Act 4 - Magical Mishaps Part 1 [Tales of Tabira]

             
    "This is exciting, isn't it Nap?"

    Fain had been ecstatic ever since the details about Madeline had been let loose. A fellow witch who didn't like to kill, how refreshing after all the stories she heard!

    "We get to meet the old leader of the scholars, and she even knows magic like me! Maybe we can be friends!"

    "Um, perhaps yeah!" Napoleon smiled softly, not really wanting to rain on Fain's parade, but she couldn't help but feel wary. Perhaps it was the fact that she didn't feel comfortable around other witches other than Fain, or perhaps it was the fact of how easily Fain trusted others that could lead to trouble. Either way, Napoleon kept herself from the idea of making friends with the Pokémon at arm's length.

    "We just need to be careful, we don't really know this Pokémon." Napoleon explained, ringing her claws together as she glanced around at the cavern around them, the drops of water falling from the roof were not abiding to the stability of this place. It made her feel nervous all together.

    "They did say she was good at research. She just got drunk a lot. Mom told me Pokémon like that are just lonely. She needs friends!" Fain was more than a little distracted from Napoleon's wariness. "I know how she feels... it must be hard not having any friends who know what it's like to be good at magic. I got lucky with Grandma and my brother. Oh, and you too!" she brushed against Napoleon's shin, not wanting to exclude her from her list of loved ones.

    The cavern had nothing to say in response to her announcement, except to echo the words faintly back to her. In this section they seemed to be safe from the poison now spreading uninhibited by the tomes stolen from the homeless citizens of Fever Flats, but it was anyone's guess how quickly it could reach out and poison the two girls.

    Napoleon lifted up her head, a small frown on her face as she peeked into one of the caverns, the hole much too small for even her body. She glanced away, gazing around the lower levels of the cavern, "They said she can cast illusions, what if she tries to change the cave around us to trap us, or tries to turn into one of us to trick us?" Napoleon asked Fain, her mind running through the possibilities. There was even the idea that it had already happened and the two of them were wandering in circles.

    "I think... maybe we could start marking the way we're going, just in case- and we could have some sort of code word- um," Napoleon paused, "I mean, she may be friendly, but we gotta be safe, yeah?"

    "That's true." Fain did indeed have some idea of how nasty some witches could. "Code words are good, but her illusions would probably hide anything we made to warn us where we already went. ...Unless we touched it I mean. Or maybe I could use some water to stay ahead of us and touch everything that's fake?"

    There was not much water that Fain had access to in here; only the slightest of water droplets that helped along the formations of stalagmites and stalactites dotting the cavern floor and ceiling. But, it would be worth a little dizziness if it would help! She could always find a glass of water later.

    "Hmm, well the thing is - not that it's a bad idea, or anything like that!" Napoleon quickly backtracked for really no reason, “...It's just, sorta... couldn't they just hide the water behind their illusion too?" Napoleon asked, a tilt in her head as she spoke.

    A shimmer cascaded over the wall like waves. Amongst the rocky surfaces, a shadowy form erupted out of the shimmering invisible wall. The figure was tall and mostly black. Red fur sprouted out behind it like a tail. Two blue gems, which kept the fur in check, shone in the dim light.

    The figure was none other than Noir, a familiar Zoroark which Napoleon had encountered prior during the time she had been separated by Fain. As soon as their eyes moved to him, he cast another illusion to change his appearance to match the Zigzagoon in front of him perfectly.

    “Illusions can trick your mind in ways you wouldn’t believe. If the 'mon is skilled enough, you wouldn’t have a chance to find your way out.” As he finished his minor lesson in the art, he turned his attention to Napoleon while still in the form of her partner. “Nice to see you again, Shortstack. I see you found your friend.”

    “S-Short!?” The words blurted out of her mouth before she could even process them. There was no time to think, her actions already laced with rage as her head lowered. She was comfortable around Fain - she could act normal, and given no time to change between the mental states, she simply had to go on her gut feeling, and that was to attack the Pokémon who dared to call her short!

    Hindclaws dug into the rock to push Napoleon off as her body flew forward. Headbutt met the mimicker’s face, their body flying backwards a good few feet, the illusion shattering like glass, leaving the poor injured Zoroark laying on the stone, a Cranidos standing on top, head still pushed against their face. A promised threat.

    “I. Am. Not. Short,” she growled, eyes glaring menacingly at the Pokémon.

