The yeti's icy claws and breath reminiscent of a blizzard, added with it's ability to fall into a shadow and drift away from the warriors made the fight far from easy, but eventually the pack succeeded in wearing the Seasonal Girl to a smaller form, first to a tall chimpanzee, and then an orange haired girl dressed in red and gold.
"I think you guys should stand back," Maria suggested, "she's a smaller target, and this time...this time she can't pick me up and swing me around!"
"Plus you need all the spirit energy you can use...take it away, Maria." Spring cheered.
"Good luck, she ate the wisdom salmon, after all," Kokoso turned to Byrd, "and yes, it was specifically called a salmon."
"Hey, I didn't say anything!" Byrd laughed, "Just that it seemed oddly specific."
"And how strangely coincidental that fall is the season for the salmon to lay eggs, just in time for a yeti to go fishing." Noel remarked.
"It's kind of funny, huh?" Maria laughed, before approaching the weary-eyed Seasonal Girl, "Okay, Autumn, if you can try to fight whatever monster you're in, then do that, you'll save us both a lot of trouble...but you'll fight until you're out of energy, won't you?"
Autumn roared in reply and stalked closer to Maria.
"Changing your pattern...then I'll have to open up with a trick," Maria turned to Spring, "How much energy for special attacks or Spirit Strikes do you have left in you?"
"Maybe ten more, but if you use a Spirit Strike, that'll leave you with five more special attacks, or one more Spirit Strike!" Spring replied, "But really, you should only need to disarm her!"
"Okay, great, I guess I should conserve that power." Maria leaped forward and lashed out at the claws Autumn guarded herself with, spinning to push her off balance, but Autumn held her ground and jumped into the air, spinning on her way down, skipping backwards after she landed.
They stalked in circles until Maria darted forward, hands behind her, giving Autumn an opportunity to strike, which she took, "Canine whirlwind!" Maria spun around, hands behind her, and knocked Autumn back on the defensive.
Maria backed away from Autumn, then lunged forward, quickly shuffling away at an angle, swiping at Autumn as she passed, but Autumn swiftly turned and grabbed Maria's arm, bearing her teeth to snap at Maria's arm, "Vicious!" Maria struck Autumn's temple with the side of her claw, and hit her with the back of her freed right hand's claw, grabbed the claws on her hands, and gripped them tightly, until Autumn fell to her knees, "I think we're good here!"
Autumn looked up at the team with amber eyes and blinked twice, before groggily closing them and falling to her side.
"That's one Seasonal Girl down, two more to find and rescue." Byrd sighed, "How do we expect to find Summer and Winter?"
"Well, for now they're not a threat, I will check in on spirits wandering near the village, see if they learned anything interesting, but they'll most certainly be in one place on the beginning of their respective seasons." Spring looked up at the clear sky above them, "For now, we should find mine and Autumn's scepters."
"You mean those?" Noel pointed at what she at first considered to be maces, but decided that scepters seemed more likely.
"Oh, yes, that's mine," Spring held out her hand and the scepter flew into her grasp, "looks like she found it before turning into a monster...come to think of it, she may have been looking for me. Monsters have very little in the way of wills, but sometimes there's that...instinct or habit...that thing near the core of our consciousness that influences even the murkiest depths of our minds and hearts, even as a monster...that's why regular monsters who were animals fight so relentlessly, it's just their way, every animal has adrenaline for a fight or flight, monsters just choose to fight more often than not."
"I wonder if she could hear me." Maria slipped her hands out of her claws and put them away.
Spring followed Maria, who had lifted Autumn and started leading the group back to the distant Refractory Construct, "I'm sure that she could...although it's hard to fight back when you're basically trapped in a monster."
Cathryn silently studied the sky for a moment before informing the others, "It'll probably be late noon when we get back."
"Oh, don't worry, there's a shortcut." Spring replied easily.
"Ha, if only," Maria shook her head, "we've still got to get her back to the village...don't we?"
"No, she'll be fine here, taking me to the village wasn't a given, I know," Spring continued, "but here the monsters can't get to her, she's safe...though we'll have to explain what happened when she wakes up, it could be a little confusing."
Kokoso nodded slowly, "I imagine so, waking up on a table after being a monster, and getting beaten by a small army, doesn't sound like my idea of fun."
"It's not fun," Spring promised, "there's no way I'm recommending that to anyone."
Maria leaned against a wall and hummed, "I wonder how the other two are doing."
"They probably won't show themselves until the first day of summer and winter, around the Refractory Construct, our ruling presence is very apparent, sometimes it'll even snow." Spring explained.
"The Wilds is a strange place." Noel blurted, "Not sure I'll get used to the extremes."
"It's only like that because...remember when I first told you guys that we were looking at an end of the world situation?" Spring paced the floor as she awaited confirmation, "There's a spirit named Unseason, she's got a grudge against us, and wishes to bring the world under her domain, the domain of Unseason, the so called seventh season, after Drought and Monsoon, twins who are as different as night and day."
"Kind of a cliche, huh?" Kokoso grinned.
"Yeah, it is...but they do influence the world in very different ways, they can be found wandering side by side, throughout the centuries they've never once separated...despite their many differences." Spring laughed at the memory of the day she met the twins and shook her head, "They've bickered and laughed and cried through the centuries, kind of makes me wish I had a sibling."
"So, what's the story with Unseason?" Cathryn stepped closer, interests piqued.
"U-um, well, she's...an ancient spirit, as old as Gaia, some say, and only one other spirit has been known to live that long, Record...or Historia, or whatever she goes by these days."
