DracoLunaris

Underynth: The Light Below (What if everything was issekai'd?)

also interested in this and in a more D&D-esque thing

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 1,936 (+3)
Bowser: Level 10 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (99/100)
Bowser Jr: Level 8 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (112/80)
Kamek: Level 9 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(39/90)
Location: Bottomless Sea – Gateon Port - Carcass Isle
Feat: Rika

”It’s getting closer!” Kamek cried out in alarm as the shark brute just kept coming, wading through the veriballe wall of firepower blazing out of the street they had decided to hold.

“No it isn’t?” Rika shouted through the wall of smoke and noise, notably from several feet back from her starting point as she, and Bowser next to her, got a quick physics lesson on Newton's third law as their firepower overwhelmed their ship-folk motor power and shoved them back down the street.

”Just keep firing!” Jr demanded between fireball hucks, both of his mage and of his minions, who, bogged down in the water in front of Rika and Bowser’s line of fire, got an absolute pummeling of friendly fire. Only Quiet was spared, or rather she spread herself by taking one look at the mess he had been summoned into and promptly leaping onto a roof for a clearer shot in a safer and less distracting environment.

Check weapon, identify target, aim, aim, try to ignore the stupid turtles and girl yelling at each other and demonstrating D rank shooting skills, aim, aim aaaaaand

A thunder-crack echoed through the square, louder even than all the cacophonous firepower of the Troop and which put an end to their nonsense as a high caliber sniper round shot through one of the shark giant’s comparatively tiny eye holes and finally struck it down right before it tore through the mass of strikers.

”Phew. Thank you dear” Kamek sighed with relief and then called up to the sniper, who shrugged and then dissipated a moment later, along with the rest of the strikers.

”Whaaat!” Jr shouted at him as the smoke and ringing in their ears took a bit longer to dissipate.

”I was just thanking Miss Quiet for her excellent shooting” Kamek floated closer to inform him.

”eh, why would you do that?” Jr asked, not putting much stock in thanking minions for simply doing their job

”Because-” Kamek began, but any lessons in boss-minion relations would have to wait, as the attention attracted by their noisy battle strategy bore fruit just as the rest of the battlefield came into view from their haze of smoke and water vapor.

As bigger monsters joined the square battle itself, a more immediate problem for the troop was a bunch of doors being thrown open down the street, where another gaggle of fish dudes stormed out in an attempted flanking maneuver that instead sent them charging right into where Bowser and Rika had back blasted themselves too.

”Sire look out!” Kamek shouted as the pair of water walkers made an about turn to face these fishy foes.

”ghahaha, if it’s a punch-up you want it’s a punch up you’ll get!” Bowser roared with delight, slamming forwards a slug that sent waves through the street as it missed the first slippery fish ”Go help the other’s you two, we’ve got this!” he insisted, not at all disheartened and promptly giving one of the bigger, slower, fish men an uppercut to actually prove his confidence.

“We do?!” Rika shouted back as she brought her gauntlets up in a boxer’s guard (in a mimicry of Bowser’s own style) to block an overhead swing from a big murloc, and then used her hull blades to guard her lower body from a leg sweep by another one.

They’d have to ‘have it’ as Jr and Kamek saw no reason to doubt the King’s ability to handle small fry and head off to aid the others with the big fry.

“Oh… shoot” Rika said, and then did just that, using the small triple barreled ship turrets mounted on her rigging’s elbows to blast herself backwards intentionally this time, the combination of the burst of speed and suppressing power of her poorly aimed projectiles giving her just enough space to drop her guard, bring her machine-gun to bare and pepper one of the fish men with bullets.

The other, smaller, one charged her without fear even as its comrade fell, only to be grabbed by a stray tentacle lash from Bowser, to whom one more fishy boy was nothing when counted against the other half dozen swarming him.

”Raaagh, stay still you fishsticks!” Bowser demanded as he tried to kick one of the little dodgy ones, only for it to slip aside and hack at his armored leg to little effect. That it rapidly became the case that basically only the small ones left said something about what Bowser could deal with, something aptly demonstrated when one of the bulkier puss filled buggers charged in, late to the party, and got a highly telegraphed wound up punch for its efforts that sent it flying across the street and into a nearby wall.

This left the Bowser vs fish fight as functionally between the speedsters and the one thing that they could hurt, and could simultaneously be hurt by; the tentacles of Bowser’s tentacruel cannons. As Rika watched, the one that had been grabbed batted at the tendrils of its capturer with its club, eliciting a screech of rage from the beak they belonged to and prompting it to toss it’s captured foe away, only for it to land (relatively) softly in the water.

The others were mostly fighting the same target, dancing back and forth in and out of range of the tendrils trying to grab them as they congested with Bowser’s slow attempts to catch them, batting at the tendrils with their clubs. Unwilling to try and shoot them and risk hitting Bowser, Rika moved in to help, resting her rifle on-top of a sideways held gauntlet as a brace and then bayonet charging the closest murloc. She skewered it in the back while it was distracted, before turning her turrets to either side and blind firing to ward off the others for a moment as she kicked her stabbing victim down into the water and then pumped lead into its back to finish it off.

She pulled the bayonet out of the crumbling murloc only to be grabbed and hoisted over Bowser’s shoulder as unseen by her the tossed fishman had been about to do to her what she had done to its ally, only for the girl it had been rear charging to be plucked out of harm's way and a torrent of fire to be blasted out in her place.

It leaped to the side, the water skating its body and the air giving it just enough fire resistance to complete its evasion steamed but not roasted.

“What are you doing?” Rika complained, unable to see this hoisted over Bowser’s shoulder but taking the opportunity and fact that the merlocs were as surprised as she to hammer one of them with gun fire.

”I’ve had about enough of these goons! Let’s make a splash” Bowser declared, before crouching and then launching himself skywards with Rika in tow, leaving the remaining locks looking upwards in confusion. For about a second. After that they went scrabbling as he came thundering back down with an almighty meteor stomp that created a mini tidal wave that washed the fishmen away, followed by his own shockwave of fire rolling in its wake, roasting fish meant that tried to jump over or swim through the wave or just giving those smacked against buildings by the waves a blast of fire for good measure.

Hammered by the wave and then scorched, the wounded fishmen picked themselves up only to find themselves at the mercy of Rika’s rifle fire, as the shipgirl flipped around to sit on Bowser's shoulder, cannon arm wrapped over his neck while one of his arm held her hips in palace and the other guarded her with a mecha-mit shield so she could use him as a mobile elevated firing position.

“Die die die die die!” she cheerfully demanded of the fishmen while Bowser cheered her on with ”Yeah! Blast em to bits Rika! Make them regret messing with us!” while leaping from place to place, sending out more water-fire waves and keeping them both from being surrounded again.

Meanwhile, in the square proper, the fish lackeys might have been dealt with or (were being dealt with as merely a side piece to people’s main targets), but in their stead more big brutes had arrived, adding themselves to the pile of toughs that had only had one of their number removed sofar, and that was by the Troop themselves. The second shark giant was engaged in a running battle with Nadia and Cadet who had made the ‘mistake’ of fighting it 2 vs 1 rather than several dozen vs 1. That was Jr’s self aggrandizing tactical analysis anyway. A more level, Kamek sourced, look at their situation would see that Ace was in his element, it was just that with any speed vs power fight, speed would rather ironically have a rather slow time of taking down power. Nadia meanwhile, was more used to fighting human sized (if admittedly often super powered) foes like the murlocs she had been absolutely tearing through, but unfortunately didn't quite have the tools to deal with someone much bigger and stronger than her safely.

”Nothing a little magic can’t fix” the mage asserted, summoning a green orb of power and tossing it to one of his clones, then a second green to another and a third to a third, turning their robes from his own blue to a deep forest green. These shadowy supporters immediately went Ace’s way, and with a wave of their wands cast their magics upon him, adding a dark green burning energy to his sword, a similery hued aura to cling to and invigorating his body and a barely visible barrier that extended over and out from his shield (the semipermeable magical barrier having about twice the real shield’s radius) as they buffed his attack, speed and defence respectively.

”That should give you the edge you need” Kamek informed the fighter as he himself floated safely out of harm's way and transformed the last clone into an ash white healer, which, while it could not compete with Blazermate, could patch up the odd cut, bruise and scratch that Nadia and Ace had picked up so far. Speaking of Nadia, the three support clones moved to her next, giving her claws, tail and ears (of all things) a dark green fire to their edges, her body the same accelerating aura of Ace, a pair of spectral arm and shin guards to help her block and, for some reason, an spectral oversized pirate hat that belonged on a Miss Fortune rather than a Ms Fortune.

As Kamek rendered aid, Jr went in on the attack, hovering above the shark giant and deploying two of his clown car’s custom arms, one ending in a water gun, the other in a bizarre mass of living flesh.

”Look out below pea brain” Jr taunted the ground pounding shark monster as the car tilted to the side and brought the splatter gun full of (or more accurately running low on) ink to bare, spraying the giant's body with vulnerability causing ink, given its tiny eyes a special focus, before flipping round and using the synapse flesh gun to shoot a stream of electricity at the titan, which was joined by an electro-ball from Mimi.

”Can’t get me, can’t get me!” the boy taunted (throwing in a raspberry at the end for good measure) the beast , and really all of the range-less foes, as he bobbed above them all carefree as can be and being a right nuisance while he was at it.

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 1,638 (+3)
Bowser: Level 10 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (96/100)
Bowser Jr: Level 8 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (119/80)
Kamek: Level 9 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(36/90)
Location: Bottomless Sea – Gateon Port - Carcass Isle
Feat: Rika

The Troops' machinations, after being prevented from smoking them out of the ship, got the team either dry or warm. The de-powered ship provided a welcome spot of dry ground free from the lashing rain, while the wood, mattress and gasoline fueled fire under the tree was warm but you did have to put up with being dripped on by the imperfect cover above. It was a million times better than nothing despite its imperfections.

Jr took the time they had to do a touch of tinkering with his clown car. First he actually restarted the dang thing (which had been shorted out by the giant robot that had chased them into the Maw in the first place) thanks to applying a massive electrical jolt from Mimi’s reacquire back battery (which the Mon was delighted to have it must be added, even if the creepy metal jaw on her disguise’s head did tilt her creepy-cute factor over onto the creep side) to the vehicle’s own, jump starting it.

The other thing was installing Hook into the car, strapping him into the array of lower deploy-able options, meaning that the clown car could launch the sentient meat hook out of its mouth like a very sharp chameleon tongue. He had a few other ideas, some of which had been on the back-burner forever, but just getting it running and stopping Hook from being a burden would have to do for now.

