The officer was a little bit confused by Basil first saying that there was no need to search for the Gothita, but then went ahead and described the group searching for Gothita potentially dangerous and was leaving his information on them. She blinked a little and stared at him when he mentioned he was, indeed, from that Rivens family, but never said anything else about it.
‘Alright. I’ll give my coworkers a heads-up. Thank you for coming,’ she said, looking down on the notes she wrote down while Basil was talking with a frown. She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this, but she got it.
With that, Basil went outside and found a spot to have a private enough conversation with Gothita. He found something eventually, there’s trees to hide behind all around, after all. He pulled out the Pokéball and the little Gothita came out.
‘Gothi…?’ she asked, immediately looking around at this new area, before turning to look up at Basil as he started explaining. She tilted her head at the statement about being Gothitelle’s kid from Worldedge. He explained the rules of the gane, and…
‘Gothita,’ she answered, nodding and turning to him, looking like she accepted the deal. So, now was just a question of how he was going to ask the questions that this Level 72 Gothita would be able to answer for him. The Pokémon in front of him that the Pokédex clearly told him was level 72.
Amelia switched to Pumpkaboo! Pumpkaboo tried to avoid the Lick, but turns out even when floating away from it, the decently well-trained frog was too fast. Pumpkaboo tried to avoid and float away, but Froakie nimbly dashed under him and leapt, extending his frog-tongue and hitting!
This is a moment when Amelia might realize, with the Super Effective damage Pumpkaboo just took and with Froakie’s fast movements. Anise’s Pokémon were, Riolu excepted, several levels above hers. Level 11 VS 15, roughly.
That said, Lick is a weak move and Pumpkaboo avoided being paralyzed. He survived with more than half his health. In return, a Trick-or-Treat was shot back, hitting Froakie, the frog blinking and looking confused.
‘What did that do!?’ asked an equally confused Anise on the other side, clearly having no idea what that move did. ‘Er, hold on. That’s… that’s a Grass-type, isn’t it?’ she asked, frowning a little. After a moment of consideration…
‘Froakie, return!’ Anise returned her Pokémon to his Pokéball, and then grabbed another… ‘Meditite, go!’
A new Pokémon appeared!
Pokédex Entry #307 – Meditite, the Meditate Pokémon. It is found deep in mountains, meditating for hours on end and surviving on a berry a day. It trains its spirit, and by heightening its inner strength it somehow achieved levitation. It also enjoys daily yoga workouts.
… And the floating meditating Pokémon immediately got hit by Confuse Ray! The light made the Pokémon flinch, starting to tilt where she floated in mid-air, her eyes spinning!
‘Okay. Fight through it, Meditite! Use Confusion!’ Anise commanded! That was for her next turn!
Mariette was a bit taken aback by the Pea Princess’ attitude, and her choice of words. It was unlike any of the previous princesses of this land, and not in a good way. Mariette felt a bit like she shouldn’t listen too closely to the words this princess was spouting… Still, the bed was quite a sight. Looked dangerous, actually. In any case. Despite her manners, the Pea Princess made a good point. She couldn’t risk her life if there was no chance of victory. Still, Mariette had to ensure she was not compromised.
‘I understand. Your request makes sense. I do want to ask, however,’ Mariette said, mentally pondering how to phrase this question so the target could not weasel her way out of it in case she was guilty. Mariette would know if she lied, after all. ‘this isn’t a ploy or a trick, correct?’ Yes or no question. It is more difficult to avoid lying to those.
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‘Alright! We’re ready to get started!’ Ronin and Miko arrived at the scene, the indicated gathering coordinates. Ronin was determined to do what she could to help defend Penrose. Miko was not as sure she was attached to Penrose, but she would certainly help defend Ronin and her friends.
‘Alright,’ Miko repeated the word Ronin had said. ‘So we’re attacking, right? How are we doing this?’ she asked, a bit nervous and desired a clarification of the current plan of action.
‘No, there hasn’t,’ the officer answered automatically. ‘I’d have remembered if someone came here looking for a Gothita. That said, let me go check if there are any missing Gothitas issued by other stations,’ she continued, walking over to a computer that was behind a counter. She sat down, clicked a couple times, wrote some things down…
‘None that match your request,’ she stated simply. ‘There’s only a single request for a missing Gothita, and it’s in Worldedge City, where a prominent wild Gothitelle has apparently not been seen with her Gothita lately. However, that’s a wild Pokémon so a trainer might just have caught her, and since she was wild she wouldn’t be particularly strong.’
‘Should I open a new request for around Lakewatch Town and Stillwood Village? We can look for it, but it does sound like this wouldn’t be for you, but for the others that you found searching for her. Do you have any additional information about them?’ she asked, looking up to Basil.
‘Oh, hey, thanks! Good luck, you too!’ Colin said, before moving off the stage.
‘Erika has decided to go again! But, she needs a new opponent! Her foe will be selected among the ones that won an earlier round!’ Makirisu called. With that, and after a little delay during which most certainly someone was retrieving a person, an opponent was appearing on the other side of the arena.
‘We’ve got John, the Chefmaster! He’s a chef, but he’s also a Pokémon Trainer! He’s so dedicated to his job, he’s LITERALLY STILL COOKING!’ Makirisu called, and indeed, there was a chef… somehow with some food being cooked in a frying pan!
‘Hello! I am John, and I’m a chef! But, I also like Pokémon battling! Let’s make this quick, I’m keeping this order warm in the meantime!’ he said, while very jolly.
‘With that, it’s time for a new battle to begin! First, we must decide on the rules!’ Makirisu called, and her Pachirisu excitedly jumped upon the wheel and spun it. There were a lot of options, and the wheel was positioned pretty high so it was sort of difficult to read the options, they were so many. But, eventually, it stopped on…
‘KING OF THE HILL!’ Makirisu called, and the audience cheered. Suddenly, the stage shifted. Mechanics working underneath raised the middle platform, and the rest became an incline leading up to it. The Pokéball shape usually found in the middle of the Pokémon arenas remained flat, and started to shine.
‘The rules are simple! The team that spends the longest amount of time on top of the hill wins! No Pokémon can be knocked out, but they sure can be knocked DOWN!’ she explained. ‘There are two more factors that need to be decided! Team-size and how long the battle will be!’ As she explained so, two more, smaller wheels appeared next to the bigger wheel. They eventually came to a stop, and…
‘Three Pokémon each, the game will only last two minutes! For your team to earn points, there must be NO opposing Pokémon on the top! It only counts when you rule the top alone!’ Makirisu called. So went the rules.
John nodded, and used some serving pincers to fish up three Pokéballs, and then sent them out. A large, dinosaur-like Pokémon with large green leaves as wings, a flying ice-cream and a fire monkey.
Pokédex Entry #357 – Tropius, the Fruit Pokémon. This Pokémon continuously seeks out and eats fruit, growing more nourishing fruit itself the more it eats. It flies by flapping its giant leaves, somehow. It’s normally found in jungles, but Isson doesn’t have jungles, so instead they inhabit the rainy Northern Silent Forest and its Southern counterpart occasionally.
Pokédex Entry #582 – Vanillite, the Fresh Snow Pokémon. Born from icicles bathed in morning sunlight, they can use their cold breath to create snow crystals and make it lightly snow around them. They’re pleasantly cool to be around, so they’re commonly kept around indoors when it’s hot to keep it cool.
Pokédex Entry #513 – Pansear, the High Temp Pokémon. It lives in caves in volcanos. It has been noted to be very intelligent, using the tuft on its head to cook food for people and Pokémon. It generally likes to help people. Its temperature increases when angered, the tuft on its head can reach 600 degrees fahrenheit.
