[x] You don’t think that would be such a good idea. Sorry, Juniper.
Looking at Juniper’s expectant visage, you can practically feel the eagerness radiating off of her. Which is rather odd, actually...why is she this interested in something that vague, which she’s only just heard of?
...Well, whatever the reason for her enthusiasm, it makes you feel rather guilty that you’ll need to turn her down. But it’s really kind of necessary; having a participant with the tendency to blatantly explain her pranks would just leave too many things able to go wrong, and could easily lead to the plan’s failure. You could always leave the decision up to Sunny, Star, and Luna, but you have a feeling they’d see the issue the same way as you.
“Sorry, Juniper, but I don’t think that’d be possible.”
“Eh? But, but, why not?” Her wings’ beating takes on a more agitated tone. “Is this because Juniper said she was never very lucky with pranks? Juniper isn’t that bad, really, she’s pulled off a lot of good ones in her time! Like, like, the one with the travelling merchant and the giant barrel of wine, that was fun-”
You hold up a hand to quiet her frantic babbling. “No, it’s not about how good you are at pranks, Juniper.” Well, actually it is, but she doesn’t really need to know that; it’s probably kinder to keep her ignorant.
“It’s just that my friends are the ones who actually planned this, and I think it was already a stretch for them to let me in on it. I don’t have the right to just bring in anyone I meet to join their secret plan.” Especially when that ‘anyone’ would have difficulty keeping the plan secret.
“You said that they’re your friends.” Juniper says, eyes narrowing.
“Well, um, yes.” Why is she focusing on that? “I haven’t known them long, but I do already consider-”
“Does that mean that Juniper’s not your friend? If you thought that Juniper was, you would have said your other friends instead of your friends, but since you didn’t say other friends it means that you don’t think you and Juniper are really friends, right, ‘friend’?”
“...What?” You shake your head slightly, but the jostling doesn’t rearrange her words into any more coherent an order. “Juniper, it’s not about whether I consider you a friend or not, it’s-”
“Juniper knew it!” She turns away from you in a huff.
“No, Juniper, I didn’t say that I don’t think you and I are friends...gah, I mean I do think of you as a friend, it’s just that’s not-”
“Well, fine! J-Juniper doesn’t need your friendship anyway, Juniper’s friends with plenty of other fairies in the forest. You’re just a stupid house-wrecking planty fairy, it’s not like Juniper was actually starting to like you...” Her voice is shaking slightly, but it doesn’t seem to be due to anger, and you think you heard a sniffle in that last bit.
“Juniper, I’m sorry, but you’re really making this into a bigger deal than it needs to-”
“Oh, just go away! Leave Juniper alone, go off and have fun with your other friends.” She’s still steadfastly turned away from you, but you can make out the mumbled addendum, “...just like everyone else does.”
...Well, you can’t just leave her thinking like that. You reach out your hand towards the girl wordlessly, but jerk it back with a yelp as a cluster of bullets shoots past your arm. Juniper glares back over her shoulder at you. “Come on, leave, or Juniper’s going to shoot you up again!”
“...All right, then. Bye, Juniper, I’ll come back to see you in a couple days.” You take off out into the woods, hoping that she’ll calm down soon. Well, that’s not really what you should be focusing on at the moment, you need to get back to the lake.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a few minutes of flight, the realization dawns that you do not, in fact,
know how to get back to the lake. The tree varieties are widespread enough that they don’t provide any clues about your location, and not only because you paid little attention to their layout on your initial flight out. The branches and trunks are obscuring enough that you can’t catch a glimpse of any landmarks, it’s annoying how much they get in the way...
You come to a halt in midair, slapping your forehead in mute realization of your stupidity. They don’t actually need to get in your way, you can do this.
Ceasing your forward movement, you instead begin ascending through the tree branches, blinking a few snowflakes out of your eyes as you make your way up. Once past the canopy, you take a look around and- yes, there’s the lake, a good distance away. The exact opposite direction from where you were going. Well, that’s nice, you apparently can’t navigate to save your life.
