D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad



*Breakfast was a simple affair. Lily didn't wake up until it was nearly time to meet with Thyme, so it was a bit rushed. Kat just grabbed a piece of fruit that looked like an apple and tasted like strawberry to chew on, while Lily grabbed a few cuts of cooked meat and quickly ate those. While that was happening, Kat slipped over to Marigold and said, "Hey… so Asteodia seems to have… an issue with punishing herself for things that really aren't her fault so I was hoping you could help with that," 

Now, Kat was trying to be somewhat circumspect, but Marigold was raised a princess, and had at least some political training. Kat's awkward request gave her everything she needed to know about the situation. Marigold heard something more like "Asteodia has been punishing herself for the minor screw-up yesterday and I'm worried that she's taking things much to far. I wasn't able to help though, because it is probably related to deep-seated parental trauma and I was hoping, that you, as a sexy, beautiful, stunning masochist that isn't afraid to announce yourself as such, could help Asteodia become more enlightened about her repressed sexual desires," 

Of course, Marigold might have added a few mental embellishments to Kat's request but well… Kat did come to HER for to request help, and the demon clearly knew enough about Marigold's personality that the results wouldn't be a great surprise. Marigold smiled and nodded, accepting the request of course. It would certainly be an interesting little project for today considering she wouldn't be participating. 

After that, it was already time to head off to get ready for the first task. Kat had spent the night and early morning practicing her new technique and was quite confident she had it down. Of course, she hadn't thought of more exotic uses of it, such as burning space or time, but she was doing pretty well, and burning those two concepts was probably beyond a Rank 3 demon anyway. 

Thyme was once again, standing on a stage right in front of the inn. Once everyone was there, Thyme clicked their fingers and suddenly they were floating in the air once again. Apparently the floating platform from yesterday had been a brief taste of what was to come. This platform was a bit more visible, looking more like glass then… well nothing. In the corners were large balloons about the size of cars. They obviously weren't keeping the platform afloat, but they did at to the atmosphere. 

Thyme was wearing a colourful pinstripe suit that was a literal rainbow of colours, from red to violet. On top of Thyme's head was a large propellor hat with a similarly colourful design, though it wasn't following just the colours of a rainbow in this case, it had far too many shades, alongside black and white as well for good measure. 

Unlike the normally at least somewhat thin bodies Thyme normally used, this one was big and round. Not fat, but round. Thyme looked more like a ball with arms and legs then a person, and that was probably the part of the point. Thyme's shoes were big bulbous things that looked like balloons had been crystalised. The white gloves were just a nice touch, though Thyme's pants were just a basic black. Still, the whole ensemble was certainly striking. 

"Welcome, to one and all. Today, as you might have guessed, we'll be having a bit of an ariel theme. Now, to all your mages that might be upset at the limited use of magic so far, let me just say that magic is not restricted in ANY of the events we'll be having today. So get your mana pools ready for a workout. 

"Of course, for our dear fighters in the audience, you might be feeling left out. Let it be known that it IS NOT SO. No, I shall be providing everyone somewhat suitable tools and enchantments for each event. They might not be perfectly matched to the situation, but they have their own benefits. Mostly. 

"You may also realise that I have yet to ask for who is participating in which event. That's intentional. Today, I'll be giving you a brief description of all three events, and then you can sign up as each event starts. So now pressure to get the full lineup decided now, even if that might give you some benefits. 

"Now… on to the bad news. At least, for two of the teams here. Kat, Lily and Romilda. You three have been banned from todays events, entirely due to the fact that you can all fly. Of course, Marigold, Kress, Borgick, March, Stan and Blue aren't allowed to participate either because they participated in events for three days in a row, but that's another matter really. Now, due to Romilda being banned from the events of today, Borgick may participate in one event in her place…

"However not so for Kat and Lily. This is because Kat participated two days in a row, and thus wouldn't be eligible to participate today regardless of the fact that they were banned from the events. That means, by extension, Kress definitely won't be participating. So it will be up to Gareth, Green and Nixilei to carry the day on that team. Now, are there any questions before I explain the events? Any decisions to contest?" 

Nobody spoke up. Thyme had mentioned all of this before, so it didn't come as a surprise. Kat, and many others, were assuming that Thyme just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page and was reiterating things in case they were forgotten. In truth, this was not the case. Mint, Titania and Ulf were all sitting in the basement back at the inn watching an illusion of the scene play out and the two royals needed to be caught up on things. So this was the best way to do it. 

"Hey, can you tell us what the current scores are?" asked Marigold. 

"Sure, I can do that. Current scores are, four and a half points for your team Marigold, with two and a half of those points being yours, one for Burnice, and one for Mauve," Thyme then turned to face Nell's team, "Next we have team B. Blue has gained almost of your points, and she's done really well in getting the too. You've got a whopping FIVE points to your name, just from Blue's efforts alone. Even if, two of them were from the sand castle round with Kress. Still, that sandcastle round gave you a lot because Ellenell came second there, giving you three points just from that round alone,

"Following on from that. We've got Team D2, they've got three points. Which isn't the highest score, but Willow has earnt one, Burgandy has earned one and Stan has earned one. Which is a nice even spread amongst the team for those points. Really, good job Team D2. You're doing well. 

"I'll skip D1 and move to team D3, or DW. Tis a very sad day for them really for they don't have any points yet. Shame. Now onto team, D1, they are number 1 right now. They've gained a whole eight and a half points. Four from Kat, Four from Kress and half a point from Gareth. They are just destroying this competition so far…

"But today will see Kat and Kress BOTH be sitting out today. With their two star players sitting on the bench will they be able to bask in the glory as continual winners? Or will they be dragged down into second place by one of the runner-up teams? Perhaps today Romilda's team will get a full sweep and rocket all the way… to second place? It could happen," 

*Well that's a bit of a rude way of looking at things. Not wrong… but I bit rude. I had thought that all the teams at least had one point though? Right? Hmm… Romilda didn't do well in Table tennis…. Borgick lost at dodgeball. Cyan got forced off the board really quickly in Twister. Everyone got dominated by Blue in volleyball. Asteodia… well we already know how she took her mistake in the log chopping contest, and they didn't do too badly in the sand castle one. Right? Borgick and Carl had a good time at least… probably. 

So ok that's a bit of a bust. I'm a bit surprised at how well Blue's team is doing. Marigold's team has more 'finishing places' but having two wins just for Blue really does add up in terms of points. Though I hadn't realised just how well we were doing as a team. Is that bad of me not to notice?

Kress especially, has really come into his own this time. He's mellowed out, then he took the table tennis by storm, and really, the sand castle contest was made for him. If he lost that one, or even came second I feel like he would've been pissed. Though that's a fair reaction considering how good his sand castle building skills are.*