Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 3, Part 5

[DracoOmega]

>"And you are well-instructed in the ritual, and will do your very utmost to ensure her safety?"

[Oldmansour]

>"And you are well-instructed in the ritual, and will do your very utmost to ensure her safety?"

>"Of that you can have no doubt. The doubt is whether or not that will be enough. And it isn't entirely up to me, either. I know what will occur, and things could go wrong in a heartbeat. If it does..."

[DracoOmega]

>"If it does, then you will still have done all you could have, and there will be nothing else that could have been. I am certain you are already doing everything in your power to avoid this end, and that is the most any of us can do. I am sure there is no other person there whose hands she would be safer in."

[Oldmansour]

>"If it does, then you will still have done all you could have, and there will be nothing else that could have been. I am certain you are already doing everything in your power to avoid this end, and that is the most any of us can do. I am sure there is no other person there whose hands she would be safer in."

>"But if I fail, or she fails, then this happens. And this, and it shames me to admit it, is what I fear even more than that failure. It is facing all the others."

[DracoOmega]

>"They will know you did all that you could, just as I do. I do not think they will blame you. Truly, you will bear even deeper wounds from this than they and I think at least some of them would realize this. If the worst were truly to come to pass, they would grieve with you."

[Oldmansour]

>"They will know you did all that you could, just as I do. I do not think they will blame you. Truly, you will bear even deeper wounds from this than they and I think at least some of them would realize this. If the worst were truly to come to pass, they would grieve with you."

>"I cannot share your certainty, Byakuren." She tries to raise her hands, and the chains around her wrists snap taut with a fierce noise. "I can't face them. Not if I fail. You should go."

[DracoOmega]

>"We can go together. I will support you here just as I will if any dark tomorrow dawns. And as your sisters will also. I may not be able to predict the future, but of this I am confident. You are not alone, Kiku, and even tragedy will not split apart the bonds you share with your sisters."
>Give her hands a gentle reassuring squeeze with one of our own, then step towards the door. Try to lead her with us, but don't actually pull her if she is reluctant to move.

[Oldmansour]

>"We can go together. I will support you here just as I will if any dark tomorrow dawns. And as your sisters will also. I may not be able to predict the future, but of this I am confident. You are not alone, Kiku, and even tragedy will not split apart the bonds you share with your sisters."
>Give her hands a gentle reassuring squeeze with one of our own, then step towards the door. Try to lead her with us, but don't actually pull her if she is reluctant to move.

>Plainly Kiku looks pained, but she does not resist your efforts to move her. At least you sense no resistance on her part. However, she does not move. When she tries, you hear a sick, slicky sound. Looking down, you see the blood pooling on the floor has now spread beneath both her feet, and seems to be holding her to the floor.

[DracoOmega]

>Gently: "This is still your mind, Kiku. If you are willing to step forward past your fear, you can. You will not do so alone."

[Oldmansour]

>Gently: "This is still your mind, Kiku. If you are willing to step forward past your fear, you can. You will not do so alone."

>Kiku's face betrays her anguish at the idea of opening that door, but she steels herself after a moment. "The longer you stand here with me, the less time we'll have later." she says as firmly as she can manage. "Just leave me, it's the most efficient plan." Despite her trying to use logic, you can't help but feel she's grasping slightly for any reason not to open that door.

[DracoOmega]

>"There is nothing 'efficient' about abandoning a friend to such suffering. For however long it takes, I will stay here with you."

[Oldmansour]

>"There is nothing 'efficient' about abandoning a friend to such suffering. For however long it takes, I will stay here with you."

>Kiku scowls. "That's time better served removing whatever is influencing my mind."

[DracoOmega]

>"Is that not why we are here at all?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Besides, it's best to do it in the most effective way, wouldn't you agree? And the both of us will be more effective than just me alone."

[Oldmansour]

>"Is that not why we are here at all?"

>"Besides, it's best to do it in the most effective way, wouldn't you agree? And the both of us will be more effective than just me alone."

