Inside 72: Halfway to a Gross

[Morty]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Fayyaad gives Braeg a flat look. He's not used to having to explain he didn't sleep with someone. Usually there's no real way to deny it.

"No, you're mistaken. We weren't intimate. We've only spoken twice." And the second time they did leads him to believe they likely won't again. He's not going to tell that to Braeg, though. He has no reason to trust him with such information. "I wouldn't have said no if she'd asked, but she didn't."

[Ironsmith]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Fayyaad gives Braeg a flat look. He's not used to having to explain he didn't sleep with someone. Usually there's no real way to deny it.

"No, you're mistaken. We weren't intimate. We've only spoken twice." And the second time they did leads him to believe they likely won't again. He's not going to tell that to Braeg, though. He has no reason to trust him with such information. "I wouldn't have said no if she'd asked, but she didn't."

[Flavio's House of Gold]

"...No?" Braeg's gaze shifts over to one of his attendants, who backs away nervously. "You brought me bad information."

"What? No! I mean, I was certain they- *ribbit*"

Braeg scoops up the frog that was his attendant a moment ago, turning to face Fayyaad again. "And as for you... what's the matter with you? No chase at all? Does our clan not produce the finest, most alluring fiendling women on the world?" He nudges his other attendant, who nods frantically.

"Yes, of course, Lord Braeg."
"The women of our clan are known for their sultry gaze..."
"Long, lustrous horns and hair..."
"Full-formed breasts..."
"Ample backsides..."

Braeg looks at his attendant skeptically. "...'Ample backsides'?"

"Er... what I meant was- *croak*"

Braeg sighs. "So hard to find good help these days."

[Morty]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

"Good sir, you have my heartfelt apologies for not having a sexual affair with your niece" is not a sentence Fayyaad ever expected to think, much less say. Still, the two frogs that used to be people also tell him quite clearly this man is not to be trifled with, so he bites back on some immediate ideas for responses.

"She is quite a handsome woman. But the circumstances of our meeting didn't create a mood for such activities. You know these things can't be forced."

[Ironsmith]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

"Good sir, you have my heartfelt apologies for not having a sexual affair with your niece" is not a sentence Fayyaad ever expected to think, much less say. Still, the two frogs that used to be people also tell him quite clearly this man is not to be trifled with, so he bites back on some immediate ideas for responses.

"She is quite a handsome woman. But the circumstances of our meeting didn't create a mood for such activities. You know these things can't be forced."

[Flavio's House of Gold]

"Only too well." Braeg says with a little sigh. "No matter. It seems I'll have to wait a while to welcome you into the family." He gives a little shrug and pockets his toadies. "Fortunately, that's not the extent of what I'm here to discuss." Braeg makes a gesture away from the floor to yet again indicate that this was meant to be a private conversation.

[Morty]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Wait, welcome to the family? Would that have happened if he'd slept with Braon? Seems he dodged a crossbow bolt here. But Braeg just said fiendlings aren't meant to be tied down, so... this doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. But let's not dwell on it for now.

"Very well. You've answered my questions, so let's discuss the rest privately."

He leads Braeg away from the floor, towards one of many back corridors of the casino. As always, behind all the glitter and opulence of what the place shows to its customers is a dreary landscape of pipes, doors that haven't been repainted in some time, buckets of something hard to identify and old cardboard boxes.

[Ironsmith]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Charming.

"All right, Fay... can I call you Fay?" Braeg shrugs. "The simple fact of the matter is this; my niece has been... away, for quite some time. She ran off the day she turned thir-" Braeg ducks as one of the buckets hurls itself at him, making a gesture that causes it to deanimate in short order. "...Thirteen. As you can imagine, a young girl like her, going out into the great wide world without anyone to look after her, worried us quite a bit. We searched all Lesserwood, then all Maesda, for her, but couldn't find a trace. We had to branch out into other realms, but the search has been... less than fruitful." He gives a shaky sigh. "Some... some of us believed she'd been lost entirely. Myself included, admittedly. So..." He smiles, just a tiny bit. "Imagine my surprise when one of my attendants tells me she's been sighted; my niece, a woman grown, making advances at another fiendling in a bar not far from here." He puts a hand on Fayyaad's shoulder. "You're the last person to have seen her in ten years. Tell me, how is she?"