Kamek also had something he could do to improve things, and that was offering the little red cookbook to the Ace Cadet. ”you were interested in monster parts as part of your monster hunting profession if I recall correctly? This might help with that. I know it's a touch disconcerting to look at, but it should make you better at cutting, and sometimes give you interesting, ah, parts when doing so.”

offered to Ace (or others if he does not want it): the little red cookbook

Little red cookbook Each page is packed with meaty recipes. And it's... oozing. When carried in an off hand it slightly increases cutting damage and defense against being cut due to receiving wisdom on the arts of butchery via osmosis. If held while striking a foe, it has a low (10%) chance of causing Butchery. Enemies with special body parts may also drop those as well. A long bloody battle is the most likely to produce a bigger bloody bounty.

Bowser and Rika didn’t have anything to do other than get some recuperation out of their camping before heading out into the rain. While Rika enjoyed a lollypop, sating her ever growing sweet tooth for the time being, Bowser caught the shipwrecked survivor Delsin up on the situation. And also poked fun because he could. ”The word Conduit already doesn't sound like a word and you only used it four times. So what does ‘wielding elements’ mean anyway? You some kinda wizard?”

After that he decided to actually be helpful however ”I’m Bowser, Koopa King and the boss of this lot. I smack, blast and punch schmucks like nobody else” Bowser introduced himself, his delusion of grandeur/self importance and his powers via flexing a scaly and muscular arm before giving him a rundown of the rest of the Troop.

”That’s Bowser Junior, my son. Real smart kid, and tough as his old man, just smaller. Also the little doll on his shoulder is Mimi. Shoots lightning and does spooky shadow stuff. Over there is Kamek, my royal advisor. He’s a wizard like you but he mainly does magical minions and he can also make me super huge and strong and even more awesome. Or other people I guess but nobody does big better than me!” Bowser pointed out the other the members of his inner circle who were busy before coming back round too their newest member ”and finally this is Rika-” he indicated to the ship-girl who after a few moments realised he wanted/was letting her introduce herself, prompting to remove her sweet on a stick from her mouth and say “Hi. I shoot stuff” before pumping her guns (literal and figurative) before adding a belated “oh, and its nice to meet you” before then getting right back to candy enjoyment

”So yeah, that’s us. We’re here to kick the butt of the boss of this place and then leave. So if you want out, there's no tougher crew than us to stick around with than us” Bowser concluded, formally inviting the man onboard.

Soon enough it was time to set out once more, prompted by the Maw being struck by lightning and ruining the camping atmosphere they’d managed to insulate themselves in by reminding them of exactly what a wretched place they were trapped in.

”Up and at em Troop. Let’s show this stupid island who’s boss!” Bowser told them encouragingly and, after having the ship shrink back down again into a size the King could haul once more, the Troop set out along with the others, heading inland.

Kamek used his long unused pair of flares as a light source as they traveled. Or rather, one of his toadies did that for him, drifting a little ways away from him and moving to light up whatever they might need inspected. It made them rather unstealthy, but as the group was big enough that they’d be seen coming anyway a bit of extra light in the dark was likely welcome.

Bowser meanwhile acted as a secondary lightsource, not with his fire as he had tried to do before to little success, but with the large red domes he sported on his back that glowed with a stored light which he had gotten by having them ‘eat’ the light of their fire before they left it behind.

After a bit of trudging upstream they found a rotten hulk of a town that was flooded by ankle deep water. Or ankle deep for the others, the troop either floated above the wet (in Jr and Kamek’s case) or on it’s surface (in Bowser and Rika’s). The outskirts contained two things of note. The first was giant snails that spat itchy water at them who where mostly left alone/ignored expert for one unfortunate member of their kind who got a dark energy mine put under it while it hid in its shell, and was then promptly remotely detonated by Kamek the moment it showed its eye-stalks out of its protective armor.

The other was a lone unlit lantern. Kamek used a briefly summoned shadow clone of Bowser to rip it out of the ground and then replaced the now burning low flares with the new lantern as the troop’s Toady based mobile lightsource.

The core of the village contained the first actual credible threat encountered on the wretched island: fishmen of some kind. Whether they were the town’s original occupants or fresh occupiers, they certainly did not take well to the team’s intrusion. A score of them charged forwards to attack with primitive weapons, while one that might be their leader hung back, leaving the heavy hitting to two giant grotesque shark monsters.

Nadia leapt onto the roof, drawing a few concerned glances from the Troop but, assuming that her tactic would probably be followed by someone else, they instead held their ground rather than following her. There was no way those rickety buildings were going to hold Bowser’s weight anyway, so he and his Troop would take the fight at street level, unaffected as they were by the water anyway.

That didn't mean they were just going to brawl in the opening however, and instead they backed up a touch into the street they had arrived through at Jr’s suggestion, where Bowser dumped the airship and they got to work.

”Bytan Brigade! Keep them busy” Jr commanded, summoning a gaggle of the spherical self replicating Bytan who rolled forwards in front of the troop, clogging the street with their ball-like bodies. A few tackled the odd murloc trying to approach the troop to little effect, but the veritable ball pit they created mainly existed to give them the space then needed to ”Blast that big one!”

Jr launched a flaming clown head shaped balloon at the shark giant closest to them, marking the target with the brightly burning balloon bomb. In short order his call out was followed up by a veritable hail of fire from the Troop.

Bowser used his remaining stored up light to let loose a barrage of bright white flash cannon shells, hammering the monster with a consecutive hammering of 8 luminous shots, and then following it up with a mind-boggling bombardment of supersonic sound-waves screeched from his tentacruel cannons.

Next to him Rika let rip her classic cannon shells, accompanied by her now poisoning assault rifle fire, each shell from the Brachydios themed gun stacking more and more toxic damage with each hit.

Above Mimi hurled an Electro Ball from her seat on Jr’s shoulder, delighting at her returned ability to mimic her idol as the shocking sphere soared forth.

The chef bros, returned as strikers, hurled a volley of pots and pans over the head of super-scope armed Primids giving the monster of the week 5 rounds rapid.

Kamek summoned 4 basic clones of himself and then they all cast their new sized up purple magic blasts at the beast, the enhanced magic far faster and easier to land a hit with. He followed it up by having Quiet give it a sniper shot to its ugly dome.

Finally, as if to add insult to injury, once all of those shots had rammed home, a slow moving fireball shot from from Jr’s own mouth lazily swerved into the shark monster’s path and set the ground beneath it ablaze, the magic fire burning on top of the water like napalm.

It was, to the troop, incredibly cathartic to just stand their ground together and absolutely blast the living daylights out of something again after the cowardly vulnerability that had been enforced by the Maw.

”You like that, chumps? Well you better be ready for a heaping of helpings of pain, coz it’s showtime again!” Bowser roared, which was echoed by a cheer from the rest of the troop.

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 1,571 (+3) (+15)
Bowser: Level 10 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (93/100)
Bowser Jr: Level 8 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (116/80)
Kamek: Level 9 EXP: ////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(33/90)
Location: Bottomless Sea – Gateon Port - Carcass Isle
Feat: Rika

level ups and Maw effect

Bowser:
Power: Flash Cannon (Blastoise): Draws in light from the surrounding area into the tentacruel domes on his shell where it can be held (though not indefinitely) in order to fire out light based attacks. Bowser can either send the charge to his mouth, in order to fire off a large beam laser or load it into his many beak-cannons to fire several barrages of smaller photokinetic shells at foes.

More powerful/faster to charge under intense light, and will actively blacken darker areas in an almost ominous fashion as the shell steals much of the light from the already dim area. Bowser can also charge before entering a dark area and in so doing use his back mounted tentacule domes as a light-source (bleeding stored up charge in the process)

Attacks are strong vs creatures, like pokemon, with an elemental weakness to steel type, as well as being effective against creatures that fear the light.

Fury Spike Torpedoes: Bowser launches the spikes on his shell (which now rapidly grow back) offensively. While his normal size, Trento’s influence has turned the spikes into aerial torpedoes containing small timed explosive charge (making them extra nasty to be stuck by or just missed by) and propeller on the back that gives it limited maneuvering. That last point gives the volly's flight path more of an arch than a straight up straight down affair of their usual affair. Giant Bowser’s spikes meanwhile retain their vertical bombardment and rectangular platform creating properties.

Jr:
Power: Fire Breathing (Kid sized): Jr can huck fireballs like his pappy, but they are, of course, smaller, weaker and less numerous than the big man’s own affair, but they do come with some special tricks up their sleeves. Come in two flavors: quick and bouncy like a certain plumber’s hand thrown fireballs or slow and homing with the added benefit of leaving a patch of fire when they hit the ground. He also has a regular, if again comparatively weak compared to his dad’s, fire-breath for short ranged roasting.

(level up postponed)

Kamek:
Power: Dark Energy Mines (Cia): Kamek can create circles of dark magic, about 2 meters in diameter, on the ground around himself. These magic circles will charge for a second or so, and then once powered up can be detonated explosively whenever the caster desires or be triggered by them being stepped on by a foe. An interesting part of these mines is that while they can only be created on the ground very close to himself horizontally, the vertical range, especially downwards, is far longer, allowing the mage or his red clones to ‘bomb’ the area beneath them with these remote explosives. Each bomb is fairly mana intensive to set up, but relatively self sufficient once placed.

Strength: Shadow Blasts(Cia): Kamek can use a bit of extra mana to increase the speed, penetration and size (but not damage) of his basic projectile magic by injecting them with Cia’s style of arcane. Makes shots much easier to hit, especially at longer ranges. Increasing the size also defuses the damage throughout the volume, meaning grazes can occur where only the edge of the shot hits the target while the rest flies on harmlessly.

Kamek, Bowser and Jr (and Rika and Mimi) all gain:

(Maw Strength) Stronger Together: The experience within the Maw has brought the Koopas closer together both with each other and with those that shared the experience with them. All of them gain increased confidence and constitution when in close proximity to other survivors of the Maw, knowing that they can trust their backs to be watched, and going the extra mile to make sure they can do the same.

(Maw Weakness) Supernatural separation anxiety: If unity is strength then separation is weakness and the Maw has taught that weakness will not be tolerated. Those with this curse become increasingly agitated, nervous and jumpy without someone around to watch their back as the horrors of the Maw supernaturally claw their way out of the depths of their memories to assail them with reminders of their vulnerability and visions of false horrors in the shadows. Most extreme when out on their own, but even becoming separated slightly in a battle can cause the fear to start creeping in. (Minions, such as summons or pokemon, provide only a coping mechanism rather than a solution to this problem).

The effect also causes them to empathetically worry about other maw survivors who are out on their own in a similar way, plaguing them with visions of their possible fates and seeing ghosts of threats where there are none. Tends to cause reckless rushes to their aid.

Bowser, Jr (and Mimi) gain Feast

Kamek (and Rika) gain Famine

It was over. Or it was supposed to be anyway. The cursed prince silently raged as it became clear that the death of the malevolent mistress of the Maw was not going to undo its bayful polymorphs, leaving them all still trapped by her and her minion’s magics despite their demise. In the end there was nothing really for it but to move forwards once more and pray salvation lay on the bridge of the ship. The dancers in the dark were joined by the last remaining chef bro, baring the spirits of his fallen comrades.

