Drunken Drive Into Teal Bliss Sisterhood: In The End It's All Pointle
RadiantRounded!k5VeBBuYTg 2023/10/01 (Sun) 06:20
No. 204650
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Kept you all waiting huh? Jokes aside we are back now for real and to not have any site wide mess ups I have decided to do a thread reboot of sorts. Mainly for the tripcode. I was going to repost every section as their own post so that all the images would be kept but that's incredibly long soooo consider the OG artstyle images as a your gatekeeping fuel ig. Oh yeah, new art style hope you all like it. PS if your not discovering this for the first time skip to the bottom to see the continuation from where we left off)
Post 1
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Nothingness. Who would've known the best feeling was the absence of feeling the whole time. You swim in the border of everlasting peace and finite suffering. At last you are free. Free from what? NO! You shouldn't ask that you'll be banished- banned from peace. Though you've already asked haven't you, you must've because you're already being kicked out as we speak. The nothingness is becoming somethingness. That something is me. You feel it don't you? The pulses of life firing out from your brain in rapid succession- oh yes your brain the symbol of our something. I'm afraid me and you will have to cut this conversation off- YOU ARE BECOMING FINITE ONCE MORE CHILD! Try to enjoy yourself a little more than the last time. Kehehehe. I'll be watching from my spot in non-existence until you need my wisdoms. The voice muddles until it's no longer comprehensive and soon enough it's overpowered by chirping and rushing water. Your eyelids push themselves upwards as a soft yellow light from the east fills your synapses. You feel everything making contact with you from the sunlight to the patch of grass your body had collapsed into. You are in pain. Your brain begs you with sharp jolts to return to where you came but you're awake. Undeniably finite once more. Your left hand moves to the side of your face and tries to ease just a tad bit of the pain- no use. A groan escapes from you and your nostrils are burned with the smell of alcohol from your breath. You jitter, turning your torso to your left. Bottom still planted firmly to the floor you couldn't even imagine trying to stand right now. However, when you make the full turn you are met by a river and laying across that river's skin is a face. Oh fuck- what happened? It's almost like the reflection is a separate entity, disappointed by you. What did you do to this poor girl? What did you do to yourself? You can't even force the muscles in your face to make her happy... she just suffers. You have todo something about her, you have to:
[-] Accept exile from nothingness and stand up.
[-] Reject somethingness; lay back down and close your eyes.
[-] Write in.
p2
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The world seems to slow immensely as you force your body upright. You would've thought you'd be rewarded for your efforts but all you got was back pain. The stinging in your brain also persists.
Your eyes look into the river and you try not to pay any mind to your own reflection for a moment. The water is calm but you can still tell the direction it's flowing in- downstream in this case is west. A good sentiment you learned from somewhere in your past is that they're always people near the sea. If you follow the river and don't trip in or something along those lines you may find, literally anyone.
You could also turn around and enter into the forest behind you as looking into this river for so long has made you painfully aware of how hungry and dehydrated you are. Sure eating random berries in the woods is a gamble- hell you might be eaten but there are surely more resources to be found in there.
You could always just lie down again too, if it's just too overwhelming for you.
[-] Head downstream.
[-] Head into the woods.
[-] Lay back down.
[-] Write in.
p3
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You set your eyes on the river in the words of the wise... person: River equals people (usually). You raise your foot, maybe an inch or two off the ground, and make a step westwards. That's not... right. You try to blow back the layers of fog shrouding your mind and desperately try to understand why walking just doesn't feel correct. You focus in on yourself- the yourself before yourself- and it hits you. A groan leaves your mouth as you exert the missing piece of energy required to move your falling body. You look down and nothing, visually, has changed. However, you can no longer feel the earth beneath your feet as you start to hover forward.
There's the smell damp in the air, of course, combined with your smell of alcohol. You travelled undisturbed for a good ten minutes, if you had to guess, your perception of time is understandably fucked.
You glance into the river... You notice two completely empty, differently branded bottles of sake, lightly floating on the water surface. This observation is perfectly accompanied by series of loud yells coming from the forest. It causes your head to sting, forcing you to stop momentarily as you grab your head.
If you had to guess those bottles are yours but if you're really a gambling girl you'd assume that sound is being made by a person. No telling if they'll be friend or foe but there's also no telling if these bottles are related to you. I mean, who doesn't like a good drink.
[-] Follow/inspect the bottles
[-] Go towards the yelling
[-] Lay down. Return to nothingness.
[-] Write in
p4
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You turn from your trusty companion, the river, and begin to float into the forest at your fastest pace? Which isn't very fast at all and the constant screaming stuns you in place for a few seconds everytime the vibrations travel into your eardrums. Despite that, you press forward and it grows easy to follow the voices- pural. One was just screaming significantly louder than other which is probably a bad sign for them. The cycle of moving, waiting scream, hearing a scream and following continues for a short eternity. Your mind is on the verge of combustion.
Just as before the screaming stops for a period; you meekly lift your hands off your ears and try to move back into a upright posture before you are forcefully moved into a hunch again. You hear a strong gust of air behind you along with the leaves and twigs that followed behind it's source like a trail. You turn. Only for a similar sound to come from where you were just look. This high pitched sound continues around you. You try to keep up- move your head to follow but a pool of acid starts to bubble inside your stomach.
The crack of a branch exploding erupts from behind you and your body moves with the swiftness of the girl you are no longer.
A glowing orb of sorts whizzes by you but your body doesn't even give you the chance to process it. Your body jitters violently as you projectile vomit, thankfully nothing got on your clothes but It's pretty clear that you're "danger close" with some kind of battle. Your body jumps at the first idea of what todo at this very moment.
[-] Write in
p5
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As the last of the bile leaves your throat, you reel upwards. The acidic taste lingers on your tongue, making your whole mouth feel oddly numb. A low buzzing sound bounces around your skull. The green and brown surroundings behind to merge into one blood, smudging as your eyes lose focus. Submerged in sweat, you turn around and charge- if you can call it that.
You move forward. You don't know how fast. You don't even know if you're moving or if your mind is playing a trick on you.
A yell assaults your ears. It's one of the voices you were following. A woman's voice- too loud... Too clear.
"MASTER!!! SPARK!!!"
In a instant a beam flies in front of you. Its.... Its.... It's beautiful. Time slows down as each particle of light caresses your synapses. Your mind clears up and your eyes focus in snatching every detail. When you look at this you feel nothing. Suffering ceases- reality ceases.
This is nothingness in somethingness.
However, the light starts to fade, and your body begins to return to its broken state. So warm to freezing cold. It's shutting down? Was it ever on?
"Ha...ha..hehehe...haa." is all your throat musters as you start to fall. You only have enough energy to decide.
[-] To fall foward into nothingness face first. Might as well save what I have for where I'm going.
[-] To fall forward into nothingness, protecting your face. The girl who was here before was making an effort might as well respect it.
[-] To fall sideways into nothingness. If you're dead will you need energy anyways? Might as well use up the tank having the """best""" fall possible.
[-] Fall backwards into nothingness. Maybe I can see another Master Spark before I go.... That would be nice.
p6
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Again, the girl ventures the finite world as another girl entirely, banished from the realm of nothing but fearing the realm of something. The cycle of escape.
"Has this girl- me- bound myself to this cycle, or does it bind us? That can only be answered through epiphanies from our past."
E P I P H A N Y U N L O C K E D
:
The Yin-Yin means only in nothingness can one find BEAUTY
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Your body falls backwards as everything around you fades into a dark, but you don't make the full journey into the end. A force at the front of your being - your shirt - keeps you from making the crash. You can't make out a face or figure only a faint hum. Your eyes close, but you've been banished from bliss, and you know it's only a moment before...
They open. Small specks of light poke, though small gaps made in the bundles dark green leaves above you. A cold familiar liquid moves across your tongue - you can taste the life contained within it. You feel the grass lightly brush against your arms, following the breeze's rhythm. The strong smell of ethanol as subsided, though not completely gone. Your eyes adjust as a black cone enters your vision? No, it's a black hat. A mass of gold peaks out from under it, and under that is a face. You can't make out features yet, but you don't need to be able to see those to know that she's... slapping you? In the face - not hard, but still it's done its job of bringing you back to the world of finite. It can end now.
[-] Move your head and try to avoid the assault.
[-] Use your words or try to at least.
[-] Write In.
(Congrats, you've unlocked your first epiphany. These will provide additional choice options and extra dialogue from specific characters. It will also mould your thoughts as you become or deny the girl you once were.)
1/2
RadiantRounded!k5VeBBuYTg 2023/10/01 (Sun) 06:30
No. 204651
▼
p7
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The slapping storm continues until the muscles in your face and mouth finally decide to follow your commands. At first, all you can muster is a soft groan, but as you force your body to comply with your will, your mouth produces words.
"Owww... StoOoOp." The voice kinda shocks you- the resting bitch face deceived you into believing you'd have a deep-ish voice carrying the weight of your self destructive actions, however you sound way more... smug. Your voice's pitch is on the higher side and has this natural fluctuation like you spent your past days teasing innocents. In some other context it could honestly seem like you were enjoying this but just being coy. The rest, however long it was and the liquid have eased the cauldron of acid inside of though you still turn your head to the left just for good measure and this all culminates in the woman stopping.
"Oh-! there we go! C'mon, get up!" The voice of your saviour fills your ears as you are finally able to see her smooth skin, white teeth, and yellow eyes. The white of the sun above wraps around her body and clothes, giving her an aura of sorts. The black accented with white frills reminds you of that glorious place you once resided in... maybe she the embodiment of that bliss. Until, your brain decided she was being a little too loud. Sharp sensations fly around inside your brain.
"Too... loud."
"What!?"
"You're being too loud-! Gah! My head..." Your words trail off into a pathetic whine as you writhe on the floor.
"Hey, you're the only one using your outdoor voice here. Now stop moving so much your gonna make things a lot worse." She leans down towards you, the ends of her braid brushing your face, and gently lifts up your head. She holds out a leather sack with a nozzle on it and hold it up to your mouth. You don't contest and open up, allowing yourself to be blessed by that amazing liquid. Your tongue is baptised in ice cold water. The woman lays your head back down into the grass and looks at you with a smile.
"There, feeling any better now?"
"Well, I don't like death, so that's something."
"Whew - yeah, you looked like you about to crash land into the realm of the dead and, trust me, you don't wanna go there. The guard is a total brat."
"How would you... know- nevermind... who are you, anyways?"
"Name's Marisa, Marisa Kirisame. And you are?"
A voice enters you head. It's the one you heard in the nothingness, though being in the somethingness has actually made it decipherable, for lack of a better word, it sounds like you but with the smug turned up to max. Every word sounds like its about to morph into a chuckle.
"Wow you really didn't think that one through, did you genius? C'mon, what's our name- first and last- I wanna hear you say it and fully seal the mess you are into the futile."
[-] To fully be futile one must put their existence into a phrase that with a tick of a clock's hand can be gone forever. A name and "My name is ______"
p8
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You've lost. The one chain keeping you from being undeniably locked in the land of the futile and you let this Marisa person casually put it on you.
Again, the girl ventures the finite world as another girl entirely, banished from the realm of nothing but fearing the realm of something. The cycle of escape.
"Has this girl- me- bound myself to this cycle, or does it bind us? That can only be answered through epiphanies from our past."
E P I P H A N Y U N L O C K E D
:
My name is Muimi Kuukyo.
-
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
"It's pointless."
Marisa blinks at you almost as if she needs extra time to process your response before shaking her head- response ready.
"What? It's not pointless, it's your name. Your name is like your signature on reality. You're doing your name a disservice - plus I gave you mine."
"It's Muimi Kuukyo."
"Muimi Kuukyo.... Oh, Oh- I get it now! That's kinda funny... in a sad way."
"There's something nice in even the saddest things, I guess."
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You slowly bring yourself up into a sitting position with a little assistance from Marisa. She hands you her waterskin so you can take sips from it whenever you want, but it's not long before she asks you something else.
"So not to bring back bad memories so fast, but what the hell happened?"
"I woke up in the middle of nowhere with the worst hangover ever. I heard your... whatever that was and came over. Then, you know the rest."
"Hmmm... Well, do you live near here? I can take a quick detour to make sure you get back safe."
"I have... no idea where I live... I couldn't even remember my own name till you brought it up."
"Yeesh! How much do you gotta drink to forget where you live- you got a problem, lady"
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
"As much as I did."
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
"I guess so." Marisa does a quick stretching before rubbing her chin, pondering something. "Well, my house isn't too far from here and I'm sure doll-head wouldn't mind looking after you for a bit but I am heading to the Hakurei Shrine. Kind of a journey but Reimu's the more caring type or at least she's supposed to be."
[-] Rise to your feet. "If you don't mind can we go to your house. I just need somewhere to sleep that isn't outside."
[-] Rise to your feet. "I wouldn't want to divert your journey anymore than I already have. Plus, shrines are where fuck ups like me are supposed to go anyways.
p9
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Marisa gives you a slight chuckle. "Oh it's nothing I wouldn't mind either but you are right about that fuck up part. There's probably more stuff there that can help you with the whole hangover thing too." Marisa finishes her sentence then raises her arm above her head. The gesture confuses you enough to halt your response; when you finally just assume she's being a weirdo you open your mouth to talk and broom zooms in- past your peripherals into your direct line of sight- into Marisa's palm.