‘Okay, here we go…’ John turned to his team. ‘Pansear, try to put your enemies to sleep with Yawn, and use Fury Swipes to get them off the top otherwise. Incinerate works well, too. Tropius, use Razor Leaf to dissuade the opponents from coming to the top as you fly up, and then drop down on the top with a Stomp! Vanillite, blow them down with Icy Wind! All of you, charge for the top, and blow them away!’
John’s strategy might change depending on what he faces.
Erika was to send out her chosen three and possibly talk strategy with them… and eventually.
‘The time has come! Everyone ready!?’ Makirisu asked excitedly.
‘Oh,’ Anise made a noise as Amelia switched Pokémon. ‘Oh, no. A flying ghost,’ she lamented, and she considered her options. However, Amelia did not take her time, so Anise had to make a call. ‘Riolu, dodge! Hide behind a tree!’
Except, the distance to the nearest tree was too far. Riolu leapt, but was caught mid-jump by the Gust, blowing him away with Super-Effective damage! Riolu fainted!
Since this is training, additional experience will be provided.
Yamask grew to level 9! Yamask learned Haze! Drifloon grew to level 13! Drifloon learned Focus Energy!
‘… Alright. I do have one trick up my sleeve, I suppose…’ Anise commented, and she threw another Pokéball… ‘Go, Froakie!’
Pokédex Entry #656 – Froakie, the Bubble Frog Pokémon. It secretes flexible and delicate bubbles from its chest and back which absorb damage that would otherwise damage it. While it is known for a happy-go-lucky attitude, it has astute awareness of its surroundings.
The blue frog manifested, ready to battle.
‘Froakie! Dodge forward, avoid any gusts or other things it throws your way… Then LICK!’ she commanded, and Froakie nodded and skipped forward, frog-jumping while trying to keep his eyes on his opponent while he looked for an opportunity to jump close with its tongue with this Ghost-type move it learns at a low level for some reason!
Anise was way too focused on the battle to give Basil more than a glance and a tiny nod before refocusing on the battle.
This was perhaps the worst place in Isson to find a police station, as this village wasn’t the most organized with people just living out in nature because they wanted to and such. There was a reason why it is the only settlement called “Village”, after all. Nonetheless, after asking some locals he did find out there WAS in fact a station nearby, as was customary in Isson. He found the location, and presumably entered.
It was quite small, and followed the same architecture as the rest of Stillwood Village. Inside sat a single young lady in a police outfit, watching TV. She had a very large, purple dog next to her with protruding teeth. Upon Basil entering she immediately stood up to walk over to him.
Pokédex Entry #210 – Granbull, the Fairy Pokémon. Despite its looks, it is timid and easily spooked. Its fangs are heavy, causing the Pokémon to tilt itself for balance. In exchange, its bites are very powerful. It will usually attempt to scare away a foe by opening its mouth wide to show its fangs. It only bites if it becomes enraged.
‘Can I help you?’ she asked. She’d left the dog in front of the TV.
‘On this side, we’ve got Erika, the “out-of-box thinker”! Well, not actually, but she sure hopes to learn how to! It’s her first time in PokéMania, so give her your support!’ Makirisu called when it was time to present Erika. Just like Colin, he got a little cheer from the people above that immediately started betting on who would win.
And with that, they were going to prepare for battle!
Gibs VS Lombre. It started with Lombre blasting over with a Fake Out, causing Gibs to flinch and also placing Lombre right up in his face. Gibs blasted out a Sandstorm, while Lombre started draining with Absorb. Grass was normal effective normally against Gibs, and it remained so now. Colin then commanded Lombre to Fury Swipe, doing a fair amount of damage… but not as much as Gibs did with a sudden Dragon Rage flame to Lombre’s face.
When the time came that Erika lifted a Pokéball to attempt to snag the opponent, so too did Colin, but it was clear Lombre had taken more damage. That said, with a Snagem Battle, it was really the luck of the draw that called it! First two Pokéballs, each at the other’s Pokémon. The balls shook once… and then CRASH! Both balls broke open at the same time, Gibs and Lombre both breaking out of the Pokéballs!
Next round, both trainers threw their Pokéballs again…
Colin’s Lombre broke out of the Pokéball again! However, unfortunately, Gibs did not! Colin beat the difference of capture-rate by sheer luck! Unfortunately, it looked like Erika was down one in this fight.
‘Colin takes the first battle! Will Erika be able to recover!?’ Makirisu asked, and the crowd was going wild. The ball quickly opened, and Gibs was returned to Erika, but he was officially out of the match.
Now, normally, Erika would just send out the next Pokémon against Lombre, but now we’ve written out all the strategies already, so we’ll do all of them like one-on-ones.
Kay VS Beautifly! Colin commanded Beautifly to fly in for a Bug Bite… which did practically no damage to Kay!
‘Oh, my! What would normally be a super SUPER effective move turned into a complete blank! Did you forget it was an Inverse battle, Colin!?’ Makirisu asked excitedly, and the blank look on Colin’s face confirmed, yes, yes he did. It slipped his mind.
Kay used Swagger, confusing Beautifly while also raising the butterfly’s attack twice. In retaliation, and to use the power-boost, Colin commanded Beautifly to Tackle! … And it worked out fine, powering through the confusion to deliver a painful tackle onto Kay! It took around half her health! Kay took the moment to Topsy-Turvy, changing that boosted attack into reduced attack!
This is where Colin tried to use one Air Cutter to bring Kay’s health even lower… and it did not work! Beautifly hit itself in confusion, for meager damage on account of lowered attack! Kay shot a Psywave, which did towards the lower end of the damage it could do! Erika commanded another Psywave… but Colin decided to try his luck throwing a ball! It hit Kay, and she had to try to break out…
And she succeeded! She broke out the ball, and launched another Psywave, this one doing towards the higher end of damage to the disturbed Beautifly! Now, once again, both trainers were readying Pokéballs, and threw them at the same time! And… both broke out! Next round!
Both trainers threw the Pokéballs again, and now it was just the luck of the draw, something the audience seemed to be loving. Kay and Beautifly both were absorbed into the Pokéballs, as allowed by this particular set of rules. Both balls rolled once, then twice, then thrice…
Then Kay victoriously broke free of the Pokéball, and Beautifly did not! Erika won this one!
Kay grew to level 18! Kay learned Hypnosis!
‘The score is evened! Who will pull out on top!?’ Makirisu commented, and the crowd was looking pretty excited.
Eep VS Sneasel. Colin actively pointed at the creature he was facing and just went ‘What in tarnation is that!?’, apparently not recognizing the ancient Pokémon.
‘Oh, no! It seems Colin doesn’t know what he’s facing! How will he handle the type match-up!?’ Makirisu asked with all her energy up where she was commentating.
‘I mean, I can see it’s a plant, but…’ Colin defended himself.
In lack of any other strategies, Colin started with Quick Attack! Which slammed into Eep and… did a surprising amount of damage! It’s Super Effective! Eep’s Rock-type was working against him! Colin did take note of this! Eep ingrained, healing some health, but not quite as much as the damage he’d just taken! Now, because it was Tackle and Eep has good defense, it wasn’t even half his health, but it did make Colin consider…
So he used Fury Swipes! Super Effective! Sneasel cut with its claws over and over… and over… a bit too many times! ‘Wait, Sneasel, stop!’ Colin called, but in vain! Sneasel cut the full five times and laughed eagerly… a bit too eagerly. Eep fainted! … Eep was healed to full right in front of a confused Sneasel, who hadn’t realized the point of the match was in fact NOT to faint the opponent!
In return, Sneasel got a blast of Acid in its face! Critical Hit! Sneasel stumbled back, looking quite annoyed! Sneasel’s Special Defense fell!