The bridge, sadly, did not hold a cure (only some stranger who seems to be acting like a living battery for the vessel) but it did have one bit of good news onboard. It turned out that the hat wearing child had really been all over while they struggled through the Maw, to the extent that she had already commandeered the bridge and turned it towards their destination. Unfortunately, it looked like the kid was something of a jinx when it came to piloting.

”So, is crashing ships just a thing for you kid or...?” Bowser asked Hat-kid, casually referring to the state of her own ship as the Maw began to share its fate, the vessel running aground with the shallows around their destination and beginning to violently shake apart beneath their feet

”Oh no, not again! not again!” Was Kamek's far less relaxed response as he hurriedly glanced around for an exit as the Maw went the way of so many a koopa airship and began to crash after its boss was defeated. Lacking his trusty broom which would normally get him out of this kind of mess, he ended up pulling himself and Jr towards the closest thing akin to a lifeboat onboard the cursed vessel (Rika) right before everything went to hell.

---

Calling what Rika had done to save the two smaller koopas ‘holding’ was generous, due to her hands being too constrained to really hold anything while wearing her gauntlets. Instead, the two (still rather small even back at their old sizes) turtles were found clinging to her waist where they were straight up lashed to her body via Hook’s chain. Undignified? Yes. But it meant that the ship girl had been able to focus her everything into guarding them all from shrapnel with her gauntlets and righting herself, rather than on holding onto the pair and increasing the risk of getting sunk by the carnage in the process. She got thanks from Kamek for her aid and childish insistence that he ”Would have been fine” from a red faced Jr as they were released to the blighted shores upon which the Maw had run aground.

The rest of the troop not lashed together had been scattered all over said beach, and finding them all had its fair shares of relief and tragedies.

Bowser was found awkwardly trying and failing to climb down from the back of a massive whale with Peach in his arms, the king looking over the edge and failing to find a bit of ground he trusted to survive the impact of him just jumping down. It was a situation that was resolved with the princess extracted herself from his unwelcome grasp and parasol floated down to join the others on her own, leaving the king free to cat claw slide down the side of it. The resulting mess marring his temporary fur was rapidly lost to the rain.

Mimi was found cowering under Jr’s clown car (both having become separated from the prince during his return to his old self midway through the crash) her state an early warning of the lingering effect the Maw had had on the Troop. She practically threw herself at Jr when he discovered her, the little mon taking back her spot at his shoulder despite the lashing rain. The clown car, still dead from whatever had knocked out all their electronics, was going to need some work to reboot, and so it was hauled back and left by the impromptu camp along with Hook.

The fate of the final chef bro was found in a cluster of four softly glowing spirits, which Jr claimed for his army of strikers.

Finally, of Tyrant there was no sign, nor any of the other of his ilk: BB. The prince’s pig had fled into the dark during the battle with the lady, so it was unclear where he had been even before the crash. That didn't stop Jr from searching and trying to call out to the beast, though a certain lingering fear meant he insisted he be accompanied in his attempt, by Kamek in this case.

”Young master, we should take a break. You’ll catch a cold if we don't get out of this rain soon” Kamek, once again old and now really feeling his age thanks to their brush with youth, suggested after they had been at it for a while.

”But-” Jr attempted to protest, only to be interpreted by the sodden false head of Mimi bapping against his cheek. The picture of drenched misery staring up at him from his shoulder caused him to reflect on his own soaking state and to reconsider what he was doing. ”-fine” he conceded, not happy with just leaving the Baby Behemoth out there, but understanding that he collapsed from the cold there’d be no finding him.

Kamek sighed with relief before optimistically suggesting that ”Perhaps your father has managed to start a fire by now? That will be a relief. It won't do for us to freeze to death after all we’ve been through after all”

His optimism was misplaced. They returned just as Delsin showed his face and offered firewood. Sakura gladly accepted, while Bowser merely huffed that ”Not going to help though. Nothing here wants to catch!” before demonstrated by flame roasting a sodden pile of ship junk he’d collected, and getting nothing but smoke for his efforts. Not that his firewood was exactly a choice collection, he had just ripped bits of nearby sailing ship up and dumped unceremoniously on the ground and believed that with enough flame anything would burn. In this he was wrong.

”If we could get out of the rain, that might help. So hold onto that for us would you, whoever you are” Kamek suggested as the sodden mage walked right by the man, entirely unafraid of the stranger, using his drooping broomstick as a walking stick, and followed closely by Jr.

“Only place with an inside is the Ship” Rika pointed out, nodding back to the sinking Maw “I don't think going back is a good idea” despite the fact she was entirely capable of doing so, she was loath to go back to it on her own “for anything other than checking for survivors?”

”The other ships are junk too,” Jr complained, glancing round at the wrecked sailing ships ”So I guess we’re just stuck here? On this soaking wet ship scrap heap”

”We’ve still got the airship” Bowser pointed out offhandedly, and was immediately pressed by the rest of the Troop, who had not know this ,on as to why he hasn't shared this information before, to which his awkward back of the head scratching reply was ”Well, uh, it came back in my hands when I turned back, but it was the ship or Peach so...”

A few minutes after that revelation, the shrunken airship had been hauled up out of the surf by Bowser and Kamek’s magically summoned minions, dumped next to their impromptu campsite and resized back to its true dimensions by the magi-Koopa. The brief spot of hope for escape (or at least benign able to turn the heating on) was dashed a few moments later when it became clear that something was foiling up the drive core of the ship, and it wasn't anything internal.

”There’s something off with mana in this place. I can feel off somehow, though I can't exactly say why” Kamek concluded after he and the prince had had a look at the arcane engine of the vessel.

”What does that even mean? Does it hate ships or something?” Jr asked, before the two glanced outside at the ship graveyard, shared a look, and gave up on the vessel as a means of escape for now.

What it had provided was somewhere out of the rain that would fit them all, namely the cargo bay, and some dry-ish material in the form of a torn up mattress that Bowser ended up combining with Delsin’s firewood in an attempt to give them some kind of heat that wasn't burning his (or Jr’s) stamina reserves for a quick blast of fire.

As far as food and rations were concerned, it turned out most of those had been left on Shippy, an oversight that left them with basically the continents of Jr’s clown car’s glove box for sustenance, something the prince was loath to share. Car sweet weren't exactly a meal either, but a bit of sugar might take them going a little bit longer while Bowser worked on the fire (to which he ended up added 2 molotov cocktails worth of gasoline after finding those in his pockets). As he did Jr worked on using Mimi as a spark plug to restart his clown-car while Kamek and Rika mostly just tired to get dry and warm, which resulted in the former abyssal sitting with her diminutive first friend sitting in her lap, while the porcelain doll she’d impulsive carried all the way out of the Maw leaning against her side with the unused winged key sitting in its lap.

World of Light

wordcount: 1,340 (+3)
Midna: level 7 EXP: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (10/70)
Location: Sandswept Sky - Al Mamoon Northeast - Rocket Inc.

You had to admit, and Minda certainly did as she watched Tora take all the comers that came after her own sky shooting starting gun to affairs, that their portly protector’s sheer tenacity was incredibly impressive. The rotund tank could shrug off blows like nobody's business and without showing as much as a hint of pain in the process. Midna was in the midst of making a theory linking his external numbness with his eating habits (and ogling habit) as a compensation for that lack of sensation when things finally died down, the nopon’s energy reserves depleted after one hell of an extensive training session. He certainly seemed to have learned a lot, which was good for him. If she was going to take one thing out of it herself meanwhile, it was putting Tora between her and the enemy was definitely a sound strategy.

Another thing she had learned in the interim was learned when Primrose had asked for volunteers, which had resulted in the two of them dancing on the train (with completely dissonant different styles/rhythms it might be added) to combined the dancer’s Sealticge's Seduction with the princess’s Dragon Dance, allowing the monumental speed and damage boost provided by her draconic energy to be spread across an entire squad, something she was quite sure would be devastatingly powerful if they got the space to set it up in an actual battle.

How much of a musical smackdown could Big Band put out, souped up like that? What impossible cuts could Yoshitsune slice with that dragon energy coursing through his veins? How absolutely ludicrously fast could she go riding atop the back of a dragon boosted wolfos?

The princess could hardly wait to see how well this new strategy of theirs could play out.

Unfortunately, wait she must, as they had plenty of train riding left to go after the onboard entertainment (clowning on Tora) was all over. The princess began wishing she had bought a book at some point as she returned to sulking in the shade. The only real interesting thing, baring some small-talk/chattering with the others, that went down during the rest of the trip was getting her mask custom fit by Tora. or half of it to be exact, as the rest was cut up and discarded so that the bottom and right side of it could fit up snugly underneath the fused shadow, giving her a complete face covering (the remains of the gas mask slotting up against the quarter of the ancient artifact to cover her mouth, nose and one exposed eye that the missing pieces of the fused shadow left out in the open) when she needed it to block out her own sand based attacks.

It should also help her up the mountain if there were any snow storms, protect her from gas attacks and also just armor her face a bit more, which was nice. The one glowing eye also did a bit to help improve her day vision, the electronic lens allowing her to filter out some of the excess light coming from their luminous foe on high. Whether she would get any use whatsoever out of the chem inhaler part of it remained to be seen, but she certainly wasn't planning on it.

It’s one major flaw, in her opinion, was that its porcelain white shell that completely clashed with her darker aesthetics, but that was nothing a bit of shadow magic couldn't fix. With a bit of work and arcane tinkering the bleach white mask had been dulled down to match the hue’s of the fused shadows and ‘threads’ of shadow magic had been woven onto its edges so it could ‘link’ onto the side of the helm and hide the break between the fused shadow and the futuristic mask when the two were pressed together. With that set up she added some nice inscriptions and engraving to make it fit in near seamlessly with the artifact of her people, creating a melding of technology and magic she was rather proud of, all things told.

While it might be practical and aesthetically consistent, its face obscuring properties probably did not help her first impressions to the town’s people in general or a certain guitar playing youth in particular. She was trying out wearing it when they arrived while also practicing her new found athleticism (and getting used to using her tail to improve it) by parkouring around on the many guns of their train when it rolled into town, before leaping off it and landing in the dust of the railway yard they parked in like a tiny ninja. Only then did she remove the mask, letting it hang down around her neck as she took a look around the colorful looking town.

”Pretty place’” she commented, before doing a double take at the place’s primary occupants, namely a host of equally colorfully painted Stals. The skull-faced people didn't seem to be the least bit as threatening as their monstrous cousins back in Hyrule however, so she quickly relaxed and then listened with interest as their head honcho gave them some info on the mountain they were going to scale.

