FujiwaraPhoenix

The Epic of Beginnings - An Isekai Adventure/Civ builder

I'll toss my hat in here.

Fate/Eternum — Reboot

Uehara Mitsuki

Taking a sip of his drink, Mitsuki simply listened to both the woman and her Servant as they seemed to attempt to deflect blame off of themselves. There really wasn't any way to try and tackle the issue at hand in the way he had intended if the other party involved didn't want to give any actual information, but...

Well, this was still probably something he could work with.

"People in this day and age definitely aren't as fit as you're assuming," he said simply, shrugging his shoulders as if to downplay the significance of what he had said before continuing. "But I don't think you should need to be forced outside to at least take a walk outside, at least. It doesn't have to be a run, but even that much should be a start... Right?"

Turning towards his own Servant as she added her own thoughts in, the young man nodded in agreement before his gaze panned over to where she was storing her game console. Given the topic at hand, there was one thought that easily came to mind.

"I'm pretty sure there are a few video games that help with that if you don't want to head outside," he quipped, turning back towards the others with a smile. "It might be fun playing together, don't you think?"

Not like he had ever played any of those types of games in the first place, of course, but there was no reason not to suggest something like that...

"But, well, I'm not sure if that projection of the situation quite applies here. I'm still fairly certain that Servants don't need to be out and about fighting for some lofty goal to make the most of their second lives, after all."

@RolePlayerRoxas@Raineh Daze@KoL

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

The purple-haired Alter Ego watched in mild amusement as the Saber stormed off, moving to the bathroom where her Master had gone earlier to (probably) cry her troubles away. Honestly, someone with such a fragile ego wasn't as fun to toy with as most others were, but this was enough for her—especially as it seemed that very same Saber was unable to mount a proper counterargument towards her own words.

Before she could call for her own Master to finish paying up and leave the shop with her, though, Meltryllis instead found herself on the receiving end of a lecture on what she had said. What little entertainment she had derived from what had just transpired was replaced by mild annoyance, as it felt as if she was being treated like a child who had done something wrong in her eyes.

"Like I said earlier, none of what I had said to start with ever actually directly referred to that one's Master. I only ever talked about you, did I not? And it's not like I'm wrong, either; you haven't been able to move around much ever since getting yourself put into that cast, and from what I know about humans, you're going to run out of breath if she starts sending us out on errands again. What am I supposed to do if you almost slip up again like that time at the building? It's not like I can always make sure that you're not going to throw yourself blindly into danger or get caught up in something out of your control, right?"

After speaking her mind, though, the Alter Ego took a moment to compose herself before sighing.

"...Whatever. Are you going to keep complaining then, or can we buy that jacket and leave?"

@VitaVitaAR

Alleyway

Having successfully forced his way into the alley to escape the sudden headwind, the would-be kidnapper, with the young girl still tucked under his arm, took a brief moment to catch his breath. It was quite possible that someone had caught onto what he had done, but so long as the job was done, his client would still pay... Right?

Of course, all those thoughts went out the window once he felt the grasp of someone's hand on his shoulder. Any doubts that he had until then were promptly dispelled, and without a bit of hesitation, he opened a small vial that he had tucked away under his shirt and waved it under his captive's face. Once she began to stir and opened her eyes, though, he tossed the vial away and, fumbling to escape the grasp of whoever had caught onto him, held a small crystal in front of the young girl's eyes.

"Summon your Servant and get rid of the ones chasing us!" he half-shouted, aware that his ability to hide away had become useless. With a gaze that dulled over as soon as the crystal had caught her attention, the young child spoke in an uncannily robotic manner as she seemed to nod in understanding.

"By my Command Seal... Assassin... Get rid of them..."

As one of the Seals faded away, the Servant that Amelia was contracted to—with black hair and limbs that seemed to belong to a puppet more than they did a human—seemed to appear out of nowhere and lash out at the woman who had restrained the kidnapper. There was obvious discomfort on her face as she considered the situation, but even so...

"...I cannot disobey my Master's orders," she said, blades sliding out of her arms as she stood at the ready. "...Forgive me."

