[-] You're pretty sure the binding has something to do with Satori's breakdown, beyond just the obvious. How does the binding on Satori work?

The trick to manipulating someone is subtlety. Granted, there are psychological tricks that work even if the target knows about them, and if you have enough leverage you can just batter someone into following whatever lead you want, but as a general rule of thumb, people hate feeling manipulated. If you ever get caught in the act, your past manipulation is all but undone, future manipulation is severely hindered, and your reputation is trashed to boot. A web of lies can easily entangle a person, but it can also be surprisingly fragile. There's a reason Maribel was able to crush you as easily as she did, back then.

Which made it all the more unfortunate that Patchouli seemed to have realized what you were doing.

"Come now. Flandre leaves, you give your pretty little speech about guilt, and then Satori collapses?" the magician glares at the two of you. "You do realize the timing's a little too convenient?"

"Convenient? Tell you what, why don't you give me your little day planner, and maybe her next collapse will fit into your schedule!"

It was a non sequitur. As an argument, it was logically bankrupt. But you'd already shown some anger, and angry people weren't always logical. That was the real message you were sending: That you were angry that she was calling Satori's collapse into question. You didn't need to prove her wrong, you just needed to act like she was a horrible person.

"That's not-"

"If you think Satori bleeding out is some kind of act we cooked up, do you think I'd have let her go on at length about how bloody useless you are?"

You can see that jab got to Patchouli, her clenched fists give it away, but her voice stays cold and clinical. "No. You weren't given time to plan beforehand, and Satori is overly reliant on her mind reading to act in any case. The logical conclusion is that you're exaggerating your reactions to win sympathy, and through that, concessions."

"Glad to know what you really think of me. Now, since we're agreed that Satori's innocent, why don't you her get her bleeding wounds treated?! Maybe you can even make yourself useful for once, and try examining the lead she found for you!"

"Miss Patchouli, please examine the book milady had kept hidden," Sakuya orders. "Any insight you can gleam could be critical."

Patchouli clearly understood the dismissal, but hesitated. "Are you certain? I'd have thought you'd opt to read it yourself."

"I have. But with what's at stake, I'd like your unbiased opinion on the book, as both a librarian and a mage."

"Fine. What about him?"

"I suspect he would rather stay. If Satori's state is a ploy, him leaving would undercut it. If not, then his worry is genuine. In either case, he's unlikely to try anything."

You have mixed feelings as the magician leaves. It's technically success, but Sakuya's answer was too measured, answering Patchouli's concerns even as she sided with you. She probably stopped time to better consider it, which means she won't be susceptible to more emotional ploys. You'll need a new tactic. Well, at the least Satori is actually getting care. Thankfully, Sakuya seems to be just as efficient and professional at medical treatment as anything else you've seen the maid do. The knives come out again, this time to cut away Satori's dress. After a pair of swift cuts, the maid starts peeling off blood-soaked pieces of fabric, and Satori (who had been largely unresponsive) gasps in pain, pulling away.

"Keep her still," Sakuya commands you. "If she's-"

"I get it," you force out, moving in to grab Satori's arm. "Satori, focus on me."

She clutches your arm with both hands. "Greg, it hurts."

"It's going to be alright. I-" Sakuya chose that moment to tear off the back half of the dress, and you wince as Satori's nails dig into your forearm.

"No! New pain, stabbing. Side. Like knives."

Sakuya grimaced. "Lay her down on her front! Gently!"

Satori's back is a mess. Most of her skin has been stained red, with a splash of lighter red across the center of her back, striped with streams of darker red as blood oozes down from her cuts. Freshly bleeding cuts. Your eyes turn to one in particular, with a shard of something sticking out of it.

You swallow, feeling the blood drain from your face. "Is... is that glass?"

"Milady must have knocked her through the wine cellar," Sakuya murmured, taking out a pair of tweezers. "If there's one shard, there's likely to be more."

So when you'd grabbed her, to make her collapse... You look down at the blood on your hands. Your voice is dull. "Was she just walking around with glass shards in her back? All this time?"

Sakuya pauses, glances at you. "Remember, she is a youkai. Wounds like this are less serious for her than they would be for you or I."

It's uncanny hearing the maid put you and her in the same category. Even more so to hear her talk in a gentle tone of voice, for her to be offering you comfort. But there's a hole in that logic. "How does the binding on her work?"

Sakuya shakes her head. "Surely you don't expect me to answer that."

"She collapsed after Patchouli turned the damn thing back on, and not long after at that! I know it seals her abilities as a youkai! Does that include a youkai's resilience?"

Sakuya doesn't answer immediately. You want to demand an answer, to shake her until the maid tells you just how badly Satori's hurt, whether demanding the binding be deactivated would help... except it wouldn't get you anywhere. You couldn't threaten Sakuya. You had no leverage on any of your captors. So you bit back your first three replies and resorted to asking nicely. "Is she going to be okay?"

"... you're either an incredible actor, or you are who you appear to be."

"What?"

"She will recover from this, I can promise you that much." A corner of her mouth quirked upwards. "After all, she could hardly help my lady like this."

It would have to be enough. You sigh, looking down. "Is there a meaningful way I can help?"

"Remain quiet and keep Satori calm."

It was hard, just watching. Holding on to Satori's hand, and doing your best to soothe her as Sakuya treated her injuries. The process dragged on agonizingly, even more so when Satori succumbed to unconsciousness halfway through. Smaller cuts could be quickly bandaged, but there were a number of larger ones, and for each of those, the maid carefully pry it further open and probe the wound, being careful to find and loosen any shards of glass (or in a couple of cases, splinters), before removing them all in stopped time.

It was nerve-wracking, having no better option than to wait and trust someone who by all rights should be your enemy. Granted, neither her incentives nor her behavior so far (kidnapping aside) indicated she would actually hurt Satori, but even still...

You shake your head, watching as the maid finishes sowing up a particularly nasty cut. "This must be what it's like, isn't it? For you to need my help with Remilia."

Sakuya pauses, taking a moment to clean her tools. "I suppose I can see the similarities."

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

The maid lets out a quick exhale that wasn't quite a snort. "Indeed. But you have at least one advantage over me. Satori is not in real danger from these injuries."

"I don't know. Maybe not from this, but her long-term fate is uncertain at best." Yours too, though it's better not to mention it. "Flandre made that clear enough."

Sakuya falls silent, and you find yourself regretting those words. Sure, they were true, but it's unlikely you'll find as good a moment to talk to the maid again. But you can't just take them back. Even if you pretended to apologize, it would be too obviously insincere. Perhaps it would be best to ignore them and press on?

"Just before all this," the maid gestures at Satori, "was she telling the truth?"

You freeze. This had suddenly become dangerous ground. "About what in particular?"

"Would you have helped if we'd just asked?"

That's not where you thought this was going.

"It depends," slips out, and you wince. "The first priority would have been Koishi, and we'd also agreed to try to help with an urban legend for Alice, but I don't see why we couldn't have worked on all of those at once. Especially because there's been plenty of other people after us, and we could use all the help we can get. So, probably, though I'll admit you wouldn't have had my undivided attention."

"How different would have things been if we'd found you first?" Sakuya muttered, then sighed. "Does an apology mean anything if the person giving it doesn't change their actions?"

Was she suggesting what you thought she was? "You regret how things happened. But not enough to change anything."

Sakuya drew herself up. "Satori was right on at least one point. Before anything else, I am the maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. As such, my first priority must be my lady's wishes and well-being. With my actions this incident, I have wronged the two of you. I am not blind to that. But I will see Remilia healed, regardless of the cost."

"So the end justifies the means," you whisper.

"No. But it does make the means necessary. After what has already been done, I could hardly ensure your cooperation by any means except force. Given the chance, you would choose to escape, likely doing whatever damage you could on the way out. The servant of a vampire is no stranger to revenge."

"It would be easier to hate you, you know. Not a soul in Gensokyo would blame me, least of all Satori."

"So why don't you?"

You could say that it wouldn't help Satori. It would fit Sakuya's image of you, and claim a little more common ground via working towards Satori's benefit. But that wasn't why. While it would be foolish to act hostile now, you're a good enough actor to fake amiability. In the end, it was because you couldn't repeat the same mistakes that led to Maribel. And all of that had started with getting back at a few bullies. Of course, the scale here was dramatically different. But didn't that just make it more important?

"'Love your enemy, and pray for those who persecute you.'", you quoted. "One of the things my father taught me. I'm not good enough to live it, not really. But at the same time, if you pay evil unto evil, eventually you'll find someone who can pay you back with interest. I've already had that happen once."

Sakuya doesn't speak again until she's finished treating the rest of Satori's wounds. "Regarding the binding on Satori."

She had your full attention.

"While it's active, her flight and danmaku are discouraged in the same way your own magic is." So... zapping her if she tried to use them. "As her third eye is always active, it's instead redirected, so that she can't see anyone except herself. The binding does not affect her physically."

"Thank you."

She's about to respond, but it's Patchouli's voice that comes out, through your binding. "Sakuya! I've gotten word from Meiling!"

It takes you a moment to place the name. Right, she was the guard they'd sent to check for rumors in the human village.

"That was faster than I expected," Sakuya said. "What did she find?"

"Nothing! The village is gone!"

And in an instant, it's just you and Satori left.

[-] You need to know what's going on. Follow to Patchouli's tent and listen in.
[-] Anything important they'll tell you (or confront you with) later. However, Patchouli's bindings aren't foolproof, and you should have a few minutes with your captors distracted. Look for a way to weaken the binding on Satori.

[x] Anything important they'll tell you (or confront you with) later. However, Patchouli's bindings aren't foolproof, and you should have a few minutes with your captors distracted. Look for a way to weaken the binding on Satori.
[x] If there's no way to weaken the binding without hurting Satori or alerting the others, simply study it instead and prioritize making her as comfortable as possible.

It wasn't much of a choice, in the end. With Satori unconscious, alone, and half naked in the middle of the mansion grounds, you couldn't possibly leave her like this. Speaking of which, you'd better do something about her modesty first.

After a little internal debate, you decided it would be better to get her out of what's left of the dress. With the back half literally gone, it slid off easily. Thankfully her undergarments were intact, though you averted your eyes anyway. The only other fabric in the area (aside from your own hospital gown) was the bedsheet she was laying on, and while you lacked the ability to fashion it into any sort of clothing, you could at least fold it over to completely cover her. Jostling her as little as possible, you maneuvered her into a more comfortable position, and pulled her third eye out so you could examine the binding on it.

... even with all she'd been through, like this Satori looked like she was merely asleep. You stroked a hand through her hair, pausing to straighten her headband.

Enough. You didn't have time to waste.

The problem was, Patchouli's skill as a mage was on full display here. Satori's binding looked almost like a simple bandage, a pattern of red lines on white paper that on close examination resolved into dozens upon dozens of tiny runes. The work here was intricate, and a good chunk of the runes you flat out didn't recognize. Thankfully, Sakuya's breakdown of the binding gave you a starting point. The maid wasn't a magical expert, so you couldn't read too far into what she'd said, but the key detail was that the binding dealt with Satori's mind-reading and her other abilities in different ways. That in turn meant that the binding had to be smart enough to differentiate between them, and couldn't just be a blanket shutdown on her youkai nature.

Your other resource was that you had a second example of Patchouli's work: the binding she did on you. You'd been able to find time to look at yours beforehand, and while again, many of the runes were unfamiliar to you, between being able to feel the magic literally surrounding you and testing out the edges a bit, you were pretty sure you'd figured out the general structure.

Your binding was basically a mana gatherer keyed to your magical signature (something they must have collected after you'd been captured, while unconscious). It would ignore anything anyone else did (which is why Satori was able to read your mind without issue), but the moment you tried to cast anything, most of your magic would immediately flow to the little paper band around your wrist. It wasn't perfect; you could get a little energy past it, but only if you surged your magic. Which is probably why the binding immediately started burning you the moment it received any energy. The degree of the burn depended entirely on how much energy you fed it... which was actually a security flaw. Because the binding's punishment for testing it scaled up or down to how much magic you fed it, probing it weakly had let you feel out the design without incapacitating yourself or drawing undue attention.

Regardless, while Satori's binding was more complex, Sakuya had told you that part of it worked the same way. Which meant you were able to essentially pattern match the runes between your binding and hers to find the section of her binding that restricted her flight and danmaku. That wasn't the part you cared about, but it was like finding the corner to a puzzle. By recognizing that section of the runes for what it was, and examining the section that led into it, you were able to figure out which runes were responsible for recognizing when she was using any sort of ability. Which by process of elimination meant that the other downstream section of runes had to be the one that dealt with her mind reading.

Leaning in closer to peer at the relevant section, your hopes for any sort of easy fix were quickly dashed. This was even more complicated than the other sections, even if parts of the structure look oddly familiar. Wait. Those groupings of runes appear several times, and for lack of a better word, you can "feel" Satori strongly through them. So if you assume those are keyed to her nature as a satori youkai, and look at the remaining structure - you recognize this! Back when your version of mind-reading was completely out of control, courtesy of Maribel, this was one of the countermeasures you'd looked at!

The concept was simple enough, take the magic and return it to sender. And that was true as far as it went. The problem was, continuously reading your own mind acted as a feedback loop. So long as you remained calm, it wasn't a big deal, but strong emotions would literally fuel themselves. And since they really were your own thoughts and emotions, the effect was damnably subtle, despite its strength. When you'd tried it back then, even though it seemed to work, you'd abandoned the tactic after you went from depressed to nearly suicidal in a couple of days. Sumi had been horrified when she worked it out, and...

Oh. Damnation. That was what was going on here. Satori had been on the verge of snapping the entire time her binding had been active! If you compared it to her behavior back in the mansion, where she'd stayed calm and collected despite the same situation and far more immediate danger... it had to be. Her pain, her grief, her despair, they weren't "worse", not exactly. They just suddenly started hitting her much harder.

You stared down at the sealed third eye, your hands shaking. What could you even do? Saying that the binding itself was hurting Satori sounded maximally suspicious. Sakuya might be warming to you, but she wasn't a mage. She had no way of verifying this for herself, and would probably trust Patchouli's expertise. The same Patchouli who was (admittedly correctly) suspicious of you and that you'd already alienated. Plus the pride angle of implying that the binding she'd designed wasn't working exactly as intended! As for Flandre... well, wasn't that a joke? And even if you somehow convinced your captors, changing it to work differently would require serious time and effort, something they couldn't afford to spend even if they did believe you.

Maybe Satori would be fine? She was both more mature and more mentally stable than you had been, back then. Knowing what was going on did make it easier to compensate for the emotional feedback, and it's not like Satori was a stranger to being surrounded by negative emotions. It's just... this was so much more serious than some stupid classroom drama. Satori was already carrying a lot of burdens, and maybe she was capable of holding up, but this would just make them all that much heavier. Damn!

Could you manipulate the binding, change it yourself? Changing the mechanism wasn't possible. It would be easier to break it than to make it work differently, and have a sinking suspicion that the bindings would incapacitate you (or worse) if removed by force. That left changing the targeting. You already knew which groups of runes were acting as identifiers. If you could just get them to point to anyone or anything other than Satori, then that should actually work! Granted, she'd be stuck constantly reading that person's mind instead of her own, but she had to be used to that sort of thing.

This actually might be possible. Magical blood was a power source, after all. Hypothetically, soaking the relevant sections of runes in your blood would override whatever "essence of Satori" was in there, and redirect her mind reading to you. If it didn't set off some sort of tamper alarm. Or if crudely thrusting an outside source of magical power into a complex working didn't destabilize it and make the entire thing explode.

Hm. You'd need to spend more time examining it to be completely confident there wasn't any sort of anti-tampering working, but you didn't expect there to be one. Despite the level of craft on these things, they had to have been rushed. Given that Satori only entered the picture after you and Sumi had entered Gensokyo, even if Sakuya had found out immediately and Patchouli had started work immediately, that was two days at absolute max. Making an elaborate binding foolproof against the thing it was binding was difficult enough; no way had she adequately safeguarded it against the many, many types of outside interference. If she could work that kind of silver bullet in a couple of days, you'd bow at her feet and demand lessons.

The bigger concern was destabilizing the magic and causing something to blow. Given Sakuya and co wanted you alive, you didn't think there were any lethal safeguards in these bindings, but when a large enough amount of magic goes kaboom, all bets are off. You were pretty sure you could keep things stable if you could feel what you were doing (Sumi had given you plenty of practice on that front), but that was exactly the problem. Your magic was sealed. Not quite perfectly, you could still feel a bit, (which was incredibly helpful in trying to work this out), and you're pretty sure you could push a small effect through if you didn't mind getting magically tased... but trying to tamper with a binding like this was like trying to work bomb defusal with your hands stuck in oven mitts and handcuffed. Behind your back.

You sighed, cradling Satori's third eye in your hands. It was no good. As bad as the emotional feedback loop could be, getting caught tampering with her binding or screwing up said tampering would be worse. Your best bet was trying to keep Satori in situations where her mind reading was more useful unsealed, and to support her between those, at least until you could find an opportunity to properly tamper with it.

Or to escape, for that matter. It's just that, barring outside help, that one seemed several orders of magnitude less realistic.

Feeling defeated, you close your eyes, extending your arm to tuck her third eye back beneath the bedsheets... only to not feel the sheets. Or Satori, or anything other than a sudden breeze on your forearm... and just that forearm.

Your eyes jerk back open, only to see that Satori's third eye, your hand, and about half of your arm has disappeared into a literal tear in space. And then you heard a voice behind you.

"Seeing you like this reminds me of old times. I find myself rather nostalgic."

Not her. Please not her. You look behind you, parasol, purple clothes, blonde hair, damn! "Maribel."

