"Thank you Dan," Alicia replied with an appreciative nod. She was glad to receive such praise from the dolphin, though some part of her wondered if he might be laying it on a bit thick. Still, it was nice that he had found something positive about each piece to present to the creator.

Glancing over, she was taken slightly aback by Tullia's initial sculpture, and all that was added to it in the following minutes. Still, she wasn't too mad about it. This was her first time doing this sort of thing, so someone being better at it wasn't much of a surprise. She refused to let it get to her.

For now she turned, and the duo made their way over to one of the empty sleighs as Kimble suggested they take one back. "Sure. That sounds like fun," Alicia agreed as she got in. They were soon underway, a picturesque snowy landscape rolling past them as Christmas songs played in her head. At least, she was pretty sure that it was in her head. You could never be too sure with Dan sometimes.

An inquisitive hum escaped as Kimble brought up another of the events that would be coming up. "I did too," she replied with a small nod. "Took me a pretty long time to figure out what to put down though. It was hard thinking of stuff that wasn't boring and practical. Which is fine, but doesn't really fit if it's supposed to be Christmas." She wondered when Dan intended to do that one in the list of proceedings. They might be waiting a while to find out the results.

"CrapcrapcrapcRAPCRAPCRAP!!!"

Despite Eliza's attempt to sneak inside, her stupid tree outfit blew her cover in the form of the whimsical MDP spotting her. Before she could retreat, she was dragged out of her dark magic and into the center of the fort. An attempt to struggle was rendered futile as she was tied up with lights, and the star on top of her hat given light. "Ugh, how humiliating... She sighed, making a mental note to ditch her hat after they were done. Though, Emily should be able to sneak by while Penny and MDP are distracted.

Speaking of Penny, Eliza looked to the cyborg with a comically blank expression. "....Hi." Some weird hostage situation this turned out to be. And SHE'S the hostage. Truely embarrassing.

---

Well, before the witch of nightmares walked off too far, Dan stopped by Maura and Maribel's ice sculpture to critique their work. Maura didn't know how to feel about it being called spooky, she tried to avoid making something like that for a reason, but the latter obviously felt proud of earning that spine-chilled reaction from the dolphin. "Why, thank you~! But I only helped Maura with this. Artist's block, yknow? This was all her idea~"

Maura flinced when the other woman had her take full credit. "W-Well um, I didn't want to go too spooky with my ideas; it would really fit the christmas spirit, so I went with something a bit more challenging. A full version of my organization's insignia!" She explained, then frowning. "Though I guess avoiding the spooky factor didn't work. But thanks regardless, Dan."

Then the host announced another event, Ice Skating. Some of the witches split off to the lake, while some stayed behind to watch the escalating snowball fight. Maura would've also joined the first group, but she felt it was a bit too boring for her. She looked down at the snowbuns still following her, then had an idea. Could she try and catch a harebringer? With the smaller buns in tow, she walked off to find one.

“Problematic Beacon boy?” Penny would ask, more to herself than Freya. Though it wouldn’t take long at all for her to answer her own question. “Oh, Aurelio. Really?” Penny was a bit surprised at that, she’d not thought she had left a good impression on the emotive boy. She wasn’t exactly a happy person at her core after all.

“That would make you Freya” Penny would continue on “He mentioned you to me once a few weeks back. Said I should keep an eye out for you, but was vague on why.” She would explain looking over Freya a bit closer “Dan’s realm screwing with you as well?” She would ask gesturing towards her legs.

---

It was easy to be happy around MDP, even if they weren’t dating Penny would believe that too be true. Perhaps it was due to her nature that she enjoyed the manic energy that MDP brought to everything while she was transformed, or perhaps because she treated everything with a simple joy.

Such as they way she bounded off and abducted Eliza and turned her into a Christmas tree in the center of the fort. As Penny was somewhat sure that MDP hadn’t realized that it was a person and not an animated tree just yet. “Hey Eliza” Penny would say not bothering to conceal her smirk at the other girl’s situation. “Fancy meeting you here” she would go on stepping closer to the bound maho, but obviously not doing anything to help free her just yet. “You know that you and your friends could always have just knocked.” She would go on to say looking at Emily for a moment before turning back to Eliza, because at this range one couldn’t hide from Penny easily. She was too attuned to her elements to not notice the gravitational pull of other people when they got this close, to say nothing of buttons and zippers or buckles or phones.

“Unless of course you wanted to do this the hard way?” She would ask as her body flared red for a moment as a dozen more Penny’s would step out of her all with matching smirks. “Then by all means” They would say in unison.
--
Outside Oros was faced with the full might of the firing line of Snowmen being directed by one of the counterfeits who was also laying down some covering fire. In addition, there was a pair of Penny’s who was moving to flank the girl to get in some snow strikes at her back. “

Sam and Tetrad would find the back of the fort was less defended, but all that meant was there wasn’t a line of living snowmen raining down a wave of snow at them. There were still a several counterfeits that maned the walls ready to receive them.
--
Inside the increased number of Penny’s all split off to separate tasks. Some were setting up choke points and small defensive walls. Others were reinforcing the outer walls, or acting as scouts to track all of the girls who had tried to assault their fort. More were starting to amass a sizable number of snowballs, assisted by the snow itself as well as various little spirits doing the same.

It was interesting to watch in one aspect as none of the Penny’s seemed to be talking to one another, but neither did any of them get in each other’s way, more often than not helping out their fellow counterfeits without even looking up.

Near Eliza, since it was in the center of the fort roughly, the three counterfeits continued to build up their Mega snowball. Growing it up more and more, “Would it be to cliché to start cackling?” Penny would ask the girls within the fort. “As I feel like I’ve taken up the position of evil mastermind all of a sudden, what with the WMSD and the damsel in distress and in the invading interlopers.”

---

The two Penny’s that infiltrated the fort of Victorias were unprepared for the entire fort to collapse in on them, and were quickly buried in the fluffy powder. Rather then be upset however, they started laughing. “Fair counter snowcone!” One of them would callout from within the pile of snow.

A few moments would pass before Both Penny’s would emerge from the snow their hidden legs on full display, causing the illusion cast over them to glitch and distort as the magic tried to reconcile the inhuman limbs with the Christmas theme of the island.

“Attack!” The two counterfits would call out before rushing towards any of the Victoria’s they could see their spider limbs scooping up large swaths of snow from the fallen fort into large globs of snow to fling at their chosen foes. They were less compact, and thus less accurate, but it was still a notable amount of snow to throw at someone.

---

All of the Penny’s out of the fort would dive for cover, either inside of the fort if they were close enough, or behind hastily constructed barricades each time Sann and her copies flew a bombing run. And Each time Sann would be able to hear at least one of the Penny’s grumbling about not being able to fly herself. AS they would glare at Sann in jealousy at her ability to have the areal superiority.

---

Quietly the real Penny, now nearly lost admit her sea of counterfeits, would keep track of her own Mana levels. She had a lot, much more than most would expect of her since she wasn’t much of a caster. But she knew that she had placed a time limit on her continued involvement in the snow battle, as even with her Regen focused on Mana production she was bleeding mana with all of the magic she was using. None of it was large scale castings, but the number of small leaks were adding up.

She would need to start thinking of exit stratagies.

There weren't a lot of places in a realm like this where you could stop and recharge your mana. Turning off her invisibility for a second meant tipping off the dolphin, so mac needed to find a way to keep her mana levels up while also constantly spending mana every second. Even with the regeneration power, it wasn't like Mac's mana was pegged at full all the time. The snow fight wasn't too serious, but it was an expendature of mana that MAc would feel for the remainder of the vacation. She could bite herself to recover some mana, but that had its own drawbacks. The main one being that it was uncomfortable. She wasn't Betty after all. If her mana got too low, she'd just return to Penrose.

She hoped leaving her footprints in the snow wasn't going to be a problem. She was aware of them, but figured with all the running around it wasn't worth covering them up. It probably wasn't worth fussing over.

---

_{@Ponn@AtomicNut@PlatinumSkink@Majoras End@FamishedPants}

Ahh yes, it was a pretty good day to be Penny. Copying the shit out of Victoria’s abilities, bypassing Eliza’s shadow magic, making a mockery of her old rival Silhouette, Totally ignoring Atomic’s post about the snow bombardment, all while using minimal mana and tilting a few players in the process. It was hard not to feel smug about it. She had herself a good laugh as Oros struggled to push past the outer perimeter. She did display the ability to make Sakura eat the snowballs. Literally eat them, like she held his mouth open so that the soft, cold balls of beautifully frozen ice flakes entered his mouth. Was that too pretentious of a description? Probably. But she had already written it down and had no plans of editing it out. It was staying there.

_{Disclaimer: This is just how Oros thinks Penny thinks.}

But while Oros looked to be going all out to not get hit by snowballs, the fact of the matter was that she was playing a very different game than everyone else. Her goal was not to find the real Penny cowering behind her clones, but to lay waste to the enemy fort. As a pro speedrunner, Oros picked goals in order to achieve the best time for the leaderboards.

”Keep your eyes open, tater-tot! You don’t want to miss this!”

There was no time between Oros extending her hand and a small object appearing under her thumb. This was practically invisible between all the Penny clones throwing snow balls at her and the Valkyrie snow bombardment. The real penny might have been able to detect a radio signal going off, but the magics were too advanced to replicate or alter it. Whatever Oros just did, nobody could stop it.

The gray winter sky opened up to reveal the alien atmosphere that everyone had come to expect from Dan’s summer dimension. To everyone’s horror, a satellite large enough to be visible from the surface was present; It looked like Dan’s head, complete with a sombrero and cheeky little grin. The panels on the satellite whirled menacingly. Something ominous was about to happen.

The mouth on the satellite swung open, and drew in the gray clouds that now covered the planet. They could run, they could hide, they could fear, but they could not escape.

”O former keeper, He who makes and covets joy, bring the warmth of summer to my foes!”

There was a brilliant flash of blue light, and then it happened. Enough water to fill ten Olympic sized swimming pools was blasted out of Dan’s pleased face. The water did not have time to freeze, nor did it burn up while entering the hemisphere. Magic? A likely culprit.

No matter how glorious the snow fort had been, it was no match for five million gallons of water. The warm water practically burned through the fort, dousing everything in its way. Pennies were thrown to and fro, with no room to move out of the way. Though all of Oros’s companions would remain dry, as the water seemed to fall around them instead of into them like it did everyone else.

Once the water had settled, it was about ankle height. Oros trudged forward, holding Sakura in her arms like she was some slain war hero.

”Hah! I wasn’t sure if that was still going to work.” She totally ignored everyone and walked up to Eliza. ”You gotta be really careful sneaking into places. Firstly, stealth never works in this RP, and secondly, you’ll always get spotted for some strange reason if it’s not explicitly mentioned how you’re hiding. But who cares about that shit? You’re too cute to hide under a magic veil anyway.” She cast Sakura aside, who happened to land face down in a giant puddle of water. ”Since we’re all wet, did you guys wanna play Keijo now?” With a single hand, she grabbed the christmas lights that bound Eliza and snapped them with a single tug. Because Oros was "holiday safety conscious," she was careful to not let the exposed wires touch anything wet. She accomplished this by holding the power side of the severed wire as the water drained into the dry sand under the snow.

---

Aria had enjoyed her interaction with Summer. But it would be weird if she hung around one girl for its entire duration. Their interaction helped ground her in the party. She no longer felt like an outsider. There were people around here who didn’t spend much time in Penrose themselves. She had more in common with everyone than she thought.

But she wasn’t ready to move onto something like ice skating. It felt oddly romantic, and not something that you’d do casually with strangers. Throwing snowballs at people was much more her speed. But there was a simple question left to answer: who to play with?

Summer was 100% out of the question. Not only would her magic likely manifest in scary ways, but Aria was trying to branch out. She also wasn’t too interested in the snowfight fiesta going on, nor did she find any of totally-not-Mariette’s minions worth playing with. She packed a ball of snow into her hand and looked around. There had to be a lone target somewhere. Someone isolated that didn’t look particularly scary. Then she saw them, lurking off to the side away from everyone else. 

A perfect target. 

Aria hopped behind the lodge and inched her way closer to her target. She wasn’t a stealth queen, but at least her skin blended in a bit more with the snow than her red outfit did. 

”Stupid freakin’ ‘party.’ Why couldn’t I have stayed home? Noooo, I had to make that dumb promise and now I’m stuck here and Ko didn’t even come along!” Shion whispered to herself, starting out towards the others in a crouched position.

Man, this person seemed kinda down. A better person might have asked if they were alright. And if she was one of Aria’s customers, she just might have. But 2 silver for participating in a snowball fight was a little too hard to pass up!

”Heyahhhh!”

With a shout that most certainly gave away her position, Aria hurled her snowball at the gloomy girl.

The snowball smashed against Shion’s head, knocking it to face downwards. There was a momentary pause before her head shot up, glaring at the girl who had thrown it at her with an expression that could scare fear itself, the only thing to be feared. 

”Oh.” Aria was definitely feeling something. She wasn’t use to getting looked at like that. But it was hard for her to discern exactly what the feeling was. Her smile slowly, ever so slowly curled into a frown as she took a step backwards. ”Okay then I’ll just-.” she took another step back. ”Just, be on my way now.” she stepped behind the lodge, now fully out of sight. ”Just, on my way..” But as soon as she stepped out of sight, she realized that she hadn’t really participated in a snow fight. This was more like a snow assault, or snow battery. It wasn’t a snow fight unless the girl fought back. But what could Aria do to prompt such a response out of her target. 