And with that, the Assassin moved forward, striking out at the woman's neck soon after.

@RolePlayerRoxas@Raineh Daze@VitaVitaAR

Fate/Eternum — Reboot

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

There was a somewhat snide smile on Meltryllis' face as she watched the Saber's Master leave the area in a haste, her eyes following the girl in mild amusement before her Master attempted to intervene in her fun. Before she could casually brush off the accusation like she had considered, though, Suzuka had come over and brazenly insulted the both of them with no hesitation.

It was one thing to insult her, of course, and it was a given that she would retaliate in turn, but insulting her Master like that...

"Hmph. Well, I suppose that if your own excuse for a Master took my words as an insult to herself, then maybe she's the one at fault here. I only spoke to my own, after all, so I don't get why you're trying to heap the blame onto me," she responded, leaning forward and glaring right into the Saber's eyes. "Of course, if I was you, I'd already be feeling embarrassed. Forget causing a scene here like you are now—imagine having to fake being an idiot because you couldn't bear to be seen next to someone like that without putting on an act. That fake schoolgirl act would be amusing if it wasn't so pitiful to begin with."

With that, the Alter Ego straightened her back, and, looking down upon Suzuka for a moment, turned back towards her Master with a smile.

"But I suppose that a rabid animal has no use for knowledge in the first place. With all that yapping, even a saint would want to put it down. Don't you think so, too?"

Really, as irritated as she was, seeing that Saber so riled up also lit a fire in her heart; this was fun, and there was no point denying that fact.

@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR

Fate/Eternum — Reboot

Uehara Mitsuki

"Well, I'm not sure if something like that would count as having a way with words," Mitsuki responded, shrugging he shoulders as he thanked Archer for the drinks she had purchased for the three of them. Given that he had forgotten to get one back at the pizzeria, this was greatly appreciated.

"In any case... While I do think that a little exercise now and then is fine, ten miles is a bit more than a warmup, isn't it?" he followed, turning expectantly towards the Berserker in question with a bit of disapproval before looking back at the woman on the bench. "I'm more surprised you weren't more vocal in trying to stop her, though; actually, it might be a bit more impressive that you decided to go along with the run despite knowing it'd be ten miles and not just tapping out..."

Of course, the admission that the alternative was watching cooking shows wasn't much better, but it wasn't like he was in any place to judge how people spent their days off. There were probably better things to do than spend the day watching TV, in his eyes, but even if they were dragged along for the ride...

"Actually, now I'm curious; how close to that goal were you? It'd probably work as something as a baseline for the future so you don't end up this winded again..."

@KoL@RolePlayerRoxas@Raineh Daze

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

The Alter Ego simply responded with a noncommittal shrug as her Master asked for clarification on her comment. Really, it didn't matter how she took it; compliment or not, her opinion wouldn't change. There was most definitely something that irritated Meltryllis on a deeper level about seeing the other pair together, carefree as they were, and given the Saber's reaction, it was almost certain that the feeling was mutual.

Of course, there was a part of her that wanted to take a jab at the duo that had caught her ire, and given the situation...

Actually, that didn't seem like it was that bad of an idea, once she considered it for a moment.

"Oh, it's nothing, really; I'm simply of the opinion that you'd actually be able to keep up with me if you tried, if only barely. If you think about it, a Master who isn't a sitting duck is far more preferable to one who is, even if I do have qualms about your brashness," she responded, just loud enough to catch the attention of the two being rushed away from them. "Of course, that means trimming a bit of excess fat once that arm of yours heals, but given how much I feel we'll be moving about this city, I don't suppose that'll be too much of a problem."

It was probably a bit too obvious, but given how little that fox tried to think on a daily basis (at least, from her perspective), something this low was necessary to get a rise out of her. It could just as easily fly over their heads, of course, but that wouldn't do anyone any favors at this point.

