>>11316 I am actually hanging there already, but thanks for the tip. I'm sure they can offer me some help.
**
You can't just let the poor lady go out with frozen feet like that. Immortal or not, it still hurts to get your feet amputated.
"Oh come in already. Let's get you warmed up." You say and step out of the way pointing the lady to step in. She hesitates for a small moment and then slowly moves in without saying a word.
Hina guides the lady to sit in front of your fireplace. You catch a strange odor as they move past you, almost like numerous flowers mixed with natural scents of spring. It's a very comforting smell... As if this frozen lady was a beacon of light in middle of this rotten, cold winter.
"Phil? Close the door or we will all end up like her." Hina interrupts your pondering and you close the door.
The lady indeed seems to be frozen: her feet are covered in frost bites, her fingers are all black and there are numerous red stains on her hands. You wonder how she is even able to walk at all.
"Poor soul! Just how long have you been out there dressed like this?" Hina worries as she puts some more wood to the fireplace. "From where do you come from anyway? There aren't any other cottages nearby."
"Gensokyo." She looks at the flames passionately. "I need to bring them a spring." Well she surely talks strange. Maybe it's the cold that's making her a bit odd. You take a look at Hina who now seems to be staring at the lady. She mouths the word "gensokyo" silenty and seems to be thinking something really hard.
"Hina? What's wrong?" You put a hand on her shoulder. "Hina?"
"I... I need to go there too." Hina stands up suddenly and gives you a very serious look. "To Gensokyo."
Okay. She wants to go to a place called Gensokyo all of sudden.
"And where might that 'Gensokyo' be?" You ask.
"In Japan." Jonathan enters the room wiping his oil stained hands to a towel. "It is a large closed area guarded by a militia of some sort. I once went there with Lily."
"You have been in Gensokyo?!" Hina suddenly asks Jonathan. "Do you know how to get there?"
Jonathan looks at Hina for a while. "Last time we just got lucky. We walked around for a while and ended up inside the area on our own."
You feel somewhat left out from the conversation. "So am I the only one who doesn't know what it is?"
Jonathan gives the dirty towel to you and smirks. "Boy, learn to listen. Nothing more than an area inside Japan. Beatiful no matter when you visit the place. Actually I wouldn't mind visiting the place myself either."
"You want to go to Japan? Just why... well how do you exactly plan on going there?" Your voice might be getting a bit loud by now. "And why?"
"It would be nice to see the spring there." Jonathan continues in casual way. "Last time it was winter and we didn't stay there very long."
You turn to Hina who is now back at helping the lady warm up. "Hina? Do you want to explain me what's going on all of sudden?"
"Well it is complicated." Hina says putting a finger on her lips. "It is a very special region. To be honest, I didn't even remember it existed until our guest over here mentioned it."
"So who is she?" Asks Jonathan finally paying some attention to the woman sitting in front of him. "A youkai?"
"No. She's a fairy." Hina says knowingly. "A very special seasonal fairy."
Did she just call her a fairy? And what's a youkai?
The lady now looks up at you and says quietly: "My name is Lily White. Pleased to meet you."
Jonathan gasps and quickly walks to grab this Lily from shoulders. He takes a good look at Lily's face and then asks with a voice you can barely hear: "Lily? Is that you? Are you still there?"
Lily seems to be scared now that an unknown man is shaking her from shoulders. Hina goes to help Lily and rips Jonathan's hands away.
"Mother?" The question just comes from your lips.
Lily turns to face you and seems very confused from all this sudden attention.
"No, Lily is gone, get it?" Hina looks at you both. "Even though a woman with the same name and looks is in front of you, that doesn't bring the dead back. That's the way of life."
You realize how silly it really is. Jonathan is still staring Lily and you can see something meaningful in his eyes. Are those tears?
"Jonathan, you are scaring our guest." You say and throw the dirty towel back to your father. He seems to wake up from his trance and apologizes his sudden outburst.
[] Ask why Hina wants to go to Gensokyo
[] Ask why they haven't told you anything about this place before
[] Ask something else, write-in, etc...