Ryukuza Quest: Protector of Smiles and Youkai Hunter

>Magic is easier to work in a Barrier. That goes both ways in this case.

That's a good point I suppose.

>[] Drop the Barrier, wake her up from the doorway.

> Drop the barrier, wake her from the door.

I think we can stand some overconfidence in this case, I can't see our subject trying anything against the demigoddess that just bypassed every trap laid before her. Or do we have cause for concern? I have little concept for her mystical potential.

>[] Drop the Barrier, waker her up from the doorway.

She's either gonna be harmless or react like a cornered animal.

I think she's not someone to be underestimated, but then again Ryukusa isn't the kind of person who underestimates people. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure the worst thing we can do is second-guess ourselves too much

>Ryukusa only knows she's a sorceress (means she draws on the power of the spirit world to cause spiritual effects), and she practices onmyudo (paper-folding and imbuing the result with spirits).

>That does mean she can create talismans and wards, as well as erecting barriers, but she's physically weaker than Ryukuza in every way. Psychically....that's up for grabs.

I'm sure Ryukusa's psyche wouldn't be bested by a regular sorceress!

I forget, since she's a sorceress, the normal rules about humans no longer apply, right?

>That is correct, she's thrown her lot in with spirit-children and is fair game.

[x] Make some last minute preparations for her to wake up to. Sure, it's rude, so what?
[X] Drop the Barrier, wake her up from the doorway.

The Barrier is as much beacon as it is defense in this situation, and while your powers are dramatically increased within it, so are hers. Without the Barrier she's weaker, slower, and fragile, and while her magic is potent, it will take time and effort to manage anything beyond what she may have ready immediately.

Which means now is a good time to finish up preparations.

Between your Destructiveness-Seeing-Right Eye and Matagama-no-Shitoki, it's a relatively simple matter to destroy her more aggressive spells and protections, along with moving some of her more obvious working materials to a safe place. Not ~Nowhere~, especially after Taisho Ryoga demonstrated that influences can be pushed through there. But up above the refrigerator where she needs a step-stool to reach (and, incidentally, where she hides some tasty looking rice crackers and shrimp flavored frying chips), that is fine. You're not here to ruin her livelihood or her stuff, you're here to make a point.

A very strong one.

You look at the walls, and gather waters from the ocean, both the freezing waters of the deeps and that from the vets of the black smokers. You gather them and gesture slowly, painting the walls in water, the impurities of the black smoker water ink-like and staining the walls. You paint out your story so far for her, in a fair amount of detail, leaving out some salient points that she has no need to know and could be dangerous for you to reveal. Still, it is an impressive piece of work, and you take a couple of pictures....

Ryukusa showing off her artistry huh. Better show those pictures to the wives.

….nine minutes. Nine minutes to do two walls worth of the most intensive sumi-i painting you've ever done, spanning some two-hundred-and thirty-odd years. Kamidamn, that's worse than ever.

Taking a deep breath you dry the water, leaving the stains in shades of black through grey into white with salt crystals, in lush, descriptive artwork along the two bare walls. Any deposit she had is definitely toast. You then walk to the doorway to look at her once more. Deep in the dreamless sleep of chloroform, she neither stirs nor snores, dead to the world. You concentrate your will upon her blood and draw out the poisons, letting them seep into her lungs to be exhaled entirely in a single breath. Dropping the Barrier, and making sure she doesn't re-inhale the potent soporific, you speak clearly and succinctly.

“Wake up, come to the living room. Leave the gun where it is.”

Ryuu Himeyuri jolts upright and is awake, her dark eyes wide and frightened. The gun is in her hand but she releases it slowly without ever bringing it above pillow-level; you could render it useless with a thought, but she might need it later. Her eyes flicker to the phone in it's charging cradle, then to you....and then back to the phone. You can see her mind working through what that means, and then her despair as she realizes she's been outmaneuvered in more ways than one.

Killing the electronics so thoroughly might have been a better idea than you thought.