[Zefir]

[Looking for Jo]

Since one of the succubi does have a small crystal, they don't mind letting him go until someone figures everything out.

Carmen meets up with him, carrying some stuff in a way that makes it not obvious.

"I found a note from...well not her but someone else. I didn't completely get all it said but did say something about the Nexus, so...I think there's a good chance she's there."

So that nobody else walks up on them, Carmen starts walking towards the cave entrance. "Also, I grabbed some things that I could give you. Y'know, kinda like payment for this."

[Looking for Jo]

Their choice was really only fight him or let him go. Negotiations went bad after all.

"That is the best way we have. She left here years ago. The whole paladin thing that happens here appears not related to our task." he follows up as they go.

"As long as those aren't stolen from the succubi here it should be fine." I don't remember if she paid for the contract or promised something there.

[Morty]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Fayyaad starts as the bucket hurls itself at Braeg.

"What just happened?" Looking back to the man, he makes a decision. He might be genuinely concerned for Braon or he might not. But Fayyaad will proceed with the assumption he is. And if so, he deserves to know. "When we spoke, she tried to steal from me. But I didn't hold it against her and we had a pleasant conversation. She seemed troubled and embittered, but also wishing for a friend. And then..." He shakes his head. "Have you heard of the disaster that struck Inside? She's right in the middle of it. Some fey have their hooks in her and I don't know just how it happened."

[Ironsmith]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Fayyaad starts as the bucket hurls itself at Braeg.

"What just happened?" Looking back to the man, he makes a decision. He might be genuinely concerned for Braon or he might not. But Fayyaad will proceed with the assumption he is. And if so, he deserves to know. "When we spoke, she tried to steal from me. But I didn't hold it against her and we had a pleasant conversation. She seemed troubled and embittered, but also wishing for a friend. And then..." He shakes his head. "Have you heard of the disaster that struck Inside? She's right in the middle of it. Some fey have their hooks in her and I don't know just how it happened."

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Braeg listens to Fayyaad's story, nodding at the part where she tried to steal from him. "Yeah she does that." He adds helpfully.

When Fayyaad explains the current situation, Braeg lets out a short, barking laugh. "That was her? I had no idea! Ha! She's really gone up in the world from petty curses, hasn't she?" He gives a little chuckle. "Let me tell you, the day she put this hex on me was the proudest I'd ever been of her. Such passion, such fire! Granted, it was a little disappointing to see her channeling something as easy as raw hate, but she pulled it off so well..." Braeg holds up the drink he swiped earlier, in what would be a toast if he'd bothered to offer Fayyaad one. "And now, she's got the power to tear up the town! That's my girl!" He grins proudly, downing the booze in one big, celebratory gulp.

[Morty]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

This really isn't the reaction Fayyaad was expecting. His natural optimism show itself, perhaps. If Braon put a hex on him, it explains the bucket, though. This doesn't make him any more comfortable, though. It seems he's speaking to an even more unpleasant character than he expected.

"...right. I see. Well, if you want to talk to her, you know where to look."

[Ironsmith]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

"Hm. No, I don't think I will." Braeg shrugs. "She might not be too thrilled to learn that I'm, you know, not dead." He swirls his glass in his hand as it refills itself. "But, for news like that... let me just say I owe you one, Fay. What would you like? Something to help set the mood the next time you two meet?" He chortles.

[Aurora Alchemi]

[ Cherry Garden ]

Reuma laughs softly, their gait easygoing with a very slight side to side sway, taking the time to enjoy being able to walk in pleasant company. The antics of the siblings aren't lost on the pronghorn, and the gentle scatter of verdant flecks and glitter is the empathetic imprint of the pleasant walk. "Oh, a cherry grove sounds perfect! A-and actually, it doesn't matter much to me that they won't be blooming..." The mask tilts, and the knowing hazel eyes give a playful wink, cryptically letting the sentence hang, the healer holding on to the surprise for a little longer.