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99@Rune_Alchemist

Burger Wham

The sudden gust of wind in the face of the would-be abductor caused them to pause for a moment, and though they were still quite invisible to the usual bystander, their body was most certainly still corporeal. The faded outline could still be made out off to the side of the crowded street, away from where the people walked to and fro in front of the fast food's entrance, one arm carrying what appeared to be the child in question while the other held their arm against the wind. Of course, the wind had the added effect of causing a few others to be stalled by its sudden appearance, which made more that a few pause in mild confusion with regards to what had happened in the first place.

Of course, the kidnapper would only be deterred for so long, and pushing against the wind, they forced their way through (pushing more than a few of the stalled pedestrians aside in the process) as they slipped into a nearby alleyway. It would be harder to make them out in the darkness, after all, and by now there was the distinct possibility that they had slipped up in their execution and that someone was already onto them...

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Raineh Daze

Jewelry Store

Though one of the Shadow Servants had been summarily routed, the other was still functional (though apparently wounded, given how much damage had been done to what it had crashed into)—or, at the very least, functional enough to get back up after taking the blow. There was no way to actually make sense of what injuries it had proper, given the way it looked, but the fact that it was able to take up a battle stance despite that meant that it still had more than enough energy left in it to follow through.

Rather than follow through with the folly of the other Shadow Servant that had fallen, though, this one wasted no time in shifting its attention towards the girl who was left slack-jawed at her Servant's performance. The people on the floor were of minimal issue, but the main goal of the Shadow Servant was to act as a diversion. That much, at least, was obvious.

As the thieves quickly funneled out of the back door, the Shadow Servant kicked itself off the ground, barreling towards the redheaded girl without any regard for its own safety, sword at the ready.

@Rin@VitaVitaAR

Touhou ~ Distorted Records of Parallel Fantasy (Now Accepting)

Human Village

Just as the green-haired youkai finished speaking, the giggling laughter seemed to grow closer before stopping altogether. It was jarring, of course—the dead silence seemed to hang in the air for an uncomfortable amount of time before being broken by the sound of a large explosion nearby.

Then a second. Then another.

The sound of trees crashing to the ground was followed by a small bit of fortuitous luck, at least; with their fall came the clearing of the fog nearby, however temporary, and the sound of chimes in the wind. Of course, the dead grass on the ground was more than enough of an indicator for as to how long this mist had been present.

Equally of note, though, was the lack of apparent reaction from the nearby village; ordinarily, such an thing would have resulted in a cursory amount of panic, after all...

@Fractured@RolePlayerRoxas@Raineh Daze@Sylph de Graaf

The Netherworld

Upon hearing Youmu's apology about the lack of food, Yuyuko's shoulders seemed to sag, if only momentarily, before she shook her head and returned her gardener's concern with a smile.

"No, well, if you came back with such concern, then there must be a reason, right?" she responded before the topic of the Saigyou Ayakashi came up. Immediately, the pink-haired ghost's eyes narrowed, her usual lackadaisical countenance replaced by one of serious concern. The presence of snow and cherry blossoms together had been a simple coincidence in her mind before, but now...

"I see... Well, ignoring something like that would most certainly take precedence over groceries, I suppose..." she trailed off, glancing towards the Celestial who had until now simply been waiting by impatiently. "I suppose that's why you're here too, then? Well, I suppose that if it is something as major as that, I shall do my part in contacting Yukari. Do your best, all right?"

Of course, the faith that Yuyuko had in Youmu was fairly strong, and given her strength, there was no doubt that she could resolve the incident in her mind. With a nod, Yuyuko turned and flew back into Hakugyokurou, leaving the two who had just arrived floating beside the odd space that continued to leak snow and cherry blossom petals into the wind.

"That youkai's getting involved, huh? Well, I suppose if the shrine maiden and witch haven't already..." Tenshi said, finally breaking the silence as she flew right next to the odd space in the air. "Ah, whatever. I'll lead the way; you just follow behind, all right?"

Of course, that response was in no part lacking in confidence, and with the usual aura of borderline arrogance that she seemed to exude, Tenshi passed through without waiting for a response.

In a way, it was almost as if she hadn't passed through anything at all; what had hit her first and foremost was the immediate chill in the air, which caused her to shudder and rub her hands together. It had been close to summer in Gensokyo, after all, so the abrupt change in temperature, while nice at first, was ever so slightly annoying as her body adjusted.