"Yukari," she corrected, walking around to your front. "Though I suppose your encounter with Maribel would have been rather memorable."

"You mean you don't prefer Q. Nira?" you said acidly. "Why are you here?! After everything you've done, why on earth would you show up here?"

Yukari closed her parasol and flipped it over, leaning on it like a walking stick. "It's for your sake, of course. You're surprisingly popular, Greg. Even with my abilities, it's proven remarkably difficult to get to you alone."

Alone? Didn't she realize? "I don't know about that. We're about to have company."

She waved a hand. "Yes, yes, the listening charm Patchouli put on your bindings. How droll. Where are those bindings again?"

You follow her gaze to that tear in space. You jerk your arm reflexively, but your elbow is stuck fast where the gap has ahold of you... and both the binding around your wrist and the one around Satori's third eye are on the other side of it.

"It's such a shame that particular gap doesn't conduct sound, don't you think?"

"You've been watching closely," you realized, shuddering. "You had to be, to know that level of detail."

"Indeed. I suppose I should compliment you. You've grown a fair bit from your school days."

"It's not like I had a choice."

"There's always a choice, Greg. In fact, you get to make one right now! I didn't come here just to reminisce, I have an offer for you. What do you know about shikigami?"

[-] Hear her out. This is as close as you can get to a deal with the devil, but... well, your situation is desparate.
[-] Sound whatever alarms you can. With magic, without magic, screaming, whatever. Nothing good can come of this.
[-] Hear her out, then sound the alarm anyway. Because screw her.

[x] Sound the alarm, then hear her out. Because screw her.

Person you'd already had an extremely bad experience with, check.

Probably criminal activity (or whatever passes for it in Gensokyo), check.

Going behind the backs of everyone else involved, check.

Extremely sketchy unspecified offer, check.

Oh, look at that. Yukari's just won predator red flag bingo. It should probably say something that the people who literally kidnapped you alarm you significantly less than her. Unfortunately, at the moment you were a literally captive audience, which limited your options a bit. Gritting your teeth, you pulse your magic, calling enough energy to generate a substantial illusion and feeding it all into the binding. The shock you receive is substantial, but not enough to make you cry out. In particular, Yukari doesn't react, so you think it went unnoticed.

Unfortunately, there's no instant sign of response from Sakuya or anyone else either, so you decide to keep throwing magic at the binding while buying time. Fortunately, Yukari gave you a topic worth some drama.

"Shikigami. As in, the unbreakable magical contract where slavery meets identity death. That kind of shikigami."

"Identity suppression, not identity death," Yukari remarked. "Though considering the difficulty of breaking such a bond, most would call it a technical difference."

"Being forced to watch versus simply being gone seems like a large difference to me." you mutter. If only of the 'what level of hell did you end up on' type.

"It's hardly the torture you seem to think. The original soul remains asleep unless something disturbs it, which is unlikely due to the preconditions of the bond." The youkai brushes past your shoulder as she walks around to her front, continuing her lecture. "The shikigami bond is strong because it must be entered willingly. The servant must agree with what they understand of the master's will before they bind themselves to it, and it is that unity of purpose from which a shikigami draws their strength."

"You're trying to sell me on it. You're actually trying to sell me on it." You looked up at her, channeling as much magic into the binding's alarm as you dared. "Are you really going to ask me to become your shikigami? Me, of all people?"

Now directly in front of you, the greater youkai stares you directly in the eyes. "And if I was?"

You weren't going to play around the point. Not because your captors might be listening in, even if that should be a factor. Regardless of whether it infuriated her, made her stop talking and start acting. But for your sake, because the idea was too horrifying. Because to entertain an idea, even falsely, meant to consider what it might be like, and you couldn't. Not that. Not to her.

"I'd sooner die."

Yukari went silent, and you found yourself smiling. Even without leverage, that was the one choice you could always make. She could beat you twenty different ways, but she couldn't force you to play. There was always the freedom to take the consequences. And choosing that came with a certain strength, because it meant you had nothing else to lose, that there was nothing to threaten you with.

Yukari laughed, a low chuckle that you swore made the ground itself rumble. "Oh, Greg. You've already seen the death threats Satori's gotten, and Sumireko is fighting for her life as we speak. What makes you think you'd be the one to die?"

"If you're threatening them, you should know that won't get you anywhere."

"All I'd have to do is let things take their course. Haven't you realized? Despite all your efforts, that Sumireko would have a much easier time if she were here alone? Or that despite everything, Satori would be better off having never met you?"

You all but growled at Yukari and the youkai nodded. "That would get your attention. But why not a better question? What if you could fix everything?"

You shouldn't ask. You really shouldn't. "And by everything, you mean..."

"Satori and Koishi. Alice's quest for a living doll. Free passage between Gensokyo and Earth. Even helping Remilia if you want. Everything."

Where on earth was Sakuya?! The last thing she should want is to let Yukari make her case! "You can't possibly be promising that."

"Do you doubt me? I manipulate the boundaries between concepts."

"Exactly. It's too much!" you snapped. "Even if you can do that, even if setting up and resolving every aspect of this incident is no big deal for you, why would you be going to that effort for me? Quite frankly, I'm not strong enough to matter. I'm barely even on Gensokyo's power scale."

"Your ability has stagnated because you insist on pretending to be something you're not. Being a good man is not in your nature." She smiled. "I look forwards to when you break that facade and show your true self."

"Are you really Maribel? Because I hated her. Hated her more than I've ever hated anyone. And yet... she was right. For all I hated her, she was right to stop me, to break my control over the class, maybe even to..." no, you're not quite ready to admit that. "It's beside the point. I could see her declaring me weak, or worthless, or that I couldn't be good. But she would never have suggested I throw away my conscience to become stronger."

Yukari's mouth opened slightly as she put a hand up to it. "No one's asked that in ages. Not in that sense. Perhaps..." she hesitated, sighed, and the last words came out in barely a whisper. "The last step might be more difficult than I hoped."

What was that supposed to mean? "I guess it's a moot point. Whether you're her or not, there's a lot of reasons to hate what you're selling. The answer is no."

That moment of surprise or conscience or whatever that was is gone now. "Of course it is," she answers easily. "You were never going to work with me here. You're not desperate yet."

"I'll never be that desperate."

"Are you so sure of that? Everywhere you and your friend run, you find new problems and rack up new debts. More obstacles to face, more danger ever-present, and more people in need. You can't help everyone. You'll need to decide what - or perhaps I should say who - you're willing to sacrifi-"

[Watch - Luna Dial]

A watch bounced off of her, and Yukari froze literally mid-sentence. Not in the sense of stiffening or reacting, but literally stopped moving. Sakuya appeared beside you.

Finally!

"Sakuya, I'm stuck!"

The maid knelt down, looking at the gap that was holding my arm and Satori's third eye. "Manipulating space and time aren't that different," she said tentatively.

Sakuya's hand was kind of... vibrating, blurry, with some sort of time shenanigans effect over it as it reached for the gap. You're really not sure what happened next, but an instant later all three of you are both blown back, bouncing off the ground and rolling to a stop.

Satori groans, thrashing about in the bedsheet she's still tangled in. You move towards her, and abruptly realize that's not the top concern. Inside Sakuya's time-stop effect, Yukari was ever so slowly moving, starting to gesture. "Sakuya! Yukari's moving!"

"It's expected." Sakuya said, turning her gaze to the sky. "Tenshi! We're clear!"

[Keystone - World Creation Press]
The blue-haired girl from earlier comes out of nowhere, smashing a boulder into Yukari with a yell. The watch, the time stop effect, the youkai and the ground are all pulverized. with even the boulder itself shattering into fragments.

You can barely see anything through the dust cloud, but stare regardless. That attack left a crater. Surely-

Sakuya snaps her fingers in front of your face. "Take Satori and get to Patchouli. This fight is going to be vicious."

[Border Sign - Quadruple Barrier]
There's a yelp and Tenshi is ejected through said cloud at high speed, crashing through a row of bushes. Yukari floats out of the laying on a gap, looking none the worse for wear.

"That was poor courtesy, don't you think?" Yukari smiles. "We were talking."

Sakuya snaps her fingers, and a couple hundred knives fan out to either side of her. "You'll find I have some pointed things to say to you."


[-] Yeah, just take Satori and run.
[-] Try something else? (Write-in)

[-] Yeah, just take Satori and run.

Behind you, Sakuya and Yukari are dancing through bullets and knives respectively, Tenshi's charging back in with a ring of lasers, and the sky has gone from absurdly sunny to threatening a storm in a few seconds. Wait, scratch the threatening part, that was a lightning strike. Which Yukari somehow deflected into the mansion itself, which is now on fire.

Sometimes discretion isn't just the best part of valor, it's damn near the only part of valor.

"Satori, get up! We have to run!"

She yelps as you pull her upright. "Greg? What's going on?!"

"Yukari kicked the hornet's nest!" you yell.

You try to pull her along, but Satori stumbles and you bite back a swear. She's injured, what were you thinking? "Lean on me!" you tell her, leaning down to get your shoulder under her armpit, with your arm around her back for added support. She nods and latches on, and the two of you again try to run for it.

It's not as quick as you'd like. Satori's still disoriented, and even with you supporting her she only hobbles along at a slow jog, made slower because apparently Tenshi's sword causes earthquakes. Heavily localized ones, granted - the ground is merely unstable compared to pillars literally bursting from the ground inside the melee - but it's still enough to make running difficult at best. Nobody in the melee seems to actually be targeting the two of you, but an accidental blow could still paste you across the landscape.

[Forbidden Barrage - Starbow Break]
Feeling the spellcard declaration, you glance back as Flandre charges in with the subtlety of a nuke. In the span of a couple moments, you see Yukari dodge away from a sword swing from Tenshi, and open up a gap which the celestial falls into. The other end of the gap opens up directly into the vampire's path. Flandre continues her charge regardless, and it's only the quick intervention of Sakuya that prevents Tenshi from becoming friendly fire.

Then the spellcard's wave of bullets hit the ground, resulting in a brand new set of craters across the lawn, and a brand new stumble from the ground shaking. And then Yukari retaliates.

[Sinister Spirits - Double Black Death Butterfly]
Satori mutters something about remembering that one, and you do what you can to keep pulling her forwards. At least this spellcard is completely airborne, so you have a reprieve from becoming collateral damage. And Patchouli's tent is right there.

All told, the journey only took a couple of eternities minutes, but that didn't stop it from being one of the more harrowing experiences of your life. There's a moment of panic when you nearly hit a barrier surrounding the tent, but it lowers as you approach it and snaps back up the instant you've crossed. And with that, you're inside to relative safety.

The tent was absolutely bigger on the inside, seeing that it contained an actual library. As in, a dozen rows of bookshelves that stretch to at least fifteen feet high. Looking through the aisles, you see Patchouli down towards the far end of the tent, kneeling in the middle of what looks like a ritual circle. (The candles are a dead giveaway.) There's a red-haired girl with bat wings watching said ritual, and when she sees you, she hurriedly gestures for you to stay away.

Fine by you. You make a beeline for the nearest chair, one of those big comfy armchairs meant for reading, and breath a sigh of relief as you help your friend into it. "How are you feeling, Satori?"

She practically sinks into the cushions, closing her eyes with a groan. "Side hurts less, burns a little. Head feels stuffy and dizzy. Reminds me of being sick."

"The medical supplies Miss Sakuya used were from Eientei!" You almost jump at the high-pitched voice. That winged girl you saw earlier snuck up on you. "I believe their bandages have a painkilling effect."

Having yet another unknown factor puts you on edge. "Are you another vampire?"

She smiles at you. "Sure!"

Satori starts coughing, and you glance at her in concern. That's not great. So if she's a vampire - and she's got little head-wings too - and with that hair color... "So would that make you the scarlet devil? I guess that means you're supervising things here?"

The scarlet-haired girl's now grinning openly. "This is a rare opportunity. Should I start making demands?"

A rare opportunity? What did she mean by that? You bite your lip, considering. You hadn't seen her earlier, so could she be here because of Yukari? But if she had a major power she should be helping them fight right now, so maybe she's a trump card? Sure, she looked young and innocent, but at first glance, so did Flandre.

Satori breaks into open laughter. You stare at her, baffled, and after a couple attempts she gets out, "That's Koakuma. She's a minor devil and Patchouli's assistant."

She mock glares at Satori, hands on hips. "You ruined it!"

Oh. You misread things. The smile wasn't hiding a deeper meaning, she was just messing with you. Maybe the whole thing with Yukari made you a little paranoid.

That said, the name does sound familiar. "Isn't she the one who stopped Remilia with the cross?"

"That's me!" She leaned in conspiratorially. "After that, my master was so pleased she tripled my pay!"

That at least is a setup you recognize. "You don't get paid, do you?"

"Nope!"

Even expecting it, the punchline does cause you to chuckle. "So why are you over here, anyway? If you're Patchy's assistant, I figured you'd be helping with the ritual."

She shrugged. "It's already running at this point. I figured I'd see if you need anything," she said, looking pointedly at Satori.

"Some water would be nice," Satori said, closing her eyes again. "Come to think of it, it's cold in here too."

Following Koakuma's gaze, you belatedly realized the bedsheet got lost somewhere along the way. You rubbed the bridge of your nose, specifically not looking at the beautiful young woman in her undergarments. "I think she's asking if you'd like new clothes."

Satori opened her eyes, irritated. "Why would I need new... eep!"

"I like the flower pattern!" Koakuma said brightly. "Very lacy."

Satori went bright red and hugged her knees to her chest. "Greg! What happened to my dress?!"

"Sakuya had to cut it open to get at your injuries. It didn't really survive the process," you said, still doing your best not to look at her. "At least... it's not that different from a bathing suit?"

Satori mumbled something about Aya and buried her head in her arms. Thankfully, out of the corner of your eye, you saw what should be at least temporary salvation: A blanket. Darting over to grab it, you draped it over her, and leaned down to tuck in the edges. "There. That should do the trick, at least until Koakuma can get you new clothes."

"Coming right up!" Koakuma declared, flying off into the library.

Satori looked up at you, cheeks still burning, grabbing the blanket and shifting uncomfortably with it. "Did you-" she shakes her head and looks away. "Never mind. Thanks."

You take a moment to pluck out a leaf that got tangled in her hair. "Are you really okay?"

She tensed at your movement and hugged the blanket tighter. "Why wouldn't I be?"

You stare at her in disbelief. "Satori, you were injured, had your ability sealed, collasped, fainted, and then were woken up Yukari's gap imploding. That's literally a list."

"I'll be fine." She said, still not looking at you. "You don't have to worry about me. You should probably use this chance to gather information."

[-] Let it pass for now. She's not wrong about the opportunity, and you should...
----- [-] Check out the ritual Patchouli's doing.
----- [-] Try to find a useful book in the magic library (insert a topic)
----- [-] See how the battle's going outside.
[-] Catch her up on the developments since she fainted, specifically about the details on her binding and what Yukari said.
[-] Ask if she's worried about being close to you.

[-] Catch her up on the binding, then go see about Patchy's ritual.

You wanted to press. You didn't need to read her mind to see that she's upset, and on a deeper level than mere embarrassment. It reminded you of the kiss at Alice's house. It was the only thing before the binding that had rattled her like this, and just like back then, she was turning you away, looking for a chance to compose herself.

That's wasn't the worst way to handle problems, (it's certainly easier to deal with than Sumi just blowing her top), but it struck you as a way to avoid the issue. Like how she'd brushed things off before as Koishi's fault.

The problem was, if this was what you thought it was, if it wasn't just you, if Satori was troubled just by the idea of being close to someone, that was the sort of thing where it was easier to never confront it. To keep all your interactions cordial, professional, distant, and through all of that, safe. Because dealing with loneliness was far safer than letting someone in.

But did you have that right? Even if she should let someone in, you'd only known her a couple of days. It was entirely possible she'd be more comfortable opening up to someone else. But then again, you were certain that this would be the last thing she'd want to talk about. Maybe even less than Koishi crippling herself. You might not be able to get her to open up if you missed this chance. You looked down at your hand, still stained with her blood, and sighed.

"We all need someone to worry about us sometimes," you said gently. "But I won't pry."

It was the wrong way to look at it. Encouraging Satori to work through her issues, whatever they proved to be, might be good for her. Ambushing her with them while her mind reading was disabled and her emotions were compromised was not. You couldn't just assume you knew best and rush forwards, damn the consequences. Especially because you didn't really have privacy.

Satori barely reacted, so you laid a hand on her shoulder, saying, "That said, there is something you need to know. Something important."

Satori took a deep breath, used the corner of the blanket to wipe her face, and looked up at you. "Yes?"

"While you were unconscious, I got a good look at the binding on you, and how it restricts your mind reading." You hesitate, then fold your hands behind your back. Better to do this professionally. "The short version is that the binding redirects things so that you're constantly reading your own mind. Basically, your emotions are going to feel a lot stronger while it's active. And feed into themselves."

Her eyes widened, and you could practically see her replaying the moment in the gazebo, or when she'd snapped at Patchouli and Sakuya. An instant later, her eyes narrowed. "Was that intentional?"

You grimaced. "Probably not? It's not an obvious effect. I only spotted it because I'd tried something similar on myself, back then."

She didn't respond, and you laid a hand on her arm. "It's better not to think about it. It's far too easy for your thoughts to spiral somewhere dark."

"Which part shouldn't I think about?" Her voice started low, but rose in volume as she built up momentum. "Being kidnapped, being held hostage, the death threats, having my third eye sealed, having my emotions compromised, or any of the other 'small' ways they've screwed us over?!"