    Fain cried out. “Napoleon! I don’t think he was being mean!” She hurried forward, wrapping her little paws around one of Napoleon’s legs. “Sorry mister!” she apologized. “She just doesn’t like that word. And she’s super strong so… are you okay?”

    The commotion drew another form from out of the twinkling shadows, this one unlike the Zoroark in that she was much smaller, more feminine and drastically more proper. “Excuse me, we weren’t planning to--”

    She paused, taking in the scene of two children standing on top of a bruised Noir, and rubbed a paw into her forehead, letting out a pained groan. “Oh, Noir, what have you done now…?”

    As Fain slowly worked her pink partner Pokémon off of the larger dark-type, she looked over the two of them one at a time. “Uh, hi to you too Miss Mienfoo! We’re just looking around for the witch who took the totems from those guy up above. What are you doing here?”

    Jasmine offered the girls a gentle smile and tipped her head in a slight nod. “Just the same, actually. The guilds mentioned that this Madeline character is - or rather was - a Zoroark at one time. I believe Noir would be able to help us combat her illusions.

    “We’ve met before, as well… It’s Fain, isn’t it? Napoleon told us about you. It’s lovely to meet you.”

    The hit broke the illusion but also sent Noir into a laughing fit. His nose was sore from the hit and on the verge of breaking by the time Fain approached to take the spunky dino away. He couldn’t offer any quip from laughing so hard.

    Jasmine’s condescending tone knocked him back into the appropriate mood. He brought his laugh down to a light chuckle, “Oh pardon me for getting smacked around, Duchess.” He then turned his gaze to the other two nearby as he stood once more, “I’m fine, don’t worry. That was quite the hit! Color me surprised.”

    The mention of work turned his slight grin to a frown. He hated hearing about the former Zoroark and felt like it would give his species a worse name than they already had. “Yeah, I can help but I can get trapped in illusion just as much as all of you. Don’t depend on me completely.”

    Napoleon wrinkled up her nose a little, but shook her head back and forth, as if that would rid the word from her brain. “Um. Oh… Sorry.” She stepped a little closer to her comfort blanket who was named Fain. “But, oh, since there is...” She paused, narrowing her eyes against the two of them as a realization scurried into her brain. “Wait - what if one of you two are the Pokémon, just transformed?” She tilted her head, her normally (at least slightly) nervous gaze slipping into one of suspicion, a need to protect herself for fear of the unknown. It was instinct as she stepped in front of Fain, tail raising slightly as she turned her face slightly towards Fain. “Can illusions read minds?” she asked.

    “I don’t think so,” Fain said, looking thoughtful. “Except I don’t really know… I never saw illusion stuff before now. It looks pretty!” she added, leaning over just enough to peek her head out from behind Napoleon’s protective tail, smiling sweetly at the big Zoroark.

    The Mienfoo crossed her arms, thoughtful. “Actually, that is a fair point. I believe Noir has proven himself… an illusion will only hold up for as long as you aren’t stricken by an attack. As for me…” she scowled, her first thought clearly going to an extreme solution. “Hmph. I’d prefer not being attacked, let alone by Pokémon who are supposed to be working with me… Let’s see. Witches are only able to use their magic through the moves they know. And mine…”

    She paused and held out her dainty right paw, looking down the tunnel. She looked pretty funny, almost like she was trying to tell something to stop! But then pretty white stars (with a little blue and pink in them) popped up out of nowhere and shot down into the tunnel, bursting apart into smaller copies of themselves before disappearing.

    “Swift,” Jasmine declared. “The one we’re after is a Banette, one who used to be a Zoroark. Neither of the two are able to learn that move, so I believe that should prove I am who I say I am.”

    Actually, now that she thought of it, it didn’t. The scholars did seem to be astute learners and teachers, and that included breaking past the limits of moves a Pokémon could learn naturally, giving them new powers and opening the doors to new experiences…

    She opted not to reveal that to the two younger girls, though. It would only be a waste of their time to shatter her own argument and give them reason to mistrust her.

    “In any case, Noir and I came here to try and put a stop to Madeline before she can cause more damage. Those totems are, of course, an urgent matter and must be addressed. We were hoping that, knowing her original breed, Noir might be able to use their…” she paused, knowing better than to refer to shared species as kinship. “...natural abilities… to find her. Putting himself in her shoes, so to speak.”