[] Go into the living room and wait for her.
[] Wait in the doorway for her.
[] Walk in and set out clothing for her to change into.
[] Ask her when the next security check will be.
[] Make it VERY clear you're not going to tolerate any nonsense from her.

>[] Walk in and set out clothing for her to change into.
Ryukusa sure knows how to bully.

>[x] Go into the living room and wait for her.
>[x] Ask her when the next security check will be.
>[x] Make it VERY clear you're not going to tolerate any nonsense from her.

>[] Wait in the doorway for her.
>[] Ask her when the next security check will be.
>[] Make it VERY clear you're not going to tolerate any nonsense from her.

Let us not leave the sorcerer unobserved...

>[] Walk in and set out clothing for her to change into.
>[] Make it VERY clear you're not going to tolerate any nonsense from her.

Poor Ryukusa, she will never take more then 15 minutes for anything ever again

That sounds like it'd leave her wives quite disappointed!

Not if they're a shaking, drooling mess by then.

>[x] Walk in and set out clothing for her to change into.
>[x] Wait in the doorway for her.
Asking questions is giving her the initiative. We want to project an aura of complete control after all.

True. But, sometimes it's nicer with a slow and languid session as well!

A gun, huh. That doesn't seem very useful against Ryukusa in general, but maybe I'm underestimating it.

Kiki can catch bullets. Ryukusa can't. Or couldn't before, anyways.

But bullets are often questionably effective at stopping even your average Joe, much less someone like Ryukusa.

If we use wood eyes this session, we should be able to avoid her even thinking of doing so.

Bullets can carry curses and other stuff meant to disrupt spiritual energies. They can also have an elemental advantage against whatever metal is strong to. Anyone have that elemental rock-papers-scissors image?

...

There we go. Thanks

>metal destroys wood, creates water
So it's a bad idea to get Kiki shot, but Ryukusa shouldn't be affected.

Still, Himeyuri is a sorceror and I'm sure she knows ways to load magicks on a bullet, so let's just not get shot.

>Himeyuri
>supposedly straight
Talk about nonindicative names.

Well, you never know with that 'supposedly'.

"My liege, I bear grave news! Himeyuri tried to kill Himeyuri to prevent her from revealing to Himeyuri that she caught Himeyuri in bed with Himeyuri.
Signed, your humble spymaster, Himeyuri"

Oh that Himeyuri, what will she come up with next.

[XX] Walk in and set out clothing for her to change into.
[XX] Make it VERY clear you're not going to tolerate any nonsense from her.
[X] Wait in the doorway for her.
[X] Ask her when the next security check will be.

You walk into the room, which startles her further because the wards she set up were potent enough to keep even elites out (they actually hurt your left hand a little, though only for an instant, when you destroyed them). You open her wardrobe and select a very nice pantsuit, with skirt and tie, for her to put on, and lay them across the foot of her bed. You glance at her when you feel her heart rate rising.

“Not a particularly survival oriented idea.”

She holds your gaze for almost three seconds, her fear warring with her self confidence. Fear wins and she relaxes, cowed once again. You didn't even tense up.

As if nothing had happened you move to her dresser and select some suitable and very nice undergarments that bot match the suit and her hairstyle. Lacy things, mostly in black; not very much satin or mixed materials. Definitely a skewed measure of 'adulthood' at work, you think. You open Water Eyes and study her as you lay out the soft lingerie alongside her bed, her cheeks burning with embarrassment and shame.

Not entirely due to her failure to try and stop you or contain you; your preferences in love are well known to her, and your penchant for dressing up is not unusual to her. On the other hand, the fact that you're here means not only did she fail herself and you, she's failed Oba-san, and that shameful fact burns even hotter than the embarrassment of being tended to by an enemy. Underneath that, humiliation at failing to have to entrapped with her magic and her powers, much less being unable to prevent you from ever entering this building.

There is some good in this, though. She is honestly concerned about the young dragonnes, dragonettes, and oni-children at her home, and what you may have done to them. There is a sub-current of fear to that, the terrifying possibility that you defeated her personal servant Ryuu Yakumo, whom she trusts dearly and relies upon heavily. His well being means a great deal to her and the clan as a whole, and if you killed him it would be a blow she feels the clan could not recover from easily.