She then helpful reported this back to some of the others, including one of their newly acquired member Razputin who was worried about whether his attire wouldn’t be up to snuff when it came to scaling the mountain. In this she had to agree, not that her own bear-chested getup was much better. The little jacket around her shoulders she had just gained from her Orendi fusion didn't exactly insulate very well, which was a boon in the desert yes, but it would be useless up in the mountains.

”The kids over there” she said, giving a side nod to the thieves ”picked up some cold weather gear we really should check if it fits. And it’ll probably only help with the cold, not the climbing part”

Razputin had brought up a good point in worrying about simply walking in the snow, and Minda was somewhat regretting giving back the mercury treads at that moment, despite it being the right thing to do. Those were made of the right stuff for precarious climbs, while her slippers 100% were not. She could just ride and float the whole way, true, but that would be a bit of a waste of all her recently gained foot slogging experience, and that wasn't going to help the rest of them get up unless he carried them, and this she 100% did not want to do.

”The friendly Stalchild in charge of this place mentioned a ‘sports shop’” Midna informed Razputin in regards to his/their lack of snow shoes ”with regards to mountain gear. Might not be the kinda grade we need for where we’re going, but could be worth checking out if you have money to spare. Which I do not” she said, that final part something of a self reminder. She added it to her list of needs, which boiled down to the following:

First, she coordinated with the others holding on to the Phantom Thieves' acquired cold weather gear to work out what they actually had and what they might be missing in terms of mountain survival.

The second was to check out what was on sale that might help them climb the mountain with whoever else went over to check out the aforementioned sports shop.

The third was to take a nose around town, rapidly skipping from shadow to shadow or through streets and across rooftops on wolfos back, to see if there were any jobs that could help them afford said gear. It didn't exactly look like a palace that had demons lurking in old churches that needed to be taken out, but Galeem’s world was a dangerous one, so you never knew who needed a large amount of magical violence done on their behalf.

Finally. Lunch. It would be no good climbing a mountain on an empty stomach. Or a stomach full of cereal bars.

World of Light

wordcount: 1,012 (+2)
Midna: level 7 EXP: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (7/70)
Location: Sandswept Sky - Northbound from Al Mamoon

”Eh, I entirely forgot about it as well” Midna replied when Jesse apologies about ditching the rocket launcher on her, before taking a look at all the miniaturized cold weather gear she’d been given with a squint ”huh. Cute. but you don't have to shrink it all for me to carry. I’m just shoving it into another dimension and there’s not really a space limit, trust me. I once shoved an entire canyon spanning bridge in there, a little camp site is nothing.”

She'd take them either way.

---

It was Midna’s first real time seeing the train they’d been fighting for. Perhaps calling it a train was a touch generous. The princess’ experience with trains and guns might be rather limited, but as far as she saw it, this hunk of metal was considerably more gun than it was transport and resulted in the majority of the group having to sit about outside rather than in anywhere, which made for an unpleasant riding experience all things told, especially to the sun adverse twilight princess.

Adding to the unpleasantness was the very last minute arrival of Ciella ”of all fucking people.”

Suffice to say the princess was incredibly unhappy with this, but seeing as they were off moments after she arrived, there wasn't much time to complain or argue, unless they wanted to try and ditch her off of the side of the train. Something that Midna was rather tempted to do all things told, and only resisted for two reasons:

One, it would look incredibly bad to kick the vizier’s representative off of their heavily armed train just as they were pulling out and into town pummeling range. Two, as last night had reminded her, it was maybe not the best idea to have people who they didn't trust running around aware of what was going on. Who knew what Crow was getting up to right now, or what Ciella, or anyone else should she start her own liberation cascade (as the avian themed villain was no doubt doing with his ship’s crew) would do, left behind and to their own devices. Not that they hadn't done exactly that with some of the resistance of course, but then Midna was 100% being biased here against people she had bad blood with.

Unable to do much of anything about the bunny lunatic, the princess was left to sulk, tucked into the shadiest corner she could find, sitting on her cooling arctic shield and fanning herself with her tail, up until a certain hamstery fellow stopped by and asked to be beat up.

”As hard as I can? Are you sure about that?” she asked, stepping up from her cool spot, squinting as the sun immediately struck her eyes, and then stretching before saying ”Well if you are, I could use some stress relief”

Stepping across the train opposite Tora, she’d roll her shoulder and then unleash a massive shadow hand smash at the bulky boy. The exertion was fun and really stretching her imagination to pretend Tora was Cellia gave her a touch of catharsis but ”You know what. We can do better than that” she told him as he healed himself ”so how about we find Yoshitsune and we see just how hard a punch I can throw with this little thing lending a hand.” she held up the cute heart decorated friendship bracelet and then looked a little embarrassed about showing off the distinctly not her style bangle before changing the subject.

”But before we go at it, could you do me a favor” She asked before tossing him the only mask she had kept for herself out of the the demon’s in the church. ”and modify this so it can fit under my helmet, if you can? Should help me with sand and snow storms, not to mention snow glare”

Whether that happened now or later, once Tora was ready to go again, Midna led the way to the four-swords-man, led by the slightly stronger light on her friendship bracelet. Rather than just walking however, Midna put some of her increased athletic ability to dragon dance her way there, rapidly perfecting the art of moving with style on the shaking train such that by the time she had arrived by the eponymous swordsman and informed him ”Hi. Watch this! I am going to punch Tora into the sun!” she was glowing with as much dragon energy as she could handle, and was ready to unleash it, though not before asking ”if you are still sure about this, that is?”

If he was, then, well, Midna would deliver her 410~/440~% (it depended on how you combined the percentages) punch as an uppercut on Tora. If not, or once he’d recovered, Midna would offer to do some less dangerous but more unorthodox/straightforward attacks, such as sandblasting the big boy, hammering him with a constant beam of lighting from her sword, sonically striking him via her Vibrava’s buzzing wings or hitting him with dragon claws and (again, vibrava sourced) dragon fire. If Yoshitsune was interested in also toughening up Tora, she, he and one of her wolfos could even give him a bit of practice at dealing with being attacked from multiple angles, the trio acting like a pack of wolves, circling and striking at openings if and when he presented them. She, of course, was also on hand to help him with whatever ideas he might have, if any could use her assistance.

”Phew. Well that was a work out, though I have to admit, I started feeling kinda bad hitting you over and over by the end, even though you asked for it” she said once it was all over and she was out of tricks, taking a drought from a twilight realm retrieved water bottle before passing it around to the others.

Still, it passed the time and Midna did get some expensive low risk practice with her menagerie of new powers. Especially the dragony ones, which she was getting a feeling that she could do more with with a bit more practice.

World of Light

wordcount: 1,519 (+3) (+51)
Midna: level 7 EXP: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (7/70)
Location: Sandswept Sky - Al Mamoon Northeast - Rocket Inc.

Midna Level Up

Thunder Blade (Urbosa): Midna can store up to four ‘bars’ of electrical energy in a metal weapon, and then use it to unleash short ranged electrical attacks when swinging that blade. Abilities include shooting a tight beam of lightning, firing out a short ranged but wide thunderbolt, having 3 bolts hammer a small area around a blow, create a vortex of 3 swirling lightning steams, launch an electrical sword beam and so on. (basically everything from the combos section of this video except the last massive 2 combo’s massive aoe lightning.

Using lightning uses charge, which can be regained by charging, which involves holding the weapon close to her body to fill it with lightning once more. Charging generally refills one ‘bar’ per second, but starting to charge right after an attack can steal back some of the used power and charge one bar instantaneously.

Simply hammering on foes with the sword will also build static electricity, but this takes a fair bit longer than stepping back and charging it would.
Midna’s lightning is a limey twilight green, and she and her mounts are naturally resistant to it, or at least enough to prevent themselves from being fried by being so close to the blast zone, but not enough to protect them if they are literally in said blast zone.

After being thoroughly bathed, wined and dined at the spa Midna got re-dressed in her now wonderfully clean getup, sans the boots and chest plate she had acquired from the ill gotten gains stored in rocket HQ. Those went back in the malicious pile of things that would be being returned to them tomorrow, likely cleaner than she had gotten them. Which was, when it came down to it, not a nice thought. It was almost preferable to be wearing her not cleaned pair of slippers to someone else's boots really.

Not that they touched the ground often, nor did they do so now as she drifted out of the little yard that contained the local Spa warp and thought over what she was going to do with the rest of the eve. It was a question that answered itself, said answer being born by the rapid fire paw pad falls of a wolfos, who came bounding down the side road a few moments after they returned, and almost collided with the group of spa goers in its eagerness to be reunited with the princess.

”Gah, what the fuck” Midna cried out in alarm as it near bowled her over in its enthusiasm, but fortunately the wolf had the good graces to skid to a halt before her and then give her a bark followed by doing a quick 360 circle before finally sitting down before her, wagging its tail all the while

”Wait. Right. Scout wolfos. Your back!” Midna said, watching herself up on what was going on and then demanding to know ”If you’re back then you should have found the others? But why are you alone? Where are they?”

Her response was another bark, followed by the wolfos getting up and pointing back the way it came with its snout, before looking back at her expectantly. She didn't need to question why it was doing that at least. Even if it had only been half a day really, it was a little nostalgic to be getting back in the proverbial saddle (maybe she should get them some of those to improve her riding experience), Minda thought as she floated down, landed on her mount’s back and then sped off through the city, dodging through the evening traffic and over rooftops below the rising moon.

Soon enough they found their way to a hotel and there she found the quadrant of lost souls all safe and sound, having been found by the bugs and wolfos, and then found again by, of all people, one of the ones who had been frozen in amber back at the candy town. She’d also slaughtered all of the queen’s ant minions. Midna... Didn't really know what to say or do about that, other than be relieved that Peacock hasn't killed anyone or anything else. She seemed a touch unhinged, and that was if you were being generous.

The only thing keeping her from trying to deal with that personally was that she was apparently a friend of Band, so she’d let the big man handle handling her unstableness. She had a busy day full of commitments ahead of her tomorrow, and so after a bit of talk with the absentees where she caught them up on what had gone on in town and they on their desert trip, she headed to get some well deserved rest.

Said rest was rudely interrupted by the arrival of a large purple airship that flew in and hovered above the city at about 1 am in the morning, its low flying thruster’s roaring and its looming presence causing quite the panic. When Midna stuck her head out the window to figure out what the heck was going on she was greeted by the sound of Crow making an announcement from loudspeakers attached to the airship. He was the other person who they, or specifically she, had freed from the hammer that hadn’t either belonged there, died or joined their quest. He instead had attempted to get in touch with someone from home and, well, based on the announcement he had to make

“Suck it Princess! I told you it would work ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

It looked like it had worked. She gave him a giant glowing middle finger in response, which just got her more laughter when it was spotted by the ship’s master, before it’s thrusters flared and the ship took off into the night, taking the villainous gigglefest away with it.

”Asshat” Midna grumbled before she slammed the window shut and went back to bed. That was past-Midna’s fault and future-Midna’s problem, right now present-Midna needed her beauty sleep.