”Heyahhhh!”

Just like before, Aria popped out from behind the lodge to launch a second snowball. This, too, struck Shion in the head. Yet she refused to counter attack.

This was a tricky one. But Aria wasn’t going to give up. She had another trick that she was sure would prompt a counter attack.

Aria did not bother hiding this time. She bent over and scoopd up a handfull of snow. Along with it, several butterflies hadcupped the mass of snow to create a shallow dish just above her hands. She was no longer holding a snowball. It was more like a snow custard. a large helping a snow ripe to be smashed into someone’s face. 

”Heyahhhh!”

Aria broke into a charge and ran towards Shion. While most clowns on TV throw custard pies, the truth is pies aren’t too aerodynamic and are better suited for close range splatting. even magical improv snow pies are this way, especially so.

But Aria would never land a hit on her mark.

Suddenly, a valkyrie bombing run covered the area in snow. massive snow payloads blew up all over the place. Anyone who had seen vintage footage of a live bombing run would have no problem drawing comparisons to the scene and what was happening all around Aria. Then like a hawk going after its prey, a shadow dove into the snow and took off. When the carnage stopped, all that was left was Shion piled up to her shoulders in snow. Something had gotten Aria. But that worked out just fine for Shion. The one good thing that happened at this party was that someone who wouldn’t stop bullying her got their cumupin’s.

MDP tilted her head when Penny began talking to their new tree. “Eliza Wiza~?” she asked, clearly somewhat perplexed. “Like, does Penny Wenny know this Christmas Wistmas Tree~?”

Before Penny could respond, a mighty gust of wind drew everyone’s attention skyward, where the clouds had parted to reveal a giant satellite shaped like Dan’s head. “Wowie zowie~! What’s that thingie wingie~?!” MDP exclaimed with gleeful wonderment. "It's, like, sooo biggy wiggy~! (giggle!)" A moment later, her bright spirits were quite literally dampened as it disgorged a colossal torrent of water, which swept over the snowy battleground and washed away all the various fortifications.

“Golly wolly!” MDP cried in alarm as the deluge surged towards them. The whimsical girl knew she couldn’t save their fort, or Penny’s various clones, but she could at least protect Penny herself. Rushing over to her robotic girlfriend, MDP quickly conjured a massive umbrella. “Don’t worry, Penny Wenny~! You’ll be safey wafey under heresie~!”

After the deluge had subsided, MDP dispelled the giant umbrella and looked around, her expression becoming more anguished with each passing second.

“O-Our fort…” she whimpered sullenly. “A-All Penny Wenny’s hard work… W-We were all having so much fun together wether, and… A-And… And YOU ruined it!” she shrieked while casting a withering glare at the pink-haired girl who was clearly responsible. “That wasn’t very nicey wicey!” she continued, while placing her hands on her hips and making an adorable pouty face. “This was a snowball wowball fight, not a water battle wattle! You totally wotally cheated weated!” The childish magical girl then gave voice a horrified gasp. “And nowie you’re stealing wealing our Christmas Wistmas Tree?!” she cried angrily, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. “You’re a super duper meanie weanie head, and Magical Dream Princess wants you to apologize wologize to everybodywody right nowie!”

Justine gave a faint smile as Alex reacted to the crimson sculpture.
”I also thought that at first, but then realized I could expand the drawing into three-dimensional space. Besides, there was also the risk of somebody stepping on it while we were sculpting." She then blinked as Alex suddenly took her hand.
”Oh?"
She wasn’t as taken aback as last time, and sighed in relief from the healing magic brought to her hands.
”Why thank you. I didn’t know your boyfriend was such a gentleman, Li-Oh."
When she turned, Lily had already left, and she shrugged her shoulders.
”Well, we can’t leave her alone, now can we?"

Later at the frozen lake, Lily skated over to Alex and took his hand.
”I’ve got the hang of it now, so let’s skate together, Alex!"
However, despite her confidence, she still managed to fumble as they took off, with Lily nearly tripping if it weren’t for the stability provided by Alex. Justine skated close to Lily, simply enjoying the relaxing pastime as she used her white wings to help steer her around.
”This is so relaxing..." Lily mused, as she lifted her arms up and mimicked a bird or plane as she curved on the ice.
”Sometimes it’s nice to just have a little moment like this..."
She then skated over to Dan; he was wearing a tiny hockey uniform complete with a helmet, and held a hockey stick too big for him. He was practicing shooting pucks into a goal as Lily approached.
”You always hold the best parties, Dan. Thank you so much for inviting us here!"

The dolphin smiled, even as the enchanted goal spat the puck right at him, clanging against his helmet.
“You’re welcome, Lily. Though you should really be thanking Mariette; she did all the legwork...so to speak,” he added after a pause.
“Anyway, it’s going to be a little bit before our final outdoors event; the Wacky Downhill Race. Take a guess on how wacky it’s gonna be! And then, the big finale: the White Elephant gift exchange!”

”Oh, it’s happening soon? That’s exciting! I hope the lucky girl who gets my Christmas wish is going to like it!" She spoke with her palms together.
”By the way, can I also try shooting pucks? That looks like fun."

Justine looked on from a bit of distance, and looked off to the distance.
”Merry Christmas...Wherever you might be, Caroline."

---

Kimble and Alicia rode back to the lodge on the sleigh, having taken the long way around to avoid the snowball armageddon. However, Kimble soon screamed in excitement as she pointed up at the sky; they were rocked by a wave of water as the Dantellite array brought forth a deluge upon the winter wonderland. Fortunately the sleigh was buoyant enough to carry them right to the doorstep, though the straw goats now looked like horses made from wet noodles.
“I don’t think it matters too much whether it’s practical or not,” she responded after hopping off.
”It’s the thought that counts, after all~” She winked at Alicia.
“Oh, looks like there’s still people. Hi, FanFan!”

She waved to the stylish girl, who waved back in turn with little enthusiasm.
“Did you go do any of the events Dan announced?”

She shook her head, looking a bit disheartened.
"No. In fact, I was thinking about leaving soon.”

Kimble blinked in surprise.
“Huh? Why? Isn’t this a fun party?”

FanFan reluctantly nodded.
“It is, but...It’s just not the same...” She hugged herself as she looked towards the stage where Dina was singing.
“...Leena is still bedridden. Something happened to her after she lost control of her magic in that cursed dimension. She’s been quiet, but I know what happened...she ruined her magic. I always knew Nullification had its risks, but still...” She shed a tear.

Kimble bit her lip.
“Hey, FanFan...I don’t personally know Leena,so I can’t know how she feels. But if I were her, I would definitely want you to enjoy this party, for your sake.”
She went over to grab a cup of hot cocoa, and offered it to her.
“How about you go sing next after Dina? That’s sure to lift your spirits.”

FanFan graciously accepted the cup, and sighed.
“I’ll think about it.”

Maybe it was his Beast Magic, but Alexander found it easy to adjust to skating on ice. 'Do all animals have good balance, or is that just a cat thing?' He briefly thought back to various funny animal video online before discarding that idea 'Yeah, never mind'

”I’ve got the hang of it now, so let’s skate together, Alex!" Lily skated over and took his hand.

Despite her claims, she didn't seem to have the hang of it, as she started fumbling "Careful!" A tail shot out of his arm to stop her fall. Alexander sighed, half exasperated, half relieved "Geez, what am I going to do with you?" Despite himself, he was relieved to see her enjoying herself 'Maybe I was just over reacting when I worried that she had bothered so many people with that stunt in the siege that her Christmas was going to be ruined. But I can't really help it; I'm still getting used to having to worry about other people' He noticed that Justine was skating close to Lily, using her wings to keep balance 'I thought Lily was crazy when she just let Justine go after the assault on her castle...but, I'm starting to think she was right. That's not something I'm used to' a rare smile creeped it's way onto his face 'Dammit Lily, just what the hell are you doing to me?'

She ended up dragging them over to the dolphin, who was shooting pucks”You always hold the best parties, Dan. Thank you so much for inviting us here!"

The dolphin smiled, even as the enchanted goal spat the puck right at him, clanging against his helmet.
“You’re welcome, Lily. Though you should really be thanking Mariette; she did all the legwork...so to speak,” he added after a pause.
“Anyway, it’s going to be a little bit before our final outdoors event; the Wacky Downhill Race. Take a guess on how wacky it’s gonna be! And then, the big finale: the White Elephant gift exchange!”

”Oh, it’s happening soon? That’s exciting! I hope the lucky girl who gets my Christmas wish is going to like it!" She spoke with her palms together.
”By the way, can I also try shooting pucks? That looks like fun." The dolphin handed her his stick as she got to work shooting, with all her usual energy.

With Lily now occupied, Alexander asked the dolphin a question "Look, my experience with Christmas is limited to holiday specials, so sorry if this is a dumb question; but why is it called a 'White Elephant gift exchange' and not a Secret Santa? I never thought white elephants had any kind of connection to Christmas before"

The snowball fight had been progressing in a normal manner for far too long. As she and Tetrad approached the side of the fort, they were met with a few stationary Pennys. Expecting as much, Sam had instructed Tetrad to 'fire' off a few balls as soon as they had approached, leading to an advantageous situation.

Of course, Sam knew something was up. Nothing went to plan, not around here, anyway. "I sense... a disturbance," she eerily told Tetrad as they fought to enter the fort. But it wasn't enough, as only seconds later, the colossal Dan in the sky reenacted a scene from Independence Day and wiped the fort off the face of the Earth (or Dan's dimension, I suppose) in a blast of pressurized water.

Samantha found herself bracing for impact against the ensuing wave, but it proved to be unnecessary as the water ignored her and Tetrad. The fact the water from this satellite seemingly had some sort of I.F.F system didn't surprise her as much as it should have. Actually, Samantha found herself feeling quite blasé about the escalation and subsequent destruction. "Does that count as a successful mission, then?" she asked Tetrad, before noticing one other person.

With a sigh, she began walking over to a terrified Emily, who was certainly not taking Hammer of Dan as well as Sam was. The sound of Sam's trudging snapped Emily out of her clinched pose, and she looked around before speaking in a shaky tone. "A-are we dead?" she saw Sam shake her head in response, then became even more panicked. "W-where's Eliza?"

"There." Sam pointed at the 'heroine' who used excessive force in a snowball fight, who seemed rather proud of herself. Emily only breathed in relief when she saw the still-living tree (or Eliza, if you're a square like Emily), whom she tried to wave down.

It was about this time that Magical Dream Princess decided to, hard to understand-ably, get upset over Oros' tryhard approach to the snow fort battle. Emily frowned since seeing conflict was always unpleasant for her. However, Samantha simply did not see the problem with what had transpired, so she crossed her arms and joined in on the 'conversation' being held by MDP and Oros after exiting the ruins of the fort.

"There would have to be a defined set of rules for it to be considered 'cheating', wouldn't there?" Samantha shook her head. "I saw no such thing. Besides, snow is just an altered form of water anyway, is it not? Should we really be bothering with technicalities like this?"

"Um, but Sam, that's doesn't me--" Emily was silenced by Sam raising a hand. She sighed in resignation.

Samantha took her raised hand and pointed at the potential drowning victim, which drew Emily's attention towards Sakura. Naturally, the kind girl rushed over to help Sakura up, leaving Sam to continue. She looked at Penny this time and it was only then Sam showed any bit of surprise on her features. "You're with this strange-speaking girl?" she asked bluntly. "Then perhaps you could let her know that kidnapping someone and tree-ting them like they're a plant is also not really 'nicey wicey'?"

Eliza just shrugged when Penny said hi back. Though she quickly frowned, tensing up as the cyborg looked over to where Emily was. "There goes that plan!" The witch thought, trying to struggle out of her confinements as the stringed lights flickered.

She sighed. "The Red Nest was one thing, but this is fuckin' ridiculous! How could they even see me?! Oh right, Penny's patron-level. But what about Pinkalicious over here? Must have a sixth-sense for stuff like this. Ugh, I hope the others are fairing bet-"

Her thoughts would be interrupted, as she sensed a disturbance in the force. As if the might of Neptune struck the whatever-Dan's-dimension-is, Eliza could only blankly watch the fort and Pennys around her wash away. What.

Eliza's blank-face continued as Oros waltzed in; carrying Sakura over her shoulder, before throwing him aside like a ragdoll and cutting her free. "Thanks." She nodded, tilting her head in confusion at what the other girl was rambling about. "The hell's an RP? Eh, nevermind, tell me later."

Unfortunately, they couldn't leave yet. Somehow MDP and the real Penny survived the deluge, and the former was pissed off at Oros for cheating, apparently. "There were rules??" She quietly asked her date. Then MDP called her a tree. Again. She was starting to get irritated. "Oh for the love of- Hey, I'm not actually a tree here! Look!!" Eliza yelled over to MDP, taking her hat off and throwing it away to the nearest shadow. The hat would dissapear into the darkness for now.

Luckily, Sam seemed to think the same, the assassin cutting in to pick apart the sugar-coatted girl's argument. "Technically it wasn't a kidnapping. They caught me trying to sneak in." Eliza pointed out, but didn't interupt her further. The witch looked back to the other three. "Well I'm fine with whatever you guys wanna do, there is just...one problem." With the vacation taking place around the time Eliza was a monster girl, she hadn't been able to participate in stuff like the Keijo tournament. Only prioritizing resistance of her then mental mutation.