    Napoleon raised her head a little higher, looking at the both of them as slowly the true impact of the fact she literally just attacked someone she knew - albeit vaguely - hit her with full embarrassment. But he did call her short, so it was deserved…! She coughed. “Ye-Yeah, us too.” She motioned to herself and Fain behind her, feeling a little more at ease with everything now that they both proved they were who they said they were. She paused, thinking of what else there was to say. “Do you mind if we come with? If we, uh, all find them at once, that'll give us a better chance to corner them so we can… talk to them?” she suggested with a tilt of her head, eyes glancing slightly at the Zigzagoon with her. “Or, all the eyes in the same area could help look around and keep everyone safe?” she added, looking at the princess, then towards the Zoroark.

    She never figured out all the etiquette for princesses… did you not look them in the eyes, or was that Ursarings?

    Noir’s entire body shook and twisted several times, his furry mane flipped from side to side like a tail. A few droplets of water flung from it to them as he did so but luckily, it stopped before they were pelted for more than they’d care for. While they talked to each other about what moves Zoroarks and Banettes could and couldn’t use, he lifted his head as high as he could to sniff at the ceiling.

    He didn’t bother to correct Jasmine seeing as it would only cause chaos and confusion amongst the members of their little rag-tag group. He knew, however, that an illusion could easily mask one move and make it appear as another. The foe could easily throw rocks at them and make them appear like multi-colored stars. Worse was the fact that the Banette in question could be listening in on them at that very moment.

    The salt caves offered him little help in pinpointing anything. He knew the toxic gas was below them somewhere in the caves, but was it an odorless gas? He must have been daydreaming in the middle of the mission debriefing. What he DID know, however, was there were illusions underfoot. He happened to notice some typical signs but if this Banette was some sort of witch on top of being a reborn Zoroark (in the form of a ghost, of course), would her power reach throughout the caves? If so, it would take forever finding her. He wondered if the best course of action was to draw her out into the open. But what would lure her toward them…?

    Noir finally tuned back into the little group as Nap mentioned moving together. “Eh, sounds fine to me. That makes it easier to decide friend from foe. Assuming she doesn’t knock one of you out and takes your place.” His words were followed by a short pause as he glanced over at Jasmine and then the others. “Oh but uh… I mean, it may not come to that. I just meant like… if it happened at all. We’ll be fine. If you see or hear anything weird, let me know.”

    Noir’s quick correction didn’t do much to sway the cross look that came from Jasmine’s direction, especially after spraying her with water and forcing her to raise her paws to defend her face from the attacking droplets in much the same fashion as with her Swift technique.

    “By staying together, we should be safe,” she decided. “Especially if this Madeline woman has stayed as troublesome as her past life leads us to believe… I’m certain I overheard Holly and Darius mention a drinking problem. Should she be as unstable as that, this may turn out in our favor.”

    “She is smart too, though!” Fain warned. In spite of the good spirits everyone seemed to have, and as much as she hated to sour the mood, she didn’t want to risk her friends - new or old, as she offered a glance at her leader - to get hurt. And, as Napoleon had already pointed out a few times, not all witches held back from hurting others.

    “Yes, that’s true. We’ve been warned this could turn into an arduous chase, but we absolutely must get the poison cleared from these caves before the locals are harmed.” Jasmine clapped her paws together, summoning the others to arms. “Very well, let’s be off!”

    “I’ll go up ahead,” Fain offered bravely. “I think if Miss Madeline uses any magic I’ll know… and her illusions are stuff Noir can see, right? That means if she does something nasty then we won’t get surprised!” She pressed on ahead, inadvertently taking lead completely as she paced on into the cave. Once she realized it though, she glanced back uncertainly. She trusted Napoleon to lead; she was so strong and tough, even when she got scared. But… well, she wasn’t a witch, and Fain was.

    She would have to do what Napoleon would do - put on a brave face and do her best.

    Nap frowned at Fain’s lead taking, the fear of her being kidnapped and replaced flying into the sun, coming back, multiplying by five hundred and then crushing her entire body. Napoleon walked behind her partner, eyes constantly checking to make sure she didn't disappear. Her eyes were scanning around the cave quickly, the dripping water reminding her constantly of her own weakness. She casually stepped further away from the dripping water, a small frown on her face, but she kept her comments to herself, knowing that the more water there was available, the more powerful Fain’s witchy powers… except now that they were near two Pokémon who didn't know of her witch powers. Which meant she couldn't use them.