After a slightly less than optimal night’s sleep Midna rose, quickly breakfasted and then headed out to handle her two pre-train ride commitments.

One was the formal end of the resistance, which managed to go down quite well, with a few teary reunions between some of the (non-criminal) mind control victims and their friends and family, as well as the demonstration of how they bad been mind controlled in the first place going down without a hitch, much to Midna’s relief. Hopefully they’d be out of town before people realized/thought about the fact that said mind control power was still out there and in the hands of a certain less than trustworthy bee queen no less. Then again, maybe that was just her worrying about the potential consequences of that.

For her part, Midna helped set up a returning of stolen goods by summoning the entire collection if items from her realm onto a per-designated spot, which gave her a chance to chat casually with a few of the former resistance (and hooking the freed ones up to the Moogle communication network) who were helping out as an extra sign of good faith, as well as the townsfolk to whom she was returning items too.

Among them was Agitha as she had expected, the bug collector being delighted to be reunited with part of her collection, and then also briefly delightful and then scornful when Midna tried to show off her Vibrava to the girl. It turned out that there was not a buggy bone in its body, or rather, it had bones in its body, which was one among a number of things that made it not a bug.

The princess learned a fair bit about insect anatomy while helping sort out the rest of the stolen goods as a result. There were worse ways to spend a day, and it was nice to know at least one person from home was doing alright in this mixed up reality.

Impa turned out to not be among those present however, despite what she had thought was her armor piece being part of the stolen goods. The item turned out to belong to some no name mercenary, and any possibility of forming a connection with the merc’s group was spoiled by Midna’s brief arguing about it not being their property.

Midna, content with her work and having gained a bit of goodwill and a few connections in town as a result of it, hit the bricks after the initial rush had died down, and it was only the unmissed or contentiously owned items left over and headed for her other appointment.

Following some directions and the softly growing glow on her friendship bracelet, the princess found her way to the forge Yoshitsune had commissioned to have his blades repaired at and, based on her promise from the night before to give him the sparring session he’d missed out on with the Spa’s burly guards, gave him an ample opportunity to test out the smith’s handiwork.

Despite some flashy electrical tricks pulled out of her steadily increasing taping of Urbosa’s skills power, there was no way in hell she was going to win going toe to two with a master swordsman like him on her first real try with a sword. Still, she did better than she had any right to do, predominantly again thanks to Urbosa who’s spirit was encouraging her to go down this path in the first place.

The princess took the loss mostly graciously, with only a token comment with 0 bite behind it on how she was holding back her true power in-order to get better with the sword, and was more than happy to take his tips and a touch of more training oriented bouts before it was well past time to head for the train station.

They arrived together a little while later, ready to ride into danger and face down their first encounter with one of Galeem’s guardians.

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 946 (+2)
Bowser: Level 9 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (165/90)
Bowser Jr: Level 8 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (98/80)
Kamek: Level 8 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (65/80)
Location: Bottomless Sea – the Maw - the Restaurant
Feat: Rika

”Haha yes, die trash!” Jr cheered as Geralt went absolutely ham on the snake turned tasty dish, doing absurd amounts of damage stabbing it over and over while the rest of them did their best to beat the crap out of the dang thing. Unfortunately, while seconds would have been ample time in most cases to deal with a foe who could not fight back, it was not enough for the dozen or so children to stomp a greater demon to death.

”Ok is it just me, or is this thing way tougher than it looks?” Bowser complained after his arm started getting tired from hammering it over and over. The Tamura looked like it should have been splattered by now, but instead their kicking and hammering and other blunt attacks was only leaving what could be best described as bruises instead of a battered pulp.

”It is strange, it's almost like the spell hasn’t….” Kamek said, and then shut his mouth to open his eyes to look at the damage they were actually doing and came to an unfortunate yet very accurate conclusion which he expressed by shouting ”Oh no. Get clear!” before turning and to do exactly that only for the 10 seconds to be up at that very moment and for the small tempura to turn back into its true form, reoccupying the larger volume of space its real body demanded and violently displacing the kids around it in the process.

”Ah!” ”Gah!” ”Oh no” “eek” “Mimi!” the troop cried out, among other things such as the squeal of a pig and Hook’s swearing being bleeped by its own mechanisms, as they went tumbling along the corridor or smacked into the surrounding shelves. This was followed by a mix of getting up and running further away, getting up and turning to face the monster or, in the sentient meathook’s case, just kind of laying there due to its lack of legs. The machine instead helpful informed all present that “You have voided my warranty”

Nobody cared.

”Kamek! Bake it again!” Bowser demanded as he grabbed his hammerhead from where it had fallen and raised it defensively as the snake flailed around, its fury animals yet still very dangerous.

”Charging!” the mage called back simply from behind a box.

”Keep back and pelt it, ranged minion style! Mimi, shadow sneak! Chef bros, throw stuff! Rika, shoot it! Dad roasted it! Geralt, throw the nail! We’ve almost got this!” came a command from Jr, who was hauling hook behind a set of shelves, against which he braced alongside the sentient meathook, and then got said hook to launch up and over the struggling, flailing serpent to latch onto and then drag the opposite set of shelves down on top of their foe while the troop skirmishes away from it and peppered it with whatever ranged firepower they had.

Eventually, through that or other means, the serpent finally fell but, alas, thought it had been that foe that had cursed them it did not seem like its end would free them. Even the, probable, death of its double (which they found out about when when they exited the storage room, varying levels of useful and/or questionable loot in hand, and met up with the others) didn't undo things, which left only one logical final target of their ire that might restore them to normal, if that was even a possibility and their de-ging wasn't a permanent curse (a possibility not even worth considering), and that was the lurking lady.

There would be no restoring their former power before facing the wicked witch of the sea who ruled this place. But, if Nadia’s intuition about the mirrors she laid out was correct, and Bowser was highly supportive of the idea that was for certain, their scrounging may have gotten them the key to defeating the monstrous mistress. Best to use it now than worry about her getting wise to their having it and complicating things. They were all now fully armed with something which was a bonus, though Kamek did set down the empty and useless mug (there was no water, let alone tea bags to refill it with) for now and instead armed himself with a combination of half a pair of scissors that he got from Rika in one hand and the bloody book in the other, mostly as a last line of defense. 0 +1 cutting skill was still 1 cutting skill after all, and thus better than nothing.

Before that however, and before they headed down to the final battle, Kamek brought up the last pieces of power they still had to make use of ”Best someone make use of these” holding out the remaining tempura wizard and the dead serpent demon for anyone to take and do with as they wished. ”I warn you however, the mage one has made it so I can't have my eyes and mouth open at the same time, which will make communicating in battle difficult” he informed them, holding his beak up (though due to him being the shortest among them this wasn't that unusual) and catching peeks through almost entirely closed lids between words in-order to not be 100% blind to the world while talking. It still wasn't great, but a flashing thin line of sight was better than nothing.

There was little other preparation to be done. They were going to have to face their foe on her chosen battlefield one way or the other. Not that there weren't attempts to get out of it

”Ok but what if instead we just burn the whole stage down instead?” Jr suggested ”Or just blow up the room?”

”While that worked last time on a single door, I really, really, really must urge you to reconsider. It’s a bigger room and trying to destroy its contents will also damage the ship, or at least the helm which is right next door” Kamek replied, shooting down the idea at once

”Plus, if there’s all that smoke, we won't be able to see her to mirror her!” Bowser pointed out, unintentionally addressing an even bigger concern of simply fighting the shadow sneaking fiend in a haze of smoke would also be a nightmare.

”Sigh, fine, but it still doesn't feel right just walking over there and playing by her rules!” jr grumbled, before promptly getting down to some scheming with the chef bros before they headed for the kitchens while the rest of them headed for the stage.

World of Light

Evening in Al Mamoon

Location: Sandswept Sky - Al Mamoon
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Primrose’s @Yankee, Yoshitsune’s @Rockin Strings
Word Count: 8440 (+10)

The cleanliness next to godliness group headed for their own destination, namly the ‘to die for’ spa. A quick trip across town under the setting evening sun found them at the address of the spa, which turned out to be a small fenced off allotment on an nondescript side road that contained only one thing.

”A stone ring? Is this some kind of joke?” Midna said incredulously, as she hovered over to inspect the plain ring of paving stones sitting in a dusty yard, before spotting a small plaque on the ground sitting just outside the ring that read “To ascend to heaven, please keep all limbs inside the circle.”

”Who wrote this? Would it have killed them to be more specific?” the princess asked, drifting down and setting foot in the center of the ring.

”It sounds like a warp of some kind. Although not as elegant as mine.” Sectonia said, dismissing Midna’s worry nonchalauntly as she got into the circle.

"To ascend to heaven..." Primrose repeated, reading off of the simple sign. After a moment she pinched the bridge of her nose and smiled wryly. "It almost sounds like a clever death trap."

Surely that couldn't be the case though... could it? Somewhat warily Primrose stepped into the stone ring, looking directly up into the evening sky where there was nothing unusual to be found. If this was some kind of magic circle, it was a very strange one. If this was some kind of joke, the best case scenario would be that the ladies (and Yoshitsune) stood around making fools of themselves. In the worst case... well. She hoped that Sectonia was right. This had better bring us to a spa, she thought to herself, Gods know I need to relax.

Midna glanced to and fro impatiently, and was just about to bark another comment when a giant beam of light blassted down into the center of the ring, before reversing direction in a moment and sorting away skywards, taking those within the ring with it.

---

”Goddeses, what the fuck was that!” where Midna’s next words as the beam travelers found themselves in an identical ring sitting on a small grassy hilltop (or so it seemed) that sported a single pine tree and little else. The land was surrounded by a thick fog, and the only way forwards seemed to be a sturdy looking rope bridge leading out into the mist.

”... My methods are far more elegant.” Sectonia said, shaking her head, not having nearly as much vertigo as Midna.

"That did not feel right," Yoshitsune moaned with his hand on his stomach. "Can we take your way back after we're done?" he asked the bee queen.

Primrose thoroughly checked herself to make sure that she did in fact have all of her limbs intact after the abrupt teleportation. Finding herself whole, she looked around at the others and the area around them. There was no trace of the desert they'd been in moments ago.

"So we were transported..." Primrose eyed the bridge, the only real thing of note in the area that they could see. "...let's hope our promised spa is just ahead."

With only one way forwards any deliberation would eventually find them following it and so soon enough the team of spa goers pressed into the mist, which thinned dramatically as they crossed the bridge and revealed a building of white stone decorated with marble pillars upon which a large billboard had been place that declared boldly “Paradise found”

Also, said building was on a floating island, as was the one they had come from and, looking around so where several others around them, many sporting similar or even grander temples.

