first ☾do we fly heavily with the weight of what we know?

[witchoftheweek]

Characters: Patchouli Knowledge and OPEN
Setting: Dorms, Floor 5, Floor 12, and Floor 19.
Format: Prose to start, but I'll match you!
Summary: Patchouli wakes and begins her investigation into the Tower.
Warnings: Interrupting her at her research might get you a side of snark, but otherwise, there shouldn't be any!



Dorms:

Patchouli can be found making her quiet way through the dorm floors going to or from room 3-11. She's not one for conversation; she never has been, and she's certainly not used to living in such a small space. She's just going to do her best to pass through quietly. No smiles from this librarian - she's not mean, she's just not entirely sure how to start a conversation.

Floor 5:

The question that's been on Patchouli's mind since her initial arrival in the Tower has been 'how did they get past the Hakurei Barrier?' It wouldn't be willingly, she knows that. Gensokyo is too well-protected. The Youkai of Borders and the Hakurei miko may appear lazy to the outside observer, but Patchouli knows that on the matter of protecting the border, there's no trace of that laziness.

She has to know, then: is it true? Has the border truly been breached?

So she's here, at one of the viewing stations, having found a notebook and a pen. There is no trace of emotion on her face as she intently studies the landscape before her. She recognizes everything she sees, if not by sight, then by description. Everything, from the Myouren Temple to the Moriya Shrine, down to the Underworld, back up to the Garden of the Sun, to Eientei, to the Forest of Magic, to the Hakurei Shrine...and then there is a flicker of emotion on her face when she inspects the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It's almost unreadable, but it's there.

She's silent when she finishes her inspection, the only sound in the room that of the pen moving rapidly over the paper as she writes.

Floor 12:

Her previous expedition has raised more questions than it answered, and so - with no small measure of gratitude that she can fly on the stairs - Patchouli has come to the second floor that promises some explanation of what's happened.

She has to give them credit; the illusion of being in space is a good one, and she will give that small credit where it is due.

Then the show begins, and she watches. She could map the stars if she wanted, and determine exactly where in the worlds the planet she's watching actually is, but that isn't the important thing. No, the important thing is the process. It's over as soon as it begins, and Patchouli watches, eyes tracking every point of light in that beam.

She stays for a while, watching. Tracking, taking notes, and trying to process.

Floor 19:

Of course, the library is the end point of this particular journey. Patchouli will even do her best to keep her disdain at a minimum. Nothing will ever equal the great library inside the Scarlet Devil Mansion; it's her pride and her joy, and to her, it would take something on the scale of the library at Alexandria to even begin to draw a favorable comparison.

But it's a library nonetheless, and she begins to wander the shelves. She's almost perfectly silent as she does. Missing sections in a library are simply unforgivable, however, and they get a "Tch. Sloppy work." as she approaches each of them.

Still, it's not long until she has a pile of books and a table claimed, and her notes out. It's too early to say much, but she would be remiss if she didn't at least begin to work.

Comments

Dorms

[bloodredandblack]

[Reimu, in all her loveliness, probably would have said absolutely nothing walking by if Patchouli being around was a normal thing.

But it wasn't.

Which means it was a chance to be rude Reimu.]

Hey, book freak. When did you get here?

[witchoftheweek]

[WOW RUDE

...if it had been anyone else - no, that wasn't entirely accurate. If Patchouli hadn't magically locked the three books she had with her from her library inside her trunk to keep them safe, she would have liberally applied the heaviest one to Reimu's forehead right about then, and then apologized to the book afterwards.

As it was? The books were locked up, and that left her with only the option of giving Reimu a scathing glare first, before inspecting her outfit.]

...time doesn't pass the same way as it does back at home, but it's been approximately two days.

And yourself? Did you suddenly decide you weren't too lazy to read an Outside World fashion magazine and then have someone modify your uniform, red-white?

[bloodredandblack]

[She can deal with scathing glares. Reimu gives them out all the time so it would be rather hypocritical if she couldn't.

But two days. Weird, other than the fact that she just dragged Flandre to Marisa just yesterday so it's not like she's been looking around for people.]

What? I haven't been red-white in a few years. You losing track of time?

[witchoftheweek]

[A few years?

Patchouli raises an eyebrow. Her memory hasn't gone bad, she knows that for a fact. If she hadn't been using her intellect, it would rust, but she uses it every single day.]

The last time I remember seeing you at home was after the incident with the Taoist faction, the one that had both the Myouren Temple and Hakugyokurou all riled up. You were certainly wearing red and white then.