    Napoleon watched them turn in the cave system, a room opening up. Her eyes laid on a massive hole in the center, cracks emanating outwards like arms reaching out to grab at them. The room itself was rounded with several exits around. Napoleon blinked, stopping in her place as she looked at the obvious failing point in the system - and Fain was up ahead, walking through the room like nothing was there! “I don't think this room is safe - Fain - Fain! Come back here, we should find another way around.” She kept her eyes on the massive hole, keeping her distance from it as she stepped closer to Fain.

    Noir noticed a small rift but didn’t see a change in the room they came from. That meant the illusions were being casted in the rooms they were entering. Smart. Did that mean this Banette really had seen them earlier? If they knew he could see through an illusion, it made sense that they would try a few different tactics to trick him as well.

    “Relax, kiddo,” he said, choosing to refrain from certain other nicknames. “Keep walking after your friend and you’ll be fine. Jasmine, stick close.”

    “Hmm.” His encouragement didn’t do much to sway Jasmine’s concern as she took in the seemingly unstable footing ahead, but Fain had proceeded unabashed. The dim lighting and the threats of magic and poison made her naturally inclined to move slowly and cautiously, and it took some effort to ignore that urge.

    Perhaps she could manage with a bit of help? “I don’t suppose I could prompt a bit of chivalry and request to be carried across?” she prompted.

    Fain paused to turn around. “It’s okay, even if it was real we just have to be careful! And I bet that’s how we should talk to the witch too. Maybe she’ll listen to us if we just ask for them back!”

    Her cheerful thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of something being tugged through the fur on top of her head, making her flinch and rub at the spot with a paw. “...Huh?”

    Her paw met with bare, slightly ruffled hair, and not the cloth she’d had tied there. “Hey!” she cried.

    “You’re out of your league here kids~!” a woman’s voice sang out. “Come on, don’t play with fire now. I got better things to do than waste time getting chased all over. And you’ve got this gas of yours to worry about.”

    Napoleon’s eyes immediately turned to Fain, shock covering her face, quickly being replaced by anger as she saw instantly that the headwear had gone missing. The Cranidos let out a low growl. “You get out here right now! You better give that back or else!” Her tone ended ferociously, her red eyes narrowing as she adjusted her glasses, stance expanding while she prepared herself. She clicked back her hindclaws, dragging them against the stone with enough force to leave scratch marks. “We are willing to talk! Not fight! But I will headbutt you if you don't give that back right now!”

    A loud laugh echoed through the cave system, “I would love to see you try that, runt!” The words bounced off of the walls, giving away no source as she spoke.

    Napoleon’s claws curled into fists, tail flicking back and forth like a whip, eyes creased as she bared her teeth.

    Noir’s eyes shifted from his companions in front of him to the walls around them. There was still an illusion in place but had the enemy directly intervened when they continued walking? Did it mean they were getting close to the totems? His original idea of bringing them to him was working quicker than he thought but there was still the matter of finding her.

    He sniffed the air around him but couldn’t smell anything new. Of course, he remembered she was a ghost but surely there would be something he could… Fain’s headband! He took a deep breath in, pretending to prepare for a huge sigh. He did smell Fain’s scent elsewhere… off to the side, but didn’t reveal his findings just yet. He couldn’t afford to give it away so soon.

    The breath released from his lungs slowly then transformed into a light chuckle. As he inhaled again, the chuckle got louder to match normal volume, “Well well, I wasn’t expecting to actually run into an old geezer down here. What was that about gas? I mean, I know you’re old but damn, lay off the fiber.”

    There was a pause as he scooped up Jasmine and held her bridal style. His eyes scanned the area for any support beams or weaknesses as he talked. At the end of his insult to the ghost, he had scooped up Fain from off the ground. Noir stuffed both Fain and Jasmine into his fur. He quickly whispered for them to hold on. He moved closer to the edge of the room.

    “But now that you mention it, we’re looking for a few totems. I think you know the ones we mean. I’d appreciate it if you told us where they were. We’re a little SHORT on time!” Noir said, ending his sentence with a grunt and a leap. He leapt up the tallest formation he spotted and stayed out of Nap’s way. Both Jasmine and Fain were safely in his mane at least for now.

    He strategically chose an area for Nap to hit with a headbutt (as he saw her do earlier to him) to hopefully distract the ghost. He only hoped the dino didn’t still take it out on him later when he jumped back down.

