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Wicked Wax Witch of Waning FIRE ✪✪✪✪ (Level 4) [Aqua/Effect] ATK/ 300 DEF/ 1800 Each time a Phase ends, all other monsters lose 100 ATK, then this monster gains 100 ATK for each monster that lost ATK. Once per turn, (Quick Effect): You can target 1 monster whose ATK is lower than their original ATK; negate its effects until the end of this turn. Concept:

"I'm sure a witch was just looking for a place to sleep here and they slammed the door in her face. Sounds about right to me." "Perhaps..." Licorice mused. She then frowned as Penelope, Alois, and Ciela said their pieces, all in favor of staying at the village. The Protean shook her head, expression growing more frantic. "You don't understand! This is--" she cut herself off. "No, never mind." She sighed. "If that is what you have decided, then I suppose I'll stay and help out too." "Gunther and Shiro went to investigate a house. Apparently there's someone else in it who's also human, though, I don't know more than that." Alois stated. Turning to the princess he said, "and Cora's house is down that way. It's near the wall and well, there'll probably be a pink wyvern there so you probably won't miss it." He began walking toward a house at the edge of the square, "feel free to pay her a visit. I'm going to go make sure the other two don't get lost." The fox frowned again as she watched him leave, and then turned to Penelope as well. "Shall we go?" Walking down the streets, they ended up following the wall around like Alois had said. Most of the houses they passed looked the same though there were a couple ones that stood out. Namely the one with the black cat standing in front of it. Eventually, the group came to a stop before a house that didn't stand out in any way, shape, or form, aside from two things. The stable in the back, which held a horse and a familiar-looking pegasus, and the large pink scaled...thing. It was hard to tell what exactly it was, actually, as only its body could be seen, the head itself poking through an open window. "Is this what he meant?" Licorice asked. "I guess that does look like it could be a wyvern..." She approached hesitantly, and then knocked on the door. -- There were two conversations going on, and neither of them currently involved her. Catriona wondered, once again, what she was supposed to do in this scenario. Which conversation should she participate in? The one between Link and Cora, or the one between Edrick and Citron? While she disliked the idea of adding to the lie, she knew nothing about farming, so there was little to contribute to the latter conversation. To the side, Adelaide seemed content to let things flow as is, which would normally be what Catriona would do, but also, as leader of the group--or at least the person who started their quest--she had a certain responsibility to make sure that things went as they wanted. Namely, finding the Great Dragon. She itched to stand up and interrogate this person, to demand answers, or at least some sort of clue. Despite Link's smooth explanation, the only reason they came here was to get information. However, there was a method to these things, and the last thing the princess wanted was to be run out of town, or worse yet, find out that Cora was some sort of Pontic informant. Catriona was unskilled in wordplay, but Link seemed to be handling himself well, at least. He sounded practically like a Histian native, which certainly lent his tale some credence. While Link turned his attention to the wyvern, Catriona took over the conversation. "How we came here matters little," she shook her head. "Suffice to say we are here now. What is more important is figuring out what exactly is going on with your village." She didn't want to believe that this was a magical issue, but she had to admit that it was looking like a strong possibility. However, between them, there was little more to speculate without further information. And they couldn't get that information without doing some investigating. Catriona felt a little helpless. Their hands were tied until the others returned, especially with Link and Citron injured like they were. Time passed, and even the lord began to get a little sleepy doing nothing in the small, cozy house. However, she kept herself awake and alert. "You should rest," she urged the others, though she sent a pointed glance to Link in particular. "I'll keep watch." Much as she wanted to trust Cora would not do anything, she could not make herself let down her guard around this girl. Still, it was a little awkward. Without the buffer of others keeping conversation, it became apparent just how much a fish out of water she was here, in this place. Eventually, the group's rest would be disturbed by a knock. "I'll get it," Catriona said, heading to the door, a hand on her sword. Opening the door, however, she was relieved to see the missing members of their group, the ones who had gone off to find Licorice. Sienna was there as well. But her attention was mainly captured by Penelope. Nodding to herself at seeing her sister safe and sound, the girl said nothing, merely stepped aside to let them in with a glance toward Cora. "These are some of the others in our group." Remembering what Citron had said about names, the white-haired woman decided to do some introductions. "This is Penelope, Ciela, Sienna, Tsetseg, and Licorice." She gestured toward each person in turn. "This is Cora. She's a friend of Alois who is letting us stay at her house for now. And over there is Citron. We met her in the village earlier. She's a traveling merchant. That wyvern over there is hers, Peaches." Licorice nodded, "Nice to meet you both," and then looked down at Rohns, who she had been holding. She had almost forgotten about the wolf cub with everything that had happened since entering the village, and his eye still had not been seen to. She held him out to the green-garbed soldier. "Rohns got injured, we think by a hawk." She looked a little guilty. "Sorry. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have been out there. You should probably take a look at that eye, or have a healer look at it." By now, however, enough time had passed that, healed or not, there would probably be a scar. The fox backed up, seeing that the house was getting a little full. "I'll wait outside," she said, and stepped back through the doorway, Sienna following her out like a pale shadow. -- Alois would have no problem getting to the house, though he would have problems getting in, as there was not only the beaver from before, but a large gray wolfhound standing in the doorway as well. Still, both animals seemed calm enough. The wolfhound nodded and barked once at Gunther's question, then turned its attention to the man, who looked positively fascinated at the sight of the dog. Approaching the man, the dog held its paw out, causing the man to sit down with a thump and put his hand over the dog's paw, as if to shake. However, rather than grasping the paw, he just held his palm flat out over the paw, bobbing it up and down. The action seemed to calm him down, and he looked up at the three intruders, mouth slightly open to show his tongue. He perked up at seeing Alois, and emitted a couple happy shouts, but otherwise stayed where he was. The beaver made a noise that sounded remarkably like a scoff before walking over to join the rest of them. The wolfhound let its paw drop before turning to the others and giving a couple barks, tail wagging slightly when it saw Alois. Pacing in a circle, it started barking again, pointing at itself with an outstretched paw, then at the man, and then at the group before it pointed at itself again. OOC

"Well that's easy." Mac said, rolling her eyes. "All we gotta do is make sure to beat up the bad guys right? Doesn't matter how big a fight it is if we win before anyone else can be hurt." Ari sweatdropped. "That's easier said than done..." The Helioptile looked Ari up and down and mentioned. "Say, have you gotten taller since we first met? You look...I dunno, bigger somehow." "Really?" the Litleo's eyes bugged out, as he looked down at himself. "I haven't noticed anything different, but I probably wouldn't notice myself." He started to grin, "Yippee! I'm finally growing! Watch out, I'm gonna be as big as a...as Entei." "So, what do you wanna do? You wanna rest until morning, or go wandering now?" "Ew, who'd wanna rest after all that excitement?" Mac said. "Come on let's see if there's something else to do! Plus I bet your mom wants to hear all about how you beat up a bad guy." She grinned at Kazo. "Oh yeah!" Ari grinned up at him as well. "You gotta tell her all about it, Kazo!" -- "What is...a picnic?" Phione asked. "Is that what you are bringing me to?" "Uhh...not exactly," Easter sweatdropped. "We're hopefully going to take you to see Mew. And maybe your mother too." Following Dora, they almost fell into calamity multiple times, but the Wooper finally seemed to realize that they should be heading away from people rather than toward them. Eventually they made it into the throne room, in front of which stood a familiar Kingdra. He looked at the group sadly. "So, this is how you were going to do it then?" He positioned himself in front of the stairs. "I don't know why the queen let you take Dora, maybe you tricked her, or convinced her using her kind nature, but...I'm told the king has ordered us to keep her here. So...just give up now so this doesn't have to get violent." The Sylveon felt his eye twitching at being stopped yet again. If only the queen could have distracted the gijinka longer. Stepping forward, he spoke up. "I understand that you have your orders, sir, but there are orders, and then there is what's best for Dora." He breathed in. "It's not like we're kidnapping her. We're her friends, and she wants to come with us. She needs to see the outside world, grow, and experience life to the fullest extent, and she can't do that by staying in one place for her entire life. The queen understands that." He looked down at the Wooper. "Why don't you ask Dora how she feels, if you still don't believe me?" -- "Sometimes," Keanu sighed, plopping down on the sand, "sometimes I wonder what my brother's thinking in that thick head of his. He's a Lapras, but he wants to be a fighter." He choked out a laugh. "He has so many advantages that I don't. Everybody knows Lapras gijinka make the best surfers. He could be legendary, but he chooses to engage in dirty sports like boxing, wrestling, and all-and-out brawling. I don't get it." He glanced up at the Pikachu beside him, an older man with large creases around his sea-blue eyes. "I just can't relate to a guy like him at all." The other Pikachu chuckled. "That's perfectly normal. You're not always going to understand others, and their beliefs. Nor will they understand yours. In these cases, it's best to meet them halfway." "Halfway, huh?" Keanu scratched his head. "I dunno much about that. Is there even a halfway point for us? We both like exercise, but he's a fighting freak, and I love to surf." "You both defy expectations," the older gijinka replied. "Just like me. Everybody told me I wouldn't be able to surf unless I evolved, but you and I have both proved them wrong. Your brother has probably been told the same thing, that Lapras gijinka are meant to surf. But if that is the case, why do you think he chooses to fight instead?" "Because...that's what he wants to do," Keanu said slowly, then shook his head. "Except I already knew that! But...how could anybody choose not to surf?" "And how could anybody choose not to fight?" the other Pikachu rejoined. "That is what your brother is thinking. The paths you two tread may be different, but you walk upon them with the same kind of single-minded determination. And