It became another turn of Eep shooting Acid at Sneasel, and Sneasel striking back with Fury Swipes, only three of them this time! Still Super-Effective, but Eep’s defenses held fast! Unfortunately, Acid is quite a low-powered move against a foe with surprisingly robust special defense, so it wasn’t doing a lot of damage! The critical hit and the lowered special defense helped, but only so much! Eventually, however, it once again came to the time where both trainers prepared their Pokéballs.
Eep was absorbed into the ball, but broke out quickly! That ball stood no chance against Eep! Meanwhile, Sneasel, got in the ball, and it shook once, shook twice, shook thrice…
And then it stopped shaking. Sneasel was snagged and out! That’s 2 for 1 on Erika, and we’ll rule it Erika’s victory!
Eep grew to level 19! Erika was victorious! Erika gained 400P for winning!
‘The new blood wins! It’s Erika of Cooldome City!’ Makirisu called, and the crowd cheered.
‘Aw, man…’ Colin made a general expression of being disappointed in how the battle went.
‘Now, would you like to go again, or will that be all? If you keep going and you win, the rewards will be greater~!’ so she told Erika. Her Pokémon would be healed, too.
‘Wait, huh?’ Anise looked a bit taken aback at being given a lecturing by Amelia. She didn’t seem to have expected that. She frowned a bit more as she replied. ‘What… Fighting-type Pokémon love challenges! Being in losing situations allows them to prove themselves against their foe! Returning him now would just prove I don’t believe in him!’
‘Besides, I was tricking you!’ Anise finished what she was saying, looking just as Yamask let out a cry in Riolu’s face. Astonish is a physical move, therefore…
‘Riolu, Counter!’
… So she yelled, but unfortunately for her Riolu was currently in the process of staggering away with a scared expression from Yamask’s Astonish. Riolu flinched!
And because Steadfast had been replaced by Mummy, no speed boost from the ability!
‘Oh, gloves,’ Anise muttered, her mere words having given away her plan to Amelia.
“Tormented” is a bit much of a description of it. More like, why risk it if it could be worse than they were prepared for? In any case, Ronin and Miko let Penny work on the Grief Seed.
Penny not being able to break into it yet because Wonderland was at their doorstep made sense, there were more important things to examine. Sharing function, but the possibility of it doing anything harmful or beneficial was low? Okay, then! Ronin was convinced with that! Penny probably had good reason to say so!
Miko, though, wasn’t. So if they got it back, they buried the seed back again where they had previously, at the outskirts of town by a specific tree sounded like a good enough location. That, or if it was given to Rose and Iris for examination, that works too.
Ronin and Miko would later show up when it was time to do stuff again. Ready to head for the battle!
__________________
Leave her to me. A call to summon all the vassals is suspicious, I need to confirm she hasn't been compromised. However, they should be ready to convene anyway, seeing how the time is approaching. A gathering of the vassals to hold a little speech to them, and increase their morale in letting them see who is on their side. Perhaps I should even bring them to our meeting? Regardless, I’ll handle this. Keep me posted as to what happens on your end.
Mariette sent her message back, before looking over to her ally.
‘Are you ready?’ Mariette asked her.
‘Oh, yeah, bring it on!’ Mayra called out, slamming her fists together, looking very excited. ‘I’m ready to beat some pulps!’ she said, chuckling.
Mariette nodded. Mayra had been a great deal happier since she got to show Xander around. Now, they’d found that Xander had become a dragon able to shapeshift into a boy, and NOT a Magical Boy, meaning his power wasn't augmented by magic, just regular dragon-strength (which is admittedly very strong) that could now be contained in a humanoid package. He still had to live in the warehouse, but it was easier to give him a pleasant living space now that he could be human-sized. Still, they didn't bring him. It was not his fight. He’d just become humanoid.
As did most other agents of Asengav. Lea had determined that this matter wasn't worth them risking their lives, so it’s just Mariette and Mayra here.
Regardless. She had a Pea Princess to visit.
Mariette opened portals, bringing her to Wonderland. Then she sought herself towards the place where the Pea Princess should be at this moment. If she could, she’d like to appear right behind said Pea Princess… but before that, she’d use her portals to seek through the surrounding environment with her eyes, seeking to see if there were any spies or forces lying in wait or anything like that.
If there were any forces, or if the Pea Princess had visitors from anyone not on their side, Mariette would not appear.
However, if she was available, as the message seemed to apply, then Mariette arrived behind the princess.
‘Why this demand?’ Mariette simply asked, stepping out of the portal. She momentarily left Mayra behind, she’d be vital if it became a fight for some reason.
As commanded, Yamask held out the little golden mask as a shield. It worked, Riolu slamming into it and grunting, but as the fighting-type was substantially stronger it did force Yamask back and she still took damage… but the defense had worked. Also, Steadfast was replaced with Mummy. And with that, Amelia gave her second command.
‘Wait, that-’ Anise started with a small objection, but Yamask sent its wave of energy and Quick Attack was disabled. Riolu stood staring, looking kind of helpless all of a sudden. Anise grunted.
‘Okay, perhaps I shouldn’t have said the “only attacking move” part,’ she reflected, Riolu giving a rather defeated little cry. ‘But I won’t switch you out. This is training, not a battle for winning and losing. Riolu…’ she took a deep breath, and then pointed forward. ‘Prove your determination! Charge your foe, avoid the mask, and strike! It doesn’t matter that you don’t know any moves! Just follow your instincts and hit it!’
‘Riiii!’ Riolu called out to his trainer’s determination and jumped forward, intending on simply trying to hit his foe with little punches. Now, despite what Anise said, not using any moves for this does most assuredly matter, as the power will be substantially lower.
‘Hm, hm, hm…’ A young girl with black hair stood scanning the shelves of a convenience store. ‘There sure are a lot of different kinds, huh,’ she commented, as she looked at the labels. She still wasn’t the best at reading. ‘Eh, it doesn’t matter that much!’ she called, grabbing practically all of it one by one and hurling it into the shopping cart to create a mountain of meat.
Two young dragons, a female red one and a male gold one, ran off from the rest of the pack and over a green field. They jumped at each other, gnawed at each other, breathed fire at each other, challenged and attacked one another… yet after it all they made amused noises, nuzzled one another and happily curled up together come nightfall. They’d already decided they’d be each other's future mates. The red one always won their little games. She would surely be the strongest out of all of them in the future.
One day, to prove how strong she was, the red one stood on a cliff and breathed fire at the monstrous mermaids by a lake. Dangerous, since water was their natural enemy. The mermaids lobbed their water bullets at her, but she deftly dodged, and the gold one watched intensely. The red dragon flew around the lake and taunted the mermaids, and then finally landed on a rock.
Had the rock been a trap by the mermaids? Was it just ill luck? Or, perhaps, something darker had acted behind the scenes…
Regardless, the rock came loose, and a surprised red dragon fell plunging into the water, where she was helpless to do anything but floundering. The water-born mermaids descended on her with spears, and it would have seemed like her fate was sealed, even as the gold dragon raced to the edge to roar after her. But, somewhere down there, a dark presence grabbed the red dragon, pulled it into a different dimension…
The next time she opened her eyes, the young dragon was humanoid. And a green fae was telling her she owe a debt to the dark one, Asengav, for saving her life, one she would work eternally to pay back…
‘Oh, yeah, money,’ she commented as she’d reached the cashier that had scanned all her carts of meat. She grabbed the Big Backpack from her back. It was a magical backpack that always contained a bunch of stuff, but among it was always around $10,000 so she’d never run out. A bigger problem was…
‘Er… a line and two circles means a hundred, right? And ten hundreds on a thousand? This is ten, right?’ the girl asked as she held out the strange-looking pieces of paper to the cashier, who looked incredulously at her. She’d never needed numbers in her previous life.