Damn! You took as much magic as you could, and threw it at her, pushing a feeling of calm. Most of it got sucked away by your binding, but a good bit still made it through. Then the binding's punishment hit, and you gasped as the shock ran through your system, stumbling and catching yourself on the arm of the chair.

Satori sat bolt upright, staring at you. "Greg?!"

You pushed yourself back up to a standing position and gave her a sad smile. "Anger's better than despair in this case, but not by much."

She relaxed slightly, still looking at you. "That's it then? Think positive?"

"'Whatever is good, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about such things.'" Satori looked nonplussed, so you added, "Philippians four, verse eight."

She raised an eyebrow at you. "How many of those have you memorized?"

You breathed a sigh of relief. That was somewhere between mild annoyance and bemusement, which was exactly what you'd been hoping for. "To be fair, my dad is a pastor."

"How does that work with you having magic?"

It's your turn to wince and look away. "I never told him. For that exact reason."

She nodded slowly. "You were worried he'd think you were possessed."

For her mind-reading being sealed, that was dead-on. You shook your head, she probably saw it earlier. "More or less. I mean, my power is mine. I'm absolutely certain about that. But I don't have a way to prove it. And the fact that Sumi gets a kick out of making magic look occult doesn't help."

"With how you talk about your dad, I thought you were close."

"We are!" you defended. "I'm only keeping the one secret. It's just-"

She put a finger to your lips. "I understand. Sometimes we keep secrets for good reason, because some conversations only promise pain." She gave you a sly smile. "Or should I be telling you to open up and trust him?"

You'd have to be blind to miss the parallel. Which really raises the question of how she outmaneuvered you that badly. "I thought you were disoriented?"

She sat up a little straighter, looking you dead in the eyes. "I know how you think, Greg. And it was sweet of you to distract me from my thoughts with yours."

You glance down at her binding, then at yours, and meet her gaze again. Was she reading your- "Only for a moment. What you did a minute ago, to calm me down, was helpful, even if it is fading."

"Should I try it again?"

Her arm shot out, grabbing yours by the binding, and you stumbled as she pulled on it, shifting it ever so slightly and revealing the red, raw skin beneath. "Only if I need it." Her eyes flicked down to the burn, then back to yours. "Only if I really need it."

"As you wish," you said with a sigh. Regardless, did she think you should-

"Go on," she told you. "I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me."

The same words as before, but a very different energy behind them this time. You smiled at her. It was good to have her back.

She blushed, pushing you away. "I said go!"

You shook your head, chuckling. Fine then. Time to check out Patchy's ritual.

[-] To be continued.

[-] Check out Patchouli's ritual

Considering the tent is obviously a temporary location, the magic circle Patchouli's sitting in is surprisingly intricate. While the rest of the tent is sitting on grass, someone put together a circular wooden platform in the center, raised maybe a couple inches off the ground. (A part of you idly where they found the time to construct something that polished, but it's hardly the most important point right now.) Instead of the standard magic circle setup you and Sumi use for your rituals, the mansion's mage has the central design of her runes laid out in the shape of a five-pointed star.

Patchouli is chanting a language you've never heard before in the center of the star, and each of the points contains an object: Arranged clockwise, you see a candle, a wooden stick, a bowl of water, a knife, and a small pile of dirt. Above her, the tent has a skylight letting the sun down directly onto Patchouli, reflecting off of a crescent mirror at her feet. You barely recognize any of the runes being used here, but you hardly need to. This is obviously the elemental power source for the rest of the ritual, and you can feel the magical energy flowing through the points of the star, spiraling around and around the mage.

From the points of the star come a number of lines, gracefully curving around towards around a dozen or so smaller circles that are themselves filled with runes. The designs of those vary significantly, from small ones with only a couple of runes and one line connected to them to ones that could be entire rituals on their own, complete with their own materials. The most noticeable of those is a full-sized mirror, and as you watch Patchouli continue to chant, that circle containing it is the first one to light up, with sun and moon energy gathering into it.

Oh, interesting. It's not just a single spell. This entire setup is essentially a modular ritual, with various types and amounts of elemental power being channeled into whichever of the smaller effects Patchouli wants. That's brilliant and slightly terrifying, actually, but you're careful to remain quiet and not interrupt. Patchouli catches sight of you in her peripheral vision, and you can feel the glare she sends your way, but she continues her chant regardless. She kind of has to. If you interrupt a ritual and you're lucky, it dissipates harmlessly. If you're not, you're at ground zero. This danger increases with the size and complexity of the ritual, and while you don't doubt there's safety protections in there somewhere, you'd be surprised if a disruption to this left the tent standing. At any rate, you offer no such trouble, and Patchouli's spell goes on, causing an image to appear on the mirror.

It's the battle outside, from a bird's eye view. You're not really sure who's winning; with the exception of Tenshi (who seems to be getting absolutely destroyed at every turn), the other combatants are trading blows; Flandre and Sakuya tossing out complicated spellcards that Yukari takes hits from in exchange for further annihilating the celestial. Tenshi's throwing out some strong attacks of her own, but unlike Flandre and Sakuya's, those never come close to hitting the gap youkai, and a couple of them get turned back on her.

Which is honestly curious. Tenshi's attacks look both strong and fast, from what looks like a sword made of fire to giant rocks and circles of lasers, and yet you're pretty sure Flandre's attacks are leaving larger craters. Nevertheless, Yukari is making sure to never take any hits from the celestial, and willingly tanking hits from the vampire to do so. (As well as from Sakuya, but her knives don't appear to be doing much of anything in this fight.) Considering how Yukari's absolutely pounding on Tenshi at every turn, you're really not sure if this is some hidden strategy, or if she just has a grudge.

But Patchouli's attention isn't on them, as the mirror's view pans over to the mansion. The mansion that is still, in fact, on fire. The chant changes tempo, and a new circle lights up, this one drawing power from the water point of the star.

[Water Sign - Princess Undine]
Water bullets crash into the top layer of the mansion, taking out the fire on impact along with chipping away the roof's tiles where they land. Patchouli keeps the spellcard going for half a minute, running it back and forth along the roof's surface to make sure the fire is completely out. Which it is, but looking at the state of what's left of the roof... you guess it's technically an improvement.

Regardless, Patchouli then turns her attention to the actual fight. Tenshi's off on the sidelines, having been rescued by Sakuya, and Flandre's currently chasing Yukari through one of the gap youkai's spellcards, a curtain of giant red orbs flanked by lines of cyan daggers. Yukari says something, getting a scowl from Flandre, but Patchouli moves on to another spellcard of her own.

[Fire Water Wood Metal Earth Sign - Philosopher's Stone]
All five points of the star light up, glowing their respective colors as they feed power into the largest of the secondary spell circles on the platform. Around Flandre, five books suddenly manifest, each shooting out bullets in a different element and pattern. The sudden addition of those bullets forces Yukari to bank right, dodging away from the onslaught, but a wall of knives suddenly appears there and she has to reverse course.

Yukari instead opens up a gap, with most of Patchouli's bullets pouring into that, but Flandre simply flies around it, swinging her own flame sword down with devestating force. The gap youkai blocks that with her parasol, deflecting it sideways and letting the extended blade carve a burning furrow in the ground beneath. The handle of the parasol hooks out, nabbing one of Flandre's wings and pulling her off balance, causing the blade to fly wide, narrowly missing Tenshi. The celestial charges in at Yukari, a keystone in either hand, but Yukari simply tosses the vampire at her and falls back into the gap she'd just made. Sakuya appears, barely pulling Flandre out of Tenshi's way as the celestial throws the keystones she's holding, getting them into the gap just before Yukari seals it behind her.

Everyone tenses, waiting to see where Yukari will pop up next. Patchouli lets go of her high-powered spellcard, and a couple of other circles light up, not quite activating yet as the different elemental energies circulate. Tenshi's got a ring of keystones lined up, Flandre has her flaming sword held in one hand, the other one tensed in a claw pose as she stares around at the battlefield. Sakuya flickers in and out of visibility as she stops time, dashing back and forth to various places for who knows what end.

Thirty seconds pass. Then a minute. Then two. You say nothing, watching intently. Patchouli maintains her magic on the edge of casting a spellcard, but you can see the strain on her face. Ultimately, it's Flandre who cracks first, stabbing her sword into the ground and yelling.

For an instant you think Yukari's made her move, but... nothing. Sakuya's there, appeasing Flandre, and Tenshi lets her ring of keystones collapse as she pounds a fist on her chest and starts talking, her nose in the air.

Flandre looks at her, scowls, and flies off, back towards own tent. Sakuya gives a put-upon smile and says something to the celestial, who ignores her and continues saying... whatever she was on about.

And then a gap opens behind Tenshi, and a keystone flies out of it, beaning her in the back of the head and sending her sprawling.

This instantly puts everyone back on high alert, but over the next several minutes, no further action occurs.

[-] To be continued.

[-] Regroup.

It took another ten or so minutes for Sakuya to gather everyone for a mansion-wide meeting, most of which you spent being interrogated by Patchouli. There wasn't a real edge to it, so you suspect it's mostly just annoyance. Between Satori hitting a nerve, Yukari getting away, and you sitting there watching her spellcasting, you're not exactly surprised she's irritated. Still, it was something of a relief when Sakuya showed up and announced a planning meeting. To your surprise, you and Satori were to be included.

So there everyone was, gathered at the entrance of Patchy's tent... well, for a certain value of everyone. Satori was sitting in the same spot as before, still bundled up in the blanket. A table had been added, with other chairs placed around it. Probably Sakuya's work. Speaking of which, the maid was standing off to the side, looking as spotless as ever, while Patchouli took a seat on the far side, book still in hand. You walked around to claim the seat next to Satori, and then and only then did Sakuya take her own chair. So then... you, Satori, Sakuya, and Patchouli, though Koakuma was also lurking by the bookshelves. Tenshi being absent wasn't really a surprise, but the other absence was more notable.

"No vampire this time?" you asked idly.

"The young mistress is rather upset." Sakuya said. "It has been some time since I've seen her this furious."

You're not about to argue that point. "Is there a reliable way to navigate her... moods? I'd rather not suddenly get blown up from saying the wrong thing."

Sakuya hesitated, and you repressed a sigh. Right, the maid wasn't going to reveal anything that might be considered private information regarding the Scarlets. Which would be respectable if the consequences weren't potentially deadly.

"No." Patchouli replied. "Flandre has always been a wild card. Your best strategy would be to avoid aggravating her."

"Does that include presenting bad news? Because there's always the chance of getting some of that, and I need to at least know if she'll shoot the messenger." Granted, hiding or sugarcoating such news was also an option, but you really didn't think you'd get away with that.

"Consider it additional motivation to succeed." Patchouli said icily.

"Yes, you're just asking Greg to succeed where you've failed." Satori said acidly. "No pressure."

The two glared daggers at each other, which was only interrupted by Sakuya's polite cough. "We're all better off if this doesn't reach the level of assigning blame."

Satori backed down on that, but Patchouli merely turned on the maid. "We? That reminds me, why are they here?" she said, waving an arm around at the tent. "I see no reason to trust them with planning our next move."

That's not unexpected from her, but you'd much rather have a say in what could be a life and death decision. "Flandre made it perfectly clear she'd kill us if Remilia died. You can't pretend we have no stake in her survival."

Patchouli's unmoved. "Or in creating circumstances that would aid an escape attempt."

"Oh, come off it. If I was going to try something, don't you think I'd have at least negotiated with Yukari?"

"Her offer was hardly worth pursuing. Becoming a shikigami is a fate similar to death."

"Becoming what?!" Satori exclaimed.

"I know that." you said, reaching over to put your hand on Satori's. "And considering I used the binding to alert you before even hearing that offer, my point stands. The only reason Yukari got to say anything is because Sakuya somehow didn't respond instantly."

Sakuya shook her head. "Fighting Yukari without backup would have been unwise. Even with my ability, talking with others still takes time."

Ah. Well, that explained that particular detail.

"Regardless," Patchouli interrupted, "Yukari's appearance is a little too convenient. It's suspicious that she confirmed her involvement immediately after you two singled her out as the culprit, in a way that let you distance yourself from her while also giving you leverage with us."

"Leverage?" It takes you a second to catch what she means by that, and you can scarcely believe it. "You mean her 'offer' to fix everything if I became her shikigami?! You just pointed out that's a fate worse than death! How does another way to commit suicide possibly benefit me?"

"It limits the pressure they can apply." Satori said, staring the mage down. "They have to tone back the death threats, because if you think you're going to die either way, you might just take Yukari's deal."

Patchouli stared right back. "That would work out just fine for you, wouldn't it?"

Satori snarled, jumping up. You grabbed her hand, trying to pull her back. "Satori, please! It's not worth it!"

For a moment you thought she would lunge at the mage anyway, but then her hand grabbed yours, giving you a gentle squeeze as she sat back down and addressed Patchouli. "If you really think that, it says more about you then it does about me."

"You're no stranger to collateral damage." Patchouli smiled. It wasn't a kind smile. "Isn't it a fascinating coincidence how Koishi just happened to find that mask?"

"Are you trying to get us to hate you?" You snapped. "Or are you taking out your helplessness on her?"

It wasn't the most diplomatic thing you could have said, but as it wiped the smile off Patchouli's face, you found you didn't care.

"Enough!" Sakuya said, slamming a knife into the table. Everyone flinched at that, and she released a breath, sighing. "Patchy. Part of the reason for doing things this way was to motivate them as much as possible. I'm not suggesting blind trust, but they've already shown insight into these urban legends. By all means, check their claims and question their conclusions, but we cannot afford to ignore them, any more than we could Yukari's words. Now, please. Contact Meiling again."

"Fine." Patchouli said, placing her book on the table.

It wasn't flashy. The mage simply opened up the book, said a few words, and then Meiling's voice came out of it.

"Patchy? How'd things go? Did you get Yukari?"

"No major developments," she said. "The gap hag played around for a bit before running."

"Sounds like her. Did she at least say anything useful?"

"A few things, but the main one was making an offer to Greg to become her shikigami," Sakuya said. "The rest was largely taunting."

You don't doubt that, exactly, but you wouldn't put it past her to have some other meaning. "What did she say to you and Flandre?"

Sakuya's hands tightened into fists. "She said it was ironic for Remilia to be laid low by a story for children. Along with asking what my plan was when Reimu came knocking."

"Do we, uh, have a plan for that?" Meiling asked. "Not to doubt you, but back during the scarlet mist, she did-"

"I am aware of that." Sakuya snapped. She took a deep breath, visibly relaxing. "Should the worst come to worst, I can use the same trick on her I did on Marisa."

"Marisa was at Eientei with Eirin fast approaching!" Satori protested. "You'd kill her!"

Sakuya waved a hand dismissively. "We have some of their supplies remaining."

"We don't." Koakuma said, then flinched back when everyone turned to stare at her. "No, really, we don't! That roll of bandages was the last of the Eientei stuff!"

"Surely the blood replenishment-"

"You used that," Patchouli said. "You gave it to Flandre after visiting Remilia."

"One moment," the maid said, vanishing. A moment later she reappeared, sighing. "It's as you say. I was mistaken."

"There's a better option in any case," Patchouli said. "Reimu may be gifted at danmaku, but she's not much of an investigator. So long as our prisoners aren't literally right in front of her, she's not likely to find them."

Patchouli paused and shot a meaningful look towards you and Satori. "But we should talk about those countermeasures in private."

"Indeed." Sakuya nodded, tapping a finger against the table. "But returning to the main issue, there are two clear priorities. Getting information from Yukari, and regaining access to the human village to see what goes on there."

"Just getting information?" Meiling asked what you were thinking. You'd expected a far more violent reaction.

"Make no mistake, Yukari will reap what she's sown." Sakuya snapped, wrenching the knife back out of the table. "But she can be dealt with in time. Restoring my lady takes priority."

You suppose there's also the question of practicality. Actually 'dealing' with Yukari would require blocking her ability to simply vanish through a gap, and if anyone here could stop that, they'd have done so earlier. But that brings up a very related problem. "Can you force information out of her?"

Satori gave a laugh, shaking her head. "I don't see how. Meaningfully threatening Yukari herself is difficult. Not only is she absurdly strong, but most of the people she cares about are nearly as powerful. Yuyuko, Suika, Reimu... trying to use any of them as leverage is begging for disaster. Even her shikigami's a nine-tailed kitsune, and that's without Yukari powering her up."

"Bringing in another group would be foolish, yes." Patchouli smiled. "But there is a weak point here. You're forgetting a certain cat."

Satori looked blankly at her for a moment before realizing something. "You're going after her pet?! There's no way Chen knows anything!"

"Hang on a second," you interject. "Who's Chen?"

"Ran is a Yukari's shikigami, and still fairly powerful in her own right." Sakuya explained. "Chen is Ran's shikigami, and a standard low-level youkai. Simple enough to get ahold of, and while Yukari may or may not care, it is near certain that Ran will."

Oh, great. More kidnapping. "If Ran's your real target, couldn't you just go after her directly?"

"There's two problems with that," Patchouli said. "The first is finding her. From all reports, she's been rushing across half of Gensokyo during your little incident. The second is the shikigami bond. If Ran is acting according to Yukari's wishes, she's nearly as strong as Yukari herself."

You can see the logic. "You're gambling that by threatening Chen, she'll drop everything to find her, which won't be according to Yukari's plan, and leaving her with just her own strength. You think Ran will know what Yukari's up to?"

"She is Yukari's primary servant, and frequently acts on her behalf," Sakuya said. "It is unlikely her mistress left her uninformed."

"Like Remilia informed you all about her urban legend?" Satori asked.

That earned a flinch from you and angry looks from everyone else, but Satori bore them defiantly... though the effect was slightly spoiled from still being wrapped in that blanket. "The point stands. Assuming Yukari let anyone know everything about her plans, even her own servants, is far from guaranteed."

