.u] also work. No other BBCode or similar is available.

Also, putting 'noko' into the email field will stop you from leaving the thread after replying. Putting 'sage' in will stop the thread from bumping. This happens automatically after 200 replies.

Where'd you come from, anyways? You're obviously not from 4chan or pooshlmer. I hope you at least read the archives of this story in full.

a friend pointed me here. I have followed this story since the 4th page, butI have read and saved since the 1st page and onwards after finishing the 4th page.
As for the coding, I just looked at other bulletin board codes at google and tried it out.

[Accept her help; you’ll never find anything in here without a guide]
[While walking, talk with her for a while]

No sense looking a gift-horse in the mouth, and certainly not such a pretty one as this. You accept her offer and follow her wagging finger as she begins to show you the way to Patchouli. She makes multiple stops along the way to pick out a book from the shelves, presumably from a list she keeps taking out of her dress. This gives you plenty of time to strike up a conversation with the little lady.

“So, Ms. Koakuma,” you say, “just what kind of library is this? I mean, what kind of books does it have?”

She glances over her shoulder casually. “Everything. Hmm, it has every kind of book you could ever imagine; even some that you couldn’t! If you can think of something in your head, there’ll be a book on it in here.” That little hum she keeps emitting in her sentences…it strikes a soft spot in your heart every time she says it.

“So, for instance, what if I wanted a book on British superstitions of the 18th century? Could I just pick it out right here?” You point to a random book on the shelf, half-expecting it to magically be the exact topic you requested, but it appears to just be some ancient encyclopedia.

Koamuka’s hair swishes back and forth as she shakes her head. “No, silly! Of course you’d have to, hmm, look for a book if you want to find it. Is there anything you want me to find for you? It won’t take but a few moments, I, hmm, promise.”

A book, eh? If the library is as vast as she’s making it out to be, you could ask for anything! A book on magic, a book on vampires, maybe even a brief history of the world from 1887 until now (whenever “now” is). You decide to randomly draw out a topic that’s been nagging at you for a while.

“How abouuut, umm, a Latin-to-English dictionary? I’ve always wanted to try and learn a little Latin.” You’ve really got no other reason than to take a stab at translating whatever Nathaniel said during lunch (you’re pretty sure he was speaking in Latin), but it’s as good a reason as any.

“Certainly, certainly, just wait right here for a little while; hmm, I’ll be right back with your book.” She flashes you a little smile and a wink, then glides away into the air effortlessly, her tiny head-wings flapping comically. You sit down on the floor, with Cirno following suit.

“Well,” you sigh, “isn’t she a nice girl? Helping us out like that and even getting me a book! Lucky we found her, I suppose.”

“Yes sir; I suppose.” Cirno’s face seems a bit downcast, but it’s so subtle you can’t tell why. Could the strain of her servitude be getting to her more visibly now?

You occupy yourself with reading the spines of the nearby books, without much luck unfortunately. These books appear to all be in a strange squiggly language with no spaces whatsoever, and there’s no pictures on the covers to tell you anything about the contents. After a few minutes, you feel a slight brushing sensation on your cheek, and spin around your head quickly, almost bumping into Koakuma’s face.

“Oh! Sorry! I didn’t expect that!” she apologizes quickly. Why was she leaning over your shoulder so closely? Couldn’t she have just tapped you or said excuse me? She holds out a book in front of her, which you take; yup, a Latin-to-English dictionary and grammer aid, just like you asked.

“I can hold onto that book for you if you’d like, master,” Cirno suggests.

“Oh, why thank you Cirno; how thoughtful. Here.” You hand the large dictionary to Cirno, who seems to have slight difficulty holding onto it with her small hands, but manages somehow.

Koakuma look at you thoughtfully, sighing a little. “So! Where were you headed again? I can’t remember if you ever mentioned that or not.”

You tell her that you’re trying to find Patchouli, wherever she is. The red-headed girl nods and curls a hand around her mouth, thinking. “I’m pretty sure Patchouli is still in the center of the library. It isn’t far now, just keep behind me a while longer.” The three of you continue your trek through the books. You wonder just who had the time to even acquire all the books, let alone try and sort or read them.