    With Napoleon's fuse already so short, the word was just enough for her. With only one source for her to take out all of her rage on, her head lowered, a guttural roar exiting her mouth. She didn't even think before rushing towards the dark type. She didn't even hesitate as she ran right through the illusion of the gaping hole in the center of the room. She didn't even look up as her dome impacted the formation, nor did she even react when she backed up, slamming her head again into the rocks. The foundation shattered against her cranium. It was anger. Pure anger.

    Cracks reached upwards, a small gasp of shock and confusion as the world seemed to shimmer. The illusion shattered, bits of its remains flying towards the walls, revealing a square room, a floating ghost with an almost Zoroark design holding a blue scarf in her hands, floating in of the corners, dodging one of the falling rocks.

    Jasmine was not surprised by Napoleon’s outburst, but nonetheless disappointed in the wild nature in which this task was being handled. A lack of discipline clearly drove Napoleon to an extreme need to prove her worth… such a shame.

    And yet Noir’s plan had worked - there now floated a ghost that she recognized all too well as the Mosswood thief. “It seems she didn’t run away quite so quickly,” she announced. “And, that we’ve met before.”

    Fain had been trying in vain to once again reassure her dearest friend that there was no trouble, that Noir was a friend and he wasn’t talking about her, waving her little paws as best she could while Noir’s thick hair pressed her own fur up and over her head, half-pinning her stubby legs out and forward. She paused, though, when she realized that the room had changed and that Jasmine had pointed out Madeline’s obvious presence.

    “Oh! You’re friends?” she asked. “Then this should be a lot easier! Hey!” She waved once more, this time to the illusionary doll. “Miss Madeline! Hi! We’re with the guilds! We want to be your friends too, if that’s okay!”

    As soon as the illusion shattered, Noir jumped from his high ledge, landed and quickly shook once again. If the two in his fur fell, he didn’t stop to catch them. Instead he darted forward on all fours, starting with a Feint Attack. He knew that dark type moves were strong against ghost types but with the illusions in the way, he couldn’t pinpoint her location.

    The ghost, momentarily distracted by the sudden reaction from Napoleon, now snapped back into action and attempted to dodge as the Zoroark leaped for her. However, no matter how skilled an opponent might be, the Feint Attack never failed to hit. He landed a solid slash at her abdomen.

    Noir attempted to immediately turn his claws toward her again and try a Night Slash next. She successfully dodged and disappeared from view. Noir yelled in frustration as he dropped on all fours again. He couldn’t let her get away. Her existence gave Zoroarks like him a bad name! He snarled at the thought!

    “We would NEVER be friends with someone like that!” Noir snapped as he finally acknowledged Fain’s words to the ghost. “Quick, anyone see the totems anywhere?”

    Napoleon looked up from her rage-induced fervor at his outburst, snorting out hot air from her nostrils. But she couldn't go and headbutt them; Fain was holding her back, and despite the fact she could easily break free from her partner’s grip, she merely turned the other direction, a snarl still held on her face as she made herself look around. She adjusted her glasses, the darkness not helping much with sight but it wasn't a massive problem. “Oh, so that's why there was the illusion of a hole in the center,” she huffed, eyes laying on the kicked-over totem shoved between two rocks in the center of the room. Napoleon huffed, walking over to the two rocks before promptly lifting up her head and bringing it down, shattering the rocks underneath her skull. She plucked the totem out from within the rocks, eyeing the carved design up and down.

    Napoleon felt a chill. Her eyes turned slightly to see the form of a ghost appearing, hands outstretched, reaching for the totem. Napoleon raised her head, smacking it towards the enemy quickly - only for her head to fly right through. She blinked, looking up to see the ghost type’s grin. Napoleon yelped, feeling her feet leave the ground as she held onto the totem tightly, the ghost pulling the totem, and her, upwards.

    As much as the Mienfoo hated to admit it, Jasmine was at a loss. She knew this witch; it was the same ghost who had waylaid her in Mosswood, the one who had stolen valuable books from the Scholars’ library. And now she knew for what purpose: Madeline was conducting research into magic and further exploring the biology of Pokémon since her disappearance from the guild. That still didn’t help her work out a way to contain the taunting spirit, however - Noir had made it clear back then that her moveset was useless against a ghost. All she could do was sit there, riding in Noir’s fur, and observe.

