Searching for Answers... (Schala/Augen/Cross)

[Schala]

BAM!
Sai landed headfirst in a pile of books.
After cramming her head out of the pile, she found herself lying on her stomach and...well...covered in books.
"Hey!" she said, standing up. Now up to her knees in ruined books, she finally found something that looked interesting.
Legends of Gensokyo: The Imperishable Night* was what the title was.
She opened it, and was deeply immersed in the story about a princess blocking the way to the moon. So immersed that she would be shocked if it were grabbed from her.

(*The game, written as a book . Yes, I read the plot on Touhou Wiki.)

[recon5]

Koakuma winced when she saw the Nekomata hit the ground and she winced again when the girl picked up a book. Fortunately for all who were in the library at that moment it turned out to be non-magical (or at least it didn't have particularly powerful magic) and with how engrossed the visitor seemed Koakuma believed she wouldn't get herself into any trouble. She turned and addressed the maid beside her.

"Akane, I think she will not object too strenuously if you continue her 'bath' now, as long as you let her keep her hands on the book. After that landing she looks like she needs a wash more than before."

----

Meiling inclined her head to one side as she tried to figure out if the intruder was telling the truth, and after a few short moments the events of the day came back to her. She stepped aside and bowed deeply. "My apologies. You may proceed."

[Augen]

Akane looked over at Koakuma. She was being asked to clean the catgirl? Well, Akane wouldn't object to that. So she looked over the catgirl's shoulder at what she was reading. Imperishable Night? Akane had never heard of it.

"Watcha readin'," Akane asked, before extending her tongue and letting it slither loosely around the cat.

----------

Augen looked at the gatekeeper. That was, well... Easier than he thought. So he returned his baton to it's normal size and held it to his side. "Oh, there is no need for you to apologize. After all you were just doing your job," he replied to the girl in green. "But unfortunately I can't stick around. Gotta deal with somethin'. Farewell, gategirl. Live long and prosper," Augen said, making an unfamiliar hand gesture as he made his way through the main entrance of the mansion.

[Schala]

Sai felt Akane's tounge slip around her again, but she didn't mind now, as long as she was reading the book.
"It's an interesting book," she replied. "Apparantely a Lunarian princess and healer made a fake moon, and the princess hid in the passageway between the real moon and Gensokyo."
She read on.
"Her name was Kaguya," Sai said. "Isn't that a pretty name? Kaguya."

[recon5]

Kaguya? The false moon? News did seem to spread quickly in Gensokyo. It hadn't been that long since the mistress of the castle came back bragging about her destruction of the false moon and yet there were already books being written about that incident. It occurred to Koakuma that the book might have been written by Patchouli herself quite recently, which would explain why the assistant librarian was unaware of its presence in the library.

A maid flew over to her with the news that another visitor had arrived at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, so she popped over to the main entrance and was greeted by the sight of the young man from the earlier group... only this time he was covered in blood and he had a young girl (whom Koakuma also recognized from before after a closer look) slung over his shoulder. The assistant librarian flitted worriedly over to where he was. "Are you alright? Do you need any healing?"

[Augen]

Augen had a rather worn look on his face as he looked up at the little librarian... And still, his grin did not die. "Nah... I'm fine... And I found the girl who fell in the lake. Mind, she's not quite concious yet,," he explained before coughing up a bunch of water, some lake gunk, and a fish. "KAFF! KAFF! Ugh... Well, glad I got that out of my system... So which way to the library?"

[Schala]

(Skip me this post)

[recon5]

Koakuma was mildly unsettled by the sight of the fish but she maintained her composure. "The library? This way, please."

Initially she thought of taking the long route but her visitor's condition made her decide otherwise. He didn't seem too out of sorts apart from the blood that covered him but that apparent strength might have been a facade. The assistant librarian decided to give him the rare privilege of using one of the magical entrances and she had him follow her to the nearest door.

Normally this door led to one of the Mansion's numerous smaller corridors but a redirection spell allowed Koakuma to open it directly into the library's main hall. It was one of the many shortcuts Patchouli had integrated into the Mansion to compensate for her lack of stamina. The assistant librarian stepped in ahead of Augen and pushed a pile of burnt books out of the way with her foot.

From where the door was located most of the main hall was visible and it was a hive of activity as fairy maids busied themselves with their cleanup. Akane and the Nekomata could be seen a good distance from where Koakuma entered.

"There you go. I apologize for the mess but we had a bit of an incident not too long ago. The witch who left your group earlier actually came back here on her own but I grant that it was no fault of yours."