‘Huh. You seriously have none of this stuff back at home?’ Jelena asked, the metal girl peering at Mayra.
‘Yes! All these houses, and technology stuff, we got nothing of it! It’s just us and the wilderness!’ Mayra nodded, with a wide smile. They were currently in a mansion, one of those Asengav likes to provide for his agents.
‘Huh. Well. What do you do in your spare time?’ Jelena asked, checking.
‘Fight! I want to fight,’ Mayra excitedly said, her eyes burning with excitement. ‘Well, that’s actually all the time! I didn’t really have “spare time” before now. I couldn’t even speak until I transformed. Back where I come from, we don’t have… anything like this, really…’ she admitted, looking around a bit
‘… Huh,’ Jelena said. She then waved her big metal arm. ‘Hey, come. I want to introduce you to some things,’ she said, standing up and walking off. Mayra, curious, walked after like a curious puppy.
…
‘What is this…?’ Mayra asked, amazed, looking at the colorful pictures on the screen and down at the weird contraption with buttons and sticks that had been placed in her hands.
‘It’s a video game. You control your character on the screen using the thing in your hand. Different buttons and sticks do different things that you’ll have to learn. See it as a challenge,’ Jelena said, looking on curiously.
‘Alright…!’ Mayra called, her eyes lighting on fire as the word “challenge” reached her ears.
…
‘Wait, the food is just… DELIVERED to us? No hunting!?’ Mayra asked, initially seeing this as very disappointed as she sat untransformed opposite a transformed Jelena in a restaurant, and a dish was placed in front of her by a server.
‘Just try it,’ Jelena said. Mayra, doubting the authenticity of it, grabbed the piece of meat on her plate (with her hand) and stuffed it into her mouth.
The next second could have been artistically depicted with rainbow waterfalls dripping out of her mouth and her eyes having become stars.
‘It’s called “cooking”. The art of making food as delicious as possible. I guess you didn’t have that in your world, either?’ Jelena asked with a smirk.
‘We…’ Mayra sobbed. ‘We did not!’
…
‘What is that?’ Mayra asked, frowning as she pointed at what a bunch of kids did over there.
‘Oh, they’re playing soccer. It’s a game where you divide into two teams, and you try to shoot the ball into the opposing team’s goal. You see how they’re wearing different color shirts, and are trying to… why… why are you laughing?’ Jelena asked, looking over where Mayra was practically breaking down in laughter.
‘This world is amazing,’ Mayra eventually said.
‘Er… Let’s see…’ the girl said, keeping a piece of meat in a pan. She was now in a kitchen. In her hand she held a book about the art of cooking, and she was trying to figure out how to make it delicious. Which was a problem because… ‘That’s an S. Er… salt? I think this says salt. Or is it sugar? Eh, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be great!’ she said, putting the book aside and grabbing a can of seasoning and emptied it onto the meat.
It then spontaneously lit on fire for no apparent reason. ‘AAAAAAAH!’
Mayra had managed to talk Lea into letting her go back to her original world.
In dragon-form, she climbed up a mountain-side up to where her pack were resting. When their eyes fell on her… they reacted. There wasn’t a celebration or anything, but fire was breathed into the air and roars were made. She’d just proven that, whatever happened, she’d managed to survive on her own and that gained her respect. Mayra-dragon roared back, and went in among numerous dragons that wanted to smell her. She smelled odd. The giant dragon resting on the mountainside was unconcerned.
But one dragon, he was more interested in her return. The gold dragon, he dashed for her, and she dashed for him when she saw him. They nuzzled, proving they were still a couple. Mayra gave a noise to follow her. He did.
When they were alone… she shrunk. She showed him the tiny humanoid form she’d gained, spreading her arms to show herself off. The gold dragon glared, both in surprise and in disapproval. Smaller generally meant weaker, and he couldn’t understand why she seemed so excited. Mayra tried making many happy dragon-calls, but their extremely primitive ways of communication, that of mere intelligent beasts, was unable to convey just what Mayra had experienced. But she made it clear, she wanted him to follow her.
The gold dragon was not convinced. She was so different now. She was a completely different species. In fact, he wasn’t sure if he could still love her like this. That tiny form was so not attractive (to a dragon).
‘Hi, Georgie!’ Mayra called, now transformed, her hair on fire and tail swinging as she approached her dragon in the warehouse she was keeping it in with a cart full of meat. The golden dragon she called “Georgie” slumbered, curled up in a sleeping position, lying there in place absolutely massive in the midst of the flat warehouse floor. He did not react to her approaching.
‘I tried cooking your food again. I’m not very good at it, but it should taste better like this! It’s the art of humans!’ the in-comparison tiny dragon girl said as she tipped over the cart and a pile of half-burned meat-products fell into a pile onto the floor! ‘Right, onto today’s lesson on why being in this world is great!’ Mayra announced, walking to stand in front of her dragon.
‘I just tried boxing! Like, it’s a game, and you stand in a pose like this,’ Mayra took a boxing-pose. ‘and then you try to knock the other competitor to the floor with just punches!’ she aimed a couple jabs into the air. ‘If you were like me, you could also experience this fun, along with everything else the human world has to offer! There’s so many challenges out there that just aren't there in our world! Don’t you agree that sounds just amazing?’
Georgie opened his mouth slowly, exhaling a warm air of annoyance…
Mayra punched a magical girl in the cheek, smashing her across the room and definitely knocking her out as she slammed into a brick wall. By her side, Jelena had just successfully dropped a heavy weight on her opponent’s head as she’d locked up her weapon with her claws. Another dimension well on the way of being conquered for Asengav.
‘Jelena,’ Mayra called her friend’s attention. ‘I’ve been thinking about something.’
‘What?’ Jelena answered, using her power to recollect her metal.
‘I’m the only one like me out here, aren’t I?’ she asked.
‘Well, yeah. You’re a dragon that’s turned into a magical girl. Can’t get much more unique than that,’ Jelena noncommittally replied. A silence hung over the scene for a second, and then…
‘I… want the rest of my pack to follow,’ she said.
‘What, into Asengav’s servitude?’ Jelena asked with a scoff.
‘Er, not that,’ Mayra said. ‘But living out here has shown me that there’s so much more to the world! The lives they live in my world are so dull in comparison. I want to show them… all of this. I want us as a species to see this world, have fun, and continue existing alongside this fun world. I just want to have more dragon-humans around to share this all with, alright?’ she said, sounding so excited.
‘That’s proooobably gonna be pretty hard,’ Jelena commented. ‘They’re a pack of dragons, right? They’re pretty happy with the majestic life they’re living. People would also freak out if you brought a bunch of dragons here. There’d definitely be a shock. Not to mention, the power to turn dragons into girls is, heh, out of your reach, I would say,’ Jelena said. Mayra thought hard about what was said…
‘I got it,’ Mayra said with conviction.
‘Hah? Got what?’ Jelena asked, rightfully confused.
‘WOA-!’ Mayra leapt into the air above Georgie’s giant claw that had been just about to mush her into paste. ‘Playing extra wild, today, are we!?’ Mayra called to the angry dragon. ‘I don’t mind. I love some rough play-fighting!’ she called again, just as she leapt above Georgie’s enormous bite. To counter, she blasted a jet of fire behind her so she could deliver a massive spinning kick onto his snout…!