"The potential to carry a name, huh? That sounds pretty wise to me... There are a lot of my people's old scraps that talk about something like that, especially the stories of the witch of faces. Something about the respect for the power of names... I think most of that was to keep young and dumb fauns from runewyrt shenanigans when they aren't ready for the consequences." The last sentence comes out with a hint of regret or remorse, more hints at a troubled past, but the healer seems to move on quickly. "But the potential to be such a powerful creature... You must have had quite the history at some point to link that potential into yourself."

Reuma continues following along with Chimera, standing just close enough to occasionally place a hand against them, as if to signal walking with them, despite the difference in their sizes. "So... apart from just running around a-and saving people, what do you all do? L-like, is there a found family here for you? Or a job? I-i mean, if that's not too personal a question, ahah." The pronghorn gives a soft tilt of the mask, but faefire flitting over her horns and the sound of her voice relays the smile on the soft features hidden behind the mask. The healer taps a few places with the staff, and gently draws a bit of the warm green fire away from her horns and into the crystal, where it pulses with a calming light.

[Rebonack]

[Hunting for Ice]

"We don't want money you giant fat idiot!" one of the pixies shouts.
"Yeah yeah, no money!"
"If you want to pay the toll you've got to get us some LEAVES!"
"Yeah yeah! Leaves!"

...leaves.

They want leaves.

Why leaves?

If Butler looks around carefully, he might actually notice pixies flying around with tiny snipped pieces of leaf flying in from all directions. Pixies flying to and from a hole near the base of Mount Smolest, all carrying cut leaves.

They must really like leaves for some reason?


[Autumn Park]

"Huh? No, I can leave the boulder whenever I want," Feldspar replies, looking puzzled. "I just like my boulder. It's a nice boulder."

It is a pretty nice boulder.

"Well, Buttercup isn't around Inside anymore I don't think. But if any Buttercups ever show up just remember that if they called you Buttercup tell them your name isn't Buttercup."

Just like that!

Easy.


[Verdant Heights]

The goblin doesn't reply to Braon.

Possibly because he is very old and very boring.

And depending on how long those vines are?

She might suddenly find herself dangling from the end of the club like a spider on a string.

"What," Skidmark asks. "Do you want?"

Meanwhile!

Ah, the ancient and time tested technique.

Using a fool to bludgeon other fools.

It isn't terribly long before one of the goblins assaulting Harley is reduced to a heap of garbage which just so happens to be about how long the goblin Calm Reed nabbed survives.

And sure enough, one goblin leaps out of the way of the sword swing, but then gets yanked right INTO the sword and impaled to death! Take that, goblin! With only three of them left at this point the creatures turn tail and fleet, loping back toward the Briar Patch not too far away. It would appear the way forward is open.


[Mossman Park]

Of course it's pretty similar to riding a dragon!

Drake is very fearsome.

"What kind of idiot would think a pixie can breath fire? I can breath out pixie dust with intoxicating honey mixed in, though. One time this giant oaf was trying to wreck one of my hives so I blasted him and he passed out drunk in the grass for a few hours," Drake recounts. Technically that wasn't just one Drake blasting him. It was a whole bunch of them.

Anyway! Off they go!

Drake takes off, zipping between trees and providing an experience that isn't totally unlike riding on a dragon. Within a few minutes they'll emerge from the forest and spy an absolutely HUGE beehive that's been constructed between a pair of trees for support. Easily big enough for oodles of squirrel-sized bees to make their home inside of it.

"HEY YOU FUZZ-BUTTED MORONS! Have any of you seen a pixie around that looks as ugly and mushroom-brained as this one?" Drake shouts at the other Drakes. He gets lots of insults back, but amongst all the yelling is some useful information. Apparently there are a bunch of other Mairi's nearby busy being mushrooms while one of them is chatting with a dryad. That's exactly the sort of information Drake needed so he flies off in that direction. Once he spots the other Mairi hanging around on a tree-branch he'll fly in close, give the best hissy-squeak of a roar he can manage, and blasts a bunch of glittery golden sparkles everywhere.