"What's Keijo?"

Connie was somewhat taken aback when Oros handed her a toaster, of all things. Still, she had been given a gift, and no matter how odd it was, Connie appreciated her quirky friend’s generosity.

“O-Oh! Uhh… T-Thanks!” Connie told the pink-haired girl, trying not to sound too shocked by Oros’s idea of a present.

The chaotic beast girl then said she had to go help someone with a very odd-sounding name and darted off, saying they’d talk again later.

“O-Okay…!” Connie called after her, giving her a shaky wave. “S-See you l-later, Oros!”

Connie had just finished putting the toaster in her sack of presents, when she heard Gaia call out to her, saying that she and Shane were leaving the lodge. After wishing them a good time, the timid girl began looking around for someone to hang out with. She saw Amanda talking with a somewhat intimidating group, but she really didn’t want to intrude, so she continued looking. Lily was also chatting with a few friends, as was Emily. She had briefly glimpsed Ronin and Miko, but they didn’t seem to be in the lodge at the moment. Then there was Rose and Iris. They didn’t look like they were otherwise occupied, so Connie tentatively made her way over.

“M-Merry Christmas, Rose! M-Merry Christmas, Iris!” She greeted the twins, giving them a happy smile. “A-Are you e-enjoying yourselves s-so f-far?”

The twins had been left behind with Kayli having told them to stay here. Seemed the older girl felt safe enough to go off with some stranger. Iris looked more frustrated than her sister over the matter. When Connie came over though she tried to relax a bit more.

”Merry Christmas, Connie. It’s alright so far. This is my first one so I’m not really sure what’s going on.” She glanced at the list of events going on.

Rose would move in close to look at the list. ”Ooh, have they done the snowman one yet?”

“G-Gosh, I h-hope not!” Connie replied, clasping her trembling hands together. “I was r-really l-looking f-forward to that!” A moment later, a blur of motion caught her attention. The source quickly revealed itself to be Lily, who was rapidly setting up chairs in preparation for some imminent stage performance. “Oh! I-It l-looks like there’s g-going to be a s-show starting s-soon. W-Would you l-like to w-watch it t-together?”

”Sure! That sounds like fun.” Waiting a bit for seats to be placed Rose would take Connie and her sister to take a seat. It didn’t take long for the show to begin and they would watch as Maura went first on stage.

Connie was excited to see what kind of Christmas show would be performed, and as Maura began her ballet routine, accompanied by a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Carol of the Bells, Connie found herself captivated by the patron’s graceful movements across the stage. Unfortunately, the performance soon took a turn for the sinister, and it wasn’t long before a frightened Connie was clinging tightly to Rose, her eyes squeezed shut. “T-Tell m-me w-w-when i-it’s o-over,” the trembling girl whispered to her friend.

Rose held onto her friend while Iris watched. The play concluded the blue haired girl leaned over. ”I think it’s done now.” She said as she clapped. Perhaps they should move on to some other activity that didn’t involve potentially scary narratives or being pelted by snow.

“T-T-Thanks, I-Iris,” Connie whispered as she released her grip on Rose. “I-It s-started out n-nice, b-but I w-wasn’t e-expecting t-there to b-be any s-scary m-monsters…”

A moment later, Dan appeared and announced that the first winter events would soon begin- snowman building and ice sculpting.

“Oh! L-Let’s go b-build a s-snowman t-together!” Connie told the twins, her demeanor noticeably brightening. “M-Mia and I do it e-every w-winter, a-and it’s a-always a l-lot of f-fun!”

Rose would smile and jump to her feet. ”Yeah, that sounds like fun. This would be my first snowman.”

”Mine too.” She would stand as well and they would begin to head out and be met with a portal.

“T-This is your f-first t-time?!” Connie gasped. “O-Oh, g-gosh! I-I’m so excited for you!” she added, smiling brightly.

Once they arrived at the location for the snowman event, Connie began gathering some snow together. “S-Since y-you’ve n-never d-done this b-before, w-we s-should probably m-make something s-simple,” she suggested. “A-After all, s-snowman building s-should be f-fun, a-and I d-don’t really l-like c-competition… S-So, um, j-just g-gather some s-snow together and r-roll it into a b-big b-ball,” she instructed. “T-Then we m-make a s-smaller b-ball for the c-chest, a-and an even s-smaller one for the h-head. A-After t-that, we can s-start decorating him! T-That’s the m-most fun p-part of a-all!”

Rose and Iris followed the instructions and began packing and rolling snow. They had a good size for the bottom and then the middle. The head though Rose made a comically small ball and plopped it on top. ”Tada!” She would giggle.

“O-Oh, umm, I g-guess t-that works…” Connie observed upon seeing their snowman’s diminutive head. “I-It s-sorta does look cuter l-like that,” she added after thinking it over a moment. Picking up some thin branches, she gave the snowman a pair of comically long arms, before going over to a nearby supply shack and picking out a red and green striped scarf. However, when she put it on, she found that it was far too big for their creation’s tiny noggin. “Uh, I d-don’t think a-any of the c-clothing o-over t-there will f-fit him…” she noted despondently as she inserted two pebbles for eyes. “H-He’s k-kinda s-strange l-looking, huh?” she added with a frown. “I-I h-hope he d-doesn’t get b-bullied…” she added, being quite familiar with just how awful it was to be picked on. “I-I know!” she exclaimed, her demeanor brightening as a thought occurred to her. “W-We can m-make him some f-friends, so he w-won’t be l-lonely o-or made f-fun of!” After using her finger to give their deformed snowman a big smile, Connie set about building a collection of slightly smaller snowmen. This time, she used only two snowballs, one for the head and a larger one for the body. She was also careful to ensure that they were able to wear the various items of winter clothing available in the supply shack. “H-How are y-yours c-coming along?” she asked the twins.

Rose had just meant to make a funny snowman. It seemed Connie thought other of it. ”Oh uh… I didn’t mean…” However their friend eventually came up with an idea to make their oddly proportioned creation some friends. ”Yeah, we can do that.”

Iris made a snowman with some more regular proportions. Taking some sticks she would put them in as arms, one of them on the tiny headed snowman’s shoulder. Bits of coal would make up the eyes and mouth. Meanwhile her sister made a second snowman like Connie’s so they had a total of four friends.

Soon, the four snowy friends had turned to eight, as Connie got a little carried away in her snowman building (she really likes making snowmen). When she finally took a moment to rest, she saw just how wholesome the little gathering they’d created was. “O-Oh my g-gosh!” she squeed with delight. “T-They look so adorable!” she added, pulling out her phone and snapping a few pictures. “Y-You guys did a g-great job!”

”You too. I didn’t expect to make so many. But they look good together.” She stood back and admired their work. An eclectic bunch of snowmen for sure. Not as elaborate as some of the others, but charming in their own right. Rose would pull out her phone and take several pictures.

“U-Umm, I t-think the n-next event is ice s-sculpting,” Connie would note. “I-I’ve n-never done that b-before, so m-maybe w-we could t-try to m-make s-something s-simple together?” she would ask tentatively.

Rose’s eyes would grow wide for a moment. Ice sculpting? ”Yeah I’ve never done that before. I’d be willing to give it a shot.” How did one work with ice anyway?

The answer to that was simpler and more complicated than expected. While some worked with simple tools, others used their magic to cut and carve. ”Hm, what should we make?” She wasn’t actually sure what should be made. Crafts weren’t something she was really done.

Connie gave a small gasp when they arrived at the ice sculpting area. So many amazing pieces had already been made, and she took a few moments to simply admire everyone’s work. “G-Gosh! T-They’re all s-so beautiful!” she gushed as she moved from glowing, ringed orb to rotating carousel of dancers. “B-But, uh, w-we p-probably s-shouldn’t try to c-compete with t-them…” she added, looking slightly downcast. “W-We can just m-make something s-simple, b-but s-still cute. A-As l-long as we’re h-having f-fun, it d-doesn’t really m-matter if it’s f-fancy or n-not. O-Oh, I know!” she exclaimed with a big smile. “W-We can each m-make a s-snowbun!”

Rose clapped her hands together. ”Those would be cute. Let’s do it!”

Setting to work, Connie used the tools provided to begin carving out her snowbun. Since the actual creature had an extremely simple body shape, it was fairly easy for even a total amateur like her to sculpt a rough approximation of its form. The ears were the hardest part, but with a little refinement, they turned out well enough. After that, she added the finishing touches, giving her replica two small eyes and a mouth. It wasn’t a work of art by any stretch of the imagination, but it was still quite cute, and Connie was very pleased with what she’d managed to accomplish. Turning to look at what the twins had created, she smiled brightly. “W-Wow! Y-You guys are r-really good at this! T-Those are b-both a l-lot better than w-what I made.”

Iris glanced between the three sculptures they made. ”You think so?” Not being much of an artist she didn’t really think hers was that much better. She would arrange the snowbuns together and step back. ”I think they all look great. You did a good job.”

“T-Thanks, Iris,” Connie replied, blushing slightly at the compliment. Dan then proceeded to reveal the next event- ice skating, which caused Connie to noticeably pale. “U-Umm… I-I’ve a-always w-wanted to t-try and learn h-how to ice s-skate, b-but, uh, I-I’m k-kinda c-clumsy, sooo… C-Could y-you guys p-please s-skate w-with me a-and m-make sure I d-don’t fall?” she asked as she hesitantly approached the portal leading to the ice rink.

”We can do that.”

Iris would put her hands on her hips. ”Rose, we don’t even know how to ice skate.

Oh yeah… well, maybe we can ask Kayli. She’s like super smart and knows a lot of things.” Taking a look around she didn’t really see their charge anywhere ”Maybe she’s at the ice skating. Let’s go and we’ll figure it out.” She would smile and lead Connie and Iris through the portal.

_{Collaby with mayjay yaaaaaaaay!}

Tetrad had visibly deflated after the opposing team was wiped out by what was essentially a single attack. She closed up her deck and slid it back into her vestments. But it was hard for her to stay annoyed. Eliza made the mistake of asking what Keijo was, and her fellow operative power walked over to her position.

”You wanna know what Keijo is? As one of the keijo queens of the last tournament, I’m perfect to explain it to you.” She folded her arms with a huge grin. ”It’s basically water sumo wrestling. You fight on a floating platform in the center of a pool of water. You need to either knock out your opponent or shove them out of bounds. But you can only touch your opponent with your backside and chest!” She patted her hips as she mentioned this. ”And that includes our magic. Buuuuut we are allowed to use our magic in a way that gives us an edge. Like if you had metal magic, you could bounce off some metal springs you made to give your butt smash just a bit more oomph!”

Eliza seemed have frozen up after Tetrad's explanation, her expression a mix between dumbfoundment and sheer anxiety. She blinked silently, putting her hands on her hips, then her chest.

"...Hah. Haha. No." She only uttered, begining to walk away.

Alicia would admit to a pang of fear as the giant blast of water came down nearby, the product of that racing towards them in a mighty wave. At least that's how she saw it anyways. Luckily for her Dan built his stuff pretty sturdy, so the sled ended up riding the water back to the lodge rather than being flipped and sunk instead. She wasn't exactly the biggest fan of a chilling dip. "Well that was exciting," she observed as the sleigh drifted to a stop.

Like Kimble she hopped off, doing her best to not splash the water too much as she stepped towards the door. "Perhaps. But the thought matters to me. At least when it's this kind of event"

Her considerations were interrupted as they spotted FanFan, and Kimble waved her over. She listened carefully as FanFan explained her woes, nodding slowly as the situation was laid out whilst her smile shifted to more of a frown. She'd known it was bad, but the Ascendancy had been pretty quiet about the whole thing. Getting news was difficult, even for her.

While Kimble went about helping, Alicia expressed her sympathies as well. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said, stepped over and laying a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Magic isn't the be all and end all, despite the name. I've seen how strong both of you are, and I know you'll get through this."

Even as she said that, her heart burned with anger and regret. Sure, partially at Mariette and partially at the girls who had supported her, but also at herself. If she'd just fought harder, been smarter, everything might have been different....

In the end it had been her mission, her crusade. That blood was on her hands. How could she ever make it up to the others? They'd paid so high a cost, only for her to fail in the end. Though she kept up a firm exterior, inwardly her shoulders sagged beneath self inflicted blows. Personal cost she could shoulder. But to others? She did not have the same resolve.

To hide this turn of feelings, she shifted to look at Kimble, offering her a renewed smile. "So, what's the rating for our date?" she asked, mostly jokingly. Anything to distract from the tension she felt inside.

There was a squadron of valkyries bombing them. In their particular faction, Lea clicked her tongue and clapped her hands together, creating a flow of wind to divert the snowballs from hitting her, and beside her Esther raised a couple branches to cover her body from the snowballs. In reply, Lea sent a surge of wind through the snow next to her to send up at the airborne forces, intent on swallowing them up in snow and wind. That probably would be dodged, but still.

In the back was Olivia, who at the sight of the airborne assault screamed and ducked, her spirits crouching over her and taking many a snowball while trying to cover for their commander.

The army of Victorias were far too engaged in engaging the Pennys, having a ton of fun engaging in this physical altercation of metal and ice dancing and throwing snowballs at one another, so when the Sanns descended she was caught unprepared and a bunch of Victorias were blown over by their attack. Still, they’d definitely be trying to throw a couple back, too.