‘HYA!’ Mayra kicked down with immense force and Georgie’s head slammed down into the floor with enough force that the rest of his giant body briefly became airborne. It was too much, and he slumped onto the ground, knocked out for now. Mayra landed next to him, panting heavily. ‘Looks like I win again, eh?’ she said, chuckling. ‘Man… can’t you… I don’t know… grow fond of me again or something already?’
‘You want to take a dragon with you to your next assignment,’ Lea, the fae-like leader of the agents of Asengav asked, narrowing her eyes at the dragon-girl.
‘Yeah! He can be like a giant guard-dog, protecting valuable items!’ Mayra said, excitedly. It’s the only way I can get a dragon with me to a civilized world. I can’t cross dimensions myself.
Mayra sat tensely at a table, her arms straight and holding tightly onto her legs under the table, while Lea sat leaned back on the opposite side. On Lea’s side of the table was a small cup of tea.
‘It hasn’t escaped our notice that the dragon in question is the same one you’ve forged a close bond with in your previous life,’ Lea said, her eyes eternally narrowed.
‘Don’t worry! I can take care of him!’ Mayra assured, nodding her head quickly. I’ll take him with me, and I’ll show him how awesome the civilized world is! And, of course, if I can only pick one, it must be him!
‘You are aware that we’re going to have to confine him somewhere, right? A big dragon flying around would cause havoc,’ Lea asked.
‘Th-that’s fine!’ Mayra called. I’ll find some way to sneak him out! You’ll see!
‘And you are aware that, if we so decide to, we might employ him in battle, in which he could die?’ Lea asked, her expression not changing at all.
‘I’m aware…!’ Mayra’s claws tightened on her legs. I’ll do it quickly, too…!
‘I see,’ Lea said, sipping the last of her cup of tea before standing up. ‘I’ll have the necessary preparations made. You better not regret this in the future, Mayra,’ she said, staring judgingly down at the still sitting Mayra.
‘I won’t! Thank you, ma’am!’ Mayra said, smiling so happily, but knowing inside what a gamble she just took on. It’s fine! I’ll convince him how wonderful the world is, then I’ll no longer be alone! It’ll work out! You’ll see!
Mayra walked into a changing room with the unconsumed meat-products under her arm. The room was for workers to change in and out of work-uniform in the warehouse. It was long abandoned, thanks to the powerful enchantments on this warehouse keeping ordinary humans from even inspecting the place, so Mayra could use it to store various toys she’s been trying to play with Georgie with, along with big meat bones and such. All for the purpose of making him like this human world…
Mayra stopped in front of a locker that she was intending on storing the meat in. She silently stared at it, as she thought through what had led her to this point…
‘This isn’t going to work out, is it?’
After the question had left her lips, Mayra began chuckling. The chuckling evolved into laughing. The laughing evolved into a sad sigh, and the dragon girl slowly deflating. Eventually, she settled for just continuing what she was doing, and opened the locker door.
Unbeknownst to the dragon girl, she was about to get a very magical visit from a certain redhead. Before that could happen though there were some unresolved machinations to attend to. Ruby, for all her reservations, found that she and Chloe had a number of things in common. Both were guarded, mischievous, and most of all lonely due to the lot they were given as magical girls. It wasn't like this was the first she'd ever met like this, but they were the first to come up with a clever way for them to stick around and not just be used for their power. And to Chloe's credit she had treated Ruby as a friend, as unpracticed in such a thing as they both may be. Alas, duty called and the Djinn would let out a long sigh. Hopefully her next master would be nice and not beat around the bush too much.
In a swirl of smoke Ruby would retreat to her lamp to await her summons. What she didn't see on her way out, and what Chloe would witness, was the friend book surge with magic and a stream streaked after the Djinn woman. The lamp rattled and shook violently. Creaking and cracking, the bottle would shatter in a shower of sparkles. A shimmering silver pendant would drop to the floor.
The normally uneventful space within the bottle was interrupted as Ruby found herself accelerating faster and faster through a red haze. She felt sick, a sensation she hadn't felt in a very long time. The shackles on her wrists clattered and flew off into the mist. ”What the heeeugh.“ The air in her lungs would suddenly escape as her thoughts became muddled. The mantra that echoed in her head became vivid. “Must serve the master. Must serve the master. Must serve the… people.” Wha? Where did that come from? The mist began to thin and she found herself flying through a field of magical sparkles and stars. The stream of white had caught up and began spiraling around her. By this point she couldn't really comprehend what was happening. Her self, or what she thought was her self was being burned away and replaced by another power. ”Wha-aat’s… haaa-appeeen-niii… Mmmph” Her exclamation was cut off as the magic wrapped tightly around her like a blanket. Hurdling toward a light, Ruby struggled in a magic cocoon.
Mayra would open the locker and a star with a glittering trail would whiz by and spiral around the room wildly. Bouncing off a few walls and lockers, the star would slow down and hover, growing bigger and brighter until it faded away to reveal a woman in a silver dress and red hooded cloak with a glistening glittering trim. Her eyes were open wide and she looked in a daze. Her mind was quiet, or way more quiet than usual. It took her a moment to realize that anyone else was in the room.
Lifting up her hands she noticed that there was a glowing white rod, a wand, in her hand. Standing there awkwardly, something began to dawn on her. It didn't make sense, but she knew she was there for Mayra. Not like she normally would, to simply grant a wish. She was there to help Mayra. To make her dreams come true. ”H-hello there. S-sorry I'm, I'm not feeling myself.” Observing her new garb she was trying to piece together what just happened.
Mayra opened the locker and ‘Woah!’ dodged out of the way as a shooting star came flying in, her mood instantly resetting and also dropping all she was holding. ‘What!? What!?’ she found herself excitedly asking as she tracked the bouncing star with her eyes until it eventually came to a stop… in the shape of a girl. ‘That was…’ Mayra grinned ecstatically. ‘... AMAZING!’
‘Where did you come from!? Have you been stuck in this locker for years!? Is it a magical transporter!?’ Mayra slammed her hands into the back of the locker, excitedly exploring inside it. ‘Wait, no, I opened this before. Eh, whatever!’ she abandoned the locker and spun to her.
‘You're a magical star person! That's so cool! Did you travel far? Are you from space!?’ Mayra asked, skipping forward to inspect the newly arrived, and was also about to poke her on the stomach before…
‘Wait… You're here for me, aren't you!? You came to find me! Why else would you be in this silly room!?’ Mayra jumped back, getting into a stance. ‘Did you come to fight me!? Are you Wonderland sent to eliminate me!? Or just a lonely fighter seeking her next challenge!? Please say yes!’ the dragon-girl excitedly asked while fully ready for a tussle.
While not solely the most excited response she’d ever received upon her arrival, it did jump around an awful lot with theories and accusations. Ruby would put up her hands and try to calm the situation down. ”Wonderland? No no, my name is Ruby. I’m here to grant your heart’s desire!” She covered her mouth after blurting that out. Something had seriously altered her into an entirely different state of being. Heart's desire? What was she, a fairy? Fairy? She looked at the wand again, she pulled down the hood, her eyes darted to the magical sparkles that winked in and out around her. Sucking in a big breath of air the reality began to set in. Somehow she’s been transformed into a Fairy Godmother. ”Oh my god.” She’d say under her breath.
With the briefest amount of time to consider the implications. She was free? The more confused look gave way to a big smile. Now knowing how was a distant second to the rush of emotion that came. She barely knew what to do in the moment and just looked back to Mayra. ”Yes, I am a fairy godmother, here to grant your deepest desire.” Her tone was more melodious as she spoke. She felt like a weight had been lifted and she was alive again. No more imprisonment. Not more skewed thoughts of how to twist the wishes of others. Sure, maybe it was the magic talking, but she wanted the best for those she would bless. ”And from what I can tell you would like a worthy challenge. Am I right?”