    Frustrated as much with herself as with the situation on the whole, she called out to Fain. “Can you use anything to fight her?”

    “Oh! Right!”

    The Zigzagoon hopped back a few paces from where Napoleon now floated in midair and summoned chilly air into a small vacuum in front of her mouth, then released it in a chilling blast. The Ice Beam clipped Madeline’s shoulder, quick as she was already moving, but was enough to make her flinch.

    Noir had already grown frustrated with not being able to properly fight the foe but something else ate away at his patience. Something he noticed in Fain too.

    “LET ‘ER GO!” Noir commanded. His fur bristled with rage. The once snarky expression replaced with utter dominance once again. His body began to glow a crimson hue and his eyes filled with blue. He wanted to use a Night Daze attack but it ran the risk of hitting everyone else in the room. As much as he hated to admit, the concept of his enemy holding a child hostage made him useless.

    Well, almost useless. While he was there, illusions had a higher chance of being inadequate and if the fight escalated, they outnumbered her. He recalled thinking over capturing the culprit and dragging her back to the guilds but now, all he could muster was the intense urge to kill.

    “I’ll give you one more warning. Let her go, Madegastar, or I WILL hurt you,” he threatened. Though, the threat lost some value over his forgetting her name.

    The ghost looked over at him, clear confusion in her face. “What? That's not my name…?” She looked offended by this fact, a frown on her face as she tried shaking the Cranidos off of the totem.

    Napoleon looked up, seeing the remains of ice on the Pokémon’s shoulder. She blinked. Oh yeah. Duh. The rock type opened their mouth, ice building up as her throat squeezed. The ghost looked over, eyes blinking before she glanced over at the dark type, eyes narrowed. A smirk covered her face.

    The ghost let go of Napoleon, the rock dinosaur falling against the ground with totem in hand as she let out a yelp of shock, her own ice beam flying wide and without aim into the air. The ghost raised her hands, floating down towards the ground, but landing right next to Napoleon as she pushed herself up.

    “Alright, alright.” She sighed, head lowering as her eyes closed. “You've got me outnumbered and outclassed, clearly,” she explained.

    The ghost jerked downwards, her palms slamming into the rock as shadows rose up like waves. Napoleon let out a yelp as they splashed over her, the waves further reaching out as the Night Daze spread through the entire room.

    Fain was equally startled by the abrupt one-eighty the situation had turned in as Madeline’s supposed surrender turned in, and leaped forward into the inky black smog of darkness, intending to grab onto Napoleon. Whatever happened, she couldn’t let her partner go! “Nappy!” she cried.

    She did indeed collide with someone, bouncing off their body and quickly scrabbling to get hold of them again. It felt solid, like Napoleon! But with the room shrouded in darkness for those remaining seconds, she couldn’t get a look at them.

    Noir remained in place, the glowing aura surrounding him faded as the darkness flowed through the room. He lifted one arm to set on Jasmine’s head. She was still there but hadn’t commented. He assumed she was waiting for an opportunity to speak up or maybe she trusted his eyes enough to let him take the lead. Regardless, he relaxed slightly knowing she was still there and moved his hand back down to the floor below.

    The deep black puffs of smog began to lift. Their form twisted and dissipated quickly, revealing the room once more. However, the ghost was gone.

    His eyes immediately went over to Fain and Napoleon. Both of which seemed fine, if not a little rattled. For a moment, he wondered why Maddy Paddy had taken off again. Oh wait, what was her name again?

    “Are you two okay?” he asked coarsely. He stood tall to tower over them while observing the environment around them for shifts. The ghost may not be completely gone, just hiding behind an illusion behind them. Or maybe the coward fled deeper in the caves…

    He quietly cursed under his breath. His nose was filled with what he assumed to be gunk from the smoke. ...Had the ghost also thrown something at him while he couldn’t see? ...Impossible. She couldn’t have.

    “I'm okay, are you okay?” Napoleon pushed herself up, turning to Fain with a worried expression. “That attack didn't hurt you did it?” She reached out her claws, scanning Fain’s body for injuries - then winced, grabbing onto her arm. “Ow-”

    And then another Napoleon ran out of the shadows, “GET AWAY FROM HER!” she roared, tail flicking as she ran forward, head lowered. The headbutt hit its mark, making Napoleon fly backwards as she yelled, hitting the ground and rolling.