[Augen]

Augen stepped through into the library, Kylie slung over his shoulder. And outward at the endless destruction he stared. What were the chances that the right book was still here? What were the chances Kylie would ever be cured?

More importantly, what state was the librarian in? Would she have the answers Augen seeks? These were the questions Augen asked himself. Yet, he had no answer. So he silently walked over to the cat and retrieved his stuff. "Yoink," he said, as he took his utility coat and hat back, putting them on and looking over at the little devil. "So... Is the entire library like this," Augen asked.

----------

The pink haired maid looked over at the newcomer, her tongue still working it's magic. "Oo dis vello? Ee yooman," she asked, examining the human kid with the strange clothing.

[Schala]

Sai noticed the boy from before, and the unconcious girl. Quickly she dropped the book and tried to wriggle out of Akane's tongue,
"Is she okay?!" Sai asked frantically.
"Let me go," she said to Akane. "It's hero time."

[recon5]

Koakuma looked at Augen for a moment before glancing around the library. From what she could see, the damage seemed to be limited to the main hall but the scorch marks and furrows extended between the nearest surviving shelves as well so it could have been a bit more severe than it looked. "The major defense shelves appear to have absorbed most of the damage but I will need to conduct a more detailed check before I can confirm anything."

A familiar presence caught her attention and she turned to see her mistress floating towards her. The magician's reddened and swollen eyes caused Koakuma some distress but she was relieved to see that her mistress had recovered enough of her strength to levitate. She turned and bowed deeply.

Despite her sore eyes, Patchouli was smiling slightly as she addressed her familiar, as if none of the day's events had happened. "You have yet to fetch me my tea. Now you need to make more since we have visitors."

Koakuma had a smile of her own as she straightened. "At once, Lady Knowledge." she replied before disappearing in a puff of smoke and brimstone.

Patchouli watched her familiar leave before letting her feet settle onto the ground. She knelt and whispered some arcane incantations before tracing a simple magic circle. It was red when she finished it but another short chant turned it a bright green and caused a cloud of glowing green specks to rise from it. Satisfied with her work, the magician stood and turned to address Augen.

"This is a healing circle. If you place your friend onto it her wounds will be healed in a short time and she will recover her strength. I use this very spell quite frequently so I can assure you that there will be no side effects."

[Augen]

Akane looked over at one of the other maids, and then back at the catgirl. "Bine, bine. Oo gan goooo," she said, retracting her tongue and releasing the now dampened catgirl.

Augen nodded in response to the librarian's words. Something about a healing circle. "Yes. Of course," he said, tossing Kylie over into the healing circle. "Aye, but this one has a horrible curse on her... Goes nuclear, she does. It starts with fear or anger... Then fire... Then BANG. Not a very pleasant feeling, I'd assume."

Then Akane turned to face the librarian. She seemed better than Akane expected. "Are you alright, Patches," Akane asked, concerned.

[shiningdrake]

Kylie woke up when she was put on the healing circle. However, something was wrong... She could barely see, everything was incredibly blurry and double-imaged, and her ankle still felt a bit sore... Without water, she couldn't truly regain the energy she'd lost from the effort of that spell, and without that energy, healing, whether natural or magical, didn't seem to have its proper effect.

Kylie knew, she needed water, and she did her best to let that be known. "Please..." she said, softly, barely able to speak, but hopefully someone would hear. "I need... Water... Put me... Back... In... The... Lake..." She wouldn't fall unconscious again while on the circle, but neither would she fully awaken until she reached the water... At which point, she would quickly regain all her energy after the assistance of the healing circle.

[Schala]

Delighted at being let go, Sai knew that now was the time to prove herself. In front of the librarian, too! What luck.
She grabbed the jug of water that she had been drinking from and spilled the remaining contents over the half-concious girl.
Then she turned to Patchouli.
"Tell me everything!" she said excitedly.

[recon5]

"Not now." was Patchouli's reply to the Nekomata. While the quick reaction might provide some relief a larger quantity of water was needed. The magician quickly traced a summoning circle in the air and a massive quantity of deep blue slime poured out to engulf the suffering girl. A few injections of magic power forced the slime into the shape of a huge bowl, after which Patchouli cast a minor rain spell to fill the cavity with enough water to cover the girl completely. Finally she forced the slime to close on itself, creating a watery sphere that would keep the girl submerged while allowing air and sound to pass through. The parts of the slime unaffected by the shaping magic twitched and whipped about violently but Patchouli had the creature firmly under her control.

The healing circle wouldn't work through the slime but Patchouli figured that immersing the girl first would buy her enough time to figure out some way to work around that limitation.