Oh, another Hearth Day. Another year gone by with no friends, no family, no loved ones to spend such a stupid holiday with. Who needed them? Why make a day to celebrate something so useless? Well, Hylltywyll would just make his own holiday. A better one, with pranks and shenanigans. Those lovey-dovey, warm and cozy chumps celebrating Hearth Day with all the people they have deep, meaningful relationships with would know what hit them just as well as Hylltywyll knew what it was like to have such relationships with people, which is to say, not at all! Because he didn't need any! Yeah, that's why he didn't have any. It was by choice!

Hylltywyll perched on a signboard in the shadow of the store it was attached to and watched, looking for a good target. As a crowd of couples walked by, holding hands, looking lovingly into each other's eyes, a shadow suddenly spread across the street as a dark cloud spread above them. Couples looked up in surprise at the strange change in weather, only to be met with a snowball to the face or to be tripped by an unexpected hole in the ground that appeared out of nowhere.

Soon, not just couples, but everyone was avoiding the street, so Hylltywyll just moved to another one, slowly bringing chaos and causing havoc to couples all over the city. His pranks sometimes even escalated as he enjoyed his new holiday. One target couple had a man in it that was obviously loaded, practically jangling with all the coins on him as he walked around buying basically anything his date looked at. That date was ruined when the man suddenly found himself a nearly immobile gold statue and his date running off screaming. Well, he wouldn't have been able to buy her anymore gifts with all his coin purses added to the Fairy's hoard.

When Hylltywyll grew a bit peckish, one couple found themselves exhausted enough to just lay down on their picnic blanket and take a nap as their mana was drained dry. They didn't even have enough energy to notice their picnic basket go missing.

Hylltywyll sat on top of a tree branch with a picnic basket dangling from it, a half eaten cucumber sandwich in one hand while he glanced around for a new target. Finally, he spotted a little old lady with red skin and horns walking along with a very large, muscular man who also had a pair of horns on his forehead. He didn't look that old. What were they, mother and son? Mother and grandson? Eh, who cares? They looked like they had somewhere to be and Hylltywyll would join them wherever they were headed, and ruin whatever they had planned.

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Do we part?
Participants: Two or more
Location: Anywhere
Post Requirements: 4 posts per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Mystical Archive Ticket
Description: Chaos has erupted across Charon, Disrupting the nations Hearth Day celebration. You are needed to help, fighting off crazy fae who are trying to destroy things, or helping others caught up in the chaos. The details of the celebration and its disruption is up to you, but the Fae are pushing the limts, so be creative when interacting with the unwanted guest.

---

One With the Shadows
Overcast
Summon: Snowball
Create Door
Folly of Avarice
Hylltywyll's Shady Shelter
Wicked Desires

“Are you sure you should be out and about, Gran? You just got back home.”

“Oh, nonsense. I feel as fit as a fiddle!”

Kou met her grandson’s protests with a hearty laugh. It hadn’t been especially long since her boat had docked in the harbor after a few months of travel. She’d gone as far as Sol City when she remembered she promised Tarou she would be home, at the very least, for Hearth Day. One couldn’t spend the holidays without the people they loved most! Though her dear friend Yasei had quickly made his way on that list, her grandson needed her. And so, she made the trip home, to familiar territory, to a place she knew as intimately as she knew her own name.

And of course, ever since her arrival, Tarou had fretted over her the way one fretted over a pot of boiling water.

It was never a bad thing, of course, to be loved and cared for. Yet the more Kou traveled, the more she came into her own, her magic growing stronger than it ever had before she’d become an adventurer. At the very least, though restorative magic could do little for her elderly physique, Kou felt more confident in herself and her abilities.

And despite how weary travel by boat made her, she refused to slow down even one bit!

“Come on! You wanted to spend the day together, didn’t you? What fun is it if we’re just stuck inside like hermits!” The elderly chef was as jovial as ever, leading her grandson through familiar streets in search of something fun today.

