/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Remi had a way of helping her in ways she couldn't fathom. Perhaps it was her charisma. Perhaps the machinations of fate were taking control of her mouth and causing just the right words to slip out. Perhaps it didn't matter either way. "...Yes, perhaps you are right. Sakuya, may I request that you bring Meiling to see me?" Sakuya stared at her like she didn't understand the order. She knew what. No one had taken Meiling's weaknesses to the Spell Card Rules harder than Sakuya had. To her, it had been the equivalent of seeing someone she looked up to beaten to almost nothing. And so, she'd taken to being extra cold to Meiling, perhaps as a way of coping. In the end, it wasn't Patchouli's concern. "Thank you for your words, Remi. And...Well, I suppose I don't need to remind you not to trust whatever honeyed words Yukari Yakumo or her servants toss your way."

"No, you don't need to remind me. You don't need to thank me, either. Rather, I should thank you for telling me. A person shows their true face when they ask for help, I think. We show ours by how we respond. Sakuya, shall we?" She looked over at her chief maid, and a split second later, both were gone. Patchouli waited silently for two seconds, staring at the space where they had been.

Three quarters of a second later, Hong Meiling was in her library, her vest discarded on the floor behind her and her leg raised well above her head. She blinked, turned her head, then lost her balance and fell backward. "Huh...?" She asked, groaning. "But - Gates - But - Library...?" She looked at Patchouli again. "...Oh."

"Oh, indeed." Patchouli murmured. "Get up, Meiling. Put your vest back on and sit down. I need to discuss something with you." She snapped her fingers again, summoning Koakuma back. "Get a fresh teacup for Meiling. If you even think of lacing it with aphrodisiac, you'll be navigating the library without the use of sight nor sound for a week."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Lady Patchouli." Koakuma told her, smiling. "I have already reversed the position of every book in the East Wing." She looked very proud of herself, even when Patchouli grasped her by the collar and dragged her head down.

"Go and change it back, right now." She hissed. "Else I'll add touch to the senses you'll be missing." Koakuma nodded cheerfully, then stepped back into the shadows. A moment later, she emerged with a teacup. Patchouli's eyes shifted as she double checked. No, no aphrodisiacs. Koakuma would remain safe for now. Patchouli indicated Remi's recently vacated seat. "Sit, Meiling. I have a question for you."

Meiling finished pulling her vest back on, but didn't fasten it shut. Slowly, she sat down, pushing her flaming red hair from her bright blue eyes. "Er...Lady Patchouli, shouldn't I be guarding the gate...?" She took the teacup when it was offered and hesitantly took a sip. Usually, she prepared her own tea, but Patchouli didn't feel like waiting for her to finish. "It's... Good?" She finally ventured. Her face betrayed that she vastly preferred her own supply.

"I don't care if you like it, Meiling. Drink it and tell me something. Have you been having any strange dreams lately?" Patchouli leaned forward, staring the gatekeeper down. "Dreams to do with a certain building?" Meiling immediately sat up straighter. There was her answer, then. There were plenty of other, smaller indicators, too. A quickening of her heartbeat. The beginnings of perspiration. Her affinity with ki...Perhaps she felt what Patchouli felt in her dreams even more strongly. "Indulge an exercise of mine. I'm going to say a word, and I want you to say the first thing that comes into mind." Meiling hesitantly nodded. "Sekai."

"Cage." Meiling immediately replied. "Wait, sorry, er...Cage? Lady Patchouli, what's going on? Who's Sekai?" She likely didn't have the dream retention that Patchouli had, but she still had retained enough to answer Patchouli's questions. Yes, it was indeed Meiling who was present with her in those dreams.

And...Worse, her feeling of being trapped looked to be accurate. "Cage." Patchouli murmured in response. "Sekai, meaning the world..." Sekai, as she seemed to keep thinking in those dreams. But...Sekai wasn't just a word. No, she wasn't thinking of the world. She was thinking of something else. Something more specific. A name...? Sekai, a person. A child. "'A child will be a child, no matter what...'" The words seemed to come to her, unbidden. "Meiling, tell me something. How does your ki feel? Is it in balance?"

"Um..." Meiling took her hat off to scratch her head. "It's - Well, now that you mention it, it's a bit strange...It feels like I'm slightly imbalanced, no matter what I do. Meditation doesn't seem to be clearing it, and every now and then, I get these-"