Interesting.

You return to the doorway, well aware of the fresh shame and hate you garner for turning your back on her fearlessly. You turn back and watch her, leaning against the door-jamb and looking bored. When she hesitates, you simply tell her the truth.

“Entirely not interested, Himeyuri-san. You have a lovely voice, but that's all that I find even remotely attractive about you.” Her angry flush is not reflected on her expression, but her outrage at your temerity is much better hidden from you. Except for the fact you have Water Eyes on her. She flips over the covers and kneels, disrobing without care, any thoughts of seduction thoroughly killed by your straightforward lack of interest. The idea is still there, in the back of her mind,a long with many other potential routes for turning the table on you, but at the moment she's just so angry and upset that they're nothing more than the ingrained background noise every clan member has about their current situation.

“Did you even bother with security checks, Himeyuri-san?” Her disappointment in herself is all the answer you need; she was so certain that she would have the upper hand that they were no more than a casual check when someone bothers, and at this time of night she's almost certain no one will. She finishes dressing – you note that she works very hard keeping her own tattoos hidden from you, aside from those on her arms – before she answers.

“There should be an hourly check, nothing more. It was a matter of convenience to my subordinates only.” Dressed, she's feeling a little more secure in herself and her place in the world. But then she looks at you, and she remembers the promise. The blood leaves her face, though she stands tall and looks imperious enough. “You are much more bold than anyone had anticipated, Ryukusa-san. I must give you that credit at least.”

[] Must you? It seemed perfectly reasonable to me.
[] Nonsense. You're no more surprised by my appearance than I was by the fact you owned a gun.
[] Please don't try and patronize me. I know exactly how you feel about me.
[] Simply gesture for her to enter the living room.
[] Anyone being only you? Oba-san knows better, you should have too.

>[] Simply gesture for her to enter the living room.
No need to react.

>[] Simply gesture for her to enter the living room.

>[] Simply gesture for her to enter the living room.

>[x] Simply gesture for her to enter the living room.
Himeyuri was more lax than I expected apparently.

>[] Simply gesture for her to enter the living room.

>[] Simply gesture for her to enter the living room.

Ryukusa can make guns malfunction. If it's an ordinary gun.

I'm not sure, do you guys think this might be a good time to really put our Wood Eyes through the paces?

The one thing I'm not really sure of is how it'd work with Wood's weakness to magic, and Himeyuri being a sorceress, but Er-Yin is a sorceress and a Void/Metal Dragonette and it worked fine on her.

Hmmm, perhaps. Of course, so far Ryukusa seems to be doing great without them, but still.

>You have a lovely voice, but that's all that I find even remotely attractive about you.”

I'm kind of puzzled by this, to be honnest. I mean, Himeyuri doesn't seem less physicaly attractive than other girls Ryukusa found pretty.

I'm pretty sure it's a terrible idea.

Also, it's not that Wood Eyes doesn't work on magic. It's that magic works very, very well on them.

Akari: Cute Schoolgirl.
Kiki: An actual Idol.
Kiku: Cute everloli.
Yui: Tomboy oni-chick.
Er Yin: Warrior lady with abs of steel.
Yuuhi: Fluffy tail.

More importantly, they're all genuinely good girls. Himeyuri is secretive, conniving, untrustworthy, and in willing league with Oba-san.

That's fair, but Ryukusa has complimented other girls on their looks too.

>A reminder:

“Go back to Himeyuri, give her a kiss,” you start, making Shinju-san [sic] blush angrily (~that~ you didn't expect), “and tell her she should arrange a private meeting between she and I, and when she does, she will sit down with me to a meal I will prepare. She will join me in eating that meal, and understand that she will have been awake ~before~ I placed the meal before her in that meeting place and that the preparation of the meal was from start to finish made with ~very raw~ ingredients. That is the price she pays for her failure, and the mercy your success gained her.” You stand up looking down at her unapologetic poisoner's face.