Sakuya sighed. "Nevertheless, it's our best lead at present. Now, Meiling. The details on the disappearance of the village, if you please."

"There's not much to say. I'm where the village should be right now, but it's not here. If I try walking around I keep ending up back in the forest."

"Hang on," you interrupt. "Do you mean 'not here' as in there's clear signs the village has been moved or destroyed, or 'not here' as in-"

"It looks like it was never there in the first place," Meiling answered.

Hm. That would point heavily towards some sort of illusion. Or perhaps regressing time to before the village existed, but you doubt that level of power exists, even in Gensokyo. "Any suspicions as to who could pull such a thing off?"

Everyone hesitates at that. After a pause, Meiling's voice comes from the book. "I don't know. I didn't think anyone had that power."

That didn't sound quite right, but as you thought, Sakuya spoke up. "This has happened once before. During the full moon incident, the village disappeared in similar fashion. Unfortunately, my lady and I did not encounter the culprit at the time."

"Isn't the obvious answer Eientei, then?" Patchouli asked. "If they can hide the moon, hiding a village must be child's play."

Everyone's nodding along, even Satori... and looking at her, you don't think she's bluffing. Except, didn't she tell you about someone capable of hiding history? Cain? Conner? Keine! That was it. Given Satori spent most of her time underground, you doubt Keine was all that hidden.

"Eirin is responsible enough to think of such a thing," Sakuya muses. "But if it is them, that will make things difficult. They will hardly volunteer the information to us."

It's not the most subtle question, but if you're right, that won't matter. You turned and addressed Satori. "What do you think, Satori? About Eientei being involved, I mean."

"What?" She's taken aback. Surprised, a little confused. "I didn't pick up anything from them while I was there, but Reisen was able to trump your illusions, so there's at least some ability in that direction."

They don't know. They really don't know.

"Do you have an idea?" Sakuya asked you.

[-] "Eientei might not reveal the human village, but what if it was someone else asking?" If you can get to Eientei, you can probably try pulling off something.
[-] "Eientei's a red herring. I heard about a youkai who specializes in hiding history. I suspect she hid both the village and her own existence. Fortunately, I'm an expert in illusions, if you let me examine the effect, I can probably break it." It's better to cooperate, both for your own sakes, and because you feel a little responsible for Remilia.
[-] "Eientei's a red herring. I heard about a youkai who specializes in hiding history. I suspect she hid both the village and her own existence. Fortunately, I'm an expert in illusions, if you let me examine the effect, I can probably break it." There were a number of powerful youkai (and humans) in and around the human village. The odds of being able to sneak a message to someone there are pretty good.
[-] "No. It was just an idle thought." Let them do whatever they want. You know the binding on you isn't perfect. If you can get more time unsupervised. maybe you can figure out a better workaround.
[?] If there's something else you want to add to the discussion, now is the time.

[-] Tell them Eientei's a red herring. It's better to cooperate, both for your own sakes, and because you feel a little responsible for Remilia.

You're pretty sure your hunch is correct. You don't have hard evidence, but the fact that Keine's existence has been forgotten at the same time the village disappeared is too much to ignore. The problem is, you can't prove it. The only evidence Keine exists is your own memories, and the only one who could verify that is Satori. But all the same... if you're right, and you let them blunder into Eientei, that's going to end badly. First for them, and shortly afterwards for you and Satori.

"I think Eientei is bait," you told them. Taking a deep breath, you charged forwards. "I heard about a youkai who specializes in hiding history. Keine. I suspect she hid both the village and her own existence."

No one reacted to the name. "Why do you think she hid her own existence?" Sakuya asked.

"From what I remember, she wasn't exactly hidden. She was a schoolteacher in the village. And given Remilia's problem, I'd assume someone capable of affecting history would have been your first priority."

Sakuya seems lost in thought, while Patchouli rolls her eyes. "Really," she said. "You do all realize the problems with this theory?"

"I assume you're referring to the difficulty in proving it."

"Not just that. The village may be missing, but its existence is no secret. We clearly remember it. Why would her ability work completely differently in concealing herself?"

"A question of power, probably," you said. "An entire village is a lot more to hide than just one person. Would Gensokyo's existence even make sense without the human village?"

Patchouli shook her head. "Perhaps. But even if we grant the existence of a youkai who can hide her existence from all Gensokyo, why would you alone remember it?"

"I'm not sure," you admitted. "It could be my affinity for illusions, because I'm not from Gensokyo, or even because Satori used hypnosis to dig through my memories earlier. Without knowing more about the effect, I can't really narrow it down."

"So what?" Meiling asked. "What's it matter if she exists if we can't find her?"

"Who cares about finding Keine? The point is that the village itself hasn't been moved or destroyed, just hidden. And, speaking as an expert in illusions, if you let me examine the effect, I can probably break it, or at least figure something out."

"If this youkai does exist, her ability could be quite useful," Sakuya said. "Finding her may well be worthwhile."

Patchouli turned towards the maid, shocked. "Are you actually considering this? He is suggesting an impossible-to-dectect actor, one that only he is aware of, and that for a reason he cannot explain! I literally cannot invent a more suspicious idea."

Sakuya nodded, turning back to you. "While I'm prepared to consider anything, she makes a valid point. Greg. Do you have any evidence of this?"

You hesitated, thinking furiously. That was the real problem, wasn't it? You didn't. Given the memory wiping scenario, you didn't see how getting evidence was even possible. But admitting that was better than trying to invent something. "No. Satori could check by reading my memories, but somehow I doubt you'll accept that."

Maybe there'd be some breadcrumbs of Keine's existence sticking around? Sakuya sighed. "Indeed. Then in that case-"

"To repeat Meiling's question, so what?" Everyone turned to Satori, who rolled her eyes. "You're all missing the forest for the trees. By all means, forget Keine. Assume she doesn't exist, or can't be found, or was secretly Yukari the whole time - it doesn't matter. Greg's actual suggestion was to magically examine where the village should be!"

You snapped your fingers. "Right! If something that size was moved or destroyed, even by magic, there should be signs of it. Energy, especially that much of it, can't just appear or disappear on a whim."

Satori picked up where you left off. "And you know returning to Eientei is extremely dangerous at best. There's a reason Sakuya fled the scene before Eirin could show up the first time."

"Just how dangerous is Eirin, anyway?" you asked. "I thought she was just some medical genius."

The question is bait. You're already aware that Eirin's strength is significant even by Gensokyo's standards. But the thing is, when someone asks a question, the natural tendency is to think of answers to it... such as Eirin being literally immortal, or already having good reason to be hostile.

Satori gives you an aside glance, but thankfully doesn't fill the silence, because there's a pause as everyone else considers it.

"She's basically Kaguya's version of Sakuya", Meiling eventually said. "Handles basically everything and rules her domain with an iron fist. The relentlessly hyper-competent type."

The maid looked a little taken aback at that.

"Really?" you asked. "I was only there for a few minutes, but the rabbits seemed pretty lackadaisical."

You could practically hear Meiling shrug. "Well, Eirin's pretty relaxed about unimportant details, and they're more Tewi's thing anyway."

Koakuma's gave the communication book a curious look. "How do you know all that anyway?"

"I chat with Reisen sometimes! She actually stops by the gate, unlike some people."

Huh. You'd forgotten that Gensokyo, despite seeming larger than life, was also in some ways a small world. How well did Sakuya know all the people she'd been fighting lately? Just how personal were the bridges she'd been burning for even a chance at helping Remilia? You shook your head. Not the issue at present. "Regardless, the point is, Eirin and the rest of Eientei aren't going anywhere, but trying to get information out of them would be difficult and dangerous."

Also pointless, but you can't prove that. "Even if I'm wrong about the human village, and a magical examination yields nothing, you can always try Eientei then. The worst that could happen is a small loss of time."

Sakuya hummed, tapping her fingers on the table. "Patchouli, thoughts?"

The mage hesitated, looked at you and Satori, then sighed. "The logic is sound. Having a proper mage examine the village's disappearance first is only sensible."

You're caught a little off guard. You'd expected Patchouli to protest out of sheer contrariness, but that makes things convenient. "Exactly. Illusions are my specialty, and given that I'm pretty sure the effect is illusory in nature, I'm pretty sure I can figure something out."

Patchouli snapped her fingers. "I said a proper mage. I'll go."

[-] To be continued.

((Apologies for the delay. It turns out playing tennis almost daily is great for fitness, but really bad about leaving me with spare energy for writing. I'd have liked to get to another choice point, but I'll settle for updating at all at this point.))

[-] Wait, who's going?

Patchouli's declaration got a reaction out of everyone else present. The mansion's residents mostly contained theirs, likely not wanting to seem too shocked. Satori didn't bother. "Wait, seriously?"

"Is it that unusual for her to visit the village?" you asked.

Satori smirked. "There's a reason she's known as the unmoving great library."

"A pattern borne from preference, not necessity." Patchouli said, icily.

"Oh, really. How's the asthma?"

Patchouli glared at her, and the books on the library shelves started rattling. "Not nearly as debilitating as you seem to think. Shall I prove it to you?"

"Satori, please!" you grabbed her arm. "Don't provoke her."

"Or what?" she replied, still smirking. "She's too self-controlled to do anything that will harm Remilia's chances, and any sort of injury would qualify."

"There are ways to hurt someone without lasting injury you warned."

Satori shook her head. "Even then, it would ruin their chance at cooperation from us, and that's more valuable to her than petty revenge. What, exactly, is she going to do?"

Satori kept her self-satisfied smirk as she stared at Patchouli, even as a book levitated over her head... right up until the point where it opened and dumped a few gallons of water on her.

It was Patchouli's turn to be smug. "You shouldn't need to be a mind reader to see that coming."

Satori glared back at her, opened her mouth, and got another impromptu shower for her trouble.

"Normally we'd just let them fight it out with danmaku," Meiling commented, "but we don't have time for that."

Sakuya rolled her eyes, drumming her fingers against the table. "Now, if you're quite finished?"

"I suppose that might be sufficient."

"Good." Sakuya sighed, and looked Patchouli dead in the eyes. "Now, I'm sorry to ask this, but there's more than pride at stake here. Are you certain you're up to this?"

"I am not-" Patchouli snapped, then stopped, and forced herself to take deep breaths. "Today is a good day. My asthma will not be an issue."

"Then I won't question you further. Take Greg, and examine the site as you see fit."

"Do you really think that's necessary?"

Sakuya gave a small shrug. "He claims the effect lies in his area of expertise, and that he has some inexplicable resistance or immunity to it."

Patchouli shook her head. "That's not what concerns me. You know he'll be in far better position to attempt something away from the mansion."

Satori and I spoke at the same time, and glancing at her, I motioned for her to go ahead.

"If you've been paying attention, you should know Greg is no threat to you in danmaku." Satori said. "Asthma attack aside."

"As if a direct battle is the method he would use," Patchouli said. "Subterfuge is a far better fit for his personality and skillset."

"Even so, I wouldn't just leave Satori here!" you interjected, glancing at Satori and silently willing her to stop sniping at the mage.

"So you say."

"What do I have to do?!" your fist hit the table. "If I wanted to 'attempt something', as you put it, don't you think Yukari would have been the perfect chance? Did you even know she was there before I told you?"

"No. But Yukari's offer is irrelevant here. Even aside from your personal animosity towards her, becoming her shikigami would in effect be your death, something you are well aware of."

"Oh, so now you'll accept that I'll hate her."

Patchouli gave you a cold look. "In case you haven't realized, my goal here is to see my friend restored. To that end, I am prepared to discuss and investigate every possibility, from the magic involved to the participants' roles and motives. The best liars tell mostly the truth. Your best strategy for escape is to cooperate up until you finally make the attempt. As such, the benefit of the doubt is something you cannot purchase, and that we cannot afford to give you."

You glare at her, stymied. The logic is sound. That's the entire problem. The logic is sound and she just explicitly stated she's going to suspect literally everything you do. You can outmaneuver her socially, make her look like an ass, but if anything it'll make her more stubborn, and she's your magical jailer. Damn!

"Be that as it may," Sakuya finally says, "Time is of the essence. Yukari made at least one valid point in that it's a matter of time before Reimu or another group pays us a visit, and I think the risk from a delay is worse than the risk of whatever Greg might pull. Take whatever precautions you feel you must, but take him and go."

Patchouli gives a grudging nod, as the maid turns to the communication book. "Meiling, you stay in the area and wait for them. There's little for you to do at the mansion at present."

"Sure, but don't you want me to guard Satori?" Meiling asked.

"She'll be with me", Sakuya said. "Like I said, time is of the essence, and the sooner we fetch Chen, the sooner we can ask a few questions of her master."

[-] To be continued.

---

So, because splitting the party once just wasn't enough, we're about to have Greg and Satori split up as well. I do have some ideas to keep these two branches a bit more connected, but I also want to get some reader sentiment here. Are you more interested in Satori + Sakuya (and probably Tenshi) catnapping Chen, or Greg + Patchouli/Meiling figuring out what's going on at the human village? It's also worth noting that while the catnapping could happen largely offscreen depending on interest, there's some aspects of what's going on with the human village that are important to directly show.

[-] Follow Satori, kidnap the cat.
[-] Follow Greg, find the village.
[-] Interested in both.

[-] Follow Greg, find the village.
[-] Kill time while Sakuya and Patchouli discuss things privately.

Things progressed fairly quickly after Sakuya's declaration. It was, if anything, more proof she was the leader while Remilia was out of commission; when she made an outright statement, the rest fell in line. Though to be fair, Patchouli did drag her aside to talk privately soon afterwards, probably to discuss security measures to make sure you couldn't try anything, even though you actually had no intention of trying anything and being hobbled would hurt your ability to actually help out... Even now, she'd left Koakuma to watch over the two of you, though the girl was currently kicking back in one of those soft leather armchairs.

It never really ended, did it?

"I'm surprised you didn't protest Sakuya's kidnapping plan." Satori mentioned, sliding into the chair next to yours.

"The kidnapping part, or the you being put into danger part?"

You glanced at her in time to see a slight blush. "Greg." she chided you.

You wanted to tease her a little more, but maybe now wasn't the time. "There's two reasons not to object the kidnapping itself. The first is that Yukari is actually involved. Going after her servants for the purposes of gaining information at least makes sense, Sakuya sounds like she's going to be practical about it, and if Chen herself is an innocent, she shouldn't be in any more danger than we are."

"And if that changes? If, say, Chen outlives her usefulness and Flandre decides to take out her anger on the closest target?"

You hesitated. "I don't know. Because the second reason I stayed quiet was that I didn't think I could change anything. Sakuya will listen to reason, and she's not devoid of sympathy, but I don't really have an argument against the plan beyond 'kidnapping bad'."

Satori sighed. "And to whatever extent you've won sympathy from Sakuya, you don't want to waste it on someone you don't know."

... come to think of it, she'd objected to targeting Chen in the first place, hadn't she? "Do you know Chen?"

"Not very well. I've seen her once or twice, but she's mostly just a friend of Orin's."

"How'd they end up connecting?"

"Orin stopped by the little cat village Chen's trying to set up. She's the older youkai and the stronger one, enough so that the cats that wouldn't listen to Chen sat up and took notice."

Despite yourself, you couldn't help but see the possibilities there. If the same cats that hung out with Chen knew Orin, and Satori was present for the abduction, that could be a way to get a message out to someone who would actually rescue her. Not that you could afford to mention it aloud. "Isn't that closer to a rivalry than a friendship?"

Satori shrugged. "It could have been. Chen was definitely on edge to start, but Orin defused it by being friendly. Talking about her own experiences managing stubborn pets, giving her tips about danmaku and growing stronger, commiserating about being dragged into her master's schemes. Instead of trying to dominate her, Orin was content to hang out and make herself available."

"She sounds like a friendly person."

Satori leaned back in her chair, a faraway look in her eyes. "Everyone's always surprised about it, that the kasha that collects corpses, manages vengeful spirits, and serves the dreaded satori is actually one of the most cheerful souls in Gensokyo. She has trouble really connecting to other youkai because of it. Even the youkai that can look past what she does have trouble getting over who she serves. I think that's why Chen's able to relate. Pretty much everyone except the small fry think of her as Ran's shikigami, or worse, Yukari's pet."

"Good friends are hard to come by no matter how popular you are." As opposed to fair-weather friends, who would swarm around in direct proportion to your popularity. "But it sounds like Orin has at least one. Is Utsuho as lucky?"

"With Okuu it's pretty much just Orin," Satori said with a sigh. "It's tricky, because she's both extremely powerful and a complete birdbrain. Even aside from the whole reputation issue, most smart youkai will find her tiresome, and I fear what she might get up to if the wrong person starts urging her on. Thankfully she's content hanging out with Orin and just doing her work."

"Aren't the smart youkai the ones more likely to take advantage of her?"

"Yes, but that's better than accidentally blowing up half the underground. Kanako's not exactly friend material, but she's one of the safer people for Utsuho to talk to. At the very least the god won't put her up to anything that might embarrass her shrine or upset me too badly." Satori bit her lip, lost in thought. "Maybe Sanae? She's pretty straightforwards, and should behave for much the same reasons. If she matures a bit and starts holding back some common sense, then maybe in a few years..."

You found yourself smiling. "You really worry for your pets, don't you?"

Satori pulled the blanket tighter around herself. "They've stuck by me and Koishi through everything, and never complained about it. I know it's a little silly, they can handle themselves better than I can, but still-"

"Don't make excuses for it, it's endearing." you told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Satori looked at you, wordlessly, and you realized just how forwards that sounded. But... it's nothing you don't mean, is it? You could double down, tell her just that. Detail all the other things endearing her to you, how you want nothing more than to hold her close and have her smile at you. To whisper sweet nothings into her ear until she comes to believe them, until she sees herself the way you see her. Let her know that if you let yourself, you could get lost staring into her eyes, and that the main reason you haven't is that she might not want that.

