Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Valentine Timeslip Episode 1 Part 1

Light shines wrapping everything in whiteness, from your field of view to voices to the very presence of things. But eventually an unnatural darkness sets in, like you’ve fallen asleep. When you wake up, you’re lying on the forest floor again, with no traces of the wyverns in sight. You question what happened.
 
Echo wakes up next to the spring asking after Narcissus and looking around in a daze. Barguest abruptly wakes up yelling for you and Echo to run away from the wyverns before smacking himself against a branch again. After he sorts through the pain, he asks where the dragons went and points out how calm the forest is. You either ask if Barguest is okay, wonder what’s happening, or say this feels like deja vu.
 
Snow and Gyumao come over as Snow checks in on you all and says he doesn’t sense the wyverns’ hostility anywhere nearby. Gyumao repeats his suggestion from the first time around that Barguest should get his head looked at. Since the danger is gone, Gyumao thinks now would be a good time to make a short speech of thanks, but Snow asks him to save it for later. You either say you’re glad everyone is okay, say this seems familiar, or ask if Gyumao is still doing that speech later.
 
Echo is quiet, and you wonder aloud about what’s happening. Echo says the same thing and says she doesn’t know. Snow suggests discussing that, which Barguest agrees with. Barguest also says if you guys stick around his bad luck might bring the dragons back. Gyumao pops up behind him and says they should go and think up countermeasures later. Barguest tells him to not touch him so casually because his bad luck will rub off.
 
As the three guys start walking, Echo comments that Narcissus is “gone” again. You call over to her and ask her to come along, so she answers that she’ll come too. The party heads back out of the forest, though Snow is the only one to look back at the spring and view what just happened with some suspicion.
 
Title card pops up, and this chapter is called First Love Meltout.
 
Things tune back in at that house base as Echo asks what she’s looking at as she looks around. Snow says he’s prepped some Earl Grey tea and talks about how it has calming effects. He offers Echo some with plenty of milk in it. She thanks him and takes the cup. You ask why there’s an afternoon tea set made, express surprise at having a tea party in an abandoned house, or ask for some Earl Grey with lots of milk.
 
Going C, Snow says you do look tired so he obliges your request. Anyways Gyumao compliments Snow’s milk tea as being as good as his own company’s original brand and says it’s as good as always. He also comments that it feels like his fatigue is melting away as he laughs. Barguest says he knows breaks are necessary, but this feels like a bit much. He’s surprised Snow got out a stand for cakes and sandwiches.
 
Snow says that a butler serving Claude has to always give a consistent first class performance. Gyumao comments that if there’s anything he wanted, it’d be some Hourai dim sum. Snow says he’s already thought of that and has a dim sum set for him. Gyumao is shocked by this.
 
Barguest says this is supposed to be a simple break and questions the point of it being so elaborate. You talk to Barguest and says there is a point as you direct his attention to something. Snow asks Echo how her tea is, commenting that he held back on the sugar to compliment the sandwiches and cakes. Echo says it does go well with those things and that she feels relieved. Barguest shrugs and smiles, deciding that things are fine then.
 
Some time later, Gyumao comments that everyone’s feeling calmed down now, so he suggests examining the situation again. He asks everyone to bring up anything they might have noticed, no matter how unimportant it may seem. Barguest talks about his surprise about the wyverns being in the forest and says they gave no signs of their bloodthirst or presence until they actually appeared. Echo says they were scary.
 
Gyumao asks Snow if the dragons were what he was talking about way earlier about sensing a powerful presence. Snow denies that and says he would have noticed if it moved. You wonder who Snow felt then, but Snow is more interested in the wyverns since they had no presence despite their aggression. He finds that strange and says it’s like they were spontaneously created there. He also questions what the spring is and comments that it’s painfully clear you guys don’t know anything.
 
Echo tries to speak up, so you either ask what’s wrong or tell the guys that she’s trying to talk. Going A if it matters, Barguest remembers that Echo was always staring at the spring and asks if it’s related to her. Echo mumbles a bit, so you ask her to tell you guys what she knows about that place and the person who was there.
 
Echo closes her eyes as she takes a few deep breaths to pluck up the nerve, then she starts speaking. She tells you that the spring is where she met Narcissus, and Barguest asks if that’s the name of the guy you saw. Echo is quiet for a bit before she confirms that it was definitely Narcissus and nods.
 
