Concocting a Plan
Halloween Laxi: ▷We need to come up with a plan to ensure our prank on Luca is a success.◁
Halloween Laxi: ▷Our target is a master of mischief, so any old prank isn't going to cut it; he'll figure it out before we can even start to pull it off!◁
Halloween Laxi: I concur. So what sort of strategy do you think would work? ▷Yeah, hmm...◁
Halloween Laxi: ▷Sorry. I can't really think of anything.◁ You're no help at all, Mascula.
Halloween Laxi: ▷Well, do YOU have any ideas?!◁ Hmm...
Halloween Laxi: I can't think of any. ▷Ha! How quickly the worm turns!◁
Halloween Laxi: ▷I think this is going to be hard for us to manage on our own.◁ We require reinforcements.
Sarisse: ...Huh? You want to prank Luca back?
Sarisse: Ooooh, I like it! I owe him for like ten million pranks. I'm not usually a prankster, but it's Halloween and all, so count me in!
Halloween Laxi: Great. You're his sister, so you should know Luca very well. I bet you'll come up with an effective strategy.
Sarisse: Yeah, well, much as I'd like to say "okie-doke, leave it to me," I'm a little worried about pulling this off.
Halloween Laxi: ▷Even though you know Luca well, coming up with a plan will be difficult? ◁
Sarisse: It's BECAUSE I know him so well that it'll be tough. That blockhead might only be brilliant at pranks, but he's indisputably brilliant at them. You get me?
Sarisse: If we come at him with some half-cocked prank, he'll see right through it.
Halloween Laxi: ▷Yeah, I guess that's true.◁ Our supposition was correct.
Sarisse: But! It's much too soon to be giving up. If we can't do it alone—or with two or three of us—then we'll just get more!
Sarisse: I'll put word out to the Halidom and gather up anyone who can help. Just stay put for a little bit, 'kay?
Halloween Laxi: You are dependable, Sarisse. ▷Yeah, I can't wait to see what you come up with!◁
Halloween Laxi: Mascula, this... ▷...might have gotten out of hand.◁
Laranoa: I hereby call the first meeting of the Dunk-On-Luca Committee to order!
Sarisse's Group: Yeah!
Halloween Melsa's Group: Yeeeeah!
Halloween Laxi: ▷I'm sort of shocked at the turnout, but also grateful that all these people have come here for us.◁
Halloween Mym: You better believe I want a chance to pay Luca back for all his dumb pranks!
Halloween Lowen: Me too! Plus, it's Halloween, so I'm gonna do my best to be a bad kid.
Halloween Althemia: I have little interest in pranks and other such mischief, but I understand wanting to get closer to people on Halloween, which is why I am here.
Halloween Melsa: Then let's get this party rocking and make sure everyone has a great time!
Laranoa: All right, people, let's hear those ideas! You mind taking notes, Sylas?
Halloween Sylas: As I am quite busy with my research, I am ONLY helping with planning. Is that understood?
Halloween Mym: Okay, okay! I'll start! What if we tried a little something like THIS! First, we...
Halloween Sylas: It's not bad, but there is a problem. If this situation were to occur, we...
Halloween Althemia: Oh, right. In that case, what if we revised things to be like...
Halloween Laxi: ▷This is great! Everyone's sharing their ideas and our plan is taking shape.◁
Halloween Laxi: Agreed. Under these conditions, it will be possible to prank Luca back. ▷And not just that.◁
Halloween Laxi: ▷I really feel like something big is happening—something that we couldn't have done with just the two of us.◁
Halloween Laxi: Something big...that the two of us couldn't have predicted or accomplished on our own...
Halloween Laxi: (Curious. When I think about it, it makes me feel a kind of heat in my heart.)
Halloween Laxi: (It does not feel unpleasant, however. Just what IS this sensation?)
And so, the friends of the Halidom lent their efforts to the cause, and the details of a plan to prank Luca were solidified.
Laranoa: Time for our final checks before putting the plan into action! First?
Halloween Lowen: I'll go to Luca and ask him for help! I'll be like, "Eek, I saw a fiend!"
Laranoa: Right. And then when Lowen comes back with Luca in tow, what happens?
Sarisse: Then we fight the fiend! But we make it look like we're in a tough spot and about to lose.
Halloween Althemia: Help, Luca. Help.
Halloween Mym: Come on, Althemia. That's not going to make him think, "She's in trouble!" You gotta do it like THIS!
Halloween Mym: HAAAAALP! THIS FIEND IS GOING TO REND ME LIMB FROM LIMB! OH, WHERE IS A MIGHTY HERO TO SAVE MEEEEE?!
Laranoa: That's almost frighteningly good, Mym. Anyway, once we get to this point, it turns out the fiend is actually...
Halloween Laxi: A costume sewn together by Althemia! ▷And we'll be controlling it from above with a string to make it look like it's attacking.◁
Halloween Melsa: With roars courtesy of me. I'll do my best to sound like a ferocious fiend. Rooooar!
Laranoa: You're making fine use of your experience pretending to be a zombie!
Laranoa: Anyway, all that is sure to get him in a panic to help everyone, which means he'll loose an arrow—and THEN?!
Halloween Laxi: ▷The costume will split open and all the apples inside will come tumbling out!◁ This will be our present to Luca.
Laranoa: A prank AND a gift! It's perfect!
Laranoa: All right. If everybody's got the plan committed to memory, let's begin!
Halloween Lowen: I'll go call Luca!
Halloween Laxi: ▷We'll be waiting up in the tree, Laxi.◁ Understood. This is important, so I'll double-check the operation of the costume.
Halloween Mym: This really came out, didn't it? It looks just like a fiend.
Sarisse: Right?! I'm good at sewing myself, but I can't hold a candle to Althemia.
Halloween Althemia: I can teach you, if you like.
Sarisse: Yessss! Thanks, Althemia!
Laranoa: Say, are Lowen and Luca coming?
Halloween Melsa: He only just left to go get him, so it seems a little soon yet.
Sarisse: Gya! It's a fiend! A real one, you guys!
Halloween Laxi: We must defeat it quickly, or the entire plan will be for nothing.
Halloween Althemia: Wait, Laxi! Leave the fiend to us. You get the prank costume to safety.
Halloween Laxi: But fighting together would defeat the foe more quickly.
Halloween Althemia: This fiend is just like the sugar-loving one that came from the Sweet Retreat, which means it's after...
Halloween Althemia: THE APPLES INSIDE THE COSTUME!
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