there is something to be celebrated in that." "Maybe..." Keanu sighed. "I still don't know how I can use that to get along with him better though. Doesn't matter if we both are passionate about something if they're two entirely different things...but thanks Puka." "You're welcome," Puka nodded. "And...that is fine if you do not understand. One day you will." - "I think I understand now, Puka," Keanu muttered. "I hate fighting, but I've learned that sometimes you have to fight. And maybe that's why my brother wanted to do it. He wanted to be a fighter and protect the people he wanted to protect." He shook his head. "Brother...if only you were here now, instead of me. You would probably have taken care of Allie already, you, Randy, Marie, and Nani." He shuddered slightly at the last name, then chuckled darkly. "And here I stand...unable to do anything. Held back by fear. I guess that's just how I am." The Pikachu let his head hang lower. "All these people...fighting for what they believe in. Just like my brother did." He raised his head, eyes determined. "I guess...it's time to meet them halfway then. Talk in the only way the people of Adarid seem to talk." The electric type lifted up his hands, clenching them. "With their fists." He closed his eyes, power gathering around him. "This electricity...I will use it to connect our thoughts like a circuit. Maybe then, I will understand just why you all choose to fight." His eyes snapped open. "Charged Currentcruiser!" A wave of electricity settled over the ground like a net. While it did not harm those it touched, it did cause their hair to stand on end a little, and they would feel as if they had just drank a cup of Komala Coffee. Keanu then hopped on his tail, floating about a foot off the air, right above the net of electricity. Sea green eyes flashing, he charged straight at Allie, a wall of electricity shooting up in his wake. Reaching the Tyranitar, he crashed into her like a bolt of lightning, the sound akin to a thunderclap. Puka...are you watching me? I am meeting these people halfway. I, Keanu, who abhorred fighting before, am fighting for not only my life, but the lives of my friends. For my ohana. -- Lok had begun to chase after Shaymin, but the legendary didn't stop, her fear spurring her forward with greater speed. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, only knew that she had to leave this place. The woman was forced to stop, however, when Kayla appeared in front of her out of nowhere. "Um. Hold on....please." The girl said, practically under her breath. "No...nonono, I won't stop!" Shaymin shook her head frantically. "You don't understand, none of you do...what breaking the barrier will do. I was able to stop it last time with that but who knows what will happen this time?!" With that, she kept running forward. If Kayla didn't move out of the way, she would end up being crashed into.

"I-is that safe?" "No worries, I've eaten much worse before! And it doesn't look like whatever killed this was venomous so it should be fine." Even so she'd be sure to take the first bite out of the bear meat. To make certain it was safe. She was actually pretty excited to get back and see how happy the bear would make Cormag. He always seemed to prefer to eat predators if given the chance. Rona thought he secretly felt bad eating something that could barely defend itself in life. "We're going back, right?" Rona smiled at Yue, giving the nervous girl her most confident smile, and nodded. "Yes, let us be off. It will take some time to drag this beast into the camp. Make sure you don't drop what you got. I imagine it will take some time to clean up this one." With that said she started to pick up the large animal. It was...rather heavy indeed. Forcing her to drag it most of the way. While they encountered no real issues on the way there was a near constant sense of something. Something nearby. Following them. It never attacked but it was just...there. She didn't know if it was simply following them because it was there or because it wanted the bear. But it made her nervous. So she talked. Not about anything. Just idly talking about the forest and the bear and whatever came to mind. Anything to not show how nervous she was to Yue. By the time they reached the camp she was glistening with sweat but, as she got into view of the rest, she grinned widely. "Look what I found!" She called out. After depositing the bear she went to Leon to tell them what they had found and what had possibly followed them. "We'll have to be on the lookout that's for sure. Something's out here that shouldn't be." "Well- well, you're the last person I want to talk to. Hmph. But, well, it's not like I hate meeting new people or anything. It's just...everyone I meet is either terrible, or pushy. And I don't think that's the kind of excitement I need." Alexis had heard of this before. Sunder? No, not quite. Something like that though. Whatever the case it was rather...amusing. Not a type of person Alexis normally got to deal with. Which of course meant that she was looking forward to talking to her more. "So what kind of excitement do you need then?" She asked. "Eh? Um..uh..." The girl was clearly confused by this question, putting a hand to her chin saying, "none? Um..." She then seemed to mull over the question in more depth internally. Alexis smiled and leaned back, holding herself up by her arms, while she watched the girl think. "Is it really that tough of a question? Surely there must be something." "Well, it's more of an...every day kind of..." The girl stopped herself as she realized something, seeming more defensive as she said, "well, there you have it." "And the mystery grows evermore." Alexis said. Then she tilted her head back as she heard movement. Which was when Rona made her entrance...dragging a bear. Alexis whistled. "Well, that's not something you see every day right there."