Soaring forward, in the proper direction this time, you manage to cover distance rather quickly, trees blurring together as you speed over them and the lake quickly filling your field of view. You should be making it back in under a minute.
...Huh, what are those faint voices you’re hearing, though? Curiosity piqued, you head down into the trees once again to investigate.
Standing in a small clearing among the trees, you catch sight of Dai and Letty, the latter pacing back and forth in the limited space available. So their conversation from earlier is still going on?
You hesitate for a moment; this doesn’t seem like your business, but Letty looks sufficiently disturbed by whatever they’re discussing that you judge it to be some important problem. And you overhearing shouldn’t really affect anything for the worse, right?
With those rationalizations in mind, you settle down behind a tree of sufficient girth for hiding and listen, peeking one eye out to observe.
“...So you’re sure about this, then?” Dai asks anxiously.
“Do I
look like I’m sure, Daiyousei?” Letty sighs, coming to a halt and turning to face the fairy. “The human phrase ‘Catch-22’ is rather fitting here, you realize, which hardly makes for a clear-cut decision. If you go along with this plan and your worries prove to be founded, you’ll be risking the lives of, at the very least, all your friends coming with you. But...”
“But if I stay behind, it’ll almost certainly lead to more deaths, Cirno’s in particular, and we have much more than a guess to support that. Right.” Dai sighs explosively, face contorting in frustration. “I really, really hate this godsdamned ability of mine. Is there any way you could...I don’t know, try something like that ice power one more time?”
“Would that I could, but your power has grown significantly in these past years, whereas I have reached the limits of my own strength. You’re too strong now for me to succeed with anything like that, Daiyousei.”
“Not that I ever wanted to be, but yes, okay. What about Cirno? Could you show her how to do it, if we explained the situation to her?”
“Cirno has the raw power to succeed where I would fail, but she lacks the necessary finesse. I might be able to instruct her as to the proper method, but it would take a great deal of time. Too much.”
“Yes, I guessed as much, but I had to ask anyway.” Dai shakes her head wearily. “Do you think there’s any chance of just convincing Cirno to give up on this burglary?”
“It’s possible, if we can help her realize the consequences. But then your other companions would require an explanation, and at least a couple of them seem bright enough to be suspicious. Particularly that one girl who’s far too quick to be a newborn. Not to mention that there are still stories floating around about you, if one would care to look, and that trio seems familiar enough with Hakurei that they might tell her. It might be necessary to...silence...them-”
“
No, Letty. That’s the exact thing we’re trying to
avoid here.” Dai’s eyes flash with anger, and a wave of blackness ripples across her wings before they settle down again. “I won’t let you do that to them, especially not just to protect me.”
“You
and Cirno, in fairness. If the shrine maiden comes along to exterminate you, and I am referring to the old meaning of that term, do you really think your best friend will just let her? And the Hakurei line is not known for their mercy.”
Dai’s expression wavers with doubt briefly, but quickly returns to determined resolve. “No, Reimu isn’t nearly as ruthless as her ancestors; she wouldn’t do something like that. And if it did become necessary, I could deal with Cirno. I’ve considered the possibility of situations like that before, and come up with some solutions.”
The two lock stares for a few seconds, and Letty eventually nods. “Very well. I do not wish to harm your new friends if at all possible, but if the situation requires it know that I will value your safety above theirs. I suppose we shall just proceed with the current plan and hope for the best. Come, let us return to them. Take my hand.” She extends it to the fairy.
“All right.” Dai reaches out her own, but hesitates, fingers splayed above Letty’s. “Are you sure I won’t-”
“I will be unharmed. I have been using my powers since we left Cirno to generate a suppressing aura much like her own. You can tell this by the fact that I’m still standing upright instead of in a twitching heap on the ground.”
“Right. Interesting, isn’t it, how you’re so easily able to emulate her. I could have sworn only fairies had auras which could interact with each other.”