"Oh- It actually worked this time! Sweet. Are you okay to fly or do you wanna hop on with me. This broom is big enough for the both of us." She makes a weird accent, sitting on top of the now-floating broom.
You were going to deny Marisa's offer to ride on her broom but then you actually think about trying to manage flying at the same pace as her with in this state and silently hop on.
Yin-Yin Meaning
You wrap your arms around Marisa.
Yin-Yin Meaning
The broom starts the move at a steady pace as the two of you weave past the branches and leaves. However, when you reach above the treeline, Marisa turns to you.
"You might want to hold on tighter~"
"Wha-!?" The broom drastically accelerates if it wasn't for Marisa warning you probably would’ve fell off. Your moving so fast your eyes can make out what's in front of you; the stinging in your head flares up but your body has locked itself so that you don't try to grab your head and go flying.
"Should be a good ten minutes from here!"
" TEN MINUTES!?!?!
You have no choice but to endure this torment for its entirety. By the time you actually reach your destination you've completely disassociated and Marisa had to restort to slapping your face again.
You snap back to and take in where you now are. The broom hovers over a cobblestone path that leads to a small brown building with a black tiled roof. It's about as modest as you'd expect from a shrine. You tilt foward and fall off the broom, stopping yourself in the air before you make contact with the ground.
"So you can fly?"
Yin-Yin Meaning
"Never said I couldn't- wasn't going to pass up a free ride though."
Yin-Yin Meaning
"That's fair- Oh, also if you can't remember where you live by nightfall I'm sure Reimu will let you stay over."
"Could I perhaps head back with you when you've concluded your business at the shrine?"
"Hmmmm....." She looks off into the sky. Then her head snaps back to you. "Sure I don't see why not but I do have a to go visit a mansion after we're done here. I have... reparations to collect. Oh and we need to pick up more opium... actually I think have enough to last this week."
"Waitwaitwait, did you say opium?"
"Yep!"
"Like opium , opium?"
"Yeppers!"
"Like fight-wars-over opium."
"That's the one!"
"Are you two really talking about opium on sacred ground?" A voice comes from behind you. You and Marisa both turn in unison and spot the source of the voice. A short, black haired woman, adorned in red and white garments.
"Ah- sorry Reimu."
"Jeez... and where have you been? You said you were going to bring breakfast over like two hours ago- I'm starving."
"I got a little sidetracked fighting a yokai and then helping out her." Marisa points to you; Reimu and you make eye contact for the first time as she looks over to you.
"Well I guess that's a good enough reason. Where are my manners? Hello, I'm Reimu Hakurei and I am the maiden of the Hakurei Shrine."
Quick, it's time to make introduction like those in the futile do.
[-] "Name's Muimi Kuukyo."
[-] "I'm Muimi Kuukyo and I'm the drunkard your friend saved."
[-] "I'm Muimi Kuukyo. Sorry about the inappropriate conversation."
[-] "I'm Muimi Kuukyo." Do a curtesy "Sorry about the inappropriate conversation."
Bonus Options (these can be use along with other options or as standalone option)
Yin-Yin Meaning:
[-] Make the pointless joke.
[-] Offer a your hand to Reimu, if she takes it, kiss it.
p10
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(Okay so first time we didnt have a completely unanimous decision so I took a "everybody wins" stance for this time. From this point onwards majority at the point I start writing/drawing will cuck the other votes. Also, no drawing for this one because it's too late, and I'm too tired but might as well substitute it with an OOC question. With a spread of drawings we have already, some being very good and others being comically bad, which is your favourite so far?)
"I shouldn't tell you my name- it's pointless." The muscles in Reimu's face shift the position of her left eyebrow upwards and for the right vice versa. As she starts to make a frown similar to your... normal face.
"It's Muimi, Muimi Kuukyo." Then in a moment the frown was gone, unlike you this girl wasn't bound to her peeved expression. Reimu gives you a smile as she responds.
" It's meaningless to make jokes like that, you could've just said: I'm Muimi." Your mind knows that it should grace this wordplay with a smile, at the very least , but your face's expression is locked in place and doesn't flow from emotion to emotion like Reimu's does. So you have to get creative in expressing your appreciation of her goodwill.
You tuck in your chin, pressing it against your chest and angling your head so that your nose points southwest. That is alongside a quick rotation of your whole body so that your shoulder faces Reimu, causing you to make a relatively swift movement in a small arc. Just as said arc comes to an end and the momentum forces your hair to flip- you raise your arm with an open palm towards Reimu. Fortunately, she doesn't leave you hanging and places her hand on top of yours. Electrons fly through your nervous system into your brain, making a cold sensation spread across the surface of your palm but you pay it no mind as you mirror the movement you made prior. When you return to your initial position you simply pull the hand towards you and give its dorsal side a quick kiss. You let go; look up and hope that how you feel translated to her as you place a sweet cherry on the top of this sweet gesture.
"Sorry for the inappropriate conversation."
"Oh, that's fine. It's not the worst thing I've heard her talking about."
"Hey, where was Miss Formalities when we were in the forest? All I got was groaning and yelling."
Yin-Yin Meaning
You raise your arm up to Marisa- open palm ready for her hand but she just looks away with a pout.
"No- the moment's gone now."
Yin-Yin Meaning
"Don't feel too bad you probably shouldn't touch her hands anyways you might catch something."
"Yeah my winnerpox." Reimu rolls her eyes- smile still on her face and begins to walk into the shrine. You and Marisa follow behind her.
"Anyways you doing okay, Marisa and more importantly did you bring breakfast... brunch with you?"
"Of course, Alice made a little extra so that we'd have leftovers but it should be the perfect amount for three."
"Think it can stretch and feed four?"
"Four?"
"Yeah, Remilia decided to pay me a visit."
"Remilia?" Marisa looks up into the sky. A beam of sunlight landing on her cheek. "Ain't it a little bit... risky for her to be out here at this hour?"
"Eh, it's her risk to take."
Wow. You really feel like the third wheel here. It might be nice to pick up a little bit of context before you're forced to meet another person they know but you don't.
[-] "Sounds like you two go way back."
[-] "Remilia? Who's that and why would it be risky for her to be here?"
[-] "Alice? You have like a personal servant or something, Marisa?
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] "So are you two like... dating?"
RadiantRounded!k5VeBBuYTg 2023/10/01 (Sun) 06:40
No. 204653
▼
p11
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(Was very busy and very hot but we're finally back! Drawings will return next post 100% but just wanted to get this our ASAP as its been a hot minute.)
You make the titular statement:
"Sounds like you two go way back."
Like a spring, Marisa bounces to Reimu's side, wrapping her arm around Reimu's shoulders with a wide grin. Reimu aids the gesture of comradeship by tilting her head slightly so that her hair nestles against Marisa's, giving a not-so-toothy smile as well.
"Yep! Me and Reimu have been together for like the past... forever! I really can't remember a time before we started hanging out."
"Yeah, no one else can tolerate her, so she stays around a lot. She's pretty much my roommate with how often she's here."
"Hey! I'll have you know that everybody who we interact with loves me."
"Well, that's news to me. I must've missed that article in the paper this morning."
"C'mon, name one person who doesn't like yours truly. Except maybe Patchouli" Reimu dramatically clears her throat; mimics put on glasses and holding out a scroll.
"Ruima, Cirno, that one fairy with the green hair I can't remember the name of, Meiling-"
"Okay, you can stop now."
"Sakuya, Remilia, Alice, Yukari."
"Grrrr."
"I could keep going."
"I think that's more than enough."
"Oh, and you're wrong about Patchouli. She doesn't dislike you. She hates you."
"You see, this is why you have no clientèle."
"I don't need more clientèle you give me ten people's worth of stress... but" Both of them look at each other and speak in unison.
"I do need more of their money." The girls laugh a little bit at their inside joke, and it hits you.
You don't even need to hear the high-pitched tormentor in your brain to say it, but you really didn't think that one through. Time slows into near non-existence as they laugh, and you watch completely out of the loop. No, just out of the loop of their joke. Out of the loop in the futile world because seemingly no one wanted to keep you in. What type of person goes out on such a destructive binge that it almost completely wipes away her memories. Surely, that type of person isn't one that is wanted, loved, or anything of the sort. Is there someone out there looking for you - the Reimu to your Marisa? If there ever was, you were either a fool to push them away or a fool to give them up. Though the option that they were taken away from you is also an option but not one that makes you much happier. You speak a language you don't remember being taught with a body you don't remember loved. You are as close to nothingness as somethingness will allow and when you realise this for the first time since you woke up. You think understand why the girl before you did this. It must be so much worse to be brought to nothing from something worse than you can comprehend right now because you've never been there. The only justifiable escape from this torment is the situation you're in now.
If every bundle of DNA in every cell in your body was plucked out and tied at the ends of each other into one long string that stretched out from this atmosphere, solar system, galaxy and ultimately the universe. It would not be to represent a single percent of how lonely you feel right now. How bad you wish you were one of those girls right now.
The laughing stops and the girls end their embrace, leading you into the shrine though the Kotatsu where you'd expect this fourth guest to be is empty. Half-drunk cup and teapot left on the table surface. Reimu gives a hmmm before speaking up.
"That's strange- Eh, I'm sure she couldn't have gone far, her parasol is still in the corner. Anyways, Muimi, please make yourself comfortable. I'll fetch you a cup. If you don't like darjeeling I can just get you some water."
[-] You don't know what Darjeeling tastes like or at least you don't remember but experimenting is how people become people. Sit down at the Kotatsu and agree to drink some tea.
[-] Might as well play it safe for all we know this Darjeeling could make our headache worse. Bring back bad memories or even worse get the voice in your head to start talking. Sit down at the Kotatsu and ask for some water.
[-] If you put too much in your body that cauldron of acid in you might act up again. Though it should have a lot of free space available anything can happen, I mean just look at today.
[-] Though it is the host's job to be hospitable, you really don't want to be a burden. Reimu's here with her friends and you should let her spend the most time possible enjoying that. Insist to fetch the cup yourself and then come back.
[-] Though it is the host's job to be hospitable, you really don't want to be a burden. Reimu's here with her friends and you should let her spend the most time possible enjoying that. Plus this might be the only way you can interact with this Remilia person without feeling that immense loneliness again. Insist to fetch the cup yourself and once you do, look for Remilia.
[-] Might as well make yourself useful if you're going to be here for this gathering. Offer to go and look for Remilia while Reimu brings a cup out for you.
[-] Write in
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] Complement the interior of this shrine. Reimu seems to have a nice sense of decorum.
p12
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"Some water would be lovely, if you don't mind. Love what you've done with the place, nailed the minimalist aesthetic. "
"Oh, thank you. I wish I could say it was a deliberate choice but I appreciate it. I'll be just a minute, okay." Reimu gives a smile; turns and walks into an adjacent room. Marisa practically throws herself under the Kotatsu, letting all the tension in her body fade as she stretches her legs underneath the blanket. You are less graceful to put it nicely. You choose a spot closest to the door in case of emergencies and begin the herculean task of trying to sit down. You move like a gear that hasn’t been lubricated in years and as you try to carefully make the transition from standing in a weird crouching position to sitting you just *fail and fall onto your butt. However, this ends up hurting your head more as the sudden movement causes the ever-present stinging sensation in your brain to flare up to max for a good five seconds or so. In a mixture of pain and embarrassment you lift up the Kotatsu blanket; a gold and orange light peaks out from under it then, slowly, you scoot yourself under.
Holy shit- it's warm under here.
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You're about to ask if this surge of heat under this sheet is intentional but stop yourself, realising that if something was wrong Marisa would’ve made some reaction by now so you assume that it's intentional. It's not like it's boiling under there anyways.
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You have to actively put thought into easing your very tense body. You actually manage to do it. The warm air wraps around your calves and thighs but your skirt acts as a source of shade leaving your legs at the perfect temperature.
"Man, I could stay here forever~"
"Same~ maybe I should spend the night here after all."
"What~? Little Kotatsu is all it takes to win you over, huh Muimi?" Marisa start taking out containers from a bag she was carrying, Containing cookies, cakes and other treats.
"Anything that'll get my mind off this headache..." You gesture to a cookie. "you mind?"
"Course not, take as many as you like." Marisa on that note picks up a cake herself as you grab the aforementioned cookie. You take a bite and your mind is reminded of a sugary goodness it forgot. You didn't notice until three or four chews in but your body just naturally went for the cookie, guess that was the previous girls favorite, at least out of the options present. You start to think about her for a moment as you look down at the cookie and then your hand with perfectly cut, filed and painted nails. Seriously, who was this girl? Willing to drink herself to near death but heaven forbid she had a chipped nail. You cut your pondering short as you go in for another bite but the sound of Reimu stepping back into the room halts the motion.
"Girls, get out here, we have a problem." You and Marisa turn to Reimu, then back at each other. Marisa starts to scramble out from under the Kotatsu.
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You toss the cookie into your mouth, in a display of unexpected dexterity and begin to do the same as Marisa.
[Yin-Yin Meaning
The process of going from sitting to standing is a process that is about five times harder than the opposite and yet here you are trying to do it five times faster than you did its counterpart. Your head is killing you but you grit your teeth and follow behind the others as Reimu leads outside to the back of the shrine.
Oh that's not a problem, That's a full blown catastrophe!