Very intimidating.

No doubt it'll make the Mairi riding on him seem extra cool and possibly scare the skirt right off the other Mairi.


[The Basement => Mossman Park]

June sprouts wings!

That's a really useful trait to have in the Bottomless Pit since the Pit is annoyingly insistent about making it hard to climb back up. So! She flies! Upward!

And it seems like hardly a few seconds have passed before-

POP!

She pops right out of the run down chimney on top of the dilapidated house in the woods. June just barely missed the Mairi that just flew away on Drake. Bummer! She'll have a pretty good view of an envenomaited owl thrashing around on the ground, though. There's a tailless weird gecko-squirrel-bee pixie nearby shouting insults at it. Maybe that doof knows what's going on?


[ Cherry Garden ]

Chimera moves at a leisurely, measured pace, feline languidity on full display. They're in no hurry. Effortless and silent footfalls, yet a commanding presence that is absolutely unmistakable; a fragment of ancient times breathed to life. This is the sort of creature the world yields before. Muscles ripple just under Chimera's tawny fur, testament to the legend's divine strength. It's not unlike watching a statue come to life. The whole aesthetic of a proud, noble guardian of a time lost to time is somewhat dampened by the fact that Leona and Drakaina are still arguing about absolute nonsense.

"Oh, that's g-good. It isn't too far," Aries confides in Reuma as they walk. He doesn't pry about the surprise. If the pronghorn wanted to say more, then she would say it. Let actions speak. That will be well enough. "I d-don't know if there was anything special about our history, except maybe our ancestry. We were always a chimera, of sorts. S-sometimes when siblings are only a few cells they f-fuse in the womb. S-so that's what we were. A triplet biological chimera. M-me and my two sisters. We've always h-had three distinct internal monologues b-but we thought that was just n-normal? Since you're never in anyone else's head how would you know d-different?"

Aries lets those words hang in the air for a time. A hand placed against Chimera will find them pleasantly warm, like the touch of a warm summer day high in the mountains. Eventually Aries speaks again, this time a question."What's a runewyrt?"

It isn't a term any of the siblings are familiar with.

"Oh, ah, we do volunteer fire fighting. B-but we're working on our m-masters in marine biology at Inside University. We're a t-teacher's assistant in zoology. If you get Drakaina talking about our r-research project she won't stop," Aries says, his tone a bit bashful. "We... umm... have other hobbies. And, umm... classes will be starting up again p-pretty soon."

"Aaaaaaand Aries has a girlfriend," Drakaina helpfully adds.

Aries blushes furiously. Seeing a giant ram blush is certainly an experience. Look how red his ears are turning!

[Ironsmith]

[Verdant Heights]

The goblin doesn't reply to Braon.

Possibly because he is very old and very boring.

And depending on how long those vines are?

She might suddenly find herself dangling from the end of the club like a spider on a string.

"What," Skidmark asks. "Do you want?"

[Verdant Heights]

"(I remember this being more fun.)" Braon mutters to nobody in particular, before pulling herself up on her vines like a gymnast to come to a rest on Skidmark's club.

"Okay, Skid- can I call you Skid? We were never really clear on that. Hm." She shrugs. "Okay, Skid. Should be obvious, even with bits of..." she makes some vague gestures with her hands. "...Zitgut in your ears. There is literally nothing happening down here. And, maybe it's because I'm young and stupid and not yet so senile I don't have a sense of time, but that doesn't sit right with me."

[Morty]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Fayyaad maintains a neutral expression with some difficulty. If he'd known how this man would react, he would have told him blatant lies. He's not pleased to have delivered good news to him.

"If I meet her again, I doubt an improvement in the mood is going to help." And he's not likely to give him anything that actually would help. Nor would Fayyaad ask him. "How about we call it even?"