+Citron Of all the people Citron had expected to give their name, the quiet Histian guard was the last one she expected to be first; though, he was also the last person she had really expected to get friendly with Peaches. As adorable as she was, she wasn’t exactly the most personable herself. Still, she’d take the name in stride, nodding. “Nice to meet you, Link!” She replied with an almost forced glee, inwardly wincing at how strange it had to sound, before turning to the guy she had heard mentioned as a farmer. “Oh! And you’re…” She paused, trying to remember what the armored-woman who acted like their leader had called him. “Edrick, right?” She absentmindedly rubbed her hands together, eyes lighting up. The boy in question had just been getting ready to sit himself down somewhere on the floor where he could put his back to the wall and try to get at least some amount of sleep. In fact the unexpected mention of his name was enough to startle him, resulting in an odd step that took his feet out from under him and sent him stumbling to the floor with his head knocking heavily against the wall. “Aoleu,” he groaned after a moment’s delay. It hadn’t hurt that much, at least compared to most of what he’d gotten while traveling with the group, but it was enough to at least daze him. It also brought out the colorful patterns on the walls...no, wait, he was seeing stars. Maybe he’d hit his head harder than he thought… “Da, eu sunt-” he stopped when he realised he’d lapsed into his native tongue. “Uh...yeah, I’m Edrick.” “Nice ta’ meet’cha, Edrick!” Citron gave a thumbs up as she crossed her legs on the bed; swaying back and forth, both out of excitement and… Well, due to the headache she was sporting. “My name’s Citron, of Paridisi farms! And Iiiiii was gonna ask ya’ ‘bout your farm! Or, well, I started to ask you earlier,” She stumbled over her words, rubbing the back of her head. “Still a little out of it, but I figured we could pick up where we left off ‘nd all, because heck yeah, farms.” At least her stumbling through opening the conversation up meant Edrick had enough time to make sure he wouldn’t end up answering in Pontic again… “Umm...yeah. Farms!” Not that he was really any better at breaching the subject, tired as he was. It felt like his thoughts were oozing out of his ears. “I think you asked about fruits? Well...I uh...I didn’t grow much fruit. Most people on the banks of the Lanti grow grains. Wheat, barley, sorghum, you know.” It was pretty obvious that wasn’t the answer Citron had been looking for, so the boy spent a few tense moments wracking his brain for something else. Thankfully, he found it. “Ah! But right up against the banks, the whole town’d had these huuuuge fields of cranberries and we’d harvest them every Autumn.” Just thinking about it brought him back, and he could practically feel the cool waters coming up to his thighs. “Cranberries?” Citron asked curiously, putting a hand to her chin. “I’ve… Not really heard of those, if I’m being honest? I lived in a pretty, um…” She’d gesture vaguely around the room, particularly to places devoid of… Stuff. “Desert-y climate, so we could only plant really, really specific stuff. What’re cranberries like?” She’d finally ask, tilting her head to side. Now it was Edrick’s term to get excited. “So! They’re these little,” he held up his right hand and brought his thumb and forefinger together until he had an approximate size for a cranberry, “red berries that grow on vines that run really low along the ground. So instead of breaking our backs bending over to harvest them, how we’d do it is we’d flood the fields and the berries would just float right up to the surface! Then you just take a basket and go along and skim them off the top!” It seemed like he was about to start bouncing, and then he hit his head again. “Vai! A-anyways, we’d have these week-long harvests of them, and of course everyone’d eat a bunch of them right off the water. Oh...they were so good…” he trailed off, trying to figure out how to describe the taste. Now, Citron, she very much was bouncing, with the conversation; eyes practically sparkling with every word. “Woooaaaah! They sound so cool!” She grinned, rubbing her hands together. “Were they juicy? Berries are generally juicy, so I bet-- Oh man, I bet you could just make the BEST lemonade by combining the two!” She exclaimed, her voice genuinely excited. “I have GOT to find them during my trip, so I can try it out!” “Yeah! But they also have all these little, hard seeds inside of ‘em so you gotta be careful when you bite down. Plus the rind can be kinda bitter. Really they’re best when you pickle or make ‘em into jam. I dunno what lemonade is, but if it’s tangy or