“Mr. Nathaniel works down here, right?” you inquire.

“The watch man?” Koakuma asks. “Yes, he’s down here quite a lot. Stays here almost all day, working on that little watch of his, and playing chess with our Ms. Patchouli whenever he’s not. He’s probably here right now, come to think of it. Do you want to visit him as well?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘visit’, maybe more, umm, talk to?”

“Ahh…I see,” she answers ominously. “I suppose he has that effect on—eeep!”

A shower of books dislodges from the shelves above right in front of Koakuma. She staggers backwards in surprise, accidentally trips over you which then causes you to stagger backwards, and in the end you’re both on the ground in a tangled pile. “S-Sorry,” she stutters, struggling a little to get up, but ultimately failing. From this distance you can really get a good look at her face. It’s pale, but perfect; there’s not a single blemish to be found on it anywhere. The black wings on her head are curled back against her hair right now, almost looking like black cat ears of a sort. She looks at you with fiery orange eyes, eyes that are somehow sharp and soft at the same time. Her hair…Her hair wasn’t this short, was it? Must just be the angle.

Suddenly there’s something soft and wet on your cheek; Koakuma’s lips are kissing the side of your face ever so gently. You try to turn your face away from her, startled by this sudden physical display of affection, but she leans over you and continues the kiss, slowly slipping closer and closer to your mouth with each breath. The redhead’s hands are moving around your chest, trying to get at your skin through the thick coat you’re wearing. You just barely hear Cirno off to the side, whispering. “Sir, I think you should get up now. Sir? Sir? Mr. Stupid?!” You keep trying to resist, but her lips feel so good, so warm and full of pleasure. Just a centimeter more and your mouths will be touching. No, stop it! You resisted Meiling, you can resist this woman too! But Meiling’s curvy body wasn’t resting directly on top of you that time your lips met hers, either. Maybe, just a little taste…

(Transition…)

(…phrase.)

“Koa. No.”

A firm voice echoes though the library. Koakuma flits away from your presence and sight so fast she seems to simply vanish into thin air. You scramble around on the floor mindlessly, looking for the source of the voice, and find Patchouli standing over you with a book in her hand.

“A tricky girl,” the librarian comments, looking at her book rather than you. “Best be careful.”

You stand up and straighten your coat back onto your shoulders. That was an…unusual experience, to say the least. What provoked her to do something like that? Must have just been flirting. An awful big flirt, though, to start off with a kiss that long.

“Follow,” Pathcouli announces, opting to hover a few centimeters off the ground rather than actually walk. You do as she suggests, but remain closer to Cirno rather than Patchouli this time. The fairy looks up at you with a mixture of emotions in her eyes.

“Sorry about that, Cirno,” you apologize. “I got caught up in the moment. I suppose that can happen to men sometimes.”

She nods but says nothing, choosing to cling tighter to the dictionary and look at the monoliths of books rather than you for the time being.

Turns out you were only an isle or two away from the large center of the library. Satisfied with your position, Patchouli floats over to a stack of books and begins looking through them, comparing words from the book she now carries. You spot Koakuma flying back and forth between a mound of books and different rows of shelves high up on the racks, now diligently sorting literature. As you wander around this center of operations, you even spot Nathaniel crouched over a table draped in black cloth, the area around him well-lit with lamps.

[ ] Go over and talk to Koakuma. Ask her what just happened back there.
[ ] Go over and talk to Patchouli. Talk about…? (specify topic/questions)
[ ] Go over and talk to Nathaniel. Talk about…? (specify topic/questions)
[ ] Find a comfortable seat and start trying to translate what Nathaniel and Ran said.
[ ] Perhaps something else?

>She's going to molest us and Cirno.
Dammit. Interupted.

> You’ve really got no other reason than to take a stab at translating whatever Nathaniel said during lunch (you’re pretty sure he was speaking in Latin), but it’s as good a reason as any.
ok, now you're just being ridiculous U.N.Owen. The man couldn't even pronounce Equitas correctly; why would he be able to spell out anything that Nathaniel or Ran said? And that's assuming he could even remember any part of the dialogue at this point well enough to try. He couldn't recall Yukari's name until he heard it again.