[Zefir]

[Autumn Park]

"Huh? No, I can leave the boulder whenever I want," Feldspar replies, looking puzzled. "I just like my boulder. It's a nice boulder."

It is a pretty nice boulder.

"Well, Buttercup isn't around Inside anymore I don't think. But if any Buttercups ever show up just remember that if they called you Buttercup tell them your name isn't Buttercup."

Just like that!

Easy.

[Autumn Park]

Mr C notes the Buttercup fact and then pulls out a cellphone to write it directly to Reinholdt. Not because it is urgent, but he has the strange feeling that he might end up not getting back or miss his notes on the way.

"Thanks." he says. "Oh it sounded like you wanna do your job again but can't. Well in that case all seems fine. Remember if you need to move it you can call me, I come as soon as possible, in emergencys I can even come at cannon speed. And yeah i mean litteraly cannon speed. No metaphore. So, what can i do to get someone back to be themself?"

[Ironsmith]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Fayyaad maintains a neutral expression with some difficulty. If he'd known how this man would react, he would have told him blatant lies. He's not pleased to have delivered good news to him.

"If I meet her again, I doubt an improvement in the mood is going to help." And he's not likely to give him anything that actually would help. Nor would Fayyaad ask him. "How about we call it even?"

[Flavio's House of Gold]

"Your loss." Braeg replies with a shrug. "Too much so, even. As a man who giddily anticipates having a shiny new nephew in the near future, I can't let that drop in good conscience." He takes another gulp of his drink. "So, we'll just leave that favor on the table. Maybe you won't redeem it now. That's all right; the anticipation is half the fun." He tosses the frogs out of his pocket, which turn back into a pair of frightened-looking fieldings when they hit the floor. "If you decide to cash in, you can find me at the temple of Inari. I trust you know where that is." Without waiting for an answer, he starts to walk off, his attendants crawling after him frantically.

..."Ample backside". Hmph. My backside is positively elfin, thank you very much. Fayyaad's ring flushes indignantly.

[Reinholdt]

[Hunting for Ice]

Butler frowns. "There's no need to be rude sirs."

Rudeness is never called for under any circumstances! That's a butler law.

He tilts his head a little as he processes the pixies very demanding request.

"But... if I leave, how will I get the ice sirs?" What an unusual payment system.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Twisty Labyrinth]

So what's going on?

Magical girl in blue with a crossbow on her wrists?

That seems like it would be annoying to reload but magic probably takes care of that, doesn't it?

And the witch is attacking with shards of stained glass maybe? That would be a pain. Khannie considers how she might counter something like that. She can make big gauntlets, so maybe just shield herself with a could? Or wrap those scarfs around herself like a great big cocoon? Thick enough fabric can stop glass shards, right? She's pretty sure they can.

As she ponders the branch she's standing on abruptly crumbles to ash which... maybe means the witch is dying?

It also means she's falling.

Khannie quickly thrusts out one of her fists into a swirling scarf portal, resulting in a MUCH BIGGER portal appearing under her from which a SUPER SIZED gauntlet emerges!

Palm up.

Fingers flat.

Khannie drops onto her hastily created platform.

She looks at her arm sticking into the portal. Then down at the giant version of her own hand that she's standing on.

"So I'm pickup myself up by my own shoelaces. Okay," she mutters.

Come on Khannie! Pay attention! Keep your eyes on the battle it isn't safe here.

[Rebonack]

[Twisty Labyrinth]

Things fall apart.

The center can not hold.

When Khannie sees the glass coming she leaps off her hand platform, shifting it above her head to protect her from the falling shards. Down down down she goes until she strikes the floor with tremendous force and-

SUPER HERO LANDING!

Really she doesn't even feel the impact. Like hopping off her bed at home. Maybe falling just doesn't hurt her anymore?

Either way, she stands up and gives her gauntlet a flick, pulling it back through the swirling rift and restoring it to normal size. She watches the witch wilting like a flower in the distance.

Is that it?