”... Someone built a spa in the City in the Sky? Or a city in the Sky I guess” Midna noted, not that impressed having both been somewhere like this before (though that palace had been ruins of an ancient civilisation) and being from a place where everything floated in the sky. Primrose peeked over the edge, but saw nothing besides clouds below them. After flying with Alibaba, or rather 'Necronomicon,' a floating island wasn't much stranger to her. Although, she could see how the notion of a floating spa might cause anxiety in some, rather than relaxation.

”Well this isn’t Floralia. I would know if we had a place like this.” Sectonia said, rubbing her chin, getting thoughts about maybe, maybe taking these floating islands if they’re good should Floralia be nearby.

Entering through the double doors brought them into a central lobby, where lines of angelic toads awaited, who bowed their heads in greeting and then coursed in their distinctly unangelic voices “Welcome! Welcome to Shangri-Spa!”

"Finally," Primrose sighed. They hadn't been duped after all, at last they'd made it to the resort - and she was ready for the spa to live up to it's heavenly motif.

”Alright now this is more like it” Midna said, as she drifted through the lines of attendants and headed for the front desk, where the toad manning the desk also welcomed them “Greetings! Welcome to Shangri-Spa, a palace to rest, reflect, be renewed and now, thanks to the blessing of our lovely Goddess, be restored through the power of hot springs! How may we help refresh you today?”

”That sounds lovely. Here” Midna replied, before summoning and sliding over their reward for defeating/saving the resistance ”We have this gold pass? Should cover everything”

“Ooh, you came from our new Al Mamoon access point? The Cowlipha already made a generous donation to the spa, so you won’t have to pay a penny. How is her majesty? We haven’t had her visit in a while.” the toad asked, sliding the pass back once he had inspected it and confirmed it as legit.

”She’s got a cheese related sleeping sickness at the moment I am afraid.. Wait, the ‘Al Mamoon’ access point? Do you have others” Midna asked

“We do, and we’re opening up new ones all the time! But before you ask, we are a spa service, not a fast travel service. Having people trekking through here going to and fro would completely ruin the aesthetic, drain the transport system and anger the various merchant guilds and unions to boot” The toad quickly broke off any thoughts of unintended usage, and when Midna attempted to protest about how them using it would be worthwhile because of how important their cause was she was interrupted by a polite cough from a particularly beefy centurion who was accompanied by four titchy in comparison bow armed comrades. The Five of them were hanging out unobtrusively in a guard room found to the right of the desk, but looked prime and ready to deal with any trouble.

Yoshitsune looked them over and, while he thought he could easily take them, chose not to cause trouble for the very friendly service they were getting from the mushroom-shaped people. He did move closer to the larger guard with a soft smile and a respectful bow. "Thank you for guarding this lovely place full of friendly beings."

Sectonia made note of what the caretaker had said. So this wasn’t just a thing of Al Mamoon, but everywhere? Hm.... Even better but this would be a future thing, she wasn’t going to start anything now.

Midna pursed her lip, weighed up the odds, and despite finding them in her favor decided that ”You know what. I just want a bath. What do you have?”

The toad, who had looked a little pensive, nodded appreciatively to the muscle (and got a cool thumbs up in return) and was then more than happy to hand her a map of the spa, and then following that up with informing them that “We’ve also got a successive soaker campaign! Here, take this stamp card with you as you visit the springs. If you collect them all, we’ll give you a special prize!” and then sliding said card, which had five spots on it, over the desk to them as well.

”Huh. Sure, thanks” she replied, before popping it into storage.

“Also, check out our newly renovated banquet hall once you're done soaking!” the toad added finally, as Midna splayed out the map in front of everyone and asked ”So what one do you think sounds like the best?”

”Hm… Perhaps the nearby one, then the one of bliss. I don’t know how jungle mist is supposed to be appealing.” Sectonia said, offering her suggestion. ”Now if it was in a flower field under moonlight, name it the spring of dreams or some such, that would be far more appealing.” She said, giving a bit of an offhand comment and reference Midna wouldn’t recognize her own world’s Fountain of Dreams.

"Let's see... 'Sanctuary' sounds nice, but I agree with Sectonia. It seems like the closest one is 'purification.' Number three." the dancer pointed out. "Why don't we start there? A deep, purifying soak sounds perfect."

Primrose turned to one of the building's exits, a side door which led out to the rest of the resort's islands judging by the map. "Then we can go on to the others if there's time. Frankly I would like to go to the banquet hall sooner rather than later, but first - a bath."

Primrose stepped up to the concierge's desk with a question in mind. "Are there changing rooms at the springs? And do you happen to launder clothes here?"

“Oh, yeah. That’ll be just through the door on your left, and the rest of the spa is through a door on the other end of it. Plus we have complimentary bathrobes you can use there, and we can take care of your outfits while you’re out enjoying the rest of the spa” The desk-toad told them pleasantly, before taking a glance at said battle worn outfits and gave a brief look that said that he thought they needed it. “You’ll find the purification pool right after, and I highly recommend taking that short dip in it.”

”Looks like that will be our first stop either way then”

”I would recommend none of you try to sit on my thorax. One slip and it might end very poorly.” Sectonia said with a laugh as she went into the changing room, leaving the alcremie that was somehow sleeping even though that combat with one of the toads to take care of as the rest of the group soaked.

About ten minutes later the spa gowers emerged from the entrance building, cleansed of the filth of battle thanks to the spa of purification(who’s stamp had been added to their card), and garbed in pristine white bathrobes that were styled to look like togas. Quick drying and yet also highly porous, they were made specifically to to be bathed in, allowing modesty to be maintained while not getting in the way of the rejuvenating water one bit. This was particularly fortunate for Yoshitsune, as Primrose would have kicked him out of the bath otherwise seeing as they were co-ed. As it were, the four of them could soak together and relax, even if it was a bit of a tighter fit than preferable with one of them being a giant queen bee.

Having received some help from other spa workers, his wheels and engines were encased with a protective plastic that sealed water tight just below his knees. Not understanding the technology himself, other than how he'd been able to use it, he was grateful for the assistance and knowledge that these mechanical pieces could not safely be submerged. He was also glad for the robe as he wasn't sure how the ladies would've reacted otherwise.

A wooden bridge led them across into the central island hosting a water fountain, from which the other 4 hotsprings could be reached. Number 6 and 4 on their map were reachable by simple bridges, and the formerly secret number ?’s by a simple trip through a tunnel to the west. The final spa, the one labeled jungle mist, hung to the northwest, and seemed to have an entire sprawling jungle going along with it that might make reaching it an ordeal on top of its benefits being rather unclear.

Finally, to the north where bowser’s flying castle had once crashed, the old banquet hall had been rebuilt, (or simply replaced wholesale by Galeem), by a grand temple to the goddess Palutena, though by the smells if italian cuisine wafting down from it, it was clear that it still served the purpose of the structure whose position it had usurped.

A pair of other business had been set up in the area as well that weren't on the official map: a small item market on the west side of the central plaza, while down below the spring of bliss was a door to a secluded minion coffee shop, which was 100% not stealing hot water ment for the spa above it.

"This place is really beautiful," Primrose remarked. They'd have to tell the others about it when they had the chance so they could experience it for themselves. It was hard to tell the time, but she didn't think they'd been soaking for that long in the Spring of Purification. She placed one hand on her hip, the other gesturing slightly as she spoke to the other three.

"Well, I am feeling much better. I wouldn't mind visiting another spring," she said, despite mentioning earlier that she was planning to head toward the banquet hall. That was indeed her plan, but one more soak couldn't hurt. "After that, you can find me at the banquet hall. I am a bit curious to see the 'Spring of Rainbows,' but I don't think I'd want to fill out that whole card... " she smiled lightly at the non-humans, pinching at her own skin, made slightly more pale by the spirit she'd absorbed earlier. "I don't know about you two, but human skin gets prune-like with too much moisture."

”A Queen does not ‘prune’ in the water.” Sectonia said, having an exoskeleton instead of skin. ”Maybe we should find you an insect like spirit for you to absorb so you don’t have to worry either?” Sectonia said with a cackle.

The mere suggestion nearly wiped the smile from Primrose's face, but she thought she recognized some humor in the queen's voice and responded in kind. "I'll have to pass. I don't think I would look very good with a shell."

”Can you even feel anything through all that? Isn’t it like always having armor on?'' Midna asked

”I can feel things just fine.” Sectonia said. ”How else would this spa be enjoyable? I can keep myself proper with my antillions.”

"As enjoyable as the first spa was, I'm ready to eat something myself," Yoshitsune interjected with a slight bow. With that, he walked to the banquet hall, giving a soft smile and small nod to every guard he passed. The ladies waved him off before continuing their conversation.

"Let's stop at that shop on the way out too," she suggested. With connections outside of just Al Mamoon, it might have had some interesting things for sale. And if they accepted gold or leaves for currency, then Primrose still had some to spare.

”We could do that,” Midna said, somewhat doubtful what they sold would be useful. They probably had soap and stuff, she thought, and then took back the thought about the shop not being useful. ”As for the stamps, I assume they don't demand the card back when we leave, so we could always check out the others with, well the others'' Midna pointed out.

”When it comes to which one we try today… you suggested the spa of bliss right? That sounds simply divine to me and it isn't… all the way over there'' she waved a hand over at the distant jungle.

”Let's see if it brings bliss shall we? So far they have at least kept up on the appearance front. And yes that one.. Well I suppose I can fly us over there but it doesn’t sound refreshing.” Sectonia said. ”Hm… they should have some renewable items as well. Magic does wonders for keeping your appearances over the mundane.” mentioning the shops. She wasn’t sure either way, but this place was fairly high class.

The spring of bliss was indeed a lot more conveniently located, just a quick trip up the bridge would take them to that particular hotspring, and its fold and crease smoothing pink waters over which they’d have almost free reign, baring a trio of mr saturns paddling in one corner, enjoying the hot spring that was reminiscent of a similarly pink pool back in their home vally.

soundtrack

“” one of them said in their (what Midna would describe as) unique accent, to which the princess replied with a ”sure, yeah, thanks'' before floating over the pool and settling in on the opposite corner front hem, lowering herself into the water with a sigh.

”Oh wow it feels almost… silky? That’s… well it's very weird and very nice.'' she commented, before waving the others in/over to join her.

Primrose slipped into the water a few feet away from the Twilight Princess, sinking down until only her shoulders and head were above the water. She tipped her head back to lean against the marble lining of the spring so that her hair - tied up high on her head in a ponytail - would stay relatively dry.

"Mm, it's nice," the dancer agreed. "It has a nice scent too."

She looked between the two toad statues, pouring red and blue streams of water into the pool. Apparently that was how the spring got it's light pinkish color, an appealing shade to be sure.

The princess had no concerns for her hair, and indeed seemed to have the exact opposite plan as she removed the fused shadow that she hadn't changed out of. That she removed it (propping it up on the side of the bath) and then undid her own pony tail meant that she was (quite literally) letting her hair down for the first time since they’d met.