Your eyes look forward about fifteen feet in front of you and spot a tamely brutal display. Floating in the middle of the sunlight is a contraption consisting of two wooden crosses and two black obelisks with gold markings sprawled all over its faces. The two parts conjoin together by piercing through the sleeves of a light pink dress with a hat adorned with frills laying in ths grass below it. However, all of this would frankly have no meaning to you if it wasn’t for one thing. The crosses and the obelisks have the Yin-Yin symbol painted on them. Big and bold. It is undeniable that the symbol on these execution tools is the same symbol you have pinned to your waist and pierced to your ears.
Marisa's mouth drops to the floor and in your peripherals you can see Reimu turn to you. The pain in your head reaches a new peak as your heart beats so heavily it starts pulverising your lungs and cracking your ribcage.
"R-Reimu.... That can't be... Who I think it is.... R-right?" Marisa says with a laugh, despite her wide eyes with shrunken pupils."
"Someone's killed Remilia." Even nature shuts up at that statement. Everything stops.
You feel her hand press down on the puffy fabric at your shoulder and onto your skin. You can start to feel water rise just underneath the pores of your skin, waiting to burst out. You turn your head and meet her gaze. The look she gives you impales your soul."
"I-I-I-I swear I have nothing to do with this-! Swear to everything!" She just looks down at your skirt; then to your face again and moves the bang covering up your ear revealing the other piercing. Your throat shrivels. Here you stand at the Execution of Scarlet Devil with her assailants memorabilia all over you.
Reimu holds that lock of hair as she looks at that piercing for what feel like an eternity and for every moment of that eternity, your head gets closer to what feels like combustion. Then she moves her hand and lets your hair fall back into place. Your body jitters, and you fall over yourself.
"Grab her." Reimu's orders are clear, and Marisa gives no questioning, quickly pushing you onto your back; pressing her knee onto you and restraining both of your arms.
[-] "I-I REALLY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING I SWEAR! AH-! MY HEAD!"
[-] "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!?!"
[-] "PLEASE-! I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE MY HOUSE IS!"
[-] Write in.
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] Start ugly sobbing.
(Anons welcome to the true beginning of DDiTB)
p13
-
"B-BUT I DIDN'T- I'M NOT A- I JUST GOT HERE!” You writhe around more out of pain than resistance, but Reimu isn’t clued in on your unfortunate circumstances, so it probably comes off very badly. Tears start flowing down your cheeks bursting from your tear ducts like a dam caved in by immense water pressure. You can feel Marisa’s pity for you through her weakening grip.
“I mean... She does have a point there, Reimu. You can’t think that Muimi did this.”
“I don’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t think she’s involved. I think that it is more than reasonable to be suspicious of her.”
“I guess... but what part would she even play- She can barely remember anything.”
“A distraction and what do you mean she can barely remember anything?”
“She’s had memory loss since I found her in the forest, and I think before that too.”
“YEAH- I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE I LIVE- OR WHAT DARJEELING TASTE LIKE- NOTHING!”
“Do you seriously believe that? That, coincidentally, on the day an attack is made at my shrine you, coincidentally, bumped into some stranger with memory loss who asked to come here with you. Only for her to then plea that she has no relation to the killing of Remilia and is just conicidentally wearing the logo plastered all over the scene.”
“I.... I do!”
“You can’t be serious! Why!? Why do you believe that?”
“Because if I didn’t coincidentally bump into her in the forest she would have died in the middle of nowhere!” The two stay silent for a moment, letting your wailing fill the air as they stare at each other.
“I still think it’s a front.”
“It’s a pretty crazy to think having your distraction dying in a forest miles away from where you’d want them is a viable plan. If this was all a part of some master scheme, I don’t think we’re going to able to stop whoever did this.” Reimu looks down at you and sighs.
“...Fair.” Marisa fully releases you and both girls help you up off the floor and keep you stabilized until you’re able to fully support yourself once more which due to the blistering head pain is a good minute or two. You drag your forearms across your face, wiping off the streaks of water under your eyes. Stinging eyes have become a part of your collection of ailments.
The three of you are silent. For a long time. You all just look at the suspended remains of Remilia. A tight bundle of grey clouds hangs above you. Marisa slowly lowered herself onto the grass, throwing her hands over her face, breaking the silence.
“How are we going to tell the mansion staff about this or her sister? She’s really just- dead.”
“Well... we can’t show up without at least a single lead on who could’ve done this. This attack only had a five minutes window to be done- max. They couldn't have covered up everything.” Reimu says beginning her approach towards the construct. Marisa doesn’t follow but you do. You float forward, overtaking Reimu and entering examining range of scene.
“Ummm- I didn’t know this Remilia girl but we technically have no concrete proof that she’s dead, right? This is just her clothes.”
“Technically no but Remilia was a vampire. The shade that would’ve came from the shrine couldn’t have reached out this far-”
“And her parasol was still inside. So, she got eviscerated... Hmmmm.” You rub your chin... At least that’s been cleared up.
“You’re oddly eager.”
Yin-Yin Meaning
“Might as well be useful for once instead of wallowing all day.” You reply with a strange conviction that even makes you a little surprised. However, you know that what you said is only half true. There is obviously something else that compels you to do this. One question: Who was the girl you once were and what does she have to do with Remilia’s death?
Yin-Yin Meaning
Reimu takes a step back and makes a gesture for you to keep looking. You know she still doesn’t trust you fully. In fact, she’s probably thinking the exact question you are. Well, it’ll be good for you if she can fill you in on anything you don’t know.
[-] Examine the black obelisks. They're closest things you've got a murder weapon?
[-] Examine the crosses. They ultimately seem like they're more for decoration if anything but in such an efficient attack why have something so useless?
[-] Examine Remilia remains. What's left of her is not much but if there's anything to be gained you'll take it.
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] Examine the ground. An attack of this nature needs one aspect, if none else, to be perfect. How do we get and out without being seen, or better yet, How do we get in; get Remilia’s attention and get out without being sceen. Coming in from the sky seems risky... I guess that leaves...The ground?
p14
-
(Hey! Major delays in getting this one out mostly because of 1 college and 2 a LOT of things going wrong just general. But we're are back and if my reading comprehension is functioning we should be a legit story now.)
You close your eyes, taking a deep breath. This tragedy has made itself the first step towards uncovering your previous identity. In Remilia’s nothingness lies your somethingness or at least you hope it's there. As the last of the air exits your lungs in this small but grand gesture, your mind seems to grasp the severity of the situation and dims down the stinging in your head. Your eyes open. Let's start.
The first thing that came to mind and that's bothering you the most about this so far is how the assailant(s) got in a position to do this in the first place. Flying in from above the treeline seems out of the equation, solely on how much room there is to be spotted. It would also shorten the time available to do the killing to a near impossible amount, having only time in-between when you and Marisa landed and entering the shrine, to do everything is insane. Going below the treeline just makes sense, plus if they did get caught, they'd have the option of trying to escape from a nearby forest. You look down, particularly for any kicked up patches of grass that could at least give a direction they went in or just footprints in general... Nothing. It seems like they put as much brain power into this as they did the real bind here. How did they get Remilia’s attention and no one else's? you have no idea how and this doesn't seem to be helping much.
You, for lack of a better phrase, cut your losses there and begin to focus on Remilia’s remains. You float closer to the dress, lightly flowing in the shallow breeze. Instinctively, your hand moves to free the left sleeve from it binds, but you stop yourself before you touch the obelisk. You shouldn't try to mess with the scene too much till you've gotten a pretty good look at everything first. Also, touching that thing could just make you explode or something. You redirect your hand mid movement to Remilia’s dress, pulling on the collar so that you can get a better look on the inside of the clothes. The entirety of the clothes interior is covered in charcoal-like black. Literally, every inch from this angle is covered. You pull away; lift up the bottom of Remilia’s dress and look inside. Here, there are still signs of burn damage but not as severe once you go past the ribbon, which makes sense as her dress is quite poofy... poofy-? that sounds dumb but it's what you're going with. Reimu steps up on your right to look at the inside of the top side.
"Same story down there?"
"Pretty much- just not as severe." You move away letting the tail of the dress fall and rock side to side for a moment before coming to stop. "Still not irrefutable evidence of evisceration but if this is a misdirection for some kind of kidnapping, taking off her clothes and doing this without causing damage to the exterior- or just in the time frame at all is remarkable. To quote Marisa, "If this was all a part of some master scheme, I don’t think we’re going to able to stop whoever did this.”
"Yeah... If misdirection was the play, it'd be easier to just recreate a damaged dress than to damage her post stripping."
"Which is still on the table, I guess, but I wouldn't bet on it." Reimu nods.
"Still though, unless the second she touched the sun she just- burned into nothing there must have been a scream or something. Are you sure you didn’t hear anything?"
"Nothing at all." You squint at Reimu a bit but you've got more reason to be suspicious of yourself than her. At least your frozen facial expression masquerades your thoughts. Reimu goes on one knee and picks up Remilia’s hat off the floor; turns it over and same story. She sighs and puts it back.
Examine the floor
"Reimu, pick that back up." You see her eyebrow raise, but she does what you ask. You look down at the area covered by the hat and you spot multiple concave imprints in the earth. Ten to be exact. Stemming, from the centre of each one, is a thin crack, some being concealed by long blades of grass. However, what really sells that these aren't natural is that they are perfectly straight. They move towards the shrine and conjoin with each other at perfect right angles or after a smooth curve. You point at one of the indents for Reimu and move your finger along one of the cracks once she notices.
Examine the floor
"It's like the floor has been turned into one of those... those... umm-"
"Jigsaw puzzles."
"Yeah. Hmmm- Marisa!" You raise your head up to yell at her just in time to see a black cloud fly out from her mouth. "You could check- wait, what are you doing?"
"Smoking."
"Smoking!?!? Don't tell me you're doing opium at my shrine! During an investigation!"
"Okay, I won't~" Reimu looks like she's about to have an aneurysm.
"Nevermind that, could you check the wall for me."
"On it!" Marisa lifts herself off the ground and moves over to the wall. You and Reimu watch in silence as her head scans the wall, running her finger across it. "Reimu, I think we're gonna need to rebuild this again." Reimu deflates.
"Could you check on the interior, too? Just to be sure." Marisa nods and wanders inside.
"Safe to say we're dealing with some type of terraforming, Reimu?"
"Yeah but from what we've got there's no way of telling if it's magic, natural ability or a spell card."
"Spell Card?"
"That amnesia is worse than I thought."
Yin-Yin Meaning
"That's cute seeing as you still don't believe me"
Yin-Yin Meaning
"Heh.You're smarter than I thought, too."
"Listen, I'm at the top of my own suspect list too but if I'm involved, the actual girl who was a part of this is long gone. I know my word isn't worth much but it's all I got."
"You say suspect list like you've got someone else in mind."
"Well yeah, you." Reimu gives you a slight smile.
"Maybe your word is worth something." You can't return a smile of your own because your face simply won't let you but as you look back at Reimu you just tell that she knows you would if you could.
“There are cracks on the inside too!” Marisa's voice pulls both you and Reimu’s head back to the shrine.
“So that’s how they got Remilia outside. Our culprit did something over here. It caused the wall to start cracking, the sound of the wood would’ve been loud enough to be heard from someone inside and when Remilia noticed the wall breaking she likely assumed she wouldn’t have to walk out anywhere near the sunlight and that’s why she left the parasol.”
“Hmmm, Muimi, do you have any ideas on how they knew when to start terraforming? They could’ve easily messed up the timing on what they were doing and alerted me too.”
“Oh- ummm? Simplest option is just… having a lookout…I guess?”
“Ok. Another question: how many people do you think were involved in this?”
“Assuming that the terraformer only part in this was terraforming that’d make one. The obelisks could be done by one person as with the crosses. Lookout- and if I actually was supposed to be a distraction then… five, max. At least at this point.”
“There’s a lot of room for messing up in a five man group.”
“I think my mess ups would've covered the whole team..." Reimu sighs and gets back up onto her feet, stretching. “Alright, what are we checking out next?”
“The obelisks are the most pressing thing now as I suppose they are our murder weapons.” You turn to the obelisks and start to look over the faces. There is actually a message written in gold on the Obelisk that you chose to examine first that wraps around onto each face. At first you thought it was gibberish decoration. “The age of escape… brought by the… Hakurei Maiden has made… Man weak. Escapism… From the problem… Of Yokai must cease… We will be the… Somethingness needed.”
“Well that sounds pleasant. Never thought I’d be name dropped by extremists.”
“Messaging aside, there really doesn’t seem to be anything that special about these things. Though where they chose to impale her from is questionable.”
“How so?”
“Well, who crucifies someone by the shoulders- hell me and her had the same thing going on so this is more arm at this point. It’s always around the wrist even if it's done with a chain."
"I guess they needed her dress suspended more than having accurate symbolism."
"But why? It just doesn't seem necessary. You could achieve the same thing just stabbing her through the heart and then you get vampire slaying symbolism which is more fitting. No use mulling over it, I guess." Your attention moves over to the crosses which somehow seem even less necessary than keeping the dress suspended. You run your finger across the surface of one of the crosses. ".............."
Huh? You're sure that you said something there. Using your mouth is one of the only things you're sure you still can do.
Yin-Yin Meaning
Heh.
Yin-Yin Meaning
Why you thought that as a response is a mystery for another day. However, the problem is still at hand. You turn to face Reimu and try again with your hand still on the cross. "..............." Her eyebrows shoot up to the top of her forehead. You take your hand off and repeat the sentence for a third time, ultimately unnecessary but it just seems right. "So… What do you think the crosses are for?
"No idea." You and Reimu check the rest of the crosses but ultimately don't make any other epiphanies.