She came in most of the way through the battle, she's sure, but really that didn't seem very tough. Pokemon battles have more give and take than that.

With the danger seemingly past, Khannie waves her arms at the other magical girl. "Hey! You did really good! Are you okay?"


[Hunting for Ice]

The pixies seem puzzled by Butler's reply and group up in the world's smallest huddle.

After a few seconds one of them pops out of the group and flies right up to his nose.

"You have to LEAVE and get LEAFS! The kind that grow on trees! Are you as dumb as you are ugly that you don't know leaves grow on trees?" the pixie demands. "Once you get us our leaves you can have some ice."

Don't worry, Butler.

These pixies are rude to everyone. It's just how they are.


[Autumn Park]

"You mean like how to de-fairy someone?" Feldspar replies. "Well, I heard there's this Watcher who lives Inside that has this machine that can turn a faerie into a pokemon! But I really don't want to be a geodude or whatever so I don't think I'm going to do that. I also heard that there is another way to do it, maybe, but I don't know if it's just a rumor or not."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Twisty Labyrinth]



And the alley reforms in its wake.

Standing nearby, hand held over her head to stop the impact of glass that never reached her, is the other magical girl.
Like Khannie, she seems to be a human, though she sports some fairly not-human bright blue hair tied into a messy bun on top of her head. There's a sigh of relief at either not being impaled by shards of glass, having defeated the Witch, or both, before she smooths out the wrinkles in what looks like be a particularly frilly ballerina's garb. Turquoise tutu, slippers, and all.

It takes her a moment to realize that Khannie was talking to her, which leads to a jumpy moment of raising her two wrist-mounted crossbows halfway towards her, before quickly lowering them with an embarrassed look.
"Oh! Uh, hey there. Yeah I'm cool, fine, not hurt at all. Hope you weren't looking to snag this one for yourself?"

Her last question is asked as she reaches down to pick up what appears to be a black sphere, with a thing silver needle on one end, and a tiny little decorative angel on the other, connected and held to the sphere by a lattice of silver embroidery.

[Rebonack]

[Smell Alley]

Oh hey.

They're back in the alley!

And it still stinks.

Khannie's outfit it reminiscent of a knight's tabard over a martial artist's gi made of little silvery links. The base hem of the tabard of course being a bit more decorative and skirt-like. The look is rounded out with metal grieves and gauntlets. It's a neat little outfit all done up in silver, lavender, and dark purple. Khannie's hair is held up in a pony tail by a great big lavender bow with a purple gem at the center. Notably, she doesn't have any obvious weapons.

"Oh cool, great! No, I wasn't looking to snag one for myself, I'm not even sure what that thing is. What's left of the witch, I guess?" she replies, scratching at her pony tail idly. "Mostly I just wanted to see another Magical Girl fighting a witch so that when I have to the first time I won't be going in blind. That's not a great way to start a fight."

She tries offering a friendly smile.

"I'm Khannie Vallarm and I just made my wish maybe ten minutes ago, so I'm pretty new at this. That Labyrinth thing was wild. Like a kaleidoscope barfed up a scrap book."

Then a little voice rings out in Khannie's head!

Hey Khannie a weird doll thingy came out of the glowy thing and ran off. Do you want me to follow it?
Yeah, follow it and let me know where it goes okay? If it tries hurting anyone euphoria breath it but try to stay out of danger.

Khannie's briefly distant look quickly fades.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Smell Alley]

"That's a grief seed! They're the heart of a Witch."

The magical girl jumps again, as the voice of the cat-fox-thing pipes up from on top of a nearby dumpster.
Evidently it was hanging around out here.

"...Urgh, I wish you wouldn't always do that. You're going to give me a heart attack someday. Yeah, this thing's a grief seed. You get 'em when you put down a Witch and break its labyrinth. Lucky you found me to tell you then, I guess, new kid. You need these to clean up your magic reserves. Like this:"
A gem not unlike Khannie's appears in the other girl's hand, though it seems to have a growing core of gray in its middle. She holds the gem to the grief seed and said gray seems to flow from one to the other, leaving her gem rather pristine looking.
"Don't want to run out of juice in the middle of a fight, or before a fight, so it's pretty important to find these things. Also just sort of a good idea to get rid of the Witches before they hurt people, you know?"