Mayra was still intent on engaging Penny and MDP, even if the lack of posts would suggest otherwise. The dragon-girl wasn’t entirely able to dodge past the snow, but it didn’t bother her at all and she threw a bunch of snowballs back up at them! Jelena was somewhere in there, too.

Meanwhile, in the fort of Josefin and Taihei, Josefin dodged down in their igloo at the sight of the squadron, but Taihei completely missed them. She raised a hand to counter them with a gravity-blast, but something was off with the dimension’s connection with the gravity-flux of a thirty-fifth planet of a distant galaxy’s center star so the gravity-flux failed and Taihei got a facefull of snow from the descending Valkyries. Just because.

Then there was suddenly a satellite floating above them, that discharged a flood of water.

That’s about when Lea had enough. She grabbed Olivia and blasted off into the sky with Olivia crying out in alarm, Esther following after on a tree she just grew that was rooted in the ground beneath, avoiding the water, albeit perhaps she overreacted since most was focused on that fort.

The Victorias blinked in surprise and jumped to dodge the water, quickly freezing some small icy platforms in the ankle-high water, looking in confusion at the sudden watery surroundings.

Mayra looked at the water and grinned determined to evaporate all the water before it got to her, but Jelena grabbed around her and they jumped, floating up in the air by Jelena’s metal-magic on herself making them float, before they landed again on one of the Victoria’s icy platforms.

Josefin and Taihei, meanwhile… just happened to have dug their fort downstreams from Penny’s fort, on a lower altitude, in a pit that was about to have all the excess water from the satellite attack violently fill it up and create a lake within which they’d be in the bottom.

‘Water…! C’mon, Taihei, up a tree…!’ Josefin said in alarm, jumping and trying to grab Taihei’s arm to help her up… but Taihei realized they had no time for that. Besides, she was an aquatic monster-girl, this should be fine. She used her gravity-magic, coincidentally working again, and flung a surprised Josefin up the tree. ‘Wait, TAIHEI!’ Josefin cried out after her, but Taihei wasn’t bothered. She proudly turned and faced the wave…

She didn’t even budge. Like a rock, the water just bounced off her before engulfing her, and Taihei was utterly unbothered as she was swallowed by the water. It wasn’t nearly enough power to do any damage to the most sturdy of all Asengav’s girls. She’d just let this water flow over her, and then she’d swim up to the surface, and-

Taihei suddenly coughed, water going down her mouth. Her eyes widened.

She… couldn’t breathe? Her hand went to…

Ah. There were no gills.

Her Christmas transformation had removed her gills.

What the f-

She coughed underwater, bubbles leaving her throat, her abysmal agility and heavy weight unable to escape the water.

Oh, so this is how she, an aquatic monster-girl, died. By drowning.

How very, very unlucky…

She bent her knees, closed her eyes, prepared to vanish all of a sudden…

Except then a magic bubble showed up around her because Christmas magic wouldn’t let her die in Dan’s dimension. It carried her up to the top of the tree Josefin was standing on, from which Taihei dropped down in fetal position.

‘Taihei! A-are you okay!?’ Josefin asked, very worried.

‘Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuh…’ Taihei mumbled in misery, but hey, she wasn’t dead.

‘… I think that’s enough excitement on my part,’ Lea muttered, carrying Olivia in her arms and with Esther floating next to her on a couple trees.

‘M-me too…’ Olivia breathed out in panic, and with that, Lea took off with her and they went off from the battlefield, Esther following by periodically shooting trees and using them as stilts to follow after Lea at a modestly quick pace for a not-very-agile girl.

‘That thing’s AWESOME! Where did you get one of those…!?’ Mayra cried out, eyes positively shining pointing out where the satellite was.

‘… That aside, I think we’re done fighting for now. Thank you for the gift, Mayra, hah,’ Jelena said, chuckling a little. Mayra just grinned at her.

‘Thanks for fighting me, you’re pretty fun,’ Victoria said to Penny, her various copies waving to her copies.

---

‘… The Wacky Downhill Race?’ Mariette quietly repeated, having been listening to the dolphin just because through an idle portal. It sounded… fun.

True to Oros’ assumption Penny was able to detect the radio signal. Though that, at first, didn’t really answer what it was that was about to happen. It was still enough to have Penny wary for what it could mean. After all Dan’s dimension was all in all rather light on electronic communications floating through the air.

When the clouds above were banished however, Penny already knew what it was that was about to happen. She remembered Brittney’s beach shop and the satellite bombardment that it held. She stood there staying up at Dan’s grinning face as her levity drained out of her. Leaving only a weary resignation. Seemed over kill in her opinion to use such a weapon in a snow ball fight, but she supposed that someone out there considered her enough of an enemy to not care.

Penny was just setting herself to brace against the torrential down pour when her vision was obscured by a giant pink umbrella. “Thanks Princess” Penny would say softly, unsure if her words could be heard over the gushing walls of water that surrounded them. That didn't mean the words were any less heartfelt though.

She tried to hold onto that dejection when the water finally subsided and she was able to more clearly inspect the damage dealt to her fort. She already knew that most of her Clones were gone, the force of the water enough to dispel all but those that were further away from the fort. But, with each moment that she surveyed the devastation her hurt grew and with its growth her sadness was shifted to rage.

Her gaze slowly found Oros and when it did there was a soft glow to Penny’s red eyes. She wouldn’t approach however. Leaving the confrontation to her girlfriend for the moment, as she wasn’t sure she could trust her self to stick to words at the moment.

Sam’s interjection wasn’t a welcome distraction, but Penny would respond regardless. “Kidnapping requires you to go out to abduct someone. Eliza came to us. MDP’s magic routinely creates sentient physical objects. Her assumption that Eliza was akin to that is understandable. I was about to explain her misconception as well, before Oros destroyed everything.”

She would take her eyes off of Oros for a moment to look at Samantha. “Besides, as you just pointed out there isn’t anything in the rules against it. So why are you complaining?” Penny’s voice was flat, nearly monotone, as she spoke. She would wait only a moment before returning her burning gaze to Oros, and moving to stand behind MDP. She doubted that Oros would apologize in any meaningful way, but she wanted to be near her girlfriend so that it would be easier for them both to leave.

---

The pair of Penny’s off near Victoria’s had escaped the water by jumping and triggering their hover jets and coasting above the flow of water as they watched their fort vanish behind a wall of water. Both of them were stuck silent at the display.

One of them was able to recover intime to wave back at Victoria “No problem, it was fun and I’m sad it got cut short.”

The other counterfeit would slowly turn in place noting how more or less everyone had decided to call it quits after the deployment of the orbital cannon.

@FamishedPants@Ariamis
Once again, Darkness was Sakura's old Friend. Half mauled, he felt a presence trying to pick him up. Had his beloved eventually found out and came back for him? Well, that was a good thing. Now he had a proper... albeit effeminate body. He could give Yui all the affection it was. In his half grogged state he rose up to Yui's face and gave her a long sweet kiss.

However, once more, it was not to be, as his consciousness settled in, he had found out he was kissing someone else.

Oh good, it wasn't that annoying Oreo Lion, it was a girl this time. Maybe the saucy CPR lady from before.

And kinda familiar.

Emily? Yes it was Emily. Well, she wasn't Yui, but that was still...

It was then when he jolted backwards, looking at the disaster he had just invoked.

He had just kissed Emily.

"Oh, Hi Emily...thanks for the save...I guess?" He added.

He wanted to be dead for real now.

---

@Flamelord
Oblivious to the chaos outside, Dina had sang her song and had exited the scenario. Most of the activities these youths did kept her baffled, but she had to try and make an effort. Odin's servants were being increasingly difficult to politely avoid at this point, even if the old man was... just doing his stuff, she guessed.

It was then when she decided to make a daring escape forward, before adressing the... Beacon members present. Well, this was a christmas truce after all. And Penny was out doing Penny things.

"Hi, Alicia." She said, addressing her. There were mixed feelings about this one, she could feel it. She would address Fan Fan, but then again, they had been much close and personal before to just be that friendly.

_{@Ponn@PlatinumSkink@Majoras End@FamishedPants}

Joy is fleeting.

When Oros was young, it seemed like she was always happy. She didn’t have many things to worry about in her youth. Her parents took care of all her needs, even if they were seldom present. She was ignorant of the world’s horrors and wanted for nothing. Save maybe a friend, as the farm animals were the closest thing she had to those.

Then she became a magical girl.

Initially, Oros’s newfound freedom made her happier than she had been all her life. She could make friends, stay up late, and do whatever she wanted.But she soon discovered that her freedoms came with responsibilities. Her first taste of that came when Lupa sacrificed herself to eat a mind wiping killing blow,one that was meant for her. What happened to Lupa was fully avoidable and only happened because Oros put herself in danger. But with age came wisdom, or at least understanding. It was just a matter of time before things went south. Much like now, when Oros was trying to be the best date she could manage. It wasn’t enough to stop Eliza from walking off a second time. Emily had been her back up plan, but Oros’s most grave horrors came true when the tater tot kissed her on the lips.

All of Oros’s relationships were temporary. Most people avoided her, and the few that didn’t were pulled out of her life by one set of circumstances or another. They would die, grow to hate her, or worse, she would learn they had been using her the entire time. She yearned for a connection that would last more than a single cycle. But it was not meant to be. Not a single time had Oros been able to jump to a new timeline with anyone at her side.

Oros had forgotten what a lonely, miserable place Penrose was. During the decades where she floated from world to world in hopes of finding a place where Penrose still existed. She had forgotten how painful it was to have people you care about turn their back on you. Oros was reminded of “the outsider” by H.P. Lovecraft, as she felt like the central character at this time.

Nothing happening around Oros seemed to matter. Not Eliza departing, not Emily getting smooched on, Not MDP’s obnoxious droning, and not even Sam and Penny’s bickering. With a sigh, Oros closed her eyes… and her heart stopped beating.

…

…

…

”You have no idea what you’re missing out on Eliza. Probably best you don’t join, I gotta stomp the competition without Amarylis’s help this time!” In truth, Tetrad would really miss Eliza not joining in the fun, but it was worth it to see that dejected look on that annoying pink haired girl’s face. She was pretty sure she was responsible for everything bad that happened to-

Oh...

”Ah well...” Tetrad shrugged her shoulders. ”Guess the heart wants what the heart wants, ey Emily?” Tetrad winked at her friend, totally not upset that she snagged the probably only single guy left in the entire joint.

Tetrad decided to stay out of the thing between Samantha and everyone else. She was a little annoyed that Oros had essentially ended the mission she and Sam were on way prematurely, but with valkyrie bombing the place and clones running everywhere, a big splash was an amusing way to wrap things up.

In this brief moment when Penny, Samantha, Tetrad, Emily, and Sakura were too preoccupied to look at Oros, her eyes opened again. Someone with astute observational skills might have noticed the change, though eye color tends to be one of the easiest details to forget. She turned to MDP. The beast woman managed a smile, but her upper lip twitched once she locked eyes with her.

”That is some annoying dialog to listen to. But if it'll take an apology to make you shut up, here you go...”

Oros practically bear hugged the tiny pink princess. Her petite curves were practically swallowed up by Oros’s form. She was swaddled on all sides by pulsating muscle. If the water hadn’t washed away all the snow, the warmth of her body would have easily melted it away. There was practically no time to react before their lips closed with a vicious kiss. Oros’s fingers eventually found their way to the girl’s spine, at which point she dipped her backwards.

”What the hell? I don't even see a mistletoe.”

---

Stien was a bit disappointed to see the majority of the competition flee after they had arrived not too long ago. Would they be considered anymore? Well, Stien was more interested in an entertaining time than she was in any sort of reward. Besides, stealing this spot from Betty because Dalton posted arriving first was good enough for her.

Justine shook her head in disapproval at the kneeling Betty. “You genuflect over such a trifling matter. It is unnecessary.” The blue-clad girl then grinned, offering a hand. “Rather, you have saved me the trouble of proposing the alliance myself. Perhaps I should show veneration instead?” she gave a hearty laugh, pulling Betty back onto her feet. Stien would then give it a firm shake. “You may address me as Justine. My beloved and I strive only to craft the finest and most awe-inspiring man of snow. If you would aid us in this endeavor, we would gladly have you.”

”B-beg pardon?” Betty was pretty sure she misheard this girl’s name. There was only one Justine after all, and she was the enemy. The chances of there being another one present wasn’t very likely. ”I mean, yes!” She clasped Stien’s hand between her own. ”A colossus of some sort would be good! I was even thinking of something, well, bigger still.” She looked back at the castle, and her grip on Stien’s hand got a little tighter. ”Um, anyway! My initial plan was to roll some snowballs down the hill to make them bigger. But it looks like you’ve already made a pretty big one. and Dan just provided me a pretty big pile sooooo...” Her eyes drifted to the massive snow boulder. No adjective she could ascribe to it would do the thing justice; when standing by Stien it was too big to fit inside her field of view. ”Where’s your um, your beloved?”

“Even greater than a colossus? Fwahaha! I like your attitude!” Justine agreed with a pat on Betty’s shoulder, and then looked up at the huge snowball she had been standing next to. “Yes, I believe most would find this one suitable. But I won’t accept it! We can still yet go further beyond!'' She maneuvered behind her snowball and gave it a strong kick that managed not to get lodge in it, which sent it rolling down the hill into the pile of snow Dan had cultivated. “Until even our very competition stands in awe! Fwahaha!”