    Immediately she jerked up, eyes narrowing. “Wh- YOU GET AWAY!” she barked back, her own head lowering. Both of them ran at each other, heads clacking together twice before they both backed up, tails flicking as they started circling around each other.

    “How the heck -” Napoleon started,

    “- did you do that?” Napoleon finished. She snorted out hot air, clawing against the ground. “Fain, don't trust them, they're going to try and hurt you!”

    Napoleon’s nose flared out. “I would NEVER! How dare you ever say that!” She roared, clawing against the ground.

    Of course she’d cast an illusion to transform into one of their party members. If this was elaborate enough, both of the small dinos in front of them could be illusions and this was a diversion for something bigger. Noir believed the first option and quickly facepalmed in annoyance.

    He would pull the same kind of tricks but in this case, it was evading a fight instead of confronting the problem at its source. Was the ghost attempting to delay them long enough for the gas to seep into the settlement?

    Noir let out a groan as he waved one hand for them to stop. “Fain, you’re her partner, right? I don’t know you two well enough to pick the right one but YOU can. Step on up, don’t be shy.”

    “Me?” Fain repeated. She had already been stunned by the arrival of the newcomer Napoleon, even more so when the two began to battle. It was incredible to see Napoleon practically mirrored, blow for blow and step for step. This was what illusions were like up close - it would have been neat if it weren’t so scary!

    Unheard and barely seen, Jasmine grasped at a few loose tufts of Noir’s fur and tugged at them gently. “Whatever happens, be ready to rush the other one,” she warned as quietly as she could manage. “Real or false, we’ll need to make sure Madeline doesn’t take advantage to run or hit the girls.” It was all she could do to offer direction, with no means of offense at her disposal.

    Fain panned her eyes between the Napoleon she had been holding onto, and the one who rushed into the room. That totem was missing, so she couldn’t tell which one was the witch that way… wait. Which one did she get to when the darkness hit, again?

    Oh no. She had completely forgotten. “Um… yeah. I know what the real Napoleon is like!”

    The real Napoleon would never run away. She was a smart cookie, and fiercely loyal, but whenever she got mad she couldn’t think straight. Madeline, meanwhile, was smart no matter what. She’d normally have run away, like witches were supposed to do if they ever got attacked. She was told the same, by her whole family. So then, Madeline had the upper hand on them, and had to be planning something…

    She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned in frustration. She didn’t want to hurt Napoleon, especially knowing she couldn’t swim…!!

    “I’m sorry Nappy!” she burst out, rearing up and slamming her front paws into the cold rock floor, her emotions and the gesture fully ignored by their surroundings.

    Or maybe not. A surge of energy flooded from her body and into the floor, and then it erupted, bursting apart in a flowering blossom of shattered rock while water flowed in, compiled into a wave that stretched forward, slammed into both of the pink girls, and then rebounded, slamming into the walls and splashing back toward Fain, Noir and Jasmine.

    Both of the Napoleons yelled out in shock, water washing over both of them. The one to left yelped, their body shifting as they returned back to their normal form, the ghost flying upwards and going through the ceiling. Water dispelled, bounding off the walls and losing their momentum as they flooded the area, the water level lowering the further the wave went, leaving a massive puddle in its wake.

    Napoleon laid off to the side near one of the walls, having been dragged there from the momentum of the wave, eyes shut and head down; water soaked her from head to toe, her skin’s cracks and edges dripping off the water as she lay in the puddle.

    Noir had been shocked by the massive amount of water that Fain evoked from the ground. His instant thought was one of the more obvious, ‘WITCH!’ He couldn’t delay any longer, however, and leapt for the ceiling once more. His claws dug into the rocky surface as best they could to spare him from the torrential flood down below.

    His lower limbs were drenched and the end of his mane/tail was soaked but the rest of him (and Jasmine) remained untouched. But how did the others fare?

    Noir’s eyes darted around the room at each member but he only saw one small dino on the floor below. Where had the other gone? His answer came just as the ghost was exiting the room through the ceiling. Enraged yet again, he wrenched one hand out of the rocky wall and ceiling and swiped at the ghost with a Night Slash before it dissipated completely.

    He wasn’t sure if he managed to wound the being or not and was left more frustrated than he had been before. Not only did they have to fight a witch but they were WORKING with one. Granted, Fain seemed decent but was it all an act? They WERE in the middle of talks about some sort of Witch Congregation or whatever. She had just taken out her own partner, after all. Were they next?