“…I’m not sure what you think you’re implying, Daiyousei, but I have been able to develop several unorthodox uses of my power throughout my life as a youkai, and-“
“No need to get defensive, Letty. I don’t actually care why what you’re doing works, so long as it keeps me restrained. I’m not planning to pry beyond that. Now come on, let’s head back.” Dai grasps Letty’s hand.
A whirlwind of snow rises up around the two, and a moment later they’re gone.
You sag back against the tree, wide-eyed.
...What
the hell was that about? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You stay in that position for a minute or two longer, thoughts running rampant through your mind.
So, apparently Letty knows quite a lot about whatever dangerous problem Dai’s having, and Dai’s confiding in her over Cirno. You wonder how, or if, the issue relates to what was happening whenever you and Dai touched earlier. Maybe that’s the whole thing that prompted the conversation? No, more likely it’s that outburst with the black wings and the bad air.
Oh, and evidently your lives are at risk, either unwillingly from Dai or more willingly from the once-again scary Letty. Wonderful. But wait, Juniper said that fairies’ lives basically can’t be at risk, given that you come back if you ever die. So either she was wrong, along with Star, Sunny, and Luna you guess, or Letty and Dai know something about that which you don’t. Very worrying.
You should just leave. Fly away, forget you ever met these people. They don’t know you know their dark secret, they’d have no reason to go after you, you can survive forever on your own. Make yourself a new identity, off in some far corner of this land. You can always make new allies, but you’ll only have one life. …No. You can’t do that. If Sunny, Star, Luna, and Cirno are in danger, and you’re aware of that, you’re not just going to abandon them.
Idiot. You have so far still to grow, don’t risk it all like this. No, you’re not being stopped from doing this. From a purely selfish standpoint risking your own skin to help others might be considered stupid, yes, but you’re not a fairy who only looks out for number one. Those girls in danger are your friends, and as their friend you’re responsible to look out for them as best you can.
Foolish child. If a foolish child has a more functional moral code than the two mysterious voices in her head, then you’re entirely fine with being one. You rise up above the canopy and take flight towards your next destination. The lake.
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As you make your way over to the misty lake’s edge, you can hear Sunny’s excited voice drifting up from below.
“...And by the time she woke up, her shrine was
completely filled with soba! Reimu complains all the time about not having enough food, so we just gave her exactly what she wanted. But what an ungrateful shrine maiden, we give her all that food and she throws it out, so it’s just her just desserts to stay hungry for days afterward, right?”
A cacophony of laughter bursts out in response, ranging from Cirno’s energetic crowing to Star’s tinkling giggles to Letty’s deeper chuckles.
Well, good that they’re all enjoying themselves. You swoop down towards them, alighting in the snow a few feet away. “Hi, everyone.”
“Hey there...whoa, what happened to you?” Sunny asks, blinking as she takes in your appearance.
“Those look like bullet and laser injuries; I’m assuming you didn’t grow some plant that spat bullets at you, so what did?” Luna says, raising an eyebrow.
“I messed up somebody’s home and got in a fight with them over it, it wasn’t that big a deal. Star, I’m okay, you don’t need to worry about me,” you say to the blue-clad girl now fretting over you, biting her lip at your burns and bruises. “Er, sorry about your dress, Dai.”
“No, it’s not important and I have several more like it anyway,” Dai assures you, a worried stare accompanying her words. “Are you sure you’re all right, though?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. These don’t hurt any more, and they don’t look quite as bad as before either.”
“That’d be your natural healing kicking in,” Star clarifies. “Anything more lethal than a certain threshold will make us pop instantly, but as long as our injuries are less than that we’ll regenerate them and be back to normal within a few minutes.” Star’s mouth forms a small ‘o’, and she gingerly grabs you in a consoling hug. “Oh, poor dear, you must have been practically dead on your feet if you’re still this hurt...”