It catches you by surprise just how strong that urge is, how much you desire her. (A distant part of you realizes Sumi's going to be exasperated with you, you've got it bad.) But... you're not sure if that's what she wants. And with the binding interfering with her emotions, you can't ask her for that.

"Really though, I'm the same way," you say, looking away with an awkward laugh. "I mean, I'm still worried about Sumireko, even though she's an order of magnitude more capable than me. She's probably out there kicking ass without me holding her back."

It's not really the same scenario, but it's an olive branch. An offer to ignore the awkwardness and brush past like it didn't happen. And after a moment's tension, Satori relaxes and gives you a smirk. "In terms of fighting capability, or in terms of restraint?"

You're both relieved and disappointed, but you give the remark an obligatory chuckle. "Probably both, to be honest. She's more likely to happen to someone else than vice versa."

"May they rest in peace."

"Heh. Hopefully it doesn't come to that."

There was a bit of a pause after that, both of you lost in your own thoughts as your smiles gradually fade. Satori's the one who breaks it. "I don't know, Greg. There's too many knives in the air, and not just because Sakuya's involved. I think things are going to get worse."

You're kicking yourself for ruining the mood. "We'll figure something out." You grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Remember, you need to stay positive."

She pulled her hand away. "I remember, I'm just the wrong person for that advice. I've never had the luxury of being cheerfully naive."

"Satori..."

"You don't need to worry about me. I've got an abundance of experience with negative emotions."

With the way Satori's staring you down, you don't think you can contest the point. With how vulnerable she looks, soaked to the skin and wrapped in that wet blanket, you can't help but think it needs to be contested. Ultimately, you can't find the words and resort to changing the subject.

"Well, the luxury of dry clothing might help cheer you up a little." You look over your watcher, still relaxing in one of the other armchairs. "Koakuma! Sorry to bother you, but could you get Satori a fresh change of clothes? Patchouli kind of drenched this one."

"It's not a problem!" the little devil said cheerfully, flying over with some folded clothes. "Satori hasn't actually changed into the first set!"

"Wait, does that mean you're still in your, uh... undergarments?"

Satori blushed. "She brought out a maid outfit!"

Koakuma shrugged. "All the actual clothes are in the mansion. You'll have to put it on at some point."

"No! You're obviously doing this on purpose!"

"It's really not that bad. Here, let's see what your boyfriend thinks!"

Unfolding the garments in question, Koakuma spreads them out to give you a good look. The outfit is obviously one of Sakuya's. The blue skirt and white apron is a perfect match to what the actual maid was wearing. Your eyes are drawn to the frills along the edges, which are only accentuated by the thin black stockings the little devil is holding up. She even brought out the damn headband... and now you're imagining how Satori would look in the ensemble.

Fully aware that you're blushing as well, you close your eyes and look away. Mind reading or no mind reading, the last thing you need right now is to imagine Satori wearing that. Damn it, you just resolved to try to help her, not flirt with her!

You steal a glance at her, and she looks exactly as embarrassed as you feel. That helps sober you up a little, and you cough meaningfully before speaking. "Look, a certain amount of fun and games is one thing, but Satori is both recognizable and going to be traveling with Sakuya. If she's wearing the exact same outfit, that's going to attract a lot of attention."

Koakuma looks back and forth between the two of you and sighs. "You're no fun," she grumbles,

You feel that odd mixture of relief and disappointment again as the devil dumped the maid outfit on the table and flew off. Still, you know it's for the best, regardless of what certain small parts of your mind and body might wish for. You look over at Satori, who's still too embarrassed to meet your gaze... but she does squeeze your hand and whisper a thank you.

[-] You have a small amount of time unguarded. Is there any particular way you wish to make use of it?

[X] Ask Satori whether she'd go through with it again, if she knew things would end up like this.

So this is it. Your minder is gone, lured away by your villainous cunning, and now you're in perfect position to execute one of those dastardly plans Patchouli's so worried about. There's just the slight problem of there being nothing useful for you to do.

You already know how the bindings on you and Satori work, and you can't even attempt to bypass them without unfettered access to your magic. Patchouli's magic library is one of those things you'd be thrilled to have access to any other day, but even if you did swipe a book, it's not like you could read it in a few minutes or cast anything from it. Or you could try to listen in to your captor's plans... that you'll probably find out first-hand anyway.

Honestly, if there was a meaningful way for you to get into trouble, you wouldn't have been left alone in the first place.

It's a shame, because a distraction would be a relief, as you and Satori both are in a state of quiet, intense embarrassment. One where neither of you have anything to take it out on, but at the same time, nearly anything would be better than actually acknowledging it. And while you normally think Satori's absolutely adorable when she's blushing... well, you still do. That's exactly the problem. Looking at her glowing cheeks as she huddles in her chair reminds you of exactly why she's hiding behind that blanket, and that train of thought will only embarrass you both further.

Not that there's much left to embarrass. Neither of you is capable of casual small talk right now, that's for sure. But perhaps if there was something important... then you could push through it.

So while carrying out a detailed inspection of wooden pattern on the table's surface, you ask, "Have you thought about what kind of urban legend might fix Koishi?"

"What?"

You persist in not looking at Satori, at least for a little longer. "Koishi. Urban legends. Do you have any ideas in that direction?"

"Oh." She sighed. "Initially I'd been more focused on figuring out how to get a specific urban legend than what to get. And by the time the 'how' started getting clear, there were more immediate problems."

"Yeah. Just about everything since Eientei has been one mess after another."

"I guess if there's one benefit to getting dragged into Remilia's problems, it's learning that the options for an urban legend are far more widespread than I'd thought."

"All you need now is a compelling write-up of 'The little sister who closed her third eye regrets her decision and opens it again.'"

Satori's tone went dry. "Somehow I doubt anyone would read a story named in that fashion."

Apparently the whole light novel craze never quite made it to Gensokyo. "You'd be surprised," you muttered.

"The real problem," Satori said, "is that Koishi already has an urban legend. Another regard in which it's similar to Remilia."

"Eh, not quite." You say, shaking your head. "Remilia's problem is being caused by her urban legend, Koishi's is merely unrelated. I think the best way to help Remilia's going to be changing the details of her story, making them less harmful. The fact that it's based on a book means that you can change around a couple details, and it's still recognizably the same story. But on Koishi's end, I don't see how Miss Mary's legend could be changed to something involving healing. It's too simple for that."

Satori grabs your shoulder and pulls, twisting you around to face her. "Then what did you have in mind?"

You honestly didn't have anything in particular in mind, but you press forwards regardless. "It's back to the original plan, I think. Someone else is going to have to get an urban legend capable of healing her."

"Why not suggest that for Remilia and kill two birds with one stone?"

"Mostly because I don't think it'd work for her. Her urban legend drove her mad over time. Even if she were cured instantly, the urban legend itself needs to be changed," or at least a different way of managing it found, "or she'd be back to square one in a few weeks."

Satori fixed you with an unimpressed stare. "So long as the healing urban legend is still around, they could simply keep healing Remilia whenever she breaks down."

"Maybe. I think they," you waved a hand in the general direction of your gracious hosts, "are prideful enough to chafe at that sort of dependency long-term, but it would still be a solution. The problem is that a vampire going crazy is a very specific situation. It's a question of what you can get people to believe, and for most of them, curing a vampire would mean curing the vampirism."

Satori winced. "They'd see that cure as worse than the disease."

It wasn't surprising. As far as strengths and weaknesses are concerned, Remilia did win the vampire lottery, present situation aside. But all that's beside the point. "Still, it's not wasted effort. Figuring out how to change an urban legend and creating one from scratch should be similar enough."

"That still leaves the question of what urban legend to create," Satori grumbled. "A satori closing her third eye is also damnably specific."

"I had an idea for that. There's a few religious leaders in town, aren't there?"

"Yes?" Satori answered, confused. "There was an entire incident over it. Buddhism, Taoism, and Shinto."

"I'll admit I don't know jack about those religions specifically..." you paused, drawing out the tension, "but opening the eyes of the blind is a pretty standard miracle."

Satori sucked in a breath, and you could see the nervous hope written across her face. Frozen in thought, she stared out into space for a few moments. You reached out to her, and she grabbed your hand absentmindedly, breathing lightly as she thought. When she spoke the words were hesitant. Slow and cautious, as if the idea itself could break without careful handling. "Maybe. Miko and Byakuren have urban legends already, but they have plenty of followers and not all of them were involved. Shou? Her ability doesn't really fit, but maybe if presented as Byakuren's disciple..."

You didn't know the locals well enough to help with this, so you waited silently as Satori worked her way through it, raising and discarding ideas. "Minamitsu's too recognizable as a captain... Ichirin and Futo have urban legends already... Tojiko's a vengeful spirit, that would never work." She sighed. "From the available options, Shou's probably the closest match, but it's not a great fit. Unless... I know Sanae was looking for an urban legend, but I can't remember if she actually found one."

"Would Sanae fit?" you ask.

"She's the shrine maiden of two gods, she's technically a god herself, and her signature ability is miracles. Aside from Eirin, I can't think of anyone more likely to get something related to healing. And on top of that, I have some leverage with Kanako. I'd probably need to cash that favor with them, but... if she doesn't have an urban legend yet, it could be possible. It could really be possible."

Satori squeezed your hand, favoring you with a smile. The light in her eyes reminded you of doing research with Sumireko, when you'd run the calculations and realized that the Occult Balls could actually work. That after so many attempts and dead ends, that you weren't wasting time, that the end was in sight. The impossible wasn't done, but all of a sudden it was feasible. That moment - not of triumph, not quite, but nonetheless of hope and vindication - was one you'll always remember.

And, well, your and Sumireko's work had been a hobby. One you were perhaps unreasonably passionate about, but still a hobby. What Satori was after was so much more important. How long had she tried to make this happen? What other incidents had she dived into in the hopes of finding something, anything for her sister?

If there was a good thing about the binding Satori was under, it was that positive emotions could echo just as effectively as negative ones.

Sadly, her moment of joy was just a moment. Satori bottled it back up again, pulling her hand away, taking a deep breath and composing her features back to that neutral, observant look that was her natural state. "Of course, all that depends on figuring out Remilia's problem first."

"Heh."

"What is it?"

"I'd been meaning to ask you whether you'd have joined the urban legend incident if you'd known ahead of time this would be the result. But I think I've got my answer."

Satori's look was piercing. "Obviously I'd have done a number of things very differently."

"Of course, of course. It's not like I've enjoyed being kidnapped either. The question is more about whether the chance was worth the cost."

"Yes." There's no hesitation. "Make no mistake, even without our conversation just now, the answer would still be yes."

It was the answer you'd hoped for, but you hadn't expected her to be so definite about it. You couldn't answer as firmly yourself; you would still say yes, but not without reservation. Not while Sumireko was out and in danger herself.

Some of your surprise must have shown, because Satori shifted, pulling out her sealed third eye and holding it in her hand. "There have been parts of the past couple days that have been exceedingly unpleasant, I'll admit. And things could still end badly from here. But I've waited centuries for this chance, Greg. As long as Koishi is fixed, everything else is merely details."

Looking at her determination now, it was hard to believe she'd spent the past hour unconscious, embarrassed, or on the verge of a breakdown. You chalked it up to the difference that having hope makes. "And hope does not put us to shame," you murmured.

Hopefully that would prove to be the case.

[-] To be continued.

Adding in a choice real quick, because I realized there is one that applies here, and a fairly important one at that.

While Satori is currently in better spirits, that could easily change thanks to the binding's emotional echo. Naturally, Greg would be worried about how she'll cope while they're separated. So what's the best way to deal with (or at least lessen) this problem?

[-] Tell Sakuya about the emotional effect, ask her to go easy on Satori and unseal the mind reading ever so often.
[-] Take another look at the binding, try to figure out some sort of workaround that'll ease the emotional strain.

((You could also try both, but drawing attention to the binding could be risky if you intend to try tampering with it.))

[X] Complain to Patchouli and Sakuya about the emotional effect of Satori's binding.

From there the preparations, such as they were, went pretty quickly. Which really shouldn't have been a surprise with Sakuya involved, but Koakuma had barely come back with the replacement dress (a simple red number, much to Satori's relief) before the maid and magician had returned. Apparently their conversation had reached a conclusion quickly, which in turn meant that they were probably on the same page when it came to keeping you and Satori captive. Technically it was also possible that Sakuya had just pulled rank, but given the short time frame, it would almost require her to not hear Patchouli out... unlikely at best, and the mage didn't look nearly frustrated enough for that. Admittedly, she was a little red in the face, but that had an obvious cause.

What's the equivalent of being armed to the teeth when you're armed with books? Koakuma had mentioned Patchouli's nickname as the unmoving great library, and she really did look the part. The magician was dragging along three satchels packed to the brim with magical tomes, and you do mean dragging; you weren't sure how she was going to make it to the gate with all of that, let alone to the village. Come to think of it, why didn't she just enchant the things to levitate? With the variety she'd already shown, something as simple as that shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps it wouldn't play well with the magic inherent to the books?

Well, her carrying capacity was hardly your problem. Sakuya, on the other hand, looked normal. Did she not have any extra preparations to make, or were they just not visible? You suppose it wasn't like you had any idea where she hid her knives anyway.

Regardless, they were here.

Placing her bags by the table, Patchouli plopped into the seat and sent you a half-hearted glare. "Koakuma, where's the other one?"

"Changing!"

"Didn't you already get her new clothes?"

Koakuma sighed. "Yeah, but she-"

"Got soaked," you interrupted. "It shouldn't be a surprise she wanted some plain dry clothes."

You were going to do what you could to spare Satori the embarassment as much as possible. Particularly since you don't think she'd approve of what you were about to try. Asking Sakuya for help like this, admitting weakness? You couldn't see her doing it. For Koishi's sake, or if it were life and death maybe, but for her own comfort? She'd be too proud. She was like Sumireko in that way. Though really, you weren't confident this would work. Sakuya would probably defer to Patchouli on magical matters, and the mage had yet to take your side on basically anything. She was almost your personal devil's advocate, except she was less friendly than the actual devil in the room.

Funny, that.

But all the same, you had to at least try. It was a relief that Satori was doing better, at least for the moment, and even more of one that she didn't regret everything. And in all fairness, Satori was forewarned about the effect, as well as being a lot more mature than you'd been back then. She'd said herself she had plenty of experience with negative emotions. Which, in a way, was exactly the problem. Satori was cynical. Not that she didn't have reason for it - when people tried to avoid you because you knew what they were really thinking it was hard to put a positive spin on that - but she saw the worst in people, quite literally. Though she did see the rest of them as well. She'd seen your worst moments and then somehow looked past them, offering comfort and reassurance despite... everything.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. That wasn't the point right now. It was one you needed to think about more, because part of you still couldn't believe it, but now was not the time. The problem was, when you could see the worst, that made it easy to assume the worst even (or perhaps especially) when you couldn't see it. Something not helped by the natural stress of the situation, the fact that people were breaking longstanding norms due to the seriousness of the current incident, or Yukari running who-knows-what kind of scheme in the background.

And regardless of how familiar Satori was with emotions in other people, you'd bet any amount of money that she had much less experience with her own emotions. You'd already seen more overt displays of emotion from her in the past day than she'd usually show in months. (Could that change, in the future? Did you want it to?) And all of that was without getting into how having her third eye sealed was traumatic for her personally. And that aspect at least was something they were damn well aware of from the get-go, and they'd proceeded with their plans anyway. Admittedly, discomfort was less of a problem than literally being kidnapped, but why stop at just one atrocity?

You took another deep breath, this time to calm yourself. It didn't help to think that way. Not you, not Satori, not anyone. Better to figure out a way forwards. Which in this case meant a plan for what to say that might actually convince Sakuya the binding was a problem. And so the first order of business had to be establishing both that the emotional side-effect existed, and how bad it was.

And for that matter, you really wanted to know whether Patchouli had set it up intentionally. Call it personal reasons.

"So, Patchouli, have you been keeping up with my conversations with Satori?"

She paused in the middle of addressing Koakuma. "What?"

"I mean, you already told us you were listening in." Your tone is as casual as you can make it, which isn't very. "There's something we talked about that I want to discuss, but I've got no idea if you're up to speed or not."

"If it's regarding the urban legends, state your theory."

You shook your head. "Nothing to do with that, I just wanted to know something. The emotional feedback loop on Satori's binding, did you consider that a bug or a feature?"

"What are you talking about?"

So, either she's buying time, or she didn't know. Which one? "Well, I had some time to look at her binding, and I did recognize a few of the runes involved - nice runework by the way - and I noticed you dealt with Satori's mind-reading by reflecting it back in on herself."

During all of this, you kept an eye on Sakuya in your peripheral vision. She was the primary decision-maker and she'd be Satori's guard while you were separated; that made her the one to convince twice-over. The maid's face betrayed nothing, but she was watching as you continued, "The problem is, there's a difference between not reading minds and reading your own mind. One that can be summarized in two words. Feedback loop."

Patchouli paused for a second, staring at you as she thought. "For the sake of argument, I will admit that is a possible interaction. But your theory has several flaws. Lack of evidence being a key one, but there's one even more fundamental."

"Which is?"

"Koakuma. Your opinion on Satori's current emotional state?"

"Uh..." the little devil hesitated. "Pretty okay, all things considered? I think she was mostly relieved. And before that, annoyed and embarrassed."