>>23088
Taking a stab does not mean you expect to actually stab anything, and those that do not know how to use a knife will certainly hit nothing but air; unless, of course, they end up stabbing themselves in the hand instead.

Nevertheless, wishful thinking leads to wishful actions, and thus we find our hero holding a book with supposedly little practical value. However, no one said you had to keep this book, or that you could not find a more interesting one to pick up instead.

>>23089
>Taking a stab does not mean you expect to actually stab anything
You wouldn't take a stab unless you actually expect to stab something. It's completely unreasonable for him to think he has any chance of being able to even remember what was said, and why would anyone make an attempt at translation when they KNOW that they have no chance whatsoever?

>>23090
>You wouldn't take a stab unless you actually expect to stab something.
Not exactly. If there is even the slightest chance that a random stab will result in some benefit, and at no detriment to the user, then why not stab away? In all probability nothing with happen, but it's still worth a try every now and again. You may not expect to stab something, but there's a small chance you might.

In either case, the book request is not a hinging plot point, and does not merit such involved discussion. It was more or less simply filler material to get Koakuma to leave for a moment. If you do not wish to read the book, then vote for a different choice and ask to set the book down.

>>23087
Silly little book arguments are silly.

[X] Go over and talk to Patchouli. Talk about…? (ask about magic beyond danmaku)

First of all, do want to know. Healing and moon(?) magic, however rudimentary would be useful. I'd also like to include Cirno in this discussion. She may be a 9, but she manages to be exceptionally perceptive and offer interesting insights at times. Considering our raport and her abilities beyond danmaku, I think she'll have something interesting (or at least amusing) to contribute.
Second, my notion is that a discussion of magic between ourselves will attract Nathaniel's attention to us. With the choice of whether and how to approach us (or not), the ball will be in his court, so to speak, and we can base our approach based on his reaction.

I wonder, if we can attract Nathaniel's attention, maybe we can use the dictionary as a bluff. We may not actually remember everything from the conversation, but we can act like we remembered everything that was said and are set upon translating it, or that we have already translated it. Sell it like you're disappointed that he'd have to talk in code around fellow guests. Personal note: I haven't read the spoiler translations so I don't know what was said, just like our protagonist. Doesn't change the fact that he was speaking a different language in our presence for some reason. Usually done because the different language is more familiar and easier to communicate in, or it's to keep information from people. Fairly certain it's not the former, and the latter is downright rude.

I'd like to find a book about the sword, but can't think of a proper question short of saying "Do you have any books about a dragon-ornamented sword named 'Equitas'?"

Something that concerns me, though, is Cirno's presence when we finally discuss Equitas with Nathaniel. If he doesn't assault us, we're good. But if he does, Cirno may overreact and freeze him solid. Harmed guest = death by Remilia. But, if we dismiss Cirno and are attacked, then Cirno let her master get harmed. Second verse, same as the first: harmed guest = death by Remilia. So, for the sake of our maid, let's hope we're being overly paranoid about Nathaniel.

Ah, I wish that we for once go just go for Koakuma. But it's much to dangerous, especially for this story.

[x] Go over and talk to Patchouli. Talk about…?
Ask her about Koakuma and why she did that. It kind of looks like we can't be left alone with any character in this damn mansion can we?

>>I'd like to find a book about the sword, but can't think of a proper question short of saying "Do you have any books about a dragon-ornamented sword named 'Equitas'?"

I would think something along the lines of "Do you have any books on swords," would work just as well, especially since it's highly unlikely there would be an entire book written about just one specific sword. Unless it happens to have a ridiculously large amount of history behind it, I doubt there's enough to be said about it to fill more than a couple chapters, at best, let alone an entire book.

[X] Thank Patchouli for her help.
[X] Ask both her and Nathaniel if they might enjoy a break and a walk outside.

[X] In the likely event that Patchouli declines and Nathaniel accepts (perhaps with a bit more prodding), once outside, ask, cajole, and if necessary threaten him for some answers.

>[X] Go over and talk to Koakuma. Ask her what just happened back there.