Tarou merely shoved his hands into the pockets of his loose trousers, shoulders slumping as he followed his gran. A difficult task to make himself smaller than he looked when he was nearly seven feet tall; a feat that made one look at his elders and wonder how such a thing was possible.

And yet, there was no denying they were related - Tarou might have been as strong as an ox and Kou as frail as a hummingbird, but they both bore the sign of demon’s blood in their veins. Tarou’s, thus far, had only manifested in the form of horns atop his head, but the snarl that shooed curious passerby away from his beloved and only family member couldn’t be described as anything but infernal.

If Kou noticed the menacing aura from her stalwart guardian, she clearly didn’t seem to care, as she continued her pleasant walk down the streets. The world was their oyster! “There’s a park a little ways away, Tarou! Would you like to feed the ducks and waterfowl?”

“Anything you wanna do, Gran.” Tarou said with a smile that was more threatening teeth than love and joy. Kou leaned over and hugged his torso.

“Oh, I’m so grateful to spend the day with you.” She said with a smile. “We’re going to have so much fun!”

With all the chaos of the last few months; getting trapped in a mansion made of sugar, being turned back into a teenager, she could certainly use a relaxing day free of any chaos! Not to mention anyone would have to be crazy to bother them with someone as menacing as Tarou protecting them.

Of course, they had no idea trouble had already found them.

Oblivious to the chaos and the string of ruined dates around them, Kou and Tarou eventually stumbled upon Kou’s favorite park and stole a bench. Kou pulled out a bag of bread crumbs and started feeding the birds, happily chatting away while Tarou crossed his arms and surveyed the area.

---

Bringing Pets
Kyan, Candle Golem
The Snow Bunnies - Bottle of Snowlings

Hylltywyll crept along in shadows beneath bushes and trees, following behind the strolling pair and listening in on their conversation. He learned his guess of grandma and grandson was correct. He also picked up a bit on their personalities.

These two were so boring! Did Hyll even need to ruin their Hearth Day? It seemed like they were doing a fine job of making it as unenjoyable as possible already. The little grandma had the worst sense of fun, and the grandson looked big and scary, but he was a total pushover. A big softie who would do anything for his little grandmother. Blegh.

As much as the grandson kept an eye out for danger, it didn't help when he was dealing with the Fairy that could blend into the shadows like a drop of ink on black paper and silently scurry around right under his nose. Or, in this case, right under the bench his grandma was sitting on.

Without warning, the bag of breadcrumbs in the grandma's hands was snatched by a fuzzy purple hand reaching out from under the bench, yanking it straight down out of her grasp. By the time either of them could even look under the bench to see what had grabbed their duck food, Hylltywyll was already gone, atop a branch of a nearby tree.

This time though, he undid his invisibility as he threw fistfulls of breadcrumbs into his mouth and waited to see how long it would take for either of them to spot him. He usually kept hidden, but this seemed like a fun pair to actually show himself to. He would hate for all of his deeds to go on with no one to claim them. There was no fun in being anonymous.

---

One With the Shadows
Blink

Kou wasn’t quite sure what happened. One minute, the crumbs were in her hand, and the next, she was grasping at air. “Wha…” The elderly woman gasped, brows knitting in concern behind round-rimmed glasses. She turned to her grandson, quite confused. Had she missed something? “Tarou? Did you see what just happened?”

“Did you drop your bag, gran?” Tarou picked himself up, bending down to peer under the bench where Hylltywyll had been only moments ago; as suspected, he found nothing. Not even a crumb trail towards the real culprit.

“What the…”

The young man’s temper flared at the sight that nothing was amiss. It was exactly that nothing was wrong that made Tarou suspect that someone was deliberately fucking with his gran. They could mess with him, but it took a real piece of bottom feeding scum to toy with an elderly woman who couldn’t even defend herself. He straightened to his full height, cracking his knuckles.

“Don’t worry, Gran. I’ll take care of this.” Oh, he’d make the motherfucker who thought it was funny to mess with the elderly regret they’d ever been born.