The snowball was already large, but it was only getting bigger as it rolled down the hill. Betty was quick to run up behind it and dig her finger’s into it’s surface. Because the snow ball was so big, it’s weight naturally meant that it compressed itself as it rolled. So the snow was dense and easy to get a hand hold in. As the snowball tumbled forward, Betty was pulled towards the top of it. Of course, it was just a matter of time before she descended down the other side and risked getting crushed under the snowball’s massive weight. The Cradle agent was quick to bounce to her feet and run. With the snowball rolling away from Stien, Betty just had to run towards her to maintain her balance. But as the snowball got bigger, she had to run faster to stay on top.

…

…

…

Helewisa hadn’t figured anything out about the whereabouts of her obnoxious lover from anybody there and they almost all left before she could question anyone aside from Lily’s group. She was a bit irritated that had to happen at the one moment she would need people there, and Dan had left before she could question him. Wisa mulled over calling Dan over before deciding that Stien was a capable young girl and didn’t need a babysitter. It isn’t like she would manage to hurt somebody here. But still, where did that girl go?

Suddenly, Helewisa heard the distinct and somewhat distant laughter of Justine that answered her question. “Thank goodness!” she sighed in relief. It seemed like she didn’t actually believe Justine could function without a babysitter. She had always been energetic for anyone’s good, after all.

“Wisa! Intercept!”

As Wisa turned around to see what it was Justine was doing, she thought to herself aloud, “Intercept? What does she mean by th---GRGHHHH” Unfortunately, her thought was cut short as a snowball the size of a small moon suddenly crashed into her and assimilated her into its body.

”Oh shoot! Did we hit something?” Betty was still running with her back pointed towards the direction they were rolling in. The only difference now was that she had to jump over a bump in the side of the snow moon once per rotation.

It kept rolling for a fair amount of distance afterward. Soon it lost its momentum and came to a slow stop. Helewisa was not visible, though.

Betty was holding her knees and panting. For all the things magic could do, it didn’t make breathing this dry winter air any easier. Every breath ripped the moisture out of her lungs and stung with a bitter freeze.

…

…

…

Justine wasn’t too far behind the snowball by the time it stopped. She clicked her tongue in disappointment. “You would think after a millennia that one would be more capable of playing ‘catch’. Bah! It is of no importance. I will need to check if she has sullied our ball of snow,” she told Betty, observing the mammoth snowball for a few seconds.

After about half a minute, one could faintly hear something coming from within it, followed by a hand bursting out of the snow near the bottom. Justine grabbed a hold of it and with one strong yank, pulled it out. Naturally, they had snagged one Helewisa, who struggled to get onto her feet while she caught her breath.

"Ha... what is... wrong with... you...!" she gasped. Things were quiet for a few seconds until Wisa could finally breathe normally, at which point she strode up to Stien and grabbed her by her costume. "You failed to tell me where you went, and you made this snowball without me?" Helewisa didn't seem the slightest bit upset about being bulldozed by a runaway snow boulder.

Justine moved Wisa's hands off her before responding in a confident tone. "You seemed so invested in your work that I thought it better to leave you be." Stien grinned, patting Helewisa on the shoulder much as she did to Betty earlier. "I did not mean to vex you so. That is why I began with a little one so that you would not miss out! And behold! I have gained for us an ally with an unyielding spirit!" she motioned towards Betty, who Wisa hadn't registered was there until this point.

Betty was starting to recover from her run when both girls looked in her direction. She smiled and waved to the two, who she could just barely make out given how high up she was. ”Um.” her voice echoed off the distant hills. She was really high up. ”Did you wanna help us make a few more?”

From perturbed to excited, Helewisa's mood switched in an instant. "Of course!" she had to shout so that Betty could hear, before turning and giving Stien a big hug. "But... you said this one was 'small', didn’t you?" Helewisa took some steps back to try to see the very top of it, barely managing. "We might need Dan to make some more snow..."

"Should it come to that, then we will ask for his aid. I would sooner fear the lack of space before I worry about that." Justine glanced up at Betty, smiling. "The view up there is a wonderful one, I assume?" she laughed. "I'm sure it shall be even more so once we complete our masterwork! When you finish admiring it, you should come down and... come to think of it, I don't believe you've graced me with your name?"

By this point, Betty was sliding down the side of the snow ball so that she could meet her companions. ”Oh! I’m sorry! I was just super pumped and-” She took a deep breath. ”Betty.” She extended her hand towards the newest addition to their team.. ”And your name?”

Helewisa offered a smile as she accepted the handshake. “A pleasure. You can call me Hilaria.”

This prompted a weird look from Justine, who confronted her about it. “Why do you insist on doing that?” she asked, a disappointed expression making itself clear. Although Hilaria’s smile became a bit forced, she did not answer Justine, instead finishing the shake as if nothing happened. “Well,” Justine apparently decided to move on. “Now that the introductions are out of the way, what say we get started? We may go over the exact form of the man of snow as we are collecting.”

…

…

…

The collection was proceeding rather smoothly for the trio. Justine created a ball which she rolled around as it got bigger and bigger, Hilaria made use of her ‘boogie board’ by pushing it around almost like a snowplow, and Betty used her superior dexterity to roll up several small balls, which she would then mash into one with the assistance of her wind magic. Still, they had some ways to go before they had enough. At least, that’s what Justine said.

At some point, Justine and Hilaria somehow managed to collide during their task, mostly due to Hilaria not being able to see around the snow she was plowing. Justine looked down upon Hilaria with mild irritation, but more bewilderment. “Is that all you have to show, Wisa?” she asked, noticing the small amount of snow behind her plow. “At what point did you become so lackadaisical?”

Clearly offended at this affront to her hard work ethic, Hilaria stood up and pointed over towards a large pile of snow she had been pooling together. “You dare suggest I am slothful? How about you pay attention to what I’ve gathered? It's much more than you have!” she claimed strongly.

Justine walked over to the pile, then looked back at her ball. “You say this merely because the form it takes gives one a false impression. Naturally, I have obtained more snow!” she retorted.

Narrowing her eyes, Hilaria took the snow she had grabbed with her plow and added it to her pile, which she then began shaping into a ball much like Justine’s using a combination of manual effort and her gravity spec. Shortly after, a huge ball of snow stood where the pile had been. She crossed her arms and gave a triumphant smirk. “Hmph! As you can now see, I’ve got the most amount of snow!”

Justine silently walked back to her own ball of snow and rolled it over to Hilaria’s so as to compare the two. She had to crawl up to the top of it by this point. “Fwaha! I spoke only the truth, as you will undoubtedly see once you bear witness to the disparity in size between our balls of snow!”

Hilaria climbed up her own ball and when she reached the top, she inspected the difference between them. “How can you be so blind to think yours compares to mine in the least? It’s risible, is what it is!”

Justine’s response came after a moment or two of reflection. “Betty!” she called out, realizing that only a third party could decide this. “We require an arbiter to settle this matter, if you would allow us to use you in such a way.”

”Well.” Betty rolled over to the two on one of her many balls of snow. ”Okay, if it stops the fighting and refocuses your efforts on collecting snow, I’ll do it!” Betty immediately got to work examining the balls of snow. She compared them to one of her much smaller balls of snow. Moments later Betty looked at both balls from the top of the other, as if trying to get both of their perspectives. Finally she hovered in place between both balls and lined them up with the horizon.

While it was true that both balls were big, there was one absolute truth about them Betty would have no trouble spotting. It was, of course, the fact that both of them somehow managed to have snowballs that were…

”They’re the same size!” Betty looked between the two ‘lovers’ ”I think we have enough snow, anyway. everyone’s moved onto the next event. We can’t let our enemies pull too far ahead!” She balled her hands into fists. ”It doesn’t matter who’s plowed more snow or has the bigger balls! What matters is that we crush our opponent’s under our heels! Without that, the biggest pair of balls doesn’t mean anything!”

Justine rewarded Betty’s statement with a chuckle. “It is as you say! It would seem I allowed my competitive spirit to cloud my judgment and it has cost us precious moments. For that, I shall work harder to make up for it,” She hopped off the top of her snowball and landed with elegance. Hilaria followed suit but because she wasn’t as AgIle, her landing was far more plain.

“We should start thinking beyond balls.” Helewisa suggested.

Justine raised an eyebrow. “What do you propose?”

“Well,” Helewisa began. “We have had snowballs on the mind this entire time, but not once did we consider the things that go into making a snowman. You do not just put balls together and call it a day.”

“You are referring to wood, are you not?”

“Precisely!” Hilaria nodded. “We’ll need the biggest, hardest wood we can find. That is the bare-minimum necessary to make sure this guy really is a snowman.” Helewisa gave the snowball another slap. “This guy can fit so much wood, really.”

“Aye, I see that clear as day. But we still require snow. Who do you propose collects the wood?” Justine asked, prompting a smile from Helewisa.

“It is not as if I wish to gloat, but I am quite capable when it comes to handling wood. I’ve experience in small, medium, and big-sized wood,” Wisa claimed. “You wouldn’t believe how many people like building log cabins in remote places.”

Justine smiled. “To settle down in an isolated area with nary a worry in the world… The appeal most certainly doesn’t escape me,” she seemed to be fantasizing about something. “But I shall cease my prattling. I do not have specific experience with handling wood, but I doubt that sort of touch is required.”

”It should be one of you two for sure.” Betty did not like to admit her weaknesses, but if this group was to get closer, she’d have to. ”I was more of a nature watcher than a woodsman. I remember watching some beavers getting wood down by the river. I wanted to join them, but I was worried I’d scare them all off. ” With a sigh, she looked at Stien. ”Um, I would like to roll some snow with Hilaria, if you wouldn’t mind collecting the wood?”

“Oh? I see…” Hilaria almost seemed disappointed. Maybe she really was confident about her skills in wood-handling.

Justine’s smile was wide. “It is the natural choice,” she nodded to Betty. “In that case, I shall not linger any longer. Leave all of the wood to me!” Justine surveyed the area for a suitable tree and then darted off at blinding speed to it, leaving Helewisa and Betty to their task.

Helewisa, sure the giant balls of now weren’t going to roll away without some amount of outside influence, felt safe enough to run over to grab her shield (boogie board). “Stien didn’t make a very convincing case, you know,” she said. “I wonder why you’d choose her? Maybe I’ve caught your eye~?” Hilaria didn’t actually appear to be upset by Betty’s decision and it was pretty obvious she was just joking around. She appeared ready to start plowing again but waited for Betty’s response.

”Huh?” Betty’s eyebrows practically jumped off of her head. ”Oh! No! No, nothing like that!” She waved her hands with a chuckle. ”It’s just that you seem a little easier to talk to is all. Stien seems really um, ambitious. Among other things.” Betty started rolling up another snow ball. ”I didn’t have the heart to tell her why I’m so passionate about this.” She stopped and looked to Hilaria. ”How long can you hold a grudge?”

"That is a strange question, isn't it?" It prompted Hilaria to think on the subject a bit. "It's hard to say with my memory so fragmented," she shoved her 'shield' into the ground and began working, but spoke loud enough for Betty to hear while she did. "At least a few centuries, I would imagine."

”Just centuries?” Betty’s cuckled. She knew that magical girls could live a long time, but surely no one here had been around that long. Right? RIGHT?!?! ”Well, it might be selfish, but a grudge is why making the biggest snow sculpture is important to me.” She broke eye contact with Hilaria to focus on the lump of snow in front of her. They were being so through that there was only sand left behind in some spots. ”It’s Justine.” She confessed. ”I can’t forgive her for what she did to me. It’s just not possible. And when I see her gleefully playing around in the snow, making massive structures, I just-” Betty grunted. Her snow ball was at least twice her size now, and she was still rolling it bigger. ”A-anyway, I didn’t really think that was something to tell your beloved. But I wanted to tell one other soul; I’m really determined to beat Justine. ”

"Justine would certainly find the situation disappointing," Hilaria had already begun forming another pile. "I'm sure she would stubbornly attempt to get you to forgive and forget, too. She is the sort to give everyone a second chance if they'll take it," Helewisa spoke almost as if she were jealous of that. "Her heart is always in the right place, so it was for the better that you avoided letting her know," Hilaria stated. "Even after the dagger has been pulled free, the pain lingers. I know it is difficult to care for much else."

Her pile became difficult to distinguish from a hill before she spoke again. "A fire in the heart is a fire in the heart. If you have strong feelings, even if they're not exactly 'good', it'll still propel you forwards," Hilaria scratched her cheek. "I'm confident that our snowman will be great, is what this old lady is saying," she even chuckled.

”I see.” Betty would never consider Justine von Visceral a forgiving type, but maybe she was towards her closest allies. ”You know her well then? You wouldn’t, um, mind telling me a bit about her, would you?”

Helewisa perked up. "Of course I am! We've known each other since I was... two? Or maybe it was three? In any case, it has been a long time since then and she does not appear to have changed much since we last met," Wisa put a thumb to her chin as she recalled memories that came to her. "But she is very much one to stay true to the image she projects. I doubt I could tell you much you wouldn't already know," she admitted before continuing. "Justine really does not care for subtlety at all. She is extremely prideful and outspoken, and she almost always gets her way. She's beyond competitive. Naturally, the words "Lose" and "Justine" don't often go together and she goes out of her way to ensure that it remains that way. Hmm... was there anything, in particular, you would like to know?"

