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

--- Lily ---

After the pair got their anger out, wait no, after they broke out of the question box they had a straight shot to the start of the curve. Marigold shifted Lily to her hands and said, "So I'm going to throw you straight up just to test how high we get. If you jump at the top of my throw you should go even further. Don't worry about my arms, if I break them I break them." 

Lily glared at Marigold from her place on the elf's hands. "See that just looks adorable and minimally threatening. Anyway, you're distracting me," *I'm distracting you?* "So the plan is, I throw you up, check how far we get, and then you fall back down so I can throw you at the correct platform. So… make sure to use the same power to jump both times. You ready?" 

*Wait hang on I have several questions.* Lily's traitorous head nodded on reflex and despite her mental complaints Marigold bent her knees. Lily panicked slightly but managed to ready herself in time. Marigold stood and threw her arms upwards while Lily matched the timing pretty well and kicked off Marigold's hands. What neither was expecting, was that Lily ended up just one short of the checkpoint. 

Marigold caught Lily lightly the bruising on her hands already vanishing. "Right… that's a lot higher then I thought but don't let it be said I'm not a woman of my word so here we go again!" announced Marigold. 

*Wait hang on you don't have to throw me that high!* Lily wanted to protest, again, but Marigold was already getting into the motions. Lily hissed as she to prepared and helped launch herself upwards. Lily may have extended her claws for a moment, but Marigold deserved it. Of course, whether Lily intended it as a punishment or a reward was unclear. 

The Memphis went flying up into the air and easily landed on the second last platform. As soon as her paws touched down the whole thing started to shake and Lily launched herself towards the checkpoint. Moments after she left the platform it exploded into pieces. It was completely trashed. None of the pieces remained floating and now there was just a large gap where it had once been. 

*Ok seriously? Thyme HAS to be watching this right now and messing with the platforms. It might not have been allowed in an official match but this isn't official and we never put anything on the line. I'd be willing to put down quite a bit of money that Thyme is fucking with us… though if that's the case Thyme is probably messing with everyone somehow.*

Lily looked down to where Marigold would be… only to see the elf had vanished, presumably into a challenge room. *Right. So what do I do? I could leave a paper plane here for Marigold… though that would be costly on mana and likely to dismiss itself. I could just sit here waiting… but that's slower for both of us honestly. 

Which means I need to backtrack to clear the challenges. Backtrack over the large gap. Hmm… it looks jumpable. Barely. The extra height is really going to help. The question is. How am I going to get back?* 

Lily considered the problem for a few moments. *The obvious answer is that Marigold can throw me up here again… but that leaves her back on the lower platform. Hmm… she could throw me and then I could summon up a paper bridge that goes back down. No that might take a bit too much mana. What about just a paper rope? Still expensive to maintain but not as bad… especially if Marigold can jump most of the way. She'd just need it to climb up a bit. 

I suppose the alternative is that we just launch the paper plane from down there, but then Marigold doesn't have the checkpoint. I suppose I can just ask her. See what she says? Yeah that seems like it might be for the best. Give her the option.*

With that decided Lily lined herself up with the lower platform and readied herself for a few moments before leaping down. Part of the way through she had to shut down her instincts screaming at her to open her wings and glide. It was an involuntary reaction. She could see that she was going to make it. She'd used just the right amount of effort. Which, admittedly, was basically all of her effort, but still. 

Lily smacked into the platform landing rather ungracefully and perhaps at risk of sliding off… if she hadn't ended up in a challenge room. The room was on the smaller side and filled with bamboo. There was a table nearby, and while Lily couldn't see it, the table had a bunch of swords and sword adjacent weapons. The sign in front of her said 'slice all the bamboo at least once'. 

Lily gave a mental shrug to the command and started to charge through the room slicing through all the bamboo with her claws. After doing the first side, she turned around and got to work on the second, missing the 'cut all bamboo' button at the back of the room. Though in fairness to Lily it was hidden off in the corner and at eye level for a person not a small cat. It didn't take Lily long to slash at everything anyway and soon she was back on the obstacle course. 

Lily then started to jump back down. The first platform was fine, the second was fine, the third one turned to ice which was a slight issue but at least it didn't explode. The next box was a question box with the following question 'What are the conditions required for the Golden Skullcap to bloom'. 

*Well I've got no idea what a golden skullcap is… but I'm going to guess it has something to do with the sun and corpses. I mean… the golden part might have nothing to do with the sun… but… it's clearly a plant so the sun should be somewhat involved. Though this is a magic world. Perhaps it needs moonlight.*

Lily shook her head. There was no reason to overcomplicate things. She meowed her answer 'Twenty corpses sacrificed a midday' which apparently wasn't correct so she started to attack the barrier. Lily might have been interested to know, she was just missing a step. That it had to be twenty corpses sacrificed at midday for a week. So close. 

With that down Lily continued to clear a path for Marigold. The next time she hit a something unique it was another puzzle box but it was just a math question and easily cleared. She was rapidly approaching the halfway point and Marigold was visible now. Trapped in a puzzle box but visible. Lily nodded at seeing the elf. *Seems like I need to clear a few more obstacles then we should be good to get back to the checkpoint. Wait a second… it's a checkpoint. Would it be better for me to just jump off the edge and so that I'm right there at the checkpoint? No that's silly, I might as well stick with Marigold. All the platforms have been cleared so getting back to it won't take long at all.*

Another jump and then Lily was thrown into another puzzle room. Instead of a more normal room though, she was instead thrown into a minecart that started to move as soon as her feet touched the bottom. It wasn't fast, but it was clearly moving. Lily transformed so she could see out. The sign, now visible, read 'Make it through the minecart maze. Pull the lever to jump'

*Shit.* Lily cursed mentally as the minecart fell over the edge and gained speed rapidly. There wasn't exactly much of a choice regarding where she had to go so she just looked around for clues. That was, until another sign sprang from the wall right where her head was. Lily transformed letting it sail over her head before transforming back. *Hmm… I didn't read that sign… not sure I could've. Was it important?*

Lily grumbled as she saw a gap in the tracks. Just before the minecart would be thrown into the abyss she pulled the leave and the cart sprung across the gap, landing heavily and jarring Lily's teeth. From that point on, it was a just a repeat of the two actions. Ducking when necessary and jumping over the gaps when she had to. That was, until she finally reached an intersection. 

*Which way! Which way do I go?!* Lily couldn't see any answers, just another lever beside the tracks. Unable to decide, she reached out and smacked the lever, changing the tracks and sending her onto the alternative route. Lily was cheering internally because a few moments later she was teleported back to the obstacle course. *Thank the lord. That could've been messy. Now where is Marigold…*