But then Kou stood - she pulled herself to her feet, holding out a hand to stop Tarou from doing anything rash. “No need, kiddo.” She might have been slowing down in life but she had a few tricks up her sleeves! “I say, if whoever took my bread wants to feed the birds, they can certainly deal with the flock!”

With a spark of magic she waved her hand, sending the birds she’d gathered into a frenzy.^[1] The pigeons became manic, pecking and screaming and getting feathers everywhere before turning their attention on a tree a little ways away, swarming and descending the adversary of the woman who kept them well-fed… the one currently holding the breadcrumbs.

Tarou narrowed his eyes, spotting the little shit in the branches with the bag. “Gran! Looks like it was some weird fuckin’ cat.”

---

1. Raven Storm

Hylltywyll snickered to himself quietly as the one named Tarou bumbled around, checking under the bench and looking for the Fairy that was already long gone from that spot. What a temper. So easily upset about some breadcrumbs. Didn't either of them know you shouldn't feed breadcrumbs to bird anyways? It's not good for them. He'd practically done them a favor, but he never expected any thanks in the first place.

He looked at Gran to see her using some magic, identifying exactly what that spark was about to set in motion. He could read the formula arcanum before it was even finished being written and just smiled smugly. Did this little old lady think she could out magic him?

When the ducks began to swarm toward him and his perch, he was already preparing a response. From the shadows around him, black ravens flew out to meet the oncoming flock midway, harrying the attackers and protecting Hylltywyll while he upturned the bag of breadcrumbs and poured the last of it into his mouth.

Through the black and white cloud of feathers, Hylltywyll looked at the grandma with a smug smile, challenging her to try something else. He spared Tarou an annoyed scowl as he called him some weird cat, but returned his gaze to the grandma again after just a moment.

---

Expanded Mind
Raven Storm

Kou, in fact, did not have any idea that breadcrumbs were not good for wild fowl. In fact, she might be quite heartbroken to learn that fact; given she’d spent the wee hours of dawn preparing these tasty, dangerous treats for her beloved avian friends. She thought they’d always enjoyed her snacks! In fact, she was so close with the birds that she took care of that they were willing to jump into the fray for her and sniff out any shenanigans…

Unfortunately, it wasn’t your average japester that Kou was dealing with.

The elderly woman gasped as ravens started clashing with her beloved ducks, creating a warfield of squawking and feathers and pandemonium. What a mess! Perhaps even more strange, beyond the cloud of birds, was the creature within the trees.

Strange cat, indeed!

“Tarou, we don’t call creatures weird. We have to show love and acceptance to all of Solaria-Sama’s creations…” Kou murmured to herself, and yet she reached for her sandal all the same. She pried the wooden, clunky shoe off her foot, and lobbed it at the little weird fuzzy dog-cat in the tree.^[1]

“… And then sometimes you just have to smack some sense into bread stealing hooligans!”

---

1. Boomerang - whacking Hyl with the Chancla

She threw her shoe at him! Hylltywyll was so taken aback by this, he nearly let himself get clonked right in the head by the thing. He only threw a wall of light up in front of him just in time. The shoe bounced off the shield and fell to the ground below, landing softly in the grass. The gall of this old woman!

He growled and shook his fist at Kou angrily. So much for showing love to all of Solaria's creations! Well, Hyll wasn't a big believer in Solaria anyways, or any of the gods for that matter. He doubted any of them would have had a hand in his creation.

This was unbelievable. She really threw her shoe at him. Well, if she wanted him to have her shoe, then fine. He would take it! Hylltywyll stopped growling and smiled deviously before dropping from the tree branch, onto the ground next to the shoe. He picked the shoe up and held it in the air, making sure the old lady got a good look before he dropped it right down into his shadow. It sank into the darkness like a sinking boat in water, disappearing from sight.

Hylltywyll watched Kou with a smug smirk. He stuck out his tongue and blew a loud raspberry at her, daring her to throw something else at him.