In truth, there was nothing the Cradle agent wanted to know about Justine. The more she learned about her, the more she hated her. ”Well, maybe one thing.” Betty took a moment to consider how to word this. It was clear that Hilaria sympathized with her, but she was friends with Justine too. ”I guess I’d like to know how to take her down a peg. You know, um, make it feel like we’re on even footing? Got any ideas?” She looked ahead. ”I just have one idea, but I don’t know if you’d wanna help me with it.”

Helewisa couldn't stop grinning, as if something Betty said had entertained her. Whatever it was, she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she shrugged. "All I can really say is that it depends on the plan and how entertaining it might be."

”Um, um!” She had difficulty getting her words out. She was worried she’d be judged for being petty, but Hilaria had been a kindred spirit so far. ”Justine had some people build a castle over there.” She pointed at it. ”We have quite a bit of snow, so I was thinking we could, um, build something over it? Like, make something that totally covers the castle. L-like an explosion!” Her voice was practically trembling with anticipation.

Hilaria couldn't help but tilt her head once Betty brought up a castle. She would sooner form actual, positive relationships with people and allow people who weren't Stien or Isabelle to call her by her real name before she would believe ANYONE could recognize that blight on the snow Stien made was a castle. But then it dawned on her -- Betty wasn't talking about Stien, she was referring to the vampire, Justine! And in that case, everything Helewisa had just said was not true of that Justine. That Justine was, as far as she was aware, not a pleasant person at all.

The correct thing to do in this situation would be to inform Betty that she was mistaken. But that would not be what Hilaria chose to do. Instead, she grinned mischievously. "Ah, yes! It's only natural she would respond to such an over-the-top, flamboyant gesture when her ego is so massive! An explosion would be nice... but it does seem out of place? There was not an abundance of those when castles were in fashion. Mmm, maybe instead we could forge maybe... a giant dragon that overshadows Justine's structure?"

”A dragon?” Betty scratched her head. ”Yea! And it can be breathing fire all over the castle!” She pounded her fist into her palm. ”I guess a mushroom shaped cloud would have been kinda hard to do. Well, we should probably start before Stien gets back. Otherwise I don’t think we’ll ever finish. I think she’d be content to build forever.” Betty rolled her snowball towards the castle before shaping it into a giant foot. A mix between the foot of a bird and a reptile, with three large toes that were taller than most men.

"O-oh, that's right. Betty, let's save the tail for last," Hilaria asked, inspecting Betty's work on the foot in detail. She would start working on the other foot a little later, but it would more or less be identical in size and appearance. After both feet had been made, Hilaria took a step back to appreciate their work so far and to see how they should better proceed. "Mmm... should the dragon be standing up straight or bending over the castle? Well, I think that's placing the cart before the horse," she looked at Betty. "Do you prefer western or eastern dragons?"

”I mean, I’m really into Japanese stuff. But I think it would be best if we took advantage of all this snow and made a western style dragon. Have you ever seen puff the magic dragon? Cute movie, that’s kind of what I’m going for with this.” She was rolling the rest of her snowball over to make the lower torso of the dragon. ”He’s got a huge belly and a long skinny neck. And cute little wings. And a biiiig chin!” She looked to Hilaria. ”Have you ever seen it? Pete’s Dragon? The 1977 version, not the remake, I never saw that.”

Hilaria thought about it but soon shook her head. “I spent more time rollerblading than I did watching cinema during that period, if my memory isn’t failing me again,” she explained, beginning to help Betty with the lower half. When it was close to completion, she would effortlessly use some of her own snow to add to the top half, where she would focus on shaping the arms. “I suppose I will try to keep those traits in mind but let me know if I stray too far from what you were thinking. I was imagining a more imposing dragon at first, but I admit that the image of what I assume is a ‘cute’ dragon, incinerating a castle with its unyielding flame, sounds more entertaining. It might even make for more humiliation on Justine’s part.”

”Maybe.” Betty guided the winds towards their sculpture to smooth out its shape.. She ‘cut’ grooves into the dragon’s underbelly to mimic how a cartoon lizard’s stomach is typically drawn. ”I think that it’s important to humiliate justine, but it also has to be something that’s still us, you know?”

Hilaria was still smoothing out the snow that made up the arms, but paused to ask, “What is not ‘us’ about an incredibly big, yet cute dragon? I suppose we could make little slanted snow eyebrows so that he looks angry,” she said as what was hopefully a joke.

”Oh no! I think you’re right. That’s probably not nessisary!” Making the wind behave the way she wanted was not simple work for Betty. She was restricted to only doing a small area at a time, and one that was relatively close to herself. She had to make use of her extreme agility to cover the entire surface of the dragon. It was something she was up to the task of doing, but it took effort. She wasn’t like Sue, who could just summon a typhoon with a casual wave of her hand. ”But you rollerblade, for real?” Betty was about to run off to grab more of her snow boulders.

Hilaria had finished the shape of both arms, which were noticeably small in comparison to its body. Sort of like a tyrannosaurus rex. She shook her head at Betty’s assumption. “Did,” she answered. “Rollerblading hasn’t been especially popular in a decade or two, so I have not been invited in some time. Now it’s just the movies, video games, or the beach,” she sighed, perhaps thinking them as monotonous.

”Well, we should do something like that some time! I used to do it a lot during the summer before, well, becoming a magical girl. But I’d love to do it again! And then we could rent Pete’s dragon and see if it’s as good as I remember it being! I honestly don’t remember anything other than the dragon. We weren’t very rich so we only had a VCR with a few old movies-” Betty coughed, suddenly becoming self aware of how silly she probably looked due to her abundance of excitement. ”I mean, if you want to, that would be cool.”

Hilaria addressed Betty’s unsure invitation with a nod. “I suppose it may be nice to see if I can still move as I did before.” Betty pumped her fist, but tried to hide the gesture.

In the distance, the two would hear the occasional rumbling. It didn’t appear to be from any of the other guests at the party from what they could tell. “She comes,” Helewisa stated, not even bothering to look away from the dragon she was working on, but it appeared she was concentrating on something else entirely. This was made most evident by the fact she began thinking out loud.

“...was there not a plant-based girl attending the party? I hope nothing comes of that... “ Helewisa would sigh, before asking Betty an innocent question. “Do you know who Poison Ivy is, by chance? I believe she gets upset at the sight of hurt nature.”

It took Betty a bit longer to regain her composure, as she was a bit more concerned about the noise. ”You mean from Batman? Yea!” With the torso and arms finished, Betty had moved on to shaping “Puff’s” swan-like neck and head. The jaw was tricky due to it being much larger than the neck. ”Only because I watched the cartoons though, Mom and dad were pretty restrictive about what I could spend my money on.” She cleared her throat. ”But I think Harly Quinn was my favorite batman villain. Only because I found her kind of relatable. ”

“I only ask because there is little doubt in my mind Stien was particularly subtle about her search for suitable wood. Yet now that I have thought about it, her specialization doesn’t dictate her personality. It would be ignorant to assume that she is, as I believe people nowadays call them, a ‘tree hugger’,” she mused. “Not to mention this dimension is fabricated. I suppose I am stressing over a trifle,” she shrugged.

It soon became evident that the jaw wasn’t going to stay in place without some more support. ”We should make the flames, finish the head, then we can work on the tail.” Betty scratched her head. ”Hey! I haven’t done an ice sculpture yet! Maybe we could collect ice blocks and make the flames out of that? Just a rigid ice structure? I wonder if that would be frowned upon...”

“I do not see why it would be. If an argument is brought up we can simply bring up the fact that people use sticks to mimic arms in most cases. The majority of this dragon is still snow,” she said as she moved to inspect the huge jaw this dragon was going to have, and then nodded. “I noticed a lot of girls find a strong jaw on a man rather attractive. But I feel as though we’ve crossed the threshold for Puff here.”

”Heh! Yea, I guess!” The cradle agent rubbed the back of her head.

Hilaria looked at Betty. “About the tail... you don’t mind if we leave that to Stien, do you? It should serve as a pacifier.”

”That sounds reasonable! A wood tail would look kind of cool, maybe?” Betty wasn’t sure how that would work, but she was part of the team, so she had to do part of it. ”Okay then! Let’s get some ice blocks!”

Between the two burly girls and the might of wind and gravity, it wasn’t too hard to get the ice blocks they needed. ”Oh, I didn’t put much thought into how these were supposed to go together.”

Hilaria moved away from the ice they had just retrieved and inspected the dragon’s mouth. “Admittedly, I also did not put as much thought into the application. We could have built around a rough ice skeleton had I done so. Instead, my best guess is to have the spew of flames graze the ground and act as a support,” Hilaria fired off a quick suggestion. “Naturally, if it cannot stand on its own it is a failure, otherwise, I would simply use magic to remedy this.”

Although it was not as loud as earlier, the two would hear a crash in their proximity as a few large logs rolled into a mound of snow, managing to stop. Stien was nowhere to be found initially, but the two would find that she had soundlessly made it behind them. She glanced at the dragon-in-progress silently, before looking at the other two. “This is your work?” she orbited it, inspecting and then noticing something else, which she pointed out. “This as well?” she asked, looking at the castle.

”This, as well?” Betty followed her finger to the castle that was directly beneath the massive dragon. ”Oh! Um, no, It just felt right to have the dragon sieging the castle!.” She looked at Hilaria and then back at the newly arrived. ”Um, sorry for starting without you. I was just getting kind of anxious. B-but we did think that we’d leave the tail for you to finish. Right, Hilaria?”

Helewisa opened her mouth to agree with Betty but was silenced when Justine rose a hand. "Cease," she ordered, turning away from Hilaria. "I do not need to hear another word." Justine was now staring at Betty with a serious look on her face. She emitted a fierce, tense aura. Betty could do little more than cower before such intensity. "You," Stien addressed Betty. "You... were absolutely correct to begin!" Suddenly, Justine laughed. "Fwahaha! I became so enamored with gathering quality materials that I forgot to start building! I suppose I should get started and put my all into the tail, then!" she lept over to the pile of logs, grabbed one as though it required no effort, and then began comparing it to the dragon.

Placing a hand on Betty's shoulder, Hilaria gave a strained smile. "It's on us," is all she said before looking to work on the ice flames.

”R-right.” Betty wobbled a bit as she stood up. ”We should start on that.”

Betty did her best to stack the ice blocks up to the massive dragon. One by one, she rushed the blocks in place and stacked them up to meet “Puff’s” large head. The castle worked to her benefit since it gave her a head start in height, as the flames were going to cascade off the top of the castle anyway. Her superhuman agility also came in handy when she tried to fuse the blocks. She simply rubbed the top most block along it’s lower counterparts to build up enough friction to melt one side of the cube. Then when she stopped, the cold weather would freeze it together into one solid mass. It took several ice blocks to get the height she desired, but it was finally done.

”It’s a little uneven, but I think that works for us!” She used her wind magic to cut away anything that didn’t look like a dragon’s flame. ”How are you making out, Hilaria?”

Glancing over, Betty would notice Hilaria was comparatively behind her in progress. She had managed to stack blocks of ice and fuse them as well, but the act of carving them was less intuitive for her as her gravity spec was not suited for precise cutting. “In hindsight, grabbing an ice pick would have saved me quite a bit of trouble,” she lamented. “Without a tool, I might require help.”

Meanwhile, Justine was hard at work behind the two. She had finished comparing the size of the log she had to the dragon and found it to be lacking. It was decided she would need to somehow lengthen the log in order to prevent it from looking ‘stubby’. Using merely her own two hands, she carved out some of the top of one log and then part of another so that they would fit together.

Betty looked between the two girls before looking back at Hilaria. ”That’s not a problem! I’ll be back shortly with all the basic tools! Actually-” She handed Hilaria a duffle bag. ”I wasn’t sure what I’d need, so I grabbed one of everything. You can use these while I retrieve a second set of tools!” She sprinted off without waiting for as much as a confirmation.

Helewisa found herself, duffel bag in hand, with a lingering gaze in the direction Betty ran off to before the sound of Justine’s antics finally entered her mind. She turned to face her body toward the proud girl while also plunging a hand into the bag and searching for a pick. “How goes it, Stien?” Wisa moved her eyes up from the bag, noticing, finally, what Stien was doing. She frowned. “Is that going to hold alright?”

“Assuredly!”

Shrugging, Wisa decided to make use of the tools Betty had given her and began working on carving out the details of the flames in the ice with a confident hand. It would be plain to see that she had more than a little experience with the task. However, it was not long before the sound of her picking away at the ice ceased. She glanced around the area, particularly for any sign of Betty, before speaking up. “...are you real, Stien?” she asked in a low, uncharacteristically insecure voice.

The noise Justine was making from moving giant logs suddenly stopped. “I admit that I do not have an answer prepared for that question, my dear Wisa.” Noticing the tone right away, Justine’s response was not as jovial as she had been up to this point. Helewisa didn’t break the short silence that came as Stien thought about it. “In this moment, I, Justine Rufina, am constructing a dragon made of snow, wood, and ice with my beloved. If there is some cloaked meaning behind your inquiry, then it has escaped me.”

“No,” Hilaria shook her head even though Justine couldn’t see it. “Forget I ever asked, it was naught more than a doltish thought.” Wisa gave a forced chuckle and then the sound of the pick against ice could be heard once more as she returned to work on the flames. It wasn’t long before Betty returned with her own tools.

…

…

…

The finishing touch was a pair of tiny wings made out of two halves of an ice block that Betty pushed into the dragon’s back. With the wings in place, the trio stepped away from their work to examine it. A multi-material snowdragon with a wooden tail and frigid breath stood before them. At the very least, they had made the largest “snowman” in the area.