‘Uuuuh-huh,’ Mayra first made a noise seeing her visitor be outright confused about her own appearance. Well, maybe she was a new Magical Girl, in which case, okay. Then, though, she introduced herself and wanted to grant her deepest desire. ‘Wait, wah. My deepest desire?’ Mayra took a moment to process that, looking stunned for a bit. ‘Hold on a moment there. Sure, I like worthy challenges, but my deepest desire? What even is that?’ Mayra had to take a moment. ‘… And you’re gonna help me with it? Say that I said my deepest desire is lighting this city on fire. Would you show me where to find the fuel cans so I can do it myself or wave your wand and whoops it’s on fire?’ Mayra chuckled at her own comparison.
Blink. ”Oh uh… hm. Good point. No, I don’t want to do anything that might hurt someone. Maybe I should say I would like to give you a blessing.” That wasn’t quite what she was thinking, but it was probably the best way to convey what she meant.
‘Hahaha! Why'd you come to me, then?’ Mayra laughed a little, then stepped forward and reached out a hand for a handshake. ‘The name's Mayra McCullough! Now who are you, and what is it you do? Explain, please!’
Ruby would shake the hand. ”My name is Ruby.” She took a second to think on how to explain things. ”Ah ha. Do you remember that magical girl from the Christmas event that granted all those magical gifts? That was me. I've been through a lot of changes since then. As for what I do.” Going through the motions, she would wave the wand and a trail of magic sparkles would follow. ”My magic has brought me to you to grant you a wish. One that will truly bring you joy.”
She had leaned down more to Mayra's eye level. ”I sense you enjoy a good fight, which is why I suggested a challenge earlier. But I can see now that you are also lonely. Perhaps I could help you with one of those things.” Reading people was something she'd been decent at in the past. But as a Fairy Godmother it was like she connected with the other person and just knew what it was they might need.
‘Lon-’ Mayra actually flinched at the description, staring wide-eyed at Ruby. ‘Oh, you're peering straight into my mind, huh,’ she commented… then smirked knowingly. ‘Oh, I know who you are! You're the one Lea wants dead! Hahaha! Guess that means she ain't getting any wishes, eh?’ Mayra chuckled.
‘Lonely, huh?’ she then reflected. ‘I mean, I have friends. Jelena, Victoria. Connie, Mia, Violet, Princess.’ MDP, that is. ‘… But you're right. I don't want to be the only one like me. I can't go back to my people, not when I've tasted this world. Yet, I've left my family behind. I'm the only one like me, here,’ she said, sighing a little.
‘That said, I also like epic challenges and fighting worthy battles! So what are you going to do with that?’ Mayra asked, smirking and chuckling again.
Ruby would keep the warm smile. ”I read your heart.” Turning she would look in the direction of the warehouse. ”Hm…” She would move over to and open the door to the rest of the warehouse to see the sleeping Georgie.
For a second she froze, but quickly realized that the dragon wouldn't hurt her at the moment. ”Whoa, did not expect a dragon.”
‘Wait, hold on, that direction is…’ Mayra started, but ultimately couldn’t help but let her move on, because in truth, she wanted more people to see Georgie. And there he was, a large golden fire-dragon, currently knocked out on the warehouse floor. There were signs of battle all over, burned floors and trash from a lot of plastic containers of meat, a few gnawed bones, and a lot of books.
‘Hey, you already met a dragon! Me!’ Mayra said, laughing a little before running ahead of Ruby to then turn to stand so she could look at both Mayra and Georgie at the same time. ‘So, the fact Georgie’s here is supposed to be a secret, you can keep a secret, right?’ the dragon-girl held a finger over a small grin as she said.
”Oh course. That's one of my specialties.” She would look between Georgie and Mayra. She was also a dragon huh? ”Can all dragons change form like you.”
‘Nope! Just me!’ Mayra announced. ‘And only because I got picked by my patron! I’m a dragon turned into a Magical Girl! Rawr!’ she gave a shout at the end and made a playful clawing motion towards Ruby.
”Ah ha.” She began walking closer and looked the dragon up and down. ”I recently became a Patron myself. I have one magical girl under my charge. It would have never occurred to me to choose a dragon.” She put her hands on her hips. This part of the job felt much more comfortable. The whole goodie goodie part was still jarring though.
‘Oh, you’re a Patron...!’ Mayra’s eyes widened a bit. Because, the only Patron she knew was her own, and that put the being before her on a whole different power-scale to her. ‘Well, this is Georgie, my boyfriend! I’d tell you to be careful around him, but I guess you’re gonna be just fiiiine,’ Mayra said, and then walked in close to Ruby. Very close, for someone whose hair was on fire. Specifically, she was this close to use her nose to sniff on Ruby, curious if a Patron had a specific smell or not. If allowed, the dragon-girl would also smell up and down her out of curiosity.
Ruby did not stop the girl. Prior to a few minutes ago, the patron likely would have smelled of smoke and fire as well. Now Mayra would find it was more like a meadow of flowers. A very calm and soothing scent and extremely different to what she was used to. ”Do you think Georgie would like to be a magical boy as well?”
Mayra was just smelling bunches of flowers. Curious, really. Then, she asked that. Mayra flinched back up, instinctively taking a step back, looking at Ruby wide-eyed.
‘I…’ she spoke a single word, then looked over at Georgie, then back to Ruby. ‘I… really hope so,’ she said, in a far more vulnerable tone. Her gaze went from Georgie and back to Ruby again. ‘He’d probably hate it to start with… given… everything… but it’d make talking to him a lot easier! From there, I could convince him…!’ she said, getting a smirk back, but her expression kept sneaking back to a vulnerable expression wondering if this woman was serious in what she was implying or not.
Nodding along, Ruby would look back at Georgie. ”We'll let him try it out, and he can decide if he likes it or not.” Waving the wand in her hand, a stream of magical sparkles began to swirl around the restrained dragon. He began to shrink down and his form would shift to a more humanoid shape in a matter of seconds. Despite being knocked out, the change would likely wake Georgie from his stupor.
Mayra stared, wide-eyed, as the magic sparkles swirled around the massive dragon. The shape shrunk down… and… what now was there was a male dragon-human, who was lying down on the floor on his side. Just like Mayra, he had black scales, the claws at the end of his hands and feet, but his fiery hair was more golden than red. He had a tail, just like hers… he’d become another of her species, and he was waking up. He sat up slowly, his eyes looking down on his shape, alarmed that it seemed to be his body. He looked up questioningly towards Ruby.
‘W-’
And then he got Mayra’s full weight launched into him in an intense glomp, knocking him back onto the floor but now he had Mayra lying on top of him with her arms around him, screaming happily.
‘AAAAAAAAAAAAH!’ she yelled out so happily. ‘YOU’RE LIKE ME! YOU’RE JUST LIKE ME! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH…!’ Clearly, she was utterly unable to contain it, shaking her legs up and down kicking the floor and also rubbing her cheek against him and definitely not staying still in the one-sided hug she was giving him. The guy had to take a moment to process everything.
Stepping over, while Mayra was pounced on Georgie, Ruby would wave her wand around playfully before tapping it lightly against Mayra's head. ”And for you. Boop!” The iron is grip of Asengav's brainwashing would waiver as the Godmother's magic began to interfere. If the two were going to make a decision, then they should both be free to do so.
Even as she was hugging Georgie's body under her, even as she was this happy, internally she slightly lamented she couldn't truly use this, for her soul still belonged to Asengav, and she had to serve him until-
‘Wha-’ Mayra felt the touch to the back of her head and launched back up on her feet, placing a hand on the back of her head. ‘What did you-’ Then her eyes widened, as she realized. The ever-present knowledge that she was always going to serve Asengav, that unbreakable fact…
It wasn't there.