I'll have you know that my memory is perfectly fine, thank you.

[bloodredandblack]

Taoists? The last things I dealt with were those Buddhists. It kind of quieted down until your pal Remilia decided to build an entire castle and do her mist thing again.

Floor 5

[colorfulbrilliance]

[Meiling usually would not stop on this floor until her security shift, as she didn't like looking at the viewing screen longer then she had to. It made her think twice on believing that Gensokyo being destroyed not being a lie.

So like before, when seeing Patchouli through the door as she was climbing the tower, she at first passed it off as seeing things..although it took a lot less time for her to turn around and rush into the room standing there in shock.]

Oh no...Patchouli? They got you as well? Please tell me I am seeing things...

[witchoftheweek]

[She knew, thanks to Reimu, that Meiling was here. But the familiar voice was good to hear, to say the least, and especially after seeing that illusion. And it was an illusion, Patchouli reminded herself. It was a piece of magic designed to toy with her, and nothing more.

The gatekeeper will get one of Patchouli's rare smiles - a mix of 'oh thank goodness you're okay' and something that can be defined, roughly, as 'it's not all gone and not everyone is dead and I am really glad, but I can't say it.']

It's only because they underestimated me. I've already begun my research. It's the first step to getting all of us home safe.

[colorfulbrilliance]

[It takes her a moment but she will slowly smile herself. it's defiantly been dulled by her being here so long but it's still a smile. She has not given up on the chance of going home..but at the same time...

Even in this place of horrors you are one step ahead of them. If there is anything I can do, let me know. Out of all of us from home that are still remaining here, Wriggle has been here the longest followed by myself.

I've tried to pay attention for the most part and can tell you what I know...at least if I was still alive for it...

[And now she's rubbing the back of her neck a bit. Patchouli would probably be bother harder and easier to talk with about the tower at this rate, depending on what questions was thrown at her.]

[witchoftheweek]

I woke two days ago, but I needed time to start on my research properly before I could make a proper appearance. I'll apologize for that, but I needed the head start.

As for the basics, you needn't worry. I've already forced down that oatmeal, and I intend to ask for a sample of the liquid within my collar at the first checkup. If it's going to be anywhere near me, I intend to analyze it properly.

[Patchouli pauses for a long moment.]

...you don't need to tell me everything. I know enough to begin, because I found the terminals near the library on my own. I saw the youkai that fancies herself in charge of this place and what she did. I can't say yet exactly what kind of being she is, but I'll find out.

More importantly, the Hakurei miko told me that Flandre is here.

[colorfulbrilliance]

[Meiling nods a bit at this. She's slightly glad she doesn't have to explain as the last time she tried...yeah..That didn't go well.]

No need to apologize to me. I've just been trying to do what I can.

...Oh...Ruana....She's not one to mess with at all....If you want, I have a timeline of what has happened. Marisa requested it, so if you might want to look at it before I hand it over...

[And then that comes up. She nods a little bit]

Yes...Flandre is here. I've been trying to keep an eye on her...But we are not the only ones to have come to the tower...The Mistress, Sakuya, the Yama and ...How can I put it? Our own world's Marisa have come and gone as well. Each have a headstone on the gravyard floor...I know that for a fact.

[And she looks away at this point. Can't keep them from bringing them here nor taking them away..]

Floor 12

[midnightblackandgold]

[Oh, hey... there are some extra stars in the show that don't belong to it. But they seem to follow the same pattern, and the magic is familiar, if more... complete than Patchouli is used to seeing with this specific signature.

If she looks around, she'll find a familiar witch hovering on her broom a ways away. Actually, she's laying on her broom, stirring the air with her stars. And, yes, she is wearing a cape and her hat looks distinctly non-pointy.]

[witchoftheweek]

[So there are. The magic itself is different, but a magician's signature is unique, and Patchouli would recognize this particular one anywhere.

She turns, having expected a change in Marisa's appearance. The cape gets points for style, though that's a thought that won't be voiced.]

Well, that's that settled. I'd been wondering since the - and it will take me ages to get used to calling her the red-black - told me you were here when you'd be after me.

[midnightblackandgold]

Hey, I was on this floor first, ze.

[Marisa sits up on her broom as she looks over.]

Like I care what you're up to when not enabling the Scarlet Devil's stupid ideas.

[witchoftheweek]

My notes say otherwise.

[...not this again.]

I told her this, and I'll tell you the same: I'm from a different timeline. If I'd had any inkling that Remi was going to use the mist again, I would have talked sense into her before she did it.