In the meantime, the war between the two flocks of birds ended in a draw. The ducks flew off, back to the pond while the ravens dissolved back into shadow.

Her sandal bounced harmlessly off a beacon of light thrown up to protect the little creature. Kou hobbled towards her shoe, but with her cane, and her bare foot digging rather painfully into the ground, she was not fast enough to reach the tree before the little cat-thing dropped from the tree and picked her shoe off the ground.

“Oh, my… could you toss that back to me, dearie?” She asked, all saccharine sweetness, which dropped away to surprise when he dropped it into the darkness, like a deep, tangible pool, and it disappeared.

Kou gasped.

“My shoe!” She really liked that pair!

And to make matters worse, the little cat creature made a taunting gesture at her! Kou rarely interacted with the yokai and trickster spirits that called this place home, but this one seemed harmless enough… if not annoying. It had not yet occurred to her that said creatire was a living being with a name and a consciousness and an ability to speak; in her mind, this was some kind of cat or rat creature, and she’d need to show him a little more resistance if she wanted her shoe back! She grabbed one of the bundles that she carried on her back, procuring a broom from her things -

And with a speed only known to an elderly woman scorned, she hobbled forward and started smacking him atop the head with it.

“GIVE-“ SMACK! “ME-“ SMACK! “BACK-“ SMACK! “MY-“ SMACK! “SANDAL!”

Hylltywyll chuckled as he saw her reaction to him dropping her shoe into his shadow. The gasp of surprise. He hoped this was her favorite pair. That'd make her sadness at its loss even better. And asking him to toss it back right before he dropped it, oh her timing was perfect.

Hyll's mischievous smile faded into his own look of surprise as the old lady suddenly hobbled up to him with a broom in hand and started swinging on him like some misbehaving cat.

"Ah! Ow! Stop it!" Hyll whined as the broom hit him in the top of the head a few times while he was caught off guard. He threw his arms over his head to protect himself. This old lady was feisty. He was expecting her to throw her other shoe or something else, not charge at him like an old bat out of hell.

He looked up at her and blew a puff of purplish dust in her face. It didn't do any harm or even get in her eyes or nose. It was as if it disappeared in an instant, but after a moment, Kou suddenly found herself weightless, levitating a few inches into the air and unable to control her movement.

Hylltywyll grabbed the her broom with both hands, just past the broom head, and tried to yank it out of her grasp, swinging her overhead and around, trying to get her to lose her grip on the handle. He might only be 2 feet tall, but this lady wasn't much taller than that and she was old. He wouldn't lose in a contest of strength.

---

Fairy Dust

Knowing nothing about what this little creature was capable of, Kou could only assume that perhaps he would retaliate with his little claws, or another shadow-spell, or something of mischievous of the like. Still, she found herself surprised when he blew a handful of strange powder into her face, and gravity seemed to lose its hold on her.

It was only her grip on the broom that kept her from floating away entirely. Kou kicked her feet in the air, yelping in surprise.

“Gran!” Tarou shouted, sprinting towards his beloved family member and the weird fuckin’ cat, ready to intervene; but Kou, as stated before, was a feisty old woman. She wasn’t about to give up so easily. She pursed her lips in concentration, eyes narrowed at the little creature who’d grabbed onto the broom and started shaking it with the intention of throwing her off.

And instead of letting go, she tightened her gnarled grip on the wood. She could not control her movement… but she could still control the broom’s.

Kou might not have been the strongest person in the world, but she made up with it in grit and determination aplomb. And with a single word - “UP!” - her enchanted broom responded, and while both parties were holding tight to the broomstick, it would dart up into the sky like a bat out of hell.^[1] Hopefully, catching the little creature off guard and sending them both shooting up into the air, at least thirty feet from the ground. A considerable height for two as short of stature as them.

“GRAN!”

“CATCH ME IF I FALL, TAROU!” Kou shouted as loudly as she could muster, before turning to the gremlin with a huff. “Give up yet, sonny? I’ve fought rat infestations in my kitchen more horrifying than you!”