‘What… did you do?’ Mayra asked, as this was very shocking to someone who didn't even know she was mind-bent.
‘Why is everything so large…?’ Georgie mumbled on the ground over there, lifting his eyes to stare at his new arms. ‘No… This can't be… I'm a big, powerful creature… not…’ He's just going to be there for a bit.
Ruby smiled brightly to Mayra. ”I'm helping you achieve your dreams. And you can't do that if you aren't able to think for yourself.” She clasped her hands together. ”I can feel that my magic is waning though. Transforming a dragon takes a lot out of you.”
‘Think for myse- I don't get it,’ Mayra said, ‘But… you're going for THAT dream?’ Mayra looked back and forth between Ruby and Georgie. ‘Oh. Wow. Uh,’ she looked to Ruby. ‘What's the catch? Do I serve you, now? I don't think mister Asengav would like that…’ she said, without the statement being due to mind-bending.
‘Wait, Georgie! I must tell him, now that we can talk!’ Mayra leapt over to Georgie, grabbing one of his arms to pull him onto his feet. ‘Listen, Georgie! I wanted to-’
Georgie's eyes locked with Mayra's for the first time since transforming, and his expression twisted in rage. Before she realized why Mayra suddenly found her face slammed by a fire-powered fist pushing with enough power to launch her straight across the room and rolling several times before slamming into the wall.
‘… I am not "Georgie",’ he simply stated, standing breathing a bit heavily in a post-punch pose.
‘Ow,’ Mayra said over there. Enough to announce she was actually quite fine.
Seeing as Mayra was relatively unfazed by the punch, Ruby glanced back over to Georgie. ”Hm. Well it seems like you have some things to work out amongst yourselves.” She stood awkwardly for a moment. The excitement of granting the young dragon’s desire got the better of her. Undoing it didn’t quite feel right either though. Magic began to shimmer around the new Godmother. Her job here was done and she must be off. ”Uh, I don’t think I have much longer here. Any questions… ”
The magic began to float around. A small table chair in the corner popped up and over to the three, slowly transforming into a full size loveseat. Mayra and Georgie would find themselves lifted up by the magic and sat down next to one another in the new comfy seat. ”for me?” Ruby looked a little confused. She wasn't leaving?
Mayra was just about looking up in surprise that Ruby wasn’t going to be sticking around, when…
‘Hu-!?’ ‘Wa!’ the two dragon-people were picked up by magic and put down next to one another in the sofa-like thing next to one another, and they were currently too stunned to consider the fact they were put next to one another.
‘Woah. What’s this!? Why’s this!?’ Mayra asked, utterly stunned and feeling the fabric under her with her hands. The boy was a little bit too stunned to react properly, but he did not he was very close to Mayra all of a sudden.
”Well, this is new.” Looking between the two, a recollection would come. We'll now, this could be tricky. She would step closer to them. But first she would look to Georgie. ”Sorry, I don't believe we had the chance to be properly introduced. My name is Ruby.”
‘Uh, hello, Ruby,’ he replied, calming down decently fast. ‘I am… a hunter. I don’t have a name. The world I came from does not have names.’
‘Aw, you didn’t like “Georgie”?’ Mayra looked momentarily sad and then brightened up substantially. ‘That’s fine! Now that you can talk, you can pick your own! I picked Mayra McCullough for myself! I can’t wait to show you-’ Mayra happily gushed, notably annoying the boy next to her.
”Mhm mhm. Well it is pretty common for people here to have a name. And if you want to go anywhere else but here then it would be a good idea to pick something.” She gestured to the warehouse that Georgie had been relegated to.
‘I’ll… think of something,’ he replied, apparently understanding but not entirely grasping it. Names was something they never needed before.
‘Oooh! How about John? Gregory? James? Sven? Adam?’ Mayra asked, coming up with eleven or more possibilities in a short span of time.
‘I don’t really want suggestions from you right now,’ Georgie replied, not very receptive to Mayra’s attempts.
Tapping her chin slightly, it was clear that there was tension between the two. This might take a while to get them to cooperate in any way. After a bit an idea came to her. ”Maybe we need a change of scenery.” Waving her wand. In a swirl of sparkles the three of them would be transported outside to a quiet forest. The protective magic meant to keep Georgie contained wasn’t triggered, at least for now.
‘Oh,’ the boy dragon made a noise as the scenery changed. ‘This feels… better,’ he said, looking around at the nature around them.
‘Wow, can you take us anywhere with that!?’ Mayra asked excitedly.
”Uhm, perhaps. This felt like the right place to go.” Ruby was still feeling out this magic. It functioned a little bit like her old magic, but with a very strong positive slant and focus on a single goal.
‘Right…’ the dragon boy said, considering something… ‘Right, but let’s get one thing clear. I don’t want to be here. I want home, to my world. The only reason I’m here is because you dragged me here,’ he said, frowning towards Mayra.
‘Yes!’ Mayra said, smiling so happily at him. ‘Because this place is AMAZING and I can finally tell you all about it…!’
‘Did you not hear what I just said…?’ he grunted back at her, looking like he was getting fed up with Mayra once again…
”Now now. If you're going to be in this world then it would be a good idea to fit in. And Mayra… ” She would wave a hand over to the dragon girl. ”Is here to help you with that.” She would offer in an attempt to smooth things over.
‘I don’t… WANT to fit in,’ the boy objected as nicely as he could. ‘I want to go home.’ he said, still frowning.
‘You say that NOW, but when I show you all the food you can eat, all the games you can play, it’ll be so much cooler…!’ Mayra shouted about excitedly, and he very decidedly ignored her looking at Ruby instead.
”Ah well, I’m not sure I can accomplish that. My magic doesn’t extend that far unfortunately. So for now my goal is to make things as comfortable for you as possible.” She would try and give a reassuring smile.
He breathed in gently, taking what Ruby said into consideration. ‘Alright. What should I do?’ he asked her, while Mayra raised both hands with a cheer next to him.
That was not necessarily an easy question to answer. It could already be tough enough becoming a magical boy or girl as is. Coming from a different world where things were entirely different just added to the complexity. Glancing at Mayra for a moment she would step over and pull her to the side. ”Give us a moment please.” Taking the dragon girl out of earshot, Ruby would stand in front of Mayra. ”Alright Mayra. So I’ve gotten you this far. Now it’s up to you if you want this to work. And I think the first step is just being honest and open. Explain what you did and why. It will probably take some time for him to process everything, but I see it working out much better that way.”
The boy nodded to needing a moment, while Mayra looked a bit confused. However, with some explanation, Mayra had to take a moment and consider. ‘What I did and why, huh. Honest and open…’ she repeated the words, letting them sink in. The dragon-girl took a deep breath, and… ‘Alright, I’ll see what I can do.’ She clearly wasn’t as confident with that, but she could try, yeah.
When they came back, Mayra had her fists clenched and had a focused expression, not smiling, clearly different from how she was all smiles earlier. The boy looked surprised at this, it clearly got his attention.
Eventually, Mayra took a deep breath, and focused on him.
‘Alright, so… What I wasn’t able to tell you when we couldn’t understand each other…’ Mayra said, looking now earnestly towards the dragon boy. He was taken a little bit aback, but kept his focus on her.
‘When I came to this world, I realized what a tiny world we lived in. We just live our tiny little lives without knowing about the great world that exists beyond our corner. There’s so much more to existence than just hunting and eating. When I learned, the first thing I wanted to do… was bring you with me,’ she said.