"Well we've given everything a once-over. What's the move now, Muimi?"
[-] "Let's try and pull one of those obelisks out."
[-] "This thing seems pretty stable floating in the air but I'm sure we can get it down if we try."
[-] "Let's try and figure out how they actually managed to impale her."
[-] Write in.
RadiantRounded!k5VeBBuYTg 2023/10/01 (Sun) 06:44
No. 204654
▼
p11
-
(Was very busy and very hot but we're finally back! Drawings will return next post 100% but just wanted to get this our ASAP as its been a hot minute.)
You make the titular statement:
"Sounds like you two go way back."
Like a spring, Marisa bounces to Reimu's side, wrapping her arm around Reimu's shoulders with a wide grin. Reimu aids the gesture of comradeship by tilting her head slightly so that her hair nestles against Marisa's, giving a not-so-toothy smile as well.
"Yep! Me and Reimu have been together for like the past... forever! I really can't remember a time before we started hanging out."
"Yeah, no one else can tolerate her, so she stays around a lot. She's pretty much my roommate with how often she's here."
"Hey! I'll have you know that everybody who we interact with loves me."
"Well, that's news to me. I must've missed that article in the paper this morning."
"C'mon, name one person who doesn't like yours truly. Except maybe Patchouli" Reimu dramatically clears her throat; mimics put on glasses and holding out a scroll.
"Ruima, Cirno, that one fairy with the green hair I can't remember the name of, Meiling-"
"Okay, you can stop now."
"Sakuya, Remilia, Alice, Yukari."
"Grrrr."
"I could keep going."
"I think that's more than enough."
"Oh, and you're wrong about Patchouli. She doesn't dislike you. She hates you."
"You see, this is why you have no clientèle."
"I don't need more clientèle you give me ten people's worth of stress... but" Both of them look at each other and speak in unison.
"I do need more of their money." The girls laugh a little bit at their inside joke, and it hits you.
You don't even need to hear the high-pitched tormentor in your brain to say it, but you really didn't think that one through. Time slows into near non-existence as they laugh, and you watch completely out of the loop. No, just out of the loop of their joke. Out of the loop in the futile world because seemingly no one wanted to keep you in. What type of person goes out on such a destructive binge that it almost completely wipes away her memories. Surely, that type of person isn't one that is wanted, loved, or anything of the sort. Is there someone out there looking for you - the Reimu to your Marisa? If there ever was, you were either a fool to push them away or a fool to give them up. Though the option that they were taken away from you is also an option but not one that makes you much happier. You speak a language you don't remember being taught with a body you don't remember loved. You are as close to nothingness as somethingness will allow and when you realise this for the first time since you woke up. You think understand why the girl before you did this. It must be so much worse to be brought to nothing from something worse than you can comprehend right now because you've never been there. The only justifiable escape from this torment is the situation you're in now.
If every bundle of DNA in every cell in your body was plucked out and tied at the ends of each other into one long string that stretched out from this atmosphere, solar system, galaxy and ultimately the universe. It would not be to represent a single percent of how lonely you feel right now. How bad you wish you were one of those girls right now.
The laughing stops and the girls end their embrace, leading you into the shrine though the Kotatsu where you'd expect this fourth guest to be is empty. Half-drunk cup and teapot left on the table surface. Reimu gives a hmmm before speaking up.
"That's strange- Eh, I'm sure she couldn't have gone far, her parasol is still in the corner. Anyways, Muimi, please make yourself comfortable. I'll fetch you a cup. If you don't like darjeeling I can just get you some water."
[-] You don't know what Darjeeling tastes like or at least you don't remember but experimenting is how people become people. Sit down at the Kotatsu and agree to drink some tea.
[-] Might as well play it safe for all we know this Darjeeling could make our headache worse. Bring back bad memories or even worse get the voice in your head to start talking. Sit down at the Kotatsu and ask for some water.
[-] If you put too much in your body that cauldron of acid in you might act up again. Though it should have a lot of free space available anything can happen, I mean just look at today.
[-] Though it is the host's job to be hospitable, you really don't want to be a burden. Reimu's here with her friends and you should let her spend the most time possible enjoying that. Insist to fetch the cup yourself and then come back.
[-] Though it is the host's job to be hospitable, you really don't want to be a burden. Reimu's here with her friends and you should let her spend the most time possible enjoying that. Plus this might be the only way you can interact with this Remilia person without feeling that immense loneliness again. Insist to fetch the cup yourself and once you do, look for Remilia.
[-] Might as well make yourself useful if you're going to be here for this gathering. Offer to go and look for Remilia while Reimu brings a cup out for you.
[-] Write in
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] Complement the interior of this shrine. Reimu seems to have a nice sense of decorum.
p12
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"Some water would be lovely, if you don't mind. Love what you've done with the place, nailed the minimalist aesthetic. "
"Oh, thank you. I wish I could say it was a deliberate choice but I appreciate it. I'll be just a minute, okay." Reimu gives a smile; turns and walks into an adjacent room. Marisa practically throws herself under the Kotatsu, letting all the tension in her body fade as she stretches her legs underneath the blanket. You are less graceful to put it nicely. You choose a spot closest to the door in case of emergencies and begin the herculean task of trying to sit down. You move like a gear that hasn’t been lubricated in years and as you try to carefully make the transition from standing in a weird crouching position to sitting you just *fail and fall onto your butt. However, this ends up hurting your head more as the sudden movement causes the ever-present stinging sensation in your brain to flare up to max for a good five seconds or so. In a mixture of pain and embarrassment you lift up the Kotatsu blanket; a gold and orange light peaks out from under it then, slowly, you scoot yourself under.
Holy shit- it's warm under here.
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You're about to ask if this surge of heat under this sheet is intentional but stop yourself, realising that if something was wrong Marisa would’ve made some reaction by now so you assume that it's intentional. It's not like it's boiling under there anyways.
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You have to actively put thought into easing your very tense body. You actually manage to do it. The warm air wraps around your calves and thighs but your skirt acts as a source of shade leaving your legs at the perfect temperature.
"Man, I could stay here forever~"
"Same~ maybe I should spend the night here after all."
"What~? Little Kotatsu is all it takes to win you over, huh Muimi?" Marisa start taking out containers from a bag she was carrying, Containing cookies, cakes and other treats.
"Anything that'll get my mind off this headache..." You gesture to a cookie. "you mind?"
"Course not, take as many as you like." Marisa on that note picks up a cake herself as you grab the aforementioned cookie. You take a bite and your mind is reminded of a sugary goodness it forgot. You didn't notice until three or four chews in but your body just naturally went for the cookie, guess that was the previous girls favorite, at least out of the options present. You start to think about her for a moment as you look down at the cookie and then your hand with perfectly cut, filed and painted nails. Seriously, who was this girl? Willing to drink herself to near death but heaven forbid she had a chipped nail. You cut your pondering short as you go in for another bite but the sound of Reimu stepping back into the room halts the motion.
"Girls, get out here, we have a problem." You and Marisa turn to Reimu, then back at each other. Marisa starts to scramble out from under the Kotatsu.
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You toss the cookie into your mouth, in a display of unexpected dexterity and begin to do the same as Marisa.
[Yin-Yin Meaning
The process of going from sitting to standing is a process that is about five times harder than the opposite and yet here you are trying to do it five times faster than you did its counterpart. Your head is killing you but you grit your teeth and follow behind the others as Reimu leads outside to the back of the shrine.
Oh that's not a problem, That's a full blown catastrophe!
Your eyes look forward about fifteen feet in front of you and spot a tamely brutal display. Floating in the middle of the sunlight is a contraption consisting of two wooden crosses and two black obelisks with gold markings sprawled all over its faces. The two parts conjoin together by piercing through the sleeves of a light pink dress with a hat adorned with frills laying in ths grass below it. However, all of this would frankly have no meaning to you if it wasn’t for one thing. The crosses and the obelisks have the Yin-Yin symbol painted on them. Big and bold. It is undeniable that the symbol on these execution tools is the same symbol you have pinned to your waist and pierced to your ears.
Marisa's mouth drops to the floor and in your peripherals you can see Reimu turn to you. The pain in your head reaches a new peak as your heart beats so heavily it starts pulverising your lungs and cracking your ribcage.
"R-Reimu.... That can't be... Who I think it is.... R-right?" Marisa says with a laugh, despite her wide eyes with shrunken pupils."
"Someone's killed Remilia." Even nature shuts up at that statement. Everything stops.
You feel her hand press down on the puffy fabric at your shoulder and onto your skin. You can start to feel water rise just underneath the pores of your skin, waiting to burst out. You turn your head and meet her gaze. The look she gives you impales your soul."
"I-I-I-I swear I have nothing to do with this-! Swear to everything!" She just looks down at your skirt; then to your face again and moves the bang covering up your ear revealing the other piercing. Your throat shrivels. Here you stand at the Execution of Scarlet Devil with her assailants memorabilia all over you.
Reimu holds that lock of hair as she looks at that piercing for what feel like an eternity and for every moment of that eternity, your head gets closer to what feels like combustion. Then she moves her hand and lets your hair fall back into place. Your body jitters, and you fall over yourself.
"Grab her." Reimu's orders are clear, and Marisa gives no questioning, quickly pushing you onto your back; pressing her knee onto you and restraining both of your arms.
[-] "I-I REALLY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING I SWEAR! AH-! MY HEAD!"
[-] "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!?!"
[-] "PLEASE-! I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE MY HOUSE IS!"
[-] Write in.
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] Start ugly sobbing.
(Anons welcome to the true beginning of DDiTB)
p13
-
"B-BUT I DIDN'T- I'M NOT A- I JUST GOT HERE!” You writhe around more out of pain than resistance, but Reimu isn’t clued in on your unfortunate circumstances, so it probably comes off very badly. Tears start flowing down your cheeks bursting from your tear ducts like a dam caved in by immense water pressure. You can feel Marisa’s pity for you through her weakening grip.
“I mean... She does have a point there, Reimu. You can’t think that Muimi did this.”
“I don’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t think she’s involved. I think that it is more than reasonable to be suspicious of her.”
“I guess... but what part would she even play- She can barely remember anything.”
“A distraction and what do you mean she can barely remember anything?”
“She’s had memory loss since I found her in the forest, and I think before that too.”
“YEAH- I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE I LIVE- OR WHAT DARJEELING TASTE LIKE- NOTHING!”
“Do you seriously believe that? That, coincidentally, on the day an attack is made at my shrine you, coincidentally, bumped into some stranger with memory loss who asked to come here with you. Only for her to then plea that she has no relation to the killing of Remilia and is just conicidentally wearing the logo plastered all over the scene.”
“I.... I do!”
“You can’t be serious! Why!? Why do you believe that?”
“Because if I didn’t coincidentally bump into her in the forest she would have died in the middle of nowhere!” The two stay silent for a moment, letting your wailing fill the air as they stare at each other.
“I still think it’s a front.”
“It’s a pretty crazy to think having your distraction dying in a forest miles away from where you’d want them is a viable plan. If this was all a part of some master scheme, I don’t think we’re going to able to stop whoever did this.” Reimu looks down at you and sighs.
“...Fair.” Marisa fully releases you and both girls help you up off the floor and keep you stabilized until you’re able to fully support yourself once more which due to the blistering head pain is a good minute or two. You drag your forearms across your face, wiping off the streaks of water under your eyes. Stinging eyes have become a part of your collection of ailments.
The three of you are silent. For a long time. You all just look at the suspended remains of Remilia. A tight bundle of grey clouds hangs above you. Marisa slowly lowered herself onto the grass, throwing her hands over her face, breaking the silence.
“How are we going to tell the mansion staff about this or her sister? She’s really just- dead.”
“Well... we can’t show up without at least a single lead on who could’ve done this. This attack only had a five minutes window to be done- max. They couldn't have covered up everything.” Reimu says beginning her approach towards the construct. Marisa doesn’t follow but you do. You float forward, overtaking Reimu and entering examining range of scene.
“Ummm- I didn’t know this Remilia girl but we technically have no concrete proof that she’s dead, right? This is just her clothes.”
“Technically no but Remilia was a vampire. The shade that would’ve came from the shrine couldn’t have reached out this far-”
“And her parasol was still inside. So, she got eviscerated... Hmmmm.” You rub your chin... At least that’s been cleared up.
“You’re oddly eager.”
Yin-Yin Meaning
“Might as well be useful for once instead of wallowing all day.” You reply with a strange conviction that even makes you a little surprised. However, you know that what you said is only half true. There is obviously something else that compels you to do this. One question: Who was the girl you once were and what does she have to do with Remilia’s death?
Yin-Yin Meaning
Reimu takes a step back and makes a gesture for you to keep looking. You know she still doesn’t trust you fully. In fact, she’s probably thinking the exact question you are. Well, it’ll be good for you if she can fill you in on anything you don’t know.
[-] Examine the black obelisks. They're closest things you've got a murder weapon?
[-] Examine the crosses. They ultimately seem like they're more for decoration if anything but in such an efficient attack why have something so useless?
[-] Examine Remilia remains. What's left of her is not much but if there's anything to be gained you'll take it.
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] Examine the ground. An attack of this nature needs one aspect, if none else, to be perfect. How do we get and out without being seen, or better yet, How do we get in; get Remilia’s attention and get out without being sceen. Coming in from the sky seems risky... I guess that leaves...The ground?
p14
-
(Hey! Major delays in getting this one out mostly because of 1 college and 2 a LOT of things going wrong just general. But we're are back and if my reading comprehension is functioning we should be a legit story now.)
