/jp/ - Otaku Culture

In the time between looking from the mountain to Meiling, her appearance had changed. She'd gained all the wounds of her spectral self, and her clothes had changed to the attire she wore now, as the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She straightened her hat, nodding with a grim smile. "In the future, if we survive whatever's coming...I'd like to come here again. Through the corridors of my memories or in the real world. And...I would like it if you would come with me, Lady Patchouli."

Patchouli Knowledge raised her arm and inspected it. The damage was appearing to her, too. She'd not been ready when she'd woken up, but now the last of the transfer was complete. "I’d like that, Meiling. It’s a promise." The world seemed to know that it was time, the sunshine appearing paler. She blinked, and Meiling was gone. As if she'd never been there. Looking behind her, Patchouli watched as the world she stood in began to disintegrate. "Count yourself lucky, child." Patchouli murmured. "That it was we stubborn fools who were bound to your world that day." She raised a hand to her head as another burst of lightning illuminated the world tree in the distance, lurking in the back of Meiling’s mind. "Isn't that right? Sekai?"



Consciousness returned wreathed in fire and ice. Pain enveloped Patchouli's body, both through the icy tendrils shooting through her mind and the burning heat of the wounds on her body. She fell backward, collapsing onto the side of the bed that Meiling lay in. The gatekeeper seemed to be struggling just as much, and from the way she was writhing, she'd opened all of the wounds that she's suffered again. Patchouli had, too, and she vaguely had the thought in the back of her mind that Sakuya would kill her for all the blood she was getting on the sheets. She wanted to scream, but linking her mind with Meiling's in the way that she had was enough to severely damage her vocal chords. It'd likely be days before she could speak properly at all. Meiling was under no such illusions, and was free to scream from the sudden onslaught of pain.

Patchouli wasn't sure how long passed before she found her control returning, but finally, she managed to force her body upright. Blood was soaking through her clothes, but it was a manageable amount. She'd be fine. "Lady Patchouli?" Her battered body turned to the source of the noise and found Sakuya Izayoi watching her. "May I help you up?" Even though she'd seen the maid recently, she suddenly felt an onslaught of emotion. Enough that even for her, it was overwhelming. Her spectral self hadn't seen the maid in a year. And - And Remi, and the others...Patchouli weakly shook her head. She could stand, and that was good enough. She pointed Sakuya to Meiling instead, because Meiling had idly mentioned on several occasions in Sekai's world that she missed the other residents of the mansion.

For Patchouli, someone was more important. There was Remi, still holding the apple that she'd had in her skeletal hand. Now, Patchouli could feel the emotions that she'd been holding off. The pain of separation and the joy of reuniting... "That look in your eyes..." Remi murmured, her one visible eye softening slightly. Of course, she could figure it out. She wouldn’t have been so interesting to Patchouli if she couldn’t. "Have you missed me, my dear friend?" Patchouli would likely pass out again. Her body needed to recover just as much as her mind did, but when she awoke, it would be time to work. But...Before she did, she would make a concession for her spectral self. She stumbled forward, then fell to her knees. Remi placed her apple on Patchouli's bed, then, with her skeletal hand, took Patchouli's hand with a gentle smile. All the emotions that she'd forced down while trapped in the HSE were escaping now. The tears at seeing Remi again after a year apart, even though she'd seen her just recently...She felt her vision begin to darken. As she faded again, she heard her oldest friend speak. "Cry, if you so wish, Patchouli Knowledge. Tears are, at times, more eloquent than words."