"Hardly the hallmarks of an emotional breakdown." Patchouli concluded. "Whatever discomfort it may actually cause her, it should be perfectly bearable for a mature youkai, especially one already accustomed to misery."

You gritted your teeth. "Yes, her current emotional state is fine because unconsciousness is something of a reset, and nothing particularly bad has happened to her since she woke up. The binding magnifies whatever emotions she's feeling right now, positive or negative. As long as she's not dwelling on negative ones, the effects are manageable, and-"

"Wait, is that why you've been flirting with her?" Koakuma asked.

"It was the best way I could think of to keep her mind occupied," you admitted.

"Huh, so was that an act?" the little devil asked. "I thought you liked her."

"I do! It's just-" You blushed, shook your head. "Whatever! Not the point. The point is, Satori's emotional reactions are going to be far more intense while the binding's active."

The only reaction Patchouli gave was a shrug. "Again, she's a mature youkai. A few negative emotions-"

"Look, I get that you're not about to do anything for her sake," you interrupted, "But I hoped you might care about the practical implications."

The magician fixed you with a stare. "The obvious conclusion is that you wish for us to compromise our security for the sake of her comfort. That would be the last thing from practical."

"Practical would be not giving her a breakdown during a critical moment!"

"Which is only a concern if you're not exaggerating the situation."

"That-" You cut yourself off, frustrated. "Would Remilia fake an emotional breakdown to manipulate someone?"

"Of course not," Sakuya said. You knew that would get her attention.

"Exactly. Her pride, her image, they're too important to her. Do you think Satori would?"

"If there was an important enough strategic purpose to it, yes." Patchouli answered. "I suspect she would fake tears at your prompting."

You glared at her. "Then perhaps you'd like to explain what strategic purpose was served by her ripping you a new one? Or why she was crying into my arms the first time you left us alone, in what we thought was a private setting?"

Patchouli winces ever so slightly at that, and your scowl deepens. "I'm not asking you to take my word for it, just think about what you've already seen! Does any of that sound normal for Satori? Does it match what you saw in the mansion, a situation just as stressful, but with the only difference being that the binding was off?"

Sakuya was watching the conversation, her face betraying nothing when she spoke. "Be that as it may, do you have a concrete suggestion?"

You chuckled softly, on the verge of full blown bitter laughter. "No, not really. The only things that would help would be giving Satori some time with the binding disabled, or providing emotional support. I can't expect the first, so this is me trying for the second. This was all in the hope that you might be kinder to her, or a bit more lenient if the binding gets the better of her. In the end, I'm just worried for her."

You hit the note you were going for. Frustrated, resigned, having almost given up but trying anyway because there's nothing else to do. The lack of suggestion plays into that, and also robs Patchouli of a reply; she'd shoot down any concrete suggestion you made, but objecting to the idea of being kinder would simply make her seem like an ass. You keep your eyes downcast even as you have the maid in your peripheral vision, trying to catch any hint of a reaction.

There's a pause while the maid considers it. You let it draw out, waiting for her judgement.

"I will keep it in mind," Sakuya said. A neutral response, in a neutral tone. One that doesn't promise anything, one that in most circumstances is equivalent to precise refusal.

But for an instant, while she said it, Sakuya just looked tired.

It would have to be enough. It wasn't like you could do anything else.

[-] To be continued.



((Anyway, we are now in Nanowrimo mode! I'm at least going to make the attempt to write every day and preferably update every day or two for the next month. As a consequence, choices may be fewer, and for those updates that do have choices, you'll need to vote quickly. Let's see if I can make this work.))

[-] Final preparations

"If we're quite finished with that, there is another matter," Patchouli said.

That put you back on your guard, and you nearly startled at the sound of a door opening.

It was just Satori emerging from the changing room, wearing the new dress and looking rather irritated. She pulled out the chair next to you and sat down without a word.

"Is everything all right?" you whiper-asked her.

She breathed in, rubbed the bridge of her nose, and sighed. "It's nothing, Greg."

That wasn't a good sign. You considered asking again, but something tells you you're unlikely to get an answer... and you abruptly realize you missed whatever it was Patchouli just said.

"Sorry, what was that?"

Patchouli rolled her eyes. "I said, between your kidnapping of Nitori and the fight at Eientei, you and Satori are known to be involved in the incident. If you're seen, you'll draw attention."

You thought about it for a second and nodded. "It's a fair point. I suppose I can't just walk into the human village right now."

More than that, if Patchouli was recommending you have a disguise, odds were it would be a magical disguise, and her abilities seemed to be more towards the elemental end of things. Which meant you might just be allowed continual access to your magic. It wasn't like your illusions would be enough to just break free, but it would mean significantly more agency, as well as maybe a bit of trust. Or at least recognizing that it wasn't practical to keep you locked down all the time.

"What about Sakuya?" Satori asked. "If anyone earned notoriety from Eientei it was her."

"True," the maid acknowledged, "But I have no need to blend in. The only strong youkai with any interest in Chen's cat experiment is Ran herself, and if she shows her face, that will merely save time."

Given what Satori said earlier about Orin, you're not sure that's strictly true. You're also not going to point it out. "Plus I imagine there's not many people capable of picking a fight with Sakuya."

"Oh, there's plenty of people who might pick a fight with her," Patchouli said wryly. "She just makes a point of winning. Regardless, you will need a disguise."

"Magical disguises are simple enough for me," you said, doing your best to keep your tone casual. "I could even go invisible for the duration, though I expect you'd rather I stay in view."

Patchouli raised an eyebrow. "Obviously. But I'm not foolish enough to keep your magic unsealed for the duration."

Maybe it was too good to be true. You sighed. "I do need magic to create a magical disguise."

The other mage smirked. "To create it, not to sustain it. You've already proven you can create enchanted items."

You blinked. You don't think you'd ever brought that up. "How do you know that?"

Patchouli reached inside her robes, pulling out the fake-gold bracelet you'd put the pyramid enchantment on. "I just happen to have an example of your work."

You can't believe you forgot about that thing. Your captors having it was... inconvenient. "Granted, but I don't have the raw magical power to fuel a meaningful enchantment from my own reserves. I needed an occult ball to power that one."

"That, at least will not be a problem," Sakuya said. She snapped her fingers, and no fewer than five occult balls popped into existence behind her. Including the two that you, Satori, and Sumireko had obtained back before Eientei.

Right, Sakuya had been going around beating up people left and right. Of course she has a ton of them. "Fine, I can do it. That is, if you'll trust me to actually do something with my magic."

Patchouli ignores your sarcasm. "The key difference is that instead of a spell you can alter on the fly, this will be a fixed enchantment. One I can carefully test and examine before we take to the field. After all, it's only practical."

You're irritated that she's right. Because even without her security paranoia, it's a sensible solution. A disguise that doesn't rely on your concentration and that you won't need to constantly maintain is strictly better, especially since Sakuya has the necessary occult balls to power them. Combine that with it leaving you more firmly under her thumb, and you don't see a way to argue against it.

You're not as reliant on your ability as Satori is on hers, but the binding on your magic is rather irritating. It's the mystical equivalent of wearing a sweater a couple sizes too small. Every time you move around you can feel the binding shifting, brushing up against your magic, a constant reminder of your restriction. Losing a chance to be free of it for a while is frustrating, to say the least.

Well, at least it'll be off while you make the enchantment. "Fine, I see your point. How are we doing this?"

[?] Which character would make the best disguise? (Keep in mind, Patchouli/Sakuya have final say here.)
[?] Is there any other enchanted item that you could persuade the SDM crew to let you make? (Like with the disguise, Patchouli will test and possibly confiscate whatever you come up with... but if you do intend to help them, this could be a meaningful way to do it.)

[X] Disguise as Koakuma.

Patchouli's answer is instant. "Koakuma. It by far makes the most sense for you to disguise as my servant."

"Wait, me?" Apparently Koakuma herself wasn't privy to this plan.

You're not entirely surprised; it was actually going to be your suggestion, but you can't resist prodding a little. "I assume there's more reasoning than you needing someone to carry all those books?"

The mage rolled her eyes. "Nobody would be surprised at seeing Koakuma in the human village, whether in my company or alone. She's weak enough to avoid the attention of anyone interested in the incident, but her connection to the mansion is enough to let her ask questions and still receive answers... from the humans of the village, at least."

There's really not a point in arguing against it. "Plus, as someone who's actually present, I can check the illusion against the real deal, make sure it's as accurate as possible." Not that you really expected anyone to be looking for a Koakuma imposter, but it was the principle of the thing.

Sakuya stood up. "It would seem you have the disguise well in hand. While you handle the enchantment, I will inform Flandre of our plans."

"Wait!" you say, holding up a hand. "I'll need one of the occult balls to power this, and they're attached to you. If you leave now we'll have to wait until you return."

You saw Sakuya's eyes flicker over to Patchouli, and when she gave a nod the maid sighed. "Very well then. Is there a way I can expedite the process?"

"Assuming I have permission to actually do it," you glance meaningfully at Patchouli, but she doesn't object, "all I need is the object to enchant and for you to keep the occult balls visible. It should only take a few minutes if the enchantment catches on the first try."

Sakuya raised an eyebrow at that. "Do you expect an issue?"

"It's possible. The magic contained within the occult balls has... personality, for lack of a better term. A bit of pre-existing form. Depending on which ones you have, it could fit right into the idea of an illusion, or it might fight me on it. The fact that I don't really know Koakuma also makes it harder." It was honestly pretty lucky that you had the Nazca Lines occult ball on-hand when making the Koishi doll. The connection between that wonder and images was straightforwards enough that the enchantment's synergy wasn't an issue.

"Is that safe?" Satori spoke up.

"They're powerful magical artifacts," you said wryly. "Poking around in one is never exactly safe... but I did help make them, and Sumireko and I wrapped a lot of magical protections around them for exactly that reason. I wouldn't recommend anyone else try it, but I should be fine."

Patchouli stared you down at that. "What are the potential consequences of a misfired enchantment?"

"You're holding one of them," you told her. "A bracelet that incapacitates the person wearing it wasn't what I had originally intended to make. I was trying to make something I could use as a distraction, a mental weapon, a psychic flashbang, if you will. I got what I asked for, if not what I wanted."

Patchouli glanced over towards the occult balls hovering around Sakuya, tapping her fingers on the table. "The risk seems reasonable. We'll use my ritual circle for it, it will prevent any outside disruption and minimize any backlash."

"Which occult ball do you intend to use?" Sakuya asked.

"Well, the Pyramids and Nazca Lines are out," you said. "I enchanted something from them earlier, and we already found out that trying to source multiple enchantments from the same ball causes feedback issues."

That got a wince out of Patchouli. You hid a smirk as you stared into the purple orbs, trying to parse the feeling you got from them. "Let's see... the other three here look to be Yomotsu Hirasaka, the Temple of Artemis, and the Terracotta Army."

You hesitated. None of them were perfect fits... then again, nothing would have been. (Well, maybe the Library of Alexandria, given Koakuma's role here, but Sakuya didn't have that one.) The myth behind Yomotsu Hirasaka was about the boundary between dead and alive, and devils (or was it demons?) were at least part of the story. Artemis was better known as the goddess of the hunt and the moon, but young women, particularly maidens, were also part of her domain. While the Terracotta Army being statues of warriors... well, the subject matter was different, but the idea of making an image was more present there.

[-] Use Yomotsu Hirasaka
[-] Use the Temple of Artemis
[-] Use the Terracotta Army

[-] Use the Temple of Artemis

"I think the Temple of Artemis is probably the best bet here," you say. "Assuming Koakuma, er, qualifies?"

Patchouli raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking whether my subordinate has had sex?"

"It's a relevant question! Not to put too fine a point on it, but Artemis was the goddess of maidens."

You're blushing, and a glance over to Koakuma reveals she is as well, but she meets your eyes defiantly. "No, I haven't. Haven't found a man worth the time."

That was a straight line practically begging for you to ask whether she'd like to find one, but there was only one lady you were flirting with here, and it wasn't Koakuma. Even if you could admit she looked surprisingly cute like that. And considering you were about to disguise as her, didn't that make everything that little extra bit awkward?

That gave you a moment of disorientation, but you managed to cover it with a wry smile. "I understand being in Gensokyo makes that a little tricky."

"You have no idea," Koakuma grumbled.

You were about to reply when Satori nudged you. "Focus, Greg."

"Right." You turned back to Patchouli. "Is there anything you need to set up precautions-wise?"

Patchouli knelt down by the ritual circle, touched two of the lines, and the runes lit up from that point outwards, circling around until the entire pentagram was glowing. "Koakuma, the lunar set, please."

The little devil flew across the room, taking care to replace the previous reagents from Patchouli's earlier ritual with a set of polished silver mirrors, most with some portion replaced by some darkened metal. It takes you only a moment to spot the pattern: empty, waning, half, waxing, and full. You're not entirely sure whether that's meant as additional power source or preventative measure, but either way the alignment to the moon is sensible.

It's obvious enough where you need to be; you step into the pentagram's center, where Patchouli had conducted her earlier spells from, and to your surprise, the mage goes with you.

"To ensure there's no surprises I will observe the creation of your enchantment first-hand." she says.

That shocked you more than anything else the mage has said today. Patchouli tried for the same detached, insistent tone she's used for most of her demands. To invoke the idea that this is how it's going to be, this is how everyone reasonable expected it to be, and that you'd be a fool to expect anything different. And while you could catch the undercurrent of tension to her words, that's not really what tipped you off.

You weren't lying earlier when you said the occult balls were dangerous. Manageably so for someone who knew what they were doing, but the magical power they contained was enough to make an accident crippling, maybe even fatal. The main reason you weren't worried was because you helped make the occult balls in the first place. Home field advantage, so to speak.

If you were a malicious actor, this would be the ideal circumstance to give Patchouli an "accident". Interfering with an in-progress enchantment is like bumping someone's elbow while they're handling high explosives. There's no way she doesn't know that. Whatever inside view she gets of the disguise enchantment is simply not worth the risk she's running, not with how paranoid she's been about everything else.

"You're certain about this?" you asked.

"It is not up for negotiation."

For a brief moment you wonder if an "accident" is actually Patchouli's plan, but you dismiss the idea. Even if she wanted to murder you, engaging you inside the occult ball was the single dumbest way she could go about it. She could overpower you even without the binding in normal circumstances, but with the power of an occult ball (already shaped by your magic) literally surrounding you, she'd be the one in danger. Even if she needed plausible deniability, there were "accidents" she could set up that wouldn't threaten her.

Patchouli did play her part well. Sakuya and Satori haven't noticed anything, though without a magical background, that's not terribly surprising. Koakuma realized, though. She hadn't said anything, but the assistant's wide-eyed stare was a dead giveaway. So whatever Patchouli's up to, the rest of the group wasn't briefed on it. Interesting.

"In that case, I'll need my binding deactivated."

Patchouli does... something, you're not really sure what, but the effects are almost instant. You can feel the moment the binding loosens its grip and stumble as a full body shiver goes through you, head to toe. You can feel the magic bouncing and rebounding inside of you, waiting to be set loose. You feel more alert, more awake, a sense of tiredness you hadn't even realized slipping away.

Patchouli's saying something, but you snap your fingers and the relevant occult ball flies from Sakuya's side into your outstretched hand.

You hold it out in front of you for the mage, as if presenting a gift. "If you're ready, touch the occult ball and I'll take us in."

Patchouli hesitated, just an instant, and then placed both hands on the top of the ball.

[-] To be continued.

[-] Inside the occult ball

The Temple of Artemis was known as an ancient wonder for a reason. When you and Sumireko visited to create the site's occult ball, all that was left was a single column, constructed from what few fragments remained.

That was not the case here.

Over a hundred marble columns towered up to support the enormous sloped roof, each decorated with scenes and characters from greek mythology. The carving was intricate, each one the work of a skilled artist, if not a master, and even the plainer portions of the stonework were covered in ornamental flourishes.

Your consciousness flew through the air towards the temple as the day turned to night, the moon rising as you passed through the entrance and casting its rays onto the wooden statue of Artemis inside. With the deer at her side and bow at the ready, in the dim light it almost looked alive, ready to spring into one of the hunts the goddess was known for.

Patchouli emerged beside you, shaking her head as she looked at the statue. "That... it's impressive, but not historically accurate."

You cracked a smile at that. "Yeah, Sumireko and I did the research when we were creating the occult balls in the first place. It was a bit of a surprise what the statues of the 'Lady of Ephesus' really looked like."

"Then why is it wrong?"

"It's the same idea as the urban legends, really. The occult balls channel magical power because of the sense of wonder attached to the sites they represent. The idea that there's something special about them, shared on a level beyond words by millions if not billions of people. It's more group superstition than true faith, but when gathered and focused, it still takes on a life of its own."

Patchouli nodded slowly, looking around. "That must be why most of the details are absent. A statue, and an altar, but nothing else. A real temple would contain need to contain more..."

"But your average person would have no idea what," you finished. "Hence a magnificent building with almost nothing inside."

"So then... this is essentially astral projection on a vision. An image of self overlaid on the image humanity has of the real temple."

You nodded. "More or less. You followed me in without knowing that?"

"It was apparent that this enchantment would involve mind-to-mind contact in a separated space. And while I could not be certain of the precise form that contact would take," Patchouli pulled a book out from within her robes. "I knew it would serve my purpose."

You made a yanking motion, pulling light from the moon and gathering it in the statue of Artemis, which took on an eerie glow. It was purely a visual effect, but Patchouli couldn't be sure of that, and it looked ominous as hell. "If you intend to try something, you picked exactly the wrong place to do it."

Patchouli opened the book, the pages turning by themselves as she held her other hand above her head and chanted. Energy gathered in her upheld hand, and when her chant finished, it started expanding outwards in a sphere. Reflexively you pulled up stones as a barrier, but the energy passed through the barrier, you, the statue, and the walls of the temple without stopping... and seemingly without effect.