Instead, after the incident with the Buddhists, the kappa got everyone riled up with some contraption they were using to promote a festival. After things calmed down again, a group of Taoists decided it would be an excellent idea to provoke both the Myouren Temple and Hakugyokurou.

[midnightblackandgold]

You're notes are wrong, ze. Just because I wasn't throwing my magic around the whole time doesn't mean I'm not here. You've always had a hard time detecting me when not expecting me.

[And she thought about Patchouli's words for a moment.]

Oh. You're from boring cake-land.

[tohko_amano]

Tohko, being one of the librarians, was tidying up and messes the patrons had made and putting books away. Following her was her stalker of a retrieval unit, and since there wasn't much that Tohko wanted to eat on this floor, she didn't try to dodge it as much.

However, when she heard a purple-haired girl insult the librarians due to the empty shelves, she walked up to the insulter, a bit annoyed.

"It's not like the shelves are empty because we want them to be. The Administrators here pulled some of the books, and we haven't been able to find them yet."

[witchoftheweek]

"Is that the case? If that's so, it appears I owe you an apology. I'd thought the administration remiss in labeling a section but intentionally leaving it empty. As a librarian myself, I simply can't abide that. It's an insult to the books."

Patchouli's expression softened entirely as she spoke. "And I...I was thinking of my own missing library, admittedly, and how I'd never leave a shelf empty. I might have a problem with one singular book thief, but at least I always know where my missing books will be, so I can call her to account."

[tohko_amano]

At that, Tohko actually..smiled a little and nodded. She remembered her book club back home that was stuffed with books, and her tidy bookshelf back home that was full of books.

"It's alright. Don't worry about it! I wasn't a librarian before I came here, but as a book girl, I can say that it's a tragedy that they would just pull books out. Mislabeling sections would be bad too..but if they actually had the books here, I could work with that.

And I know how you feel..I didn't have any problems with book thieves, but I had a huge room back in my universe full of wonderful books. It's kind of nostalgic, to be honest."

[witchoftheweek]

"It's a crime, in my honest opinion," Patchouli said. "I can understand wanting to protect against theft, but leaving a section unfilled is hardly the way to do it. It would be the same with a mislabeled section. The books themselves would rather be here, I'm sure of that."

She shook her head a bit, then continued. "But really, as I said, it's only the one book thief back at home. I've been trying to get her to change for years. She claims it's only borrowing them, though, really, I'd let her borrow them if she just filled the records out and then returned them on time, rather than deciding to burst in whenever she feels like it, taking however many it is, and then leaving again without even returning the ones she took the last time. At least I know where they are, when it's Marisa taking them, even if I have to wait ages before they get returned, or send someone to collect them for me."

She shook her head with a wry grin. It was almost nostalgic, thinking about it.

"It really is nostalgic, thinking about it, though Marisa would have quite the laugh at my expense if she heard me saying that."

[tohko_amano]

"And it's not like they're trying to protect against theft anyway. They're just trying to keep the residents uninformed about what's going on here."

While Patchouli spoke, Tohko smiled warmly. While, normally, Tohko disapproved of book thieves, it sounded like Marisa was a good friend of this girl, even if she did annoy her. It reminded her a bit of the relationships she had with Ryuto or Konoha back home.

"I don't think she would laugh. She would probably be happy, assuming that she doesn't cherish those times as well. Even though she gets on your nerves, it sounds like the two of you are really good friends."

Floor 12

[wrigurun]

What'cha writing?

[Wriggle hung over Patchouli's shoulder, trying to read what she had written without much success. Despite being in the tower for a very long time, she was only just starting to explore it a little more]

[witchoftheweek]

[Sorry, Wriggle. Patchouli's shorthand isn't really legible to anyone besides herself.]

I'm making some notes about what they're claiming happened at home, Miss Firefly. It's the first step to figuring out what kind of illusion they're casting to make us all believe that it's gone.

[wrigurun]

Um...

I dunno anything about an illusion. But I don't think where I'm from is gone, because there's someone that came from the same world as me but she came after I did.

What kind of a world are you from?

[witchoftheweek]

[...right. Smaller words, Patchy.]

We're from the same world. You know the Scarlet Devil Mansion in Gensokyo? I live there, and our gatekeeper is probably the one you know.

[wrigurun]

Eh! You're from Gensokyo? Really? Then it definitely has to still be there!

Um... I don't know about any mansion though.

[Wriggle generally doesn't remember much outside of the forest she lives in]

Ah! So that means you know Meiling!