‘But, I had no way of telling you! Up until a moment ago, you couldn’t speak! I had to go through multiple hoops to somehow convince them, the ones that brought me here, to let me bring you to this world. I wanted to show you how great it is, somehow, and the first part was getting you here, even though it was by force. I realize you hated that, and I’m sorry, but I had to count on that we’d one day get an opportunity… like this!’ Mayra gestured at how he looked now.
‘I wanted to bring my family with me to this world, and make a place for us here. But, the only one I could bring was you. I realize it isn’t what you wanted, but I lacked the ability to speak with you. Now that I can… Could you please give this world a chance? If you say no after this, I swear I’ll find a way to get you back to our world, but… if our love in the previous world meant anything to you… Would you please give me a chance? Please?’ she said, clutching her hands together while looking pleadingly at him.
He sat there, unmoving for a bit. This was a different side of Mayra, than the one that had more or less been torturing him by forcing him to stay in this warehouse and fighting him when he attacked her… It took a few seconds, but he finally sighed, nodding to hear.
‘Alright. I’ll give you a chance,’ he said, in a still weary tone. Mayra’s face brightened up like a thousand lights and she launched herself at him.
‘Georgie….!!! Thank you…!!!’
Except, he grabbed her face before she came into contact with him, stopping her and leaving her hands flailing.
‘I’ve not forgiven you, yet, though. But I will be giving you a chance. And I am not “Georgie”,’ he claimed. He looked over at Ruby.
‘What’s a name that belongs to someone mighty? Perhaps a great hunter, or someone respected by many…’ he asked, looking serious.
‘Oh! That’s Penny!’ Mayra claimed into his hand, all excited.
‘I’m not asking you,’ he stated very plainly.
Listening to the exchange, Ruby was nodding in approval when she was addressed. A name? Well let's see. There are a number of historical figures that came to mind. One stuck out given the request. ”The most famous warrior I can think of is Alexander. He is a historical figure and well known for his success in conquest around the world.” She would offer.
‘Alexander…’ he took a deep breath, and then nodded. ‘Alright. From now on, I will be-’
‘Xander!’ Mayra called, happily.
‘What?’ He looked at her with another annoyed glare.
‘Alexander is too long to say! You’re gonna need a nickname! You can still be named Alexander, but save the long name for important occasions! You’re gonna need a last name, too, so for instance, in an important moment, you can say “I am Alexander Oleander!” or so, but when talking normally, you can just say “I’m Xander”! You can keep your full name for important moments…! Besides, we already have an “Alex” in town!’ she explained, grinning happily.
‘My last name is not “Oleander”,’ he said.
‘It was an example!’ Mayra replied with a giggle. ‘I mean… you can take my last name if you wish, we can share~’ she then said, looking extra bashful all of a sudden.
He gave Ruby a look if she had anything to say about what Mayra just said.
”Xander is a good idea. Many people have a name they use in more casual settings.” Time to get
‘Alright. Alexander, nickname Xander it is,’ Xander said.
Clapping her hands together, Ruby would beam. ”Excellent! I’m so glad we were able to work that out.” She could feel her magic make a shift. A couple twinkles winked into view. ”Eh, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be around. I’m counting on you two to behave.”
‘Absolutely! I won’t waste this chance!’ Mayra called, and Xander nodded towards her. ‘Thank you so much for your- oh Mariette!’ Mayra suddenly blinked in surprise as she looked right past Ruby.
Behind Ruby, emerging from a portal, was a slightly wide-eyed Mariette, in full dress, with eyepatch and holding a stuffed rabbit and all. After all, the room where Mayra kept Georgie was under surveillance, Mariette had received a call pretty quickly.
‘R…’ Mariette took a breath. ‘Ruby, that’s what you go by now, right…?’ she asked, feeling a little nervous since her friends were looking different since last time she’d seen them.
Ruby’s attention was drawn by Mariette’s entrance. Gasping excitedly, the woman rushed over, picked up the portal girl, and gave her a loving hug. ”Mariette! It’s wonderful to see you again!” After a couple seconds, it dawned on her that it was probably a little out of character for her and gently set Mariette back down. ”Sorry. I’m not quite myself after… actually I’m not entirely sure what’s happened, but I’m no longer bound by Djinn magic.”
‘Oh!’ Mariette made a surprised little noise at being picked up, not an experience she was used to these days. She recalibrated and gently hugged back, breathing in a bit as she was let down. ‘You’re not…? And you don’t know what happened? It just happened?’ Mariette asked, looking curious. ‘But… Is it better? You do look happier…’ she wasn’t entirely sure if she was imagining it or not.
Mayra meanwhile leaned in and started whispering to Xander about who Mariette was, the dragon-boy slowly nodding.
”I think it’s better.” With a wave of her hand her magic wand would reappear. ”I think I’m a like a fairy godmother now. That’s an educated guess. From one wish granter to another. Being a Djinn comes with a lot of strings. This is more freeing and for some reason I feel all bubbly.” She shrugged a little bit.
‘That’s good!’ Mariette outburst and was kind of surprised she had it in her. With that, she leaned in to hug her friend again. Albeit, it was actually a cover for her wanting to whisper something in Ruby’s ear that she didn’t want overheard. ‘Deni and Eli are free now. No longer enslaved. I’m going to join them… but I have a couple things I need to take care of first. After that, we can hang out more. Does that work?’
Ruby responds, but doesn’t address directly what Mariette said. ”It’s very good.”
‘Good,’ Mariette nodded and leaned back. ‘I’m going to need to figure out what to tell Lea about what happened here.,’ she said with a little sigh. The one who oversees her and who probably didn’t want Mayra’s dragon becoming a boy. ‘Thank you, for helping Mayra get what she wanted,’ Mariette told, looking over towards Xander over there.
‘Yes! Thank you! I love you! You made my dreams possible…!’ Mayra called out happily, gripping Xander’s arm. Xander, meanwhile, simply looked towards her and nodded, having gained a certain amount of respect for her.
Ruby smiled brightly. ”My pleasure. I hope I didn’t make things too complicated for you, Mariette.” She took a step back. ”Well I think my work here is done. I have a lead to figure out what’s changed me. I’ll see you again soon!” Magic sparkled around her before she winked out of sight.
‘I’m willing to-’ Mariette immediately started saying when Ruby talked about having a lead. But then, Ruby vanished in some magical sparkles. ‘… help you…’ Mariette stood silent afterwords for a couple second, looking blankly at where she was. ‘Good bye for now,’ she said.
Then she turned to look towards Mayra and Xander. Mayra was sitting on her knees, grinning happily towards Mariette. Xander, meanwhile, sat with crossed legs, giving her an expression of “what now”.
‘Well, okay,’ Mariette started, and Mayra cheered throwing her hands into the air. ‘But I am going to have to lay down some ground rules…’ she said, looking towards Xander. There was a whole bunch of things she’d have to tell him…
‘Okay. Low level fight,’ Anise confirmed. ‘To start with... I'm very fortunate that Riolu starts with this move. Let's even the playing field. Riolu, Foresight!’ Anise called, pointing forward.
‘Rio!’ Riolu reached forward with its paws, placing them together to look through them at Yamask. The small Pokémon's eyes glowed gently. Yamask was identified!
‘And now, your only attacking move,’ Anise would then call, aiming a punch forward in the air, the punch ending with pointing forward at her opponent. ‘Quick Attack!’
With that, Riolu braced its legs to blast with considerable speed across the field at Yamask!
Amelia and Yamask could use one move while Riolu used Foresight, then another as Quick Attack was prepared to be used.
Xaltwind
Pirouette
Crimson Flame
Danyel
Mage
Noctis
Izurich
Damycles
jimapple
Zapdos