Sectonia soaked much like she did before, needing to lay down in the water instead of sit due to her size. Even so, she couldn’t cover her entire lower half, needing to roll occasionally to get the best soak. ”From a desert town to someplace actually good. I just figured everything in this combined world was going to be horrible.” Sectonia said, giving her input as she lazily lounged in the water.

Midna lay back and floated in the water with just her face exposed to the air for a little while, her new tail lazily flicking under the water, before saying ”Goddesses, what a day. I don’t know about you, but I can't wait to get out of the desert, even if it means freezing my ti-' she paused as she caught and then correct herself ”tail off up that mountain'' she lifted a hand out of the water and lazily waved in the direction of the summit who’s peak rivled their own cloud bound bathing spot. Primrose let her eyes slip closed, chuckling at Midna's near slip of the tongue.

”I already have some solutions for the cold. I am not the biggest fan of it either. But I won't be freezing ‘my wings off’” Sectonia said, making it clear she heard Midna’s little tongue slip and was ‘playing along’ but far more regally.

"The familiarity of the desert has long worn off," the dancer said in way of agreement, "it's only been two days, but a change of pace would be nice. No more towns with a food motif for starters..."

”Watch as the snow turns out to be ice cream'' Midna joked, before smacking her lips and wondering if they could get their hands on that delicacy. It would certainly be a most welcome treat to contrast the desert heat below. Then she had a thoughtful look and sat up to be more sociable and asked ”So this is like your home then. Or down there I mean. How do you live an entire life sweltering under the sun like that?''

"It's hell, but you learn to cope after a while," Primrose said. She didn't move a muscle, even as she continued speaking. "Though I didn't spend quite my entire life in the Sunlands, I didn't grow up there." It had been frustrating for the dancer when she first realized she'd spent the majority of her life wallowing in Sunshade, but she told herself it had been worth it after she'd finally caught the crows' trail. Despite living there for so many years, she had never considered it to be 'home' - although at times she hardly felt that Noblecourt was her home anymore either.

Not wanting to speak in depth about her story at this point, after all even though they'd survived some deadly situations together the three ladies had still only just met, Primrose was quick to follow up with a question of her own. "I would not mind hearing more about your homes. The point of view of a princess and queen sounds interesting."

”I for one can’t understand how you could even live in this sand trap. The only thing I’ve found useful here is the sand itself, but only for the glass it makes.” Sectonia said. And while Primrose was being cagey about her home, even though there probably wasn’t much to talk about, she wanted to know what went on in Floralia, which Sectonia was glad to share.

”Floralia is a beautiful kingdom, and run far more efficiently than what we see here.” Sectnonia said. Flipping to sit up a bit and even though her lower half was being soaked, she still towered over Primrose . ”Floralia is a series of islands in the sky. We have beautiful fields of flowers between our major districts. As you caught earlier our entertainment district is dedicated to the performance arts, which tends to be in the form of clowns or artwork itself. We even have a living painting as one of our exhibits. Although we do have a food district where much of the area is made of food like that village before, but with more honey and biscuits than frosting. We have our residential, forest, and mining districts all connected by elegant railways that give a great view of the flower fields, although we only have access to marble and volcanic minerals in Floralia.”

While so far Sectonia could only sing praises about her kingdom, the next section even she knew they were lacking, so she put on the best front she could, but the other girls could tell even she knew this area needed growth. ”And of course we can make mechanical marvels in our industrial zones, although I wouldn’t be surprised if this world had even better technology that could be more elegant...”

But that was only a small lul in her singing her own praises, as she finished with. ”And of course my palace, Made of wonderful stonework, crystals, flowers, and under an eternal moonlit sky thanks to my magic. All with an active military ready to assist where needed.” Sectonia concluded, curating her words to really sell her kingdom. At some point during Sectonia’s speech Primrose did open her eyes again, giving the queen her polite attention. Given Sectonia’s focus on elegance and beauty, she had no doubt that Floralia was a gorgeous kingdom.

”I’ve gathered a few things from our twilight princess here, but never a full story. Let us see what your place is like, Midna.”

”Unless you want to be turned into beasts or drifting spirits, devoid of bodies, I am afraid there will be no seeing my home'' Midna informed her, a touch dower now ”That was a lovely sales pitch, I’m sure the visar will love it if you can figure out a way to link your home to here, or down below rather, but the nature of my realm and my people means we are far more… isolationist, by choice and by nature both”

”The world of light and the world of twilight do not mix well. The rest of my kind can not survive under the light of the sun, and I am only able to due to divine intervention. You’d need the same to visit without losing yourself to the realm’s dark power” she shrugged ”so I could tell you about about how the sky is bathed in the hues of an eternal sunset, or of our cities floating in the void powered and protected by the light of the sols, or the centuries long peace it has endure if you discount the last few fucking years where things got nasty for a bit before I kicked fucking zant off of my thrown. Twice! Place wasn't good enough for him and he tried to take over the world of light instead the bastard” she said, going on an angry tangent before coughing and getting back on track ”What I mean is it’s nice, beautiful even despite its limitations, but you’ll never visit so I amn’t going to give you some kind of tourism sales pitch for it”

”Seems like you and your people should come to Floralia, unless moonlight also causes you to burn? If anything, things aren’t so drab and a fight for survival.” Sectonia said, still selling her kingdom. ”Only issue would be space, but I’m sure with this world here, it wouldn’t be too difficult finding more land...”

”Hey now, we’re fine thanks. Practically a utopia. Like I said the only time anything went wrong, once our ancestors stabilised everything ages back, was when Zant messed it all up,” Midna replied defensively, before actually thinking over what had been said and replying that ”Your offer’s nice, but the moonlight is still light. And even if it did work, or I did find some place my people could visit, this world isn’t exactly going to be around for long so there's not much point in making plans about it.”

”What makes you think the worlds will separate upon the death of the glow ball?” Sectonia said. ”To bring multiple different worlds together like this is no small feat of magic, and I don’t think magic is keeping them held together.” This did make Sectonia ponder though. ”Although I do wonder just how big this place is. Popstar wasn’t that large overall, but there was an entire galaxy to grasp… Is it the same here but on a much larger scale, or is this a single planetoid?”

”If it doesn't go automatically then we find a way to put it back manually. That’s just what you do, and I am speaking from experience here as someone who was involved in basically this exact situation but with all of time rather than all of the worlds being smashed together.” Midna explained matter of factly. She’d actually done it twice if you counted her permanently severing the worlds of light and twilight from one another ”but also yes, I agree, this can't be, well, everything ever. At least on this ring anyway, there might be more world beyond the horizon,” she actually peaked up out of the water when saying that, perring across the world, but due to cloud cover was unable to see what might lay beyond the edges of the map they had briefly seen all the way back at Alcamoth, before sitting back down and concluding ”but if all of Galeem’s guardians are here then, well...” she left her worry unspoken.

"Ladies..." Primrose's voice gently made itself know after a few moments. She sat up, crossing one leg over the other. "This is hardly relaxing talk, hm?"

The dancer didn't seem offended, in fact she smiled lightly at the other two. In their down time, which they hadn't gotten nearly enough of before now, Primrose had considered the nature of the world they found themselves in too. She thought that putting everything back the way it was would be the best thing for everyone, and assumed like many others that once Galeem was defeated things would just naturally go back to normal. But deep in her heart the words of the Master of Masters resonated. Not only were several worlds cobbled together, but timelines as well - and there were people in this stitched together world that would raise spirits, and bring them back to life... There were a lot of questions she had, and some borderline blasphemous plans, and it meant seeing them through before putting things back the way they were.

Of course, she didn't mention it out loud though.

"It's been interesting to learn about so many different places and things, so thank you," she said. Slowly she stood up, stretching her arms over her head. "I think I'm getting near to that 'pruney' state though."

”Yes, best not to oversoak. After all, we have a few more of these springs to visit. Perhaps a bit of food. If this place keeps up its appearance, things here should be better than what the others were going to.” Sectonia said, squeezing the water out of her fluff and making sure it was proper.

”Fine fine,” Midna agreed, somewhat grateful for Primrose ‘s intervention into their royale ‘discussion’ because it had not been a particularly relaxing one, all things told. To many bad memories and conflicting ideals ”How about we catch up with Yoshitsune?” she suggested, floating up out of the tub and marvaling slightly at how the robes they wore dried almost immediately upon exiting the water, the spa’s pink waters evaporating away in mere moments.

Said waters. Intended to smooth and wrinkled paper in the realm they belonged in, had had an interesting effect on the bathers. Primrose’s concern about pruning due to staying in overlong turned out to be unfounded, and indeed the opposite had occurred, the waters having smoothed out any wrinkles and remostuirised up any dry skin, the latter being the greatest of a blessings after being exposed to the hot dry desert over the past two days. It was a pleasant surprise.

The three of them headed for the banquet hall, and found within a lovely mediterranean restaurant, which certainly was a step above the joint the other group had went too, but by no means the highest class place in the world, who’s menu was mostly founded on the triad of wheat, olive oil, and wine. An angelic toad greeted them at the entrance and directed them through the room (a lovely airy affair, where round marble tables, surrounded by comfy Chaise Lounge chairs upon which a few other guest where reclining while enjoying their meals, sat among the columns of the temple in between which a refreshing breeze blew and the evening sun shone through basking the hall in its gradually reddening rays) to the table Yoshitsune had taken up residence, where the man was conveniently just coming to the end of a starter.

”Couldn’t wait for us huh?” Midna joked, before stealing an olive from a complimentary dish of them at the center of the table, her eyes widening a little at the taste ”salty” that she hadn’t expected at all. ”That would be the brine. It looks like an olive, usually they are kept in salt water.” Primrose peered over the dish, taking a few herself. "Useful little fruits."

"Apologies, ladies, but I was too hungry to wait," the samurai replied sheepishly.

The ladies took their seats and were quickly provided with another 3 menus, from which to order from. By the standards of most of the other group there was nothing particularly exotic on offer in the list of foods on offer, but for a quadrant of people who had no idea where ‘the mediterranean’ was the helpful toad (who admittedly didn't know where that place was either, but did know what the food from it was like at this point) was onhand to explain whatever dishes from the lands around that sun kissed sea caught their fancy.

Primrose went with a chicken bowl with rice, tabbouleh, red cabbage and pickled radish. When she handed her menu back to the winged Toad with a smile, it's face pinkened slightly and it quickly went over to collect from the other two newcomers to the table.

Sectonia, not too familiar with this type of food, asked for something that was sweet, or if that wasn’t available, savory but without a salty taste. The olives really didn’t leave a good taste in her mouth. It wasn’t that she was against spices, but more it just tasted like ocean, and sea spray wasn’t very flattering.

Minda meanwhile, having never even been close to an ocean let alone having gotten a taste of it, went for some seafood for the novelty of it, which resulted in her ordering some greek stewed octopus and olives in tomato sauce with pasta based on the waiter’s suggestion.