---

1. Flying Broom

Hylltywyll clutched the broom head for dear life, both his arms and legs wrapped around it to keep from falling off of the unexpected ride. It did catch him off guard again, not expecting the broom to be enchanted to be able to fly, but this new development only made him want to steal the thing from the old lady even more!

"Hmph. Can a rat infestation do this?" He asked with a smug grin before simply vanishing with a small puff of smokey shadow.

Down below, on the ground, he popped back into existence right behind the unsuspecting grandson whose attention was on the old woman in the air. Hylltywyll stepped out from behind him, making sure the old lady saw him enact his plan. He put a hand on the back of Tarou's leg and used his magic. Immediately, a layer of gold started to spread across the man's body, coating him nearly from head to toe. Only his head and neck were left uncovered.

Hylltywyll let out a delighted cackle as he fleeced his pockets, surprised by how many solars the guy had on him. "You're pretty loaded, huh?" He asked cheerily as he unloaded the gold into his shadow. "Were loaded." He smugly corrected himself, whispering into Tarou's ear after climbing up onto his shoulders.

"Now for the best part."

With that, he shoved down on the top of Tarou's head and forced it down into his body, stifling any complaints from the gilded grandson. He continued squeezing and shoving, twisting and compressing the man's entire body until he was reduced to a golden, fist-sized sphere with a pair of eyes.

He held the Tarou-orb up for the old lady to get a good look at.

---

Blink
Folly of Avarice
Snug and Cozy

Finally breaking out of his stupor, spurned on by watching his frail family member give that fuckin’ cat a what for, Tarou bent over and scooped up a rock from one of the cultivated gardens in the park. Winding back with all the force he could muster in his muscular frame, he lobbed a rock at the creature hanging onto the broom. And another. And then another.

It was perhaps this annoyance that caused the gremlin to choose him as his next target. And it was unfortunate that Tarou, in an uncommon display of wealth, had brought some money along with him to spoil his gran. Just like that, without even realizing, Hylltywyll had disabled one of Starlight City’s most notorious gangsters.

“TAROU!”

Kou could not help the anguished cry that left her lips the second she saw the fate which had befallen her grandson on behalf of the trickster spirit. She couldn’t help it. It was times like this that it was all too much to remember that Tarou was all she had left of her only son.

Oh, she wasn’t sure what she’d done to upset that little creature, but he would pay. First her bread, then her shoe, now her family… what more could this creature want?

“If it’s avarice that haunts you, then why don’t you try this on for size?” She raised her hand, calling forth the power of the earth, fueled by one of the most primal instincts of all - a mother’s love.^[1]

Stalks of thick foliage began to sprout around Hylltywyll, and as short as he was, they rapidly overtook him in height. Long vines sprawled in every direction, covered in vegetables as far as the eye could see - Hylltywyll’s eyes, at least. He had effectively been trapped within a maze of vegetables, one which would only grow higher around him when met with violence.

“There. Now why don’t you sit in time-out and think about what you’ve done?” Kou called down from where she was perched on her broomstick. “Terrorizing a family on a day meant to celebrate love… somebody oughtta teach you some manners!”

---

1. Harvest of Plenty

Hylltywyll played with the Tarou-orb, cackling as the spherified gangster's complaints. He tossed him from one hand to the other, tossed him high into the air before catching him again, but making it look as if he almost missed. He was enjoying tormenting both of them. Finally, Hyll stared at Kou as he lifted the golden orb above him, his mouth wide open pretending as if he was about to eat it. Now that should get a reaction out of her. He cackled even louder at the old lady's screaming. Now she was finally showing him a little more magic!

He read the formula of the spell as it was written and let out a dissatisfied huff. Plants? What were those supposed to do? Was this lady even trying? The field of vegetables grew up around him, blocking his view of the old lady and forming a shaded maze around him. Didn't she know he was perfectly at home in shadows like these? Was this the best she could do?