Noel narrowed her eyes and tried to focus on her blurred memories, Unseason rung a bell, but she didn't know why, "So, about Unseason?"
"Ah, right!" Spring cleared her throat and began the story again, "Long ago, the spirit Unseason tried to take away our scepters, to rule the seasons themselves, but it was overly ambitious for a lone spirit, she knew that and had many of the world's armies attack, but they couldn't break into the Refractory Construct. Upon seeing her situation she fled, and searched for Historia's gates. She found four of them and placed them around the Refractory Construct in the four cardinal directions, then tried to use her power in conjunction with Historia's and Gaia's, using the gates and Refractory Constructs as links to the spirits in question, but she cannot have a mortal form here, and without one she could do little more than summon a phantasm in our midst. The shade faded from the room as quickly as it appeared, and we stepped outside to put an end to her shenanigans, binding her with all our powers combined, and Gaia herself put the lock on the chains of our powers, sent Unseason away, and left the world as quickly as she appeared."
"If Unseason was bound, then why's she a problem now?" Byrd inquired.
"Because, our powers aren't infinite, even Gaia's power amplifying our own never guaranteed success, it only promised time, and we've been counting down the centuries...yet, as we prepared to face her again, she had somehow contacted a human...or rather, one found her, one who was part of the organization she created, one that took her, prison and all, to the city and even now seeks a way to free her...I know that's what happened, I knew it the day she was suddenly gone from her place, and I immediately fashioned a body to use, for that day when she would challenge me, but on my annual journey to the Refractory Construct, I was transformed into a monster. I sense her powers at work, and that of another...one who is very close to her, who, in aiding her, made it so that on that first day of spring, when I was vulnerable, I would become a monster."
"Hmm, Spring?" Autumn sat up and stared at the group before her, confused and anxious, "Who are all-"
"Hey, I'm Kokoso," Kokoso sat on the table next to her and gestured to the others, "that's Maria, basically our general now, that's Cathryn, Cat for short, you've met Spring, Noel's someone who recently showed up out of the blue, and that's Byrd, no comment."
"Hey!" Byrd stepped forward and scoffed, "Fine, I know how to introduce myself! And you know, bunny boy here just like riling me up!"
Autumn's frown turned into a scowl and she jumped upright, "Okay, both of you, shut up!"
"Okay, okay!" Kokoso smiled sheepishly and Byrd silently crossed his arms.
"Thank you...now, Spring, what have you gotten yourself into?" Autumn inquired, gesturing to the boys.
Spring took a deep breath and sighed, "Oh, well, long story short, they saved me, they're good friends with Mother Goose, and I had them pick a leader and became Maria's Guardian Angel...oh, and by the way, she's the team's older sister!"
Noel frowned and held up a finger, "I just want to ask again why-"
"What? Why...there is no why!" Kokoso waved his hands dismissively.
"Good to know I'm not the only one confused here." Autumn sighed.
"Don't worry about them, we've got to activate our powers now." Spring extended her scepter and Autumn nodded, "Maria, I ask to also become your Guardian Angel."
"Alright, we can never have too many, right?" Maria watched as the two scepters struck, sending echoes through the Refractory Construct, a red flame and green flame emerged from the table, and Autumn held out a string of red leaves. Maria took the necklace and dropped it on the one Spring gave her.
"Now, are we forgetting anything?" Spring wondered, "We lit the dual flames of Spring and Autumn, and Maria's got twice the Guardian Angel's she showed up with...I guess all that's left is to inform you that for every Guardian Angel you ally with, your able to pull of more special attacks and Spirit Strikes."
"I do believe that's all." Autumn concluded.
"Great, I'm heating the showers for the second time today," Cathryn turned to Spring, "as soon as you let us in on the shortcut."
"Ah! I knew we were forgetting something, outside, let's go!" Spring darted out the door, and Kokoso coaxed Byrd into a race, Autumn and Cathryn hurried after them, but Cathryn warned her not to compete, as either of the two were prone to ramming into each other.
Noel halted Maria by placing a hand on her arm. Maria turned to the contemplative amnesiac with a curious hum, "Noel, are you okay?"
"I'm just...anxious...I've wanted to get a chance to talk with you, alone," Noel looked up from the floor and swallowed, "there's this nagging...thought in the back of my mind, when she said 'one who is very close', I was sure she'd look at me...I'm afraid I'm involved."
Maria smiled warmly at her and clasped her shoulder, "It's okay, if you're that scared you're involved, then you can't be guilty...and you don't have to worry about airing out your fears with the other, there's no reason to be afraid of them."
Noel smiled and pressed her knuckle into the corner of her lips, "Guess I'm not used to smiling."
"Well, Kokoso will certainly fix that, him and Byrd are in a permanent state of comedic spontaneity, I can't even take their arguments seriously."
"That..sounds like fun." Noel turned to the door, "Well, we should go now."
Maria nodded, "Yeah...let's-"
"Hey, what's taking so long?" Kokoso called out, waiting in the door way.
"Yeah, yeah, Noel just wanted to chat real quick." Maria waved him off as she made her way to the door.
Noel looked up at Maria and bumped her shoulder, "Thanks for not going into detail about that...I guess I'm still scared they'll want to kick me off the team."
"Well...one day maybe you'll get to know them better...but until then, you can always just write down your thoughts and leave a letter for me, maybe slip it under the door to my room, the team meets at my place in the morning, they all have a key so they can get a start on things if I'm not up by then, generally Kokoso and Byrd joke or quarrel while Cathryn fishes...she loves to fish. I guess you're stuck with that option to pass the time, since the boys are too loud for any hope of reading."
ns 18.68.41.141da2
