Riri was happy when they landed in the snow. Even though it was cold, it reminded her of the Winter months in Japan. Some form of magic kept them warmer than they should have been, but even Riri’s mind was being broken by the witch. This amount of magic from Eerie was at least a reasonable amount.

They walked on a road next to the forest. From above, they’d spotted another small city, but Eerie said they’d walk the rest of the way. Riri had no idea if it was because the witch wanted to play in the snow, or she was actually being practical for once. I mean, it would look odd for the townsmen if we floated in on broomsticks.

Plus, this isn’t so bad. She looked down at her gloved hand, linked with Sumire’s.

A sound caught her attention. Next to Sine, a small demonic bat floated above her shoulder. The bat made odd kyuuns, and Sine answered back to it. She seemed to instinctively know what her summons were saying. At least Toka could speak, but the draconic monster was stored away in some other realm.

“What are you thinking about?” Sumire asked.

“I was just reminiscing,” Riri said.

“Reminiscing, hmm?” Sumire smiled and peered into Riri’s eyes. “Did you think about going back?”

“Back home, you mean?”

Sumired nodded.

Riri scrunched her eyebrows. She twirled her thumbs around each other. “I did think about it.”

“Why didn’t you go?”

The saintess put a finger to her lips and winked at Sumire. “That’s a secret.” Her words made Sumire visibly pout, but Riri continued. “Why didn’t you leave?”

At that, Sumire’s face went red. “Maybe it is better if we don’t know!”

“What are you two talking about?” Jugon asked.

“Nothing!” Sumire shouted.

“Don’t worry, I don’t want to get in the way of your romance either. Seriously? What is with everyone? It’s like the Winter has made you all---”

A snowball hit Jugon right in the back of the head. Riri watched Jugon turn and glare at the bat creature who lobbed it.

“You little flying rat!” Another snowball hit him right in the mouth.

“Kyuuun!”

Jugon’s face went red. If it was one of those old American cartoons, Riri could bet steam would shoot out from his ears. He reached towards the ground, digging his hands in the snow.

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“That does it!” He threw a snowball at the poor floating bat. The ball soared through the air, but the bat dodged underneath. It continued soaring until it smashed right into Eerie’s face.

Sumire covered her mouth to keep from laughing. Snow rolled down Eerie’s face, until it formed a snowstache and snowbeard. There was even a white dot on her nose.

Mary grinned devilishly and dug her hands into the frosted ground. She threw her snowball right at the witch.

The witch didn’t dodge, and the projectile hit the back of her ominous black hat. Amazingly, the hat flopped around a bit, but it still wouldn’t fall off.

Eerie cackled like a madwoman. “A snowball fight, is it?”

Everyone watched in horror as her staff controlled a giant block of snow.

“Wait, wait, wait! You can’t use magic in a snowball fight!” Riri shouted.

But the witch didn’t use magic to throw them. Instead, her blocks of snow began forming fortifications on the side of the road. The puffy snow had become two giant fortresses, and on either side a different colored flag rose from the top. One side had a blue flag waving in the wind, and the other side had a red flag.

///

Riri sat in her frozen entrenchment, gripping her walkie-talkie tight. “Captain Sumire, I can see the enemy encampment. They seem to be waiting with their blue flag.”

“Roger that, Sergeant Riri. Make sure our machine-gunner is able to open fire. As soon as the enemy comes out, give the command!”

“Roger!”

Riri looked at the huge pile of snowballs on her right. She knew that on the other side of that pile Jugon awaited her command. Riri snapped back to the other trench. She saw the small ear of a bat poke out. “Now, Jugon!”

At her command, Jugon started launching balls of snow like a fully automatic. It was surreal how fast his hand moved to grip the next one and the next one. It truly looked like a rapid fire mounted gun.

The frozen balls impacted the other trench, sending snow into the enemy’s fortification.

Riri jumped out of the trench while they were distracted. The enemy had a machine gunner of their own returning fire. She dodged behind some trees. The other side of her tree became riddled with snowball fire. The tree wouldn’t last much longer. She ran to the next one.

She knew the only one who could possibly do that was Mary. Riri needed to take out the gunner!

“Jugon! I need suppressive fire!” She pushed the button on her walkie-talkie once more. “Captain Sumire? What’s your status?”

“Psshhhh….” Sumire’s handheld transceiver returned static.

“Sumire!? Captain Sumire!?”

A groan answered her on the other line. “I won’t make it much longer… Go on without me...They got our flag… need to hurry…….bleh.”

“No, Sumire!” With a fire in Riri’s heart she sprinted towards the enemy’s trench, diving inside when she arrived.

Mary had disappeared somewhere, and there was only a singular smug bat. Riri recovered quickly, grabbing snow from the wall. She chunked it straight at the bat’s face.

The smug bat made another distressed “kyuun,” and it tried to dodge. However, the ball impacted the wing, sending it spiraling towards the ground. An explosion of snow erupted at the impact crater, and the bat lay there with dizzy, swirly eyes.

Riri jumped up and looked across the battlefield. The flag on her home base was lost somewhere, and she couldn’t see Jugon in the entrenchment!

She ran inside the enemy’s fortress. The blocks of ice making up the walls had taken heavy machine gun fire, so she crept inside carefully. A light at the top of a tunnel grabbed her attention.

Riri sprinted up the stairs towards the enemy’s flag! However, the moment she crossed into the sanctuary a snowball impacted her back, sending her sprawling into the goal.

“No…” She reached her arm towards the flag. “I… was…so...close….”

Mary had ended her life, and a loud whistle from outside attracted everyone’s attention.

“And the winner is blue team!” Eerie shouted.