You close your eyes, taking a deep breath. This tragedy has made itself the first step towards uncovering your previous identity. In Remilia’s nothingness lies your somethingness or at least you hope it's there. As the last of the air exits your lungs in this small but grand gesture, your mind seems to grasp the severity of the situation and dims down the stinging in your head. Your eyes open. Let's start.
The first thing that came to mind and that's bothering you the most about this so far is how the assailant(s) got in a position to do this in the first place. Flying in from above the treeline seems out of the equation, solely on how much room there is to be spotted. It would also shorten the time available to do the killing to a near impossible amount, having only time in-between when you and Marisa landed and entering the shrine, to do everything is insane. Going below the treeline just makes sense, plus if they did get caught, they'd have the option of trying to escape from a nearby forest. You look down, particularly for any kicked up patches of grass that could at least give a direction they went in or just footprints in general... Nothing. It seems like they put as much brain power into this as they did the real bind here. How did they get Remilia’s attention and no one else's? you have no idea how and this doesn't seem to be helping much.
You, for lack of a better phrase, cut your losses there and begin to focus on Remilia’s remains. You float closer to the dress, lightly flowing in the shallow breeze. Instinctively, your hand moves to free the left sleeve from it binds, but you stop yourself before you touch the obelisk. You shouldn't try to mess with the scene too much till you've gotten a pretty good look at everything first. Also, touching that thing could just make you explode or something. You redirect your hand mid movement to Remilia’s dress, pulling on the collar so that you can get a better look on the inside of the clothes. The entirety of the clothes interior is covered in charcoal-like black. Literally, every inch from this angle is covered. You pull away; lift up the bottom of Remilia’s dress and look inside. Here, there are still signs of burn damage but not as severe once you go past the ribbon, which makes sense as her dress is quite poofy... poofy-? that sounds dumb but it's what you're going with. Reimu steps up on your right to look at the inside of the top side.
"Same story down there?"
"Pretty much- just not as severe." You move away letting the tail of the dress fall and rock side to side for a moment before coming to stop. "Still not irrefutable evidence of evisceration but if this is a misdirection for some kind of kidnapping, taking off her clothes and doing this without causing damage to the exterior- or just in the time frame at all is remarkable. To quote Marisa, "If this was all a part of some master scheme, I don’t think we’re going to able to stop whoever did this.”
"Yeah... If misdirection was the play, it'd be easier to just recreate a damaged dress than to damage her post stripping."
"Which is still on the table, I guess, but I wouldn't bet on it." Reimu nods.
"Still though, unless the second she touched the sun she just- burned into nothing there must have been a scream or something. Are you sure you didn’t hear anything?"
"Nothing at all." You squint at Reimu a bit but you've got more reason to be suspicious of yourself than her. At least your frozen facial expression masquerades your thoughts. Reimu goes on one knee and picks up Remilia’s hat off the floor; turns it over and same story. She sighs and puts it back.
Examine the floor
"Reimu, pick that back up." You see her eyebrow raise, but she does what you ask. You look down at the area covered by the hat and you spot multiple concave imprints in the earth. Ten to be exact. Stemming, from the centre of each one, is a thin crack, some being concealed by long blades of grass. However, what really sells that these aren't natural is that they are perfectly straight. They move towards the shrine and conjoin with each other at perfect right angles or after a smooth curve. You point at one of the indents for Reimu and move your finger along one of the cracks once she notices.
Examine the floor
"It's like the floor has been turned into one of those... those... umm-"
"Jigsaw puzzles."
"Yeah. Hmmm- Marisa!" You raise your head up to yell at her just in time to see a black cloud fly out from her mouth. "You could check- wait, what are you doing?"
"Smoking."
"Smoking!?!? Don't tell me you're doing opium at my shrine! During an investigation!"
"Okay, I won't~" Reimu looks like she's about to have an aneurysm.
"Nevermind that, could you check the wall for me."
"On it!" Marisa lifts herself off the ground and moves over to the wall. You and Reimu watch in silence as her head scans the wall, running her finger across it. "Reimu, I think we're gonna need to rebuild this again." Reimu deflates.
"Could you check on the interior, too? Just to be sure." Marisa nods and wanders inside.
"Safe to say we're dealing with some type of terraforming, Reimu?"
"Yeah but from what we've got there's no way of telling if it's magic, natural ability or a spell card."
"Spell Card?"
"That amnesia is worse than I thought."
Yin-Yin Meaning
"That's cute seeing as you still don't believe me"
Yin-Yin Meaning
"Heh.You're smarter than I thought, too."
"Listen, I'm at the top of my own suspect list too but if I'm involved, the actual girl who was a part of this is long gone. I know my word isn't worth much but it's all I got."
"You say suspect list like you've got someone else in mind."
"Well yeah, you." Reimu gives you a slight smile.
"Maybe your word is worth something." You can't return a smile of your own because your face simply won't let you but as you look back at Reimu you just tell that she knows you would if you could.
“There are cracks on the inside too!” Marisa's voice pulls both you and Reimu’s head back to the shrine.
“So that’s how they got Remilia outside. Our culprit did something over here. It caused the wall to start cracking, the sound of the wood would’ve been loud enough to be heard from someone inside and when Remilia noticed the wall breaking she likely assumed she wouldn’t have to walk out anywhere near the sunlight and that’s why she left the parasol.”
“Hmmm, Muimi, do you have any ideas on how they knew when to start terraforming? They could’ve easily messed up the timing on what they were doing and alerted me too.”
“Oh- ummm? Simplest option is just… having a lookout…I guess?”
“Ok. Another question: how many people do you think were involved in this?”
“Assuming that the terraformer only part in this was terraforming that’d make one. The obelisks could be done by one person as with the crosses. Lookout- and if I actually was supposed to be a distraction then… five, max. At least at this point.”
“There’s a lot of room for messing up in a five man group.”
“I think my mess ups would've covered the whole team..." Reimu sighs and gets back up onto her feet, stretching. “Alright, what are we checking out next?”
“The obelisks are the most pressing thing now as I suppose they are our murder weapons.” You turn to the obelisks and start to look over the faces. There is actually a message written in gold on the Obelisk that you chose to examine first that wraps around onto each face. At first you thought it was gibberish decoration. “The age of escape… brought by the… Hakurei Maiden has made… Man weak. Escapism… From the problem… Of Yokai must cease… We will be the… Somethingness needed.”
“Well that sounds pleasant. Never thought I’d be name dropped by extremists.”
“Messaging aside, there really doesn’t seem to be anything that special about these things. Though where they chose to impale her from is questionable.”
“How so?”
“Well, who crucifies someone by the shoulders- hell me and her had the same thing going on so this is more arm at this point. It’s always around the wrist even if it's done with a chain."
"I guess they needed her dress suspended more than having accurate symbolism."
"But why? It just doesn't seem necessary. You could achieve the same thing just stabbing her through the heart and then you get vampire slaying symbolism which is more fitting. No use mulling over it, I guess." Your attention moves over to the crosses which somehow seem even less necessary than keeping the dress suspended. You run your finger across the surface of one of the crosses. ".............."
Huh? You're sure that you said something there. Using your mouth is one of the only things you're sure you still can do.
Yin-Yin Meaning
Heh.
Yin-Yin Meaning
Why you thought that as a response is a mystery for another day. However, the problem is still at hand. You turn to face Reimu and try again with your hand still on the cross. "..............." Her eyebrows shoot up to the top of her forehead. You take your hand off and repeat the sentence for a third time, ultimately unnecessary but it just seems right. "So… What do you think the crosses are for?
"No idea." You and Reimu check the rest of the crosses but ultimately don't make any other epiphanies.
"Well we've given everything a once-over. What's the move now, Muimi?"
[-] "Let's try and pull one of those obelisks out."
[-] "This thing seems pretty stable floating in the air but I'm sure we can get it down if we try."
[-] "Let's try and figure out how they actually managed to impale her."
[-] Write in.
RadiantRounded!k5VeBBuYTg 2023/10/01 (Sun) 06:47
No. 204655
▼
p11
-
(Was very busy and very hot but we're finally back! Drawings will return next post 100% but just wanted to get this our ASAP as its been a hot minute.)
You make the titular statement:
"Sounds like you two go way back."
Like a spring, Marisa bounces to Reimu's side, wrapping her arm around Reimu's shoulders with a wide grin. Reimu aids the gesture of comradeship by tilting her head slightly so that her hair nestles against Marisa's, giving a not-so-toothy smile as well.
"Yep! Me and Reimu have been together for like the past... forever! I really can't remember a time before we started hanging out."
"Yeah, no one else can tolerate her, so she stays around a lot. She's pretty much my roommate with how often she's here."
"Hey! I'll have you know that everybody who we interact with loves me."
"Well, that's news to me. I must've missed that article in the paper this morning."
"C'mon, name one person who doesn't like yours truly. Except maybe Patchouli" Reimu dramatically clears her throat; mimics put on glasses and holding out a scroll.
"Ruima, Cirno, that one fairy with the green hair I can't remember the name of, Meiling-"
"Okay, you can stop now."
"Sakuya, Remilia, Alice, Yukari."
"Grrrr."
"I could keep going."
"I think that's more than enough."
"Oh, and you're wrong about Patchouli. She doesn't dislike you. She hates you."
"You see, this is why you have no clientèle."
"I don't need more clientèle you give me ten people's worth of stress... but" Both of them look at each other and speak in unison.
"I do need more of their money." The girls laugh a little bit at their inside joke, and it hits you.
You don't even need to hear the high-pitched tormentor in your brain to say it, but you really didn't think that one through. Time slows into near non-existence as they laugh, and you watch completely out of the loop. No, just out of the loop of their joke. Out of the loop in the futile world because seemingly no one wanted to keep you in. What type of person goes out on such a destructive binge that it almost completely wipes away her memories. Surely, that type of person isn't one that is wanted, loved, or anything of the sort. Is there someone out there looking for you - the Reimu to your Marisa? If there ever was, you were either a fool to push them away or a fool to give them up. Though the option that they were taken away from you is also an option but not one that makes you much happier. You speak a language you don't remember being taught with a body you don't remember loved. You are as close to nothingness as somethingness will allow and when you realise this for the first time since you woke up. You think understand why the girl before you did this. It must be so much worse to be brought to nothing from something worse than you can comprehend right now because you've never been there. The only justifiable escape from this torment is the situation you're in now.
If every bundle of DNA in every cell in your body was plucked out and tied at the ends of each other into one long string that stretched out from this atmosphere, solar system, galaxy and ultimately the universe. It would not be to represent a single percent of how lonely you feel right now. How bad you wish you were one of those girls right now.
The laughing stops and the girls end their embrace, leading you into the shrine though the Kotatsu where you'd expect this fourth guest to be is empty. Half-drunk cup and teapot left on the table surface. Reimu gives a hmmm before speaking up.
"That's strange- Eh, I'm sure she couldn't have gone far, her parasol is still in the corner. Anyways, Muimi, please make yourself comfortable. I'll fetch you a cup. If you don't like darjeeling I can just get you some water."
[-] You don't know what Darjeeling tastes like or at least you don't remember but experimenting is how people become people. Sit down at the Kotatsu and agree to drink some tea.
[-] Might as well play it safe for all we know this Darjeeling could make our headache worse. Bring back bad memories or even worse get the voice in your head to start talking. Sit down at the Kotatsu and ask for some water.
[-] If you put too much in your body that cauldron of acid in you might act up again. Though it should have a lot of free space available anything can happen, I mean just look at today.
[-] Though it is the host's job to be hospitable, you really don't want to be a burden. Reimu's here with her friends and you should let her spend the most time possible enjoying that. Insist to fetch the cup yourself and then come back.
[-] Though it is the host's job to be hospitable, you really don't want to be a burden. Reimu's here with her friends and you should let her spend the most time possible enjoying that. Plus this might be the only way you can interact with this Remilia person without feeling that immense loneliness again. Insist to fetch the cup yourself and once you do, look for Remilia.
[-] Might as well make yourself useful if you're going to be here for this gathering. Offer to go and look for Remilia while Reimu brings a cup out for you.
[-] Write in
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] Complement the interior of this shrine. Reimu seems to have a nice sense of decorum.
p12
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"Some water would be lovely, if you don't mind. Love what you've done with the place, nailed the minimalist aesthetic. "
"Oh, thank you. I wish I could say it was a deliberate choice but I appreciate it. I'll be just a minute, okay." Reimu gives a smile; turns and walks into an adjacent room. Marisa practically throws herself under the Kotatsu, letting all the tension in her body fade as she stretches her legs underneath the blanket. You are less graceful to put it nicely. You choose a spot closest to the door in case of emergencies and begin the herculean task of trying to sit down. You move like a gear that hasn’t been lubricated in years and as you try to carefully make the transition from standing in a weird crouching position to sitting you just *fail and fall onto your butt. However, this ends up hurting your head more as the sudden movement causes the ever-present stinging sensation in your brain to flare up to max for a good five seconds or so. In a mixture of pain and embarrassment you lift up the Kotatsu blanket; a gold and orange light peaks out from under it then, slowly, you scoot yourself under.
Holy shit- it's warm under here.
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You're about to ask if this surge of heat under this sheet is intentional but stop yourself, realising that if something was wrong Marisa would’ve made some reaction by now so you assume that it's intentional. It's not like it's boiling under there anyways.