”I think that’s mission accomplished!” Betty folded her fingers together and stretched her arms. ”You guys up for skating? It’s probably the closest thing they have to rollerblading around here..”

With a wide smile after seeing the fruits of their labor, Justine stood with a puffed-out chest. “I doubt the sincerity of any person who claims this dragon does not leave them in awe,” she then gave a hearty laugh. “Although this was an entertaining task itself, I would think we have earned ourselves a share of time doing something more relaxing. Skating it is!” she agreed, eying Hilaria. “Unless you have any complaints with the idea?”

“None at all, Stien. But I may be a bit rusty so I’m worried I’ll slip and fall,” Wisa added. “It has been a couple of decades since I’ve skated on ice, I think.”

“Fwahaha! You jest, do you?” Justine slapped a knee. “One or two scrapped knees are nothing new to you! Tell me. Are you still clad in bandages more often than not? A fortune we’ve spent on supplies to support you and your blunders!”

Helewisa could only sigh in response to Justine’s laughter as it filled the air. But she did not seem angry in the least that her girlfriend had brought up an embarrassing point about her. Instead, she gave a playful slug to Justine’s shoulder and encouraged her to concentrate on the new task at hand, and so the three of them would set off with the intention of skating.

Lily blushed profusely as Alex rescued her from falling down, smiling sweetly.
”T-Thank you Alex! You’re always looking out for me, and that’s very kind of you." She gave him a little smooch, and then skated off fast, seemingly embarrassed.
Justine politely held back a giggle from witnessing the wholesome exchange.

Dan floated up to Alex’ level, a bright smile on his face.
“Oh, it’s simple! Once a participant has received their wrapped gift, they can choose to exchange their gift with someone else one time before unwrapping it. The term comes from the fact that in ancient Siam, kings gave their courtiers white elephants as gifts. It’s a surprise whether the gift you get is practical or not, and a white elephant is more fitting for Christmas than a gray one, right?”
Having shared his strange wisdom, Dan momentarily disappeared, promising to return soon as he left a magical clone of himself.

Lily spent the rest of the skating event shooting pucks with a hockey stick, and even asked Dan’s clone to play as the goal keeper; the dolphin was humorously decked out in oversized hockey gear, complete with a net helmet that obscured his eyes. The Lesser Force scrambled back and forth, trying to block Lily’s rapid shots, but ended up intercepting only a couple of them.
”Now that was fun!"

Dan removed his helmet, and sighed in relief once Lily had her fill of the sport.
“Now, let us move on to the Wacky Downhill Race!” He created a portal as usual, and Justine lifted a hand to her chin as she thought.

”Yes, you mentioned that previously. I assume we have free choice of our vehicle for the race?"

Dan nodded, smiling brightly.
“That’s right! You can pick a sled, skis, or even a snowboard for the race! But that’s not all! Whoever is first place is not the winner! Instead, whoever finishes right in the middle, with the most racers both before and after them, wins! Isn’t that wacky?”

Justine was mildly surprised.
”The most average racer is the victor? Well, in that case, maybe even I have a chance-"

The former vampire was interrupted by Lily giving her a big hug from behind.
”Aww, don’t be like that, Justy! We’re gonna finish in first place, you’ll see!"
She then took her hand, dragging her through the portal.
”But it’s not first place that-" Her voice muffled beyond the portal.

On the other side, they found themselves on top of the tallest hill on the island. The downward slope ahead was marked with red flags on either side, and went straight for the most part except for some sways and turns. Lily grabbed a yellow sled, and placed it at the starting line, hopping at the front, barely able to keep still.
”Hey Alex, if you boost me, I think we could go really fast on this thing! Wanna try it?"
Justine was less enthusiastic about the idea.
”I think I’ll pick the ski-"
She attempted leaving, but Lily caught her by the shoulder.
”Trust me, it’s going to be the best ride of your life!"
”More like the only one!"

---

Meanwhile, Dan had returned back to check on the snowmen and ice sculptures that have been made in his absence, and found the large group of snowmen produced by Connie, Rose and Iris. “Oh, how lovely! While simple in design, you just can’t help but love the black coal smile of a classic snowman. And he has so many cute friends too! Good job!”

Then he gasped as he went to see the colossal snow dragon Betty's group had made.
"WHOAAAAHHHH! It's massive! Gigantic! Awe-inspiring! A monument to the grandness of winter, how it sweeps it's cold breath across the world! It's simply magnificent in its majesty!" He clapped his fins, and a triumphant trumpet blared out. "You have really given your all to completing this masterpiece. And through the hardships, a shining diamond of snow art has been born! I tip my hat off to you!" He ended his speech by actually tipping his top hat.

Next he went to check on their ice sculptures, and squealed in response to the snowbun sculpture. “Aww, snowbuns! It’s so adorable, I could hug it and still feel warm inside! I’m glad they were such a hit with you girls! I had to work some advanced magic with the little guys, but it really paid off.”

---

Kimble was slightly disheartened by FanFan's response, but still smiled once Alicia asked her about her date experience.
"Hmm...I'd say 8, maybe 9 out of 10,” she answered as she took a cup of glögg.
"It has been wonderful to be here, and I finally get to see you relax a bit. It's the best Christmas I could wish for."
She waved to Dina when she approached the group, as did FanFan, though more politely.
"Hiya! Have you enjoyed the party so far? Very cute dress by the way."

---

A small bunny jumped across the fields. It looked like a normal snow-bunny… but was it? It was looking very attentively around, with a focused stare, tilting its ears so they were over her eyes to shield them from the light over and allow it to see further. It skipped some more, looking behind that tree, behind that bush, under that rock, searching so intently…

‘Ronin, are you finding anything…?’ Eli asked, holding onto a tree some distance away, as the Deni-transformed-into-a-bunny jumped back to her.

‘Not yet. But when we find one, my transformation will take it entirely by surprise!’ Bunny-Deni announced confidently. ‘Now, let’s get back to it! Keep an eye out with your Third Eye, they may be magic…’

Eli nodded, and they temporarily parted ways again. Deni skipped off as a snow-bunny off into the wilderness, while Eli skipped up on some manifested platforms to scout out from on high, looking around from above while Deni searched down low…

While they wouldn't find a harebringer outright at first, Deni would suddenly get the feeling she was being watch. A cold chill passed through as a shadowy figure appeared to run by, dissapearing without a trace as soon as she turn to look.

Or so it seemed.

The figure had actually connected herself with Deni's shadow. Whether or not she shrugged them off, the scarlet eyed shade would start stacking snowbuns on the fake one, snickering.

Bunny-Deni flinched as something passed her by, the frightened rabbit spinning around to face against whatever unknown horror was stalking her, small pieces of sweat leaking over her bunnified form.

Then snowbuns started beomg stacked on top of her. That happened for a couple seconds before the Deni-bun recoiled, jumping back in alarm and fleeing back behind a tree, the tower of snowbuns somehow staying perfectly stable during the escape. If she got there she tilted her head forward from behind the tree, trying to see what had ambushed her, and the tower of snowbuns peeked right alongside her.

The "shade" cackled from Deni's reaction, dark magic fading to reveal Maura as the mischevious culprit. "Sorry- Sorry! I couldn't help myself, hahah!!" She apologized, wiping a tear out of her eye. Her group of snowbuns would hop back to her in a rhythmic line.

‘Oh,’ Bunny-Deni blinked a little in realization of who it was. As she'd both been temporarily recruited by the Crimson Cradle AND become friends with the girls under her command, Deni had naturally become acquainted with her. Still. Bunny-Deni smirked a bit. ‘What, am I cute? Am I the perfect bunny? Am I a worthy tease?’ she asked, skipping forward to push herself against Maura's legs twice and then attempt jumping up on her shoulder.

Having clearly realized someone had shown up, Eli came floating down on some manifested wings made of thin barriers, looking a bit intimidated by Maura as she landed. This was the leader of a pretty powerful organization in Penrose, after all.

‘Er. Thank you for your help saving me, once again. But, um. What are you doing out here?’ Eli asked while Deni was playing around, Eli figuring it'd be more fun to be at the party with the rest. Unless she, also, was... well, collecting bunnies, seeing how she had a bunch.

Maura snorted. "Oh come on, you're just asking for me to pinch your cheeks!" She said, reaching over to bear-hug the shape-shifted girl before letting her sit on her shoulder.

‘Teh-heh~’ Bunny-Deni laughed as she was hugged, squiggling a bit before being placed on Maura's shoulder.

She then waved at Eli, who flew down to them. "Oh, don't be thanking me dear, I only intervened at the last minute! It's the others you should be thanking!" She nervously chuckled. "And I'm out here because I wanted to try harebringer hunting. Ice skating's kinda boring alone, there was already enough contenders at the snowball fight,"

Maura paused at the sight of the dan-shaped satelite in the sky; as if Poseidon decided to send a quick "Fuck you" to Boreas with the help of his brother Zeus, raining down a deadly deluge to the Earth. She slowly looked back at the twins.

"And uh...yeah. Stuff like that Keijo thing ain't my style."

‘But, it was partially thanks to you they were there, so, thank you,’ Eli said, bowing slightly. Then, there was the matter of what Maura was doing out here...

‘Oooh! Us too!’ Bunny-Deni excitedly called. ‘Not necessarily that other activities are boring, but we wanted to try out hunting one of those things, see how well we'd fare! Wouldn't you say my disguise will flawlessly fool it? Riiight?’ Bunny-Deni asked, posing ironically seductively with glimmering eyes like she'd seduce the harebringer.

Maura patted Deni's head in thought. "Eh, depends on if these harebringers are magic or not. And then again, they're probably unique to each other in vastly different ways. Still though, it's worth a try!"

‘Yeah!’ Bunny-Deni happily called, smiling up at the patting hand.

‘Uh,’ Eli looked a little curiously. Going through her mind was "aren't you a patron, aren't you exceedingly overqualified or something?", but she decided not to ask. Besides, she could decide it sounded fun, anyway. So... ‘Do you... want help?’ she eventually settled for.

The cradle mother looked back at Eli, then smirked. "The more the merrier, yeah? I wanna try and do this without my magic, so I'll need the back up.

‘Huh. Uh. Should we also try doing it without magic? For, like, authenticity?’ Eli asked, genuinely unsure.

"I mean, it's up to you! I just wanna challenge myself, that's all." Maura shrugged.

‘Well. Um. We'll decide if we have to depending on the situation, I'd say,’ Eli said, looking over at Deni.

‘I'm doing my disguise,’ Bunny-Deni insistently declared. Eli smiled and nodded.

The three of them then went off searching for a Harebringer.

The three of them didn't take long to find tracks for a group of snowbuns that headed deep into a forest. There, in the middle of a snow-coverd clearing, they saw the Harebringer; it's coat was a deep blue in color, and it was lop-eared, its ear flaps covering it's eyes as it slept peacefully under a tall pine tree, in a cozy pile of branches.
Five snowbuns have scattered around the Harebringer, also sleeping.

Eli was peeking at the creature from a distance, and Bunny-Deni turned to Maura with a little smily on the transformed bunny's face. ‘May I?’ she asked, intending to try getting close as a bunny before the hare had raised its guard.

Maura only nodded, giving her the go ahead.

Deni gently skipped off into the snowy field, acting as snow-bunny as she could. Just being curious about the tree, curious about the snow piles, curious about the gathering of snowbuns and the Harebringer. She gently skipped forward with clear interest, like a little outsider seeking to join the pack, looking so happy and curious as she approached.

The Harebringer seemed undisturbed as it continued sleeping, unaffected by Deni's charms. However, one of the Snowbuns awakened upon her approach, and chittered at the sight of her with hearts in it's eyes; Deni had successfully seduced the snowbun. It hopped closer to Bunny Deni, making a kissy face and inadvertently blocking her path to the blue Harebringer.

Deni froze up a little, blinking in surprise at the snowbun. She hadn't actually intended on charming this particular snowbun. ... Still, being popular was kinda nice. Using perhaps a bit of her above-average agility, she skipped to give the snowbun a happy little kiss on the forehead before trying to skip over him and closer to the Harebringer, intent on trying to cozy up next to the supernatural hare.

The snowbun was stunned from the kiss it received, turning red in the cheeks, giving Deni the chance to move past it. However, now the rest of the white snowbuns woke, and surrounded Bunny-Deni while also making kissy faces, leaving her no room to jump or move.

Oh, geesh. Um, the Harebringer isn't looking, right?

Deni focused inwards, imagining what the other snowbuns were currently seeing... and then shapeshifted. As in, she left a bit of snowbun behind, and then sent a snowbun-shaped bit to kiss each of the snowbuns, making sure to make the snowbuns she sent out big enough to cover the sight of the abomination that was past it from the sight of each snowbun. This way, she'd give them all a kiss on the forehead at the same time. After which she quickly surged it all back and regrouped as a single blob of a snowbun again. If that worked, and all the snowbuns were blushing, she'd leap over them to finally get to the Harebringer...!

