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

--- Kat ---

"Yeah so I've got a question," said Marigold as she raised a hand. Thyme nodded in her direction, "Right so… can the judges have the same rules?" 

"I believe I stated that the judges would judge on different criteria," said Thyme. 

"Yeah but like… in that toe touching example, could one of you give out two points for every toe touch, while another gives out two points for a toe touch and one for a clap?" explained Marigold. 

Thyme nodded and said, "Indeed such a thing is possible. As long as the rule isn't exactly the same it is entirely possible for the rules to have overlapping elements. There won't be two judges that just rely on toe touches to give out points, but if one of them also goes for something else, then it's considered fair game," 

Willow was the next to put her hand up so Thyme motioned for her to speak. "So my question is, when does the judging begin? Like, you said we can move the cannon about, so I'm wondering when the scoring starts," 

"You were only be marked on things that happen once you leave the cannon fully. So don't rush to do anything as soon as the top of your head is out of the cannon. Whatever the judges are looking for, it will be after your feet have left the cannon completely. You can pull your feet in closer if you want to start early for some reason, but you won't save much time at all. Nothing's stopping you if you want to do it though," said Thyme with a shrug. 

While this was going on, Lily and Kat were still having a slight back in forth in regards to if Lily wanted to participate in the round… and the answer was looking like no. Kat worked out a while back that encouraging Lily was just making her embarrassed so she'd switched tactics to mentioning that they only needed two points to win… which just freaked Lily out more. Now her poor girlfriend was worried about costing the team the win, despite the fact that she really might be the best one for the job. 

Needless to say, with this internal argument going on they didn't have time to think up their own questions, or wonder what loopholes the others might be trying to work out. Especially when the next person to ask a question had a weird one… 

"So you said we can't land on the dirt," said Burgandy after Thyme called on her. "Is that a rule, or just a limitation of the cannon?" 

"It shouldn't need to be a real," said Thyme with a sigh. "The cannon can only turn so far for your safety," 

"Yeah… but what if I can work out a way to swim through the earth as an earth mage?" asked Burgandy. 

Thyme sucked in a deep breath. "Burgandy you've participated in two consecutive days' worth of challenges. You're not allowed to participate in this one. Alas… I suppose if I really must answer your question then as I said earlier, it's a limitation of the cannon and not one I put into the rulebook. I'm not sure what you expect to do with this information, but if your team gets hurt trying something stupid out I might just not heal you.

"Sure normally I have a policy of healing everyone to make it fair… but the championship was designed just after a war. Nobody wanted to be handing out powerful healers for this sort of thing so it isn't required. Sure it's traditional at this point… but tradition isn't a requirement. So I'm warning you now, if one of you lands on the island and breaks your legs, too bad. I'll make sure you don't get permanently maimed, and no more," 

Of course, to undercut the serious air that Thyme was potentially aiming for, they'd inflated their nose to several times it's natural size and stretched it out to look completely comical, with giant nostrils and vine nose hairs included. Kat and Lily might have laughed had they noticed, but they were still too distracted with each other for the time being. 

They did however, notice when everything went silent as March's voice cut through the crowd, "Can you change swimsuits between rounds?" 

Suddenly it was eerily quiet, which was what finally knocked Kat and Lily out of the argument. Everyone was staring at either March or Thyme as they wondered up the answer to the question… or wondered what the silence was for. 

Thyme looked around and saw how serious everyone was so they returned their nose to normal size and looked around at everyone who was suddenly paying attention and answered with a single word. "Yes," 

"Why did you give a one word answer?" asked Marigold as soon as Thyme had finished. 

"I don't know what else you want me to say Marigold. I have no power over your clothing choices and as long as you don't try to go into someone else's changing room, I'm not going to stop you from changing up your look," answered Thyme. 

Marigold glared and asked, again, "Is it possible for the swimsuits to have an effect on our points? Considering we can in fact change them?" 

Thyme nodded, "Indeed it's possible for them to have some effect on the judges scores… but I will add a clarifier to this. I won't be requiring anyone to wear a specific style of swim wear as part of the judging. While I might find it amusing to mess with people's ideas of what's proper or comfortable to wear… I am cognisant of the fact that quite a few styles of swimwear would be uncomfortable in the physical sense, not just a social one. So, considering Marigold has brought it up, I'll let you all know that the style of attire will not affect the judging," 

Kat couldn't help but laugh internally at the mental image of March in a bikini that didn't properly cover her pectoral muscles for a few moments before something else occurred to her. *Wait… isn't this magical clothing that can adjust to the user? Why would it be physically uncomfortable to wear? I was assuming that the straps or something might dig in… but if it's magic then what's the problem?*

[Huh… that's an interesting point. I… I guess there has to be some sort of limit? Or perhaps clothing with female styles wouldn't know how to size themselves properly to a guy? No Thyme seems like just the sort of person to ensure that you could wear whatever you wanted. Hmm… well I suppose it could be tails and stuff? I'm not sure if swimwear can make allowances for that.]

*It's the best idea I can think of for the moment… but I'm not sure how hard it would be to adjust clothing for that either. Thyme seems capable… but then again maybe Thyme didn't make the outfits?*

[That could be it. Thyme wants this all to be possible without their interference. Perhaps they commissioned a less skilled enchanter for the swimsuits. I can't imagine the same crazy enchanter that did the obstacle course and the flying machines would be willing to enchant just a pile of clothing with the same boring enchantment. Just at a guess.]

*Yeah… yeah that makes even more sense. Thyme is probably capable of making sure anything fits… but it's not just up to Thyme is it? Actually… that's got to be why the swimsuits make it possible to land in the water from any height! It's so that Thyme or a similarly powerful individual doesn't need to babysit the cannon! 

Heck, Thyme already explained it. The cannon can't shoot you out onto land, and a lot of the control are internal. Presumably, that includes the launch button. This might seem like a challenge… but really it's an elaborate tourist attraction!*

[Yes! That's got to be it. It all makes so much more sense that way!]

With Thyme's motivations suitably investigated… for the moment, Kat and Lily went back to arguing about if Lily should participate in this round or not. It was mostly circular at this point, accomplishing almost nothing. Kat had essentially given up on getting Lily to participate without straight up blackmail or coercion and Kat wasn't willing to go that far. Not only was the chance of it working far from one hundred percent, but Kat knew she'd also feel quite bad about the attempt regardless of the success. 

Of course, if Kat and Lily had bothered to look around them a bit more they'd have realised that the rest of the team was smirking at them. Even Nixilei, who still had massive bags under her eyes and was yawning regularly could see that Kat and Lily were arguing with each other about something. They hadn't quite figured out what the argument was about, but really it was only a matter of time before that became clear. They had the broadest strokes at the moment, that Lily didn't want to do something Kat thought she should, but no more than that.