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

[Oldmansour]

>Smile
>"No, you are not alone. For as long as this takes, I will be with you."

>"Inside my own head, no less." Kiku says, trying to sound wry but sounding only tired. "For me to lose control of my anger like that..." she says as you both watch Youmu and her twin swords cut their way through their target vine. "Justified, you might think, but it worries me."

[DracoOmega]

>"Corrupting one's memories is a violation of the innermost kind and anger over this is understandable. You've also been through a lot of difficult things, just recently. This could strain anyone's composure."

[Oldmansour]

>"Corrupting one's memories is a violation of the innermost kind and anger over this is understandable. You've also been through a lot of difficult things, just recently. This could strain anyone's composure."

>"I fear it may be a sign of some other kind of corruption." Kiku murmurs. "Ever since my meeting with the Water demon, I have had... difficulty controlling my emotions as I had before. You were there, you saw what happened that night at the shrine."

[DracoOmega]

>"There is nothing untoward about being moved by unexpected kindness or profound experiences."

[Oldmansour]

>"There is nothing untoward about being moved by unexpected kindness or profound experiences."

>"There is for me." Kiku counters. "I've always been able to keep my emotions in check, even when I was a fledgling humanoid." She swipes her paw through the drops of blood on the ground beneath her head. "I fear the Water demon may have damaged me more than you and your ring healed."

[DracoOmega]

>"Had you ever experienced anything quite like what has unfolded since that day? Experiences affect people, without the need for anything supernatural behind them; nothing about the way you acted seemed 'damaged' to me. Perhaps you are used to keeping a tighter check on your emotions, but there is nothing wrong with expressing sadness or joy or even sometimes anger. To me, the way you responded to your sisters' affection felt... genuine."

[Oldmansour]

>"Had you ever experienced anything quite like what has unfolded since that day? Experiences affect people, without the need for anything supernatural behind them; nothing about the way you acted seemed 'damaged' to me. Perhaps you are used to keeping a tighter check on your emotions, but there is nothing wrong with expressing sadness or joy or even sometimes anger. To me, the way you responded to your sisters' affection felt... genuine."

>"I have no issues with expressing emotions, but only on my terms. Only as much as I feel is appropriate. But over the past two days, this has not been the case. Make no mistake, their... display of affection made me happy, but for me to cry is unheard of."

[DracoOmega]

>"Do you not feel that that could also have been appropriate, then?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Do you not feel that that could also have been appropriate, then?"

>"For some, perhaps." she says as Minoriko cuts through the vine she'd been working on.

[DracoOmega]

>"But not for you?"

[Oldmansour]

>"But not for you?"

>"I am not one for public outbursts of emotions like that. I never have."

[DracoOmega]

>"Is it so public in front of a friend? I certainly would not judge you for it."

[Oldmansour]

>"Is it so public in front of a friend? I certainly would not judge you for it."

>"... No, I suppose not. But that is beside the point. I feel- Wait, your creations have stopped."

[DracoOmega]

>Have they?
>Are they finished, or does something seem to be interfering with them? Or did our concentration just lapse too much?

[Oldmansour]

>Have they?
>Are they finished, or does something seem to be interfering with them? Or did our concentration just lapse too much?

>They have indeed. They are not finished, but nothing seems to have stopped them. They seem to be waiting.

[DracoOmega]

>Can we tell what they are waiting for?
>If nothing seems amiss as far as we can tell, have them continue

[Oldmansour]

>Can we tell what they are waiting for?
>If nothing seems amiss as far as we can tell, have them continue

>Best guess is that they are waiting for instructions. Which you provide them, and the three of them do return to work posthaste.

[DracoOmega]

>Do we think this is because we were not paying attention to them for a while, or do we have no idea? They were still gardening for some portion of our talk with Kiku, after all.

[Oldmansour]

>Do we think this is because we were not paying attention to them for a while, or do we have no idea? They were still gardening for some portion of our talk with Kiku, after all.

>Possibly. Or it's also possible that, since you directed them only to one target each, they awaited further instructions once that target was removed. You're not sure which, or both.

[DracoOmega]

>Are all 3 of the vines they were originally working on dealt with, then?
>And were the instructions we gave specific to a vine or just all of them in general?

[Oldmansour]

>Are all 3 of the vines they were originally working on dealt with, then?
>And were the instructions we gave specific to a vine or just all of them in general?

>Correct.
>You gave them each one vine to target specifically. At least initially.

[Hello Purvis]

>Direct them to find any vine they can and cut it.
>If we feel the need, conjure up a few more of them.
>"Do you at least feel a bit better with some of those vines gone?"

[Oldmansour]

>Direct them to find any vine they can and cut it.
>If we feel the need, conjure up a few more of them.
>"Do you at least feel a bit better with some of those vines gone?"

>At the rate the three are going, they should be sufficient to deal with the remaining vines. Anymore constructs flying about with cutting tools increases the risk of one or more of them damaging the tree while working around each other, and you'd prefer to avoid that.
>Kiku sniffs. "I begin to sense more clearly something beneath the memory I can access. But not clearly enough to discen any details, not yet."

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, it looks like only a matter of time, at this point."

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, it looks like only a matter of time, at this point."

>"So it would appear. But do not set your mind on that just yet. The lack of opposition to our efforts so far may yet be temporary."

[DracoOmega]

>"It would be nice if it weren't, but yes."

[Hello Purvis]

>Have a look around, how many more vines are there? Not just on this tree, but in general?

[Oldmansour]

>"It would be nice if it weren't, but yes."

>Have a look around, how many more vines are there? Not just on this tree, but in general?

>Your range of vision is a bit restricted by the dense jungle around you, but apart from the knot in front of you and the remaining vines related to it, you can spy one large vine to your southeast, running from northeast to southeast, and one more vine above this one, running perpendicular to it.
>Beyond the tree you've been working on, you spy another vine about fifteen feet away, running from east to west.

[Hello Purvis]

>Send the pruning squad out to deal with these ones. If they need more help, create a few more. Let's try to get this done quickly.

[Oldmansour]

>Send the pruning squad out to deal with these ones. If they need more help, create a few more. Let's try to get this done quickly.

>Before or after you deal with the remaining vines in and around the tree before you?