A beat.
"Oh, and I'm Terri."

[Rebonack]

[Smell Alley]

So it would appear, yes. The dumpster foxcat appears!

Khannie doesn't really jump, though she DOES seem a bit surprised. She's a pretty perceptive kid and she tends to notice things. Did the white critter just pop out of nowhere? It couldn't have been there the whole time, she would have seen it.

"The heart of the witch," she repeats, watching the process of magic cleansing. "Oh, I get it! It's like power points on pokemon moves. Except you've got one reserve of magic for all your Magical Girl stuff?"

She's expecting an affirmative nod there.

"So you get a recharge every time you beat up a witch? That seems like less of a hassle than having to guzzle ether or visit pokemon centers all the time. How do the witches hurt people, exactly? It didn't seem like the sort of thing that could really... move around at all. It looked like a big Thanksmas tree. And nice to meet you, Terri! Your crossbow is pretty cool."

Then?

Something occurs to her.

"Hey, I had my friend Maridia watching the outside of the Labyrinth. She said a weird looking doll came out and ran off right before it collapsed. We should do something about that, right? I've got her following it."

[Morty]

[Flavio's House of Gold]

Again with this nephew business. Does this man call everyone who sleeps with his niece his nephew? Or niece, as the case may be, he doesn't know Braon's preferences. A favor is a favor, though. Maybe he will find a use for it.

[5a Violista]

[Looking for Jo]

"Don't worry, all of this either was mine and hidden away, or used to be mine," Carmen says.

She hands a bunch of it over to him. "As thanks for helping me find out this much. It's a lot more knowledge than I would have found just by myself. So. Thanks."

The injured succubus is now gone, having been moved by the few succubi who were given a few crystals; and those ones have presumably also left to try to find more somewhere else in case the ones they have run out.

The journey back to the large time-bubble that used to be the paladins' territory is pretty easy, since nothing else was able to move in there while time was frozen. That's a really convenient thing about it, actually: on the way to somewhere, you have no idea what's waiting in store, but you know that the way back is exactly as safe as you left it.

So, they get back there, near the meadow where they started.


[Verdant Heights]

Oh!
They seem to all be gone, and running.
Harley takes a deep breath, and the wounds stop bleeding a little...but because she knows someone else is here, she doesn't bother closing them completely.
"Well, thanks," she says to Calm Reed. She brushes the garbage off of her and off of her sword, and (even blindfolded) turns towards the apartment building.

"It seems I'm under a curse to make me want to keep on fighting, so..." She takes a deep breath, and then starts to run after the fleeing goblins into the Briar Patch, as if chasing after goblins is the rest of the sentence she was saying.


[Mossman Park]

Mairi laughs at the mental image of a giant oaf lying on the grass like that.

She holds on and pretends to not enjoy this. But it's almost as exciting as it was before, so she's having a hard time hiding her glee and smile, to the point that she has to hide her face when they get to all the other Drakes.

The skirt of the other, less-cool Mairi does, in fact, get scared just like that when the Drake-riding pixie shows up, laughing. She hides behind the dryad/her tree. And then comes out when the other one gets off and starts talking with her.

"Hey, thanks!" she then says back at Drake, as she lands on the tree. "Not quite as good as a dragon, but for a dumb fairy you got as close as someone like you could."


[=> Mossman Park]

June lands, and the inky wings look like they're melting and turning to liquid, leaving the black streaks down her back.
She looks around, and is a little weirded out about the thrashing owl. What happened to it? That draws her attention to the tailless gecko-squirrel-bee.
"Hey, you lizard-brained fruitcake," she says, walking up to the weird tailless chimera-thing and crouching down by it. She reaches out to grab it. "What are you even doing to that dumb owl?"