You whirled on the magician. "What did you just do?!"

"It's a modified wisdom spell. The original intent was 'know thyself', to pierce through any illusions someone might have as to their own character. As such, it forced the caster to honestly and completely answer any questions posed within their own mind. I modified it to work over most mental links. As long as this spell is active, neither of us can knowingly lie, even by omission."

So... basically a truth spell that only worked if you were connected to someone like this. That would explain why she didn't just use it earlier. But still, that was an awfully niche spell. You hadn't seen a true telepath in Gensokyo, the closest thing was Satori, and her mind-reading was one-way. Did Patchouli really just have that lying around? You tried to ask that... but found you couldn't. The words literally would not come. Your hand flew to your throat. "I can't... huh?"

Patchouli smirked. "There's always trade-offs in magic. The original spell was simple, as whatever truths it revealed were things the caster already knew. The price was that the truth you found might not be to your liking. Such a spell was incompatible with any sort of domination or compulsion. The only feasible workaround was an equal trade of information. For every question you ask, you must answer one before you can ask another."

"Forced honesty sounds like compulsion to me."

Patchouli shook her head. "You can refuse to answer a question. But doing so will not count as your required answer... and which questions you refuse to answer will still tell me something."

[-] What do you want to ask? ((Feel free to suggest any number of questions. How long the exchange will go on remains to be seen, but Greg will definitely get the chance to ask at least a few questions of his own.))

[X] Play along with Patchouli's game: answer just about everything she throws at you; we got nothing to hide anyways.
-[X] Point out that you could've just wasted her time by answering absolutely nothing.
--[X] Round off the interrogation with some form of joking question or jab.

"There is a flaw in your reasoning," you point out.

You'd kind of hoped Patchouli would ask what, but she merely says "Go on."

"You're correct that selectively refusing to answer questions would give away information anyway. But that's easily solved by avoiding the game in its entirety. I could simply refuse to answer any questions at all... or possibly any beyond the first, depending on how it works, and you would have nothing to go off of."

"It would at least confirm you're hiding something."

You attempt to ask who isn't, fail to form the question, and rephrase it. "There are very few people with nothing at all to hide. Me not playing along with a surprise interrogation would hardly be convincing evidence to take to Sakuya, particularly given our established animosity."

Patchouli stared you down, but the lack of immediate reply is in and of itself telling. "So that's how you intend to play it."

You shook your head. "No. I'll admit I considered it, partially out of sheer contrariness, mostly because I don't trust you... but I'll play along. Because there's nothing related to the incident that I'm hiding. Ask your question, Patchouli."

"We'll see about that," she muttered. "Very well then. What do you know or suspect regarding the disappearance of the human village?"

It's a clever way to word the question. "I don't know much for certain. Only that the effect is either targeted at you guys or that it was applied very recently, given that Satori, Sumireko, and I had no trouble finding the village yesterday. As for my suspicions, they are exactly as I outlined to you and Sakuya earlier. Shortly after I arrived in Gensokyo, Satori told me about Keine and her ability to hide history. Finding her and trying to get her help was one of the courses of action we considered at the time. Given the obvious application of such an ability to the current incident, as well as the timing of the village disappearing just as everyone forgot her existence, I strongly suspect she is involved somehow."

"And why would you remember Keine if none of us can?"

Your eyes narrowed. "That's two questions in a row."

Patchouli nodded. "The spell keeps the balance of questions and answers as even as possible. When both of us have asked and answered the same number of questions, either can pose the next question. Now, declare whether you're answering it."

You decided to accept that, at least for now. "In short, I don't know. The targets specifically being you guys seems unlikely because Satori was also affected. If it didn't work on humans, Sakuya should remember. Me having some innate resistance due to my specialty being illusions is possible, but I don't think my magic is strong enough for that to matter. My best guess is that it has to do with me not being native to Gensokyo and thus somehow not covered in the effect, but I have no particular confidence in that."

It's your turn now, and you take a minute to properly phrase your question. "To the best of your ability to determine this: Are there any questions that you would ask were you in my shoes, acting as a rational agent to further your best interests, and if so what are they?"

Patchouli raised an eyebrow. "Outsourcing your decision-making, I see. Assuming I was in your position with only your knowledge and abilities, I would ask what would happen to me if Remilia's condition was cured, if it remained stagnant, and if it turned fatal. I would ask for any flaws in the magical binding used to secure me, and for whatever information I lacked regarding my captors' psychological makeup and weaknesses."

All of which would involve heavily prioritizing your personal well-being and an eventual escape. You'd say that told you something about Patchouli's thought process, but that much was already clear. "Would we be let go once Remilia's fixed?"

Patchouli rolled her eyes. "More than just that, I'm certain Remi would fall over backwards trying to reward you. Sakuya would be similarly intense about it, though she'd hide the intensity of her gratitude behind decorum."

With that, the ball was back in the mage's court, and after a short pause she picked her question. "What is the true nature of your relationship with Satori, and how does it differ from the image you've presented?"

It takes effort to avoid grimacing. You'd love to deny this one, but the assumptions she'd draw from refusing to answer that would probably be worse. "We're friends, but not a couple. That started out as a joke from Koishi that everyone else seemed to find hilarious, but it kind of put the idea in my head."

You gave Patchouli a melancholy smile as you turned your back to her to stare out into the night sky. "After Sakuya captured us, all of you just seemed to assume Satori and I were together... now that I think about it, you probably watched our initial reunion in that gazebo. I didn't see any point in clarifying the nature of our relationship; we figured we'd need all the sympathy we could get."

You tried to end the answer there, but the words kept coming. "And I'm enjoying the act, pretending to be closer to Satori than I actually am. Because that's something I want; I've expressed interest and have a crush on her at least. I think she desires that sort of emotional connection and intimacy, but is also afraid of it. I don't know what she'll decide, and with the emotional effect of her binding I can't press her on it now."

The magic seems to consider that sufficient, and you're able to stop talking there. You glare at the other mage; you're not entirely surprised she asked that question, but she had no right to those details. Patchouli just bulldozed forwards regardless. "In what ways does the effect of Satori's binding differ from what you claimed to me and Sakuya?"

You could phrase this differently, but right now? Patchouli deserves this. "The mechanism of how the emotional feedback affects her is exactly as I described. The only difference is the magnitude," pause for effect, "which I downplayed. When I was under the effects of a similar binding a couple years back, it took me from depressed to borderline suicidal in a couple of days, and that was without the extra trauma of a kidnapping and death threats."

Patchouli flinched back at that, and you continued. "The reason I downplayed the nastiness of the effect was because I knew you would resist the idea. Between your skepticism, pride, and the antagonism you'd shown towards me and Satori, I figured you'd minimize and justify it, or dismiss it as an attempt at manipulation."

Now's the time to ask. You've rattled her badly enough that she's broken eye contact. "If things go badly, if we can't cure Remilia, if she dies despite our best efforts. Will you kill us?"

Patchouli hesitated, and you followed her gaze to the temple's altar. An altar for sacrifices. "Ask another question," she said. "I won't answer that."

[-] To be continued.

[-] The exchange of questions continues.

You consider ending your questions there; Patchouli's already gotten a couple of details you didn't want to give her, and with her refusal to answer whether or not Remilia's death would mean your death, you could just say you're done here.

But ending it now feels like the wrong idea. It's definitely not as abrupt as stonewalling her completely would have been, but it's obvious she still doesn't trust you. Letting her satisfy her curiosity feels like it's worth the risk, and there are other things you want to know.

"Out of everyone I've met so far, Flandre seems like the only one who would actually snap and start killing. Why is she on an emotional hair-trigger?"

Patchouli sighed. "Because her emotions are actually out of control. She was extremely young when she became a vampire, and she took it poorly, tearing out her own wings as they came in. The pain was excruciating, and combined with the transformation, it took a toll on her mind. Since then, her emotions have come in uncontrollable waves. The crystals forming her wings are the countermeasure to this. Each crystal acts as a reservoir for a different emotion, absorbing the vast majority of that emotion as it arises so that she only feels a small fraction of it, if at all."

"If those wing-crystals absorb her emotions, she shouldn't actually be able to get angry," you said.

"The countermeasure isn't perfect. The crystals can fill up from being overused, and a couple of them cracked during her brawl with Remilia. I haven't had time to replace them."

So basically, she's a psychopath with the occasional burst of barely-controlled rage. Fantastic. You sighed. "Sounds like she and Koishi should form a support group. Come to think of it, I'm surprised Satori hasn't asked about Flandre's crystals. It sounds similar enough that she'd be interested."

"She likely doesn't know," Patchouli said. "Remilia prefers to keep the details of Flandre's affliction private, and fewer still know the mechanism by which we've addressed it."

"Is there any reliable way to avoid being in danger from Flandre?"

"Not in particular," Patchouli said. "Flandre is fond of the mansion's residents, and even we are careful about interacting with her, especially in a situation such as this. The key problem is that she can go from normal to dangerous without warning, and even when the crystals are functioning correctly, she's not exactly safe. She spends most of her time locked in the basement for a reason."

Damn.

"Flandre's been incredibly well behaved, all things considered. It must be because Remilia's health is at stake."

Double damn. "I can't say I'm surprised, but I'd hoped there was something. Your turn."

Patchouli nods. "What were the memories you showed Satori in the mansion?"

No. Just no. "I won't answer that," you snapped. "The only way it's relevant is because Maribel is apparently Yukari, and it's enough for you to know that I hate her."

The mage considered that for a moment and nodded. "Fine. What is your connection to Yukari?"

You considered that for a minute. It touched on things you really don't want to remember, but it is a legitimate question, and refusing to answer would be worse. "Maribel was my substitute teacher for a week. I did my absolute worst to undermine her, and lost badly. As punishment, she did something to me that forced me to read the minds of people near me, non-stop. That left me a wreck for months, and directly lead to me becoming friends with Sumireko. As for Yukari proper, she might have been the youkai Sumireko and I spotted that lead to us discovering Gensokyo, though we never spoke and I'm not completely certain of it. And then there was the encounter outside earlier, when she made that shikigami offer. That's the full list."

Patchouli grimaced. "Can you read minds normally?"

She would consider that a security problem, wouldn't she? "No. The closest thing I can do is a telepathic connection, and that's a two-way street. The only people I've really done it with are Sumireko and Satori, I'm not entirely sure if I could even connect to a normal person. "

Should you ask about the bindings? It won't exactly help her image of you, but at the same time, it'd be useful information to know... even if she'd probably refuse to answer. Screw it, it's not like she can be more suspicious of you. "What are the weaknesses of the bindings you placed on me and Satori?"

She smiled. "The first weakness is the nature of what is bound. A complete denial of magic is sometimes the wrong way to contain a youkai. Youkai with enhanced physical strength, such as oni, would still be extremely dangerous. Other youkai rely on their magic to exist, and cutting it off entirely would quickly prove fatal. As a vampire, Remilia falls into both categories, which is why we did not attempt this binding on her."

"The other weakness is the difficulty of initial application," Patchouli continued. "As you must have realized, the bindings are specific to a single species, and require a period of adjustment to sync to the prisoner's magical signature. The initial syncing period takes hours, and during it they can be removed or destroyed freely. In practice, this sort of binding can only be reasonably applied to a foe that is already captured and unconscious. However, once fully activated, they completely lock down the target's magic and punish them for attempting to access it. An external caster could unravel or break the enchantment in the usual manner, but there's no way to escape or bypass it from the inside."

You barely refrain from gaping at her, because that's not true. Your magic is heavily locked down, but heavily is not completely, something you've already proven once or twice. And that's a massive oversight for someone like Patchouli to make. But that's a truth you have no intention of speaking, so you covered your reaction with another question. "I'm surprised you had one ready for Satori. Are the bindings your design, or did you get them from someone else?"

"They're purely my work," Patchouli declared. "In point of fact, I created the design centuries ago. Humans weren't always so foreign to magic, and a few hundred years ago having an easy way to contain magical intruders was occasionally of use. As for why I had these ready, Sakuya learned that you, Sumireko, and Satori were traveling together while investigating the human village. After winning a duel against Marisa, actually. That's also how she learned of your injury and knew to head to Eientei. Regardless, the hours between Sakuya learning of you and her finally capturing you were sufficient for me to make a binding for Satori."

Well, that filled in a couple gaps. Though come to think of it, you had already heard some of those details back when Sakuya had cornered Tewi. Which made this a partially wasted question, but you'd asked it mostly for distraction anyway.

"Why did Yukari say you're not a good man?"

"Because I wasn't back when Maribel first met me," you said. "I was unfortunately manipulative and self-centered back then. I've changed since then, significantly, but it's possible she's either unaware of it or refuses to accept it. Though there's a reasonable chance she knew you were listening and tried to influence you, or that she was manipulating me."

"Are you still a manipulator?"

You tried to say no, but the word caught in your throat. The moment when you squeezed Satori's injury, driving her to her knees to get her medical care flashed through your mind. You stumbled, coughing, and then the truth came out. "I try not to be. But it's what I'm good at. And you weren't wrong when you said I don't have a better course of action."

It takes you a minute to regain your composure, which Patchouli waits for - it's your turn to ask a question, after all. And you know what's on your mind. "Why are you so suspicious of me?"

"Several reasons," Patchouli said, staring you down. "One being the half-truths I've already caught you and Satori engaging in; you've just admitted to manipulation. The second is the situation; we've both recognized that twisting the truth to gather sympathy is the logical course of action for someone in your position, and it would be foolish for me not to distrust you accordingly."

That's all logical enough, but it's insufficient... and not just because several usually means more than two. "There's more to it."

"Indeed. The main reason is Yukari's involvement. She has taken a personal interest in you, and there appears to be no reason for it. From all reports, you aren't nearly powerful enough to catch her interests. The people she typically associates with are people like the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, the movers and shakers of Gensokyo, people multiple orders of magnitude stronger than you. Her current shikigami is a nine-tailed kitsune, for goodness sakes! And yet three times she's appeared before you, personally. Once when you were a child, to shape your life, once to ensure you made it to Gensokyo, and again just now, to offer to make you her shikigami. Why is she so interested in you?!"

You shuddered. "I... I was going to say the urban legend incident, but I hadn't considered that Maribel changed my life drastically years before it. It could be a coincidence... I really hope it is one. I don't think it is. I don't know. I really don't know, and I dread to find out."

Patchouli tried to say something, but choked on her own words. You can't resist chuckling. "I guess that confirms you really are playing by the same rules. You did ask a question just now, so that makes it my turn. But... I think I've asked just about everything I need to. What were you going to ask?"

Patchouli eyed you suspiciously, rubbing her throat. "Before the beginning of the Urban Legend incident, did you have any sort of connection or interaction with other youkai?"

"Only the one encounter with Maribel," you said. "Anything else?"

"Is it possible that one of your friends or family members was actually a youkai?"

"It would be very unlikely," you said. "My only friend was Sumireko, and we were able to trace her magical bloodline back a few generations. She's human. Your own binding proves I'm human, and that discounts my parents." You hesitated. "At least I'm pretty sure it does. Youkai genetics work that way, right?"

"They do," Patchouli confirmed. "The child of a human and a youkai will be a youkai."

Well that's good to know. And technically speaking, there is that chance it could become relevant via Satori eventually... You shook your head to try and dismiss the image. "That does rule both of them out, then. And I'm an only child, and dad never so much as mentioned any extended family. Although... I never actually know my mother, so it's technically possible she became a youkai somehow. It's a longshot, but is there a Tammy in Gensokyo?"

Patchouli shook her head. "I haven't heard that name, nor any variation on it. It would make no sense as a reason regardless. Even if your mother became a youkai after having you, that would hardly make you of interest. What did Yukari mean about your ability stagnating?"

"I haven't really grown stronger over the past few years in the same way Sumireko has," you admitted. "More skilled, yes, but the raw power I can apply to my magic is relatively minor. We put in the same amount of effort and everything, but her magical well kept growing deeper, and mine did not. Though things have gotten easier for me since coming to Gensokyo... perhaps Yukari anticipates that continuing."

"It would have to be a lot more than that," Patchouli muttered. She shook her head and sighed. "Is there anything else myself or the other residents of the mansion have forgotten or missed that relates to this incident?"

"Not that I'm aware of," you said. "It would take a long time discussing every detail of Gensokyo that I know and you remember to be sure, but Keine's the only thing I've noticed so far."

There's a pause in the discussion at that. You don't have much more to ask; heck, you've already essentially skipped a couple questions by asking freebies. And Patchouli seems lost in thought, she's not prompting you to ask anything else.

Well, on further thought, there is one last thing you'd like to know. "By the way, I've been wondering. I get that you guys are desperate, but why'd you go straight for the kidnapping? I'd have thought you'd would at least try asking us for help first."

Patchouli glared at you. "Meiling did. She ran into your friend and tried asking nicely. Sumireko threw it in her face, routed her in a spellcard duel, and vanished right before Sakuya showed up."

[-] To be continued.

[-] Get to the bottom of this.

Of all the possible responses you might have expected, that was not in the list.

"That's ridiculous!", you protested.

"Interesting turn of phrase. One that could be taken to mean that the thought of the scenario happening is ridiculous, as you're no doubt implying, or that Sumireko's decision to do so was ridiculous, which could satisfy the truth spell," Patchouli snapped. "But the facts are not on your side. Sumireko showed up at the gate yesterday morning, an hour after dawn. After declaring her inherent superiority and demanding directions to the village, Meiling realized exactly who she was, thanks in no small part to her impractically distinctive outfit, and practically begged her to help Remilia.