You know, we should get to know how dangerous Koakuma can be if we plan on going back to the library.

>[X] Go over and talk to Patchouli. Talk about…? (ask about magic beyond danmaku)

Nice idea.

>[X] Go over and talk to Nathaniel. Talk about…? ('Sup, I found a sword called Justice. Is it what you're looking for?')

Yes, just like that.

>[X] Find a comfortable seat and start trying to translate what Nathaniel and Ran said.

Eh, why not? I want to read the translations, but want to avoid meta-game knowledge and spoilers.

>>23102
Well now, that's just no help at all, is it?

In other news, I will be leaving my current college residence for the Thanksgiving holidays tomorrow at 10 A.M. Eastern American Time. Since I have a nine-hour car ride ahead of me, it would be nice if I could pen an update to pass the time amidst sleeping and making small talk with the other riders. So, if you could, vote sooner rather than later, please do so.

As for updates other the break, I am unsure as to whether my speed will progress faster or slower than normal. I shall keep you as updated as I can on the situation.

>>23104
Upon such a request, I'd probably spam my vote, but I won't because this feels like a tone setting kind of decision and forcing a choice would be bad. Anyway, I hope you can keep the updates coming over your break. This story is probably the most 'rewarding' of the active CYOAs in terms of anon interactions. Not too many writers are as willing to engage their readership as you have proven to be.

I hope that remains a trend. Sage for irrelevance to the subject at hand.

[x] Sneak up on Nathaniel and find out what he is doing.

If only there were a box nearby

[X] Go over and talk to Nathaniel. Talk about…? (Is your 'Justice' able to cut those that oppose you?.)

[ ] Go over and talk to Patchouli. Ask her what just happened back there.

Clearly Patchy knew what her little devil was trying to do. Best to ask her what it was, what would have happened if she had not stopped it, and how we can avoid it in the future.

Also, if we're going to pick up any books, perhaps rather than Latin we might want to try some research on dragons and vampires?

Something where we can read about contemporary firearms might be a good idea, too. That pistol won't do us much good as-is.
...not that it does us any good against most of the residents of the mansion anyway, let alone the residents of Gensokyo as a whole, but Flan clearly thought it must be of some use to let us keep it.

[x] Go over and talk to Patchouli. Ask her what just happened back there.

[X] Go over and talk to Patchouli. Ask her what just happened back there.
[X] Go over and talk to Patchouli. Talk about…? (ask if there's any books on swords in the library)

[Go over and talk to Patchouli. Ask her what just happened back there.]

That was no accident back there with Koakuma, you’re certain. No girl would just instantly start kissing and feeling up a complete stranger just because she fell on top of him. Come to think of it, her sudden topple itself was a little too convenient for your tastes. If something’s going on with her, you’d certainly like to know what, and if Patchouli has the power to instantly stop her in her tracks, she must know what would have happened if she hadn’t; nothing pleasant, you imagine.

You wind your way over to Patchouli through the maze of books on the ground, and watch her do whatever it is she’s doing for a few minutes. As expected, she treats you as if you don’t even exist to her, not even making eye contact for even a second. Guess it’s up to you to start the conversation again.

“Thank you for leading me here, Miss Patchouli,” you begin. “It seems so easy to get lost in here. I guess you just get used to it.”

“Trivial,” she responds blandly. Snapping her fingers off to the side, a piece of parchment floats over to you from a far away pile. “Hexagons,” she states, motioning to the paper.

You observe the paper, and realize she’s given you a map of the library, with all the exists and shelves clearly labeled, though the sections themselves are not. Looking at it from this top-down perspective, you kick yourself for getting lost in the first place. The library is arranged in a very simple honeycomb pattern of seven large hexagons, with the central one being devoid of shelves. The other six are crisscrossed with smaller hallways in between, but overall it’s an extremely simple and efficient pattern; you just didn’t see it because you were expecting rectangular passages, not hexagonal ones.

“Hey, thanks a lot for this! It’s so simple not that I see it this way. Were the hexagons your idea?”

She is engrossed in reading two books at the same time, so it takes a good while before she answers with a curt, “Yes.”