Snow apologizes in advance and asks Echo about her relationship with Narcissus. She repeats his question back as she gets nervous about answering it, and you can ask if she likes him, is afraid of him, or dislikes him.
 
Barguest protests that it’s a bit too hasty to be asking that question and says you need to be sensitive to kids of that age. Then he apologizes as he remembers you’re that age too. Echo struggles to answer the question before eventually saying that she likes him and adores him.
 
The guys are touched by this response, and Gyumao calls it bittersweet. Snow agrees as he hopes that the young master Claude will have this day come for him too. Barguest sighs as he says he didn’t have much of an adolescence now that he thinks about it. You either comment that they’re all looking into the distance, ask what their expression is supposed to be for, or call them all old.
 
Echo fidgets as she tries to say something else, and Snow apologizes saying he didn’t think their relationship was as deep as it was. Echo panics a bit as she has to deny it’s like that. Gyumao asks if it’s a love affair then, and Barguest has to tell him to stop interrupting and keeping Echo from speaking. You also try to mediate and get them to let Echo talk.
 
Some time later Gyumao apologizes and says he gets so excited when he hears about passionate topics. Echo apologizes for getting excited herself. Barguest says that it looks like you guys have figured out that this shift is reflecting unforgettable scenes from Echo’s heart. Echo says she agrees.
 
Snow notes that Echo is from Olympus and says Narcissus’s Spring is a memory she has of someone she loves. Barguest then says the cause of the shift must be Echo’s feelings for Narcissus. He asks her to tell them about her relationship with Narcissus as much as she is able to.
 
Echo agrees, then takes a deep breath before speaking. She mentions that she likes Narcissus, but Narcissus doesn’t know about that. Gyumao calls it one-sided love and says it would leave an impression if you were summoned and left the other party behind. She doesn’t comment on that. You ask Echo if she wants to convey her feelings to him and/or if she wants him to notice her. She nods.
 
Gyumao says he agrees with her forward facing approach and says they’ll all support her. Echo is confused by this, and Snow says he’ll help too. Barguest says he’ll help too if it’ll get them all back, and brings up the dragons again. There’s no way she can confess if those things come attacking again. Echo hangs her head as she feels it’s all her fault, but Barguest notices and says it isn’t. He tells her to not think or say that again. You either agree or find it weird he’d be saying that.
 
Going A, Echo looks surprised, and Barguest returns to the topic of the dragons. He suggests thinking of a way to express emotions besides words. Echo calls his name, and you think on the idea for a moment before it comes to you.
 
Some time later, Echo asks about Valentines Day and it being a day of giving chocolate. Gyumao is impressed and says you have both a good idea and good timing. Echo says she knows about chocolate but doesn’t know much about Tokyo’s customs yet. Snow offers to explain then.
 
Snow talks about how a certain empire outside of Tokyo that once existed forbade soldiers from marrying out of fear of their morale declining. There was a churchman who heard the soldiers’ laments about this, so he held marriage ceremonies in secret. In the end he was executed under the pretense of sacrifice, but the day he was martyred became linked with the day of lovers. His name became linked with it too, and that’s where Valentine’s Day comes from. Snow also adds in that March 14 is White Day, the day to give back thanks for Valentines.
 
Echo mulls over the idea of a day for lovers. Gyumao speaks up to explain that since Tokyo became connected with other worlds, the meaning of the day has changed a little. That’s because there are many different cultures with different ways of expressing love. There are also cases of sex change and cultures without marriage concepts.
 
Due to that, Valentines has become simplified to being a custom of giving presents to people you care about, including parents and friends. Chocolate especially is exchanged between friends and family, and Gyumao points out it can also be given to someone you have one-sided love for.
 
Echo fidgets over that point, and Gyumao points out that it can carry her feelings, just like it can deep affection and burning passion. You either express shock about another world Valentines, say it’s good and fitting for the holiday, or say there’s a lot of problems though.
 
Barguest says making chocolate isn’t that easy, and this isn’t even getting into the fact that you guys are in an overworld shift yet. He asks if there’s any way to do so. Gyumao laughs and says he’s got that covered as they have That Thing here. The episode ends with Barguest asking what that is he’s talking about.

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