Patchouli started pacing, and you could feel her seething from over there. "Sumireko laughed, declared my friend as 'Not worth her time' that she 'probably deserves whatever she gets', and initiated danmaku. During the resulting duel, she used three spellcards, all themed around futuristic technology or the human conception of aliens, all of which proved very effective against Meiling, leaving her with bruises that I'm sure she'll show you if you ask her. It was at this point that Sakuya came out to check what the noise was, at which point Sumireko flew back out the gate. Obviously Sakuya followed her the moment Meiling explained what had happened, but there was nothing to be found except the local wildlife, a fact neatly explained by her ability to teleport."

The sheer venom from Patchouli's words is startling. It's more emotion than she'd shown the entire time you'd known her, from death threats to dealing with Yukari to Satori ripping into her. This wasn't faked... or at least, it wasn't faked by her.

You had to admit, the details matched up shockingly well. Yesterday morning would have been when you were camping in the forest... near Misty Lake, which itself was near the Scarlet Devil Mansion. An hour after dawn was early enough for you to still be asleep, which meant you didn't have eyes on Sumireko at that time. And it was early enough in your visit to Gensokyo that Sumireko could have still had significant trust in her own magical abilities, before the humbling experiences that were Koishi and Eientei. Theoretically, if Sumireko woke up, wandered around, and stumbled upon the mansion, she could have actually run into Meiling. And if you assumed Meiling's account was slanted the way people usually lied in their own favor, if she was a bit more hostile and Sumireko a bit more reasonable than Patchouli had related, it almost seemed possible.

"You aren't lying," you said. "But this is a set-up if I've ever seen one."

"You don't get to say that! Not without evidence."

"Oh, I'll admit I can't conclusively disprove it," you said, cracking your knuckles. "The timing, the spellcards, the reasoning, the read on Sumi's character... there's half a dozen details in there that don't quite fit, while still being close enough that I can't hold it up as an obvious contradiction. For instance, Sumireko had no need to ask for directions to the village, we had Satori with us. She also doesn't normally use spellcards, I think I've only seen the one from her the entire time she's been in Gensokyo, and I'm pretty sure that was accidental. The alien thing also doesn't fit; I'll give you an interest in technology, but she's always been about fantasy, not science fiction. She's also not that cruel, not that I expect you to believe me on that point."

Patchouli was still looking at you defiantly, and you matched her gaze. "But the big red flag is that this is the first I'm hearing about any of this. If Sumireko really stumbled upon Meiling and the mansion, she would have told me. We're partners in crime, and we don't have secrets from each other. That includes those memories I showed Satori, for the record; Sumireko has known all about those for years. And even if she tried to keep it hidden, for some unfathomable reason, again, we were traveling with Satori. Satori would have torn apart that secret in minutes."

"Like she did regarding the plan Ran and Kasen came up with?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." You tilted your head, looking at her. "What exactly are you talking about?"

Patchouli brought her hand to her mouth in mock shock before her expression leveled out into a smirk. "Actually, no. I won't answer that for you. Find it out yourself."

You have a sinking feeling about that, but you shake your head. "Whatever, it's not the point right now. Whether you believe me or not, I know Sumireko. And I know that wasn't her."

Patchouli's tone was acid. "Let me guess, next you're going to tell me Sumireko would have helped if we'd just asked the real one."

You shook your head. "No, actually. Sumi's main concern right now is us getting home safely, and with half of Gensokyo coming after us, she wouldn't want to take on any extra problems. If you could either get us home or offer significant aid in that direction, she'd probably help, but I can't see her offering it for free. She'd be practical about it, an approach you should be familiar with."

Patchouli swore. You're not sure what it was, you're not even sure what language it was, and it took a second for you to be sure it wasn't a new spell, then she started ranting. "I swear, every time you hold a conversation it seems that a brand new layer of conspiracy appears! First it's all a Yukari plot, then there's the secret memory-altering youkai that only you know about, and now there's supposedly someone impersonating a high school girl apparently for no other purpose than to mess with you personally."

"Yukari actually showed up and all but admitted she was involved! As for the others, I'm under the truth spell, what more do you want from me?"

"Answers! Ones that don't raise more questions." Patchouli sighed, sitting down against the wall of the temple. "Either you're delusional, you've somehow managed to sidestep the truth spell, or you've successfully uncovered three different major conspiracies in the course of an hour. None of those options seem correct."

You sit down as well, thinking about it. Patchouli does raise a perfectly valid point; uncovering three different conspiracies in quick succession would be absolutely ridiculous. But Occam's Razor suggests something else. "You're right. It would make a lot more sense if they were three different aspects of the same conspiracy."

[-] To be continued.

[-] Piece it together.

Every so often, when you're wrong about something, you get handed irrefutable evidence. Something that declares, beyond a shadow of the doubt, that the picture you had of the situation is at best, missing a crucial piece of information, and at worst, completely wrong-headed. Because if your understanding of things was correct, then what happened should have been flatly impossible. And given that it did, in fact happen, you need to start over from the beginning, tracing your way through everything, and carefully checking to see which assumptions could have been wrong.

In short, it becomes a puzzle, one that you're forced to look at with fresh eyes. And while it's always disorienting, in a way it's also thrilling. Because these sorts of moments are when you have breakthroughs. When you figure out that crucial piece of the truth, and hopefully a way forwards.

So what do you know?

Someone impersonating Sumireko came to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and provoked them. Assuming they knew exactly what they were doing (because let's face it, the alternative doesn't get you anywhere), what did that accomplish? It got Sakuya to start hunting you down, leading to your kidnapping and current predicament. And given that the fake Sumireko asked for directions to the human village, it even gave the maid the correct place to start looking.

Which brings you to the first real connection. "The fake Sumireko knew far too much about what we were up to. Her encounter with Meiling was timed such that we were in the area, without an alibi, and told you exactly where we'd be going next."

"Assuming it wasn't the real Sumireko."

"Work with me here for a minute," you said. "Though that reminds me, did she look like the real Sumireko?"

"I have not seen Sumireko in person," Patchouli said. "However, Meiling did give a detailed description. Brown hair, roughly shoulder length and hanging free. Brown eyes behind a pair of glasses, red oval frames. Clothes were a purple plaid skirt with a matching top, sleeveless over a white blouse. The most noticeable thing were her accessories, those being a black hat with a white bow, and her cape, black exterior, with the other side being red with white runes. Which I'm certain is the same cape we took off you when you were captured."

"Yeah, I'm going to want that cape back when all's said and done. So much work went into it..." your voice trailed off as you thought back through the months of effort, actually. Balancing a dozen enchantments within a piece of clothing had been a nightmare, especially because you need it to fail safely upon any sort of damage. You shook your head. "Regardless, that's a very good description of Sumireko in her usual outfit. Could-"

You broke out coughing, and swore beneath your breath. "There's additional details I need to ask about. If you could ask a question or two quickly, that would be appreciated."

Patchouli considered you for a moment, brushing her hair out of her face. "Only so long as it's related to this theory of yours. What do you need to ask?"

"If Sumireko hadn't switched clothes, and they were both in the human village at the same time, how quickly could Sakuya have found Sumi from that description?"

"Within minutes," Patchouli said. "As long as what she's looking for is actually there, Sakuya's ability to find something near-instantly is limited only by her own patience."

"Which means if we hadn't changed clothes as pretty much the first thing we did, you'd have found us far sooner," you concluded. "It ended up happening anyway, but my point is that Sakuya capturing us became a likely outcome the moment that imposter provoked Meiling."

"I won't argue with that assessment," Patchouli said, "But then there's the question of motive. Who, aside from us, would benefit from us capturing you?"

"That's a harder question," you admitted. "One possible goal might have been hoping you'd be provoked badly enough to just kill us, but if that's what they were going for, they misread your motivations badly. Besides, there shouldn't be anyone with a personal grudge against me or Sumireko in the first place, we're new to Gensokyo! I suppose a grudge against Satori would be possible, but this feels premeditated, and I defy anyone to have predicted that we'd have been traveling with Satori ahead of time. I'm wondering if it might be a distraction."

"Explain."

"Like Satori brought up earlier, our original plan to fix Koishi has been delayed by this whole kidnapping mess. Again, I don't think anyone in particular benefits from Koishi's third eye staying closed-"

Patchouli raised a hand, signaling you to stop. "False assumption. Satori's ability is unpopular, and that's putting it mildly. Nobody wants a second mindreader roaming around, especially one who would actually roam around and involve herself with Gensokyo's business."

"It's the same problem as before though. If this is as premeditated as I think it is, then that being the motive would rely on them predicting Satori to travel with us, and I don't think that's likely."

"On what grounds do you believe it to be premeditated?"

"Because whoever pulled it off knew far too much about what we were doing. After entering Gensokyo and encountering Kasen, we faked a long-range teleport and snuck out under a veil to get away, and my veils are good. Despite that, whoever impersonated Sumi knew where we were and what we planned to do next. They had to be watching us, and given the efforts I took to keep us hidden - efforts that fooled Kasen and Reimu, mind you - that's a lot more than just casual surveillance. They knew we were coming, and..."

Wait. That's it! That's absolutely it! You jumped to your feet.

"Mamizou! It has to be her."

"Who?"

"The tanuki! Giant tail, speaks like an old person, carries around a big jug of sake... that one!"

Patchouli looked supremely non-plussed. "There are no tanuki in Gensokyo."

"Just like there's no history-altering youkai," you said with a fierce grin. "There's that connection!"

You started pacing as you listed details off. "But to fill you in, Mamizou is the one that gave Sumireko the fake power stone, the thing that brought us to Gensokyo and trapped us here. She, out of everyone, is the one youkai that would have been absolutely sure we were coming. And as a shapeshifter, she actually could impersonate Sumireko easily, especially since the two have met. There is no question that she could have done it!"

"You're actually serious," Patchouli said, stunned. "Adding in another magically forgotten youkai does not make this any more believable!"

"Look, I've never met Keine and I've heard maybe half a dozen sentences about her total. But I have met Mamizou. I saw her emerge back on earth thanks to the occult balls, I watched her duel Sumireko, and it is directly because of her that I'm here in the first place. I know she's real, and once you've established that memories are being messed with, the existence of another youkai being forgotten is not a major barrier."

You see Patchouli winding up to respond, and you hold up a finger. "Save your questions until the end, please. Let me work this out."

"Getting back to the motive," you said, rubbing your chin. "I don't know Mamizou anywhere near well enough to guess at her motives, but I don't think she has any particular connection to any of us or any of the mansion's residents. So I think it would need to come back to the idea of a distraction. Which in turn raises the question of what a temporary distraction would even accomplish, and that gets back to Keine."

You closed your eyes, trying to visualize it. "And that's because... because the timing of the village being hidden has to be pretty exact! Sakuya was there just yesterday, and it can't be found today. That's something that changed. And the encounter between the Sumireko imposter and Meiling didn't just derail our plans, it completely changed your plans as well! Whatever you were doing before, it's been delayed by at least a couple of days, first from the effort to capture us, and now from the further leads we've been turning up."

"So how does that turn into a connection?" you snapped your fingers a couple times, trying to work it out, but it's Patchouli who answered.

"Because if Keine truly exists, then her power would have been of great interest to us. And if we were looking into her, then a delay of a couple of days was enough for her to thoroughly hide her own existence. It requires additional assumptions - a connection between Mamizou and Keine, as well as some reason for why Keine couldn't hide herself instantly - but given those assumptions, it's a valid explanation."

Your eyes snapped back open. That fits, it all fits, but you weren't expecting Patchouli to put it together for you. And then you glanced at her and did a double take. The magician was naturally pale, but right now, she was as white as a sheet.

"I don't remember what I was working on before Sumireko showed up," she said, answering your unspoken question. "A magical project I was investigating as recently as two days ago, a complete blank. That never happens. Not normally, and definitely not when dealing with matters of this importance. Which can only mean there is a memory-altering effect currently active."

You'd intended to be extremely smug when you finally got proven right... but you weren't expecting it to be this soon, or with this kind of reaction. "So does that-"

"Not another word! I don't want your theories biasing me before I have a chance to check the evidence myself! In fact-"

Patchouli raised her book and started chanting again, her hand beginning to glow once more. You winced, preparing for her to dissolve the truth spell. Again, the light expanded from her hand, but this time it slammed into you with a force you weren't expecting, lifting you off your feet and pushing you back-

You found yourself flat on your ass in the middle of the ritual circle, dazed. She ended the enchantment trance completely?! Why-

"Koakuma!" Patchouli barked, striding over to the library. "I want every scrap of paper I've written on or magical text I've referenced over the past week, especially anything that got dismissed as unrelated and reshelved!"

Sakuya gave the mage an aside glance. "Patchouli, what-"

"Not now!" The mage said, faltering slightly. "Just... give me an hour or two to work this out."

"An hour? What-"

"Please, Sakuya," she pleaded. "I'll have answers for you soon."

You could see the indecision play out across Sakuya's face, then she grabbed your wrist and pulled you to your feet, the better to stare you down. "Clearly that was not just an enchantment. Explain."

[-] Give her the full play-by-play in as much detail as you can.
[-] Give her the necessary context (truth spell ambush, memory effect revealed that Patchouli seems to be taking badly), and point out that while you could tell her everything, Patchouli might want to do that herself.

[X] Point out you weren't resealed, offer to try telepathically communicating the info, but don't push it and accept resealing.
[X] Give her the necessary context (truth spell ambush, memory effect revealed, etc.)
- [X] If she wants more and doesn't want to wait for Patchouli give her everything.

Honestly? Sakuya was pretty reasonable about the whole thing. Sure, it was yet another nerve-wracking conversation where the possibility of violence was never entirely absent, but you were starting to get used to that. In the end, Sakuya had politely thanked you for the reminder you were currently unsealed, politely declined the offer of a telepathic conversation, and after listening to the summary of your conversation with Patchouli, she warned you not to do anything foolish, and went off to politely interrogate the hell out of the mage.

You really weren't sure whether the maid got more or less polite as she got angry. Seemed like it could go either way, depending on the situation. Whatever. That was Patchouli's problem, and nobody can claim she didn't earn it.

Interestingly, you weren't resealed at any point during your conversation with Sakuya ended. Which, unless you missed your guess, meant that Sakuya herself didn't have any direct control over the bindings (she may be sympathetic to you, but not that sympathetic), and that the mage might be a single point of failure as far as that containment mechanism was concerned. Not that you actually had any escape plans at present, but it was important tactical information to know.

Regardless, you did take advantage of the delay by trying to mentally connect to Satori (first thing you tried when you came to your senses)... and it just worked. Her binding did absolutely nothing to stop you from connecting to her telepathically, and while you had to focus on your conversation with Sakuya for the duration of it, just having your mind available to read helped your friend relax a little. Conveniently, it also let you show her the memory of your conversation with Patchouli in a more direct manner... along with a couple of other relevant ones regarding Mamizou.

So, does that ring any bells? Name, face, fighting style, anything?

Satori grimaced, shaking her head. No. I don't recall a single thing around a tanuki in Gensokyo. Which is more than a little disturbing.

Speaking of disturbing, why did Patchouli react like that? Was she that dedicated to the idea of me being the bad guy?

That's not it. Or at least not all of it. Given that youkai are spiritual beings, they're by nature more malleable than humans are. You can convince a human of anything and they'll still remain essentially human, but if you get a vengeful spirit to let go of their grudge, they stop being a vengeful spirit, either becoming an ordinary ghost or just fading. For most youkai it's less extreme, but if you convince them of something contrary to their nature, you can do real damage to most of them. For that reason, most youkai are extremely protective of their minds, and I'm hardly surprised Patchouli in particular reacted poorly to finding her mind had been tampered with.

You're about to respond when you hear someone coughing and wheezing. Continually. Sakuya flickered into existence nearby, grabbed an inhaler that had been left on the table, and vanished again.

You've stressed her into an asthma attack, Satori thought at you. Well done.

It's not like I was trying to do that, you protested, feeling a little bad regardless.

I think that's part of what's unnerving her. She'd certainly find it simpler if she could write you off as hostile.

The coughing you heard did die down, so at least Patchouli wasn't too badly off. Though somehow you doubt any of this endeared you to her.

Greg, know when a battle is lost. You and Patchouli are never going to be friendly.

Hey, it didn't hurt to try.

... and that thought marked the exact moment when your binding kicked back in, zapping you out of your mental conversation with Satori. You really, really wished you could shift the binding to a different location on your arm. At this rate you were going to end up with a neat little ring of burn scars.

"Greg?"

You looked up at her worried face and did your best to smile. "I'm fine. Just caught me off guard."

She scowled at you. "You knew that would happen."

"It was a possibility-"

Satori marched up and poked you in the chest. "Look, I don't care if it's sweet, don't be so eager to hurt yourself just to try to help! What's that one saying about helping via fire?"

"Give a man a fire, and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life."

Satori shot you a highly unamused glare, and you sighed. "You don't need to set yourself on fire to keep other people warm."

"Yes, that one." Satori sighed. "Greg, I'm glad you care, but I'm not some damsel in distress that needs rescuing every five minutes."

You gave her a wry smile. "Sorry Satori, but you're basically a princess, and you're being held captive with your power sealed. Damsel in distress is just an accurate description at this point."

She gave you a light punch in the arm. The non-binding one. "You're in the same situation! And given our respective strengths, if anything, I'd be the one rescuing you!"

"It's worse than that, I'm afraid. There's a much higher chance that Sumireko is the one who rescues both of us. And I promise you, we will never be allowed to forget it."

Satori facepalmed at that. "On second thought, you're allowed to rescue me. But only if you can do so without hurting yourself."

It wasn't really that funny, but you laughed all the same. "Your wish is my command, my lady."

[-] To be continued.