You roll the map up and place it safely into one of your many pockets. All right now, time for a more serious topic. Hopefully it’s one that won’t get you thrown out of the library.

“Miss Patchouli?” you ask somberly. “Back there, with Miss Koakuma, what—“

“Wait,” she interrupts, finishing up a page in her current book, then setting it aside and for once actually making eye contact with you. She walks over to a chair and sits down, inadvertently causing you to do the same. “Now, continue.”

You continue. “Well, okay, back there with Koakuma, what was going on there? She just started kissing me on the ground out of nowhere, and it felt like…well, like she wouldn’t have stopped until she went all the way with me. Now, I’m all for love at first sight and all that, but this seems way too much. Is that just her personality, or what?”

Amazingly enough, Patchouli smiles at your question. Certainly an odd thing to smile about, especially for someone always so serious as her. “Koakuma,” she explains, “Mischievous. Loving tricks. Loving pranks. Not unlike fairies.” Cirno makes a funny face that you can’t tell is born of contempt or pride. “But different. Devils are not fairies. Their tricks are mental. Emotional. Not physical. Additionally,” she adds, almost as an afterthought, “standards are low. Morality, lower. Hence, the advance on you.”

“Wait, a devil? You mean, like a vampire like Remilia?”

She shakes her head. “No. Not a vampire. Much weaker. Much more common. True classification is complex. Not something you’d understand.” She conjures up a glass of water from out of nowhere and takes a small sip.

A devil? You suddenly feel afraid. The name sounds so…evil. Devils to you have always been horrible black beasts with horns and claws, not a perky little red-haired girl. But then again, you’re standing in a world where magical fairies are commonplace, and supposedly savage, bloodthirsty vampires entertain guests with elegance. It only makes sense that a “devil” would look so innocent and beautiful here, where appearance means nothing. Though, that raises a much more pertinent question.

“So, if she’s a devil,” you asks meekly, “is she, dangerous? Should I even be around her, should I trust anything she does?”

She takes another drink of water and coughs slightly. “Danger? Minimal. Her intent is her pleasure. Not your pain. Trust is manageable with time. But, hrmm…” She looks your face over thoroughly, search for some hidden meaning which she seems to find. “Your true question. Yes…”

She thinks hard for a long time, then releases a small ping of purplish-red light which whizzes off into the distance. Before too long, a sight graces your eyes which you have no explanation for. Koakuma flutters over to the circle of Cirno Patchouli, and yourself…while another Koakuma continues to sort books in the distance. This, can’t, be…two Koakumas? Except, wait, this new Koakuma has a pair of bat wings on her back like Remilia, and the other definitely did not. But what in the name of all that is holy is going on here?

Patchouli seems to be talking both to the new Koakuma and you as she explains what seem to be “rules” to something. “Tell your sisters, and listen well. This man,” she points to you, “is not to be mistreated. You will not treat him like your prey. You learned to show courtesy to the one called Nathaniel; now learn to show courtesy to this one as well. No tricks, no traps, no mischief, nothing undeserving. Now,” her tone changes from serious to something that might be considered light-hearted, though with Patchouli it’s extremely difficult to tell. “I will not deny him to you. If he wishes to engage you, you are free to engage as far as he does. But, you are not free to act first. Nathaniel made his choice with you, and this new man shall make his in his own time. Not yours. Do you understand the terms?”

The winged devil bows deeply. “Yes, my lady, quite clearly.”

“Then go, and tell your kin what I have told you,” Patchouli commands. With another bow the new Koakuma takes off into a hallway, giving you a quick peek as she retreats. Those eyes; there’s mischief in them, but of a childish kind, a sort of harmless innocence. Almost like Cirno during her moments of pranking triumph.

The librarin addresses you directly, now. “The matter is settled. Treat them as desired. Friend. Foe. Assistant. Lover. I care not.”

Wait, them? You need to get this cleared up right now. “Them? I guess there’s…more than one Koakuma, or something?”

She nods in return. “Twelve. Wings denote rank. They have names of sorts. Names I cannot pronounce. Personalities are similar. Possible hive-mind. I am still unsure.”