The snowbuns were successfully placated, as their affections were reciprocated by Deni's expert shapeshifting. However, just when Deni jumped up, having reformed herself, that was when the Harebringer's attention was finally piqued: it lifted it's lop ears, revealing the dreamiest pair of eyes Deni had ever seen in her life, blue and sparkling like an infinite ocean. In fact, they were so dreamy that Deni found herself lost in the comfort they brought to her. She fell asleep, as did the snowbuns who had recovered from their post-kiss daze and turned to see where Deni went. Even Maura, who had observed from afar, slowly collapsed down into the snow upon meeting the Harebringer's gaze. Once they fell asleep, the Harebringer lowered its lop ears again, and returned back to its peaceful slumber. Only Eli, who by chance had missed out on seeing the Harebringer from a brief lapse in attention induced by embarrassment, had avoided the hypnotic effect.

‘Oh, Ronin, what are you doing? I can't watch...’ Eli muttered to herself as she looked away from behind the tree she was hiding behind, embarrassed by her sister's promiscuous tactics. Still, that had somehow turned out for the best when it turned out that... ‘Eh?’ she made a slight surprised noise looking towards Maura, and then off towards Deni, finding that Deni was sleeping way over there, somehow still a bunny. Huh. Eli quickly skipped over to poke Maura, which would develop into shaking if it didn't wake her up.

‘Are you okay...?’

"Z..z..z...- E-Eh?" Maura flinched awake, looking over to Eli, then Deni, then the harebringer. Her eyes widened once she realized what had happened. "God damnit! The thing knocked us both to sleep!" She whisper-yelled, appalled. She shouldn't have been made vulnerable like that! What if the harebringer was hostile?! She sighed. "Looks like Deni's plan won't work. Here, I'll need your reinforcement magic for this." Maura place a hand on the side of her head, creating a quick mental shield for herself, then reached over to do the same for Eli.

‘Um, alright!’ Eli said, a bit alarmed that the Harebringer was apparently able to put a patron to sleep, but very much willing to lend a hand. She held her hands up to help use her Reinforcement magic to strengthen said mental shield, and then for herself as well.

"Okay, you go grab your sister, I'll sneak behind and grab the harebringer." Maura whispered, her form turning back to the shade that first approached them. She'd be cautious, keeping to shadow by shadow, until she was in the best proximity to their target. She traversed across the normal snowbuns' shadows, all the way to the harebringer's.

As Maura approached the Harebringer, she had an ominous feeling about it. The magical blue critter continued calmly sleeping, even after it had been approached by a magical girl in disguise. It was seemingly confident in not being able to be petted despite not having moved an inch from its nest. Maura invisibly closed in, shadow by shadow, until she had reached the hypnotizing hare's very own shade.
That was when it turned, it's lop-ears lifted to reveal its enchanting blue eyes once more. How could it have known that Maura had approached it? Even the most sharp-nosed Harebringers couldn't have detected a Patron's scent. Still, Maura's mental shield protected her from succumbing to the soporific effect of the creature's pupils. She reached for the grab, only to find a white Snowbun in her grasp instead; the bunny had leaped to protect the Harebringer. Strangely, it seemed the Harebringer knew this would happen in advance as well, as it had already opened its mouth. Before Maura could escape, it quietly chittered, producing a sonorous lullaby, so soothing that it lulled her to sleep, overcoming her mental shield as her ears were not protected. Before her eyelids were too heavy to keep open and she was met with somnium, the Witch of Death saw a glimpse of Eli dragging a half-woken Deni away.

Eli had successfully started pulling Deni away from the scene, but blinked as she realized what was going on over there. Deni, who was still in the shape of a bunny, blinked tiredly awake. Eli, meanwhile, bit together as she came up with a measure of a plan.

‘Deni, shapeshift into a lasso.’

‘... Wut. Why would I...’ Deni asked, but before she could finish the question Eli was already hauling her over her head. With Martial Training, Eli was accomplished with any number of weaponry or kinda weaponry, and Deni managed to shapeshift into a bunch of rope with a noose on the end. Eli threw the lasso, and threw it to attempt to grab Maura and just yank her to a safe distance away from the Harebringer for now.

Maura managed to wake up once more as soon as she was away from the harebringer. Realizing that she fell asleep again, she quietly knocked her head against the nearest tree a few times, then took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. I don't wanna bother someone to help us, and I don't want to resort to going all out. So do we have any ideas?? What do we know so far?" She looked between the twins, then the harebringer. For some reason it hasn't done anything besides sitting there, even with their attempts.

‘I didn't consider that I could be used like that, hah!’ Deni admitted after turning back into human.

‘Just got to adapt a bit. Shapeshifting is very versatile,’ Eli replied, smirking back through her fright.

‘Just, don't do that against a real enemy. If I'm cut in half as a whip, I'm actually cut in half, so,’ Deni said, shivering a little at the less-than-glamourous way to go that would be. Eli shivered similarly, nodded, and then onto the subject of what they knew of the target.

‘It had… the most beautiful blue eyes…’ Deni said, a stupid little smile on her lips. ‘… That I fell asleep after seeing, so don't look at them!’ she then added with a smirk.

‘But it can also put you to sleep with a song, strong enough to even down a patron through a mental shield…’ Eli shuddered, frightened by the power of the Harebringer.

"...Wait a minute. This thing might be able to predict our next moves. Can't tell how though, atleast not yet." She noted, narrowing her eyes. "Lazy thing's just sleeping. Not even pretending to! He's just...there! Asleep! Strange little bugger only wakes up when we try to get near him. His cronies don't help either."

‘Hey, it's had to turn towards us each time it put us to sleep so far. If we just attack from three different directions, at least one of us should be able to reach it!’ Deni suggested.

‘Could work, unless the Harebringer has another ace up its sleeve, then it might put all of us to sleep at once…’ Eli voiced her concern.

Maura thought for a moment. "Maybe I can try and scare it awake, but we also gotta keep the other snowbuns away from it too. Not to mention I might not be effective enough, and besides, I'm not Maribel-" She paused with furrowed brows. Then groaned. "I'll have to drag her over here, one second." Maura walked off to find the Witch of Nightmares, and after a brief while, the two walked back to the Harebringer nest.

‘Hey, no plan's without risk! I say we could go for it! And we can bother it with snowballs as we home in, so it can't focus on its hypnotising!’ Deni continued, kinda enthusiastic now. Still, Maura had an idea and departed.

"...So I was hoping you could help jolt these little guys awake, or something." Maura explained to Maribel what she and the twins were up to, which earned a snort from the other woman.

"Oh come now, I'm sure the fuzzball isn't as hard as he looks!" Maribel grinned, approaching the entrance to the harebringer's den.

When she came back with Maribel, Deni happily waved to her and Eli nodded a bit hesitantly. They then got to look on as Maribel went to action.

"Oh uh..Deni, Eli, this is Maribel." Maura quickly introduced the three to each other, the latter mentioned waving to the twins. Maribel looked at the harebringer with a smirk. "Hey, what are you gonna-"

"Shhh. It may have a way to hear us~" Maribel waved her off, calmly walking inside the den, and to their target. The other three would see she was waiting on something; waiting for the harebringer to wake up, to make her move. She brought a finger up to her lips, like one would if they were shushing someone. Then before it can lull her to sleep,

Maribel grinned wickedly.

"Phantasm."

A pulse of nightmare magic would spread out across the nest, forcing both harebringer and snowbun inside out of their dreams by a sudden plague of night terrors. (Though, not bad enough to where their little hearts would stop. That'd be cruel, even for her!)

The Harebringer had predicted that someone would approach it, and opened its eyes to gaze in Maribel's direction. However, the witch knew to avert her eyes as she cast her spell, and a dark wave emanated from her palm across the clearing. A snowbun jumped to intercept the spell, but the Patron's magic was potent enough to spread through the entire area, reaching the Harebringer. The blue bunny's shimmering eyes dulled, and its prophetic dreams of the future were replaced by visions of fear and anxiety, causing it to visibly shake. It closed its eyes, attempting to fall back to peaceful slumber and sing an enchanted lullaby to end the mental assault, but the spell had hit the creature right in its weak point; it's dreams. Without them, it chittered loudly, its eyes now strained and bloodshot as if it hadn't been able to sleep for days. The other snowbuns, no longer protected by the Harebringer's dream magic, fled in terror. Finally, it plopped out of its nest and attempted to flee. However, this turned out to be a futile effort; the others could see it was quite plump even for a Snowbun, and thus very slow and jiggly as it barely managed to hop a meter or so at a time, like an overweight hamster or a sentient water balloon.

Seeing as her spell managed to do something, Maribel spun around and called out to the trio with a smile. "Better do something now, before the magic wears off~!"

"Ack! Right!!" Maura ran after the Harebringer, and reached out to pet it. If she managed, Maribel would call off her spell early.

The fat bunny was easily caught, and with a hand over its head, it had been successfully petted and thus placated. The poor thing was panting and sweating all over; it must have never had as much exercise as it did in that one panic-stricken moment. Predictably, it fell asleep, even as Maura now carried it in her arms.

‘... Huh... was that it?’ Eli asked, walking forward to them.

‘... Uh. I'm kinda unsatisfied. Can we let it go again?’ Deni asked, tilting her head looking at Maura holding it.

Maribel giggled, placing a hand over her mouth. "I did say he wasn't as hard as he looks. Sometimes it's easier than you expect~

"Uh, yeah. Thanks again, Mari." Maura nodded, gently petting the harebringer in her arms.

"You've gotta break this habit of overthinking things, dear. You'll burn yourself out otherwise. The nightmare witch genuinely smiled to her, and turned to walk away. "I should head back to the others. Let me know if you need anything!"

"....Well, I'm gonna go take a nap."

Deni sighed a little, but went up to pat the head of the Harebringer as well, just to have it official that she had, in fact, patted a Harebringer. ‘Well!’ She said, spinning around to Eli. ‘Let's go to the next event, then! There was some sort of race that was happening, right? Sounds fun! Let's go!’

‘Er, okay!’ Eli said, slightly more pensive, but as Deni walked off she also walked forward to pat the Harebringer, and smiled to Maura. ‘Thank you for helping us! We'd probably have both been asleep and missed all the events without your help, and the backup you called in. Thank you. Have a nice nap!’ she said, before turning around to run after her sister.

Majora woke up today and chose violence.

Eliza already knew Tetrad way lying in a way. That alone did make her feel guilty. Was she really looking forward to playing that stupid game with her? Other than the fact that the witch wasn't even big on both ends, she really didn't want to do something so...indecent. You might as well ask her to hold hands with someone! The nerve!

Okay, maybe now wasn't the time for jokes.

But if there was anyone Eliza'd be willing to bump butts with, it'd be her date; if you can even call it that anymore. No, she shouldn't be walking away like this! Maybe she can tell them she'll watch from the side! Eliza spun around to hurry ba-

Oh.

Eliza tensed up at the sight of Oros kissing up to MDP in the most literal sense, but even if a mix of emotions or questions passed through her head, the witch could only feel disillusion. She should've seen it coming, after all. "Ah. How unfortunate..." she glanced down to the snowy ground in her dejection. Guess she was a worser date than she thought, if Oros was already moving onto the next person.

How dreadful.

How pointless.

How....predictable.

Eliza reached over her head to hold her bee plush, who without her hat can be seen resting on top, and continued walking away. It couldn't be helped. But it still hurt a little. Had she really been so obsessed with keeping things safe, keeping things okay, that she basically missed most of the events?? It was that forced-vacation all over again. But instead of not wanting to destroy everything for everyone else's sake, she was wanting to make sure everything was okay.

She was wanting to make sure things wont go wrong. Again. And again. And again. Eliza held her bee plush tighter, idly walking at this point to collect her thoughts. Truely, this wasn't a selfish wish, right? Had she really forgotten how to relax and just have fun like the others? Had she really expected things to blow up in her face, like how it almost did with Maura and the other agents??

She wasn't in the right mindset for this. Eliza had to leave. Leave before something happened again. The witch found herself walking back inside the lodge, and only stopped just as she was a foot away from the exit portal. Why was she hesitating? Was there a part of her that wanted to stay?

"Don't be ridiculous, there's no point.

But the others would want me to stay.

They're fine on their own, and you've already screwed up your date by being paranoid.

But I only accepted to humor her, didn't I?

Then why the hell are you freaking out like this?

Cause what would they think if I just left?!"

The internal argument with herself would continue on as she paced to and fro in front of the portal, visibly unnerved.

”Hey Alex, if you boost me, I think we could go really fast on this thing! Wanna try it?"
Alexander considered the ramifications of this. She was most likely talking about having him boosting her magic, so that she could use time magic to super charge their speed. On the one hand, this would most likely have them going faster than this sled was built to handle. On the other hand '...meh, it cant be any worse than her on a motorcycle' He shrugged "Sure thing. Who want's to live forever anyway?" he responded deadpan.

Dragging Lily and the sled over to the starting line, he placed the sled down first, and then plopped Lily down in the front, with him sitting right behind her. "These things don't have any seatbelts, so I'm going to have to improvise" With both his hand palms down on the sled, he created two barriers that grew out of the sled into ring shapes that wrapped around his wrists, trapping them in place. He then did the same for his ankles which were at the front of the sled. With his body thoroughly stuck to the sled, he moved onto the step. Growing tails out of the sides of his torso, he wrapped them snuggly around Lily, trapping her in the world's most fluffy and thorough seatbelt. They grew out so long, that the wrapped all the way to Alexander's back, where he fastened them together with chain shaped barriers that he had grow out of said tails, keeping them locked in place. "Alright, that should be good enough." He then turned to Justine "You want to get on? There's not really any room up front, but we could squeeze you in behind me. Granted, that might make it a little harder to fasten you up, but that's what clones are for."