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You have to actively put thought into easing your very tense body. You actually manage to do it. The warm air wraps around your calves and thighs but your skirt acts as a source of shade leaving your legs at the perfect temperature.
"Man, I could stay here forever~"
"Same~ maybe I should spend the night here after all."
"What~? Little Kotatsu is all it takes to win you over, huh Muimi?" Marisa start taking out containers from a bag she was carrying, Containing cookies, cakes and other treats.
"Anything that'll get my mind off this headache..." You gesture to a cookie. "you mind?"
"Course not, take as many as you like." Marisa on that note picks up a cake herself as you grab the aforementioned cookie. You take a bite and your mind is reminded of a sugary goodness it forgot. You didn't notice until three or four chews in but your body just naturally went for the cookie, guess that was the previous girls favorite, at least out of the options present. You start to think about her for a moment as you look down at the cookie and then your hand with perfectly cut, filed and painted nails. Seriously, who was this girl? Willing to drink herself to near death but heaven forbid she had a chipped nail. You cut your pondering short as you go in for another bite but the sound of Reimu stepping back into the room halts the motion.
"Girls, get out here, we have a problem." You and Marisa turn to Reimu, then back at each other. Marisa starts to scramble out from under the Kotatsu.
[Yin-Yin Meaning]
You toss the cookie into your mouth, in a display of unexpected dexterity and begin to do the same as Marisa.
[Yin-Yin Meaning
The process of going from sitting to standing is a process that is about five times harder than the opposite and yet here you are trying to do it five times faster than you did its counterpart. Your head is killing you but you grit your teeth and follow behind the others as Reimu leads outside to the back of the shrine.
Oh that's not a problem, That's a full blown catastrophe!
Your eyes look forward about fifteen feet in front of you and spot a tamely brutal display. Floating in the middle of the sunlight is a contraption consisting of two wooden crosses and two black obelisks with gold markings sprawled all over its faces. The two parts conjoin together by piercing through the sleeves of a light pink dress with a hat adorned with frills laying in ths grass below it. However, all of this would frankly have no meaning to you if it wasn’t for one thing. The crosses and the obelisks have the Yin-Yin symbol painted on them. Big and bold. It is undeniable that the symbol on these execution tools is the same symbol you have pinned to your waist and pierced to your ears.
Marisa's mouth drops to the floor and in your peripherals you can see Reimu turn to you. The pain in your head reaches a new peak as your heart beats so heavily it starts pulverising your lungs and cracking your ribcage.
"R-Reimu.... That can't be... Who I think it is.... R-right?" Marisa says with a laugh, despite her wide eyes with shrunken pupils."
"Someone's killed Remilia." Even nature shuts up at that statement. Everything stops.
You feel her hand press down on the puffy fabric at your shoulder and onto your skin. You can start to feel water rise just underneath the pores of your skin, waiting to burst out. You turn your head and meet her gaze. The look she gives you impales your soul."
"I-I-I-I swear I have nothing to do with this-! Swear to everything!" She just looks down at your skirt; then to your face again and moves the bang covering up your ear revealing the other piercing. Your throat shrivels. Here you stand at the Execution of Scarlet Devil with her assailants memorabilia all over you.
Reimu holds that lock of hair as she looks at that piercing for what feel like an eternity and for every moment of that eternity, your head gets closer to what feels like combustion. Then she moves her hand and lets your hair fall back into place. Your body jitters, and you fall over yourself.
"Grab her." Reimu's orders are clear, and Marisa gives no questioning, quickly pushing you onto your back; pressing her knee onto you and restraining both of your arms.
[-] "I-I REALLY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING I SWEAR! AH-! MY HEAD!"
[-] "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!?!"
[-] "PLEASE-! I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE MY HOUSE IS!"
[-] Write in.
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] Start ugly sobbing.
(Anons welcome to the true beginning of DDiTB)
p13
-
"B-BUT I DIDN'T- I'M NOT A- I JUST GOT HERE!” You writhe around more out of pain than resistance, but Reimu isn’t clued in on your unfortunate circumstances, so it probably comes off very badly. Tears start flowing down your cheeks bursting from your tear ducts like a dam caved in by immense water pressure. You can feel Marisa’s pity for you through her weakening grip.
“I mean... She does have a point there, Reimu. You can’t think that Muimi did this.”
“I don’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t think she’s involved. I think that it is more than reasonable to be suspicious of her.”
“I guess... but what part would she even play- She can barely remember anything.”
“A distraction and what do you mean she can barely remember anything?”
“She’s had memory loss since I found her in the forest, and I think before that too.”
“YEAH- I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE I LIVE- OR WHAT DARJEELING TASTE LIKE- NOTHING!”
“Do you seriously believe that? That, coincidentally, on the day an attack is made at my shrine you, coincidentally, bumped into some stranger with memory loss who asked to come here with you. Only for her to then plea that she has no relation to the killing of Remilia and is just conicidentally wearing the logo plastered all over the scene.”
“I.... I do!”
“You can’t be serious! Why!? Why do you believe that?”
“Because if I didn’t coincidentally bump into her in the forest she would have died in the middle of nowhere!” The two stay silent for a moment, letting your wailing fill the air as they stare at each other.
“I still think it’s a front.”
“It’s a pretty crazy to think having your distraction dying in a forest miles away from where you’d want them is a viable plan. If this was all a part of some master scheme, I don’t think we’re going to able to stop whoever did this.” Reimu looks down at you and sighs.
“...Fair.” Marisa fully releases you and both girls help you up off the floor and keep you stabilized until you’re able to fully support yourself once more which due to the blistering head pain is a good minute or two. You drag your forearms across your face, wiping off the streaks of water under your eyes. Stinging eyes have become a part of your collection of ailments.
The three of you are silent. For a long time. You all just look at the suspended remains of Remilia. A tight bundle of grey clouds hangs above you. Marisa slowly lowered herself onto the grass, throwing her hands over her face, breaking the silence.
“How are we going to tell the mansion staff about this or her sister? She’s really just- dead.”
“Well... we can’t show up without at least a single lead on who could’ve done this. This attack only had a five minutes window to be done- max. They couldn't have covered up everything.” Reimu says beginning her approach towards the construct. Marisa doesn’t follow but you do. You float forward, overtaking Reimu and entering examining range of scene.
“Ummm- I didn’t know this Remilia girl but we technically have no concrete proof that she’s dead, right? This is just her clothes.”
“Technically no but Remilia was a vampire. The shade that would’ve came from the shrine couldn’t have reached out this far-”
“And her parasol was still inside. So, she got eviscerated... Hmmmm.” You rub your chin... At least that’s been cleared up.
“You’re oddly eager.”
Yin-Yin Meaning
“Might as well be useful for once instead of wallowing all day.” You reply with a strange conviction that even makes you a little surprised. However, you know that what you said is only half true. There is obviously something else that compels you to do this. One question: Who was the girl you once were and what does she have to do with Remilia’s death?
Yin-Yin Meaning
Reimu takes a step back and makes a gesture for you to keep looking. You know she still doesn’t trust you fully. In fact, she’s probably thinking the exact question you are. Well, it’ll be good for you if she can fill you in on anything you don’t know.
[-] Examine the black obelisks. They're closest things you've got a murder weapon?
[-] Examine the crosses. They ultimately seem like they're more for decoration if anything but in such an efficient attack why have something so useless?
[-] Examine Remilia remains. What's left of her is not much but if there's anything to be gained you'll take it.
Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] Examine the ground. An attack of this nature needs one aspect, if none else, to be perfect. How do we get and out without being seen, or better yet, How do we get in; get Remilia’s attention and get out without being sceen. Coming in from the sky seems risky... I guess that leaves...The ground?
p14
-
(Hey! Major delays in getting this one out mostly because of 1 college and 2 a LOT of things going wrong just general. But we're are back and if my reading comprehension is functioning we should be a legit story now.)
You close your eyes, taking a deep breath. This tragedy has made itself the first step towards uncovering your previous identity. In Remilia’s nothingness lies your somethingness or at least you hope it's there. As the last of the air exits your lungs in this small but grand gesture, your mind seems to grasp the severity of the situation and dims down the stinging in your head. Your eyes open. Let's start.
The first thing that came to mind and that's bothering you the most about this so far is how the assailant(s) got in a position to do this in the first place. Flying in from above the treeline seems out of the equation, solely on how much room there is to be spotted. It would also shorten the time available to do the killing to a near impossible amount, having only time in-between when you and Marisa landed and entering the shrine, to do everything is insane. Going below the treeline just makes sense, plus if they did get caught, they'd have the option of trying to escape from a nearby forest. You look down, particularly for any kicked up patches of grass that could at least give a direction they went in or just footprints in general... Nothing. It seems like they put as much brain power into this as they did the real bind here. How did they get Remilia’s attention and no one else's? you have no idea how and this doesn't seem to be helping much.
You, for lack of a better phrase, cut your losses there and begin to focus on Remilia’s remains. You float closer to the dress, lightly flowing in the shallow breeze. Instinctively, your hand moves to free the left sleeve from it binds, but you stop yourself before you touch the obelisk. You shouldn't try to mess with the scene too much till you've gotten a pretty good look at everything first. Also, touching that thing could just make you explode or something. You redirect your hand mid movement to Remilia’s dress, pulling on the collar so that you can get a better look on the inside of the clothes. The entirety of the clothes interior is covered in charcoal-like black. Literally, every inch from this angle is covered. You pull away; lift up the bottom of Remilia’s dress and look inside. Here, there are still signs of burn damage but not as severe once you go past the ribbon, which makes sense as her dress is quite poofy... poofy-? that sounds dumb but it's what you're going with. Reimu steps up on your right to look at the inside of the top side.
"Same story down there?"
"Pretty much- just not as severe." You move away letting the tail of the dress fall and rock side to side for a moment before coming to stop. "Still not irrefutable evidence of evisceration but if this is a misdirection for some kind of kidnapping, taking off her clothes and doing this without causing damage to the exterior- or just in the time frame at all is remarkable. To quote Marisa, "If this was all a part of some master scheme, I don’t think we’re going to able to stop whoever did this.”
"Yeah... If misdirection was the play, it'd be easier to just recreate a damaged dress than to damage her post stripping."
"Which is still on the table, I guess, but I wouldn't bet on it." Reimu nods.
"Still though, unless the second she touched the sun she just- burned into nothing there must have been a scream or something. Are you sure you didn’t hear anything?"
"Nothing at all." You squint at Reimu a bit but you've got more reason to be suspicious of yourself than her. At least your frozen facial expression masquerades your thoughts. Reimu goes on one knee and picks up Remilia’s hat off the floor; turns it over and same story. She sighs and puts it back.
Examine the floor
"Reimu, pick that back up." You see her eyebrow raise, but she does what you ask. You look down at the area covered by the hat and you spot multiple concave imprints in the earth. Ten to be exact. Stemming, from the centre of each one, is a thin crack, some being concealed by long blades of grass. However, what really sells that these aren't natural is that they are perfectly straight. They move towards the shrine and conjoin with each other at perfect right angles or after a smooth curve. You point at one of the indents for Reimu and move your finger along one of the cracks once she notices.
Examine the floor
"It's like the floor has been turned into one of those... those... umm-"
"Jigsaw puzzles."
"Yeah. Hmmm- Marisa!" You raise your head up to yell at her just in time to see a black cloud fly out from her mouth. "You could check- wait, what are you doing?"
"Smoking."
"Smoking!?!? Don't tell me you're doing opium at my shrine! During an investigation!"
"Okay, I won't~" Reimu looks like she's about to have an aneurysm.
"Nevermind that, could you check the wall for me."
"On it!" Marisa lifts herself off the ground and moves over to the wall. You and Reimu watch in silence as her head scans the wall, running her finger across it. "Reimu, I think we're gonna need to rebuild this again." Reimu deflates.
"Could you check on the interior, too? Just to be sure." Marisa nods and wanders inside.
"Safe to say we're dealing with some type of terraforming, Reimu?"
"Yeah but from what we've got there's no way of telling if it's magic, natural ability or a spell card."
"Spell Card?"
"That amnesia is worse than I thought."
Yin-Yin Meaning
"That's cute seeing as you still don't believe me"
Yin-Yin Meaning
"Heh.You're smarter than I thought, too."
"Listen, I'm at the top of my own suspect list too but if I'm involved, the actual girl who was a part of this is long gone. I know my word isn't worth much but it's all I got."
"You say suspect list like you've got someone else in mind."
"Well yeah, you." Reimu gives you a slight smile.
"Maybe your word is worth something." You can't return a smile of your own because your face simply won't let you but as you look back at Reimu you just tell that she knows you would if you could.
“There are cracks on the inside too!” Marisa's voice pulls both you and Reimu’s head back to the shrine.
“So that’s how they got Remilia outside. Our culprit did something over here. It caused the wall to start cracking, the sound of the wood would’ve been loud enough to be heard from someone inside and when Remilia noticed the wall breaking she likely assumed she wouldn’t have to walk out anywhere near the sunlight and that’s why she left the parasol.”
“Hmmm, Muimi, do you have any ideas on how they knew when to start terraforming? They could’ve easily messed up the timing on what they were doing and alerted me too.”
“Oh- ummm? Simplest option is just… having a lookout…I guess?”
“Ok. Another question: how many people do you think were involved in this?”