Twelve different Koakumas? You can imagine the amount of weird tricks they could play on people with that many twins; maybe they already played one on you! And a hive-mind? You vaguely remember something about hive-minds in a futuristic story you were once told. Something about all the minds being linked together or something? This is getting a little hard to comprehend, but at least it’s better than knowing nothing at all and making wild assumptions about the unknown.

[ ] Go over and talk to Koakuma…well, the nearest Koakuma. (specify topics or questions)
[ ] Continue talking to Patchouli. (specify topics or questions)
[ ] Go over and talk to Nathaniel. (specify topics or questions)
[ ] Get some directions from Patchouli on where to find some books (specify types of books)
[ ] Perhaps something else?

============================================

This update was written in the awkward back seat of a very chilly Jeep on a ten-hour car ride, with almost a half-dozen interruptions. If it seems detached, I apologize.

[x] Continue talking to Patchouli. (specify topics or questions)
[x] Ask about Voile Library
[x] Ask about books from the outside world and how she obtains them
[x] Ask her how she feels about the SDM and how long she's been around.

I'm all for avoiding Koakuma unless we have to deal with her if you don't mind.

I played this hgame called Kingdom once...and learnt, that you should really be weary of how demons act on the outside. On the inside, they don't play by our rules of what is right and wrong so they are definitly better off being avoided.

>>23143
[X] Continue talking to Patchouli. (specify topics or questions)
[X] Ask about the library
Do we actually know the name of the library?
[X] Ask about magic beyond danmaku
I will not abate!

I lost it (hard) at
>>“Wait,”... “Now, continue.”
2:42 on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzxaVwqz-tE

>>I'm all for avoiding Koakuma unless we have to deal with her if you don't mind.

Concern duly noted. Well within the scope of our protagonist's restraint/reservation.

Anyway, now that HY (seems to be) back I hope this story, as well as /server and Afterthought, survives. Good luck on ya, everyone.

[x] Continue talking to Patchouli. (specify topics or questions)
[x] Ask about Voile Library
[x] Ask about books from the outside world and how she obtains them
[x] Ask her how she feels about the SDM and how long she's been around.

Recently there seems to be much talking but less voting.
Come on people vote vote vote. Show your love for Owen with voting.

[X] Continue talking to Patchouli.
[X] Ask about Voile Library
[X] Ask about books from the outside world and how she obtains them
[X] Ask her how she feels about the SDM and how long she's been around.
[X] Ask her about the new friends you made downstairs.

Sakuya already knows we met them, so unless she for some reason does not inform Remilia of the fact that her guest has met her extremely dangerous siblings (and managed to walk away covered in soot but otherwise unharmed, to boot) it's only a matter of time before it becomes common knowledge in the house anyway.

Whether or not we're in trouble for it is a different matter. Sakuya didn't make it sound like we were, but it could be she simply knew better than to create a scene in front of those two. Then again, she did also say that we could "play again tomorrow," and while not an explicit promise to Adam and Flan, I can't help but wonder if they'll be expecting us back, and what might happen if we do not return. If we had done something wrong, and might be barred from returning to see them, I would think Sakuya would know better than to set them up for any sort of disappointment.

Who knows? If we had the capacity to be trained in danmaku in such a short period of time, perhaps we could be taught something that would improve our chances of not going BOOM when Flan goes kyu~.

[x] Continue talking to Patchouli. (specify topics or questions)
[x] Ask about Voile Library
[x] Ask about books from the outside world and how she obtains them
[x] Ask her how she feels about the SDM and how long she's been around.

Not just one but twelve Koakuma's! We must get to know the little devils. Now that we have Patchy's blessing and protection on the matter, Koakuma should be good to go.

[X] Continue talking to Patchouli.
[X] Ask her how she feels about the SDM and how long she's been around.
[X] Ask her about the new friends you made downstairs.

See if she knows anything about them, besides Nathaniels goal and Remilias motives, those two are probably the biggest and most lethal mystery around.
Also, Patchouli has never really hid any facts from us in this CYOA. she's merely been somewhat cryptic and anti-social, so we should get atleast warnings about those two that could be of use in the future.