Before the toad left, he turned to Yoshitsune with a smile. "Your order should be here in just a couple minutes." The samurai merely nodded with a smile of his own in reply.

While they waited, Primrose laced her fingers together and rested her chin on the back of her hands, elbows propped on the table. Now that they were reunited with Yoshitsune, Primrose asked him if he was enjoying the place for some light conversation.

"Yes," he nodded with a smile, "the beings here are very friendly, much more so than my home, and the guards seem a bit happier to patrol than to actually stop or prevent any problems. I do wonder how strong they are. I wonder if I could convince one to spar with me."

”Having two guys battling it out might take away from the relaxing atmosphere of the place” Midna joked, before shrugging and saying ”But if that’s something that calms you down, then go for it. Just be careful not to trigger their Gleeming, yes?”

”Two clowns putting on a show however might be decent entertainment.” Sectonia mused. ”But something tells me the mushroom people aren’t much one for comedy.”

Midna gave her a little look that made it clear that she felt that the clown part of that comment was pretty uncalled for. Primrose stifled a surprised chuckle, taking a sip of one of the glasses of water that had been left at the table. She composed herself quickly before speaking again. "I imagine entertainment here would be of the music variety. Harps, singers..." she trailed off, looking towards a couple of toads chatting by the door to a staff area. "...hopefully professional ones."

”They seem to be competent, if a bit intimidated by us. Can’t blame them, it is rather imposing to be in the presence of such a beautiful queen.” Sectonia replied, catching where Primrose was looking.

"Most places I've been to where the guards live in or near the complex they're guarding have a small training area," the samurai sighed through gritted teeth. "It wouldn't be a public brawl. I'm smarter than you give me credit for."

Midna flushed slightly at being called out ”yeah I know I know I was just kidding,” she insisted ”I’m sure all you will need to do is ask”

Just then, primrose’s prediction/concern looked to be both coming true as the toads she had spotted wheeled a set of instruments onto a center stage, though one's a bit more diverse than anticipated. Fortunately for everyone involved, one of the little shrill voiced mushroom people did not take center stage, but instead a hero dressed in green who, after waving to a certain perpetually dower looking witch sitting off in one corner, began by singing a gentle melody for his first act, before doing a love song followed by, of all things, a sea shanty about coffee drinking pirates.

The concert atmosphere preclude much in the way of meaningful talk as it went on, and soon enough the party’s meals had arrived, first Yoshitsune’s chicken and rice and then a few minutes later Midna and Primorses’ ordered pasta and rice arrived along with a Honey-glazed roast lamb with potatoes that had been prepared for Sectonia, with an emphasis on the honey for her sweet tooth.

With a small bow, the samurai thanked the waiter before turning to his food. He clapped his hands together with a slightly more formal bow, speaking quickly, "itadakimasu," and began eating as if he were a noble. Given his company, that probably saved him some more snide comments, and instead what he got was a simpel cultural one of ”What does that mean?” from Midna before she tucked into her pasta.

"The most basic translation," he nodded, "is 'thank you for the food,' or 'let's eat,' because it has no literal translation to any other languages I know."

Midna finished chewing her first bite, swallowed, made a little sound of satisfaction and then after a polite number of moments had passed said ”Huh, interesting. Well then, itadakimasu to you as well” with a little toast of her wine, before resuming her meal.

Sectonia didn’t say anything unlike Midna, just giving a curt “yes yes.” as she tried her new food. The potatoes were not much to her liking, as they tasted a bit too earthy for a vegetable ‘now only if this was more of a paste…’ she thought. The queen was fine with the lamb. Almost tasted like a wooled waddle dee, but instead this had flavor. Although due to her size, this meal didn’t really fill her up all the way.

While Midna didn't use it entirely correctly, Yoshitsune wasn't going to correct her right then and risk embarrassing the princess.

The rest of the meal passed pleasantly, accompanied by the music of the bard and a bit of inconsequential smalltalk, and which was followed by some lovely dessert (Chocolate Souffle for Midna. Sectonia got a honey glazed cake piece, which was more up her alley compared to the potatoes. Yoshitsune merely settled for a small, custard filled cake, and their dancer decided to decline.)

Clean, fed and varying levels of intoxicated, the spa squad found their way to the central plaza as the sun set below the horizon and the stars came out above, where only one final obstacle stood in their way. Commercialism.

“HI! Welcome to the Shangri-Spa gift shop and item store!” the toad greeted them from his open air stall “can i interest you in some memorabilia? Our soap collection? Or are you here for our more mmmmm combative paraphernalia?” He gave them a conspiratorial eyebrow wiggle to which Minda raised an eyebrow and then nodded, prompting him to glance to both sides as if checking for anyone watching (despite being in full view of the guards and staff) and to then pull up a sheet and unveil a small collection of gear on a second stall (which booked 0 reaction from said guards and staff).

Shop inventory:

A sleepy sheep which could summon a herd of sheep that can cause enemies to fall asleep, but could only do so once. 25g
A carton of egg bombs egg based grenades. 30g for a box of 6
A pair of freindship bracelets: slightly increase speed and power. Increases it a fair bit more if two friends wear them near each other. 55 each
A gerbil sized heal puff which will slowly heal its owner. The simple minded magical construct needs to run around to generate the energy to do this however, and is not good at threat avoidance, so needs to be looked after in combat situations. 140g
A Code 1 yoyo which can actually be weaponised as well as being usable for tricks. 60g
A Magic Conch which when blown drains mana and fires large bubbles that can knock enemies into the air when they burst. Tricky to aim due to the projectiles floating upwards after being launched. 210g
A Yew wood Lute which if played, fires a stream of weak green waves of music that pierce foes (but get weaker with each one pierced) if played properly, also grants light life regen to nearby allies. 85g
An angel halo, which does nothing but float over the wearer's head. Glows in darkness but does not emit enough light to see by. A cute souvenir. 40g
A critter shampoo that changes the color of summoned minions when paired with a dye. 10g
A special charm that increases the luck of the wearer by a small amount. 20g
And, soap. It's just soap. Smells nice. 1g.

Sectonia didn’t find many of these items that interesting, neither for herself or any of her minions that she could think of. Plus she was kinda broke all things considered unless they were to buy magical crystals. So she floated nearby as she waited for the others to do what they were going to do. Primrose hummed lightly as she browsed, mildly amused at the Toad’s theatrics of pulling up their “secret” stock. There were quite few items, from the more mundane to the exotic, but there was a rough aesthetic they all shared. She could certainly see the use of some and the novelty in others. "Hmm..."

Midna, as equally broke as Sectonia, did the same, content with window shopping before having a thought and said ”So, we have this gold card” she said, flashing the reward they had gotten before asking ”Don’t suppose that gets us a discount?”

“Not from the secret store. Or the regular store. Sorry, Spa’s gotta cover cover your expenses somehow you know” the toad replied, to which Midna gave a ‘this is acceptable/understandable’ shrug, which got her a smile before the toad continued that “it does however get you a free sample of our soap selection!” before sliding across a set of four pixel art themed scented soaps soaps, each color based off of one of the 4 non rainbow spas.

"How cute, thank you," Primrose said, picking up the star-shaped soap with the little eyes on it. If anything was to be brought back from here, it had to be soap, and here they had some free of charge. She glanced over the offered items once more before gesturing to the sheep... sticker? It seemed to be made of paper, but it was cute and the dancer thought it might come in handy, not just offensively. She turned to the other three to get their thoughts.

"I still have a small sum of leaves and the coins from Al Mamoon's market, if anything seems too useful to pass up..." she offered.

”Only the bracelets catch my eye, but as you know, I can’t wear them.” Sectonia said, waving one of her floating hands. ”...Not many things on popstar can use them, come to think of it.”

Primrose gave the items Sectonia pointed out another look. "Friendship bracelets, hm?" For some reason the pair of bracelets gave Primrose a weary feeling. Her current companions were well on their way to becoming friends, but the dancer felt she repelled by the idea of wearing that specific jewelry. It was a silly, nonsense feeling, but even so Primrose didn’t speak up about them one way or the other.

Looking at the bracelets himself, Yoshitsune began thinking. "These bracelets have done sort of magic properties, right?" he asked the toad, to which the shopkeeper affirmed and gave them the abstract of their abillities. "Midna, I believe I could purchase these for us if you'd like." He then turned to Sectonia and smiled softly. "Is there anything you'd like? I could set the halo being a good addition to your already beautiful crown."

”For you and me?” Midna replied, a touch surprised before deciding she was maybe reading a bit to much into it and saying ”If you wanted an excuse to be around me more you just had to say so swordboy~” mock-flirtingly before looking thoughtful about the prospect for a moment and then more seriously/genuinely adding ”Actually you never got to do your sparing with the guards right? How about you hit me up before we leave town or on the train ride tomorrow and we can go at it? I need to practice with Mao’s sword anyway, and I’m sure a swordsman like you is full of tips and advice”

"Sounds like a plan," the samurai smiled.

for Primrose

Sleepy Sheep: A small bit of enchanted paper depicting a somewhat abstract and round sheep. One time use. Pass a little bit of magic through it will expand to be sheep sized, though still perfectly flat, before baaing and summoning a herd of its kin from the realm of dreams. All of the sheep will then charge forwards towards and then past a target or group of targets, causing them to fall into a deep (but entirely mundane) sleep, before all of the sheep, including the sticker, return to the realm of dreams.

Yoshitsune and Midna

One each: freindship bracelets: A simple metal bracelet sporting a heart shaped emblem made from a red stone. When worn the two ‘lobes’ each gain their own stylized icon representing the two people wearing the matched bands. When the bands are close together (so in the same general area such as a room, small building or garden) each half of the stones will glow softly, with the light intensifying the stronger the bond is between the two wearers.

At a base the band increases damage by 5% and movement speed by 6% even when the wearers are not around each other, but it can raise it by up to a maximum of 15/18% respectively for incredibly close friends. This the current owning pair most certainly are not, but they still gain a decent 7.5% damage and 9% movement speed boost, and could easily raise this to a pleasant 10%/12% by spending a bit more time with/around each other.

Comes with an instruction pamphlet that attempts to translate the glow intensity to various stages of friendship (from simple acquaintances all the way up through BFFs and Ace life partners) and effect efficiency, but fails to deliver the above information to the wearers particularly effectively.

The bracelet can also prevent the wearers from being forced to fight each other via various mind control or enrage effects, the effectiveness of this effect again being based on how close they are.

Clean up, well fed, shopping done and free soap received, the spa squad headed back down to

Heartbreaker - A KILLER Isekai Adventure

no idea if i will be joining this, but I do have some meme level advice:

The hero cant You Can't Thwart Stage One (tv tropes warning) of a villains plan because otherwise thee will be no plot. This, you must ensure that you are always doing Stage One at all times. Never try to finish a plan, because that's when the hero wins, generally at the last second and instead always be making new plans forever.