What was more noticeable, though, were the three musicians floating in front of the gates to Hakugyokurou, chatting idly as if they hadn't noticed the Celestial's appearance in the first place.

"Ah, but really... Those three were quite persistent, weren't they?" the one in white remarked, twirling a trumpet in the air. "I'm surprised they kept coming back even after we knocked them down like that."

"Well, they haven't been back for a while, so maybe that was enough...?" the one in red responded, leaning on a keyboard in the air as she did so. "But really, I wonder when they're going to finish up so we can start our performance. Playing guard duty like this is a bit..."

@VitaVitaAR

Touhou ~ Distorted Records of Parallel Fantasy (Now Accepting)

Huh. I thought that confirmation would spur a few other posts.

(Also, apologies about taking so long to follow up on it.)

But yes, the mist is as you presume. The second one person moves there, though, I'll update so everyone has more to work with.

Touhou ~ Distorted Records of Parallel Fantasy (Now Accepting)

Human Village

Tenshi had simply watched as Youmu had scrambled out of the room to go in an entirely different direction from the others, who seemed to already be walking off towards the bookkeeper's store. The Celestial briefly considered the situation and, deciding that it would be more fun to go for the group with less people, decided to follow after the half-ghost gardener instead. Throwing the book nonchalantly towards Akyuu (who barely managed to snatch it out of the air as it was about to fly over her head), the young woman gave a slight shrug towards the historian before running off in pursuit.

Upon seeing over half of those present leave the room, Kosuzu quickly stood up and half-ran out of the room after them, making sure to try and keep pace with those who were already moving towards her bookstore. Luckily, their nonchalant pace made taking the lead easy, and with a nod, the young girl wasted no time in guiding the group over to the place she had mentioned earlier. Indeed, it was as just as she had remembered; there was an odd space that seemed to waver in existence next to a nearby tree that seemed to stand out all the more if you focused on it. If it hadn't been for the remnants of blood-red mist that seemed to slip out from it, the anomaly would likely have gone wholly unnoticed by anyone without a sharp eye.

"That's... New..." Kosuzu trailed off, taking a wary step behind the four who she had guided here. "I, uh... I know that Akyuu wanted you to look into them, but..."

There was a bit of excitement in the young girl's heart, but the uncertainty behind the situation and the knowledge of the Scarlet Mist incident that she had made her all the more wary of even trying to go near it.

Entering the space would provide an immediate shift in scenery, though; just as passing through one of Yukari's gaps in reality, walking through this one would seemingly transport whoever did so into what appeared to be a parallel version of Gensokyo to the one they had just been in. The scarlet mist that blanketed the Human Village here seemed to be as dense as a thick fog, and though it was still possible to see more than a few feet in front of one's face, that was about all that could be done. The entrance to the locale seemed to exist all the same, of course, so returning was still an option, but even so...

The sound of laughter in the distance made the mood all the more uneasy, though...

@Fractured@RolePlayerRoxas@Raineh Daze@Sylph de Graaf

---

The Netherworld

The distance between entrance to the Netherworld and the Human Village was surprisingly short when considering how fast the residents of Gensokyo were able to fly, and before long Youmu (and soon after, Tenshi) had arrived at the gates without much issue. The space high above the skies was tranquil, save for the occasional fairy (Tenshi had a bit of fun cutting down the ones in her way en route), but in front of the gates themselves...

"...Snow and flower petals...?"

A distance away from the pillars in front of the gates proper, there seemed to be an odd distortion that seemed to be releasing a few in equal quantity into the clouds. If the Celestial had to guess, this was probably something similar to what had been mentioned earlier at Akyuu's house, but upon looking at it proper, it was definitely odd enough to warrant poking at.

Upon approaching the gates, Tenshi noticed that a pink-haired ghost was already there, floating around the odd space and catching a few of the cherry blossom petals that had already slipped out. Upon hearing of the approach of a few others, though, she turned around and, seemingly without a worry in the world, waved towards Youmu.