He looked at the Tarou-orb again.

"Not much of a fighter, is she?" He asked sarcastically. He didn't wait for a response, as if the gangster sphere could even give one that was more than muffled curses and shouting in his current state, before shoving it into his mouth and bulging out one of his cheeks like a big, purple squirrel with a shiny golden acorn. He idly transferred him from one cheek to the other as he sat there and thought about his next move.

This old lady wasn't going to offer him much of a challenge. She had a decent amount of light magic in her, but it looked like she hardly knew any spells. At least she probably didn't know any spells that would actually threaten him. His provocations were basically wasted on her.

Hmmm, what would she do if he just waited in here? He had her grandson. Would she come in after him? A maze of pumpkin vines is a pretty good place to scare someone. He smiled to himself a chuckled before closing his eyes. Part of his mind formed a connection to Kou, letting him see and hear exactly what she was up to now.

---

Mind Parasite

Oh, dear. It seemed Kou had made a grave miscalculation.

It was true the woman wasn’t much of a fighter, as the little gremlin expressed to the Tarourb. Her magic was still in its fledgling stages… if there was even any room for her to grow. She was far past her prime, and her hedge witch spells, evidently, did little to deter this little goblin from causing mayhem.

Meanwhile, the Tarourb was screaming into the void.

More importantly, Kou realized, she’d intended to trap a creature in the darkness when she’d previously seen him thrive in the shadows. She’d accidentally just given him a shelter with which to hide in, nice and cozy, and he didn’t have to do anything.

She needed to get Tarou back.

It was already the late afternoon, and this late in the winter, the sun was still setting decently early in the day. Kou turned to watch the horizon, mulling over her options. If he didn’t want to leave the shelter she’d accidentally given him, then Kou didn’t necessarily have to hunt him down in there. A grin on her face, she hovered down to the grass, a ring of white fire blooming around her.^[1] It caught on the side of the grass, flames and smoke curling in the air. If she couldn’t get him to trap himself, then she’d just have to flush him out!

Kou hovered in the air, pulled another one of her weapons from her bag - a toy hammer - and waited for him to flee the confines of his burning prison.

---

1. Flame Hoop

Sitting in the viny maze, even his new jawbreaker wasn't enough to keep Hylltywyll from getting bored very quickly. While he was bored, Tarou was miserable. Not only was he condensed down into an orb and shoved into the wet, smelly mouth of a feral Fairy, now he was also feeling more and more fatigued.

The man's magic was meager. He definitely used his muscles more than his brain, and probably didn't have a single spell in his head, but he still had just enough magic to provide Hylltywyll with a small trickle, like the hint of flavor in the mouth provided by sucking on a hard candy. It was kind of spicy, like cinnamon, probably owing to being a Fellblood. He wondered if the grandma's magic would be the same, but given her light magic, probably not.

Hylltywyll's wondering was interrupted as the taste of magic was suddenly cut by the smell of smoke. He looked around in surprise and saw the vines around him starting to catch on fire with a bright white flame. The pleasantly shadowy surroundings were quickly changing to a bright, burning, bad situation! He looked though Kou's eyes. She had cast some spell to make a ring of fire around her and used it to burn the maze down.

Hylltywyll leapt to his feet and used his magic. The last of the shadow around him pooled together at his feet and he jumped in, fleeing from the burning vine maze. He climbed back out of the shadow beneath the park bench, outside the maze. He let out a growl as he glared up at the grandma, floating on her broom and holding a hammer.

Oh, he was so tempted to snap his finger and make that broom disappear or remove its enchantment, to watch that grandma fall down into the burning vines she'd made herself. But no, he was a mischief-maker, not a murderer. He liked to watch people be annoyed and upset, not the light leaving their eyes.

He climbed up onto the wooden bench and crossed his arms in front of him. He stood there, glaring at her.

"What do you think you're gonna do with that hammer?" He asked threateningly, his voice sounding directly in her mind.

---

Hylltywyll's Shady Shelter
Mind Parasite