You pat Star on the back a bit awkwardly, feeling a warmth come to your cheeks. Still not quite used to that. “Actually, they didn’t get much worse than this - the burn was a little redder, and the bruises were a tiny bit darker, but that’s it - before I won.”
“Eh? You won?” Star pulls back, eyes wide with surprise. “I was assuming you’d just have run away. That’s what I’d do.”
“It’s true, she would. And has, for that matter, usually leaving us behind.”
“Hush, Luna.”
“So how’d you win?” Cirno asks. “Another sneak attack with your vines?”
“Ah, no, I tried that, and got this to show for it.” You point at your side, grimacing. “I ended up having to, er, figure out danmaku on the fly, from the things you’d said earlier.”
“…And you were able to succeed with that?” Letty asks skeptically.
“I think another of my memories kicked in or something like that, and gave me an idea. Here, I’ll do it again.”
You turn away from the group while concentrating, holding the memory of that branchlike pattern in your mind, then snap your hand up and fire.
The same spiraling pattern of brown, green, and pink bullets courses through the air. Looks like, despite how disagreeable that voice was recently, it did see fit to help you permanently with danmaku.
“Oh, wow, that’s cool.” “Nice pattern, can see how you could get caught easily in that.” “Are those supposed to be sakura blossoms?” The other fairies seem duly impressed with your little trick.
Letty, surprisingly, looks to be a bit beyond that, rather taken aback and shaking her head slightly in disbelief. She opens her mouth, presumably to address you, but Dai stops her with a nudging elbow in the stomach.
“Figure it out once we’ve gotten past the current issue, okay?” Dai murmurs. The yuki-onna nods, looking a bit chagrined.
“…Uh, Star, by the way.” You address the girl still clinging to your back. “Did anything happen with my wings just now when I did that?”
“Your wings? I didn’t see or feel anything besides the normal warmth, so no. Did you expect something different to happen?”
“Uh…
no, nothing really.” You cough, regaining control of your own vocal cords. Okay, so vengeful voice in head doesn’t want you to expose the changing wings. That warrants some further thought, but you don’t really want to deal with it at the moment. “So…off to the Scarlet Devil Mansion?” You ask.
“Yeah, everything’s worked out. We’ll go in first and dress up as maids, then spend the day finding the artifact. Letty’ll come in for the party and do her thing...” Sunny says.
“Letty and I can talk over distances with a trick of hers, as long as I make some snow first.” Cirno explains. “So she’ll let me know once everyone’s been distracted, and that’s when we can take the thing. You guys can leave with it, I’ll hang around for a bit and try to find some people to play with at the party.”
“Not if I can help it, you won’t.” Dai mutters, almost too quietly to hear.
“All right, so let’s go!” Sunny cheers, lifting upwards and half-turning out towards the lake.
“...No, wait a moment, everyone.” Star says, detaching from you and dropping her voice to a whisper. “I only just noticed it, but there’s someone hiding in those bushes. Fairy-sized, a little smaller than us.” She glances around, strained smile showing some slight worry. “That’s easily close enough to hear what we’ve been talking about...”
----------------------------------------
[ ] Just head out to the mansion already, you shouldn’t need to bother with them.
[ ] Ask Sunny and Luna to sneak up on and drag them out.
[ ] Go bring the eavesdropper back yourself. You have a feeling you know who this is.
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>Update schedule should be back to a more rapid one after this. Yeah, so obviously I’m a fucking liar. Things preventing me from updating just kind of coalesced on this one, but I’m not trying to make excuses for myself after this many delayed updates. The next two updates, at least, will be within 24 hours of this one or another or I’m going to shoot something.
Also, in the future, I will most likely be asking for tie-breakers instead of flipping a coin (at the very least with big decisions), the latter of which I’ve mostly done so far. It has its downsides (as
>>53763 illustrated), but some things probably shouldn’t be left up to chance, I feel like that’s kind of slighting you voters.
Votes will be called in 16-17 hours.