"Ah, you're back! I got a bit bored while waiting for the groceries and found this outside. Cherry blossoms at this time of year... Oh? Youmu, where are the groceries...?"

@VitaVitaAR

Fate/Eternum — Reboot

@1Charak2: Twins okay, and as we've discussed elsewhere, you'll be siding in for the Momotaro that's been missing for three weeks. We'll start getting retcons in order soon enough.

Fate/Eternum — Reboot

Uehara Mitsuki

Mitsuki gave a half-nod towards the young woman as she asserted that they were simply exercising before the one who he was concerned about fell into him. The action had certainly caught him off guard, and the young man staggered back momentarily to make sure that he could maintain his balance. Given how she had been managing to follow along until now, the utterances from the woman using his body as support led Mitsuki to a simple conclusion: either the Servant (given that she had called this girl her Master) was oblivious to how strong a Servant's body was compared to a human's, or the Master had no stamina to speak of to begin with. Figuring out the answer could probably come after making sure that she didn't pass out in his arms, though; that would definitely bring more trouble than it was worth.

"I'm fairly certain that this is not how you'd go about picking someone up," he quipped back towards the Servant before slowly pushing the woman back to her feet and dragging her over to a nearby bench and seating her there. "So, uh... Exercise, you said? I'm not sure what you were doing, per se, but ending up like that usually means that you should have stopped a little while ago."

Of course, a visit to the gym or going for a run every so often didn't sound like too much of a bad idea...

@KoL@Raineh Daze@RolePlayerRoxas

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

Seeing her Master go along with her choice brought a smile to Meltryllis' face, and it had taken no time at all for her to change into the jacket of her own volition. Of course, putting it on required a bit of help that, though she was loathe to take in the first place, was fairly necessary given how her body was.

"Hm... Not bad, not bad," she said, nodding her head as she stared at herself in the mirror. "I suppose that this will do for now, then. It's not like I want much else here, after all, so let's just buy this and be done with it."

Of course getting the jacket off was just as difficult to her as it was getting it on in the first place, zipper and all. If this had been a normal shirt, then that probably wouldn't have been an issue in the first place...

But when it came down to it, purchasing something in line with her tastes rather than something that was better for onlookers was better for her own mental health in the long run. If her Master didn't mind, then was it really an issue?

"If you want to pick something for yourself, though..." she began to trail off as the two began to walk towards the cash register, only to stop and stare at a pair of girls that had just entered the shop. There was an audible 'tch' that came from Meltryllis' mouth as she looked at the fox-eared girl, and with a glance towards the figure that she was carrying, the Alter Ego realized fairly quickly that avoiding this sort of encounter was going to be uncomfortable. As nice as standing out was, things were different in the Moon Cell; killing people who were irritating was a simple affair, after all. But here, in an odd city that frowned upon such things...

"How irritating. I suppose this was inevitable, but really..."

There was a brief pause in her words as she glanced over the Saber's Master before looking back at her own.

"...You know, when it comes down to it, it's a good thing you summoned me..."

@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

Touhou ~ Distorted Records of Parallel Fantasy (Now Accepting)

Human Village

"A-ah... S-sure..."

Kosuzu was undoubtedly caught a bit off-guard by the arrival of the pink-haired menreiki who had immediately moved to offer her own help in the matter.

Well, it was less of an offer and more of an assertion, but the way that she had presented herself had made it hard for the young girl to respond with anything more confident than that. There was an awkward pause as everyone within the circle of villagers, human or otherwise, seemed to simply stand by for a moment before the half-ghost had finally agreed to help.

"Th-that's good, then. Let's not crowd up the middle of the street any longer," she said, nervously laughing as she glanced back and forth between the two before nodding. "I'll lead the way."

Tenshi, on the other hand, was not so easily placated by things ending like this. While she could understand deciding to prioritize the incident, the Celestial had come down here in pursuit of entertainment at the shrine; if what that bookkeeper had said was the truth, then there was no real reason to go there anymore. In other words...