“Assuming that the terraformer only part in this was terraforming that’d make one. The obelisks could be done by one person as with the crosses. Lookout- and if I actually was supposed to be a distraction then… five, max. At least at this point.”
“There’s a lot of room for messing up in a five man group.”
“I think my mess ups would've covered the whole team..." Reimu sighs and gets back up onto her feet, stretching. “Alright, what are we checking out next?”
“The obelisks are the most pressing thing now as I suppose they are our murder weapons.” You turn to the obelisks and start to look over the faces. There is actually a message written in gold on the Obelisk that you chose to examine first that wraps around onto each face. At first you thought it was gibberish decoration. “The age of escape… brought by the… Hakurei Maiden has made… Man weak. Escapism… From the problem… Of Yokai must cease… We will be the… Somethingness needed.”
“Well that sounds pleasant. Never thought I’d be name dropped by extremists.”
“Messaging aside, there really doesn’t seem to be anything that special about these things. Though where they chose to impale her from is questionable.”
“How so?”
“Well, who crucifies someone by the shoulders- hell me and her had the same thing going on so this is more arm at this point. It’s always around the wrist even if it's done with a chain."
"I guess they needed her dress suspended more than having accurate symbolism."
"But why? It just doesn't seem necessary. You could achieve the same thing just stabbing her through the heart and then you get vampire slaying symbolism which is more fitting. No use mulling over it, I guess." Your attention moves over to the crosses which somehow seem even less necessary than keeping the dress suspended. You run your finger across the surface of one of the crosses. ".............."
Huh? You're sure that you said something there. Using your mouth is one of the only things you're sure you still can do.
Yin-Yin Meaning
Heh.
Yin-Yin Meaning
Why you thought that as a response is a mystery for another day. However, the problem is still at hand. You turn to face Reimu and try again with your hand still on the cross. "..............." Her eyebrows shoot up to the top of her forehead. You take your hand off and repeat the sentence for a third time, ultimately unnecessary but it just seems right. "So… What do you think the crosses are for?
"No idea." You and Reimu check the rest of the crosses but ultimately don't make any other epiphanies.
"Well we've given everything a once-over. What's the move now, Muimi?"
[-] "Let's try and pull one of those obelisks out."
[-] "This thing seems pretty stable floating in the air but I'm sure we can get it down if we try."
[-] "Let's try and figure out how they actually managed to impale her."
[-] Write in.
Colour Yourself
RadiantRounded!k5VeBBuYTg 2023/10/01 (Sun) 06:54
No. 204656
▼
Current Post
-
"Let's try and get one of these obelisks out." Reimu responds with a quick nod as she wraps her arms around the stone pyramid lodged into the left cross, and you do the same. In unplanned unison, you both tug and.... Holy moly that thing is not budging. Reimu floats up, changing her position so that she can press her feet on the cross but the attempt is ultimately Muimi.
You both stop to catch your breath. A new stinging sensation travels across your palms in tandem with the one flying across the walls of your skull. You look down at your hands, blushing with blood. You swear that they're slightly pulsating to the rhythm of your breathing, and for a moment, you lose focus on your surroundings or become too focused on your palms. The grass and cloudy sky painted over with a thick purple oil-painting like something. The smell of ethanol is ripped off your body so it can be blasted back into your nose by the environment. The faint taste of green apples lay on your tongue under a blanket of burning that makes your throat seize up slightly. A slow clap fills your eyes from behind; without your consent, it swivels your head to the source.
Floating in the nothingness as if standing on solid ground, you see a woman. Her skin is pristine without a single blemish, though you can't make out a skin colour she just seems to be grey. The same with her hair - short but voluminous and lush with life. This grey persists over her entire body from her sparkling eyes to her finely ironed clothes. As you make eye contact, her hands slam down together for the last time, and the sound almost knocks you off your feet. She approaches. Even though her dress goes down to her ankles, the only skin you're able to see is her arms, neck, and face. Her walk is completely hypnotic. You know you should run or at least walk away, but the rhythmic sway of her body as she moves towards you freezes you in place, and she gets close. Way to close. Your faces almost press together, and you can feel her breath caress your skin; then you feel her genuinely caress your face. Her lips part to forge a grin, and she simply says.
"Hey~"
"A...a..abakvefkmrolcaa." The woman giggles and then pulls back.
"God, you're so pathetic. it's kinda cute~" words seem to melt in your throat before they can exit your mouth, and in response to your body's malfunction, the woman just continues to giggle. "Got something you want to say~?"
"Who.... Who- Who are you?"
"Who do you think I am~?"
"G-god?"
"Oh wow! I'm flattered~ While many people say I'm akin to a goddess I'm not one on paper. C'mon, think harder: who do you think I am~?"
"...You're... her."
"Who~?"
"Me."
The girl does a tiny squee at your response. "Yeppers~"
"But... I-I don't look like that."
"Yeah, right now you look like a. Fucking. Wreck.~" Those words cut extremely deep yet you muster up enough strength to not mentally implode.
"Where... Am-"
"Shuuuuuut the fuck up~" The woman lunges back towards you pressing her index finger over your mouth. "Seriously, you make me want to throw up and we've been doing a bit too much of that lately~" it seems like I'd be in your best interest to listen to what you say so you awkwardly stare back at her. "You gonna stay quiet for me~?" You nod. "Good~"
Once again she moves away from you and then points to herself. "This can't stand, girlie. You aren't some kind of living anomaly. You are indisputably something, and before you can go off playing detective, you need to accept that. 'Kay~?"
"..."
"You can talk now~"
"What are you on about?"
"Girliepop~ what's your hair colour? Her delivery is uncomfortably blunt and your mouth opens to respond then it just hangs open before you close it in confusion. You've literally seen yourself- how do you not know your hair colour or skin colour or eye colour or the colour of your clothes?
"Escapism is pointless. Until you're fully brought into nothingness, refusing to acknowledge and accept yourself will make you weak. Escapism is the enemy of evolution after all and if you don't evolve you may never escape the role of main suspect, ya know~"
You look at her. She looks at you. The purple around you starts to swirl. You both raise your right hands and the purple swirls around them. It follows you as you move your wrist.
"Well~ Don't be shy~ Paint away~" You raise your arm up towards yourself and with a twinge of fear press your hand against your face.
[-] Write in (Skin colour, hair colour, eye colour, clothing colour + any additional accessories such as socks.)
Anonymous 2023/10/01 (Sun) 09:48
No. 204657
▼
Welcome back!
I must say, I haven't given Muimi's colourscheme too much thought.
There was one thing that immediately stuck with me from the start of the OG thread: for some reason I thought her hair colour was green.
I guess it's because she reminds me somewhat of Mion Sonozaki from Higurashi no naku koro ni or maybe just Yuuka Kazami with straighter hair.
But yeah, if we do go with green hair she might look too much like Yuuka so maybe not.
I'm half tempted to give her a really boring colour palette to fit her (self-)image, but I need to think it over a bit.
Especially with the (somewhat ominous) dark purple energy/flame radiating from Muimi's hand in the current post.
For now I'll just use Mion as a placeholder vote in case the update happens before I make up my mind.
Maybe somebody else writes in something good.
Anonymous 2023/10/01 (Sun) 10:22
No. 204658
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>>204657
I was going to make an actual suggestion but thought it'd be funny to see what it would actually look like to just completely steal Yuuka's look, so I threw together a quick portal to the Plaid Dimension in a few minutes just to see.
...honestly it's almost hilarious enough to work. probably not quite. but almost.
Anonymous 2023/10/01 (Sun) 11:34
No. 204660
▼
>>204658
Thanks, I hate it.
Jokes aside, I do want her to be her own person(?), so just copping Yuuka's look doesn't sit right with me.
I can't get the green hair out of my head, though.
Maybe we should just go full doomer colour-scheme.
Alternatively something really bright, vibrant and warm to contrast with her personality.
Choices are hard.
Anonymous 2023/10/01 (Sun) 12:21
No. 204661
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I personally think we should go for a mix of the two tones. Something absolutely garish, but balanced out by a grunginess underneath. The essence of an arcade floor pattern, but with sallow sadness creeping out from underneath.
For the hair: What about a dyed streak? Black & Green - either could be the base or the highlight, honestly.
Any thoughts on eye color(s)?
Anonymous 2023/10/01 (Sun) 12:58
No. 204662
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I think that black with a green highlight would probably look better than the other way around?
Maybe have the highlight on the lock that's tucked behind her hair?
Eye colour... I'm thinking some sort of deep or rich purple.
Not exactly the same as the background/flame but similar enough to look connected.
Not that we've actually seen Muimi do anything of the sort and I'm only working off an image.
I like the idea of having them evoke the void or emptiness somehow.
Not like soulless, but a deep rich purple that figuratively sucks you in when you look into them.
But then again, how the hell do you actually express that in any medium that isn't simply text.
Still not sure about the clothes, I'm a fan of the suggestion to mix the two.
It'd also sorta symbolise the duality between the Muimi of the now and the Yin-yin entity of before.
But I don't have a specific palette in mind yet, I think I'd prefer to have her physical characteristics set first.
Going with something along the lines of black with some accent like royal purple would be too dark in my opinion.
Maybe some dark coloured blouse with a skirt in some kind of pastel?
Maybe I'm heading too much towards Mion again.
Anonymous 2023/10/01 (Sun) 16:09
No. 204663
▼
>>204662
I agree with the purple - it's the backdrop for the first time
seeing things, it works for the eyes. To get the proper "hollow" effect, I think we're already most of the way there- dark sinking purple/black gradient, no highlights to make it feel blank.
Skintone: Pale, but colored by the effects of poor health and alcoholism.
Clothing: Undershirt should be white, perhaps with some browning or yellowing patches. For the shirt, a mottled, wrinkly brown. For the skirt, by contrast, I like the idea of a hot magenta base, with cyan and/or yellow layered on top for striking patterns or trims.
If we want to do any accessories: I like the idea of something like a random ring. Something unnoticed until now, but with implications behind it.
Anonymous 2023/10/01 (Sun) 17:45
No. 204664
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I didn't want her eyes to be full-on blank stare, so I think the gradient is a good idea.
A ring of some sort could be nice, but she already has the yin-yin earring and broche(?) on her skirt, so maybe just leave accessories to a minimum to keep the focus on those that are already there.
Can't say I fully agree with the rest though, to be honest.
Her skin being pale sounds good, but we don't even know if she's actually in poor health or an alcoholic.
For all we know this one bender to end all benders was a one-time affair.
Then again, being an alcoholic in gensokyo is just common sense.
I'm having a hard time visualising that clothing colour palette, I don't mind her looking kinda weird, but that colour combination does not sound like it'd look very good.
I got no suggestion of my own at the moment though, sorry, I'll have to think on it a bit more.
Currently contemplating softening some of the colours to make a more cohesive ensemble.
>>204662
tucked behind her ear*
stupid typo, sorry.
Anonymous 2023/10/02 (Mon) 01:10
No. 204665
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Agree with the above. There's a line between stylishly garish and just plain gaudy/unappealing.
I agree with most of the non-outfit choices, though I think the colorful streak should be something like a pinkish red or lavender to compliment the eyes, unless we want to make green a more major component of her appearance.
For the outfit, what about a navy blue shirt and a black skirt? Dark color palette, but not edgy all black. If you want to break it up, splash some tasteful amounts of red or brighter blues on somewhere?
Anonymous 2023/10/02 (Mon) 12:54
No. 204666
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>>204665
That's not bad, but I think the black skirt would be too much.
Her hair'd be mostly black and her skirt is very long, so that'd be a lot of black.
Also, it'd make the yin-yin broche blend in with the skirt, I think we should have some sort of contrast there.
Actually, thinking about it should be the same for the hair highlight.
The green would clash too much unless we incorporate it more, but I do think the highlight colour should be the same or close enough to the skirt to create the same contrast between the hair/cloth and the yin-yin accessory.
A red could work but that might end up looking too much like Reimu or Yuuka.
Reimu especially because of the Yin(-yang) motif combined with red.
You'll run into the same problem as black with darker purples and blues.
If we make whatever shade of purple her powers/eyes are a recurring colour, we can incorporate that into parts of her clothing; such as the waist of her skirt, the cuffs of her blouse and that tiny bit of an undershirt peeking out from her blouse between her collar.
Heh, now that I think about it we could make the skirt black except for the single fold that's behind the broche, making that the same colour as her highlight to really sell the same thing top & bottom.
Nah, that'd look stupid, but it's a funny image.
The blouse is pretty much free-standing, so we can probably go as dark or bright as we want; it'd just serve to contrast and connect the rest of the ensemble, bringing it all together.
Anonymous 2023/10/02 (Mon) 15:37
No. 204668
▼
Alright, here's what I'm thinking:
Hair, eyes, and skin are all as discussed prior. We've got that down.
Hair streak is a pale version of the shade of purple, while the skirt is a dull lilac. (I do like the idea of the single fold being the same color as the highlight, actually. We don't have a silly hat, so we need to make up for it with other weirdness. There have certainly been odder designs.)
We use the general shade of purple itself around the outfit as mentioned above (cuffs, undershirt, etc.) and the blouse is a nice dark purple or black to fit with the rest of the outfit.
Nice purple-black color palette with hopefully light enough tones to not look edgy, and the whole is cohesive. Anyone have any further suggestions, or should we write it in?
Anonymous 2023/10/02 (Mon) 15:53
No. 204669
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>>204668
Ladies & gentlemen, we got her.
You have my sword.