sweet then I’m sure they’ll mix really well with it! Just...just gotta...get back...home…” the boy trailed off, once again finding himself overcome with that familiar, homesick longing. “Oh, that’s a good point,” Citron’s excitement fell similarly, though, it only trailed off as her migraine had found a way to catch up with her; her movements slowing. “I forgot to ask, about where are you from? If, you don’t mind me asking,” she smiled, rubbing the back of her head. “I also understand if that’s like, a sore spot or too personal or anything like that.” “No no it’s fine, just-” he paused, unsure how to move forward. Either confident enough to go forward or too tired to care, he went with the plainest approach. “So, the Lanti river’s pretty far East of here. It feeds into Lake Amphis...on the border between Locris and Pontus.” “Ooooh…” She nodded, getting a rather… Vague, idea of where he meant. She had glanced over the maps time and time again, trying to make sure she followed in her Grandfather’s footsteps, but those still only helped so much; she was certainly no master of geography. “That sounds right enough,” she nodded, smiling. “Anyways, I guess I should stop bothering you, ‘nd let you get some rest, huh?” “No, no I can...I can stay…” his efforts at protesting her letting him rest were interrupted by a yawn. However much he didn’t want to go to sleep, it looked like the little of it he had gotten so far was going to get the better of him sooner rather than later. “Alright. It was...it was good talking to you, Citron.” “It was good talking to you too, Edrick.” She smiled, lowering her voice a bit. “Get some rest.” She encouraged, nodding. He was well ahead of her in that, scooting himself into a corner and leaning his head back so that he, hopefully, wouldn’t end up falling and hitting his head again.

"Is that how you got injured? Bandits?" Link shook his head and the corner of his mouth twisted in a wry grin. “Unrelated accident,” he said. She didn’t need to know that he had broken his arm tumbling down a chimney. “We were ambushed near the old cathedral. Not a hard fight for a company like ours, but a lot of supplies were lost in the melee. Phar’s the only place I could think of that wasn’t backtracking.” None of that was necessarily a lie—they were in a fight at the cathedral, and Phar was the closest village—it just wasn’t the whole truth. About that time a huge reptilian head poked through the window and screeched. Link instinctively went for his sword and, being left-handed with a broken left arm, was blindsided by the pain that erupted throughout his arm. It was to his credit as a soldier trained to swallow any and all signs of weakness that he only grit his teeth and cradled his left arm with his right. “. . . .” Embarrassed by his reaction, he turned to face the source of the noise, and locked eyes with the goofiest looking creature he had ever seen. He still wasn’t sure what he had expected a wyvern to look like (he had never traveled far enough Southeast to encounter one), but it probably involved teeth as long as knives, claws that could be mistaken for swords, and cords of muscle rippling beneath hardened scales. A creature fit to be the apex predator of the skies. ‘Peaches’ was anything but that. Too small, too lean, too… pink. Not to mention how adorable she looked with her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. Link wasn’t scared of her; yes, he dreaded the thought of ever raising his sword against her, but not because she was intimidating. She was adorable. Against his better judgement, he reached out with good hand and—cautiously—attempted to pat her on the head. Peaches hesitated for a second, before leaning into his touch, nestling against his gloved hand. All hesitation melted away and he started to scratch her behind the ear, smiling softly, and as he did the soldier wondered where Rohns had gotten off to. He hoped the wolf cub came back soon. Having the pup around had been a welcomed distraction. Link came to his senses a moment later. Realizing where he was at, he stepped away from the wyvern and cleared his throat. He had let his guard down. That could have proven a lethal mistake, if not for him, then potentially the princess. He couldn’t let it happen again. Returning to the conversation, Citron was asking for their names. “M’name’s Lincoln,” he muttered, and for just a moment his accent slipped. Damn it. He needed to focus. “Most people call me Link.” He returned to form with his voicework. He once again sounded Histian; specifically a native of Ithome, mostly because he had only learned how to mimic the dialect in an attempt to avoid questions about being Galtean in the notably anti-Galtean sector.