“...those exact words?” Shinju asks cautiously, realizing she's committed some kind of faux pas that has angered you. If she'd owned up, you might have let her boss slide with no repercussions at all.

“Those exact and emphasized words. Now get the heaven off this island.”

Yeah, Ryukusa has been attracted to or considered attractive way more people than her lovers.

[XX] Simply gesture for her to enter the living room.

You consider your admonition to the poisoner Shinju-san, an instant's memory refreshed instantly.

Your lack of response seems to irk her somewhat, as you simply wave her into the kiving room. She straightens herself even more, which is a neat trick, and walks stiffly into the living room. Her reaction when she does so is not really surprising, but is gratifying.

Her eyes first fall upon the mural. You purposefully told your life story so she can go over it later; the important parts she can infer and the secrets she can glean would be of no great danger to you. Even another Water dragonne – say, Yakumo-san, for instance – would be hard-pressed to glean any extra information you didn't want them to have out of it. She looks at the kotatsu, where the meal and the Go board is laid out. She is at once relieved and horrified at your symbolic killing of a white-and-red carp and a black-and-white carp. The threat, they symbolism, and the effort you have gone through tells her that she narrowly escaped the death of the warlords at your hands.

You sit down across from her, usurping her role as hostess, and pour sake for you both, as she continues to take in the layout of both the meal and your weapon, as well as the presence of a Go board. You rest one elbow on your knee, a boyish sort of look you know, but it lets you keep your hand free to grab your nodachi should you need to while allowing you to hold a cup of sake. Because it really is one of your best ones. Himeyuri sits slowly, and looks over the meal, her face still pale and her fear making her nearly ill. There is also the consideration that you might be a truly sick, depraved, even disturbed dragonette considering the type of meal you're serving.

[] Wood Eyes.
[] Start with Oba-san.
[] Begin with Ah and Oh and Shinju-san.
[] Ask her if she understands why all this is happening.
[] It all comes back to Taisho Ryoga.

>[] Start with Oba-san.

>[X] Ask her if she understands why all this is happening.
>[X] Start with Oba-san.

>[] Ask her if she understands why all this is happening.
>[] Begin with Ah and Oh and Shinju-san.

Let's begin with the begining.

But seriously, no Wood Eyes. This is not something we should use now.

Tanuki pretending to be kitsune. Cute.

>[x] Wood Eyes.
>[x] Ask her if she understands why all this is happening.

>[x] Wood Eyes.
>[x] Start with Oba-san.
>[x] Ask her if she understands why all this is happening.

Why not, specifically? Like on paper, this seems like an ideal time to use them.

It all comes back to Taisho Ryoga, huh?
This is kind of true, like technically it starts with Oba-Chan's plan, but it seems like the main reason things went wrong is Ryoga unknowingly (?) rammed HIS plan into Oba-Chan's at seventy miles per hour, and that jarred Ryukusa loose.

>[X] Start with Oba-san.

>[] It all comes back to Taisho Ryoga.
I don't know, since Oba-san seems pretty mad at Ryoga by now, it might make it easier to get Himeyuri talking? Common enemies and so on.

Well, for one, it's not something wise to use against a magic practitioner. Second, Ryukusa shouldn't use it to change Himeyuri's mind, and there is little other use to it right now.

Third, we might need the energy later.

Fourth, using Wood Eyes against Himeyuri might make her react badly, and it might give info to Clan Ryo we don't want to reveal.

Fifth, don't you think it's a bit TOO ideal a time to use them, on paper? A bit too tempting?

I don't think it draws much effort from us anymore, and I doubt she'll notice it in use or use it against us.

>[] Wood Eyes.
Since Himeyuri's not a demigod, there's a pretty good chance she's not that prepared for that. Also, I trust Ryukusa to consider that there could somehow be a trap specifically for Wood Eyes, and wouldn't have thought of it if that were very likely.

This. XS said that in order to give the power to see those Eyes to shikigami Himeyuri would have to be able to block them or be aware of them in the first place.