"Hey, this sounds like fun, so I'm coming too!" she called out, walking after the bookkeeper and the others who had chosen to follow her. "And I'm not taking no for an answer!"

---

The Hieda household would have had enough worries today, what with having to care for the unconscious schoolteacher on top of sorting through the records at their heir's behest, only to find a great deal of oddities within what they had dug through so far. The presence of the caretaker of the Garden of the Sun did nothing to put their minds of ease, of course; rather, it seemed to do the opposite. Akyuu herself was not necessarily happy with her presence, either, but so long as Kosuzu returned with the shrine maiden and the witch...

"Akyuu, I'm back!"

The familiar voice of the bookkeeper caused the young girl to breathe a sigh of relief, but that expression on her face soon turned into one that was a mix of relief and worry. Though it was not the usual pair that she had returned with, the presence of someone who was well-versed in the resolution of incidents was a great enough boon on its own. No, rather, it was the rest of her entourage that was cause for concern—particularly the Celestial and the parasol-wielding youkai that had been spending an inordinate amount of time outside.

"...Kosuzu...?"

"Ah... Right, I couldn't find Reimu and Marisa, and everyone here said they wanted to help, so..."

An audible sigh left Akyuu's lips as she shook her head before gesturing for everyone to enter. At this point, turning everyone away would only cause more chaos, and that was something that she couldn't afford for the moment.

Once everyone had found their own places in the room that had been set aside for their gathering (which, admittedly, was only barely able to fit everyone comfortably), Akyuu cleared her throat and raised her hand so as to call attention to herself. Given who was here, being nervous was to be expected; even so, with an incident at hand...

"I thank you all for coming here today to help resolve this incident," she began, pulling out the strange book that had caused the schoolteacher to fall unconscious in the first place from out of her sleeve. "For those who may not have been made aware yet, Miss Kamishirasawa has fallen unconscious; given what Ms. Motoori has said, that only occurred after reading this document. I have done the same, and yet I have not fallen victim to that same issue."

With that, the young girl placed the book in front of herself, gesturing for anyone who so desired to take a peek at it for themselves.

"That book, as far as both Ms. Motoori and I have seen, is a warped facsimile of the history of Gensokyo, and should likely be read at your own discretion. Given Ms. Kamishirasawa's ability, there are a few conclusions to be drawn, but otherwise, I believe that the book, while not so immediately dangerous as a few tomes I have seen, still hides secrets from the both of us. In any case, it was soon after that when the books in Ms. Motoori's library seemed to start changing as well. This issue only seems to be affecting books originating from Gensokyo itself, as those works from the Outside World seem identical to what I have read in the past. Luckily, it does not seem to be affecting anyone's memories, but this is still rather... Problematic."

With that explanation, Akyuu looked around at everyone present to make sure that they had understood at least most of what mattered thus far before cutting right to the chase.

"There have also been reports of odd spaces around Gensokyo that have begun to appear as of late; though they do seem to be sparse, given the way that things have panned out as of late, I do believe that this book and those spaces must be related. Could I ask if you could investigate them in our stead? It might bring us a bit closer to the truth behind this incident."

When she was finished speaking, Tenshi immediately moved to go and grab the book and, without much care for the warning Akyuu had given, began to flip through it. It was just as she had said; there was way too much that was wrong about how everything had been recorded, from start to finish. What bothered her the most, though...

"...Huh? What's with these sections on the incidents over the last few years?" she asked out loud, placing the book with its pages open to see in front of herself. "I remember those two had to deal with that vampire and the ghosts before, but this is... Well, it's not only barely written, but they don't even have the starts correct! And anything after that is just... Blank?"

It had been as Tenshi had said; the record of the Scarlet Mist incident began at the Human Village, while the other noted that the start date had begun a few years later than had been expected...

There was a brief pause before Kosuzu, having moved over to peer at the page, clapped her hands together as she seemed to recall something.

"I think that one of those weird 'spaces' that Akyuu was talking about was near the storefront. It shouldn't be too far a walk from here, at least..."

@VitaVitaAR@Fractured@RolePlayerRoxas@Sylph de Graaf