>"Yes, but..." Kiku starts, trailing off. She seems to be almost squirming.

[DracoOmega]

>"It will be alright. Whatever lies ahead, between the two of us, we can face it."

[Oldmansour]

>"It will be alright. Whatever lies ahead, between the two of us, we can face it."

>"All right, fine!" Kiku practically explodes, her agitation at your persistance finally overcoming her dread. Flexing her arms, the chains binding her wrists shatter as she reaches out and takes hold of the door. Despite her agitated efforts and dramatic show of effort, the door refuses to budge. Snarling at the obstacle before her, Kiku casts an eye sideways at you. "Assit me." She doesn't add 'While I still have the nerve', but you can see it in her eye.

[Hello Purvis]

>Help her open the door. No need to say anything, we don't need to draw attention to this and possibly embarrass her.

[Oldmansour]

>Help her open the door. No need to say anything, we don't need to draw attention to this and possibly embarrass her.

>With your help, the sliding doors finally yield, opening with a dull hissing of wood on wood. A brilliant light emerges from the chamber beyond, filling you with a sense of repose, of resolution

[DracoOmega]

>Let's enter, hand in hand

[Oldmansour]

>Let's enter, hand in hand

>Kiku's face mirrors your own sense of peace. Or are you sharing in hers? You're not sure, but for right now, that doesn't matter. What matters is what lies ahead of you both. With no hesitation, you and your shrine maiden friend step forward into the light.
>When the light fades, you find yourself standing in a heavily forested landscape, overlapping barks and fronds growing from no ground you can discern. If there is ground here, it must be completely concealed beneath the jungle before, above and below you. And everywhere, the ugly grey vines you saw before, growing around and sometimes through trees, leaves, plants, marring the colors with their ugliness. Instinctively, you sense that this is how Kiku's subconscious manifests itself to her, at least in part. Without her presence and proximity, you could not see it before.
>Rather than comment on either the jungle or the grey vines, Kiku sighs, a peaceful sigh. Possibly the first time you've ever heard her make such a sound. Despite her private nature, and usually severe bearing, she makes absolutely no effort to remove her hand from yours.

[DracoOmega]

>Gently: "You did it. We did it."

[Oldmansour]

>Gently: "You did it. We did it."

>"All day, since I heard, I've been stuck outside that door. I couldn't see their faces, but their voices, their crying and moaning, the sorrow, the recriminations, and my own failure, my own regrets. And now, all the voices are silent..."

[DracoOmega]

>"You have earned this peace."

[Oldmansour]

>"You have earned this peace."

>Kiku is silent for a moment, then her peaceful face straightens. "No. No peace, not yet. Not yet, Byakuren. We're not done yet. We still have to finish what we came here to do." The tiger youkai straightens herself out to her full height. "I believe we are among my memories here. I can sense them stretching out around me." She points her clawed hand out towards the nearest grey vine. "That, however, is not mine. I presume that is what you saw before."

[DracoOmega]

>"Yes. I could not see these trees before - I think because you were far away - but the grey vines... they do not belong here."

[Oldmansour]

>"Yes. I could not see these trees before - I think because you were far away - but the grey vines... they do not belong here."

>"But you said you encountered.... resistance, when you tried to remove them, as I recall."

[DracoOmega]

>"Yes. I tried to push it back with my will, and it... stuck at my mind somehow, I think. It was... quite unpleasant, to be honest. But I am sure there is something we can do about it - particularly now that you are here as well."

[Oldmansour]

>"Yes. I tried to push it back with my will, and it... stuck at my mind somehow, I think. It was... quite unpleasant, to be honest. But I am sure there is something we can do about it - particularly now that you are here as well."

>Kiku nods, thoughtful. "Let me get a closer look at these things." she says quietly, walking forward already.

[DracoOmega]

>Follow with her and let her observe
>Pay careful attention ourselves, to see if we notice any change in either it, its surroundings, or Kiku herself as she interacts with it