I bet it is a big no-no for spirit-children to reveal to human sorcerers that the eye powers exist.

The trap might be the temptation to use the power. Metaphoricaly speaking, I mean.

Another question: do we really need wood when we have water?

...Can we combine them?

Like I'm still a little wary about using it, but I realized I was making the same mistake you were, disregarding the fact that Ryukusa maintained control of the situation to an almost -obsessive degree, every step of the way. It would literally take a Kami to turn this into a trap meant for her to use Wood Eyes.

Well, wood does need water to grow!

Is there anything morally wrong with using them though? I mean Kiki used them on Yui and I think us, without informing us beforehand, and it went okay.

We already know that they're not a toy, and we don't want to break anyone's mind, so we won't do either of those things.

>She's done it once between when disarming the bomb. It's exhaustive and doesn't work on people.

Ah forgot about that, though that was a different combo. Well wood should be fine then.

*thought

[XXX] Ask her if she understands why all this is happening.
[XX] Start with Oba-san.
[X] Wood Eyes.

You close Water Eyes and when you look up again, activate Wood Eyes.

Himeyuri is dedicated to restoring great power to human sorcerers once again, like it was in the Age of Legends. Those days have passed, but with the advent of Oba-san's rising to become a deity and the predictions of a new Age of Legends returning to Japan, human sorcerers will once more be on equal footing with the spirit-children and perhaps even demigods. Her skills are strong, though her power is still limited by what she can gather herself, and she desperately wants to perform great works, even if those works would be considered 'evil' or 'bad' by the powers that be for now. It pains her to see how much power is squandered, even wasted by those who could achieve so much with their abilities and powers. Oba-san has achieved wonders, and has promised her the opportunity to achieve just as much, if she will be patient and serve well. Even her subordinates and the youngsters of the clan fall far behind her need to achieve something grand and wondrous with her power.

Interesting.

You gesture to her with your cup of sake, and she bows over her chopsticks. “Itadakimasu,” she murmurs politely, and you repeat the words yourself. You sip the sake slowly, and then prepare your plate, taking various parts of the assorted dishes. When she hesitates, you pause, looking at her very seriously. You flip your chopsticks around and impale them in a bowl of rice; she blanches at the morbid gesture. “If I had wanted you dead, Himeyuri-san, you would have opened your eyes in Yomi.” Your flat, disinterested tone and the incredibly rude image of a gravestone on a hill brings home the fact that she is utterly and totally at your mercy.

She begins filling her plate, though slowly, the image of what this could have been now starkly at the forefront of her thoughts.

To make your point you leave those chopsticks there and take out a second set, before resuming preparing your plate.

“Do you know why I am here – the real reason, not the excuse I made.”

She looks somewhat startled, and then shakes her head slowly. You can see she's trying to garner more information, trying to buy time. So you give her information, and give her that time.

Wood Eyes tells you that if you want to get her on your side, you must make her aware of exactly what it is her desires are pushing her towards, and what the prophecy she seems to have misinterpreted really means for Japan. To do that, you need to open her eyes to what Oba-san really is. “Once upon a time,” you start, and she pauses looking confused, “there was a serpent goddess who was possessed by her priestess. Together with a goddess of madness, they slew a god of destruction.” So far you're not telling her anything she didn't suspect, but she's taking your words as gospel truth. “In doing so they caused several of the worst disasters in Japanese history: the Great Kanto Quake in 1923, the Great Unzen Disaster in 1792, the Sanriku Earthquake in 1896, and I think the one most directly related, the Kyushu Typhoon in 1828. His death sent shock waves backwards and forwards in time, setting off disasters hundreds of years before and after his death.” The salt-boiled carp is delicious, especially with the pickled radish. You're surprised, you hadn't really practiced that recipe.

Huh. Maybe she'll be looking forward to our resetting the spiritual playing field? Not sure sorcerers are going to come out so much on top, though.