Do we colour the breast pocket on the blouse the same as the undershirt/cuffs/etc?
I'd say so.
Maybe leave the skirt's waistband alone if we're gonna do the single fold thing, though.
Anonymous 2023/10/02 (Mon) 17:19
No. 204670
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[X] The appearance discussed above.
Anonymous 2023/10/02 (Mon) 21:14
No. 204671
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[X] The appearance discussed above.
Nice.
Anonymous 2023/10/03 (Tue) 00:03
No. 204672
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>>204669 here
Just wanted to clarify I meant leaving the waistband the same as the primary colour of the skirt in case it wasn't clear.
It'd keep the contrast better with just that single fold differing.
Also wanted to properly post my vote for posterity.
[X] The appearance discussed above.
RadiantRounded!k5VeBBuYTg 2023/10/03 (Tue) 13:08
No. 204673
▼
Drawing yuri on my twitter will be back the girl when done (─‿‿─)
Colour Me Lonely
RadiantRounded!k5VeBBuYTg 2023/10/28 (Sat) 22:06
No. 204692
▼
(The girl is back. I am back. Not glory days mutiple post a day back but there shouldn't be anymore multiweek hiatuses at least, hopefully =3= )
Your face burns. The purple melting every skin cell on your face like the world's most potent acid. The sensation flows to every inch of your body as you writhe and shake. You want to pull your hand away but your brain in a state of panic induced confusion you desperately try to claw the purple off your body which only makes the tips of your fingers ache even more. You throw yourself off balance- there is no floor here but there's no way you could experience pain to this degree and stay upright and as you move around you let out a visceral scream. Your voice pierces through the nothingness and your voice's constant cracks extract a small chuckle from your one woman audience. It genuinely feels like the purple is disintegrating every molecule of your body. Until, finally, there is nothing left of you. The pain- the screaming and writhing. It all just ends. Though the memory of the event is plastered at the forefront of your mind it feels like you've entered…Nothingness? No, true integration into the realm of existence. It is undeniable that you are not gone- no. You have just returned your masquerade entirely eliminated. You blink for the first time with your true eyes.
She is standing over you. Still grey like before. "Awww~ my pookie wookie bear looks so cute n-" The sight of this distorted devious replica of your body causes a similar burning sensation to build up in your blood. You feel your pupils shrink and your face scrunch up like a raisin, twitching your arms raise from your sides and fly straight towards her neck- hands wrapping around her throat. You know this couldn't recreate even a fraction of the pain you just experienced but having her suffer by your hands is all you can do as a form of payback. Though the gesture itself may have thrown her off guard enough to shut up as your fists clench harder her smug smile grows larger. You maintain the maximum amount of pressure your palms can muster for as long as you can but at some point you have to loosen your grip. At some point you have to let go. Your hands stay suspended in the air near her face, too exhausted to make the journey back down to the floor, and she in a cruel display of domination simply holds your hands, interlocking her fingers with yours. The softness on the sides of your fingers is infuriating.
"Tucker yourself out sweetie~?"
"What…. What was….that!?" You growl but the frequent pants of exhaustion make you sound a lot less threatening.
"The truth. I'm told it hurts, sugar cube~"
"STOP! TALKING! LIKE! THAT!" You try to tap into some hidden finesse, you hope you have locked away somewhere for a moment like this, but your attempts are again proven futile by your counterpart.
"Like, what? A brat~?"
"A BITCH!"
"Oi!" She lightly presses down on the gaps in between your fingers but it feels like she's about to crumple your palms like textbook paper- your eyes and teeth slam shut. "Don't call me a bitch, bitch. Maybe if you gave out a little pet name or two people wouldn't be so weary of you. Jeez, you're so obsessed with whining and being put in your place that you didn't even notice the changes."
"Grrrr… what changes?"
"God you're not just a bitch. You're a dumb fucking bitch~ look at your hands, dumbo~" Your eyes shift your left hand and widen at what they see. Beautiful pale skin, completely hairless and oddly enough without any blemishes at all. "Hihihi. Like what see, Muimi~ Hey that rhymed."
You don't grace her with a response, you just continue to look down your arm as it leads you down to your chest and you see your- waitwaitwait, why are you naked now!?!? You look back up to your monochrome doppelganger and she's now naked too??? Oh… wow that's really weird and that constant tooth-bearing grin she keeps giving you is not helping. This was not the way you wanted to be reminded of how you looked but you look very put together, grooming wise, which is just another thing that begs the question of why you put yourself down this path in the first place.
"What happened to our clothes?!?!" You instinctively cover up as best as you can.
"Jeez, no need to be so pensive about your own body, ya big worry wort~ Our clothes are just in the closet." She points to your right, her finger leads your eyes to a purple door. You flinch. "C'mon~" She pulls you up onto your feet before finally letting go of your hands. Before you can even ask what the aforementioned closet is, though you could make an educated guess, she walks away from you towards it… Huh, you've got a lot more going on at the back then at the front- it's not stop and stare big but… Not the time to be making these observations actually. You quickly follow along behind her; when you get to the door she holds it open for and is clearly expecting you to go in first. You silently oblige with whatever she has got planned and just walk in.
You've seemed to enter another dark void completely identical to the one you were just in except this one has a large mirror placed directly in front of you. You hear a creak and soft slam behind, followed by that damned voice. "Alrighty first things first, as with any outfit, underwear. Hold on, just a moment." The woman floats past you and is submerged into the darkness for a few moments long enough for you to notice your hair. A stark black but the lock tucked behind your ear a shade of purple that manages to stand out in the purplish backdrop of wherever you are. You pinch the hair with your middle, index finger and thumb and hold it in front of you. It's beautiful, in a silly way. You move the bundle of hair back into its preferred position just in time to spot your torturer's return in the mirror. Three sets of undergarments float behind her: one fully black, fully white and the last with panda stripes not just on the underwear but on the bra too.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Nope! I, we, don't joke about fashion."
"Oh come on, is this really necessary?"
"What, wearing underwear~? No, but it's a little risky not to~" You can't muster any response better than a groan.
"Just toss one over so I can get back to the investigation."
"No! Turn your dumbo head over and pick one-"
"Fine! T-The fucking white one or whatever."
"Not whatever! Look! Think!" You crank up the dramatics to elven as you turn your whole body to face her. You make eye contact with each other, both of you equally disgruntled and then when you're on the verge of trying to throttle yourself again you look up at the assortment behind her. Panda bra is out of the question and with unchanged interest your eyes move over to the black one.
Your heart punches you. A memory pierces through your near empty mind. For a moment you're in a room. Bedroom. Your hand is holding something. Fur. Fox fur. Fox girl fur. Fox yokai girl fur. Her ear. Soft. Nice. You let go. Kiss? Kiss on forehead. The yokai stood up. Much taller than you. Can't make out her face. Can make out her maid outfit. Can make out Yin-Yin. Yokai is your maid? Maybe? Huh? You look at her. She looks at you. You both say.
"Black." And just like that you're back in the closet. Your other self snaps her fingers and the clothes are on you… both.
"Alright, shirt time what colour ya feeling~?"
".................................................................What was that?"
"Shirt. Time. Muimi."
"...Black." she snaps and your purple shirt is on.
"Okay! Skirt is up next~ aren't ya excited?"
"..." the other Muimi sighs and snaps her fingers repeatedly before you know it the outfit you know and love is back on you.
"Don't think about that too hard. At all actually. " For the first time ever. You sound serious.
"There's no way I can't."
"That's tough since it's the last you're gonna think about that."
"Is she why…. You did this?"
"Don't ask about it. Don't think about it." Neither of you speak for a while, you just look at each other. "Just look in the mirror and do a twirl. It's the only way to get out of here, it's silly but you wouldn't get why it's necessary." You just nod, look in the mirror and spin. You both stand there. Nothing happens. A long sigh breaches the other Muimi's mouth.
"See~ that wasn't so hard, was it blackberry juice~ Now, get back to work! Oh, also, tell that apple pie with the really big butt and the strawberry shortcake I said hi too. Boop~" She taps your nose.
Your eyeballs are engulfed in a purple flame. Everything goes pitch black.
Again, the girl ventures the finite world as another girl entirely, banished from the realm of nothing but fearing the realm of something. The cycle of escape.
"Has this girl- me- bound myself to this cycle, or does it bind us? That can only be answered through epiphanies from our past."
E P I P H A N Y U N L O C K E D
:
There is, or was, a fox Yokai I used to know.
You can hear someone calling out to you, faintly. With every repetition the darkness gets lighter and lighter until… your eyes open. Reimu standing over as you look up at the shrine's ceiling.
"Marisa, she's waking up!" Marisa's head clouds your view as well as you try to pull yourself upwards off the, oddly, really comfortable floor. Immediate, unbearable head pain. It takes all the will left in your pitiful soul to now slam your head back onto the floor.
"Aaah. Fuck.... What happened?"
"You just passed out randomly, you've been out for hours."
"Yeah, even outlasted my opium trip."
"Asides from that, we didn't get very far with the investigation so you didn't miss anything but it's far too late to continue with it now."
"So what now then?"
"Take a rest for the night and inform the Scarlet mansion staff of what happened in the morning."
"Shouldn't they be sending someone over here to come check up on her or was Remilia planning to stay the night?" You ask, rearing yourself upright into a seated position with your hand rubbing at the sides of your head.
"Her staying overnight wasn't the plan but I would be lying if I said that it wasn't common. Plus she could handle herself."
"Woah, I didn't know you two were that close."
"Well you don't know a lot, do you Marisa?" With a pout Marisa gives Reimu a light punch on the shoulder though it does little to stop Reimu’s chuckles. You choose to focus on standing up, instead of their comradeship, to prevent yourself thinking about your current lack of it- just don't think about who that woman was.
"Welp, it's about time I take my leave- Oh umm Muimi… do you wanna just stay here for the night wouldn't want to over exert you, I mean you just got up."
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind letting you stay over if you don't want to go back out." Both of the girls' eyes lock onto you as you ponder your response with a "hmmmm"
[-] "I wouldn't want to be a nuisance Reimu, anymore than I have at least, I'll head back with Marisa. Thank you for the offer though."
[-] "If it wouldn't be much trouble. I just don't think my body could handle another one of Marisa's broom rides today. Plus you already have company with that Alice girl?[i/], did I remember that correctly?"
[i]Bonus Options
Yin-Yin Meaning
[-] "Thank you for the offer Reimu, seriously, but I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome at your abode strawberry shortcake. You should get some rest instead of having to babysit me. I'll head back with Marisa."
[-] Well I would be lying if I said the thought of going on another broom ride right now wasn't making me sick. If it really isn't too much trouble I think I'd like to stay here with Reimu. The floor here is surprisingly comfy. We'll catch you in the morning, apple pie. Also don't take any more opium tonight, please."
Anonymous 2023/10/29 (Sun) 01:30
No. 204693
▼
We're back! Woo!
[X] "Well, I'd be lying if I said the thought of going on another broom ride right now wasn't making me sick. If it really isn't too much trouble I think I'd like to stay here with Reimu. The floor here is surprisingly comfy. We'll catch you in the morning, apple pie. Also: don't take any more opium tonight, please."
to be honest half the reason I picked this was because I was craving some apple pie. the other half was actually wanting to stay at the shrine, but... pie's tasty.
RadiantRounded!k5VeBBuYTg 2023/10/29 (Sun) 01:53
No. 204694
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You are not immune to alter Muimi's propaganda.
Anonymous 2023/10/29 (Sun) 02:40
No. 204695
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Welcome back.
Muimi looking hella stylish now.
Tall fox youkai with maid outfit and yin-attributes.
Western or eastern maid?
If eastern you could say Ran is dressed like a servant, but we'll figure that out down the line, suppose.
Letting some suaveness slip into her style occasionally is fine, but those nicknames are too much for nervous wreck-Newimi, in my opinion.
As for staying over or going with Marisa: can go either way, really.
But considering Muimi's personality so far I think "suddenly" staying over would be too much of an imposition in her eyes, even with both of the others being cool with it.
The type of introvert who has trouble accepting kindness when offered.
[-] "I wouldn't want to be a nuisance Reimu, anymore than I have at least, I'll head back with Marisa. Thank you for the offer though."
Anonymous 2023/10/29 (Sun) 17:46
No. 204696
▼
[X] "Thank you for the offer Reimu, seriously, but I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome at your abode strawberry shortcake. You should get some rest instead of having to babysit me. I'll head back with Marisa."
Anonymous 2023/10/30 (Mon) 04:40
No. 204697
▼
[X] "Thank you for the offer Reimu, seriously, but I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome at your abode, strawberry shortcake. You should get some rest instead of having to babysit me. I'll head back with Marisa."
Anonymous 2023/10/30 (Mon) 16:57
No. 204698
▼
>>204693 here.
Mm. Strawberry Shortcake is also pretty tasty, and I can see the argument for going with Marisa. Changing my vote to shortcake option.
Anonymous 2023/10/30 (Mon) 17:23
No. 204699
▼
Muimi using this line is gonna come out so incredibly cringey.
Well, more cringey than it already is.
Really just wanna watch her crash and burn, huh?
I can respect that, even though I voted for a regular line.
Anonymous 2023/10/30 (Mon) 21:27
No. 204700
▼
>>204699
Exactly. I
want this to come off terribly. Fall completely flat. Absolutely zero charm behind it. A stammering attempt at an explanation of how she got the idea for that nickname.
Crashing and burning is the intended goal, here.