June still looks recognizably like June. Her fingers end in black claws, though. There's a bit of blackness around her eyes, that also looks like mascara that got wet and started dripping down, and a thick black line that goes up and down over one eye (but tapers off the farther it gets from her eye). Also, on her face and a few other places on her body, it has the same look of like a porcelain doll cracked and shattered, sometimes exposing the empty blackness underneath.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Three Detectives]

Ava raises an eyebrow at the mention of an orphanage but doesn't comment or inquire further on the incident. The recent events took priority over her curiosity so she shouldn't change the subject, especially when she was just an observer here.

[Three Detectives]

"Hmm. If it's infecting people, it could be related to some of those prior events." Ithuriel mutters with a heavy sigh. "Hopefully not, but you never know. Well, not I've definitely got to give you guys a hand. I'll get a few things cleared up and be ready to go in a few." She pauses, glancing at first Ava, then Michalson. "Uh, sorry, assuming we are setting off immediately? I can meet up with you later or whatever if you want."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Smell Alley]

The general gist of Khannie's assumption is confirmed, with an added caveat.
"There is only one grief seed per Witch though, so you have to be pretty careful about doing this sort of things with other magical girls..."
If everyone uses up all their juice, not everyone gets their juice back.

"As for the, uh...danger. The Witches often have Familiars, which are little minion things that do their dirty work for them out in the world. Go out and mess with people, brainwash them, kill them, whatever. Sometimes Witches pull people into their Labyrinths and do the work themselves...
I'm not sure what part of that last one you saw, but it had plenty of minions and exploding...I think they were Thanksmas ornaments. Probably scarier for a girl who couldn't fly out of reach, I guess."

Their benefactor on the dumpster decides to contribute to the last part.
"If it came out of the Labyrinth, it was almost certainly a Familiar. Given time, it will become another Witch. If you want to stop that, you should probably destroy it."

[Rebonack]

[Smell Alley]

"Teaming up can make beating a Witch easier BUT only one magical girl will get to recharge," Khannie summarizes with a slow nod. "There aren't any other ways of getting magic back? Like... I know a little bit of sorcery. To get my sorcery back I just have to have a nice dinner and a good night's sleep, otherwise my head starts feeling swimmy if I do too many spells."

So you had better be able to WIN the fights against Witches you pick.

Otherwise you'll be wasting magic and not getting anything back for it, assuming you aren't badly injured or worse.

So pick your battles carefully.

Don't get in over your head.

And if you team up? Share share share!

"I saw lots of broken dolls on my way in and you finishing off the tree-topper, but that was it," Khannie says. "Okay what happens if a familiar gets away without a Witch to report back to? Does it-"

Then Kyubey is nice enough to finish that thought for Khannie.

"It can grow into another WITCH!? Well, if Witches do all these bad things to people then we don't want to let it do that, do we?" Khannie concludes, pounding one fist into her palm. "I can go clobber it. Maridia can lead me there. Hey, do familiars still try to hurt people even without a Witch leading them?"

If the answer is no she's still going to find the little imp. If the answer is yes there will be quite a bit more haste made.


[Mossman Park]

"I had fun even though I could hardly stand the smell being so close to you! And I liked talking to you even though you're really stupid!" Drake calls out as he flies off again.

Meanwhile, in other Drake news!

The tailless lizard is picked up and given a good shake!

"I stung him because he tried to eat me you giant fat skyscraper sized dope!" Drake informs June. "Wait... Did you find your name down in the Pit? You smell a lot like that ugly mushroom-brained pixie except spookier and a zillion times fatter."

[Reinholdt]

[Hunting for Ice]

"Ohhhhh, TREE Leafs sir." Butler gets it now! They just had to clarify a little.

But instead of doing that, they chose to be even more rude.

This has become unacceptable levels of impropriety. Butler can't in good conscience fetch them anything when they're acting this way.

"Sir, you're being exceptionally mean right now. If I were your parents I would be ashamed of you sir. Have you ever stopped to consider how hurtful you're being sir?"