You eat a little more before continuing but you have her attention wholly, Wood Eyes enforcing her awareness and importance of your words. “Her reasoning was that with his destruction, there would be an opening in the roster of the deities, for her to add onto her current portfolio of power and duty. Of course, the priestess wasn't truly performing her duties as a priestess, nor did she allow the kamuy she possessed to perform her duties. It could have been an act of revenge for the killing of the snakes in a field, long ago....but now it has become something else.” You lift your eyes, fixing them on Himeyuri's dark ones. “With the advent of the rebirth of the person who carried the god of destructions mikoto, she had the opportunity to possess not one, but two deities, and become a greater deity.”

The admiration and wonder that the thought instills in Himeyuri's mind is not unexpected, but it is sickening. Mostly because she hasn't thought everything through yet. But that's why you're doing this.

“So she arranged to weaken the demigod who was to be host to the mikoto of the god of destruction, and made it so that the host would be easily entrapped – and if not the host, then the host's slayer. There were other contingency plans as well: her fellow murderess, also reincarnated; and the husk of a delicate dragonette, possessed by the spirits of Aokigahara. Perhaps even more.” The shadow of a doubt hovers over her now, ready to swoop down upon her. “But truly, she needed the daughter of Ryujin, whose blood strengthens Akihito-tenno, who would have become Ame-no-Horobi-no-Mikado if left alone to grow as she should have been. Because then she could created the Great Disaster that would throw Japan into a new Dark Age of strife, suffering and pain, forcing the people of Japan to look to their spiritual roots as they sought to recover from the most horrific series of disasters they had ever encountered."

She looks a little ill, and not just because of the sashimi she just ate.

“And she would be able to choose when and how to cause that disaster, aim it like an arrow and pierce right to the heart of any who were her enemies.” You set your chopsticks aside and pour yourself – and her – more sake. “Can you imagine a sorcerer with that much power? Her power is incredible now. Imagine if she could be on a par with Susano-Oh, or even Izanami.” Her eyes dart to the chopsticks buried impaled into the rice. “Ame-no-Horobi-no-Mikado rests in Yomi, nurtured by it, by Izanami herself. When it wakens, it will create another series of disasters, but unlike his death....it will happen all at once, and remain in this singular instance.”

She looks genuinely ill now, and her loyalties are now split between the people of Japan, and the sorceress she admires so much.

[] Tell her of your plan to help Japan survive this.
[] Reveal that it is now your choice, at any time.
[] Appreciate her dedication, but condemn her attitude.
[] Explain what Taisho Ryoga has done to make it worse.
[] As her if she truly understands what she has done now.

>[] Tell her of your plan to help Japan survive this.
>[] Reveal that it is now your choice, at any time.
>[] Appreciate her dedication, but condemn her attitude.
>[] Explain what Taisho Ryoga has done to make it worse.
>[] As her if she truly understands what she has done now.

>[] Explain what Taisho Ryoga has done to make it worse.

>[X] Explain what Taisho Ryoga has done to make it worse.
>[X] As her if she truly understands what she has done now.

>[x] Explain what Taisho Ryoga has done to make it worse.
>[x] As her if she truly understands what she has done now.
I'm favoring the first and second options at some point but not now.

>[x] Explain what Taisho Ryoga has done to make it worse.
>[x] Reveal that it is now your choice, at any time.
>[x] Appreciate her dedication, but condemn her attitude.
Himeyuri getting a stark dose of reality today, huh.

>[] Appreciate her dedication, but condemn her attitude.
>[] Explain what Taisho Ryoga has done to make it worse.

>In addition make her understand that you are on the people of Japan's side

[] Tell her of your plan to help Japan survive this.
[] Explain what Taisho Ryoga has done to make it worse.
[] Appreciate her dedication, but condemn her attitude.
(>)[] Ask her if she truly understands what she has done now.

Hello, XS! I hope you're doing well. This was a nice surprise.

Btw, I was curious about something. Is Oba-san some sort of proto-abomination or eventual avatar for Izanami?

>Appreciate her dedication, but condemn her attitude
>Explain what Taisho Ryoga did
>Ask her if she truly understand